Episode 40: Naughty or Ice

Ash, Brock, and Brenda are standing at the foot of a massive mountain range. Following up Brenda's devastating loss at the Starside Contest, our heroes are now continuing on their way to Starside City, location of Ash's next gym battle.

Brock explains, "Here we are, Mt. Corona, the tallest mountains in Tenno. Mt. Corona completely encircles Starcore City, so we're going to have to make it either up or through the mountain."

Someone with a heavy accent shouts from the side, "So you need to climb the mountain? We can help you."

Ash and Brock look to the side to see a group of three oddly dressed people. They are all dressed in winter clothes and carry climbing equipment. One is a girl with red hair, another a boy with blue hair, and the third is very short. Ash asks, "Can you really get us over the mountain?"

The blue-haired one answers, also with a heavy, possibly over-heavy, accent, "Of course we can help you. We are expert mountain guides. We can take you over the mountain."

The short one, with a similar accent, adds, "And you are lucky because today only we are providing our expertise for free."

Brock smiles. "That's great." He looks back to Brenda and asks, "Did you hear that Brenda? These people are going to help us over them mountain for free."

Brenda seems preoccupied with thought. After a moment she realizes that she was asked a question. She answers with an unemotional, "Yeah…that's great…"

Ash says, "Alright then, what are we waiting for? Let's get moving."

The red-haired one nods. "Yes, of course. Let's." The three guides look at each other and grin mischievously. She continues, "Everyone follow us, and that includes your Pikachu." The guides begin to hike up a trail. Ash, Brock, and Brenda follow.

They continue to walk up the trail for some ways. The guides stop when they make it to a small flat patch on the trail. Ash asks, "Why'd we stop?"

The blue-haired one answers, "Oh, no particular reason. However, could you do us a favor?"

"What kind of favor?"

The red-haired one answers, "Oh, nothing too hard. Could you all just take four steps to your right?"

Ash, Brock, and Brenda do as they're asked and take four steps to their right. Brock asks, "Alright, what now?"

The short one slaps the red-haired one. "What she meant was four steps to our right, not yours. So if you could please take eight steps to your left."

They once again do as they told. The guides flash mischievous looks at each other. After a second of nothing happening, they change their look to surprise.

Ash asks, "Was something supposed to happen?"

The blue-haired one nods. "Yes, something was supposed to happen. Why don't you try jumping up and down?"

Ash and Brock look at him with some confusion, but then just shrug. Ash and Brock jump up. Brenda doesn't seem to care enough to. The moment Ash and Brock hit the ground again, the three of them go smashing down through the floor into a pitfall trap. The guides begin to laugh.

Ash demands, "Hey, what's going on here!?"

The red-haired one throws off her mountaineering gear, revealing her to be Jessie. She declares, "Prepare for trouble, we have you right where we want!"

The blue-haired one reveals himself as James and adds, "Make it double, our pitfall trap's a real taunt!"

"To protect the world from straying off the path!"

"To unite all people against the mountain's wrath!"

"To denounce the evils of snow and cold!"

"To extend our reach to the top, brave and bold!"

"Jessie!"

"James!"

"Team Rocket summits this mountain tonight!"

"Surrender now or you'll fall out of sight!"

The short one throws off his clothes, revealing him to be Meowth. "Meowth, that's right!"

"Wobbuffet!"

"Mime mime!"

Ash demands, "Let us out of here right now, Team Rocket!"

Jessie asks, "And in what why would that benefit us?"

James suggests, "I don't know. Maybe we could work out a deal. We'll let you out if you hand over Pikachu."

Ash shouts, "You'll never get Pikachu!"

Meowth counters, "Then you'll never get out." He shrugs. "I don't think I'd chose to stay in a hole forever, but hey, it's your call."

Ash makes a leap to try to grab onto a root sticking out of the wall. He grabs onto it and tries to use it to help him climb out. The root snaps and Ash falls to the ground. When he does, the ground of the pitfall crumbles and collapses. Ash, Brock, and Brenda are sent falling down another hole.

Jessie demands, "Hey, who put a pitfall at the bottom of our pitfall?"

James and Meowth both say, "Not me," at the same time. The three of them peer out over the edge and down into the hole.

Wobbuffet then appears again. "Wobbuffet!" When it does, the ground beneath Team Rocket crumbles, and they too are sent falling down into the hole.

They all shout, "Team Rocket's falling down again!"

Everyone is now falling down a tunnel shaft. At a fork in the shaft, Ash and Brock are sent one way, while Brenda is sent another. Team Rocket at first goes the same way as Ash and Brock, but then separate into yet another shaft.

