After getting a good night's sleep, our heroes were eating some breakfast with some dumplings and dango on a stick, some of the regional culinary delicacies.
"Mmm, I never knew breakfast dumplings could be so delicious!" Ash praised the foor. "Try some Pikachu." The electric mouse nibbled some of the food, and was pleased.
"Pikaaa!" She sounded happy.
"And look at that. A tea ceremony." Elaine pointed to a poster advertising said event.
"A tea ceremony?" Trace was confused. "What could be done in ceremony about tea?"
"Well whatever it is, it sounds cool. Let's go Clefable!"
"Clefable!" The Fairy Pokemon was all in, but when one of her ears twitched, she looked to see there was a stray Eevee.
"Vee vee vee!" It cried out, attracting everyone's attention.
"Aw, it's another adorable Eevee like yours, Trace!" She went to pick up the normal type Pokemon. "How are you doing there, cutie pie? Where did you come from?"
"Eevee! Eevee!" A girl's voice called for it, and it turned with a smile as a magenta haired girl in a pink shirt and blue skirt ran up to them. She looked rather annoyed.
"Eevee, I've been looking all over for you!"
"Excuse me, it showed up just a minute ago." Elaine told her as she handed the Evolution Pokemon to the girl.
"That's okay. I hope he didn't cause you any trouble."
"Oh, he was no trouble at all." Elaine giggled.
"That's a relief. My Eevee can sometimes be really naughty. Oh, I'm sorry. I'm Sakura Kouda."
"Elaine Gladwin, nice to meet you and your Eevee."
"Same here. My name's Ash."
"Call me Trace, and look, we have the same Pokemon." He presented his own Eevee to which they greeted each other in their own name.
"That's so cool Trace!" Sakura was pleased by this commonality.
"Say, perhaps you can help us Sakura? Can you help us find the Tea Ceremony on that poster there?" She looked at the poster, then giggled as she replied,
"That's the ceremony my sisters perform." Elaine was shocked.
"Really?"
A little bit later, our group of teens waited for Sakura in a room until a door opened, and they saw her in a pink and red kimono, along with a black haired wig.
"Sorry to keep you waiting."
"Wow Sakura, you look really great!" Elaine complimented her new friend.
"Thanks Elaine. I have to greet the guests but you can go ahead and enjoy the ceremony." Said ceremony took place in a small enclosed park that really made you feel like you were in the Edo period of Japan.
"Wow. I feel like a time traveler." Elaine giggled. Ash wasn't impressed all that much though.
"Hmmm, it's nice and all but what is there to do aside maybe drinking tea?"
"I don't know." Trace replied, but then one of the Kimono Girls, clad in green, showed up.
"Welcome. I hope you can enjoy our Tea Ceremony."
"I overhead what you could do here, so let me show you around." They were first led to a place where they watched one of the girls, clad in an orange kimono delicately placing flowers into a vase. "This is our flower class, showing how important placements of every flower is." Moving past that, there was a kimono girl wearing a cyan robe playing a beautiful string instrument. "And finally, here is where we serve tea. We have both your typical and exotic types of teas. Ryokucha, yamecha, ujicha, shincha, sencha, you name it. All sorts of green tea in all manners.
"Welcome honerable guests." A violet clad Kimono Girl bowed, to which our guests bowed in return upon getting on their legs. "Please feel relaxed and enjoy the tea."
"Thank you." All three of the teenagers said. Once they were served tea, the Kinomo Girl told them,
"It's part of the custom to turn the cup around before you begin to drink." She then drank her tea, while her guests drank theirs after swishing them around.
"Mmm, my tea tastes sweet." Elaine hummed in delight.
"Hmm, mine tastes good, but it's a little bitter." Ash commented as he tried using a napkin to get the taste out.
"Huh? My tea tastes like sweet coffee." Trace was confused by his own tea's taste.
"We each gave you a different tea so you could see how wide its variety is. That tea you drank that tastes like coffee is gyokuro tea."
