Episode 51: Imperfect Makes Practice!

Brenda is walking along a path. She holds Kappaqua in her arms. Ash and Brock are behind them by a bit.

With Misty's Splash Cup complete, our heroes parted ways. That leaves the rest of our heroes heading towards Ash's next gym battle at Versal City.

Brenda and Kappaqua pass by a bulletin board. As they do, Kappaqua points to something excitedly. "Kappa appa!"

Brenda asks, "What is it Kappaqua?" She turns to look at the board. Placed prominently on the board's center is a flyer showing several Pokémon and a large ribbon. Brenda sighs. "Oh…a Pokémon Contest is being held nearby today…"

Kappaqua happily encourages, "Kappapapqua!" and points to Brenda.

Brenda shakes her head. "No Kappaqua, I've already told you. After the fiasco at Starside City, I'm done with Pokémon Contests."

Kappaqua lowers its head in sadness. "Kappa…"

Brenda says, "Trust me, it's for the better." She looks back to see Ash and Brock approaching her from behind. She quickly grabs the flyer, rips it down, and crumples it up.

Ash asks, "What was that Brenda?"

Brenda puts on a fake smile and lies, "Oh, it was nothing. Just an outdated advertisement. I thought I would do them a favor and take it down."

Ash nods. "Alright then, good for you."

Brock urges, "Come on guys, there's a picnic spot up ahead, let's keep on moving so I can make lunch."

Ash cheers, "Sounds great, I haven't eaten anything since breakfast!" Ash and Brock walk on past Brenda.

Brenda sighs on removes the fake smile from her face. She looks down to the crumpled wad of paper in her hand and sighs again. She then tosses the paper away and continues to walk. Kappaqua looks up at her with worry.

Behind some bushes nearby, Meowth is the middle of explaining a plan to Jessie and James. "You see, once we've convinced them that we're actually aliens, we tell them that the only way we can save our planet is with the electricity of a Pikachu. The Twerp is such a hero that he'll hand over Pikachu in a heartbeat."

James nods. "I like the plan…but one question, how do we get a fully functioning flying saucer?"

Meowth grins. "Leave the details to Meowth."

Jessie is about to say something when the wad of paper Brenda threw flies into her face. "Who dares throw trash in my beautiful face!? Litterbugs are the lowest of the low." Out of curiosity, she uncrumples the paper. Suddenly she gets excited. "Jackpot!"

James asks, "What, what is it Jessie?"

"According to this there's a Pokémon Contest being held today, very nearby too! This is my chance to win my second ribbon!"

Meowth questions, "But what about my plan?"

Jessie snaps, "Your convoluted scheme will need to wait for another day, for the stage beckons to me today!"

Wobbuffet appears to declare, "Wobbuffet!"

Jessie says grumpily, "Don't you dare ruin this moment." She recalls it to its Pokéball.

Ash, Brock, and Brenda have arrived at the picnic area Brock spoke of. They've already let all of their Pokémon out to play. The Pokémon all run around and play various games. Brock is cooking in a large pot over a campfire. Ash sits near him, eyeing the food.

Brenda steps towards the two and says, "Hey guys, I'm going to go out for a little walk, okay?"

Brock nods. "That's fine, but the food will be ready soon, so don't be gone too long."

Ash jokes, "I will eat your food."

Brenda forces a smile and a laugh. "Of course…I'll be back before long." She then turns around and walks towards a forested area nearby.

As she walks off, Kappaqua notices. It runs over to Glitterfly, Rabbolt, and Frostcicle and says, "Kapp kappa kap!" with concern. The other three Pokémon all nod in agreement and the four of them follow Brenda into the woods.

Ash comments to Brock, "Hey Brock, have you noticed that Brenda's been spending more and more time on her own lately?"

Brock nods. "Yeah, I have. She hasn't been the same since her loss at Starside. She tries to put on a smile and hide, but I can tell that something's bothering her."

"That's too bad. Do you think we should do something about it?"

"I don't know. I think that for now it might be best to let her handle things herself. She needs to get things sorted out. If she wants our help, she'll ask."

Ash nods in agreement. "Alright."

