Pokemon
Then and Now
By: Belldandy'sKeiichi
Note: [any text in here is a thought text]
Author's Time: Whoa...thxs for the reviews so far. Well, the first chapter got your attention didn't it? Here you guys go, the second chapter.
Disclaimer Time: You know the drill, I don't own pokemon and I'll never will.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Well, I'm going out..." Ash called out to them. They all looked at him. "Hey Ash, wait up!" Misty called rushing to him. "You don't mind company do you?" she asked. Ash looked at her. "Well...I guess not..." Elli got up but Brock held her down with his hand. So Misty and Ash walked off. Elli, now confused, wanted to know why he kept her here and all he said was, "They need to catch up with each other."
Chapter 2: Elli Who?
[Finally alone...now I can get the scoop on this girl...] Misty thought to herself and they walk around Pallet. "Hey Ash..." Misty started. Ash turned to her. "Yeah Misty?" "You know, you never told me how you met Elli." This sent chills down Ash's spine. "Er...um...well..." Misty glared at him. "Come on, fess up!" she barked at him. Ash backed up. "Alright, alright, chill will you." Ash said to her, taking a seat on the nearest bench. Misty sat next to him and Ash took a deep breath. "Well, it all started...one week after you left..." he started.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ash and Brock were both walking towards the next gym. It was a sunny day, the sky was clear, the pidgey were flying over head, and yet...Ash looks down. Brock noticed this at once. "Hey Ash, you alright?" he asked him. Caught off guard, Ash jolted up and looked at him. "Huh? I'm alright. Why do you ask?" "Well, you seem down, wanna talk about it?" Ash looked down on the road. "Um...its ok, I was just thinking." Brock looked at him curiously. "Like what?" "Well, it's about Misty..." Brock raised an eye brow. "What about her?" "Well, ever since she left, I kept feeling...empty. Like, something is missing..." Ash said to him. "Well, maybe you miss her..." "What?" Ash shot back at him. "What do you mean miss her? Sure, yeah, I miss her and all, but why would I miss someone that yells at me, calls me names, and bothers me every time I'm in a pokemon battle?" Brock shook his head. "Typical Ash to be confused. Don't worry, you'll find out soon enough." Ash looked at him. "What? What don't I get?" "Just drop it Ash..."
Soon enough, they finally made it in town and instantly, Pikachu noticed something. "Pi pi pi. Pikachu!" "Huh? What is it Pikachu?" Ash asked. They both looked and there was a crowd around a store. So they went to go investigate.
"Everyone back up please. We need room!" Officer Jenny called at them. "Officer Jenny..." Brock said, off in la la land. Ash ignored him and turned to the nearest guy. "Hey, what's going on?" he asked. "Someone broke into this store yesterday." He told Ash. "What did they steal?" "They didn't steal anything important young man..." Officer Jenny interrupted. "Do you know who did this?" she asked him. "Um...no officer! But what exactly did they steal?" Ash wanted to know. "Well, all they stole was a vacuum and some herbs..." Ash scratched his head. [Odd, why would someone steal a vacuum and some herbs...could it have been Team Rocket?] Ash thought to himself. "O well, come on Brock, let's go!" He called, but saw, yet again, him being shot down my Jenny. "Ash..." "Yes Brock..." "Let's go..." "Er...yes Brock..."
They stopped at the nearest Pokemon Center and got their pokemon healed. As they were heading out, a shadow came over the town. They looked up and a familiar air balloon was blocking the sun. "O no...Not them again..." Ash said to himself. "It's Team Rocket!" Brock yelled. Jessie and James appeared, laughing at them. "Prepare for trouble!" "And make it double!" "To protect the world from devastation!" "To unite all peoples within out nation!" " To denounce the evils of truth and love!" "To extend our reach to the stars above!" "Jessie!" "James!" "Team Rocket blast off at the speed of light!" "Surrender now or prepare to fight!" "Meowth! That's Right!" They looked down at their spectators. "Huh? It's the twerp...why does their group look smaller?" Jessie asked herself. "It's doesn't matter! What matters is getting that Pikachu!" Meowth told them.
