ENGLISH NAME	JAPANESE NAME	POKEMOPOLIS NAME	DODGINESS RATING	ANIMATION	STORY	TEAM ROCKET	MORAL LEARNT
798: Kalos, Where Dreams and Adventures Begin!	805: Karosu-chiho ni Yattekita! Yume to Boken no Hajimari!	Ash Befriends a Frog... and a Pokémon Too!			Ash arrives in Kalos and makes new friends	Back to their blue blobby best	Research your Gym before you challenge it!

Today's episode begins with an incredibly cute and tiny little bird flying through an open window. Inside the kitchen, a woman with a SPECTACULAR rack is chopping vegetables, and asks the Pokémon - Fletchling - to wake up her daughter, who has already ignored her mother's earlier request for her to get up. Fletchling flies up the staircase and forces its tiny way through the barely open door and onto the bed, and slams its beak with what tiny little force it can right into the sleeping girl's head. With a squeal the girl - Serena - wakes up and falls out of bed, grumpily complaining that she warned Fletchling not to do this again. It flies easily away as she lunged for it and lands on her head, and she puffs her cheeks out in a fuss when her mother calls out that it is time for morning chores. Opening the windows, she cheers herself up with a stretch, breathing in the fresh country air and saying hello to the pet Rhyhorn down in the front yard. As the wind blows through the window, she says she hopes the day will be interesting, and watches as Fletchling takes to the air and flies out over the countryside.

The narrator speaks up at last to introduce us to Kalos, a beautiful countryside full of people and Pokémon supposedly live in harmony, reflecting each other's thoughts and feelings. High in the sky above the new region, Ash is eagerly peering out the window of an airplane, seated beside Alexa as they return to her home region and the start of Ash's latest adventure. He's been through Kanto, the Orange Islands, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, Unova and the Decolore Islands and now he is arriving in....



The plane lands and an excited Ash is straight out the door when the stairwell is connected, roaring out a very loud hello and introduction to some very confused Kalos.....ese....ians....? Alexa asks what he is doing and he proudly declares he is saying hello, and as soon as he's down the steps he will have arrived. Being Ash, he gets distracted by the sight of two Spritzee flying happily around each other, trips and falls right down the stairs. Thus, his triumphant arrival to Kalos is by going ass over head and crashing onto the tarmac, again puzzled over by the inhabitants. Pikachu rushes down to check on him, followed by Alexa, but he's fine - maybe he landed on his head and thus did no damage? He's more interested in the two new Pokémon, so Alexa explains what they are. They're observed from afar and up on high atop an aircraft hangar by - who else? - Team Rocket, who have arrived ahead of Ash and gotten into position, not intending to just follow in his wake this time. A Pokéball on Jesse's belt opens suddenly and out emerges a Pokémon, and.... oh my God. OH MY GOD! IT'S WOBBUFFET!

IT'S MOTHERFUCKING WOBBUFFET!

Please note at the time this aired, the final episodes of Adventures in Unova... AND BEYOND had not yet aired. So this was a hugely happy event for me, the best Pokémon since Koffing, back on the Team Rocket team, still patiently pleased and saluted and declaring his name happily. Life is good, there is a God in heaven, and he loves me very much :)

As Team Rocket head away to make their preparations, down on the ground Ash is excitedly telling Alexa that the first thing he wants to do is have a Gym Battle. She asks him where he intends to do this, and he reminds her that she told him her younger sister was a Gym Leader (his pathetic excuse for a mind retained THAT fact!). Sadly, she has to explain that her sister's gym isn't in Lumiose City, it's in Santalune City. Ash is horrified, but Alexa promises to give her a call, and heads inside the terminal while Ash remains outside losing his goddamn mind with excitement about being in a new region. As he happily tells Pikachu about how much he wants to see new Pokémon, he does get a look at a "kinda" new one. A shadow catches his eye, and he watches in amazement as a tall, humanoid Pokémon leaps over his head and then disappears into nothing. What was it? A Mega-Blaziken, Ash has no idea that such a thing exists (as far as I know) and can only gape with astonishment and ask Pikachu if it saw the same thing he did.

