↳ Import QST.Lyrical.Soundfinder
Soundfinder::retrieve(Pokémon::XDGD_Battle) ➞ ➞ $A45
QST.Subtext is colored WHITE
New Scene(Previously_On_Trigamon) { … }
New Scene()
In the pokémon center, Max backs away from Roxanne as she holds out her hand in a stern, yet not-explicitly-angry manner.
Ash: Hold on. Max isn’t really training Jirachi… It’s just a friend he picked up while we were traveling.
Roxanne: Sorry, Ash, I’ve had that one pulled over my eyes too many times before–
As Roxanne says this, Max rushes out the door.
Roxanne: Max!
Roxanne starts to take off after Max, but before she can make it out the door, Yami Benjy grabs her arm.
Yami Benjy: That’s pretty poor repayment for helping you save the city from that giant Gulpin yesterday.
Roxanne tries to extract her arm from Yami Benjy’s grasp, but is unable to do so.
Roxanne: I’m sorry, but it’s the law. If I can’t stop him, I’ll have to tell Norman, and that could get messy. Let me go please.
Yami Benjy: Explain messy.
Roxanne: Let me go or I’ll have you charged with assault.
Yami Benjy lowers his tone.
Yami Benjy: If you go, there’s going to be (bleep) to pay.
Roxanne: Can’t be any worse than what I went through four years ago.
With this, Roxanne yanks her arm free of Yami Benjy’s grasp, and darts our the door, pulling a master ball out of her pocket as she starts to run.
Ash: What happened four years ago?
Nurse Joy: Some eight-year-old trainer walked all over her.
May: You mean Ciri, right?
Nurse Joy: I never got her name. It was a blue-haired girl.
May: That was Ciri–
At this point Brock enters the Pokémon center.
Brock: Hey guys, where’s Max?
Ash: Brock! Roxanne just told Max he had to give up Jirachi and now–
May: Max ran away and Roxanne’s chasing him all over town!
Brock: Did I just miss it?
Ash and May nod nervously.
Brock: Even though he’s not actually training Jirachi?!
Ash and May nod again nervously.
New Scene()
Ash and company (without Max) emerge from the pokémon center and look in the direction that Roxanne ran off in.
Ash: She’s fast…
May: We’ve got to stop her…
Brock: That’s going to be difficult.
May: How so?
Nurse Joy now exits the pokémon center, causing Ash and May to turn around.
Nurse Joy: Assisting an underage trainer is a serious crime that can result in the revocation of your own trainer’s license.
May: You’re kidding…
Nurse Joy: I’m afraid not.
Ash: But he’s not actually training Jirachi…
Nurse Joy: Neither I nor Roxanne have any way of verifying that. And Roxanne’s in panic mode after what happened four years ago. Ciri I believe you said her name was…
May: So what can we do?
Ash: It’s more like Jirachi chose him…
Nurse Joy: I suppose there’s no law against praying.
Ash: Say what?
Yami Benjy: I’ll take care of this.
Brock: But Benjy…
Nurse Joy: Then please hand over your trainer’s license.
Yami Benjy pulls out his wallet with a grin, and much to the horror of Ash, May, and Brock. He then opens it to show Nurse Joy.
Yami Benjy: I’d keep it here… If I had one.
#Meme_Reference: "If I had one"
May: If?
Ash: You don’t have a license?
Yami Benjy: I come from a place where no one’s ever heard of them.
Ash: That’s right! Benjy’s from another dimension… So it wouldn't really make sense for him to have a license…
Yami Benjy zips up his wallet and returns it to his pocket in a smooth motion, leaving Nurse Joy speechless as he does so.
Refresh Scene()
Yami Benjy takes off down the road after Roxanne, almost disappearing into the distance.
May: Good luck.
Nurse Joy: It can also prevent him from getting a license in the future…
Brock: For some reason Benjy strikes me as someone who doesn’t care about that kind of thing…
Ash: They’ve never heard of licenses?
Brock: He might have just been referring to a trainer’s license. We’ll have to ask him, he did seem pretty familiar with the general concept.
New Scene()
Roxanne walks around Rustboro city square, scanning the area over and over again.
Roxanne: Where did that kid go?
Narrator: Wait a minute? Why is she searching on foot? Surely there has to be a more effective way of—
Roxanne: MAX! Where are you?!!
