Episode 53: Green with Ivy
Jessie, James, and Meowth are sitting on a picnic blanket. Jessie and James both look excited. Jessie asks, "What's for lunch, Meowth?"
James adds, "Yeah, I'm getting too hungry to wait any longer."
Meowth grins and pulls out a bag. "Don't fear, for Chef Meowth is here." He reaches into the bag. "I have a wonderful bounty of berries for us to eat today." Then he suddenly freezes and his face takes on a look of panic.
James asks, "Meowth…what's wrong?"
Meowth hesitates to answer, but then says with horror, "Well…um…you see…those berries I promised…well, they're not here."
Jessie shouts in a furious rage, "Not here!? Well where are they then!?"
"Well…it would seem that someone took them while my back was turned…I would think…"
Jessie stomps slowly and angrily towards Meowth "Why you no-good…food loosing…absent-minded…"
James cuts her off, "Hey, wait a second. Can you hear that?"
Jessie and Meowth pause and listen. A noise can be heard. Meowth exclaims, "That sounds like something eating!" He points to some nearby bushes. "Over there! It's coming from over there!"
The three of them leap at the bush at once, pushing it aside and revealing a Pokémon sitting behind it with a pile of berries next to it. It's currently eating one. The Pokémon is a tangled ball of green vines and leaves. Some braided vines emerge from either side of it to form arms, and two extra tangles of vines at its base form feet. The Pokémon looks up to them with curiosity.
Jessie and Meowth both shout at once, "Those are our berries, you thief!"
James then adds, "How dare you thieve from thieves!?"
The Pokémon stands up, quickly gathers up the pile of berries and runs past Team Rocket. As it does, they all try to grab a hold of it, but the moment they do they all leap back and shout, "Itchy!" at once. They immediately begin to scratch themselves. The Pokémon gets away.
Jessie demands, "Why am I so itchy!?"
Meowth shouts, "I may love scratching posts, but I certainly don't want to be one!"
James stops scratching for long enough to pull out a deck of cards. He looks through them until he finds a specific card. "Got it." He pulls out a card with a picture of the same Pokémon. "According to this, that was Ivine, the Poison Ivy Pokémon. Its leaves secrete an irritating oil that cause any who touch to instantly be overcome with an itching sensation. If the contact is prolonged, bad rashes can form as well. It evolves from Tangela by learning the move Ivy Whip."
Jessie states, "That's great, but does your little card say how to stop the itchiness?"
James reads it over once more. "Nope."
Jessie demands in rage, "Then what good is it!?"
Ash, Brock, and Brenda walk along a dirt path. Our heroes have set off for Celes City where, unbeknownst to Brenda, the next Wallace Cup is to be held. Will today be a quiet day for them, or are the regular adventures ensured?
They continue to walk silently. Then suddenly from out of the bushes on one side of the road runs Ivine, still carrying its load of berries, dropping a few in its haste. It dashes out of sight. Brenda comments, "Well…that was random."
Then Team Rocket bursts out of the bushes as well, chasing after it. They don't seem to even notice Ash, Brock, and Brenda in their single-minded pursuit of Ivine. Meowth brings up the rear, stopping whenever he comes across a berry, picking it up, and plopping it into his mouth, then running off again in pursuit.
Ash, Brock, and Brenda stand speechless for another moment. Ash then says, "And that was even more random." They all just look at each other and shrug. They then keep on walking.
Team Rocket continues to chase fervently after the Ivine. Jessie shouts, "You get back here with my lunch!"
James shouts, "Don't be a thief!"
Meowth picks up another fallen berry and eats it. He then comments, "That's the crook calling the bandit crooked alright."
Ivine continues to run, until it skids to a stop, halting right before it runs off a cliff. It looks down seeing the large fall beneath it and then looks back towards Team Rocket. The three of them are now approaching it slowly and menacingly.
