Pokemon Learning League

Personal Narrative

Written By

Timothy Whitfield

(Episode opens with Misty, Dawn, Piplup, Iris, Axew, May, Bonnie and Serena on a ship heading for Capacia Island on a clear blue afternoon with a sea breeze in the air and in their hair and May speaks to Iris.)

May: So, Iris, is Capacia Island really a nice place?

Iris: It sure is. It's really peaceful and there's many different kinds of Pokemon.

Bonnie: That's cool.

(The ship docks in the port and they all get off. Then, they head down a path. A few minutes later, they come to an open field near a river with various Pokemon roaming about. It has a few flowers on it.)

Misty: Will you look at that?

Dawn: Yeah.

Piplup: Piplup.

(A few minutes go by and we see the girls doing various things. Pan down to Serena and Dawn relaxing near the river.)

Serena: Tell me, Dawn. What are you doing on your journey?

Dawn: I'm training to become the world's greatest coordinator.

Serena: Really?

Dawn: Yep. I love to do a lot of great performances with my Pokemon.

Serena: That's cool. I bet it's hard to do something like that.

Dawn: It is, but it's a lot of fun. You should give it a try sometime, Serena.

Serena: Okay.

(They look over and see Piplup and Fennekin playing with each other.)

Piplup: Piplup, Piplup.

Fennekin: Fenne.

(Piplup starts playfully chasing her around a small tree in circles. Then, they steer away from it and run across the field.)

Piplup: Piplup.

Fennekin: Fennekin.

(Fennekin suddenly makes a sharp turn.)

Fennekin: Fenne.

Piplup: Pip? (Alarmed.) Piplup!

(He crashes head first into the tree and falls to the ground.)

Serena (giggling.): Dawn, your Piplup can be pretty silly.

Dawn: Yes, he can be sometimes.

(We pan over see Misty and Iris doing some training with Axew and Staryu.)

Misty: Staryu, use Swift!

(It fires multiple yellow stars with golden sparkles around them from the gem in the center of its body at Axew, landing a direct hit.)

Iris: Axew, counter with Giga Impact!

(His body becomes surrounded in an invisible energy. Then, a bright flash of yellow light appears in front of he faces towards Staryu. He shoots himself and an orb of purple energy with spiraling light yellow streaks around it appear around his body and slams into Staryu, dealing a great amount of damage.)

Misty: Don't give up, Staryu! Now use Power Gem!

(Staryu's gem glows red and it fires a pale red beam of energy with a bright white energy around it from the gem towards.)

Iris: Dodge it, Axew!

(He moves out of the way of the beam, narrowly missing it, but Staryu redirects it and it hits, dealing damage.)

Iris: Now, use Dragon Claw!

(The claws on both his hands glow light blue and he starts slashing at Staryu.)

Misty: Quick, dodge it!

(Staryu narrowly evades the first slash, but gets hit by the second one.)

Misty: That was a good move, Iris.

Iris: Thanks, Misty. Same to you.

(Now, we pan over to May and Bonnie playing around with Dedenne. May gives a little tickle on its belly.)

Dedenne: Dede.

(It runs up to the top of Bonnie's head.)

May: Bonnie, your Dedenne is really cute.

Dedenne: Dedenne.

Bonnie: Thanks, May.

May: You know, it reminds me of when Max made friends with a Ralts.

Bonnie: He did?

May: Sure. He met one back in Hoenn, but it was really sick and we had to take to the Pokemon Center. We had to separate because of Team Rocket, but he still tried to get it there before it was too late.

Bonnie (touched): Wow, that's amazing.

May: Yep. Then, when it got better, he had to return Ralts to Kirlia and Gardevoir, but he promised that he'll go back and get it when he becomes a trainer.

Bonnie: Whoa. You think it's still waiting for him?

May: I'm sure it is.

(A few minutes later, they all sit down and have lunch.)

Dawn: Mmm, this is delicious.

Piplup (Satisfied): Piplup.
Axew (Satisfied): Axew.

Fennekin (Satisfied): Fennekin.

(Serena takes out some macarons.)

Serena: here, guys. Try some of these.

Misty: All right.

(They all each have one and eat.)

Serena: So, what do you think of them?

Misty: These are really good.

(The other nod their heads.)

Serena: Well, thank you.

Bonnie: So, what do you guys want to do now?

Dawn: Hmm. How about we swap stories about how each of us started on our journeys?

Misty: Okay, then. Serena, why don't you go first?

Serena: All right. Well, I started on it after I saw the news about Ash on TV because I thought something good would happen.

Misty: Okay.

Serena: So, I went to Professor Sycamore's lab to see if he knew about him, and he did. Then, he offered me a starter Pokemon, which is where I got Fennekin. Afterwards, I met up with Ash and the other in Santalune City.

Iris: And?

Serena: That's it.

Dawn: It was okay.

Piplup: Piplup.

Serena: Is there anything wrong with it?

May: No, it's just missing something.

Serena: Like what?

May: I don't know.

Serena: Well, let's see if Lex can help out. (She pulls out the Pokepilot and calls Lex, who is working on a maquette.)

