Episode 69: Pretense is the Best Offense!

In the middle of a lush field are two tents, Brenda's purple one and Ash and Brock's yellow one. This morning we catch our heroes before they have even woken up to this wonderful new day. What adventures could this beautiful day hold for them?

Pikachu pokes its head out of the yellow tent's door. It curiously looks around and breathes in the fresh morning air. "Chu!" It fully emerges from the tent and runs over to a nearby creek. It dips its paws into the water and then washes its face. It hears some splashing nearby and looks across the river to see a group of Pokémon, including a Marill, Stufful, Chipmunch, and Teddiursa. They're getting a drink of water from the creek. Pikachu waves at them. "Pika pik!"

The Pokémon all look up to Pikachu in shock and quickly run away into the cover of some nearby bushes.

Pikachu tilts its head in confusion. "Pik?"

Ash emerges from his tent and stretches. After a yawn he greets, "Good morning, Pikachu." Pikachu runs over to Ash and hops up onto his shoulder.

Brock follows Ash out from the tent. He calls out, "Brenda, we're ready when you are."

Brenda's voice emerges from her tent. "Don't rush me, I'm still getting ready!"

Ash urges, "Come on, we're waiting for you!"

"It's not my fault boys don't care about taking the proper amount of time to get ready!"

Ash shakes his head with disbelief and then comments, "Oh well, might as well put this time to use." He pulls out two Pokéballs. "Come on out, guys." From the Pokéballs he releases Falcoknight and Arborrior.

"Fallllllllco!"

"Borrior!"

Ash tells them, "Alright guys, we've got some free time. Go ahead and do your daily training."

Both Pokémon make joyful cries and then distance themselves from the campsite. Once they've found their spot, they both face the same direction and begin to punch the air in front of them continuously. They do so in perfect sync with each other.

Brock looks at them and says with wonder, "Wow, they're really two of a kind."

Ash nods in agreement. "Yeah, every morning, the first chance they get, they train. They're two of the most dedicated Pokémon I've ever seen. Falcoknight was always big on training, but ever since it got Arborrior as a training partner, they've just been going all out."

Brenda walks out from her tent still brushing her hair. She notices the two Pokémon doing their training. "Oh good, they're busy. Looks like I have some extra time then." She turns around and goes back into the tent.

Their training then transfers into kicks. Before they can get far into the next session, a cry is heard. "Stuuuuuff!" Both Pokémon alertly swing their heads towards the source of the cry.

Ash asks, "What was that?"

Brock responds, "It sounds like there's a Pokémon in trouble."

Arborrior and Falcoknight have already started in the direction of the cry. Ash and Brock chase after them. Once they get past a cluster of nearby trees, the source of the cry for help is revealed. It's the Stufful Pikachu saw earlier. It, along with the rest of its group, seems to be being tormented by another group of Pokémon, including a Bisharp, Gumshoos, Primeape, and Scyther. The Bisharp and Scyther are threatening the group of small Pokémon, keeping them at a distance, while Gumshoos and Primeape are taking berries out of a stockpile held in the hallow of a tree.

The Marill angrily shouts, "Marill mar!"

The Bisharp and Scyther laugh at it. Scyther then slashes right in front of Marill, causing it to jump back in surprise. All four of the gang then laugh at the Marill's misfortune. The Stufful cries out in fear again.

Brock says, "Oh no, it looks like those Pokémon are stealing the other Pokémon's berry supplies!"

Ash says, "That's awful!"

Seeing this scene causes Arborrior to tense up. It clenches its fists and looks on angrily. It has a flashback to a helpless Traineed seeking acceptance amongst a group of Grass-Type Pokémon, only to be bullied by them in return. It specifically remembers a moment when it's about to take a bite into an Oran Berry, only to have the berry swiped by a Breloom and promptly devoured by it, leaving the Traineed crying. Arborrior angrily says to itself, "Borrior…" Not able to take it anymore, Arborrior leaps into action. With a powerful Fire Punch, it knocks away the Scyther before it can slash at Marill again. It then swivels around and hits Bisharp away with a Wood Hammer. With both of those Pokémon taken care of, it turns towards the Primeape and Gumshoos and pelts them with a Razor Leaf attack. The gang of Pokémon is sent running. As they do, the Bisharp angrily glares back at Arborrior, as if trying to send it a message.

Only just realizing what has happened, Ash, Brock, and Falcoknight are taken aback in surprise. Brock observes, "Something got Arborrior really riled up."

Ash nods. "I know exactly what it is. Back when Arborrior was just a Traineed, it was faced with bullies. After growing up like that and finally getting strong enough to face those bullies, there's no way that it could ever stand by and watch another helpless and innocent Pokémon get bullied ever again."

