139: A Shadow Of A Drought
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There is no water anywhere, even the crops planted along the side of the road are wilting and dying from a lack of irrigation channels that their careless farmers neglected to put in.
But this is a whole new world we live in, you may have forgotten, and it's a brand new place to see, so Misty isn't going to let a little thing like crippling dehydration slow her down.
She calls out her Staryu and asks it to fire it's Water Gun into the air, which will coat them all in a little mini-shower. The curiously alien Pokemon agrees with a sharp,"HAR!" and does as told, shooting water into the air that falls down onto a dancing Brock, Misty, Pikachu and Togepi.
Getting into the spirit of things, Brock and Misty don their costumes from Holiday At Aopulco (Or the abomination that was Beauty And The Beach for you poor saps who haven't seen that classic episode) and party like it's a 1960's Beach Movie.
Misty is wearing that same little red two piece which made Brock, Ash and yes even Pikachu gape, but this time Ash is more excited by the concept of using his Pokemon to cool down.
He calls out Squirtle and demands it do as Staryu did and use it's Water Gun.
Squirtle can't understand why the hell Ash would want him to do that, but as a long experienced participant in homoerotic college fraternity hazings he goes along with it and blasts Ash hard in the face with his Water Gun, slamming him hard into a nearby rock.
While these wacky antics are going on, in another part of the desert we find another trio trudging tiredly through the long sand dunes in desperate need of water.
"I'd give my right arm for a drink right now," moans Jesse tiredly.
"Yes," agrees a weary James, "I'd give your left arm as well."
Their ruminations are interrupted by the sound of gargling, slurping and swallowing (EWWWWWWWWWWWWWW) and they turn to see a happy Meowth pouring water from a canteen directly down his throat.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!" ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh's James, "I forgot we had water!"
"Meowth, we'll take our share now!" gasps Jesse, and Meowth hands the canteen over without any fuss at all. Excitedly, Jesse tips back her head and opens her mouth wide, her delicious little tongue poking out of her beautiful mouth as she tips back the canteen and.... a small drop of water evaporates before it can even fall halfway down to the close-up of one fantastic freaking tongue.
"Uh---huh? Uh-uh?" gapes Jesse, shaking the canteen desperately, "It's all gone! Meowth drank the canteen dry!"
"HEY!" snaps James angrily, "We were all supposed to get a share!"
"I know," agrees Meowth,"But my share was on de bottom!"
Jesse and James growl angrily and Meowth begins to realise the predicament that he's in, until he spots salvation, "Look! Dere's a well over dere!"
"I'm not stupid enough to fall for that you little...." growls Jesse, making to kick Meowth until she's interrupted by James. It should be noted that she said 'not stupid enough' though, which indicates that she is stupid?
"Look Jesse!" cries James, "It might be true!"
Turning to look, Team Rocket find themselves facing a well set into the hard rock of the ground, a well in the carved form of a Slowpoke.
Going over all gooey eyed, the trio charge the well and dance happily around it, Jesse giving Meowth all the credit in the world and telling him that, as he found it, the honour should be his. He found the well, so he should pump it.
Meowth is elated and pleased by this recognition of his worth and leaps up behind The Slowpoke and begins pumping hard (You sorry bastards should getcha minds outta da gutta!) telling them that he'll keep pumping away.
"Then we'll drink away!" laugh Jesse and James, getting down on their hands and knees in front of The Slowpoke Well in anticipation of the water, Meowth doing all the hard work for them.
"Hey, wait a minute...." mutters Meowth, realising that he's been duped.
"Just keep pumping!" smile Jesse and James together, but their pleasure is short-lived as the Slowpoke's mouth erupts with dirt and covers the waiting J&J's faces with sand.
"I guess the well ran dry," mutters Meowth, looking down at the choking, coughing pair.
"Even though it's like a desert out here there has to be water somewhere!" moans James.
