ENGLISH NAME	JAPANESE NAME	POKEMOPOLIS NAME	DODGINESS RATING	ANIMATION	STORY	TEAM ROCKET	MORAL LEARNT
731: Guarding the Guardian of the Mountain!	737: Hachiku Tojo! Urugamosu no Seinaru Yama!	Enter the Game of the Fists of the Big Boss			The twerps meet a martial arts movie-star and fight a ghost jellyfish	MIA all over again	Don't get into a fist-fight with a polar bear

Today finds the twerps crossing a mountain on their way to Icirrus City. They hear a rumbling above and look up to see two large boulders shake loose and fall towards them. They have time to register what is happening, scream with terror and start running for their lives. They're saved by their plot armour as two figures leaps through the air and kick the boulders into smithereens, saving the day. Who did it? It's a Beartic and a masked man wearing odd robes that leave half his chest exposed.

Ash thanks them gratefully for saving them, while Iris and Axew freak out to see an Ice-Type like Beartic, even if Iris does acknowledge her gratitude. Cilan, however, just starts freaking the fuck out as he looks over the masked man, clearly recognising he who is....



Cilan declares himself a big fan of the masked man, asking if he is Brycen, star of action movies like "Enter The Beartic"? He waxes lyrical about the films (Iris getting a little excited too) and realises that Beartic may be a movie star too, offering to shake hands as well. Beartic actually complies, lifting a shaggy paw and shaking with Cilan. Cilan explains the plot of "Enter the Beartic", which is very much like Enter The Dragon except instead of fighting a big bearded dude who tried to rape his sister, Brycen fought and gained the respect of a Beartic.

It's never established whether the Beartic had earlier tried to rape Brycen's sister.

Despite having the plot thoroughly ruined for him, Ash declares he would like to see the movie. Cilan explains that production began on a sequel but then Brycen suddenly quit and disappeared. Ash and Iris ask why, and Brycen replies that he needed to continue training with his Beartic. Ash hears the magic word "training" and immediately he wants to get in on a little of that action. Beartic brings Brycen a rock however for Brycen to inspect, and he declares that the boulders didn't fall by themselves but were loosened. He posits that it could be the work of illegal hunters, explaining that the mountain is also a Pokémon Reserve. It seems the twerps didn't know this, possibly because THERE ARE NO FUCKING SIGNS, and Brycen explains that he and Beartic keep an eye out for hunters and murder them and bury the bodi.... that he and Beartic kick them out of the reserve.

Ash asks if he can see what kind of training Brycen does and he offers to show them, though Ash wants to do more than watch. He calls out Krokorok which bravely poses for an appreciative Axew (at first I thought he was going to take another swing at Pikachu), and then they try to emulate the amazing physical prowess of a man and his Pokémon who have dedicated their lives to physical perfection. Ash ends up crashing onto Krokorok after trying to do a one-handed walk, and they move on to leaping from rock to rock, with Ash slipping and crashing into the ground, followed by Krokorok tumbling down a slope.

Next, Brycen smashes a huge boulder WITH ONE HAND, and Beartic does the same with a massive Ice Punch. Ash and Krokorok are horrified but decide to give it a go and.... yeah.... it doesn't work as well as they might have hoped.



Brycen and Beartic leap from the top of a waterfall and emerge to pose bravely on rocks in the pool below. Krokorok seems less than excited to emulate the move, with Cilan pointing out to Iris that Ground types are weak against Water Types. Ash tries to push Krokorok in, insisting it is just training (remember A.J from waaaaaay back in season one?) and ends up falling over the side himself and crashing into the water himself.

He and Krokorok admit that they can't keep up with Brycen and Beartic without a lot of training, while Cilan gushes to Brycen over how talented he is. Brycen says they still have a long way to go though, and explains to Iris that he stopped appearing in movies because there was an accident one day while filming that he blames himself for, even though nobody was seriously hurt. He decided he needed more training to be sure it never happened again (then let a 10 year old boy jump off of a waterfall only a few minutes ago!).

A change in the air catches Brycen's attention and he turns to look out over the reserve, saying that something is wrong. The weather suddenly takes a turn for the worse, and a red glow lights up the trees in the far distance. Brycen tells the twerps that it may have something to do with the Guardian of the Mountain.

Indeed it is! A Volcarona is being hunted through the forest by a Pokémon Hunter on a quad-bike with a cage attached, chasing the giant moth-like Pokémon with his Jellicent, which is a truly disturbing floating jellyfish-like Pokémon that exists in the open air instead of the deepest, darkest depths of the ocean. Volcarona tries to fight but it seems the Jellicent is more than a match for it, blocking its fire attacks with Confuse Ray and Hydro Pump, then catching it in a fireproof net that wraps around it and pins it to a rock.

