Episode 56: Come What May

Brenda declares, "Kappaqua, use Water Gun!"

"Kappa apa qua!" Kappaqua launches a Water Gun combined with a graceful spin, resulting in a beautiful spiral of water sent into the air.

Dawn claps. "That's it, you two are doing this perfectly now. See? Just a little bit of training goes a long way."

Brenda nods. "Yeah, you're right."

Ash and Brock are watching from the sidelines. Ash comments, "Wow, imagine that. Brenda is actually training. I never thought I would see the day."

Brock adds, "And all it took was an extremely coincidental meeting. Honestly, those two complement each other perfectly."

Ash looks up to him. "What do you mean?"

"Think about it, Dawn's biggest problem was that she would work too hard. She would spend so much time working on a combination that the spectacle of her combination became the focal point of her performance instead of her Pokémon. Also, all that work and thought she put into it ahead of time only caused her to psych herself out, giving her the nerve issues she had. Brenda, on the other hand, puts nearly no work at all ahead of time into her shows, she thinks purely in the moment. While this normally works fine, it can have disastrous consequences like we saw at Starside. Her lack of thinking ahead may keep her calm, but it also leaves her open to surprise. Those two are exact opposites. Put them together and I think they make each other better."

Ash nods. "I see what you're saying. It's like they were meant to meet up."

"Exactly."

Seeing that they're taking a break, Ash walks up to Brenda and Dawn. He says, "So Dawn, how have things been going for you?"

Dawn smiles. "Everything's been great. Piplup and I have been travelling through the Kanto Region earning ribbons there."

Ash smiles, "The Kanto Region, no kidding!"

Dawn nods. "Yeah, I actually just recently met up with the poetry guy…oops, I mean Professor Oak. He told me you were here in Tenno, but I certainly didn't expect to see you here."

Ash nods. "Yeah, who would have thought?"

"Anyways," she pulls out her ribbon case, "I have three Kanto ribbons, so this is my shot at a fourth."

Brock comes up too. "That's great, Dawn."

"To tell the truth though, I've been on a bit of a losing streak lately. Zoey, Kenny, and Nando are proving just as hard as ever to beat. I was hoping that maybe the Wallace Cup is just what I need to get out of that slump like last time."

In response to the mention of her rivals, Brock asks, "How are they all doing?"

"They're all fine. Actually Nando's nearly earned enough gym badges to enter the Indigo Conference."

Ash grins. "Great for him."

Suddenly Brenda asks, "Huh, what's this?" All around pieces of paper are falling from the sky. Training coordinators all around are picking them up and reading them.

Brock snatches one. He says, "Hey, it's a flyer. According this a new restaurant just opened up and it's offering free food to any coordinators competing in the Wallace Cup."

Brenda exclaims, "Free food! I'm starved. Let's go!"

Dawn nods in agreement. "I'm a little famished too."

Ash says, "I'm never one to turn down a meal."

And so they arrive at the site of this new restaurant. It is immediately obvious that it is extremely popular, as a large crowd of people have already gathered outside of its doors, waiting to be let in. Brenda comments, "That sure is a lot of people."

Brock states, "Think about how many coordinators enter the Wallace Cup. If this restaurant is willing to offer them all free food they must be either extremely wealthy, or extremely kind."

On cue, out of the restaurant comes the two owners. One is a blue-haired man wearing a maître d' outfit, and the other is short and dressed as a chef. The chef declares, "Welcome one and all to the grand opening of Cuisine de Roquette. We are proud to serve each and every one of you coordinators, but unlike our competitors, we serve not only you, but your Pokémon as well. In a moment my business partner here will be coming around with a bag. If you would please deposit all of your Pokéballs into the bag, we will take them to the back of the building where we have set up a one-of-a-kind Pokémon play place, where your Pokémon can play to its Poké-heart's content while you enjoy your free meal. It's one of the many perks we offer for choosing to eat here."

The blue haired one begins to make rounds, holding out a large sack. Everyone happily hands over their Pokéballs.

Brock says, "Wow, this really is a full-service restaurant. That's great."

The maître d' makes it to them. They happily hand over the Pokéballs. He looks to Ash and says in a heavy French accent, "Your Pikachu too, if you would."

