Pokemon Learning League

Dealing with Betrayal

Written By

Timothy Whitfield

(Episode opens with Iris, Axew, Clemont, Bonnie and Dedenne walking along the streets of Santalune City on a partly cloudy mid-morning. Clouds move across the sky and block out the Sun for a brief moment. Sunbeams poke through some of them. Clemont speaks to Iris.)

Clemont: So, what have you been doing in Johto, Iris?

Iris: I visited Yellow Rock Isle, and it was a really fun place.

Axew: Axew.

Bonnie: Sounds great. What did you see there?

Iris: They make a lot of jewelry out of Corsola horns & some families built their homes on top of Corsola nests.

Bonnie (fascinated): Ah-ha.

Iris: Yeah. How about you two?

Bonnie: Clemont's been working on another new invention.

Iris: I see, and what's it going to be used for?

Clemont: I can't tell you yet, but I will say it'll be something incredible.

Iris: Oh, okay.

(They continue onward. Fourteen minutes later, they come to a big variety Poke Mart.)

Clemont: How about we stop here and stock up a bit?

(They nod their heads in agreement and head on inside. Once there, they see the kinds of items they have for sale, from incenses, rare Poke Balls, various medicines & herbs, evolution stones and gems. The trio come to an aisle stocked with Pokemon food. Bonnie picks out one made for electric types.)

Bonnie: This looks pretty good.

Dedenne (agreeing): Dede.

Clemont: Okay, then.

Iris:

(As they come to the next aisle stocked with medicines & treats, they spot Alexa and her sister, Viola, looking through the selections. Alexa is wearing a bright orange t-shirt, jean shorts and sneakers.)

Alexa: Hello, guys.

Clemont: Hey, Alexa and Viola. How are you two doing?

Viola: We're doing well. How about you?

Bonnie: Great.

Dedenne: Dede.

Alexa: That's good to know.

(Viola turns over to Iris.)

Viola: Nice to meet you. I'm Viola.

Iris: Thanks. I'm Iris.

(They shake each other's hands.)

Clemont: So, Viola, how are things at the gym going?

Viola: Oh, it's going very well.

Clemont: That's good to hear.

Viola: Yep. In fact, the Pokemon themselves have been enjoying & putting up with the challenges coming in lately, so we want to make them something special.

Bonnie: That's very nice.

(They continue on through the aisle and pick out certain medicines & food. Moments later, they head over to the checkout counter. The cashier scans the items and rings up the price. They pay the correct amount of PokeYen and their purchases are placed in cloth bags.)

Iris: So, what else have you been doing?

Alexa: Viola and I have been doing some training.

Iris: That's good to hear.

Viola: Yeah.

Bonnie: What have you done so far?

Alexa: We've sharpened some of our Pokémon's moves, and taught them some new ones.

Bonnie: That's great.

Alexa: Yeah. Would you want to see the ones Helioptile has learned?

(The three nod their heads in agreement. They head over to an open field. Tall grass & flowers is blowing in the wind Helioptile hops off her shoulder.)

Alexa: All right, ready?

(Helioptile nods its head.)

Alexa: Okay. Helioptile, use Bulldoze!

(It jumps up and then stomps down on the ground, creating a shock wave.)

Alexa: Now, do Signal Beam!

Helioptile: Heliop!

(It puts its hands together and fires a streaky pink beam at the sky. As it does, multiple blue shapes appear around the beam.)

Alexa: Okay, here's a tough one: use Surf!

(It lifts up its frills, glows blue and creates a wave of water and rides on top of it. Then, it crashes down and the wave disappears.)

All (impressed): Whoa!

Axew: Axew.

Dedenne: Dede.

Clemont: That was incredible, Alexa.

Alexa: Thanks, Clemont. The last one was really difficult

Clemont (understanding): I can imagine.

Alexa:

(As they continue talking, Bonnie looks over and spots a young trainer named Hiroki sitting on at a bench with his head drooping down and an angry expression on his face. He has blonde hair, emerald green eyes and is wearing an orange-yellow striped t-shirt, blue jeans and white sneakers. She gets a concerned look on her face.)

Iris: Is there something wrong, Bonnie?

