Pokemon Learning League

Story Elements

Written By

Timothy Whitfield

(Episode opens with Ash, Pikachu, Cilan, Dawn, Piplup, Iris, and Axew walking around Virbank City until they arrive at the Pokestar Studio. Cilan speaks to Dawn.)

Cilan: Well, Dawn. This is the Pokestar Studio, where you can make your own movie with your Pokemon.

Dawn: Wow! That sounds great.

Piplup: Piplup.

Ash: It sure does. We’ve done a movie that was shown here before.

Dawn: Really? Was it a lot of fun?

Iris: It was fun making it. Luke was the one who came up with idea for the movie.

Dawn: Who’s Luke?

Cilan: Luke’s a friend of ours. He’s a Pokemon filmmaker who really loves to make movies.

Dawn: Really? He sounds like a good guy.

Cilan: He is a good guy. He has Pokemon that are really great. He has a Golett that helps him carry around his equipment, a Leavanny that can sew up the costumes that he needs for his films, and a Larvesta that can create the special effects in his films.

Dawn: Whoa! That’s really cool.

Iris: It is really cool. Well, let’s get going.

(They walk off and look around the rest of the town, until they come across Luke and his Zorua and two trainers named Marty and Gloria sitting around a table. Cilan speaks.)

Cilan: Hey, there’s Luke right over there.

Iris: Yeah, but who are those two sitting with him?

Ash: I don’t know, but let’s go find out. Hey, Luke.

(Luke sees then and says hello.)

Luke: Hey, guys. How are you?

Ash: We’re good. I’d like you to meet our friend, Dawn.

Luke: It’s nice to meet you, Dawn.

Dawn: Same here, Luke.

Luke: I see you have a nice Piplup there.

Dawn: Thanks. I spend a lot of time training him and my other Pokemon for contests.

Piplup: Piplup.

Luke: Cool.

Dawn: Thanks.

(Dawn spots Luke’s Zorua.)

Dawn: Oh. I see you have a Zorua.

Luke: I sure do. She loves movies just as much as I do. I always let her play any female roles. Show her, Zorua.

(Zorua jumps up, spins around, and takes the form of a princess.)

Dawn: Wow, that’s amazing.

(Zorua jumps up and transforms back to her regular form.)

Luke: She is great at doing that.

Iris: By the way, Luke, who are the two trainers that are with you?

Luke: Oh, yeah. These two are Gloria and Marty.

Marty: Hey, there.

Gloria: It’s nice to meet you.

Luke: They’re here to help me make my latest movie.

Cilan: Oh, what’s your new movie going to be?

Luke: It’s going to be an action-adventure film.

Ash: Wow! That sounds awesome.

Luke: It is, but the only problem is I can’t think of a good story.

Iris: What? You never had problems with coming up with stories before.

Luke: I know I do, but I can’t think of a good, strong story that will work for this film.

Ash: Well, how about we help you come up with some ideas for your story?

Dawn: That’s a good idea, Ash.

Luke: Thanks, guys. I really appreciate it.

(Everyone sits down at the table.)

Luke: Okay, guys, what kind of story ideas do you have for an action-adventure movie?

Ash: We can do a sci-fi action movie that’s about defeating an invading alien force.

Iris: We can do a disaster movie about escaping from a huge flood.

Cilan: I think we could make a superhero movie.

Dawn: We can make an action-horror film.

Gloria: We could make a martial arts film.

Marty: I think we can do an action-comedy.

Luke: Those are all great ideas, but which one should we do?

(They all think for a minute.)

Ash: I know. Let’s go with Cilan’s idea. What do you think guys?

(They all nod their heads as if to say, “Yes.”)

Luke: Okay, we will do a superhero movie.

Iris: Now, we write the story we want to tell. What should it be about?

Marty: It can be about a regular trainer who gains superpowers from an electrical thunderstorm.

Dawn: That’s a good idea, Marty. But how are we going tell it so that it’s exciting throughout the whole story?

Cilan: I know. Let’s give Lex a call. (He pulls out the Pokepilot and calls Lex.) He might know what to do.

Lex: Hey, guys. What’s up?

Cilan: Hey, Lex. Well, we ran into Luke and his two friends, Gloria and Marty, who are making a new movie, but Luke is having trouble coming up with a story for his new film, so we’re helping him come up with one. We decided to have it be a superhero action movie that’s about a trainer that gains superpowers from a thunderstorm, but we don’t know how to keep it exciting throughout the whole story. So we thought you might know how we can keep the story strong and exciting.

Lex: I sure do. If you want to keep the story strong and exciting, you need to understand the five story elements.

Ash: Okay, but what are the five story elements?

Lex: The five story elements are the exposition, the rising action, the climax, the falling action and the resolution.

Cilan: What’s exposition?

Lex: Exposition is the beginning of the story; it’s where the situation, the characters, and the setting of the story are set up.

Dawn: What about the rising action?

Lex: The rising action is the series of action that set up the conflict for the main character of the story. It’s where all of the tension builds and the story works its way up towards the climax.

Ash: What’s the climax?

Lex: The climax is the turning point of the story. This is where the most exciting parts of the story occur.

Iris: How about the falling action?

Lex: The falling action is the events taking place right after the climax. Here, the story starts to draw to a close.

Gloria: And what’s the resolution?

Lex: The resolution is the conclusion to the story, where everything comes to a close.

Ash: Wow! Understanding the story elements is really helpful.

Lex: It can be sometimes. How about I show you how they work?

Ash: Okay, Lex. (He looks at the viewers.) Would you like to see how they work? (He waits for an answer from the viewers.) Oh, good.

(Cut to Lex’s lab.)

Lex: I’m going to tell you parts of a story, and you’re going to say what story element it is.

Everyone: Okay.

