Episode 66: Back to the New Grind
Ash, Brock, and Brenda are walking down a familiar street. Having just made it back to Horizoport City thanks to the balloonist Charles, our heroes are just about ready to hit the road and head on back to Launch Town, Brenda's home town. But that's assuming that something else doesn't pop up first.
Just on cue, Brock stops and points. "Hey, look at that poster, Brenda."
Brenda looks over in the indicated direction. Hanging on a wall across the street is a poster advertising a Pokémon Contest. Brenda exclaims, "Wow! They're holding a Pokémon Contest here in Horizoport, and it takes place tomorrow!"
Brock chuckles. "I guess it's lucky that we got here when we did."
Brenda agrees, "You bet!"
Ash asks, "Are you going to enter, Brenda?"
"What kind of question is that!? Of course I'm going to enter, silly! Come on, let's go register!" She runs off, forcing Ash and Brock to chase after her.
Brenda only stops running when she makes it the front of the contest hall. Before going in, she gives Ash and Brock a chance to catch up. While waiting for them, she tosses a Pokéball into air, and out comes Kappaqueous.
"Kappapapaqueous!"
"Look Kappaqueous, it's time for us to enter our next contest. We've going to work just as hard as we did last time to win this one, all right?"
Kappaqueous happily nods in agreement. "Aqueous!"
Brenda is grinning, until she notices someone standing near the entrance to the contest hall. It's Will. Brenda's smile suddenly turns into a frown. She has a flashback to end of the Starside Contest after she lost. In the flashback, Will shouts angrily at her, "It was an insult to us other Coordinators who spent countless hours training! You took the spot of someone else who deserved to make it to the Battle Rounds much more than you did!" He turns around and begins to leave the room. He stops at the door. Without turning to face Brenda, he adds, "You have lost any respect I had for you, natural talent or not."
Back in the present, Brenda is left fighting back emotions of sadness and shame. She looks to the ground and clenches her fists as she tries to get a hold of herself.
Looking worried, Kappaqueous tugs at Brenda's shirt and asks, "Kappa?"
Brenda doesn't answer it.
Just catching up, Ash calls to Brenda, "Hey, is something up!?"
Brenda puts on a fake smile and looks up. She responds, "No, I...um…I just figured that registration is still open for a few hours more, so I think I should use that time to go and do some training first."
Sounding confused, Brock points out, "You could just train after you register. It's not like you're going to have any less time to train if you do it that way."
Ash adds, "Yeah, we're already here, so you might as well register now."
Brenda takes a quick glance towards Will, and looks away just as quickly. "No, I think I want to train first. I'm not ready to go over there yet."
Ash and Brock both look at each other and shrug. Ash says, "Alright then. We can go to the place I battled Ryu, that should make for a good training ground."
Brenda nods. "Right. Let's go." She rushes off.
Ash, Brock, and Brenda make it to a wide open courtyard with plenty of room. The three of them stand around for a moment in an awkward silence. Ash breaks the silence by asking, "Well Brenda? Aren't you going to do something?"
She looks to him in confusion. "What do you mean?" Then she realizes the answer to her own question. "Oh, training…right…um…so…what should I do?"
Ash is taken aback, "What do you mean 'what should I do!?' You should train!"
"Yeah…well…about that…the only time I've ever trained I had May and Dawn helping me out." She admits with some embarrassment, "I don't really know what to do…"
Brock suggests, "How about you try coming up with a combination that you think will work, and get your Pokémon to try it out?"
Brenda questions, "Isn't that what I do already during the contest? It seems like it's kind of unnecessary work to do that now."
Ash sighs. "Wow Brenda…you really are hopeless." He then says, "Look, just do it, alright. That's what training is. If it works, then you know you can use it in the contest. If it doesn't work, which very well could happen, then you either don't use the combination in the contest, or you keep on trying it again and refining it until it does work. That's what training is."
Brenda shrugs. "Alright…if you say so." She thinks to herself, I'll prove it to Will that I am not an insult to coordinators anymore. I've grown past that phase…or at least I'm trying to. If this is what it takes, then I'm going to do it. She pulls out a Pokéball and throws into the air. "Alright Rabbolt, let's do this!"
