New Scene(Previously_On_Trigamon) {
Drew: That’s not why I came here.
May: Then why did you come here?! (upset)
Drew: To tell you to drop out.
…
Drew: How you battle– It’s an abomination!
Drew takes a step towards Benjy, and Benjy starts to take a step back on reflex, but then stops himself. The Millennium Gameboy Advance suddenly begins shining with light.
…
Yami Benjy: I don’t know how you came to that conclusion, but it’s not correct. However, if you are challenging me to a rematch with the Slateport Ribbon on the line, I accept.
QST.camera split-screens on Ash, May, and Max, before switching to Drew, who is also surprised. However Drew swallows and takes Roselia’s poké ball from his belt.
Drew: Alright Roselia. The time has come to redeem ourselves.
QST.camera slowly zooms out on the group.
}
Ash, May, Max, and the elderly lady stand back as Yami Benjy and Drew face off.
May: Benjy, don’t do it!
Elderly Woman: Relax, dear.
Ash and Max stare at Yami Benjy and Drew nervously.
Drew: Roselia! Let’s do this!
Drew tosses Roselia’s poké ball into the air, causing Roselia to appear in a flash of light. Yami Benjy responds by plucking Pixielite’s great ball from his pocket, and pressing the button. Pixielite materializes about six inches in front of it’s ball, already in the air.
Drew: Roselia! Shadow ball!
Roselia lifts it’s flower-hand in the air, charging dark-colored energy, and prepares to fire it. Drew stares at Yami Benjy nervously during the split-second that it takes Roselia to charge. Roselia then shoots shadow ball at Pixielite.
Yami Benjy: Mirror–
Pixielite has already set up a barrier around itself, that reflects shadow ball back at Roselia, even as Yami Benjy speaks.
Yami Benjy: –Force!
Drew: Dodge it!
Roselia leaps out of the way, doing a somersault to avoid the shadow ball, which explodes on the ground harmlessly, leaving shadows in a one foot radius of where it struck.
Drew: Now petal dance!
Yami Benjy: Evade!
Pixielite zips out of the way out the attack, and around at Roselia from the backside.
Yami Benjy: Thunder wave!
Pixielite shoots a jolt of electricity into Roselia before it or Drew can react.
Drew: Roselia! Petal dance!
Pixielite is out of Roselia’s range by now, but Roselia seems unable to attack anyways.
Drew: That won’t stop us from using *solarbeam!*
Roselia slowly lifts it’s roses, then starts charging sunlight while Pixielite circles around above the battlefield anxiously.
Drew: Solarbeam!
Yami Benjy: Mir–
Roselia shoots solarbeam into the air, where it appears to hit something as Drew watches with clenched teeth. But Drew’s expression turns to one of horror as solarbeam suddenly comes cascading back down into Roselia, slamming it into the ground.
Drew: Roselia!
Yami Benjy: Air slash!
Drew: Aromatherapy!
Pixielite blasts air at Roselia, which releases a cloud of fragrance after the attack.
Yami Benjy: Again!
Pixielite flaps it’s wings, bombarding Roselia with bursts of air, which slowly push Pixielite upwards, doing heavy damage to Roselia simultaneously. QST.camera shifts to Yami Benjy for a split-second as he sees Pixielite fighting this upwards push.
Yami Benjy: It’s okay! Ride the updraft!
Drew: Now petal dance!
With Pixielite now about a meter over Roselia’s head, Roselia breaks free of the air slashes, and shoots a barrage of petals upwards. Pixielite attempts to use mirror force (without instruction) but it doesn’t work, much to Pixielite’s surprise. Pixielite is then struck with the first part of petal dance, taking moderate damage.
Yami Benjy: Air slash–again!
Pixielite lets out a strange noise, before flapping it’s wings to blow the petals back at Roselia, at the same time increasing it’s altitude. Roselia strikes with petal dance again, but this time Pixielite is two meters above it, so the attack does less damage. Even once this attack finishes, Pixielite continues to gain altitude.
Drew: Lets start this fresh. Roselia, synthesis!
Yami Benjy: You too!
Pixielite glances at Yami Benjy, confused, from about ten feet in the air.
Yami Benjy: You can do the same thing. Absorb the light with nucleosynthesis.
Max: Can Pixielite really…
Max is answered when Pixielite’s wings start glowing and it begins to regain health.
Drew: Roselia, solarbeam!
Still healing, Pixielite watches Roselia charge up sunlight below.
Yami Benjy: Get ready to dodge!
Drew: Don’t let it!
Roselia now launches solarbeam, and Pixielite zips out of the way faster than Roselia can retarget, causing Roselia to lose track of Pixielite. Yami Benjy does not lose track of it, however, and turns to where Pixielite is, about a quarter of a block away.