Ash shakes his head. "Nah, Pikachu will eat with me."

"But I insist. Your Pikachu will be much happier in our Pokémon dedicated section."

Ash looks to Pikachu, and then back to the blue-haired man. "No thanks, we're fine."

The man grunts. "Fine, but I do believe you and your Pikachu will regret such a decision." He moves on to collect more Pokéballs.

After making his rounds, he returns to the front of the building. The chef announces, "Thank you so much for your cooperation. It is our pleasure to provide your steals– I mean meals. It is our pleasure to provide your meals. We will be opening shortly, please be patient." The two go back into the building However, once they cross the door it becomes apparent that it's not a building at all. Only a cardboard cutout of one.

The maître d' breathes a sigh of relief. Speaking in a normal voice he complains, "That accent was killing me."

The chef responds, "It was worth it though, check out all these Pokémon we just got our hands on."

The maître d' opens the sack and peeks in, seeing the countless Pokéballs. He nods in agreement. "Jessie may be too busy practicing for the Wallace Cup to join us, but we were successful nonetheless."

The chef says, "Yeah, now let's get out of here before they all catch on."

"Agreed."

Back outside, Dawn comments, "Speaking of food, you want to know what I've missed more than anything?"

Ash asks, "What?"

"Brock's cooking! I constantly have to remind myself that most coordinators aren't as lucky as I was when I was traveling with you guys."

Brock smiles. "I'll be sure you to cook you up a nice meal before you have to leave."

"It's a deal."

Of in the distance, from the front of the crowd, a girl can be heard shouting impatiently, "Hurry up, I want my food!"

The voice of a young boy says to her, "Calm down, we'll get in soon enough."

Ash and Brock look to each other in surprise. Ash asks, "Was that…?"

Brock answers, "I think it might have been." The two of them try to move toward the source of the voices. Brenda and Dawn look to each other and shrug. They follow after them.

Upon reaching the front of the crowd, Ash grins. "It is them!"

Standing in front of them is May and Max. May is wearing a new outfit. She wears a red sleeveless shirt with black frills on the bottom, white shorts with black bicycle shorts underneath, and she has swapped her bandanna for a red ribbon. Her hair has also slightly changed so that is now more detailed in its design. May complains, "If they're going to promise us food, they shouldn't make us wait."

Max responds, "Look at all the people who showed up, they probably weren't expecting so many and had to prepare more food."

May looks around, and when she does her eyes fall upon Ash and Brock. "It's Ash and Brock! Dawn too!"

Max looks around frantically. "What!? Where!?"

May runs up to them and Max follows. Ash greets, "Hey May, how's it going?"

She grins happily. "I'm great. That's so cool that you're here too."

Max greats, "Hi everyone!"

Ash gives Mas a high five. "Hey Max."

May comments, "So you must be here for Dawn, right?"

Dawn laughs. "Nope. Actually, Ash, Brock, and I went our separate ways a while ago. It's complete coincidence that we're here together."

Ash explains, "Yeah, we're actually here for Brenda." He turns to Brenda and introduces, "This is May, she's a coordinator who traveled with Brock and I in the Hoenn Region as well as during the Kanto Battle Frontier."

Max complains, "Hey, don't forget about me!"

Ash laughs. "Of course not. This is Max, he's May's brother. He traveled with us too."

Max says proudly, "As soon as I'm old enough I'm going to get a Pokémon of my own and become a trainer using all of the knowledge Ash and Brock taught me."

Ash looks back to May and says, "And this is Brenda, she's a new coordinator that we've been travelling with here in Tenno."

May and Brenda shakes hand. May says, "Nice to meet you Brenda."

Brenda responds, "The same." She looks to Ash and says, "Wow, so many old friends of yours are popping up. This is kind of fun, actually."

Brock looks to Max and asks, "Are you still practicing all of those Pokémon breeding techniques I taught you?"

Max nods excitedly. "You bet I am Brock. I take care of all of my older sister's Pokémon. She doesn't want to admit it, but she needs me, that why I'm travelling with her again."

May scoffs, "I do not need you."

Max chuckles, points at her, and whispers to Brock, "See what I mean?"