Rabbolt appears. "Rabbolt rab!"
Brenda declares, "Alright Rabbolt, we're going to do some training!"
Rabbolt raises an arm with enthusiasm and cheers, "Rabbolt!"
"Alright, I want you to use Bounce to leap as high into the air as you possibly can, then once you're up in the air, you need to land back on the ground with all the force you can. Hopefully this will send some chunks of the dirt beneath flying into the air. Add your Shockwave to the mix as you land and I think we'll have something!"
Rabbolt nods in understanding. It readies itself and then makes the leap. "Rabbbbbbolt!" As it begins to fall it prepares to stomp the ground with all of its might. It looks like everything's going to go off perfectly, but as soon as Rabbolt begins to use its Shockwave attack right before it hits the floor, the balance of its fall is ruined, and it trips as it lands on the ground. This results in its already started Shockwave losing control, electrocuting Brenda, Ash, and Brock.
A stunned and singed Ash exhales a puff of smoke and then says, "This is why you practice."
Brenda runs over to Ash and Brock and frantically bows in apology, saying, "Sorry, I'm so sorry. I messed up badly. I'm so sorry." She turns around and brushes herself off. Suddenly she has her flashback again.
Will shouts, "It was an insult to us other Coordinators who spent countless hours training! You took the spot of someone else who deserved to make it to the Battle Rounds much more than you did!"
Brenda says quietly to herself, "Maybe I can't change…I'll always just screw things up…I'll always be nothing but an insult other coordinators…"
Having brushed himself off, Brock asks, "What was that, Brenda?"
Brenda, working hard to fight back tears, turns around and answers, "It's…nothing…"
Ash asserts, "Come on Brenda, obviously it's not nothing. What's going on with you?"
Brenda attempts to regain control of her emotions with a deep breath. "It's just that…it's just that…" after a moment's struggle, she finally shouts, "I'm a complete failure! I couldn't even get that simple move right!" She begins to sob. "I should have known that Rabbolt would have too many things to do at once and wouldn't be able to make the landing! I should have known that it was going to end up zapping us! I should have known! I should have done something that worked instead! Just imagine if I did that in the contest! I'd have lost for sure! Will told me that I was an insult to other coordinators, and if I'm going to keep on making mistakes like this, then he's right!"
Ash tries to calm her, "Don't say that, Brenda."
"Why not!? It's true, isn't it!?"
Ash shakes his head. "No, not in the slightest."
Brenda looks to Ash with surprise. "What do you mean?"
"You're being way too hard on yourself Brenda. No body's perfect, you shouldn't expect perfection out of yourself. Everyone's bound to make mistakes. Look, the entire purpose of training is so that you can make mistakes like that here, before the contest, when it doesn't matter. Yes, it would have been bad if you had done that in the contest, but now you're not going to, because you're going to train until you get it right. Now stop your crying and keep your head up! You are not an insult to coordinators, and don't let anyone tell you differently!"
Brenda sniffles and then slowly nods her head as she struggles to stop crying. "You're…you're right. I'm sorry you had to see me break down like that." She sniffles again. "I'm going through a lot emotionally right now."
Brock soothes, "And nobody blames you for that, Brenda. You've been through some ups and downs lately. You had your entire base of confidence shaken up irreparably. Now come on, why don't you and Rabbolt try that move out again. Let's try to figure out what went wrong and why."
Almost fully calmed, Brenda nods. "Alright."
Who's that Pokémon!?
This Pokémon migrates according to seasons, so some people call it the harbinger of spring.
Brenda shouts with frustration, "Why won't this work!?" She pulls at her hair with aggravation.
Ash suggests, "Maybe it's time to admit that this won't work. How about you try out a different one?"
Brenda turns to him and firmly says, "No, I will not stop until I get this move to work. I am going to show once and for all that can train!" She adds mentally, And hopefully once he sees how much work I've put into this move, Will will forgive me…
Brock advises, "If a move's not going to work, it's not going to work. You can't force it."
