Episode 8: Water, Water, Everybear
Our heroes have finally made it to Marguerite City, the largest city in all of Anora! However, whilst Ash won't be able to have his first Gym Battle here, there are still activities for him and his friends to do before they head off to the nearest city with another Gym.
"Wow! Marguerite City is so cool!" Reyn giggles excitedly, jumping up and down on the spot with pure glee. "I'm really excited to see all the stuff we can do here!"
She then hurries over to a poster on a nearby wall, and points towards it so Ash and Mircea can see what she wants them to look at.
"Oh guys, I really wanna go check this thing out!" She grins and Ash and Mircea look up at the poster, which depicts a man and a woman posing next to two Pokémon, one being an Alakazam, the other being an Altaria of some kind, though it looks different to a normal Altaria. Above the picture, the words 'Pokémon Contest administration and lessons today!'
"Oh, a Pokémon Contest?" Ash asks Reyn. "I remember two of my old friends entered Pokémon Contests in Hoenn and Sinnoh."
"Oh, that's so cool! I really don't like battling that much, but this looks so cool!" Reyn laughs happily and looks down at the bottom text on the poster.
"You really don't know anything about Pokémon Contests?" Mircea asks.
"Well, I could try learning since they have lessons in case you don't know!" Reyn suddenly grabs Mircea by the hand and pulls him quickly away in another direction. "Let's both sign up, I'm sure you'll love it!"
"Wahhhhhhhh!" Mircea screams out as he and Reyn disappear round a corner.
Ash stares blankly as he watches them leave and then sits down on the edge of a fountain.
"Man, it sure is nice to get some time to sit down and relax…" he yawns as Pikachu sits down next to him.
"Pika…" Pikachu smiles happily, slumping down slightly.
Suddenly, as Ash starts to relax, his body slowly leans backwards, and he falls back into the fountain. However, though he was expecting to feel a cold splash of water, all he felt was the stone of the fountain as he hit the centre.
"Owch!" Ash groans as he rubs his back before standing back up. "Wait, where is the water? Shouldn't there be water in a fountain?"
"Didn't you hear about the water shortage today?" an old lady asks from nearby on a bench.
"Water shortage? What happened?" Ash asks curiously.
"Oh, some blasted little Drizzlub entered the city earlier today and ended up stealing tons of water. I understand that Drizzlub enjoy drinking tons of water, but at least leave some for the rest of us." She sighs as she pats her Snubbull's head who is busy sleeping next to her on the bench.
"Hey, Pikachu. Do you remember that Drizzlub that escaped from Professor Locust's lab?" Ash turns to Pikachu who nods in response.
"Do you know where Drizzlub is now?" Ash asks the old lady.
"I expect that Drizzlub has gone off in search of more water. There's a market across the street from here that has a stall for just water and water bottles. I assume that's where it is going now."
"Ok, thanks!" Ash calls as he and Pikachu hurry off around the corner and are soon out of sight.
"Kids today don't slow down, do they, Snubby?" She asks her Snubbull who nods its head sleepily.
"Where's all the water going?" A man asks in panic.
"It disappeared into thin air!" Another one shouts.
"That Drizzlub caused this!" A woman points angrily at the Drizzlub, who at this point is busy chugging on a water bottle, before throwing the bottle to the side and looking up at the crowd of people and tilting its head to one side.
"Drizzz?" It asks.
As Ash and Pikachu arrive at the scene, they spot the Drizzlub picking up several water bottles and trying to run away with them.
"Hey, there you are!" Ash calls to Drizzlub and starts to chase after it.
"Get that Drizzlub!" A man shouts out and the crowd chases Drizzlub along with Ash.
"Give us back our water!" Another one calls to it.
Drizzlub quickly darts down an alleyway as the crowd and Ash chase after it, its little, stubby legs going up and down at a very quick rate.
Eventually, as the crowd runs after Drizzlub, they all stop once Drizzlub runs into a figure standing in its way. Drizzlub falls over and tries to pick up the water bottles before looking up at the figure, who is revealed to be Dante, and floating alongside him is his Porygon.
"Tch, of course I'd have to run into you again." He scowls angrily.
Drizzlub grabs all the water bottles and starts to run off again.
