ENGLISH NAME	JAPANESE NAME	POKEMOPOLIS NAME	DODGINESS RATING	ANIMATION	STORY	TEAM ROCKET	MORAL LEARNT
743: Jostling For The Junior Cup!	749: Junia Kappu Kaimaku! Kairyu tai Tsunbea!	Stephan and Bianca Slept In!			The Junior Cup Begins!	Not today	Strategy is for the weak!

Well it has finally arrived - the Junior Cup is on and the twerps are amongst the large milling crowd who are heading for the stadium. They stop to take in the sight of the building and all of them declare they're going to be doing their best. Meloetta floats up behind Ash and he happily asks it to root for him, but then two hurrying young spectators bump into him in their rush to get good seats, causing Meloetta to take to the skies and fade from sight. It (apparently Meloetta is a genderless Pokémon, despite clearly being a she) has come a long way in terms of comfort around strangers, it would have never been floating about happily amongst all these people only a few episodes ago. But all these people would alarm the most garrulous of us, because all these people are...



They approach the entrance, taking in the crowd, and Iris notes a temporary Pokémon Center set up outside with a Nurse Joy and Audino standing outside. Cilan guesses that the competitors' Pokémon will go there for quick treatment if necessary, which is pretty damn sensible. As they continue walking, Ash overhears a familiar voice and stops, turning to see.... Alder! Macking on Cynthia!

Oh Alder.

Before the twerps astonished eyes, Alder leers happily up Cynthia's body, telling her how beautiful she looks and suggesting they ditch this dumb baby-ass kiddy-contest bullshit and go get they fuck on! Or words to that effect, at least. Cynthia of course is having none of it, smirking and suggesting that he'll be handling things himself - as usual. Yes they're discussing lunch, but I'm fairly certain she just called Alder a jerk-off!

Dawn is amazed, she can't believe that Ash knows the super-awesome Unova Champion.... as if she doesn't have personal experience in just how many famous people Ash knows! Ash rushes ahead to interrupt Alder's pathetic attempts to get into Cynthia's pants, but before he can finish blurting out a hello he is cockblocked-blocked by none other than Trip. Completely ignoring Ash (or perhaps just entirely unaware/uncaring that he is there), Trip grunts that Alder hasn't changed at all, his former hero-worship of the Champion now turned sour. Alder remembers him... eventually.... kinda, asking Trip to remind him who he is. Trip grunts his name and Alder happily insists he totally remembers Tristan! Ash - completely ignorant of what is going on - happily tries to engage Trip in conversation, thinking that they're good buddies who enjoy socialising. He asks if Trip is taking part in the Junior Cup, and Trip's derisive reply is that of course he is - because the winner gets to battle Alder.

Ash says hello to Alder who asks if "Ashton" is also taking part. Ash is, correcting his name though Alder won't remember it anyway. Trip tells Alder that he is going to win the Junior Cup, then beat Alder and prove that he is yesterday's news. Alder - who has probably heard all this before - happily encourages his attitude, but forgets all about the kids when Cynthia says goodbye and heads into the stadium. Alder rushes after her, demanding to know what about their date!?!

This is all new for Dawn, of course, who refers to Alder as a "colourful" character. Iris agrees, but then has to deal with another colourful character - Georgia! Spotting Iris' "big head with big hair", she instantly gets under Iris' skin who quickly recovers with a smug pronouncement that Georgia doesn't recognise style since she's "just a kid". As she turns her nose up with a smirk, a happy Axew who has no idea he is supposed to hate Georgia happily waves hello to her, which is just fucking adorable. Georgia yells at her that she doesn't want Iris going out of the Junior Cup till they match off against each other, because she wants to be the one to beat her. Iris reminds her once again that she isn't a Dragon Master YET, but Georgia isn't interested in this technicality, she's only interested in being the one to beat Iris and prove that dragons ain't shit.

After she stalks off and Ash explains to Dawn who Georgia is, Cilan suggests they forget this nonsense and actually head inside the stadium. But before they can, HIS rival appears on the scene, shoving a finger in his face and declaring she is going to beat the bowtie off of him! Cilan reacts as he always does to Burgundy, smiling and extending a hand with a heartfelt declaration that he looks forward to their battle. Put off-balance once again by Cilan not playing to the script in her head, she growls that she hates it when he pretends to be nice, and turns her attention onto Dawn - a new face? Is she friends with Cilan? Dawn happily agrees she is, and Burgundy screams in her face to keep an eye out for Cilan, because before she knows it he's going to start babbling away! She stomps away in a fury, leaving a flummoxed Dawn and Piplup behind.

Inside the stadium the Junior Cup's competitors are lined up on the stage as the crowd roars their approval. There are only 16 of them, a surprisingly low number considering what a big deal this thing is supposed to be, and.... where is Stephan? Where the hell is Stephan? Surely he'd be all over this type of thing? Or Bianca for the matter? Georgia and Burgundy made it, Trip is there, but no Stephan? No Bianca? If Ash misses his buddy or his big-hipped ditzy friend, he doesn't show it, just shouting out in excitement over the fact the tournament is starting.

