ENGLISH NAME	JAPANESE NAME	POKEMOPOLIS NAME	DODGINESS RATING	ANIMATION	STORY	TEAM ROCKET	MORAL LEARNT
780: The Island of Illusions!	786: Gen'ei no Shima! Kiri no Naka no Zoroaku!	The Staypuft Meowthmellow Man			The twerps investigate a giant Pokémon on an island nobody cares about	Arrived, got scared, left!	Wild animals need looking after too!

Today finds the twerps sailing through the fog on their cruise ship towards Grand Spectrala Island. To their great shock, a gigantic shadowy Pokémon appears in the fog ahead of them, justifiably freaking them all out. Cilan insists it can't be a Pokémon since it is so big, and Ash doesn't correct him since he doesn't remember several meetings he had with gigantic Pokémon in the ocean over the years - after all, those weren't competitions, so they're irrelevant to him!

The ship approaches the creature and they duck down in a panic.... but nothing happens. Opening their eyes and looking up, they see no sign of any creature at all, it has apparently completely disappeared. Porter walks out to see them, telling them they're almost at Grand Spectrala Island, and is confused when they ask about the giant monster they almost ran into. He didn't see anything, and he says that if anything had been there, somebody in the crew would have spotted it. The fog parts and they see the island ahead of them, and the confused twerps figure maybe somebody on that island will be able to explain this mystery to them. As they ponder, they eavesdropped on by a mysterious shadowy figure.... AGAIN! Is this ship full of them!?!



They disembark, Porter saying goodbye as the ship is leaving IMMEDIATELY, and they'll have to get the one that arrives the next day. Apparently Grand Spectrala Island isn't a hot tourist spot, as the twerps appear to be the only ones who got off.

The ship departs as the twerps wave goodbye, watched from beneath the waves by Team Rocket via periscope. Yes, they're REALLY returning to basics as they're using their old pedal-powered submarine, though this one is disguised as a giant metal Basculin rather than a Magikarp. They see this as an opportunity to get at Pikachu while the twerps are isolated, and pedal away to get ahead of the dim-witted children.

The twerps head into a seemingly deserted harbour shop, calling out to see if anyone is there. In the deep shadows, a great bulk shifts and turns, and begins to stomp towards them. Ash freaks out, declaring it is a Snorlax, but when the bulk moves into the light, it turns out to be "just" an extraordinarily large man with funny headgear. Blinking in the light, he slowly, happily declares that he hasn't had customers for quite some time - it seems the island really is a ghost town. They ask him if he's seen a giant Pokémon about and he says that sadly there is nothing like that around, if there was they might actually get some tourist trade. Slowly his little used memory grinds to the surface of his brain and he recalls that he did once hear about a giant Pokémon on the small island next to this one. Enthusiastically, the twerps ask how to get to the next island and he points down the road. Ash instantly takes off, followed by a protesting Iris, while Cilan beams apologetically at the fat shopkeeper and thanks him as he grabs a map of the island. They all rush off, having not spent a dime, leaving the shopkeeper to ponder slowly that he didn't get a chance to mention the bridge between the islands was torn down, or that the rumours about the giant island are from 10 years ago! He heads back into his deserted shop, and the mysterious man from the cruise ship moves silently by in pursuit of the twerps.

The twerps have discovered the former for themselves, the bridge is gone and it is too far to swim. Cilan checks out his map/brochure and discovers that the island is a Pokémon Sanctuary, and guesses that the people of the island like to leave it unsullied by their presence. To their great surprise and pleasure, however, before their very eyes the sea parts and a path is opened up for them between the islands! Cilan checks the brochure again and learns that the tides shift dramatically around the island, and this makes it possible to walk between the islands at particular times. This makes it a very poor choice for a Pokémon Sanctuary, but does mean the twerps can head over there to explore. They proceed to do just that, watched all the way by Team Rocket in scuba gear.

Reaching the sanctuary, they eagerly rush into the heavy growth of the forest, and quickly find themselves in a fog. Pikachu becomes agitated and jumps down off of Ash's shoulder, joined by Axew as they scowl at the undergrowth. The trees shift and move, and before the twerps' startled faces, a gigantic Heatmor appears, roaring angrily at them and breathing down fire on them! They panic, as do many of the island Pokémon which cheese it to get away from the fire, which results in a Foongus running headfirst into Axew. Angry and scared, it blasts Axew in the face with Spore, putting him to sleep, then rushes on. Iris scoops up Axew in horror and they get the fuck out of dodge, running out of the forest onto a barren cliff looking out over the ocean. The Heatmor follows after them, apparently fixated on the intruders, and Cilan says it seems to be outraged. Iris, misunderstanding him, yells that Heatmor can't learn Outrage, and Ash yells at her not to get technical.