Narrator: Or not…
New Scene()
Roxanne walks down an alleyway looking for Max, squeezing the master ball she’s holding tightly. As Roxanne walks down the alley, suddenly a spark hits the trash can behind her and she turns around, surprised to see no one there. Nervously Roxanne looks upwards where she sees Yami Benjy being held aloft by Satolite, which is shooting sparks into the air.
Yami Benjy: Roxanne! I warned you there would be (bleep) to pay!
Refresh Scene()
Roxanne: This is your final warning. If you don’t cease and desist, then I’ll take your trainer’s license!
Yami Benjy: I’ll tell you the same thing I told Nurse Joy.
Roxanne: I don’t have time for this!
Yami Benjy: And I don’t have a single trainer’s license for you to confiscate.
Roxanne: So your animon are legally considered wild.
Roxanne makes the master ball in her hand increase in size.
Yami Benjy: I suppose that’s true…
Roxanne: Then…
Yami Benjy: Satolite! Direct attack!
Before Roxanne can move a muscle, Satolite headbutt’s her in the stomach causing her to fly backwards about thirty feet into several large crates. By the time Roxanne has regained her wits a split second later, Satolite has already reaches a safe distance from Roxanne, who groans, clutching her stomach.
Roxanne: And that’s highly illegal!
The Millennium Gameboy Advance pulses slightly with light.
Benjy: No it’s not.
Roxanne: Are you that dense?!
Benjy: If Satolite isn’t legally mine, then I’m not legally responsible for what Satolite does.
The Millennium Gameboy Advance pulses slightly with light.
Yami Benjy: And that master ball you’re holding. From what I've heard, those are highly illegal.
Yami Benjy: I’ve got to hand it to you Benjy, you can find loopholes like no one else.
The Millennium Gameboy Advance pulses slightly with light.
Roxanne: Why does that think keep pulsing?!
Benjy shrugs.
Roxanne: (Bleep) it! Master ball g–
Before Roxanne can throw the master ball at Satolite, Satolite shoots down at Roxanne, and their heads collide. The force of the impact knocks the master ball from Roxanne’s hand and Satolite whisks it away in it’s tractor beam.
Roxanne: Ow!
Yami Benjy: You know that there’s no sane way you can blame me for that.
Roxanne: You sicked that psychotic excuse for an airplane on me!
Roxanne now gets to her feet.
Roxanne: And don’t think I’m out of master balls!
With this, Roxanne hurls a master ball at Satolite, which promptly hurls it’s own master ball down at Roxanne with a blast of steam. Both master balls collide in mid air, and turn into a flash of red light and vanish completely.
Yami Benjy: Have any more?
Roxanne grits her teeth in anger.
Roxanne: Saradomin have mercy upon your soul. (angry)
Yami Benjy: I’ll take that as a no.
Roxanne pulls a poké ball and pushes the button to make it larger.
Yami Benjy: Save it. If you want to have a non-zero chance of taking Jirachi, you’ll face me in a gym battle.
Roxanne: A gym battle?!
(Roxanne’s voice shows her extreme surprise by the request)
Yami Benjy: It’s what a gym leader does, no?
Roxanne starts to nod slowly.
Yami Benjy: Sign on the dotted line. If I win, you’ll stop confiscating creatures from trainers that they want to be with. Permanently. If you win, I’ll stand aside. Permanently.
Roxanne: If I win, I’m taking your animon as well.
Yami Benjy: Fine, but then if I win, I’m also taking your badge.
Roxanne swallows hard.
Roxanne: Fine.
Roxanne pulls out a pen and scribbles her name on the dotted lines of the pieces of paper.
Roxanne: I’ll see you at the gym at nine tomorrow.
Yami Benjy watches Roxanne walk past him.
Benjy: And if she…
The Millennium Gameboy Advance pulses slightly with light.
Yami Benjy: I made that contract both legally and magically binding. If she tries, she’s in for a pretty nasty surprise.
New Scene(@Temporal = Late Afternoon)
Yami Benjy is walking towards the edge of Rustboro as the sun starts to set.
Benjy: How come you only wanted a badge to put our party on the line?!
Yami Benjy: Then what should have I requested she ante?
Benjy: Maybe her party?
Yami Benjy: But what good would her Animon do for us? They wouldn’t obey…
Benjy: It would have made her understand how serious a request that was!
Yami Benjy: Don’t forget, we needed her to sign that, or there would be trouble.
Benjy: But…
Yami Benjy: Roxanne uses rock types. We have three grass types. And when was the last time I lost a pokémon battle?