From the ground, Ash was looking up at the Meowth blimp. "Face it Team Rocket! You'll never get Pikachu!" Ash called to them. "That's were you're wrong kid!" Meowth said. "We got a brilliant plan to steal him this time!" "Er...with those three, I'll be surprised if it was decent..." Ash said. "I'm surprised that they used the word 'brilliant' in a sentence..." Brock added. Team Rocket fell over. "Grr...Enough small talk! James! Deploy our new weapon!" Jessie ordered him. "Deploying..." Just then, from the bottom of their blimp, a giant hose came out. "Engage the vacuum! Put it on reverse suck!" "Engaging...." Soon, there was a gust of wind coming out of the hose. "Team Rocket were the ones that broke into that store..." Brock told him, trying to keep his balance. But it was no use; they were blown off their feet. "Alright, now put in the powder that we made from those herbs James..." "Here we go..." he said, pouring a yellowish powder into the vacuum and the vacuum shooting out the yellow powder. Before they could react, Ash, Brock, and Pikachu were covered in the powder. "What is this stuff!" Ash yelled at them. "Ash!" Brock called. He turned around and saw Brock struggling to move. "Ash...I...I can't move!" Brock told him. "It must be some kind of stun spore!" "Huh?" Ash said questionably. "Hey! I can't move either!" "Pi...Pikachu..." Pikachu said, also affected by the stun spore.
Ash, Brock, and Pikachu were all struggling to move their bodies at Team Rocket descended and landed in front of them. "Wow Jessie, our plan is actually working for once!" "Don't jinx it James, now Pikachu..." Jessie started, taking out a shock-resistant glass container. "You belong to us..." she said, putting Pikachu in. "Pikachu!" Ash yelled. "Let's go. Wait 'til the boss sees this!" Meowth said, happily. They got into their balloon and started to float off. "Pikachu! I'm coming!" he said, getting up. "I'm not going...to let you...get stolen...." He yelled, fighting off the stun spore. But every step he took, it brought pain to him. With the amount of strength left, he was able to jump and grabbed hold of the hose. "He's climbing up! How could he fight that stun spore!" James said, amazed. Ash continued to scale the hose, every second hurting him. Meowth jumped on the ledge of their blimp. "I have to say, that's pretty amazing how you're fighting off that stun spore..." Meowth said, looking down at the injured Ash. "...But it's hurting you from within...why don't you just give up!" "Never!" Ash yelled at him. Right now, there were high in the sky, above all the buildings. "Well, I guess we have no choice...bye-bye twerp!" Meowth told him, pressing a button that detached the hose from the blimp.
Ash was falling, and was falling fast. He was worn out because he was trying to move while paralyzed. As he was heading to the ground at a phenomenal speed, he started to think that this was it...until...
"Fearow!" A Fearow called at it caught Ash on its back. Ash looked around, confused. "Huh? What happened? Where did this Fearow come from?" He said to himself. Fearow flew down to the ground next to a girl. She helped him off Fearow, whispered something to its ear and it took off again. This time it was heading right for the Meowth blimp. "Um...you guys?" "What is it Meowth! Can't you see we are celebrating?!" "But you guys...Fearow! Dead ahead!" Jessie and James looked up and saw that a fearow was in fact, coming right at them. They started to scream as Fearow flew right through their balloon, making the whole blimp fall straight down. Pikachu's container fell out of their hands and was caught in between the beak of Fearow. "Looks like Team Rocket is falling down again!" They yelled, hitting the ground. Fearow flew back down and gave the container to its trainer. She returned it back to its poke ball and released another pokemon. This time, it was a Vileplume. "Vileplume...you know what to do." She said, taking out a test tube. Vileplume pedals started to shake and suddenly, a yellow liquid ran down from its pedals. She collected it and she poured it in Brock's, Ash's, and Pikachu's mouths. After a couple of seconds, there were cure of their paralyses and they started to move again. "Thank you so much." Brock said. "Yes, thank you for saving my life and returning Pikachu...um, who are you anyways?" Ash said. The girl looked at Ash. "I'm sorry, my name is Elli. Nice to meet you!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"That's it...that's how we met..." Ash said, finishing off the story. "So she went with you guys ever since?" Misty asked and he nodded his head. Ash got up. "Well, I need to go back home. Make sure you're home by dinner..." He said running off. "So that's her story...I still feel un-easy about her though...something's not right..." Misty said to herself.
