Pokemon Learning League Renaissance of a Friendship (I Messages)

(Episode opens on an aerial view of the national on a calm and balmy afternoon with a few clouds streaking across the sky, and a small breeze blowing through the area. A flock of Pidgey and Pidgeotto fly by overhead. Now, pan down/cross-fade into a section of the park, where we find Cilan, Ash, Pikachu, Iris and Axew going around about enjoying themselves, while other people & their Pokemon going about their day. Ash turns over to the audience.)

Ash (casually): Hey, there.

Pikachu (casually): Pika.

Cilan (casually): Hello.

Iris (casually): Hi.

Axew (casually): Axew.

(Cilan takes a deep, relaxing breath.)

Cilan: Ahh. This Park sure is beautiful, isn’t it?

Iris: It sure is. The flowers are pretty and it’s nice and calm.

(They continue onwards. Fade in to four minutes later, they arrive in a clearing, where there’s a white bench perched under a tree, a trash can sits on the left hand side, patches of flowers and grass growing on either side of the section.)

Ash: What do you think, guys? How about here?

Cilan: Yes. This is the perfect spot.

Iris: Yeah, no question about it.

(Side-wipe to five minutes later, where they’re enjoying themselves in various ways: Iris resting up in a tree, Pikachu and Axew playing around, Cilan sitting back on the bench, pondering a strategy and Ash does some small exercises under the tree. Iris stretches out her arms.)

Iris (contently): Ahh, this feels great.

Ash (agreeing): Couldn’t have said it. Now, does dragon rage better myself.

(He continues doing his stretches, but then takes notice of Pikachu and Axew doing impromptu contest moves.)

Ash: Hey Iris, come and look at this.

(Iris jumps out of the tree and lands next to Ash.)

Iris: What is it, Ash?

(He points her over to Pikachu and Axew’s performances. Pikachu forms an electro ball on his, tosses it into the air, and then fires a thunderbolt at it, enlarging it and then it bursts, raining down yellow sparkles around him and Axew. Now, Axew fires off two dragon breath attacks, which then dance around in a spiral formation and finally disperses above the trees. Axew and Pikachu take a bow to each other, while Ash and Iris applaud them.)

Iris: All right, Axew! That was amazing!

Ash: Yeah, great job too, Pikachu!

Pikachu (flattered): Pika.

Axew (flattered): Axew.

Iris: What do you two say about doing some more like that?

Ash: I was hoping you’d say that.

(Pan right over to Cilan still pondering.)

Cilan (to himself): Hmm, yeah that would be a good combination, but it’s been done many times before. How about Scald and Mud Bomb? Nah.

(Just then, Cilan’s stomach grumble and he cuffs his hands around it.)

Cilan: I guess it’s about lunch time anyway.

(Pan right over to Ash, Iris, Pikachu and Axew finishing up another routine.)

Ash: Pikachu, Thunder now!

Iris: Axew, use Dragon Rage!

Pikachu: Pika-chuuuu!!!

(He fires a strong, powerful yellow electricity bolt from his body into the air.)

Axew: Axxxx-eeeewwww!!!

(He opens his mouth and unleashes a potent black and blue energy blast that forms into a black and blue dragon rising into the air. The electricity shrouds the dragon beam, forming into a yellow aura.)

Ash and Iris (amazed): Wow!

Cilan: (calling out, O.S.) Hey, are you guys hungry?

Ash: You better believe. Doing those combo moves have built us up an appetite.

Pikachu: Pika

Iris (to herself): Why am I not surprised?

Axew (agreeing): Ax-ew.

(Side-wipe to three minutes later, where they’ve laid out and are enjoying a picnic consisting of onigiri, fruit sandwiches, tangerines, lemonade, berries and various Pokemon food. Iris polishes off her lemonade.)

Iris: Ahh, this is terrific, Cilan.

Ash: No doubt. These sandwiches are delicious.

Cilan: Thanks. I figured I’d keep it simple this time.

Iris: Well, you still managed to make them amazing.

Axew (concurring): Ax-ew.

Ash: So Cilan, how’s that new combo attack going?

Cilan: Still working a few kinks out, but I promise, it’ll turn out good.

Iris: Oh, I’m sure it will be, Cilan.

Cilan: Also, I got to say, that was an impressive combination you two pulled off back there.

Ash: Yeah, it was really awesome (turns over to Pikachu), isn’t that right, buddy?