"Hi guys." Sakura came to greet them.
"Hey Sakura." Elaine returned the greeting.
"How are you enjoying my big sister's tea?" That caught them off guard.
"You're Sakura's sister?!"
"Yes, I'm Satsuki." The violet clad Kimono Girl confirmed as Sakura sat next to her.
"I'm Sumomo, her other sister." The green girl introduced herself, followed by the yellow and cyan sisters.
"Tamao, her other other sister."
"I'm Koume, her last elder sister."(A/N: As I was watching episode, I thought to myself, "Oh man, Brock hitting on every girl there probably would've gotten him beaten up if this was real life." Or a more slice of life anime? I know calling multiple girls the most appealing, especially sisters, is frowned upon and we know Brock is a shameless womanizer who should be arrested for his countless advances on almost any woman he lays eyes on.)
"So, have you ever heard of the four beautiful Tea Ceremony sisters before?" Statsuki asked, which Sakura took offense at.
"Four beautiful sisters?! What about me?!"
"Oh you're a sister too, just not beautiful." Koume told her.
"Ugh, siblings." Elaine rolled her eyes. "Sakura, looks like we both have a thing with bothersome siblings." That attracted Sakura's attention. "I'm the youngest of three with an older brother and sister. They both moved out, going into business in Unova and Pokemon grooming in Kalos respectively."
"Did everyone focus on them and ignore you?"
"Well, not everyone, but not a lot of people took a liking to my tomboy attitude growing up. Except my best friends here." Elaine slung an arm around her boy's shoulders and roughly brought them closer. They grunted from the roughness, but chuckled at her saying that last part.
"Looks like we have a lot in common." Both girls laughed until they heard cries of shock along with steam rising into the air in a short distance.
"What was that?!" Ash inquired as he got up to look for the source of distress.
"Ash, wait for us!" Elaine called out to her boyfriend as she and everyone else went to the commotion. There they saw Team Rocket hogging the food while a tea set was ruined.
"Sakura, help us!" An older woman called to her.
"Hey, who are you three and what are you doing?!" They tried to respond, but their mouths were too full to say their motto.
"Hold it you party crashers!" Trace shut them up as he pointed at them. "We've got an intro of our own that's way better than yours! We've been practicing!" This intrigued the criminals as they swallowed their food.
"You think you can upstage our motto?" Jessie mocked.
"Then by all means, show us what you've got." James encouraged them. Our heroes grinned mischievously at each other before turning their backs to Team Rocket. What they didn't expect however was to hear something similar.
"Prepare for harmony!" Elaine went first. Ash followed.
"So listen carefully!" The criminals were flabbergasted that they were stealing their motto, and telling it backwards!
"Are they... mocking us?!" James asked, almost growling.
"To protect the world from devastation!"
"To unite all people in every location!" Trace spoke that time. Jessie was slowly becoming enraged.
"This is insulting!"
"To denounce the evils of lies and hate!"
"To extend our reach far and straight!" Ash almost laughed.
"Elaine!"
"Ash!"
"Team Good spreading kindness day and night!"
"We'll fight against evil within line of sight!"
"That's right!" Trace finished their motto.
"Pika Pika!"
"Eevee!"
"Clefable!" Even their Pokemon got their lines in, to which they started complimenting each other.
"Wow Ash, you were great! We got it just right!" Elaine laughed as she hugged Ash, which he returned.
"Thanks Elaine, now I know why they like saying that dumb stuff so much! It's fun!"
"Haha, look at Team Rocket!" Trace laughed at the furious criminals. "You can see their veins popping up on their foreheads!" Even the Kimono Girls and the audience was having a good chuckle at Team Rocket's expense as their rage only grew with each passing second and laugh.
"Team Rocket is something not to be made fun of you twerps!" Jessie called them out. James added to that.
"Not only did you steal our motto but you perverted it to mean something nice and wholesome, not heart-striking and intimidating!"
