Episode 23: Old Friends, New Tricks

Ash, Brock, and Brenda are walking down a path in a city. Up ahead of them is a magnificent dome-shaped building. Brenda runs towards it and shouts, "Professor Pine was right, there is a Pokémon Contest going on here! I'm going to go register!" She runs towards the building.

Having been told by Professor Pine that Pokémon Contest was to be held soon in Orbitz City, our heroes rushed there, Brenda hopeful of her chances of earning her first ribbon!

Brenda rushes into the Contest Hall, Ash and Brock behind her. Once inside, she runs up to the front desk and says to the receptionist, "Hello, I'd like to register for the Pokémon Contest."

The receptionist smiles and says, "You're just in time. Registration closes in another 10 minutes. May I see your Contest Pass?" Brenda nods, pulls out her card, and hands it to the receptionist. After typing a couple of things in her computer she hands the card back and says, "Alright, you're all good to go."

Brenda bows. "Thank you very much."

Someone behind them says, "Well, well, barely making it in time as usual I see. Some things never change."

Brenda turns around to see a girl about her age, maybe a little older. She has slightly wavy, sandy blond hair that goes down to just above her shoulders. She wears a blue and white shirt with a blue skirt. Brenda asks in surprise, "Michelle, is that you?"

The girl laughs, "Of course it's me Brenda!"

Brenda runs over to her and the two hug. Brenda says with excitement, "It's so good to see you again Michelle!"

"And I'm happy to see you. It's been too long."

Brenda nods. "It has been." Brenda turns to Ash and Brock and says, "Guys, this is Michelle, she was my neighbor back in Launch Town! We grew up together. She was my best friend. She left on her Pokémon journey a couple of months before me."

Ash greets, "Hi, I'm Ash, from Pallet Town, and this is my partner Pikachu."

"Pika!"

Brock says, "And my name's Brock, I'm a Pokémon doctor."

Michelle nods. "It's nice to meet you Ash, Pikachu, and Brock. You're friends of Brenda's?"

Brenda answers, "They sure are. I met them both back on my first day on my journey. Ash is training to be a Pokémon Master, and Brock travels the region helping Pokémon Centers and sick Pokémon. I don't know where I'd be without them."

Michelle laughs. "Knowing how absent minded you can be, that doesn't surprise me." She beckons them towards the door. "Come on, let's catch up outside." They all leave.

As they leave, another group comes in. Two men, one short, one tall, in trench coats, as well as a woman wearing a magnificent dress. It's Jessie in her Jessileia costume with James and Meowth. They walk up to the counter and James says, "We'd like to enter the beautiful Princess Jessileia into this Contest."

The receptionist smiles. "Just in time too, there are only minutes to spare. May I see your Contest Pass?"

Jessie produces her ID. "This should suffice."

The receptionist takes it and enters her. "Alright, everything checks out. Good luck in the Contest."

Jessie scoffs, "Ha, you don't need luck when you're as beautiful as I." She takes back her pass. Team Rocket turns around and walks out.

Ash, Brock, Brenda, and Michelle are sitting in a grassy promenade next to the Contest Hall. All around them coordinators train with their various Pokémon. Kappaqua is sitting on Brenda's lap. Brenda asks, "So Michelle, did you come here to watch the Pokémon Contest?"

Michelle laughs. "No silly, I'm here to compete!"

Brenda gasps, "You're a Pokémon coordinator?"

Michelle laughs again. "Come on Brenda, how many times did I tell you that it was my dream to become a Top Coordinator?"

Brenda shrugs. "I'm not sure I ever remember you telling me that. In fact, I hadn't even heard of Pokémon Contests until the night before I left on my journey."

"Wow Brenda, you really haven't changed. You may be on a Pokémon journey, but you're just as clueless and forgetful as ever. I had to have explained to you what a Pokémon Contest was at least twenty times."