Brenda is sitting alone on a tree stump in the woods. She stares off aimlessly into the sky. She appears to be deep in thought. She lets out another sigh. Then she freezes up when she hears bushes rustling. She looks towards the source and asks, "Who's there?"

Out from the bushes comes her four Pokémon.

"Oh, it's you guys…what are you doing here? You should be back playing with the others."

Frostcicle floats up to Brenda and cheers, "Frost frost!" It then uses a small-scale Icy Wind attack to make a form of ice in front of it. The piece of ice lands in Brenda's lap. She picks it up. It's a flower. "Frost?"

Brenda grins slightly, "It beautiful Frostcicle, thank you." Kappaqua, Glitterfly, and Rabbolt also approach Brenda. Brenda sighs. "You four really don't need to worry about me. I'm telling you that I'm fine."

The Pokémon all remain silent. Kappaqua then steps right up to Brenda's feet and looks up at her. Brenda looks back. The two just stare at each other for a few moments. Then Kappaqua finally says in a release of emotion, "Kappa appa appaqua! Kappapapaqua!"

Brenda frowns. "No, I told you. I'm through with contests. I was fooling myself to think that someone like me could just become a coordinator just because I said I wanted to. I don't have what it takes. The Starside Contest proved that. She pulls out something from her bag. It's her ribbon case. She opens it up and looks at her ribbon. "I don't even deserve this ribbon. It was a fluke that I even won it!" With a sudden fit of rage she rips the ribbon out of the case and throws it out of sight. "There, an empty ribbon case. That's what I deserve."

Kappaqua is slightly angered now. "Kappa kap! Kappapapaqua!"

Brenda is suddenly overtaken by anger. She gets up, stomps her foot down, and shouts, "No! How many times do I have to tell you!? I am not going to try again! I'm done! If you can't understand that then maybe you should go and find yourself a new trainer!"

All of her Pokémon recoil from her, Kappaqua more than the others. Tears begin to well up in Kappaqua's eyes.

Brenda instantly realizes the mistake she made. "Kappaqua…I'm sorry…I didn't mean…"

Kappaqua turn around and runs crying out of sight. "Kap pa pa pa pa qua!"

The other Pokémon look up to Brenda with a mixture of shame, pity, and agitation. Brenda is frozen in place. "Kappaqua…?" She looks down to her remaining Pokémon. "You know I didn't mean that…right…?"

Her Pokémon all look down in shame and don't respond.

Brenda steps towards Ash and Brock. Brock is still cooking and Ash is leaning forward on table looking weak and inpatient. She says with reserve, "Um…guys, I have to go and do something. There's…something I need to find. I might not be back for a while."

Brock responds, "That's fine, my special soup is taking longer to cook than I expected anyways."

Ash complains, "Come on Brock, I'm starving."

Brock looks to Ash and scolds, "You can't rush perfection, and this soup will be perfection." He takes a sample. "Hmm…needs more salt." He reaches for his ingredients.

Ash groans. His stomach joins in by rumbling.

Brenda then sneaks back into the woods.

Who's that Pokémon!?

This Pokémon came from the future by crossing over time. It is thought that so long as it appears, a bright and shining future awaits us.

A contest is in progress. Gillian announces, "Next up in our appeal round is the one and only Princess Jessileia!"

Jessie, dressed in her star princess costume, runs out onto the stage. She promptly declares, "I dedicate this performance to all my adoring fans!" She proceeds to toss a Pokéball and out of it first comes what seems to be a mass amount of bouncy balls which fly in all different directions, bouncing off of whatever they impact. From this mass of balls, Buzzsaw appears. Jessie runs out onto the center of the performance area and orders, "Alright Buzzsaw darling, use your X-Scissor!"

"Buzz zzz zzzz zzzz zzz!" Buzzsaw flies into the air and then lands on top of Jessie's hair. It then begins to use its mandibles to slash at any of the bouncy balls that come near it. This causes the balls to be deflected away at high speed and continue to bounce off of one another even faster.