"It's a lucky ting I brought dese along wit me," Meowth says, whipping out a pair of tent pegs. Turning, he holds them directly out in front of him and begins walking away, Jesse and James following with shovels over their shoulders, "Dey're called Divining Rods and as soon as we come across an underground spring dey start moving apart."
"Those divining rods sound simply divine to me!" James beams, becoming gayer by the second.
The rods begin to move apart and Meowth stops, ordering Jesse and James to dig where they point. The two friends start shovelling with gusto, digging deep into the dirt quickly but soon slowing down as their cardiovascular fitness lets them down (which seems peculiar, given Jesse's enormous lung capacity, hur-ha-ha) and they have to stop.
"It's a good ting I came prepared!" Meowth states, pulling out a remote control and pushing a button, "Dis little baby oughta do da trick!"
The hole Jesse and James are in begins to shake and quiver, then fills with dirt before erupting up into a huge pillar of dirt. Jesse and James, trapped on top, do their best Gohan and Krillan impersonations (DragonBall Z joke, it means whimper and whine for 55 minutes whenever anything happens) as the dirt rolls off and they find themselves on top of a giant Mechanical Diglett Tank.
"Allow me to introduce our new fangled Hole Digger!" proclaims Meowth,"The Super Diglett Mark II!"
"AND ALLOW ME TO INTRODUCE AN OLD FASHIONED SHOVEL!" yells Jesse.
"Huh?" asks Meowth, before getting beaned hard in the face with Jesse's shovel.
He still hasn't recovered as the trio settle into the cockpit of The SDM-II, waving and wobbling, his face lumpy and his eyes dazed while Jesse and James enjoy their new toy.
Several questions though - how did Meowth get it out into the desert? how did he get it so deep underground? How did he build it without J&J's knowledge? How come they weren't riding in it instead of walking?
Who cares! All of those little niggly things such as plot integrity and continuity go out the window because in the end, it's more important that a cool robot wreak havoc and then get blown up.
Because that's anime, dammit!
James, eager for water, demands that they get going immediately and with a flick of a switch and a mention of James' ex (Roger) Meowth starts them digging.
Amusingly, The SDM-II's hand-drills don't do the digging at first, instead the tank tracks spin around and bury them into the ground before they start tunnelling their way further and further into the dirt in desperate search of water.
Breaking into an underground cavern, The SDM-II falls with a bang, sending Team Rocket sprawling throughout the cavern and leaving them in a daze.
"What happened?" asked a dazed, concussed Jesse, "Why did we crash down?"
"That wasn't a crash down," replies Meowth, "It was a splash down!"
They try to find the water but it's too dark to see, but they can sense the dampness and they flick on their flashlights, looking around until they spot wet gold, un-teaed tea, water that is!
Eagerly they charge, immersing their faces in the cold, stagnant - laced with copious mineral deposits - water, glugging it down happily.
Sating their thirst, they look up just in time to see something very menacing. Red eyes glare at them angrily from the darkness and they quiver in fear as James lifts his flashlight to reveal the source of the sinister red eyes.
But no it's not a group of enraged Rocketshippers after all, it's Slowpoke! Happy, stupid Slowpoke grinning dumbly at their visitors, posing no threat to anyone.
"Huh?" huh's an annoyed Jesse, "They're nothing to be scared of, they're only Slowpoke!"
"But I wonder what all of them are doing down here?" asks James.
"LOOK WHAT I FOUND!" roars Meowth excitedly in the distance, and they turn to see The Scratch-Cat pointing at a sign a few meters away, "Dere's some kinda sign here!"
Soon Jesse and James have joined Meowth, and we're treated to a GAS of all three of them as Jesse interprets the blurred out Japanese writing for us.
"Welcome to The Slowpoke Well," she reads.
"Well, well!" cries Meowth for absolutely no reason.
"Also known as Rainmaker's Rest," Jesse continues, "According to local folklore it is believed that the Slowpoke who come here have the power to make rain in times of drought.... by yawning!"
"I guess dem Slowpoke gotta be careful dat dey don't get a big mouth fulla water!" suggests Meowth as James hits upon a busy opportunity.