Brenda scratches the back of her head in embarrassment. "Is that so?" She laughs awkwardly. Looking for a change in subject, Brenda asks, "So did you end up picking Kappaqua, Turcell, or Sporout as your first Pokémon?"

Michelle giggles and pulls out a Pokéball. "Try none of the above." She opens the ball and releases a Pokémon. It's a Poliwhirl.

Brenda pulls out her Pokédex. "Poliwhirl, the Tadpole Pokémon and a Water-Type. Poliwhirl are just as able to move in water as they can on land. The spiral on its chest is used as a defense mechanism, as it causes those who stare into it to become sleepy. Evolves from Poliwag at level 25 and into Poliwrath by exposure to a Water Stone or Politoed by exposure to a King's Rock."

Brenda is surprised. "Wow Michelle, is that the same Poliwag?"

Michelle smiles and nods. "You bet it is. I decided that I wanted to be different, so instead of picking one of Professor Pine's Pokémon, I decided to ask my friend Poliwag if it wanted to come with me."

Brenda looks to Poliwhirl and says, "It's great to see you again Poliwhirl."

Poliwhirl appears happy. "Poli!"

Kappaqua gets up off of Brenda's lap and walks over to Poliwhirl. It greets, "Kappapapa!"

Poliwhirl nods and responds with a, "Whirl!"

Brock states, "That's a very nice Poliwhirl, how did you meet it?"

Michelle explains, "Back when Brenda and I were young, we used to go to play in the forest outside of town. There was this lake filled with Pokémon out there. One of them was this Poliwhirl, back when it was a Poliwag. It loved playing with us in the water." Michelle suddenly gets up. "You know what Brenda? I've got an idea." She picks up Poliwhirl and beckons them forward. "Come with me!" She runs off.

Ash, Brock, and Brenda look to each other, get up, and run after her.

Who's that Pokémon!?

A poor walker, this Pokémon often falls down. However, its strong pride makes it puff up its chest without a care.

Ash, Brock, Brenda, and Michelle have ran into the forest on the outskirts of the city. Michelle has lead them to a lake. Brenda marvels, "Wow, it's just like the lake we used to play at!"

Michelle nods. "You bet it is! It caught my eye on the way in. Anyways, I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to show you something that Poliwhirl and I have be practicing." She looks to Poliwhirl and asks, "Are you ready Poliwhirl?"

It nods. "Poli!" It leaps into the lake.

Michelle shouts, "Alright, let's do it!" Poliwhirl dives under the water. Just below the surface, Poliwhirl begins to swim around in circles. It picks up speed, going faster and faster. The speed of its swimming starts to create a whirlpool. Michelle then commands, "Alright, it's time, do it now!" Poliwhirl turns 90 degrees, towards the center of the whirlpool, and then swims straight up, exiting the water and leaping straight into the air. After going several feet into the air, it tucks its arms and legs in, assuming a cannonball position. It turns itself so that its face is straight up, and uses Water Gun to propel itself downwards. With the added velocity of Water Gun jet, it slams into the center of the whirlpool. The force of it hitting the center of the whirlpool, causes the edges of the whirlpool to lift up and form a circular wave that spreads out across the lake. Poliwhirl then leaps out of the lake and takes a bow.

Ash, Brock, and Brenda clap. Brenda says in awe, "Wow, I remember when we used to compete to see who could get a wild Pokémon to do that better! I've never seen the waves get so big.

Michelle chuckles. "Yeah, Poliwhirl and I have actually spent a lot of spare time over the past year practicing for that. We figured it might be a good show for a Contest someday."

Brenda nods. "It sure would be." She suddenly gets an idea. She pulls out a Pokéball. "Hey! Why don't Kappaqua and I give it a try?"

Michelle laughs. "You're welcome to try, but don't expect any results like mine. As I said, we've been practicing."

"We'll see about that." She lets Kappaqua out and says, "Hey Kappaqua, you want to try out a fun little technique?"

Kappaqua nods eagerly. "Kappa!"