Yami Benjy: Pixielite, straight up!
Pixielite: Zizie?
Drew: How is it that fast!
Yami Benjy: Finish healing in the air, then dive bomb!
Drew: Shadow ball!
Roselia hurls a shadow ball at Pixielite, but the latter proves far to fast, shooting up into the sky before Roselia even has a chance to fire.
Drew: Keep your guard up! It’s getting ready to strike.
Roselia: Roh.
Roselia shivers a little bit, then gets into a defensive position.
Refresh Scene()
Drew stares into the air nervously, looking for Pixielite.
May: It’s sure taking it’s time.
Max: You think it decided to fly off somewhere?
Ash: That’s unlikely. Pokémon don’t usually run away in the midst of battle.
Max: But Pixielite isn’t technically–
Drew: It’s probably just looking for a weak spot…
Drew hesitates, as he continues staring at the sky. As he does, Pixielite makes its move, giving Drew no warning and no time to react. Before Drew can even move his head, Pixielite has already landed a fly attack on Roselia, doing heavy damage to the rose pokémon.
Drew: Shadow ball!
Yami Benjy: Air slash!
Roselia charges a shadow ball and throws it at Pixielite whom now has retreated to a safe distance of two meters away. Pixielite spins around quickly, this time nearly creating a miniature twister, and sends a powerful gust at Roselia. This gust not only destroys shadow ball, but also blasts Roselia with bits of topsoil and even some clumps of grass, leaving an area of barren dirt in front of it, knocking Roselia over, and dealing heavy damage.
Drew: Roselia, synthesis!
Roselia starts to get to it’s feet.
Yami Benjy: Air slash!
Pixielite flaps it’s wings gaining altitude, and blowing more debris at Drew and Roselia. Roselia starts to heal, but before it can heal significantly, Pixielite whips up another gust, knocking Roselia back down in the middle of a plume of topsoil and debris, leaving Drew speechless.
Drew: …
Max: Did Benjy win?
Elderly Woman: It looks like Roselia is unable to battle.
Pixielite flies over to Yami Benjy’s shoulder and begins to charge sunlight, while Drew quietly picks up Roselia, and recalls it in disbelief.
Max: You know, maybe you should think of dropping out.
Drew appears to ignore this comment, looking from Roselia to Pixielite.
Drew: …It got more powerful…
Yami Benjy: You noticed. Unlike the normal synthesis, nucleosynthesis increases Pixielite’s offensive capabilities.
Drew: That’s one bizarre strategy. Based on how the battle progressed, I’d say he came up with that on the spur of the moment. So what now? Do I…
Yami Benjy: I hope you realize by now, even if you challenge me again, the end result will be the same.
Drew: That’s why you agreed to the battle in the first place, isn’t it.
May and Max turn to Yami Benjy, who appears to nod slightly.
Drew: He knew the result would be the same.
Elderly Woman: Do you retract what you said earlier?
Drew ponders this for a moment.
Drew: No. I don’t retract my advice. However I have other things to attend to.
With this, Drew turns and walks away; the Millennium Gameboy Advance glows behind him as he does.
Drew: He’s certainly an oddball. But being different will only get you so far…
Drew’s thoughts can no longer be heard on QST.camera as he gets farther away.
Elderly Woman: Hmm…
Benjy gazes over at the doors to the community college building, then walks over and tries the handle. Much to everyone’s surprise, the door opens!
New Scene()
Benjy, Ash, May, Max, and the elderly woman enter a large hall, and the elderly woman starts walking towards the staircase on the left side of the building.
Elderly Woman: You kids want to go all the way to the back to the elevator. Then take the middle elevator and you’ll find yourselves in the observatory.
Ash nods, and Benjy, May, and Max follow him through a door in the back of the hall out into a garden full of flowers and vines, some of which stretch over the main cement pathway, creating a canopy of sorts. Yanma buzz around the fountain, eyeing Pikachu cautiously as he (Pikachu) rides on Ash’s shoulder. In the distance are buildings containing classrooms.
Ash: So astronomy is all the way in the back?
Benjy: That’s what it looks like. Although it might be difficult to spot the observatory with all these vines in the way.
Benjy gestures to the overhang above him.
Max: Hey, May, this would be a great place to practice. There’s no one here.
Footsteps are now heard coming down the main pathway.
Vito’s voice: Where is physical science 224?
Benjy, Ash, May, and Max look up as Vito approaches, wondering aloud about the classroom location.
Ash: Vito?
Vito looks up and jumps back in surprise.
Max: What are you doing here.
Vito blinks in surprise at Max.
Vito: Sorry, I’m in a hurry…
With this, Vito walks off, leaving everyone staring at him.
Max: W-whats up with him?
Benjy: Lets not get distracted.
