EVERYONE: (This Might Be) What Could Have Been (Alt. BW Anime Series!)

[szmty]

Background Information:
(Please read this! Or else, you won’t understand what this fic is about!)

This is my first fanfiction ever. I never thought I’d make something like this, but I decided to do it anyway, and as of today, I’ve managed to finish 11 chapters, or as I like to call them, “episodes”.

Right now, you may be wondering, “what is this about anyway?” You’ll see, back in May 2014, I wrote a huge post here in the Anime section of the forums, about how the anime would be if I was in charge from the beginning. In that post, I described each series as I would have developed them. Some of the biggest changes would have been that: characters and Pokémon would get an equal level of importance. Characters, including Ash, wouldn’t have been oblivious to love, so yeah, there would be more ‘romantic’ situations, but they wouldn’t be the focus of the series at all. All characters would grow up about a year or so per region travelled, with the Orange Islands and the Battle Frontier arc lasting around half a year each. Instead of seeing Team Rocket on every episode, the series would have had some episodes with other “villains of the day (VotD)” or without a villainous figure at all, but merely with a more implied antagonist. Team Rocket would still be on the show, but less often than in the real anime.

I even decided that it would be a good idea to have the anime to loosely follow the actual plot of the games. Villain teams from the game are always present in the anime, but in my opinion they are nothing but casual villains who don’t have too much impact on the actual plot of the real anime.

Currently, the anime is mostly aimed at small children; my version of the anime would be aimed to people of all ages; it must appeal teens and adults as much as it appeals to small children. Hence, it would contain references and (very minimal) depictions of violence and/or alcohol (the anime would be rated TV-PG in the USA). I wouldn’t have let 4Kids touch the anime. The original opening and ending songs would have been kept in the dubs. There would have still been some modifications though; the anime’s logo would still have been replaced with the Western one, and the credits would be shown in romaji, and the karaoke/sing-along would be shown in Japanese, but along with romaji text and with its English/other language translation. There wouldn't be any edits in the animation unless they’re made to fix an actual error, and all references to Japan (such as text, food, customs, etc.) would have been kept in all the dubs.

And finally and most importantly, Ash Ketchum would have had to leave the spotlight of the show at one point. He would still show up in special episodes, but he wouldn’t be the main character anymore.
Personally, I think the real Best Wishes (BW) Pokémon anime series was the poorest of all, and I even believe that Mr. Ketchum was meant to be replaced by a new character. In my opinion, Ash was written as if he was a 10 years old dumb newbie at the beginning of the series, instead of the smarter trainer we last watched in Diamond and Pearl (DP). This kind of characterization would have been more fitting for a new character, and again, I seriously believe that the director/producers/writers originally planned to replace Ash with someone else. After all, Generation V was almost like a reboot of the entire franchise; a complete departure from what we had seen in past generations.

This fanfic will tell the story of that character that was never used. This will be an alternative story; hence, that’s why I called it “What Could Have Been…”
Also, this fanfic was originally planned to be written in a similar format as a standard Bulbapedia plot summary (The entire first episode and most of the second resemble this). However, I decided to slowly shift it into a more conventional format that allows characters to have dialogue. Still, I’m sure it’s very different from anything you’ve read. Each “episode” is divided into two acts and a third, short act that “plays” before the credits/ending. I like to call it “the stinger”, although stingers are commonly shown after the credits/ending are shown. Longer episodes will sometimes contain four acts (3 long ones and a short “stinger”). These are considered to be specials.
I write the “episodes” this way because I want you to feel like if you were watching an actual episode of the anime. As you’ll notice, I’ve included links to real openings and endings from the anime, divisions within episodes are marked as “commercial breaks” and I’ve even included a “Who’s that Pokémon?/Dare Da?” challenge, with varying “degrees of difficulty”; sometimes the hint gives the answer right away, sometimes I’ll make it very hard, and sometimes I’ll write something slightly satirical.

I plan to cover the entire BW and (hopefully, in a near future) XY series.

Characters:

(Narrator’s voice) “Today, you’ll meet Hilbert Black. He is from Nuvema, a large town located in Southeast Unova. He is already 16 years old, but he hasn’t managed to begin his adventure yet. Trainers in Unova have to pass a special annual exam so they can get their Trainer Card. Aspiring trainers have to be 10 or older to be able to take it. But Hilbert has failed it 5 times! But he hasn’t given up, and he is sure that the 6th time is the charm.” (Artwork)
(Narrator) “And she doesn’t know it yet, but she will join Hilbert in his adventure. You know her already, but we’ll still introduce her once again. She is Dawn Berlitz. She is from Twinleaf, a quiet small town in Southwest Sinnoh. She is a 15 years old Pokémon Coordinator, who along with her Piplup, will seek for a new challenge: Pokémon Musicals.” (Artwork)
So the main characters for the AltBW series will be Hilbert and Dawn. And you now may be wondering: “Why are you using them? and possibly; “why do they have surnames?” Well I decided to use Hilbert because he’s like the new version of Red. And since Ash Ketchum is based on Red, I think it was logical to use Hilbert. And I decided to use Dawn because I thought that smaller kids would need a character they could relate to; this way, this series wouldn’t feel like a different anime; there would still be a connection. And the about the surnames… well, I personally think that characters need surnames. We only know the surnames of very few characters. So Hilbert’s surname is Black for pretty obvious reasons, and Dawn will get her own surname, which will be Berlitz, a known fanon surname for her, taken from the Pokémon Special/Adventures character, Platinum Berlitz.
Many other characters from past series will show up (and most of them will have surnames!). Some will have more important roles than others. There will be also many characters that I'll create.

Additional Notes:

Here’s a link to the thread where I posted the post that started all of this. I don’t really recommend you to read it unless you don’t mind spoilers for this AltBW series. I’ve changed A LOT of things through these months, so a lot of what I say about BW will not be in the fic. Still, I plan to keep a bit of what I mention there.
Nevertheless, I will share with you a short quote from that post anyway. This portion is about the AltDP, and it’s quite important because this is my departure point; this story begins right at the end of my AltDP, so you should at least have an idea of what DP would have been:

At the beginning of Sinnoh, Ash would be 15 and Brock would be 18. Dawn would be 14 instead of 10. Dawn's role in the anime would stay the same. Her role was already important in the actual DP, so it wouldn't change too much in my version. In any case it could be even a bit larger. Brock's role would need to be greater than just being a supporter comic relief character. He must do something, like studying Pokémon biology or so. Let's remember that in DP he decided to become a doctor rather than a breeder. Team Galactic's presence will be as strong as Magma and Aqua's, and a good chunk of Sinnoh's filler will be replaced by episodes focusing on Team Galactic's destruction. Cue final battle at Spear Pillar and a second trip to the Distortion World in the anime. And something very nice: Ash would catch a legendary Pokémon, although it'd most possibly be one of the Lake trio rather than Dialga or Palkia. The Wallace Cup mini-arc would carry a good chunk of importance in Dawn's plot, and I could see May joining the group for a short period before going to a region far away: Unova, where there are no contests; instead there are Pokémon Musicals, which would be greatly enhanced from their game counterparts. Dawn becomes interested in going there...
And to the enormous joy of all Pokémon fans, yes, Ash Ketchum would finally WIN the league, defeating Tobias in an intense two-part episode with a special opening sequence, and would become the great Champion of Sinnoh, concluding his participation in the anime as the main character...

There are no schedules; I originally had a Monday/Wednesday/Friday schedule, but I quickly had to remove it. I’m currently in college, so the frequency of the episodes will vary depending on how much I'll have to work. Sometimes I’ll be able to write two per week; sometimes I’ll only be able to write two per month or so. In any case, I don’t plan to fully stop the series anytime soon. I expect to finish the AltBW and eventually the AltXY someday.

Finally, I’ll be honest. I’m far from being the best writer. English is not my native language, so sometimes my writing will be kinda off, and I’ll occasionally use words with wrong contexts, or use bad grammar… Still, I personally feel that my writing skills improve with every episode I write. I want you to give my fic a try. Hopefully, you will like it.

Thanks for reading

August 16, 2014​

UPDATE:
I decided to change the title to reflect the current status of the fic, which is still covering BW. Also, I feel that "What Could Have Been" is a pretty generic name, so I decided to tweak it a bit: "(This Might Be) What Could Have Been" will be the new official title from now on.

February 3, 2015​

INDEX:
(This Might Be) What Could Have Been
Pocket Monsters BW
SEASON 1: Revolution

Spoiler

BW01
BW02
BW03
BW04
BW05
BW06
BW07
BW08
BW09
BW10
BW11
BW12
BW13
BW14
BW15
BW16
BW17
BW18
BW19

 

[szmty]

Re: What Could Have Been... (An Alternative BW and XY Adventure!)

BW01: A New Adventure in a Land Far Away! Meet Hilbert!

Main Characters:
Narrator
Hilbert Black
Hilbert’s mother
Professor Juniper
UPLA official
Dawn Berlitz
James
Jessie
Meowth
Snivy
Piplup
Pikachu

--Cold Opening—

The episode opens with the narrator describing how diverse and incredible the Pokémon world is. The camera then focuses on Nuvema Town, and lands on a house’s window. 16 years old Hilbert Black breaks the fourth wall when he asks the narrator to let him sleep a few more minutes. The narrator explains that they don’t have much time and turns on a radio clock next to Hilbert’s bed. Hilbert wakes up and notices that he’s going to be late for his exam, which is to be held at the local Pokémon Laboratory. He rushes down the stairs and rapidly grabs a toast from the kitchen. Hilbert only goodbye-kisses his mother who wishes him luck in his exam, before jolting through the front door. Hilbert then grabs his bike and speeds away through the street.

--Season’s name: Pocket Monsters BW: Revolution--
--Opening song: Best Wishes—

--Commercial Break—

--First Act—

While Hilbert is riding his bike, the narrator explains that in Unova, new trainers have to pass an exam in order to be granted a special ID called "Trainer Card", which allows them to choose a starter Pokémon and to challenge gym leaders. The narrator also explains that if the new trainer manages to get a very high note, he’ll be able to possess a Pokédex, that everyone 10 and up is able to take the exam, and finally, that Hilbert’s case is quite special… since he has taken the exam 5 times already, and he has always failed, but he clarifies that Hilbert spent the last months studying a lot, and that he is now ready to pass the exam with a high note.

Hilbert reaches the Pokémon Lab. He is exhausted, but happy to see that the other children are still outside; he assumes that the exam hasn’t started yet. The kids stare at him in confusion though. A bell rings inside the laboratory and everyone gets inside. Hilbert is shocked to realize that the children were waiting outside because they were waiting for the exam’s results! The exam had already finished! Hilbert passes out for a couple of minutes. He then wakes up asking if he was just dreaming, but Professor Juniper tells him that (sadly) he failed the exam by default. Hilbert pleads her for a second opportunity, but she tells him that she can’t give him one, since she already ran out of starter Pokémon; she only has the eggs of the next batch of starters, and she tells him that the new-born starters won’t be ready to battle for a year. Then Hilbert asks about a Snivy that is playing alone near a tree. Juniper then tells him that Snivy had been already reserved for another trainer who was coming from Sinnoh that afternoon, and who already had a Pokédex, which count as 'foreign' Trainer Cards to the eyes of the Unova Pokémon League Association (UPLA).

Meanwhile, 15 years old Dawn Berlitz is in a plane, about to land at an airport near Nuvema. We are told that she was the one who reserved Snivy. Behind her is Team Rocket, who were following her; we discover that Giovanni didn’t allowed them to stay in Sinnoh, where Ash Ketchum and Pikachu stayed after he became Champion, so they followed the “twerpette” instead. Having being following her, they find that she plans to go to the Pokémon Lab to get a starter for herself. They make a plan to steal the eggs at the lab.

--DARE DA? (Who’s that Pokémon?)—
-Hint- This Pokémon used to be called “Smugleaf” by the fans before its English name was revealed.-Hint-

Spoiler

(Answer: Snivy)

--Commercial Break—

--Second Act—

Hilbert is sitting on a bench near to the Lab. He’s noticeably sad, and regrets having studying for months for the exam (we see a short montage of Hilbert studying). He even doubts that he could ever be a trainer anyway. He thinks that if he had passed the exam he’d still be a failure. On that moment, a taxi stops in front of the Lab. Hilbert then sees Dawn exiting the taxi. He wonders if she’s the trainer that had reserved Snivy. The scene cuts to Team Rocket preparing their mecha, and they explain the plan more carefully: Jessie will open the windows of the room with the eggs, and she’ll watch for anyone who tries to stop them. James will attempt to distract Juniper and Dawn by acting as an UPLA official who will validate the results of the exam. Meowth will be in charge of controlling the mecha, which consists of a robotic hose that will carefully and silently suction each of the eggs. The eggs would end inside of a large and strong vault, designed to absorb special attacks.

At first, the plan goes alright. James successfully distracts Juniper, who was actually expecting an UPLA official to come. The mecha is working without malfunctions, and Jessie sees no twerps other than Dawn who is with Juniper inside the building. After noticing that everything is going to perfection, Jessie delivers a loud laughter that startles Hilbert. He runs to the back of the lab and sees Team Rocket stealing the eggs. He shouts at Jessie asking her about what they’re doing. Meowth is the one who replies, surprising Hilbert, who had never seen a talking Pokémon. He sees that Dawn’s Snivy is still outside, hidden behind a bush. Hilbert decides to battle Jessie. He tells Snivy to come with him and that they have to fight. Snivy doesn’t looks very convinced at first, but then it realizes that they have to do something to stop the bad guys. Snivy agrees with Hilbert, and allows him to use it in a battle. At this point, Hilbert gives a formal challenge to Jessie. However, Jessie had left her Pokémon in at the Team Rocket HQ before going to Unova. Unable to ignore the challenge, she forces Meowth to battle. Meanwhile, the real UPLA official arrives, and Juniper and Dawn discover that James was a fraud. Juniper becomes distressed, and hears the battle outside the lab. She runs to see the eggs and finds the hose that is suctioning them. Dawn gets mad at James and she goes outside; James tries to stop her but he is unable to. Outside the lab, Meowth uses Fury Swipes on Snivy, who ends hurt. Dawn appears and she sends out her Piplup. James also arrives to the scene. By now, Hilbert is very confused, and asks who they are anyway. This prompts the Team Rocket to perform their motto. While they perform the motto, Dawn uses Piplup to hit the vault with BubbleBeam. The vault keeps absorbing the attack. Hilbert realizes that they need to use physical attacks to break the vault, and he tells her to use one. He remembers that one of Piplup’s possible physical attacks is Drill Peck, so he tells her to order Piplup to use that attack. Meanwhile, Professor Juniper and the UPLA official are watching the battle. The official makes a comment on Hilbert’s knowledge, claiming that only the most experienced trainers are able to identify differences between physical and special attacks, and only they know in which situations one type of attack is more efficient than the other. Juniper then tells the official that Hilbert had never battled before, and then she begins to think about Hilbert’s knowledge too, and considers if it’d be a good idea to give him a Trainer Card. She then recalls that she has one special Pokémon that Professor Samuel Oak gave to her, and that it could be the ideal Pokémon for Hilbert.

Snivy’s strong tackles and Piplup’s Drill Peck manage to break the vault, scattering the eggs outside. Juniper and the official then rush to protect the eggs. After the constant attacks, the entire mecha blows up. And as always, Team Rocket is launched into the skies.

The UPLA official congratulates Hilbert, and exclaims that he’s more than ready to be a certified Trainer, and he grants him a Trainer Card. The official also tells Juniper that she should give him a Pokédex. Juniper agrees, and then she reveals to Hilbert that she has a special Pokémon that he can use. Hilbert is very pleasantly surprised at this decision, and he follows her to the Lab. Inside; she gives him a female Pikachu, who Hilbert registers in his brand new Pokédex. Dawn is also congratulated by the UPLA official, and he asks if Dawn’s Pokédex has been already updated to register all Unova Pokémon. She gives a negative response, so the official grabs her dex and installs the update.

Hilbert and Dawn are now outside the Lab, sitting on the bench. They formally present themselves to each other: Hilbert tells Dawn that he plans to become a Pokémon Master. Dawn giggles, and tells him that she knows someone with that same dream. Then she tells him that she is a Pokémon Coordinator, and that she learnt about Pokémon Musicals and that she wanted to try to participate in them. They decide to travel together.

--Commercial Break—

--Third Act (episode’s stinger)—

Hilbert remembers that he has to tell his mother that he got a Trainer Card. He and Dawn go to his house, where Hilbert explains to his mother about what happened. He tells her that he won’t go on his quest alone; Dawn will go with him. His mother then teases him, asking if she’s his new girlfriend. Dawn catches the message too and both begin to blush intensely and the both of them deny that. Hilbert then decides to end the conversation and he and Dawn leave rapidly, with Hilbert shouting “Goodbye! I’ll call you!” on his way out. His mother then wishes them good luck from the distance. The narrator then wonders about how far the heroes will go this time, and he also wishes them luck in their quest.

To Be Continued.

--Ending song: GLORY DAY ~That Shining Day~--

--Professor Oak’s Lecture: Meowth—

--Preview of next episode: Team Plasma Rally!? A Mysterious Trainer Appears!
“Hilbert and Dawn arrive in Accumula Town, but something wrong is going on! Who are these people? Why are they dressed like that? Free the Pokémon? What do they mean? But wait, what about this trainer? We have so many questions!
Don’t forget to watch the next episode!
Team Plasma Rally!? A Mysterious Trainer Appears!”

--Pocket Monsters BW: Revolution sponsors--
--Episode ends—

 

[szmty]

Re: What Could Have Been... (An Alternative BW and XY Adventure!)

BW02: Team Plasma Rally!? A Mysterious Trainer Appears!

Characters (in order of appearance):
Hilbert Black
Dawn Berlitz
Pikachu
Snivy
Piplup
Team Plasma Grunts
N
Nurse Joy
Purrloin

--Cold Opening—
The narrator tells us that Hilbert and Dawn have departed from Nuvema a few hours ago, after they and their Pokémon saved the eggs at the Pokémon Lab. He remembers to the audience that Hilbert got a new Pikachu, while Dawn received Snivy from the Pokémon Professor. It’s getting late, so Hilbert and Dawn decide to stop in the next town, Accumula, so they resume their travel on the morning. Once they arrive, Hilbert and Dawn decide to let their Pokémon out. Hilbert sends his new Pikachu out first, and tells her that they’re going to be partners and are going to challenge gym leaders. Dawn sends out her new Snivy and her Piplup. Snivy acts smugly towards Piplup, since it feels that it was the one who saved the day with its tackles, while Piplup tries to shut it up. Dawn stops them, and tells them that both helped a lot back in Nuvema. Hilbert nervously laughs. After this short scene, he asks Dawn about what are Pokémon Musicals exactly, since he has only heard of Contests. Just as Dawn is about to explain, a man dressed in a medieval-looking armour stops her, and shouts “Free the Pokémon!” Hilbert and Dawn stare at the man thinking “What’s going on?”

--Season’s name: Pocket Monsters BW: Revolution--
--Opening song: Best Wishes—

--Commercial Break--

--First Act—
The armoured man tells Hilbert and Dawn that Pokémon are meant to be free from humans. Still confused, they ask him who he is. He reveals that he’s a member of the “honourable” Team Plasma, whose purpose is to “liberate” all Pokémon from the “evils” of the human beings. Immediately after this, he calls up some other members, and pick up all the Pokémon. Hilbert and Dawn try to stop the armoured men, and follow them to a plaza in the town’s centre. The plaza is covered with a big crowd of locals. In the middle of the crowd, there are about a dozen of Team Plasma members, standing on a large platform while holding large banners with different slogans. One long haired man wearing a colourful cape gives a speech through a loudspeaker, where he urges the entire town to “give up their Pokémon to the honourable cause of the mighty Team Plasma”. Besides them is a cage with our heroes' Pokémon inside.

Hilbert and Dawn cross through the crowd. Hilbert shouts at the man, exclaiming that “Pokémon and humans have lived together for thousands of years, if not more”. Dawn then points out that they’re contradicting their statements, since they’re putting the “freed” Pokémon in cages. After this, Hilbert demands his Pikachu and Dawn’s Piplup and Snivy back. The long-haired man gives a short evil laugh, and says that he can’t do it, because their Pokémon are free from them now. Hilbert gets mad and he attempts to open the cage. Some of the other grunts grab him. Dawn’s attempts to stop them are futile. The grunts take him to a nearby alleyway, where they threaten him against trying to do anything to rescue his Pokémon. Hilbert tells them that he won’t change his mind and that he’ll still do it. One of the grunts then sends out a Patrat, and orders it to use Bite on Hilbert. But just as Patrat is about to bite Hilbert, a tall man covered with a black cloak grabs him and both run away from the alley.

--DARE DA? (Who’s that Pokémon?)
-hint- This is the only Pokémon with a base stat total of 255.-hint-
Answer:

Spoiler

Patrat

--Commercial Break—

--Second Act
Dawn is very worried for Hilbert. She tries to use her catchphrase, “no need to worry”, as a mantra in her mind. The cloaked man and Hilbert return to her. Dawn is very glad that Hilbert is back. The man then tells them to wait in the Pokémon Center across the road. The scene cuts to the interior of the Pokémon Center, where our heroes are sitting on a couch while they wait for the cloaked man. While they’re waiting, Dawn makes a short comment about Nurse Joy, saying that she looks different. Hilbert replies that all Nurses Joy look practically the same. Dawn then notes that at least the ones from Sinnoh look different from the ones in Unova. Hilbert remembers that he had asked Dawn about Pokémon Musicals earlier. Just as Dawn is about to talk, the cloaked man enters the Pokémon Center, with their Pokémon at his feet. Hilbert and Dawn thank him for rescuing their Pokémon. After this, Hilbert asks who he is. He tells them to go to the battlefield in the back of the Pokémon Center. There he would answer their question.

The scene cuts to the battlefield. The man takes off his cloak and he introduces himself. He tells them that he’s called N, and he’s the leader of Team Plasma. Hilbert is furious. “How could he be doing this?” he thinks. Dawn asks N why are they “liberating” the Pokémon. N gives the practically the same response as the other grunts. Dawn is annoyed, as is Hilbert. They still wonder why N saved Hilbert and why did he gave them back their Pokémon. As if he was reading their minds, N tells them that he gave their Pokémon back to them because he felt that they were different from the other humans, claiming that “their souls were cleaner”, and that he also felt a “very strong connection” between them and their Pokémon. After finishing that last sentence, he demanded Hilbert a battle. Hilbert is surprised. He didn’t expect that someone with such a staunch stance over the relationships between humans and Pokémon would ever want to battle. He asked where his Poké Balls were. N rapidly answers that he “didn’t believe” in capturing Pokémon in such confined and unnatural spaces. Hilbert was even more confused now. N then claps his hands; almost instantly, a Purrloin that was relaxing on a tree nearby jumps down to the battlefield. Hilbert’s mouth opens in shock. N tells him to get ready. Hilbert then calls his new Pikachu to the battle. He then tells Pikachu that she has to be ready too, and to give everything she can, for this was going to be their first battle together. Pikachu gets in position. Meanwhile, Dawn is sitting on a bench next to the battlefield. She registers the Purrloin on her recently updated Pokédex, and she begins to cheer for her new friend. Everything seems to be ready.

The battle begins. N allows Hilbert to attack first. Hilbert then asks Pikachu if she knows Thunder Shock. Pikachu nods, and tries to use it on Purrloin. N laughs, and orders Purrloin to evade the attack and to use Sand Attack. Purrloin successfully evades the Thunder Shock and attacks Pikachu. Hilbert then makes a short comment about Pikachu’s accuracy falling, but then he tells to N that his attack will not be much of a problem, since Thunder Shock is an attack that is almost certain to hit even with low accuracy, and then he continues using it. N then orders Purrloin to keep evading and using Sand Attack. Pikachu’s vision is now severely handicapped by the sand covering her face, and starts to get tired. Hilbert can’t believe that Pikachu couldn’t hit Purrloin at least once. Nevertheless, he was unable to do anything. “N must know something special, it can’t be possible that a random Purrloin is obeying his commands, especially something as hard as evading, even if it’s using an attack like Sand Attack”, Hilbert thinks. Pikachu is now very tired, and doesn’t have energy to keep releasing the same attack. N now orders to use Scratch on Pikachu. Hilbert recalls that Pikachu could know Growl. He asks Pikachu if she can use it. The sand-covered Pikachu nods, and begins to Growl as Purrloin scratches her. However, one last Scratch knocks Pikachu out. The battle is over. N makes a last comment, telling Hilbert that "As long as Pokémon are confined in Poké Balls... Pokémon will never become perfect beings. If you want your Pikachu to be perfect, it must be free first”. He then tells Hilbert and Dawn that he’ll see them someday soon, and that in that next time, he’ll battle against both of them.

Hilbert then grabs Pikachu and carries her to get her injuries healed. Fortunately, Pikachu’s injuries aren’t as bad as he thought, and Nurse Joy hands Pikachu back to Hilbert shortly after. Hilbert is relieved that Pikachu is alright, and then takes out Pikachu’s Poké Ball so he can call her back to it. However, he remembers the last thing N said, and instead he tells Pikachu that she can stay outside a little more, and encourages Dawn to send out her Pokémon for a while, so they can meet each other more properly and play together before going to sleep.

--Commercial Break--

--Third Act (episode’s stinger)--
“What a day!” Dawn exclaims. “You can say that again” continues Hilbert. They make a short recount of what happened since they met in Nuvema earlier that same day. After finishing, Hilbert remembers that he still wanted to ask her about Pokémon Musicals. Finally, Dawn is able to answer, and she explains how Pokémon Musicals work: “Pokémon Musicals are very similar in format to the Pokémon Contests of the other regions. What makes them truly different is that, while Pokémon Contests mostly focus on the visual appeal of the Pokémon and their attacks, Musicals also focus on their rhythmic and musical properties; on the first round the attacks must be delivered in a rhythmic pattern, following a song selected by the juries. The attacks must enhance the song with their natural sounds, as much as they have to create a visual appeal to make them more interesting. On the second round, there’s a knockout tournament, where those Coordinators that passed the first round battle each other. However, a song is played during the battle; the Pokémon must battle and perform their attacks according to the rhythm and mood of the song. Just like in Contests, the winner receives a ribbon, but he or she also gets special ‘props’, that he or she can use to help their Pokémon’s appeal in future Musicals. Once you have five ribbons, you’ll be able to participate in a tournament simply called, the ‘Grand Concerto’”.
“Thank you for clearing my doubt. And where’s the next Conte… I mean, Musical?” asks Hilbert. Dawn then tells him that the next Musical will be held in Nacrene City. Hilbert then tells Dawn that if they’re going to Nacrene, then they’ll first have to pass through Striaton City, where there’s a Pokémon Gym where he can get his first badge. The narrator then closes the episode, saying that Hilbert has a lot to learn about battling, since he also needs to have on-field skills along with knowledge.

To Be Continued.

--Ending song: GLORY DAY ~That Shining Day~--

--Professor Oak’s Lecture: Purrloin—

--Preview of next episode: “The Kingdom of the Forest! Lillipup and its Pack!”
“Oh! What are these Pokémon doing? Ah, it’s a pack of Pokémon! Hey little buddy, what’s wrong? You can’t let the other Pokémon be so bad with you! Hey! Stop being a hassle to it! Why won’t you accept this Lillipup with you!
Don’t forget to watch the next episode!
The Kingdom of the Forest! Lillipup and its Pack!”

--Pocket Monsters BW: Revolution sponsors--
--Episode ends—

Additional notes:
Well, here's the second episode of BW. I know that the stinger looks too long. I wasn't sure about when would Dawn explain my expanded concept of Pokémon Musicals, so I decided to create a small running gag about Dawn being unable to explain it.
To make them more exciting, I decided to transform Pokémon Musicals into enhanced Contests rather than the "dress your Pokémon and make them dance!" thing we see in the games.
Currently, I'm thinking of posting episodes on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. This schedule won't be permanent, and I won't be fixing it to a specific hour though. I'll tell you on a blog if for some reason I can't post a new episode on a given day.

Thanks for reading and I hope that you like what I've done so far

 

[szmty]

Re: What Could Have Been... (An Alternative BW and XY Adventure!)

BW03: The Kingdom of the Forest! Lillipup and its Pack!

Characters (In order of appearance):
Hilbert Black
Pikachu
Dawn Berlitz
Herdier
Lillipup
Gate steward
Piplup
Stoutland
Purrloin

--Cold Opening—
The narrator starts the episode telling us that Hilbert and Dawn are on their way to Striaton City, where Hilbert will challenge the local gym leader. In the middle of the route, there’s a ‘gate’ (akin to those present in the games), where our heroes take a short rest. Hilbert’s Pikachu is out of her Poké Ball. Dawn asks Hilbert why he hasn’t called Pikachu back to it since they left Accumula. He tells her that he’s still thinking about what N said. Dawn responds that he shouldn’t take everything he said very seriously, and that it’d be very impractical to have your party out all the time. Their chat is then interrupted by loud barks from outside the gate. Hilbert and Dawn go outside to see what’s happening. Outside, there’s a pack of Herdier attacking a Lillipup. There were at least five of them, biting and tackling Lillipup. The largest of the Herdier then tried to use Take Down to finish Lillipup; our heroes shout “Stop it!” in unison.

--Season: Pocket Monsters BW: Revolution--
--Opening song: Best Wishes—
--Commercial Break—

--First Act—
Hilbert orders Pikachu to use Thunder Shock to scare the Herdier away. Dawn then takes the Lillipup on her arms back to the gate, registers it on her Pokédex, and then she begins to use some Potions on it. Dawn asks the gate steward if he had seen the pack before. The gate steward then tells them that there has been a pack of Herdier for years, always leaded by a Stoutland, dubbed by other stewards as the “King” of the pack. “But why are they attacking this little poor Pokémon?” Dawn asked. The steward explained that a previous trainer had released that Lillipup in that route a few weeks ago. “It must be trying to join the pack”, the steward said. “Well I’ll make sure that Lillipup joins them. They can’t reject Lillipup, after all, it’s like one of them. One day it will be, at least”, answered Hilbert. He continued, saying that they had to teach the pack that Lillipup can be as good as them. Dawn tried to stop him, telling him that Lillipup shouldn’t want to join the pack. Hilbert then says that joining a pack could be decisive for Lillipup’s survival in the wilderness. Lillipup shows great confidence and determination. Dawn then allowed them to go and face the Herdier, albeit she was still unconvinced.

Lillipup then runs out of the gate, and Hilbert, his Pikachu, and Dawn follow it. Lillipup lead them towards a small cave, where the pack lives. As they approach the cave, we see Herdier performing ‘vigilante’ tasks, hiding in the bushes in their attempt to scare interlopers. One Herdier jumps out from one of the bushes and uses Take Down on Lillipup. Lillipup Bites Herdier back. More Herdier begin to show up. Dawn registers them on her Pokédex, and sends out her Piplup, which she orders to attack some of the Herdier with BubbleBeam. “Weren’t you a pacifist? Not long ago you told me and Lillipup that we shouldn’t be battling the pack.”, Hilbert remarks at Dawn with a feel of irony. “I just felt I had to make the right decisions, and right now, the right decision would be to help Lillipup”, she replies. “I never explicitly said that I was a pacifist anyway”, she finishes with a smile on her face.

Hilbert then calls Pikachu out to the battle, and orders it to use Thunder Shock on some Herdier too. There were at least eight of them, all trying to attack.

Pikachu and Piplup manage to defeat some of the Herdier with their combination of Water and Electric attacks, but the real battling spirit emanated from the little Lillipup, who managed to finish up the last, largest Herdier of the pack, with Take Down.

The area was now filled with fainted Herdier. Dawn felt some sort of adrenaline rush after the battle ended. Hilbert thought that Dawn would say “I want to see blood!” at some point, judging the expression on her face. Again, Hilbert makes another ironic remark: “I can’t believe that you told me that we shouldn’t have fought the Herdier… Now just look at yourself!” he ended with a laugh. Dawn looks at herself on a mirror; she’s got her hair undone, with sweat running down her forehead! Dawn turns cherry red out of embarrassment.
Hilbert then felt guilty, somehow, for having battled against the wild Herdier and leaving them injuries, but he tried to convince himself that he did what was right.

--DARE DA? (Who’s that Pokémon?)—
-hint- This Pokémon is known as the “Loyal Dog Pokémon”-hint-
Answer:

Spoiler

Herdier

--Commercial Break—

--Second Act—

Pikachu, Piplup and Lillipup are now very exhausted. Hilbert, still in an ethical dilemma, then thinks that maybe they shouldn’t have done what they did. He thinks that Lillipup will possibly never be accepted by the pack now that it defeated the largest Herdier in the pack by itself. But he is wrong; soon, the “King” of the pack, a large, shiny Stoutland came out from inside the cave. The eight injured Herdier try to stand up, as if they were trying to show respect for their leader. “I had never seen one of these in person! Much less one with that colouring!” exclaims Hilbert, who then registers the Big-Hearted Pokémon on his Dex. Stoutland then gives some sort of “speech” to the Herdier, and accepts Lillipup in their pack. Our heroes and their Pokémon now smile, but it’s now getting late, so they install a camp near the pack’s cave. The scene cuts to Hilbert and Dawn sleeping in their bags, with their Pokémon sleeping next to them. Lillipup is outside the cave, barking and crying, with the large Herdier behind it, watching it with threatening eyes. The little Lillipup was the new ‘vigilante’ of the pack. A wild Purrloin passes in front of them. Herdier then forces Lillipup to attack Purrloin, but it didn’t want to. The Herdier then bit Lillipup, who starts to cry and bark louder. Hilbert and Dawn wake up after hearing the barks. Hilbert tells Dawn that Lillipup is the one barking. He tells her that it is in trouble, and that she should stay with their Pokémon. Pikachu woke up too and followed Hilbert to the pack’s cave, where he sees that Lillipup is still being abused by the Herdier. When Lillipup saw Hilbert, it ran towards him and hid behind his legs. Hilbert tells Lillipup that it should be able to battle; however, he also scolds the Herdier, because it was still mistreating Lillipup. After this, the “King” comes out of its cave and also seems to scold Herdier, but it also seems disappointed at Lillipup, and makes a gesture that meant that they didn’t want it in their pack. Hilbert is able to understand this. He tells Lillipup that he did what he could, and then he leaves. Lillipup follows Hilbert, who then picks it up. “What are you doing? Do you really want to come with us?” Hilbert asks to the Puppy Pokémon, which nods and then happily licks his cheek. Hilbert and Lillipup go back to the camp, and he announces Dawn that it seems that they’ll have a new partner in their journey. Dawn is happy that Lillipup decided to accompany them, but then tells Hilbert that he has to catch it with a Poké Ball to make it officially his Pokémon. Hilbert was still doubting about Poké Ball use, but he also remembers that Dawn told him not to take N too seriously, so he decides to catch Lillipup in a Poké Ball after all.

