Vs. Poffin

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Vs. Poffin is the eleventh episode of the first season of Pokémon Tales: Dawn. It aired 6/20/2017.

Story[]

Ian, Piplup, Crystal, Conway and Dawn riding Ponyta arrive in Floaroma Town, arriving at the Pokémon Center. Dawn disembarks Ponyta as they go indoors, where Dawn goes to check the bulletin board of news.

Dawn: Oh, splendid! There’s going to be a contest here in just a matter of days!

Crystal: That doesn’t give you a lot of time to train.

Dawn: In that case, I shall request your services in preparation.

Ian: What’s that one?

Ian goes and looks at an add for Poffin cooking lessons.

Dawn: Ah! Poffins! Those are the specialty snacks of the Sinnoh region.

Crystal: That sounds like fun! All of us taking a cooking class! What do you say, Ian?

Ian: Well, I did want to try to translate my recipe for the pink surprise.

Conway: Yes, that would be appreciated. Munchlax is going to eat all of our food if we don’t do something.

Dawn: Then it is decided.

End Scene

The group walks through a garden to a house on the property. A Roserade and Lotad are tending to the berries. Forsythia, the owner of the garden, looks up and sees them.

Forsythia: Hello! You must be my 2 o’clock! I’m Forsythia!

Dawn: Greetings, Forsythia. My name is Miss Dawn Berlitz, and these are my associates.

Conway: I’m Conway.

Crystal: I’m Crystal!

Ian: Ian.

Piplup: Piplup!

Forsythia: Nice to meet you all! Come on in! I already have several ovens set up and a selection of berries for you.

Forsythia leads them inside, it being a small house with three burners on the oven.

Forsythia: I apologize for the size. But we will have to do this three at a time.

Conway: In that case, I’ll sit this one out.

Dawn: Very well.

Ian, Dawn and Crystal put aprons on, sporting blue and pink ones respectively. Forsythia sets pots, spoons and berries out.

Forsythia: Now, we’ll fill the pots with cold water as we put the berries in. We’ll constantly stir to create the mixture we’re looking for. I see that you all have Pokétchs.

Dawn: Not all of us. One of us was too stubborn to accept the generous gift when I offered it.

Ian reaches into his pocket, pulling out an egg timer.

Forsythia: That works. For you two, you can use the cooking app on the Pokétch to serve as a timer.

Dawn and Crystal change their apps to the Kitchen timer, which features a Snorlax.

Forsythia: Once we put the water and berries on the heat, you’ll have to constantly stir for five minutes. Making sure that it gets cooked all the way through and doesn’t get burnt. Now, I have a sample recipe that I want you to follow…

The group begins cooking, as Conway sits on a chair with Piplup in his lap, watching intricately. Ian is stirring evenly and at a good pace. Dawn is struggling to stir, Forsythia informing her that she’ll burn them if she doesn’t stir faster. Forsythia tells Crystal to slow down, as her batter is overflowing.

The end results are displayed out for the Pokémon. Piplup, Cubone, Starly, Misdreavus, Wingull, Pachirisu, Munchlax, Eevee, Slowking, Mareep and Ponyta all line up to get a taste of the food. Ian’s selection of Poffins are overripe and ready to eat. Dawn’s Poffins are burnt to a crisp. Crystal’s Poffins are rich, though each one is smaller than Ian’s. The Pokémon enjoy the food, but they all refusing to eat Dawn’s Poffins besides Munchlax, who just swallows them down. Piplup greedily stuffs his face, Pachirisu running in and stealing some of them. Piplup chirps angrily, hoarding more of the food.

Crystal: They are just eating yours up, Ian! You are such an amazing cook!

Ian: It took making Poffins to realize that? (He smiles) I’ve cooked several meals before.

Crystal: Yeah, but this was your first time with Poffins! And this is baking! Where did you learn to cook?!

Ian: I used to help my mom in the kitchen. She showed me all the tricks of the trade.

Crystal: Your, mom? (Disappointed and embarrassed) I thought you were, you know.

Ian: I don’t. Excuse me.

Ian goes over to Forsythia, conversing with her. He shows her a recipe, her looking startled.

Forsythia: This is a pretty complex recipe. We’ll have to condense it down quite a bit.

Ian: But can it be done?

Forsythia: Surely! Some of these berries aren’t too common, so I didn’t bring any inside. You should be able to find everything in the garden, though. Roserade can help you find anything you’re looking for.

Ian: Thanks. Piplup, you coming?