Bonnie: Yeah. That boy over there doesn't look too good.

(Iris looks over to him.)

Iris:

(They go over to him. Hiroki lifts up his head and notices them.)

Hiroki: Uh, can I help you?

Alexa: Yeah. Are you feeling all right?

Hiroki: To be honest, not really.

Alexa: I see.

Hiroki: Yeah. Oh, I'm Hiroki, by the way.

Alexa: Pleasure to meet you. I'm Alexa.

Viola: My name's Viola.

Clemont: I'm Clemont.

Iris: I'm Iris, and this is Axew.

Axew: Axew.

Bonnie: I'm Binnie, and this is Dedenne.

Dedenne: Dede.

Hiroki: Well, it happened two weeks ago.

(Flashback to two weeks ago, where we see him having fun with his friend, Janine, doing a shooting range with their Vanillish & Flaaffy. Janine has long, green hair, dark blue eyes and is wearing a yellow buttoned shirt, sweatpants and flat shoes.)

Hiroki: Vanillish, Mirror Shot!

Janine: Flaaffy, ThunderBolt!

(Vanillish's body become covered in a light blue aura. Then, the aura forms into a light blue orb of energy in front of its body. It fires one shot at a disk, shattering it. Now, Flaaffy releases a powerful bolt of blue electricity at the next disk, directly hitting it and shattering it. They continue doing it a few more times. Moments later, they finish up the final round.)

Hiroshi: That was your best timing yet, Vanillish!

Vanillish: Vanill.

(Janine comes over to him.)

Janine: Those were some pretty good moves you did, Hiroki.

Hiroki: Same to you & Flaaffy, Janine.

Janine: Thanks, Hiroki.

Hiroki (wondering): By the way, what have you been doing recently?

Janine: I've been mostly helping some trainers catch some Pokemon.

Hiroki: That's nice. Are they any good?

Janine: Yes, they are.

Hiroki: Ah-ha. What do you do with them after that?

Janine: We do a little training with them.

Hiroki: Oh, okay.

Janine: Yep. Now, if you don't mind, I have to go do some business.

Hiroki: All right, then. See you later.

Janine: Yeah, see you.

(She waves to him and walks off. Now, we dissolve to the next, where we see Hiroki coming to Kalos Route 22.)

Hiroki: This looks like a good spot to do some catching.

(He searches through the grass & flowers for some new Pokemon. Eventually, he finds a Riolu.)

Hiroki: Ah-ha. Vibrava, I choose you!

(He throws his Pokeball in the air and Vibrava emerges from it. Riolu runs up to Vibrava and puts its palm on it. Then, it fires a huge light yellow blast from its paw at it, doing damage to it.)

Hiroki: Vibrava, counter with Earth Power!

(It lands on the ground, its body starts glowing gold, &the ground around it starts to shake, with glowing gold cracks that travel towards Riolu hits it, doing damage to it. Then, it gets back up, balls up its fist, which glows light blue and uppercuts Vibrava, doing significant damage.)

Hiroki: Use Giga Drain!

(Vibrava takes flight & flies around in circles above Riolu. Its body glows green, leaving behind a turquoise trail of energy that forms a ring. After it finishes it, Vibrava's eyes glow red and green static from the circle hits the opponent, draining its energy and making its body glow green.)

Hiroki: All right, Ultra Ball, go!

(He throws an empty Ultra Ball at Riolu and it goes inside it. It rocks back & forth, while a red light blinks. Hiroki waits for a moment and then, the ball stops rocking & the red light fades. He picks it up.)

Hiroki: Another great catch. (He turn over to Vibrava.) Great job, Vibrava.

(He strokes its head, calls it back to its Pokeball and heads over to the next patch of flowers, but then, he sees a gang going to the patch of grass on the other side of the path. He goes into the flowers and begins searching. Moments later, he leaves the patch and head down the path, but then, he sees Janine catching Pokemon with the gang he saw earlier, using the moves she used during their training. The gang consists of her, a girl named Adrian and a boy named Garrett. Adrian has blue curly hair in a pigtail, red eyes, and is wearing a yellow shirt, black jeans & open-air sandals. Garrett has short brown hair, blue eyes, and is wearing an orange-and-green t-shirt, maroon shorts and sneakers. They exit the patch with five Pokemon in each of their hands.)