James takes the lead and steps deliberately towards Ivine, who now cowers in fear. James says, "Alright, now there's nowhere to run. Hand over those berries."
"Iv?" It looks from side to side for an escape route. Suddenly there is a loud cracking sound. Ivine looks to the ground in front of it to see it cracking. Before it can respond, it suddenly falls as the ground beneath it collapses. "Ivvvvvvvvv!"
Jessie groans. "Well…there goes lunch…"
James sighs and then pulls something out. "I was planning on saving these for later, but I guess we can eat them now." He pulls out a bag.
Jessie and Meowth both exclaim at once, "Cookies!"
James reaches into the bag and pulls out one. He hesitates and then pulls two Pokéballs off of his belt as well. "I wonder if I should offer one to Haking and Mime Jr. as well."
Jessie scoffs, "Don't be ridiculous, that means one less for the rest of us."
With no warning, before James can retort, the ground beneath him collapses as well, sending him falling. The shock of suddenly falling causes him to toss the bag of cookies and the Pokéballs into the air. The bag falls into Jessie's hands and the Pokéballs into Meowth's. Both look to each other in surprise. Meowth asks, "We probably should try to help him…right?"
Jessie thinks about. "Well…we could do that…or we could go back to our picnic and enjoy these cookies all for ourselves."
Meowth grins. "Sounds great to me. I'm sure James will be just fine. He'll be back in no time." And the two walk off.
Meanwhile, James is still falling. As he falls, he passes by a ledge in the side of cliff, which Ivine stands atop. Upon seeing James fall past it, the Ivine extends two of its leafy vines and catches James. It then pulls him up to the safety of the ledge. It happily waves to him and says, "Ivine!"
James is surprised. "Did you just…save me?"
Ivine nods happily. "Ivine."
James is touched. "After I chased you down and nearly made you fall off a, cliff you still saved me? Wow." He then looks around to assess the situation. Their ledge seems to be about half way up the face of the cliff. "Hmm…no easy way up, no easy way down. How do we get away from here?" As he's thinking he realizes that he's still grasping the cookie that he pulled out earlier. He pockets it for later and goes back to thinking.
Then, once again, the rock below them suddenly fails and gives way. James and Ivine are now literally riding this chunk of rock like a sled down the side of the cliff. They scream in terror.
Despite the terror, they make it down safely. There chunk of rock makes it to the bottom and continues to slide across the ground until it slams into a tree and crashes.
James and Ivine both get up unharmed. James looks to Ivine and asks, "Are you alright?"
The Pokémon nods. "Iv."
James then looks around and assess the situation. He takes note of how tall and sheer the cliff is. "Hmm…no chance of climbing back up. I guess I should just wait for Jessie and Meowth to come and get me in the balloon. They must already be making the necessary preparations."
The scene momentarily cuts to Jessie and Meowth chowing down on James' cookies.
Back with James and Ivine, James nods. "Yes, I'll be back up in no time." He then looks to Ivine. "Well, I suppose you should go ahead and head off into the forest. No need to stay with me, I'll be fine."
Ivine nods and then wanders into the forest.
James smiles to himself. "That Pokémon wasn't so bad after all. Now he's off, back into the…" he looks towards the woods that Ivine disappeared into and notices a sign that shows a symbol shaped like a Pineco along with a warning symbol. James finishes his trailed off sentence by exclaiming, "Into the Pineco infested forest!" He looks up to the sky quickly and says with uncertainty, "I really should wait here for Jessie and Meowth…they could be here any moment…"
Cut to Jessie and Meowth continuing to eat.
James looks back to the sign. "…but I can't allow that Pokémon that saved me to go off into those dangerous woods alone." He groans. "Don't worry Ivine, I'm coming!" He runs off after it.
Who's that Pokémon!?
There are researchers who believe this Pokémon reflected like a mirror in the distant past.
James is running through the woods. He looks around frantically. Then, just through some trees ahead of him, he catches sight of Ivine. He calls out, "Ivine!"