"Well you don't scare anyone anyway because your motto's too silly!" Trace told them while sticking his tongue out and pulling an eyelid down.
"Well I don't care who they are!" Sakura cut in. "I want you out of here!"
"Don't think we'll let you get away of making fun of us so easily! Arbok, I choose you!"
"Go, Weezing!" What they didn't expect though was for each Kimono Girl to send out their own Pokemon each, up to a total of an Eevee and four of its evolution types. Flareon, Umbreon, Vaporeon and Jolteon. Team Rocket's three against an opposition of eight. But they were so mad they didn't care about the odds. The twerps had to be punished.
"Arbok, use Bite!"
"Pikachu, counter with Iron Tail!"
"Pikachu!" She ran up to the incoming Cobra Pokemon and smacked it down with her glowing white tail.
"Weezing, use Tackle!"
"Clefable, Psychic!" Elaine told her Pokemon.
"Clefable!" With her eyes glowing blue, she caught the attacking Poison Gas Pokemon, and slammed it painfully into the ground.
"Ember/Water Gun/Thunder Shock/Dark Pulse four of the five sisters told their Pokemon, and each sent their own special attacks that overwhelmed Team Rocket as they flew into the air after a powerful explosion from the mixtures of elements.
"Team Rocket's blasting off again!" A twinkle was all that was heard as they went far away.
"Team Rocket... I thought they disbanded for good once great Champion Ethan beat his executives?" Sakura questioned, worried about another possible resurgence.
"I remember mom mentioning something about Team Rocket being beaten again, so she told us not to worry about it." Ash thought about it. "Team Rocket was hardly mentioned in Pallet Town since our birth place was so small. Too small for Team Rocket to be interested in, and after Red left shortly after becoming champion, the topic was never brought up. I believe our parents wanted to protect us while we were younger."
"Same with us." Koume shared. "Luckily the only other Team Rocket incident we had was one of their lowly grunts harassing our aunt, Miki, during a performance. Until Ethan when he was just a trainer came and stopped him. Our mother, Sayo, didn't want us to worry and was there to keep us assured and feel safe when they hi-jacked the Goldenrod Radio Tower, broadcasting their return. Ethan stopped them there too and put an end to their brief reign of terror."
"So that's what happened." Trace knew about that too, but his mom wouldn't let him know too much for the sake of protection and keeping his innocence in tact at the time. "So what now?" After a few seconds, Sakura turned to her sisters.
"May I go and hang out with Elaine? I promise I'll be back soon."
"No problem, just don't take too long." Sakura smiled from getting permission, then went to put her outfit away. She and Elaine talked on a small grassy hill while Clefable let Eevee sleep on her head.
"So what were your sister and brother like?" Sakura asked her new Kantonian friend.
"Eh, Mike and I didn't get along. A wanted to play with him but he's always been such a stick in the mud, saying he was too busy to play games. My twin sister Helen got along better, but she was the town's famous pet groomer so she was busy a lot as well. She just didn't push me aside as bluntly as Mike." Then Elaine's face dropped. "But when I heard they were moving to Unova and Kalos, I didn't want them to leave. As bothersome as they were, I still loved them. And on that day, I was so sad and angry that I..." She started to sniff as tears came to her eyes. "...I-I told them that if they love their jobs so much then they should not bother coming back and I ran off into the woods. I-I was very lonely, un-until Ash and Trace found me. By-by the time I came back, they were... gone." Elaine hugged her legs close as she began to cry, trying to keep most of it in while Sakura scooted in closer to hug her.
"I'm sorry you went through something like that." Then she thought of something. "But... why are you telling me this? We just met today." After trying to get back some of her composure, Elaine replied,
"Sorry, the memories sort of just came flooding back in. I couldn't hold it in."
"I see. So what happened after?"