Garrett: We didn't do too badly there.

Adrian: Yeah, we didn't.

Janine: You think other trainers will really buy into these?

Garrett: Janine, they won't know what hit them.
Hiroki: (gaps in shock.)

Adrian: How much do you think we'll get out of this?

Garrett: Who knows? We'll just have to see.

Janine: All right, but we should be careful with who we sell them to.

Adrian: You make a good point there. Okay, let's go.

(They leave the area. As they do, we pan over to see Hiroki looking on with an angry & disbelieving expression on his face and he walks off. Dissolve back to the present day.)

Alexa: Oh, that's terrible.

Hiroki: It was. I just couldn't believe what I saw.

Iris: Have you done anything to cope with it?

Hiroki: Kind of. I've stayed away from her for a while & I tried looking forward, but that hasn't helped very much.

Bonnie: Well, maybe Diana knows something that'll help you out.

(She goes into pocket, pulls out the Pokepilot, turns it on and calls Diana, who is working on a highly detailed backdrop.)

Diana: Oh, hey guys. How's it going?

Iris: Pretty well, Diana. That's a really nice painting there.

Diana: Thanks. It's going to be for the new short.

Bonnie: That's good.

Diana: Yep. (She notices Hiroki.) Oh, hello there. I'm Diana.

Hiroki: Hey, I'm Hiroki.

Diana: What seems to be the matter with him?

Iris: Well, his friend betrayed him.

Diana: Oh, I'm sorry to hear that.

Clemont: Yeah, and he needs help to cope with it, so do you know any ways he can do that?

Diana: Of course I do. To start with, try to let yourself become emotional and let it go. It's important to release your negative emotions when coping with betrayal, so don't prolong the agony and let the mourning get to you. Get the feeling of hurt & anger out of your system and move on.

Hiroki: All right, what else?

Diana: Another way is to focus on yourself. This may sound odd, but doing this for a short time will help feel a little better and softening the feeling of betrayal.

Iris: That's a pretty good one

Diana: That's not all. Another good way is to believe in yourself and in the greater purpose of connecting with others again. Yes, it sounds cliché, but it is important to overcome your reticence and look to connect again, as well as feel stronger about it.

Clemont: I see. What else is there?

Diana: Here's another thing you can do: find ways to strengthen your personal development. There are many activities, like spending time with your Pokemon or friends, start a new training regimen with them or thinking of new catching methods.

Clemont: Those sound pretty helpful.

Diana: Yes, they can. Oh, there's one other thing: know that this process isn't an easy one to manage. There will be times where you'll relapse, and if you start to feel distressed, turn to a friend who'll listen and help pull you out of it.

Bonnie: Oh, okay. Thanks, Diana.

Diana: No problem, Bonnie. So how about I show you guys something?

Bonnie: Okay, Diana.

Dedenne: Dede.

(Pan left to a left-side panel displaying four trainers trying to cope with betrayal.)

Diana: All right, you guys ready?

Clemont: Sure thing, Diana.

Diana: Very well, then. Now, this boy finds out his friend has been negatively talking about his trainer's skills to some people behind his back. What do you think he should do?

Iris: He should let himself get emotional.

Diana: Very well, Iris. Now, this girl learns her best friend lied to her about joining a bad gang. What do you think he should do?

Bonnie: He should learn to believe in himself again & look for new friends.

Diana: Okay, Bonnie. This boy finds out his friend has been using him to get training secrets for a gang and is hurt & angry about this. What do you think he should do?

Clemont: He needs to focus on himself.

Diana: Okay, then Clemont. Now, this trainer's Blastoise turned against her after putting up with her attitude for too long. What do you think she should do?

Iris: She should strengthen her personal development.

Diana: Very well, Iris. That was pretty good, you guys.

Iris: Thanks, Diana.

Axew: Axew.

Diana: No problem, Iris. Well, I better get back to finishing this background. See you later, guys. Oh, and I hope you feel better, Hiroki.

Hiroki: All right, thanks.

(Bonnie turns the Pokepilot off and puts it back in her pocket.)