Brenda retorts, "Didn't you guys just tell me before that point of training was to make sure I can get something right? If I can't do this, then the entire training session has been wasted. There's no way I'm stopping."
Brock shrugs. "Suit yourself." After a moment's pause he says, "Anyways, I need to stock up on supplies at some point before we leave the city. If you're planning on being here for a while, I think I'll go do that now."
Still sounding angered from her failed training, Brenda says somewhat passive-aggressively, "That's fine with me."
Sensing she's not in a friendly mood, Ash says, "You know, I think I'll go with you Brock. I could…" he tries to come up with an excuse, "I could use some stuff to."
Brenda says, "Great, I could use the time alone."
Ash and Brock slowly turn around. Before they leave, Ash asks, "Are you sure there's nothing you want, Brenda?"
"I'm fine. Just go." So they do.
Brenda returns her focus to Rabbolt. "Alright Rabbolt, are you ready to try this again?"
Rabbolt, looking a little beat up from the training, but full of determination nonetheless, nods. "Rab."
"Great! Then let's do it again!"
Rabbolt leaps up into the air like it did before, making it even higher this time. It then thrusts itself downwards and readies its electrical attack. Unfortunately, just as it did before, it loses control over its fall right as its about to hit the ground and the entire combination fails.
Brenda moans. She spots a rock at her feet and kicks it with anger. She shouts, "Why can't I do anything right!? I don't get it. When I don't train normally, I do perfectly, but when I do train I fail miserably! Why is this so hard!? This is supposed to make things easy!" Turning from anger to shame, she says more quietly, "I'll never be anything but a disgrace…what was I thinking?"
Suddenly a voice asks, "What's this I hear? You're having training issues?" Brenda looks towards the voice to see a group of three approaching her. The one who spoke is a girl with long red hair. She's wearing a dazzling glittery dress. On her right is a man with blue hair wearing a white tuxedo and on her right is a short man wearing an identical white tuxedo.
Instantly covering up her emotions, Brenda asks, "Who are you?"
The woman smiles. "Why we're the solution to all your problems, my dear."
Skeptical, Brenda asks, "What do you mean?"
"I am the great and famous coordinator extraordinaire, Jessidy, and it is my mission to teach other, less talented, coordinators my secrets to success. I couldn't help but overhear that you were having problems training. I know exactly how to solve these problems."
Brenda tilts her head. "How's that?"
The woman smiles. "You see, I have discovered from my many years of experience that when a coordinator has training problems, more often than not it isn't the coordinators fault."
"It's not?"
"No, it's the Pokémon's fault."
Rabbolt questions, "Rab?"
Jessidy ignores the Pokémon and continues, "But fear not, for I, Jessidy, coordinator extraordinaire, know the secret towards getting your Pokémon to be able to master any technique you train it to use."
Brenda is enthralled by the idea. "Not only is this not my fault, but you can help me?"
Jessidy nods. "Of course I can. They don't call me a coordinator extraordinaire for nothing after all."
Brenda smiles. "That's great! What do we need to do?"
"You need not do anything. Just leave your Pokémon with me, and I will work my magic on it. Meet me at the contest hall later today after registration closes, and I'll have your Pokémon ready. For that contest."
"Wow, thanks Jessidy! You're amazing." Brenda looks down to Rabbolt and tells it, "Don't worry Rabbolt, after this we'll be able to master that move for sure."
Rabbolt senses something is amiss, but agrees skeptically, "Rabbolt…"
Brenda pulls out its Pokéball and recalls it. She then hands the Pokéball over to the blue-haired man. "Take good care of it."
The man chuckles, "Don't worry, your Rabbolt is in the best of hands."
Jessidy reminds, "Now don't forget, sign up for that contest, and then we'll meet you after registration closes."
Brenda nods. "Right."
The group of three then runs off, leaving Brenda behind. Once Brenda is out of sight, the short one says, "Wow, Jessie, this plan was great!"
The one with blue hair adds, "Not only do we have the twerpette's Rabbolt, but now she's going to register that Rabbolt for the contest without knowing she won't have access to it. She'll be kicked out of the contest for not having the Pokémon she entered in it, meaning one less opponent for you."