Back at the house...
"I know you and Ash are...well, friends and all, but you shouldn't have done what you did..." Brock said to Elli. "Brock...I don't know what you're talking about..." "Don't play dumb with me...the story was suspicious, the shirts, what else proof do you need." Elli told a sip of her tea. "God Brock...you're never this uptight...it's like you think I slept with Ash..." she said, looking back at him. Brock said nothing. "O my god, you think me and Ash...ha! What a laugh..." "But where you during the night!" Brock shot at her. "You weren't in your room when I went to wake everyone up." Elli took another sip of her tea. "I told you, I couldn't go to sleep, so I went to Ash's room and we played cards." Brock scratched his head. "But then how did you guys have each other's shirts?" Elli scratched her head. "Er...you can say...illegal betting..." Brock relaxed in the chair. "Well, I guess I can relax now..." "But man...how can you think like that Brock! Me? Sleep with Ash..." Brock looked at her. "Well, after all, you are his..." Just then, the door opened and Ash walked in. "O hey you guys...is dinner ready?" "Almost honey!" Mrs. Ketchum called from the kitchen.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was the middle of the night, again, everyone in their respective rooms and yet again...Misty couldn't sleep. She tossed and turned, closed her eyes but it was no good. [God, what's wrong with me...ever since she showed up...I can't get to sleep. Every time I see her, I can't help but to feel...jealous...but why? Is it because she has longer hair than me? Is it because she's prettier than me? Is it because she looks younger? Or is it...that she's....might be....after Ash...the person I love...] she quietly thought to herself.
Ash was also having trouble falling asleep, and wouldn't you know it...so was someone else...
There was a knock at Ash's door. Slowly, he got up and walked over and opened the door. Standing on the other side was Elli in her PJs. "Let me guess, you couldn't fall asleep..." Ash said to her. "Yeah, another restless night...you don't mind do you?" "Not at all...I, myself couldn't get to sleep also..." Elli walked in and he slowly closed the door. Ash took out a deck of cards. "Up for a little late night game?" Ash offered. "Sure...just let me get a drink first..." Elli opened the door and walked towards the kitchen. Misty, still awake, heard someone coming downstairs. So she faked being asleep and saw who it was. Misty saw that is was Elli, getting warm milk and then returning back upstairs. [That's odd, what is she doing up so late...maybe she's having problems falling asleep like me...] she thought, slowly getting up. [I know I shouldn't be doing this but...] Misty thought to herself, quietly following her. Misty looked over the corner and saw that she went into Ash's room. [That's Ash's room...why is she in Ash's room...]
Elli and Ash were at it again, gambling random stuff that they owned. "Ha! I won again Elli, looks like you own me your pillow!" "One more game Ash! I swear I'll win it all back!" Misty peeked into the room. "You don't have anything to bet Elli, just give up. I win!" "One more gamble...I know I can win...poker isn't my game, but I know I can beat you. If I win, I get all my stuff back." She said to him. "Alright...if you win, I'll return your stuff...but if you lose..." Ash started. Misty listen in carefully, gripping the door harder. "...if you lose, you have to go on a date with me!" "Deal!"
Misty released her grasp on the door and took a couple of steps back. [What...Ash, asking out Elli...but...what does this mean...Is it just for fun...] she thought, looking back at them. They were in mid-game, looking at their hands. [Or did Ash really mean it...] she thought as her heart raced.
End of Chapter 2
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Whew! Done! This one is pretty long. O, just for your information, it will take me a week at lease to type this stuff up because of school and projects and...well, you get it right? Well, keep reviewing. Later!
