Episode 6: All Tangled Up
We find our heroes wandering through a dense forest on their way to Marguerite City… the narrator stops and gasps as the camera pans to reveal Jessie, James and Meowth. Wait a minute! Those aren't our heroes! Well, it does seem strange to start off with Team Rocket, but, oh well. I wonder what they are up too…
The Team Rocket trio is slowly trudging through the tall pine trees and twisted brambles. They look very tired and bored. Wobbuffet is plodding along behind Jessie and Mime Jr. is sitting on James' shoulder.
"Jessie, can we stop? I'm thirsty…" James groans.
"Hush! I'm busy thinking!" Jessie snaps, as she scratches her chin with one hand.
"Thinking about what exactly?" Meowth asks, feeling exhausted.
"Every time we've encountered the twerps so far, the one with the Pikachu doesn't seem to fight us. But even if he did, do we have any kinds of new Pokemon to battle against him?" She asks, as she turns around to face them.
James and Meowth ponder for a moment.
"Well, we have Meowth, but he doesn't really battle." James points out.
"Yeah, not really my scene." Meowth shrugs.
"Well, what about… uh… Wobbuffet or Mime Jr.?"
"No! You're not putting my beautiful and sweet Mimey in harm's way, Jess!" James shouts crossly as he hugs Mime Jr. happily. Mime Jr hugs him back with a big smile.
"Mime!"
"And as for Wobbuffet." Meowth adds, "It doesn't really attack, just sorta defends."
Wobbuffet nods its head in agreement.
"Wobba!"
"We need some new Pokémon to be able to battle anyone who tries to fight us." Jessie declares.
"Well, maybe we could go look for some in this forest?" James asks, glancing around at all the tall, rather spooky looking trees lined up nearby.
"Good idea! Follow me, team!" Jessie shouts proudly as she strolls down the path into the woods.
"Jessie, wait up!" James and Meowth call as they hurriedly follow along after her, Wobbuffet bouncing along behind them.
"Wobbbbaaaaa!" it cries out.
Meanwhile, elsewhere in the dense forest, Ash, Mircea and Reyn are slowly making their way along the leaf-covered path.
"So, where exactly are we now guys?" Ash asks as he looks around at his surroundings.
Reyn nearly drops her guidebook as she fumbles around with it in her hands.
"It says here that we are in Gloam Woods. Not too far from the outskirts of Marguerite City." She replies, pointing to a small area on the bottom of the Anora Region map.
"That's great! Not far now, Pikachu!" he grins.
Pikachu nods his head happily.
"Pikachu!"
Mircea quietly hides behind both Ash and Reyn and slowly looks around the forest.
"D-do we really have to walk around this place? It's pretty dark and scary…"
"Don't worry, Mircea!" Ash smirks confidently, giving Mircea a thumbs-up. "When you have your Pokemon with you, you'll be ok!"
Mircea glances down at the two Poke Balls on his belt containing both Marmelon and Teddiursa and he smiles just a tiny bit.
"Th-thanks, Ash…" he chuckles quietly.
As the three of them waltz through the trees, they suddenly stop once they see a large stringy web going from one tree to the other and blocking their path.
"Hmm, so what Pokémon made this web?" Ash asks. "Was it a Spinda?"
His question is immediately answered as a small egg-shaped spider-like Pokémon scuttles out in between them and the web. It looks like a round, fuzzy egg with a few legs sticking out either side. It is coloured a greyish black and has four red eyes on its face, as well as two little fangs in its mouth.
"Woah, is that a new Pokémon?" Ash asks as he hovers his Pokedex over the small spider Pokémon.
"Tarantyke, the Spider Egg Pokémon, and a Bug type. Tarantyke are very small but hard-working Pokémon that help their older evolutions weave webs so they more space for growing their siblings. Tarantyke aren't poisonous but are very dangerous and don't like being around anyone who isn't familiar with them".