Brock nods in agreement. "You're right, Arborrior is and always will be a defender of the weak."

Arborrior picks up a pile of berries dropped by Primeape and Gumshoos and walks it over towards the forest Pokémon. The group of small Pokémon all back away, uncertain of Arborrior's intention. Arborrior gently walks up to them, places the berries on the ground in front of them, and then backs off a few steps.

The Pokémon remain cautious. However, after a few moments the Chipmunch takes a few steps forward and takes a bite out of one of the berries. Upon doing so, it smiles and happily chatters, "Chipchipchip!" It then happily runs up to Arborrior, climbs up its trunk and sits on the top of one of its arms. It looks towards Arborrior's face and smiles.

Arborrior smiles back and greets, "Arbor!"

With this, all of the group run up to Arborrior and gather around it, happily spewing their thanks.

Ash and Brock smile at the heartwarming scene. Falcoknight nods with pride. Brock says, "I think we might be here a little while longer." Ash nods in response.

Brenda peeks out of her tent and calls out, "Alright, I'm ready!" She looks around and sees no one nearby. She asks, "Huh? Where'd everybody go?" After a moment more of looking, she shrugs. "Eh, I could use some more time getting my hair right anyways." She ducks back into her tent.

Team Rocket is trudging their way through a forest. They look tired out and miserable. Jessie asks, "Remind me again why we have to walk instead of using our balloon?"

James responds, "We had to pawn our balloon to get money for food."

Meowth adds, "And then we ate all that food right away and have none left. Now we have no balloon and no food."

Jessie sighs. "Whose bright idea was that?"

James asks, "Pawning the balloon or eating the food?"

Meowth chimes in, "It doesn't matter, both were your ideas."

Jessie lowers her head in shame. "Oh yeah…" A moment later she asks, "Do me a favor please."

James and Meowth both ask, "What?"

"Next time I suggest we sell off our one means of transportation or to eat all of our food at once, tell me I'm crazy."

Meowth snidely remarks, "How about I just tell you that next time you suggest anything. Better yet, I'll just tell you that now. You're crazy, Jessie."

Wobbuffet appears and agrees with Meowth. "Wobbuffet!"

Jessie is momentarily filled with rage and makes a movement to smack Meowth in retaliation, but then sighs decides it's not worth it. Back to her misery, she complains, "Oh, what's the use…?" Wobbuffet then just strolls along with them, also adopting their misery.

After a little more walking, Meowth asks, "Hey, do you guys hear that?"

James looks around. "Hear what? I don't hear anything."

Meowth shushes him. "There's some sort of argument going on nearby." It's over that way!" He points and then runs off. Jessie, James, and Wobbuffet follow. They come across a grotto and peer in.

There is the group of bully Pokémon from before. They all seem to be arguing over something. The Gumshoos points to an empty tree hollow and sternly says, "Gum shoo!"

Scyther suggests something. "Scyther!"

Bisharp shakes its head. "Sharp bisharp."

The Primeape sadly rubs its stomach, indicating that it's hungry. "Prime…"

Meowth contemplates something, and then says to the others, "Follow my lead, I see an opportunity in our future." He enters the grotto and greets, "Salutations my fellow Pokémon. I couldn't help but overhear your dilemma, and I think my colleagues and I might just have the perfect solution." The gang of Pokémon turn towards Meowth with interest. Meowth continues, "Please, tell me what ails you."

The Bisharp steps forward and tells a story. Meowth periodically nods and affirms.

Once the story concludes, James asks, "What is it Meowth? What's going on?"

Meowth grins, "Just wait until you get a load of this."

Who's that Pokémon!?

This Pokémon charges in a straight line at its foe, slips beneath the foe's grasp, and then scoops up and hurls the opponent with its mighty horn. It even has enough power to topple a massive tree.

All the forest Pokémon have begun playing with Arborrior. Some happily run in circles around it, while the others climb up and down its trunk. Judging by the way it laughs with joy, Arborrior seems to be enjoying it just as much as they are.

Brock looks to Ash and suggests, "Hey, while they're playing, why don't we go and get some breakfast?"

Ash and Pikachu both nod happily. Ash answers, "That sounds great, I'm starving!"

"Alright then, I'll go prep the food."

These words seem to draw the attention of the Marill. It raises its head and looks towards Brock at the mention of food, and grins somewhat mischievously as Brock and Ash head back to the campsite. Once they're gone, it calls out, "Marill mar!" The others in the group stop their playtime and rush over to Marill. They all huddle up and begin to discuss something.

