209: Takin' it on the Chinchou!
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Once off the cable-car, Misty yells at Ash for taking them the long way as he lamely offers that he thought they were taking a shortcut. The problem is they have to get to the ferry, and if they don't make it in time, they'll have to wait another three days to get the next one. Ash is determined though, and says he got them into this, he'll get them out.
As he speaks though, a fresh distraction appears from a set of stairs. Yes, up leaps an abomination that God forgot, straight from the bottom of the ocean, and its appearance is such an assault on the senses that all we can be doing is....
Takin' It On The Chinchou!
"Chinchou, the Angler Pokemon," explains Dexter as Ash points it at the horror, a kind of blue ball on small feet with no hands; two small fins; giant yellow dead eyes that look like they've been stitched up recently; and to top it off, the ultimate insult, two blue tentacled feelers with fat yellow sacs dangling from the end, "Has the ability, to conduct electrical current, from their two tentacles, which flow, positive from one end, and negative from the other. Chinchou, can also communicate, underwater by flashing its tentacles.
Well for some reason the appearance of the monster is not greeted by mass induced vomiting but delight. Misty still wants a Corsola but now she wants a Chinchou too! Foregoing the usual battle run-up, she cuts straight to throwing a Pokeball and... it bounces off!
As Misty sighs in disappointment, realising that it belongs to someone else, a kid runs up squealing that the Chinchou is his. You wouldn't know it to look though, as it runs away from him, leaving him running on the spot before giving chase as it runs off. Ash tries to help, jumping in front of it and grabbing at a tentacle.... and he promptly gets electrocuted by a Spark Attack!
The kid is horrified and embarrassed and demands Chinchou apologise while Ash falls away twitching. The horror hangs its head in shame as Misty and Brock approach, but neither gives Ash sympathy as they assure the kid that it is probably his own fault, he touched the things tentacle after all!
Introductions are made, the kid is called Dayton and his Chinchou is called Bright. The twerps explain they've come to the wrong town and are probably going to miss the ferry, and with delight he tells them this is great news, because now they can come to The Parade of the Chinchous! Since they don't urgently need to catch a ferry that comes only every three days or anything, Ash seems okay with this and takes Chinchou by a tentacle to ask.... and promptly gets hit by Spark Attack!
Watching from a nearby stairwell is Team Rocket, and for reasons that are NEVER explained, are dressed all in black with capes, feathered berets and Dame Edna glasses!
Some days you just feel like dressing up!
Jesse thinks that the Chinchou has an electric personality, just like her, and James and Meowth think they'd make good Christmas decorations. This doesn't go down well with Jesse however, and smacks them over the head to a salute of support from Wobbuffet which garners it an angry glare from James and Meowth that leaves it sweating.
Meanwhile Ash makes a call to Professor Oak to let him know that he'll be hanging out for the parade of the Chinchou (I'm sure Professor Oak really needed to know that, and was pleased to be called away from.... emotionally supporting.... Ash's lonely mother) and Ash asks why Chinchou are in the mountains if they're from the ocean. Oak explains when the mountains and volcanoes rose up from the water, the Chinchou that used to nest in the same place during mating season would return, and then later head back to the ocean - the "Parade" in question. That night Dayton asks his father if the twerps can come with them (it is their turn this year to lead the parade and make sure the Chinchou get back to the ocean safely from their volcanic lake pimp-shack) and his father says yes, then blows a whistle to mark the start of the parade. The water beneath them lights up bright and the twerps think it is beautiful.
It's the money shot of a giant Pokemon orgy!
Drums beat and people crowding the beach cheer as the Chinchou line up, forming a path. Bright leaps out and glows its tentacles, and scores of Chinchou leap out of the water and group together. Dayton goes to the front with Bright to lead while his Dad "brings up the rear" and they start parading the Chinchou towards the ocean, leading them through town where people cheer and laugh and throw water over the well-fucked creatures.
The twerps walk with Dayton's Dad who explains the Chinchou need to keep their moisture level up. As the sun rises, they start heading downhill through a forest path, approaching a rope bridge. They stop there, Dayton asking why Bright has stopped. Ash thinks it might be afraid and Dayton encourages it. When it starts leading them over, Ash admiringly tells Dayton he is a good trainer while his Dad explains to Brock and Misty that the Chinchou always know the right direction to go. Misty smirks and quips that Ash could learn a thing or two from them.