"Awwwwww! He's so cuteeeee!" Reyn squeals excitedly, her glasses slightly steaming up.
"Th-th-that thing is cute to you?" Mircea asks in complete confusion.
"Tarantyke are some of the most fascinating Pokémon in Anora!" Reyn explains giddily, holding up her guidebook, with a page showing and describing Tarantyke in detail, including many scientific facts and information that's too much for Mircea.
"It's so creepy though…" Mircea whimpers, hiding further behind Ash.
"I just need to catch it!" Reyn beams happily. "I love collecting Pokémon that live in forests and woodlands!"
She fumbles around in her pockets until she chucks out a Poke Ball, revealing her Applin.
"Apppp!" Applin calls out.
"Alright Applin, use Withdraw!" Reyn calls, trying desperately to stop laughing and giggling.
"App!" Applin quickly darts into the apple, and a glowing blue light shines around it briefly.
The Tarantyke leaps towards Applin and bites down hard on the apple.
"Ok now, Applin! Use-" But before Reyn could get Applin to use its next move, Tarantyke had already picked up Applin with its fangs and carried it off, scuttling away through the trees.
"Ahhh! Come back, Tarantyke!" Reyn cries out, dashing away after Tarantyke, as she turns left and disappears past some trees.
"Wait, Reyn! Wait for us!" Ash shouts after her, running off along with Pikachu.
Mircea begins to panic instantly and stumbles around, before following behind Ash as fast as he can with his eyes shut tight.
"Wait for me, guys!" he calls.
Reyn runs as fast as she can after Tarantyke. As soon as she sees dart round a corner with Applin still in its clutches, she turns round after him.
Unfortunately, whilst Ash can hear her shouting and running, he can't see where she's run off, so Ash runs down another path.
Meanwhile, as Mircea manages to catch up, he can't see Ash or Reyn and keeps on running straight ahead.
"Stop! Bring back Applin, Tarantyke!" Reyn calls as she tries reaching down to grab Applin as she continues to run after it.
"Reyn! Where are you?" Ash shouts out but nobody answers.
"Pika pika!" Pikachu cries but all they hear is the sound of the wind whistling through the bushes and trees.
"Ash! Reyn! Anyone!" Mircea whimpers as he legs it through the trees, completely panic-stricken.
Meanwhile, Team Rocket have stopped in their path and found a large web, similar to the one that Ash and his friends found.
"Hey, check out the size of that web!" James points to the web blocking their path.
"Stand aside, you two! Let ol' Meowth get rid of it!" Meowth chuckles as he leaps into the air and prepares to unleash a Scratch attack.
"Taraaaa!" A spider Pokémon calls out and sprays Meowth with a String Shot attack, causing him to fall to the ground, completely bandaged up.
"Mmmm!" he muffles as he tries to break free.
"Who's that Pokémon?" Jessie asks as she and James look down at the spider Pokémon whilst they help to free Meowth.
James looks through his collection of cards until he comes across one which he holds up to Jessie and Meowth.
"Here it is! This Pokémon is known as Tarantyke. It's a Bug type and is a common Bug Pokémon here in Anora." He explains, as the three of them look down at Tarantyke, who stares up at them curiously.
"Awwwwww! Such a cutie! You're the perfect Pokémon for me!" Jessie squeals in delight, as she reaches down to grab a Poke Ball.
"Well, beauty is in the eye of the beholder…" Meowth groans.
"Well, if you want to catch it, you have to weaken it in battle first, Jess!" James quickly reminds her.
"R-right, I knew that!" she replies. "Ok, Meowth! Showtime!"
Meowth sighs and places a paw on his forehead. "It's always me, isn't it?"
He slowly shuffles over to the Tarantyke and leaps up into the air.
"Alright! Here comes a high-powered Fury Swipes!" he cries and falls down quickly as he tries to scratch at Tarantyke.
