Episode 34: Stop Bugging Me!
Ash, Brock, and Brenda are walking down a path. After battling with Team Planetary with Professor Oak, Tracey, and Professor Pine, our heroes are now on their way back from the Starstreak Mountains, heading to Starcore City, the location of Ash's next Tenno gym match.
Brenda asks, "So where's this Starcore City that Professor Oak told us about?"
Brock looks to the map on his Pokéssistant, then looks up and says, "It's not that far, the fastest way would be to use the Cycling Road that's not too far from here. After that, we'll have to travel through the mountain range known as Mt. Corona. Starcore City is located dead in the center of the mountains."
Ash then declares, "And that's where I'll be getting my next Gym Badge."
Pikachu nods in agreement. "Pika."
They continue to walk, until out of nowhere a large tree on the side of the road falls in front of them. Ash and Brock leap back in surprise and shout with terror. Brenda, on the other hand doesn't seem to care that much.
After Ash and Brock have had a couple moments to recover, Ash, while still breathing deeply, asks, "Didn't that scare you at all Brenda?"
Brenda shakes her head. "Nah, I could tell right away that tree wasn't going to hit me. There's no reason to be startled." She looks at Ash and Brock for a moment, and then says, "I don't scare easily. It's going to take a whole lot more than that to scare me."
Brock walks up to the fallen tree and observes it. "I wonder what happened to cause this tree to fall."
Ash steps up to it and looks at it as well. "Yeah, that is kind of weird that a tree would just fall out of nowhere just like that."
Brenda looks at the point where the trunk separated from the stump. She observes, "It almost looks like it was cut by a manmade saw, it's a clean cut."
Then a Pokémon crawls up on top of the stump. It's a beetle-like Pokémon that's a couple of feet high. It's most prominent feature is its large mandibles, which are almost as long as its body. In addition, the two mandibles seem to look like two large chainsaws.
Brenda leaps back with terror and demands, "What is that thing!?"
Ash pulls out his Pokédex. "Let's find out."
"Buzzsaw, the Chainsaw Stag Pokémon and a Bug and Steel Combo-Type. This Pokémon is known for its mandibles that double as powerful chainsaws, allowing it to cut down trees with ease. It cuts down trees so that it can eat the woody interior, hollowing out the inside of the trunk in the process. Does not Evolve."
Brenda cries, "Eww! Get it away from me!"
Ash asks, "Wait, you're not afraid of bugs, are you? And what happened to not scaring easily?"
Brenda shouts, "I'm not scared of bugs, but that thing is just creepy! I said it would take more than a falling tree to scare me, and that's more! Get it away!"
Buzzsaw looks at her curiously. "Buzz zzzz zzzz zzz zzz?" When it speaks, it sounds like a chainsaw being operated.
This causes Brenda to leap back again. "Get it away! Get it away! Get it away!"
Ash walks up to the Buzzsaw and whispers to it, "Sorry about this." He then waves his arms around and starts shouting, "Shoo, get out of here! Shoo!" This startles Buzzsaw so that it turns around and scuttles away. Ash looks to Brenda and asks, "There, happy?"
Brenda, still recovering, slowly nods.
Nearby, Team Rocket is hiding and watching. Jessie asks, "Did you see that?"
James nods. "It looks like the Twerpette is afraid of that Buzzsaw Pokémon."
Meowth nods. "That may be the case, but what does it matter?"
Jessie shouts, "What does it matter!? It matters because we've finally found a twerpish weakness to exploit! Just think about it." In a rendition of Meowth's normal fantasies, Jessie imagines Ash, Brock, and Brenda walking down the road. "It's just another normal day, the Twerps are walking, as smug and overconfident as ever."
Meowth complains, "Hey, those fantasies are my thing!"
Jessie continues, "Normally they would repel any attack of ours with their Pokémon." A fantasy version of Team Rocket leaps out of nowhere, but Pikachu shocks them, causing them to blast off.
James complains, "Don't remind me."