"Great, now use Bug Buzz!" Buzzsaw activates its chainsaw mandibles and releases an intense buzzing noise. The shockwaves from this noise hit each and every one of the bouncing balls, casuing them to freeze in place. "And now the finale! Use Flash Cannon!" Jessie spins around on her toes like a ballerina as Buzzsaw fires a burst of light from its mouth, Jessie's spinning causing the beam to sweep across the stage. As this burst of light hits the bouncy balls they explode in a burst of color and sparkles. Soon the entire stage is filled with such sparkles. Jessie takes a bow and the audience applauds.

It's Celebi!

Brenda, Glitterfly, Rabbolt, and Frostcicle are moving through the woods. Brenda calls out, "Kappaqua! Where are you!?"

"Glitterererfly!?"

"Rab rabbolt!?"

"Frost frost!"

Brenda stops and sighs. She hangs her head in shame. "Why did I have to lose control like that? That was an awful thing for me to say... Please come back Kappaqua…please."

Kappaqua, no longer crying but looking like it only just stopped, exits the woods. It looks around to find itself on some sort of farmland. It sniffles and then looks around. Someone shouts, "Alright Bellossom, use Petal Dance!"

Kappaqua quickly runs towards the source of the voice. It finds a young man dressed in a blue button-up shirt and his Bellossom. The Bellossom is dancing around with petals flying around it. The young man encourages, "Great job Bellossom! Now use Magical Leaf!" Bellossom summons up a volley of multi-colored glowing leaves, which it sends out into the flurry of petals. The petals and the leaves combine to form a swirling flurry of light and color. The young man cheers, "Yeah, we did it! Great job Bellossom, we finally mastered the combination! We'll be ready for out next contest for sure!"

Bellossom leaps up and cheers, "Bell!" The two begin to laugh happily together.

Kappaqua sees this, smiles, and has a flashback to a similar time when it and Brenda laughed together. That memory is then interrupted by one of Brenda shouting, "If you can't understand that then maybe you should go and find yourself a new trainer!" Kappaqua suddenly begins to cry again.

The young man hears this and looks over to see Kappaqua. He runs over to it. "Oh my, are you alright?"

Bellossom adds with concern, "Bell bell?"

Kappaqua continues to cry. The young man strokes Kappaqua's head. He says comfortingly, "Now, now, don't cry little one. Everything will be okay."

Kappaqua looks up towards him with wide eyes.

Brenda and her Pokémon are still searching. "Kappaqua! Please, where are you!?" She appears to be very upset and on the verge of crying.

"Rabbolt bolt rab!"

"Glitererererfly!?"

"Frost frost frostcicle!"

A tear comes to Brenda's eye. She thinks, Kappaqua…we were best friends…we were partners… She then sobs. "I'm just a no good at being a coordinator or a trainer…maybe I should just give up on finding Kappaqua…it's probably happier without me messing up its life." But then she can't help but have a flashback to the first time she ever saw Kappaqua.

In Pine's lab a Pokéball sits on a table with three others. Pine walks over to the ball and opens it. Kappaqua is sent out. It happily says, "Kappapapaqua!"

Then Brenda remembers when they first bonded, the event that lead to her picking it to be her first Pokémon. She's wandering through a forest looking for Kappaqua after it ran away from Pine's lab and out of nowhere she hears the cry of a distressed Pokémon, "Kap! Kappaqua! Kappa!"

Brenda dashes forward and finds herself right before a cliff. There, hanging off of a scrawny tree over the cliff, is the missing Kappaqua. The branch it's on is sagging, and seems dangerously close to snapping. Brenda shouts, "Kappaqua, are you okay!?"

The Pokémon responds with a panicked, "Kappa! Kappa!"

"Right, of course, hanging over a cliff. Alright, just hang in there, I'll figure out a way to get you down." She looks around and sees a fallen branch. She runs over and picks it up. "I'm going to extend this branch towards you, you just need to grab onto it. Okay?"

"Kappa! Kap!" Brenda does as she explained. Kappaqua looks towards the branch, towards Brenda, and then back to the branch. It shouts, "Kappaqua!" as it leaps from its branch to hers. She pulls the branch and falls backwards as she does. Kappaqua lands on her stomach.

She asks, "That wasn't too bad, was it?"

