EP263: Difference between revisions

{{Ash}}, {{an|Brock}}, and {{an|Misty}} are still on their way to return {{AP|Larvitar}} back to its home at [[Mt. Silver]] before the start of the [[Johto League]] [[Silver Conference]], with Larvitar riding in Ash's [[bag|backpack]]. As they are walking up a hillside, Larvitar, {{TP|Misty|Togepi}}, and {{AP|Pikachu}} notice something above them in the sky, and Ash, Brock, and Misty quickly turn to look upwards as well, where they see something quite odd: a dark, hole-like shape in the air. As they look at it, a Pokémon falls from it and hits Misty on the head. Brock recognizes the Pokémon as an {{p|Unown}}, which Ash then quickly scans with his [[Pokédex]]. Ash wonders where did it come from, but when he and Brock turn to look up at the sky, the hole-like gateway suddenly disappears. Ash picks the Unown up, and feels that it is hot, indicating that it is sick. Surprisingly, Misty says that not only is the Unown sick, it is also upset for getting separated from its friends. Brock asks how could Misty know about this, to which Misty replies that when the Unown hit her head, for a split second she felt as if she could read its thoughts, seeing a place that is hard to describe. Misty does so many weird gestures while trying to explain what she saw and felt, that both Ash and Brock think that Misty "got hit hard," to which Misty angrily protests that she wasn't hallucinating, but that she actually got a glimpse of the place where the Unown come from.

Ash and friends set up a camp, and, with the lack of a [[Pokémon Center]], decide to give the Unown a good, long rest to recover from its fever. When the moist towel slips off the Unown, Larvitar puts it back, showing that the two Pokémon are getting along well. As the night falls, the group sets up a campfire. While sitting around it, Brock explains that a legend has it that the Unown are said to be able to communicate with humans by using {{pkmn2|talking|telepathy}}, which is what must have happened when Misty got hit. Ash wants to help the Unown to get back home, but Brock explains that that could prove hard, as no one exactly knows where they come from, although some scientists say that they live in [[Unown Dimension]]. Just then, Unown shows a sign of recovery, as it wakes up and raises up from its blanket. Ash assures it that they will help it get back to its friends, no matter what. Misty tells Ash that he shouldn't make promises he couldn't keep, but Ash ignores her, assuring Unown that he will take it back home. Unown then falls down to its blanket, still not feeling completely okay. As Larvitar tucks the Unown in, Misty says that Larvitar must know what Unown feels like, being separated from its family. Without them noticing, Ash and company are, once again, being observed by {{TRT}}. [[Jessie]] notices the Unown, and although there is a little confusion within the trio whether they are talking about "an unknown" or "the Unown" Pokémon, they all agree that it is most definitely worth stealing, and decide to grab it.

The sun rises to mark the beginning of a new day. Larvitar wakes Ash up to show him that the Unown is now completely recovered, happily dancing in the air around them. Larvitar is happy with Unown getting better, but as Misty tries to congratulate Larvitar for the work well done, it {{m|Harden}}s itself once again, and is pushed away by Pikachu. Brock points out that Larvitar must still be a bit shy towards most humans. Larvitar quickly de-Hardens, and is thanked by the Unown. Brock comments that as a return, Unown is now wanting to take care of Larvitar. However, their sweet moment is then cut short when {{MTR}} greets them, with still sleepy Jessie and [[James]] on his sides. While Meowth urges them to snap out of it, the group is more surprised of Team Rocket's sleepiness than their presence. Team Rocket starts their {{motto}}, which slowly gets from slow motion to full speed as they do their morning duties and exercise while reciting it. With the motto completed, the trio is now targeting for the Unown. Ash naturally refuses to hand it over, to which Team Rocket responds to by pulling out their [[Poké Ball]]s, preparing for a {{pkmn|battle}}. Ash tells Larvitar to use {{m|Hidden Power}}, but Jessie cleverly calls her {{TP|Jessie|Wobbuffet}} to use {{m|Counter}} to reflect the attack. As the reflected and double-powered Hidden Power is blasting towards Ash and the others, the Unown suddenly starts glowing brightly, creating a glowing energy field around itself. When the reflected attack hits it, a tremendous explosion occurs, sending Team Rocket blasting off again. However, when the smoke clears, Ash and {{ashfr}}, their Pokémon, and the Unown are no longer in the campsite.