Hilbert then takes a Poké Ball out of his backpack and throws it at Lillipup, who breaks the Poké Ball almost immediately. “You have to lower the Pokémon’s hit points before you can catch it!” exclaims Dawn. “Trust me, I completely forgot about it!” answers Hilbert, who then argues that Lillipup has received enough damage today, but Dawn insists that he has to make some more. Unwillingly, Hilbert tells Pikachu to use Thunder Shock on Lillipup. Following this, he throws another Poké Ball at it, and this time he successfully catches it. He grabs the Poké Ball, and promises that he’ll always take good care of it.

--Commercial Break—

--Third Act (episode’s stinger)—
The sun has risen already, and our heroes retake the road towards Striaton. Hilbert, Dawn and their Pokémon see Striaton in the distance. Hilbert then makes more vocal his excitement for his first battle, although he tells Pikachu and his new Lillipup that they’ll have to train some more before battling. Dawn then tells her Piplup that they’ll also have to rehearse for their first Musical, but first they have to think of a routine. The narrator closes the episode with a typical verbatim about the destiny of our heroes.

To be Continued

--Ending song: GLORY DAY ~That Shining Day~—

--Professor Oak’s Lecture: Snivy

--Preview of the next episode: Peril at the Dreamyard!
(Being said by Dawn) “Hilbert is going to spend the day training for his gym battle, so I’ll be visiting the city while I think of some good routines for the Musical! …Uh? …The ‘Dreamyard’? That place sounds interesting. Oh no! …You medieval weirdos again?
Don’t forget to watch the next episode!
Peril at the Dreamyard!”

--Pocket Monsters BW: Revolution sponsors—
--Episode Ends--

Additional notes:
This episode was a bit shorter than the last too. But Hilbert has managed to capture his first Pokémon!
After 3 episodes focusing mostly on him, I've decided to give Dawn at least one episode for now. After Hilbert's gym battle, expect more episodes focusing in her, because the next major event will be her first Musical.

I hope that you enjoyed reading this episode as much as I enjoyed writing it.

 

[szmty]

Re: What Could Have Been... (An Alternative BW and XY Adventure!)

BW04: Peril at the Dreamyard!

Characters (in order of appearance)
Dawn Berlitz
Hilbert Black
Pikachu
Nurse Joy
Team Plasma grunts
Munna
Piplup
Snivy
Lillipup

--Cold Opening—
The narrator tells us that our heroes have arrived in Striaton City, where Hilbert will challenge the gym leader. Hilbert and Dawn are inside a Pokémon Center. Hilbert asks the local Nurse Joy about the location of the gym. After Joy answers, she then warns Hilbert, telling him that there are not one, but three gym leaders, each specializing in a different type. Hilbert tells his Pikachu (still outside of her Poké Ball) that, since they don’t know how they will battle the leaders, they’ll have to train more than he had previously thought. He then tells Dawn that he’ll spend the day training for his battle in the Pokémon Center’s battlefield. “No need to worry then! Since you’ll stay here, I think I could visit the city. Hopefully I can think of a good routine for the Musical as I walk”, Dawn replies.

--Season: Pocket Monsters BW: Revolution--
--Opening song: Best Wishes—

--Commercial Break—

--First Act—
Dawn is visiting Striaton. We see a short montage of visiting various places around the city; a plaza, a shopping centre, a park, and a museum. After this, we see four Team Plasma grunts hanging out in an alleyway, talking about how “great” is their organization. One of them asks about the operation at the “Dreamyard”; an abandoned research centre in the outskirts of the city. Just as one of the grunts was going to respond, the scene back cuts to Dawn, who discovers an old sign pointing to the Dreamyard. She is amused at the name of the place, and thinks that it’d be a good place for thinking and rehearsing with her Pokémon.

Inside the abandoned laboratories of the Dreamyard area, there is a pair of Team Plasma grunts discussing their mission; getting Dream Mist from a Munna. “There are dozens of Munna living in this area, all of them descendants of the ones used in investigations at the Dreamyard. We’ll find one of them, and we’ll make it produce some Dream Mist for us. If it negates to, we’ll have to use brute force, but it’d a small price for our noble cause of liberating all the Pokémon of the dirty and evil hands of the mundane human beings”, a female grunt tells to her male companion. “And why do we need the Dream Mist?” the male grunt asks. “We’ll use the Dream Mist in order to control the dreams of the population! We’ll tell them through dreams to liberate their Pokémon to the honourable cause of the honourable Team Plasma!” explains the female grunt.

The scene cuts to an unkempt, dry garden outside of the abandoned laboratories, where the Team Plasma Grunts are looking for a Munna. The male grunt finds one between the dry bushes. Scared, Munna jumps out and tries to hover away from the intruders, but the female grunt throws a net at it, making it unable to move.

The scene cuts again. This time we see Dawn, who has reached the Dreamyard. “This is the Dreamyard? But it’s just an old, dusty building!” she thinks in disappointment. Nevertheless, she goes inside. It’s very quiet, and Dawn walks through the many hallways of the old research centre. We hear her thoughts for a moment: “I wonder if I could combine Piplup’s bubbles with its Drill Peck. I’m sure that could create a good rhythm with some nice imagery if I can find a prop.”
However, as she walks, she begins to hear some chatter in the outside. She finds a door that leads to the garden where the Team Plasma grunts were kicking Munna. Dawn is shocked. The grunts then stare at her, while Munna is badly injured.

--DARE DA? (Who’s that Pokémon?)—
-hint- This Pokémon was 'predicted' in Generation I by a trainer, who wanted a pink Pokémon with a floral pattern-hint-
Answer:

Spoiler

Munna

--Commercial Break--

--Second Act—

“Argh! You medieval losers again? And I thought that Team Rocket was annoying!” exclaims Dawn. “I beg your pardon? I’ve never seen you before”, answers the female grunt. “Hey, I do remember you! Your boyfriend was trying to make some trouble the other day in Accumula!” says the male grunt. “He’s not my boyfriend!” Dawn says while blushing heavily. “And stop what you’re doing to that poor Pokémon! Don’t you want it to be free?” she continues. The grunts didn't listen to that last thing she said. They keep kicking Munna, which is growling in pain.

Dawn is very angered, and she sends out her Piplup, which she orders to use Hydro Pump on the grunts. The grunts evade the attack (which also narrowly missed Munna), and they send out a Patrat and a Purrloin. She then sends her Snivy to join the battle. Purrloin was about to Scratch Snivy when vines came out from its sides, and whipped Purrloin away. “How convenient!” thinks Dawn, who orders Snivy to continue with its Vine Whip, and tells Piplup to use BubbleBeam on Patrat. Patrat managed to avoid the attack again, and answers with a Tackle. But Piplup had some battle experience already, and resisted the tackles. Piplup keeps using its BubbleBeam on Patrat, hitting it this time.

The scene cuts to a battlefield next to Striaton’s Pokémon Center, where Hilbert, Pikachu and Lillipup are taking a rest after finishing a training session. Hilbert and his Pokémon decide to take a stroll outside and see if they can find Dawn. Hilbert passes by the alleyway where the Team Plasma grunts were hanging out. He notices them and then he hides behind a car parked outside the alleyway. Coincidentally, the female grunt in the Dreamyard calls one of the grunts in the alleyway through a walkie-talkie: “A twerp is meddling with Operation Nightmare! We need some help here at the Dreamyard!” The grunt is interrupted. “Why everyone has to call me ‘twerp’?” said Dawn, whose voice is also heard through the walkie-talkie. “That’s Dawn’s voice…” Hilbert mutters. “Just come over here! Over and out!” the female grunt finishes. The grunts then leave the alleyway.

Hilbert and his Pokémon follow the grunts to the Dreamyard. He makes his way to the dry garden where he sees Munna trapped in the net, and Dawn struggling with the Team Plasma grunts. Two of the grunts recognize him as the troublemaker from Accumula. “Your boyfriend came here to save you!” says the male grunt to Dawn. “He/she is not my boyfriend/girlfriend!” shouted Hilbert and Dawn in unison. The grunts that had just arrived send out their Pokémon. All of them were Patrat and Purrloin. Hilbert ordered Lillipup to take down the Purrloin and Pikachu to Thunder Shock the Patrat. Now that Hilbert joined the battle, Dawn was able to help Munna. She cuts the net, and embraces Munna, while she orders Piplup to assist Pikachu with its BubbleBeam, and Snivy to assist Lillipup with its new Vine Whip. Eventually, there’s only one Patrat and one Purrloin left in the battle. Hilbert and Dawn order Pikachu and Piplup to use Thunder Shock and Hydro Pump on the remaining enemy Pokémon. Their attacks fuse together, and it not only hits the remaining Pokémon, but it also hits and launches the Team Plasma grunts and their fainted Pokémon to the skies. “Not only they called me a twerp, but they also lost in the same fashion as Team Rocket!” Dawn thought.

--Commercial Break--

--Third Act (episode’s stinger)—
Back in the Pokémon Center, Dawn waits for Munna, which is recovering. Nurse Joy tells her that Munna’s injuries aren’t very bad, and that she hopes that it will be alright in the morning. Hilbert tells Dawn that he doesn't think that Munna pertains to anybody, and that she should catch it. Dawn feels that maybe it deserves to be free in the wild, but she also thinks that it could be a good addition to their party. Meanwhile, Hilbert feels that after training, and after what happened that day, he’s ready to challenge the gym leaders. "Pikachu! Lillipup! We'll get our first badge tomorrow!" The episode ends in a cliffhanger; the narrator wonders if Dawn will catch Munna, and he also wonders about Hilbert’s challenge.

To Be Continued

--Ending song: GLORY DAY ~That Shining Day~—

--Professor Oak’s Lecture: Herdier

--Preview of the next episode: Three Leaders! Hilbert vs. Chili, Cress and Cilan!?
“Hilbert is finally ready for his first gym battle! Three gym leaders! Three Pokémon of different types! How will this end? And what about Dawn and Munna! Will she catch it? Will she let it go?
Don’t forget to watch the next episode!
Three Leaders! Hilbert vs. Chili, Cress and Cilan!?"

--Pocket Monsters BW: Revolution sponsors—
--Episode Ends--

 

[szmty]

Re: What Could Have Been... (An Alternative BW and XY Adventure!)

BW05: Three Leaders! Hilbert vs. Chili, Cress and Cilan!?

Characters (in order of appearance):
Dawn Berlitz
Munna
Nurse Joy
Hilbert Black
Pikachu
Lillipup
Chili
Cress
Cilan
Panpour
Pansear
Pansage
Snivy

--Cold Opening—
The narrator makes a quick recap of the events of the last 4 episodes: Hilbert, Dawn and her Snivy and Piplup saved the lab; Hilbert receives a Pikachu; Hilbert and Dawn’s Pokémon were taken away by Team Plasma, but their mysterious leader, N, returned them; he challenged Hilbert to a battle, which Hilbert lost; Hilbert caught a Lillipup which was rejected by its pack; and finally, Dawn saved a Munna from Team Plasma.
He then tells us that Hilbert is ready for his first gym battle, against not one, but three gym leaders, while Dawn is thinking about catching the Munna she saved. “Will Hilbert succeed? Will Dawn catch Munna?” ends the narrator.

--Season: Pocket Monsters BW: Revolution--
--Opening song: Best Wishes—

--Commercial Break—

--First Act—
Our heroes are in Striaton’s Pokémon Center. It’s very early in the morning. Dawn stayed up all night, waiting for Munna to recover completely; Munna is sleeping on a pillow. She recalls that Nurse Joy told her that Munna would be alright soon, but she wasn’t very convinced, since she saw how it was kicked by the Team Plasma members. Nurse Joy comes to talk to her; she tells Dawn that Munna had recovered properly, and that she was ready to release it. Nurse Joy woke Munna up, and she gave it to Dawn. Dawn sits in a chair with Munna in her arms and falls asleep. We see a clock next to her, which reads 5:30 AM. When she wakes up, it’s 11:15 AM already. Dawn freaks out and she realizes that Hilbert, a heavy sleeper, was going to challenge the gym leaders today. Still carrying Munna in her arms, she finds that, as she already supposed, Hilbert is still sleeping like a log, so she attempts to wake him up, but he ignores her and continues sleeping and snoring. Dawn is about to scream at him, but a pink flume begins to emanate from Munna’s back. Dawn lets Munna off her arms, and Munna begins to float. Dawn takes out her Pokédex to see if it can give her some information on Munna: “It eats the dreams of people and Pokémon. When it eats a pleasant dream, it expels pink-colored mist” says the Pokédex. However, Munna then begins producing red mist. “When it eats nightmares, it produces a red mist instead”, the Pokédex continued. “So Hilbert is having a nightmare? Hmm, I wonder what it is about. I’ll ask him when he WAKES UP!” Dawn says. Hilbert then wakes up with a scream. Dawn asks him if he was having a nightmare; he tells her that he doesn’t remember having dreamt anything. “People whose dreams are eaten by Munna forget what the dreams had been about” suddenly said the Pokédex. “That was… odd…” Dawn says. She then she nags Hilbert for oversleeping. Hilbert sees through the window and argues that it’s still early. Dawn shows him her Pokétch; “Nevermind, we’ve gotta go!” Hilbert says.

Ready to leave, Hilbert asks Dawn if she’ll be present at the battle, but she says that she probably won’t; she says that she has to go to the Dreamyard and leave Munna there. Hilbert insists that she should catch it. “Oh well, in the end, it’s your decision. You’ve gotta do what you’ve gotta do. I still hope you have some time to come to the gym”, Hilbert says.

Hilbert arrives to the location of the gym with his Pikachu on his shoulder and Lilipup on his side, but he only sees a restaurant. He then realizes that the restaurant has to be the gym. He enters and he’s received by a red-haired waiter. “I’m here to challenge the gym leader!” Hilbert confidently states. With a grin on his face, the waiter gives him a plate with appetizers, and tells him to wait.

DARE DA! (Who’s that Pokémon?)
-hint- This is one of the only two Pokémon known as “Puppy Pokémon”; the other one is Growlithe -hint-
Answer:

Spoiler

Lillipup

--Commercial Break—

--Second Act—
The red-haired waiter comes back and tells Hilbert to follow him to the back of the restaurant. In the back, the waiter opens a door to a dark room. A spotlight turns on. A blue-haired waiter appears and introduces himself: “My name is Cress, and I’m a Leader of this Gym!” Another spotlight turns on. This time, a green-haired waiter appears and introduces himself: “My name is Cilan, and I’m also a Leader of this Gym!” A third spotlight turns on, and the red-haired butler introduces himself: “My name is Chili, and I’m also a Leader of this Gym!” “We are all gym leaders! We specialize in Water, Grass and Fire!” the three leaders said in unison. All the lights in the room turn on; the room is revealed to be a battlefield. The leaders comment on how they managed to finally do their presentation right. After this, Chili proceeds to read the rules: “All challengers will have to battle once against the three of us, without interruptions. In order to win the Trio Badge, you have to win all of your battles: we don’t use the ‘two-out-of-three’ rule; if you lose to the first of us, your challenge is over. We reserve the right of a second challenges in case of losing at any point. If we do accept, you’ll begin with the first leader you faced.” Cress then brings a table with three plates. Each plate had the name of one of the leaders. Then Cilan covers each plate and rummages them. Cilan then tells Hilbert to pick a plate. The plate he picks reads “Cress”, which meant he’d battle him. Chili turned on a robotic referee, and Cress and Hilbert walked to their battle positions. Cress sent out a Panpour, which Hilbert registered in his Pokédex. Confident in an easy win against a Water-type, he tells Pikachu that she’ll be the first to battle.

The scene cuts to the Dreamyard dry garden. Dawn, carrying Munna in her arms, is standing on the same place where she found it. “Well, you’re back in home”, she says. “You’re free to go. Goodbye!” Dawn then lets off Munna of her arms, but the Pokémon doesn't want to leave, and returns to her. Dawn tells it to go back with its family, but Munna growls and returns to her arms. “Do you really want to come with me?” Dawn asks to Munna. The Pokémon then makes a happy face in agreement. “Then I’ll have to battle you first!”

The scene cuts back to the gym. Pikachu Thunder Shocks Panpour, which responds with Water Gun. Pikachu resists the attack, and uses Thunder Shock again, knocking Panpour out. The robotic referee declares Pikachu the winner. Chili hits a gong, and brings the table back. Cilan asks Hilbert to choose another plate. This time, he has to battle Chili. Chili then brings his Pansear out. Hilbert registers it and decides that this time Lillipup will battle. Pansear begins using Lick, but it fails to paralyse Lillipup. Lillipup then attempts to Tackle Pansear. Chili orders Pansear to evade the tackle and then to use Fury Swipes. Lillipup is scratched on the face but Hilbert orders it to Bite back.

The scene cuts back to the Dreamyard. Dawn is about to catch Munna. Her Snivy attacks it with Vine Whip. Munna, in a playful mood, uses Psybeam on Snivy, but Snivy uses Vine Whip again. Dawn thinks it’s been enough damage already, so she throws a Poké Ball and successfully catches Munna. Dawn sees her Pokétch and wonders if Hilbert is still in the gym. She takes the Poké Ball with Munna inside and decides to go to the gym.

Back in the gym, Pansear uses Incinerate. Lillipup manages to resist it, and Takes Down Pansear. Both Pokémon are knocked-out however. Still, the robotic referee decides to declare Hilbert the winner, because he still has his Pikachu. Hilbert unwillingly calls Lillipup back to its Poké Ball. Cilan and Cress hit the gong, while Chili goes back to the restaurant. Cilan goes to his position and sends out his Pansage. Hilbert then orders Pikachu to use Thunder Shock. However, Pansage resists the attack very well, almost as if nothing had struck it. “Why did it… Oh yeah, I remember. Grass-types resist Electric attacks… but wait, so far, I know that Pikachu only knows Thunder Shock as a damaging attack… I wonder if it already knows Quick Attack. I’ll have to take the risk!” Hilbert thinks. He orders Pikachu to use Tail Whip. “That way I’ll lower Pansage defence”, he thinks. Cilan thinks that he’ll win easily and orders Pansage to use Vine Whip. Pikachu gets thrown to the other side of the field, but it doesn’t take much damage either. Pikachu continues using Tail Whip.

--Commercial Break--

--Third Act--

Dawn reaches the gym, but she just sees a restaurant. She goes inside, and Chili receives her. She asks if anybody is challenging the leader. Chili tells her that there’s a battle in progress, and asks her if she wants to take a challenge, but she tells him that she just wants to watch the battle, because the one battling is her friend.

“Go Hilbert! Go Pikachu!” Dawn shouts from the door. Hilbert is happy that Dawn could make it to watch the battle, but he tries to keep his focus. Dawn continues cheering though. In the battle, Pikachu continues using Tail Whip, but Pansear keeps using Vine Whip. However, during the last whip, Pansear gets paralysed because of Pikachu’s static. Hilbert is confident that Pikachu can perform Quick Attack. As if they were telepathically connected, Hilbert just tells Pikachu to do “what you've gotta do”. Pikachu then ran very fast through the field and quickly attacked Pansage. Still unable to move, Pikachu keeps hitting it very fast, until the robotic referee stops the battle; Hilbert and Pikachu won the last battle. Dawn jumps to the field and congratulates Hilbert and Pikachu. Chili then comes with a table with a covered plate on it. He takes the cover, revealing Hilbert’s new Trio Badge.

Outside the gym, the leaders tell Hilbert that all winners of the Trio Badge are rewarded a free dinner for them and their partners in their subsequent visits. Hilbert tells them that they’ll surely return to Striaton someday and eat at the restaurant. The leaders then bid farewell to our heroes.

Hilbert and Dawn then walk in direction to the Pokémon Center so Hilbert’s Lillipup can receive some attention for its injuries. Hilbert then asks Dawn about Munna. Dawn then sends Munna out of its Poké Ball, and Hilbert congratulates her, but tells her to keep it outside from its ball at least for a while. Dawn agrees this time, and allows Munna to be outside for a while. Munna happily decides to go back to Dawn’s arms. “But don’t think I’ll always be carrying you everywhere because you’re not that light. You’ll have to float sometimes!” Dawn tells Munna with a laugh.

It’s night already. In the Pokémon Center, Hilbert calls his mother, explaining all what has happened so far. He shows her his new Lillipup and shows her his first badge. His mother congratulates him, wishes him luck in his future challenges, and says goodbye. After this, Dawn calls his mother, Johanna, too, and also tells her everything about their quest so far. She shows her mother her new Snivy and her new Munna, and finally, she introduces his new friend to her. Like it happened with Hilbert’s mother, Johanna teases Dawn asking her if he’s her new boyfriend. With their faces getting red as tomatoes, he just tells Johanna that they’re not a couple, but that they’re just friends traveling together, and that he respects her daughter a lot. Dawn then says goodbye and ends the call.

The narrator closes the episode, congratulating Hilbert for his first badge and Dawn for catching Munna, and he reminds us of their next stop: Nacrene.

To Be Continued

--Ending song: GLORY DAY ~That Shining Day~—

--Professor Oak’s Lecture: Patrat

--Preview of the next episode: An Old Rival Shows Up! Meet Cheren!
(Hilbert’s voice) “Hey! It’s been so long since I last saw you! Weren’t you in a region faraway?” (Cheren’s voice) “I’ve been in so many places already… you should be more specific. So… you’ve finally made it? I never thought I’d see you with a Pokémon.” (H) “What do you mean? Do you think I’m not worthy of training my own?”(C) “Ugh, you always have to make a fuss about everything!"
(H & C) “Don’t forget to watch the next episode! An Old Rival Shows Up! Meet Cheren!”

--Pocket Monsters BW: Revolution sponsors—
--Episode Ends—

Additional notes:
Sorry for posting this later than usual. As you can tell, this episode was longer than the other. I think I’m labelling this episode as a special because of its length. Also, I’m sorry if it seems like I’m forcing a shipping too much. I’m actually trying to keep everything shipping-related as natural and funny as is possible.

Spoiler

In my original vision of the alternative BW, Cilan would have joined Hilbert and Dawn. However, I decided not to have him join. I'm liking more the way I'm working with Hilbert and Dawn so far. So if anyone else joins Hilbert and Dawn, it will most probably be temporarily.

 

[szmty]

Re: What Could Have Been... (An Alternative BW and XY Adventure!)

BW06: An Old Rival Appears! Meet Cheren!

(I’m retiring the character list section)

--Cold Opening—
The narrator tells us that our heroes are on their way to Nacrene for Dawn’s first Musical. It is mid-morning, and Dawn and Piplup are rehearsing their routine in a picnic area next to the route’s trail. Dawn plays a song on a stereo. Piplup shoots BubbleBeam to the air and Drill Pecks through the cloud of bubbles at the compass of the song. During the second part of the song, Piplup uses BubbleBeam again, and then freezes the bubbles with Ice Beam; the balls of ice fall to the floor and crash at the same time as the song ends. Hilbert asks Dawn how does she know how to prepare her routine if the Musical’s songs are selected by the judges; just as she was going to tell him, Hilbert turns his attention to the trail: he heard someone coming. We see a fair-skinned, black-haired teenager, wearing an open light blue jacket and skinny jeans. “Wait. Is that…? Uh-oh… Yes he is…” Hilbert mutters.

--Season: Pocket Monsters BW: Revolution--
--Opening song: Best Wishes—
--Commercial Break--

--First Act—
Dawn asks Hilbert why he stopped listening to her. Hilbert says that he knows the guy walking down the trail. “Why don’t you go and say hello?” Dawn says. “You know, I think we should better go”, Hilbert answers. “Don’t be like that! Why don’t you want to say hello?” Dawn continued. “It’s a bad idea. I’m not that much of a friend of him” Hilbert answers. They begin arguing, but the guy eventually sees Hilbert from the distance too and approaches them. “Wait, aren’t you…? Hilbert Black?” he continued. “Why yes. Yes it’s me.” Hilbert answered. “Is that a Pikachu? Wait, you finally made it?” the guy asks him with a mocking grin in his face. The guy then takes Dawn’s hand and introduces himself: “I’m sorry if you had to suffer with Hilbert’s stupidity, my lady. Let me introduce myself. My name is Cheren Schwarz.” “Stupidity? Oh, no, no, not at all.” Dawn says with a blush. She then introduces herself and her Pokémon. Cheren explains Dawn that he and Hilbert know each other since they were children. Cheren asks Hilbert when did he finally got his Trainer ID. Embarrassed, he tells him that he got it “just a week ago or so”. Cheren then tries to hold his laughter. Hilbert begins to lose his patience and asks Cheren what is he doing in Unova, because he remembers that he was traveling in a region faraway. Cheren says that he was going to train his “weak party”, because he’s preparing for a new job that required him to stay in Unova. “What kind of job?” Hilbert asks. “None of your business!” Cheren answers.

In the next scene, we see Cheren and Dawn talking about their adventures. Hilbert is sitting nearby watching and listening to them. Cheren tells her that he reached the quarterfinals of the Unova Vertress Conference when he was only eleven, and that since, he has always reached the top 16 in all the other Conferences where he has competed. He tells Dawn that he had competed in the Lily of the Valley Conference, but he precisely lost in the Round of 16. He then praised Ash Ketchum for his eventual triumph, although he still said that he could have won if they had battled. Dawn then tells Cheren that she travelled with Ash for a year before the Conference began. “YOU KNOW ASH KETCHUM!?” Cheren and Hilbert shouted in unison. “Why didn’t you tell me before?” an impressed Hilbert asks to Dawn. “Oh! Sorry, Hilbert. I plainly forgot to tell you” she says. Cheren asks Dawn to tell him everything about Ash.

There’s a transition. It is past midday already and we see that Cheren and Dawn are sitting in a picnic table having a chat while eating lunch. Hilbert is sitting in another bench, eating with his Pokémon. He’s listening to the conversation. Cheren is talking with Dawn about proper Pokémon care, and he begins to emphasize in Poké Balls, and that Pokémon “should always be in their Poké Balls when they’re not battling, training or eating”. Hearing this, Hilbert gets furious. Hilbert argues that Pokémon have the same right as humans to breathe fresh air and see the world. “Ugh, you always have to make a fuss about everything, just like when we were kids” Cheren says. Hilbert then tells him that a “very wise man” told him that in order to have your Pokémon reach their highest potential, they have to be out of their Poké Ball, and he bets that since his Pikachu and his Lillipup are out of their Poké Ball most of the time, they’re more powerful than Cheren’s “weak party”. “What are you suggesting?” Cheren asks. “I’m suggesting that we should battle to prove my theory!” Hilbert answers.

DARE DA! (Who’s that Pokémon!)
-hint- One of the “elemental monkeys”. It’s based on "Speak no Evil" from the three wise monkeys motif.-hint-
Answer:

Spoiler

Pansage

--Commercial Break—

--Second Act—

“This will be an easy win”, Cheren thinks. He sends out a Liepard. “I won’t use any other Pokémon. If you win, I’ll accept your theory”, he says. “I’ll be using one Pokémon too, then. It’ll be a 1-on-1 battle”, Hilbert says. He then takes out his Dex to register and see information on Liepard. He sends Pikachu to the battle. Dawn stands next to the improvised battlefield. Cheren tells her to act as a referee. “I want to know when I have to stop butchering”, he says with a laugh.

The battle begins. Cheren’s Liepard uses Hone Claws. Hilbert orders Pikachu to Growl. Cheren insists on Hone Claws, but Hilbert tells Pikachu to use Growl again. “Why do you insist with that attack? You’re such a kid!” Cheren says. Hilbert then orders Pikachu to use Thunder Shock, but before it attacks, Cheren’s Liepard uses Hone Claws again. Liepard receives the attack, but it doesn’t affect it too much. “Hey! You told me not to reuse attacks!” Hilbert shouts. “You shouldn’t trust in the enemy!” Cheren says. Liepard then uses Pursuit, causing a lot of damage on Pikachu. But Pikachu doesn’t give up. Hilbert then realizes that he has to lower Liepard’s defence and attack fast, just like in Striaton. Hilbert orders Pikachu to use Tail Whip. After this, Liepard uses Hone Claws again. Pikachu then uses Quick Attack, hitting Liepard and causing a moderate damage. Liepard is still able to battle, and uses Hone Claws again. Cheren realizes that Hilbert will try to use Tail Whip several times, so he orders Liepard to use Torment. Pikachu then is forced to use Quick Attack, again causing moderate damage on Liepard. However, Liepard, now with a very high attack stat, answers with Pursuit, throwing Pikachu to the other side of the field. Dawn declares Pikachu to be unable to battle. Cheren and Liepard win. The battle is over.

“Your theory has no proper basis. You can’t just trust in what a stranger says”, Cheren told Hilbert. “He challenged me to a battle and won with a wild Pokémon!” countered Hilbert. “You lost because your Pokémon are weak!” Cheren ended. Dawn tried to stop their arguments: “Let’s see. It’s good for Pokémon to be outside their Poké Ball. You can build friendship with them, and they also enjoy watching the world as most as we do. In fact, I know some Pokémon that are never inside their Poké Balls. But a Pokémon won’t be better just because it’s outside their Poké Balls. They grow stronger by training them. I agree that you should allow Pokémon to be outside at least for some time, but as you catch more, it becomes more impractical. You’d have to decide which one will be out and which one will be in. I’m sorry Hilbert, but that’s the truth” Dawn ended.

Hilbert understands what Dawn says and accepts the truth, although inside he still holds some of what N told him in Accumula. We can see Cheren in the background, pulling down his eyelid and sticking out his tongue, mocking Hilbert.

In the next scene, Dawn is sitting with Cheren in the picnic table; Hilbert is sitting in a separate bench with his Pikachu (who is wearing some bandages) and his Lillipup. He is visibly upset, and again, he is listening to the conversation. Dawn asks Cheren where he is going next; he tells her that he’s going to Nacrene to talk with a woman named Lenora, who is going to close the city’s Pokémon Gym. Dawn tells him that she and Hilbert are going to the same place, and asks him if he wants to join them. Hilbert makes a gesture from behind, trying to tell Dawn that he doesn’t want Cheren to join. Dawn ignores Hilbert and Cheren tells her that he’d be “more than pleased to join such a beautiful lady in her quest, even if it will be for a short time”. Dawn blushes while Hilbert, standing in the background, is furious.

--Commercial Break—

--Third act (episode’s stinger)—

Hilbert, Dawn and Cheren have left the picnic area. Hilbert, thinking in his own business, remembers that earlier that day he asked Dawn about the song she and Piplup were using for their rehearsals. Hilbert asks Dawn about it again; Dawn’s response is that the judge committee posts the songs in a website before all Musicals. Hilbert just sighs. (In the screen, the anime’s web address appears, inviting viewers to access to get news on future episodes, promotions and giveaways of Pokémon video games and toys). As they walk through the trail, we see three familiar faces hiding between the bushes; the Team Rocket has been secretly following our heroes! Jessie and James are convinced that Cheren’s Liepard and Dawn’s Munna are very powerful and that they could be useful for Giovanni, but Meowth is thinking about Hilbert’s Pikachu because of her high resistance and will to fight, which he observed during the Gym Battle (we see a ’flashback’ of Meowth watching the battle through a small window).
Cheren, carrying a map, tells Dawn that to get to Nacrene, they have to cross through the Wellspring Cave. The narrator talks about the rivalry between Cheren and Hilbert, and hopes that they can solve their problems soon. He also ponders on Dawn’s possibilities of winning her first Musical when she arrives in Nacrene.

To Be Continued.

--Ending song: GLORY DAY ~That Shining Day~—

--Professor Oak’s Lecture: Munna

--Preview of next episode: The Wellspring Cave! The Path to Nacrene!
“Cheren have joined our heroes as they travel to Nacrene for Dawn’s first Musical. But first they’ll have to go through the Wellspring Cave, where they’ll face some trouble. (Dawn) ‘Oh no, not the medieval weirdos again! Seriously, you’re getting even more annoying than Team Rocket!’ (Jessie) ‘Hey! We heard that! Now prepare for trouble!’ (James) ‘And make it double!’ (Jessie) “To protect the world from de…’ (Dawn) ‘Please don’t do your motto now! Leave it for later!’
(Meowth) ‘Don’t forget to watch the next episode-nya!
The Wellspring Cave-nya! The Path to Nacrene-nya!’”

--Pocket Monsters BW: Revolution sponsors—
--Episode Ends—

 

[szmty]

Re: What Could Have Been... (An Alternative BW and XY Adventure!)

BW07: The Wellspring Cave! The Path to Nacrene!

--Cold Opening—
The narrator reminds us that Dawn’s first Musical will be held soon in Nacrene, but first, our heroes have to cross through the Wellspring Cave. Cheren, who has joined our heroes temporarily, points to the main entrance to the cave, and tells Hilbert and Dawn that they have to follow the main trail closely or else they might get lost, because there are many other tunnels crossing through the area that may lead back to the forest. As they enter, a bush rustles: it’s Team Rocket! What are they planning now?

--Season: Pocket Monsters BW: Revolution--
--Opening song: Best Wishes—

--Commercial Break—

--First Act—
Our heroes are now inside of the Wellspring Cave. As they walk, Dawn sees a girl sitting in the floor, crying. Cheren and Hilbert are distracted because they’re arguing, and continue their way; Hilbert doubts that Cheren can handle the map, while Cheren says that he can “perfectly read maps” and that he is “more than qualified to direct the group through the cave”. The girl tells Dawn that she was visiting her grandparents, who own and live in a Pokémon Day Care, when a group of armoured men took her Pokémon when she was playing outside. She tells Dawn that she had followed the men to the cave, but now she’s lost. “Armoured men?” Dawn thinks. “Oh no! These guys are such a pest! They’re everywhere!” she continued thinking; she realized that the armoured men had to be Team Plasma grunts. “No need to worry! We’ll help you find your Pokémon and we’ll take you back to your grandparents, right guys?” Dawn says, but she then realizes that Hilbert and Cheren continued walking, fighting for the map.