Piplup is pushing Munchlax back, preventing it from getting his food. Piplup responds to Ian’s call, running around Munchlax to follow him. Munchlax goes and eats the food that Piplup was defending. Dawn is sitting in a chair, pouting as Crystal joins them.

Dawn: They aren’t even touching mine.

Crystal: They are pretty burnt. Why don’t you ask Ian to give you some pointers?

Dawn: Ask him?! That would be an insult to my reputation!

Crystal: Don’t you remember what we’ve talked about? You need to start acting like Dawn, not a Berlitz. Ask him for help, and see him resonate with you more.

Conway: I agree.

Conway comes and stand by them.

Conway: He seems to respond more to that. I am actually jealous of you, Crystal.

Crystal: Jealous? How so?

Conway: I traveled with Ian for two years, and he never once mentioned anything before the time I traveled with him. He just made a passing mention of his mother, and that completely baffled me.

Crystal: Had you ever asked him about his past?

Conway: (Embarrassed) No, but…

Crystal: There’s your problem then. You never asked. He doesn’t tell unless you ask.

Dawn: You act as if Ian is your equal.

Crystal: And that’s how you need to approach him as well. Not your inferior, but your equal. Try it, and see what happens.

Ian and Piplup come back in, arms full of berries. They make it back to the table, putting the berries down.

Ian: Alright. Let’s get started.

Dawn: Um,

Ian looks over, seeing Dawn standing there, arms behind her and looking toward the side. She is nervous, as if not knowing what to say.

Ian: Yes?

Dawn: Uh, Ian. I was just wondering, if you could, uh, assist me in making a Poffin batch?

Ian: Sure.

Dawn: Eh?! Just like that?!

Ian: Yeah. Grab your berries.

Dawn goes over, grabbing several Oran Berries and cradling them in her arm. She struggles to hold them all up, plopping them down on the table.

Ian: Oh, no.

Ian goes over, taking a handful of the berries, leaving only three Oran Berries.

Dawn: What was that for?! The more berries mean more flavors!

Ian: It also means the mixture will be thicker. You were barely able to stir the last batch, which was why it burnt. Reducing the viscosity of the mixture will allow you to stir easier. This, and that many berries will create too rich of a snack.

Dawn does as he says and begins stirring, it being easier than before to keep it steady. Ian prepares his mass of berries for the Poffin, still able to stir the thick mixture enough to prevent it from burning. They finish, as Dawn puts out her Poffins for the Pokémon. They all have one, enjoying the flavor but not going for more. Munchlax eats the leftovers.

Dawn: Was there a problem?

Ian eats one of Dawn’s Poffin, smacking his lips.

Ian: No. It’s good. Not enough flavor, but that was to be expected. Keep practicing with mixing different berries, but don’t exceed that amount of berries till you build some strength in the arms.

Dawn: Strength? I have never needed to have such strength before.

Ian: Indicating the problem.

Ian takes a pink Poffin, holding it up towards Munchlax. Munchlax looks at it longingly, as Ian tosses it to it. Munchlax gobbles it down, as its stomach swells slightly. Munchlax burps in content, leaning back and rolling on its bloated back.

Conway: Well. I guess that was a success.

Ian: What’s the best way to store and carry these?

Forsythia: I can sell you a specialty caring case.

Ian: We’ll take two.

Dawn: Allow me to buy this.

Dawn walks over, reaching into her bag.

Ian: Why?

Dawn: Why? I, want to show my appreciation, and a method of doing so is by buying desirable objects for them.

Ian: You could just say thank you instead.

Dawn: Without presenting a gift along with it? Uh, okay. Thank you.

Ian: You’re welcome.

Ian pulls out money, buying the Poffin cases. He gives one to Dawn and walks off. Dawn puffs out air in frustration at this.

Dawn: Are you incapable of accepting a gift?!

Main Events[]

Ian translates his Pokéblock recipe for the Pink Surprise into a Poffin recipe.
Ian mentions his mother, or anything of his family, for the first time.

Characters[]

Pokémon[]

Trivia[]

This episode is based off the anime episode Oh Do You Know the Poffin Plan!
Ian recreates his Pink Surprise Poffin to feed to Munchlax. It is shown to work just as well.
Crystal reveals that she treats and interacts with Ian as an equal. This may be a reasoning why he listens to her and talks more to her.
Ian reveals that he learned his cooking (and baking) skills from his mom.
- This is the first mention of her in the franchise.
- Crystal had assumed that Ian was an orphan, similar to herself, before this revelation.