Ash and Dayton get to the other side of the bridge... and for the first time notice what they shouldn't have been able to miss before. A massive wooden viewing tower has been built up on the other side of the bridge, on top of which a man and woman stand beating a drum for dramatic effect.
"Prepare for trouble, from up on high!"
"Make it double, now hear our cry!"
"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 blasts off at the speed of light," laughs Jesse as she throws off her green jacket.
"OOOOH! Surrender now or prepare to fight, fight, fight!" oooohs James as he does the same.
"Meowth! Dat's right!"
Yes it's Team Rocket, and they thank the twerps for leading the Chinchou their way and say they'll take it from here. Meowth dramatically hits a button and cries, "GET READY FOR DA CAPTURE MISSILE! BLAST OFF!" as white light spills out of the box.... then fades away leaving a confused looking Meowth standing between an irritated Jesse and James.
"Why isn't it blasting off?" asks Jesse, and James asks if he checked the instruction manual first? Meowth smacks at the button complaining that it is jammed, while Ash FINALLY figures out it is a trap and calls out a warning. Dayton's Dad blows a whistle to call the Chinchou back, Brock and Misty running the other way as the Chinchou start running across the bridge.
Meowth screams for the rocket to blast off and smashes the button box.... and the capture rocket finally blasts off, drops a net over the bridge just as the last Chinchou gets off of it, struggles to raise up and up.... pulls the bridge loose from its moorings, gets pulled down towards the river by the unexpected weight, struggles to keep above the water and then crashes.
"Can you return it?" gasps a shocked James as Jesse slaps her face in embarrassment.
"Now dat's what I call working wittout a net," sighs Meowth.
"WOBBUFFET!" agrees Wobbuffet helpfully.
"WHY CAN'T I EVER COUNT ON YOU TWO!?!" yells Jesse, then proclaims she'll do it herself..... and promptly gets hit with a Thunder Wave from Bright before Ash has Pikachu use Thunderbolt to explode the tower and send Team Rocket blasting off again.
From across the chasm, Dayton's Dad calls to Ash, Dayton, Pikachu, Bright and the small amount of Chinchou with them that they'll have to split up and meet again later. Dayton is worried they'll get lost, but his dad says the Chinchou will know which way to go.
Ash yells out to his friends that he'll be all right, they don't need to worry about him and Misty laughingly yells back that if Dayton wants to get lost he can have Ash lead them. Ash is shocked and appalled, while Misty laughs and adds he'll probably have to eat soon too!
Dayton laughs and calls back he has plenty of Poke Chow, and Ash yells back across the chasm to the Chinchou to be careful of Misty's temper attack.
They set off on their different paths as the night deepens and Bright seems to get tired, and then collapses. So do all the other Chinchou and Dayton belatedly remembers that he is SUPPOSED to be keeping them hydrated with water! He isn't sure what to do but Ash can help, he calls out Totodile!
It dances with delight to be in a forest at NIGHT! and Ash orders it to use Water Gun to give the Chinchou a good soaking. Totodile is delighted! It draws back with a mouthful of water and Ash panics, yelling for it not to use an attack and causing Totodile to blast water into its own mouth. Ash explains he just needs to cool them off and re-moisturise their skin, so Totodile blasts water into the air which rains down on the happy Chinchou, which re-energise as Dayton congratulates Ash on a good idea. Ash thanks Totodile and so does Dayton, so Totodile dances the "HOLY SHIT AWESOME I JUST GOT THANKED!" dance and the Chinchou join in.
They walk along a cliff-side path as Dayton - who has lived his life on this island and isn't exactly a source of great conversation - fills the small amount of learning space in Ash's head with useless trivia about Chinchou.... but then God appears to have had enough of the abominations continued existence and tries to wipe them out. Unfortunately The Almighty misses and the rock path shatters under Dayton's foot, causing him to slip, fall, and skid over rock, twist in mid-air, land on his head, shatter several bones and then disappear with a look of horrific realisation of his impending death into the darkness of the abyss.