Meanwhile, we see Team Rocket entering the cave through another entrance. James is carrying a map of the cave and is leading the Team, while Jessie and Meowth are discussing about our heroes’ Pokémon. “I’m telling you-nya, that Pikachu has some potential-nya” Meowth says. “I’m not convinced. The only Pikachu worth of stealing has to be that of the Kanto twerp. Now that was one powerful Pikachu”, Jessie answered. James tells them that they won’t be able to steal anything if they don’t have any own Pokémon. “I’m tired of battling for you-nya! I’m the only Pokémon following you-nya!” Meowth told them. “Oh c’mon, you’ve only battled once!” Jessie tells him. “I know-nya! And I’m still tired from that battle-nya!” Meowth mockingly says. Jessie hears a Pokémon screeching and flying. The Pokémon then stops in front of them. Never having seen one, James takes out some Pokémon cards for some information about it. “It’s a Woobat” he says. “It seems that they’re very similar to Zubat in ability, but are Psychic instead of Poison-type”. “I HAVE TO CATCH IT!” both said in unison. Jessie and James begin to argue over who should catch Woobat. Meowth convinces them to play rock-paper-scissors; “Ha ha, Rock breaks Scissors!” Jessie happily exclaimed after winning. Jessie takes out a Poké Ball and tries to throw it at Woobat. “This thing won’t even try to escape”, she calmly says, convinced that she’ll be able to catch it.
However, four armoured men arrive to the scene, interrupting Jessie. The men were carrying a cage with a Pidove inside. “Who said you have the right to take a Pokémon away from its freedom? All Pokémon shall be free from men!” one of them says. “And who are you to tell me?” Jessie continues. The armoured men then stood firmly and recited their motto: “WE WILL LIBERATE POKÉMON FROM HUMAN DOMINATION! WE WILL ALWAYS STAND IN FAVOUR OF NATURE! WE WILL NEVER BE STOPPED! WE WILL NEVER GIVE UP! BECAUSE WE ARE MIGHTY AND WE LIVE IN HONOUR! WE ARE TEAM PLASMA!” While the Plasma motto is recited by the grunts, we see a red flash; when they finish, Jessie mocks them, and shows them the Poké Ball with Woobat inside. “HOW YOU DARE TO CHALLENGE OUR HIGHEST AND MOST IMPORTANT PRINCIPLE!?” one of the grunts said in a very hammy tone. “You’ve got a caged Pokémon there, Captain Hypocrite!”, Jessie says. The Plasma grunts and Team Rocket begin to argue intensely.

The scene cuts to Cheren and Hilbert, who realize that Dawn isn’t following them anymore and also, they realize that they’re lost because they hadn’t put attention to the map while they were arguing.

The scene cuts again and now we see Dawn and the girl. “I followed them to this cave, but I tripped with a rock and they got away. But I could see that they went to that way”, the girl says while pointing to a fissure that leads to a separate, abandoned trail. Dawn and the girl make their way through the fissure and they’re now in the abandoned trail. They begin to hear people in the distance. “It must be Team Plasma!” Dawn said. They follow the sound. However, Dawn begins to hear a familiar voice. “And that’s why you’re a hypocrite!” Dawn hears; it was Jessie’s voice. “Team Rocket? this couldn’t get any worse!” she thinks out loud.

--DARE DA! (Who’s that Pokémon?)—
-hint- This Pokémon has a heart on its nose –hint-
Answer:

Spoiler

Woobat

--Commercial Break--

--Second Act—

Team Plasma and Team Rocket are in middle of a heated argument; the Team Plasma grunts are mad at Jessie for capturing a Woobat in front of them, while Team Rocket point out Team Plasma’s contradictions. Dawn finds both teams in the middle of the trail. “The twerpette!” Team Rocket says. “Pidove!” the girl says when she finds the cage. “Wait; won’t you say your motto?” Dawn asks to Team Rocket. “We wish we could, but these Dark Age losers won’t let us”, James says. One of the Team Plasma grunts tries to say their motto. James shuts him up. “I can’t believe what I’m going to say, but I’ll have to side with you guys. We’ve got to stop this plague!” tells Dawn to James. She sends out her Snivy and her Piplup, while Jessie sends out her newly caught Woobat. Dawn registers Woobat in her dex while Jessie asks James to lend her his cards to see which attacks Woobat could use. The four Plasma members send out a Patrat. “That’s the only Pokémon you always use?” Dawn taunts.

In the following scene, we see Cheren and Hilbert wandering aimlessly; neither of them know in which part of the cave they are. “How come we lost the trail!? It’s your entire fault Hilbert!” Cheren says. “My fault? Oh no, It’s all yours man. You’re the one with the map, remember?” Hilbert says. Their discussion is interrupted by a loud splash in the distance. “Wait, did you hear that?” Cheren asks to Hilbert, who says he did. Another splash is heard, followed by a very loud screech. “It sounds like a battle! Maybe someone there could help us find the way!” Hilbert says. They decide to follow the sounds.

Cheren and Hilbert stop hearing the splashes, but they hear more screeching, and continue following the screeches. They begin to feel very light-headed and confused; they find themselves in a dead end filled with Woobat, which were all using Confusion to scare away intruders. Hilbert falls to the floor, followed by Cheren, and they try to crawl away from the group of Woobat.

Back in the battle, we see that the splash came from Piplup’s Hydro Pump, which knocked out one of the Patrat, while the first screech came from Jessie’s Woobat Confusion attack. The Patrat are unable to make any damage to neither Dawn’s Pokémon nor Jessie’s Woobat with their weak attacks. One last BubbleBeam makes two of the Patrat faint. There’s only one Patrat remaining in the battle. Dawn notices that no one is protecting the cage; the Plasma grunts and Team Rocket are distracted with the battle and are still arguing. She knows that Team Rocket will try to steal the Pokémon anyway, so she tries to scape. She silently orders Piplup to use Ice Beam on the cage so it freezes, and then tells Snivy to use Tackle to break it. The girl takes Pidove in her arms and she and Dawn run away. Meanwhile, Woobat manages to make the last Patrat faint. The Team Plasma grunts then flee from the scene, and Team Rocket celebrates their victory. “Now all we gotta do is taking Pidove and the twerpette’s Pokémon for our boss-nya!” Meowth says. However, Team Rocket screams in frustration when they realize that Pidove is gone and that Dawn and the girl ran away.

The scene cuts to Dawn and the girl walking on the main trail. They begin to hear a loud screech, and Dawn wonders what it is. They begin to follow it. We see Cheren, covered in dirt, getting out from a small cavity in one of the walls of the main trail. “You see! I told you this was the correct way!” he tells with blurry speech to Hilbert, who also comes out from the cavity. Dawn and the girl happen to pass by the cavity, and try to help them to recover. Hilbert and Cheren can barely stand up, but alert Dawn and the girl of the Woobat, and tell them to follow another way. Dawn tells them that they have to go back to the entrance because they have to reunite the girl with her grandparents. Still dizzy and exhausted, Cheren and Hilbert don't hesitate and follow them back to the entrance of the cave.

In the next scene, we see the Pokémon Day Care, where the girl’s grandparents are standing outside. It is getting dark, and they begin worrying about her. The girl runs to them and they hug her. She tells them that her Pidove had been stolen, but that Dawn helped her to get it back. Dawn arrives with them and the girl’s grandparents congratulate her for her help. “I couldn’t have done it without Piplup and Snivy!” she says. Cheren and Hilbert are barely able to walk, and they fall to Dawn’s feet. Dawn, seeing that it is already dusk, realizes that they won’t make it to Nacrene, so she asks the girl’s grandparents if she and her friends could stay for the night, to which the grandparent’s happily say yes. Dawn goes inside the house, with the exhausted and dirt-covered Cheren and Hilbert gripping to her legs.

--Commercial Break--

--Third Act (Episode’s stinger)--

Team Rocket walks back to the exit of the cave, frustrated for not stealing any Pokémon. “Well, at least we won a battle!” James says. “Hey! You're right! Team Rocket: proving that it’s the best of all villainous teams for almost fourteen years!” Jessie says, referencing to the duration of the anime up to that episode. “But we have to keep an eye on the twerps anyway-nya. The next time we see them, we’ll have to prepare something good-nya!” They then laugh evilly as they continue walking. “You know what else is good? This time we didn’t blow up or anything!” James said. However, they discover that they’re in a dead end; above them, there are dozens of Woobat, and all of them begin to use Confusion. Team Rocket ends falling to the floor and tries to crawl away from them. The narrator ponders on Team Rocket’s next attempt to steal our heroes Pokémon. He then reminds us that Dawn’s Musical will be held soon, and that she must be well prepared for it.

To Be Continued

--Ending song: Pockettaari Monsutaari

--Professor Oak’s Lecture: Pansage

--Preview of the next episode: One Last Thing Before the Musical! A Rehearsal with May!!
“Our heroes have made it through the Wellspring Cave and they’re now in Nacrene City!
And May is here to help her with her first Musical! Is Dawn really ready for her debut at the Musicals? Or does she still need some help?
Don’t forget to watch the next episode!
One Last Thing Before the Musical! A Rehearsal with May!!

--Pocket Monsters BW: Revolution sponsors—
--Episode Ends--

 

[szmty]

Re: What Could Have Been... (An Alternative BW and XY Adventure!)

BW08: One Last Thing Before the Musical! A Rehearsal with May!!

--Cold Opening—

The narrator tells us that our heroes have finally managed to cross through the Wellspring Cave, this time without any problem, and they’re now in Nacrene, where Dawn’s first Pokémon Musical “will be held tomorrow”. Dawn is excited, but she still thinks that she should rehearse some more with her Piplup, claiming that they “didn’t had much time to rehearse”. She, Hilbert and Cheren are inside a Pokémon Center. They’re sitting in a table in the lobby, when a young woman enters the building. “Hey! It’s May!” Dawn exclaims.

--Season: Pocket Monsters BW: Revolution--
--Opening song: Best Wishes—

--First Act—

May and Dawn greet each other with a hug. Dawn asks her what she is doing in Nacrene; she tells her that she just got her second Ribbon in a Musical held in Nimbasa. She tells her that she won the last Musical held in Nacrene “a couple of months ago” and then went to Nimbasa for her next ribbon. She says that the next Musical she’ll be competing won’t be held until “some more months”, so she’s “taking a break” and “decided to stop in Nacrene to watch the Musical”. “Wow! So this is how the Nacrene ribbon looks!” Dawn says with awe. Dawn then introduces her friends to May: “Guys! I want you to meet my friend May. She’s a Coordinator from Hoenn, and she was the one who told me about Pokémon Musicals”. Cheren takes recognizes May as the daughter of Norman, Petalburg’s Gym Leader. He tells her that he had a hard time trying to win against Norman’s Slaking when he was traveling in Hoenn some years ago. Cheren’s introduced himself to May in a more relaxed way than he did when he introduced himself to Dawn. Hilbert then introduces himself: “My name is Hilbert Black, and I’m a Pokémon Trainer from Nuvema Town. Nice to meet you! ” May looks at him from head to toe: “You look a lot like Ash Ketchum!” she says. “And you sound quite similar, though your voice is a tad deeper”, she continued. “Wait? Do you know Ash Ketchum in person?” Hilbert asks. “How do you know who he is?” May asks feeling surprised. “I love watching the Conference tournaments from all regions on TV, and Ketchum won the LotV Conference spectacularly”, he answers. She tells him that she travelled through Hoenn and Kanto with him, her brother and an ex-Gym Leader from Kanto. Hilbert is even more surprised that she also travelled with someone who used to be a Gym Leader. “How come everyone here knows Ash Ketchum?” he asks to himself.

In the next scene, Dawn sends her Pokémon out; she tells May that she left all her Pokémon in Sinnoh, with the exception of Piplup. “I wanted a fresh start here in Unova. I decided I’d just bring my Piplup. So far, I’ve been doing well. I got a Snivy from Professor Juniper in Nuvema, and I caught Munna in Striaton”, Dawn says. May sends out some her Pokémon too; “I decided to leave my strongest Pokémon with Professor Oak. I still brought my Beautifly, Skitty and Munchlax, as you can see” May sends out another Pokémon; a Scraggy. “I caught him in the desert south of Nimbasa. I haven’t been able to bond too much with him, he’s a bit stubborn.” She says. (As she said this, we could see Scraggy having some kind of argument with Piplup over a plate of food). Dawn takes out her Pokédex and registers Scraggy. She then tries to calm down her Piplup.

Hilbert also sends out his Pikachu, who introduces herself. “Ha! You even have a Pikachu! Although yours is a female” May says. She asks him if he’s also challenging Gym Leaders. He says he is, and shows her his first badge, which he is carrying inside his jacket. May tells him that he could use a special case for his badges. “Wait!” she says. She opens her bag and takes out an empty badge case. She tells him that her father gave it to her before her journey began, but since she was going to be a Coordinator, she never used it, but she still carried it. The case has the logo of the Hoenn Pokémon League Association, and has the empty spots for each Hoenn badge. “They might not fit very well in there, but you could use it as a temporary case”, May says. Hilbert says thanks and pins his badge to the spot belonging to Rustboro’s stone badge.

There’s a transition. Dawn and May are chatting in a table in the Pokémon Center’s cafeteria, while Hilbert and Cheren are bored out of their minds in the lobby. “Didn’t you have to talk with someone when you arrived to Nacrene?” Hilbert asks to Cheren. “I forgot about that! I have to go! See ya later!” Cheren says. “Oh wait! I forgot to do something!” he says. Cheren art style morphs into that of a bishonen. He goes to the table where Dawn and May were chatting and he takes Dawn hand: “I’m sorry, my lady. I’ll have to leave you for today. But I promise you that I shall be present in the audience of tomorrow’s Musical!” he tells to Dawn, who blushes. Cheren (now drawn as usual) then leaves the building. “Is he your boyfriend?” May asks to Dawn after Cheren leaves. Dawn continues blushing.

DARE DA? (Who’s that Pokémon?)
-hint- This Pokémon looks like it is wearing baggy pants! –hint-
Answer:

Spoiler

Scraggy

--Commercial Break—

--Second Act--

“It’s not what you think! I just met him a couple of days ago. He seems to have a rivalry with Hilbert since they were kids”, Dawn answers with a slight blush in her face. “Hmm, and what do you think of Hilbert? How did you meet him?” May asks with curiosity. Dawn tells her that she met him in Nuvema; they helped to stop Team Rocket from stealing the eggs stored in Professor Juniper’s Laboratory. “Huh? Team Rocket is here in Unova? I better get prepared” May says. She doesn’t want to change the topic, so she continues asking: “So, is Hilbert your boyfriend?” May asks to Dawn, whose face turns a deeper red. “No, no, no! We’re just traveling together, just like when you and I travelled with Ash. We’re following more or less the same route. Apart from that, he’s a good guy, but I don’t know too much about him yet. So far, I only know he had some trouble trying to become a trainer, and that he’s a very heavy sleeper.” Dawn says. She then asks May about Drew* and Harley. May tells her that Drew accompanied her, but that he’s visiting the Nacrene Museum. “He isn’t competing in the Musicals. He says he likes them but he isn’t interested in competing in them right now. So for now he’s just following me. Ain’t that sweet? On the other hand, Harley stayed in Johto. I heard that he got himself a girlfriend”, May said. “A girlfriend? From what you’ve told me about him, I expected him to be, well, you know…” Dawn says. Before she finishes the sentence, she recalls that she wanted to rehearse some more with her Piplup. “Do you want to watch me and Piplup? You could help us with our routine”, Dawn tells to May, who in turn accepts.

Meanwhile, Hilbert is sitting in a couch in the lobby. He’s watching the ceiling, thinking, while his Pikachu is resting on his lap. “I’m so bored!” he thinks. “Maybe I should join Dawn and May in their conversation… Nah, they’re most probably talking about girly things. Like shopping… Or boy bands… Or buying a boy band’s records” he continues thinking. “I’m so bored that I might not even care if they’re talking about something like that. Let’s give it a try. Let’s see how they’re doing”, he finishes thinking. He tells Pikachu to come with him. Pikachu jumps to his shoulder. Hilbert walks to the table where Dawn and May were sitting, but nobody is there. “I gave it a try. I’ll find something else to do. Perhaps I we could train, Pikachu. Why don’t go to the battlefield outside?” he tells to the yellow Pokémon on his shoulder, who happily nods.

Hilbert and Pikachu walk outside, and see that Dawn is showing off her routine to May. Again, Dawn turns on a stereo, and Piplup, wearing a prop, dances at to the beat of the song (Sky Tower), and at a certain point, he uses BubbleBeam to the air, which this time creates a rainbow. Then Piplup pecks each bubble following the song. When the song’s middle eight begins, Piplup uses BubbleBeam again, creating a second rainbow. Piplup then continues dancing inside a cloud of bubbles that reflect the rainbows. As the middle eight approaches to its end, Piplup uses a low charged Ice Beam to freeze the bubbles in the end, which crash on the floor at the same time as the middle eight ends. The song is cut at this point, marking the end of the routine. Hilbert, standing in front of the door, is impressed, as is Pikachu, and he applauded. “You did it great Dawn!” he shouts. Dawn faintly blushes. “Thank you Hilbert! I wasn’t expecting you to be watching!” she says. Pikachu jumps off Hilbert’s shoulder and congratulates Piplup, who proudly makes a ‘badass’ pose “Pip, pip-lup” he says. Hilbert then joins Dawn and May.

May tells her that the routine is very well timed, but that the ending can be problematic, because the sound of the ice crashing could overlap with the song’s end. She suggests her to have Piplup use another Water attack to thaw the ice before it crashes. Dawn tells her that the only other Water attack Piplup currently knows is Hydro Pump, which is too fast and strong. May says that she needs a better attack. After this, she has an idea: she opens her bag and takes out a disc with a number 55 printed on it. “I got this when I visited Driftveil. It’s a Technical Machine”, May says. Dawn says that she had heard about them before, but she had never used one. May tells Dawn how to use the TM: “You call Piplup to his Poké Ball, and then you go to a PC and scan the Poké Ball. Piplup will be converted into data that you’ll see in the PC. There you’ll see your Piplup’s stats and attacks. Then, you insert the disc in the PC, and a program will open. There, you’ll have to delete an attack to replace it with the TM. This one contains a very good move called Scald, which would be perfect for your routine. Don’t worry if you don’t like the attack. Some people are able to make Pokémon remember moves that they have forgotten!” May then gives the TM to Dawn, who wonders if it’d be a good idea to give a new move to Piplup. “Do it!” Hilbert says. “May knows what she’s talking about. I’m sure you’ll win your first ribbon!”, he says. “Piplup, what do you think?” Dawn asks to the little blue Pokémon. Piplup has a flashback of previous times where he used Hydro Pump. He doesn’t seem very convinced, but then he had a flashback of the times when he and Dawn had lost Contests in Sinnoh. After this, Piplup accepts to forget Hydro Pump.

--Commercial Break—

--Third Act (episode’s stinger)—
“Are you ready?” Dawn asks to Piplup, who nods. She then calls it to his Poké Ball. She sits in front of a PC inside the Pokémon Center and scans Piplup’s Poké Ball with a special app that is installed in the back of the PC. Piplup’s data appears on the screen; date of capture, nature, ability, stats and moves. Dawn then inserts the disc. A window titled “Technical Machine 55” pops up: “Piplup wants to learn the move Scald. However, Piplup already knows four moves. Should a move be deleted and replaced with Scald?” The screen shows Piplup’s moves, with the phrase “Which move should be forgotten?” above them. Dawn clicks on Hydro Pump: “1, 2, and… … … Poof! Piplup forgot how to use Hydro Pump. And… Piplup learned Scald!” The disc is automatically ejected and Dawn takes Piplup’s Poké Ball back. The narrator tells us that he expects Dawn to do well in her first Musical, which he hopes she can win. He says that with good friends like Hilbert and May, she’ll never have a reason to be disappointed and that she can reach whatever she wants with their help.

To Be Continued.

--Ending song: Kimi no Soba de ~Hikari no Theme~ (Arranged Version)

--Professor Oak’s Lecture: Lillipup

--Preview of next episode: “’The Nacrene Musical Begins! Presenting… Dawn!!’
(Dawn) “Well, here we go! Piplup, together we’ve faced hard times. We’ve lost and we’ve shared tears. But we’ve also shared joy and excitement. And surely today we’ll feel the joy of winning again! Snivy! Munna! Prepare, because I’ll soon need you too. Hilbert! May! I need you to support me and wish me your best!
Don’t forget to watch the next episode!
‘The Nacrene Musical Begins! Presenting… Dawn!!’”

--Pocket Monsters BW: Revolution sponsors—
--Episode Ends—

Additional notes:
Yes, in my vision of the Pokémon anime, TMs and HMs exist.

So Musicals will debut in the next episode. With that in mind I’d like to make a short comment: Contests were a great part of the anime. I never felt them to be a subplot, and I enjoyed them a lot. I would love to see them coming back. If you read the second episode, you’ll notice that my Musicals are like enhanced Contests.

I had some problems with the last episode (BW07). I honestly rushed it (I’ve been busy watching the World Cup), so may have a few storytelling gaps or more grammatical errors than usual.

I won’t be able to make posts this Friday, so I’ll most probably be posting the next episode until Monday night. (Or Tuesday morning, for those living at the other side of the pond).

Spoiler

*In the post that inspired me to create this fanfic, I stated that ContestShipping would become canon at the end of AG

Thank you for reading!

 

[szmty]

Re: What Could Have Been... (An Alternative BW and XY Adventure!)

BW09: The Nacrene Musical Begins! Presenting… Dawn!!

--Cold Opening—
The narrator tells us that the day of Dawn’s first Musical has arrived. An establishing shot of the theatre where the musical will be held is briefly shown on-screen. Hilbert is sitting with May and Pikachu in the theatre’s lobby, waiting for Dawn to finish her registration for the Musical. The lobby is filled with Coordinators and Pokémon of all sizes and colours. May tells Hilbert that this year Musicals have undergone many changes, which lead to changes in dates and venues. “These changes forced the organizers to held Musicals in Nacrene and Nimbasa again this season and that also meant that the next contest where I was planning to participate was delayed”, she ends. Dawn then arrives with them: “I’m an official participant! Here’s my Pass! The Musical will begin shortly! C’mon, let’s go to the backstage!” she exclaims.

--Season: Pocket Monsters BW: Revolution--
--Opening song: Best Wishes—

--First Act—
The scene begins in the backstage of the theatre. Dawn is getting ready for the musical inside a dressing room, while Hilbert, Pikachu and May are waiting outside. May receives a call from Drew on her PokéNav. Drew tells her that he’s coming to the theatre. Hilbert asks her who is Drew; May tells him that Drew is a Coordinator from Hoenn, and also her boyfriend. Hilbert asks if Drew is going to compete in the Musical, but May tells him that “Drew isn’t interested in participating, but he still likes watching them”. Dawn comes out from the dressing room; she’s wearing a dress very similar to the one she commonly wore in Sinnoh, but this time is light blue. “How do I look? Do I look pretty? What do you think?” Dawn asks. Hilbert had never seen Dawn wearing a dress, so his face shows a very slight blush. May tells her that she looks very good, but she also tells her that she must always remember that “the visual appeal of a Coordinator doesn’t win a Contest or a Musical; is your Pokémon’s appeal.” “After all, these are Pokémon Musicals!” she ends. Dawn says that she learned that when she was competing in Sinnoh’s Contests (a short flashback of Dawn’s losses in Contests is shown).

After this, a female Coordinator appears; she is slightly shorter than Dawn, has blonde hair and green eyes, and she’s wearing an orange dress. She goes with May and introduces herself. “My name is Bianca, and I’m from Nuvema Town! Nice to meet ya!” she says. Hilbert recalls her after this; she is Professor Juniper’s niece, and she used to be one of her assistants.

Bianca tells May that she decided that she wanted to be a Coordinator when she watched her in the Hoenn Grand Festival on TV a couple of years ago. “It’s a pity you didn’t win the tournament, because you were amazing!” she says. She tells May that she travelled to Hoenn alone with a Munna, but she didn’t have much success; she tells her that she only managed to win 3 ribbons. She then tried luck in Kanto, and managed to get to the Grand Festival, but she lost in the first round. “So I decided to come back to Unova and try something different!” she says. She then sends out her Pokémon, which is now a Musharna. May then registers Musharna on her Pokédex.

Bianca then turns her face to Hilbert. “Wait… I think I know you… Hey! You’re the guy who failed the Trainer exam a lot of times! What was your name? It was something Germanic… Was it Albert? Herbert? Gilbert?...” she asks. “My name is Hilbert… Hilbert Black”, he says with great embarrassment. Bianca asks him if he already passed the exam; he tells her that he passed his exam “a couple of weeks ago” and that he now has a Pikachu and a Lillipup. He sends out Lillipup, and both Pikachu and Lillipup introduce themselves to Bianca and Musharna.

Dawn then introduces herself to Bianca, who recognizes Dawn as being the runner-up of Sinnoh’s Grand Festival, and recognizes her ability as a Coordinator. Dawn tells her that she has a Munna that she just caught. She sends it out, and then Munna and Musharna begin to ‘talk’.

In the next scene, we see three mysterious people, wearing coats and fedoras, who have already taken their seats; it’s Team Rocket! James and Meowth aren’t very upbeat; they’re afraid that Jessie may want to take part of Musicals. Jessie reaffirms her retirement from being a Coordinator; she claims that she just wants to watch the Musical to “know what they’re about”. This tranquilizes James and Meowth, but they’re still somewhat unconvinced.

Back in the backstage, Dawn sends out her Snivy, and gives a short speech to it and to Munna. “I want you to watch the Musical and put a lot of attention. Piplup already has some experience, so that’s why he’s competing first. But I’ll need you in the future too. I know you have a lot of talent, and I know you’ll show it when the right time comes”, she says. “Ok, the Musical will begin in a couple of minutes! Anyone who is not going to participate will have to leave this area!” a steward says. Dawn tells Hilbert and May to take Snivy and Munna with them. They wish her and Piplup luck. “No need to worry! We will do fine. I’m confident that we can get a good result!” Dawn says.

There are only Coordinators left in the backstage area. All of them are talking to their Pokémon. Dawn gives a last motivational speech to Piplup: “Here we are. This is the first milestone of our new adventure here in Unova, I guess. We’ve been through a lot of things. We’ve lost many times, but we’ve also won in many others. We’ve been seen by thousands of people already. If anything, we should feel less pressure today. But even with that, we must still give all our effort. I know we can do this Piplup! And I know you know it too. So when the moment comes, we’re going out to the scenario, and show everyone what we’ve prepared!” Piplup happily agrees with Dawn’s speech. Dawn then puts a prop on Piplup; it’s Dawn’s red scarf.

DARE DA? (Who’s that Pokémon?)
-hint- This is the only Pokémon with a base stat total of 487 –hint-
Answer:

Spoiler

Musharna

--Commercial Break--

--Second Act—
Hilbert, May and the Pokémon are in their seats. Cheren bolts through a door, rushes down the stairs and looks for Hilbert. Hilbert sees him and sighs in frustration. Cheren sees him too and rushes to sit next to him. “I was starting to think you wouldn’t come”, Hilbert says. “I was hoping you wouldn’t come…” he thinks. Hilbert snaps and notices something weird: Cheren is dressed as a cheerleader (as a male one), and he’s holding a flag that says “Go Dawn!” in Japanese with bright red letters. “Umm… what are you doing?” Hilbert asks. “I promised Dawn that I’d be here with the audience today and I want her to notice me… my support for her!... and her Pokémon!” Cheren says. May laughs nervously. She then realizes that Drew hasn’t come yet, but he then appears at the stairs and sits next to her “I thought you wouldn’t make it”, she told him. Drew then gives her a rose, and May hugs him. Hilbert and Cheren stare at each other and both contain their laughter. Drew introduces himself to Hilbert and Cheren. After this, the lights go off, and Pikachu and Snivy pull Hilbert’s and May’s arms so they put attention to the front; the Musical was finally going to begin.

The curtain rises. The hostess, Julianne[1], welcomes the audience to the Musical, and then continues with a recapitulation of the format of the competition: “Today, due to the several changes in the organization of the Pokémon Musical throughout these last months, we have to begin a new season, and as is traditional, the new season will begin in Nacrene. The ribbons awarded to the winners of the past Nacrene, Desert Resort and Nimbasa Musicals are still valid as usual. However, the winners of those Musicals were unable to take part of this new season’s first three Musicals, which are to be held in the same venues, to make things fairer to newer participants. The format of the Pokémon Musical will be the following: 24 participants have entered, each with a single Pokémon. There will be an appeal round and a knockout tournament round. In the appeal round, a song previously selected by the judges will be played. The participating Pokémon are awarded points by causing a pleasant appeal to the audience and to the judges by dancing and using their moves in relation to the rhythm and mood of the song being played. Extra points will be awarded to Pokémon with props; items that enhance the Pokémon’s physical appearance. But that doesn’t means that Pokémon with a hundred props will fare better than those with only one or with none; they have to make the Pokémon look better. The best 8 will qualify to the knockout round.”

Julianne presents the judges: the President of the Pokémon Musical Association, Mr. Ludwig Lennon[2], the President of the Unova Pokémon Fan Club, Mr. John Smith[3], and Nacrene’s Nurse Joy.

Julianne finally explains that she will call every Coordinator at random and then she declares that the Musical officially begins.

We see Dawn and Bianca waiting to participate. They're watching the first Coordinators’ performances on a TV. A montage of several Coordinators and their Pokémon is shown on the screen.

Eventually, Julianne calls Bianca to the scenario. “The song is called ‘Sky Tower’!” Julianne says. Bianca comes out and sends out Musharna, who begins moving softly to the sides of the stage. “You know what to do next, Musharna!” Bianca says. After a few seconds, Musharna begins to produce Dream Mist. “What a great control over its body! I thought Musharna only emitted their Mist when they were eating Dreams! But this one can do it by its own will!” The Dream Mist projects an image of a Jungle-like environment, where heavy rain is falling. Musharna continues moving, making the cloud of mist larger, and then Bianca orders it to use Lucky Chant at a certain point in the song. “This is amazing! Musharna is now singing to the song!” As the song approaches to its end, the Dream Mist becomes a deep red. The Jungle-like environment evolves into a tower made of clouds, and a giant, dragon-like Pokémon flies around it. Musharna floats very high and dissipates the cloud with Defense Curl exactly as the song ends. We see Hilbert, Cheren, May, Drew, and the Pokémon being rendered speechless, with their mouths fully open. Team Rocket is trying to contain their tears, but Jessie promptly breaks in tears anyway. The judges are all incredibly impressed too with Musharna’s performance and they all give a positive vote.

Dawn is very impressed, and she hopes she can do at least enough to make it to the next round. Bianca returns to the backstage where all the Coordinators congratulate her. Right after her, Dawn is called to the scenario by Julianne. Bianca wishes luck to Dawn.
Dawn comes out to the scenario. As she comes out, she begins to feel nervous. In the audience, Cheren stands up with his flag in one hand and with a loudspeaker in the other. “GO DAWN! YOU CAN DO IT!” Cheren shouts through the loudspeaker. “Nice! It seems that Dawn has some fans up there!” Julianne says. Dawn becomes more nervous, but she tries to calm down reciting her catchphrase in her mind. “The song is called ‘Sky Tower’!” Julianne says again. Dawn sends out Piplup, who is wearing Dawn’s red scarf. Piplup begins dancing a slow choreography. “Piplup’s slow dance goes perfectly with the mood of the song!” Julianne says. A little later into the song, Dawn orders Piplup to use BubbleBeam: “Remember the routine we practiced Piplup! Use BubbleBeam!” she says. Piplup covers the scenario with a cloud of bubbles. The lights above the stage reflect a rainbow in the middle of the cloud. Piplup then begins pecking the bubbles to the melody of the song. The judges then make a positive remark on the synchronisation of Piplup’s Pecks and the melody. In the audience, Drew makes a comment about the visual appeal elements, specifically about the rainbow produced by the bubbles. Piplup then uses BubbleBeam a second time, creating a second rainbow. The song approaches to its end. Dawn orders Piplup to use Ice Beam on the bubbles. The bubble cloud freezes in mid-air and begins to fall. “OK, so the ice will crash on the floor as the song ends… wait, no! Piplup has to use Scald!” Dawn reacts; she had forgotten that she had made a last change to the routine! Dawn rapidly orders Piplup to use Scald on the ice, but it’s too late; the ice crashes loudly on the stage, creating an echo. The Scald attack was executed anyway, so a cloud of water vapour emanates from the now wet floor.

The judges still praise Piplup’s performance, but agree that the ice crashing wasn’t a very good touch. They award Dawn an extra point for Piplup’s prop. “It’s very simple, but it looks very nice on the Pokémon!” Nurse Joy says.

Julianne announces that the appeal round is over, and calls for a brief break.

--Commercial Break—

--Third Act (episode’s stinger)—

Julianne announces that the judges have gathered during the break and that they’ve selected the best 8 Coordinators from the appeal round. Dawn and Bianca are sitting together in the backstage, watching Julianne’s announcement on the TV. Dawn compliments Bianca; she tells her that she did amazingly and that she shouldn’t worry about not being in the Top 8. On a screen located above the stage, photos of the eight best coordinators appear. Dawn’s photo shows up on the screen. Dawn is much alleviated and congratulates Piplup. Bianca’s photo shows up on the screen too, and she’s congratulated by Dawn and by the other Coordinators. Cheren is briefly shown chanting for Dawn through his loudspeaker; Hilbert facepalms, while May, Drew and the Pokémon simply stare at Cheren with a nervous smile drawn on their face. Team Rocket is also briefly seen, with Jessie rooting for Dawn too. “The twerpette did it! I always knew you could!” Jessie exclaims.

Julianne then clarifies the rules of the knockout round: “In the quarterfinals, the 1st placed Coordinator will face the 8th placed one. The 2nd placed will battle against the 7th placed one, and so on. A song will be played during the battles; each battle will feature a different song. The Pokémon must keep their visual and rhythmic appeal throughout the battle; the execution of their attacks should reflect the mood and rhythm of the song being played. If a Pokémon fails to keep the appeal, it will lose points. The Pokémon with the best score at the end of the song wins. If one of the Pokémon is rendered unable to battle before the song ends, the battle is halted and the opposite Coordinator wins. The loser of each battle is eliminated from the competition. The winner of the last battle will be awarded the Nacrene Ribbon!”

On the screen atop the stage, the photos of the Coordinators are accommodated according to their performance in the appeal round. Bianca clinches the first place, while Dawn is in 5th place. The knockout is arranged so the winner of the 1st vs. 8th battle faces the winner of the 3rd vs. 6th battle. Dawn feels that Bianca could easily make it to the final; “The way this is going to be done, I’d only battle against her in the final itself”, Dawn thinks. The narrator closes the episode saying that Dawn is very interested in battling against Bianca in the final, and hoping that she can reach her goal.

To Be Continued.

--Ending song: Kimi no Soba de ~Hikari no Theme~ (Arranged Version)

--Professor Oak’s Lecture: Woobat

--Preview of the next episode: “The Nacrene Musical Continues! Knockout Mode ON!!”
(Dawn) “We did it Piplup! We’ve made it to the next round! But now we must improve and keep our focus. We’re going to give everything! Bianca! I’m sure you’re going to be in the final. And I’ll do my best to reach the final and win the Musical!
Don’t forget to watch the next episode!
The Nacrene Musical Continues! Knockout Mode ON!!”

--Pocket Monsters BW: Revolution sponsors—
--Episode Ends—

CHARACTER DESCRIPTIONS:
[1] Julianne: The hostess of the Pokémon Musical. She looks “strikingly similar” to the hostesses of the Hoenn, Kanto and Sinnoh Contests. Julianne’s skin is slightly tanned though. To keep the pattern, her name sounds like the names of the other hostesses too.
[2] Mr. Ludwig Lennon: President of the Pokémon Musical Association. He wears an all-white suit, wears round glasses, sports a moptop cut, and has a couple of wrinkles on his face. I think you know the origin of his name.
In case you still don’t get it, “Ludwig” comes from Ludwig van Beethoven, and Lennon comes from John Lennon.
[3] Mr. John Smith: President of the Unova Pokémon Fan Club. Since Mr. Sukizo (president of the Pokémon Fan Club in the other regions) looks stereotypically Japanese, Mr. Smith looks stereotypically American instead. He’s fair skinned and blonde haired. He wears a navy suit, with a white shirt and a tie with red and white stripes. He also gives short answers, mostly positive.