"Alright, just do exactly as I say. First, let's get into the water." Kappaqua jumps up, and performs a backflip as it dives into the water. It gives a thumbs up. "Alright, now dive down just below the surface in the center of the lake. Once you're there, you're going to start swimming around in circles as fast as you can." Kappaqua nods, swims to the center, and begins to swim in circles. It achieves high speeds, faster than that of Poliwhirl. After several rotations, a whirlpool begins to form. Brenda observes, waiting for the right moment. After the whirlpool has grown to a large size, Brenda shouts, "Alright Kappaqua, swim to the center and leap into the air!"

Kappaqua does as it's told and leaps up. "Kap pa!"

"Now take a cannonball position, but angle your head straight up! Once you've done that, maximum power Water Gun!" Kappaqua rolls up and blasts water starting at the apex of its jump. The water combined with gravity forces it down at high velocities. Upon impacting the water, it turns the whirlpool into a tidal wave just as Poliwhirl did, except this circular wave is much bigger. Brenda cheers, "Yeah, good job Kappaqua!"

Ash and Brock clap. Ash congratulates, "Wow, that wave had to have been at least twice as big!"

Michelle is stunned. "H…how did you do that?"

Brenda shrugs. "I don't know, I just did."

Michelle sighs. "It's always been like this. I'll work hard at something, and you won't practice at all, and yet you always do better." She shakes her head and sighs again. "Some things really don't change."

Brenda shrugs again. "Eh, that's just how it works sometimes."

Michelle forces a smile. "Yeah…right." After a moment's hesitation, she asks, "Just tell me, how much preparation have you put into this Contest?"

Brenda thinks it over. "Well…there was the time I did that…oh, and there was this thing as well…" After a moment more she answers, "A grand total of…practically nothing."

Michelle shakes her head and says with a combination of disbelief and annoyance, "Of course."

It's Piplup!

James and Meowth are hiding behind some bushes. In front of them are countless coordinators practicing with their Pokémon for the Contest. There are Pokémon catching balls, Pokémon jumping through hoops, and Pokémon doing backflips. Meowth whispers to James, "Just look at all those Pokémon, prime for the picking."

James looks to Meowth and asks, "Why would we want to steal all of these Contest type Pokémon?"

Meowth smiles. "I'm glad you asked. For you see, it's for The Boss. Imagine this: The Boss is sitting in his fancy mansion, but there's nothing for him to do. He's tried to entertain himself by shouting at his worthless underlings," Meowth's fantasy shows Giovanni shouting at Butch and Cassidy, "but it's no use. The Boss is just having one of those days. He tries all those things to lighten his mood; he swims in his swimming pool, he plays a round of golf, but none of it is of any help. That's where we come in." Meowth and James appear, bringing in a cage full of the coordinator's Pokémon. "We bring in our plethora of performing Pokémon and put on a show for The Boss." The Pokémon are let out of their cage, and perform various routines. "We'll put on a full blown Pokémon circus for The Boss. Watching this show will make The Boss so happy that he'll say," Meowth voices for Giovanni, "With this great Pokémon show, I'll never be bored again. Meowth and friend deserve a major promotion!" The fantasy ends.

James cheers, "Yeah, that's what we need! Let's do it!" He reaches to his belt to get a Pokéball, but pulls up a piece of paper instead. In shock, he demands, "What!? Where are my Pokéballs!?"

Meowth asks, "What's the paper say?"

James reads aloud, "James, I decided that I needed to change up my Pokémon roster, so I borrowed Haking and Mime Jr. I'm off training with them now. Signed the most beautiful Pokémon coordinator to ever live, Jessie." James throws the paper to the ground and stomps on it angrily, "How dare she take my precious Pokémon without asking me!? Mime Jr., Haking! Please be alright!"

Meowth states, "Calm down, they're with Jessie."

James nods. "That's why I'm afraid."

Meowth reconsiders. "Good point. I'd be scared for them if I were you."