It sighs, "Aqua…"

"Come on, let's get back to the lab." She gets up and tosses the branch into some nearby bushes. As soon as it lands, a buzzing sound can be heard. She looks towards Kappaqua and asks, "Do you hear that, or is it just me?" It gulps in nervousness.

Out of the bushes rise ten or so Beedrill. They can be heard buzzing, as well as saying, "Bee, bee, bee!"

"That's a lot of Beedrill…" Brenda, still carrying Kappaqua runs away. The Beedrill follow them in pursuit. They run through the forest, weaving through trees.

After running through the forest for a little Kappaqua starts to complain, "Kappa, kap, kappaqua!"

Brenda questions while still panicking, "What is it Kappaqua?"

Kappaqua jumps out of her arms and lands before the Beedrill, who stop as soon as they see that Brenda and Kappaqua have. "Kappa kappa!"

Brenda realizes what it means. "You want to protect me?"

It affirms, "Kappa!" It closes its eyes in concentration and then shouts, "Kappaqua!" as its eyes glow purple. A purple energy appears around all the Beedrill, and they're thrown to the side.

Brenda exclaims, "That was a Confusion attack, and a powerful one at that!"

As if to show it has more, it fires a jet of water from its mouth, soaking the Beedrill.

"And that was a Water Gun! You're a powerful Pokémon!"

The wet Beedrill fly away. Kappaqua gives a prideful, "Aqua!" it jumps back into Brenda's arms.

She smiles and says, "I guess we're even now, aren't we?"

Once that flashback ends, Brenda thinks back to many of the other moments she and Kappaqua have shared together, including their first battle against Alice and her Chipmunch, their effort to catch Glowva, and their first contest entered.

The flashbacks end and Brenda sobs even harder. "Kappaqua!"

Frostcicle floats up to Brenda and declares, "Frost frost, frost frost."

Brenda looks up to it. "I'm sorry Frostcicle I know all you want is for me to be happy, but not now."

Frostcicle doesn't listen. It looks up to the tree above them and uses an Icy Wind attack to freeze all of the leaves. It then uses Crystal Beam, the light from which glitters and sparkles as it is reflected and refracted across the frozen leaves.

Glitterfly and Rabbolt join in, adding their respective Signal Beam and Shockwave to the mix, both of which are also reflected and refracted for a dazzling show of sparkling lights.

Brenda doesn't stop crying, but she can't help but smile. "Oh you guys…" With renewed determination she suddenly gets up and wipes the tears from her eyes. "That's it, no more crying. I need to be strong. Do you hear that Kappaqua? We're not going to stop looking until we find you!"

Brenda's Pokémon cheer. "Frost frostcicle!"

"Gliterererererfly!"

"Bolt rab!"

Brock is carefully observing his boiling soup pot as he's deep in thought. He suddenly declares, "Alright, I'm done!"

Ash, who is actually lying down on the picnic table with his body sprawled over it, suddenly jolts up. "You're done!?"

"I'm done deciding what ingredient needs to be added next!" He takes a handful of herbs and tosses them into the pot. "Now…to decide what kind of potatoes to add. I could add those little fingerlings, or a bigger russet that's been chopped up. Or I could be daring and add a sweet potato even…hmm…"

Ash collapses. His stomach rumbles. He moans.

Kappaqua leaps up into the air and creates an Aqua Bomb. It then levitates said Aqua Bomb with Confusion. Once it has a grip on the Aqua Bomb, it pulls it apart, creating several mini Aqua Bombs, each of which it flings straight up into the air. Both Kappaqua and the Aqua Bombs hit the ground at the same time, creating a ring of miniature explosions around Kappaqua as it lands.

The young man and Bellossom clap. "That was a wonderful performance. You must not be a wild Pokémon, you've had a trainer who has trained you well."

Kappaqua suddenly looks away with sadness.

"Oh…is that what was wrong? Your trainer?"

Kappaqua looks back and nods. "Kap…"

He walks up to it and strokes its head again. "I'm sorry to hear that. I sincerely hope that whatever your troubles are, you find a solution to them."

Kappaqua sighs. "Kappa…"

Then Brenda suddenly shouts, "Kappaqua! I'm so glad I finally found you!" Out from the woods runs Brenda and the other Pokémon.

