MY FINAL SIN, A POKEMON FILM Written by Tyler Durden and Sensei Based on the short Pokemon story "Lone Pikachu" by Sensei and the "Pokemon" computer games created by Nintendo Final draft, 6th of September 2003 PART II Scene XXXI. FLASHBACK. EMILY REMEMBERING. A FIELD. DAY. First there is just a blank screen with the message: "2047". Then we fade in as the message disappears. At first we just see a vast expanse of green then we zoom in till we can see EMILY, now about fourteen although she is small for her age, laying back on the grass and looking up at the sky. There's a deck of Pokemon cards beside her right hand. Her hand is turning on the cards face over face, shuffling them and generally playing with them using her right hand. She looks like she is almost day dreaming. She is very relaxed. Despite this she wears only rags. (We've seen this before. Basically EMILY seems happy and free of her traits as an adult like LEWIS did in his flashback scenes. The vast filed that we see as the first shot of this scene represents the vast number of possible lives that EMILY feels she could lead in the future. A filed of future possibilities. All this is despite the fact that she is obviously very poor.) EMILY I have exactly one deck of cards left... I wonder if there is a town nearby- there probably should be. I wonder where I should go from here- there is nothing much left for me to do in my life. I guess I just gotta sit and wait for something to happen to me. If trouble wants me- it can find me right here. (EMILY's informal way of speaking her, as in other parts of the script in which others character have done the same, makes her seem nice.) A car comes nearer and nearer to EMILY then stops directly in front of her. The car is a BMW, very expensive. The backseat window rolls down. LADY JORDAN Hi there- would you like a lift to the next town? EMILY looks towards LADY JORDAN's face looking out the window. EMILY No thanks I am just fine right here. LADY JORDAN Are you sure you don't want to come with me? EMILY: I don't feel like it- besides it has always been a dream of mine to sit and stare at the sky and wonder about the wise words spoken by old people. I wanted to be educated once but that was just a passing phase. LADY JORDAN It's a shame to see such potential go to waste. EMILY: Go to waste- so you would prefer children as brilliant as myself to be thrown into institutions and taught like show-jumping horses and eventually be released into society to slowly wither away and die like the decaying system that we live in today- I am exceedingly sorry but I am no pawn on your chessboard I am more like a powerful and steadfast castle. (Despite her apparent contentedness EMILY still shows signs of her future self, especially in this speech.) LADY JORDAN Big words for one so small. EMILY My height and age are indirectly proportional to the capabilities of my mind. I act as my IQ dictates. LADY JORDAN So you believe in the mind ruling over the heart? EMILY The heart cannot reason. LADY JORDAN So are you going to come along with me or are you going to stay here in the middle of nowhere? EMILY I think I will just stay here and watch the grass grown- I like... I like my freedom. There's something beautiful about the calmness of this place. LADY JORDAN You are running away form something... I can tell. EMILY My feet are firmly planted in the ground-I don't know what makes you think I am running. LADY JORDAN A smart girl like you lying in the grass innocently-did you break out of some mental institution or something-tell me frankly. EMILY Let's leave the past were it belongs-and just in case you don't know-the past belongs behind us-far behind us. LADY JORDAN Suit yourself. I am off now. EMILY Goodbye. LADY JORDAN winds up her window. The car drives off. EMILY: The sweet smell of freedom is once again in the air. I am free from oppression. Let me not think-let me just exist. I want to just exist forever. Fade out. {Author notes: Sensei- This flashback shows a different side of EMILY. The audience gets to see that the uncultured obsessive EMILY was actually a brilliant child. In this scene there are hints that question EMILY's sanity. EMILY has always been walking the thin line between sanity and insanity. She is seen here wandering with absolutely no purpose, determined to maintain her freedom and her independence. EMILY loves her independence and at this point in time is obsessed with the concept. She refuses a lift from LADY JORDAN because she feels it compromises her ideals and set standards of the life she wants to live. This can also be seen in previous scenes as EMILY lingers in the streets when she is actually a top class trainer who can get a job as easily as any other rich person. She is also highly intelligent but she refuses to put it to good use. This is EMILY, a person who likes living in a perpetual limbo.] Fade in: Scene XXXII: THE PRESENT. EMILY NO LONGER REMEMBERING. EXT. A STREET. VIRIDIAN CITY. NIGHT. The song "The Road to Hell" by Chris Rea is playing from somewhere in a bedroom with an open window in a nearby house. We are facing a street across a road from a position part way along the street opposite