Jessidy, or rather Jessie of Team Rocket, laughs. "Yes, this plan was a stroke of genius for sure. Let's see what other chumps we can trick out of their Pokémon and their chances at winning."
Wobbuffet appears in order to cheer, "Wobbuffet!"
It's Sawsbuck!
Brenda now stands across the street from the contest hall once more. She takes a look around and breathes a sigh of relief. "No Will in sight…" She takes a deep breath and mentally prepares herself. Then she crosses the street and enters the building. Once at the front desks she says to the person there, "Hello, my name is Brenda, and I'd like to sign up for the contest."
The woman behind the desk nods. "Alright, who will your partner be?"
Brenda is baffled by the question. "Partner?"
The woman realizes her mistake. "Oh, you must not know. Don't worry, you're hardly the first person to come in today not knowing about the Horizoport Contest's special rules. You see, contests hosted in Horizoport are of a very unique type. They're called tag contests. It's similar to a double performance contest, but instead of one coordinator with two Pokémon, it's two coordinators each with their own Pokémon working together as a team."
Brenda is very surprised by this news, but also disappointed. "Oh…I see. So I need to find a partner to enter with then?"
The woman nods. "Indeed you do. Sorry. If it's any consolation, you still have plenty of time to register. Maybe you can go find someone before then."
Brenda nods. "Yeah…sure." She turns around and begins to walk away, deep in contemplation. She thinks, Ash entered the Wallace Cup, maybe he'll be up for being my partner. Hmm…I could ask another coordinator I know. There's always… An image of Will shouting at her flashes through her mind. She shakes her head. No, Will would never want me as a partner after that fiasco. What am I thinking?
This train of thought brings her into another flashback. Will shouts, "It was an insult to us other Coordinators who spent countless hours training!"
Brenda's eyes suddenly go wide as panic strikes her. "What was I thinking!? I just handed Rabbolt over to someone else to do the training for me! This is exactly what Will meant when he called me an insult to coordinators who trained! Oh no, oh no, oh no! I have to go find Jessidy and get Rabbolt back!"
She bursts out of the contest hall and frantically looks around. Her attention turns to a nearby grass promenade where several coordinators are training. One is talking with Jessie in her Jessidy disguise. Brenda breathes a sigh of relief. "Oh, good, I found her."
She walks over towards them. Jessie is saying to the coordinator, "Your Squirrelutton may be good, but once I, Jessidy, coordinator extraordinaire, get done with it, it will be great!"
The coordinator responds excitedly, "Wow, that sounds wonderful!"
Brenda comes and says, "Excuse me, Miss Jessidy, not that I'm ungrateful or anything, but I've decided that I want my Rabbolt back."
Team Rocket instantly freezes up. Jessie quickly recovers and tries to work her way out of the situation by saying, "But my dear, young, naïve coordinator, I can help you. My experience gives me so much more to offer your Pokémon than you can."
Brenda nods. "I'm sure that's true, but it's also the problem. It's you offering it to my Pokémon instead of me. If I want to prove myself to be a true coordinator, then I've got to be the one to train my Pokémon. There are no shortcuts. I really am sorry, but I need to be the one to train my own Pokémon, I realize that now."
The other coordinator comments, "You know what? She's right. I'm sorry, but I'm going to stick to training my own Pokémon as well." He turns around and runs off.
Jessie is fuming with anger over the lost "client." She stomps her feet and does her best to control herself.
Brenda asks, "Are you okay, Jessidy?"
Struggling to stay in character with all the anger she's feeling, Jessie says through clenched teeth, "Why..I'm…perfectly…fine…"
James whispers to Meowth, uh-oh, she's going to blow."
Meowth adds, "This isn't going to be pretty."
Brenda asks, "So may I have my Pokémon back please?"
"No you may not."
Brenda is taken aback. "What!? What do you mean?"
Casting aside her anger, Jessie laughs. "Because you ruined my plan, and now I'll be keeping your Pokémon as compensation. So you'd better prepare for trouble."
This statement confuses Brenda. "What?"
Taking Jessie's lead, James declares, "You can make that double!"
Jessie continues, "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!"