Brycen and the twerps arrive, demanding that the Hunter release the Volcarona, which is the Guardian of the Mountain. Ash checks it out with his Pokédex, learning that legend says its fire once served as a replacement for the sun. Brycen says it did the same thing on this mountain, allowing it to continue to exist when volcanic ash was blocking the light of the sun. The Hunter doesn't care though, refusing to hand Volcarona over and freely admitting he set up the rock trap that almost killed the twerps. He smugly offers to settle things with a one on one Pokémon battle, but it is ASH who takes him up on the offer, and strangely Brycen seems okay with letting this happen.

Lightning begins to strike as the storm increases in ferocity, and the battle begins. Jellicent opens with Hydro Pump but Krokorok dodges, then attempts to use Crunch. Jellicent dodges though and this time manages to hit a Hydro Pump, knocking Krokorok back. He recovers though and uses Stone Edge twice to drive Jellicent back against the cliff and hammer it with sharp stones. Ash sends in Krokorok for the kill with Crunch, but Jellicent bounces it back with its fat body, so Ash tries to get Krokorok to attack its underside, which is presumably softer.

Jellicent has had time to recover though and uses Hex, freezing the horrified Krokorok in place, jaws locked wide as he flails his arms about. He is sent crashing back and finally manages to close his jaws, eyes wobbly like he is going to cry from the pain and humiliation. Jellicent tries Confuse Ray but Krokorok dodges by using Dig, and is finally able to get in at the jellyfish's soft underbelly with a Headbutt before biting it in the face with Crunch. Brycen notes the effectiveness of the attack and Cilan and Iris offer encouragement too, causing Krokorok to turn and wave happily back at them. Ash gets his head back in the game by ordering another Crunch, but Jellicent has had time to recover and uses Hex again to block the attack.



Krokorok is slammed back against the rocks, and has to use Dig again to avoid another Confuse Ray. Jellicent is unable to avoid another Crunch and is smashed against a rock itself, and Brycen notes that the battle looks to be over now. Ash prepares to send in Krokorok for the killer blow, but before he can, the Hunter makes a surprise move - he calls out ANOTHER Jellicent! A female one!

With lipstick!

Ash complains quite reasonably that only a coward would fight a Pokémon battle 2-on-1, but he forgot this dude isn't exactly a nice guy. The Hunter reminds Ash that the condition was that he had to defeat his Jellicent... he never said which one! The female Jellicent uses Confuse Ray on Krokorok, then the two of them both blast Krokorok with a Double Hydro-Pump and smash him into Volcarona through the rock and into the prepared cage. The Hunter roars with laughter at the work they've spared him, then turns his back on Ash and walks away, declaring himself the winner.

Time for Brycen Lee to kick some ass!

He and Beartic step forward to fight, happily taking on both Jellicent at once. The Hunter orders another Double Hydro-Pump and.... Beartic blasts through BOTH attacks with Brine and sends them both flying! The Hunter is shocked, how the fuck is that even possible!?! Beartic moves forward with Ice Punch, and the male Jellicent tries to block the attack with Hex.... and Beartic keeps on punching anyway and smashes BOTH of them with one massive fist and shatters the Hex.... holy crap!

The Jellicents try a double Confuse Ray but Beartic dodges both, leaps onto their heads and smashes them both with a Double Ice Punch. They smashed into the cage and knock Volcarona and Krokorok free, infuriating the Hunter who demands another Double Hydro Pump. Beartic dodges as Ash recovers Krokorok and Iris helps Volcarona out of the net, then the two Jellicent are Ice Punched into the Hunter and they're sent flying back and into the cage, finding themselves trapped inside the very cage they were using to cage Pokémon - how ironic!

A short time later, Brycen says goodbye to Volcarona which flits into the air, the stormclouds parting and the sun coming back out again. Officer Jenny has arrived with a police car to arrest the Hunter, and she thanks Brycen for his help before driving away, the Hunter staring in disbelief as he is pulled away in the cage.

Brycen asks Ash where he was heading next and Ash explains they're on their way to Icirrus City. Brycen happily points very slightly to the side where the city is now in full view a few hundred feet or so below the mountain. Ash is delighted, now he can challenge at the Gym! Brycen seems surprised, then happily extends a hand and welcomes Ash - because Brycen is the Icirrus City Gym Leader!



Yes it seems that when Brycen disappeared from the film industry and nobody knew where he had gone, he'd actually just moved to another highly visible role with even more open access for fans to meet him! He tells Ash he is greatly looking forward to their Gym Battle, and Ash recovers from his shock to agree and shake Brycen's hand. He's delighted at the opportunity, though after this episode we have to wonder... just how the fuck is he going to beat Beartic!?!

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