Then and Now
By: Belldandy'sKeiichi
Note: [any text in here is a thought text]
Author's Time: Whoa...thxs for the reviews so far. Well, the first chapter got your attention didn't it? Here you guys go, the second chapter.
Disclaimer Time: You know the drill, I don't own pokemon and I'll never will.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Well, I'm going out..." Ash called out to them. They all looked at him. "Hey Ash, wait up!" Misty called rushing to him. "You don't mind company do you?" she asked. Ash looked at her. "Well...I guess not..." Elli got up but Brock held her down with his hand. So Misty and Ash walked off. Elli, now confused, wanted to know why he kept her here and all he said was, "They need to catch up with each other."
Chapter 2: Elli Who?
[Finally alone...now I can get the scoop on this girl...] Misty thought to herself and they walk around Pallet. "Hey Ash..." Misty started. Ash turned to her. "Yeah Misty?" "You know, you never told me how you met Elli." This sent chills down Ash's spine. "Er...um...well..." Misty glared at him. "Come on, fess up!" she barked at him. Ash backed up. "Alright, alright, chill will you." Ash said to her, taking a seat on the nearest bench. Misty sat next to him and Ash took a deep breath. "Well, it all started...one week after you left..." he started.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ash and Brock were both walking towards the next gym. It was a sunny day, the sky was clear, the pidgey were flying over head, and yet...Ash looks down. Brock noticed this at once. "Hey Ash, you alright?" he asked him. Caught off guard, Ash jolted up and looked at him. "Huh? I'm alright. Why do you ask?" "Well, you seem down, wanna talk about it?" Ash looked down on the road. "Um...its ok, I was just thinking." Brock looked at him curiously. "Like what?" "Well, it's about Misty..." Brock raised an eye brow. "What about her?" "Well, ever since she left, I kept feeling...empty. Like, something is missing..." Ash said to him. "Well, maybe you miss her..." "What?" Ash shot back at him. "What do you mean miss her? Sure, yeah, I miss her and all, but why would I miss someone that yells at me, calls me names, and bothers me every time I'm in a pokemon battle?" Brock shook his head. "Typical Ash to be confused. Don't worry, you'll find out soon enough." Ash looked at him. "What? What don't I get?" "Just drop it Ash..."
Soon enough, they finally made it in town and instantly, Pikachu noticed something. "Pi pi pi. Pikachu!" "Huh? What is it Pikachu?" Ash asked. They both looked and there was a crowd around a store. So they went to go investigate.
"Everyone back up please. We need room!" Officer Jenny called at them. "Officer Jenny..." Brock said, off in la la land. Ash ignored him and turned to the nearest guy. "Hey, what's going on?" he asked. "Someone broke into this store yesterday." He told Ash. "What did they steal?" "They didn't steal anything important young man..." Officer Jenny interrupted. "Do you know who did this?" she asked him. "Um...no officer! But what exactly did they steal?" Ash wanted to know. "Well, all they stole was a vacuum and some herbs..." Ash scratched his head. [Odd, why would someone steal a vacuum and some herbs...could it have been Team Rocket?] Ash thought to himself. "O well, come on Brock, let's go!" He called, but saw, yet again, him being shot down my Jenny. "Ash..." "Yes Brock..." "Let's go..." "Er...yes Brock..."
They stopped at the nearest Pokemon Center and got their pokemon healed. As they were heading out, a shadow came over the town. They looked up and a familiar air balloon was blocking the sun. "O no...Not them again..." Ash said to himself. "It's Team Rocket!" Brock yelled. Jessie and James appeared, laughing at them. "Prepare for trouble!" "And make it double!" "To protect the world from devastation!" "To unite all peoples within out nation!" " To denounce the evils of truth and love!" "To extend our reach to the stars above!" "Jessie!" "James!" "Team Rocket blast off at the speed of light!" "Surrender now or prepare to fight!" "Meowth! That's Right!" They looked down at their spectators. "Huh? It's the twerp...why does their group look smaller?" Jessie asked herself. "It's doesn't matter! What matters is getting that Pikachu!" Meowth told them.