The fantasy resets and Jessie continues, "Now imagine if instead we had that Buzzsaw on our side." The fantasy Team Rocket pops out again, but this time Buzzsaw is with them. The sight of Buzzsaw causes Brenda to leap back, knocking Ash and Brock back as well. "Once they're distracted we'll grab Pikachu, and there will be nothing to stop us!" Fantasy Jessie reaches in and grabs Pikachu. They then run away. "Then, once we successfully steal Pikachu, the Twerp will declare," in her best imitation of Ash's voice Jessie says, "Because of Jessie and friends I've lost Pikachu, not to mention that Buzzsaw!"
The fantasy ends. James and Meowth cheer. James declares, "That's a great idea Jess!"
Meowth says, "I like the sound of Meowth and friends better, but I know a good plan when I hear one! Let's get that Buzzsaw." Team rocket runs off.
Team Rocket is now the middle of the forest, looking high and low while carrying bug nets. Even Wobbuffet and Mime Jr. have joined in. Jessie asks, "Where would that Pokémon be?"
James stops for a moment and pulls out a deck of cards. He quickly searches through it until he finds the card he's looking for. He says, "According to this, Buzzsaw will try to cut down dead trees before living ones, so that way it doesn't hurt the forest. That means we should look for dead trees."
Meowth points to a large leafless tree in the distance. "That tree looks promising." They all run towards the tree.
Sure enough, sitting at the base of the tree is the same Buzzsaw from before. It looks to them and says, "Buzzz zzzzzz zzzz zzz zzzzzz." It then returns its attention to the tree and wraps it mandibles around it. Then it begins to rotate the edge of its mandibles and starts to saw into the tree.
Jessie looks to her net, but then tosses it to the side. She demands, "Meowth, I don't feel like getting my hands dirty. Call in the machine."
Meowth asks with confusion, "I thought we were supposed to try it with the nets first."
Jessie shakes her head. "No, bring in the machine."
Meowth shrugs, tosses his net to the side, and pulls out a remote control. He presses a button on it and the ground begins to rumble. Buzzsaw stops its sawing and looks in the direction of the rumbling. Pushing aside the trees, a large robot rolls in. It's designed to look like bug catcher boy, and carries a bug net in both hands. Buzzsaw is unsure of what to make of the machine.
Meowth presses another button and declares, "Automatic Bug Catcher activate!" The robot then swings one of its nets down at Buzzsaw. Buzzsaw's carapace opens up, revealing two wings underneath. It then leaps into the air and flies out of the range of the net.
Jessie shouts, "Catch it! Catch it! Catch it!"
Meowth declares, "Activate Turbo Mode!" and presses another button. When he does, several mechanical arms extend out of the robot's back, each one holding another bug net. All of the arms move to catch their prey. Despite this, Buzzsaw continues fly around them and dodge them all. It then lands on one of the arms, and activates its saw-mandibles. It then saws right through the arm.
James shouts, "What do you think you're doing!? That robot was expensive!"
Buzzsaw doesn't seem to care. It flies to another arm and saws it off. It begins to pick up speed and flies to each arm, sawing them off one by one. Within moments, all of the arms are gone. The robot falls to the ground. Buzzsaw stands atop the wreck and declares, "Buzzzz zzzzz zzzzzz zzzz zzzz!"
Jessie stomps the ground with anger. "How dare it destroy our machine!? You owe me now Buzzsaw!" In her fit of rage, without really thinking about what she's doing, she pulls out a Pokéball and throws it at Buzzsaw. The ball captures the Pokémon and begins to shake. Once, twice, three times, click. Jessie's anger instantly turns to confusion. She says in a questioning voice, "I just caught a Buzzsaw?"
Wobbuffet appears in front of her and cheers, "Wobbuffet!"
James and Meowth clap. James cheers, "Way to go Jessie! You showed that Buzzsaw who's boss!"
Meowth adds, "Yeah, and also proved I didn't need to waste time building that machine, but whatever."
Jessie slowly walks over to the Pokéball and looks at it. She shrugs. "I guess that works." She looks to James and Meowth and says, "We've got our Buzzsaw, now let's get Pikachu too."
Who's that Pokémon!?
It changes into the forms of others to surprise them. Apparently, it often transforms into a silent child.
