Promo: Training Day (Act 2)

[Guest Ash Ketchum]

"Zzzzzz..."

 

...

 

"Zzzzzz..."

 

...

 

"Zzzzzz..."

 

...

 

Ash Ketchum sleeps deeply in a bed somewhere. He is at peace with himself. Hell, he’s even talking to himself as he dreams sweet dreams.

 

"No... come back, Mr. Bunny... must... get... muffins...

 

...

 

 

"But Mr. Bunny-"

 

 

"BONG!!!!!!!!!!!!"

 

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!" Ketchum falls out of bed in shock as Mr. Nagasaki stands behind him, mallet in hand as the gong behind Ash’s bed resonates it’s beautiful sound through the air.

 

“Good morning!” Nagasaki yells out as Ketchum jumps to his feet, angered his sleep was disturbed.

 

“JESUS, WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!?!?!” Ash cries out as he surveys his surroundings. “AND WHERE THE HELL AM I?!?!”

 

“You fall asleep on drive from airport, I make sure you get sleep.” Nagasaki beams happily. “You sleep well last night, Ash-san?”

 

“Yeah, until you woke me up.”

 

“Good.” Nagasaki says with great confidence in his pupil. “Now hurry! We meet at beach in hour! I be there. We start training then!”

 

-1 HOUR LATER...-

 

Ketchum arrives on the beach, dressed in blue athletic shorts, a white headband and sneakers, and a cut-off “PROPERTY OF SMARTMARKS WRESTLING FEDERATION” shirt. Greeting him with a smile is Mr. Nagasaki, dressed in sunglasses and a blue windbreaker.

 

“Welcome to Nagasaki Island, Ash-san!” Nagasaki greets The Undercard King, who looks a little befuddled.

 

“I thought you lived in Osaka...”

 

“Yes, but we train here, on fathah’s island!”

 

“Your dad lives here?” Ketchum inquires. Nagasaki nods and points to a house atop the tallest hill on the island.

 

“Up in that house on hill... live great Japanese legend ‘Grand Emperor’ Keito Nagasaki!”

 

Cut to a picture of inside the house, where a muscular, balding man in his late 50s-early 60s sits on a sofa, watching TV. He wears a T-shirt and beer helmet, both reading “Keito is Godzilla Fan Ichiban!” He watches the TV, which is a re-run of “Godzilla 2000”, and at a particular scene, as he sips on the pop in his beer helmet, he spits it out, roaring in laughter as he grabs his belly and points at the TV.

 

“HAHAHAHAHA!!! GOZILLA SMASH!!! HAHAHAHA!!!”

 

Cut back outside where Ash and Nagasaki stand, both turning their focus to the work lying ahead.

 

“OK... now we begin. First, we stretch out-”

 

Ash cuts Mr. Nagasaki off mid-sentence. “Did that.”

 

“Oh... me, too... OK... now... you run laps around island, I time you.” Nagasaki smiles as Ash asks a question.

 

“Doesn’t sound too hard. How long’s a lap?”

 

“Three miles.”

 

“THREE MILES?!?!?!?!” Ash nearly explodes at the sound of that. “How many laps?”

 

“We start you at three, work up to five, maybe more.”

 

“FIFTEEN FUCKIN’ MILES?!?!” Ash screams. “ARE YOU NUTS?!?!?!”

 

“You want to beat Sigil, right?” Nagasaki questions, beckoning a response form Ash.

 

“Yes...” Ash meekly replies as Nagasaki smiles confidently.

 

“Then you run!”

 

Ash sighs and begins to run around the island as Nagasaki smiles, Ketchum screaming out:

 

“WHY ME, GOD, WHY?!?!”

 

-A LITTLE LATER...-

 

Ash and Mr. Nagasaki arrive at the hill for the next part of the exercise. It is somewhat steep and is wooded, but a cleared path runs up the middle to the top. Nagasaki smiles as he pulls Ash aside and points to the path.