From the ground, Ash was looking up at the Meowth blimp. "Face it Team Rocket! You'll never get Pikachu!" Ash called to them. "That's were you're wrong kid!" Meowth said. "We got a brilliant plan to steal him this time!" "Er...with those three, I'll be surprised if it was decent..." Ash said. "I'm surprised that they used the word 'brilliant' in a sentence..." Brock added. Team Rocket fell over. "Grr...Enough small talk! James! Deploy our new weapon!" Jessie ordered him. "Deploying..." Just then, from the bottom of their blimp, a giant hose came out. "Engage the vacuum! Put it on reverse suck!" "Engaging...." Soon, there was a gust of wind coming out of the hose. "Team Rocket were the ones that broke into that store..." Brock told him, trying to keep his balance. But it was no use; they were blown off their feet. "Alright, now put in the powder that we made from those herbs James..." "Here we go..." he said, pouring a yellowish powder into the vacuum and the vacuum shooting out the yellow powder. Before they could react, Ash, Brock, and Pikachu were covered in the powder. "What is this stuff!" Ash yelled at them. "Ash!" Brock called. He turned around and saw Brock struggling to move. "Ash...I...I can't move!" Brock told him. "It must be some kind of stun spore!" "Huh?" Ash said questionably. "Hey! I can't move either!" "Pi...Pikachu..." Pikachu said, also affected by the stun spore.
Ash, Brock, and Pikachu were all struggling to move their bodies at Team Rocket descended and landed in front of them. "Wow Jessie, our plan is actually working for once!" "Don't jinx it James, now Pikachu..." Jessie started, taking out a shock-resistant glass container. "You belong to us..." she said, putting Pikachu in. "Pikachu!" Ash yelled. "Let's go. Wait 'til the boss sees this!" Meowth said, happily. They got into their balloon and started to float off. "Pikachu! I'm coming!" he said, getting up. "I'm not going...to let you...get stolen...." He yelled, fighting off the stun spore. But every step he took, it brought pain to him. With the amount of strength left, he was able to jump and grabbed hold of the hose. "He's climbing up! How could he fight that stun spore!" James said, amazed. Ash continued to scale the hose, every second hurting him. Meowth jumped on the ledge of their blimp. "I have to say, that's pretty amazing how you're fighting off that stun spore..." Meowth said, looking down at the injured Ash. "...But it's hurting you from within...why don't you just give up!" "Never!" Ash yelled at him. Right now, there were high in the sky, above all the buildings. "Well, I guess we have no choice...bye-bye twerp!" Meowth told him, pressing a button that detached the hose from the blimp.
Ash was falling, and was falling fast. He was worn out because he was trying to move while paralyzed. As he was heading to the ground at a phenomenal speed, he started to think that this was it...until...
"Fearow!" A Fearow called at it caught Ash on its back. Ash looked around, confused. "Huh? What happened? Where did this Fearow come from?" He said to himself. Fearow flew down to the ground next to a girl. She helped him off Fearow, whispered something to its ear and it took off again. This time it was heading right for the Meowth blimp. "Um...you guys?" "What is it Meowth! Can't you see we are celebrating?!" "But you guys...Fearow! Dead ahead!" Jessie and James looked up and saw that a fearow was in fact, coming right at them. They started to scream as Fearow flew right through their balloon, making the whole blimp fall straight down. Pikachu's container fell out of their hands and was caught in between the beak of Fearow. "Looks like Team Rocket is falling down again!" They yelled, hitting the ground. Fearow flew back down and gave the container to its trainer. She returned it back to its poke ball and released another pokemon. This time, it was a Vileplume. "Vileplume...you know what to do." She said, taking out a test tube. Vileplume pedals started to shake and suddenly, a yellow liquid ran down from its pedals. She collected it and she poured it in Brock's, Ash's, and Pikachu's mouths. After a couple of seconds, there were cure of their paralyses and they started to move again. "Thank you so much." Brock said. "Yes, thank you for saving my life and returning Pikachu...um, who are you anyways?" Ash said. The girl looked at Ash. "I'm sorry, my name is Elli. Nice to meet you!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"That's it...that's how we met..." Ash said, finishing off the story. "So she went with you guys ever since?" Misty asked and he nodded his head. Ash got up. "Well, I need to go back home. Make sure you're home by dinner..." He said running off. "So that's her story...I still feel un-easy about her though...something's not right..." Misty said to herself.