Tarantyke looks up at Meowth flying down at him and starts to shriek loudly. James, Meowth and even Jessie stops to hold their hands to their ears. As the three of them glance back down at Tarantyke, they suddenly notice that there is several dozen Tarantyke surrounding them, and behind them is a slightly larger spider that is coloured a light greyish white, with webs all around its body, a few more eyes and legs, as well as having bits of broken eggshell on its body.
"Now, who's that Pokémon?" Jessie asks, a little nervously.
"Don't you think we should be getting out of here now?" Meowth asks as he begins to leg it away from all the Tarantyke.
"Meowth, wait!" Jessie and James shout to him as they run off after him.
"Taaaaaa!" The bigger spider Pokémon calls to the Tarantyke who all scuttle off together after Team Rocket.
Reyn meanwhile is still chasing after the Tarantyke that has her Applin in its jaws.
"Tarantyke, please give me back Applin!" she calls out, as she darts through the woods, going left and right, up and down, trying desperately to find them both.
"Reyn! Where are you?" Ash calls out as he turns round the opposite directions of where Reyn is running.
"Pika pika chu!" Pikachu calls out as he follows along after Ash.
"Guys! I can't find you!" Mircea cries out, completely disoriented as he looks all around at the tall trees, looking high and low for his friends.
A montage then begins of Ash, Reyn, Mircea, Team Rocket and the Tarantykes running all throughout the forest, going horizontally, vertically and diagonally in all directions.
Eventually, everyone stops to try and focus on their surroundings and they all look from left to right.
"Reyn? Say something!" Ash calls out. But then, one or two Tarantyke drop down from the branch above him and immediately begin to wrap him up using String Shot.
"Pika!" Pikachu gasps and begins to launch a Thunderbolt at them.
However, another Tarantyke blasts a String Shot at Pikachu, cancelling out the Thunderbolt and causing Pikachu to be quickly wrapped up.
The three Tarantyke nod to each other and start pulling Ash and Pikachu's wrapped up bodies along the path.
Meanwhile, Mircea and Reyn are still running through the woods, still trying their best to find their way.
Mircea jumps back in fright when he runs into Reyn.
"Wh-where is Ash?" he quivers.
"I thought he was with you." Reyn replies, just a tad nervously.
The two of them slowly glance over their shoulders and see the Tarantyke with Applin in its mouth, crawling round on the floor behind them, nearby it is a giant web.
"There you are!" Reyn cries out and leaps at the Tarantyke until it jumps back and several more Tarantyke leap out of the bushes and spray both Reyn and Mircea using String Shot. The two of them are soon tied up and are dragged along the ground by the Tarantyke, the other one still holding Applin following behind.
Team Rocket meanwhile are holding onto each other nervously as they shuffle slowly through the woods, looking around for the Tarantyke.
Suddenly, a big horde leaps out from the bushes nearby another huge web and they immediately surround them, unleashing a powerful String Shot before dragging them all the way down the path, following the other Tarantyke.
Eventually, Ash, Pikachu, Mircea, Reyn, Jessie, James and Meowth are all dangling from the branches of a large tree, just above a massive spider nest. Several webs are scattered around them.
Ash just barely manages to tear the web holding him so that he can look out through it. He sees a giant horde of Tarantyke scuttling around the nest, as well as several of the greyish bigger spider Pokémon. In the middle of the nest, right underneath them, is a gargantuan spider Pokémon. It is coloured primarily black or very dark grey with a few orangish brown markings on its body. It has many eyes on its head, along with several rows of huge sharp teeth, two of which are sticking out of its mouth. It also has several eggs on the back of its body, and eight huge legs.
"Taaaaaaa!" the giant spider Pokémon calls to the others, and they all begin to shriek out in response.
All of the spider Pokémon begin to discuss amongst themselves until they turn back to the giant spider, and all of them look up to Ash and the others wrapped up with string hanging above them.
The giant spider begins to crawl up the tree and starts to open its huge jaws towards Mircea and Reyn.
"Ta ta!" One little Tarantyke jumps up and down, trying to get the attention of the giant spider.