Benjy now continues to walk, and the others catch up to him after a few seconds, as they all pass a building on which morning glories are creeping. A wild Roselia hides in them, camouflaged.
New Scene()
Benjy, Ash, May, and Max approach the end of the covered walkway (roughly 200 feet away, and pass a fountain with more Yanma buzzing around it and Wooper swimming in it. May stops walking and takes out her pokédex:
May’s Pokédex: Wooper, the Water Fish Pokémon. Wooper usually lives in water. However, it occasionally comes out onto land in search of food. On land, it coats its body with a gooey, toxic film.
Benjy: That’s kind of redundant don’t you think?
Ash: What part?
Benjy: Calling it a water fish, y’know? Don’t fish normally live in water.
Max: That’s not redundant.
Benjy, Ash, and May turn to where Max is, pointing to a piece of paper taped to a sign.
May: It is a little bit…
Max: Please allow me to show you what redundant really looks like.
Benjy walks over to look at the piece of paper that Max is pointing to. Ash and May follow him. Benjy begins reading the note aloud.
Benjy: Please note. While classroom two-two-two is occupied by History 95, History of Occupations, Redundancy 116, Redundancy to Avoid Potential Miscommunication Due to Lack of Redundancy on the Part of the Communicator, will be moved from classroom two-two-two to classroom two-sixty-eight upstairs.
Benjy now takes a step back.
Ash: Wow, this is like, industrial strength redundancy.
Benjy: And the exact same notice is posted below it. It says "in case you, the person reading this notice, obtain the information provided on the notice posted above…
Benjy’s voice trails off.
Yami Benjy: It’s like a couple of "I’m with stupid" tee-shirts.
Benjy: Lets go, we can’t get distracted!
Benjy starts walking, and Ash, May, and Max start following him again. The four of them now keep walking until they are out from under the overhang approaching a large building.
Benjy: This looks like it.
Benjy walks up to the doors and tries to open them, but neither pushing nor pulling budges them.
May: Maybe it’s not open.
Benjy: Maybe…
Ash: Hold on. It says here that these doors are for–get this–decoration only.
New Scene()
Ash, Benjy, May, and Max enter the building through what looks like a side door, covered with ivy, and find themselves in a small hallway. They walk a few feet and turn a corner, and continue down another four-foot-wide hallway for around fifty feet before they suddenly find themselves in what looks like the main hallway of the building. This hallway looks about fifteen feet across, with classrooms at regular intervals along it’s length. In the distance on the other side of the building is a small lawn.
Note that the diagram above is not drawn to scale. Walls of the building are gray, the grassy area is light green, and the dark green is planted area. Dark blue represents doors, and the light blue designates a staircase with glass windows. Ash, May, Max, and Benjy enter through the door closest to the stairs and come around the corner into the main hall. The blue doors off of the main hall go to separate classrooms (it’s not one giant classroom). Also note that there are actually eight doors on each side of the hall that go to classrooms.
By the blue door on the north wall of left side (not shown) is an elevator and next to the stairs is a unisex restroom and a drinking fountain, which is represented by the one blue door.
May creates a pretend camera with her hands.
May: Our intrepid explorers have found and snuck into a mysterious building in the midst of the jungle…
Max looks around nervously to see if anyone is watching, then goes over to get some water. May clicks her make-believe camera at the sites.
Benjy: Come on you guys.
Benjy pushes open the glass doors to the stairwell, and the others follow him.
New Scene()
QST.camera watches Ash, Benjy, May, and Max climb the staircase from outside the building. Still using her hands as a make-believe camera, May almost trips climbing up the stairs.
May: Unable to find what they had set out for, our heroes ascend the steps of the legendary tower itself, moving ever closer to the final frontier. They don’t care about gold or glory, only knowledge about that which lies above all else: outer space.
Max: May, stop it.
May: Only one explorer is brave enough to complain about his–
Max: May!
May: About the mysterious noises in the background, which are slowly driving him off the cliff of–
Max: May!!!
Ash: How do you know it’s on the top floor?
Benjy: Just my intuition, but now that I think about it, it wouldn’t make sense to build anything above the telescope; it would block the view.
New Scene()
Benjy, Ash, May, and Max arrive at the top floor, and after pushing open another set of glass doors, arrive in a hallway with a rounded ceiling. Benjy checks a sign on the wall and confirms that the observatory is on the floor, at the end of the hall (in the middle of the building, there is another hall on the other side.
Ash, May, and Max follow Benjy as he opens the door to the observatory and looks around. The observatory is a large circular chamber with a giant telescope in the middle, and a small office next to the door where a (male) attendant is working at a computer. off the edge of the observatory towards the front side of the building are a pair or rooms filled with computers and other equipment.
Attendant: Excuse me, can I help you?
Benjy: We were hoping to use the telescope…?