Ash slowly regains his consciousness, noticing that he is not where he just was, but instead sitting on what looks like the top of a giant, green {{pkmn|Egg}} shell, which is floating in a green void, full of other floating fragments of green Egg shells. He looks around and calls for the Pikachu and Larvitar. Brock and Misty quickly join him, also floating on the same kind of Egg shells. They wonder where they are, and Brock thinks that they must be in another dimension. He explains that right before Wobbuffet's Counter attack hit them, the Unown had started glowing, which might have been a defense mechanism, which threw them into a different universe. Misty is slightly confused, as this wasn't at all what she saw in Unown's mind. Suddenly, they hear loud, ground-shaking footsteps, which seem to be getting closer. Misty points out into the distance, where a huge figure is walking towards them. Ash and the others are stunned as the figure reaches them, revealing itself to be Pikachu, now at least ten times bigger than normal, towering above the trio. Togepi then also shows up, being giant as well. It is about to crush them with a giant hug, but luckily, Pikachu catches Togepi with his tail, saving our heroes. Now that Pikachu and Togepi have been found, the trio decides to go search for Larvitar.

Our heroes take a ride on their giant Pokémon and start wandering around the extraordinary landscape, calling for Larvitar. Suddenly, without warning, two pairs of yellow horns stick out of the ground, raising them high into the air. Then a familiar song starts playing, which Misty recognizes as the theme song of the {{p|Electabuzz}} [[baseball]] team. They also see that multiple tops of {{p|Elekid}}'s head floating around them, making the scene even more weird. Suddenly, a red flame stars {{m|Fire Spin|spiraling}} around them. At first, Ash and Brock flail in pain, before realizing that there is no pain, as the fire doesn't seem to burn at all. The flames then form a ring of fire before them, out of which a {{p|Magby}} looks at them and then shoots another flame at them, changing the scene yet again, this time making them float through a swarm of {{p|Shellder}}, which look like the spiral shells that are riding on top of the heads of {{p|Slowking}}. Ash and his friends realize that they have been seeing Pokémon that they've encountered recently, meaning that they aren't just in ''any'' dimension. A giant Slowking then appears before them and opens its big mouth wide open, swallowing everybody as they float into it.

The trio and their Pokémon find themselves right in the place where they started. Pikachu notices something, and leads everybody to a big, green Egg standing in the middle of the landscape. Pikachu lands on all fours, allowing Ash and Brock to climb off his head, while Misty climbs off Togepi. The Egg is full of small, glowing cracks, and Ash peers into one of them, only to see ''himself'' inside of it. Misty and Brock peer into other cracks, and see themselves as well. However, Ash is the only one in color, while Brock and Misty appear in black and white. When the picture of Misty leans closer to the crack, it suddenly freezes in its place. Brock suddenly understands that they are in the middle of Larvitar's memories, having seen things that they've encountered together, and now seeing how Larvitar sees ''them''. Ash understands that this must be the reason why they cannot find Larvitar, and Brock explains that the Unown is absent as well because its mind must have merged with Larvitar's, creating the place they are now inside of. With all this explained, Ash wonders about the big black crystal spike that is sticking out of the Egg, but when he goes closer to examine it and touches it, it suddenly starts sucking him inside. Misty and Brock grab him, but also get pulled inside. Pikachu and Togepi try to help, but are also sucked into the crystal, despite of their big sizes.