Dawn asks, "So what have you been up to lately, May?"

"We've been travelling in Sinnoh. I was inspired by the Wallace Cup to head there. Of course, Max just begged to be brought along, and my parents basically didn't give me any other choice, so here we are."

Max complains, "I did not beg."

"Did too."

"Did not."

"Did too."

Everyone else chuckles awkwardly as they watch the two argue.

Once they finish arguing, May, with a sudden change in attitude, asks, "So Ash, are you going to enter the Wallace Cup again?"

Ash smiles and thinks for a moment. "I don't know, I actually hadn't even considered the possibility yet."

Brenda asks in confusion, "Why would Ash enter the Wallace Cup? He's not a coordinator."

Dawn explains, "Last time we were all together for the Wallace Cup in Sinnoh we ended up meeting Wallace himself, and he suggested that Ash should enter."

Brenda is surprised. "Wow, I didn't know you had ever entered a contest before Ash."

Ash shrugs. "I guess it just never occurred to me to tell you."

Brenda encourages, "You should enter. It would be fun for us all to be in it."

May nods. "Yeah, and I still need to beat you after what happened at the Terracotta Contest."

Dawn adds, "And I'd love the chance to face you in a contest battle too."

Ash nods. "Alright, in that case we'll do it." He looks to Pikachu and asks excitedly, "You hear that buddy? We're going to enter the Wallace Cup!"

Pikachu smiles. "Chu!"

May looks back to the restaurant and says with sudden exasperation, "When are they going to open this restaurant? I'm hungry…" With a sudden burst of anger she turns around and walks up to the front door and begins to pound on them. "Hey, open up! We're starving out here!" Her pounding causes the entire cardboard cutout to collapse backwards. May is shocked. "Oops…"

Max shouts, "That's no restaurant!"

People suddenly begin to realize what is going on all around. Confused and angry complaints are made about how they took their Pokémon.

May says in despair, "So it wasn't a restaurant at all…? My poor tummy…" She falls to her knees.

Max nudges her. "I don't think that's what you should be complaining about. Those phony restaurant owners took all your Pokémon."

May suddenly gets up with renewed vigor. "Not only do they lie to my stomach, but they take my Pokémon!? They're going to pay for this!"

Brenda comments, "My, my, she sure does have a wide range of emotions."

Ash says, "We'll just have to track them down, come on!" They all run off to search.

Who's that Pokémon!?

This Pokémon has black, cape-like fur that is very hard and decreases the amount of damage it receives.

The group is walking through the city looking for any trace of the restauranteurs. May has her two hands up in front of her eye using her thumbs and pointer fingers to form a square and looking through it as if it were a camera lens. She narrates, "Welcome back, adventure fans one and all. It is at long last time for the return of May's Expeditions. In this episode we're on the hunt for a lot of no-good thieves. Will our team of top-rate explorers discover the path to justice? Find out." She suddenly sighs, losing her vigor. "This is hopeless."

Max agrees, "Those thieves could have gone anywhere. How are we supposed to find them?"

Ash asserts, "We just have to keep on looking, they're bound to show up eventually."

Dawn agrees, "Yeah, no need to worry."

May groans. "Tell that to my stomach…"

Brenda whispers to Brock, "She sure has a one-track mind."

Brock nods. "That's May for you, the moment she gets her mind set on something, nothing will stop her from thinking about it."

Max suddenly perks up. "Hey, I have an idea!"

May looks to him anxiously, "What? What is it?"

He pulls out a piece of technology from his pocket and activates it.

Brock remarks, "Hey, that's a PokéNav Plus!"

Max nods. "It sure is. Dad gave it to me before we left home, it's a massive upgrade to the old PokéNav."

Brock nods. "I heard it can do all sorts of things the original model couldn't."

"It sure can, and one those new features is called the DexNav."

Brock nods in understanding. "That's a great idea Max."

May asks, "Um…could you cue in those of us who have less knowledge of technology?"