Ash and Brock are sent out of the shaft and land with a thud in a cave. Brock asks, "Are you alright?"

Ash nods. "Yeah, I'm fine. How about you Brenda?" When there's no response, Ash looks around and sees that Brenda isn't with them.

Brock realizes, "Brenda must have fallen through a different tunnel than us."

Ash calls out, "Brenda, can you hear me!?"

Pikachu adds, "Pika pi!?"

There's no answer. Brock suggests, "There's nothing we can do but move forward and look for her."

Ash nods in agreement. "Let's do that."


Brenda is also deposited from her shaft into a large cave. She gets up and pats the dust off her clothes. She looks around and realizes that she's alone. She calls out, "Ash!? Brock!?" There's no reply. She's about to call out again, but then she has second thoughts and sighs. She sits down on a rock and asks herself, "What's the point?"

She begins to have flashbacks to her previous contest. She thinks about each of the times that Kappaqua and Glitterfly not only failed to perform well, but performed awfully. Brenda sighs again. "I can't even stick with the group. I can't do anything right…"

Just then a Pokémon floats by. The Pokémon looks like it's some sort of floating icicle. Its body is composed of one large main icicle and two smaller icicles on either side of it. On the center of the main icicle it has a face. The Pokémon floats past Brenda at first, but then stops and turns around. It floats in front of Brenda, smiles, and greets, "Frost frost."

Brenda looks up to it for moment, but then just lets her head hang again.

The Pokémon looks at her and asks, "Frost?"

Brenda tries to shoo it away. "Just leave me alone."

The Pokémon backs off at first, but then approaches her again. It begins to float around Brenda, smiling, and saying, "Frost frost frost frost!" Brenda just ignores it. The Pokémon stops to think. It exclaims, "Frost!" as it seems to get an idea. It blows a breath of cold air in Brenda's face. This gets Brenda look up. As soon as she does, the Pokémon flies back a couple of feet and then blows another breath of cold air, probably an Icy Wind attack. It blows in such way that it creates whirlwind of snow. It then uses an Aurora Beam and freezes the whirlwind, creating a small cone of ice. It glitters with the light from the Aurora Beam.

Brenda smiles faintly and says quietly, "That's so beautiful…"

The Pokémon smiles, its mission apparently accomplished. "Frost frost."

Brenda looks at it and asks, "You're a Frostcicle, aren't you?"

The Pokémon nods. "Frost."

"And you just wanted to cheer me up. Is that what you were doing?"

Frostcicle nods again. "Frost."

Brenda's smile fades and she hangs her head. "I'm sorry, you don't need to worry about me. I'm not worth the effort…"

Frostcicle shakes its head and denies, "Frost frost." It nudges her. It then turns around and begins to float away.

Brenda sighs and says, "I knew you'd figure it out…"

But then Frostcicle calls out, "Frost frost! Frost frost!"

Brenda looks up to it. Frostcicle seems to be urging Brenda to follow. Brenda shrugs. "Alright, fine. You win, I'll follow you."

Frostcicle cheers, "Frost!"


Who's that Pokémon!?

These Pokémon crawl out of the ocean using their arms. They will attack prey on shore and immediately drag it into the ocean.


Ash, Pikachu, and Brock are still walking through the cave, searching for Brenda. Brock observes, "We've been going uphill for a while now. Either we've got to be nearing the surface, or we're just climbing higher up the mountain."

Ash says, "Hopefully it's the first. I want to get out of here." Brock nods in agreement.

Off in the distance a sound can be heard. It sounds like something crying. Brock stops and asks, "Can you hear that?"

Ash nods. "Yeah, I can. I think someone's crying." Ash runs off to go check it out. Brock follows. Around a turn, they find a Cubchoo sitting on the floor and crying.

Brock goes up to it, bends down to its level, and asks, "Hey little guy, are you okay? Why are you crying?"

Cubchoo looks up to Brock and points to its leg. A reddish spot is on it.

As one might address a child, Brock says, "Aw, did you scrape your knee? Don't worry, Doctor Brock has just what you need." Brock kneels down and pulls off his backpack. After digging around for a second, he pulls out a Potion. "Now, just stand still and you'll be feeling better in no time." He sprays the Potion on Cubchoo's leg. The red spot fades. "There, all better."

Cubchoo stops crying and looks at its leg curiously. It then looks up to Brock and exclaims, "Cubchoo!"

Brock grins, "You're welcome." Brock stands back up. He then says, "Something isn't right here."

Ash asks, "What is it?"

"Even if we have been going up in elevation, we're nowhere near the snowline, where this Cubchoo should be living. I think it got lost."