Heading inside, he excitedly greets Helioptile and asks where Alexa is. He joins her at a charmingly retro-designed videophone to jabber excitedly about seeing another new (to him) Pokémon, but while she is pleased by his excitement, she is troubled by his constant harping on about wanting a Gym Battle. She managed to get hold of her sister, only to learn that she is away from her Gym on a trip and is probably going to be away for quite some time. Horrified, Ash dances about from foot to foot crying that he wanted to win the League "this time" and become a Pokémon Master. Not really knowing any other way to calm a young man down, she claps her hand to draw attention to her breasts. Ash being Ash, this does nothing, so she offers him the thing that really gets his blood pumping - there IS a Gym here in Lumiose City, he can challenge there instead.

Outside the terminal, she shows him a map of the city and points out Prism Tower at the center of the city, where he can find the Gym. This is where they part ways, as Alexa has her own work to do, so she welcomes Ash once more to Kalos and then watches with a smile as he says his goodbyes and runs happily off down the street. It's a form of abuse letting a kid like Ash run wild on his own in a foreign city, but there was only so much she could do for him... though maybe if she'd let him know about the Gym Leader's eccentricities he could have avoided what comes next.

He passes out of a tunnel and leaps into the air in celebration, rushing down the charming tree-lined city streets of the Pokémon World's version of Paris - The City of Lights/Lumiose City. The Prism Tower (obviously the Eiffel Tower) sits at the center, and everywhere Ash looks are "new" Pokémon, though he is pleased to see various Pokémon from other regions that he does know.

Arriving at the Prism Tower, he passes a boy roughly his age and a little girl and heads straight into the tower. Passing tubes buzzing with electricity, he is greeted to the Gym by an electronic screen, which asks how many badges he has. Ash technically lies, saying he has none, since he's only just arrived in Kalos and presumably his other region badges don't count. The television screen is horrified though, no badges? Anybody who wants to challenge this Gym needs at least four badges! Rods lower down from the roof on either side of the horrified Ash and he is warned to leave immediately.... and then blasted with thousands of volts of electricity and dropped down a trapdoor! He slides down a tube and is ejected out of the tower scores of feet high in the air, falling to his death.... all for not having the right amount of gym badges!

They play for keeps in Kalos!

The boy and girl from earlier see his impending death and rush to help. The boy pulls off his backpack and throws out an expanding air-mattress, Ash crashing into it as the little girl catches Pikachu and eagerly hugs him close, overbalancing and falling backwards into the now deflating cushion herself. Saved from certain death by pure chance, Ash is helped up by the boy who asks if he is all right, while the little girl squeals with childish delight at how cute Pikachu is and squeezes him just a little too tightly to her side. Pikachu, upset and confused, lets rip with Thunderbolt, and the little girl crashes over onto her back as Pikachu rushes back to Ash's side.

Being a child, she recovers quickly and sits up with a laugh. The boy apologises for his sister and tells the girl to do the same, and she pouts that she just wanted to hug the cute Pokémon. Clearly familiar with this behaviour, he asks her if she thinks Pikachu enjoyed being hugged so tightly and her face falls, and she apologises for getting carried away. Ash tells her it is okay, Pikachu was just startled, and thanks her for catching Pikachu for him. With that out of the way, he comments how weird the Gym Leader was and the boy admits that he is quite the character. The girl tells Ash the Gym Leader is super strong, so how many Gym Badges did Ash have if he got kicked out? Both are startled to learn that he has none, and he explains that he only just arrived in Kalos. So where is he from? He introduces himself formally at last, he's Ash from Pallet Town in Kanto, on a journey with Pikachu to become a Pokémon Master.

They head to a park where the boy and girl introduce themselves, Clement and Bonnie respectively. Ash is pleased to meet them, while Bonnie only has eyes for Pikachu, remarking that the two must be very close for Pikachu to sit so casually on his shoulder. They're observed by somebody else too, a Pokémon has been watching Ash ever since Prism Tower - a bizarre looking little blue thing with what appears to be a cloud or wool or something over its face. Ash explains that Pikachu is the first Pokémon he ever got, and asks if the two of them are on a Pokémon Journey too. Clement seems hesitant about answering but Bonnie happily explains they'll be journeying together in time, and Ash says that a family journey sounds great, remarking that he doesn't have any brothers or sisters himself.