Jessie casts aside her costume. "Jessie!"
So does James. "James!"
"Team Rocket trains its Pokémon at the speed of light!"
"Surrender now, we've prepared for this fight!"
Meowth pops in without his costume. "Meowth, that's right!"
"Wobbuffet!"
"Mime mime!"
Brenda accuses, "Team Rocket, you no good thieves! I should have known it was you all along!"
Jessie teases, "Well you didn't, so it doesn't matter."
James asserts, "We are masters of disguise! You'll never know it's us until it's too late!"
Meowth pulls out a Pokéball and begins to toss it up and down. "And thanks to our skill, we are now the proud owners of this here Rabbolt."
Brenda shouts, "Give me back Rabbolt!"
Jessie cackles, "Ha ha ha! What's the word I'm looking for? Oh yeah! It's no!" She throws a Pokéball. "Go, Repiv!"
James also throws a Pokéball, "Help us mug her, Ivine!" Ivine appears, but instantly turns and leaps to latch on to James' face. James rips the Pokémon off, tosses it forward again and shouts, "I said mug her, not hug me!" He furiously begins to scratch at his face.
Brenda pulls out a Pokéball of her own and throws it. "Help me out, Kappaqueous!" Kappaqueous appears and readies itself for battle as soon as it sees their opponents.
Jessie starts things off by ordering, "Repiv, strike with Poison Sting!"
James adds, "Add some covering fire with Mega Drain!"
Brenda quickly shouts, "Dodge the attacks, Kappaqueous!" Kappaqueous jumps into the air to dodge and successfully dodges the stingers of the Poison Sting, only to be hit by tendrils of the Mega Drain.
Jessie snickers and then orders, "While it's caught in the Mega Drain, get in close and use Wrap to immobilize it!"
"Repivvvvvv!" Repiv slithers in and catches Kappaqueous as it falls, then it wraps tightly around the Pokémon.
Kappaqueous struggles to free itself, but to no avail. "Kappa!"
Brenda encourages, "Come on Kappaqueous, you can use Confusion to free yourself!"
James declares, "Not if we can help it! Use Ivy Whip, Ivine!" Ivine whips at Kappaqueous. The moment the vines of ivy touch Kappaqueous, it is forced to furiously scratch itself where the vines made contact, forcing it to lose all the concentration required to use Confusion.
Brenda begins to panic. "Oh no, not good! I can't take both of them by myself." She then sighs in an admittance of defeat. This is what I get for not training properly. I'm sorry Will, I'm so sorry…
Suddenly a voice declares, "Don't give up, Brenda! You're not alone in this! Ravenoir, use Wing Attack!"
Suddenly a Ravenoir flies in and attacks Repiv with its glowing wings, causing it to release Kappaqueous.
Brenda looks up to see this and exclaims, "Hey, I know that Ravenoir!" Suddenly she realizes what this means. With a mixture of dread and hesitation, she turns her head to see the Will is standing behind her. She chuckles slowly and awkwardly and waves slowly. "Hi Will…I was just-"
Will cuts her off, "No time for that now. Let's take care of these goons, and then we'll talk."
Brenda nods. "Right." She thinks, He's acting as if what happened last time never happened at all. What's going on? Is it possible that he…has forgiven me…?
Jessie says angrily, "Well if it isn't the pretty-boy twerp. Your appearance here makes no difference, we'll beat you and the twerpette if we have to."
Will states, "We'll see about that." He turns his head to Brenda and tells her, "Brenda, I want you to have Kappaqueous use Aqua Bomb, okay?"
Brenda nods. "Right. You heard him Kappaqueous, do it!" Kappaqueous attacks by flinging an orb of water towards Ivine and Repiv.
Will commands, "Ravenoir, combine your Shadow Ball with the Aqua Bomb!" Ravenoir launches an orb of shadowy energy. The two orbs meet midway through their trajectory and merge together. The combined water/shadow orb suddenly explodes right in the middle of the two Team Rocket Pokémon, knocking both of them away. Will then shouts, "Alright Ravenoir, now get that Pokéball back to Brenda!"