"Stop right there! You're not going anywhere! If it gets these poor people to stop complaining at me about the missing water supply, then I'll catch you to stop their whining!" Dante shouts at Drizzlub. "Porygon, use Thunder Shock!"
"Porryyyy gonnnn!" Porygon cries out as it unleashes a bolt of lightning out of its body which flies across the street and knocks right into Drizzlub, knocking it over and the water bottles rolled across the ground beside it.
"Oh, not you again!" Ash groans crossly upon seeing Dante.
Dante turns around to face Ash and holds a hand to his face in annoyance.
"You. That stupid scummy trainer who thinks he's so good to even be in my presence. Well, stay out of my way! This Drizzlub is mine and I'm going to get it!" He turns his attention back to Drizzlub who by this point has now started to dash off with the water bottles still in its clutches.
"Oh, for crying out loud! You stupid idiot!" Dante shouts angrily at Ash. "Your distracting caused Drizzlub to run out of my sight!" He hurries off down a nearby alleyway in desperate search of Drizzlub, Porygon floating along closely behind him.
"We can't let someone like Dante catch Drizzlub, we should try getting it to give back the water to everyone in a safe way!" Ash exclaims to Pikachu, who nods determinedly and both of them race off down another alleyway. The crowd of people splitting up, one group following Ash and another one following Dante.
Meanwhile, in a big building in another part of the city, Mircea and Reyn were waiting at a counter until Nurse Joy returned with two iD cards and two cases for them.
"Here you go. Your Contest Passes and your Ribbon Cases, which you will use to store your Contest Ribbons when you win them."
"Thank you so much!" Reyn beams brightly as she puts her pass and case away in her backpack.
"If you two are waiting for the lessons on Pokémon Contests, they should be starting soon. Please take a seat until it is ready."
Mircea and Reyn sit down together on two small chairs near the front doors. Mircea looks down at his shoes and sighs.
"What if I'm not good at Contests either?" He glances over at Reyn briefly.
"You don't know until you try. Just go in there and give it your all!" She clenches her fists with determination and grins happily.
Mircea takes a deep breath and smiles. "R-right."
Just a few seconds later, a tall man walks out of a nearby door. He is dressed in a very extravagant suit with a flower in his top breast pocket, and he has flashy ribbons and streamers on his costume. He also has a rather slick hairstyle coloured a mix of blue and red.
A ton of the other people waiting near Reyn and Mircea, especially the girls squeal and scream in delight upon seeing him.
"I'm so glad so many of my lovely fans came to see me today. It's great to be able to teach budding new Coordinators about the joys of Pokémon Contests." He takes a bow with a friendly smile and steps out of the way to let all of the people in the waiting room walk into the other room which is filled with many tables and chairs and is set up almost like a classroom. A medium sized stage is at the back of the room.
As Mircea and Reyn sit down on two chairs next to each other with the other learners, the man waltzes rather flamboyantly up to the stage and takes another bow.
"Welcome all of you! For those unfamiliar with me, my name is Romeo. I am one of the most well-known Top Coordinators here in the beautiful Anora Region. Now, you are all here because you want to learn how to become Top Coordinators yourselves. I shall teach you that."
He steps into the middle of the stage and begins to talk again.
"Pokémon Contests take place in many different towns and cities in a region. We even have Contests here in Marguerite City. In a Pokémon Contest, you will be tested on how elegantly or creatively you can have your Pokémon perform for three judges on a stage. You will start with the Appeal Round, which is exclusively for showing to the audience the performance you and your Pokémon will put on. Observe!"
And with that, he elegantly whisks out a Poke Ball, which bursts open on the stage and reveals a brand-new Pokémon. It is a tall lizard-like Pokémon, with very sharp scales covering its whole body, many scales around the head jutting out in many sharp angles. The scales seem to have a strange shine to them, and they look reflective too, almost like glass. Despite the fact the Pokémon is lizard-like, it has no legs, much like a snake.
"This here is my pride and joy, Shrapzard!" Romeo holds his hands out dramatically to his Pokémon, who roars to the crowd of people, who all cheer in delight.
"Woah, so shiny…" Reyn stares at the glistening scales on Shrapzard, completely mesmerized.
"But I can't show you my act with just Shrapzard… join in the fray, Ampharos!" Romeo calls out as he throws out another Poke Ball, and an Ampharos bursts out of it happily.
