Episode 86: Let Dra-gones be Dra-gones

Ash and Heala are in the middle of some training. Brock and Brenda sit under a nearby tree, watching. Ash encourages Heala, "Alright Heala, focus on that rock. Pretend that rock is your opponent, a real opponent, in a real battle. Focus on that. It is your opponent. You are facing a real opponent. Visualize the opponent, and don't stop focusing on it. Now, attack it with Cross Poison!"

Heala leaps at the rock without hesitation, and slashes its claws in an X-pattern, leaving purple streaks behind as it slashes. It then leaps back and proudly declares, "Heala!"

With Heala as the newest addition to Ash's team, they've wasted no time getting to work on its confidence issues. Hopefully Heala will be battling at full strength before long.

Ash cheers, "Way to go! Now you've just got to treat an actual opponent like that, and you'll be battling in no time!"

Heala leaps up and down. "Heala! Heala!"

Brenda comments, "Wow, this is actually pretty clever of Ash. Getting Heala used to battling an opponent by imagining it will help it get used to the idea of facing real opponents for sure."

Brock nods. "This is exactly the sort of thing I would expect Ash to come up with."

Ash prompts, "Alright Heala, let's do it again. This time though, I want you to imagine that you're going up against an opponent much larger than yourself. A big and scary opponent."

Heala grins as it imagines its opponent. "Heala."

"Alright, Venoshock!" Heala spews a purple liquid from its mouth, coating the rock with it.

"Great job, Heala! You're not even flinching anymore!"

"Heala la!"

Then a critical voice cuts in, "Please don't tell me that's the same Heala from before."

Everyone looks towards the source of the voice to see Ryu and Dragonair approaching. Ash's entire demeanor suddenly changes. "So, what if it is?"

Ryu rolls his eyes. "It figures, you finally come to your senses and catch yourself a Dragon-Type Pokémon, but it's a pathetic one that's not even able to battle properly."

Ash defends, "I'm willing to put the time and effort into training Heala that you weren't. This Heala is going to be an incredible battler, just you wait and see."

"And while you spend all that time getting it there, I'll be training Pokémon that are naturally better, and you'll still be behind me."

This angers Ash. "Alright, you told me you wouldn't waste your time battling me because I didn't have any Dragon-Types on my team. Well now I do. Let's have a battle, right here, right now. My Heala against any of your Dragons."

Heala boldly challenges, "Heala la heal!"

Brock shouts, "Ash, no! Heala's not ready for battle yet!"

"It looks ready to me."

Heala agrees, "Heala!"

Brenda points out, "Heala always looks and feels ready for battle, but then it flees once it starts. You can't be sure, Ash."

Ash shakes his head. "No, we need to do this, right Heala?"

Heala fully agrees, "Heala."

Ryu takes a moment to size Ash and Heala up. "Fine, we can battle. My Dragons could use the exercise anyways."

The two have taken positions. Heala stands before Ash, ready for battle. It performs some shadow boxing moves to demonstrate its readiness.

Ryu pulls out a Pokéball. "I'm not interested in this being a total mis-match, so I'll use my newest Dragon-Type." He throws the ball. "Jangmo-o, to battle!"

A Jangmo-o appears from its Pokéball and proudly declares, "Jang jang!"

Brenda declares, "It's so cute, look at that heart on its forehead!"

Jangmo-o looks to her with annoyance.

Brenda takes out her Pokédex. "Jangmo-o, the Scaly Pokémon and a Dragon-Type. It is an incredibly proud Pokémon that carefully tracks its own achievements to be compared to others. If something actually manages to scratch the scale on its head, it will wear this scratch as a badge of honor. Evolves into Hakamo-o at level 35."

Brenda states, "I guess it doesn't like being called cute."

Team Rocket is hiding up in a nearby tree, looking down at the battle about to take place beneath them. James observes, "Looks like the Twerp is about to have a battle with the Dragon Twerp."