Ash asks, "Is that true Cubchoo? Are you lost?"

Cubchoo nods. "Cubchoo…"

Ash then declares, "Then don't worry, we'll get you back home."

Cubchoo smiles and exclaims, "Cubchoo!"

Brock points out, "If we just keep on following the cave the way we have been, we might just be able to make it up to the snowline."

"Then what are waiting for? Let's get Cubchoo home."


It's Eelektross!


Frostcicle continues to lead Brenda through the cave. Brenda suddenly stops and shivers. "It's getting cold in here."

Frostcicle smiles and nods happily. "Frost!"

"Oh yeah, you probably like that, don't you? I still don't get it though. Where are you bringing me?"

Frostcicle replies, "Frost frost frost," as if saying, "Wait and you'll find out."

Brenda sighs. "Alright, fine." After they walk a few more moments, they turn around a corner. Now ahead of them is the exit to the cave. The light coming in is so bright that Brenda is forced to shield her eyes. She steps out into the light. Once her eyes adapt she looks around. She is in a snow-covered, forested area near the top of the mountain. Ice-Type Pokémon run around everywhere, including Snover, Snorunt, Bergmite, and Swinub. Brenda observes, "This must be your home, right?"

Frostcicle nods. "Frost."

"But why you bring me here?"

Frostcicle floats forward and looks over the landscape, especially the Pokémon. The various ice Pokémon are all playing various winter games in snow and ice. Frostcicle happily exclaims, "Frost frost frost!"

Brenda hangs her head again. "Oh…you wanted me to play with you, didn't you?"

Frostcicle floats up to Brenda and nudges her from behind to move forward, encouraging, "Frost! Frost!"

Brenda says, "No, please, I really I don't feel up to it right now."

But Frostcicle continues to insist. "Frost."

Brenda sighs and admits defeat. "Alright fine. We can play." She then adds, "A little."

Frostcicle cheers, "Frost!" Frostcicle leads Brenda down a hill to where all the other Ice-Types are playing. It calls out, "Frost, frost!"

All the Pokémon look over to see Frostcicle and Brenda. They all cheer in joy.

First, they all work together to build a snowman. Brenda stands back and watches for most of it, but when she sees the Pokémon having trouble putting the head on, she helps them out. Then all the Pokémon are sitting on a large sleigh made of ice at the top of a hill. The Pokémon all beckon and call for Brenda to join them. She reluctantly does and sits down on the sled. While they're going down the hill, she actually cracks a slight smile. Then it's time for a snowball fight. Brenda is making a snowball. She stops, looks at the snowball and sighs. But then Snover hits her in the face with a snowball. She looks over to it, and it's laughing at her. She then grins and throws her snowball at it. Last, they all make snow angels, or at least try to, as most of the Pokémon have a hard time do to their body shapes. Brenda laughs at all the Pokémon struggling, and then makes her own. They all start to laugh together.

After all that's done, Brenda, now happy, says to Frostcicle, "Thanks so much for that, I really needed something like that to cheer me up."

Frostcicle happily replies, "Frost frost."

Brenda looks to the cave entrance behind her and says, "I really am sorry, but I should be going now. I have friends who are probably worried about me, and to be honest," Brenda shivers, "it's just a little too cold for me here."

Frostcicle nods in understanding. "Frost."

Brenda waves. "Goodbye everyone!" All the ice Pokémon wave back and say goodbye too. Brenda turns around and leaves for the cave.

Just before she turns around the corner in the tunnel, she hears the ice Pokémon cry out in what sounds like distress. She instantly turns around and runs back out. Once there, she sees that three Beartic have appeared. They roar fiercely, frightening the other ice Pokémon. Brenda pulls out her Pokédex. "Beartic, the Freezing Pokémon and an Ice-Type. The icicles on Beartic's chin form from the moisture in its breath being frozen by its low internal body temperature. Beartic will fiercely protect their young. Evolves from Cubchoo at level 37."

The lead Beartic roars once more, "Beeeaaaartic!" and then unleashes an Ice Beam attack at the Pokémon. The other two Beartic follow its lead and begin unleashing a constant Ice Beam all around the area, destroying the various play-places of the Pokémon. They also destroy the snowman Brenda helped them build. All the ice Pokémon run around and panic.

Brenda responds by instinct and pulls a Pokéball out. Just as she's about to throw it, she has a flashback to her loss at the Pokémon Contest. She freezes in place. She lowers her arm and sighs, unsure of what to do. She then turns around and sulkily walks away. She says to herself, "They're better off without me screwing everything up." She goes into the cave without looking back.