The man says, "Look, there's your trainer now, everything's looking up already."

Once Kappaqua gets over its surprise of seeing Brenda, it leaps behind the man.

Brenda recoils in surprise. "Kappaqua…?"

Kappaqua accuses angrily, "Kappa kap aqua kappapapapaqua!"

Brenda freezes. "Kappaqua…I can't begin to tell you how sorry I am…please…come back with me."

Kappaqua shakes its head. "Kap."

The young man seems to gather some sort of understanding of what's going on. He introduces himself, "Hello, my name is Bret. Your Kappaqua found my Bellossom and me working on our performance for our next contest."

Brenda is too focused on Kappaqua to respond, but she eventually replies, "Hi, uh, I'm Brenda."

Bret then states, "If you would allow it, I would make the suggestion that you and I have a contest battle."

Brenda questions, "A contest battle? What for?"

"Your Kappaqua seems to have taken a liking to me. And I sense some animosity between the two of you. I think you battling your Kappaqua might be just what the two of you need."

Brenda realizes what he's suggesting. "Well…um…you see…I've kind of stopped doing contests..."

Bret questions, "Stopped contests?" He looks down to Kappaqua and realizes by its emotion that this is a point of tension between the two. He looks back to Brenda. "Tell me. What is more important to you? Not participating in contests, or your bond with Kappaqua?"

Brenda is taken aback. "Kappaqua of course."

"Then prove it."

Brenda slowly nods. "Okay…I'll do it."

Kappaqua is shocked by Brenda taking this step.

Bret looks down to Kappaqua. "What do you say little one? Do you want to battle with me against Brenda?"

Kappaqua is reluctant at first, but then nods. "Kap."

"Good. Let's get this battle underway."

Brenda and Bret have taken their positions for battle. Kappaqua stands in front of Bret and Frostcicle floats in front of Brenda. Bret offers, "Why don't you take the first move?"

Brenda nods. "Alright Frostcicle, let's use Crystal Beam!" Frostcicle begins to charge its internal energy and then releases it in beam form.

Bret orders, "Kappaqua, suspend an Aqua Bomb right in front of you with Confusion!" Kappaqua generates an orb of water and flings it forward. Almost immediately it catches and suspends it the air with its psychic powers. The Crystal Beam makes contact with the floating orb of water and is actually refracted towards the side and harmlessly hits a nearby tree.

Both Brenda and Kappaqua gasp, having been surprised that such a maneuver worked.

Bret then shouts, "Great job, little one! Now let's go in for the attack, launch that Aqua Bomb forward!"

"Kapppppp aqua!" Kappaqua flings the Aqua Bomb right at Frostcicle.

Brenda counters, "Stop it with Icy Wind!" Frostcicle blows a breath of icy air at the incoming projectile, quickly freezing it. The frozen sphere begins to fall to the ground.

Bret declares, "Don't let that stop you! Pick it back up with Confusion!" Kappaqua catches the frozen Aqua Bomb before it hits the ground and then throws it once more at Frostcicle. It hits, first shattering and then exploding. Frostcicle is sent flying back.

"We can do this Frostcicle! Use Aurora Beam!" Frostcicle quickly gets back up and fires a beam of glistening rainbow lights.

"Kappaqua, detonate an Aqua Bomb right in front of you!"

Brenda gasps. "The shockwave of that would only hurt Kappaqua!"

Kappaqua is hesitant at first, but then decides to listen. It flings another Aqua Bomb, this time aiming only for the ground just ahead of it. It explodes and momentarily creates a wall of water. The Aurora Beam hits this wall, flash-freezing it, thus stopping the shockwave from hitting Kappaqua. Kappaqua grins happily upon seeing it worked.

Brenda gasps and observes the resulting wall of ice with dismay. She thinks, These two only just met…and yet they're working perfectly together…Bret is a better match for Kappaqua than I ever could hope to be… She shakes off her disbelief and retrains her focus back to the battle. "Use Mist, Frostcicle!" Frostcicle covers the field in mist, making it impossible to see anything.

Bret warns, "Careful Kappaqua, it could attack from any angle at any time."

Then Brenda orders, "Icy Wind now!"