James shakes his head. He declares with determination "I'll just have to hope they're okay. We need to catch some Pokémon. It's on to plan B!" After a moment he asks, "So…what's plan B?"

Meowth shrugs. "Beats me."

Ash, Brock, Brenda, and Michelle are walking back from the lake. Poliwhirl is on Michelle's shoulders, and Kappaqua is being carried by Brenda. Brenda asks, "So Michelle, how many Contests have you been already? How many ribbons do you have? I'll bet that since you got almost a year's head start on me, you have a whole bunch."

Michelle chuckles awkwardly. "Yeah…not really. I spent the first several months training with Poliwhirl and catching some other Pokémon. I wanted to make sure I was ready before I entered my first Contest. This is actually only the second Contest I've entered."

Ash asks, "What happened in your first Contest?"

"I made it all the way to semi-finals, where I battled this handsome coordinator with a Ravenoir. He beat me. He really was talented."

Brock chuckles. "That sounds familiar."

Brenda says with surprise, "That was Will! He beat me during my first Contest too! He actually told me afterwards that I had a lot of natural talent."

Michelle is shocked. "Oh my gosh, you actually met and talked to him?" She smiles smugly and nudges Brenda. "He's pretty handsome, isn't he?"

Brenda blushes. "Um…yeah…handsome…I guess." Looking for a way out of this topic, Brenda states, "So it would seem that we're both even in terms of Contest experience."

Michelle slowly nods and states, "Maybe…if you don't count the fact that I've certainly trained for much longer than you have."

Brenda laughs. "We'll see about that."

They reach the promenade of the Contest Hall. As soon as they do, three mechanical hands reach over to them and grab Pikachu, Kappaqua, and Poliwhirl. Everyone jumps back in surprise. The hands retract towards the source. It's a large cylindrical robot covered in long mechanical arms. Emblazoned on its chest is a large red R. Its other arms have captured the other coordinators' Pokémon. The Pokémon are all loaded up in a large tank strapped to the machine's back. Michelle shouts, "What just happened!?"

James and Meowth climb up out of the mech. Meowth declares, "Prepare for trouble, I'm finally getting my go!"

James declares, "Make it double, Meowth you better not screw up this show!"

"To protect this motto from a missing member!"

"To unite all the lines that we can remember!"

"To denounce the evils of underused speakers!"

"To extend the reach of the motto seekers!"

"Meowth!"

"James!"

"Team Rocket blasts off even one member light!"

"Surrender now, or prepare for a streamlined fight!"

"Meowth, that's right!"

James whacks Meowth and shouts, "Hey, take your pick! I said you could do Jessie's lines! Don't double up and do your own as well!"

Meowth rubs the back of his head where he was hit. "Sorry, force of habit."

Ash states, "Um…I think you're a member short…"

James shouts, "Didn't you listen to the motto!? We explained it there! Jeez, no respect for the motto!"

Michelle asks, "Who are they?"

Brenda answers, "They're Team Rocket, a group of Pokémon thieves."

"That's awful!"

Meowth shouts, "Come on, we explained that too in the motto! Does no one listen to the motto!?"

Michelle shouts, "You'd better give back my Pokémon!"

James scoffs, "Or you'll do what? We're the one with the giant robot!"

Ash pulls out a Pokéball and starts to say, "I'll stop you-"

He is cut off by Brenda saying, "No Ash, let us do this." Ash looks over to see Brenda and Michelle pulling out their own Pokéballs, both looking determined to get their Pokémon back. Ash lowers his Pokéball. Both of them throw their Pokéballs. Brenda lets out Rabbolt, and Michelle sends out a Darumaka

James laughs. "Ha ha! That's not going to do you any good! Get them Meowth!"

Meowth declares, "Gotta catch 'em all!" as he presses a button on a remote. Two mechanical arms are sent to catch the Pokémon.

Brenda and Michelle both declare, "Dodge it!" Rabbolt jumps straight to the side and Darumaka leaps up, both successfully dodging the arms. The arms twist around in another attempt to catch the Pokémon.