Confronted by a mysterious and powerful giant Pokémon, Ash reacts in the only way he really knows how... by fighting! He orders a Thunderbolt from Pikachu, but Heatmor surprises them by shaking it off easily, so they move on to an Electro-Ball, Pikachu apparently leaping several hundred feet into the air to blast electric shit from his ass right onto Heatmor's head - because that is sure to calm it down!

Ash can't understand why his attacks aren't doing anything but pissing Heatmor off, but soon has other things to worry about when Pikachu's attempt to dodge Heatmor see him overshoot the cliff. Terrified, Ash leaps and grabs Pikachu by the tail, bracing himself on the edge of the cliff and hauling his best buddy back up. Heatmor prepares to let rip with another blast of Flamethrower, and this time the twerps have nowhere to run. They brace themselves for death... and the mysterious trenchcoated/hatted man races out of the forest and throws his arms up wide before Heatmor. It glares down at him, appears to recognise him and, after a moment of being startled, turns and heads back into the forest. The fog reappears and the flames that were burning down the forest disappear, as does the man who saved the twerps. They're utterly confused, but have more pressing concerns than these mysteries, they need to get back to the main island and get Axew to a Pokémon Center.

Meanwhile, Jesse and James are moving through the fog, confused as to how the twerps have disappeared and wondering where Meowth is. They seem to get the answer when they see the silhouette of their scratch-cat buddy, only for Meowth to speak up from between them, complaining that they walk too fast. They're happy to see him, but who is the Meowth they saw ahead of them.... and oh yeah, how come it's like 200 feet tall!?!



Well that ain't good!

It bellows a reasonably happy MEOWTH! of hello to them, and they take off in a panic, because even a happy Giant Meowth is a still a fucking giant, and giants are scary. The Mammoth Meowth follows after, beaming a happy smile like it was the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man, and they find themselves on seemingly the same cliff the twerps were on earlier. They cringe in fear as the giant Meowth (still happily) bellows its name at them some more. Even in his panic, James suggests the Boss might be pleased with a mammoth Meowth, but Jesse points out that they'd need a pretty big Pokéball to catch it. A bigger concern is how they're going to NOT DIE, and when the giant Meowth comes closer they come to the conclusion that Ash failed to see - they can jump off the cliff into the ocean! They leap away, screaming out as they fall that they're blasting off straight down, and crash into the water instead of dwindling to a glint of light in the sky.

Meanwhile the twerps are hopelessly lost, even with the map Cilan can't figure out how to get them back to the main island. Iris is getting upset, as Axew is still unconscious from the Spore, and they need to find a Pokémon Center as soon as possible. As if in answer to their prayers, in the distance they spot a structure and move closer, discovering a very old, obviously unused Pokémon Center. Whether because they're just so desperate or just too stupid to notice that it is clearly abandoned (Iris snaps angrily at Cilan for noting the state of disrepair it is in), they head inside and discover... a bunch of Pokémon chilling by the front desk!

The Pokémon turn and look at the newcomers, blink a few times in surprise when they realise it is three humans and not some more Pokémon, and then... freak the fuck out! In a panic they stampede past the twerps, leaving them confused and alone in the Pokémon Center. Even now, Iris seems completely ignorant of the fact that the place is obviously run down and deserted, with cobwebs and dust everywhere. They comment that the place must look after wild Pokémon too, and Iris heads up to the main counter and calls for help. Surprisingly, an Audino wanders out from the back, nods a greeting to Iris and heads out back when she asks for Nurse Joy. Even more surprisingly, Nurse Joy herself steps out only a moment later, greeting the twerps. Iris asks for help with Axew, and Joy frowns, then says she will prepare some medicine. She heads out back and almost instantly Audino comes out with a mortar and pestle and places it on the counter. Confused, the twerps ask where Nurse Joy is, and Audino rushes out back to find her. Nurse Joy comes out next carrying various berries, and places them on the counter. Iris asks if she plans to make these into medicine for Axew, and Nurse Joy happily declares,"AUDINO!" before realising her mistake, eyes widening as the twerps are left confused. Ash ponders where Audino is and Joy rushes out back, with Audino returning a moment later. But now Ash wants to know where Joy is, so Audino twists around on one leg and heads out back, with Joy heading out next. This repeats multiple times as Ash tries to figure out why he is only seeing one of them at a time, while Iris is finally starting to figure out that there is something weird about this place. Finally, an exhausted and sweating Nurse Joy hauls herself up to the counter and kindly offers that Audino is a little tired right now so it is going to stay out the back. Iris puts aside her suspicions to ask for Axew to get help soon, and Joy begins to mash the berries together. Cilan comments that this is a strangely old-fashioned medicine, but it seems to the trick as not long after, Axew is awake and back to his energetic self.