Attendant: Unfortunately it’s not open to the public. What were you hoping do with it?
Ash: We’re trying to find the asteroid containing the Flames of Lorin.
Benjy nods.
Attendant: I’m not familiar with what that is, but I can let you access the database in the lab on the left…
Max: You probably don’t have pictures of this one.
Attendant: I’m sorry, but I can’t just let people use the telescope without authorization. Maybe you can get Professor Durman to supervise you?
Benjy takes off his backpack and places it on the ground.
Benjy: Hold on.
The attendant looks at Benjy curiously as Benjy unzips his backpack, and searches around for something, retrieving the slip from Professor Cosmo.
Benjy: I have this.
Benjy hands the slip to the attendant who reads it, and then marks it with a highlighter.
Attendant: Um… Okay.
In the background, May has re-made her make-believe camera and is taking pictures of the telescope.
Max: So can we use it?
Attendant: Uh… Y-yeah. Though I suspect you’ll need a rundown of how it works?
Benjy: Thanks.
May now walks up to everyone else.
May: Finally having arrived at their destination, our heroes are ready to find out what they came for. Because the next part of the task is highly technical, viewer discretion is advised, especially amongst viewers who majored in the liberal arts.
Narrator: Hey! Those were my lines!
May makes a face into QST.camera, winking and sticking out her tongue. QST.camera quickly shifts 180º to show Max, who looks embarrassed.
New Scene()
Benjy sits at a computer in the lab on the right side next to a large pile of equipment, staring intently at the monitor. Ash approaches him.
Ash: Hey Benjy…
Benjy: Still trying to figure out what I’m looking for. This is more than simple spectroscopy, the general consensus is that one should look for a complex electromagnetic charge. But when I redo the equations, the results don’t match.
Ash: And that means?
Benjy: It doesn’t look like anyone has any idea of what they’re looking for. Which might explain why no one has been able to find it.
Benjy looks at his notepad again and turns the page.
Ash: So basically the numbers don’t add up?
Benjy: Everything they have is based off of calculations from ancient texts, which are likely to be highly inaccurate to begin with. But assuming that they’re not, the Flames of Lorin has to be exerting enough energy to create a hole in the fabric of space.
Benjy scribbles a drawing in the notebook for Ash to see.
Ash: Hmm…
Benjy: Space is warped by mass, and this warping is experienced as gravity. All the research here is trying to detect the Flames via spectroscopy, specifically they’re all looking for energy released by the fabric of space due to the force that the gateway is putting on the universe.
Ash: And how would that release energy?
Benjy: Exactly. The assumption is that the more you push on something, the more that something pushes back. However, there’s no evidence that this occurs with space-time. What they really should be looking for is a kind of gravitational lensing.
Ash: And that is?
Benjy: Gravitational lensing is when a massive object exists between an observer and a source of electromagnetic radiation, or light.
Benjy scribbles a diagram on his notepad.
Benjy: Due to the warping of space, light traveling around the object is bent…
Ash: Bent? How do you bend energy?
Benjy: Or the path that it the light travels is bent. Anyways, it’s a known phenomenon and it makes one object look like two.
Benjy traces the paths that the light would take with his finger to show Ash, whom appears to understand.
Ash: And are the flames that big?
Benjy: Massive, yes. The more mass an object has, and the more densely packed that mass is, the more gravity it has.
Ash: And gravity is a warping in space.
Benjy: And it hasn’t been proven, but there are thought to be objects so massive and so dense that they actually allow space to be broken: which are black holes. Things fall in and don’t come out.
Benjy now starts sketching a 2D-diagram of a black hole.
Benjy: In theory, every black hole would have a corresponding white hole in another universe, where matter can only be ejected. That white hole would have a negative mass, and thus negative gravity, but that’s not important here. Since the Flames of Lorin goes two ways, it’s really more of a gray hole, so to speak…
Ash: A gray hole?
Unnoticed to both Benjy and Ash, a woman is now in the back of the lab with a clipboard taking notes on what Benjy is saying.
Benjy: Since the Flames or Lorin goes both ways, and consists of a black hole-white hole pair, the gravity and anti-gravity would cancel out, and what would be left is a hole in spacetime where objects could pass through freely. All that’s required is two black holes forming in corresponding locations in different universes.
Ash: So there’s no gravity then…
Benjy: Um… Yes, actually, the gravity would cancel out, but the hole in space should remain. But there’s no reason why any energy would be emitted, so there’s nothing to search for energy wise, unless someone put an energy source there to mark it, but that probably went out long ago.
Ash: Umm… So then why do you mention gravitational lensing?
Benjy: Because…
Benjy hesitates.
Benjy: Right, there wouldn’t be any lensing then, but there wouldn’t necessarily be any radiation either.