Jessie declares with disgust, "And that's the Heala that got in our way just as we were about to finally nab Pikachu! What's it doing here!?"

Meowth points out, "Well, between that Heala and the Dragon Twerp's entire team, we've got a bounty of Dragon Pokémon just waiting to be stolen."

All three of them grin mischievously.

Ash declares, "Alright Heala, this may be our first real battle together, but all you got to do is remember that rock. That rock is your opponent, your opponent is that rock."

Heala nods. "Heala!"

Ryu states, "It's only fair that you get in at least one move, so go ahead and start things off."

"You're going to regret that offer! Our last battle ended in a tie, so I'm going to make sure we win this one for sure! Dragon Claw, let's do it!"

Heala's claws glow green and it leaps at Jangmo-o. "Heala!"

Ryu commands, "Dodge!"

However, Jangmo-o seems to have ideas of its own. It digs its feet into the ground and braces itself. It lowers its head, and Heala's attack lands on the large scale on its forehead, which seems to absorb nearly all the damage.

Heala jumps back and cheers at its success. "Heala la!"

"Alright, Heala!"

Ryu looks to Jangmo-o with annoyance. It looks like he's about to scold it, but then decides not to. Instead he orders, "Jangmo-o, Dragon Tail!"

Jangmo-o seems to have no issue obeying this order. It leaps up and prepares to slam its glowing green tail into Heala. "Jang!"

Heala looks up to the incoming attack, and suddenly its entire demeanor changes from confidence to fear. Without any hesitation it flees the battlefield, causing Jangmo-o's attack to slam into the ground. It runs to shelter behind the very rock it was using to train with before.

Ash shouts, "Heala! No! Remember the rock!" Heala pokes its head back out, but refuses to come out from hiding. Ash glances to Ryu, and sees the disapproving look he's getting from him. Ash quickly looks back to Heala. Getting angered, Ash shouts, "Heala, get back here and finish this battle right now!"

This only further terrifies Heala and it runs off completely.

Ash realizes what he's done and shouts, "Heala!" It's too late though, Heala is already gone.

Brenda voices, "Oh no."

Brock shakes his head. "I was afraid this would happen. Heala just wasn't ready yet."

Ryu looks to Ash disapprovingly. "Pathetic. Even with a Dragon-Type on your team, you still waste my time." He looks down to Jangmo-o. "And you, I'll deal with you later." He recalls it to its Pokéball and turns to walk away.

Ash is torn between going after Heala and going after Ryu. After a moment's hesitation, with a hint of desperation in his voice, he shouts, "Wait! Don't leave! Let me get Heala back, and we'll finish the battle!"

Ryu keeps on walking away and responds, "It's obvious you haven't figured out how to work with that Heala yet. I have no interest in battling a trainer who can't control their Dragon-Types. It wouldn't serve to make me stronger."

As Ryu continues to walk away, Ash clenches his fists with frustration.

Pikachu cautiously approaches Ash and asks with concern, "Pikapi?"

Without another word, Ash bursts off running in the direction that Heala ran. Pikachu, concerned for him, follows.

From up above, Jessie comments, "Wow, I don't think I've ever seen the Twerp have such a tough time with one of his Pokémon."

James laughs. "Serves him right."

Meowth suddenly declares, "Maybe the Twerp deserves something like that, but you know who doesn't?"

Jessie and James give him puzzled looks. "Who?"

"That Heala."

Jessie asks, "Since when do we care about Pokémon of the twerpish persuasion?"

"Think about how badly that Heala beat us back when we first met it. It gave your Repiv and Haking a thorough thrashing."

James groans. "Don't remind me."

"Team Rocket has a reputation to think of, and if the very same Pokémon that so utterly defeated you two runs in terror at first sign of a battle, that doesn't reflect well on us at all."

Jessie and James consider this. Jessie realizes, "You're right. It would be a publicity nightmare if people started learning we lost to a Pokémon pathetic enough to flee right as the battle's beginning."