Well he had Momma Brock, but he probably never thought of Misty, May, Dawn or Iris as sisters so much as boys with weird bumps. Still, he did travel with May and Max together, so he has first-hand experience of just how much of a chore a family journey can be!

Bonnie insists that Ash is lucky though, because he has such a close connection with Pikachu. Clement laughs that she is too young to have Pokémon of her own so she is impressed to meet anybody who does. Ash says he felt the same way when he was young too, and asks what kind of Pokémon Clement has. Seemingly amused by the request, Clement takes out a Pokéball for a Pokémon he only recently caught... and Ash IMMEDIATELY wants a battle! Pikachu rushes out onto the nearby battlefield, because even local parks have to have some kind of Pokémon-related aspect to them! Clement is surprised at the request, a REAL battle? Ash explains with his usual cheerfulness that since he can't have a Gym Battle he'll just have to have a fun one instead, and Clement can't help but be carried along by his enthusiasm.

Clement's Pokémon is a Bunnelby, a rabbit with big hefty ears that look almost like another set of paws. Bonnie shouts out a happy wish that both sides have the best of luck, and a surprising VS screen appears to show Ash and Pikachu facing off against Clement and Bunnelby. Clement reveals that this is he and Bunnelby's first battle together, but assures the rabbit that they'll be fine so long as they relax. Ash sends Pikachu straight in to use Thunderbolt, a one-hit KO in many cases, but Clement reveals he has a bit of talent for battling himself despite his youth and inexperience. Bunnelby kicks up sand from the battlefield into the air, scattering and grounding the electricity and negating the attack. Ash is surprised but pleased, and Clement explains that despite Bunnelby being a Normal Type, he has worked out ways to negate the effectiveness of electrical attacks. Now it is their turn to attack, and Bunnelby uses Dig to score a surprise attack. Ash attempts to negate this by having Pikachu zip around the battlefield at speed, but Clement has his timing down and Bunnelby emerges in JUST the right place, smashing Pikachu and sending him flying back. It takes more than a low level rabbit scoring a single shot to put Pikachu down though, and he's quickly back into the swing of things with a Quick Attack, smashing into Bunnelby's belly as the rabbit is still getting its bearings following the Dig. Bunnelby takes the shot though and goes straight back in with Double Slap, and Pikachu is caught off-guard as Bunnelby uses those big hefty ears to hammer Pikachu with what look more like hard punches straight to the face!

Ash seems to be at a disadvantage given his lack of knowledge of Bunnelby, but he's a Battle Savant for a reason. Spotting the advantage that Bunnelby's ears give it, he immediately figures out a way to negate that advantage, just like Clement negated Pikachu's electrical advantage. Pikachu uses Iron Tail, a Steel-Type move that is sure to do massive damage if not blocked, so Clement has Bunnelby catch the attack with his ear hands... which is just what Ash wanted. Now Bunnelby has locked up his ear-hands holding Pikachu in place, which leaves Pikachu free to hit Bunnelby at point-blank range with an Electro-Ball! God DAMN!

Bunnelby has nowhere to go and takes a direct shot, recovering to land on its feet but feeling the pressure now - it can't take a pounding like that much longer. Pikachu moves in for the kill with Quick Attack, but spots a troubling sign, what looks to an energy-net being fired through the air directly at him. Skidding to a stop and pulling up just short, the energy-net fizzles out uselessly... but where did it come from? They all look up at the stairs leading up out of the battlefield, and Bonnie demands to know who the man and woman standing up there now are. You all know the answer, of course :)

"Prepare for trouble, our middle name!"
"And make it double, it's a high stakes game!"
"To protect the world from devastation!"
"To unite all people within our nation!"
"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"
"To extend our reach to the stars above!"
"Jesse!"
"And James!"
"Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light!"
"Surrender now, or prepare to fight, fight and fight!"
"Meowth, dat's right!" "WOBBUFFET!"