QST.camera shifts into the back of the room where the lady with the clipboard has been joined by a bunch of other people, some with laptops and others with notepads.
Ash: Then how do we detect it?
A young woman with a laptop from behind them speaks up:
Young Woman: What about evaporation radiation?
Benjy and Ash both jump, turning around to stare at all of the people that have gathered behind them. The original woman with the clipboard now speaks up, in a voice lacking much emotion:
Woman: That’s impossible to detect.
The woman now addresses Ash and Benjy.
Woman: But kid, I have to hand it to you. You’ve just disproved at least five Ph.D. dissertations with what you said there.
Benjy: I what?
Ash: He what?
Woman → Durman: I’m Jane Durman, local professor of astronomy. As far as I know, the Flames of Lorin is supposed to be an object.
Benjy: Are you sure that it wasn’t just some object placed next to a hole that appeared independently, I mean the flames themselves had nothing to do with the hole.
Durman: I see you know how history works. I don’t know much about the Flames of Lorin, but supposedly it could be picked up and moved around, although it was supposed to be unimaginably heavy.
Ash: Heavy enough to warp space?
Durman: I don’t know how heavy it was. Theories range from a few tons to a few millions of tons. Also keep in mind, that "Flames" is a misnomer, people placed flames to mark where it was.
Ash: Flames that could have easily gone out.
Durman: And keep in mind that you might be right, and the legends might be wrong.
A male student standing next to Durman raises his hand. Durman looks to Benjy to respond.
Benjy: Um…
Male Student: Why are you looking for the flames anyway?
Benjy: I err…
Benjy swallows.
Benjy: I need them to get back home…
New Scene()
A few students have gathered around to watch May and Beautifly practice for the contest, including one couple (male+female) who kiss on occasion. May is completely oblivious to their presence.
Ash’s voice: May!
May looks up abruptly, still not fully aware of everyone watching her. A half-second later (real time), Ash, Max, and Benjy can be seen running around the corner towards her.
May: Did you find it?!
Max: We’re in trouble!
May: Did you break the telescope?!
People around May gasp, and May suddenly notices all the people standing around her.
Ash: It’s worse than that!
Max speaks before May has a chance to react.
Max: Benjy said something that was supposed to have disproved some kind of dessert nation.
Someone in the crowd speaks up:
Student in crowd1: Dissertation?
Benjy: I think that’s what it was…
Student in crowd2: Whose?
Ash: Some Doctor Horton I think.
Some people in the crowd gasp.
Student in crowd3: Which was?
Student in crowd4(guy of couple): That was the hyperbolic gravity thing–I think.
Student in crowd5(girl of couple): Quickly! This way!
The girl points, and a pair of girls offer to, and insist on going with Ash, Max, and Benjy in their hurry to escape. May grabs her frisbee, and joins them with Beautifly flying level with her head.
Refresh Scene()
Lead by the two girls, Ash, May, Benjy, and Max are running across the campus.
Max: Wait, do we really need to run this fast?! (loud)
Girl1: Yes you do! He’s going to literally kill you if he catches you!
Girl2: Just because it’s incredibly silly doesn’t mean you aren’t in mortal danger!
Pikachu: Pika-pikachu!
Ash: I always thought scientists liked being proven wrong if it brought them closer to the truth.
Both girls look back at Ash, and one of them nearly trips, but catches herself.
Girl2: You kids are so cute…
May: ?
Girl1: This way!
All six humans and their pokémon now turn around the corner, then run under a overhang with holes in it (for plants to grab onto) which is similar to the one they walked in under, except fifty feet in the air and about twenty feet wide.
New Scene()
Ash, Benjy, May, and Max walk out of the community college, as Benjy looks over his shoulder nervously.
Max: Sheesh, do you really believe them?
Benjy: I’d rather be safe than sorry.
Max: Using that logic, what about meteors? Wouldn’t it make sense to hide in a cave, you know, to rather be safe than sorry.
Benjy: If a meteor’s coming at me, I can see it and move out of the way. If a irate researcher is coming at me, I want to be able to see him and move out of the way.
Max: You have an answer for everything.
Benjy: That’s what I do.
The four of them now start walking along the sidewalk, back to the pokémon center.
Max: But seriously, do you always have to have the last word?
Benjy: It’s called keeping a conversation going.
Max: Yes, but does there always need to be a conversation?
Benjy: Is that a rhetorical question?
Max: Not telling.
Ash: Then how is he supposed to answer that.
Max’s glasses appear to reflect the light of the sun.
Max: Exactly.
Benjy chuckles slightly.
Benjy: Do you always have to have the last word?
Ash: So I have this hypothesis…
Benjy, May, and Max now turn their attention to Ash.
Ash: …That humans have to keep talking, otherwise they’ll start thinking their own thoughts.