Michelle commands, "Incinerate!"

Brenda commands, "Shockwave!"

Darumaka fires a small ball of fire. Upon hitting, the ball explodes with a high temperature flame that melts through the arm. Rabbolt's bolt of electricity breaks the arm. Both mechanical hands fall to the ground.

Meowth presses another button. "Fine then, try this one on for size!" Several robotic arms are sent at the two Pokémon.

Both trainers shout, "Stay away from the arms!" Both Pokémon begin to continuously dodge the onslaught of arms. Rabbolt uses it jumping ability to hop from arm to arm. Darumaka dodges through a combination of short hops on the ground and rolling. Through their dodging, the two Pokémon slowly make it closer to Team Rocket's robot. The friends then command, "Alright, now get up top!" Rabbolt leaps from an arm to an arm, and Darumaka rolls up an arm, and both make up next to James and Meowth. "Attack now!"

James looks towards Rabbolt on his left, and Meowth looks towards Darumaka on his right. Both gulp.

"Daruuu!"

"Rabbbbolttttt!" Both Pokémon leap into the air and launch the same attack as before, these ones hitting both Team Rocket and their mech. The mech explodes, sending James and Meowth blasting into the sky. Both Pokémon land on either side of the exploded mech.

While flying into the air, Meowth comments, "Aw, the limelight, it felt so nice."

James shouts at him, "Maybe if you were more concerned with building our machine than planning your lines, we wouldn't be in this situation!"

Meowth shrugs. "What's a Pokémon to do?"

James suddenly cries, "I wish I had Mime Jr., it would agree with me!"

Meowth states, "Well, until then, it's just you and me…"

They both shout, "And we're blasting off again!" as they disappear in the distance.

Back on the ground, Brenda, Michelle, Rabbolt, and Darumaka are taking a bow as all the other coordinators, now reunited with their Pokémon, clap.

Brock observes, "Wow, that battle really showed what great friends they are. They were in perfect sync."

Ash nods, as Pikachu runs up to him and hops onto his arm. Ash states, "Kind of like you and me, right buddy?" Pikachu nods.

Michelle turns to Brenda and says, "Well, I guess this is it until we meet again in the Contest."

Brenda asks, "Why?"

Michelle laughs. "Because after seeing what you can do, I'm going to need to fit in all the training I can if I want to beat you." They both laugh. Michelle runs off with Poliwhirl and Darumaka, waving.

Brenda calls, "We'll battle each other for sure!"

Michelle calls back, "Count on it!"

Some time has passed, the Contest has now begun. Gillian announces from center stage, "Hello one and all, and welcome to the Orbitz City Pokémon Contest! The crowd cheers. Gillian holds up a ribbon. "This is the item the coordinators from around the region have come to claim, the Orbitz Ribbon!" There's more cheering. "Let's meet our fabulous judges! First, it's the Pokémon Contest Director, the wonderful Mr. Contesta!"

Mr. Contesta says, "I love Pokémon Contests, and I'm sure this one will be no different." More cheering.

Gillian continues, "Then it's the outstanding President of the Pokémon Fan Club, Mr. Sukizo!"

Mr. Sukizo declares, "All the coordinators here are sure to be remarkable!" Even more cheering.

"And last but not least, it's Orbitz City's very own Nurse Joy!"

Nurse Joy giggles and says, "Thank you all for having me here." More applause.

"Now it's time to get this Contest going. How about we start things off with the Appeal Round!?" The crowd cheers in approval. "Alright then, here's our first coordinator, Brenda!"

Brenda runs out onto the stage wearing her Contest clothes. There is a loud cheer from the audience, including Ash, Brock, Pikachu, and Kappaqua, who's sitting and clapping with them.

Everything freezes. Now that Brenda has met up with her old friend, she has a new rival. The upcoming Pokémon Contest is bound to be full of thrills and excitement! You have to stay tuned!

To Be Continued…