Benjy: I don’t think you realize how serious this is!
Yami Benjy: If worse comes to worse, you’re not bound by the contract.
Benjy: That’s only a little comforting. (nervous)
Yami Benjy: Not to boast, but the chance of loosing truly is, negligible.
Yami Benjy continues walking and now enters the forest around the city.
New Scene()
QST.camera scans over the forest.
Narrator: To avoid unnecessary confrontation, our allies have set up a small camp in the forest right outside Rustboro. However it looks like it might have been already discovered.
QST.camera now zooms down into the forest to show the "camp," which is only slightly more than trampled grass with a few things strewn about.
Max: Get back here!
Jirachi: Pretty! Pretty! Shiny! Shiny! Pretty! Pretty! Shiny! Shiny!
#Reference: My_Gym_Partner_is_a_Monkey
Max jumps out from a behind a tree trying to grab his glasses back from Jirachi who flies into the tree above him. In the forest next to them, May is picking berries with Torchic at her heels. It pecks at the ground nervously.
QST.camera goes back to Max and the camp as footsteps are heard in the brush. Max has finally figured out how to climb a short ways into the tree (6 feet-ish) without his glasses. The footsteps get louder.
Max: Who is it?
Officer Jenny: It’s me, Officer Jenny! Max, I came to talk to you about Jirachi.
Max: Where are you?
Officer Jenny: What are you talking about? I’m right in front of you…
Officer Jenny starts reaching for Max.
Max: It took my glasses…
Officer Jenny now stops reaching for Max, realizing silently that she could cause him to fall.
Officer Jenny: Max, you see, this is why we don’t allow people your age to train pokémon. Things like this happen…
Max: And you think it wouldn’t happen if I was older?
Officer Jenny: Exactly.
Max: Okay, you’re crazy.
Officer Jenny: Max, it’s the law! I’m sorry but I cannot allow you to–
Max: But the Star Guard said…
Officer Jenny: I’m sorry. The law does not negotiate, the law does not make except–
Officer Jenny stops talking as May emerges from the bushes with Torchic at her heels and a basket full of berries.
May: Some thanks we get for helping you save the city.
Officer Jenny: May, please…
May: I’m still surprised that Piper hasn’t led the lot of you people into that toxic harbor of yours!
Officer Jenny: Do not talk back to an officer of the law!
Max: She can say whatever she wants to you.
Officer Jenny now turns towards Max as he grabs his glasses back from Jirachi, who is hovering nearby to watch the confrontation.
Officer Jenny: You’re in enough trouble as it is.
Officer Jenny now turns to May.
Officer Jenny: Please hand me your license, young lady.
May steps back nervously.
Max: She didn’t break any laws, you idiot!
Officer Jenny: Then she’ll be able to get it back in court!
Max: Jirachi!
Narrator: Please be advised that the following minute might offend some of our more conservative audiences.
May takes two steps away from Officer Jenny, and Officer Jenny takes another step towards her, before stopping and reaching for handcuffs, which immediately teleport right out of her hand. Officer Jenny then stops and turns to Max, but pauses again as something teleports away from her person that was unseen to QST.camera. She then turns and stares at Jirachi.
QST.camera now shifts to show Officer Jenny’s feet, as her shoes, then socks, then her pants are teleported away (although QST.camera only shows the lower part of her pants being teleported away).
New Scene()
QST.camera now zooms over the forest as Officer Jenny (whom we can no longer see) screams.
Narrator: Because this is an anime, sometimes we are legally obligated to do fan-service. Sorry, but we don’t make the rules.
Revert Scene()
Officer Jenny is no longer there, and Max stares in astonishment while May tries desperately to conceal her laughter,
May: I’ve never seen a pokémon strip someone naked before…
Max: How come you didn’t just teleport her away?
Jirachi: Jirachi too sleepy…
New Scene()
Brock is walking through the forest with a bag of supplies when a rustling is heard from the forest. Confused, Brock kneels down to take a peek through the tall grass. As the rustling draws nearer, Brock spews a massive amount of blood from his nose and falls over backwards, hitting his head with a loud clunk.
New Scene()
At the camp, Benjy, May, and Max have gathered. A rustling comes from the bushes and Ash emerges helping Brock.
Max: What happened?
Ash: Looked like he tripped and fell and hit his nose. Blood was everywhere…
May: Are you okay?!