"The townspeople here must need water! And if The Slowpoke can make it rain just by yawning....."
"All we gotta do is catch The Slowpoke and charge the town to make 'em yawn!" finishes Meowth.
Sparkles fly over J&J's head at this thought.
"We'll finally be rich!" sniffs Jesse, turning away to hide her tears of joy.
"Let's go get those Slowpoke, Jesse!" whispers James, and the two charge off in different reactions as an enraged Meowth flails his arms wildly and runs from side to side.
"HEY! WAIT A SECOND, I WAS DA ONE DAT GOT US DOWN HERE IN DA FIRST PLACE!"
"Imm hello you pink precious little Slowpoke," giggles Jesse happily, ignoring Meowth's histrionics as she makes to grab a Slowpoke by it's tail. Unfortunately for her, The Slowpoke proves not to be as slow as was originally thought and it rolls over and into the water, pulling her in with it.
"I'll get ya!" cries Meowth, charging up on another one who also slides off into the water, Meowth crashing into the rock and sliding down an incline just as James takes a wild swipe and misses, leaving him to slide down the other side of the incline, straight towards Meowth. They scream in the hopes that this will disrupt the laws of physics but this doesn't work out and they crash into each other instead.
"GET OUTTA MY FACE!" snaps Meowth, slamming his paw into James' face.
"Get your paw off me!" retorts James angrily.
It should be noted that there is some debate over whether or not Team Rocket are interested in The Slowpoke for their yawn or for their tails. Apparently Slowpoke Tails are quite valuable and in one of the games Team Rocket attempt to cut off the tails of Slowpoke's rather than just capture them.
Given that all three of our heroes have attempted to grab Slowpoke's by the tails, this argument may have some merit.
Jesse emerges from the water, meanwhile, mumbling that The Slowpoke aren't as slow as they're cracked up to be.
"I tink it's time ta use da Diglett Mark II's ultra secret weapon!" decides Meowth as a confused and angry James looks on before screaming in Meowth's ear.
"FROM NOW ON USE THE SECRET WEAPONS RIGHT AWAY!"
"SLOWPOKE!" agrees a Slowpoke, it's face filling the screen.
Meanwhile, the twerpy trio are crossing a wooden bridge over a dried up riverbed.
"Hey guys look!" calls Brock after Misty surmises that it hasn't rained in months, "There's Azalea Town!"
FINALLY! After what seems like 27 years of wandering about aimlessly they've arrived in Azalea Town! And now it's time for Ash to win another badge, you're all thinking, right?
Wrong! Despite Ash's desire to get his second badge and the fact that they're now IN Azalea Town, it will take another two episodes before Ash actually gets into The Gym.
What is this? Dragon Ball Z?
"All right! cries Ash, unaware of his fate,"Let's get to The Gym right away!"
"Wait a second Ash," interrupts Misty, confusing the easily confused little boy, "We have to deliver The GS ball."
"That can wait till later!" snaps Ash. "Why can't you go to the Gym later?" snaps Misty back at him, as Brock and Pikachu follow the back and forth like spectators at a Tennis Match, "Professor Oak's been waiting for you to get that GS Ball to Kurt so we can find out what's inside!"
"I'll do it after I go to The Gym!" yells Ash petulantly, "I wanna go to and win another badge NOW!"
"You promised Professor Oak you'd do it!" growls Misty, getting up close and personal with Ash, then in a chilling premonition of their future married relationship yells, "Promises are important!"
"Gym Badges are important too!" yells Ash.
They press their noses together and growl angrily, but before their anger and frustration at each other can break into wide eyed stares and a full-on, open mouthed passionate frenching, Brock intervenes and breaks the tension.
"No sense fighting over it guys," he says, breaking the eyelock which would have led to something more. The two lovers turn and see that Brock is reading off of a sign, and they walk over to see what it is.
"Due to the continuing drought," he reads, "Water conservation measures must be taken. All schools, public buildings and The Azalea Town Pokemon Gym are closed until further notice."