Max: And why is this a bad thing?
Ash: Because thoughts come to people at random with no filter. By continually talking, people get feedback on their ideas, as well as social pressure, which they can use to filter out the bad ideas, and only act on the good ones.
Max: Only four hours at an institution of higher learning and you’re already turning into an elitist.
Ash: What’s an elitist?
Max: Never mind.
Ash: Is it some kind of new pokémon?
Benjy starts giggling, although he’s trying to hide it.
Max: Now you’re making me stupid!
May: What do you think they look like?
Ash: I wonder where would be a good place to catch one. Let’s see… Elitist…
Ash’s Pokédex: Information on this creature is only available in premium mode. This pokédex is currently in standard mode. An upgrade to premium mode can be obtained free with a subscription to Professor Oak’s pokémon services. For a limited time, an upgrade can be purchased for only F of nineteen-ninety-nine.
Ash: Should I do it?
May: It won’t take poké-dollars?
Ash: Doesn’t look like it.
Ash’s Pokédex: Act now, because this offer won’t be around forever. What are you waiting for? A bran new world of dreams and adventures awaits!
Benjy: That’s some PR.
Ash stares down at his pokédex in disgust.
Ash: Just for that, I’m not purchasing anything you have to offer.
May isn’t paying attention though, as a stand that’s selling something has caught her eye. The trees nearby have broken upper branches, as if something recently crashed into them from the air.
May: What are they selling?
MeowthDisguised: Step right up and don’t be shy, limit 5 cases per customer!
The crowd pushes and shoves to get close to buy pokéblock. May looks at the stock curiously from afar, and calls on Beautifly, and then approaches the pokéblock. As the crowd begins to clear, May picks up a silver pokéblock and examines it.
May: Guaranteed to win?
May concentrates on the pokéblock and QST.camera synchronizes with her vision. Everything aside from her and the pokéblock becomes blurry.
May: So is this how you do it? Just eat a bunch of these things and the crowd falls for you? Is that really what I’m missing?
The pokéblock seems to compress slightly in May’s grip.
May: It doesn’t seem right. But if everyone else is doing it… And it’s my job as coordinator to do everything in my power to help them.
Behind May, someone approaches the pokéblock too, and upon hearing the footsteps, May turns around to see Grace also looking at the pokéblock.
Grace: There’s something different about this stuff.
May: Something different?
Grace nods, and sniffs the pokéblock while Team Rocket squirm nervously.
Grace: One does not simply "sell" pokéblock.
Grace looks to Medicham, who nods slightly.
Grace: Yeah, Medicham. This isn’t real pokéblock. They’re some kind of quack.
James, in disguise, turns to May who is examining the pokéblock curiously.
JamesDisguised: As a professional expert, I can assure you that these are top-of-the-line pokéblocks. That’s probably why you’ve never seen them before. These are what the professionals use!
May starts to ponder this, and Grace sniffs the poké block again.
Grace: You’re less credible than an olympic official.
Grace now turns around and calls out over her shoulder:
Grace: Hey Officer Jenny, I call shenanigans on these guys!
Team Rocket (all in disguise) all flinch, as an Officer Jenny starts walking over, and then proceeds to examine the pokéblock.
Officer Jenny: I’m not sure about this stuff, let me call an expert.
MeowthDisguised: We have an expert right here!
Meowth gestures to James.
Officer Jenny: But it looks like you might have a conflict of interest.
Officer Jenny now turns to May.
Officer Jenny: What do you think?
May picks up a silver pokéblock and examines it. As she does, Beautifly lands on her head and sniffs the pokéblock, then recoils.
May: You don’t like it either?
Officer Jenny has now taken out her phone and has started to make a phone call. Beautifly shakes it’s head, and May drops the pokéblock, saddened.
MeowthDisguised: We promise you, they taste much better than they smell…
Grace has now picked up the pokéblock, and is holding it up to the light.
Grace: These don’t look like real pokéblock either.
People around Grace back up slightly.
Jessie(disguised): I guarantee you, miss, they’re 100% authentic…
Grace pushes on both sides of the cube, which pops open and dirt falls out.
Grace: Painted cardboard filled with dirt?
May shivers seeing this, and the crowd begins to disintegrate, disgusted.
James(disguised): Hey, wait!
May now backs away from the stand, apologizing to Beautifly for not knowing better. Beautifly seems more concerned about May’s emotional state than the authenticity of the pokéblock. Yami Benjy now approaches the stand.
Yami Benjy: Painted cardboard filled with dirt?
Grace: I want to know your supplier!
Jessie(disguised): Um…
Yami Benjy: They made them themselves. It’s just a quick scam to get some cash.
Grace finds this funny, and bursts out laughing.