it. We can see a lot of the street. There is a market place at one end. Despite the hour PIKACHU is walking along the pavement with people jostling past it. All ignoring it and doing their own thing. Cars are zooming PIKACHU along the road that the street runs along. PIKACHU is walking calmly through the street almost oblivious of his surroundings. He is heading for a market place we can see a few hundred yards away. On the street opposite the one PIKACHU walks along, the one nearest the camera, two street children on bicycles, JIN, who is twelve and SUE, JIN's younger sister at nine, are watching PIKACHU. SUE and JIN look almost identical. (We have heard much of the gangs on Kanto but seen little. This scene tells us more about the people who make up these gangs and by focusing your attention on a few individuals and therefore making it easier for you to see the effect of the Team Rocket occupation. If you saw the effect on hundreds of faceless people you don't know it would have little impact. It's also a nice break from the problems of LEWIS and shows us something different from the main thrust of the plot. We are seeing how the other side lives. It's also an enigma compared to the rest of the script because it has a totally different feel. It also shows how PIKACHU is totally independent and able to look after its self without LEWIS whilst LEWIS cannot live without it. Finally its one of the few scenes set at night. Considering the dark nature of the plot if not the style of this scene, that is oddly comic, this seems appropriate. The song "Road to Hell", because of the bleak world its about, our own planet, sums up the entire city of Kanto.) JIN (Excited) Hey Sue look there's a pikachu! I say it will get us a packet of noodles and a chicken at least! SUE You go and get the pikachu...I'm scared. JIN cycles fast past the PIKACHU and picks it up. PIKACHU (Shocked) Pika...pi! JIN Gotcha now let us go to the store- hurry up Sue! We don't have much time- you can't be late for school again! PIKACHU doesn't struggle. He is quite interested in finding out where he's going. SUE Jin- look. She points to two Team Rocket representatives. They are GRUNT 1 and GRUNT 2. They are wearing normal civilian clothes but its unmistakeable that they are from Team Rocket despite the fact that they don't wear the normal uniform because all their clothes have Team Rocket's "R" logo. The civilian clothes are dark and drab and there's nothing conspicuous about them except their R logos. (Its unlikely that Team Rocket members will still wear uniform because the uniform has become so well know by 2043 that any police officers spotting anyone wearing the Team Rocket uniform will arrest them on the spot.) GRUNTS 1 and 2 spot JIN and SUE. GRUNT 1 Hey look its Jin and he's bagged a pikachu- ha! Who does he think he is- no one is allowed to bag Pikachus! Only East District can! (There are apparently some rules about gang territories in Kanto. Team Rocket has divided the city into places where certain people are allowed to capture certain POKEMON. There may even be gang warfare going because of this.) GRUNT 2 Yeah and it just so happens that we are form East District- so that Pikachu should be ours! SUE Come and get it if you dare! She pulls out a knife. SUE (Cont) Any one of you two come near me and I swear I will stick this knife in your filthy, stinky...lice infected....um...bodies! GRUNT 1 Big words for such a small kid He Grabs SUE. JIN Hey! Let her go or else! GRUNT 2 Look who has the upper hand Jin- what will it be your sister or the Pikachu??? What will it be- it's your choice. JIN's face shows he is thinking hard for a few moments. JIN I can't ... I can't go home... I can't leave you....but I ....have to. JIN cycles away quickly. GRUNT 1: Cold hearted bastard! He left his own sister! His own sister ...for a Pikachu! A measly Pikachu! GRUNT 2 He doesn't deserve any family! Why does he get family and we don't! Life's not fair! Life's not fair! JIN turns around and throws one knife into GRUNT 1's leg. He then pulls out two more knives. JIN You think you rule these streets but I can throw knives better than any one else in this District! I came top of my class! You think I came top of my class for being a coward! Ha! Fat chance! The next one goes in your chest if you aren't careful! GRUNT 1 shouts and screams in pain. Blood is coming from his leg and dripping on to the snow. The red blood contrasts sharply with the white snow. SUE struggles then pulls away whilst he is momentarily distracted. GRUNT 2 It's bleeding! It's bleeding! Oh my word it's bleeding .... you won't be able to cycle any more! We gotta get help! Some one please ... some one! Anyone! JIN cycles back towards them and grabs his sister who runs towards him. JIN Now who has the upper hand? - Come Sue, you've only got fifteen more minutes before you have to be at school. SUE gets on her bike and sticks her tongue out at the two Grunts. (It seems strange to us how JIN wants his sister to get back to school after all they have both been through. They have obviously experienced things like this many times.) JIN No one will help your friend- well they might if you have