Freddy The Scoop says hello to the crowd and introduces Alder, who says a few words about the Junior Cup and the match he will have against the winner. The words out of the way, it's time to open things with action - an Exhibition match between one of Unova's Elite Four against the Champion of the Sinnoh region, it's Caitlin against Cynthia!

Caitlin is lowered down inside a giant light-purple rose that unfolds as it reaches the ground, revealing a woman dressed all in white with huge tresses of blond hair. Rose petals fall around her as she asks who dares to disturb her sleep. Cynthia steps out onto the stage wearing a sparkling purple cape, pulling it away after saying a greeting to Caitlin. Apparently the two have battled before, but Caitlin has never been able to beat the Sinnoh Champion. They call out their Pokémon - Garchomp for Cynthia and Gothitelle for Caitlin. Caitlin opens the battling with Flatter, waving a red mist over Garchomp and seemingly confusing the landshark. Using Psychic, Gothitelle begins smashing Garchomp all around the battlefield, the confused shark powerless to stop being tossed about like a ragdoll. But Cynthia remains confident as she watches her MVP slapped about, waiting for just the right moment to strike. It comes when Caitlin goes a little too far, ordering Garchomp to be lifted up high into the sky and smashed back down into the ground. At just the right point, Cynthia orders Dragon Rush and the no-longer confused Garchomp shoots off the roof-struts, crashing directly into a shocked Gothitelle and knocking her down.... and showing off her bloomers!



Haha, look at those squat little legs and fat ass, everybody thought Gothitelle was so graceful!

To Caitlin's credit, she takes the set back calmly, impressing Cynthia who notes her improved temperament (from all their unseen battles). Caitlin agrees, telling Cynthia that this old Caitlin is long gone.... before we get a peek inside her mind as she thinks to herself that she is bluffing, Cynthia freaks her the fuck out and she is barely holding back her panic despite being an Elite Four.

Cynthia orders a Draco Meteor for an "elegant" ending, but Caitlin responds with elegance, ordering a Thunderbolt. As the meteor's rain down, Gothitelle sends crackling blasts of electricity up to blast them out of the sky, creating a huge display of fireworks. The twerps (as well as the rest of the crowd) are in awe, particularly Dawn who tells Piplup to keep a close eye on this, there is a lot to learn for their Contest Battles in the future. Both Cynthia and Caitlin order a Brick Break, and the two Pokémon charge each other and smash hands together, creating a massive blast of power at the point of contact.



They break off as the 10 Minute Time Limit of the Exhibition Match comes to an end, and the battle is declared a draw. The crowd applauds as Cynthia and Caitlin meet each other in the center of the battlefield and compliment each other on a well fought battle. Cynthia tells Caitlin she has truly developed and grown, and Caitlin says that she intends to continue to do so, and win all of her battles with grace and elegance. They shake hands, the crowd cheering to see it, one young boy fist-pumping as his cheeks blaze red, obviously reading a bit too much into the tension between the two attractive, willowy women.

But now it is time for the Junior Cup proper to begin! The 16 competitors are paired off randomly, with each competitor actually given a name and a brief moment to say something towards each other. Trip will be facing Burgundy, Manning will face Kenton, Shepherd (a grinning, muscular youth) will face Cilan, Horatio vs. Simeon, Marris vs. Ash, Geraldo vs. Cassie, Ramone vs. Dawn... which of course leaves Georgia vs. Iris! The two rivals face off in round one, and Georgia couldn't be happier! The two both claim they're going to beat the other, shooting eye-lasers at each other much to the crowd's delight, while Meloetta settles in happily high up above the crowd to watch the battling.

Burgundy is up first against Trip, and she calls out her Darmanitan, a new Pokémon that Cilan observes with interest. Serperior is Trip's Pokémon, and Ash checks it out with his Pokédex, remembering it used to be Trip's Servine, which his own Snivy had her problems with in the past. The battle begins, and Burgundy immediately leaps into evaluation mode.... and Trip completely ignores her, ordering a Leer that paralyses Darmanitan in place before Burgundy is even aware the battle has started! She screams at Darmanitan to recover while Trip quickly orders a Solar Beam and.... BAM! Darmanitan is out and Burgundy has been defeated, she's out of the Junior Cup!

Cilan seems disappointed, saying she didn't even get a chance to show off any improvement in her evaluating. Freddy the Scoop is shocked at how quickly the first battle ended, while Alder rather smoothly compliments Trip on his power, while Trip smirks to himself that he will make Alder acknowledge he is superior to him. Trip's deep-seating self-esteem issues aside, the Junior Cup has to continue, and it does in rather quick fashion. Manning defeats Kenton, Cilan DESTROYS Shepherd whose muscles can't save him, Horatio beats Simeon, Ash defeats Marris much to Marris' despair and Meloetta's delight, Geraldo beats Cassie and Dawn defeats Ramone.