Immediately responding to this, Bret orders, "Spin around and use Water Gun!" Kappaqua quickly responds and spins around 360 degrees, using Water Gun the entire time. The Water gun hits Frostcicle, hiding to Kappaqua's left, before it can unleash the Icy Wind. The mist begins to clear.

Seeing this display, Brenda freezes up. Those two are perfect together… In that moment she makes up her mind. She raises a Pokéball and says with no emotion, "Frostcicle, return." Frostcicle is recalled. Brenda turns around and begins to walk away.

Glitterfly and Rabbolt instantly begin to object. She returns them to their Pokéballs too. She just keeps on walking away. It is now obvious that she is fighting back tears.

Bret asks, "Where are you going?"

Brenda responds without turning to face him, "Isn't it obvious? Kappaqua ran away from me because I told it to find a new trainer. It has. You two work much better together than Kappaqua and I ever have. I want Kappaqua to have what's best for it, and that's not me." She continues to walk away.

Bret looks down to Kappaqua, who has turned away from Brenda and is doing its best to ignore her. "Kappaqua, don't let her do this. There's no going back if you do." Kappaqua crosses its arms sternly and ignores the statement.

Brenda walks back into the woods. Once she is out of sight of Bret and Kappaqua, she suddenly collapses to her knees and begins to sob. "Kappaqua…goodbye…"

Brenda goes back to having flashbacks of everything her and Kappaqua have gone through, the good and the bad. They only make her cry harder.

Suddenly she is pulled out if her flashbacks by a happy, "Kappapapapaqua!"

She quickly looks up to see Kappaqua standing next to her. In between sobs she manages to ask, "Kappaqua….what are you…doing here…?"

Kappaqua points at her and then back to itself and says, "Kappa kap aqua kappapapa!"

Brenda sniffles. "Do you really mean that? You want to stay with me?"

Kappaqua nods. "Kappa." It then holds something out for Brenda.

Brenda gasps. "You...found my ribbon..."

Kappaqua nods again and motions for Brenda to take it back.

She does and then holds it close to her chest. Overcome with emotion, Brenda grabs Kappaqua and embraces it with a hug. "Oh Kappaqua, I could never apologize enough for what I said and the way I've been acting recently. I'm so sorry."

Kappaqua offers, "Kappa appa appaqua."

Brenda nods. "It's a deal. We'll meet each other half-way. I may not be ready to enter a contest again yet, but I'll stop acting so down, and who knows what the future might hold. Okay?"

Kappaqua nods happily. "Kappa!"

Brenda emerges from the woods back at the picnic site. She proclaims, "I'm back!"

Brock declares, "Perfect timing! I just finished my special soup! Lunch is ready." He looks around and realizes that the sun is setting. "Hmm…I suppose dinner is ready. Time sure flies when you're cooking soup."

Ash, who appears to be passed out on the floor, is suddenly revived. "Food!"

Brenda and Kappaqua giggle.

Jessie, still dressed as Jessileia, and Repiv are in the middle of a battle against a Jolteon. Jessie orders, "Now Repiv, it's time we've finally brought an end to this battle! Use Poison Fang!" Repiv lunges at Jolteon and bites down. Jolteon quickly faints.

The judges all declare a knock-out.

Gillian announces, "And it's all over! The winner of the contest is Princess Jessileia!"

Jessie leaps into the air and shouts, "Stardom, it's all mine!"

From the audience, James declares, "Jessie did it! She got her second ribbon!"

Meowth adds, "Just three more and we'll never have to hear her complain about losing again!"

It's the next day. Ash, Brock, and Brenda are walking through a city. Brenda is holding Kappaqua again.

Ash stops in front of a poster. "Hey, look at this. They're hosting a Pokémon Contest here."

Brock leans over to read it. "It looks like it was held yesterday. We just missed it. Sorry Brenda."

Brenda and Kappaqua both look to each other and laugh. Brenda then says, "Yeah…too bad."

It is said that in the most perfect of friendships, that which tests relationships only serves to make them stronger. Certainly this was the case today for Brenda and her faithful partner Kappaqua. Will this dynamic duo enter another contest? Only time will tell, so stay tuned!

To Be Continued…