"Helen and I made up. With video chat I was able to apologize and she understood why I said those things and didn't hold it against me, even if what I said still hurt. But... I never talked to Mike again. With where he is, we're awake when he's just gone to sleep for the night and then getting ready for work, and he's gotten off of work by the time we go to sleep. My parents still talk to him on his birthday and Christmas, but whenever I try and talk with him he hangs up. He must still believe I hate him and just want to yell at him. But..." Elaine started to cry again much more passionately as tears streamed down her face before covering her eyes. "...but I just want my brother back! I want to tell him I love him! I want to tell him I'm sorry! I want to tell him he can come back! I want to-"
"Elaine, Elaine, it's okay!" Sakura tried to calm her friend whom was becoming hysterical with a tighter hug. "It's okay. It's okay. Maybe he just doesn't know what to say to you. It's possible he really doesn't want to talk to you, but what if he also wants to talk to you, but he doesn't know how to express how sorry he is?" That was something to think about, but when Ash and Trace were walking by, they noticed Elaine in her sad state and immediately ran to her.
"Elaine?! What's wrong?" Ash asked his girlfriend.
"Yeah, what's with the water works? What happened? Trace inquired just as worried as they went to get close, to comfort her. While still full of sorrow, their immediate concern and care made Elaine calm down a bit as she sniffed up some snot and wipe her tears, even if her eyes were still a little red.
"So-sorry guys. We were just talking about some family trouble."
"Perhaps we could go and get some mochi ice cream? I saw a selection of them at a stand." Ash offered. Elaine sniffed again before turning to her boyfriend with a smile.
"Thanks Ash. That'd be very nice." She slung her arms around his neck and kissed him, to which he returned.
"They're together?" Sakura asked curiously to Trace.
"Yeah, we grew up like a family of our own, a trio that had the most fun together. They hooked up after Elaine had an accident with some Carvanna, and Ash saved her." Sakura looked down and saw the bite marks on her legs, scarred there forever.
"Oh my." Although, once the tender kiss between them started to get hot and was turning into a make out, Trace rolled his eyes.
"Alright love birds we get it. Can we go get some ice cream now?" Sakura just let the moment absorb into her, taking it all in before deciding to laugh, attracting all their attention.
"What?" They all asked.
"You truly are the closest of friends." Then she once again thought of something. "Wait, all of you three are Pokemon trainers, right?"
"Yeah." They all answered.
"I always wanted to go on a Pokemon journey; travel around, see the world and collect badges so that I can compete in the Johto League. But I never wanted to do it by myself. But maybe if I went with you guys..."
"I think that's a good idea." Elaine told her, wiping more of her tears away. "Let's go get some mochi ice cream first though. I need a pick me up."
"Yeah, let's do that." Trace told Elaine. "Also, we got some medicine for the trip...
After waiting for the sisters to finish a performance, Sakura and her new friends sat in front of them as their baby sister bowed to them.
"You know how much I love Pokemon, and you don't need me here! Just let me go with them!"
"Why is it so important for you?" Satsuki asked.
"I want to compete in the Johto League and become a Pokemon Master!"
"But you haven't even mastered the art of the Tea Ceremony." Sumomo pointed out.
"If you can't master holding an umbrella, how can you master Pokemon?" Koume inquired.
"Please let me! Elaine, please help me."
"We promise to take good care of her." Elaine nodded.
"It'd be like Sakura had two brothers and a sister." Ash said. "So she'll always have the help she needs."
"Well, you did take down those troublesome Team Rocket members."
"Then you'll let me go with them?!" Sakura gasped with joy.
"Before we say yes, we want to see how good your friends are." Satsuki set her condition. "If they can beat us in a Pokemon battle, we'll let you go with your friends."
"Okay!" Ash pumped his fist. "We'll win that Pokemon battle, won't we Pikachu?!"
"Pika!" She cheered with him.
"How about we have a three one-on-one Pokemon battles?!" Satsuki asked our heroes. "Any three of you vs any three of us?!"
"Bring it on!" Ash called for it to start.
"I'll get things started! Vaporeon, go!" Sumomo sent out Eevee's water evolution, the Bubble Jet Pokemon.