Ash, Brock, and Brenda are continuing on their way. Ash tauntingly asks, "So Brenda, is there anything else you're afraid of?"
Brenda smacks him the side. "Leave it alone." After another moment she asks, "How could you not be afraid of that thing? It's the creepiest Pokémon I've ever seen."
Ash reminds her, "Yeah, but it's still a Pokémon in the end, and Pokémon aren't anything to be afraid of."
Brenda shrugs. "Yeah, I guess you're right. It deserves another chance. If I see it again, I'll try not to-" she then suddenly shouts in fear, "scream!"
Standing on the road in front of her is Buzzsaw. It looks up her. "Buzzzzz zzzz zzzz zzzzzz!"
Brenda leaps back in fear. "Get it away from me!"
Brock reminds her, "What happened to giving it another chance?"
"I take it back! Get it away now!"
Jessie steps out from behind a tree. "Prepare for trouble, you insulted my new catch!"
James steps out from behind another tree on the opposite side of the road. "Make it double, now you're in for a match!"
"To scare the world into devastation!"
"To frighten all people within our nation!"
"To startle the evils of truth and love!"
"To extend panic to the stars above!"
"Shocking Jessie!"
"Spooky James!"
"Team Rocket raises alarm at the speed of light!"
"Surrender now or prepare for a fright!"
"Meowth, that's right!"
"Wobbuffet!"
"Mime mime!"
Ash demands, "What do you think you're doing here Team Rocket!?" He then whispers, "We're kind of dealing with a situation right now." He points back to Brenda, who is standing on top of a boulder on the side of the road, trying to stay as far away as possible from Buzzsaw, which stands at the boulders base looking up at her.
Jessie nods. "That's precisely why we're here. I'm the proud new owner of a Buzzsaw."
Ash demands, "Wait, that Buzzsaw belongs to you!?"
James nods. "You bet, and now we control it."
Meowth explains, "If you want us to call it off, then you'll have to hand over Pikachu."
Brenda shouts, "Just do it! Give them what they want!"
Jessie grins. "Best do what the Twerpette says."
Ash then says, "Or, I could just have Pikachu use Thunderbolt." He looks to Pikachu and nods.
Pikachu nods back and leaps into the air. "Pikaaaaaa chuuuuuuuu!" It unleashes its Thunderbolt and zaps Team Rocket, sending them flying into the sky. Buzzsaw realizes this and flies off after them.
While in the air, Meowth asks, "Wow, did we really not think about that part?"
James asks, "How could we forget about that?"
Jessie declares, "We just need a new plan now."
They all shot, "After we blast off again!" They disappear in a twinkle of light.
Buzzsaw desperately flies after them, trying to catch up. "Buzzzz zzzzzz zzzzzz zzzz!" It too disappears once it flies far enough.
It's Zorua!
Team Rocket falls from the sky, landing with a heavy thud on the ground. Buzzsaw flies in after them and lands on top of Jessie's head. It happily says, "Buzzzz zzzz zzzzz!"
Meowth observes, "Wow Jessie, that Pokémon really seems to like you. It's attached to you already."
James nods. "I don't know why it would like you, but that must be why you captured it so easily."
Jessie's eye turn upward, towards Buzzsaw. "Yeah, what is up with that?"
Buzzsaw happily answers, "Buzzz zzzzz zzzz zzz!"
Jessie and James look to Meowth, who says, "It claims that it had a lot of fun playing with our machine, and it wants to have more fun."
James says, "Alright that makes sense, but we still need to figure out a new plan to use Buzzsaw to capture Pikachu. What could we do?"
They all stop to think. After a few moments, Jessie suddenly proclaims, "Hey, I've got a crazy idea." James and Meowth look to her hopefully. "I'll bet that this Buzzsaw is a pretty powerful Pokémon. Let's use it to battle for Pikachu!"
James exclaims, "That might just be crazy enough to work!"
Meowth exclaims, "You're on a roll today Jessie! How do you come up with these brilliant ideas!?"
Jessie pats herself on the back, "It just comes naturally to me I guess. I'm a genius."