Ivine sees him and waves happily back. "Iv vine!"
James begins to run towards it when he realizes that a Pineco has lowered itself from a tree and now hangs immediately above Ivine. James freezes. "Ivine, whatever you do, don't move."
Ivine tilts its head in confusion. "Vine?"
James silently points to the Pokémon suspended above it. Ivine looks upwards. Undaunted, it exclaims happily, "Ivine!"
This startles the Pineco, causing it to fall. Ivine leaps out of the way just in time, for when the Pineco hits the ground it explodes.
James then runs towards Ivine. As he does, he notices Pineco that have been disturbed beginning to lower down out of trees all over the place. "Let's get out of here Ivine!" He begins to reach to grab Ivine, but then thinks twice about it. "Come on, let's run." He runs and Ivine gets up and follows.
The two of them keep on running. As they run startled Pineco continue to drop one by one from their trees and explode. James and Ivine must dodge and weave around the explosions.
They suddenly skid to a halt as they realize that they have ran right up the base of a tree housing a Forretress. The hanging Pokémon suddenly opens its eyes and realizes the intruders. It lets itself drop to the ground and creates a much larger explosion than any of the Pineco. James and Ivine have no way of escaping and are caught up into the blast. They're sent flying into the air.
James shouts, "Looks like I'm blasting off alone!"
It's Bronzor!
James and Ivine crash land somewhere on the other side of the forest. James gets up and surveys the area. He realizes that they are nowhere near the cliff now. He sighs. "Now Jessie and Meowth will never be able to find me. I'm certain they're worrying about me right now, as we speak."
Once again Jessie and Meowth are cut to. They are now taking a nap.
Back to James. He looks around a little more. "There's no way going back through that forest is safe. I'll have to go around." He begins to walk along the perimeter of the forest. He looks down to notice that Ivine is following him. He asks, "Ivine, are you coming too?"
Ivine nods. "Ivine."
James grins. "Then we'll make it back together. Alright." And so they walk.
After walking for some ways, James states, "And don't worry about a thing Ivine, Jessie and Meowth will find us in the balloon, then we'll be taken back up to the top of that cliff. We're a team…that's why they call us Team Rocket."
Ivine questions, "Vine?"
James is taken aback with shock. "What!? You've never heard of Team Rocket before!?" How is that possible?"
Ivine shrugs. "Vine ivine…"
James says, "Come on, you have to have heard of us. We're that group of super elite criminals who save the world from nasty do-gooders."
Cut to Jessie and Meowth napping.
James continues, "Twerps tremble in fear upon hearing our name."
This time it cuts to Ash, Brock, and Brenda. They're still walking. Ash sneezes. Brock says, "Gesundheit."
Back to James. "Come on, you have to have heard of us. Maybe you'll know this one." He prepares for a moment and then, in his best impression of Jessie, declares, "Prepare for trouble!"
As himself he says, "Make it double!"
As Jessie, "To protect the world of devastation!"
Himself, "To unite all people within our nation!
"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"
"To extend our reach to the stars above!"
"Jessie!"
"James!"
"Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light!"
"Surrender now or prepare to fight!"
He then mimics Meowth and adopts a cat-like pose. "Meowth, that's right!"
Then he copies Wobbuffet's face and salutes. "Wobbuffet!"
He looks down to Ivine, "Come on, that motto is world-famous. You have to know it."
Ivine shakes its head. "Ivine."
James hangs his head in shame. He then quickly shakes it off. "Suffice it to say that when you stole those berries you made some powerful enemies."
Ivine takes a step back nervously. "Iv?"
James chuckles. "But also suffice it to say that when you saved me you made a powerful friend."
Ivine smiles. "Vine!"