"Amp amp!" It claps in delight.
The crowd of people around Mircea and Reyn cheer once again.
"Let us begin… Ampharos, use Dazzling Gleam!" Romeo calls elegantly to his Ampharos, who sends a large pink beam of light from its tail towards Shrapzard.
"Shrapzard, deflect it in all directions with Reflect!"
Shrapzard lets out a large shimmer of white light from its many scales and as Dazzling Gleam hits, it begins to spin around in circles on the spot, sending the Dazzling Gleam's light to fill the room with bright colours all around.
"Wowwwww!" Everyone looks around the room in awe at the beautiful colours.
"When you use two Pokémon in the Appeal Round of a Pokémon Contest, you can combine them to create just about any kind of performance your heart desires to really wow the judges and the audience with your creativity and great thinking!" Romeo calls to the learners.
Mircea is busy writing down everything being told and shown to him as fast as he can in his notebook.
"Enjoying yourself?" Reyn whispers to him.
"I need to make sure I know exactly what to do so I don't mess things up." He whispers back, not taking his eyes off his notebook.
"Alright, Shrapzard, let's add some more pizzazz with Mirror Shot!" Romeo calls out with gusto as Shrapzard stops its spinning and lets out a massive burst of light from its reflective body.
"Quickly, Ampharos! Obscure some of that light with Cotton Guard!"
Ampharos unleashes several big fluffy orbs of cotton and waves them around in mid-air, causing part of the light to become small beams.
Romeo, whilst nobody was looking, hides behind both his Pokémon and stands waiting for the finale.
"Now, Ampharos. Direct another Cotton Guard to the center of the stage!"
A giant, shiny cotton ball forms on the stage right in front of everyone in the class. All of the learners gaze at the cotton ball, awaiting Romeo's next move.
"Break it apart with Iron Tail, Shrapzard!" Romeo calls as Shrapzard leaps high into the air and makes several cuts through the cotton ball using its sharp tail, and it breaks apart into many pieces, Beautiful glistening pieces of cotton float gently down as Romeo suddenly appears from behind where the cotton ball had once been and takes a few bows, as do his Pokémon on either side of him.
The class goes absolutely wild with cheering and clapping. Even Reyn can't stop herself from joining in with the cheers.
"Thank you all ever so much!" Romeo beams and waves happily to the crowd. "Your applause brings me such joy and happiness!"
"So, what happens after you complete the Appeal Round?" A boy asks from his desk.
"You and the other Coordinators competing in that Contest will be in the waiting room and you will see pictures of you and them on a screen. 8 of you will be selected to enter the second and final round of the Contest depending on your performance in the first round."
"And what is the second round?" Reyn asks curiously.
"The second round of a Pokémon Contest is the Battle Round, in which Pokémon Coordinators show off their Pokémon's style and skill through battles." Romeo explains.
Reyn and Mircea, Mircea especially, look at each other nervously.
"Battles in the Battle Round last about 5 minutes and the objective is to decrease your opponent's points to less than yours when the timer ends. Coordinators can lose points if an opponent's attack hits their Pokémon, when their Pokémon misses an attack, when their Pokémon performs a particularly appealing move or even when you can use an opponent's attack to your advantage."
He glances around the class at all the learners.
"How about I have a member from the audience to help demonstrate a Contest Battle?" He calls, and almost instantly, people start putting their hands up as high as they can.
"How about… you, the woman with green hair?" He calls to Reyn.
"Ah! I um… ye-yes!" She replies, getting to her feet and she wanders over to the stage.
"And what would your name be, miss?" Romeo asks.
"My name is Reyn." She replies, still feeling rather nervous.
"Well, Reyn. Let's give the audience a demonstration of a typical Battle Round in a Pokémon Contest." Romeo gracefully steps to one side of the stage and he watches as Reyn takes her place opposite him.
"We can either battle using the single or double battle format, which would you rather choose?" Romeo asks.
"Um, single please." Reyn replies, starting to get just a smidge more confidence.
"Alright then, let me see your Pokémon first. That way I can determine what Pokémon to use against you."
"R-right. Go, Tarantyke!" Reyn calls as she throws out a Poké Ball onto the stage and Tarantyke pops out happily.
"Tara taa!" It squeaks.
