Power Ploy

Power Ploy is an episode of Kirby: Right Back at Ya!. It is the 80th episode, coming after Bonkers Appears! and preceding A Trashy Tale. Here, King Dedede orders a drink called Pump Up D in his attempt to destroy Kirby.

Plot

At the start of the episode, King Dedede files a complaint to Nightmare Enterprises at how his Demon Beasts fail in their mission. The Nightmare Enterprises Salesman then gives him a drink called Pump Up D. Pump Up D's give their user an energy boost, hence their name. King Dedede is excited about his gift, but Escargoon is worried. They then test their new Pump Up D on some Cappies while they watch.

Meanwhile, Chef Kawasaki is on his way to his restaurant, when Gengu catches him and talks with him. They then meet a drink machine and get a Pump Up D, and then, Kawasaki gets buff from his intake of the substance. Kawasaki then uses a bunch of the drinks to create a new food called Stamina Stew, which Samo consumes to get buff and admits that it is not like his mother's stew.

Police Chief Bookem and Doron walk past the machine, drink two Pump Up D's, and get into a chase. The mailman, Melman, then drinks some and becomes muscular, then hits a home run with his cane as a baseball bat.

Doctor Yabui then prescribes Pump Up D to a sick Cappy. The Cappy drinks a Pump Up D and his disease is cured, and his body gets buff. Yabui then says that it works.

Tiff and her brother find a drink machine. Tuff recognizes the Nightmare Enterprises [Salesguy|Salesman]] from his memory, while she and Curio analyze the drinks and identify the active ingredient to be "Quickzine," which gives energy but can be dangerous.

Soon, Kirby himself gets a load of the Pump Up D's despite Tuff's warnings, and he goes haywire. Losing control of his body, Kirby devours a King dedede statue and transforms into Stone Kirby. Stone Kirby goes on a rampage, destroying things, as Tiff yells at Tuff for not stopping Kirby ("WHY DIDN'T YOU STOP HIM!?").

Back at his Castle, King Dedede is boxing Waddle Dees all over the boxing ring like tomorrow does not exists. Escargoon warns him that the former is eventually going to box out his entire army. King Dedede continues partying. Escargoon plans to stop him by swapping the Pump Up D's with a new drink called Power Down E. Power Down E's can drain their user's energy. This eventually causes the town to go to sleep.

Tiff and Tuff find Kirby unconscious on a tree stump. King Dedede puts on his night show and plans to replace every drink with Pump Up D's. Sir Ebrum and Lady Like do not like this, and then everyone gets tuckered out. King Dedede is defeated when Escargoon hands him the Power Down E he ordered earlier.

The next day, Tiff and Tuff walk Kirby back to Cappy Town on a stretcher. Tiff notices that it is too quiet and Chef Kawasaki despairs that he will not be able to sell his Stamina Stew bowls.

Meanwhile, King Dedede wakes up as he watches his Nightmare Enterprises Teleporter activate without input. The Customer Service then sends the Red Viper to deal with Kirby. The Red Viper then hunts for his target.

Tiff and Tuff then give Kirby a taste of the energy drink, but Kirby instead falls unconscious with his eyes crossed out, allowing the Red Viper to crush Kirby, even when Tiff calls for the Warp Star. Escargoon then appears in King Dedede's Limousene revealing he threw out the Pump Up D's. He then reveals that the concoction Kirby drank was a Power Down E.

Tiff then gets the idea to use a bowl of the Stamina Stew Kawasaki made to empower Kirby. Kirby, with his strength, kills the Red Viper by throwing him into the sun.

Kirby makes his way back home, and Escargoon tells King Dedede that drinking Pump Up D is a bad idea. King Dedede then makes drinking Wise Up D his next need.

Trivia

• This is the only episode where Kirby does not use a Copy Ability to defeat a Demon Beast. It is also the only episode where he uses a Copy Ability to cause a problem instead of fixing it.
• How Kirby defeats the Red Viper is a reference to Super Mario 64.
• This is the second time Kirby uses the sun to defeat a Demon Beast. The first time was in The Big Taste Test.
• The form King Dedede takes on when he uses his Pump Up D is similar to what he becomes during his second phase when he is fought in Kirby Star Allies.

[[Category:Anime]