"Chip chip."

"Stuuuuff!"

"Ursa tedi."

Marill nods in agreement and assets, "Marill."

Seeing this confuses Arborrior. It takes a step closer to them and asks, "Arbor?"

The Pokémon all turn to him and then quickly huddle back up. Chipmunch questions with concern, "Munch?"

The Marill smiles and plays it off by explaining, "Marill mar, marill."

The other Pokémon all grin, seeming to like what Marill said.

Arborrior questions again, "Borrior?"

The Pokémon quickly separate from their huddle and face Arborrior. Tediursa quickly points off in one direction, declaring, "Ursa!"

Arborrior quickly looks in the indicated direction with vigilance. While it is distracted, Marill picks up a rock and throws it deeper into the woods, the opposite direction from where Arborrior is looking. The sound it makes causes Arborrior to quickly look in the opposite direction.

The forest Pokémon suddenly all become very worried. As if questioning what the sound was, Marill asks, "Marill?" with worry.

Stufful cries out in fear, "Stuuuuuff!"

Arborrior turns back to them and says comfortingly, "Arborrior bor!" It proudly points to itself, and then points out towards where the sound came. It then walks off into the forest.

Once it's gone, all four forest Pokémon smile deviously.

It's Heracross!

Ash and Brock arrive back at camp. Brock calls, "Brenda, I'm about to make breakfast!"

Brenda shouts back from her tent, "Alright, just give me one more minute!"

Brock begins to unload ingredients from his bag onto a prep table. First he pulls out a handful of berries. As he bends back down to grab the next ingredient, Chipmunch leaps onto the table, grabs the berries, and jumps back down before Brock can notice it. Brock then comes back up with a loaf of bread. He is confused by the lack of berries. "Huh…that's odd…"

Ash, who is doing some training with Pikachu, asks, "What is it?"

"Nothing, I just could have sworn that I left some berries on this table." He puts down the bread. "Oh well, I'll just grab some more." He reaches back into his bag. As he's looking, Tediursa drops down onto the table and swipes the bread, then quickly runs off. When Brock comes back up with more berries, he is once again left baffled. "Alright, now that's just weird. I know for a fact that I had just left some bread right here." He gets and idea. He puts his new handful of berries down and says unconvincingly, "Oh well, I guess I'll just have to pull out a new loaf of bread too. I'll just look away as I grab it." He bends down again, this time the table cannot be seen while he does so. However, he quickly looks up and shouts, "Aha! Got you-…?" He freezes as he finds the berries gone, despite the quick amount of time he was looking away. He snaps his fingers. "Shoot."

While Brock's busy scratching his head trying to figure out where his food went, Arborrior emerges from the woods. It sees the forest Pokémon running towards it, all carrying food with them. Arborrior does a salute and reports, "Arborrior!" giving them the all-clear. The Pokémon give an obviously fake cheer and then quickly run back into the trees to store their food.

Arborrior begins to turn and go after them, but Ash calls out to it, "Hey Arborrior, we're going to be having breakfast soon, why don't you stay over here!?"

Arborrior happily nods. "Arbor!" It heads back towards the camp.

Brock finally gives up on looking for the lost food. He pulls out some more berries, and then without looking away he carefully pulls out another loaf of bread. He sighs in relief and gets to preparing the food.

Just as things begin to settle there is a cry for help. "Stuuuuuuff!"

Arborrior instantly looks off towards the woods with concern. Ash says, "Oh no, it sounds like those bully Pokémon came back!"

They all run off towards the forest. As they do, Brock shouts back, "Sorry Brenda, breakfast is going to have to wait a little longer!"

Brenda shouts back, "Don't worry about it! Take your time!"

The bully Pokémon are gathered in a ring around the forest Pokémon. They all cower in fear. The Bisharp takes a step forward and laughs. "Bish sharp sharp sharp!"

Just as it's out about to attack, Arborrior, Ash, and Brock run in. Arborrior warns, "Arbor!"

Bisharp turns to face it and declares, "Bisharp sharp!" as if taunting Arborrior to attack.

Arborrior does. It begins to run at them to attack with Wood Hammer. Before it can make it to them, a Sludge Bomb attack rains down from above, halting Arborrior's assault.

Ash asks, "What was that!?"

A voice declares, "Prepare for trouble, why do you even ask!?"

Another voice adds, "Make it double, because we're up to this task!"

Team Rocket descend from the sky riding in a Wobbuffet balloon. Attached to its bottom is a large container of some kind. Both Haking and Repiv are already out and ready for battle.

