630: Keeping In Top Forme
Dodgy Synopsis
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636: Tobe Sheimi! Sora no Kanata e!
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Today finds Dawn and Piplup training, Piplup enjoying the chance to show off for the object of its great and impossible lust. As Ash attempts to talk to Gible which just stands there gabbering blankly with its mouth, Brock is being a mother hen, thinking about making up a meal for his kids after they've worked up a big appetite. But then a strange sight catches his eye, the river he is kneeling by has a small rowboat in it, sailing serenely past on the gentle current, and lying inside in perfect repose is what appears to be a dead girl, dressed in funereal black, with a little picnic basket just above her head.
Has he stumbled upon some strange Sinnoh Funeral rite? He tries to get the girl's attention but she lies still as a corpse, and Brock notices for the first time the big ass waterfall only a little way down the river. He shouts to try and get the dead girl's attention but she lies unresponsive, and in a panic he jumps into the water and gets in front of the boat, trying to turn it to the shore.... but the deceptively gentle current is too strong and he's being pushed backwards! Come on Brock, use those muscles, we know that all those lonely nights means that at least ONE of your arms has been....
He notices a rope in the boat and sends Happiny out onto the shore and tosses it the rope, and the strong little Pokémon happily hauls the boat and Brock out of the water and crashing onto the ground. Ash and Dawn rush up to check on him, but Brock is more worried about the girl who not only hasn't moved, she HASN'T MOVED, as in Happiny violently hauling the boat out of the water didn't shift her position at all. Dawn asks if the girl is even real, having never seen a dead body before, and then suddenly, to quote Severed Heads quoting Edgar Lustgarten.... THE DEAD EYES OPENED!
The twerps jump back in alarm as the zombie sits up and asks calmly where her basket is. Brock points it out to her and she lifts it up and unemotionally mumbles,"Thank goodness," before asking why he is all wet. Ash and Dawn angrily (quite rightly!) point out that he is all wet because he jumped into the river to save her (dead) life, as she was about to go over the waterfall. All her dead, emotionally cut off mind takes from this is the information that Brock's name is Brock, further pissing off Ash and Dawn... but Brock doesn't seem to mind, taking more interest in what is below the black dressed girl's umbrella like skirt.
Oh come on Brock, she looks like she's about 14 years old.... and also she's dead!
She steps out and introduces herself as Marley and, though clearly disinterested, asks for their names. They ask why she was "sleeping" in the boat and she tells them she was hiding from a bad group of people and must have fallen asleep... then monotonely tells Brock that he will protect her now, and points to a far distant mountain and tells him that she needs to get there so please protect her, Brock, please. A disgruntled Ash and Dawn tell her she can't expect them to go out of their way to help her (why not, they do every other day) and coldly (but not emotionally) Marley replies,"Excuse me, I'm not asking you two."
AHHHHHHHH HAHAHAHA, ICE BURN! Be quiet kids, the "adults" are talking!
They tell Brock grumpily that she'll be fine by herself, but he quite reasonably points out that she won't be fine if bad people are chasing her... and they're going that way ANYWAY soooo...... Marley mumbles that it is settled then, and they all set off together, Dawn and Ash not used to bringing up the rear and not at all happy to be a 3rd wheel in an adventure while Momma Brock takes centre stage.
Plus... the whole having to walk around with a dead person thing.....
Brock asks where she is heading after the mountain and she tells them she is going to a secret garden, she can't say any more than that. Ash and Dawn want to know why bad people are chasing her, and she turns and delivers deadpan,"It's because I'm an alien."
Dawn freaks the fuck out while Ash looks strangely determined as they ask if she is kidding, and equally deadpan she replies,"I'm kidding."
Haha, I'm starting to like this dead chick, she's a total bitch to the kids!
Piplup's stomach grumbles and Pikachu agrees it is hungry, so Brock settles down to give them some food, his mothering instinct too strong to deny. Marley mumbles that she is in a hurry and he tells her it won't be long, and she STARES with her dead eyes at the food as the Pokémon eat, then mumbles she is going for a walk. Slightly alarmed, Brock tells her not to go too far, but she doesn't answer. She heads off the path into the forest, settles down her basket and opens it to reveal... a tired and dusty Shaymin!
Well.... didn't see that one coming!