Alexa: Hey, how about we make us some lunch, guys?

Iris: All right, sounds good.

Axew: Axew.

Viola: Hey, Hiroki. You want to help make the food?

Hiroki: Um, sure.

(They set up the table, lay out the cloth, then they set up the plates & utensils. Moments later, they're eating bread torrejas, Kung Pao chicken, bacon cheeseburger dumplings, and pumpkin cornbread. The Pokemon are having mini Poke Poffins and Poke Puffs mixed in with their regular food. Also, the sky clears up a bit.)

Viola: So, how long have you been on your journey, Hiroki?

Hiroki: For about a year and a half.

Alexa: That's good. What do you plan to do on it?

Hiroki: I want to show the full potential of what they can do, whether they're fully evolved or not.

Alexa: Ahh, that's pretty good.

(They continue on eating. Minutes later, Clemont, Iris, Bonnie and Hiroki finish up their food.)

Iris: Ahh, that was really good.

Clemont: It was. You two did great on it.

Both: Thanks, guys.

(The two resume on eating.)

Iris: Okay, what do you guys say we do another round of what we did before?

Clemont: All right, but we better see if the viewers want to do it.

Bonnie: Okay. (She turns over to the viewers.) You guys want to do it? (She casually waits for an answer from the audience for one second.) Oh, all right.

Hiroki: Uh, do you guys do this a lot?

Bonnie: Yeah, we do. It's pretty silly, but they can be pretty helpful sometimes.

Hiroki (getting it): Oh, all right.

(Dissolve to a four-way split screen, where we see different scenarios of people being betrayed.)

Clemont: Okay, let's get to it. Here, this trainer finds her friend lied to him about what he does when he's not doing any training. What do you think she should do? (He casually waits for an answer from the audience for one and a half seconds.) Overcome his reticence & look to connect again. Very well, then.

Hiroki: This guy finds out his friend withheld a bad secret from him. What do you think he should do? (He casually waits for an answer from the audience for one and a half seconds.) Strengthen his personal development. Okay.
Bonnie: This girl learns that her friend has told bunch of people training methods she was supposed to keep a secret. What do you think she should do? (She casually waits for an answer from the audience for one and a half seconds.) Let herself get emotional. Sure, why not.

Iris: Lastly, this trainer's friend turns on their trainer's group and leaves to join another one. What do you think she should do? (She casually waits for an answer from the audience for one and a half seconds.) She should focus on herself.

(Dissolve back to the gang and Iris casually speaks to the audience.)

Iris (casually): Way to go, guys.

Axew: Axew.

(Now, we turn over to see Alexa & Viola finishing up their dumplings.)

Viola (contented): That was really scrumptious.

Alexa: You said it.

(She wipes her mouth & they clear up the table, remove & fold up the cloth and fold up & put the table away. Moments later, they lay out on their backs, watching the clouds rolling by.)

Bonnie: That's one a Donphan using Rollout.

(She points to it.)

Viola: (chuckles.) You're right. (She spots another one.) There's a Pikachu using Volt Tackle.

Iris: It kind of does. (She points out another one.) That one's an Aerodactyl getting its prey.

Hiroki: That's a good one. (He spots another one.) There's Manaphy befriending Cresselia.

Clemont: I agree with you there.

(He sits up.)

Hiroki: Guys, thanks for helping me out with this.

(The others sit up.)

Clemont: Hey, it was no problem, Hiroki.

Hiroki: Well, I better be going. See you guys later.

All: See you.

(They wave goodbye to him as he walks off.)

Iris: You think he'll be okay?

Clemont: Something tells me he will, Iris.

(They all turn over to the audience.)

All (casually): Thanks a lot, guys.

Axew: Axew.

Dedenne: Dede.

(Now, we dissolve to moments later, where we see them doing various activities. Iris & Bonnie are playing around with Axew and Dedenne, Clemont's chatting with Viola and Alexa does some training with Helioptile.)

Clemont: That was an interesting episode. Did you enjoy it? (He casually waits for an answer from the audience for one second.) Okay, then. We'll see you next time.

(They casually wave goodbye to the audience and resume what they were doing. Now, we fade to black, ending the episode.)