 

“OK... see hill? You run up it...” Nagasaki goes into the woods and returns with a large trunk of a tree, cut off perfectly at the top and bottom, struggling with it’s immense weight. “Carry this on shoulders while running.” He waddles over to Ash, Nagasaki’s legs shaking under the weight of the log.

 

“No way. I’m not carrying that up the hill.” Ash crosses his arms and sticks his tongue out as Nagasaki throws the log at Ash. Ketchum catches it, nearly falls over, but balances himself .

 

“You do it or Sigil kill you at pay-per-view.” Nagasaki sternly answers.

 

And with a sigh, Ketchum listens to his trainer, hoisting the log onto his shoulders as Nagasaki steps along side him to race him up the hill.

 

“Ready...” Ketchum nods as Nagasaki looks over at him. “GO!”

 

The two take off as Ash and Nagasaki sprint up the hill, but a fourth of the way up, Ketchum collapses under the weight of the log and falls down the hill, crying in pain as he tumbles down and lands in a heap on the bottom. Nagasaki stops halfway up as Ash hits the bottom with a huge “THUD!”, lying out on his chest, the log still across his shoulders, pinning him to the ground. Seeing his star pupil on the ground, Nagasaki tries to enocurage him.

 

“Don’t worry! Practice make perfect! It come in time!”

 

Ash simply sighs as he lies on his chest, shaking his head in disbelief.

 

“This isn’t training... he’s trying to kill me!!!!!”

 

-EVEN A LITTLE LATER...-

 

Ash and Nagasaki arrive at a large temple on the side of a hill with many steps. Two cinder blocks rest at the bottom of the steps as Nagasaki smiles once more.

 

“OK... now you grabs cinder blocks, one in each hand, and run up all steps. Like Rocky.”

 

“What’s this supposed to do?” Ash asks.

 

“Make you stronger!” Nagasaki exclaims.

 

“How?” Ash ponders.

 

“I explain later. NOW DO IT!!!!”

 

Ash has no response as Nagasaki places the cinder blocks in Ash’s hands and gives him a push. Ketchum stumbles up the first few stairs, but eventually, he trips on one stair and tumbles forward, slamming into the ancient tempe steps with a “THUD!” Nagasaki cringes as he sees Ash hurt himself, but the Poke Freak confirms Nagasaki’s fears with one word to describe himself right now...

 

 

 

 

“Ow...”

 

-A LITTLE LATER THAN THE LAST PART...-

 

Ash and Mr. Nagasaki appear alongside a 100-foot row of tires, fashioned in the manner to be run in between of for speed training.

 

“Now, Ash-san... I want you to run in between all tires. Miss none.”

Ketchum nods and heads to the start line, as he smiles and tells himself:

 

“This is too easy...”

 

Quickly, Ketchum takes off at a brisk pace, and as Nagasaki instructed, runs through all the tires. He stops at the end to take a breather, but jogs back to Nagasaki for an evaluation.

 

“Good job! now do it again... in under 30 seconds.”

 

“WHAT?!?!?!?! THAT’S IMPOSSIBLE!!!” Ash once more screams loudly

 

“I used to do it all the time in my prime. It possible.” Nagasaki quickly flexes his muscles as Ash slaps his sweaty forehead. “Now hurry up. We not have all day.”

 

Ash looks like he wants to punch Nagasaki’s lights out, but he sighs and heads back to the line to re-start the run. Maybe if he does it, it’ll shut up Nagasaki. Then he’ll at least get a break...

 

-LATER THAT NIGHT...-

 

Ash Ketchum and Mr. Nagasaki return to the temple, where they sit in the traditional Japanese fashion, having a few Pepsi Twist MAXs to drink as Ketchum comments on the days activities...

 

“Wow... we’ve done a lot so far, Nagasaki. Sit-ups, pull-ups, push-ups, worked with the speed bag, sway bag, and heavy bag, did the jump rope, kickboxing, weightlifting... hell, we even did aerobics!”

 

Cut to a scene where Ash and Nagasaki are dressed like two guys from an 80s workout video by some supermodel. The two are exercising around to a personal favorite of Mr. Nagasaki:

 

“Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto! I love song! I think I gonna ‘bust it out’!”

