ENGLISH NAME	JAPANESE NAME	POKEMOPOLIS NAME	DODGINESS RATING	ANIMATION	STORY	TEAM ROCKET	MORAL LEARNT
744: Battling Authority, Once Again!	750: Paw? Batoru! Airisu tai Hikari!	Ugly Dragon vs. Grumpy Mammoth			The Junior Cup Continues, twerps start losing!	Or today either	Pure power renders strategy irrelevant

Last episode saw the start of the Junior Cup, with the twerps all making it through to round 2 while rivals Burgundy and Georgia were knocked out of round 1 by Trip and Iris respectively. To be fair, Georgia was really knocked out of the contest by Dragonite, which mostly ignored Iris to do its own thing. While that brought them victory, it didn't set a very good precedent, and Iris is surely going to struggle in the next round and beyond - if she gets that far. She needs to stamp her authority down and get Dragonite to listen to her, the trouble is that Dragonite will probably enjoy...



Round 2 is set to begin, and the eight surviving competitors are waiting to see what the random match-ups will result in. The crowd watches as the matches are announced one by one. First is Trip vs. Manning, followed by Cilan vs. Horatio, Ash vs. Geraldo, which means that the final match-up is.... Iris vs. Dawn! They're surprised, though Dawn notes that they were bound to face each other eventually if they kept on winning their matches. As they wish each other luck (Piplup's good wishes seem a little angry and confrontational), Burgundy and Georgia sulk off to the side. Georgia growls that she doesn't want Iris to lose to anyone but her, surprisingly Burgundy since this means that by default she is rooting for Iris! Georgia disagrees, claiming she would never root for Iris - she just doesn't want her to lose!

Freddy The Scoop reminds everyone that the winner of the Junior Cup gets a match against Alder. This is what Trip is really there for, of course, and he means to make short work of everybody in his way. The first match begins with Trip and his Serperior against Manning and his Heatmor, which catches Ash interest as he checks it out with his Pokédex. The Heatmor has a large type advantage over Serperior, and Cilan is curious to see how that works out. Speaking of type advantage, Iris is busying checking out her Pokéball, thinking about her problems with Dragonite in Round One. She heads out of the arena, forgetting about observing the battle and a potential future opponent to focus on her immediate concerns - getting Dragonite to listen to her.

Calling it out of its Pokéball, she admonishes the truculent Pokémon over its attitude and actions. She explains that if it keeps taking hits, it won't be able to attack when it needs to. She tries to explain that she is telling it this because she is worried, but Dragonite doesn't want to hear anything that paints it in a weak or needy light, because it has some SERIOUS self-esteem issues. Iris is frustrated, how can she get through to it? Maybe Cynthia has the answer, as she surprises Iris by showing up to discuss her issue, rather than observing the other contestants. That kind of attention from a Champion is pretty flattering - if Cynthia takes an active interest in your problems, that's a good sign for your career.

Back at the battle, Serperior smashes Heatmor over with a Solar Beam. It was an exact duplication of his Round 1 Battle - he used Leer to lower Heatmor's defence and then KOed it with Solar Beam. Trip notices Ash watching and smirks, he sees nothing to be concerned about by Ash's attention - something he might be less complacent about if he'd ever bothered to stick around and watch Ash continue on in the tournaments Trip was knocked out of early.

Next up is Cilan vs. Horatio, and Georgia teases Burgundy by asking if she is going to cheer for him. Burgundy is exasperated, complaining that she feels like she is being torn between two deserts - on the one hand she wants Cilan to lose, but on the other it seems she wants him to be successful so HER eventual victory over him is all the sweeter. Georgia laughs that Burgundy would be a better Connoisseur if she was more eloquent, like say... Cilan!?! Burgundy's reaction to this is, of course, less than graceful.

Cilan brings out his glorious Stunfisk, while Horatio brings out... Cinccino? It's the evolved form of Minccino, and looks much the same except for an elegant fur stole (that is part of its own fur). While they prepare to battle, outside the arena Cynthia approaches Dragonite, which she has heard about of course. If she hadn't been away at the time it crashed into the power station, it's likely she would have been the one to capture it rather than Iris. She approaches and reaches out a hand to Dragonite, which snarls angrily back at her, much to Iris' horror/embarrassment. Cynthia isn't put out though, asking Dragonite if it still has a problem trusting humans?



I think you can take that as a yes!

Cynthia puts it off-balance by not being remotely intimidated by the big pissed-off dragon, ignoring its fake-out bite to pet it on the snout and tell it to calm down. Dragonite isn't quite sure how to deal with such a self-assured person, while Iris is all agog at how easily Cynthia is handling things as well as the revelation that Dragonite still thinks humans are assholes despite the connection she thought she had with it.