"Taaa!" the giant spider Pokémon hisses in response and continues slowly crawling up the tree trunk.
Then, Pikachu suddenly lets out a huge Thunderbolt, causing the string around it to break immediately. He then uses Iron Tail to cut off the string containing everyone else.
Once everyone falls to the ground and regains their composure, they all look at the spider Pokémon surrounding them, who immediately begin to huddle around themselves.
"So, who are those other Pokémon?" Ash asks as he holds out his Pokédex first at the greyish spider Pokémon.
"Taransnare, the Web Spider Pokémon, a Bug and Dark combo type, and the evolved form of Tarantyke. Now that they have been fully born from the egg they lived in when they were a Tarantyke, Taransnare use their newfound power to command several legions of Tarantyke to construct webs for their leader. They are usually found as the guards for the Tara that takes care of all of her children."
Ash then moves his Pokédex very slowly and nervously to the giant spider Pokémon, who is staring angrily at him.
"Taramama, the Mother Spider Pokémon, a Bug and Dark combo type, and the final evolved form of Tarantyke. Taramama represents the life cycle of Tarantyke, carrying many eggs on its back that will hatch into Tarantyke. Tara possesses immense strength and are some of the biggest and most powerful Bug type Pokémon around. Many fairy tales written in Anora usually depict them as villainous characters."
"Woah, so that's their mother? I can't believe I got to see this for real!" Reyn squeals excitedly.
Everyone around her, except for Jessie who is busy studying the Taramama very closely, looks at her awkwardly.
"Y-you l-l-like that thing…?" Mircea is at the point of complete panic now.
"That thing is terrifying, it was going to eat us! These things tied us all up!" Meowth objects crossly.
"Hmm, that Pokémon would make a very good addition to Team Rocket." Jessie ponders, imagining herself commanding Taramama to battle an opponent's Pokémon.
"Are you nuts?!" James cries out.
Taramama looks back at the other spider Pokémon and begins to chat with them. She then turns to Meowth and Pikachu and begins to talk to them.
"Ta, ta. Taran taaa!" she explains.
"What's she saying, Meowth?" Jessie asks.
"Taramama here says that they are really angry at us because we walked into their territory. They say that there are signs all around this forest that say we shouldn't go in because of that. It's apparently been this way for several years." Meowth explains.
"D-didn't I say that we should have taken notice of that sign outside the forest?" Mircea squeaks out timidly.
"It didn't seem that important to me at the time!" James chuckles awkwardly as Jessie and Meowth glare at him.
"Taran taaaa!" Taramama continues.
"However, they will forgive and forget this whole incident if we leave the forest and never return," Meowth turns to Jessie and James. "Well, you heard what they said. Better get going."
"Wait! I still really want to catch a Tarantyke!" Jessie snaps.
Suddenly, the Tarantyke still holding onto Applin shuffles over in front of them and spits Applin out of its mouth at Reyn.
"Applin! You're ok!" Reyn quickly picks up Applin and strokes it several times. Applin pops its head and tail out of the apple and beams happily.
"Appp!"
The Tarantyke then scoots over to Jessie and looks up at her. It then turns over to Taramama and nods at it before crawling all the way up Jessie's body and beginning to nibble on her shoulder.
"Yowch! What is it doing to me?!" Jessie cries out.
Reyn looks over at them and flips through her handbook.
"Whenever a Tarantyke finds a Trainer that it really likes, it first climbs up their body and nibbles on their shoulder as a show of affection." Reyn explains.
"Hey, Jess! You finally managed to get yourself a new Pokémon!" James explains happily but then instantly remembers what Pokémon it is exactly.
"Oh no, don't do it, Jess…" Meowth backs away slowly but Jessie strokes Tarantyke and places it on the ground before throwing a Poké Ball at it.
The Poké Ball hits Tarantyke and it goes inside before shaking once.
Twice.
Thrice.