Woah, things just got a little serious!
But Dayton hasn't died, he lies crippled and broken at the foot of the cliff, quivering in agony and surely internally bleeding....
Nope, turns out he just grazed his knee a little bit, and he sits up as it begins to pour with rain. Ash walks along the cliff-side path calling out for Dayton (who fell down, not forward along the path in front of him!) but Dayton hears and yells out, but Ash can't hear. Luckily for Dayton's chances of survival though, Bright's hearing is a little better and its tentacles start flailing about before it leads the other Chinchou down the cliffside. Ash realises what is going on and chases after, using that useless trivia the boring Dayton fed him to good use after all. Dayton hears them and stands up as they rush through the darkness with Ash and Pikachu in pursuit, and Dayton hugs Bright happily. The rain stops and the clouds part as the day begins to dawn, and they walk on through the forest through a thick fog. Bright seems to think they're going the right way and they walk on and find themselves at the beach where the others are waiting for them. The other Chinchou rush up to meet Ash and Dayton's lot, and when they meet in the middle.... they fall into a giant hole in the sand!
The dust and sand clears and the Happy Buddha Face Meowth Balloon (complete with engine fan enhancement) rising up with a cage full of Chinchou held beneath it. James sends out Weezing to use Smokescreen to hide their escape while Jesse laughs that at least they're leaving behind Pikachu... for now! Pikachu fires Thunderbolts through the smoke but keeps missing its target hidden behind the smoke, while Team Rocket laugh that it'll have to be better luck next time!
But Dayton's Pokemon is called Bright for a reason and he calls for it to shine its tentacle-feelers to show where they are, and all the Chinchou start flashing their tentacles and creating bursts of light in the smoke. Ash calls out Bayleef and Totodile, the latter using Water Gun and blasting through the centre of the smoke, before Bayleef uses Razor Leaf which smashes against the cage but does nothing. Meowth laughs that the cage is top of the line, while Dayton's Dad calls out for Thunder Wave and all of the Chinchou use the move, but again nothing happens and Meowth laughs that the cage is indestructible.
"But... what about Combustible?" asks James in fear, and then the cage shatters and the Chinchou fall into the ocean. With the Pokemon safely out of the way, Pikachu uses Thunderbolt through the smoke, followed by a group Spark Attack from Chinchou that sends Team Rocket blasting off again.
The day is getting on and Dayton stands in the water looking sad as the Chinchou prepare to finally leave... but then Bright returns and they stand silhouetted in the sun. It seems that despite the fact Bright is Dayton's Pokemon, it must return to the ocean and obey its biological imperative to BREEEEED much like Ash's sucky Butterfree once did. Dayton tells it is supposed to swim out into the ocean and agrees he will miss it, but no matter how far they're separated they'll always be friends, and he'll still be there when it comes back. Bright glows a tentacle and Dayton says goodbye to his friend, then the surf washes over them and when it recedes, Bright is gone.
The water glows bright (HOMECOMING ORGY!) which Ash mistakes for a message that Bright will be back soon, and Dayton calls out goodbye, saying he'll see it soon.
Further out in the ocean Team Rocket lie half submerged, depressed emotionally as well.
"This time we're really sunk," moans James.
"Please don't use da word sunk, James," sighs Meowth.
"I'd love a floatee," mutters Jesse.
"Yeah," agrees Meowth, then grins wide as he sees the Chinchou swimming towards them, "HEY! Would ya look at dat, DEY'RE COMING TO SAVE US!"
Excited, the trio leap up and land on the unsuspecting Chinchou's tentacle-feelers and... well, you can probably guess the rest, Gentle Dodgers.
Back on the Island, the three day waiting period has been used up by the March of the Chinchou and the ferry has arrived again. The twerps stand on their ferry and wave goodbye, Ash telling Dayton next time they'll battle (niiiice, he just lost his only Pokemon, you jerk!) and Misty spots a Corsola standing on a mooring post and eagerly rushes over the railing to get it, held back at the last second by Ash and Brock.
Yes, for the two boys a long-gone problem has returned.... just how the hell they are going to deal with a fully energised Misty for the first time in a long time.
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