James agrees, "We have to remedy this problem immediately."

Seeing that they're all in agreement, Meowth declares, "Then let's find that Heala!"

Ash and Pikachu run through the trees and bushes searching for Heala. Ash shouts, "Heala! Please, you've got to come back! I pushed you into a battle too early! You weren't ready yet! I should have realized! I'm sorry I shouted at you like that!"

Ash suddenly stops running and comes to a complete stop. He looks down at the ground, emotion pouring out of him. Fighting back tears, he mutters, "I'm a terrible trainer. I promised Heala I'd help it get over its anxiety, and all I did was make things worse. I only scared it even more."

Pikachu looks up to Ash and tries to tell him, "Pika pi pikachu."

Ash shakes his head. "No Pikachu, this is all my fault. I was way too eager to get my rematch with Ryu. I thought that now that I had a Dragon-Type on my team, he'd battle me again, and I could show him that I can beat him. But Heala wasn't ready yet, and I should have known that. I put my needs ahead of Heala's." He collapses down onto the ground and leans back against a tree. "Heala deserves better than me as a trainer."

Pikachu asserts, "Pika! Pikapi chu pika!"

"That doesn't change the fact that I messed up big time. Bigger than any trainer should. I bet that Heala doesn't even want me as a trainer anymore. I'll probably never see it again."

Pikachu is tiring of this self-pity. It steps closer to Ash and then slaps his face.

Ash looks up to Pikachu. "Pikachu?"

Pikachu emphasizes, "Pik pikachu pi, chu pikachu! Pik pik pika pi! Chu! Pikachu pi, pikapi!"

Ash is uncertain of how to respond. He thinks it over for a moment, and finally says, "You're right, Pikachu. I made a promise to Heala to help it battle, and to give up on myself would be to give up on Heala. At the very least, I owe it to Heala to see if it will give me another chance." He stands up and prepares to resume his search. He looks back down to Pikachu. "Thank, buddy. I needed that."

Pikachu smiles. "Chu!"

"Now come on, let's go find Heala!"

Who's that Pokémon!?

The color and scent of their fur changes to match the mountain grass. When they sense hostility, they hide in the grass.

Heala slowly comes to a stop, as it finally has calmed enough to stop running. It notices a nearby creek and walks over to it for a drink. After lifting its head from the water, Heala looks down, noticing its reflection. After a moment of staring at it, Heala smacks the water in frustration, causing the reflection to no longer be visible. "Heala!" It quickly steps back from the water's edge.

Heala falls to the ground and sighs. "Healaaaaa…"

It then envisions Ash looking down to him and lecturing, "What do you think you were doing? You can't battle if just run away like a coward. That's what you are, a coward. I don't want to waste my time training a coward like you. You'll never be a powerful battler. Get out of my sight." The vision of Ash turns and disappears.

Heala whimpers, "Heala."

Then it envisions Ryu looking to him scornfully. He asserts, "You're a pathetic waste of a Pokémon, not even worthy of being called a Dragon-Type. Why you delude yourself into thinking you can battle is beyond me." Ryu too turns his back to Heala before the vision disappears.

Now Heala's looking depressed.

Suddenly, Meowth calls out, "Well, if it isn't Heala. How you doing, pal of mine?"

Heala leaps up in surprise and sees Team Rocket in front of it. Remembering them from its first encounter, as well as following Ash, Heala takes a stance implying it's ready for battle.

Meowth throws up his arms and feigns innocence. "Woah, what are you doing? We're just friends coming to help you out with your problem."

Heala is confused. "Heala?"

Jessie points out, "Besides, even if we were here to attack you, it's not like you could do anything but run from us."

This hits Heala where it hurts. "La…"

James promptly adds, "But that's why we're here. We want to help you overcome your problems. We give you the Team Rocket guarantee that we can have you battling in no time."

"Heala?"