the right currency- you know that way better than I do. GRUNT 1 falls off his bike and is screaming in pain, the knife went in deep. GRUNT 2 I don't have anything- why else do you think we wanted that pikachu! We need it! JIN Sue give a card. SUE shakes her head. She cycles away a little. JIN Sue! JIN grabs one of her pigtails. JIN (Cont) Give him a card! She still shakes her head. JIN Sue- what did they tell you at school? Have they taught you nothing? SUE Nothing about giving people Pokemon Cards so they can get treated at a hospital for a knife you stabbed him with to save me. PIKACHU (Threatening) Pika... SUE's face is expressionless. As she pulls out a Pokemon Trading Card, still brand new. It's in a small packet. She takes it out of the packet and throws it (the packet) on the ground. (The point here is that the card is brand new and obviously very valuable to SUE yet she decides in the end to seemingly give it up to someone who tried to hurt her.) JIN lets go of her pig tails. JIN Good. Thanks. GRUNT 2 She...she... is that for me ? ... and my friend? JIN Take it you should at least be able to get some treatment for his leg. GRUNT 2 takes the card. GRUNT 2 I will put it to good use. He begins to cycle away. SUE pulls out a small knife and throws it. It stabs GRUNT 2 in the hand. (However we now see this was all an act. This shows how SUE has had to become tough and smart to survive on the streets. Her apparent sacrifice before really brings the point across.) GRUNT 2 You double crossing- you gave me the card you... you... tricked me! GRUNT 1 Serves you right- leaving me like that! You double crossing ....lice infected....-bad guy! JIN My sister might not be top of her class but my family is paying a deck and a half of cards to ensure that she doesn't end up like you two. Come Sue- He looks at his cheap looking watch. JIN (Cont) Shit! You're late! (It should be noted that only the street children use bad language during this fic. It shows they had a rougher upbringing than people like LEWIS.) JIN and SUE cycle away, carrying PIKACHU with them. (This is an interesting idea that has developed in this scene: people in Kanto use Pokemon cards for currency. It isn't surprising however given the importance of Pokemon on Kanto.) SUE I don't trust this Pokemon.... it doesn't want to go home. JIN Not everyone likes the home they live in- maybe this pikachu is seeking its fortune or something. SUE Do you think so? JIN Yeah, that's it- it's seeking its fortune in the big city- it wants to be an entertainer, a film star- like the ones we saw when we were young. SUE Will the pikachu also go to school like me- they told me at school that the only way to succeed is to do as you are told- do you think grandma can afford to send Pikachu to class with me? JIN Pikachu ain't going to any school! He is going to the store and we are going to get our packet of noodles and our chicken! SUE (Slightly disappointed.) Okay. PIKACHU (Confused) Pi???? (There is something very touching about JIN and SUE in this scene despite the fact that they are really the Kanto equivalent of poor white trash.) [Author notes: Sensei: This scene is just a raw insight into the world beyond the lives of LEWIS, ALAN, and STEVEN. This scene shows how a brother and sister get by...by stealing Pokemon and swapping them for food at stores. The scene also shows how SUE and children in general are being taught skills such as Knife throwing and are being trained to handle pain. This type of training occurs in a military type of organisation- that is what Team Rocket has become. Also in this scene we see that the means of trade has changed from being money to trading cards. Cards hold more value than money and it is simpler to deal with decks than suitcases of money. Cards are easier to hide and can go unnoticed. The use of trading cards as money also emphasises the idea of a society being obsessed with everything Pokemon. There is also an amateur nature amongst the kids that gives a slight lightness to all the violence of knife throwing. PIKACHU is only an observer in this situation.] Scene XXXIII: INT. A STORE. We watch JIN and SUE open the shop door from within the shop. The store is small but very neat. JIN Hey anyone inside here! We've come to make a trade!- Grandma are you here? GRANDMA comes up to them. GRANDMA Don't cry out too loud- we are not supposed to be related remember!- Now tell me what do you want? Huh- oh my what a nice pikachu! JIN (To GRANDMA) Hey get your eyes off my pikachu! Where is Lulu? I want to talk to her-(To SUE) Sue go get ready for school! SUE leaves. GRANDMA So where did you get the plump little bugger?? Hmmm, he's a prize catch! JIN Old lady just give me my noodles and my chicken and I would like to be off! GRANDMA Gees no need to be cruel to your own grandma like that- I will go in the back and see what I can find. GRANDMA leaves the room, JIN begins taking things from the shelves and putting them into his backpack. Then LULU enters the room and spots him. LULU Are you crazy!!!! Have you totally lost it?! If grandma sees you stealing stuff she won't pay your school fees for another month! You can be so ungrateful