After class, Ash is just relaxing on a hammock by the beach with Pikachu beside him.
"This is the life, hey buddy," Ash utters.
"Pika," Pikachu utters.
"Nothing can stop me from my summer break."
But suddenly, Sophocles calls him from a distance. "Ash!"
Just hearing that, a disturbed Ash falls from his hammock. "Sophocles, don't scare me like that!"
"Sorry. I just think you should watch this."
"What's that?"
"It's a video I saw on the Internet. And it was made for you." Sophocles then opens his tablet and readies the video player. "I haven't seen it yet. So I hope we could watch together."
"Let's see…" Ash then reads the title of the video. "Honest Trailer?"
"Yeah, it's kind of intriguing."
"Well, let's see." And with just a click on his tab, the two watch the video called "Honest Trailers – Pokemon: The Indigo League, made for Ash Ketchum".
The video starts with the inclusion of screenshots of requests from online users.
After the typical Honest Trailer green title card is shown, the epic voice guy starts narrating, "After the success of the games, the trading cards, the manga and the merchandise, there is one thing left for Japan's beloved franchise to do: make an anime about it. And it kind of works?"
Amazed at the material present, he responds, "Wow. Never knew that a show about a kid capturing bugs would actually be this okay. Pokémon – The Indigo League."
Accompanied with timely clips about Pokémon's history, the narrator jots down the details in comical fashion, "Relive the phenomenon that is the Pokémon anime that admittedly made the Nintendo games even more successful, made this yellow rodent infestation a pop culture icon, had us clamor for more anime, not just that there is more to love, but this series had scraped the bottom of the barrel for fresh things to do, which never aged their protagonist for a day, and the only evolution that happened is Pikachu's body weight."
But the epic voice guy shifts to the show at hand:"Journey back to the Kanto region and feel home at the Town of Palette, where everyone looks urban but they live in a rural way. And tag along with Ash Ketchum, a brooding 10-year-old who squeals every word like a motivational speaker but talks down to everyone he meets like a real 10-year-old. He will find company with his starter Pokémon, none of these guys but Pikachu who may be the most hazardous Pokémon in town who will do anything to send thunder shocks to anyone, no questions asked."
As a montage of clips showing Pikachu's recurring thunder shock demises, the voiceover talent brings his concern about the creature. "Seriously, he just like caused hundreds of injuries. Should they impound this Pokémon already? Or is there even a Pokémon penitentiary center where they can jail this creature?"
Sophocles tries not to chuckle from this humorous take, but Ash stays his jaws dropped from what he is seeing right now.
The video continues on. "But Ash and Pikachu are not alone. They will drag along more friends to Ash's misadventures. There's Misty, the no-nonsense, tomboyish water Pokémon trainer, who got off on a perfect introduction to Ash when her bike got burned, but that won't stop her from uncharacteristically catching flames to Ash, and she's not hiding it. There's Brock, the token…best friend who got booted off the series for a being a racist stereotype, but not for being a desperate, hopeless romantic who would drool over every beautiful girl he comes across. There's Ash's mom, Delia, who would just allow her 10-year-old son travel alone with no supervision." Reading that line, the epic voice guy feels the need to comment,"But boy, is she a beauty…" There's also his Pokémon whom Ash would just battle, catch and keep, until he throws them at the arena. There's also Nurse Joy and Officer Jenny who have a clone army? The voiceover narrator feels the need to also remark on this."Someone's lucky…or not." But he moves on,"And there's Professor Oak, who is there to deliver expositions." A montage of Professor Oak explaining is shown to emphasize his point.
The epic voice guy continues, "Together, with other characters who either appear only for one episode or for one season, they would help Ash's goal to become a Pokémon Master…which sounds vague in retrospect."Continuing from his puzzlement, he raises more questions,"I mean how do you become a Pokémon Master? Are there any set of rules or criteria? Or do you have to go through battles and battle the actual Pokémon Master? You know, if I am asking these questions for you, kid, you better rethink your life."
Nevertheless, the narrator goes on with the script,"Embark on a journey across the Kanto region and watch as various kids train their captive animals with shady techniques and have them fight with their fellow brothers and sisters, for the sake of credit and entitlement that these kids would devote their entire life around, instead of…I don't know…going to school, if they have schools around here."
"They do," Sophocles utters. But Ash shushes him.
The two continue going through the parody video, as the epic voice guy continues with the script, "Watch as Ash battle great opponents that are hindering his way. There's Gary, the total jerk with his personal travelling harem…that he ditched for the next seasons to become friends with Ash. There's Ritchie, who would become the star of his own spin-off episodes. There's also…the occasional whining." A compilation of Ash and company's bickering is shown for evidence to supply the point.
"You and your friends?" Sophocles asks.
"We are friends. Bickering is given," Ash makes his point, to which Sophocles understands.