"Raveeeeenoir!" Ravenoir dives down towards Meowth, who's still holding Rabbolt's Pokéball.
Meowth begins to panic and frantically runs back and forth. He shouts, "Come on guys, help me out here! Protect me!" But Repiv and Ivine are too badly damaged to help. Ravenoir swoops in and grabs the Pokéball right out of Meowth's hand. It flies it back and drops it right into Brenda's hands.
Upon seeing the Pokéball, Brenda grins as inspiration strikes her. She tosses the Pokéball and shouts, "Alright Rabbolt, let's try this one more time, just like we practiced!" Rabbolt comes out of the Pokéball, lands right in front of Team Rocket and leaps up into the air. As it begins to fall it readies itself to both slam onto the ground with all its power while also using its Shockwave attack. Mere moments before its feet touch the ground, its begins the electrical discharge. Brenda watches with anticipation as the moment of truth comes and Rabbolt slams into the ground. It all works perfectly. Rabbolt keeps its balance, and the force of it hitting the ground right in the middle of Team Rocket causes several chunks of dirt to fly up into the air around it. The electricity from its Shockwave then instantly arcs from chunk to chunk until all of Team Rocket is electrocuted. An explosion occurs and they are sent flying into the air.
As they're flying, James sighs. "Well, so much for that ruse."
Meowth grumbles, "That's what we get for letting Jessie make the plan."
Jessie asserts, "I may not be Jessidy, coordinator extraordinaire, but doesn't mean I'm any less of a coordinator extraordinaire myself!"
James and Meowth both remark, "Keep telling yourself that."
Then they all shout, "Looks like Team Rocket's blasting off again!"
Back on the ground, Brenda runs over to Rabbolt and hugs it. "That was great, Rabbolt! You pulled it off! Our training actually worked!"
From behind her, Will comments, "So you really are training now."
Brenda freezes up, realizing that now she has no choice but to face Will. She slowly turns towards him and says, "Will…there's something I really need to tell you…"
Will puts up his hand to stop her. "No, there's something I need to tell you. I've been keeping an eye out all day in the hope that you would be here so I could tell you this. I'm sorry."
Brenda is taken aback. "Sorry? About what? I'm the one who should be sorry."
Will shakes his head. "No, no you're not. The things I said to you back at the Starside Contest, I should have never said them. That was only your third contest, I shouldn't have expected you to know how much work it takes to become a top coordinator. It wasn't your fault. You see, the thing is, you just have so much skill, and I had so much respect for you, that I expected more out of you than I would any other coordinator."
Brenda is speechless. After a moment she says, "But at the Wallace Cup, you seemed so mad at me still."
Will nods. "Yes, and I was. I assumed that you would never change, and that you were just entering yet another contest, and a major one at that, without learning your lesson. That, too, was unfair of me. But then your friend May made me realize otherwise. After she beat me I was ready to leave then and there, but she convinced me to stick around and watch your battle in the final round, and she was right, you had been training hard. You may be good without training, but I could tell from that battle that you had risen to new heights, and training was the only way that could happen. And I cannot begin to tell you how pleased I am to see that proven true. You really have turned over a new leaf. I am so sorry that I ever doubted you could."
Brenda, still mostly speechless, manages to say, "Wow…I don't even know what to say."
"How about this? You say that you'll be my partner in the Horizoport Contest."
"Your partner?"
Will nods. "Surely you must know the special rules for this contest. I would be honored to have you at my side as my partner." After a moment of thought he adds, "Of course, I'll expect some intense training so we can hone our teamwork, but something tells me that won't be an issue."
Brenda looks him in the eyes and smiles broadly. "And I would be honored to be your partner. Let's do it."
It looks like Brenda's finally going to be able to put the nightmares of the Starcore Contest behind her once and for all. Of course, that doesn't mean she hasn't been changed by the experience, because she is all the better because of it. How will her first ever tag contest go? You'll just have to stay tuned and find out.
Ash and Brock are sitting on a bench outside a store. Brock is holding some grocery bags. Ash asks, "So you think it's safe to go back to Brenda now?"
Brock shakes his head. "We'd better play it safe and give her some more time."
To Be Continued…