Brock vaguely looks in May’s direction and makes a low moaning noise.
Pikachu: Pika…kah…
May: What’s Pikachu trying to say?
New Scene(@Temporal = Late Evening)
Ash and company are sitting around a smaller-than-normal campfire. Max is lying against a tree while Benjy is lying against a log he dragged in. Brock is passed out on the grass with a compress in his nose.
Ash: You got her to sign a contract?!
This comment is directed at Benjy, who looks around uneasily.
Benjy: It did.
Benjy looks down at the MGBA nervously.
Ash: And you put your friends on the line…
Benjy: It did.
May: You really think she’ll honor that contract?
Benjy: It’s supposed to be "magically" binding.
(Benjy does air quotes when he says the word "magically")
Benjy: I don’t know what will happen if she tries to break it, but either way (bleep)’s going to go down tomorrow.
Ash: I’ll say; it’s a massive gamble…
Benjy: It was pretty confident though.
May: We could just leave tonight though, in the dark and not have to worry about it…
Ash: You’re suggesting he just walk away from a gym battle?!
May: It’s what I would do…
Benjy: That’s a decent tactic, except given how close Roxanne lives to you guys. The AI thinks it’s going to be trouble later on. The contract is supposed to stop Roxanne for good.
May cringes nervously, and looks over at Max who is now sleeping peacefully.
May: Just Roxanne or the whole city?
Benjy: Just Roxanne. I want you guys to stay in the forest tomorrow until I get back.
Ash: But what if you get in trouble?
May: And Officer Jenny already knows about the camp…
Benjy: I don’t think Officer Jenny is going to show her face around here for a very long time… I don’t have a trainer’s license, but you should be worried about yours…
Benjy turns his gaze from the fire to Ash and May.
May: And Brock’s passed out because of his nose bleed…
Ash: You don’t suppose he saw Officer Jenny and…
May: She wasn’t that ugly.
Benjy has now fallen asleep, and May notices this and starts messing with Benjy’s hair.
Ash: May, whatcha doing?
May: It’s okay, he’s asleep.
Ash: May, stahp…
May: Ash…, he’s fast asleep.
Ash: There is no way I’m going to sleep before she does.
With this, Ash yawns, and starts to close his eyes, and the screen goes dark.
Refresh Scene(@Temporal = Morning)
Brock is now awake and lying against the log that Benjy dragged in the previous night; everyone else is standing around.
Max: So you’re really going through with this?
Benjy: Yes, but I think it would be best if you’d stay here for the time being.
Max: But aren’t your pokémon going to be on the line too?
Benjy sighs.
Benjy: I don’t want Nurse Joy or anyone else getting any ideas. Technically the AI made the contract with Roxanne, so I’m not bound by it, just as the contract has no effect on you.
Max: Wait, so…hold on!
New Scene()
Ash, May, Brock and Benjy are visible, walking down the streets of Rustboro. Benjy is helping Brock who seems massively fatigued. As they reach the pokémon center, Ash rushes up to the door and it opens in front of him. At the front desk, Nurse Joy turns around and reacts in mild surprise to see Ash and company.
Nurse Joy: You kids… Where’s Max?
Ash: He disappeared somewhere.
Nurse Joy: Should I file a missing person’s report?!
Benjy: First a little help here…
Nurse Joy: Can you wait? This is urgent–
The Millennium Gameboy Advance pulses slightly with light.
Yami Benjy: You’re first job is a nurse, right?
Nurse Joy pauses in picking up the phone.
Nurse Joy: What do you mean?
Ash: We can find Max, we just need your help with Brock here?
Nurse Joy: He looks O–what happened?
(Nurse Joy doesn't say the ‘K’ in ‘OK’ when she realizes about Brock’s nose)
Ash: His nose was bleeding a lot last night.
Nurse Joy: You know, we’re open all twenty blocks, day and night…
May: He said not to move him–
May gestures at Benjy.
Nurse Joy: That’s right, that’s right…
Nurse Joy: Blissey! Bring the stretcher! (urgent)
New Scene()
In the pokémon center’s back room, Nurse Joy and Blissey have a semi-conscious Brock on one of the hospital beds. Ash, Benjy, and May stand around the bed
Nurse Joy: Very low blood pressure. It looks like he’s going to need a transfusion.
May shutters as Nurse Joy says this.
Nurse Joy: It’s not that bad. Just a little bit to get his blood pressure up.