Ash, Brock, and Brenda have continued on their way once more. Brenda suddenly shouts, "Eek!" and runs into the trees on the side of the road to hide. In front of them is Buzzsaw again.
Ash sighs. "It's too soon to do this again." He looks to Brock and asks, "Would you make sure that Brenda's alright while I handle this? It shouldn't take too long."
Brock nods. "Yeah, I'll try to calm her down." He turns around and heads towards where Brenda ran.
Ash shouts, "Alright Team Rocket, come on out. And please, no Motto this time."
Jessie and James step out from trees like they did before. James says angrily, "Twerps these days. They seem to have no respect for the finer things in life."
Meowth comes out too. "Yeah, you should feel fortunate we grace you with such showmanship every time we meet."
Jessie then says, "Don't worry about it. We're not here to put on a show anyways." She points at Ash. "We're going to battle for the fate of Pikachu! You have no choice in the matter."
Pikachu jumps off of Ash's shoulders, and the two of them get into a ready stance. Ash responds, "Fine, we won't lose."
Pikachu adds, "Pik!"
Jessie looks back to James and asks, "What kind of attacks does this Pokémon know?"
James pulls his deck of cards back out and looks at Buzzsaw's card. "Ooh, try an X-Scissor!"
Jessie commands, "X-Scissor Buzzsaw!" Buzzsaw leaps at Pikachu and slashes its rotating mandibles at Pikachu.
Ash shouts, "Out of the way Pikachu!" Pikachu attempts to dodge, but Buzzsaw is too fast and hits Pikachu.
James says excitedly, "Alright, next you should try a Bug Buzz!"
Jessie nods. "Now use Bug Buzz!" Buzzsaw activates its chainsaw mandibles, creating a buzzing noise. This noise quickly gets louder and creates shockwaves. Pikachu covers its ears and cries out in pain.
Ash shouts over the Bug Buzz, "Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!" Pikachu manages to attack with a Thunderbolt, putting a stop to the Bug Buzz.
Jessie says with joy, "Ooh, I liked that one! Give me another one!"
James reads and says, "Alright, there's always Night Slash."
Jessie nods. "Great. Buzzsaw, use Night Slash!" Buzzsaw flies at Pikachu, with its mandibles glowing a dark purple. Pikachu attempts to dodge, but once again it isn't fast enough.
Ash grunts. "Come on Pikachu, we can do this. Quick Attack!" With its Quick Attack Pikachu is faster than Buzzsaw and rams it head on. "Great, now Thunderbolt!" Pikachu then unleashes its electrical attack and also hits Buzzsaw.
Now Jessie grunts. She complains, "How dare you hurt my Buzzsaw!? You're going to pay for that! Use Bug Buzz again!" The Pokémon begins to buzz again, and Pikachu covers its ears again.
Meanwhile, Brock and Brenda are off in the trees on the side of the road. Brenda is hiding in a tree hollow. Bock says, "Come on Brenda, you've got to stop this."
Brenda shakes her head. "No, not until that Pokémon leaves."
Brock then asks, "Think about it Brenda, why are you afraid of Buzzsaw?"
Brenda sighs. "Because of something that happened to me years ago. I was young, and exploring the forest outside my town, and I happened upon a grotto of rotting trees. I decided to take a look in one of the hollowed out logs. The moment I did, a Buzzsaw crawled out. And if that wasn't bad enough, once it came into view, ones from all over grotto started to appear. It was the most terrified I'd ever been. I ran to a nearby tree and climbed up it. The Buzzsaw all surrounded the base of the tree and watched me. I had to have been up in that tree for hours before they finally gave up on catching me. I'll never forget that experience."
Brock thinks for a moment and then says, "Wait a second, Brenda, Buzzsaw can fly and climb trees. If they were really after you, don't you think that they would have actually went up the tree to get you?"
Brenda looks up at Brock, unsure of what to say. She shakes her head in disbelief.
Brock then looks over to see Pikachu being immobilized by the Bug Buzz. He looks back and says, "Look out there, Ash is fighting that Buzzsaw and not doing too well either. He could really use your help."