"Now, we just need to find an alternate route back to the cliff. Hmm…"
As he's thinking, Ivine puts its arm up against a rock and leans back to rest. As soon as it does, the rock begins to move. Ivine leaps back in surprise. It watches as an arm emerges from one side of the rock and scratches the spot where Ivine touched. Upon closer inspection, the arm belongs to the rock. The arm scratches harder and harder. Suddenly the entire rock shakes. It's not a rock at all, it's a sleeping Rhydon. The Rhydon is woken up and it begins to feverishly scratch at the spot Ivine touched. Ivine steps back towards James nervously. It warns cautiously, "Iv…"
James says, "Not now Ivine, I'm thinking."
The Rhydon stops scratching long enough to look up and see Ivine and James. It roars angrily and stomps its feet. It lowers its head and prepares to charge.
Ivine shouts, "Ivine iv ivine!"
James asks, "What, what is it?" He turns around and sees the Rhydon. He freezes up and gulps nervously. "Ivine…when I say run…we run, alright?"
Ivine nods uneasily.
The Rhydon charges. James shouts, "Run!" The two of them take off running and screaming. The Rhydon chases after them.
James reaches for his belt while running. "Haking can help us out." He feels for a Pokéball but finds none. He then has a flashback to losing his Pokéballs when he fell. "Darn, no Haking!" He tries to come up with something else. "I know, try to deter it with your Ivy Whip, Ivine!"
Ivine nods in agreement. It quickly turns around and lashes at Rhydon with its vines. "Iv vine!"
Rhydon stops and begins to scratch at itself where it was hit. James cheers, "That did the trick!" But then Rhydon looks back at James and Ivine. It appears even angrier now. Getting back to running, James shouts in despair, "I take it back! No, that didn't do the trick, it didn't do the trick at all!"
They keep on running. At one point they have to leap right over a bush. Rhydon charges right through the bush, completely destroying it.
Starting to tire out, James notices a tree with a thick branch jutting out. He quickly turns and scrambles to climb up to the branch. One perched up there, he extends a hand to help Ivine up, but then pauses and retracts his hand on second thought. Luckily for Ivine, it can use its vines to climb up without making James itchy.
Rhydon angles itself and charges at the tree's trunk. It rams it once, then twice, then three times. The tree shakes, but James and Ivine remain in their perch. After a couple more rams the Rhydon gets tired and calms down. It turns around, walks a couple of steps away, and then falls back to sleep.
In perfect synchronicity, James and Ivine breathe a collective sigh of relief. James lets himself relax. "That was a close one…"
Ivine nods in agreement. "Ivine."
James takes a look around and sighs. "If only I had Haking with me. I could have it float up and search for the cliff from an aerial viewpoint." He suddenly remembers something. "Hey, I know what I do have though." He reaches into his pocket and pulls out the cookie he stored there earlier. "It's not much, but I still haven't eaten lunch."
He's just about to eat the cookie in one bite when he notices Ivine eyeing the cookie. Ivine's stomach rumbles.
James lowers the cookie and smiles with care. He then hands the cookie to Ivine. Ivine looks up to him with surprise. James continues to smile. "Well, go ahead. Take it. By the sounds of it, you need this more than me."
Ivine looks to the cookie, and then up to James once more as if to ask permission. James nods. Ivine quickly grabs the cookie and eats it happily.
James jumps off of the tree limb and says, "Alright, we've had our break. Best we be on our way now."
Ivine finishes chewing and then jumps down to join James. The two of them walk off.
After walking for a while, they finally make it back to the bottom of the cliff. James surveys the sky for the Team Rocket balloon. "Hmm…Jessie and Meowth must have went off to search for me elsewhere. I'm sure they won't give up until they find me."
Another cut to Jessie and Meowth reveals that they have finished their naps and are now engaged in a riveting game of rock-paper-scissors.
Back with James, he says, "I shouldn't wait for them though. As a member of Team Rocket it is my job to be proactive." He points up the cliff and declares, "The only way up is to climb!" He then gets a handhold on the rock wall, followed by a foothold. He begins to climb, slowly but steadily.