sometimes! JIN I can take care of myself- see I have this plump pikachu - I can sell this one for a whole deck of cards if I go to the right places. LULU What have I told you about the black market?! You can't run away form Team Rocket.... you can't.... all these rich folks will promise you the world but when they can't pay up who gets taken down? I'll tell you who... we do! JIN I won't get taken down...I met this man...he was going to take me to Hoenn if I could get him a Pikachu, he said I could even bring Sue along. LULU How do you think I got this way, huh? How do you think? I'll tell you- I was promised a scholarship from some rich family, I worked for- I was going to go to Johoto and study at the university there- I was going... going to be something. Now look at me, walking the streets... doing...I can't look at myself in the mirror. Because the person who I see- isn't, couldn't be me. Jin listen to me- just go to school okay- don't try and go against Team Rocket... they're... they're too strong. (This speech brings across all the pain that these street people have had to deal with.) JIN I don't wanna live like this anymore- do you think I enjoy roaming the streets catching Pokemon? GRANDMA comes back with the noodles and a live chicken that she is holding by the feet. PIKACHU (Staring at the chicken) Chu... PIKACHU moves closer to the chicken. GRANDMA At least the kid still has a bit of fight in him... at least he hasn't given up. In my day ... we had dignity. LULU I can't fight anymore- you don't know what it's like going out there every day and every night ... just for a couple of cards- measly Pokemon cards worth a fortune to some big shot collector out there! Do you know what those cards mean to me...they mean nothing! (What does money really mean to anyone?) JIN When I get out of this place, I promise that I'll pay our debts- I will settle the score with that Team Rocket- I will buy my sister back,- I'll buy both of them back- I will give them enough Pokemon cards to drown themselves... I will make sure that they cut themselves on the edges- We will live like the people up in Northern Heights. SUE comes up to them wearing a neat and sharp school uniform. She looks like a girl scout but with a slight sinister nature about her. There is a small "R" stitched onto her left sleeve. (If she wants to go to school she must go to one run by Team Rocket and probably be trained to become a Team Rocket operative. This is her only hope for a better way of life: joining a fascist dictatorship. LULU Look at her...look at her, she has a future-just let her be-don't fix what ain't broke. JIN What kind of a future will she have? She'll just be canon-fodder for their god-forsaken plans. GRANDMA In times like this-we have to be thankful how what we have. JIN Come Sue; let's go to class- (Given JIN's life his grandma's comment is so pointless that he ignores it.) LULU Jin promise me you won't do anything stupid. Suddenly a man, MR. L, enters through the door with about five other guys with him. He is wearing a uniform similar to Sue's. MR. L Good morning. I am MR. L. I have come to speak to the owner of this shop. GRANDMA I own this shop, what do you want? MR. L Isn't this child supposed to be at Training by now? What are you planning? LULU She was feeling ill this morning, so we had a bit of trouble convincing her to come to school. MR. L You will be punished accordingly- this society has not been made what it is now by laying around-I see you are in second level-give me your hand. SUE sticks out her hand. MR. L grips it firmly. LULU Listen it is not necessary for you to mark her...you can make her to sit-ups or push-ups or something like that. MR. L I see you are familiar with our methods-fine; she will have swallow a packet of salt-all of it. He hands a packet of salt to SUE. She swallows all of it and with an effort doesn't react to its taste. GRANDMA You can't make her do that! PIKACHU Pikachu!! Pika...pi!!! They all look at PIKACHU. MR. L This store is now the property of Team Rocket. You and your children will be required to report to the head officer right now with us. The five guys with MR. L, all bigger than JIN, LULU, SUE and GRANDMA, grab them and take them outside. Scene XXXIV: EXT. THE STORE. There is a van with the R logo parked on the side of the road with the store on it. GRANDMA, LULU, JIN and SUE are taken inside its open back doors. Scene XXXV: INT. THE STORE. MR. L's five guys come in. MR. L Clear this place up. Scene XXXVI: INT. TEAM ROCKET VAN. It's the van JIN and co are in. They are staring at the shop through its back doors. It's dirty and unpleasant inside. (The unpleasant interior of the van is probably deliberate. MR. L has probably done this before. MR. L seems to be the most unpleasant person in this script despite not actually doing anything.) Tears are streaming down JIN's face. JIN Don't look back-just don't look back. The store blows up. LULU One debt and they own you... if they had a chance they would own your soul... your soul I tell you. GRANDMA (Hysterical) That was the only thing! The only thing we ever really had! They blew up my store... they blew it up... they blew it up. JIN