Basic Training

Basic Training is the twenty-eighth episode of Ben 10: Ultimate Alien.

Plot
After Ben's team defeats Trumbipulor for his crimes of illegal Level 3 tech dealing, the Plumbers come and arrest Trumbipulor. When one of the Plumbers notices that the team has yet to complete basic training since they were made Plumbers in a field operation (see Darkstar Rising), they have to enter the Plumbers' Academy to complete basic training.

Ben is complaining about attending the Plumber's Academy. Ben meets Tack, who said that Ben was the inspiration for him to go to the Plumber's Academy. They also meet the Alpha Squad. Their leader Kodek Branigen rags Ben, Gwen, Kevin, and Tack. They then go to their barracks, where they meet Magister Hulka, the strict instructor.

Hulka hates it when students use their powers because the curriculum is meant to apply to all students, and using powers during lessons is an equivalent to cheating. However, Ben uses Four Arms and Swampfire on the training site. During their training, the fusion grenade they were practicing with malfunctioned and it's mode changed from stun to overload. Tack can't release the grenade from his hand, even with the help of Magister Hulka to release it. But the grenade is still stuck on Tack's hand. The grenade explodes, but they are saved by Fasttrack. Tack was so impressed with Fasttrack, but Hulka was unimpressed because he had used his powers again.

In the team's room, Ben and Tack have a conversation. Gwen and Kevin were sleeping, while Ben and Tack were still up since they can't sleep and go to investigate who sabotaged the grenade. As a result, not only do they not find the saboteur, but they are rudely woken up by Hulka and are tired. The team's punishment for Ben and Tack sneaking out is combat training with the Alpha Squad.

The test is to save a dummy hostage from the Alpha Squad without using their powers. Gwen was planning for their strategy: she, Kevin, and Tack attack to save the hostage dummy, while Ben was assigned on back-up. Ben complained about being on back-up, but Kevin said that he couldn't hit the broad side of a barn and Gwen said that there was no offense. Kevin was the first to get caught by Alpha Squad. Gwen was second to get caught, and Tack was the last.

Kodek said that no one can lose to Alpha Squad, when suddenly Ben makes a kamikaze run, which gives Kevin and Gwen the opportunity to attack most of the Alpha Squad into submission. Ben then transforms into Diamondhead to defeat Kodek.

Hulka was upset with the two. He was furious with Kodek because he was so easily taken down by a group of "rookies", while he was angry at Ben because he had used his powers again and had broken the dummy which, had this been a real hostage situation, would have killed a innocent bystander. As punishment, they were to clean their barracks using their toothbrushes.

Whilst they were cleaning the barracks, they hear the explosion of a bomb and run over to find that it went off in Hulka's room. Ben transforms into Terraspin to extinguish the fire, when Hulka arrives and demands to know what is going on. Instead of being grateful for putting out the fire, he tells the team that after they have finished tidying their room, they are to put back together what was left of his.

That night, the team decides to trail Hulka to catch whoever was trying to kill him. He went into the weapons room, where it appears that Kodek is the saboteur. However, Kodek reveals that he got the same ideal to figure out who's trying to kill Hulka. Meanwhile, Hulka is attacked by Kolar.

Kolar takes Tack hostage and attempts to use him to force Hulka into a Null Void portal, which opens up into a sun. Four Arms remembers Tack's unusual and seemingly useless ability to extend his extremely flexible neck, so Tack knocks Kolar over, who gets into a tug-of-war with the others. Hulka then pushes him into the portal, after he changed the coordinates to a prison.

After a few weeks at the academy, the team graduates with flying colors. Hulka drops by to see the team off and thanks Ben for saving him in his own way, by giving Ben one of his medals which translates to an award for creative and effective tactics made in the heat of battle.

Major Events

 * Diamondhead makes his debut in Ultimate Alien.
 * The gang meets Kolar and Tack.
 * Ben and the team go train in the Plumbers' Academy and pass with flying colors.
 * Ben received a medal for demonstration of a Plumber's most essential attribute which is the ability to exercise latitude and creativity in problem solving.
 * Ben transforms into Fasttrack for the first time.
 * Trumbipulor makes his debut.

Ultimatrix Alien Debuts

 * Fasttrack
 * Diamondhead

Characters

 * Ben Tennyson
 * Gwen Tennyson
 * Kevin Levin
 * Tack (first appearance)
 * Magister Hulka (first appearance)
 * Kodek Branigen (first appearance)

Villains

 * Kolar (first appearance)
 * Trumbipulor (first appearance)

Aliens Used

 * Ultimate Echo Echo (cameo)
 * Four Arms (x2)
 * Swampfire
 * Fasttrack (first appearance; cameo)
 * Diamondhead (first re-appearance)
 * Terraspin

Errors

 * During target practice Ben is shooting at a picture of an alien, in the next slide it is a totally different alien picture.
 * Terraspin's shell is smaller than usual.
 * In one scene, Magister Hulka fighting Kolar, Kolar's stripe on his torso is gone.
 * When Magister Hulka came in after their training was over, when they lined up, Ben was cross-eyed.
 * When Ben says "But not as good as us," in Combat Practice, he was going to hit the Ultimatrix on his left hand. But there was an Ultimatrix on his right hand, too.
 * Terraspin's shell is missing a hole in one scene.
 * During combat practice, the Alpha Squad member who caught Kevin was the same person who caught Gwen.

Allusions

 * The name of Kodek Branigen is a reference of the surname of Zapp Brannigan, a character of Futurama.
 * Kevin's name for Trumbipulor, "Dumbozo" is a reference to Dumbo.

Trivia

 * It is revealed that there is a sun within the Null Void.
 * This episode relates to how Ben trains the player in the Null Void at a Plumber Training Site in the game Fusion Fall.
 * Ben appears to have fixed the setting causing his clothes to be removed and replaced with a copy of his casual clothes.
 * There is an episode of Hot Wheels: Battle Force 5 that has the same titile.