A very slight level of emotion enters her voice as she tries to get the miserable looking Pokémon to eat. Back on the path, the twerps are worried that she hasn't come back yet and head out to find her... and discover Marley's secret. As Dawn checks out Shaymin with her Pokedex, Brock checks its condition and guesses that it has some toxins still in it - one of Shaymin's abilities is to purify pollutants but it seems to still have some in its system. Marley's zombie brain works on this new information and she offers up that it did absorb a Seviper's (you can see where this is going, Gentle Dodgers) Haze Attack earlier in the day. Brock gives it a berry to clear out any remaining toxins, and it farts out a black haze in response, and another berry rejuvenates it somewhat so the little hedgehog looks clean and full of life again, unlike Marley herself (well she does look clean I guess).
Marley tells Brock he is almost like Nurse Joy and Ash eagerly throws in that Brock wants to be a top breeder (snicker!), but Dawn wants to know why she is keeping a Shaymin inside of a picnic basket. She tells them she must keep it hidden away from the bad people.... and who are those bad people? You already know, Gentle Dodgers, only a few feet away not even really bothering to hide themselves are a pissed off Team Rocket, annoyed that Marley had to "get tight with the twerps" and determined to get "their" Shaymin after the all-nighter they just pulled. Meowth remembers it well, as we flashback to a strangely Nude-Giovanni-Free Flashback of the night before.
They were walking through the forest when they spotted Shaymin waddling its fat little ass along the path. Meowth was wide eyed and manic as he led the chase after it, knowing that for a fact that THIS Pokémon actually would impress the Boss. Shaymin scarpered and discovered Marley a little way further up the path, leaping up onto the dead girl's shoulder and catching her by surprise. Team Rocket attacked, demanding she hand over "their" Shaymin, and she made the mistake of asking who they were.
"The best! The crčme de la crčme!"
"We're the best, while their just them!"
"On the wind!"
"Past the stars!"
"I'M SUCH A GEM.... HUH!?!" Meowth cuts off the motto as he realises that Marley has used her secret zombie powers to disappear from sight! They spot her rushing through
Spotting her moving into the forest off the path, they gave chase, but she turned and sent out her Arcanine, using Flamethrower to send them blasting off again. Back in the present, a furious Team Rocket says it takes more than a blast off to banish them, and now they're going to get that Shaymin.
Marley has apparently told the twerps the same story as they continue on, and tells them that she tried to part with Shaymin but it didn't work out. As the sun had set the previous day, on the banks of the river she'd shown it the direction to the garden where the Gracidea flower blooms (needed by Shaymin to convert to Sky Form and fly away safe from attacks by Team Rocket. It waddled its fat little ass away and she hunkered down for the night by the river, having trouble getting her zombie mind to rest as it was infected with the human emotion we call love. Later that night, as she lay sleepless, Shaymin waddled back and nudged up to her, and a strange thing happened to the dead girl's face... she smiled (almost) and agreed that she would help get Shaymin to the garden. Hugging the fat little hedgehog she noted how warm and cosy it was and fell asleep.
The next morning as she continued on the riverbank, Team Rocket emerged from the forest having been up all night searching for her. They demanded that she hand over Shaymin, and she'd gone to call out Arcanine again only for Jesse to beat her to the punch by calling out Seviper to use Haze. In the confusion, James grabbed Shaymin, but it used Seed Flare to absorb the Haze and explode with green energy, knocking Team Rocket onto their backs. Shaymin was sent flying through the air and landed in Marley's hands, and she jumped onto Arcanine's back and they rushed away in a fright, chased by Team Rocket. Spotting a rowboat on the riverbank, she recalled Arcanine and jumped in, putting Shaymin into the picnic basket (some poor ass fisherman gonna come along later and find his boat and his lunch gone!) and drifting loose on the current. Somehow Team Rocket didn't notice the boat sailing down the river and rushed deeper into the forest to search at Jesse's angry command, while Marley lay down and drifted off to sleep.
Well now that they're up to date, Ash and Dawn seem determined to try and make this THEIR adventure as per normal, while Marley is probably left wondering why Brock's little brother and sister won't shut their fucking mouths and follow Brock's lead.