 

“You’d better not do what I think you’re gonna do...”

 

As Ash looks over at Nagasaki, he is doing just what he didn’t want him to do: the robot. Mr. Nagasaki does it near perfectly in tempo with the song as Ash continues his workout.

 

“He does it every damn time...” *sigh*

 

Cut back to the two sitting, where as a they have a few drinks, Ash realizes something he’s forgotten to take care of one thing before he left...

 

“OH MY GOD! AMY! SHE’S ALL ALONE RIGHT NOW! WHAT IF SIGIL WENT AFTER HER!!!!”

 

“Calm down!” Nagasaki attempts to quell the fears of the Poke Freak. “I fly her out here, too. She staying with parents.”

 

Cut to the house on the hill, where Keito sits on a sofa, watching TV, joined by his wife. Both wear T-shirts and beer helmets, both reading either “Keito is Godzilla Fan Ichiban!” or “Megumi is Godzilla Fan Ichiban!” They watch the TV, Amy Craven sandwiched in between the two, which is a re-run of “Godzilla vs. Mothra”, the newer version, and at a particular scene, as they sip on the pop in their beer helmets, they spit it out, roaring in laughter as they grab their belly and points at the TV.

 

“HAHAHAHAHA!!! GOZILLA SMASH!!! MOTHRA FALL DOWN!!! HAHAHAHA!!!”

 

“Hehehe...” Misty laughs, stuck between the two, unsure what to do, as she secretly thinks:

 

 

 

 

 

 

“MIKEY, GET ME AWAY FROM THESE PSYCHOS!!!!”

 

Cut back to the temple once again as the two men pick up their conversation.

 

“Well,” Ash politely asks, “can I go see her?”

 

“NO!” Nagasaki snaps at Ash’s mention of seeing his wife. “You must concentrate like Obi-Wan Kenobi. Like Jedi. You no want to be Darth Vader. He bad.”

 

“Hey, Vader was bad-ass! He could choke people out!”

 

“True... but you concentrate on training now. Nothing else.”

 

Ash takes another sip of his Pepsi Twist MAX. “So... what are we doing now?”

 

“Mental training, Ash-san. You must not only be physically stronger, but stronger in ALL aspects!” Nagasaki takes a sip of his Pepsi Twist MAX.

 

“Sounds good. Bring it.” Ketchum replies. Nagasaki nods and rattles off Question #1 without hesitation.

 

“What 2 plus 2 equal?”

 

“Four.”

 

“Correct!” Nagasaki immdeiately begins his next question.“What year did English Renaissance begin?”

 

“Uhhhhh... 1452?”

 

“WRONG!”

 

As Ash slaps himself in the forehead, he is suddenly nailed in the head with a blunt object, or in this case, a anime-style wooden mallet.

 

THWACK!

 

Ketchum falls back, grabbing his face in pain before sitting up and screaming at Nagasaki in pure anger:

 

“WHAT’D YOU DO THAT FOR?!?!”

 

“Part of training.”

 

Ash grits his teeth and sighs. He’s got no other choice now. It’s this or losing to Sigil. He’d better put up with this. Besides, Nagasaki says he gets to sleep in an hour. Ketchum’s frown turns upside down as he smiles and makes the best of the situation, replying with:

 

“OK... gimme you best shot!”

 

*Cue Gonna Fly Now (The Theme From “Rocky”) here*

 

The sun rises on a new day, and as the sun rises and the first the drum part starts in, we see Ash running around the island, Nagasaki cheering him on. He runs up the hill, stumbles, but keeps going. He makes it halfway up the temple steps before his arms give out. He works on the heavy bag and does sit-ups and answers questions.

 

“What is cost of ham sandwich?”

 

“370 yen?”

 

“WRONG!” THWACK!

 

We see more shots of him over the next few days: doing sit-ups, running laps, running up the hill and temple further and futher each day, going through the tires faster and faster, and once more:

 

“Who invented tire iron?”

 

“Uhhhhh... Goodyear?”