Motherfucking Wobbuffet!

Ash is furious but not too surprised, of course Team Rocket ended up following him to Kalos. Clement is more excited than angry though, a talking Meowth? He starts to approach but Ash grabs him by the shoulder, warning that Team Rocket are bad guys who always try to steal his Pikachu. Jesse and James are offended, that is selling them short, they don't ONLY want to catch Pikachu.... but it's a good start! They want to fight, Meowth startling Bunnelby by saying he's take "the one with the ears!". Clement, Bonnie and Bunnelby aren't used to fighting bad guys for real life stakes, but Ash has made a long history of it. Bonnie and Clement agree that they won't stand by and watch as they try to steal somebody else's Pokémon, and demand to know who they think they are. "Team Rocket!" reply Team Rocket (did those kids not listen to the motto!?!), and bring out their big gun of Wobbuffet when Ash orders a Thunderbolt from Pikachu.

Mirror-coat absorbs the attack, redoubles the power and smashes it straight back into Pikachu, absolutely frying the little yellow rat. Ash rushes to catch Pikachu as he falls, while a pleased Jesse tells Wobbuffet she is giving him an 11 out of 10, causing the patiently pleased Pokémon to salute with joy.

Clement wants to bug out, saying they can't fight Wobbuffet and his mirror coat, they have to run. Ash refuses though, saying "we" have always stood up to Team Rocket before and always will, so long as Pikachu is able to stand and fight. The mysterious little blue Pokémon listens in on this, though Team Rocket themselves are hardly impressed. Pikachu fires off an Electro-Ball now, and Clement decides to help prevent Wobbuffet from Mirror-Coating it by using Mudshot. To his horror though, the bulky Wobbuffet skilfully leaps clear of the Mudshot and Mirror-Coats Electro-Ball right back at Pikachu! Pikachu is in trouble now, but then out of nowhere the blue Pokémon leaps through the air and takes the full brunt of the attack. Catching Pikachu in its hands, it drops to the ground and turns to glare up at Team Rocket, who have no idea what the hell it is. Clement identifies it as a Froakie, one of the three starters available to new trainers in Kalos - but it's also a Water Type, so that Electro-Ball must have done a ton of damage!

Ash asks if it is okay, and where is its trainer anyway? As they look around, Froakie hops forward and glares at Team Rocket, and Ash realises that it wants to fight them. Meowth translates, bad guys rub it the wrong way, but Ash tries to convince it not to fight, saying it is too hurt. It leaps into the air and tears away parts of its strange white ruffles, preparing to throw them as projectiles at Team Rocket. Bemused by this rather pathetic attack, Jesse sends Wobbuffet in to Mirror-Coat it into oblivion.... and watches in shock as her A+ Player is sent crashing back down to the ground, coated in the thick, sticky "bubbles". Team Rocket are goo-ed up too (surely at least one of them is used to this), James struggling to pull his feet clear while Jesse tries to get the stuff clinging tenaciously to her breasts (oh like you wouldn't).

Why didn't they bounce back? Because technically this wasn't a move, so Wobbuffet had nothing to Mirror-Coat back. With Team Rocket distracted, Ash, Clement and Bonnie make their move, though the latter is more about moral indignation than anything else. Bunnelby uses Dig to smash Team Rocket up into the air, and then Pikachu Thunderbolts them hard, joined by a water-based attack from Froakie that increases the power of the charge. But as the new twerps celebrate, Froakie collapses, and Ash rushes to its side, asking Clement if there is a Pokémon Center nearby. Clement tries to think where the nearest would be, but Bonnie says that it would be faster to go to the Professor's place instead. The Professor? Yes, Professor Sycamore, who gives out the Pokémon to new trainers. Clement recalls Bunnelby, Pikachu leaps onto Ash's shoulder while he carries the unconscious Froakie in his hands, and together with his new friends, Ash rushes to get the little frog to the nearest treatment. His journey in Kalos has begun with rejection, new friends, a battle, Team Rocket, WOBBUFFET, and now a new Pokémon buddy in trouble. So far I can't speak for dreams, but Kalos really is where adventures begin!

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