Brenda looks up again, this time towards Ash and Pikachu. She sees that Pikachu is in intense pain from the Bug Buzz, and that no matter how hard Ash shouts a command, Pikachu can't seem to hear it. Brenda clenches her fists. She thinks back to her encounter as a child with the Buzzsaw. At first she remembers them sitting at the base of the tree she hid in, staring at her with mal intent. But then, after thinking about it for a few more moments, she realizes that her memories are incorrect. The faces on the Buzzsaw suddenly change to looks of curiosity. She gasps and says to Brock, "You're right Brock…I should have never been afraid of them." She gets up from her hiding spot and takes one last look towards Ash and Pikachu.
Back in the heat of battle, Ash is shouting, "Come on Pikachu, you've got to do something!"
Pikachu just cries out in pain, "Pikaaaaaaa!" and continues to hold its ears.
Team Rocket are all laughing. Jessie shouts over the noise, "This is great! I've always wondered what it would be like to have a powerful Pokémon!"
James shouts, "Yeah, we're going to be winners for once!"
Meowth cheers, "This might just be the happiest I've ever been!"
As if to ruin that happiness, Brenda can be heard commanding, but only just barely, "Kappaqua, use Aqua Bomb!" Kappaqua's attack lands right next to Buzzsaw, and the shockwave hits it, causing its attack to stop.
Ash looks over to Brenda in surprise. He exclaims, "Brenda, you got over your fear!"
Brenda nods, "You bet I did! Now's your chance Ash, finish this off!"
Ash nods back. "Right! Pikachu, use Thunder!"
Pikachu unleashes its mighty electrical blast. "Pikaaaaaaa chuuuuuuu!" The attack makes contact.
Jessie cries, "Hey, you can't do that!" She looks back to James and Meowth and questions, "Can he?" They both shrug in uncertainty.
Ash grins. "You bet we can. Now Pikachu, Quick Attack!"
Jessie shouts, "Don't let it get close to you! Use Night Slash!" Buzzsaw attempts to slash at Pikachu, but Pikachu is too quick and easily avoids it. Pikachu then rams into Buzzsaw and knocks it back into Jessie, which throws Jessie back into James and Meowth.
Ash then declares, "Now to put an end to this! Use Volt Tackle!"
Pikachu begins to dash at Team Rocket. "Pika pika pika pika pika pika pika pika pika chu!" Covered by electricity, Pikachu rams into Team Rocket, sending them flying into the air.
As they're flying away, they shout, "Looks like Team Rocket's blasting off again!"
Ash runs up to Brenda and exclaims, "You got over your fear and went up against Buzzsaw! How'd you do it?"
Brenda smiles and points to Brock, who is walking into sight. "Brock and I had a talk. He made me realize that there really wasn't anything to fear. Not to mention, you were in trouble. I felt like I needed to help you."
Kappaqua suddenly jumps up and declares, "Kappapapapapaqa!"
Brenda laughs and nods. "Kappaqua wanted to help you too."
Ash laughs too. "Thank you Kappaqua."
Kappaqua nods and says, "Kappa," as if to say "You're welcome."
Everyone laughs. Ash looks to Brenda and says, "Seriously Brenda, that's great that you overcame your fear."
Brock suggests, "Now that we've hopefully seen the last of Team Rocket for today, why don't we get back on the road?"
Ash and Brenda nod in agreement. They all walk off. As they're walking, Ash asks, "So Brenda, is there anything else you're afraid of that we should know of?"
Brenda shakes her. "Nah, I'm not afraid of anything now." Suddenly both she and Kappaqua jump back in fear, screaming. Brenda points at the Ariados that appeared in front of her and shouts, "Except for that!"
Kappaqua screams in fear, "Kappa kap!"
Ash, Brock, and Pikachu laugh.
Everyone's afraid of something, just like I'm afraid of losing my voice. But sometimes, when we look deep inside ourselves, we find the confidence to overcome that fear. Stay tuned.
To Be Continued…
Make sure to check out the Cosmic Quest Official Website, as it now contains an exclusive Special Episode! This episode is the first in a series that will be periodically released, and can only be read there. A link is provided on my profile page.