Additional notes:
It took me a while to make this episode. I was expecting to finish by Monday, but my mind was blocked through the weekend (especially after Mexico’s loss against the Netherlands in the World Cup).
I haven’t been able to work with the next episode yet, so don’t expect the next episode on Wednesday. Most probably, I’ll finish and post the next episode on Friday, or perhaps later. Next week, I’ll begin a mandatory “inductive course” at college, so there will still be some irregularities on the current schedule. I’ll still try to work on this series as much as possible.
Finally, I hope you enjoyed the episode!

 

[szmty]

Re: What Could Have Been... (An Alternative BW and XY Adventure!)

BW10: The Nacrene Musical Continues! Knockout Mode ON!!

--Cold Opening—
The narrator opens the episode saying that Dawn made it to the knockout round of the Nacrene Musical, but that it will be complicated for her to win the Musical, since Bianca, a skilled Coordinator, passed in first place, and both of them could get to the final. (As the narrator says this, a montage of the appeal round appears on-screen). “How will this Pokémon Musical end?” the narrator asks to the audience.

--Season: Pocket Monsters BW: Revolution--
--Opening song: Best Wishes—

--Commercial Break--

--First Act—
Julianne declares that the Musical’s knockout round has begun. A trap door opens on the stage and a small battlefield rises from it. “The first battle is between the 1st and 8th placed Coordinators. Bianca Juniper and her Musharna will battle Clark Parish[1] and his Blitzle”, Julianne announces. Bianca and Clark come from the backstage and take their places on the battlefield. The screen above the stage shows Bianca and Clark’s photos, along with a photo of their Pokémon. Beneath the photos, a pair of blue bars appears, representing the Pokémon’s appeal and health. “This bar will decrease if a Pokémon fails to show visual and sound appeal as it attacks, or if its hit points are reduced due to continued attacks from the opponent”, Julianne explains. A timer then appears at the bottom of the screen; “You’ll have five minutes to lower your opponent’s blue bar. The Coordinator with more points on their bar when the time ends wins. If you deplete your opponent’s bar, or outright knockout your opponent’s Pokémon before the time ends, you win” Julianne continues explaining. “A single song will be played during those five minutes. Remember: your Pokémon must try to keep the rhythm! The song that will be used in this battle was composed by a lady from Fallarbor in Hoenn. She calls it ‘Path of Ashes’. And now, let the battle begin!” Julianne ends.

The audience applauds loudly when Bianca sends out her Musharna. Clark then sends out his Blitzle; the audience reaction is less strong. In the audience, Hilbert takes out his Pokédex to register Blitzle. May comments that Blitzle “might not be the ideal Pokémon for this battle because it’s quite fast”. “I’ve heard that song before, and its beat is calm”, she concludes. Drew comments that the song used in the appeal round was slow too, yet Clark still managed to finish in eighth place.

Team Rocket is also seen watching the battle. “Let’s see how this rolls…” Jessie says.

The song begins to play and the timer starts to run. Musharna and Blitzle are moving slowly around the battlefield, trying to synchronise their movements with the song. After a few moments, Clark orders Blitzle to use Charge. Blitzle stomps its hind legs on the floor and a buzz begins to be heard. A bright ‘cloud’ of static appears around Blitzle; the cloud changes its size and the buzz changes its loudness according to the rhythm. Musharna instead uses Lucky Chant. “Musharna is singing again!” Julianne says. Blitzle’s Charge suddenly stops; Clark’s blue bar decreases a bit. Clark orders Blitzle to use Shock Wave on Musharna. The attack is too fast, creating further dissonance with the song, and making Clark’s bar to decrease even more. However, the attack makes a good impact on Musharna, reducing its points moderately. Bianca then orders Musharna to release Dream Mist and use Psybeam. Musharna begins to produce Dream Mist. Blitzle stomps on the floor and executes a weak Thunder Wave; this time Clark’s bar is not affected. Musharna stops moving and Bianca’s bar begins to slowly decrease. Bianca pleads Musharna to remain much focused and rely on the sound appeal of their attacks. Blitzle stomps on the floor again and uses a low intensity Shock Wave; the Shock Wave blue static glow blends with the pink cloud to reflect a dim purple light. “Blitzle has managed to use its opponent’s strategy on its favour!” Julianne says. In trouble, but realizing that they “still have enough points to waste”, Bianca decides that Musharna has to knock out Blitzle even if they’ll miss the beat. She orders Musharna to use Psybeam “any way you can!” Musharna is paralysed, but still manages to load and shoot a strong Psybeam. The beam rapidly crosses through the cloud and hits Blitzle with a tremendous strength. Due to the fast speed of the attack, Musharna’s points are reduced severely and its bar is almost emptied. However, Blitzle is knocked out; Bianca has won the first quarterfinal.

Mr. Ludwig Lennon, who had praised Musharna’s performance in the appeal round, says that he can’t praise this last performance due to “the lack of rhythm” and focus on “knocking out the opponent rather than winning by their visual and musical appeal”. “Still, rules are rules, and knockouts count as wins. However, I hope that if a Pokémon is knocked out in the next battles, is done in the most beautiful way possible”, he concludes. Bianca accepts Mr. Lennon’s comments and promises that she and Musharna will do their best to avoid the need of knocking out opponents in an “ugly way”. “You see, this is the reason why I don’t like Musicals very much. What’s the point of having a knockout round if you’re not supposed to knockout your opponent the way you can? Contests are so much better in that aspect. You can just battle using flair when attacking and you can win in no time. There’s no need to keep the beat.” Drew points out to May after Mr. Lennon made his comments. May answers saying that the point of having the Pokémon follow a beat is the challenge of Pokémon Musicals’ knockout rounds. “They are much harder and entertaining than the simple Contest battles. I’ve seen battles in Contests where a Coordinator uses a single combination of overpowered attacks and wins in less than a minute. You’re supposed to make your Pokémon look beautiful so you can deserve the ribbon. That’s what makes us different from regular trainers!... No offense, Hilbert and Cheren…” May says. “None taken”, Hilbert and Cheren answer almost simultaneously.

Following this, a brief montage of the next of battles is shown on screen.

“Up next, we’ll witness the battle between the 4th and 5th place! Jody Wescott[2] and her Roggenrola will face Dawn Berlitz and her Pipulp!

--DARE DA? (Who’s that Pokémon?)--
This Pokémon has the lowest Special Defense base stat of all Electric-type Pokémon.
Answer:

Spoiler

Blitzle

Spoiler

--Commercial Break--

--Second Act--
In the audience, Cheren stands up with his flag and cheers Dawn through a loudspeaker: “Oh! She is Dawn from Twinleaf! Oh! She’ll win all five ribbons! ...-” Hilbert attempts to shut him up by speaking very loud to May. “IT WILL BE AN EASY BATTLE FOR DAWN! ROGGENROLA IS WEAK TO PIPLUP’S ATTACKS!” Hilbert tries to say as loud as he can. “Well, I suppose. But remember what happened in the first battle with Bianca, and remember what I told to Drew earlier. It’s not so nice to win by knocking out your opponent. I don’t particularly like it when I’ve done it…” May nervously says.

Team Rocket is shown again. “Go for it Dawn! I know you’ll win this time!” Jessie thinks.

“The next song was composed by a young man from Orebourgh, Sinnoh. It’s a fast, heavy tune that he calls ‘Dimensional Ghost’! And now, let the battle begin!”

Dawn and Jody go to their positions on the battlefield and send out their Pokémon. The song begins and the battle officially starts. Piplup and Roggenrola struggle to keep the beat of the song. Dawn is sure that the speed of the song is good for Piplup. “Piplup’s got many quick and beautiful attacks!” After some moments into the song, Jody orders Roggenrola to use Rock Blast and fire the attack into the air. Jody steps back and alerts Dawn and the judges to stand back and cover themselves in case of anything going wrong. Roggenrola performs the attack and then Jody rapidly tells Roggenrola to jump and break the rocks in mid-air. Roggenrola does this very fast and at the beat of the song, earning appeal from Mr. Lennon. The rock fragments hit Piplup at a high speed, stopping him and decreasing Dawn’s bar. A cloud of dust covers the field. Dawn orders Piplup to use BubbleBeam. “Let’s do the cloud made of bubbles thing again!” Dawn tells Piplup. Piplup clears the cloud of dust and fills the field with bubbles. Roggenrola is rendered helpless to move without receiving damage from the bubbles. This makes Jody’s bar to decrease rapidly. Jody orders Roggenrola to use Rock Blast again; this time however, she doesn’t tell Roggenrola to jump and break the rocks. Roggenrola fires the rings of rocks directly into Piplup, popping many bubbles very quickly in the process. Dawn’s bar decreases a moderate amount. Piplup isn’t much harmed though. Dawn orders Piplup to create a new cloud of bubbles, while Roggenrola tries to dance away from them. Jody then orders Roggenrola to “go more physical”. “Run through the bubbles and hit Piplup with a Headbutt!” Roggenrola looks worried; it doesn’t want to touch the bubbles. However, Roggenrola looks up to the screen and realizes that their bar is decreasing; it then bends and runs popping many bubbles on its way. Dawn immediately orders Piplup to “act fast and jump!” Piplup then jumps evading the attack; a confounded Roggenrola walks back to the cloud of bubbles, dancing as good as it can, trying to keep the fast beat. As Piplup is in the air, Dawn orders him to use Ice Beam on the bubbles. Piplup then fires a powerful Ice Beam to the bubbles, freezing them. The bubbles then begin to fall on Roggenola. The Mantle Pokémon makes it out of the cloud of bubbles. It then tries to catch its breath and fight back, but it’s too late; Jody’s bar is empty; Dawn and Piplup have won.

In the audience, Cheren is waving his flag and chanting. Hilbert is very embarrassed and he is covering his face with his hat, but his Pikachu and Lillipup are also cheering Dawn, as are Snivy and Munna. May and Drew are just staring at them with nervous smiles.

Jessie is also cheering Dawn: “You made it again, twerpette! Now you’ve got to keep on going!” she says.

“Well, this wasn’t the best battle of the day, but at least you two did your best to follow the rhythm and the mood. It was a close battle and both Pokémon worked hard. Nevertheless, Dawn and Piplup performed better, so they’ll be in the semi-finals”, Mr. Lennon says at the end of the battle. “It’s impressive that you made it this far, Jody. It’s uncommon to see Pokémon like Roggenrola here in Musicals. I hope you can do it better in your next Musical”, he concludes. Dawn and Jody shake their hands and return to the backstage.

The episode then skips most of Bianca and Dawn’s semi-finals. Only short excerpts of both battles are shown due to the lack of time. From the short scenes shown, we learn that Bianca won against a lady and her Patrat, while Dawn won against a man and his Liepard.

Bianca and Dawn have made it to the final.

“24 Coordinators entered this Musical; only 8 made it to the knockout round; and only one will be able to win the Nacrene Ribbon!” Julianne announces. “Today we saw many exciting performances and battles, but there’s only one left; the most important of all: this is the Final!” she continues. “Bianca Juniper and her Musharna will battle Dawn Berlitz and her Piplup in the Final battle of the Nacrene Pokémon Musical!”

--Commercial Break—

--Third Act--
Dawn and Bianca come out from the backstage and face each other. Both congratulate each other for making it to the Final.

The audience is very excited. Team Rocket is briefly shown observing with attention; Jessie looks noticeably more interested than James and Meowth. Cheren is also shown standing with his flag on his hand. “Oh, whatever… Go Dawn! We’re all rooting for ya!” Hilbert shouts.

“The song that will be played in this final is a tune that Mr. Ludwig Lennon composed himself. He just calls it ‘Rivalry’. Remember: you’ll have 5 minutes! And now, let the battle begin!”

Dawn and Bianca go to their positions. The timer starts and the song plays. Dawn sends her Piplup out and Bianca does the same with Musharna. Again, both Pokémon take the first moments of the song to synchronise and move around the battlefield following the song’s beat and mood. Bianca orders Musharna to fill the field with Dream Mist; a strategy that she had successfully used in her last two battles. Musharna concentrates and crosses the battlefield leaving a dense cloud of Dream Mist; the mist projects several lights of all colours.

In the audience, Meowth is very impressed with the ability of Musharna to create Dream Mist at any time. “It’s the fourth time today that it makes Dream Mist out of nowhere-nya. I’m very sure that our Boss would be pleased with a Musharna-nya”, he tells to James. “Well, we could start to plan a scheme for stealing Musharna. We could follow that blonde twerpette to the next place she goes, and there we can fabricate one of our usual scams”, James says. “Fortunately, without the presence of the Kanto twerp and his yellow rat, I think we could finally get it done alright. What do you think Jessie? ... Jessie?” James asks to Jessie, who shuts him up. “This is not the right time to make plans or whatever. Can’t you see I’m watching the battle? Leave it for another time”, she says.

Back in the battle, Bianca orders Musharna to use Syncronoise. The attack produces a dim rainbow, and a bass note is heard as the rainbow grows. The rainbow crosses the cloud, which begins to turn red, and hits Piplup very hard. Dawn’s bar is decreased almost by a half. Dawn orders Piplup to act quickly and use Drill Peck. Piplup runs very fast through the tunnel created by the Syncronoise’s rainbow and hits an unaware Musharna. Piplup pecks Musharna miming a section of the tune. Bianca orders Musharna to use its Defense Curl; Musharna performs the attack, covering itself in a tough and translucent veil. Piplup is forced to return to its position near to Dawn.

In the audience, Hilbert realizes that Piplup hasn’t been able to do much against Musharna, and he worries that the battle could end prematurely. “Think quickly, Dawn! Act fast, Piplup!” he shouts.

Dawn orders Piplup to create a cloud of bubbles once again; the bubbles blend with the red cloud and reflect a deep red light. Bianca orders Musharna to use its Lucky Chant. “That’s a double protection for Musharna! I wonder how Dawn and Piplup will try to overcome these disadvantages!” Julianne says.

Dawn orders Piplup to Drill Peck on the Defense Curl veil; “Use it as your instrument!” Piplup jumps on Musharna’s veil and begins to “play” the song again. Bianca’s bar is lowering, but it’s still healthy enough. Bianca orders Musharna to use Synchronoise once again. The rainbow blast is reflected by the bubbles; several rainbows are reflected on the roof, while the rest of the theatre is coloured red. The attack’s bass note plays at the same moment that the same note (in a much higher octave) is heard in the song. Piplup is hit very hard by the attack and falls to the field. Piplup is injured and the song will end soon. Musharna is still fresh. “This can’t be over” Dawn thinks. “Wait… yeah! That should work!”; Dawn realizes that Piplup’s Scald attack could burn Musharna. Piplup has received a lot of damage, but he is too proud to give up, so he stands up. “Ok Musharna! You’ve gotta finish Piplup with your best Psybeam!” Bianca tells to her Pokémon. Musharna breaks its veil and begins to load a powerful Psybeam. “Perfect! Piplup, this is our one last shot! Use Scald!” Dawn orders to the Penguin Pokémon. Piplup promptly runs towards Musharna and hits it with Scald. The attack clears the red mist and reflects the rainbows from the remnants of the last Synchronoise. Musharna is badly burned, and is unable to continue battling. The battle is halted and declared to be over. There were only 15 seconds left in the timer. Dawn and Piplup have won the Nacrene Pokémon Musical.

The audience is shown cheering intensely. Cheren is waving his flag and chanting even louder than before. Hilbert has lost his feeling of embarrassment and takes Cheren’s loudspeaker; “You did it Dawn! Congratulations! Four more ribbons to go!” Hilbert says through it.

Jessie is also shown hugging James and Meowth. “You’re asphyxiating me!” James says. “I think that my coin is gonna fall-nya!” Meowth continues.

Back in the field, Bianca is kneeled on the floor, massaging her Musharna with a Burn Heal. She looks very frustrated. Dawn goes to her and attempts to shake her hand. Bianca stands up and rejects her offer. “Look at what you did to my poor Musharna! It had never been so badly injured!” Bianca says. “I… I am sorry… these things happen… I’m sure that Piplup didn’t mean to hurt Musharna so bad… he must have felt a lot pressure because the time was running out…” Dawn responds. “I... I can’t accept this… Excuse me…” Bianca says. She then returns to the backstage. “What is her problem? She knocked-out a Blitzle in her first battle… Was it really because of the way Piplup knocked-out Musharna… I guess that Musharna did feel more pain. I’m sure that I saw Blitzle alright in the backstage…” Dawn thinks. Julianne takes Dawn’s right hand and rises it up. “And the winner of the Nacrene Pokémon Musical is Dawn Berlitz and her Piplup!” Dawn, although she’s worried about Bianca, can’t help but smile when Julianne says those words. She’s given the ribbon and she proudly shows it to the audience.

--Commercial Break—

--Fourth Act (episode’s stinger)—
It’s nighttime. Dawn is sitting in the lobby of a hotel with May, Drew, Cheren and all their Pokémon. “So, did you see me? I promised you I’d be in the theatre for your Musical!” Cheren energetically asks to Dawn. “It was impossible not to see you… or hear you…” she says with a nervous smile. She then rests her head on the couch and her smile is erased. May asks her what is wrong; she tells them about what happened with Bianca at the end of the battle. “She looked very sad. I wonder what made her feel like that…” she says. “I guess she’s just very sensitive” May says. “Hmm… I guess that’s it. Hopefully she won’t hold any grudges to me…” Dawn continues. “I’m sure that she’ll be in the Desert Resort for the next Musical. There you can talk to her and try to fix whatever she thinks you did wrong” May says. “Wait a second… I have a great idea! Now that the Musical season had to restart, I can try to get my third ribbon in Desert Resort!” she adds. “Well, that’s still to be seen, because… Snivy and I are gonna give the best of us, right Snivy?” Dawn asks to the Pokémon who agrees absent-mindedly. May says that she doesn’t want to begin a discussion and that is still a while before the next Musical. Hilbert, who was booking rooms, returns to the group. “Alright… so here are the keys of our rooms. Dawn and May are sleeping in one room with the Pokémon. Drew and I will share another room. May happily says that she and Dawn will have a slumber party. In a case of “getting crap past the radar”, Drew is very briefly shown looking frustrated after learning that he won’t be sleeping in the same room as May. Cheren then checks Dawn’s Pockétch and notices that it’s indeed getting late. He tells Hilbert and Dawn that he won’t be following them to the next city; he suggests Hilbert to challenge the Castelia City Gym Leader. He tells him that he’ll see him again sooner or later, and that they’ll have a battle. His art changes to bishonen, and then he takes Dawn’s hand and promises her that they’ll meet again soon, and leaves the hotel. The narrator closes the episode, wondering about the future of our heroes, and reminding that Hilbert’s next challenge will air soon.

To Be Continued.

--Ending song: Pockettaari Monsutaari

--Professor Oak’s Lecture: Pokémon Gym Battles

Preview of the next episode: “N Returns! Battle in the Pinwheel Forest!!”
(Hilbert) “This guy again? Well, he did tell me that we were going to face each other again” (N) “Have you learn something these weeks? Do you now understand how Pokémon and humans should live? And if I recall properly, I also challenged your friend…” (Dawn) “Oh dear! No need to worry then. I’ll show you what we’ve got!”
(all) “Don’t forget to watch the next episode!”
“N Returns! Battle in the Pinwheel Forest!”

--Pocket Monsters BW: Revolution sponsors—
--Episode Ends—

Character Descriptions:
[1] Clark Parish: CotD #1. He is a young Coordinator. His hair is short and is a very dark shade of brown. He has blue eyes. He wears a simple black suit with a white shirt and a red bowtie with white polka dots.
[2] Jody Wescott: CotD #2. She’s a young woman. Her hair is red and she is very fair skinned. Her eyes are amber. She wears a golden yellow dress with red accents.

Additional Notes:
Well, it took me a while to finish this one. I didn’t expect the inductive course at my college to stop me from working on this. Fortunately, that inductive course is over, so I'll be free for 2 weeks. However, I won't be able to do much on these days either; it happens that I'll be embarking on a 1,500 miles long road trip to Chicago, Illinois! ... So I don’t think I’ll be able to work on this project for around a week. So unfortunately, the schedule will still be messed up. But be patient anyway! I'll begin working on the next episode as soon as I come back from my trip
And as always, thank you for reading!

 

[szmty]

Re: What Could Have Been... (An Alternative BW and XY Adventure!)

BW11: “N Returns! Battle in the Pinwheel Forest!!”

--Cold Opening—
The narrator opens the episode with a short recapitulation of all important events that happened after Hilbert won his first gym badge in Striaton; he mentions Dawn capturing a Munna, Hilbert meeting his old rival, Cheren, the group crossing through the Wellspring Cave where Dawn met Team Rocket again, Hilbert meeting May, Dawn’s Piplup learning Scald, and Dawn and Piplup winning their first Musical in Nacrene. “Today, our heroes are crossing through the bug-infested Pinwheel Forest. It’s now time to concentrate in Hilbert’s training for his next badge!”

Hilbert and Dawn are shown walking on a trail that crosses the forest. The sky is cloudy and the vegetation is very dense. Hilbert’s Pikachu is out of her Poké Ball. As they walk, Pikachu hears something strange in the distance. “What is it Pikachu?” Hilbert asks. Pikachu runs through a hollow, fallen trunk that is stuck between some tall bushes and Hilbert decides to follow her. “However, there’s space for a little adventure between each training season, I suppose” the narrator says. Hilbert crawls through the trunk. Pikachu then alerts him of the presence of someone. “What? Oh, c’mon! Not these guys again!”, Hilbert says.

--Season: Pocket Monsters BW: Revolution--
--Opening song: Best Wishes—

--Commercial Break--

--First Act—
Hilbert grabs Pikachu and returns with Dawn, who was peeking through the trunk. He alerts Dawn of the presence of Team Plasma grunts. “These ‘Dung Ages’ wackos are everywhere. This is the third time I see them since we left Nuvema. Are they following us or something?” he says. “Believe me. This is nothing compared with how Team Rocket stalked us through Sinnoh. We had to battle them almost daily. They were always trying to steal Ash’s Pikachu and whichever Pokémon we found that day. The worst part is that they still followed me here. At least they seem to have calmed down a bit. Don’t be surprised if we see them here too”, Dawn says. “Anyway, we’ve got to go. The bridge to Castelia is near. We just have to walk a mile more or so. I just hope there aren’t more of those nuts in our way”, Hilbert says after thinking about what Dawn said. He looks preoccupied. “I wonder what they are doing here…” he thinks.

Hilbert decides to call Pikachu back to her Poké Ball, and he and Dawn attempt to leave the area as fast as they can without getting exhausted. However, Hilbert identifies a grunt on the distance. He grabs Dawn’s arm and tries to turn back, but he then sees more grunts coming. He then decides to hide behind a bush. The Team Plasma grunts reunite in front of the bush and salute each other. Hilbert and Dawn peek at the grunts’ conversation. One of the grunts asks about one of the “Sages”; another one responds that he’ll arrive to the forest “anytime soon”. “They’ll give us instructions on our next operation”, the grunt says. Immediately after this, Gorm[1], one of the Team Plasma’s Seven Sages is seen on screen, walking with two grunts on each side, as if they were his bodyguards. The old Sage salutes the group of grunts. They make a reverence in front of him. One of the grunts asks Gorm “My great excellence, we are foreseeing to prepare for our next operation at the Nacrene Museum. We understand that they hold a legendary Pokémon’s osseous remains, and that they could be useful for the purpose of our very honourable cause. Are you ready to explain to your humble subjects the instructions for this operation?” the grunt says. “Unfortunately, we have already made an investigation about these remains and we concluded that they do not pertain to any legendary Pokémon, which means that we will cancel the operation. Instead, we received orders from Lord N, to continue our way to Nimbasa. For reasons I can’t explain, he told me that he will be traveling alone through the forest and that he would meet us at the Nimbasa’s Ferris wheel” the Sage answered. The group then left the area, and Hilbert and Dawn returned to the trail. Hilbert begins thinking about what the Sage said. Dawn tells him that they should go back and wait until all the Team Plasma grunts leave. “I’m seriously tired of these lunatics. We can’t afford encountering them all the time. Don’t you agree, Hilbert? ...umm, Hilbert?” Dawn asks to Hilbert, who is deeply thinking. “Y’know what? I disagree. We should keep on going to Castelia. If we see them again, we have face ‘em just as we’ve done it before. I know these guys are crazy and are very obnoxious. I even said I didn’t wanted to see them again, but they’re planning something very important. This can’t be just about “liberating Pokémon” anymore… N… he must know…” he answers. Dawn wasn’t expecting that answer from him. Hilbert convinces her to keep walking. He decides to call out Pikachu and Lillipup from their Poké Balls. He tells Dawn to do the same with her Pokémon.

Hilbert, Dawn and their Pokémon walk at a slower pace until they stop at a rest area. The Skyarrow Bridge, which connects the eastern peninsula with Castelia, is visible on the distance. Hilbert is remembering that N told him that they’d see each other soon for another battle. He feels that he should meet him again, thinking that maybe he could get more information on Team Plasma’s plans. He is sure that N is already in the forest, but that he has to bring up his attention; he has to lure him somehow.

Next to them, a Venipede appears. Hilbert registers it on his Pokédex. He then has an idea: “N doesn’t believe in catching Pokémon. I know he can sense Pokémon’s feelings, so I’m sure he’ll feel when I catch a Pokémon. I’ll catch Venipede to attract his attention” he tells to Dawn. Venipede notices and understands Hilbert’s threat and gets on position for a battle. Hilbert throws a Poké Ball at Venipede, but it breaks it almost immediately. “Remember you have to lower its health first…” Dawn says. “Thank you, I know that already… I just wanted to see if I could… uh… ‘Critical’ catch it”, Hilbert responds. She tells Hilbert that she doesn’t agree with his plan. “So, you’re catching a Pokémon just to see if N comes and talks with you?” she asks. Hilbert tells her that in the case N doesn’t come, Venipede will “still be useful” for him. He orders his Lillipup to Bite Venipede. However, Venipede’s Poison Point poisons Lillipup, forcing Hilbert to call it out of the battle and to switch to Pikachu. He orders Pikachu to use her Thunder Shock, but she’s first attacked with Poison Sting. Pikachu is also poisoned.

Meanwhile, N is shown on-screen walking through the forest with two Pokémon by his side: a Pidove and a Timburr. He is shown to be undergoing some sort of meditation as he walks. In front of him, there’s a sign pointing to the next rest area in the route (the same area where Hilbert is trying to catch Venipede). N thinks out loud that it would be a good idea to take a rest there, but that he first should “finish his meditation”.

Back in the battle, Dawn insists Hilbert to let Venipede go, but he refuses to. He orders Pikachu to use Quick Attack. Pikachu is very afflicted by the poison, but still manages to attack. Venipede is now weak enough to be caught, and Hilbert decides to throw another Poké Ball. This time he successfully catches the Pokémon. “Alright! I’ve got a fancy new Venipede!” he says. “Ok, you’ve caught the Pokémon. Now what?” Dawn asks. “We’ll have to wait”, he responds. He then finds a pair of Pecha Berries and gives them to Pikachu and Lillipup, who recover from their poisoning.

There’s a transition. Hilbert and Dawn are sitting with their Pokémon on a bench in the rest area. It’s implied that at least one hour has been gone since Hilbert captured Venipede. Dawn tells him that N won’t come, but Hilbert asks her for more patience. Immediately after this, Pikachu alerts Hilbert of someone coming. Hilbert stands on the middle of the trail and identifies a silhouette. “It’s N! I told you he would come!” he shouts.

--DARE DA! (Who’s that Pokémon?)--
Hint: This Pokémon used to appear in the Pinwheel Forest in Black and White, but in B2/W2, it appears in the Lostlorn Forest and Route 20.
Answer:

Spoiler

Venipede

--Commercial Break--

--Second Act--

A perplexed Dawn stands up and joins Hilbert in the middle of the rest area. N eventually arrives. “Hello! So, we meet again. Hilbert Black and Dawn Berlitz, huh? I didn’t expect to see you in this forest. I made a promise to see you soon, but not this soon, my friends”, he says. “How? …I don’t remember having told you my full name! Or Hilbert’s” Dawn says with surprise. N says that he investigated them after their meeting. “I wanted to know more about my new friends, and since we never had a more formal introduction, it felt wrong that you knew more about me than me about you”, N clarifies and justifies. “How you dare to call me your friend? Can’t you realize how much are Pokémon suffering in the hands of your organization?” Hilbert says. N responds saying that he doesn’t know what Hilbert is talking about. He claims that Team Plasma is pursuing the “honourable cause of liberating Pokémon from human oppression”. N then recalls that he challenged our heroes to a battle on the next time they met. Hilbert says that he doesn’t have time for battling. He says that he has to know about what Team Plasma is planning. “I heard some of your ‘submits’ saying something about stealing the bones of a legendary Pokémon! They were talking about future operations… when are they doing the next one? Where? How?” Hilbert anxiously asks. N replies with the same answer: “I don’t know what you are talking about”. “Sage Gorm and I were meditating with some of our submits here earlier. I told him to tell my submits to go to Nimbasa so they could spread the word of liberation”, he adds. Hilbert snaps and gets mad. Dawn tries to contain him and tells him to calm down. N then challenges them again to a double battle. Hilbert unwillingly agrees, but with a condition: “You’ll have to stop your guys from doing what they’re doing. I know you mean good, but you have to control your grunts.” N repeats that he doesn’t know what Hilbert is talking about. Hilbert furrows his brow in frustration, but he takes a deep breath and tells Pikachu and Dawn to be prepared. Dawn decides to use Munna in the battle.

Pikachu and Munna are ready to battle. Dawn registers N’s Timburr on her Pokédex. Hilbert is convinced that they’ll win. “A Flying-type and a Fighting-type battling against an Electric-type and a Psychic-type. This couldn’t get any easier”, Hilbert says. Just like in their first battle, N allows Hilbert and Dawn to attack first. Hilbert tells Pikachu to “start easy” and use Quick Attack on Pidove, while Dawn tells Munna to use Psybeam. Pidove evades the attack and uses Leer on Pikachu. Timburr also evades the Psybeam and responds with a Low Kick. The Low Kick critically hits Munna, which is rapidly injured. Hilbert orders Pikachu to “keep ongoing” and use Thundershock. However, Pidove hits Pikachu first with a Quick Attack, which hurts Pikachu harder due to the previous Leer. Pikachu still uses Thundershock, but the attack is again evaded by Pidove. Timburr instead begins using Bide. Dawn orders Munna to “float up” and use Moonlight. Munna floats higher and performs the attack, recovering a bit of its health. Timburr is still bracing itself preparing for any attack. Pikachu feels the pressure of the battle. Pidove uses Quick Attack again, leaving Pikachu badly injured on the ground. Hilbert orders Pikachu to concentrate and keep calm. “If only Pikachu knew better attacks!” he thinks. Munna then uses Psybeam again on Timburr, who attempts to endure the attack. Timburr manages to resist the Psybeam and loads a powerful beam. “Do something Pikachu. We’ve got to win this time…” Hilbert thinks. Pikachu then reacts and attacks on its own; Pikachu stands and runs in front of Munna, and then uses Electric Ball. “Electric Ball! I knew you were capable of doing it!” Hilbert exclaims. N smiles as Hilbert talks. Pikachu’s Electric Ball crashes in mid-air with Timburr’s beam causing an explosion that knocks out Timburr. Hilbert then orders Pikachu to use Thundershock, but instead she’s only able to use Electric Ball. Pidove continues evading attacks and uses Gust on Munna. Dawn tries to figure out a way to end the battle faster, and realizes that Munna may know Hypnosis. “I should check the Dex… no, wait… I don’t think I have to… I somehow feel that Munna knows it…” she thinks. She orders Munna to use the attack. Munna’s Hypnosis forces Pidove to sleep, rendering it unable to battle.

Hilbert and Dawn congratulate their Pokémon for their effort. Hilbert takes Pikachu on his arms and Dawn’s Munna happily floats around her.

“I cannot see the future yet... The world is still to be determined...” N says. Hilbert doesn’t understand his words. “You and your Pokémon… you’re different from anyone else… your souls are firmly connected…” N continues. N then says that he needs “power” to make everyone agree with him. “I need the legendary Pokémon who created this landmass we call Unova… Zekrom and Reshiram!” he ends. Hilbert faces N and tells him that he’s lying about not knowing anything. “Tell me what you know about the operations!” he says. N repeats that he doesn’t know about any operations whatsoever. N then continues stating that “if anything, from now on” Team Plasma would seek to find the power they need. He finishes saying that he would depart to Nimbasa, where he expects to see our heroes at the city’s amusement park. “If you want to know all the answers, please visit me. I promise that I will clarify all your questions and doubts. I’ll be there waiting for you. Farewell, my good friends”, N concludes. He then wakes up Pidove and helps Timburr to stand up, and walks away with them.

Hilbert sits down and tries to clean up his mind. He realizes that there’s something wrong with the way N acts. “He’s the leader of a big organization. How come he doesn’t know about what his grunts are doing?” he ponders. “There’s something wrong here… I’m beginning to think that his grunts are hiding something to him” he tells to Dawn. She tells him that he shouldn’t worry too much about it, but he says that they must help to fight the problem. He says that Team Plasma is “doing wrong, no matter what N says”, and that they should be stopped. He ends saying that he’ll try to find out what is happening with N’s organization. He keeps repeating that there’s something very wrong, and realizes that N could even be truly innocent of what is happening. Dawn thinks about what Hilbert said and tells him that she would support and help him, but she also tells him that for now, he should concentrate on his next gym battle, and that she should focus on her next Musical.

--Commercial Break—

--Third Act (episode’s stinger)—
It’s nighttime. Our heroes arrive to the Skyarrow Bridge. They stop in the middle to watch the lights of Castelia’s large skyline. The screen shows Hilbert and Dawn observing the city, while three people wearing coats and fedoras are seen in the background. The narrator closes the episode talking about the bond of our heroes with their Pokémon, and wondering if Hilbert will really attempt to stop Team Plasma as he travels through Unova. “But for now, Hilbert has to remain focused on his training for his next Gym Battle!”, the narrator concludes.

To Be Continued

--Ending song: Pockettaari Monsutaari

--Professor Oak’s Lecture: Roggenrola

--Preview of the next episode: “The Art of Stealing!? Team Rocket is Back!!”
(Hilbert) Here we are! Time to battle for the badge the gym at the Big App… (Dawn) –I’ve never been to Castelia before… it’s certainly a very large city. Why don’t we visit the place today? I’d like to visit the art gallery… and I heard about an ice cream parlour that sells delicious ‘Casteliacones’! (H) –Well, it seems like a good idea… (Team Rocket) –Not so fast! (Jessie) We’ve got some pending issues here! (James) Look at how much money we could get with these paintings! (Meowth) And our Boss will love these fancy Bug Pokémon-nya! (Burgh and Iris) PLEASE! YOU HAVE TO STOP THEM!
(Everyone) Don’t forget to watch the next episode! The Art of Stealing!? Team Rocket is Back!!”