"I'll take things from here!" Elaine went first. "Azumarill, go!"
"Azumarill!"
"Azumarill, use Double Edge!"
"Counter with Bubblebeam!" Vaporeon shot a barrage of glowing bubbles at the incoming Azumarill, but the Aqua Rabbit Pokemon had a lot more power thanks to her Huge Power ability as she charged straight through the bubbles and slammed into Vaporeon, whom cried out from the strong impact as she crashed into the ground. "No! Try to use Quick Attack!" Managing to get up, the Bubble Jet Pokemon sprinted forward and pushed straight into Azumarill, but the attack did nothing more than simply push her back a few feet, the ovaloid water/fairy type chuckling at its weak attack.
"Now use Play Rough!" Expelling a white cloud from her mouth, Vaporeon lost track of Azumarill as the star filled fog clouded its vision.
"Vaporeon, Aurora Beam!" The water type fired a rainbow colored beam which shot through the fog, but it didn't hit anything. Both trainers couldn't see what was happening, but after a few grunts from the fog, Vaporeon was punched out of the cloud, landing at Sumomo's feet defeated.
"Aw, good work Vaporeon."
"Hurray, we won Azumarill!" Elaine celebrated as she went to hug her Aqua Rabbit.
"Azumarill!"
"I'm up next!" Satsuki decided. "Go Jolteon!"
"I'll handle this." Trace went next. "Let's do this Eevee."
"Vee!" She pounced off his shoulder onto the field.
"Jolteon, use Thunder Shock!"
"Jolt!" It sent a zap of electricity which shocked Eevee faster than she could react, but once the attack was over she shook the pain off.
"Use Dig!" Eevee burrowed underground, catching them off guard.
"Where could it have gone?" She got her answer when said normal type burst out from underneath, sending the Lightning Pokemon flying. Despite crying out in pain from the attack, the electric type was able to recover mid-air and land on its feet.
"Quick, Thunder Wave!" Jolteon sent a blast of lightning which zapped Eevee as she stepped back from the charge. While it was not painful, or even hurt for that manner, her fur was standing on end and she was paralyzed.
"No, Eevee!" Trace called for his partner. "Use Shadow Ball!" Trying to form a black ball, she formed and fired it way too slow, thus allowing Satsuki to counter.
"Dodge with Agility!" Disappearing well before the attack, after images zoomed around the battle field, completely overwhelming the poor normal type. "Finish it with Pin Missile!" With its hair growing even spiker than normal, it fired multiple yellow needles which made Eevee scream from how sharply each hit was. She was pushed back until she was covered by many, many needles, trembling from the pain before the needles, and she collapsed.
"Eevee!" Trace ran to partner, and craddled her. "Eevee, are you okay?!" She was barely able to keep her eyes open, but was able to nod slowly. "You tried your best. Thanks Eevee. Return." Trace returned his Pokemon, so that she wasn't in so much pain now. Trace stared at his pokeball, lost in thought about how much his Pokemon was hurting. He could feel tears trying to come out his eyes but he turned his head to the side and clenched his eyes shut, not wanting to appear pathetic about his loss. He felt a hand on his shoulder, and heard Ash assure him,
"Don't worry Trace. Eevee did good. She'll be back in tip top shape in no time." Trace slowly let his eyes open as he sighed. He nodded once before getting up and went to Elaine, whom patted him on the back for comfort. "Come on Pikachu, let's win this for Trace." Ash told his partner.
"Pikachu!" She nodded as she leaped onto the field. Tamao was last to go as she yelled,
"Umbreon, go!" A black furred, gold ring patterned Pokemon which was the dark type evolution, Umbreon appeared.
"Pikachu, Thunderbolt!"
"Counter with Dark Pulse!" Umbreon generated a barrage of black and purple rings which clashed against the incoming lightning bolt, but they were woefully weak to stand up against it as they were pushed back until the two attacks exploded upon contact with the Moonlight Pokemon, sending it flying until it planted its feet into the ground, skidding across the field. The dark type was trembling from how powerful that was.