Meowth nods. "That's right, we've decided that we want to help you, and if you know anything about Team Rocket, you should know that we'll never give up on a goal we've set. And today, we work for you. So, what do you say, paly? Do you want to keep on living life too afraid to battle, or do you want to show that twerp that you can battle to your little heart's content?"

Heala needs no time to think it over. It eagerly nods it head. "Heala la!"

Meowth nods. "Great. Then here's what we're going to do." He looks up to Jessie. "Let out the living punching bag."

Before Jessie can do anything, Wobbuffet releases itself from its Pokéball. "Wobbuffet!"

Meowth explains, "You see, what the Twerp got wrong was having you face a rock in your training. You need a real opponent to get you used to the idea. And lucky enough for you, Wobbuffet is a punching bag in Pokémon form. You can attack it all you like, and it won't ever attack you back. So there's nothing to be afraid of, right?"

Heala thinks it over, and then nods eagerly, understanding the logic. "Heala!" It assumes a battle stance once more, and prepares itself to launch an attack against Wobbuffet. A moment later, it leaps into the air and attacks with the poisonous liquid of a Venoshock.

When the attack hits Wobbuffet, it pushes it backwards, but Wobbuffet quickly props back upright, forcing the attack to bounce back at Heala. Heala leaps out of the way and scurries away to hide in a bush.

Meowth feigns ignorance. "I'm sorry, I must have forgotten to warn you. Wobbuffet may not attack you back directly, but it does tend to throw your own attacks back at you. Still, you can deal with your own attacks, right? After all, no one's attacking you, so there's nothing to get afraid of."

Heala thinks it over, and then steps out from hiding, apparently agreeing. It prepares itself to try again.

It's Deerling!

Ash continues his search for Heala, but comes to a stop when he hears Ryu shout, "I thought we agreed this wouldn't be a problem!"

Ash and Pikachu quickly trade glances, and then run towards the source. In a nearby clearing they find Ryu lecturing Jangmo-o.

Ryu looks down to Jangmo-o, which stands at attention. "Pride is fine when you can afford it, but you were against an unknown opponent. Maybe that Heala turned out to pathetic, but you didn't know that. If you want to win battles, you can't go disobeying me like that."

"Jang…"

Ryu is about to continue his lecture, but Dragonair approaches him from behind, and drapes its tail around his neck soothingly. "Dragonair."

Ryu take a breath to calm himself. "Yes, you're right." He looks back to Jangmo-o and asks, "So you don't like having to dodge attacks? You'd rather take the attack and try to defend against it with your scale?"

Jangmo-o nods.

"Okay, let's see how we can work with that." Ryu suddenly pauses as he notices something. Without turning to face Ash, he announces, "If you're going to watch me, you might as well do it out in the open."

Looking slightly embarrassed, Ash steps out into the open. "Sorry about that, I was out looking for Heala, and I couldn't help but overhear." Trying to find some way to break the tension, he says, "So, I guess I'm not the only one with an unruly Pokémon."

Ryu obviously doesn't appreciate this comparison, but he doesn't object. He asks, "Is there any reason why you're still here? I'd like to return to my private business."

Ash chuckles awkwardly. "Well…um…I guess I was just wondering how you deal with unruly Pokémon."

Ryu responds, "The way I train my Pokémon is my business, and my business alone."

Ash nods slowly. "Right…" He sighs. "I guess I'll just be off then." He turns to leave.

As he does, Ryu makes a heavy sigh and says, "Something you must remember when training a Dragon-Type."

Ash quickly turns arounds, very curious to see what Ryu has to say.

"Dragon-Type are the proudest of Pokémon, and because of that, they are the most stuck in their ways, for better or for worse. If you have trouble getting a Dragon-Type to do what you want, try doing what it wants, but in your own way." After a moment's pause, Ryu adds, "Now please, leave me alone so I can return to my training."

Ash nods and grins. "Yeah, of course." He and Pikachu turn to leave.