Lex: Hi, guys. How are you doing?

Serena: We're doing fine Lex. What's that you're working on?

Lex: Oh, it's just a maquette of an Yveltal.

Misty: It looks good so far.

Lex: Thank you. I'm planning on making a full-scale model of it.

Dawn: That sounds awesome.

Lex: Yeah. So, what have you guys been up to?

Misty: Well, we've been having a good day and having fun.

Lex: Well, that's good to know.

Iris: We decided to swap stories about how we started our journeys. Serena told hers, and while it was okay, there's something missing from it. So, do you know how she could make it better?

Lex: Sure. Of you want to make your personal narrative more interesting, you can do several things.

Serena: All right, what do I do?

Lex: To start with, try to give your story a strong start. The lead in the most important part of it because you want to draw people in and keep them interested in what you have to say.

May: Okay, now what?

Lex: Next, put down certain events. They'll help give the story an overall feeling and sets up the tone of it. Also, look over the subject matter and think about what point you're trying to get across.

Bonnie: Okay, what's next?

Lex: Now, carefully construct it. Make sure that the introduction is clear, the body is strong and engaging and have your ending wrap thing up nicely. Oh, and try to make your listeners feel like they left with something or an understanding.

Iris: All right, what else is there?

Lex: Now, add some dialogue into it. This can be really helpful as it'll allow the characters' personalities and voices to come through.

Misty: Anything else?

Lex: One other thing is try to think about the flow. Carefully consider how you want the story to flow from one event to another. What you can use is reflection. This is where you have it set in the present day, and then you revisit a specific time in the past.

Serena: I guess using any of those could make the story better.

Lex: They sure can, which is why we're going to show you something.

Iris: All right, Lex.

Axew: Axew.

(Pan up to the upper panel.)

Lex: You guys ready to go?

Misty: Yeah.

Lex: Okay, then. Here, we a man named Howard who is writing his own personal narrative. How do you think he should start it off?

Dawn: He should start with, "I have a great life and I don't want it any other way. It's a lot of fun and really thrilling."

Lex: All right, Dawn. Now, what do you think he should talk about?

Bonnie: He should talk about what he's done over his journey, the people that helped him out and his achievements.

Lex: Okay, Bonnie.

Iris: He could say that if anyone else wants to live that life, they should do it their own way and say that only time will tell.

Lex: That's a good one, Iris. That was really good, guys.

Misty: Thanks, Lex.

Lex: You're welcome, Misty. Now, I need to get back to this maquette. See you later.

Dawn: See you.

Piplup: Piplup.

(Serena puts the Pokepilot away.)

Misty: All right, Serena. You want to do it again?

Serena: Yes. But before I do, we better see if the viewers are up for it.

May: Of course, Serena. (She looks at the viewers.) Hey, you guys want to do it? (She waits for an answer from the viewers.) All right, then.

(Cut to a blank piece of paper.)

Serena: Okay, let's do it. How do you think I should start it? (She waits for an answer from the viewers.) "I never imagined how much fun traveling around could be." Okay. What events do you think should be here? (She waits for an answer from the viewers.) What made me decide to go out, what I did afterwards and how I met up with Ash and the others. Sure. And how should it end? (She waits for an answer from the viewers.) Talking about what I've done so far and what I might do in the future. All right, then.

(Cut back to them and Serena speaks.)

Serena: Thanks a lot, guys.

Iris: So, now, you're ready to go, Serena?

Serena: You bet.

(A few minutes later.)

Serena: And so, after I met up with them, I've done many things. I helped Ash learn to ride a Rhyhorn, made a PR video with Fennekin and enter a Poke Puff contest. It was a lot of fun. Recently, I've decided to become a Pokemon Performer. It'll be tough, but it'll be exciting, too.

Iris: That was great, Serena.

Misty: Yeah. You've really done a lot so far. And good luck with your goals.

Serena: Thanks, guys. Now, it's your turn, Dawn.

Dawn: All right.

(A montage of each one telling each of their stories. It ends with May speaking.)

May: Ever since then, I've gone on to enter Contests in every region. It's been a great experience for me and my Pokemon.

Iris: Wow, May. That's very impressive.

May: Thanks, Iris. Same with yours.

(A few hours go by and we see May training with Misty, Iris talking with Serena and Dawn and Bonnie playing around with each other. Later, we see them all relaxing in the field.)

Misty: That was great.

Dawn: You said it, Misty.

Bonnie: Hey, look guys.

(They see the Sun going down.)

All (mystified): Wow!

Piplup (mystified): Piplup!

Axew (mystified): Axew!

Fennekin (mystified): Fenne!

May: Have you ever seen a sunset like this before?

Iris: No, I haven't.

(They all turn to the viewers.)

All: Thank you, guys.

Piplup: Piplup.

Axew: Axew.

Fennekin: Fennekin.

(Cut to them sitting in the field.)

Serena: That was a pretty good episode. Did you guys like it? (She waits for an answer from the viewers.) All right. We'll see you later.

Fennekin: Fenne.

(They all wave goodbye to the viewers and they continue to enjoy the sunset. The scenery fades to black, ending the episode.)