The epic voice guy then reverses back to the matter at hand, "Oh, and also the real villains, Team Rocket: Jessie, the villain with a flair…of ego trips, and whose hair came from Hocus Pocus; James, the rose-wielding second banana, who is also a bottle cap collector; and Meowth, the only Pokémon who can talk, which raises a real hole about how Pokémon vocabulary actually works. Under the ruthless leadership of Vladimir Putin Giovanni, they will do three things: say their motto, capture Pikachu and get blasted off every episode."
Ash and Sophocles nearly laugh at every Team Rocket gag that was shown.
"So, strap in again for the adventure that faithfully adapts the storyline of the games, had every 90's kid anticipated every Saturday morning and every parent had been finding room to enjoy, not just because of the abundant amount of Pokémon mumbo-jumbo but also the various notorious episodes that Netflix would refuse to air." The narrator is actually referring to the episodes "Beauty and the Beach", "Holiday Hi-Jinx" and of course, "Electric Soldier Porygon". Clips of them are shown, but without the latter's strobe light effects.
"And get ready to relive the fun characters that Ash would replace them with these other generic characters for the next seasons, the colorful Pokémon that your kid would not stop gushing over, the thoughtful lessons that the characters won't stop talking, the cartoon violence that was never different from live-action violence, the mediocre movie that became the highest grossing anime movie before Spirited Away, and the beloved theme song that remained stuck in your head since 1999."
With that said, the Internet parodist sensation Parody-Mons ready to perform a spoof of the theme song:
I want it to be the very best
Anime ever was
Too bad it's not that great
It's for kids because
I have traveled across the net
There's many shows to find
But Pokémon is on my queue
Now, binge-watch starting five
Pokémon, gotta watch them all
On the TV
You're gonna watch till 40
Pokémon, this season's best
The others, a hard test
Pokémon, this catchy tune
This franchise ain't leaving soon
You buy these and play these too
Merchandise!
Gotta get 'em all
Gotta watch them from…the first season!
After that, the narrator takes over to get to the best part of every Honest Trailer:
"Starring:
Harry Poacher (Ash)
Donald Trump's Least Favorite Meme (Brock)
Play Misty for Me (Misty)
Plushmon (Pikachu)
Dr. Doug Ross (Professor Oak)
Grandpa's Boy (Gary)
Flutter by (Butterfree)
Peugeot (Pigeotto)
Agumon (Charmander)
Pfft the Lazy Dragon (Charizard)
Spiny Shell (Squirtle)
My Crush's Favorite Pokémon (Bulbusaur)
"Got any grapes?" (Psyduck)
Gym Class Heroes (Gym leaders)
Cuter Nurse Ratched (Nurse Joy)
Respect Her Authoritah (Officer Jenny)
Marisa Tomei (Delia)
Will & Grace (Jessie & James)
White Salem (Meowth)
Undercover Boss (Giovanni)
And Frieza (Mewtwo)"
Also, he goes to the honest title, "Pokémon, Yeah That Sums It Up Pretty Well."
But the video will not end without an ending spiel, parodying "Who's that Pokémon?"
The narrator then tries to make a guess."Okay, I got this. It's a Diglett."
The figure turns out to be a clear silhouette of Pikachu. However, the image is revealed to be, "Batman!"
"Oh **** you, guys,"the epic voice guy berates, swallowing for the fact that he actually guessed from a troll parody video.
And at that note, Ash and Sophocles are left stunned at to what they witnessed.
"I can't believe my eyes," Sophocles reacts. "There are some things I haven't known about you, Ash. And this is just…"
"Just okay. We can't unsee that," Ash responds.
"But I have to wonder why is it made for you."
"I don't know." Ash then scrolls down towards the comment section. Suddenly, he notices a disclaimer from the captions. He reads, "This is a collaboration between Screen Junkies and Association of Shunned Helpers?"
"Shunned Helpers? Who are they?"
"I don't know. But one thing is for sure: it's not good." Ash dictates this with a serious tone.
Though, Sophocles is not stunned. "Well, of course. But who it might be?"
Meanwhile, back at Castelia City at the Unova region, several individuals with full-body red hoods converge to an abandoned hall and wait for the arrival of their superiors. Several minutes pass, and from a family-friendly comes the leaders of the hooded figures, a woman and a man. The rest chant incoherently as the two figures climb to the podium to dictate to their cohorts.
"Greetings, followers. You know what you came here for," the woman declares.
"Let us lavish and celebrate the success the first of our string of viral videos," the man follows up as the figures stomp their feet and hoot in victory.
"That is it. We have claimed glory, for we are not done with the individual known as Ash Ketchum," the woman goes on.
"But take heed for they will surrender and we will fight, fight, fight!" the man concludes, leading for the other figures utter their battle cry and their evil laugh.
To be continued…with the next Honest Trailer.