--Pocket Monsters BW: Revolution sponsors—
--Episode Ends—

Character Descriptions:
[1] Gorm

Additional notes:
After a two weeks “hiatus”, I’m back with a new episode of BW: Revolution.
With every episode I make, I notice that I’m differing quite a bit from my original concept of the series. I’ve made many changes in the storyline and the format through these two months. The first episode is practically a plot summary, while I think that my most recent episodes begin to resemble normal fanfics (up to a point, of course). (And that is perfectly fine, and it’s something that I just wanted to point out).
This week, I expect to update the “prologue” (it will become something more like an index with some background information). I'll also make a new banner! And also, I’ve finished some artwork of the main characters that I’ll be posting soon in its respective forum.
So, I’ll try to do this and finish the next episode as soon as possible.

And as always, thank you for reading!

And yes, N is supposed to be kinda creepy

 

[szmty]

Re: What Could Have Been... (An Alternative BW and XY Adventure!)

BW12: The Art of Stealing!? Team Rocket is Back!!

--Cold Opening—
The narrator opens the episode telling us that our heroes have arrived to Castelia City. Several shots of the city are shown on-screen. It’s morning time. Our heroes are having breakfast with their Pokémon at the Pokémon Center’s cafeteria, which is located in the bottom floors of a tall skyscraper. Next to their table, there are three people wearing coats and fedoras, reading the newspaper. Hilbert comments that he is anxious for his next battle. He is confident that, while he “doesn’t have the advantage of super effective moves”, his Pokémon have shown to be strong enough to win “easily”. “I feel inspired! After all we’ve been through, I’m sure that we can win today, am I right, guys?” he asks to his Pokémon. Pikachu and Lilipup happily agree, while Venipede just stares mindlessly. Dawn reminds him not to get too overconfident. “I guess you’re right… but still WE WILL WIN TODAY!” Hilbert answers; the camera shows him with his Pikachu and Lilipup jumping into the air with a big smile, while Venipede mindlessly crawls across the shot; Venipede stops in the middle and tips over. Our heroes then leave the cafeteria. The camera then focuses on the three people who were sitting in the other table. They begin to quietly and evilly laugh.

--Season: Pocket Monsters BW: Revolution--
--Opening song: Best Wishes—

--Commercial Break--

--First Act—

Hilbert and Dawn discover that the Castelia City Gym is closed. Hilbert groans in heavy frustration. There’s a note on the door, saying that Burgh, the city’s gym leader, is currently hosting an art exhibition at his private gallery. Dawn tells him that it would be a good idea to visit the city and maybe even go to Burgh’s gallery: “This city is so large! We could go shopping, we could eat…” Dawn says. Hilbert blatantly ignores her and thinks about how much pumped up he was. “I’ve lost my focus. I was so prepared. My ‘Chu would’ve even sliced in half any of Burgh’s Pokémon with a single Quick Attack” he thinks. Dawn realizes that she’s being ignored; “Are you listening to me?” she asks. “Umm, yeah! The art gallery thing sounds like a good idea” Hilbert answers. He doesn’t have any idea of what she said. “You’re such a lucky man, Hilbert Black…” she says with apathy; she knows he didn’t listen to a single word, but he still said what she wanted to hear. “C’mon, let’s go to the gallery. You can talk to Burgh there”, she says.

Next to them, there is a bus stop. There are many people waiting for the bus; among them, there are the three people in coats; they’re Team Rocket! “So an art gallery, huh?” Jessie quietly says. “Run by the Gym Leader, huh?” James continues. “If we do this carefully we can pull our greatest heist-nya!” Meowth concludes. A bus parks in front of the stop and everyone except them gets on board. “There’s no one in the Gym! We’ll take the Pokémon for our Boss! And we can then go to the gallery take the art for us! It’s a win-win!” they say. They laugh evilly; the bus starts and leaves a dense cloud of exhaust fumes and dust. Covered in dust, James says that they must make a plan, but first, they still have to follow the twerps. Jessie tells him that they could split their efforts instead; she tells him that she and Meowth could stay in the Gym and find a way to steal the Pokémon, while James could check the gallery in the meantime. They all agree and split.

There’s a transition. Hilbert and Dawn have arrived to the art gallery, located in front of the Central Plaza. There are many people inside, including recognizable trainer classes such as Socialites and Gentlemen, but there are also many Bug Catchers and Maniacs. “Bug Catchers? There aren’t many people like them here in Unova” Hilbert thinks. He asks one of the Catchers what are they doing; the Catcher responds that Burgh he is a huge fan of Burgh. “When he isn’t at the gym or making art, he will spend his time catching Bugs in the Pinwheel Forest. He lives with them and he makes his art out of them. Just look at all the Bug-inspired drawings, paintings, sculptures! And tonight, he will reveal his latest masterpiece, which will feature one of us, Poké-entomologists. He is the best of all”, he says. A Bug Maniac hears this: “Burgh is a great Bug-type Pokémon aficionado, but he will never be as important to the Poké-entomological community as Bugsy from Azalea, Johto is. When he isn’t crushing other trainers in his Gym, he is visiting forests around the World doing important research. Burgh is great, but his job is being a leader and an artist. Bugsy is the best”, he says. Suddenly, more Catchers and Maniacs arrive in the scene. “I’m sorry, but you don’t know anything about what you’re talking about. Clearly, Burgh and Bugsy are great Poké-entomologists, but Aaron from Sinnoh is an Elite Four member who has contributed with huge essays about Bug Pokémon behaviour!” another Maniac says. “I’ve heard about a Poké-entomologist who has taken photographs of rare Bug Pokémon in their natural habitats… I don’t remember from which region though… or her name… it was something like an instrument… Cello?” yet another Catcher says. All the Catchers and Maniacs begin to heatedly argue. Hilbert just begins to ignore them and slowly walks away.

At this point, James, still wearing a coat and a fedora, arrives at the Gallery. Through a walkie-talkie he reports Jessie about how much art there is in the gallery and tells her that she and Meowth must get ready for the next step of their plan; Jessie responds that the job at the Gym is almost done. She tells them that the Pokémon will be stored in the sewers, and then they’ll carry them in their Meowth balloon, which is hidden in a park above. He tells them that he will find a way to create a distraction so he can take the art. Jessie tells James that once he gets the art, he must find a way to escape. James pleads Jessie to help him with that and she unwittingly agrees.

Hilbert walks around looking for Burgh, who is in the back of the gallery. The camera begins to focus on him. He is also being visited by a young trainer called Iris who is talking to him; their brief conversation reveals that Iris is also a gym leader. Burgh says that he is working on his latest “masterpiece”; he is in front of a large painting: he has painted all of his Pokémon standing in the middle of a forest, but there’s an empty spot in the centre; Iris suggests him that he should draw himself in the painting, but he insists that he doesn’t like doing self-portraits. He claims that he needs a different face for his painting: “That’s why I cited all of these Poké-entomologists. However, I didn’t expect them to look like… look like… (a Catcher and a Maniac are shown on screen; they’re the geekiest looking of all) Umm…” –“Dorks?” Iris says to Burgh. “Exactly!” he says. Hilbert finds Burgh; he rapidly greets him and introduces himself, and asks him for a battle. Burgh tells him that he’s too occupied, trying to find a face for his painting: “Hmm… you’ve got a good poise there… but I need someone who truly loves Bug Pokémon…” he says. Hilbert then proposes to use his Venipede in battle; he sends it out of its Poké Ball, and the Pokémon just moves a couple of feet before tipping over. Burgh tells him that it seems that he doesn’t understand. Hilbert gets annoyed, but realizes that he can’t be acting like a kid and leaves. Burgh tells Iris, who merely watched the scene, that he can’t accept any challenge until he finishes his painting. Iris tells him that he shouldn’t be so “stuck-up”, since he is a Gym Leader after all. She reminds him that “a Gym Leader must know how to sort their priorities”. Burgh then calls Hilbert back to him; Hilbert immediately shows up. Burgh tells him that they’ll have a battle very soon, but that he needs some help finding someone for his painting. Burgh convinces Hilbert to find someone with a “love for Bug Pokémon and a strong appearance”. Hilbert immediately leaves.

Venipede has been upside down on the floor for the entire scene and it stays on the same position.

James hears all of this conversation from a safe distance.

Hilbert finds Dawn and asks her to help him find someone with the characteristics that Burgh wants so he can finally have the battle.

Meanwhile James lures a Bug Maniac into a Janitor room, struggles with him in a very cartoonish style, and swaps clothes with him; James now looks like a true Maniac. In the back pocket of James’s pants, there is a cardboard can of Sleep Powder.

Burgh asks Iris to make him a favour; he asks her to go to the Gym to get some tools that he forgot. He gives her some money for a cab. She leaves the gallery and takes a cab to the Gym.

Hilbert and Dawn begin talking to many Catchers and Maniacs, trying to find someone for the painting. In the end they agree that none of the Catchers or Maniacs look good enough. But then, Hilbert then points out that there’s a Maniac that they haven’t talked with. He points to a “long haired man” (James) next to a sculpture; James looks preoccupied and he is still holding his walkie-talkie. Hilbert and Dawn think that he “doesn’t look so geeky”, so they go with him and tell him that he is very lucky, because they searched between a lot of people and he is “the least bad-looking of all the Poké-entomologists in the gallery”, meaning that he will be in Burgh’s new painting. They take the “Maniac” with Burgh, who agrees that he has a good look, good enough to be in the painting. Burgh tells James to sit down so he can paint him; James crushes the cardboard can of Sleep Powder when he sits. However, before he can start painting, Burgh feels the need to ask the “Maniac” how much he loves Bug Pokémon. James answers that he loves them very much, but Burgh isn’t very convinced. He asks James for a fact about Shedinja: “In Hoenn, there is a very peculiar Bug Pokémon called Shedinja. But there’s something especially strange about it. I wonder if you know something. Could you tell me what you know about Shedinja?” Burgh asks. Just as James is going to answer to Burgh’s question, they are stopped by Iris; she returns to the gallery telling Burgh that someone broke into the Gym and stole all the Pokémon. Burgh is horrified, as is Hilbert: “Now I’m never having my battle…” he thinks. Iris tells Burgh that they must go to the Gym, since she has already called the Police to go there. Burgh asks Hilbert to go there with Iris and him. Right after this, Dawn, who was next to Hilbert, briefly introduces herself to the Gym Leaders. She tells them that she’s Hilbert’s friend and that she can also help. She then follows them to the Gym too.

Before leaving, Burgh tells everyone in the gallery that his Gym has been robbed and that the exhibition would be suspended for the rest of the day. Everyone begin to leave the gallery, but only James stays. Hilbert’s Venipede, still on the floor, is finally able to turn over. James sees Venipede and smiles.

--DARE DA! (Who’s that Pokémon?)--
Hint: This Pokémon is very special: it will only show up if, when Nincada evolves, there is an empty space in the party, and you have at least one normal Poké Ball.
Answer:[

Spoiler

]Shedinja[

]

--Commercial Break—

--Second Act—

Our heroes arrive to the Gym. The hexagon-shaped building is surrounded by police cars. Inside, Burgh is talking with an Officer Jenny, while Hilbert, Dawn and Iris are sitting on the floor. Dawn makes a short comment about Officer Jenny, saying that she looks different. Hilbert replies that all Officers Jenny look practically the same. Dawn then notes that at least the ones from Sinnoh look different from the ones in Unova. Hilbert then feels a déjà vu. “I’m sure that we had this conversation before”, he says. Burgh is devastated, and tells Iris that there might not be much to do. He then begins to cry, but Iris promptly slaps him. She tells him that he “can’t be such a kid”, and that they will find the Pokémon. Hilbert and Dawn stand up and promise that they will help. Hilbert sends out Pikachu, while Dawn sends out Piplup. Hilbert then gets petrified; He remembers that he sent out Venipede back in the gallery and forgot to call it back. Dawn, Iris and Burgh scold Hilbert for his irresponsibility. Hilbert is very embarrassed, but tells them that they have to return to the gallery.

The group returns to the gallery to find it completely empty. Burgh enters and falls on his knees, sobbing. Iris slaps him again. Hilbert then tries to find his Venipede, but it’s also gone. Piplup notices a grey powder on the floor. He touches it and falls asleep. Pikachu discovers that there’s a long trail of this grey powder; it’s a trail of Sleep Powder! She alerts the group and convinces them to follow her. Dawn is forced to call Piplup back to his Poké Ball and sends out Snivy instead. Pikachu discovers that there is an enormous hole in the restroom, which leads to the sewers. “Oh no! Those toilets were brand new!” Burgh screams. “There are worse things to worry about right now, man! Jeez…” Iris says. She leads the group down the hole and they end up in the sewers.

The scene cuts to Team Rocket, now wearing their classic uniforms, who are thinking of a way to take all the stolen Pokémon and art. “I think that we’ll have to make two trips-nya” Meowth says. “That would be too risky, but there’s a lot of art in here… we don’t need all of it! This single sculpture -(a life-size statue of a Leavanny)- for example, is already worth a lot don’t you think?” Jessie asks. James and Meowth then say that the price of a piece of art can be subjective. The three begin discussing.

Meanwhile, the group continues following the trail of Sleep Powder. The trail suddenly stops; they find James’ stolen clothes. However, they begin to hear Team Rocket’s discussion in the distance. They begin to follow the sound of the discussion, which becomes louder all the time.

“So, what’s in and what’s out?” James asks. Jessie tells him that they don’t need “Burgh’s latest masterpiece”. She claims that is too big to fit in the balloon’s basket, and it’s also incomplete. Meowth says that most of what they’ve got is too big for the basket. James says that he never expected that they would be able to steal everything so easily, so that’s why he never seriously thought about the last step of the plan. They keep discussing until the group finds them. Burgh runs towards his encaged Pokémon: a Swadloon, a Leavanny, a Dwebble, a Shelmet and a Karrablast. Hilbert’s Venipide is also in a cage. Team Rocket doesn’t even attempt to stop him; Burgh gets shocked when he touches the cages. “Ha! All of these cages are electrified!” Jessie says. Hilbert orders Pikachu to use Electric Ball, but the attack is also repelled. “These babies are made with a special polymer-nya! They’ll absorb all the hits you want-nya!” Meowth says. “Who are ya anyway!?” Iris asks, prompting Team Rocket to say their motto. After finishing, James realizes that this is the first time since they’ve arrived to Unova that they’ve been able to finish their motto. They congratulate each other.

However, although they finished their motto, they were fully ignored by the group, who begin to take the art back, and try to break the cages. Snivy tries to Tackle the cages, but it is unable to do anything, and it is also repelled.

Team Rocket freaks out and Jessie sends out her Woobat. Iris sends out her Axew; Dawn registers Axew on her Pokédex. Axew tries to use Double Chop, but Woobat is able to evade the attack. Dawn decides to help Iris and tells Snivy to use its Vine Whip. However, Woobat is barely affected, being also a Flying-type. Woobat instead uses Gust, doing some moderate damage to Snivy. Iris tells Axew to use Double Chop on an unsuspecting Meowth. Meowth is hit twice and is forced to use Fury Swipes. James, lacking a Pokémon, decides to start carrying the art to the Meowth balloon parked right above them. He is taking the small pieces first and climbing the stairs to the exit.

Meanwhile, Hilbert and Burgh are trying to find a way to get the Pokémon out of the cages. Venipede, unable to move, is becoming desperate inside its cage. Venipede then begins using Bug Bite on the cage. A single bite is able to make a small hole in the polymer. Hilbert notices that, and realizes while the cages are fortified from the outside, they possibly are not from the inside. Hilbert orders Venipede to continue using its Bug Bite. Venipede continues and is eventually able to escape from the cage. Burgh sees this and then orders all of his Pokémon to use Struggle Bug; all the Pokémon perform the attack and are able to escape. Hilbert then tells Dawn to tell Snivy to use Vine Whip to reach James and take the art back. He then orders Venipede to use Bug Bite on Jessie’s Woobat, who receives a lot of damage. Snivy is able to take the art back; James, who had just opened a manhole cover, loses his equilibrium and falls down to the floor. Woobat tries to use Confusion, but Venipede resists and responds with another Bug Bite that knocks it out. Burgh tells his Leavanny to use String Shot on the entire Team Rocket, and Iris’s Axew finishes off with Dragon Rage, which ends up blowing up them through the open manhole right to the skies.

--Commercial Break—

--Third Act (episode’s stinger)—
The group is now sitting on a bench in the park above the sewers. Burgh has reunited with all his Pokémon and has recovered all of his art. The police has confiscated Team Rocket’s Meowth balloon and they’re putting Burgh’s stolen art in police vans.

Dawn, reading a city guide, suggests going to a nearby ice cream parlour that sells “Casteliacones”. Burgh tells them that Casteliacones are “exquisite desserts” and gives them money to buy Casteliacones for everyone.

There is a transition. We see Hilbert, Dawn, Burgh and their Pokémon eating Casteliacones. Burgh offers Iris and Axew a pair of Casteliacones; Iris states that she doesn’t like ice cream. Axew rejects it too. Burgh is still very thankful to Hilbert, Dawn and Iris for their help. He says that he wishes he could paint the three of them in his “masterpiece”, but he says that he’ll only paint Hilbert, since he has a Bug Pokémon traveling with him. Hilbert says that he’s flattered, but that he doesn’t really deserve it, since he “didn’t help that much after all”. Burgh continues insisting, prompting Hilbert to accept, but with a condition; having a battle first. “That way, it’ll be more satisfying. Don’t you think?” he says. Burgh accepts the condition. The narrator closes the episode saying that Hilbert must not be too overconfident in his next battle, and that he must show all of his Pokémon’s strength and will so they can fetch a victory.

To Be Continued

--Ending song: Pockettaari Monsutaari

--Professor Oak’s Lecture: Venipede

--Preview of the next episode: “Castelia Gym Battle! VS The Premier Insect Artist!!”
(Hilbert) Ok guys! It’s time for the second badge. I want you to be focused, I want you to pay attention. I want you to give everything you’ve got. We’ve been through a lot, so I’m sure that we can go there and splat some bugs! … no offence, Venipede…” (Venipede) “peeedeee”
(H)“Don’t forget to watch the next episode!
Castelia Gym Battle! VS The Premier Insect Artist!!”

--Pocket Monsters BW: Revolution sponsors—
--Episode Ends—

Additional notes:
Well, it's been an ever longer hiatus this time...
...and that's pretty much I have to say right now. I hope I can make and post the next one soon. I would love to change the banner too, but I haven't been able to draw too much this month.

Anyway, I hope that you enjoyed reading this episode.

 

[szmty]

Re: What Could Have Been... (An Alternative BW and XY Adventure!)

BW13: Castelia Gym Battle! VS The Premier Insect Artist!!

--Cold Opening—
The narrator opens the episode reminding us that our heroes are in Castelia. “Hilbert and Dawn helped the Castelia City Gym Leader, Burgh, to retrieve his Pokémon, who were stolen by Team Rocket. They also met a young Gym Leader, Iris, and her companion, an Axew. Today, Hilbert will battle Burgh to get his second badge”. (As the narrator says this, clips from scenes from the last episode are shown on screen).

--Season: Pocket Monsters BW: Revolution--
--Opening song: Best Wishes—

--Commercial Break--

--First Act—
Hilbert, Dawn, and their Pokémon, return to the hexagonal-shaped Castelia Gym. Neither Hilbert nor Dawn had entered the “main hall” of the gym, having only sat in the entrance of the building the day before. They’re amused with the look of the interior; the roof is covered in what resembles silk or even cobweb, while the walls seem to be covered in honey. “It’s like a hive in here!” Hilbert says. “Indeed. You know, the gym used to be located in a greenhouse, but thankfully, the UPLA allocated more funds towards Gym renovations and we got ourselves a nice place”, says the Gym Leader Burgh, who startled Hilbert from the back. He asks him if he is ready; “We’re fully focused! Right guys?” Hilbert answers. His Pokémon seem to be very happy and full of energy. Burgh then tells them to take their places on the battlefield.

Meanwhile, Team Rocket is lost in the desert north of Castelia. The sunlight is harsh and Team Rocket is exhausted and hungry. James blames Jessie for taking them to Unova. She responds saying that they had nothing else to do in Sinnoh and that following the “blue twerpette” was the best option at the moment. “Oh, please! We’re only following her because you want her to live your dreams of being a Top Coordinator!” James says. Jessie gets red with anger; “THAT’S NOT TRUE!” she yells. Meowth attempts to calm them down. “At least we don’t have to follow a yellow rat anymore” James says. –“But we’ve got a new yellow rat that we have to steal-nya! And I’m tellin’ ya! It’s as strong as or better than the Kanto rat-nya!” Meowth counters. –“I’m tired of Pikachu! Pikachu this, Pikachu that… It’s been like this for years! We ought to do something better! If only our last plan had gone right…” Jessie says. –“Well, following the twerps for Pikachu is better than just following them so you can 'live' your dreams-nya”, Meowth continues; after this comment, Jessie punches Meowth, leaving him with a bump on top of his head. Right after this, James simply drops to the ground, stating that he’s “too tired to be discussing”. Jessie and Meowth also fall to the ground. Suddenly, a vulture-like Pokémon appears in front of them. Jessie asks James who is that Pokémon; he takes out his cards and tells her that it is a Mandibuzz. “When they spot prey, they attack and carry it back to their nest with ease”, James reads. Mandibuzz then begins using Pluck on Team Rocket. However, out of sudden, a small, black Pokémon with a golden mask appears and stands in front of Team Rocket. Mandibuzz attempts to use Fury Attack but the Pokémon is undamaged. It responds with Will-o-Wisp, burning Mandibuzz. The Pokémon then uses Hex, causing moderate damage on his opponent and forcing it to flee. Jessie asks James to check who that Pokémon is; he checks his cards again and tells her that it is a Yamask. Yamask then speaks in its “language”, which Meowth translates: “He says that he can take us back to civilization-nya, but that we have to give him something as a reward-nya”. Jessie and James tell Yamask that they’ll grant him whatever he wants, and they begin following him.

Back in the gym, we see Burgh and Hilbert standing on the battlefield. Like in Striaton, the Gym Battle will be refereed by a robot. Iris, still in the gym, is sitting with Dawn and their Pokémon in the stands. Dawn is cheering loudly, while Iris tells her that the battle “won’t be that easy for Hilbert”. “His Pokémon aren’t particularly strong against Bug-types in general. Though fortunately for him, Bug-types ain’t that strong. Still, Burgh’s Pokémon have been trained very well”, she says.

Burgh tells Hilbert that it will be a 3-on-3 battle. Burgh then turns on the robot referee and the battle begins.

Burgh sends out his Whirlipede, while Hilbert decides to call Lillipup to the battle. “Ok, I don’t want this round to be too long. Whirlipede! Use Poison Tail!”, Burgh orders. Hilbert orders Lillipup to evade and use Bite. Whirlipede is bitten, but it’s not harmed. Whirlipede is then ordered to use Screech, lowering Lillipup’s defence. Hilbert then orders Lillipup to use Leer. “Lillipup will still have a lower defence, though…” he thinks. Burgh orders Whirlipede to use Struggle Bug, which makes moderate damage to Lillipup. Hilbert then orders Lillipup to Take Down Whirlipede in an attempt to end the round faster. Whirlipede uses Screech right before its hit by Lillipup, who receives recoil damage. “This is not the moment for that kind of attacks” Iris tells to Dawn. “He should know that attacks with recoil are more of the ‘desperation’-kind of attacks. Y’know, like when the battle is about to be over”. Dawn then shouts at Hilbert: “Take it easy for now! You’re just starting!” she says. “Okay then!” he responds. He orders Lillipup to Bite again, but Whirlipede hits it with Poison Tail, poisoning it. Lillipup begins to feel ill, but it still won’t stop. “I didn’t want to, but I think that this is the right moment to use Take Down again…” he thinks. He orders a weak Lillipup to use Take Down. Burgh orders Whirlipede to use Pursuit, which hits Lillipup before it can use Take Down. This knocks Lillipup out. “Oh no…” Dawn mutters back in the stand. “You have to concentrate on your moves! You can do it!” she shouts.

The scene cuts to the desert, where Yamask guides Team Rocket to some old ruins. The ruins consist of many old abandoned buildings, some of them tearing down and sinking in the sand. Yamask stops in front of what used to be a house and stares at the door for a few seconds. A tear drops from one of his eyes. Jessie says that they have to get going, but Yamask floats still and mutters something in his language. Meowth translates this to Jessie and James: “He says that this used to be his home when he was alive as a human-nya”. Yamask has a flashback, where it is revealed that when he was a human, he looked just like a younger version of James. In the flashback, Yamask is playing with a girl that looks like Jessie. A few still shots of them playing are shown. The flashback concludes with a scene where there’s a storm and Yamask and the girl are attempting to ford through a stream. However, both of them are carried by the current. The girl grasps on a large rock and holds Yamask with her hand, but the current is too strong and it takes Yamask away.

Yamask then continues with his way, and Team Rocket follows him

Back in the Gym, Hilbert decides to call Pikachu out to the battle. He orders Pikachu to use Thunder Wave to paralyse Whirlipede. However, before it can perform the attack, Whirlipede hits her with Poison Tail. Fortunately, Pikachu is not poisoned, and manages to paralyse Whirlipede after successfully performing a Thunder Wave. Pikachu then uses Electro Ball, causing a lot of damage on it. Whirlipede then uses Struggle Bug on Pikachu, but she resists and finishes with a Quick Attack. “That’s what I was talking about! Now focus on the next one!” Dawn shouts.

--DARE DA! (Who’s that Pokémon?)--
Hint: The pre-evolution of this Pokémon looks like it's wearing a diaper!
Answer:

Spoiler

Mandibuzz

--Commercial Break—

--Second Act—
Burgh sends out Dwebble as his next Pokémon, while Hilbert decides to keep Pikachu in the battle. Burgh orders Dwebble to begin the battle with Sand-Attack, lowering Pikachu’s vision. Hilbert tells Pikachu to use Thunder Wave. She tries to wipe the dirt out of her eyes and begins charging a Thunder Wave. Dwebble uses Sand-Attack again, covering Pikachu with even more dirt. Still, Pikachu continues charging. “Something’s not right. Why isn’t Pikachu attacking yet?” Dawn asks to Iris. “We’ll have to wait and see”, she says. “Do what you can, Pikachu!” Hilbert shouts. The Mouse Pokémon then shoots a strong Thunderbolt instead of the Thunder Wave, causing moderate damage to Dwebble. “Thunderbolt! Amazing, Pikachu!” he shouts. The small Bug/Rock-type Pokémon tries to hold on and uses Smack Down. Pikachu doesn’t take too much damage, and Hilbert orders her to use Electro Ball. Burgh orders Dwebble to use Smack Down again. Pikachu jumps to the air as she prepares her attack when a Dwebble hits her with another boulder; this time she gets more damage, but she is still able to battle. Hilbert feels sure that Pikachu can do even better and tells her to “focus and do what you can again”. Burgh isn’t sure of what Hilbert is attempting to do, nor is Iris. However, Dawn says that she thinks she “knows what he’s trying to do”. Pikachu, wiping the dirt from her face, begins running fast and Slams Dwebble, who receives a little more damage. Burgh orders Dwebble to use Faint Attack, causing little damage on Pikachu, who then uses Thunderbolt once again. Dwebble faints and Burgh prepares to call his last Pokémon.

Meanwhile, Team Rocket is following Yamask through what used to be a street. There’s a flock of Mandibuzz and Vullaby nesting on top of one of the old buildings. One of the Mandibuzz in the flock happens to be the one that Yamask burnt and hexed earlier. The Bone Vulture Pokémon recognizes him and Team Rocket, and tells the flock that they have to attack. Three Mandibuzz land in front of Team Rocket and threat to attack them. Yamask attempts to use Will-o-Wisp on each Mandibuzz, but each of them use Faint Attack, leaving Yamask injured. Jessie calls Woobat to the battle and it attempts to use Air Cutter. It manages to hit one of the Mandibuzz, but the Pokémon is barely affected, and uses Punishment, also injuring Woobat. Yamask manages to recover and decides that they have to escape from the flock of Mandibuzz and leads them out of the ruins. During their escape, they’re chased by the entire flock, but Yamask finds a small hole in a wall that used to be the entrance to a sewer and enters it, with Team Rocket following him. The entire flock hit themselves on the wall. Yamask leads Team Rocket out of the ruins and they end on the curb of an empty road. A sign next to the road says that the Desert Resort is 10 miles away. Jessie remembers that the next Pokémon Musical will be in Desert Resort in a few weeks’ time. She tells James and Meowth that they can wait for the twerps there, and while they wait they can do some “legit jobs” to get some money. “We can plan something large! And this time, nothing will go wrong! ... I hope…”, she says. “If anything, we can keep following the twerps and… fine, we’ll put an eye on that Pikachu. But we’ll also try to find other things to get for our boss, just like we’ve been trying to do”, she ends. James and Meowth agree.

Back in the battle, Burgh calls out his Leavanny. Pikachu is still ready for more, and Hilbert decides to let it continue for yet another round. Iris is very surprised with the quality of Pikachu. “Whoa! It looks like Pikachu is still very fresh! Leavanny will still be the hardest for her, though” she says. Dawn then realizes that if Pikachu loses, Hilbert will only have Venipede left. “Hmm, and he hasn't used Venipede in an official battle yet”, she says.

Hilbert first orders Pikachu to use Tail Whip, but Pikachu is unable to remember how to perform the attack. “Don’t tell me that you just forgot that one…” he says. Burgh orders Leavanny to use String Shot, which covers Pikachu completely, making it unable to move quickly. Hilbert then orders Pikachu to use Thunder Wave, but she forgot how to use that attack too. Leavanny uses Razor Leaf on Pikachu, which clears a bit of the strings on Pikachu. Hilbert then orders Pikachu to use Thunderbolt, but Leavanny is able to use Protect right before, and it uses Razor Leaf again. At this point, Pikachu is freed from the strings, but she’s still moving slower than Leavanny, who uses Struggle Bug before she can use her Thunderbolt, which doesn’t cause too much damage to Leavanny. Hilbert orders Pikachu to use Quick Attack, but Leavanny Protects itself again. Leavanny then uses more String Shot on Pikachu, who is fully enveloped with it this time. Pikachu, now practically unable to move, is hit with Razor Leaf, and ends up knocked out.

Hilbert is very nervous “There’s no need to worry, Hilbert! You can still do it!”, Dawn shouts. “I’m sure that we can pull this off. This is our last shot! Go! Venipede! Do it for your friends!” Hilbert says. “So it's Bug vs. Bug. I’ll tell you what. Hilbert’s got a nice advantage right there, since Venipede is also Poison-type, and as you may know, Leavanny is half-Grass. A good combination of attacks and maybe we’ll see David slaying Goliath”, Iris confides to Dawn.

Meanwhile, Team Rocket is walking the road to the Desert Resort. However, Yamask is still following them. Meowth notices this and tells Jessie and James that they were supposed to give a reward to Yamask for his help. They stop and ask each other if they should run away from Yamask before he finds out that they don’t have anything they could give to him. Yamask then tells Meowth that he can’t return to desert because he can’t face all those Mandibuzz again, so he thinks that the best reward for him would be staying with someone. Meowth translates this to Jessie and James. Then, they realize that they need another Pokémon with them. They play rock-paper-scissors to see who gets to catch it; like in the Wellspring Cave, Jessie won. James argues that he should be the one who catches him since he doesn’t have any Pokémon on hand. However, Yamask takes a Poké Ball from one of James’s pockets, and somehow gets inside on his own. Jessie and James notice this, and wonder why Yamask simply did that. Still, James celebrates because he has a new Pokémon.

Back in the battle, Hilbert realizes that he doesn’t know any of Venipede’s attacks other than Bug Bite, so he decides to rely on it first. However, Leavanny manages to Protect itself once again. Hilbert tries to think of a move that Venipede could use. “…if it knows Bug Bite… probably it also knows Poison Tail… I don’t know…” he thinks. As Hilbert thinks, Leavanny uses Razor Leaf, causing a little of damage on Venipede. “With what we saw earlier with Pikachu, and now this, I think it’s obvious that he doesn’t know his own Pokémon’s attacks”, Iris says. Dawn says that she has noticed that Hilbert has always managed to call his Pokémon’s attacks without checking his Pokédex. “I think that he doesn’t even knows he can do that!”, she says.

Hilbert closes his eyes and breathes deeply. As he did earlier with Pikachu, he just stands firm and orders Venipede to do what it can do. Burgh orders Leavanny to use Razor Leaf. Venipede, feeling the pressure of the battle, and hearing the words of its trainer, concentrates on Leavanny and dodges all the razor leafs on its way, and hits the opponent with Poison Tail. “That’s it! Poison Tail!” Hilbert shouts with excitement. “Then, if it knows that… he must surely be able to use… Pursuit!” Hilbert thinks. He then blindly orders Venipede to use Pursuit, even though he’s not sure that he can use that attack. Burgh orders Leavanny to use Struggle Bug, but Venipede’s Pursuit is faster, and hits before Leavanny can start the attack. Hilbert then wonders what else a Venipede could possibly learn. He realizes that he doesn’t have too much time to think again, and decide to trust on his Pokémon once again. He takes another deep breath; “Ok, Venipede! I know that you haven’t shown me the best that you’ve got, so I want you to do exactly so. Show me your best!”, Hilbert says. In the stands, Iris is very unsure of Hilbert’s battle strategy, but since it’s giving good results, she says that “it’s alright for now”. Burgh, also unsure of Hilbert’s strategy, tells Leavanny to prepare for anything by using Protect. At this point, Venipede begins glowing. Everyone’s eyes are open wide. “Venipede… are you…?” Hilbert mutters; Venipede is evolving into Whirlipede. “I… I don’t know how he did that. Did he just order his Pokémon to evolve?” an astonished Iris says.

Leavanny, also astonished, undoes its Protective layer; Whirlipede uses Venoshock, poisoning it and severely injuring it. Burgh orders Leavanny to use Struggle Bug, but the Pokémon is now unable to move due to the severity of its injuries and the poisoning. Hilbert is also very surprised, not only because of the highly unexpected evolution of Venipede, but also because of all the damage it caused. The robot referee decrees that Leavanny is unable to fight, and declares Hilbert to be the winner. The battle is now over.

Hilbert runs to Whirlipede, who shows its affections to its Trainer by pressing its antennae at him. This makes Hilbert feel dizzy (due to Whirlipede’s Poison Point) and decides to take some distance. He then takes out his Poké Balls with his fainted Lillipup and Pikachu inside, and thanks them for their help.