Max turns to his sister and explains, "You see, the DexNav is a feature in the PokéNav Plus that's designed to help trainers track down Pokémon. It alerts you when certain Pokémon are near. So all I have to do is enter in a Pokémon, such as, let's say, Blaziken, and the DexNav will scan the area for any Blaziken. And if I turn up its sensitivity, I should be able to find Pokémon that are still in their Pokéball." He presses a couple of buttons and taps the screen of the device and a silhouette of a Blaziken appears on the screen. A few moments later and an exclamation mark appears on the screen. "I've got it! The PokéNav has located your Blaziken, May!"

May demands, "Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!"

Max nods. "Alright, this way! Everyone follow me!" He runs off, keeping a close eye on the screen. Everyone follows.

It's Herdier!

Max points to some trees ahead. "There, according to the PokéNav there's a Blaziken just beyond those trees!"

They run forward and into the trees. On the other side they see the restauranteurs sneaking off with the sacks of Pokéballs. May shouts, "Stop right there!"

The two of them freeze up and slowly turn around to see that they've been caught.

Ash demands, "What do you think you're doing stealing all those Pokémon!?"

The two chuckle. The short one declares, "Prepare for trouble, I'm done in the kitchen!"

The blue-haired one continues, "Make it double, look who's about to pitch in!"

"To protect the world from devastation!"

"To unite all people within our nation!"

"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"

"To extend our reach to the stars above!"

The short one throws off his clothes revealing who is. "Meowth!"

The other does the same. "James!"

"With Jessie away, it's this cat's time!"

"I'm saying this line simply to rhyme!"

Mime Jr. appears and poses like Meowth, saying, "Mime mime, mime mime!" as Meowth might speak his line normally.

May groans, "Don't tell me these clowns are still bothering you."

Ash shrugs. "What else would you expect?"

Max asks, "Hey, why are there only two of you? Did Jessie get kicked out?"

James says arrogantly, "I'll have you know that Jessie is away on very important business. And what that business might be is none of your business."

Brenda shouts, "You better give those Pokémon back, now!"

James and Meowth look to each other and break out in laughter. Meowth asks, "Or else what? You don't have any Pokémon!"

Ash declares, "I've still got one! Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!"

Meowth declares, "Oh no you don't!" He pulls out some sort of mechanical arm. "Go, Super-Mega-Grabbing Hand Mark II!" The hand extends and grabs Pikachu before it can release its attack.

Pikachu attempts to attack anyways. "Chuuuuuuuu!" The electrical surge from its attack is harmlessly dissipated by the hand.

Meowth explains, "Hate to burst your bubble, but that hand is made out of rubber, there's no way you're landing an electrical attack any time soon."

James declares, "And now that we have Pikachu, it's time to skedaddle." They turn around and begin to run away.

Ash shouts, "Pikachu!"

May declares with a fiery passion, "Oh no you don't!" She leaps at James and manages to grab a hold of his sack. She falls to the ground and loses grip and James continues to move, but she did cause a rip in the sack. Out of it roll two Pokéballs. May picks one up and realizes, "Hey, this is my Pokéball."

Brenda runs over and picks up the other. "And this one's mine!" She looks to May. "It looks like this one is up to me and you."

May nods. "Let's get them." She calls ahead, "Oh Team Rocket!"

James looks back without stopping and shouts, "You can't stop…" but trails off as he says that they both have Pokéballs.

They both throw them. May declares, "Beautifly, take the stage!"

Brenda shouts, "Glitterfly, center stage!"

May orders, "Beautifly, use Silver Wind!" The attack from Beautifly knock James and Meowth over.

James quickly gets back up and shouts angrily, "You've left us no other choice! If it's a battle you want, it's a battle you shall receive!" He throws a Pokéball and sends out Haking.

Meowth steps forward and extends his claws. "I'm in on this one two."

May orders, "Beautifly, use Silver Wind again!"

Brenda declares, "Go, Sparkling Flare!"

James orders, "Sludge Bomb Haking!"

Meowth leaps forward and shouts, "Here comes my Fury Swipes of fury!"

The Sludge Bomb and the Sparkling Flare cancel each other out while Meowth actually manages to use its claws to slice through the Silver Wind. He's now heading for Beautifly. May orders, "Catch it with Psychic!" Beautifly uses psychic powers to suspend Meowth in midair.