Pikachu: Pika-chu.

(They continue eating their meal. Just then, Ash ponders for a moment, then he gets an idea.)

Ash: Guys, what do you say to a training session after lunch?

Iris: Sure, that’d be great.

Axew: Axew.

Cilan: Yeah, I don’t see why not.

(They once again resume with their meal. Cross-fade to three minutes later, where the trio ready themselves for the training.)

Ash: All right, now let’s get this thing going. (He brandishes one Pokeball out.) Snivy, I choose you!

(He tosses the ball up and Snivy appears.)

Snivy: Snivy!

(Cut to Iris getting one Pokeball out.)

Iris: Come on out, Emolga!

(She throws the ball and Emolga glides out.)

Emolga: Emolga.

(Cut to Cilan getting out two Pokeballs.)

Cilan: It’s time, Pansage and Stunfisk.

(He throws the balls and Pansage and Stunfisk emerge.)

Pansage: Pansage.

Stunfisk: Stunfisk.

(Cross-fade to two minutes later, where they’ve set themselves up in separate spots. Pan left in/cross-fade to Cilan, Stunfisk and Pansage.)

Cilan: All right, I want you two to evade as many of each other’s attacks as you possibly can.

(Stunfisk fires a ball of brown sludge from its mouth at Pansage, who jumps up and evades the attack, which explodes after hitting the ground. Then, he releases multiple gold seeds surrounded in a light green aura from its mouth at Stunfisk, but it bounces out of the way.)

Cilan: All right, very good.

(Pan over to Iris, who is training with Axew and Emolga.)

Iris: Emolga, I want you and Axew to give each other your best shots.

(Emolga and Axew nod to her in agreement.)

Emolga: Eeee-molga!

(She hovers up into the air, her body becomes outlined in light green, puts her hands together, forms three green-yellow orbs of energy in between them and individually fires them at Axew, who dodges them.)

Axew: Axew!

(He raises his right claws in the air and one flashes white. Then, he tries to scratch at Emolga, who dodges his claws while leaving behind a white trail of energy.)

Iris: Way to go, you two.

(Pan over to Ash training with Pikachu and Snivy.)

Ash: All right, guys! Don’t hold back and let it out!

(They both nod in agreement. The leaf at the end of Snivy’s tail gets surrounded by a wavy light green aura. She then slashes her tail at Pikachu, while leaving a green trail of energy behind, but he leaps out of the way and her tail slams into the ground. Then, he releases a powerful bolt of yellow electricity at Snivy, but she leaps up over the bolt and lands back on her feet.)

Ash: Yeah, that’s the way to do it!

(They continue to spar off. Later on, they spar off against different opponents: Emolga with Pansage, Snivy with Axew and Pikachu with Stunfisk.)

Cilan: I must say, this has been going pretty well so far.

Ash: No doubt about that, Cilan.

(Emolga’s body becomes surrounded in yellow sparks of electricity and then she fires multiple bolts of yellow electricity at Pansage, but he leaps out of the way and the attack accidentally hits Snivy from behind. Snivy gets back up and glaringly turns at Emolga.)

Snivy (angrily): Snivy!

(She lashes out a Vine whip at Emolga, who then gets knocked down to the ground, but then picks herself back up.)

Emolga (angrily): E-molga!

(She fires bolts of blue electricity from her body back at Snivy. They then both start to lash out at each other. Snivy fires razor-sharp leaves at Emolga, but she quickly hovers above them, accidentally cutting up parts of the tree branch and the flower patch. Pansage leaps in and deflects the leaves with his vine whip, then tries to divide them up, but then gets pushed back by Emolga’s tail. Pull back to see Ash, Iris and Cilan looking on in worry.)

Ash: Pikachu, get in there and stop them!

Iris: Axew, you too!

Axew: Axew!

Pikachu: Pikachu!

(The two go over to the quarrelling duo. Pikachu fires a yellow electricity bolt into the air between Snivy and Emolga, but Snivy’s vine whacks Pikachu out of the way, deflecting the blast to the broken tree branch, breaking the rest of it off. Next, Axew tries to intervene with a dragon claw, but gets knocked away by Emolga’s tail and accidentally breaks off some wood from the park bench. Cut back to Iris turning over to Ash.)

Iris: Ash, what was Pikachu thinking with that move?! He just caused more damage.