--Commercial Break--

--Third act--
Our heroes are now outside of the Gym. Burgh congratulates Hilbert for his victory. He says that he had never seen someone trust so much on his Pokémon abilities. He gives him the Insect Badge, which he proudly holds up. He also shows him the painting that he was working with; he had already painted Hilbert in the centre. “I couldn’t wait for the battle!” he says. Hilbert is very flattered and thanks him for the gesture. Iris tells him that he should challenge Elesa, Nimbasa’s Gym Leader. Hilbert then recalls that N told him that he would meet him in Nimbasa too, so his interest in getting to Nimbasa soon is even higher. Dawn tells him that first they have to stop in the Desert Resort, where her next Musical will be held. “It’s going to be a little while before the Musical is held, so we’ll have to practice. Meanwhile, you can train your team for your next Gym Battle!” she says.

It’s night-time, and Team Rocket has reached the Desert Resort. They’re all eating noodles very fast in a small Japanese-style bar; it’s revealed that they’ve got a job at the Desert Resort’s theatre, and that they’ll plan to do “something big” in time for the Musical.

The narrator closes the episode wondering about what Team Rocket will try to do next, along with Dawn’s next Musical and Hilbert’s next Gym Battle.

To Be Continued


--Ending song: Pockettaari Monsutaari

--Professor Oak’s Lecture: Dwebble

--Preview of the next episode: “The Mandibuzz Road!? The Flock Blocks the Road!”
(Dawn) “What is going on in here?” (Hilbert) “Someone help me! What is wrong with this Pokémon? Something must have made them go mad!” (Construction worker) “The road to the Desert Resort is being repaired… but we can’t finish because those Pokémon won’t let us!” (H & D) Oh, no! We’ve gotta do something!”
“(H & D) Don’t forget to watch the next episode!
The Mandibuzz Road!? The Flock Blocks the Road!”
「みんなポケモンゲットだぜー！」

--Pocket Monsters BW: Revolution sponsors—
--Episode Ends—

 

[szmty]

Re: What Could Have Been... (An Alternative BW and XY Adventure!)

BW14: The Mandibuzz Road!? The Flock Blocks the Road!

--Cold Opening—

The narrator opens the episode reminding us that our heroes are on their way to the Desert Resort, a resort town located in an oasis, where Dawn’s next Musical will be held soon. Hilbert and Dawn are following a road that crosses the desert. The sunlight is harsh and the weather is dry and hot, so they stop in a Pokémon Center. There, they decide to let their Pokémon out of their balls. Soon after their arrival, a trio of construction workers enter the Pokémon Center; they’re carrying an injured Gurdurr. Dawn registers the Pokémon on her Dex. Following them, many pickup trucks park outside, all of them carrying injured Gurdurr in their boxes. The workers desperately seek attention for their Pokémon. “Huh? What’s going on?” Hilbert mutters.

--Season: Pocket Monsters BW: Revolution--
--Opening song: Best Wishes—

--Commercial Break—

--First Act—

Nurse Joy tries to control the crowd inside the Pokémon Center. She goes to the point where she has to speak through a loudspeaker; “Calm down! We’ll attend your Pokémon! This Center is already saturated with many other Pokémon, so you’ll have to wait!”, she claims. “Saturated? I wonder what’s happening here”, Dawn says. “Yeah, this is odd. Especially considering we’re practically in the middle of nowhere”, Hilbert adds. Dawn checks her Pokétch and tells Hilbert that they should get moving soon.

There’s a transition. Hilbert and Dawn continue following the road. The heat is unbearable; Hilbert is now wearing a plain white t-shirt instead of his blue jacket, while Dawn is wearing a plain white tank top instead of her black dress. As they walk, she’s tying her hair into a ponytail. Soon after she finishes, yet another convoy of pickup trucks passes next to them, all of them carrying Gurdurr on their backs. “Ok, this is starting to worry me”, Hilbert exclaims. “Oh, c’mon! You don’t need to worry. I’m sure nothing wrong is going on”, Dawn says. They don’t have to walk too much more before they discover that there’s actually something wrong.

The road they’re following crosses through a large construction area. A sign next to the road informs that a new motorway is being built between Castelia and Nimbasa, and the section of the road where our heroes currently are will become a huge roadside stop with dozens of shops and restaurants. “Well, it now makes sense that we’ve seen a lot of construction workers in our way, but still wonder why they were rushing with so many injured Pokémon”, Hilbert says. He then notices a couple of Mandibuzz standing on top of a steel structure. “I had only seen those ones in books!” he claims. He then registers the Pokémon on his Dex. Soon, they find another couple of the same species crossing the road. And there are also three of them on top of a large road sign. “I… I don’t like this… not a single bit…” Hilbert thinks out loud. Nonetheless, they keep walking a few yards more before having to stop; there was a large group of Mandibuzz and Vullaby blocking the way out of the construction area.

“Ok! This is just plain silly!” Hilbert thinks out loud once more. The group of Bone Vulture Pokémon begin to threaten them, urging them to leave the zone. “It seems that we’re not welcome here. Perhaps we can just go back and find a way around” he tells Dawn. However, as he turns back, he’s jump-scared by even more Mandibuzz. However, a Gurdurr arrives to the scene and attempts to scare the bird Pokémon away by wielding a large beam. Gurdurr manages to scare a few of them, but they all use Pluck on it before it can attack them, rapidly injuring it. “So that’s why there we saw so many injured Gurdurr on our way here”, Dawn says. Hilbert decides to call Pikachu out. Pikachu stands in front of Gurdurr and uses Thunderbolt on all the Mandibuzz surrounding them. Those Mandibuzz who weren’t hit left the area, but in the distance, a new flock can be seen coming. At this point, Gurdurr’s owner, a high-rank engineer working in the site, arrives to the scene too, and calls the Pokémon back to its Poké Ball. The engineer then sees the new flock of Mandibuzz getting nearer, and he urges Hilbert and Dawn to follow him before the Pokémon arrive.

Our heroes now find themselves inside a small office, were they begin to chat with the engineer. They introduce themselves and ask the engineer why are there so many Mandibuzz causing trouble. The engineer, a brown haired man in his thirties named Gerry, tells them that the Mandibuzz used to live in the ruins of a ghost town a few miles away from the construction area: “I love treasure-hunting. Y’know, like, going to old places to find old valuable objects. The other day, I went to the ghost town north of here. I knew there were a lot of Mandibuzz living there, and I never had any problem with them, but that day, the Pokémon were very mad. I noticed that some of them were injured. Someone must have had disturbed them badly. I tried to get near to them and help them, but I had to run away from them because they were getting anxious, and soon, they started pursuing me! They followed me right here! But once they got here, they calmed down. They love eating our leftovers after all. However the true havoc began when one of our Gurdurr got involved in a fight with one of them; the Mandibuzz had apparently claimed the working area of Gurdurr as its ‘turf’. Gurdurr easily knocked out that Mandibuzz, but its friends got enraged over this, and soon, they were starting to knock out all of our Pokémon! They’ve got a lot of control over who goes in and who goes out: they’ve completely blocked the only exit to the north, and you won’t be able to take the way around because the whole place is surrounded! They’ll only let you go back to Castelia. If you walk around in direction to the ghost town and the Desert Resort, they’ll try to kill ya!”, he explains (all of what he mentions is shown on screen as he narrates it). Both Hilbert and Dawn turn white out of scare, but they recover rapidly and they tell him that they’ll do anything possible to kick out the Mandibuzz. “That’s fine, but don’t even attempt to call the cops. We already tried that, and it didn’t work.” Gerry says, frustrating Hilbert and Dawn. After this, they decide to go back outside. Gerry tells them to stay inside, but it’s too late; they’re out of the office already. They just forgot about the new Mandibuzz flock they saw earlier. Hilbert remembers that they were to be attacked, and tells Dawn to lie down. They lie on the ground for a few seconds, when Dawn realizes that there are no Mandibuzz nearby.

Still, Hilbert is very frustrated, and rants about how “improbable and weird” their situation is. “It’s like if we were in a very poorly made TV show! Or worse, an extremely poorly made fanf-…” he says, but is interrupted by Dawn. “Please! There’s no need to worry!” she says. “You say that all the time!” he responds. He grabs Dawn’s hat from her bag, puts it on, and begins mockingly imitating her; “‘No need to worry, Hilbert! It’s only a bunch of blood-thirsty vultures! No need to worry, Hilbert! It’s just 150 degrees here outside! No need to worry, Hilbert! Your hair will grow back! Everything will be fine if you smile! Pink! Pink! Happiness and Poffins for everyone!’” This infuriates Dawn, who grabs Hilbert’s hat instead, and imitates him “‘Huh? What time is it? Who cares! Anytime is perfect for sleeping like a Slaking. Oh, but I ain’t sleeping now, so either I’m thinking about BATTLES, or I’m freaking out over anything! Go Pikachu! Do whatever you want to get rid of these birds!’” she says. Hilbert gets irritated too and both of them begin discussing. In the discussion, Dawn mentions Pikachu again; this prompts Hilbert to remember that he had just told Pikachu to use Thunderbolt on some of the Mandibuzz; he snaps and realizes that all they had to do was to scare them away

Hilbert sends out Pikachu and both of them run and try to find the very place where the Mandibuzz are nesting. Dawn decides to let her Piplup and Snivy out too. As she does it, she notes that she hasn’t planned what Snivy will do in their next Musical.

However, after running around a few yards, Hilbert becomes very surprised, as it seems that there are no Mandibuzz anymore. He tells her that this is their opportunity to leave the building site through the main exit. Dawn tells him not to take for granted that the Mandibuzz are gone and tells him to keep quiet. He then notices that there isn’t a single worker or Gurdurr either. “Something’s wrong in here. Even more wrong than it was when we arrived…” he quietly mutters.

Our heroes stay in silence for a few seconds. Then, Pikachu gets to hear something in the distance. She tells Hilbert, Dawn and her Pokémon to follow her. She had heard the Mandibuzz.

--DARE DA! (Who’s that Pokémon?)—
(From now on, the DD! Segment will be about a random Pokémon [except 6th gen ones])
Hint: This Pokémon is the only one able to use the move Present without breeding
Answer:

Spoiler

Delibird

--Commercial Break—

--Second Act—

The Mandibuzz flock is hungry and fighting for food. All of the Mandibuzz and Vullaby are surrounding a single trash container, which is almost empty. A Vullaby finds a half-eaten sandwich and attempts to finish it. However, another larger Vullaby takes it from its mouth and swallows it. The small Vullaby cries, but the larger one slaps it and gives it a banana peel. The small Vullaby gets mad and attempts to fight against the larger one.

Soon after this, our heroes find the Mandibuzz flock and all of the bone vulture get in position to battle, except for the Vullaby inside the trash container, who are about to fight for the food. “Ok, let’s make this quick and clean! Pikachu, I think you know what to do!” Hilbert says. “I can’t believe that he actually told Pikachu to do what she pleases!” Dawn thinks, but then she realizes that Hilbert’s order is working; Pikachu simply threatens the Mandibuzz by faking to be preparing a Thunderbolt. The vast majority of the Mandibuzz fly away; however, the largest three of them decide to stay and give fight.

The Vullaby inside the container notice what is happening outside, and at first they leave at the same time as the other Mandibuzz. They decide to stop on a beam on top of a tall structure near the container. They look scared. However, they look down and remember that they were just about to battle. The larger Vullaby is hit first by the smaller one, who uses Faint Attack, but it makes very little damage. The large Vullaby responds with Fury Attack.

Down in the ground, three large Mandibuzz stand firmly on the container. The one in the middle attacks Pikachu with Air Slash. Pikachu evades and loads a Thunderbolt. However, the Thunderbolt explodes in the air as it crashes with the Mandibuzz’s Dark Pulse. Dawn calls Piplup in and orders him to use Scald. The Mandibuzz is burned and uses Whirlwind, forcing Dawn to battle with Snivy. Dawn orders it to Wrap the Mandibuzz, but then the Mandibuzz on the sides attempt to attack. She lets Piplup out again and freezes one of the Mandibuzz. However, the sunlight is very harsh, and the Mandibuzz soon starts to melt. Hilbert orders Pikachu to use Electric Ball on the frozen Mandibuzz before it melts. The attack hits Mandibuzz severely; the Pokémon melts, but it flees away from the danger, which means that there are only two Mandibuzz left.

Meanwhile, the Vullaby above are still battling. Both of them are exhausted, but willing to keep fighting. The small one uses Pluck, but the large one evades it and uses Flatter, forcing the small one to keep Plucking. The large one uses Fury Attack again, injuring one of the small Vullaby’s wings. The last of the hits throws the small Vullaby to the ground.

Back in the ground, Snivy has managed to keep Wrapping Mandibuzz, but even with that handicap, it’s still fighting back. An Air Slash hurts Snivy, who then unwraps Mandibuzz. Simultaneously, the other one is battling Pikachu. Hilbert orders Pikachu to use Electric Ball once more. Pikachu starts running very fast and begins loading the attack. But she notices that above them, the small Vullaby is struggling to fly and is about to hit the floor. She stops loading the attack and saves the Vullaby instead. However, the Mandibuzz uses its Dark Pulse, hitting both Pikachu and the small Vullaby. “How could you do that!?” Hilbert shouts. He then remembers that his Lillipup used to be bullied by a Herdier pack, and worries that the Vullaby may be receiving a similar treatment. The Vullaby stands up and attacks the Mandibuzz on its own, using Fury Attack. The other one attacks Vullaby too, with a Faint Attack. Hilbert orders Pikachu to put Vullaby away from the danger and use Thunderbolt on both Mandibuzz, who receive a lot of damage and decide to flee.

“We’ve done it! Now we just have to tell Gerry that the pest is gone, and we’ll continue our way!” Hilbert says. However, he almost immediately sees the Mandibuzz flock in the distance once again, prompting Hilbert to ask if this is a joke. But right after this, Dawn points out to the road; the pick-ups they saw earlier are coming back to the construction area; the Gurdurr are healthy once again.

Gerry arrives to the scene and tells Hilbert and Dawn that the workers will help them with their Gurdurr. They tell him that they managed to force the leaders of the flock to flee, but that “they may come back anytime soon”. “I don’t think they’ll surrender that easy”, he continues.

Pikachu comes to them with the small Vullaby, which is injured. Hilbert picks it up and applies a Potion on its injuries, while Dawn registers it on her Pokédex. The Vullaby begins to recover and jumps off Hilbert’s arms. Vullaby tells Pikachu, Piplup and Snivy to do their best (we learn this through the Pokémon’s sign language).

The workers arrive and ask Gerry for instructions. He tells them that the Mandibuzz will probably return to the trash container, so he tells them that they have to surround it with the Gurdurr. “They might be Flying-type, but they’re Dark-type too! If we’re fast enough and work together, we’ll be able to clean the area in no time!” he states. Immediately after this, one of the workers takes out a packaged sandwich; he tells one of his co-workers that he hasn’t had time to eat lunch, and that he is so hungry he can’t wait anymore. However, as he tries to bite the sandwich, all of its contents fall to the ground. Vullaby, still very hungry, runs to eat them; Hilbert sees this and he gets an idea. He remembers that Gerry told her and Hilbert that the Mandibuzz loved eating their leftovers. He tells them that using force won’t solve everything. “That’s why your Gurdurr are always getting injured! Attacking them will only keep them away for a few moments. We need another plan!” he says. He tells them to divide in to teams; team A will distract the Mandibuzz, and team B will produce lots of leftovers. “Dawn, you’re good at cooking! You can help team B! I’ll stay here and distract the Mandibuzz with team A”, he says. “Everyone who is hungry follow Dawn! Those who can wait a little more to eat, follow me!” he finishes. Dawn tells team B to follow her to the complex’s cafeteria, which consists of a large tent with a large kitchen inside.

The Mandibuzz have just returned. There are about 30 of them, including the large Vullaby that provoked the small one, and the leaders that they had forced to flee earlier. Hilbert tells Pikachu to focus on the leaders. Dawn’s Snivy followed her, but Piplup decided to stay with team A, along with the small Vullaby. All the workers who stayed call their Gurdurr to the battle; there are a dozen of them. One of the large Mandibuzz recognizes one of the Gurdurr as the one whom it had fought for “turf”. The Mandibuzz attacks first with Dark Pulse, but Gurdurr manages to endure the attack and uses Brick Break. Mandibuzz is moderately damaged and responds with Pluck, which considerably damages Gurdurr. Hilbert orders Pikachu to use Electric Ball on that Mandibuzz, while all the workers order their Gurdurr to Bulk Up, raising their Attack and Defense.

The large Vullaby finds the small one, and both of them continue their battle. This time though, the small one manages to win, knocking the large Vullaby by using Fury Attack and finishing with a Faint Attack that looks as if it had hit critically. Hilbert sees this and is impressed with the ability of the small Vullaby, who returns to him.

Meanwhile, Gerry and Snivy are helping Dawn to prepare dishes for the hungry workers. There are about 50 of them. In order to maximize the amount of leftovers, they decided to prepare a three-course meal; Snivy helps to cook and serve entrées with help of its Vine Whip, Gerry prepares the main course, and Dawn makes the desserts. Each plate of entrées is large enough to be a main course on its own, prompting one of the workers to ask if it isn’t too much food. Dawn tells him that’s the idea. “That way, we’ll have lots of leftovers for the hungry Mandibuzz!” she says. “I think I know what Hilbert is trying to do next”, she thinks.

Back in the outside, the Gurdurr are resisting the attack of the Mandibuzz. Pikachu and Piplup are helping; Pikachu’s Static has managed to paralyze a few of them, while Piplup has frozen another few, albeit just temporarily, since the intense heat melts the ice quickly. The Gurdurr are using Rock Throw to enclose the Mandibuzz, which are now completely surrounded. One of them tries to escape, but Pikachu threatens it by faking a Thunderbolt. Then another one attacks, but a Gurdurr uses Brick Break on it.

Hilbert thinks that they’ve successfully controlled the flock, and that it’s time for the second step of their plan. He calls Gerry through a walkie-talkie: “We’ve enclosed the flock! You all have to eat the food. Then you’ll put all the leftovers in the largest wheeled container you can find”, Hilbert says. Gerry then orders everyone to eat; team B eats fast and they all put their leftovers in a wheeled container, which is soon filled.

Gerry calls Hilbert, telling him that they’ve finished and are ready for the next step. Hilbert then tells him that they have to pull the container with a vehicle, and drive away from the building site. “We’ll make sure that the Mandibuzz follow it. Once you’ve reached a safe place, unhook the container and come back” he says. Gerry then calls a couple of his co-workers and tells them to tie the container to one of the pick-up trucks.

Hilbert then tells the workers that they have to move the Mandibuzz. The workers order the Gurdurr to use their Rock Throw to control the movement of the flock. They successfully reach the ‘cafeteria’, where Gerry is waiting inside his pick-up. The flock see the trash container filled with leftovers and they’re eager to eat. Hilbert then tells the workers to ‘dissolve’ the enclosure. The Gurdurr are ordered to walk away, and the Mandibuzz are freed. Immediately after this, Gerry starts the pick-up and drives away in direction to the ghost town where the flock used to live. As Hilbert predicted, the Mandibuzz began following the pick-up; the road was unblocked and the situation at the building site returned to normal. The workers from both teams celebrate and Hilbert, Dawn and their Pokémon (including the small Vullaby who decided to stay) do a group hug.

--Commercial Break--

--Third Act—
Gerry comes back without the container, and thanks Hilbert for his help. He says that the Mandibuzz were very happy, and that he’ll give them leftovers “every once in a while to keep them happy”. Hilbert then gives Dawn credit for it too. “We wouldn’t have made enough leftovers if it wasn’t for her”, he says. He then realizes that he never apologized to her after he imitated her. “Actually, if we hadn’t mocked each other earlier today, I wouldn’t have started all of these plans. I’m sorry for that, Dawn”, he says. “It’s ok, no need to worry”, she says. “I actually like that little phrase”, Hilbert says, making Dawn to blush.

Immediately after this, the small Vullaby tries to bring Hilbert’s attention to it. The diapered Pokémon tells Hilbert (through non-verbal gestures) that he was always bullied by the larger Pokémon in the flock. “I could see that when you battled earlier today” he tells Vullaby. Dawn then tells Hilbert that Vullaby wants to join them. “Is that true, Vullaby?” he asks, prompting the Pokémon to agree. Just as he was going to say that he was going to battle it, Dawn stops him, saying that maybe he doesn’t need to battle this time. Vullaby agrees with Dawn. Hilbert then just throws a Poké Ball at Vullaby, and successfully captures it.

Dawn then congratulates Hilbert, who lets Vullaby out of its new Poké Ball. Dawn then tells Snivy that the Desert Resort Musical will be soon, and that they have to prepare for it. She says that they’ll work on their routine as soon as they get to the Resort. “Hopefully, we’ll have about a week to rehearse. So I want you to be prepared!” she says.

The narrator closes the episode, wondering about Hilbert’s new Vullaby and Dawn’s next challenge.

To Be Continued

--Ending song: Pockettaari Monsutaari

--Professor Oak’s Lecture: Yamask

--Preview of the next episode: “This is the Desert Resort! Time to Dance!!”
(Dawn) Ok, Snivy! Here we are! The Desert Resort! … Oh wait! Look! It’s May!
(May) Hey Dawn! Are you ready for the Musical next week? Me and my Scraggy are ready, right?
(Scraggy) (absent-mindedly) “Scraaaa---” (M) “Oh please! Show some enthusiasm!”
(M & D) “We need to rehearse!”
(M & D) “Don’t forget to watch the next episode!”
“This is the Desert Resort! Time to Dance!!”
「みんなポケモンゲットだぜー！」

--Pocket Monsters BW: Revolution sponsors—
--Episode Ends—

Additional Notes:
Well, as you may have noticed, I LIED about this episode’s plot during its preview. Nope, the road wasn’t being repaired. I guess I’m sorry for that, but I think it that the result was better. Indeed, this thing would have been mere filler if I hadn’t altered the setting a bit.
As you may have noticed, I’m taking a lot of time to make episodes nowadays. I’ve got a lot of homework from college recently, so I still haven’t been able to update this as frequently as I wanted. Thankfully, my “semester” will be over in two weeks (as long as I pass all my subjects in first opportunity), so hopefully I’ll be able to make episodes and post them much more frequently for a couple of months.

Thank you for reading!

 

[szmty]

Re: What Could Have Been... (An Alternative BW and XY Adventure!)

BW15: This is the Desert Resort! Time to Dance!!

--Cold Opening—

It’s nighttime, and our heroes have just arrived to the Desert Resort.

The anime’s version of the Desert Resort is the Pokémon World’s equivalent to Las Vegas; it’s a mid-sized city with numerous and enormous hotels and casinos. Dawn is very excited, and she’s looking for the hotel where the Musical will be held: “The Illusion”. However, Hilbert looks rather nervous. Dawn notices this and asks him what’s wrong; he tells her that the Resort can be a dangerous place where they “could end up getting scammed, mugged or something else”. But then he affirms that as long as they don’t split and keep the proper cautions, nothing has to go wrong.

The pair enters a Pokémon Center: the building is covered with lights and has a large sign on its top. Inside, Dawn looks at the map of the Resort. Right as she finds “The Illusion” on it, she hears a familiar voice shouting “Dawn!”; it’s May, with Drew following her.

May and Drew greet Dawn and Hilbert. Hilbert then asks May if she and her Pokémon are ready for the Musical. May has a short flashback; in it she remembers that she told Dawn that she’d be using Scraggy, and then she realizes that she hasn’t practised at all. “Uh… Yes! We’re… uh… we’re completely ready! Scraggy and I could perform right now”, she nervously says, attempting to cover her lie. She then asks Dawn if she’s ready; Dawn then realizes that she hasn’t practised with Snivy at all either. “Yes… umm, we are completely ready and I could show you our moves right now too!”, Dawn says. “Why did I lie to her?” Dawn thinks. “Why didn’t I tell them the truth?” May thinks. “Hmm, I wonder why I asked her about it… it’s not like if I was that much interested…” Hilbert thinks.

--Season: Pocket Monsters BW: Revolution--
--Opening song: Best Wishes—

--Commercial Break—

--First Act—

Bianca Juniper and her Musharna are walking in what it seems to be one of the seediest neighbourhoods of the Desert Resort. She’s completely lost and she looks worried. However, she seems to be more worried about herself winning the next Musical. “This one has to be ours. Last time, we got humiliated [the scene of Musharna getting burned in BW10 is shown], but… I… I don’t know…”, she quietly says.

A burglar unaffiliated with any villainous team sees Bianca walking with Musharna. He thinks that the Pokémon may be what he needs to pay for his gambling debts.

The burglar appears in front of the Coordinator, prompting her to scream out of scare, and he then shoots a special net that traps Musharna, and manages to run away with it. Bianca stands paralyzed for a few seconds, but then she tries to chase him.

Meanwhile, Team Rocket is sitting on a bus stop in the same derelict neighbourhood. They’re still in disguise, wearing formal outfits.

Jessie and James blame Meowth for having them fired from their latest “legit job” at a fine restaurant. “All I was asking was for a raise in our check-nya!” Meowth says. “You threatened the Chef with your swipes after he said ‘no’ for the eleventh time!”, James says. “They should have fired only you”, Jessie says. “And you shouldn’t have defended his actions, James”, she continues. “The Chef had a frying pan and a knife on his hands! He could’ve ended up dead!” James responds. “And I shouldn’t have defended you either. Now what are we gonna do?”, Jessie says.

Immediately after this, Jessie sees the burglar with Musharna from the distance. She then says that they might need to do a “little dirty job before going legit again”. Jessie calls her Woobat out, and James calls Yamask. The burglar sends out a Watchog, who tries to hit Yamask first with a Tackle, but he is unable due to Yamask’s Ghost-typing. Yamask instead uses Will-o-Wisp, burning Watchog, and Woobat uses Gust. Watchog tries to counterattack by Biting Yamask, but Woobat knocks it out with Heart Stamp. The burglar flees from the scene, and Team Rocket takes Musharna. However, before they can flee with Musharna, Bianca arrives and thanks them for saving the Pokémon. Before they can say any word, she gives them a wad of money as a reward. Team Rocket happily accepts the money. Jessie immediately recognizes Bianca; “Wait, aren’t you Bianca Juniper, the Pokémon Coordinator?”, she asks, prompting Bianca to formally introduce herself. “What’s she tryin’ to do-nya?”, Meowth quietly asks to James. “I don’t know, but let’s see if it’s something good”, he responds.

Jessie rapidly thinks of a great way of getting involved in Musicals without performing and getting profits: “Ms. Juniper, we are a team of producers, members of a talent agency. My name is Jess…ica, and these are my partners Ja…son and Me... Mitch. We watched your performance at the Nacrene Musical and we were very impressed. We were on our way to “The Illusion”, where we were expecting to meet you and offer you a very lucrative contract. We want to be your managers”. “Jessica” tells Bianca that they’ll get her lots of sponsors and make her “filthy rich and famous”, promising her to be the next “PokéIdol”. Bianca is understandably impressed with this, and thinks that it could be a good idea to become a professional Coordinator. “I’ve travelled a lot already, but I’m still not as well-known as I would like. Being a full-time professional will help me stand out from everyone else”, she thinks. Right after this, she accepts the offer. “Could we speak in private for a couple of seconds?”, “Jason” asks “Jessica”. He asks her if she’s “out of her mind”, but she answers that being Bianca’s managers could be the perfect cover. “Think about it, we build this girl’s career for real, and we won’t be hungry anymore. And, we can still scam and get something for our Boss in our spare time”, she justifies. “This is not at all what I planned to do here in Unova”, James thinks. “I should’ve stayed in Kanto with Wobbuffet-nya. Our Boss is gonna fire us for good if he discovers this-nya”, Meowth thinks.

There’s a transition. Hilbert, Dawn, May and Drew are now at “The Illusion”. Dawn and May are worried about their acts. They already know what song is going to be used in the Musical, but they aren’t sure about how will they perform with it. “The song is jazzy, but, what attack should I use. How will Snivy dance with it? Maybe, something with Vine Whip…” Dawn thinks. “Scraggy may do its Swagger… but it can get annoying if he overdoes it. No wonder why it can cause confusion. He could break props with Brick Break…” May thinks. Meanwhile, Hilbert is confirming the reservations; the Pokémon Musical Association made reservations at the hotel for those who registered to participate in the Desert Resort Musical, along with their companions.

Bianca and Team Rocket arrive to the hotel. Dawn sees Bianca, and remembers how sad she got after she lost the Nacrene Musical to her. Bianca sees her too, but attempts to avoid her. “What’s wrong with that girl? I was actually going to apologize to her”, Dawn thinks. “That blue-haired witch and her penguin… I bet she spends thousands dying her hair that color… ugh… never mind… maybe I should try and talk to her but…”, Bianca thinks, but she is interrupted by “Jessica”. They sit in a table inside the casino. A security guard tells them that Bianca is too young to play, but they tell him that they won’t be playing. “Jessica” opens a briefcase and hands Bianca a contract. This prompts Meowth to wonder if Jessie had already planned all of this with anticipation.

At the casino, the burglar from earlier is drinking scotch and spending the little money he has trying to hit the jackpot at a slot machine. He sees Bianca and Team Rocket. The burglar then laughs quietly, but evilly. “This time I’ll get those Pokémon”, he quietly mutters.

--DARE DA! (Who’s that Pokémon?)—
It’s half Water-type. It’s often thought to be Mexican
Answer:

Spoiler

Ludicolo

--Commercial Break—

--Second Act—

Dawn tells Hilbert that he hasn’t practised at all with her Snivy, noting that she just “finished planning the act” and that she “might still have to make a lot of modifications”. Hilbert asks her why did she said she was ready, and she says that she lied because she thought it would be embarrassing if May knew that she hadn’t , given that the Musical will begin in less than a week. She tells him that she will be at the hotel’s Pokémon battlefield but that May shouldn’t know. “Fine, I’ll keep it in secret”, Hilbert says.

There’s a transition. Hilbert is dining at the hotel’s restaurant with May and Drew and their Pokémon. May asks Hilbert why Dawn isn’t dining with them. Hilbert tells them that she’s at the hotel’s gym. “I didn’t know Dawn was into that. What is she doing?”. “Uhh… weightlifting… I think…” Hilbert says. “Weightlifting, are you sure?” May continues asking. Hilbert then imagines Dawn lifting weights and Piplup and Snivy acting as coaches, and realizes that he didn’t meant that, but he goes with that answer anyway. May then says that she has to leave; she reveals that she hasn’t finished planning her act for the Musical, and that she’ll be at the hotel’s battlefield. Drew asks her why she told Dawn that she was ready; she gave the same response as Dawn. Hilbert tries to stop May from going there: “Ah… don’t you want to eat a dessert first? Look at how many cakes you can get here!” Hilbert says. “I love desserts, but right now I’ll have to say no. I’m trying to lose a couple of pounds”, May responds. “B-But your body is perfect as it is right now!” Hilbert continues. May blushes very hard and Drew gets annoyed and stands up. “T-That came out wrong…”, Hilbert says. Hilarity ensues.

Meanwhile, at the casino, the burglar, who is obviously drunk, stands up. He goes to the table where Team Rocket is sitting with Bianca; she has just signed the contract. The security guard is watching them closely to ensure that Bianca doesn’t attempt to play, and after they finish, he politely tells them to leave the casino. However, the drunk confronts James directly, and challenges them to a Pokémon battle. “You lose and –I’ll keep ya Pokémon and da girls, UNDER *hiccup* STOOD?”. The guard tries to contain the drunk. “Ok fella, it’s clear that you’ve had too many drinks tonight. You should be going home”, he calmly says. “Oh – no!, I ain’t leaving without what’s MINE! Dis guy! He stole mah *hiccup* Musharna!” the burglar says. “Is that true sir?” the guard asks James. “Oh no, this man attempted to steal that Musharna from our partner a few hours ago”, he answers. “Ok then. Sir, I’m sorry but I’ll have to detain you. Once you sober up, we’ll make you some questions. Come with me, please”, the guard says. He attempts to handcuff the burglar, but he resists and sends out his Watchog. The guard then sends out a Herdier. Team Rocket and Bianca attempt to get away, but the burglar takes both Bianca and Jessie from their arms. Jessie attempts to fight back, struggling and sending out Woobat, but Bianca is outright scared and afraid that something unimaginably bad could happen to her. James sends out Yamask and tells him to use Will-o-Wisp, but he unwillingly ends up burning Herdier instead. Yamask and James apologize, but the guard is now unable to help. The burglar’s Watchog Bites Woobat, knocking it out in one hit. Yamask, weak to Dark moves and unable to fight on his own because his two damaging attacks are Ghost-type, feels a lot of pressure.

May walks to the battlefield; Hilbert follows her trying to stop her. Drew watches his movements closely. Dawn appears and says “hi” to them. Hilbert sighs and tells May that she is free to go. “Where are you going May?” Dawn asks. “T-To the battlefield. Scraggy and I are going to rehearse”. “Cool, I’d love to watch you!”, Dawn answers. Drew tells May to tell Dawn the truth. “What truth?”, Dawn asks. But May is interrupted before she can even begin the first word of her response. They could hear a battle right inside of the hotel. The group followed the sound and saw a drunken man battling with another man (James) and a security guard where the casino section begins. They noticed that the drunk had taken an executive-looking woman (Jessie) and Bianca as hostages. Hilbert decides to help. He runs next to James and calls Pikachu out of her Poké Ball. James thanks him, as does the security guard, who calls the police. Hilbert orders Pikachu to use Quick Attack, but Watchog avoids her. She hits a wall instead, hurting herself. Watchog then Bites Pikachu. Watchog manages to avoid getting paralyzed when he does this. Dawn, May and Drew decide to join the battle. The drunken burglar then threw Bianca to the floor and sent out a second Pokémon who he calls “his secret weapon”, a Krookodile, and immediately took Bianca back before she could escape. Dawn registers it and then sends out Snivy. Meanwhile, May sends out Scraggy, and Drew sends out Roserade. Hilbert registers Roserade.

Drew orders Roserade to use Stun Spore on Watchog, while Dawn’s Snivy attempted to use Vine Whip and May’s Scraggy to use Brick Break. However, Snivy’s attacks weren’t strong enough, even if they were super effective. Meanwhile, Scraggy seemed to be bored and was distracted by the sound of the slot machines. Drew then ordered Roserade to use Mega Drain on Watchog. Hilbert’s Pikachu recovered and used Electric Ball on it, knocking it out. However, Krookodile knocked out Pikachu with a Mud-Slap.

Dawn urged Snivy to do the best it could, while May urged Scraggy to respond. Snivy snaps and attempts to use Vine Whip again, but Scraggy is distracted with a large pachinko machine. However, this time Vine Whip worked better than expected, pushing Krookodile onto the pachinko, destroying it. Scraggy infuriated.