Heala attacks Wobbuffet with Venoshock once more, but this time it's ready for the rebound. It jumps to the side right as the attack comes back, avoiding it entirely, and not once showing anxiety.

James cheers, "That's the ticket!"

Meowth adds, "Now you just have treat an opponent's attack like that, and you'll be battling like a pro in no time!"

Jessie absent-mindedly ponders, "Is it wrong that I'm enjoying watching Wobbuffet get used as a punching bag?" No one responds.

Off in the distance, Ash can be heard shouting, "Heala! I need to talk to you!"

Team Rocket all trade glances, and James declares, "And that's our cue to get out of here." They all run off, whisper-shouting, "Looks like Team Rocket's sneaking off again!"

Just as they're out of sight, Ash comes into sight. He spies Heala. "Heala! There you are!"

Heala recoils, expecting the scolding it got in its imagination.

Instead, Ash runs up to it, picks it up, and hugs it. "I'm so sorry about shouting at you before, Heala. I wanted to beat Ryu at his own game so badly that I forgot about your feelings. Could you ever forgive me?"

Heala is at first surprised, and then gleeful. It cheers, "Heala, la!"

"Thank you, Heala."

Heala then leaps down from Ash's arms, and does some more shadow boxing.

Ash questions, "Does that mean you want to battle again? Already? Did something happen while you were out here?"

Heala nods yes to all three questions.

Then, Brock and Brenda manage to catch up with Ash. Brenda cheers, "You found Heala! That's great!"

Brock agrees, "I was very worried. Glad to see it worked out."

Ash states, "Alright guys, there's something we've got to now."

Ash boldly steps back into the clearing where Ryu and Jangmo-o were training, and finds them still training. He proclaims, "Ryu, we want to finish what we started."

Heala punches the air in front of it and adds, "Heala, la!"

Brock and Brenda only now realize what Ash is doing. Brock demands, "Ash, what are you doing!? Nothing has changed since before! Don't put you and Heala through this again!"

Brenda agrees, "Brock's right! What do you hope to accomplish?"

Ash shakes head. "No, everything's different now." He looks back to Ryu. "So, what do you say?"

Ryu looks Ash in the eyes, and can tell that he's being serious. "If we must." He backs up to create room for a battleground.

Ash takes his position opposite of Ryu. Heala and Jangmo-o take their positions as well.

Ash declares, "Fair's fair, you take the first move this time."

Brenda gasps. "What is he thinking? Now Heala won't even get the chance to get one move in."

Ryu, however, has no qualms. "Jangmo-o, Dragon Pulse!" Jangmo-o begins to gather purple-green energy in its mouth.

Ash grins. "Heala, I want you to run away."

Heala looks back to Ash with surprise. "Heala?"

Heala's not the only one surprised. Brock and Brenda are quite shocked as well.

Ash reiterates, "You've just got to run away, but stay on the battlefield."

Jangmo-o releases its burst of energy at Heala. For a moment, everything slows down from Heala's perspective. It sees the incoming attack, and it looks off towards a nearby tree, as its instincts tell it to run for cover. But then it looks back to the attack, and imagines that the attack is its own Venoshock, reflected back at it by Wobbuffet. Then it glances back at Ash, remembering his orders. Heala then nods, as it now knows exactly what to do. As time returns back to normal, Heala scurries away, not for the cover of the tree, but to a strategic location to attack from at Jangmo-o's side.

Brock and Brenda are even more surprised now. Brenda murmurs, "That's such an…Ash thing to do."

Ash looks to Ryu, and states, "Sorry Brenda, but I can't take credit for this one."

Ryu looks at him knowingly. He doesn't verbally acknowledge this unspoken thanks, but he recognizes it as that.

Ash orders, "Now Heala, use Dragon Claw!"

Heala leaps at Jangmo-o, brandishing its glowing green claws.

Ryu staunchly orders, "Jangmo-o, use Protect!"