After walking a little into the cave, behind her she hears, "Frost frost! Frost frost!" Brenda turns around to see Frostcicle floating up towards her. It begs, "Frost, frost frost frost, frost!"

Brenda shakes her head. "I'm sorry, but you don't want me helping you. I only make things worse. I can't do anything right at all."

Frostcicle shakes its head. "Frost frost."

"No, it's true. You wouldn't be asking for my help if you had seen what just happened to me yesterday. After what I did, I know that I'm not cut out to be a Pokémon Trainer, let alone a Coordinator."

Frostcicle looks Brenda straight in the eyes with determination, it then floats behind her and pushes her back out the cave. Once they're out, it looks over the scene in front of them and declares, "Frost frost frost. Frost frost, frost!"

Brenda sees the ice Pokémon all fleeing in terror. They might find a hiding place, but then one of the Beartic will destroy it. The Beartic continue their destructive rampage, with no end in sight.

Brenda shakes her head. "No, I can't do it. I just can't."

Frostcicle shouts at her, "Frost frost! Frost frost frost!"

Brenda clenches her fists. She then nods. "Alright fine…I'll help." She reluctantly reaches for a Pokéball. She tosses it. "Go, Glitterfly."

Glitterfly appears and asks Brenda, "Glittererer?"

"Don't worry about me right now, we're trying to help these Pokémon." Glitterfly nods. Brenda notices that an Ice Beam from a Beartic is about to hit a Swinub. Suddenly in a better mood, Brenda orders, "Quickly Glitterfly, intercept that Ice Beam with Signal Beam!" Glitterfly fires its beam of rainbow light at the Ice Beam. The two beams collide and explode.

The Beartic looks angrily towards Glitterfly and Brenda and roars, "Beeeeaaartic!" It beckons for the other two Beartic to join it. Together, the three of them all attack Glitterfly with an Ice Beam.

"Alright Glitterfly, Sparkling Flare!" Glitterfly unleashes a sparkling pulse of light, which manages to repel all three attacks, and knock the Beartic back a little. Now starting to really get into the battle, Brenda orders, "Great, now let's tangle them up with String Shot!" Glitterfly spews a sticky silk from its mouth that falls on the Beartic. However, the Beartic easily rip their way out.

Each Beartic then successively creates a handful of giant icicles and hurl them at Glitterfly, an Icicle Crash attack. Glitterfly barely dodges the first round of icicles, but is then knocked to the ground by the second round. The third and final round, the largest and most numerous icicles, are now plummeting straight down towards Glitterfly.

Brenda shouts, "Quickly Glitterfly, you've got to get out of there." Glitterfly is too weak to move. Brenda shakes her head in despair. She says to herself, "I knew I'd mess things up. I'm so sorry Glitterfly…"

But then, right before the icicles hit Glitterfly, they are blown away by an Icy Wind attack. Brenda looks to the side to see Frostcicle is the source of the attack. It declares, "Frost frost!"

Brenda is shocked. She asks, "Do you really want to help me out Frostcicle?"

Frostcicle nods. "Frost."

Brenda regains some confidence. "Alright then, you can use Icy Wind and Aurora Beam I already know. What else can you do?"

The inside of Frostcicle begins to glow an orangish color. The energy gathered is then refracted and focused through its crystalline body, and then released as a beam of energy. It sweeps the beam across all three Beartic, hitting all of them.

Brenda nods. "That was a Crystal Beam attack, it's a Rock-Type and super effective against Ice-Types like Beartic. Good job!" Brenda recalls Glitterfly to its Pokéball and focuses on Frostcicle and the Beartic. The Beartic quickly recover, and each launches an Icicle Crash at Frostcicle. Brenda quickly suggests, "Why don't you freeze all those icicles together with an Aurora Beam?"

Frostcicle nods in agreement. It the attacks with an Aurora Beam, which causes all the icicles to freeze together. The massive clump of ice formed just falls to the ground and shatters. The Beartic all get incredibly angry. They stomp and roar with rage.

Brenda grins. "It looks like we're getting to them. Why don't we go for another Crystal Beam?" Frostcicle nods in agreement and attacks with its focused energy again.

This time the Beartic are ready, they use a Protect attack to block the beam, they then immediately counterattack with Blizzard. The three combined Blizzards hit Frostcicle and knock it to the ground.

"Frostcicle! Are you okay?"

Frostcicle floats back up. It grunts, "Frost frost…"

Brenda thinks, These Beartic are tough. They just keep on taking hit after hit and continue to deal damage to Frostcicle. I don't know if we can keep up like this. Something needs to change.

That's when she hears Ash call from behind her, "Hey Brenda, over here!"