 

“WRONG!” THWACK!

 

Ketchum continues to train hard, running further, harder, and faster each day, as well as doing the mandatory mental challenge at the end of the day.

 

“What is atomic mass of Xenon?”

 

“Wait... 222.01?”

 

“WRONG! 222.02!”

 

Nagasaki swings the mallet at Ash, but Ash ducks it.

 

“HA! MISSED-”

 

THWACK!

 

A mallet slams into Ash’s face and knocks him back.

 

“Always be wary of second mallet, Ash-san...”

 

Cut to more training as Ash runs laps and runs up the hill. He sprints up the hill, catching up to Nagasaki at the top of the hill, as he exclaims in joy:

 

“HEY NAGS! I’M DOING IT! I’M-”

 

As Ash reaches the top he steps on a small rock. The rock shifts out from underneath him, and Ash tumbles forward, hitting the dirt. The log’s weight pulls him back, sending him flying back... down the hill. The background music immediately stops.

 

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! OOF!-AAAAAHHH!-OOF!-AGGGGGGGGHHH!-OOF!-AAHHH!-OW!-DAMMIT!-AHHHHH!!!!”

 

...

 

 

“THUD!”

 

Nagasaki cringes as he spots Ash.

 

“Ouch... that leave mark...”

 

Cue back the background music as Ketchum runs through the tires, runs up the temple stairs, and even does the robot with Nagasaki during aerobics!

 

“THIS IS SO MUCH FUN!!!!” Ash cries out. “DOMO ARIGATO, MR. NAGASAKI!!!”

 

“No more jokes like that.”

 

“OK, BUT I DON’T CARE! I’M HAVING SO MUCH FUN! WHEEEEEEE!!!!”

 

"Note to self:" Mr. Nagasaki begins to whipser to himself, "Never play "Mr. Roboto" around Ash ever again..."

 

And as usual, up at the temple, Ash answers questions.

 

“Who invented airplane?”

 

“The Wright Brothers!”

 

“Correct... but I still hit you!”

 

As Nagasaki swings the mallet at ash, he ducks. Nagasaki swings Mallet #2 at Ash, but Ash ducks that, too, grabbing hold of it. He then twists it and flips Nagasaki onto his back, pulling the mallet out and holding it against Nagasaki’s head as he places his foot on Nagasaki’s throat. Nagasaki smiles after the initial pain subsides.

 

“You are ready, Ash-san...”

 

“WOO-HOO!!! Wait... I don’t feel any different...”

 

“You don’t feel different... but you look bettah... and you smarter now...”

 

Ash searches around for a mirror to see himself in, and catches aglimpse in one. He looks into the mirror to see himself a bit more built up but looking in even better shape than usual.

 

“Wow... I do look better...” Ash flexes and such, but Nagasaki interrupts his narcisstic moment.

 

“Yes, yes... now, let us hurry and go visit parents. Godzilla marathon on tonight. Poor Amy need to be saved from that horror.”

 

From the house on top the hill emanates a large "GODZILLA SMASH!!!" followed by the scream of one Amy Craven.

 

“Let’s hurry up then!” Ash cries as the two get up and rush towards Ma and Pa Nagasaki’s house on top of the hill. The two men laugh as they scale up the hill on a moonlit night in Japan. The camera pans up to the stars and the moon as everything fades away into darkness and silence...

[Guest Serrated]

You are so going down.

[Guest Ash Ketchum]

I am? Uh-oh...

 

More comments can be posted below.

[Guest El Luchadore Magnifico]

....

 

BWAHAHAHAHA!

 

That was brilliant, Ash. I'm still laughing about the aerobics part.

 

And Keito Nagasaki is my new hero.

 

“HAHAHAHAHA!!! GOZILLA SMASH!!! HAHAHAHA!!!”

 

[Guest DiabloIIFreak1010]

Ash, let me say that currently, you are the FUNNIEST person in the SWF.

 

That is all.

[Guest Powerplay]

A little long, though hilarious nonetheless. Certainly one of your better promos .