Jangmo-o raises a green barrier around it, which nullifies Heala's attack.

Brock observes, "How interesting."

Brenda asks, "What?"

"Before, Ash and Ryu were having opposite issues with their Pokémon, and therefore tried to get them to do opposite things. Heala couldn't stand still, so Ash tried to get it to stand its ground, and Ryu wanted Jangmo-o to dodge, but it refused to budge. I think they both learned something from the other."

Brenda nods as she thinks it over. "Huh, you're right."

Behind a nearby bush, Team Rocket watches. Jessie quietly cheers, "It's working, Heala is actually fighting!"

James proclaims, "The Team Rocket name is safe!" They return to watching with great interest.

Ryu commands, "Switch into Dragon Tail!" Jangmo-o drops its shield and right away spins around, whipping its tail at Heala. Heala is given no chance to dodge, and for the first time, takes the direct attack.

Everyone, except Ryu, tenses up as they watch for Heala's reaction. Heala slowly gets up, and once it is, it stands proudly, no sign of the need to run away. "Heala!"

Ash cheers, "Yeah! There's no way we're losing to you, Ryu! Heala, use Ice Fang!"

Heala gets a running start and leaps at Jangmo-o, it's fangs glowing white and freezing cold.

However, Ryu and Jangmo-o are too quick to react. "Dragon Pulse!" Jangmo-o attacks Heala with Dragon Pulse before it has a chance to land its attack, knocking it out of the air. Without relent, Ryu declares, "Follow it up with Dragon Tail!" Before Heala can recover, Jangmo-o slams its tail down on top of it, blowing dust into the air in the process. Jangmo-o jumps back out of the dust cloud.

Ash squints, attempting to see what happened inside. When the dust has cleared, it is obvious that Heala is no longer able to battle. Ash is shocked. "We…lost…"

Brenda mouths, "Oh no…"

Jessie is outraged, "What!? After all we did to help it, Heala still lost?"

Meowth points out, "This wasn't a loss for Heala, it was victory. Heala not only stuck around and finished this battle, but it even took an attack and continued to fight back. This little victory was a big one for Heala, and that's what matters."

James thinks, "And it's all because of us. That little Heala can battle now, and it's all because of us."

All three pause for a moment, but quickly realize the consequences of their actions. Jessie points out, "But if it can battle, that means it can battle against us."

James groans. "So much for that accomplishment."

Ryu looks to Ash, then to Heala, and then back to Ash, and shakes his head in disapproval. "You got over your basic weakness, but you still lack the strength of a Dragon-Type. Until you can find your true power, don't waste my time again."

Heala, having regained consciousness, looks up to Ryu with wide eyes. "Heala…?"

Ash too glares at Ryu, but Ryu seems indifferent. Ash says to Heala, "Don't listen to what he has to say. You are powerful, and I know it. You know it too. We'll beat him next time, I promise." Heala continues to stare at Ryu, not entirely certain of what to think,

Ryu states, "Empty promises." He turns to leave. "Dragonair, Jangmo-o, we're leaving." Dragonair turns to follow, but Jangmo-o takes another moment to stare at Heala, as if trying to intimidate it. It then turns to leave as well.

Ash watches him for a few moments as he walks away, staring at him with disdain. "I can't believe I lost to him…" He takes a deep, walks up to Heala, and picks it up. "I meant what I said Heala. That guy has his priorities in all the wrong places, and there's no way I'm going to ever lose to him again too. Do you know what that means?"

Heala looks up to Ash and tilts its head questioningly.

"It means we're going to keep on training and get even stronger than we are now. When it comes time to face him again, we're going to win."

Heala nods in agreement. "Heala." It can't help but glance one more time in the direction Ryu left in, the desire to defeat this opponent obviously showing on its face.

And let's hope that that's a promise Ash can keep. The Ash-Ryu rivalry has taken its next step today, and certainly that must leave us all wondering what comes next. Find out, as the journey continues!

To Be Continued…