Don't look back... don't look back. JIN grabs SUE's hand and pushes the van's doors open. They begin to run MR. L spots them. Obviously he's outside now. MR. L Trying to escape? MR. L pulls out a knife and throws it into SUE's shoulder. She screams. Her blood falls onto the snow. JIN Sue!!!!! MR. L Come with us. He indicates his men. MR. L (Cont) And we will give her the best medical treatment that she can receive. LULU Don't say yes Jin!! They'll own you just like they owned Pa!! You will owe them forever Jin! PIKACHU (Sad) Chu. MR. L If you don't answer fast, she'll die from loss of blood- it's your choice. JIN turns away so MR. L can't see his face. JIN Okay, we'll come with you. (JIN has sacrificed himself for his sister. Despite the things he has been through he is still a caring person.) PIKACHU is pushed into a black bag with rubber lining. [Author notes-Sensei: This scene is generally about the life that people live in Viridian city. JIN has clearly identified that there is a problem but he doesn't have anyway of solving it, thus the circle continues. LULU is his elder sister who has given up fighting mainly because she has tried many times but has been let down by everyone around her. MR. L generally symbolises the whole nature of Team Rocket's business- no names, no evidence, no witnesses. Everything just disappears into the city-everyone gets absorbed. PIKACHU is as powerless as ever as he doesn't know whether to fight or whether to stay calm. PIKACHU's lack of influence shows how the world of LEWIS and EMILY has no impact on anything that happens on the street- Team Rocket owns the street. In this scene you also get a brief view of how the past affects the present as LULU refers to her father and how he owed money and thus was owned- LULU is afraid that this will happen to JIN who symbolises the last of the good in Viridian City. JIN is fighting a losing battle and eventually at the end of this scene finally realise that he is not the solution for the problem-he is just another name to add to the endless list of casualties, casualties who eventually become absorbed into the master plan of Team Rocket] Scene XXXVII: LEWIS' BEDROOM. DAY (You can begin in this scene to work out what the scenes with the detective and psychiatrist are all about. Everything from now on will build up to their arrival.) The signs of a struggle aren't here yet. It's just a very tidy room. LEWIS comes in. He is very agitated. LEWIS I am not obsessive. He tries to hang his coat on the back of the door. It stays where it should be for a moment... LEWIS I am not obsessive. ...and then drops down. He puts it back... LEWIS I am not obsessive. ...and it drops again. In anger he throws it across the room. He turns away from it but he can't resist turning back and trying again. This time it stays hung up. LEWIS I am not obsessive. He moves towards his mirror. LEWIS I am not obsessive. LEWIS stares at his own reflection. (His words here and the fact that he continues to repeat them contrast with what they actually are. We are getting very close to who LEWIS really is as LEWIS himself is and as he gets closer he begins to see more and more truths about himself.) LEWIS I am not...YES I AM. WHO AM I KIDDING? He throws the mirror across the room. Scene XXXVIII: AFTER LEWIS HAS HAD HIS BREAKDOWN. INT. LEWIS' BEDROOM. The camera focuses on the mirror and we realise its in the same place LEWIS throw it. When he threw it he shattered it and even the shards are in the right place. We move up to reveal everyone who is in the room: DETECTIVE MALGREW, DR. REGES, ALAN, EMILY, STEVEN and MATTHEW. DR. REGES Goodbye. We will contact you again shortly. Every ad-libs goodbye. (This is such a small scene because the point of it is to show that what LEWIS did in his room in the last scene has created the state his room is in during the "After LEWIS' breakdown" scenes.) Scene XXXIX: BEFORE THE BREAKDOWN. INT. LEWIS' BEDROOM. There is furniture that has been thrown everywhere. A lot of things are broken. LEWIS lies on his bed looking up at the ceiling. LEWIS When did you become you? Lonely. Arrogant. Cynical. When did you become such an adult? He looks across at a picture of his family on a desk. Both have remained unharmed somehow. It's a picture of LEWIS, MATTHEW, ALAN, MARIE and STEVEN holding hands with each other in a long chain and smiling like there happy and not just like they are doing it for the benefit of the camera. They are all about twelve.) (Somehow as in as if the world is trying to tell LEWIS something by not letting them become damaged. Or maybe LEWIS is just imaging them there.) LEWIS has now dropped his cold, snobbish veneer. You can tell by his eyes, his speech and the way he carries himself. This is the real him. LEWIS I remember that. That was just before the Team Rocket takeover when the three generations started. The first built casinos and bribed the police and government to keep them open so they could make money. Then the next generation had to pay for that. Like Emily and Steven. That's why they are how they are and the third generation was Team Rocket. Yes! I remember everything. I remember how I found out about it. (It