Brenda looks back to see Ash and Brock emerge from the cave. Cubchoo is following them. Upon seeing the Cubchoo, Brenda realizes something. She turns back to Frostcicle and asks, "Hey Frostcicle, can you doing anything to distract these Beartic?"

Frostcicle nods. "Frost." It then expels from its mouth a white mist. The mist spreads, enshrouding the Beartic in a thick fog. This confuses them, as they can no longer see.

Brenda nods. "Good job, a Mist attack is exactly what we needed." She runs over to Ash and Brock.

Brock begins to say, "I'm glad we found-"

Brenda cuts him off, "I'm sorry, but did you find this Cubchoo in the cave?"

Ash nods. "Yeah, it was all alone and crying."

Brenda nods. "Good." She lifts up the Cubchoo and runs towards the cloud of fog obscuring the Beartic. Ash and Brock swap puzzled looks.

Brenda sneaks into the mist silently, tiptoes up to the Beartic, who can't see her and sets down the Cubchoo. She then sneaks back out. Just as she does, the mist clears. The lead Beartic is just about to launch another attack at Brenda and Frostcicle, but then one of the other Beartic points to the Cubchoo now sitting on the floor in front of them. The lead Beartic picks up the Cubchoo ad happily exclaims, "Beartic!"

The Cubchoo excitedly shouts, "Cubchoo!"

As if nothing had happened, the Beartic then just turn around and leave with the Cubchoo. Brenda smiles. "I knew that would do the trick." All of the ice Pokémon come out of hiding and cheer for Brenda.

Ash and Brock walk up behind Brenda. Ash comments, "Well Brenda, you seem happier than you were before."

Slightly embarrassed, Brenda answers, "Oh…really? I hadn't noticed."

Brock asks, "So what exactly just happened?"

Brenda beckons for Frostcicle to come over to her. "This little Pokémon here brought here to try to cheer me up. But then those Beartic came in and started to attack anything that moved and destroyed everything else. Frostcicle and I were trying to fight off the Beartic, but it wasn't working. Then you came with the Cubchoo. I remembered Beartic's Pokédex entry that said it would protect its young, and I instantly made the connection that they must have lost the Cubchoo you found and thought it was here somewhere."

Ash says, "Wow Brenda, that's great. You see, there's nothing to worry about at all. You can handle yourself just fine."

Brenda thinks about it for a moment. "I guess I can." She smiles.

Ash looks to Frostcicle. "Thanks for cheering her up."

Frostcicle smiles. "Frost frost."

Ash pulls out his Pokédex, "Frostcicle, the Ice Spike Pokémon and an Ice-Type. This Pokémon lives only where the temperature remains constantly below freezing. When resting, Frostcicle will attach itself to a branch or other overhanging object, allowing it to grow in size as it takes on more ice. Does not evolve."

Brock looks around. "I think we're at the top of the mountain. If we just head forward, I bet we could find a path to take us back down the other side and into Starcore City."

Ash exclaims, "Great! Let's go, I'm ready for my gym battle!" The three of them walk off.

Brenda stops, and looks back to Frostcicle. Frostcicle looks to her too. It then turns and says something to its Ice-Type friends that have gathered around. They all nod in agreement at whatever it is. Frostcicle then floats over to Brenda and declares, "Frost frost, frost frost."

Brenda asks, "What is it Frostcicle?"

Ash laughs. "I think Frostcicle wants to go with you. From your story it sounds like you two make a good team."

Brock adds, "Not to mention, it'd be nice to have a Pokémon that's good at cheering people up."

Brenda asks, "Is that true Frostcicle? Do you want to come with me?"

Frostcicle nods. "Frost."

Brenda grins. "Alright then." She takes a few steps back and pulls out a Pokéball. She tosses it at Frostcicle. "Go, Pokéball!" The Pokéball wiggles once…twice…three times…and clicks. Brenda runs over to it, holds it into the air and declares, "So cool, Frostcicle is all mine!"

All the ice Pokémon wave goodbye. Brenda waves back.

At what couldn't have been a better time, Brenda has made a new friend, one that will certainly always make sure she has a smile on her face, as the journey continues.


Team Rocket is up against a wall in a cave, trying to get away from something. James cries in despair, "This is it for Team Rocket, we can't go any further!"

Meowth looks at Jessie and accuses, "You just had to go and touch it, didn't you?"

Jessie defends herself, "Hey, if I see such a cutesy Pokémon, I'm going to go and give it hug. I just can't resist such cuteness."

Stomping in towards Team Rocket are the three Beartic. Behind one of them is the Cubchoo. The Beartic prepare to use Ice Beam. Team Rocket screams in terror.

To Be Continued…