"Wuuuh," wuuuhs Ash, hanging his head low, "Waa, wuh.... well, like I said, the important thing is to get this GS Ball to Kurt."
They head down the deserted streets, and Ash notes that he keeps seeing the same sign everywhere, an exclamation mark overshadowed by the pink outline of a Slowpoke.
"And the Slowpoke just aren't on the signs!" agrees Brock, "Look!"
Looking around, the magnificently unobservant children finally realise that there are Slowpoke everywhere, draped over everything, sleeping everywhere.
They walk on, looking about and wondering what they're all doing here, and as it so happens Ash does the one thing that is not allowed in Azalea Town, he steps on a Slowpoke's tail.
Stopping short, he looks down at the pink, pudgy, sleeping Pokemon with confusion, his own brain too small and pathetic to register fully what he's just done, just as the Slowpoke hasn't yet realised it's been trodden on.
He apologises and moves on, and a minute later the Slowpoke lets out a long,"Slooooow," and sits up, hugging it's tail sadly and rocking back and forth.
Brock explains that Slowpoke always take a long time to register anything, and it seems that this one has only just clicked that it's been hurt.
"Hey!" yells a kid, popping up from out of nowhere, "That kid hurt a Slowpoke!"
"Oh yeah?" yells the first of an angry mob that has just been hanging around in the shadows waiting for something to give them an excuse to administer a beating,"What did he do? Did he punch it? kick it?
Did he bite it?"
"Yeeee-ahhhhhh," yeee-ahhhhhh's Ash, "I didn't do anything! I just stepped on it's tail by accident!"
"He's lying!"
"Yeah! That Slowpoke's hurt!"
"We can't let him get away with hurting a Slowpoke!"
"Criminals, that's what they are! They're criminals!"
"Yeah!" mumbles a drunken hick, "Let's teach them a lesson!"
The angry mob has filled the once empty town, and now Ash and company are finally gonna get the beating they so richly deserve.
The twerps turn and run, followed by the mob, but one remains behind to survey the scene. A tall, rather oddly shaped and ruffled Slowpoke that stands on it's hind legs.
Cutting around to the front, we see the Slowpoke's mouth is hanging wide open (which is in and of itself not too confusing) and inside is the grim countenance of an old man!
Can you say Surreal, kiddies?
In the centre of town, near a Slowpoke Well, the kids have managed to temporarily lose the mob, but they've got to find someplace to hide soon or their goose is cooked.
"Hey, what's that?" asks Misty, turning to stare at a Slowpoke's paw beckoning her from the bushes.
Public Service Announcement : Kids, when an old man in a Slowpoke Costume beckons you from the bushes, do NOT go to him, despite what you have seen on Pokemon.
....
Unless he has candy.
"Here, put these on, quick!" The Slowpoke whispers hurriedly, pulling out the skin of a departed comrade.
"It talks!" gasps the twerps, ignoring the grisly trophy the mad Slowpoke is dangling.
"Hurry and put these costumes on, I'll explain later!" hisses the insane Pokemon.
"What should we do?" the kids ask themselves, but the sound of the rapidly approaching mob convinces them and they grab the costumes from what turns out not to be an insane Slowpoke but just a freaky old man.
The mob, tired and hot, figures they've scared the kids away and - ignoring the four large, crude looking Slowpoke and the Togepi sitting in ones lap and the Pikachu on the other's shoulder - disperse and head away.
Ash thanks Mr. Freak for saving them, and asks why they made such a big deal out of such a little thing like physically abusing a Pokemon.
The Slowpoke Costume Wearing Old Man explains that over 400 years ago another drought much like this one had crippled Azalea Town to such a great degree that they had to be animated in Indian Ink. Just when things were looking their worst, a Slowpoke arrived on the scene, let loose with an almighty yawn and the skies let loose with massive torrents of rain which saved the town. Ever since then, Slowpoke have been like gold in Azalea Town.
This is all well and good, of course, but it doesn't explain just why he's wearing a Slowpoke Costume, does it.