"To protect people and Pokémon from an empty tummy!"

"To unite our new partners against their enemy!"

"To denounce the evils of hunger, even a smidge!"

"To extend our reach out into the fridge!"

"Jessie!"

"James!"

"Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light!"

"Surrender now or prepare to fight!"

"Meowth, that's right!"

"Mime mime!"

"Wobbuffet!"

Jessie cackles, "Boy am I glad that we remembered we had this thing sitting in storage." She beckons up to the balloon. "It may be ugly, but it gets the job done."

Wobbuffet declares, "Wobbuffet!" but then realizes what Jessie said and turns her and asks with surprise, "Wobba!?" Jessie chuckles and returns it to its Pokéball.

Ash demands, "Team Rocket, what do you think you're doing here!? This is none of your business!"

James chuckles. "Of course it's our business. We're Team Rocket, we empathize with others who are starving, and that's what those poor Pokémon are going through."

Ash laughs. "Yeah right! Those Pokémon are just trying to steal food from defenseless Pokémon! Now are you going to let us help them, or are we going to have to do this the hard way!?"

Jessie declares, "I quite like the sound of the hard way! Repiv, use Poison Sting!"

Ash counters, "Arborrior, use Wood Hammer!" Arborrior swings its hammer and knocks away the incoming Poison Sting attack.

Brock gets in on the action too, and throws a Pokéball. "Blissey, use Egg Bomb!" Blissey appears and immediately hurls its egg towards Haking.

James orders, "Haking, block it with Sludge Bomb!" The two projectile attacks collide and explode midway between them.

Once the battle has begun, Meowth grins snidely. He says to himself, "And now it's time for phase two." He slips out of the basket and approaches the bully Pokémon. He says to the Bisharp, "Alright, you and your gang are free to take back all your food now. Those pesky twerps won't be interfering again anytime soon. Just slip all that food into our carrying container and we'll fly it right back to your home."

The Bisharp nods. It is pleased by this. It points over to the stockpile of berries and other food and commands, "Sharp bisharp!"

While the Scyther stays with Bisharp to watch the forest Pokémon and keep them in place, the Gumshoos and Primeape move to the food stockpile and grab large armfuls of food. They then carry this food to Team Rocket's balloon and deposit it in the hanging attachment. They then return to the stockpile and repeat.

The Marill angrily shouts, "Marill mar! Marill!"

Scyther laughs and uses an Air Slash attack, which hits right at Marill's feet, causing it to jump back in panic.

Bisharp shakes its head and advises, "Bisharp."

Back in the battle, Ash commands, "Wide spread Razor Leaf now!" Arborrior launches a Razor Leaf attack at both Repiv and Haking.

Brock adds, "Follow up with Secret Power!" Blissey launches a wave of energy that flies right behind the first wave of Razor Leaves. The two attacks both hit Repiv and Haking in quick succession.

James shouts, "We won't stand for that Haking, even if you can't stand at all! Use Sludge Bomb, rapid fire!" Haking begins spit out a constant stream of Sludge Bombs.

Jessie adds, "Add your Acid into the mix, Repiv!" Repiv sprays acid towards its targets.

Ash counters, "Wide-spread Razor Leaf again!" Arborrior attacks with another Razor Leaf, this one serves as a shield, blocking both of Team Rocket's attacks. Ash looks to Brock and asks, "Should we finish this up together?"

Brock nods. "Let's do it."

Ash turns back to Arborrior, "You heard him, Arborrior! Let's prepare for a full-powered Wood Hammer!" Arborrior prepares its attack with both arms, generating a green hammer around both of them.

Brock cuts in and commands, "Blissey, use Strength and throw Arborrior!" Blissey begins to glow with a white aura. It then runs towards Arborrior, grabs it by the legs, and lifts the large tree Pokémon into the air as if it were as light as a feather.

Ash and Brock both shout, "Now!" Blissey hurls Arborrior forward like a giant, tree-sized javelin. As Arborrior flies past Repiv and Haking it slams them both with its double Wood Hammer. Arborrior then lands behind Team Rockets balloon and puts a halt to Primeape and Gumshoos before they can deliver their last armful of food to Team Rocket.

The result for Repiv and Haking is that they're sent flying into the air. They shout, "Repivvv repivvvvv repivvvvvvv!" and "Haking hak hak hakiiiiiing!" as if they were saying what Team Rocket would in the same scenario. They then disappear with a sparkle in the sky.

The forest Pokémon all cheer for Arborrior. Arborrior looks fiercely at Gumshoos and Primeape, causing them to drop their food.