Right as this happens, the song that was going to be featured for the Appeal Round of the Musical is played on the casino’s PA system. May remembers that she still hasn’t planned her act at all, but then she decides to create the act while they’re battling. “Let’s improvise”, she thinks. She orders Scraggy to use Swagger and dance “as suave” as it could. Krookodile can’t help it but observe Scraggy moving with Swagger. The attack naturally enraged it, but at the same time got it confused. Drew used Petal Dance, but Krookodile evaded it; the Pokémon is very confused, and it’s crashing on all the slot machines next to it. Dawn notices that the Petals could just like the prop she wants to use for the Musical. She orders Snivy to do the “Russian Dance”; Snivy crosses its arms and kicks the ground as it walks and shoots the petals on Krookodile using its Vine Whip while following the rhythm of the song. Roserade becomes confused, and Drew decides to call it back. Hilbert thinks about calling Lillipup out, but he thinks that Snivy and Scraggy could knock out Krookodile easily since it’s now confused. Instead, James sends out Yamask, but Yamask is ultimately knocked out once Krookodile manages to Crunch it. It’s all on Dawn’s Snivy and May’s Scraggy.

--Commercial Break--

--Third Act—

The song loops. Krookodile is now crashing on all the slots machines. Some of them begin malfunctioning and shooting coins to the air. Scraggy hasn’t stopped dancing “suave”. May orders it to “try to use Brick Break while keeping the pose”. Scraggy obeys and performs a slow Brick Break on the Intimidation Pokémon. Meanwhile, Dawn orders Snivy to continue with the “Russian Dance”. This time, Snivy begins hitting Krookodile with coins. Krookodile attempts to Crunch Snivy, but it ends up hitting itself. Dawn’s Snivy and May’s Scraggy finish using Leaf Tornado and Hi Jump Kick respectively.

The drunken burglar attempts to flee with Bianca and Jessie, but Hilbert and Drew stop him and the guard handcuffs him. Soon, Officer Jenny arrives. The drunken burglar tries to hit on her, but she simply takes him to the patrol car. Bianca thanks them very much for saving her, as does Jessie (in her new “Jessica” persona).

Dawn apologizes to Bianca for what happened at the Nacrene battle. She tells her that she did cause more damage than necessary to Musharna. After all what happened Bianca decides to accept the apologies, although it’s clear that one side of her head still thinks that Dawn is on the wrong. Nonetheless, she is very impressed with Dawn and May’s Pokémon. She asked them if they were going to use those movements in the Musical. Both of them answered that it was very possible.

There’s a transition. Dawn and May are wearing their pyjamas, and are getting ready to sleep in the room they’re sharing. Dawn decides to tell May that she hadn’t planned the act until that very night. “I went to the battlefield and I tried to practice with Snivy a bit, but it wasn’t until the battle that I had a true idea of what Snivy and I will perform. I told Hilbert not to tell you. I feel embarrassed”, she says. “So that’s why he tried to stop me from going there”, May answers. She then tells Dawn that she shouldn’t feel embarrassed, and she also reveals that she hadn’t planned her act either. “I think I should feel more embarrassed in any case. I literally had no idea until I began listening to the song back in the casino”, she says. “You don’t need to worry. Actually, y’know, there’s no reason to be embarrassed, just like you told me”, Dawn answers. She then tells her that they’ve got the rest of the week to improve, and they can do it together. “I’ll win the Musical anyway”, May says. “Well, let’s see what happens!” Dawn responds.

The narrator closes the episode, saying that Dawn and May will learn together during their practice, and at the same time their friendship will grow stronger.

To Be Continued

--Ending song: Kaze no Messeiji (Message of the Wind)

--Professor Oak’s Lecture: Pokémon Musicals

--Preview of the next episode: “The Resort Musical is On! Dawn VS May VS Bianca!!”
(Dawn) “It’s time for our next Musical!”
(May) “We promise to give the best of ourselves!”
(Bianca) “It will be filled with excitement and surprises!
(Dawn) “There’ll be catchy music!”
(May) “And lots of majestic moves!”
(D/M/B) “We’ll aim to win! That’s our dream!
No matter if the current changes, our dream will not change!
Don’t forget to watch the next episode”
“The Resort Musical is On! Dawn VS May VS Bianca!!””
「みんなポケモンゲットだぜー！」

--Pocket Monsters BW: Revolution sponsors—
--Episode Ends—

Additional Notes:

Well, finally, here’s the newest episode of BW: Revolution.
As you may notice, this episode has more mature themes going on. Gambling and alcohol on a Pokémon episode? Why not? Actually I feel that I’m barely pushing the limits of the PG rating. And I’m totally ok with that; that’s one of the things that I wanted to do with this fic.
We’re halfway into this season. I plan them to be of about 30 episodes. In total, I expect to have between 90 and 100 episodes divided into 3 seasons, for BW only. XY will hopefully be about the same length.
And yes, it’s going to take a long time. Hopefully, BW will be over in less than a year, if I manage to accelerate the pace, and keep the interest and inspiration high. In the following weeks, I’ll be much more active, so expect more episodes soon.

Thank you for reading!

 

[szmty]

Re: What Could Have Been... (An Alternative BW and XY Adventure!)

BW16: The Resort Musical is On! Dawn VS May VS Bianca!!

--Cold Opening—

The episode begins with Bianca and Team Rocket negotiating an advertising deal with a local noodles restaurant. The owner tells them that Bianca has to wear the logo and colours of the restaurant on her costume. “And if you mention us during your performance, I’ll give you 15% more!”, the owner says. Bianca feels embarrassment, thinking about how bad she’ll look wearing the logo and how weird will she sound as well, but “Jessica”* convinces her to do it, telling her that “deals will get better once you win more musicals”. “I guess it’s gonna be alright”, Bianca says. Cue jump cut; “I don’t like this a bit”, she says while being in the backstage of The Illusion theatre. Next to her are May and Dawn; May is wearing a quite revealing outfit, and she is wearing trademark bandana tied as a bow, while Dawn is wearing the same light blue dress as she did in Nacrene. Bianca instead is dressed like a typical Japanese idol, but in the colours of the restaurant she’s advertising; a combination of dark red, cream, chocolate and salmon. She’s obviously nervous and embarrassed. “No need to worry, you’ll be fine! Though you do look a bit like a bowl of instant soup!” Dawn teases with a laugh. “Oh please! You look just like cotton candy!” Bianca says. Dawn takes offense too and both are about to begin to argue, but they’re interrupted by Julianne, the hostess, who starts speaking at the stage.

“Today, twenty four Coordinators have been accepted to compete in the Appeal round for an opportunity to win the Desert Resort Ribbon; Only eight will enter the Knockout round, and only the last remaining coordinator will be able to keep it” Julianne says as she shows the ribbon to the audience. Dawn, May and Bianca decide to focus. “This one has to be mine!” they think.

--Season: Pocket Monsters BW: Revolution--
--Opening song: Best Wishes—

--Commercial Break—

--First Act—

Hilbert, Drew and all their non-participating Pokémon are on their seats. Hilbert’s Pikachu is cheering while wearing a pink kimono and waving a fan. Hilbert and Drew act coldly towards each other; Drew is still uncomfortable after what happened earlier that week**. Drew tells Hilbert not to get “very excited” when he sees May wearing her outfit. This conversation follows:
“ —Dude, like, seriously! You misunderstood! I didn’t mean to tell her… that!” Hilbert nervously says.
“—Oh! So you’re saying that she’s not pretty, huh?” Drew continues.
“—No, not at all. She is very pretty!”
“—WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO SAY!?”
“—What do you want ME to say!?”
“—Just say you’re sorry!”
“—That’s exactly what I’ve been trying to say! I’m SORRY! S-O-R-R-Y! …My God!”, Hilbert finishes.

On screen, we see stills of the first couple of participants and their Pokémon.

Right next, Julianne calls May to the scenario. Drew, his Roserade, and May’s Skitty and Munchlax are cheering for her. Hilbert’s Pikachu continues cheering too. “Ok, let’s see what she can do…”, Hilbert thinks.

“The song is called ‘Old Times at the Game Corner’! This time, you’ll have just one and a half minute! Get everything ready!” Julianne tells her. May accommodates several bricks and a couple of mobile dummy targets; Scraggy is wearing a scarlet cape and a black top hat. The song starts.

Scraggy gets in the middle of the circle of bricks, and uses Brick Break on them, following the beat of the song. The song goes onto a more calmed middle eight, during which Scraggy uses Swagger upon the mobile targets; of course, they’re unaffected, but they’re coated in silver paint, which project a red light around. As Scraggy uses that attack, he makes “suave” movements with its arms. The Pokémon remains illuminating the scenario after performing the attack, and finishes the song by breaking both mobile targets simultaneously.

Ludwig Lennon, President of the Pokémon Musical Association, praises the use of the props as being creative and visually appealing. “You’ve managed to show the musical properties of physical attacks and create some nice natural light with the Swagger”, he says. President of the Unova Pokémon Fan Club, John Smith, strongly approves as well, as does the Desert Resort’s Nurse Joy.

A transition consisting of brief appearances of another couple of Coordinators and their Pokémon is shown. Up next, Julianne calls Dawn and Snivy to the stage. Dawn’s act also involves several objects; she has accommodated several tennis ball machines, but using balls filled with confetti and glittering powder rather than tennis balls. Dawn sets the machines to shoot the balls at medium speed. Snivy, only wearing Dawn’s scarf and a straw hat, hits and breaks the balls with its Vine Whip, while “kicking” the floor with a “Russian dance”, all at the beat of the song. During the middle eight, Snivy uses Leaf Tornado and hits the balls with the leaves while spinning around. The leaves shatter in contact with the balls; they combine with the confetti and the powder, creating a dense green cloud. However, one of the machines begins to malfunction and starts shooting balls at a higher speed. Snivy tries to remain in control while spinning, but it’s hit by one of the balls, making it fall. The cloud is very dense and it has become unbreathable due to the powder. Fortunately, the song ends before things could get worse and some crew from the backstage blows the cloud away with a giant fan.

Mr. Lennon admits that he liked the performance, although he says that they “lost the control at the end after the machine broke”. “I liked ya very much! But that was very risky!”, is all what Mr. Smith says. Nurse Joy further tells her that the green cloud was a very dangerous stunt; “That cloud was made of artificial glitter, dust and crushed leaves. It’s completely unbreathable, so while it’s great that Snivy is practically unscathed, it could have been very dangerous for everyone here if it went out of control”, she says.

Bianca is called to the stage right after her. She is obviously very embarrassed; the logo of the restaurant she is advertising is stamped on her back and on Musharna. The judges notice this, which prompts Julianne to ask Lennon if that’s allowed. We get a fast glimpse of Team Rocket eating their nails in panic. Mr. Lennon rapidly checks a book of rules and declares that there’s no rule banning advertisements during an event. Team Rocket calms down, but Bianca is still very embarrassed; “D-don’t forget to grab a meal at Mr. Masuda’s Authentic Soba…” she nervously says. In the audience, Hilbert is trying to contain his laughter, but Munchlax’s stomach rumbles loudly, prompting him to crack. Drew (who has kept a straight face) then slaps him on the back of his head.

Team Rocket is sitting in what seems to be an executive box. “We’ll get a lot of money if that kid goes far enough-nya!” Meowth says. “I’m still not so convinced… but at least we’ll be eating something nice tonight!” James says. “Trust me, we’ll be rich if we work with this girl” Jessie says. “Oh, if our Boss finds about this he’ll kill us… or at least send us to Antarctica for real this time”, James ends.

Her act is pretty similar to what she had done in Nacrene, where she got unanimous appeal from all the judges and the audience. Bianca exploits Musharna’s ability to create Dream Mist without actually having to eat dreams once again. However, this time Musharna “spices” the act by using a special prop, something they lacked during their first performance; Musharna is able to hold a trumpet in its mouth. The judges wonder what Musharna will try to do with it, since it doesn’t have fingers, needed to play the instrument. However, they’re surprised when in looks like Musharna is able to play the song with it by using some kind of mental power. Nonetheless, Musharna is not able to project anything with the Mist due to putting all of its power on playing and moving through the stage. To compensate, Bianca orders Musharna to use Defense Curl, which creates a veil that reflects the colour of the mist over the audience.

After the song ends, Mr. Lennon says that, while he is impressed with Musharna’s ability to play an instrument, he says that the act was pretty similar to the one that they did in Nacrene, which was better. “Nevertheless, you still did well, although you could’ve done something even much better”, he says.

Bianca and Musharna return to the backstage. She feels like she won’t make it to the next round.

After this, Julianne announces the Appeal Round to be over, and calls for a short break, after which the judges will announce the results.

There’s a transition. Bianca is still visibly worried, but “Jessica” assures her that everything fine. As she does this, “Jason”* and “Mitch”* are counting the money they received from Mr. Masuda. Dawn also looks worried, but reassures herself with her very own catchphrase. Hilbert tells her that she’ll do fine as well. Meanwhile, May seems to be pretty confident, but she seeks advice from Drew anyway.

The break is over, and Julianne announces the results one by one: May is second, while Dawn is sixth and Bianca barely made it on eighth place. Bianca and Dawn are relieved at first, but soon, they look at each other with determination, after they realize the possibility of battling in the semifinals.

--DARE DA! (Who’s that Pokémon?)—
This Water-type Pokémon is practically useless and often seen as a joke…
Answer:

Spoiler

You were expecting Magikarp, but it was me, Luvdisc! (old meme is old)

--Commercial Break—

--Second Act—

Julianne announces the start of the Knockout Round: Remember! A single song will be played for 5 minutes. The Pokémon with most appeal and health at the end of the song wins. That is, if no Pokémon has fainted yet, case in which the fainted Pokémon and its Coordinator lose.

Bianca will be the first to battle, because due to being the eighth place, she has to battle the first placed Coordinator.

On screen we only see clips of Bianca’s, Dawn’s and May’s battles: Bianca gets an impressive win against the first placed Coordinator: a young man with a Mienfoo; Dawn wins against a lady and her Palpitoad; and May wins against a gentleman and his Minccino.

Back in the backstage, the tension between Bianca and Dawn is obvious and keeps building up.

Soon, May is called to stage to battle in the first semifinal against a young woman and her Gothorita. Through short clips, we see that she has a hard time, but manages to overcome its weakness by using Dark-type combinations during the battle. Bianca and Dawn watch the battle with great attention, in an attempt to study May’s possible strategies.

May’s battle ends. She’s the first finalist.

May returns to the backstage and tells Bianca and Dawn that she’ll be waiting for them. “I’ll get ready to battle whoever of you. But for now, have fun, ladies!”, she tells them.

Bianca and Dawn are called to the stage. “And now, let’s find out who will be the second finalist on today’s Musical! Bianca Juniper and her Musharna will battle Dawn Berlitz and her Snivy!”, Julianne says. She then recalls that Bianca and Dawn were the finalists at the Nacrene Musical: “Whoa, ladies and gentleman! It seems that this will be a rematch of the Nacrene final! Will Ms. Juniper win this time, or will it be Ms. Berlitz once again?”, she excitedly says.

“Oh boy, this’ll be one exciting battle don’t ya think?” Hilbert asks to Drew. “Sure it will. Bianca will try to seek some redemption after what happened back in Nacrene, I suppose. She rehearsed and trained more for a rematch with her than for the Appeal round or for a battle against anyone else”, Drew answers. “Anyway, May has done a lot of practice and she already has two ribbons. She can easily win”, he continues. “I ain’t sure ‘bout that, ‘cause I think Dawn has more advantages against May. Snivy can easily resist Scraggy’s attacks, and with a bit of effort, she could finish it without too many problems”, Hilbert responds. “Normal battles and Contest and Musical battles are very different. You still have a lot to learn”, Drew ends.

“The song we’ll be using was composed by a monk from Ecutreak, in the faraway Johto. He calls it ‘Chasing the Running Beast’… well, that’s a heck of a bizarre name, but the song is pretty good! Remember! You’ll have five minutes! And now, let the battle begin!”, Julianne finishes.

Bianca and Dawn send out their Pokémon. Both try to catch the fast beat of the song. Snivy rapidly adapts and is ordered to use its Vine Whip to hit the floor before Musharna begins to attack; Musharna has trouble as it tries to move around the battlefield. Bianca orders Musharna to use the Dream Mist. Musharna stops moving and this time it is able to not only release the Mist, but it even projects a ‘dream’ with it; the Mist becomes an opaque greyish blue, and a trio of Pokémon can be seen running inside. Musharna gets lost inside the Mist. The audience goes wild, but Judge Lennon thinks that the Mist has been done too many times before. Still, Musharna’s blue bar hasn’t begun lowering yet.

“Ok Snivy, you have to work your way inside the Mist! Use Leaf Tornado and shoot the leaves with your Vine Whip!” Dawn orders. Snivy spins over its own axis and uses both attacks, but it seems that none of the leaves hit Musharna, who is deep in the Mist. Dawn orders Snivy to continue spinning and to try to find Musharna. The Drowsing Pokémon uses Syncronoise, startling Snivy and making it lose many points due to the strength of the attack. However, Snivy is able to find Musharna thanks to this, and hits it with its Vine Whip. The Mist begins to dissipate and Musharna is unable to produce more. Bianca orders Musharna to use its Lucky Chant instead. “Just like in Nacrene, ladies and gentlemen! Musharna is singing to the song!” Julianne says. Dawn orders Snivy to spin and create a Leaf Tornado once again, but Musharna continues with a Psybeam. Snivy becomes confused and begins to hit itself with its Vine Whip, depleting its bar quickly. Snivy is barely able to regain control and it faints before the timer ran out. Bianca has won.

Dawn is in shock for a few seconds. She then stands up and picks Snivy. “You did the best you could, Snivy”, she says as she gets Snivy into its Poké Ball. She has accepted Bianca’s victory, but she thinks that Bianca’s Musharna “didn’t do too much to deserve it”. Nonetheless, she wants to shake hands with her. However, Bianca manages to offend Dawn: “I told you I’d win! I’m sorry Dee-Dee, but this ribbon’s gonna be mine!”, Bianca says. “How does she know they call me Dee-Dee in Sinnoh!?” Dawn thinks. “Ha! Dee-Dee… That’s a good nickname. I’ll be calling her like that from now on”, Bianca thinks, revealing that it was a coincidence. Dawn infuriates and calls her a “can of soup”. Dawn goes back to the backstage and tells May to “finish her”.

--Commercial Break--

--Third Act—

Dawn feels very upset. She thinks that Bianca didn’t deserve the win due to her “spoiled attitude”. Hilbert and Drew are allowed to enter the backstage, where they reunite with her. Hilbert tells her not to worry about this battle: “You’ve told me you’ve lost many times before, but look at you now! You’ve been a finalist at your region’s Grand Festival for crying out loud! You’re an excellent Coordinator. Losing is something that we all do, and something that allows us to learn from our mistakes. You’ll continue learning. No need to worry!”, he says. Dawn hugs him and thanks him. Hilbert blushes. Piplup and Pikachu join them. Drew then tells them that the final is about to begin.

“Twenty four Coordinators have participated in this Musical, but only two have reached the great final! And only one will have the Desert Resort Ribbon! The song you’ll be using is a slow paced, but techno tune that Mr. Ludwig Lennon composed himself!” Julianne says. “It’s not my usual style, but I think we can give it a try. I just call it ‘Stardom’. Have fun with it!”, Mr. Lennon says.

“Remember! You’ll have five minutes! And now, let the battle begin!” Julianne says.

May and Bianca are on their positions and let their Pokémon out.
The song is slower, which benefits Musharna. Bianca thinks that Musharna has to do something a little different from what she’s been doing so far. Meanwhile, May is having trouble with Scraggy, who is unable to adapt its dancing to the beat. Musharna moves gently, rocking from one side to the other and using its Lucky Chant, something that keeps “enchanting” the audience and Julianne. Scraggy is able to find the correct pace and walks towards Musharna. Once again, Musharna is able to use its Dream Mist. “This girl and her Mist… she’s just making everything harder. It’s as if the Pokémon could use five moves at a time instead of four”, May thinks, but then she realizes that she can use the Mist on her benefit. She orders Scraggy to use Faint Attack, which emits a dark purple aura that blends with the Mist’s pink colour, creating an effect that gets the audience to go wild once more. The attack causes great damage on Musharna, but the Pokémon is able to resist the attack. However, Musharna’s bar dropped rapidly. Bianca resorts to use Psybeam, which crosses the Mist and hits Scraggy hard. Musharna then uses Defense Curl. May orders Scraggy to use Faint Attack once more, but Musharna’s Synchronoise hits Scraggy harder before it can start the attack. The powerful attack almost makes Scraggy to faint, but the Pokémon manages to resist. May and Scraggy’s bar is almost empty by this point. Bianca is confident on her win, but she then remembers what Mr. Lennon told her in the Nacrene Musical “I hope that if a Pokémon is knocked out in the next battles, is done in the most beautiful way possible”. She then orders Musharna to keep rocking inside the veil she created with Defense Curl, and to position itself in the middle of the dense Dream Mist she created. May and Scraggy are in big trouble. It’s been just about two minutes, yet Scraggy is almost unable to do anything. She then realizes that she could get Musharna confused with Scraggy’s Swagger and send it to go find it and then attack it, like Dawn attempted earlier. “Swagger is perfect for this song!”, she thinks. “Scraggy! Use your Swagger! Remember to move ‘suave’! Go find Musharna and use Brick Break when you find it”, she orders. Scraggy begins to glow red and walks into the Mist, which now reflects blends with the red light. Scraggy can be seen dancing inside the Mist as it looks for Musharna, which gets mad at first, but then gets confused. Scraggy finds the Pokémon and then slowly uses Brick Break. However, Musharna is barely affected. However, the Drowsing Pokémon’s erratic movements begin clearing the mist and starts lowering a lot of points. Bianca is worried, as it seems that the battle has ended for her. She decides to give one last shot: she orders Musharna to use Synchronoise a last time. Musharna is unable to fully snap out of confusion, but is somehow able to follow orders, and the attack’s noise blends with the song almost perfectly. The attack’s “rainbow effect” is strongly reflected in the entire theatre, and powerfully hits Scraggy, knocking it out instantly. Bianca has won the Desert Resort Musical.

In the audience, Team Rocket is group-hugging for their success. “We’re gettin’ lotsa money!” they say, as Bianca receives her first Pokémon Musical Ribbon.

A little later, in the backstage, the group await for May, who is also upset. However, she says that she knows she and Scraggy did their best.

Shortly after this, Bianca and her “managers” show up in the backstage, where they’re seemingly meeting up with an executive. The executive offers Bianca another advertising deal: she happens to be a representative from the regional division of the Pokétch Company. She wants Bianca to sponsor their latest version of the Pokétch, called the Xtransceiver, and she is offering a large amount of money for appearing in billboards and even TV commercials. Her “managers” tell her to sign the contract, which she does.

Dawn notices this and can’t help but stare at them. “Bianca, you’re my next rival”, she thinks.

To Be Continued

--Ending song: Kaze no Messeiji (Message of the Wind)

--Professor Oak’s Lecture: Gurdurr

--Preview of the next episode: “The Nimbasa Gym Awaits! Emolga, the Quick Switcher!!”
(Hilbert) We’ve made it to Nimbasa... but where’s N and Team Plasma?
(Dawn) I told you not to mess with them! They’re weird and creepy. You should go to the Gym first, don’t you think?
(H) Of course! Electric-type, huh? Let’s see how we roll!
(Elesa) Not so fast! My pretty Emolga would like to have a ‘few words’ with your Pokémon before you can think of getting our badge! It will be much harder than you think!
(H & D) Elesa!? The supermodel!? A Gym Leader!?
(H/D/E) “Don’t forget to watch the next episode”
“The Nimbasa Gym Awaits! Emolga, the Quick Switcher!!””
「みんなポケモンゲットだぜー！」

--Pocket Monsters BW: Revolution sponsors—
--Episode Ends—

Additional Notes:
For those who don't remember last episode very well and don't want to read it again just for the references:
*"Jessica" = Jessie "Jason" = James "Mitch" = Meowth. They're Bianca's managers.
** “I love desserts, but right now I’ll have to say no. I’m trying to lose a couple of pounds”, May responds. “B-But your body is perfect as it is right now!” Hilbert continues. May blushes very hard and Drew gets annoyed and stands up. “T-That came out wrong…”, Hilbert says. Hilarity ensues.

As you may have noted (many times) following schedules aren’t my thing, I guess. Musicals are much harder to write than gym battles, so it took me a few days. But well, at least now I’m officially done with my semester. I’ve been talking about that for a month, but I failed a subject, so I had to keep focused on school for some more weeks. The good news is that I passed that subject on second opportunity, so I’ll be free from school for about another month. The bad news is that time flies very fast :O
So on these few weeks before Christmas, I’ll try to be making up at least a couple more episodes.

By the way, I've just noticed how similar my Pokémon Musicals are to Pokémon Showcases. At least in the Appeal round aspect. This is complete coincidence; I wrote the rules for Musicals back in June and made the first episode featuring them around mid-July; Pokémon Showcases were first mentioned in the anime by Shauna in late August (XY040), and weren't shown until mid October (XY047).

Anyway, thank you for reading!

 

[szmty]

Re: What Could Have Been... (An Alternative BW and XY Adventure!)

BW17: The Nimbasa Gym Awaits! Meet the Quick Switchers!

--Cold Opening—

The narrator tells us that Hilbert and Dawn have just arrived to Nimbasa. It’s still early in the morning, and our heroes have decided to eat breakfast at an American-style diner. Hilbert gives an exhausted look as he drinks a cup of coffee; it’s heavily implied that they left the Desert Resort very early. Dawn seems to look fresh and awake, just like their Pokémon. Hilbert sips his coffee and then says that he feels that he is forgetting something about Nimbasa. “There was something important that we were going to do here other than going to the Gym, but I forgot”, he tells Dawn, who first asks if it’s about receiving money from his mother, and then if he was planning on going somewhere in the city, but he says it’s not that. He then takes another sip of coffee. “Ahh, that’s much better”, he says. “Well, whatever that is, going to the Gym to get our Badge is much more important than that, guys” he continues. He then stands from the table, squats next to his Pokémon and begins talking to them. He tells Vullaby that he won’t be taking part of the battle: “Vullaby, I know that you’re the new guy and you want to kick some… yeah, you know what I’m talking about. But you’re a Flying-type, so I don’t want you to have problems out there. You still have to train a lot. But trust me, we’re having lots of great battles in the future”, he says, and Vullaby nods and growls. “Whirlipede, Lillipup and Pikachu, you better get ready”, he ends.

--Season: Pocket Monsters BW: Revolution--
--Opening song: Best Wishes—

--Commercial Break—

--First Act—

Hilbert and Dawn are now in a plaza, looking for the Gym on a map of the city. “There it is! It’s inside the city’s ‘MegaPark’. That’s not very far away from here, we just have to take the subway”, Dawn says.

There’s a transition. Our heroes are now at the Central Station, where several lines of Nimbasa’s metro system connect with each other. “Huh, I get the odd feeling that I’ll spend a lot of time here, but not now, though…” Hilbert says. He then seemingly stares at someone; we see the dark silhouette of a teenaged girl wearing a baseball cap and sporting a ponytail walking in the distance. Hilbert is obviously blushing, but then he is startled from behind by Dawn, who asks him what he is looking at. “N-nothing… it’s just that… I think I saw a familiar face”, he says.

The scene cuts to a metro wagon, where our heroes are sitting. Hilbert is noticeably distracted about something. Dawn asks him what is going on, and he tells her that he really thinks that he is forgetting about something important. “Well, if it was that important you wouldn’t have forgot about it, would you?”, Dawn asks. “I suppose I would not”, Hilbert answers and is relieved.

There’s another transition. Our heroes have arrived to the “MegaPark”; a massive amusement park in the eastern side of Nimbasa. Hilbert is looking on a map of the park for the location of the Gym. “Ok. The Gym is right next to the Ferris wheel”, he says. As they begin walking towards it, Hilbert is finally able to remember what he was forgetting about; N was going to meet them at the Ferris wheel. However, he looks around and realizes that, if N was going to be in the park, it was very possible that there were going to be Team Plasma members around. “Those guys always make up messes wherever they go. Everything is calmed around here right now, so there mustn’t be any of them around here… I should keep calm for now”, he thinks. Nonetheless, his movements show the opposite. “You’ve been acting weirder than usual. What’s wrong now?”, Dawn asks. “Fine, I’ll spit it out. N and Team Plasma are supposed to come and meet us. Or were we going to come and meet them… I don’t really know anymore”, Hilbert says. “Well they aren’t around here, and I doubt they’ll be here. You shouldn’t trust what any of those guys say”, Dawn says. Hilbert straightens up and recalls that he told her and his Pokémon that he was going to concentrate on his battle over anything else. “We’re going for it! There’s the Gym! So, let’s go!”, he excitedly says.

When they get there, they find out that the Gym’s building is actually an enormous multi-purpose centre. There’s a long queue for a covered roller coaster, and a smaller one that leads to an auditorium’s ticket hall. There’s a plaque on a stone at an esplanade outside the Gym. “The Kanto Pavilion. Built for the Unova World Fair. Now hosting the Nimbasa City Gym, the Devon Auditorium and the Twisting Gyarados steel roller coaster”, Hilbert reads. There’s nobody near the Gym, but soon Hilbert discovers that’s because the Gym is closed. A note outside informs challengers that Elesa, the Gym Leader, is currently busy. “Doing what?”, Hilbert thinks out loud. Coincidentally, the park’s PA system informs the guests of a runaway event at the Devon Auditorium, featuring Gym Leader Elesa as the top model. Confused, Hilbert tells Dawn that they have to get tickets and try to speak with Elesa after the event.

Meanwhile, a long convoy consisting of dozens of black luxury SUVs and sedans carrying a large group of Team Plasma is approaching Nimbasa. Among them are Ghetsis and two of the Seven Sages, Gorm and Zinzolin. They’re inside a luxury sedan guiding the convoy. “It took us way longer than I expected”, Ghetsis tells to them. “Well, it was necessary to make some stops in the way, to mark our presence in every single town. And Lord N’s commitment of coming here alone and on foot was also influential. We could have got to Nimbasa much sooner, but we would have had to wait more for him”, Gorm says. “We expect Lord N to arrive later this afternoon. Our stop here will be crucial. We will prepare a siege on this city after all”, Zinzolin says. “With Nimbasa in our domain, this region will obey in no time. With all the power of our people, we won’t be stopped. We’ll be able to reach our final goal of… liberation… with much ease. But Nimbasa is only our first step, so we must not screw this up”, Ghetsis says.

As they enter the city, Team Plasma grunts inside the vehicles start chanting their motto through loudspeakers mounted on the roofs.

Back in the Devon Auditorium, Hilbert and Dawn are watching Elesa’s runaway event. Hilbert is bored, but Dawn is very excited, and imagines herself wearing the outfits being showcased on stage by the models. Elesa then takes out a pair of Poké Balls from a bag, and sends out a couple of Emolga; a male one and a female one. “Well that will make this more interesting. I wonder what she’ll do” Hilbert thinks. Elesa and the other models form a line and she orders both Pokémon to use Volt Switch on each other. Hilbert is very confused, as he knows that Volt Switch produces damage. However, both Emolga seem to repel each other with the static produced with the attack. This means that the attack is failing to work properly, but this also produces several flashes and sparkles that amaze the audience. The Pokémon start hitting each other faster until Elesa orders them to use Aerial Ace to the floor, finishing the act. “Those Emolga are very quick. They’ll be very dangerous.” Hilbert thinks. An announcer tells the audience that there will be a press conference where Elesa and designer Shirley Kelly will be interviewed right after the runaway ends. Hilbert and Dawn decide to go to the conference room and wait there for her.

There’s a transition. Elesa and Shirley are now at the conference room. Hilbert and Dawn are sitting in the back, behind several reporters. They are all mostly asking rather senseless questions; one of them even just asks Shirley why is his name Shirley if he is a man (he looks like one of the in-game Rich Boy trainer class). “That’s my grandfather’s name. Shirley used to be a male name many years ago”, he answers with a laugh. “One last question, for both of you”, another reporter says. “What are your plans for this week? I mean, are you planning to do something related to the new line that you’ve showcased today?”, she asks. “Oh well, Shirley and me are planning to start a mini-tour. Today we’ll be traveling to Driftveil, where tomorrow we’ll showcase some of the new designs at the new Marketplace Mall, and then we are going to fly to the Johto region, where we want to make another runaway event in Goldenrod. We’ll be there for a week. And because we’ve got to prepare everything, the gym will remain closed until about next week when we come back”, Elesa says. Understandably, Hilbert feels frustrated. The press conference is now over and Hilbert and Dawn are now at the entrance of the Gym. “We’ll have to wait here, I guess”, Hilbert says. “Isn’t there a Gym in Driftveil?” Dawn asks. “Yes, there is. But I don’t think that my team is ready for it”, he says. “And when’s your next Musical?” he asks back. “Oh, the next one will be too far away from here, so I won’t be in it. I plan to be at the Mistralton Musical instead, but it will be some two months or so from now”, she says. “What should we do now?” Hilbert dejectedly ponders. Right then, Elesa and Shirley arrive. “We’ve got to put a new note in here, telling everyone we won’t be here in some ten days”, Elesa tells to Shirley. Hilbert stands up and rushes to them, pleading for a battle.

Meanwhile, Team Plasma is now deeper inside Nimbasa City. The convoy has been dissolved; several luxury SUVs and sedans are patrolling the streets. All of them carry grunts prepared to steal Pokémon from as many people as possible. However, Ghetsis has given them the order via citizens band (CB) radio to wait “until N gets to the amusement park”. Instead, he orders them to maintain their patrol duties. “I beg your pardon, my Lord, but I need to ask you, why will you not let your subjects to proceed with the plan already?”, Gorm asks him. “Lord N must not know about this. We have to distract them from what we plan to do. Or else, he’ll start suspecting. This is something bigger than what we’ve done before. We didn’t have problems with him in other places like, let’s say, Accumula because what happened there was done in a small scale” Ghetsis answers. “I’m sorry, but could you elaborate a bit more?” Zinzolin asks. “Anything could go out of control here. We have too many subjects working for us, and some of them are very violent. If N discovers a trace of that, he’ll start asking questions. My… Our plans could be severely affected”, Ghetsis says. “One last question: Why exactly did N told us to see him here, in Nimbasa?”, Zinzolin asks. “Lord N wanted our grunts to spread the words of liberation across the city. We were lucky that he chose this city, or else the operation would have been harder”, Gorm responds.

Following this, we see N entering Nimbasa on foot. He’s accompanied by a Sandile, a Scraggy, a Darumaka and a Sigilyph. The streets of Nimbasa are unusually calm, but N doesn’t seem to care about this, other than the fact that he has an important appointment at the Amusement Park. “My father… I told him to meet me here”, he thinks.

--DARE DA! (Who’s that Pokémon?)—
This Pokémon shares its species name with Lanturn. It can’t be found in the wild.
Answer:

Spoiler

Ampharos

--Commercial Break—

--Second Act—

Back at the Gym entrance, Hilbert is pleading Elesa for a battle. She tells him that she has to take a train to Driftveil later that afternoon, or else she’ll have to drastically alter her schedule. Hilbert notes that is just noon, so they still have enough time for a battle. Elesa asks Shirley about his opinion, and he says that what Hilbert claims is true. “Alright, let’s make this quick. But it won’t be easy for you!” Elesa says.