Backpedalling madly at Misty's question, Mr. Freak hastily covers up his fear and humiliation with false bravado and bluffs that he's wearing the costume so that he can get close to the Slowpoke without alarming them when he goes to the.....
Realising that he hasn't gone where he's supposed to go, and also that it will allow him to avoid the issue, the man leaps up and runs away, leaving the kids confused, unsure and a little nauseous.
Back in the desert, near the Slowpoke Well, Mr. Freak charges down into a deep tunnel, confused and agitated by the noises he is hearing from the Slowpoke Cavern below.
Entering the cavern at last, he spots a Slowpoke crawling up towards him but before he can say or do anything a massive baseball bat slams into the ground before him, knocking out the Slowpoke and crashing Mr. Freak into the ground.
Staggering to his feet, he spots The SDM-II wreaking havoc, chasing some not-so-slow Slowpoke about the cavern, waving a bat in one hand as it attempts to brain them like baby seals.
Mr. Freak - ah hell let's just call him Kurt, we all know it! - runs behind The SDM-II screaming for it to stop, and stop it does, turning to note that their is a Slowpoke behind it. "What? No wait, I'm not...." starts Kurt, but already The SDM-II is charging and Kurt is forced to turn and run, trying to agilely dodge the relentless march of technology and doing in his back in the process.
Back in Azalea Town, the kids have come across a happy coincidence as they just so happen to be walking by Kurt's house when a small little girl arrives at the same place.
"Excuse me, do you know where a man named Kurt lives?" Ash asks the strange little girl, who silently points to the house they're standing besides.
"Right here? This is perfect!" laughs Ash, then decides to explain his happiness to the little girl by informing her, "Now we'll find out about The GS Ball!"
"Thanks very much," Misty says to the chillingly quiet little girl.
Ash pushes the doorbell and they all call out for Kurt, including Pikachu.
"He won't be back till later," speaks up the small child finally.
"Are you his next door neighbour or something, little girl?" asks Ash, and the girl gives an answer worthy of the stupidity of Ash himself.
"He's my grandpa, I call him grandpa, but everybody else calls him Kurt."
"Do you know where he went?" asks Misty.
"Down to the Slowpoke Well," the little girl replies, as if it were obvious.
"The Slowpoke Well?" asks Ash.
"How long ago did he leave here?" asks Misty.
"Well, I don't exactly remember, coz I was watching t.v," the increasingly annoying little girl replies, the little red blush marks on her cheek growing more and more irritating,"But he heard a funny noise coming from the Slowpoke Well, and he went down there to find out what it was."
Ash's only reply is a blink, but a quick cut later and we find the twerps back in the desert, approaching The Slowpoke Well. Arriving there, they look about for the cave the little girl evidently told them about off-camera, and find it in about the same place as the cave shaped object that's right in front of their eyes.
Heading down into the cave, they look about the dank, damp walls as they hear the familiar (to Ash at least, who lived with the sound coming from his mother's room for 10 years) sound of an old man groaning and gasping for air.
Looking down, Ash realises he's almost stepped on yet another Slowpoke, albeit a much larger one than usual.
"It's the man in the Slowpoke suit again!" gasps Misty, "What's the matter? What's wrong? Did somebody hurt you?"
"Uhhhhh," groans Kurt, tapping out with his arm, "He's on my foot!"
"AHHH! SORRY!" cries Ash, stepping off Kurt's foot.
"What are you doing here?" Brock asks.
"No time for explanations!" growls Kurt, who appears to be quite good at not giving explanations for the bizarre situations he finds himself in, "A Giant Robot is capturing The Slowpoke!"
Back in the cavern, The SDM-II is doing just that, Meowth firing a net-missile to capture a group of fleeing Slowpoke. Ash and Misty charge into the cavern and spot the massive Diglett, and Ash for once gets it right, knowing immediately who is behind all this.
"HAHAHAHAH!" laugh Team Rocket together as The Slowpoke are pulled into The SDM-II.