This leaves the match everybody (who watches this show) has been waiting for this round - Georgia vs. Iris. Iris decides to finally give Georgia what she wants, and brings out her new big bad dragon - Dragonite. Georgia isn't scared though, she is delighted to see that Iris has a Dragon Pokémon other than Axew at last. She brings out Beartic, which has a massive type advantage against Dragonite, and Cilan explains to Dawn that Dragonite will need to evade attacks to avoid taking too much damage.

Georgia opens with Hidden Power and Iris does just as Cilan suggested, ordering Dragonite to dodge the attack.... and it doesn't! Before Iris' shocked eyes, Dragonite simply stands and watches the balls of green energy hurtle towards it.... then contemptuously slaps them aside!

The crowd sits in stunned silence at what they've just seen, Freddy the Scoop can't believe and Alder is very impressed. Ash demands to know why Dragonite didn't dodge and a very nervous Axew clearly doesn't like what is going on either. Georgia orders a Focus Blast next and Iris yells to Dragonite that this time it needs to dodge aside, but instead it just braces itself and waits for the attack to come. The ball of energy heads straight for Dragonite which puts out its paws and braces, stopping the attack in place and letting it blast itself out without doing any direct damage to anything other than its paws. Even so, it is still taking attacks rather than dodging them, and this isn't a good look for Iris who is supposes to be its trainer. Georgia orders an Ice Beam next and Iris insists that Dragonite MUST dodge this one.... but it doesn't!

Encased in ice up to the neck, Dragonite now couldn't move even if it wanted to - which it clearly doesn't want to! Georgia orders another Ice Beam and Iris calls for the only Counter Attack possible, a Flamethrower. Dragonite scowls and refuses to do even this, simply allowing the ice to encase its head as well, leaving it completely trapped inside a huge, solid block of ice. It seems the battle must be over, Dragonite is trapped, isn't listening to Iris' commands, and Georgia has been in complete control all along. A worried Cilan tells Ash and Dawn that it seems that Iris and Dragonite aren't compatible at all... and when a Connoisseur of Cilan's class says something like this, it pays to listen.

I mean, it's not like he's Burgundy!

Alder has a curious take on matters, suggesting that Dragonite didn't want to use Flamethrower because it would have so heavily out-classed Beartic's Ice Beam. This seems a strange thing to say, but given what we saw of Dragonite last episode this seems a fairly likely reason. How does Alder know this? Well he didn't become the Champion of Unova by accident, even if he is a crusty old horndog!

Georgia smirks that it is all over, she has this in the bag. Iris is furious, saying it isn't over yet and roars at Dragonite to get into the fight.... NOW! From deep within the ice Dragonite seems to hear Iris, and finally responds to her. As we saw in the last episode, it does seem to recognise a kindred spirit in Iris, and maybe it likes being the underdog? Because now that it is in an impossible situation...



IT BREAKS THE FUCK OUT!

The ice is broken into shards and Dragonite begins to move, sprinting across the battlefield directly towards Beartic. Georgia can't understand how Dragonite can still be able to fight after all it has taken, but she knows how to take the starch out of its sail. She orders a Blizzard which should be super-effective against Dragonite.... but it keeps storming forward against the cold blast of wind, forming a fist that crackles with electricity before it unleashes.... THUNDER PUNCH!



Oh shit, you dead, Beartic!

The twerps are shocked but relieved, including Cilan who says the battle had a little too much spice for his liking. Even Iris isn't basking in her victory, complaining to Dragonite that it may have won but it needs to listen to her and it must dodge attacks when told. Georgia steps up to yell at Iris that she wasn't beaten by her, but by Dragonite. Angrily she tells Iris that if she is going to call herself a Dragon Master, she better get a dragon-type that will listen to her. She storms off, leaving Iris to mumble that she, uhh... she never called herself a Dragon Master!

Axew is clearly sharing Iris' trepidation over Dragonite, but Ash quickly moves on to excitement as he realises that they're all making it through to Round 2. Some or all of them may have to face off with each other in the next round, but for now it is a time for celebration. The battles for today are over, they all shared in victory, two of their rivals have been defeated, and life is good. Everybody starts heading out of the Arena, though Trip stops to scowl at Alder up in the stands. He could care less about the actual Junior Cup, he just wants to get his chance at Alder and put a beating on him for crushing the only aspirational feelings the surly little boy has ever felt. Will he get a chance? Will he lose to Ash and find a new figure to channel his hatred towards? Or will he make it all the way through only to take an ass-kicking from Alder as bad as the one that Brandon once gave to Paul? Only time will tell, for now this episode is over, though the Junior Cup continues.

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