"Ah, a Tarantyke. I'm assuming that you haven't been on a journey for long now." Romeo asks.
"Yeah, I kinda started travelling around a few days ago. And I haven't had Tarantyke for that long either." Reyn chuckles.
"Well, I know exactly what Pokémon I need to use for our demonstration. Come on out, Mareep!" Romeo rolls a Poké Ball down his arm and lets it bounce onto the stage, releasing a Mareep from it.
"Maaaa!" It baas cheerfully.
"I only ever use Mareep here for demonstration battles and for teaching new Coordinators." Romeo explains. "Let's see what you and Tarantyke can do."
"Ok, let's go, Tarantyke!" Reyn calls out as Tarantyke and Mareep stare each other down before leaping into battle as a 5-minute timer appears on the screen behind the stage.
Back out in the city streets, Ash and Dante are looking all over the place for Drizzlub.
Suddenly, both of them run alongside each other as they see Drizzlub enter their line of sight, still clutching the water bottles.
"Stay out of my way, scum!" Dante yells at Ash. "Porygon, get rid of this peasant with Thunder Shock!"
"Counter it with Thunderbolt, Pikachu!" Ash calls out to Pikachu as both he and Porygon unleash their electric attacks and cancel each other out in a big blast.
"Nghh, where did that thing go?" Dante snaps as he and Porygon race off down another alleyway.
Ash and Pikachu turn around the opposite alleyway and Ash takes out his Pokédex and activates it.
"Pokédex, can you tell me any facts relating to Drizzlub and water?" Ash asks the Pokédex.
"Drizzlub can absorb a lot of water into their water by drinking it or simply absorbing it through their fur. They can release all the water from their body by simply squeezing their whole body, which lets out the water which will be completely clean and crisp."
"Right, we need to find a way to get to Drizzlub before Dante, and we need to find a way to get all that water back from Drizzlub." Ash explains to Pikachu as they continue to run along together.
"Pika pika chu!" Pikachu calls to Ash as they begin to run past the market again and he points to the water stall.
"What is it, Pikachu?" Ash asks as Pikachu leaps up onto the table and picks up a water bottle and begins to demonstrate his idea to Ash.
"Oh, I get it!" Ash replies. "H-hey, excuse me, miss!" He calls to the lady at the counter. "Can we take this bottle please? And those containers? We have a plan to get all the water back!"
Eventually, Ash and Pikachu sat down together on a bench, a ton of big containers piled around them, and the one water bottle placed between them.
The crowd of people who had been following Ash were all lined up around him.
"What is this going to do?" One man asks.
"Will the water come back soon?" Another one asks.
"Don't worry, this plan will work, I know it." Ash replies to them with a confident smirk.
Just then, Drizzlub slowly plods along to the bench, though gets a bit nervous seeing everyone there.
"Hey everyone, can you all please hide somewhere else until I tell you to come out?" Ash asks all the people around him who look at each other before nodding and slowly hiding out of Drizzlub's sight.
Drizzlub walks over to Ash and looks up at the water bottle on the bench.
"Drizz drizzz?" It asks curiously before wiggling its arms up trying to reach it.
"Hey there, Drizzlub. Do you want some water?" Ash asks as he picks up the water bottle and lowers it down to Drizzlub before stroking its fluffy head.
Drizzlub looks up at Ash with wide eyes and begins to slowly drink all the water from the bottle.
"That's better. Now Drizzlub, I want you to do something for me." Ash explains.
"Drizzlub?"
"Can you give everyone here their water back? They really need it, and it's not right to steal it."
"Drizz lub lub!" Drizzlub nods with a smile and begins to tuck its arms and legs in as it squeezes its fluffy body, releasing all the water out of it into the containers.
"There we go." Ash exclaims happily. "You can come out now, everyone!" He calls to the other people who happily gather all the containers and begin to collect the massive amounts of water Drizzlub was releasing.
Eventually, Drizzlub sits down next to Ash and Pikachu and yawns sleepily, before looking up at Ash again.
"Well, I'm glad everyone managed to get their water back. Maybe now you'll think twice about stealing it." Ash chuckles and he strokes Drizzlub's head again.
"Thank you ever so much, young man!" A man thanks Ash as he carries a container of water away.
"You're a hero!" A woman applauds him.