"We're inside so prepare for trouble!" laughs Jesse, her voice tinny through The SDM-II's microphones.
"We're mean and snide so make it double!" giggles James, as he and Jesse emerge from the top of The SDM-II's head.
"To protect the world from devastation!"
"To unite all peoples within our nation!"
"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"
"To extend our reach to the stars above!"
"Jesse!"
"James!"
"Team Rocket blast off at the speed of light!" cries Jesse as she stands against a backdrop of stars as roses flutter down around her.
"Surrender now or prepare to fight, fight, fight!" agrees James, standing in the gayest possible position, one hand cocked against his hips, the other extended, wrist limp, the roses seemingly appearing from his hand.
"Meowth, that's right!" laughs Meowth, hitting a big red button on the control panel. Immediately three net-missles fire out and capture three more groups of Slowpoke, pulling them in. "What are you going to do now!" moans Kurt as he and Brock - who is supporting him - finally arrive in the cavern.
"What does it look like we're doing, Mr. Masquerade, we're stealing them!" laughs James.
"Then we'll have them make it rain for those poor, parched townfolk!" cries Jesse, putting on a soft, caring voice, "For a price!"
"A steep one too!" laughs Meowth, "HA!"
"This isn't fair!" moans Ash like a girl, "You can't try to sell people rain!"
"We'll sell anything we can get people to buy!" growls Jesse, unconsciously parroting the sales ethic of The Nintendo Corporation.
"If we could steal an Aerodactyl we'd be selling air!" yells James.
"This is an outrage! They have to be stopped!" roars Kurt, enraged beyond belief and ready to hit them with his ultimate attack - The Silly Old Man With A Bad Back Charge Attack!
He lets loose with his full power, charging forward two steps before collapsing in pain and moaning and sweating angrily.
Let this be a lesson to you fair children of The Dodge, old people are useless and a blight on society. They can offer nothing of any intrinsic value and must be stopped at all costs before they breed!
Ash - however stupid he may be - is at least young, and he picks up where Kurt left off. Leaping onto the incline, he shoe-surfs his way down towards Team Rocket with Pikachu in tow, telling them he's not going to let them roll away with those Slowpoke.
"Oh really?" asks Jesse,"And how do you intend to stop us?"
"Pikachu!" cries Ash, deciding to try a little something unexpected by having Pikachu use the exact same move it always uses, "Thunderbolt attack!"
Before Pikachu can let loose, however, James points out that the entire cavern is damp and lined with water, and any electrical attack that Pikachu makes is going to shock all those uncaptured Slowpoke as well.
Frustrated at having to think, Ash does the opposite and calls out a Pokemon that definitely doesn't think with it's brain - Heracross!
Heracross gamely steps into the path of the approaching SDM-II, looking more than a little enthusiastic at the thought of tackling it 'hands-on' so to speak.
"RRRRRRRRRRR," rrrrrrrrrrr's Jesse, "I'll squash you like a bug-type!"
The SDM-II hits Heracross hard, but the Sexual Perversion Pokemon is lent strength by it's massive sexual frustration and it attempts to slow The SDM-II down by planting it's feet hard into the ground.
And it's at this point that Ash hits us with one of the dodgiest lines in Pokemon ever.
"Give it a toss, Heracross!"
Hehehehehehe!
Heracross is, of course, always up for a toss and pitches The SDM-II away.
"AHHH! MEOWTH! DO SOMETHING!" screams Jesse, who doesn't take too kindly to getting tossed off by a Heracross.
"Returning fire!" snaps Meowth.
"Ah--- oooh oooh! Ahh oooh oooh!" is all James will say.
Make of that, what you will.
A hatch opens up in The SDM-II's body and a giant Meowth fist launches out (probably all that is left of The Meowthinator Impersonator from the last episode) and punches Heracross directly in the face, sending it flying backwards.
Ash calls Heracross back into it's Pokeball, knowing that it will be exhausted after a toss like that.