Meowth(disguised): You have quite some nerve! We are honorable businesspeople, we–
Yami Benjy: That’s quite a mouthful, coming from a cat.
Ash: A cat?
Max: That guys a cat?
Grace: You’re an Exceed?
#Fairy_Tail_Reference
Ash now points his pokédex at Meowth.
Ash’s Pokédex: Meowth, the scratch cat pokémon.
Meowth swallows hard.
Jessie(disguised): We have to be going.
In a quick motion, Team Rocket all leap out of their seats and start to run.
Grace: Oh no you don’t! Medicham, confusion!
Medicham doesn’t move much, but suddenly Team Rocket’s disguises fly off from Medicham’s psychic power, but this doesn’t stop Team Rocket who dive over a tiny hill, about three feet high. As soon as they do, their balloon starts to rise from behind the hill. May watches this, practically frozen.
May: If she hadn’t… If they hadn’t…
Background::Jessie: Prepare for trouble!
Background::James: And make it double!
May: I don’t know what I would’ve…
Background::Jessie: To protect the world from devastation!
Background::James: To unite all people within our nation!
Background::Jessie: To denounce the evils of truth and love!
Background::James: To extend our reach to the stars above!
May: Am I…? Does the fact that they fooled me make me–
Background::Jessie: Jessie!
Background::James: James!
May: Is… Is that why Drew… And Benjy too…
Background::Jessie: Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light!
Background::James: Surrender now or prepare to fight!
May: Why they were able to…
May shudders.
Background::Meowth: Meowth, that’s right!
Background::Wobbuffet: Wobbuffet!
Background::James: As compensation for destroying our business…
Background::Meowth: We’ll be taking your pokémon!
Suddenly, five robotic arms shoot out from Team Rocket’s balloon, grabbing May’s Beautifly, Grace’s Medicham, a Granbull, a Furret, and a Bellossom.
Ash: May, heads!
May gasps and quickly grabs the claw holding Beautifly. The other trainers all start to reach for the claws holding their pokémon, but Meowth pushes a button lifting the pokémon into the air, out of their reach, however May is still hanging on. Team Rocket’s balloon starts to lift off, as May holds onto the robotic arm for dear life.
Max: May!
James: What are we going to do?! We can’t have a twerp hanging around?!
Meowth: This will take care of her!
Meowth presses a button on the controls and May is suddenly zapped by a large electric charge, however this doesn’t cause her to let go, but leaves her almost catatonic.
Grace: Medicham, psychic!
Meowth: No you don’t!
Meowth presses the button again, zapping Medicham, however this does less than Meowth expected, and then Medicham fires back with a powerful burst of energy that wracks the balloon, tearing it and the claw to bits. As the trainers rush to catch their pokémon, Ash and Yami Benjy try to catch May, who’s weight knocks them both down; Max catches Beautifly.
Team Rocket on the other hand comes crashing down on the top of the three-foot-high hill.
Ash: Now Pikachu!
Team Rocket looks up, expectantly.
Ash: Thunder!!
From Ash’s shoulder, Pikachu discharges a giant electric blast into Team Rocket, causing the top of the hill to explode, sending the four of them shooting straight up into the sky.
New Scene()
Team Rocket are all sailing through the sky.
James: Wait a minute… Why didn’t we grab Pikachu? We specifically configured the grabber to handle electric types, remember?
Meowth: Wouldn’t have made a difference, Medicham was the one that wreaked it.
Jessie: Whatever, it’s a moot point now.
James: And why do you say that?
Meowth: Because we’re–
Jessie and James look down.
{Jessie, James, Meowth}: –blasting off again!
Wobbuffet: Wobbuffet!
Revert Scene()
Ash and Benjy now stand May up on the ground. She shivers slightly, but remains standing up.
Ash: May, are you alright?
Beautifly: Beauty?
May says nothing, so Grace walks up to her from the front and holds up four fingers.
Grace: How many fingers am I holding up?
May takes a couple deep breaths.
May: K fingers.
Ash: K?
Max: It’s a variable.
Grace: May, this is important. How many fingers am I holding up?
Max: Tell us what K is.
May: Five.
May’s answer comes across on silence for about five seconds (real time).
Ash: I’ve never seen anyone get that wrong before.
Yami Benjy: It’s within an order of magnitude, probably nothing to worry about.
This comment cracks Grace up for a few seconds, before she wipes her eyes.
Grace: You’re too much… Oh I was going to tell you. You forgot to register, so I put your name down before they closed. They said you could choose what pokémon you were going to use when you arrive tomorrow.
Max: Um, Benjy wasn’t actually planning on entering this time…
Yami Benjy nods slightly. Grace is surprised by this, and starts to apologize, but can’t get the words out before she falls into another fit of laughter.
Ash: So Benjy, what are you going to do?