"Well, it was Pikachu's idea actually!" Ash replies as Pikachu nods happily.
Then, as soon as everyone had left with all their water safely returned, Dante stepped in front of Ash, an angry look on his face, and Porygon floating next to him.
"Get out of my way, peasant!" He snaps angrily. "That Drizzlub is mine! I'm not going to let some poor scum like you stop me from doing what I want!"
"Hey back off man! Stop getting so angry at me over nothing!" Ash replies, rather agitated.
"Grrr, stupid Drizzlub!" He snarls as he grabs Drizzlub and picks it up swiftly.
Drizzlub makes a pouty face at Dante and begins to breath in as hard as it can, its cheeks puffing up.
"Wh-what are you doing?!" Dante growls.
"Drizzzzz!" Drizzlub cries out as it blasts Dante in the face with a high-powered Water Gun, pushing Dante all the way into the fountain with a big splash.
"Aaahhhh! My splendid clothes! Ruined again!" He yells angrily as he stands straight up and points at Ash.
"You best hope we don't meet again, scum!" Dante snaps. "Because if we do, I'm going to battle you and make sure you don't see me ever again!"
He begins to climb out of the fountain but slips and falls in again, getting even more wet.
Drizzlub claps several times and laughs happily.
"Drizz lub lub!"
Ash and Pikachu can't help but laugh along with it.
"Arrghhhhhh!" Dante yells at the top of his lungs and dashes away as fast as he possibly can, Porygon floating along quickly behind him.
Eventually, Ash and Pikachu get up and begin to walk off to find Mircea and Reyn.
"Well, maybe we'll see each other again someday, Drizzlub!" Ash waves goodbye to it, as does Pikachu as they walk away.
"Drizzlub!" Drizzlub calls to him as it plods over to Ash and looks up at him.
"Heh, I guess you want to come with me?" He asks knowingly.
Drizzlub nods its head several times.
"Alright then, Poké Ball go!" Ash calls out as he throws a Poké Ball at Drizzlub who goes inside of the ball and it falls to the ground. Then one shake, two shakes, and finally three shakes. Drizzlub is caught.
"Alright! I caught a Drizzlub!" Ash declares happily as Pikachu leaps to his side and cheers.
"Pi pika chu!"
Ash picks up the Poké Ball and places it in his pocket as he and Pikachu race off to find their friends.
Back at the Pokémon Contest learning building, everyone has just finished with the class and is beginning to leave.
"Thank you so much for that, Mr. Romeo sir!" Reyn beams happily at Romeo.
"No problem at all, though you only have to call me Romeo." He replies. "I must say you pulled that battle off rather well."
"Even though I lost…" Reyn sighs sadly.
"Don't be disappointed, you did so well. Perhaps you could try competing in the Marguerite City Contest tomorrow."
"Wait what?! There's a Contest going on here tomorrow?!" Reyn shouts out in shock, nearly falling over.
"Well, Romeo did tell us that there will be one here tomorrow before everyone left." Mircea points out shyly.
"I hope to see you two there, I'm sure you two will do great." And Romeo walks flamboyantly away out of the room.
Mircea and Reyn sit down together back in the waiting room nearby the counter, as Ash and Pikachu walk into the building.
"Hey Ash! Guess what? We've both decided to become Pokémon Coordinators!" Reyn grins happily and Mircea gives a small smile.
"Wow, that's awesome! I really hope you guys do well." Ash chuckles.
"So, um, what did you do whilst you were gone?" Mircea asks.
"Me and Pikachu went off to help the city with their water shortage. Turns out that the Drizzlub from Professor Locust's lab had taken it, but we managed to get it all back and we even caught Drizzlub."
"Oh, that's great! I bet Drizzlub will be a great member on your team, Ash!" Reyn giggles cheerfully.
"Well, we should go find somewhere to rest for the night. Tomorrow, you two have a Pokémon Contest to compete in." Ash stands up as Mircea and Reyn follow him out of the building.
Well, this has certainly been an eventful day. Ash has now caught his second Anoran Pokémon in the form of Drizzlub, and Mircea and Reyn are getting ready to compete in the Marguerite City Pokémon Contest. What other kinds of antics will our heroes find themselves getting into? You'll have to stay tuned to find out…
To Be Continued...