is vital to LEWIS that he remembers the past as it really happens because it then proves he's capable of it.) Scene XXXX: 2040's. LEWIS REMEMBERING. EXT. A POKEMART. DAY. LEWIS, ALAN, STEVEN and MATTHEW are running towards the Pokemart. Its raining and there are black clouds in the sky. Scene XXXXI: 2040's. INT. THE POKEMART. STEVEN is looking out of the Pokemart window at the rain. Everyone else is looking at the Pokemon merchandise. There's "Mrs. American Pie" playing on a sound system in the shop. (STEVEN is a brooding figure here, left to watch the rain and think his own private thoughts. The impression is that he is always left outside the group like this. "Mrs. American Pie" is about the end of...of everything really. Like the of Kanto not being controlled by Team Rocket.) STEVEN It's still raining. We can't go back out for a while. LEWIS Ok. He takes a Potion from the shelf. The camera turns to the shop's door. Three men enter. They wear civilian clothes suitable for the weather in the style of GRUNT 1 and GRUNT 2 from earlier scenes. They spot LEWIS and co. (I wanted the Team Rocket representatives to be faceless because Team Rocket is a large, faceless organisation. The rain is a warning of coming disaster.) TEAM ROCKET MEMBER Hi. We're with Team Rocket. We're talking over this place and you aren't going to interfere. ALAN The police will be on you in minutes. TEAM ROCKET MEMBER I've got some bad news for you. Didn't you hear? We just killed the Elite Four and took over the Pokemon League. Team Rockets owns this island and the police. Now if you'll excuse me I have a job to do. Scene XXXXII: FLASHBACK OVER. 2060. INT. LEWIS' BEDROOM. BEFORE HIS BREAKDOWN. LEWIS And after that...and after that...I don't remember what happened after that. Ok. Concentrate on another incident. When you won the Pokemon League. Scene XXXXIII: FLASHBACK. INT. A STADIUM. THE POKEMON LEAGUE HEADQUARTERS. DAY. It's the stadium from the party scene. LEWIS is facing his enemy, LANCE, as PIKACHU is facing his enemy, KINGDRA. We can't see ALAN, MATTHEW or STEVEN anywhere. The KINGDRA looks badly hurt. There are speakers in the room playing the "Pokemon Theme." (Note that his friends aren't with him. Are they begging to split apart already?) LEWIS Pikachu you are aware of what to do. PIKACHU (Determined) Pika PIKACHU Thundershocks KINGDRA. It's knocked out. As we begin to fade out we can vaguely hear a VOICE OVER THE SPEAKERS. VOICE OVER THE SPEAKERS And the winner and new Pokemon Champion is Lewis... Fade out. (The last names of the characters in this script are never given and if it's made into a film the credits won't list last names either. Just using first names makes what's going on in the film more personal so that you feel its happening to people you know.) Fade in: Scene XXXXIV: FLASHBACK. INT. THE HALL OF FAME. THE POKEMON LEAGUE HQ. The camera pans across a vast gallery filled with pictures of Pokemon and Trainers from the past including Ash Ketchum and Gary Oak. We soon come to LANCE and LEWIS admiring a picture of LEWIS and his PIKACHU together on a quiet road on a sunny day. The song "Keep on Running" by Spencer Davis Group is plying on speakers in the gallery. (It's this scene that begins the split between LEWIS and his friends. Its obvious then why the song "Keep on Running" should be chosen.) LANCE Welcome to the Hall of Fame. LEWIS Thanks. Look: I don't want to seem ungrateful but what about my friends? I'm sure they'll want to congratulate me. LANCE We have other things to do first. We have business to talk about. LEWIS But my friends... LANCE You're the Pokemon. I'm sorry but you have important duties now. Responsibilities. You're friends can come later. Now can we talk about serious business? LEWIS hesitates for a few seconds. LEWIS Ok. Lets talk. Scene XXXXV: FLASHBACK FINISHED. BEFORE LEWIS' BREAKDOWN. INT. LEWIS' BEDROOM. LEWIS hears a voice from behind him that sounds like his own voice. LEWIS' VOICE? That was when you first began to drift away from your friends wasn't it? LEWIS turns round and finds himself looking at himself only this copy of him is transparent. LEWIS Who are you? ASPECT OF LEWIS I am an aspect of you. I'm here to help you find out who you really are. LEWIS I really am insane. ASPECT OF LEWIS You're certainly off balance at the moment or I wouldn't be here. You have mentally created me because you want to find out who you really are. (It seems to me that LEWIS is becoming so unbalanced by the sudden revelation that he has made himself miserable that his imagings are becoming real to him. He is really talking to himself.) LEWIS Go away. ASPECT OF LEWIS I can't do that. You created me and only you can destroy me. You aren't ready to get rid of me yet so I'll stay till you are. I have no choice. LEWIS Fine. If, and that's certainly an if, if I accept that then what are you meant to be showing me exactly? ASPECT OF LEWIS Do you remember what happened after Team Rocket took over? Just after you found out about that? LEWIS' face shows he is thinking hard for a few seconds. LEWIS No I just can't remember. ASPECT OF LEWIS Or do you remember what happened after you eventually met your friends