The Millennium Gameboy Advance glows faintly.
Benjy: Normally I’d back out, but it’s not really a big deal I guess.
Max: So…
Benjy: Pixielite didn’t like the stage though. So I’ll have to use someone different. Bayleef maybe?
At this point Officer Jenny finished her phone call and turns around:
Officer Jenny: So the expert will be here in three hours to… huh…
Officer Jenny stares at the place where Team Rocket blasted off, confused.
Max: It’s too late.
New Scene(@Temporal = Late_Evening)
Ash, May, Max, and Benjy are sitting on the grass in a park with Grace and her Medicham, which is currently meditating. Benjy is tending to a small frying device with about a dozen vegetable patties on it.
Max: May, are you feeling alright?
May nods slightly, and Beautifly lands on her bandana (which she is wearing). Following this, May asks Beautifly to move, and it lifts off long enough for May to remove her bandana and place it on the grass, which Beautifly lands on. May now lies back on the grass. QST.camera rotates to show that the pokémon center is very crowded.
Yami Benjy: Its a shame this town doesn’t have hotels to house everyone like Slateport does.
An exasperated sigh disrupts background noises, followed by the sound of footsteps on the grass. First Pikachu’s ears perk up, then Ash, Benjy, Max, and Grace turn to see someone approaching with a flashlight.
Drew: There you guys are.
May now rolls onto her side towards Drew.
Max: You still going to tell us to drop out?
Drew: You’re lucky to have people looking out for you.
Ash: What do you mean by that?
Drew: That guy with the Pichu.
Drew now turns to go, and Roselia can be seen at his heels.
Drew: Go on, enter if you like. You guys don’t pose a threat to me anyways.
With this, Drew walks away with Roselia at his heels.
Max: Did something happen that involved Coal?
: Coal?
Ash: The only person we know with a Pichu.
Grace: You’re not talking about the guy who came is second last year, are you?
Max: That’s him.
Grace’s attitude suddenly becomes more serious.
Grace: Do you know where he is now?
May sits up and shakes her head.
May: He disappeared this morning. He said he had something to take care of.
Ash: You don’t think it had to do with that ex-girlfriend of his?
May shrugs.
May: Why do you ask?
Grace: Because I want to meet him.
Ash, May, Max, and Benjy all focus on Grace, who doesn’t break up laughing, but looks very serious.
Grace: I have to ask him something.
Max: Was it about his battle with Xenon?
Grace: You saw it too?
Max shakes his head, and Grace looks around at Ash, May, and Benjy, all of which indicate that they did not see the battle.
Max: What was it like?
Grace suddenly looks like she’s going to break up laughing, but again, doesn’t. Instead, she replies in a very serious tone.
Grace: It… It was absolutely horrifying to watch.
QST.camera split-screens four ways on Benjy, Ash, May, and Max for about one second (real time). The frying device crackles, and Benjy quickly gets up and steps over to turn the fire down, using a spatula to turn over each of the ten or so gigantic vegetable patties in it. Grace watches Benjy nervously.
Benjy: It’s okay. You can continue.
Grace: No it’s alright.
QST.camera stays focused on Benjy as he finishes this, then turns off the fire and puts the lid on the pan for them to simmer and cool, before sitting down by the frying device.
Grace: I watched it on TV, but people who were in the stands said the same thing.
Ash: Um…
May: What was it like then?
Grace: It didn’t feel like a pokémon battle at all. It… It’s hard to describe. I haven’t seen anything like it before.
QST.camera rotates around, showing the expressions of Ash, May, Max, and Benjy. Ash, May, and Max are visibly shocked, while Benjy is pretty emotionless, giving the impression that he’s still processing that new information.
Grace: It was as if there were two armies going to war…
Grace trails off.
Grace: But it was somehow worse than that. It made me sick to my stomach, but I couldn’t look away. It was…
Grace takes a deep breath.
Grace: After watching that, I couldn’t bring myself to challenge gyms anymore, so I started only doing contest battles.
Ash: So you used to be aiming for the Hoenn league before you switched to contests?
Grace starts to look like she’s going to start laughing, but she doesn’t.
Grace: I used to do both, Ash. But I couldn’t bring myself to battle anymore after seeing that. There’s even word on the street that one of Xenon’s pokémon died after the battle.
QST.camera rotates around to show the expressions of terror worn by the group.
Coal’s Voice: Two of them.
Ash, May, Max, Benjy, and Grace all turn to see Coal with Pichu riding on his shoulder approaching in the darkness.
Coal: His Ferrothorn and his Starmie. Though it took them a while to realize Starmie was dead. But I heard you had something to ask me.
Grace stands up to face Coal before taking a step back.
…///To Be Continued///…
©August 23, 2015 by Benjamin Strauss