"Good to see you're okay Umbreon, now use Feint Attack!" It nodded to Tamao's command as it disappeared to Ash's and Pikachu's surprise. It reappeared only when it was right next to Pikachu and tackled into the electric mouse, causing her to cry out from the hit as she rolled on her back a couple of times before landing on her front. The Mouse Pokemon struggled back up, determined to win against Umbreon. Luckily, it recoiled as Pikachu's static ability kicked in and the dark type groaned from the paralysis. "No!"
"Alright! Pikachu, use Iron Tail!"
"Pika Pi!" Racing forward with her glowing tail, she swatted it against Umbreon, whom cried out from the pain as she skidded on her side across the ground.
"Use Agility!" The Moonlight Pokemon tried to regain its speed, but it couldn't move from paralysis.
"Finish it with Electro Ball!"
"Pika Pika Pikachu!" The Mouse Pokemon formed a yellow plasma ball at the end of her tail, and leaped up to spin forward a couple of times before launching it at the dark type, which created another explosion. Umbreon crashed onto its side again at Tamao's feet, defeated.
"Alright, I can go with you guys!" Sakura hugged Elaine in utter joy, the two jumping up and down in celebration. Trace grinned in satisfaction that Pikachu avenged Eevee.
"Thanks you two." He uttered to himself. Then he told the girls, "I'm going to the Pokemon Center. Eevee needs to get healed up." He then left to take care of his partner.
"Well, I guess you do have some powerful friends." Satsuki remarked as she stepped towards them and Sakura. "I just need to let you know something Sakura."
"What's that?"
"We didn't believe you were ready because you didn't seem to have the fortitude to ask us yourself. You needed their help for a confidence boost. None of us are against you wanting to go on a Pokemon journey and competing in the Johto Pokemon League, but even when you decided to go, the fact you relied on your friends to persuade us made you seem dependent and unable to stand on your own. A Pokemon trainer needs enough to have faith in themselves. Isn't that right?"
"Well..." Ash crossed his arms as he thought about it. "...while it's certainly true that trainers need to have faith in themselves, who said that they needed to do it alone?"
"That's right." Elaine spoke up. "She told me she didn't want to leave on her own. Not because she's weak or anything, but I think because then she wouldn't have anyone to help her if things get tough. It's cool if a trainer is independent, but having friends to rely on is okay as well, so long as they grow strong enough to be able to handle things on their own in the future."
"Yeah. If I really wanted to leave, I would've left long ago, but I've never had the experience to do things on my own. But I promise, even with their help, I'll try to become strong enough to be able to take care of myself." Satsuki smiled.
"We believe you Sakura. No matter what you think Sakura, we love you. We'll be your biggest fans in your endeavor and be the first to cheer you on your journey."
"Thank you." Sakura then turned to Elaine and Ash, and bowed to them. "Thank you so much for being here for me."
"It's our pleasure."
"Welcome to the club!" Ash encouraged her as he pumped his fist.
"Pika Pika!"
A/N: Well, just like in XYZ we have a new surprise guest to go along with the gang. And based on what I know, turns out badges don't have to be region specific if she can have the Cascade badge to go along with the three other Johto region badges she's already collected. So I wonder what badges she'll get in the meantime? And I wonder if Sakura should have a specific theme for her team. Possibly a team composed of Pokemon with branching evolutions to fit with Espeon and Beautifly? That would make for an interesting theme. If you have any suggestions for Sakura then feel free to say so. Also, I think the reason I ignored Team Rocket during the one-on-one matches is that they seemed especially bad in the episode a bit too much, like they were there just to convince Sakura she wasn't good enough compared to the protagonists. And yes I know that she needed to find the strength on her own but like they said, there's nothing wrong with having friends. So, what do you think about my Team Rocket motto parody. Not only did they steal it, they even reversed its intended purpose, hahaha! My mom and sister loved them. Hopefully you laughed from its humor as well.