They've reached the foot of the mountain, and a lighted tunnel will take them through to the other side and the garden where the Gracidea flower blooms. They head in, followed by Team Rocket, and Pikachu and Piplup get a little ahead of themselves and run ahead in the darkness, banging into Todd's disembodied head and setting off a burst of Poison Powder. Shaymin cleanses the air and then uses Aromatherapy to cure the poisoned Pikachu and Piplup, and Marley points ahead to the light at the end of the tunnel. But when they emerge they discover the garden... is not blooming! The season appears to be over, which means Shaymin won't be able to go at anything other than a half-speed waddle for months. But Ash has an idea, a brilliant idea.... maybe there's just a flower that is blooming anyway despite the fact that there shouldn't be!
Well.... it's kind of like a plan... sort of.
They all split up to look through the vast green garden for a flower, and against all reason and logic Brock finds one, nestled into the crack of a large rock in the middle of the garden. Before they can approach it though, a distant explosion catches their attention and up rises.... a giant Caterpie!
Oh God, Doctor Gordon has been at it again!
But wait, no, it's not a giant Caterpie, it's a giant Caterpie ROBOT!
Well... that makes so much more sense!
Inside, of course, is Team Rocket, and the angry twerps say they should have known they were the bad people, and Brock snaps that they're persistent. Team Rocket agree, they have to be to keep up with the twerps persistently dim-witted shenanigans.
Oooooh, lukewarm burn!
A manic-eyed Meowth, dreams of Giovanni pettings in his head, hits a button and the Caterpie Bot sends out a blast of Stringshot at them. Pikachu and Piplup blast the attack out of the air through and Torterra comes out and uses Energy Ball to knock the Mecha-Caterpie onto its stomach... but it's designed to crawl like this! The twerps are ready though, using Ice Beam to create a smooth surface beneath the Mecha-Caterpie, then shattering the ice with Rock Climb before a Whirlpool from Piplup sends the robot spinning backwards across the ice... and then something truly terrifying happens, the Caterpie's back splits open and a Butterfree-Bot emerges!
Some kids gonna have nightmares tonight!
The robot soars into the air, the antennas crackle with energy and a "Hyper Solar Beam" blasts Ash and Dawn off of their feet. Marley looks around and notices Shaymin is missing, and Brock sees that it is climbing the rocks towards the Gracidea Flower.
Pikachu and Piplup try to blast the Butterfree-Bot but it shifts in the air and dodges the attack, and a delighted Team Rocket decide to get some blast off payback by sends the twerps blasting off for once. They prepare another "Hyper Solar Beam" but Shaymin has absorbed the pollen of the Gracidea Flower now and transformed into Sky Form, and it slashes through the robot's antennae and cuts off the attack. Furious, Jesse demands Meowth chase it through the air, thinking it's movement will be as predictable as "the twerps stuck on stupid".... unfortunately this proves not to be the case as Shaymin flies rings around the Butterfree Bot and leaves Team Rocket dizzy and in a state of (more) confusion.
Shaymin is knocked forward by a "Hyper Gust" which also sweeps away the last petals of the Gracidea Flower, and then Shaymin uses Air Slash to blast the Butterfree into two and leave Team Rocket miserable and resigned to plummeting through the air... until the remains of the bot explodes beneath them and Team Rocket is sent blasting off again!
But the explosion also knocks Shaymin onto the ice where it shivers uncomfortably and transforms back into its Land Form. Now what? The last blooming flower was blown away by "Hyper Gust", how can they change it to Sky Form now? But just then a rustling in the flowers reveals two other Shaymin arriving VERY BELATEDLY to show Marley's Shaymin one small bud still on a flower. Shaymin approaches as the flower blooms for no real apparent reason, and all three transform into Sky Form.
They soar into the air and Brock, Dawn and Ash laugh happily while Marley is positively beaming with emotion as she allows a very tight corner of her mouth to lift almost imperceptibly. She approaches Shaymin and tells it that it needs to fly now, because by night-time it will have to revert to Land Form and it needs to find another garden by then... but maybe they'll meet again and have time together one day. It lifts up and flies away with the other two, and the zombie's mouth falls open slightly as she hears Shaymin's voice in her head (we don't get to eavesdrop) and she stands between Brock and the others as Ash and Dawn wave happily, Brock enjoys having been the centre of attention for once (well, for roughly half the episode anyway) and a dead girl remembers, for at least a brief moment, what it means to be alive again.
Brock still ain't getting any, though!
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