Inside, Cinccino is taking an ass-kicking from Stunfisk's Sludge Bomb, getting knocked out and giving the victory to Cilan. He's through to the semi-final and waxes lyrical about it, while Stunfisk flops about joyfully in the dirt. Alder compliments Cilan and Stunfisk's teamwork, while Burgundy tries to pretend indifference since it's "only" round 2. Georgia laughs and continues to needle her on the poor quality of her evaluations, infuriating Burgundy who is struggling to appear mature.

Ash congratulates Cilan on his victory, and Iris returns at last to congratulate him too, though she missed the battle itself. It's Ash's turn to battle now, and Meloetta reappears to wish him luck before he heads out to fight. His choice of Pokémon is Boldore, against Geraldo's Reuniclus, which is just a ridiculous looking Pokémon. Ash opens immediately with a Flash Cannon, but we don't get to see it hit as something FAR more important is going on backstage.



Trip's goooooot a cruuuuuuusssssh! :)

Smiling goofily as he watches the willowy blond walk up tongue lapping at an ice-cream (oh symbolism), he actually puts himself out there socially and says hello! She stops and looks back at him, asking if his name is Trip and congratulating him on his victories so far. She is curious though, why isn't he out there watching his prospective opponents battle? He casually dismisses them, saying that whoever he faces he has a winning strategy, and she (perhaps mocking him?) says that she finds that very impressive. She wishes him luck and heads on, and he thinks to himself that she'll need luck too, because once he's done beating Alder, he's totally going to fuc.... to beat her in a battle too!

Aim high, Trip! It'll make your failure almost as delicious as the asskicking that Brandon gave Paul!

Boldore uses Rock Blast to knock out Reuniclus, who we didn't get to see do a single offensive move. Ash is through to the semi-final, leaving only two people left to battle in Round 2 - Iris vs. Dawn! Georgia smirks that Iris will need to control Dragonite if she wants to win, and Burgundy takes the opportunity to needle Georgia who doesn't restrain her reaction at all!

The battle begins and Iris does bring out Dragonite, so it is no surprise that Dawn brings out Mamoswine. It's an Ice-Type in addition to being powerful in its own right, and a pretty damn good match up for Dragonite. Of course Iris is familiar with the Pokémon and probably planned for it, but Georgia and Burgundy have no idea what it is, having never seen its like before. Georgia checks it out with her Pokédex while Burgundy tries to dismiss it as probably a big dumb nothing, causing Georgia to (rightfully) mock her once more.

Mamoswine uses Hidden Power and Iris demands Dragonite to dodge, much to its disgust.... but it does as it was told! Mamoswine follows up with Ice Shard, freaking out Iris since Ice-Type moves are super-effective. She tells Dragonite to dodge, but it simply stands and grins to see the attack coming, wanting to prove that it can stand up to super-effective attacks. The attack scores a direct hit, Dragonite taking it and still standing, but Iris is furious and demands to know why it wouldn't dodge. Mamoswine charges ahead with Takedown, and Dragonite is delighted! It begins charging as well as Iris screams at it to get out of the way, running headlong into Mamoswine and halting his forward progress by catching it by the tusks and digging its feet in to hold it in place. The two struggle against each other, Dawn taking the opportunity to order a close-range blast of Ice-Shard. Iris roars at Dragonite to get clear but it stands and takes blast after blast of white stuff to the face, like a girl with low self-esteem who made some bad life choices. Having taken the hit and survived though, it roars with fury and - to the shock of everybody - pitches Mamoswine overhead and tosses him to the ground!

Alder looks delighted, Dawn is concerned but Iris is pissed. She snaps at Mamoswine that it's great that it is so strong but this is no way to battle, it has to listen to her! Watching from the crowd, Cynthia is impressed however, very enamoured with Dragonite. Dawn checks on Mamoswine's condition and offers him encouragement, and Iris tries to point out to Dragonite the strength of the connection the two of them have. Dragonite clearly doesn't give a fuck though, practically rolling its eyes at Iris. She begs it to listen and battle as a team, as Mamoswine charges in with another Takedown and Dragonite ignores Iris again to rush in to a headlong collision. This time Mamoswine gets the better of it, blowing steam from its nostrils and knocking Dragonite back, then firing off another Ice Shard. Iris tells Dragonite they need to counter with a Fire-Type move - Flamethrower - but Dragonite ignores her, spreading its arm wide and once again taking the attack full.