Ash: Yeah?! Well, at least it was better than what Axew pulled off there!

(Snivy and Emolga continue fighting, inflicting more and more damage to each other, but then Snivy accidentally steps on Stunfisk’s tail and ends up discharging yellow electricity from his body, accidentally cutting up more of the grass patch and knocking over the trash can. Eventually, Snivy and Emolga fall to the ground, completely exhausted and scuffed. Ash and Iris run over to them.)

Iris (worried): Emolga, are you okay?

Emolga (exhausted): Emolga.

(Pan left over Ash and Snivy.)

Ash (concerned): You doing okay, Snivy?

Snivy (tired): Snivy.

(They gently put them back on the ground and look at the damage left by the squabble: Patches of grass & flowers cut up to pieces, the park bench dented & the back broken off, the trash can crushed on its side & knocked over with some trash spilled on the ground and the broken tree branch barely loosely hanging over the bench. Iris turns over to Ash in frustration & agitation.)

Iris (flustered): Oh, now look at what happened! This is all your fault, Ash!

Ash: My fault?!

Iris: If you had thought of a better idea to stop them, this wouldn’t have happened!

Ash: Oh, yeah?! You should’ve thought of a better one, too!

Iris: You know, you really need to stop being such a kid.

Ash (retaliating): No, YOU need to stop being a kid!

Iris: (gasps in shock.) What did you call me?!

Ash: You heard me! You’re a kid!

Iris: You are so immature!

Ash (counters): Well, you’re more immature than me!

Iris: Oh, yeah?!

Ash: Yeah!

(They both argue back and forth. Fade in to fifteen minutes later, where they’re still going at it. Pan left over to see Cilan, Pikachu and Axew looking on in distraught.)

Cilan (worried): I swear, their bickering gets more and more out of control every time.

Pikachu (agreeing): Pika.

Axew (agreeing): Axew.

Iris: You want to know what your problem is?! You always jump into action before you think anything through!

Ash: Excuse me?! Well, you haven’t plucked up the courage to get over your fear of ice-type Pokemon!

Iris: Well, you’ve got some nerve telling me that!

Ash: Yeah, and you can be very impulsive and stupid sometimes!

Iris: Ugh! I can’t stand you, Ash!

Ash: Well, I don’t care about what you think!

Iris: All right, that’s it! I don’t want to see or speak to you anymore right now!

Ash: Okay, fine!

(They both turn their backs to each other and stand back to back in complete silence.)

Cilan: (sighs disgruntledly). Well, at least they didn’t abruptly end their friendship like on Capacia Island.

Axew (concurring): Axew.

Pikachu (concurring): Pika.

Cilan: That’s that, then. It’s finally time to resolve this once and for all. Let’s see if Quinn knows something helpful.

(He pulls out the PokePilot from his pocket, turns it on and dials up Quinn, but Diana appears on screen instead.)

Diana: Hey, Cilan. What’s up?

Cilan: Uh, hey, Diana. Where’s Quinn?

Diana: Oh, he had a few errands he had to run, so he asked me to take care of his office.

Cilan: Oh, all right, then.

Diana: Okay, what seems to be the problem?

Cilan: Well, take a look for yourself.

(Cilan faces the Pokepilot forward and Diana scans around the damaged area and notices Ash & Iris silently standing in place.)

Diana: My goodness, what happened over there?

Cilan: We were letting our Pokemon spar off with one another, but then Emolga and Snivy got into a squabble. The Pokemon tried to stop them, but ended up doing a lot of damage.

Diana: I see. Well, are they all right?

Cilan: Oh, they’ll be okay, but then Ash and Iris really got hostile over the damage, then went on a tangent about each other’s faults and now aren’t speaking to each other.

Diana (understanding): Oh, dear.

Cilan: So, I’m hoping that you know some way they can finally settle things for good?

Diana: Yes, I do. To help them settle the argument, you need to tell them to use I messages.

Cilan: Huh? How are I messages going to work here?

Diana: Well, it’s quite simple. Basically, it’s a statement that focuses on how you feel about someone’s behavior and it states a problem in a way that doesn’t shift the blame to the other person.

Cilan: Okay, that’d be good. So, what do they need to do first?

Diana: The first step to do is to identify the problem at hand so they can try and work out how to fix it.

Cilan: Okay, what else?

Diana: Next, they need to know how they feel about the situation.