Ivine watches him ascend for a little bit. It then decides to climb as well. It swings a vine of ivy up and grabs hold to a rocky outcropping above. It retracts the vine, thus pulling it up. It passes by James, using a much more efficient method of climbing. Once it makes it up to the outcropping, it lowers another vine towards James and offers to lift him.
James is about to take it up on the offer, but then decides otherwise. "Thanks, but no thanks. I can make it up myself without getting an itchy rash."
Ivine nods in understanding. It then whips it vine upwards to grab hold of another spot on the cliff higher up and ascends further.
So the two continue to climb. James is much slower, but Ivine waits for him to catch up whenever he falls behind. After a little more climbing, James points up. "Look Ivine, we've almost made it to the top. Not much further now."
Ivine excitedly declares, "Ivine!" In its excitement, it doesn't pay complete attention to the vine it just sent up. When it begins to pull itself up, the vine slips, having not been properly secured. Ivine begins to fall. "Viiiiiiiine!"
James watches in horror as Ivine falls past him. He begins to reach out to try to grab it, but hesitates. After a moment of indecision, he shakes his head and removes all signs of doubt from his face. He then reach out and grabs Ivine's vine. He instantly winces as even through his glove his hand becomes itchy. But he ignores it.
Ivine looks up to James with relief and gratitude. It thanks, "Ivine."
James grins and nods. "Don't mention it. Now, if you would be kind enough to take us up the rest of the way."
Ivine nods. "Iv." It then hurls another vine upwards, wrapping it around a tree on the top of the cliff. It then precedes to pull both itself and James the rest of the way up.
As soon as he hits solid ground, James lets go of Ivine's vine and begins to scratch fiercely at his palm. Ivine laughs at him. James begins to laugh as well.
James and Ivine walk into the area where Team Rocket had set up there picnic area earlier. He sees Jessie and James still their playing rock-paper-scissors. Jessie choses scissors and Meowth choses Rock. Jessie shouts angrily, "No fair! This game is rigged! How do you always end up winning!?"
Meowth chuckles. "Maybe you should stop picking scissors every time."
Jessie laughs as if this is a silly suggestion. "Silly Meowth, scissors are the only beauty product I can pick. Rocks and paper don't help my looks at all. I've got an idea, why don't you just pick paper next time?"
James marches at them furiously, "I fell down a cliff and the two of you are playing rock-paper-scissors!?"
Jessie and Meowth turn to James with surprise. Meowth says happily, "You bet we are. Want in on the next round?"
James is taken aback. "No I do not want in on the next round! You two should have been in the balloon looking for me!"
Jessie puts her finger to her chin and thinks. "Huh…I guess we could have done that. Oh well."
Meowth suddenly realizes Ivine standing behind James. "Hey! The berry thief is back for seconds!"
Jessie shouts, "No way are you stealing anything else from us today!"
James puts his hands out. "Guys, calm down. Ivine is my friend."
Jessie and Meowth freeze up. They both ask at once, "Your friend…?"
James nods. "Yes, unlike you two, it helped me out getting back here." He turns to Ivine. "Actually, I was thinking. How would you like to join Team Rocket, Ivine? Remember all that great stuff I told you about before?"
Ivine smiles from ear to ear. It is obviously made very happy by this request. Without even thinking it leaps at James and hugs his face, smothering it in its vines.
James pulls a Pokéball off his belt and taps it against Ivine. The Pokémon is pulled in. The ball wiggles several times and then clicks. "Welcome to the team…" He trails off and suddenly shouts, "Itchy!" He begins to scratch his face, which is now red with a rash.
The Narrator laughs. It looks like James found a new friend that's up to scratch. Maybe with it on their side, Team Rocket will finally relieve their itch to steal Pikachu. Or maybe they'll just mess up again with another rash decision. Either way, stay tuned.
To Be Continued…