May: That’s twice in a row…
Nurse Joy goes to her computer.
Nurse Joy: Looking at his medical records, they didn’t actually give him a transfusion in Lavaridge; they just let him recover. I’ll take care of him from here, you guys just go find Max.
Ash: Got it!
With this, Ash, Benjy, and May hurriedly exit the room, as does something invisible behind them. Nurse Joy watches this out of the corner of her eye, although it’s unclear as to whether or not she notices the invisible object.
Nurse Joy: May! Be careful with your foot!
New Scene()
Ash, May, Benjy, and Max (invisible) hurry down the street towards the Rustboro Gym.
Max’s Voice: I thought the gym would be that way…
May: Why’d you have to wish yourself invisible…
Max’s Voice: You know perfectly well why I did.
May: What really burns me up is Officer Jenny yesterday. Even Nurse Joy said that was she did was illegal…
Yami Benjy: I’m sure Officer Jenny feels just as burned by what Jirachi did.
Benjy: So arguing with the police is legal here, in entirety… Not quite like back home…
Yami Benjy: Whatever you do, Max, don’t talk when we get to the gym.
Max’s Voice: And why’s that?
Yami Benjy: Because I’m not worked up enough to want to deal with mass hysteria. It looks like they had a bad experience with someone in the past, so we’ll shut them down before it can happen again.
Ash, May, Max, and Yami Benjy now all slow down as they approach the front door of the gym. Yami Benjy approaches the door and pulls it open. Ash and May enter the Gym after Yami Benjy, and Max supposedly enters too, but he can’t be seen. As the group enters the gym and the door closes behind them, May remarks that the gym smells weird.
Ash: Weird?
May: Theres this pungent grassy aroma… Did you do something?
Yami Benjy: No…
The group continues to walk down the center aisle of the gym.
Yami Benjy: Roxanne?
Roxanne doesn’t reply.
May: Maybe she chickened out?
Ash: She’s a gym leader, so that’s sort of unlikely…
Yami Benjy walks up to the place where the challenger stands for a gym battle and looks around.
Yami Benjy: She’s just running late… It’s nothing to worry about.
Roxanne’s Voice: To be honest, I didn’t expect you to arrive…
As she says this, Roxanne steps out from behind part of the scenery onto the battlefield.
Ash: Hey Roxanne, where are all of your students?
Roxanne: A lot of them weren’t feeling that well today. I can’t blame them after that Gulpin mess.
Roxanne now adopts a somewhat more serious tone.
Roxanne: But that doesn’t change that our fate hangs in the balance. Do you know what happens to pokémon confiscated by Officer Jenny?
QST.camera split-screens three ways to show Ash, May, and Yami Benjy’s expressions of surprise?
May: I don’t know…
Roxanne: Well I don’t either. Which is why I wanted to hold onto Jirachi for Max.
May: Wait, past tense?
Roxanne presses her palm to her forehead.
Roxanne: Ever since what happened four years ago, Officer Jenny has gone nuts enforcing that rule. As for me, I also have to enforce that law if I’m able.
Yami Benjy: If your able?
Roxanne: I can’t do something that I’m unable to do. But whatever, we’re burning daylight. The sooner I beat you the sooner you can get yourself a trainer’s license and get your pokémon back. I’m afraid Max and Jirachi are going to be another story… Where is Max anyway?
Ash, May, and Yami Benjy all shrug.
Roxanne: Then lets do this.
Roxanne takes out a poké ball.
Yami Benjy: Agreed.
Yami Benjy takes Shroomish’s snag ball from his belt and makes it bigger.
Roxanne: This is a gym battle impulse battle. Each trainer will use two pokémon, and the battle will be over when there is a clear victor.
Yami Benjy: I accept.
Roxanne: Alright, then go! Graveler!
Graveler emerges from it’s poké ball, onto the gym floor.
Yami Benjy: Shroomish, lets go!
Shroomish also emerges from it’s ball, onto the gym floor in a cloud of shadowy mist, that no one appears to notice.
QST.StartMusic($A45 (PokémonXDGD_Battle))
Ash and May back away from the arena, as a shout goes up.
Student1: They’re really going to do it!
Student2: He came!
Student1: They’re starting now!
Several children aged between six and eleven run onto the stands and the balconies. Lan and Mayl are amongst the ones that run onto the balconies.
Student3: I didn’t think he’d come.
Student4: He’s got a Shroomish…
Roxanne: Quiet, I need to concentrate!