And then with a click, Jessie picks up the ball and poses happily.
"I did it! I caught a Tarantyke!"
James and Meowth aren't so positive about the whole thing and pose rather miserably next to her.
"Woo hoo…" James says unconvincingly.
"Let's just hope it doesn't eat us…" Meowth chuckles awkwardly.
"Well, buh-bye, you cuties! I will make sure to make this Tarantyke the best one ever!" Jessie grins as she darts out of the forest.
"Jessie, wait up already!" James and Meowth race after her, though a little faster to get away from the army of Tarantykes.
"And… there they go…" Ash says simply, then he turns his attention to Reyn, who is busy looking around at all the spider Pokémon.
Then, the little Tarantyke who had been trying to get the attention of Taramama, limps over slightly towards Reyn and looks up at her before looking over at Taramama and falling over.
"Ta!" it squeaks.
"Oh no! Are you hurt, little Tarantyke?" Reyn asks as she kneels down to pick it up in her hands. The other Tarantykes, as well as Taramama glare at her and begin to shuffle slowly forwards.
"R-Reyn, what are you doing?" Mircea cowers behind Ash's back.
"I just need to tend to Tarantyke's wounds." Reyn replies as she begins to spray a Super Potion on Tarantyke, before putting a bandage around its small body.
Eventually, Tarantyke glances around and jumps and down happily.
"There, all better now?" Reyn asks smiling.
"Ta ta!" Tarantyke squeaks excitedly.
"Great! Glad I could help!" she beams, before stroking Tarantyke and putting it back down as she begins to get up.
"Well, it's been really nice meeting you all, but we have to get going now. Once again, really sorry for entering your territory." Reyn bows down apologetically. Taramama smiles happily as do its children.
"We promise not to intrude here ever again!" Ash replies and he, along with Reyn and a reluctant Mircea, wave goodbye to Taramama and its family before they all start walking away out of the woods.
The Tarantyke Reyn treated jumps up as it watches her leave, then begins to talk to the other spider Pokémon, before scuttling away after Reyn.
"Man, I'm so glad we got out of there…" Mircea looks down at his feet nervously, though relieved to be away from the Tarantykes.
Reyn sighs sadly. "I'm just a bit annoyed I didn't catch a Tarantyke."
"Well, there are other Pokémon you could catch soon." Ash replies.
Suddenly, all three of them turn around to see Tarantyke jumping up at them.
"Ta taran ta!" it squeaks happily.
"H-hey, it's you again. I think it wants to tag along…" Ash chuckles, feeling very nervous all of a sudden though not nearly as much as Mircea.
"D-don't do it… don't do it…" he pleads quietly.
"Awww awesome! You and I will be great together, Tarantyke!" Reyn giggles gleefully as she chucks a Poké Ball at Tarantyke. It goes into the ball instantly, and after one, two, three shakes, the ball clicks and Reyn picks it up in an instant.
"Oh yeah! I caught a Tarantyke!" she jumps for joy. Applin bounces alongside her, though not as enthusiastically.
"Appp?" it asks, not sure whether to be happy or scared.
"Oh awesome, but make sure you keep it well trained, Reyn." Ash laughs.
"Oh, don't you worry, Tarantyke will be great." Reyn replies. "Imagine what would happen if it evolved, I'd be unstoppable!"
Ash then imagines a giant Tara stomping around after him and Pikachu, as they run away in terror.
"Ye-yeah…" he sighs, but then, the two of them turn around to see Mircea dashing out of the forest faster than they'd ever seen him run.
"Mircea! Wait for us!" Ash calls.
"I don't wanna be here anymore!" Mircea screams in terror.
And all three of them dash out of the forest into the distance.
Well, that was certainly quite the escapade. Both Jessie and Reyn caught a Tarantyke, though nobody else seems to enjoy them quite as much as they do. Now with new Pokémon on their teams, more exciting thrills will be coming soon, as the journey continues…
To Be Continued...