Elesa tells Shirley that he will be the referee for the battle. “Ok. This will be a 3-on-3 battle. Only the Gym Leader will be able to switch during the battle”, Shirley says. “What? Only her?” Hilbert says. “My Gym, my rules. Take it or let it go”, Elesa tells him. “Fine! I’ll take it!”, Hilbert confidently says. “Very well then. Trainers! The battle commences!” Shirley says.

Elesa chooses her male Emolga, while Hilbert sends out Pikachu. “Emolga is half Flying-type, so Pikachu won’t have too much trouble”. However, Emolga uses Quick Attack, making considerable damage on Pikachu, who responds with an Electric Ball, which makes low damage on Emolga. “That attack won’t work! Pikachu is much slower than Emolga!” Elesa taunts. “Concentrate like you always do, Hilbert!” Dawn says as she and her Piplup, Snivy and Munna cheer from the stands. Hilbert orders Pikachu to load a Thunderbolt, but Elesa’s Emolga hits with Volt Switch her before she can prepare the attack. Emolga returns to its Poké Ball and Elesa sends out Zebstrika. Hilbert and Dawn register Zebstrika on their Pokédexes. However, Zebstrika proves to be an even harder opponent than the first Emolga, when it hits Pikachu with Flame Charge, burning Pikachu on contact. Pikachu is now injured, but she is still willing to battle. Hilbert orders her to use Thunderbolt, which this time hits Zebstrika first. However, Zebstrika is completely undamaged, due to its Lighting Rod ability. Elesa then orders Zebstrika to use Volt Switch again, and this time, the female Emolga comes to the battle. Pikachu is very tired already and hurt from her burn. “We need to attack first!” Hilbert says. “Pikachu, please react! Use Thunderbolt!” he orders. This time Pikachu is able to hit Emolga, who is moderately damaged, and also unable to hit Pikachu, who then uses Electric Ball, this time hitting Emolga stronger. Nevertheless, while now hurt, the Sky Squirrel Pokémon is still able to fight. Elesa now orders Emolga to use its Aerial Ace, hitting Pikachu even harder, but she won’t give up yet. Elesa orders Emolga to Volt Switch, while Hilbert orders Pikachu to use Electric Ball. The attacks crash in the middle of the battlefield and with the combined static both Pokémon repel each other. Pikachu and Emolga crash on the floor. A cloud of dust covers the field; once it clears, we learn that both Pikachu and the female Emolga have fainted.

Meanwhile, the city’s police are closely watching the movements of the Team Plasma’s SUVs. “There are too many of these medieval punks around here” an officer tells to his partner inside their car. They don’t exactly know what to do, so they call their chief, Nimbasa’s Officer Jenny, using the radio. Officer Jenny tells them to just keep alert, and see if they can use the CB radio to hear any communications between the grunts. The patrol finds it very quickly and the scene cuts to Ghetsis and the sages in their car. He is calling two of his patrols, codenamed “Yin” and “Yang”. “This is… ugh… This is ‘Rubber Duck’. I need you to follow me to the… uh… the ‘Green Letter’s’ ‘99’. Don’t mind the… argh… the ‘City Bears’ on the ‘Big Road’. 10-4?”*, he says. The sages and the grunt driving the sedan they’re in are containing their laughter from hearing Ghetsis speaking in full trucker lingo. Ghetsis, embarrassed, notices this and tells them that he has to talk that way to avoid getting more attention from the police. “We’re talking like that so if the police are listening to our conversation, they won’t know what we’re talking about. They’re city police, so they don’t hear ‘truckers talk’ very often”, he says. “10-4. ‘Clean and green’ here anyway. We’ll join ya soon ‘Rubber Duck’”*, “Yin” answers. “10-4. ‘Clean and green’ here as well, ‘Rubber Duck’”*, “Yang” responds. “I’ll stay 10-10 for news, ‘four’?”* Ghetsis. “Four”, “Yin” and “Yang” answer almost simultaneously. Gorm and Zinzolin are not laughing anymore, but they’re rather surprised by Ghetsis previously unknown ability. Ghetsis then tells them that he told the grunts to follow him to the MegaPark’s Ferris wheel. “We’ll wait there for N”, he says.

“Ha, who are they trying to fool? Before I joined the ranks I used to cross the region on an eighteen-wheeler”, one of the patrol officers says “‘Big Road’ means the freeway, and only one freeway crosses Nimbasa; ‘Yin’ and ‘Yang’ must be there. We just have to look for two black luxury vehicles filled with medieval nuts. They’ll take us to the ‘99’”, he says. He calls Officer Jenny, who consequently asks for air support; a Police Helicopter now starts searching the freeway.

At the Gym, Hilbert resorts to send Lillipup to the battle. Elesa sends out her male Emolga instead. Elesa orders Emolga to begin with Quick Attack. Lillipup gets to resist the impact and uses Bite. Lillipup runs and bites Emolga, but this causes Paralysis on the Puppy Pokémon due to Emolga’s Static ability. “Contact moves… it wasn’t a good idea to have Lillipup use Bite” Hilbert thinks. Emolga then uses Volt Switch, causing more damage on Lillipup, who is unable to move. Zebstrika comes out and uses Spark on Lillipup, who still resists. “That’s what I call willpower”, Elesa says. Despite this, Lillipup is virtually doomed. “Time for desperation moves”, Hilbert thinks. He orders Lillipup to try to use Take Down. Lillipup frowns and slowly stands up, but is unable to perform the move. “Finish it with Flame Charge”, Elesa orders to Zebstrika, who begins running as the attack charges. Desperately, Hilbert tells Lillipup to react and attack. The Pokémon then begins to glow; it’s evolving. “You never cease to surprise me, Hilbert Black”, Dawn thinks from the stand. Her Pokémon are astonished as well. Notwithstanding, Zebstrika continues running. Lillipup, now a Herdier begins moving as well. “Lil… I mean, Herdier! Use Take Down!”. Herdier and Zebstrika collide, similar to what happened with Pikachu and Emolga, but this time both Pokémon remain conscious, yet injured. “Now use Bite!” Hilbert orders, but Herdier, still feeling the effects of the paralysis, is unable to move. Shirley tells him that if Herdier is unable to move for one more turn, he’ll have to switch to his last Pokémon.

--Commercial Break--

--Third Act—

Hilbert’s Herdier is being held on the ropes by Zebstrika, who begins running to perform another Volt Switch. “One last Take Down before it hits!” Hilbert shouts. Herdier starts moving it legs slowly, but Zebstrika hits it faster. Zebstrika returns to its Poké Ball and male Emolga comes out. Miraculously, Herdier hasn’t fainted, but it remains unable to Take Emolga Down. “Herdier is unable to move and is disqualified for the rest of the battle”, Shirley says. “You did it great Herdier. Thank you very much”, Hilbert tells to his Pokémon as he calls it back. “Well, one last shot. C’mon, Whirlipede!” Hilbert says as the Pokémon comes out of his Pokéball. “Oh, no! Whirlipede won’t resist too long”, Dawn thinks. Elesa orders Emolga to use Quick Attack, while Hilbert orders Whirlipede to use Iron Defense. Whirlipede's body becomes outlined in light blue, and then moments later, a white shine goes up its body and its body turns into iron for a moment. Emolga hits Whirlipede, but the damage is greatly reduced now. “I’ll need a Super Effective move! Emolga! Aerial Ace!” Elesa orders. “Quick! Iron Defense once more!” Hilbert orders. Whirlipede performs the attack once again, and manages to get only moderate damage from Emolga’s Aerial Ace. And thanks to Whirlipede’s Poison Point, Emolga is now poisoned. Hilbert now orders Whirlipede to use Venoshock, which severely damages the Sky Squirrel Pokémon. Elesa orders Emolga to use Volt Switch, but the poisoned Pokémon misses. A Bug Bite from Whirlipede knocks out Emolga. Dawn and her Pokémon jump at the stands, while Hilbert can only shout a big “yes!” as Shirley declares Emolga to be unable to battle. It’s now a 1-on-1 battle between Elesa’s Zebstrika and Hilbert’s Whirlipede.

Meanwhile, the police have now localized the Team Plasma cars codenamed “Yin” and “Yang”, and two police patrols start following them at the motorway. The grunts in the cars notice them, but since Ghetsis told them to ignore the police, they remain calm and continue their way to MegaPark. Ghetsis and the Sages themselves are already at the entrance of the park. “There he is”, Ghetsis says with a smile; N is crossing the park’s parking lot with his friend Pokémon walking besides him. Both Ghetsis and N salute each other with a reverence. “I can’t wait for them anymore” Ghetsis thinks. He, N and the Sages enter the park.

At the Gym, Zebstrika is already tired, but willing to continue, while Whirlipede is still in good conditions. “Speed is the key here! Quick Attack, Zebstrika!”, Elesa orders. Zebstrika hits quickly and strongly, but Whirlipede’s Defense is very high. “Whirlipede’s Poison Point is not working… it’s based on probability, I guess”, Hilbert thinks. He orders Whirlipede to use Poison Tail, but Zebstrika evades the attack. Instead, the Thunderbolt Pokémon hits Whirlipede with a strong Flame Charge that leaves the Pokémon with burns. Whirlipede is in pain, but responds with Poison Tail again; this time, Zebstrika is hit and is poisoned, but a last Flame Charge knocks out Whirlipede. Hilbert has lost against Elesa.

Meanwhile the Team Plasma Grunts arrive to the park’s parking lot; it’s now when they start having trouble with the police; two patrols arrive to the scene and the police start asking questions. One of the grunts manages to flee from the police and takes out a walkie-talkie.

Ghetsis, the Sages, a single Team Plasma grunt, and N, are all at the station of the Ferris wheel already. N and Ghetsis are having a rather uncomfortable moment; N asks Ghetsis about his plans for the future. N has practically no idea about what Team Plasma has been doing for the past months. “Err… for now, we plan to stay here… we want to spread our word in every corner and Nimbasa is a very important stop”, Ghetsis answers. The Team Plasma grunt then receives a call from the member that had fled, and alerts them that there are policemen at the entrance of the park and that they need help. The grunt tells this to Ghetsis and the Sages, who then tell N to stay at the Ferris wheel. Ghetsis then orders the grunt to call for assistance. “Change of plans. We’ll have to take the park”, he says.

At the Gym, Hilbert feels heavily frustrated since it’s the first time he losses a Gym battle. However, he stands firm and congratulates Elesa. “No wonder why you’re this city’s Gym Leader”, he says. “I want to challenge you to a rematch when you come back”, he continues. Elesa then shakes his hand and congratulates him for accepting his loss with dignity. Dawn and her Pokémon congratulate him as well. Dawn tells Hilbert that they should go to the Pokémon Center so his Pokémon can receive some attention. Then Shirley and Elesa decide to give them a ride to the Pokémon Center. “After that, we’re going to the train station. The last train to Driftveil will be departing very soon”, Elesa says. The narrator starts closing the episode, saying that Hilbert is still learning and that he has to learn from his losses and mistake: “Now Hilbert will have to train more with his Pokémon if he wants to get his third badge! Wait… what is happening!?”

As Hilbert, Dawn, Shirley and Elesa step through the door of the Gym, they find out that the park is filled with Team Plasma grunts. Hilbert sees N and his Pokémon companions at the nearby Ferris wheel and rushes to ask him what is going on. “Hello Mr. Black! Look at how many people! It’s great to see them spreading the word”. Dawn, Shirley and Elesa run to the entrance of the park, but they’re blocked from exiting by other grunts. Ghetsis and the Sages are in front of the entrance with the police, who don’t seem to take Team Plasma very seriously at all. Ghetsis is giving the same speech as he did in Accumula. “There’s no way we’re making it to Driftveil, or Goldenrod”, Shirley says. “Shirley, we’ll have to postpone everything. For now we have to clear this mess”.

To Be Continued

--Ending song: Kaze no Messeiji (Message of the Wind)

--Professor Oak’s Lecture: Whirlipede

--Preview of the next episode: “Emergency! Team Plasma Hijacks the Park!!”
(Hilbert) “The park has been hijacked by Team Plasma! I knew something was wrong around here, but I never expected them to do that. I must talk to N.”
(N) “But Hilbert! These persons just want to share our message to the world!” (H) “By encaging Pokémon?” (N) “Those Pokémon are being freed!”
(Dawn) “We have to get rid of these wackos” (Elesa) “There are too many of them, but together we can force them to go away” (Ghetsis) “You can’t do anything. Soon, Team Plasma will free all Pokémon from human oppression!”
(H and D) “Don’t forget to watch the next episode! ’Emergency! Team Plasma Hijacks the Park!!’”
「みんなポケモンゲットだぜー！」

--Pocket Monsters BW: Revolution sponsors—
--Episode Ends—

Additional Notes:

*Translation for those who don’t speak CB language (yes, this is actual trucker’s talk):
-- “This is the head of the convoy. I need you to follow me to N’s (codenamed ‘Green Letter’) last destination (the MegaPark’s Ferris wheel). Don’t mind about the police. Understood?”
--“Understood. There’s no police around here anyway.”
--“I won’t talk but I’ll keep listening for news, understood?”

I had to rewrite this episode about three times. If you’ve been reading my blogs, you’ll know that I’ve finished planning the rest of the episodes of this season, so hopefully I won’t get my mind too blocked and activity droughts will be shorter.

Now, I must say that this fic is mostly an “experiment”. A long term “experiment”. I’m trying to show how things would have been if the anime switched main characters at one point, and also see how more “shonen” stuff could work out. So I know I’m not trying to make a masterpiece or anything, even though the project is very ambitious (and all of this happened just because I was bored one summer afternoon and thought, “why the heck not?”). Nevertheless, I would like some feedback, so if you want, you can tell me what do you think. You can tell me if you like it or not. If you don’t, please tell me what do you think is wrong (or if everything is wrong) and tell me how can I fix it.

Thank you for reading and have a Happy New Year!

 

[szmty]

Re: What Could Have Been... (An Alternative BW and XY Adventure!)

BW18: Emergency! Team Plasma Hijacks the Park!!

--Cold Opening—
The episode opens with a brief recap: Hilbert and Dawn met N for a second time at the Pinwheel Forest. He told them that he wanted to talk to them at the Nimbasa’s “MegaPark” Ferris wheel; Hilbert and Dawn are now in Nimbasa, while a great number of Team Plasma members are planning a siege there; the first stage of the siege fails as the police find the leader Ghetsis, who was also supposed to meet N at the “MegaPark”. Hilbert and Dawn were at the Gym located inside. Hilbert lost his battle against Elesa, who had to leave the city with her friend Shirley, a fashion designer. Now, the exit of the park is being blocked by several Team Plasma grunts. Hilbert found N at the Ferris wheel, while Dawn, Elesa and Shirley are about to confront the grunts.

--Season: Pocket Monsters BW: Revolution--
--Opening song: Best Wishes—

--Commercial Break—

--First Act—

Hilbert has his eyes open wide in surprise. The park is getting filled with Team Plasma grunts. “How did I get in this?”, he nervously thinks. In comparison, N looks pretty relaxed and oblivious of what is really happening. Hilbert demands him to tell him what is going on, but he can only respond that his subjects are “helping to spread the word”. However, N reminds him that he was waiting for him. “I have to tell you more”, he says.

Meanwhile, Ghetsis is at the entrance, talking with the police. Even though many patrols arrived to the park, the policemen themselves don’t seem to care too much about a real threat; they don’t see Team Plasma as anything more than a group of loony hooligans. They’re mostly making sure that they don’t create a mess, rather than outright stopping them. “Just go straight to the point so we can go!”, one of the cops shouts, but Ghetsis claims that they don’t have an idea of what’s going on.

He tells one of the Sages, Gorm, to help him out; he orders him to find N and to keep the grunts around him in control. “N must not know what we’re planning to do”, Ghetsis says. Gorm tells two of the grunts to follow him to act as bodyguards. After this, he begins his speech, but we’re not able to hear it.

Dawn, Elesa and Shirley, along with a large group of park guests, are in front of a line of thirty grunts, who have improvised a barricade to stop them from getting out of the park. At first, Elesa and Shirley attempt to negotiate with them, but they won’t let them. “The orders of Lord Ghetsis were very clear. Nobody is getting out of this park until His demands are satisfied”, a female grunt answers. “And what are those demands?”, Elesa asks with an annoyed look. “Uhh, for now, the complete liberation of all Pokémon in this city”, a second male grunt answers. “I’m the Gym Leader of this city. In order to prove my credentials, I’m required to help in situations like this one”. The first grunt then demands Elesa to hand out her Pokémon, but she begins struggling with her. However, the second grunt tells the first one that Ghetsis hasn’t given them the order to start “freeing” Pokémon yet. “But didn’t you say that he wanted us to start liberating them now?” the first grunt asks the second one. “Uhh, yes, but not yet. We have to take control of the city first”, he responds. “Wait! Taking control of the city!?”, a shocked Shirley says. “Argh, you just said too much! Idiot!” the first grunts tells the second one accompanying with a slap.

Back at the Ferris wheel, Hilbert is feeling unnerved by N’s attitude. “He’s the leader of these mooks. Yet it seems that he truly has no idea of what is happening. I don’t know what’s going on either, or how long it will last”, Hilbert thinks. N then tells him to ride the Ferris wheel with him, but the wheel is not operating. “Oh, but I really wanted to ride it with you. I wish we could”, N says. Immediately after this, Sage Gorm arrives with the two bodyguards following him. He heard N and tells the bodyguards to start the wheel. A confused Hilbert steps inside one of the cabins with N. N then begins talking about how much he loves Ferris wheels. “I wish to ride the largest of these someday, just as much as I wish to know how many Pokémon actually exist in this vast world”, he calmly but rapidly says as he looks through the cabin’s window.

From there, the camera zooms to the entrance, where the grunts at the improvised barricade are arguing over if Ghetsis ordered to take the Pokémon already or not. As this happens, Elesa, Shirley and Dawn have reunited with the several trapped guests. Since the grunts are currently very distracted but still blocking the way out, Elesa calls the guests to the park’s food court.

“Alright, how many of you brought a Pokémon?” she asks to the crowd. A dozen of guests raise their hands. They then send out their Pokémon, all of different, Unova-native species. Elesa tells them that they must help her to battle the grunts. The crowd gets scared though, but then Dawn steps next to Elesa and tells them that they have no weapons, but only their Pokémon, and that they’re just “a bunch of medieval nuts who like to mess up with normal people”. “However, they’re very dumb and will use violence if we let them stay here for too long”, she continues. She then sends out her Munna, and tells them that a group of Plasma grunts had violently abused it before she caught it. “These guys seem to be planning something, but they’re so split that they’re not even able to take orders from their own bosses. So you don’t need to worry too much, right Elesa?” Dawn finishes. “That’s right! So you will help us to control these nuts. Once their Pokémon get defeated, they won’t have any other means to ‘scare’ us and they’ll be forced to leave”, Elesa tells to the Pokémon Trainers in the crowd. She then tells Shirley to stay with the remaining guests.

Elesa, Dawn, and the dozen Trainers return to the entrance, where the grunts are still arguing. Elesa then finds the first grunt from earlier and tells her that they have to clear the barricade and open the gates. “You can’t do anything. Lord Ghetsis told us to stay here, and here we will stay”, the grunt says. “I’m pretty sure that he’s not a Gym Leader, which means that I’ve got more authority here than him”, Elesa replies. She then attempts to walk away past the grunts. They then feel threatened and send out their Pokémon; all of them are Patrat or Watchog.

Ghetsis has noticed what is happening inside, as have the police, who now start worrying. “It’s nothing. They’re just people and their assigned assistant Pokémon. We are not carrying a single weapon”. Nevertheless, the police remain observing.

Behind the turnstiles, Elesa is commanding the Trainers to force the Plasma grunts out. Her own Pokémon are still weak from the battle with Hilbert, but Dawn lends her a couple of Potions and she is able to restore her Zebstrika’s health. Dawn then joins the battle with Munna. Everyone’s Pokémon are struggling with the several Patrat and Watchog.

Meanwhile, the cabin Hilbert and N are riding has stopped at the top of the wheel. Hilbert then points out to Ghetsis and the grunts blocking the exit. “Your people aren’t doing anything good”, Hilbert says. He then points out to the battle that Elesa started with the grunts. For once, N finally seems to recognize a problem. “That’s not what they’re supposed to do! They should let them go”, he says. “So are you going to tell your people to leave the park?” Hilbert asks, but N thinks about that for a few seconds. “However, they’re defending our cause. They’re not doing it the right way, but they’re trying. It’s always been like that. Just remember the day I met you!”, N says. “But can’t you see how much trouble are you doing? Is it really worth it? Is it that important?”, Hilbert insists. “Our cause is more important than what you think. I’m not just the leader of these people. I’m their King”.

--DARE DA! (Who’s that Pokémon?)—
Even though some consider this Pokémon to look relatively manly, 75% of them are female.
Answer:

Spoiler

Granbull

--Commercial Break—

--Second Act—

In the Ferris wheel, Hilbert feels very surprised, but even more confused. “So you’re the King… Somehow, you’ve just made this even stranger to me”, Hilbert says. “And I’m afraid I can’t tell you too much more about that part right now”, N says. The ride is moving again, and as it concludes its revolution at the station, it stops and Hilbert and N step out of the cabin and are now back on the ground.

Meanwhile, Dawn’s Piplup and Elesa’s Zebstrika are dealing with a Watchog that just knocked out a Swadloon from one of the other Trainers. The Watchog is visibly enraged and readily Crunches Piplup, who responds with a BubbleBeam. However, the Lookout Pokémon is only lightly damaged. Dawn then asks Elesa if she had ever tried “crossing attacks”. “Crossing attacks? What do you mean with that?”, Elesa asks back. Dawn then tells her that she and Hilbert once managed to fusion Piplup’s Hydro Pump and his Pikachu’s Thunder Shock to create a powerful beam. “Piplup doesn’t know Hydro Pump anymore, but I’m sure that BubbleBeam could work”, she says. “Well, let’s see if it can work with Zebstrika’s Volt Switch”. Dawn and Elesa order their Pokémon to prepare to launch their attacks simultaneously. Both Pokémon then prepare their attacks; the Volt Switch’s electricity ball has somehow electrified the Bubbles and the attack explodes when it hits Watchog, who is shot to the skies along with a pair of grunts. “Just like Team Rocket”, Dawn thinks.

At the other side of the turnstiles, Ghetsis and the police see the grunts and the Watchog “flying” away; this prompts Ghetsis to tell Zinzolin, the second Sage, to help the grunts.

Hilbert and N now sit on a bench next to the station, with Gorm and his bodyguards remaining vigilante inside the station. Hilbert is deeply thinking. He still doesn’t know why he is involved in that situation. But then he remembers that back in Accumula N told him and Dawn that “their souls were cleaner” and that they had a “very strong connection” with their Pokémon. He asks N what did he meant about that. “You and your friend… you’re very special”, N says. “You’re unlike any other Trainer I’ve met. You have an inner connection with Pokémon that only a few people in the world have”, he continues. “How do you know that?”, Hilbert wonders. “I can see it in the way you protect Pokémon. How you struggled to get them back in Accumula. You truly think of them as your friends and not just as tools to fulfil your goals. Although you still focus too much on type-matching, stats and such, but I can’t blame you. You want the best for your friends and you don’t want them to have a hard time. When you have a strong love for Pokémon, you’ll start having a direct mental and spiritual connection with them; they’ll feel and know what you think and vice versa, and this is something that everyone can have, but that is very hard to master, even for these so-called Gym Leaders”, N answers in a fast pace. Hilbert then briefly remembers the moments where this “connection” has surfaced in the middle of a battle. “A person with enough love and with a healthy spirit can go further and manipulate aura” N says, but he stops for a couple of seconds right after saying that last word, and tells Hilbert that his and his “friend’s spirits are healthy, but you still need to learn more. Even I still have to learn more”. He then tells Hilbert that Pokémon “naturally need to battle”, but that humans have come to think of them as mere objects. Hilbert claims that he agrees on that point, but he says that if more people were to know that loving them for what they are, there wouldn’t be any problem. “If people could stop catching them just for the sake of growing their collection or for any dumb need or wish, everything would be better”, he says. However, Hilbert then feels a bitter taste in his mouth; he just remembered that he had caught his Whirlipede (while still a Venipede) only to see if he could “lure” N.

Back at the entrance, Zinzolin is now helping the remaining grunts; by this point, the sun has set and most of the grunts have been defeated. He sends out a Trubbish, who uses Sludge Bomb at Piplup, who gets poisoned as a consequence. Dawn has never seen the Pokémon before, and at first she tries to keep Piplup in the battle, but after the Penguin Pokémon fails to make enough damage and is hit with Clear Smog, she decides to call him back to his ball. It’s until this moment that she registers Trubbish in her Dex. She then sends out her Munna, who she orders to respond with Psyshock. Trubbish is unable to resist the attack, which harms it considerably. Zinzolin orders the Trash Bag Pokémon to Take Down Munna, but the move misses. Trubbish is then hit with Psyshock once more, knocking it out. Meanwhile, the few remaining grunts are getting trashed by the other Trainers; a Sesmitoad “Hydro Pumped” another couple of grunts and their Watchog to the skies. A jump cut reveals that the grunts and their Pokémon landed on a tree, along with the other grunts that were sent flying.

By now, there is a TV crew outside the MegaPark. “This whole thing has been blown out of proportions sooner than I expected. We can’t stay in Nimbasa anymore”, Ghetsis laments in silence. “We’ve seen enough for today. You and your ‘subjects’, or whatever, have to leave the park in five minutes. We’ve been given permission to arrest you if you don’t comply”, a policeman says through a megaphone.

Back at the Ferris wheel station, Hilbert now understands N better, but he still has some doubts, the biggest one being why they’re forcing people to get rid of their Pokémon instead of just convincing them of treating their Pokémon the right way. When he asks this to N, he tilts his head in a way that his eyes get covered by the shadow of his cap. “Because it’s too late already”, he says in a much slower pace than the usual, and with a deeper voice as well. He then tells Hilbert about his life, which we see on screen in several stills: “When I was a little boy, I lived in a forest with Pokémon. There, the Pokémon raised me, and I learnt to love them. I never met any other children or adults. In fact, I don’t remember to have ever lived with my mother, or my father. Until one day, Lord Ghetsis came to the forest, and he told me that he was my father. I spent the rest of my childhood and teenage years living in a Castle, and the only people I ever met were my father, my sisters, and the Seven Sages. They educated me and revealed me that I was to become a king. They told me that all humans were prone to think of Pokémon as tools, and showed me how much they suffered. When I turned eighteen, I was crowned as the King of Team Plasma, and I was finally allowed to see the world. It was then that I realized that they weren’t completely right. In the two years since my coronation, I learned that there are softer, kind people, like you”, N explains. “However, because you weren’t isolated from these evils, you’re prone to transform into someone with a huge disrespect for Pokémon and life in general”, he finishes. “But you told me that anyone can be like you say I am. Everyone has the possibility to change”, Hilbert says. “I told you, it’s too late. While I found people like you, I found much more people who acted the opposite. [a still of Team Rocket is shown on screen] There were teams dedicated to steal Pokémon and profit on them for their selfish needs. There were teams whose leaders wanted to summon Pokémon in order to create global cataclysms for their selfish ideals [a still of Team Aqua and Team Magma is shown]. And there was this team, whose leader had a strong God-complex and attempted to summon Pokémon in order to erase the Universe, so he could recreate it in his own selfish view [a still of Team Galaxy is shown]”, N tells him. “But I, I have a future that I must change”, he continues. “And, for that future, I'll defeat the Champion and become unbeatable, unlike any other! I'll make all Trainers free their Pokémon! Just try and stop me! If you want to be together with Pokémon, your only hope is to collect the badges from each area and head for the Pokémon League! Try and stop me there, if you dare! If your conviction is not strong enough, you will never be able to defeat me”, N says loudly and with great excitement.

--Commercial Break--

--Third Act—

“Wait! Are you telling me that my Pokémon will be, uh, ‘liberated’, even if we’re different from everyone else?”, a shocked Hilbert asks. “I told you, you’re prone to mistakes”, N answers. “The only way I’ll be stopped is if the Champion defeats me”, he continues. “When you say, ‘the Champion’, are you talking about the League Conference Champion, or the Champion ‘Champion’?” Hilbert asks once more. “Of course I mean the Champion ‘Champion’!” N excitedly says. “Are you telling me that you’ll attempt to become the Champion? Will you start getting badges to participate in the Conference? Or…”, a surprised Hilbert keeps asking. “Nothing of that. Anyway, I don’t need those banal objects to get where I want to”, N says as he looks to the sky. He realizes that it’s nighttime already.

“Well, it’s been great talking to you, but it’s getting late, and boy you’re right about those pesky friends of us. They’re making a mess”, N says. He then walks to Gorm, who has been waiting with his bodyguards at the station, and tells him that he’s ready to leave Nimbasa, but that he wants everyone to leave as well. “Hilbert, thank you for coming here. I’ll see you and your friend soon. Goodbye”, N says and then leaves with Gorm and his bodyguards. Hilbert stands up and watches him leave. “You said you would clarify my doubts, but you’ve only made more of them”, Hilbert says to himself.

At the other side of the turnstiles, Ghetsis is still arguing with the police, who tell him that he has only one minute to leave before he and the grunts get arrested. Zinzolin tells him through the walkie-talkie that he and the “subjects” have been beaten by the Trainers and that they have no way to “free” their Pokémon. “We have to abort the operation. We must get out of this city, pronto!” Zinzolin shouts. Soon after this, N, Gorm and the bodyguards get to the entrance and tell Zinzolin that N wants everyone in the Team to leave as well. Gorm is surprised when Zinzolin has no qualms in telling everyone to get out.

When he sees Zinzolin, Gorm and N coming out of the park, Ghetsis announces to the police that they will be leaving, but that they’ll continue to pursue their goal, and that they should be prepared for what is coming.

Hilbert analyses what he just listened from N as he walks from the Ferris wheel. “Beat the Champion? I wonder why he thinks he’ll become unbeatable… or he just wants to prove that he’s that good… Does… Does he want me to be the Champion? Even though that’s my goal… I don’t think I’ll be the Champion this soon”, he thinks. “But if he wants me to get the badges and to get to the League, I’ll have to concentrate and train”, he continues thinking after a brief pause. “N. I’ll defeat you”, Hilbert silently but confidently says.

All the Team Plasma members have now retired. Elesa and Dawn high-five as the other Trainers and guests celebrate as well. “Hilbert! Where have you been?” Dawn asks as he sees Hilbert returning. “I had a chat with N. He explained me a lot, but at the same time, he confused me more”, he says. “He told me that he planned to beat the Champion and become unbeatable in order to free Pokémon from their Trainers”, he continues. “Sum that, with what he told us about getting power from Zekrom and Reshiram… it’s becoming obvious that he wants to rule a new world”, Hilbert finishes. Dawn is only able to think for a moment about what Hilbert just said. “That’s… That’s heavy”, is the only thing Dawn can say. “But what makes this more confusing is that N shouldn’t depend too much on his grunts. Remember that there is a second leader, Ghetsis. He seems to have a slightly different view of their goals. Again, it’s almost as if his plans differed”, Hilbert says. “But well, as you say, we shouldn’t worry. Not for now at least”, he continues. He then runs to Elesa, and asks her for a rematch, but Elesa is more worried about the events in Driftveil and Goldenrod. She asks Shirley if they still have time: “We needed to be in Driftveil tonight. The schedule will need a lot of changes. I think that we’ll have to call the organizers to see if we can move it for next week”, he says. Elesa sighs in frustration, but she then remembers that one of her duties as a Gym Leader is to accept challenges. “Will you be ready for tomorrow?” Elesa asks Hilbert. “I’ll be ready, for sure!” Hilbert exclaims.

The narrator closes the episode wondering if Ghetsis is really planning something behind N’s knowledge as Hilbert is suspecting, and also if Hilbert and his Pokémon will have the power to battle as hard as they did earlier.

To Be Continued

--Ending song: Kaze no Messeiji (Message of the Wind)

--Professor Oak’s Lecture: Krookodile

--Preview of the next episode: “Electric Encounter! One More Chance!!”
(Hilbert) “Last time, we didn’t do as expected. We were very near, but we couldn’t make enough power. But now, after all what N revealed to me, I feel more confident than ever before. Now this badge represents something different. N, I’ll stop you. I promise. But just like you said, I need to get my badges first. Elesa! This is not only because of my dream! I need to win this battle!
(H) “Don’t forget to watch the next episode! ‘Electric Encounter! One More Chance!!’”
「みんなポケモンゲットだぜー！」

--Pocket Monsters BW: Revolution sponsors—
--Episode Ends—

--Additional notes--
Sorry for the extremely long hiatus!
...
That's pretty much it for now.
Thank you for reading!

 

[SuperTrainStationH]

Well I read the first 10 episodes.

Rather than being written out in a typical prose or even a script format, this series reads as though I were reading the Bulbapedia episode pages for Best Wishes episodes from a parallel universe where the writers chose to be more faithful to the games the show was based on. This doesn't necessarily mean this piece is "less" than if it were written out "novel style", but given the purely speculative nature of this piece as a representation of one fan's imagining of what Best Wishes could have been like (hence the title of the work) it serves its purpose.

Starting off, I like how Hilbert's ordeal at the beginning of the episode mirror's Ash's in his introductory episode, but unlike Ash, Hilbert doesn't get a free pass when he arrives late, and ends up in a lucky situation where Juniper and the League Official are able to evaluate his skills and consider him worthy of starting his Pokémon Training career.

It was also cool to see the manner in which Pokémon Training Licenses (which are vaguely referred to at the beginning of the Pokémon Anime, and on the back of the Red/Blue Version game boxes, and have been featured in the games as player ID cards) are honored across different regions, like how in most countries will honor Drivers Licenses issued in different districts or states.

My favorite part from the first episode was the line "This prompts the Team Rocket to perform their motto. While they perform the motto, Dawn uses Piplup to hit the vault with BubbleBeam."

The Team Rocket motto is one of the stapes of the series and a fan favorite (including myself), yet its so played out and over the top its great when the characters use the TRio's vain behavior to their advantage.

I liked Team Plasma's very early introduction into the series. This was a huge missed opportunity on the part of the writers of the official Best Wishes series, especially when the ONLY episode in the ENTIRE SERIES to take place in Accumula Town, where Plasma is introduced in the games, dealt with an abused and abandoned Pokémon, which would seem like the perfect chance to introduce Team Plasma and N.

Due to the fact that we may never know what Best Wishes could have turned out to be due to heavy rewrites and disruptions following the Sandai Earthquake, I think Best Wishes will continue to inspire lots of "what if" speculation from fans for years to come., and judging from this handful of episode synopsizes I've read, this piece will fit in well among them.