Roxanne: Graveler, rollout!
Graveler: Grav!
May: Looks like Geodude evolved… (whisper)
Graveler rolls headlong at Shroomish.
Yami Benjy: Jump aside and shadow blitz!
Roxanne: Um–
As Graveler rolls as Shroomish, Shroomish jumps aside with surprising agility, cloaking itself in shadows.
Roxanne: Dodge it!
Graveler now comes out of rollout to look for where Shroomish is, but before it can get out of the way, Shroomish collides with Graveler’s backside, surprising the rock pokémon and dealing noticeable damage before zipping away again.
Yami Benjy: Three point turn and strike again!
Roxanne: Avoid it with Rollout!
Graveler starts to roll as Shroomish bounces off the walls straight for it. Shroomish barely misses, and Graveler begins to roll both offensively and defensively as Roxanne continues to direct it.
Yami Benjy: Right angle forwards, then stop and absorb!
Shroomish zips from the wall, out of Graveler’s way, to a stop right in front of Roxanne, but Shroomish doesn’t use absorb as Graveler rolls at it. Ash and May both gulp, and then Graveler strikes Shroomish, tossing it over Roxanne’s head where it lands, having taken moderate damage. Shroomish then rushes forwards, without instruction, striking Graveler hard with some kind of shadow-headbutt-like move. Graveler takes damage from this, but not that much, looking more surprised than anything else.
Roxanne: Graveler, rock smash!
Graveler brings it’s fist down on Shroomish, but this fails to land a KO, despite dealing heavy damage.
Yami Benjy: Listen, Shroomish! You need to absorb it’s health.
Cutscene() {
Inside a veil of shadows, Shroomish hears Yami Benjy’s words, although with a slight bit of distortion. The camera now shows as Shroomish remembers someone else calling to it, a young boy: Flashback() {
Shroomish and the Boy are in a field next to a house.
Boy: Shroomish! Use your absorb attack on that rock!
Shroomish: Shroom!
Shroomish tries to use absorb, but the flashback ends before anything can happen.
}
Whisked back to the present, Shroomish sees Graveler about to punch it again, and sniffs in. This doesn’t stop Graveler from punching it again, but Shroomish has drained enough of Graveler’s health to avoid being knocked out by the hit, and a little bit on top of that. Graveler hits it again, but Shroomish is now absorbing enough hp to take it.
Roxanne’s voice now comes through the shadows:
Roxanne: Graveler! Self-destruct!
}
About a second after coming out of the cutscene, QST.camera goes into a split-screen between Ash and May.
May: Did she just say– (shocked)
Ash: Self-destruct?! (shocked)
Immediately following this, Graveler appears to explode, emitting a shockwave that covers Roxanne and some of her students that didn’t duck fast enough with debris, as well as blowing out two of the gym’s rear windows. Shroomish is sent flying into the scenery surrounding the battlefield, where she (Shroomish) lands, fainted. Graveler hasn’t moved from where it was standing. It seems a bit smaller, but still in one piece, despite being knocked out. Both pokémon lie on the floor as their trainers try to gather their wits.
Yami Benjy: Shroomish, you did well, return.
Cutscene() {
We see Yami Benjy’s comment from Shroomish’s standpoint, as Shroomish remembers the young boy also telling it that. Some of the shadows have also been cleared away by the blast.
}
Yami Benjy and Roxanne both recall their fainted pokémon, and Roxanne uses her sleeve to wipe some of the debris (from Graveler’s self-destruct) off of her face. Many of Roxanne’s students are staring wide-eyed at their teacher.
Roxanne: I hope you realize that I’m just getting warmed up.
Yami Benjy: Seemed pretty desperate for a warm-up.
Roxanne: Heh.
May: And her students noticed it too… (soft)
Yami Benjy: But if you’re saying that it’s too soon to call this battle, than I agree. Bayleef, I request your assistance!
Bayleef emerges from it’s ball and Roxanne nods nervously, not matching Yami Benjy’s enthusiasm.
Roxanne: Nosepass! I choose you!
Roxanne: So he’s got another grass-type… He’s not just some kid acting on impulse, he obviously thought this through! And he’s serious about this!
Roxanne shudders slightly.
Roxanne: Nosepass! Zap cannon!
May: What’s zap cannon?
As May says this, Roxanne’s Nosepass appears to start building up a powerful electric charge.