Meowth looks around confused for a moment. He then shouts, "Hey! Put me down!"

Brenda grins. "Gladly. Glitterfly, help Meowth down with Signal Beam!"

"Glitterererererfly!" Glitterfly fires a flashing beam of light at Meowth, who panics at the sight of the incoming attack. It hits Meowth and knocks him back into Haking.

May asks Brenda, "Are you ready to finish this off?"

Brenda nods. "I am."

May orders, "Beautifly, use Morning Sun!" Beautifly begins to glow with the soft light of the morning sun.

Brenda nods, understanding what she's setting up. "Glitterfly, use that light to power up your Solar Beam!" Glitterfly absorbs Beautifly's and charges for its attack.

Meowth slightly recovers from the attack. Sounding somewhat stunned, he puts his paw to his head and asks, "Oy vey, what hit me?" He then looks up to see Glitterfly charging its attack. "Not again!"

Too late, both May and Brenda shouts, "Go!"

"Glitterererererererfly!" Glitterfly unleashes its powered-up Solar Beam, aimed right at Meowth and Haking.

Meowth panics, but has no way to avoid the attack. It hits him and Haking, knocking them back into James at a high velocity. All three of them are then flung back into the woods behind them.

It turns out that just on the other side of those trees, Jessie, dressed as Jessileia, is practicing with Wobbuffet. She complains, "No you insolent blob, that's not how you show off my beauty!" Wobbuffet, facing towards Jessie, who has her back to the trees, points towards them and panics, "Wobba wobba wobba!"

"Oh don't be silly. Now be quite and use Counter like I told you!"

Wobbuffet sighs. "Wobba…" It reluctantly uses Counter.

Jessie nods. "Good, that's more-" But then, out of nowhere, James, Meowth and Haking come flying through the trees. They crash into Jessie, causing the three of them to impact Wobbuffet and its Counter, which redirects them, sending them flying upwards. Jessie cries out, "What is this!?"

Meowth groans. "Long story…"

James adds, "Nothing you need worry yourself about."

Jessie shouts angrily, "How is it that every time you two screw up I end up paying the price!?"

They all shout, "Team Rocket's blasting off again!"

Wobbuffet sees them, still on the ground, sees them disappear with a twinkle and runs off after them shouting, "Wobbuffet!"

Back with everyone else, May and Brenda give each other a high five. May exclaims, "That was great, Brenda!"

Brenda smiles, "You too May! We made a great team."

Ash runs over to the fallen mechanical arm and rips Pikachu free. Pikachu happily leaps out and into Ash's arms.

Brock looks to the two sacks of Pokéballs on the floor. "I guess we should get all those Pokéballs back to their owners. This is going to take forever to get sorted out."

May sighs, "And I still haven't got my food…"

Brock smiles. "Don't worry, if it's food you want, I can provide that."

May perks up. "Brock's cooking!?"

Max cheers, "Oh boy!"

Dawn also cheers, "I can't wait!"

Brock and Ash each pick up a sack of Pokéballs and they all head off to return to the fake restaurant.

However, on their way Brenda notices someone. Walking by up ahead is Will. She calls out to him, "Hey Will! How's it going? Are you entering the Wallace Cup?"

Will stops and looks to her disapprovingly.

"You'll never believe this, I actually-"

Will cuts her off. "Save it for someone who cares. After what you did at Starcore, I certainly don't. In fact, I'm surprised to even see you here after that." He turns around and leaves without another word.

Brenda is absolutely stunned. She appears hurt by the statement. "Will…"

May asks, "Who was that?"

Ash explains, "That was Will, he's sort of Brenda's rival. They had a bit of a falling out, to say the least, last time they met."

Dawn looks to Brenda. "Come on, don't let him get to you. No need to worry, remember?"

Brenda removes the shock from her face and tries to compose herself. "No…I'm fine. Now I just have one more reason to win out there. I've got to prove it to him that I really do deserve to be a coordinator."

Ash encourages, "That's the spirit, Brenda."

It looks like the Wallace Cup is turning out to be one big reunion for friends new and old. With so many friends competing in one contest and Brenda needing to prove so much, you know it's going to be one for the books, so stay tuned.

To Be Continued…