Back at the house...
"I know you and Ash are...well, friends and all, but you shouldn't have done what you did..." Brock said to Elli. "Brock...I don't know what you're talking about..." "Don't play dumb with me...the story was suspicious, the shirts, what else proof do you need." Elli told a sip of her tea. "God Brock...you're never this uptight...it's like you think I slept with Ash..." she said, looking back at him. Brock said nothing. "O my god, you think me and Ash...ha! What a laugh..." "But where you during the night!" Brock shot at her. "You weren't in your room when I went to wake everyone up." Elli took another sip of her tea. "I told you, I couldn't go to sleep, so I went to Ash's room and we played cards." Brock scratched his head. "But then how did you guys have each other's shirts?" Elli scratched her head. "Er...you can say...illegal betting..." Brock relaxed in the chair. "Well, I guess I can relax now..." "But man...how can you think like that Brock! Me? Sleep with Ash..." Brock looked at her. "Well, after all, you are his..." Just then, the door opened and Ash walked in. "O hey you guys...is dinner ready?" "Almost honey!" Mrs. Ketchum called from the kitchen.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was the middle of the night, again, everyone in their respective rooms and yet again...Misty couldn't sleep. She tossed and turned, closed her eyes but it was no good. [God, what's wrong with me...ever since she showed up...I can't get to sleep. Every time I see her, I can't help but to feel...jealous...but why? Is it because she has longer hair than me? Is it because she's prettier than me? Is it because she looks younger? Or is it...that she's....might be....after Ash...the person I love...] she quietly thought to herself.
Ash was also having trouble falling asleep, and wouldn't you know it...so was someone else...
There was a knock at Ash's door. Slowly, he got up and walked over and opened the door. Standing on the other side was Elli in her PJs. "Let me guess, you couldn't fall asleep..." Ash said to her. "Yeah, another restless night...you don't mind do you?" "Not at all...I, myself couldn't get to sleep also..." Elli walked in and he slowly closed the door. Ash took out a deck of cards. "Up for a little late night game?" Ash offered. "Sure...just let me get a drink first..." Elli opened the door and walked towards the kitchen. Misty, still awake, heard someone coming downstairs. So she faked being asleep and saw who it was. Misty saw that is was Elli, getting warm milk and then returning back upstairs. [That's odd, what is she doing up so late...maybe she's having problems falling asleep like me...] she thought, slowly getting up. [I know I shouldn't be doing this but...] Misty thought to herself, quietly following her. Misty looked over the corner and saw that she went into Ash's room. [That's Ash's room...why is she in Ash's room...]
Elli and Ash were at it again, gambling random stuff that they owned. "Ha! I won again Elli, looks like you own me your pillow!" "One more game Ash! I swear I'll win it all back!" Misty peeked into the room. "You don't have anything to bet Elli, just give up. I win!" "One more gamble...I know I can win...poker isn't my game, but I know I can beat you. If I win, I get all my stuff back." She said to him. "Alright...if you win, I'll return your stuff...but if you lose..." Ash started. Misty listen in carefully, gripping the door harder. "...if you lose, you have to go on a date with me!" "Deal!"
Misty released her grasp on the door and took a couple of steps back. [What...Ash, asking out Elli...but...what does this mean...Is it just for fun...] she thought, looking back at them. They were in mid-game, looking at their hands. [Or did Ash really mean it...] she thought as her heart raced.
End of Chapter 2
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Whew! Done! This one is pretty long. O, just for your information, it will take me a week at lease to type this stuff up because of school and projects and...well, you get it right? Well, keep reviewing. Later!