Lex: That’s the spirit. Let’s begin. Here, we meet a young boy who dreams of traveling across the world on his own Pokemon journey. What story element is this?

Iris: That’s the exposition.

Lex: Good one, Iris. Next, the boy goes on many different adventures, makes new friends and encounters different kinds of Pokemon on his journey. What story element is this?

Ash: It’s the rising action.

Lex: Very good, Ash. The boy goes through many dangers, travels to different gyms, and battles all kinds of evil forces. What story element is this?

Cilan: This is the climax.

Lex: Good work, Cilan. Now, the boy competes in a tournament and battles his hardest out. What story element is this?

Dawn: It’s the falling action.

Lex: Great job, Dawn. The boy completes his journey and returns home. What story element is this?

Marty: This is the resolution.

Lex: Great one, Marty. Good job, guys.

Everyone: Thanks, Lex.

Pikachu: Pika.

Axew: Axew.

Piplup: Piplup.

Lex: No problem. I’ve got to get going now. Good luck with your story. See you, guys.

Everyone: Bye, Lex.

Dawn: All right, guys, why don’t we go over what we know before we work on the story?

Ash: That’s a good idea, Dawn. But before we do that, why don’t we ask our friends at home if they want to go over with us?

Iris: Okay, Ash. (She looks at the viewers.) Would you like to go over with us? (She waits for an answer from the viewers.) Oh, good. Now, what’s exposition? (She waits for an answer from the viewers.) It’s the beginning of the story. Great.

Dawn: What’s the rising action? (She waits for an answer from the viewers.) It’s where the story starts to work its way up. Way to go.

Cilan: What’s the climax? (He waits for an answer from the viewers.) It’s where the most exciting part of the story occurs. Good one.

Ash: What’s the falling action? (He waits for an answer from the viewers.) It’s where the story starts to come to an end. Great work.

Gloria: Finally, what’s the resolution? (She waits for an answer from the viewers.) It’s the end of the story. Very good.

Everyone: Good work, guys.

Pikachu: Pika.

Piplup: Piplup.

Axew: Axew.

Zorua: (yips.)

Cilan: Okay, now let’s work on the story. What we need to do is keep the story exciting all the way through.

Ash: You’re right, Cilan. If we want to make the whole movie exciting, we need to keep it exciting. But how can we do that?

Marty: I know. We can plot out the story by using each of the story elements.

Iris: That’s a good idea, Marty. And with help from our friends at home, we can get it done.

Luke: Good thinking, Iris. (He looks at the viewers.) Are you ready to do it? (He waits for an answer from the viewers.) Great.

(Cut to a plot map.)

Cilan: Okay, this plot map will show what story element is being used and how strong it is. All you have to do is tell us what story element is being used. Okay, let’s get started. A trainer named Jeff gets struck by lightning and gains superpowers and doesn’t’ know what to do with them. What story element is this? (He waits for an answer from the viewers.) This is the exposition. Good one.

Iris: Jeff then notices some strange weather patterns all across the city and he decides to try and figure out what’s going on.

He finds out that an evil mastermind named Dr. Cloakweather is using her Castform to control the weather. What story element is this? (She waits for an answer from the viewers.) This is the rising action. Very good.

Ash: Jeff, now calling himself “Captain Atomic Storm” and Dr. Cloakweather have a battle. Cloakweather sends her Castform out and C.A.S sends out his Emboar. What story element is this? (He waits for an answer from the viewers.) It’s the climax. Way to go.

Dawn: C.A.S wins the battle, but Cloakweather sets her machine to create very destructive weather patterns that’ll wipe out the city and the people in it. C.A.S decides to use his superpowers to destroy the machine and stop the weather. What story element is this? (She waits for an answer from the viewers.) This is the falling action. All right.

Luke: He defeats Dr. Cloakweather and her Castform and stops the destructive weather patterns and saves the city and everyone in it. A.L.B is declared a hero for all of his efforts. What story element is this? (He waits for an answer from the viewers.) It’s the resolution. Nice job.

(Cut back to the gang.)

Everyone: Great job, guys.

Pikachu: Pika.

Piplup: Piplup.

Axew: Axew.

Zorua: (yips.)

Luke: Thanks a lot, guys. I now have a story for the movie. Now, we can start making it.

Everyone: Okay.

(They start to make the movie. They plan out the look of the film, build the sets and props, design the characters, make the costumes and make up the cast of characters. Afterwards, they start filming it, then record the voices for some of the characters, make some edits and finally add in the visual effects. A few hours later.)

Ash: Well, that was a lot of fun.

Iris: Yeah, it sure was.

Luke: Thanks for all of your help, guys. My new movie came out very well.

Cilan: I think a lot of people are really going to like it.

Dawn: The movie was hard to make, but it was worth it.

Marty: It was a good thing that we learned about the story elements.

Gloria: You make a good point, Marty. If we didn’t know about them, we wouldn’t have known how to tell the movie’s story properly.

Ash: Yeah, they just make creating the movie a little more exciting.

(They all turn to the viewers.)

Everyone: Thanks a lot, guys.

Pikachu: Pika.

Piplup: Piplup.

Axew: Axew.

Zorua: (yips.)

(Cut to the gang sitting in a theater watching their movie.)

Ash: Well, we had a good time. Did you have a good time? (He waits for an answer from the viewers.) Oh, great. I liked that we helped Luke out.

Iris: I liked making the film.

Cilan: I liked that we plot out the story.

Dawn: I liked that we all came up with different ideas for the story.

Luke: I liked the way the movie came out.

Gloria: I liked doing the examples.

Marty: I liked learning about the story elements.

Everyone: Thanks again, guys. See you on the next adventure.

(They all wave goodbye to the viewers and then turn to the big screen to watch the movie, and the scene irises out, ending the episode.)