Pikachu and Togepi fall through a dark space, finally landing on a hard surface. Ash, Brock, and Misty are in there too, but now Pikachu and Togepi aren't giants anymore, having returned back to their actual sizes. This happy moment is cut very short, as our heroes witness a huge shape of a giant, mecha-like machine coming closer. The mecha sticks out its robotic hands, and its fingers extend into branches of black crystal, surrounding Ash and the others. As they wonder what is going on, they hear a familiar and afraid voice whispering in the darkness; ''"Scared... So scared..."'' The mecha in front of them grabs an Egg, and then images of [[Pokémon Poacher Brothers|three men]] appear behind it, one of them holding an Egg that is unmistakably Larvitar's. Brock understands that they are now witnessing the moment in which Larvitar was stolen from its mother as an Egg, and those three humans are the {{pkmn|poacher}}s who stole it. A loud and desperate roar then rips through the air, and the pictures of the poachers vanish, only to be replaced by another figure. The voice in the darkness, undoubtedly Larvitar's, starts desperately calling, ''"Mommy! Mommy!"'' The figure turns out to be a {{p|Tyranitar}}, which, as Misty realizes, must be Larvitar's mother. The mecha fires multiple [[Weaponry in the Pokémon world|missiles]] at Tyranitar, which roars in great pain. Ash and his friends are outraged by this, but are forced to only watch as the missiles tear a scar into Tyranitar's heavy armor, clearly wounding her. Tyranitar roars in pain and desperation, while Larvitar's desperate voice keeps calling, ''"Mommy! MOMMY!"'' Both Tyranitar and the black crystal branches then slowly disappear, with Larvitar's calls for its mother getting weaker and weaker, until they finally disappear as well. Brock realizes that this cruel way how Larvitar was separated from its mother is the reason why it fears humans so much.

Our heroes then notice something in the distance. They get closer, and notice that it is Larvitar, apparently sleeping mid-air. But when Ash tries to reach it, numerous black crystal branches rise from the ground, pushing him aside and trapping Larvitar. Ash tries to run closer, but more crystal branches rise on his way, stopping him. Brock explains that this represents how Larvitar is trapped inside of its horrible memories. The black spike they saw on the Egg represents Larvitar's awful memories, and they are now in the thick of them. Larvitar is totally petrified by its bad memories, making it unable to trust humans. They then notice that Larvitar is actually trying to push the branches away, wanting to freed of this sadness and hurt. Ash, Brock, and Misty rush in to help. The crystal branches try to stop them, but Pikachu breaks them with {{m|Thunderbolt}}. Slowly but surely they get closer to Larvitar, but just when they're about to reach it, the black branches engulf it completely. A few seconds later, they give way, revealing that Larvitar is now trapped inside of an ice-cold block of clear crystal. Ash refuses to give up and pounds the crystal with his fist, trying to make Larvitar remember all the happy and fun times they have had together. Brock and Misty are also trying to convince Larvitar that not all humans are bad, and that it should give them chances too. Pikachu helps Ash out by firing Thunderbolt at the same spot he's pounding, and finally Larvitar's eyes start to open and the crystal begins to crack. Ash serves the final blow, finally shattering the crystal and releasing Larvitar, who happily leaps into Ash's lap.

Once again, our heroes discover themselves by the giant Egg. As they watch, the black spike on its side glows and vanishes, showing that Larvitar has finally gotten over its bad memories and mistrust. Suddenly, the entire Egg starts glowing brightly, and when the glow fades, everybody finds themselves back in the [[Pokémon world|real world]] and their campsite. The Unown also shows up, and Larvitar apparently thanks it for everything. Ash promises Larvitar that nobody will ever hurt it again, and Brock and Misty promise to be on its side as well. Larvitar looks at them, unsure, and for a moment they fear that it is going to use Harden again, but then Larvitar smiles, showing that everything is all right. Brock says that Larvitar can now understand their feelings, and Misty offers a handshake for Larvitar, which it gladly accepts. Ash and his friends thank the Unown for its help, and it floats into the sky, where the same gateway it fell out of appears again, this time revealing the world beyond it, which is just what Misty saw before: a dimension full of Unown, ready take their friend back home. The Unown joins its friends, and the gateway closes behind it with a flash of light, leaving no signs that it ever even was there. And now, with Larvitar freed of its bad memories, all thanks to the Unown, Ash and his friends continue their journey towards Mt. Silver – and Larvitar's home.