Cilan: What?

Diana: Yeah I know, it sounds pretty cheesy, but what it essentially means is that one has to be able to recognize what they’re feeling whenever any problem or incident occurs.

Cilan (comprehending): All right, then what?

Diana: The last step is to ask of a solution. Telling someone what their solution is will let them know not to do a certain thing again.

Cilan: Well, it seems an I message can work well.

Diana: It can be effective if it’s done right, so I’ll show you an example of one.

Cilan: All right, Diana.

(Pan up to an upper panel, showing one example of two people in a heated argument.)

Diana: Okay, here we have two people in an argument and you’re going to tell me what you think that person is going to say in her I message. Are you ready, Cilan?

Cilan: Yes, I am.

Diana: Good. Here, we have a girl who is arguing with her friend. She has been told that what she did was wrong and she didn’t know it was. How do you think she should start her I message?

Cilan: I think she should start with “I don’t like it when I’m not informed ahead of time.”

Diana: Okay. Now, she’s feeling upset about it. What do you think she should say here?

Cilan: She’ll probably say, “Not knowing anything beforehand gets me into a lot of trouble, and I find it very frustrating.”

Diana: Good. Lastly, she thinks of a solution. What do you think is a good idea for her to say?

Cilan: She might say, “I would prefer it if I was clue me in on what it is we’re doing beforehand.”

Diana: All right. That was really good, Cilan.

Cilan: Thanks, Diana.

Diana: Not a problem at all. Well, I better be going. Quinn will be back soon, so we can finish up our next project. Good luck with settling Ash and Iris’s predicament.

Cilan: Okay, see you.

(He turns the PokePilot off, puts it back in his pocket and quietly goes over to Ash and Iris, who are still standing silently & are seething with anger & frustration.)

Cilan: Hey, guys?

Both: (yelling, snappish) WHAT?!

Cilan: (gestures to calm down.) Whoa, calm down. I have something to tell you.

(Cross fade to six minutes later, where he’s finished explaining.)

Cilan: …and that’s all you have to do. So, will you give it a try?

(Ash and Iris take a deep, calming breath.)

Ash (hesitantly): Sure, I guess so.

Iris (also hesitantly): Well, all right.

Cilan: That’s good, but before you start, let’s see if the audience is up for doing this.

Iris: Okay. (She turns over to the viewers.) Would you like to do it? (She casually waits for an answer from the viewers for one second.) All right.

(Cut to a split screen, showing Ash and Iris in a listening position, ready to hear each other out.)

Cilan (V.O.): Okay, Iris and Ash are going to say what their problem is and you’re going to say what you think each of them should say in their I messages. All right. Let’s do this. Go, guys.

Iris: Ash told me that I don’t have the courage to get over my fear of ice-type Pokemon. What do you think I should say about it? (She casually waits for an answer from the viewers for one and a half seconds.) “I hate it when some people brings it up around me like that.” All right.

Ash: Iris had called me a kid. What do you think I should say about that? (He casually waits for an answer from the viewers for one and a half second.) “I really dislike it when Iris calls me a kid, even when she’s just messing around.” Very well.

Iris: All right, I was very insulted by what he said. What do you think I should say here? (She casually waits for an answer from the viewers for one and a half seconds.) “Every time someone brings it up, I find it very hurtful & insulting, and it gets me flustered.” Okay, then.

Ash: Okay, I got very annoyed by it. What do you think I should say here? (He casually waits for an answer from the viewers for one and a half seconds.) “Whenever she does, I feel like she doesn’t respect my skills as a trainer or as a friend, so I get very annoyed by it.” Okay, sure.

Iris: Now, what do you think my solution should be here? (She casually waits for an answer from the viewers for one and a half seconds.) “I’d really appreciate it if it wasn’t brought up in a spiteful manner.” Very well.

Ash: Okay, what do you think my solution should be? (He casually waits for an answer from the viewers for one and a half seconds.) “I would like her to stop undermining my skills and start respecting me more as both a trainer & a friend.” All right, then.

(Dissolve back to the trio and Ash casually speaks to the audience.)

Ash (casually): Thanks a lot, guys.

Pikachu: Pika.

(Ash and Iris take a deep breath in and out, then turn to face each other.)

Iris (embarrassingly): Ash, about what I said to you earlier. I really didn’t mean any of that stuff.