again at the league? It must have been a very happy occasion. LEWIS I think so. I just can't remember right. Its because Pikachu isn't here. ASPECT OF LEWIS Oh. Its Pikachu who helps you remember things is it? He must be a supermon instead of a Pokemon to do that. Well we'll see won't we? (This shows how much LEWIS thinks he needs PIKACHU and how much he really doesn't. How much its been holding him back and destroying him in fact.) ASPECT OF LEWIS What else can you remember? LEWIS When I got divorced from Marie. ASPECT OF LEWIS Not when you first married her? Your wedding day? LEWIS No. I can't...I just can't...I'm sick of these questions. ASPECTS Don't bother to give me your holly roller attitude. I'm you remember? It won't work. LEWIS Ok. Just get to the point of this twenty questions game. ASPECT OF LEWIS You can only remember the bad things. Times when you were lonely. You've blocked out any idea that you are the cause of your own problems. You don't remember how to be happy. LEWIS NO! IT JUST CAN'T BE! IT'S THEIR FAULT! ASPECT OF LEWIS Whose fault? Who's they? LEWIS Their fault. Nothing's my fault. Nothing! ASPECT OF LEWIS You can't even tell me who they are because they do not exist. Listen to me. I'm only going to say one more thing to help you because this will solve all your problems. Until you accept that you are the only person who decides who you are you will never be happy. Goodbye. ASPECT OF LEWIS slowly fades away. LEWIS rushes out of his room. His eyes show irrationality and panic. (We're getting closer to the end. Closer to LEWIS realising who he is. Closer to his breakdown.) Scene XXXXVI: INT. A HALLWAY. POKEMON HQ. DAY. LEWIS phones someone on his cell phone. It's ALAN. LEWIS Hello? Alan I need your help. I need you...I...I need to know some things. Alan please. I need your help. Scene XXXXVII: A STREET. VIRIDIAN CITY. DAY. ALAN is walking along holding his phone. (All the times we've seen LEWIS going anywhere so far, even going deep into his own memories, he has been going away from something. Trying to escape from himself. Now he is heading towards ALAN and in a greater sense towards asking for someone's help for the first time in his life-or is he? Maybe he's running away from his own bedroom because it represents his old, miserable self and he wants to disassociate himself from it.) ALAN Wow Lewis. Calm down. I ain't even said anything yet. LEWIS Yes well I need you to say something. I need to say something. The true me. ALAN What? I don't understand you. LEWIS I understand now. I see-I've realised who I am. What I was doing before. I saw an aspect of me. He helped. That isn't-what am I? Is it...am I... ALAN Are you what? LEWIS Am I so proud I'm letting myself isolate myself? Am I causing my loneliness with the idea of loneliness? Am I pushing people away? Am I more interested in Pikachu than people? What's the cause? ALAN The cause of what? LEWIS Of who I am. Of why everyone hates me. Of why I hate myself. I can admit it now. I can see that I hate myself. I just need to know why. Do you remember why you first became interested in Pokemon? Do you remember how new and exciting it was when you first started? ALAN Yes. LEWIS Then it got less exciting every year. What mattered to you more each time you started a battle? The fun or winning? That's what's happened to me. I've realised for the first time that I've just become interested in winning. Nothing else mattered so I started being a snob. Then people hated me so I get more arrogant because I presumed what I saw as the lesser minds of others couldn't appreciate me. Don't you think that's it? I know it is. (I want people who read this to question their interest in Pokemon. Like Lewis they probably can't remember why they first became interested in Pokemon or how cool it felt the first time they play the computer game or watched the TV series. Also maybe most Pokemon fans that play the Trading Card Game and computer games have become more interested in winning than having fun. I want people to question themselves about that.) ALAN You didn't know that? Everyone who knows you except yourself has known that for years. LEWIS Of course they did but I was to close to it to realise it. I couldn't believe it. I wouldn't believe it. I didn't want to believe it. ALAN At last your starting to realise this stuff. I've been waiting for this to happen. LEWIS You have to help me become how I should be. How I was. ALAN grins. ALAN What if I don't want to help you? You've been so mean to me for so long. You haven't said a nice thing to me in over a decade. What if I decide to get my revenge for not helping you? LEWIS I'm so sorry. I know all this. I've been such a terrible person not just to you but also to everyone. Please let me become the nice person I should be. ALAN That's better. Sure I'll help you. Look: I've got some stuff to do. I'll see you in your bedroom at the League HQ in an hour ok? LEWIS Ok. Thank you. ALAN Don't worry about it. It will be a pleasure making you a pleasure to be with trust me. LEWIS Ok. I just can't thank you right. ALAN You will know how to thank me right. In time. LEWIS hangs up off screen (and then some!) ALAN