Meowth quickly runs past them and leaps into the balloon. He shouts urgently, "Quickly, let's get out of here! We've got enough of their food!"

Jessie and James both nod. "Right." They begin to fly away.

Bisharp's gang are all surprised by this. Bisharp demands, "Bisharp bish!?"

Meowth responds, "Sorry, but we've got to eat too, you know."

James asks, "Remember back when I said we empathize with hungry Pokémon? By that I meant we're hungry too, so we're taking this food for ourselves!"

This causes outrage from both groups of Pokémon.

Brock suddenly notices something. Halfway hanging out of the food container Team Rocket is towing is one of his loaves of bread that went missing. He points to it. "Ash, look! That's my bread I was going to use for breakfast!"

This confuses Ash. "But how? That's all food that Team Rocket took from Marill and the others."

Ash and Brock both realize what this means at the same time. They both shout, "They stole it!"

Team Rocket laughs. Meowth shouts, "You got that right! They may look cute and innocent, but they've actually been stealing all the food that those tough looking Pokémon can manage to gather!"

Jessie adds, "Maybe you shouldn't be so quick to judge based off of appearance next time!"

Arborrior is shocked. It turns around and looks to Marill and the others. It questions, "Arborrior?"

Marill tries to deny, "Marill mar!"

Arborrior looks at it sternly. Marill then sighs and nods its head. "Marill…"

Arborrior angrily clenches its fists. It then looks back up to see Team Rocket getting away with all the food. After a moment of thought, it steps up to Bisharp and taps it on the shoulder. "Arborrior bor."

Bisharp nods, seeming to like whatever Arborrior suggested. Arborrior then grabs Bisharp and throws it up towards Team Rocket.

Team Rocket doesn't notice, too busy fantasizing about feasts. James declares, "This food is enough to last a year, easily!"

Meowth remarks, "Which means the three of us will probably finish it in a day or two."

Jessie suddenly points out of the basket, "Bladed Pokémon incoming!" They look in panic towards the Bisharp flying right at their basket. It sails right past the cord suspending the food, slicing through it as it goes. The food then falls to the ground.

James objects, "Hey, how dare you steal the stolen food we stole!?"

Once the food is free, Arborrior launches a Razor Leaf attack. The leaves slice right through the Wobbuffet balloon, causing it to pop, which in turn sends the balloon hurtling into the sky at uncontrollable speeds. Team Rocket all shout, "There goes our last balloon! We're blasting off again!" and they disappear.

Bisharp, Scyther, Gumshoos and Primeape all gather around the fallen food and celebrate happily for its return.

Arborrior slowly approaches them and apologizes, "Borrior…"

The Bisharp turns to it and smiles. "Bisharp." It then offers Arborrior a berry from the cache. Arborrior happily accepts it and eats it in one bite. It then looks over to the forest Pokémon, still huddled up and unsure of what to do. It tenses up angrily upon seeing them.

Bisharp puts a hand on Arborrior and shakes its head, telling Arborrior that it's not worth it to get angry. Arborrior nods.

Then a sound is heard. It's Tediursa's stomach rumbling. It looks down sadly.

Brock comments, "You know, I bet that those Pokémon only stole the food because they weren't able to gather any for themselves. Sure, maybe they took more than they needed, but it started because they needed to in order to survive."

After contemplating something heavily, Bisharp grabs a handful of berries and walks it over to the forest Pokémon. It lays them down on the ground in front of them and takes a step back. It offers, "Bisharp sharp."

The rest of its gang are surprised and upset by this. Scyther objects, "Scyther!"

Bisharp looks to it and shakes its head. It asserts, "Bisharp!"

Brock watches with wonder. "Wow, despite all they've been through, Bisharp is making a peace offering."

Ash comments, "That's a really nice Pokémon."

Marill cautiously approaches the small pile of food. It then slowly picks up a berry and takes a bite out of it. It then cheers. "Marill!" All of the other forest Pokémon then run up and start eating too. Bisharp laughs with joy. Arborrior joins it.

Brock comments, "I don't think those two groups will ever have to fight again."

One would sure hope not, there's enough senseless fighting in the world as it is. Sometimes, it can seem that for every nice person there is, there are ten more bullies willing to pick on the weak and innocent. But with someone as kind, caring, and willing to stand up for others as Arborrior, you've got to know that world isn't all that bad. Stay tuned.

Brenda steps out of her tent and declares, "Alright, when's breakfast? I'm ready to go!" She looks around and sees no one nearby. "Huh…they're still not back." She thinks for a moment. "I suppose my hair could always do with another round of brushing." She turns around retreats back into her tent.

To Be Continued...