It survives but is clearly in pain, and Cilan notes sadly to Ash that Dragonite listened to Iris once at the start of their battle, but has completely ignored her ever since. Dawn doesn't seem to mind, sensing victory and wanting to move in for the kill, ordering Ice Fang. Mamoswine's tusks elongate and glow bright as it charges in, while Iris tries to figure out what to do - she knows that the perfect counter is Flamethrower, but Dragonite won't listen. It catches the Ice Fangs(tusks) with its claws and clutches on tight, becoming slowly encased in ice rising up its arms. Iris yells that it is going to end up encased in ice like in the previous battle, and wonder of wonder Dragonite appears to listen. It rips free and soars into the air, the ice around its arms breaking away as it lifts high and glares down at Mamoswine.... then OOOOOOOOOH WHAT A RUSH! Like the Legion of Doom of old, Dragonite tears through the competition with an amazing Dragon Rush. A spectral dragon appears around it as it plummets through the air and smashes headfirst into Mamoswine, the very image of the type of dragon we might have initially expected over the rather chubby, unimpressive appearance of Dragonite we've become used to. The smoke clears and....



Oh SNAP!

The battle is over, Iris has won and Dawn is out! Iris can't believe it, and neither can Burgundy. Georgia insists (quite correctly) that Iris didn't win, it was all Dragonite. Iris clearly agrees, snapping at Dragonite that it needs to listen to her before telling a congratulatory Dawn that "she" only barely won. Dragonite clearly seems pissed off to hear Iris getting any credit at all, while Cynthia watches from up in the stands and muses to herself that while the two have a long way to go, once they have truly bonded in a powerful way.

The semi-final match-ups are announced, and it's now inevitable that there will be another twerp vs. twerp match up. It won't be Cilan, who is paired with Trip, which means that Iris will be facing Ash.... will she use Dragonite again? Ash lost his last tournament battle against Iris, and he has no intention of losing again.

The semi-final begins (whether the same day or another day isn't made clear), and on the big screen we see footage of their last tournament battle against each other. It seems in Unova that various tournaments actually DO communicate with each other, and Freddy explains that the last time Trip and Cilan met, it was Cilan who was victorious. Trip thinks smugly to himself that things will be different this time, and he is going to prove that power is everything. For Cilan's part, he knows that Trip is already thinking ahead to Alder, and he wants to show him that this is a mistake. As they face off, Burgundy is furiously screaming that she wants Trip to lose as revenge for him beating her so easily in round one, before sparkling happily that she knows Cilan won't let her down!

Oh! What's all this now!?!

The battle begins, Serperior vs. Crustle, and Cilan declares that he is going to forego his usual evaluation and cut straight to the battling... and in doing so, ends up being just as dramatic and over-enthusiastic as normal! Trip is all business of course, ordering his Leer/Solar Beam combo, which Cilan has prepared for. He has Crustle dodge the Leer by hiding in its rock-shell, and seems confident it can take the Solar Beam head-on without any problem inside the shell. To his horror, Crustle is blown back through the sky, Trip's focus on power seems to be working in his favour after all.

Cilan admits that Trip's "simple" style is working, but now he means to turn things around. He orders an X-Scissor, but Serperior shows it has speed in addition to power, dodging the attack. Cilan tries to follow through, ordering a Rock Slam, but Serperior shows its speed and agility once more by dodging the rocks that fall from portals in the sky, smashing its tail into the ground and using Frenzy Plant to catch and smash Crustle... knocking it out! Cilan loses, Trip wins, power WAS the difference on the day! Cilan takes it all in good stride of course, and Burgundy.... does not.



Freddy mentions on commentary that once again Trip showed overwhelming power, and Alder says that this is fine but it will only take him so far. Trip hears and looks over in Alder's direction, who grins cheesily back at him. Trip continues on, thinking to himself that he WILL win the tournament and he WILL beat Alder, and prove he was right all along.

Outside, Iris is concerned with power as well - but more with the fact that Dragonite is using all power and refusing to listen to her. Dawn steps out to join her and tells her there's "no need to worry", explaining that she and Mamoswine had similar problems in the past. They're the best of friends now, and Iris and Dragonite will be the same way... eventually. But is eventually soon enough? Because now Iris has to face Ash in the semi-final. She's using Dragonite again, and who else would Ash choose to take on the big powerful dragon that won't back down from a fight? Another powerful reptile that won't back down from a fight - Boss Gator! Dragonite vs. Krokorok!

So we're getting near the end of the Junior Cup, and there are a lot of things still up in the air. Will Trip get to face Alder as he dreams? And will he win? Will Burgundy and Georgia ever actually get to do more than stand on the sidelines? Will Cilan? Will Dawn's whole trip to Unova prove to be anything more than an excuse to hang out with Cynthia? Will Ash beat Iris? Can Boss Gator beat Dragonite? Will Dragonite listen to Iris? Will it matter? We'll (maybe) find out next episode, because this one is....

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