Yami Benjy: Safeguard! Bayleef!
Bayleef seems to ignore it’s trainer, confused by the instruction.
Max’s voice(whisper): This isn’t good!
Yami Benjy: Bayleef! Safeguard now!!!
But it’s too late for safeguard now; Nosepass shoots zap cannon right at Bayleef, whom leaps out of the way just in time to allow zap cannon to pass beneath him (Bayleef) and hit part of the scenery, creating a powerful explosion and causing dust to go everywhere.
Yami Benjy: Safeguard! If that touches you–
Max (although still invisible), along with Ash and May stare in the direction of the explosion, now visibly nervous due to sensing the desperation in Yami Benjy’s voice. The dust the blast kicked up is obscuring Bayleef from Nosepass’s view.
May: What happens if it touches?
Max’s voice(whisper): It’ll leave Bayleef paralyzed…
The dust is now starting to clear, and Bayleef is no longer obscured; however he is now cloaked with a translucent veil.
Yami Benjy: So I’ve got to end this in five minutes…
Roxanne: Nosepass, lock on!
Yami Benjy: So it begins…
Yami Benjy: Bayleef, magical leaf!
Roxanne: Dodge and use zap cannon!
Nosepass jumps out of the leaves and fires a zap cannon straight at Bayleef. Suddenly the leaves from magical leaf strike Nosepass inflicting significant damage, at the same time Bayleef leaps out of the way of zap cannon.
Ash: Dodged it again!
Ash gasps as he sees Roxanne smirking. Ash then turns around to see the zap cannon blast do a u-turn and shoot back at Bayleef. QST.camera split-screens to show the expressions of Ash, May, and a blank panel (which would have been Max if he was visible)
Roxanne: Lock on!
Zap cannon now collides with Bayleef, causing her to yelp.
Yami Benjy: Magical leaf!
Bayleef attacks Nosepass again with magical leaf, doing more damage to the compass pokémon.
Roxanne: Zap cannon!
Nosepass shoots zap cannon towards Bayleef through the volley of leaves, striking him on the nose, and causing Bayleef to yelp loudly.
Yami Benjy: Don’t give in, you can do this!
Bayleef suddenly turns to Yami Benjy with an angry expression, hurling a razor leaf at him in the process, although it’s unclear if the leaf was intentional or just a result of Bayleef turning his head quickly.
Roxanne: Nosepass! Lock–
Roxanne is cut off as Bayleef hurls volley after volley of magical leaves at both Nosepass and Roxanne. As Nosepass takes damage, the leaves also start to cut into Roxanne’s clothing, and she has to grab her shirt to prevent it from falling down and her bra from showing.
Roxanne: On…
Bayleef: Baay…
As Roxanne says this, Bayleef leaps into the air, only letting the volley up just enough to charge a beam in it’s mouth. Seeing Roxanne having been knocked to the ground, two of Roxanne’s students start to run towards her. As they do, Bayleef fires a white beam from his mouth, which strikes both Nosepass and Roxanne, creating an explosion with a powerful enough shock wave to knock the two students off their feet.
Refresh Scene()
Ash and May are helping the two injured students as the dust clears, revealing that not only Nosepass, but also Roxanne as well, have been knocked out. Yami Benjy stares at the destruction nervously as Bayleef surveys his work.
QST.EndMusic($A45)
Student1: Roxanne!
Another of the students looks down at Roxanne and then glares at Yami Benjy
Student5: You idiot! (directed at Yami Benjy)
Student4: They're both idiots!
Student6: What do you mean?!
Student4: He’s obviously some kind of wizard or something… Hey!
All of the students, and now Roxanne as May helps her sit up, watch as Max’s invisibility lifts and Max and Jirachi seemingly appear out of nowhere. Roxanne stares and blinks at Max and Jirachi.
Roxanne: …
Roxanne: So he somehow made himself invisible…
Shakily, Roxanne gets to her feet.
Roxanne: Max! Hand over Jirachi!
Max: But you signed the deal saying–
Roxanne: That’s meaningless! Ultra ball go!
Roxanne attempts to hurl an ultra ball at Jirachi, but she fails to throw anything, leaving everyone (save Yami Benjy) in a state of confusion. As Roxanne looks at her hand, she discovers that the ultra ball is still in the palm of her hand. Roxanne now transfers the ultra ball to her other hand and tries to throw it again, but the same thing happens. Confused, Roxanne tosses the ultra ball up in the air, catches it, and tries to throw it again. The ball still fails to leave her hand.