Cilan has noticed how odd the Pokémon Center is, but his suspicions have been allayed by the results Nurse Joy has gotten. Unfortunately, not everybody is so easily satisfied, as the doors burst open and the mysterious stranger from the ship and the rescue from Heatmor steps in and tears his clothes off (hey hey!) to reveal... a lady! A Nurse Joy lady! A middle-aged Nurse Joy lady!

Ignoring Cilan's comment that she's "a bit more on the mature side", she whips out a badge to reveal she is Nurse Joy: Pokémon Center Investigator! She heard reports of an illegally operated Pokémon Center in the area and she came to investigate. The Pokémon Center was shut down a decade earlier because so few trainers were coming by that needed assistance, so who the hell is running it now? They all look over to Nurse Joy, but Investigator Joy says that there is NO Nurse Joy working here. This is an imposter, she wears the uniform but she is NOT "one of them" - it seems that whatever cloning process they use to crank out these soulless functionaries allows them to recognise each other. The Nurse Joy goes all wobbly-eyed and then starts to glow golden, light blinding Investigator Joy and the twerps. When it clears, Audino is standing behind the counter in the now pristine Pokémon Center, and Investigator Joy realises they are looking at an event from the past. She sees herself - she was the official Joy who worked here a decade earlier - rush into the Center holding an injured Zorua, which was hurt in a hunter's trap. She and Audino treated the squirming little fox and then set it free when it was healed.

The golden light flashes again and we see the Pokémon Center when it was a busy place, lots of trainers and their various Pokémon. Zorua would return and visit Nurse Joy, and even help out with making medicines. Investigator Joy remembers the good times they shared and, being a little slow on the uptake, finally realises what this means. The golden light fades and the Pokémon Center is once again a rotting, falling apart old place, and the Nurse Joy is back. Ash has no fucking idea what is going on so Cilan has to explain - Zorua can change shape, Nurse Joy is actually Zorua. Zorua-Joy speaks up, asking Investigator Joy to explain why she closed down the Pokémon Center and left. Looking sad, Investigator Joy explains she was ordered to close the place down, and she wanted to tell Zorua but at the time it was no longer visiting the center. By way of explanation, Zorua-Joy flashes up an illusion of the past in the forest, where Zorua was staying away because it could feel evolution coming and was building up to the moment. Evolving into Zoroark, it had spotted some hunters chuckling over their captured Pokémon, and scared them away with an illusion of a giant Heatmor. It seems the "rumour" of the giant Heatmor a decade earlier was spread by Officer Jenny. Investigator Joy saw the giant shadowy Zoroark on the boat just like the twerps did, though it is a mystery why nobody else on the crew did.

But why did Zoroark keep the Pokémon Center open and pretend to be Nurse Joy? Investigator Jenny apparently really IS slow on the uptake, because she questions why Zoroark committed such a prank. Iris and Cilan speak up in defence of the obviously upset Zoroark-Joy, noting that Axew has never felt or looked better, and that the treatment Zoroark-Joy gave was excellent - certainly no prank. Those wild Pokémon they saw earlier were there for treatment, it seems that Zoroark-Joy has been looking after them for the last decade. They ask her to reopen the Pokémon Center, reminding her that while there may not be a lot of trainers anymore, there are still wild Pokémon that need help.

Since she apparently has the authority to do this when a decade before she had to do as she was told and shut the place down, she agrees. She'll reopen the Center and make it official again, and act as the Nurse Joy for the sleep little island that gets no tourism at all. They'll make the Pokémon Center one for wild Pokémon (and keep drawing a salary from the Pokémon Center bureaucracy?) and she'd love Zoroark to join her. Delighted, it agrees and the two hug, and the twerps decide they'll help out by cleaning the filthy fucking place up. In surprisingly short time the place has been dusted, the cobwebs removed, the rotting wood polished so it LOOKS good even if the whole place is now structurally unsound and - most importantly of all - Cilan has happily put a case of flowers on the counter!

With the place cleaned up, the twerps say their goodbyes, Ash mistaking Zoroark for Nurse Joy again, and they head back to the main island and catch their next cruise ship. Off they go, leaving behind a happy small island of wild Pokémon, a Nurse Joy and a Zoroark.... and a sleepy, economically dead larger island with a fat shopkeeper who hasn't made a sale in years!

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