The SDM-II celebrates it's victory with a little dance and then, Team Rocket knowing they're pushing their luck the longer they stay, decide to leg it.
The tracks of their SDM-II start spinning and dig them into the ground, and they soon far beyond Ash's reach, escaping and, finally, winning.
"I can't believe they're going to get away this time!" snaps Ash angrily, as all around him Slowpoke blink, mutter a soft, "Slow," then get up and start heading out of the cavern.
The twerps and old freaky Mr. Kurt watch them go, unsure of what is going on, but figure they've got nothing better to do (like rescue some Slowpoke) and follow them up and out of the cavern.
Outside by the Slowpoke Well, The Slowpoke head up and around to the flat rock-face looking over the well down to Azalea Town. Ringing in a circle around the rock-pillar, the twerps rush out to see what they're doing, Kurt riding on Brock's back, still wearing his Slowpoke outfit, which is dodgy in and of itself.
Watching The Slowpoke, Kurt suggests that it looks like they know what they're doing, as if they'd done it before. But could it be, is it possible, are they really going to do what we all think they're going to do?
Or are they just going to take a communal dump?
Turn out not, as each Slowpoke in turn yawns, and yawns and yawns until the yawn fills the sky, storm clouds roll over and without any preamble, it begins to rain.
In Azalea Town, the people cheer and dance in the streets as the rain begins at last, and back in the desert the rain has hit flash flood proportions as the twerps find themselves trapped up on the roof of The Slowpoke Well as water floods all around them.
The water pours down into The Slowpoke Cavern and down the hole The SDM-II made during it's escape. Flowing down into the tunnel, it smashes into The SDM-II and somehow causes it to explode out of the ground and up into the air.
Crashing, The SDM-II breaks in half, the bottom tracks remaining in the rock-pillar in the middle of all The Slowpoke while the top half bounces out and crashes down by The Well.
Jesse, James and Meowth roll out with a moan, hurt and sore but pleased that at least they got the Slowpoke and there is nothing the twerp can do about.....
Oh Lord you've got to hate irony, as Team Rocket find themselves facing a smug Ash and a battle-ready Pikachu.
Suffice it to say that pretty soon they're blasting off again.
The bottom tracks of The SDM-II were a storage compartment, it seems, as the captured Slowpoke pop their heads out and stare at their saviours, who stare back.
Then, in a chilling display of synchronised blinking, both groups of Slowpoke do just that, blink.
Brock asks the others if they think it really was The Slowpoke who made it rain. Misty has an open mind and doesn't discount the possibility, but Ash is absolutely positive of the fact, completely neglecting any other possible explanation, including both the possibility that The Slowpoke yawn because they recognise that it's going to rain naturally or even that Mother Nature was unleashing it's fury at Togepi again.
"The world of Pokemon is full of mysteries," notes Kurt enigmatically, "And this is one of the most mysterious."
Clap, clap, clap.
That was brilliant, Kurt.
Back in Azalea Town everything is peachy keen, the river is full, the crops have miraculously returned to full growth and via latent telepathy the entire town knows Ash did not mean to step on that Slowpoke's tail.
Kurt kindly offers the kids a chance to tour the town, but they decline, informing him they have to find Kurt.
"My name is Kurt!" remarks Kurt, pulling his Slowpoke mask off to reveal his stern features and terrifying mullet hairdo.
"Ahhhhhhhhh," ahhhhhhhhh Ash, Misty, Brock and Pikachu, once more doing a Krillan and Gohan impersonation. Why is not clear, it's not like Kurt being Kurt is all that scary, although we guess finding out that the expert they've been looking for gets his kicks dressing up as a Slowpoke can be pretty disconcerting.
Not as disconcerting as his grand-daughter though, so be warned Gentle Dodgers, next episode we will get to know the most annoying character since Richie.
It's not going to be pretty.
| BEST QUOTES |
 "What does it look like, Mr Masquerade, we're stealing them"
"Those divining rods sound simply divine to me"
 "Give it a toss, Heracross!"
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