dials another number. ALAN Hello Emily? Hi. I'm organising a meeting between you, me, Lewis, Marie, Steven and Alan at Lewis' bedroom in the League HQ in an hour. Could you please be there? You'll never guess what happened to Lewis just now. (This time the weather fails to warn us of the fact that a momentous event is coming. The scene just ends abruptly here.) Scene XXXXVIII: INT. LEWIS' BEDROOM. BEFORE HIS BREAKDOWN. DAY. First there is just a blank screen with the message: The Breakdown. Then the screen and the message fade away to reveal LEWIS' bedroom. LEWIS walks in and over to the window. He squints. We move towards the window and look at the scene of the ground seen from above. There's snow covering everything. It's just an uninterrupted white space. However there is, highly visible against the snow is, LEWIS' PIKACHU walking across the snow in LEWIS' direction. LEWIS eyes go wide for a moment. He looks towards the ceiling. LEWIS (Shouting) That Pikachu! His mind has finally left him. He goes to the window, leans on it and watches PIKACHU. We move through the window and into... Scene XXXXIX: EXT. THE POKEMON LEAGUE HQ. It's the same piece of ground that LEWIS can see PIKACHU on. We move towards it. We stop and see that PIKACHU isn't actually there at all. (The point of this small scene is to show that once again what LEWIS has imagined has now become real to him but was anything we've seen real? This is why I didn't want people to be certain if certain things that have happened in this fic are real. Has any of this actually taken place?) Scene XXXXX: INT. LEWIS' BEDROOM. LEWIS is in the same place we last saw him, still watching PIKACHU. LEWIS That Pikachu's always been there for me. It's been like my own personal guardian angle. It's always stayed a friend whatever's happened between us. Reminding me when I've done something wrong that I'm doing it and reminding me of what I should be doing instead. Reminding me that its pride that's taken my friends from me. Pride: my final sin. The last sin that's its reminding me to shed. Well I'll just use it to help me do that then I'll be free. (It's a sign of LEWIS mental state that rather than realising its PIKACHU that has stopped him from being free and from staying friends with people he meets he thinks its done exactly the opposite. Its also a measure of how much he depends on it or at least thinks he does.) LEWIS reaches for the Masterball on his belt that normal holds PIKACHU and opens it but of course PIKACHU isn't there. LEWIS looks around himself frantically. LEWIS Pikachu? Where are you? Hello? Pikachu? It's gone. LEWIS is close to tears. LEWIS: Its gone! It's gone forever. Scene XXXXXI: INT. A HALLWAY OUTSIDE LEWIS' ROOM. ALAN has obviously arrived a few minutes before the others-maybe so he can prepare LEWIS a little for their arrival. Amongst them will be EMILY and his ex- wife after all. ALAN is waiting outside LEWIS door. He can hear LEWIS crying and screaming. He knocks and knocks and the knocks keep getting harder and after a very long time LEWIS answers. LEWIS Go away. ALAN Lewis? Are you all right in there? LEWIS Just go away. (LEWIS is too proud to let ALAN see his breakdown.) Scene XXXXXII: INT. LEWIS BEDROOM. LEWIS is at the window. He see the photo of himself and PIKACHU from the Hall of Fame in place of the view outside the window. Slowly the image of PIKACHU fades away to leave him all alone but still smiling. (The PIKACHU's disappearance represents the fact that it is gone from LEWIS' life forever but because this is a good thing despite the fact that LEWIS doesn't realise this the smile on his face stays. Maybe LEWIS does realise it in some parts of his subconscious but his mind is so mixed up now he doesn't recognise that.) LEWIS walks away from the window and lies down on the bed, exhausted. LEWIS (Very quietly) Pikachu's gone. Scene XXXXXIII: INT. A HALLWAY. OUTSIDE LEWIS' ROOM. AFTER THE BREAKDOWN. There is a PARAMEDIC and ALAN waiting outside LEWIS' door. ALAN looks like he's in shock. EMILY, the adult version of MARIE, MATTHEW STEVEN and MR. LEECE arrive. MARIE What happened Doctor? PARAMEDIC Lewis has had a nervous breakdown. MARIE Will he be all right? PARAMEDIC I don't know. Suddenly, without any warning, we go into the... Credit sequence: The credits roll over the picture of PIKACHU and LEWIS together from the Hall of Fame. The song "Because You Loved Me" plays. Once the music and the credits are over one final message comes up reading: TO BE CONTINUED... End of credit sequence. (All the things that the singers says the person she's singing about has done for her (or him) in "Because You Loved Me", for example "...You were my strength when I was weak..." are all things LEWIS thinks PIKACHU has done to help him. Ironically the opposite is actually true. Also it's a happy song for a bleak ending. That is deliberate. It drives the point across. As it says at the end this story will be continued. The sequel is coming very soon. By suddenly launching into the credits we make sure there is no clue if LEWIS will be all right or not. We don't even see MARIE's reaction to what the PARAMEDIC said. Well that's it from me. Bye.)