Student5: He is a wizard! (whisper)
Yami Benjy: You signed a contract, Roxanne. It’s too late to go back out.
Student3: What was the contract.
Roxanne: How is this possible?
Yami Benjy: Our contract is not only magically binding, it’s also legally binding. Enforcing age restrictions on trainers is no longer your responsibility as gym leader.
Roxanne takes a step back in surprise.
Roxanne: Does that mean I’m no longer…
Ash: Wait–
May: You can’t–
Roxanne collapses to her knees.
Yami Benjy: It doesn’t. She’s still the gym leader, she doesn’t have that one responsibility anymore.
Lan: That doesn’t even make sense…
Yami Benjy: We found a loophole in the law.
Ash: A loophole?
Yami Benjy: It’s complicated, but I’ll try my best to explain. Normally, a gym leader must enforce trainer age limits and licenses, and do everything in their power to do so. By writing out a clear legal contract, I gave her a means she could go about her job more effectively, and sure enough, she signed it thinking that it would make the task easier.
Ash: I’m still confused about this loophole…
Yami Benjy: Normally, a gym leader wouldn’t be able to legally make such a deal, however, I made it such that making that deal was part of her job, as gym leader.
Ash, May, and Max still look a bit confused.
Yami Benjy: And by the looks of things, that wasn’t your favorite part of the job either.
Roxanne stares at Yami Benjy, speechless. She then takes a breath and lets out a long sigh.
Roxanne: Fine. You beat me. You got me. But you do realize that Max is the son of the Petalburg Gym Leader, right? I don’t think the same thing will work on him.
Yami Benjy: Its true, this was a warm-up. But Max isn’t actually training Jirachi, persay…
Student4: Does that mean we can get our own Pokémon now?!
Roxanne: No!
Student2: But–
Roxanne: No means no. And while I can’t take them away from you, Officer Jenny on the other hand…
Max: …has been dealt with.
Roxanne: Oh no–
Jirachi: Jirachi got rid of her equipment!
Roxanne: You don’t mean to tell me…
May: Clothes too…
Ash: Where did you put them?
Roxanne slaps her palm to her forehead.
Roxanne: I don’t want to know…
Jirachi: At the bottom of the bay!
Roxanne now falls forwards as May and one of her students run over to her.
New Scene()
Brock is sitting up in his bed with Ash, May, Max, and Benjy around him. Benjy is holding his new badge for Yami Benjy (right now a projection) to examine.
Nurse Joy: So Brock needs to take it easy for the rest of the day. You kids should be able to get on your way tomorrow.
Ash: But–
Nurse Joy: It’ll also give May’s foot more time to heal.
Brock: What’s going to happen to Officer Jenny?
Nurse Joy: We’ve given her some new clothes and she’s going to take some time off. Deputy Matt will pick up where she left off. He’s more of a safety officer though…
Yami Benjy: Viva la revolution…
New Scene(@Temporal = Night)
As everyone sleeps on bunk beds in the back of the Pokémon Center, Yami Benjy projection stares at Roxanne’s badge. Celebi is sleeping on Benjy’s shoulder.
Yami Benjy: Yes, viva la revolution. People and pokémon are meant to be together. Age is irrelevant.
QST.camera shifts, and zooms past Celebi into Benjy’s dreams.
New Scene(Benjy’s Dream)
Benjy is walking along a riverbank with a small white humanoid with a coat, but no pants, and a long white nose (Excalibur from Soul Eater™). Benjy has his hands behind his head, and the white creature swings his cane as he walks.
White Creature: I wish we had chosen a different route.
Benjy: Sorry, but I’m not really up to something new today.
White Creature: You get back and all you want to do is do the same old thing, why not go somewhere new?
Benjy: Before one ventures out into the unknown, one should have a firm grasp of the known.
White Creature: So is that why humans always state things that are so mind-numbingly obvious?
Benjy: Partly, partly it’s to make sure everyone is on the same page.
The white creature looks out over the pond.
White Creature: Really now…
Benjy nods.
Revert Scene()
Yami Benjy glances over at Max and Jirachi sleeping atop the bunk bed on the other side of the room.
Yami Benjy: And the real question is, why hasn’t Jirachi gone back into it’s lacryma cocoon?
…///To Be Continued///…
© September 14, 2014 to December 1, 2015 by Benjy Strauss