Ash: It’s all right, Iris. I didn’t mean what I said, either.

Iris (heartfelt & truthfully): And I’m sorry for all those times I called you a kid. You may act silly, but you’ve got a good heart and you are a really skilled trainer.

Ash (honestly & meaningfully): Thanks, Iris, and I’m sorry about what I said about your fear of ice types. I know that you’ll get over that someday and become a great dragon master.

Iris (touched): Wow, Ash. That’s really means a lot.

(They both give each other an intimate hug and a pat on the back. Cilan, Pikachu and Axew come over to them.)

Cilan: Well, it’s nice to see you two finally got everything settled down.

Pikachu (agreeing): Pikachu.

Axew (agreeing): Axew.

Iris: Cilan, thanks for recommending that to us.

Ash (concurring): Yeah.

Cilan: No problem, you two.

Ash: Well, I guess we better get to fixing up this place.

Iris: Yeah, good idea.

(They go over to the wreckage and begin clearing it up. Now, a montage commences, showing the trio fixing up the park area: clearing up the spilt trash, fixing up the trash can, getting the dents out, evening out the grass patches (to which Ash and Iris have a good laugh with each other about one forming a funny pattern), replanting some of the flowers, chopping down the remainder of the loose tree branch, then cutting it up and using the wood to fix the park bench. Montage concludes with them looking over their finished work, with the grass, tree & flower patches evenly leveled again, the trash can straightened up, and the bench repaired. Cross-fade to five minutes, where Cilan is practicing a combo attack with Stunfisk, and Ash, Iris, Pikachu and Axew are sitting in a tree, looking over the entire park. Pan left over to Cilan and Stunfisk practicing.)

Cilan: Okay, that’s good, Stunfisk. Now, once more, but faster.

(Stunfisk takes a deep breath and fires a brown sludge ball from its mouth into the air, then fires multiple yellow electricity bolts from its body at the ball, causing it to disperse.)

Cilan: That’s okay. Try it again.

(Cut over to Ash, Pikachu, Iris and Axew up in the tree.)

Iris: The park sure looks lovely from here, doesn’t it?

Ash: Sure does. (beat.) Hey Iris, besides messing with or berating me, why were you calling me a kid all those times?

Iris: Oh. Well, the truth is, I was actually trying to help you.

Ash: Really?

Iris: Mmm-hmm. I thought it’d make you want to try harder and improve your skills. Thinking back at it now, yeah, that wasn’t the best approach.

Ash (realizes): Wow.

Iris: Yep, but from now on, I’m going to do a better job of that.

Ash: Okay, that’d be great, and I’ll do the same for you.

Iris (sincerely): Thank you, Ash.

Ash: No problem.

(They both exchange an affirmatory handshake.)

Cilan (calling out, O.S.): Ash, Iris! Come over here!

(They jump down from the tree and go over to Cilan and Stunfisk.)

Ash: What’s up, Cilan?

Cilan: I think we’ve finally perfected the move. Watch this. Stunfisk, use Sludge Bomb and Thunder Shock!

(Stunfisk fires a brown sludge ball from its mouth into the air.)

Stunfisk: Stun-fiiisk!

(It fires off multiple yellow electricity bolts from its body at the sludge ball, shrouding it in a yellow aura. Then, it bursts and raining down statically-charged sludge balls onto Stunfisk.)

Cilan: Ta-da!

(He takes a bow while Ash and Iris applaud.)

Iris: That was actually pretty good, Cilan.

Ash: Yeah, you did a great job with it.

Pikachu: Pika, Pikachu.

Axew: Axew, Axew.

Cilan: Thanks. It was a good thing I went with Sludge Bomb, as opposed to Mud Bomb, ad that wouldn’t have been as effective.

Ash: Yeah, and not to mention, a lot messier, too.

(They all turn over to the audience and take a bow.)

Trio (casually): Thank you, guys.

Pikachu (casually): Pika-chu.

Axew (casually): Ax-ew.

(Cross-fade to two minutes later, where everyone’s just kicking back and relaxing on the bench or sitting on the ground.)

Cilan: That was quite an interesting episode. Did you guys enjoy it? (He casually waits for an answer from the viewers for one and a half seconds.) Ahh, okay. Then, we’ll see you later.

(They wave “see you” to the audience and then resume reposing. We pull up away from them, pan up above the trees until we see the blue sky and fade to black, ending the episode.)