With the Taillow gone for the present, the group of travellers let Brock lead them away out of the woods and over to a rocky clearing that ran alongside a running river. As they did so, Ash and Misty noted that Brock had changed the outfit he used to wear to a new one consisting of a dark brown jacket with an orange collar, a green undershirt, grey trousers, and a pair of dark blue shoes.
"We'll be safer outside of the forest," said Brock as they stopped to rest on the rocky path.
"Thanks, Brock. We were lucky you came by," said Ash gratefully.
"We certainly were! You really saved our necks back there," smiled Misty.
"Well, you should really thank Forretress," smiled Brock as he pocketed the Fast Ball that contained the explosive Pokémon that had just saved their lives.
Brock then knelt down to face Pikachu, who was a bit bruised from the battle with the Taillow leader.
"It's good to see you again, Pikachu," said Brock, as he got out a bottle of healing potion from his pocket. "Looks like you got hurt a little bit, huh? Here, this'll help."
Brock sprayed the contents of the bottle over Pikachu, and the yellow-furred mouse winced a little from the sting of the healing ointment.
"So Brock, what are you doing out here?" asked Ash.
"Yeah, you told us you were heading home to sort some errands out for your family," added Misty, as she recalled the somewhat abrupt manner of Brock's departure back in Cerulean City.
"I did go home, and everything got sorted okay, so I decided to come back out," replied Brock. "Then Professor Birch told me you guys were heading to Rustboro City, so I decided to come out here and see if I could find yer."
Ash was elated to hear this. "Hey, does that mean we're gonna travel together again?"
"Yeah! If you don't mind?" said Brock.
"What a silly thing to ask," grinned an equally delighted Misty. "Of course it's great to have you back, Brock!"
"Yeah, best news we've had all day," agreed Ash.
"Oh, by the way, Brock, these are some new friends that Ash and I have made," said Misty, gesturing to May and Max. "This is May and her brother Max from Petalburg City. Max and May, this is Brock. He's traveling to become the world's best Pokémon breeder."
"Hi there!" said May with a friendly smile.
"Hey, Brock. Nice to meet you. It's cool being a breeder, huh?" said Max in keen interest.
"Yeah. I still got a lot to learn, though. But hi," smiled Brock.
Ash beamed, glad to see that they had all gotten off to a good start. "When Misty and I first met Brock, he was the gym leader in Pewter City."
"Wow, you were?" said Max in awe.
"Hey, our Dad's a gym leader too!" added May.
"Sheesh, you two weren't this impressed when you found out I used to be a gym leader," muttered Misty under her breath.
"May and Max's father is the Gym Leader in Petalburg City," explained Ash to Brock.
"I bet you guys want to become gym leaders too," remarked Brock.
"Hmm... I don't know about that," said May.
"I don't even have my first Pokémon yet," sighed Max sadly.
"Don't worry Max. That takes time. It'll happen before you know it," Brock assured the young boy. "That's why I left most of my Pokémon at home, so my brothers could practice."
"That's cool," grinned Ash.
Max turned admiringly to Brock. "Your Forretress' explosion attack was awesome!"
"Hey, thanks!" smiled Brock.
"Yeah, we're sure glad you brought your Forretress with you, Brock," said Misty. "It was a real life-saver!"
"Hey, isn't Forretress a bug-type? I thought you said you were scared of those, Misty?" said Max, as he remembered the argument they had earlier.
Misty gave a sheepish expression. "Yeah, but there are a few that don't bug me so much."
May turned hopefully to Brock. "Is it true what Ash and Misty told us about you? That you're a really good cook?"
Brock nodded and May vigorously added, "Then how's about a little sample?"
"Alright. Let's have some lunch," smiled Brock as he crossed over to where he had left his backpack by some large rocks. But to his dismay, he found that the backpack had been opened up and ransacked!
"AHH! THEY'RE GONE!" he cried with horror. "There were at least four sandwiches in my backpack!"
"Noooo!" howled May, upset at once again being denied any food.
"Brock, do you think you might have eaten them already?" suggested Misty.
"No, although I was just about to eat one when I heard the Thunderbolt and ran to see if it was Pikachu!" replied Brock.
"So they disappeared during the battle," realised Ash.
"Then the other Taillow ate them probably," groaned May in disappointment. "I'm so hungry!"
"Oh boy, you're more obsessed with food than Ash can be!" muttered Misty.
Brock pondered the possibility that the Taillow might be to blame. "Taillow do tend to travel in flocks looking for food and then devour whatever they happen to come across. As you probably noticed, they're also very territorial and pretty aggressive, so other Pokémon usually run and hide whenever they hear a flock of Taillow coming."
"That explains why we couldn't find any Pokémon when we first got to the woods, huh?" said Max.
"And why the whole flocks attacked us when we were just trying to get some fruit out of those trees," added Ash, as May's stomach gave a very loud rumble.
Brock smiled as he came up with an alternative solution for lunch. "Okay, how about I rustle us up some stew?"
"Really?" cried May joyfully.
"That sound great!" said Max.
"It sure does!" chimed in Misty.
"Brock to the rescue!" grinned Ash.
"And Pikachu and Togepi are first," said Brock as he presented a full tin of Pokémon. "How does that sound?"
Pikachu and Togepi both cheered at this, as things suddenly looked like they were brightening up for everyone.
As to the mystery of who stole Brock's sandwiches, it would surprise no-one to learn that the culprits were none other than Team Rocket. The crooks had watched the earlier battle with the Taillow with great interest, and had decided to recruit the flock in their latest scheme to steal Pikachu. To achieve this, they stolen the sandwiches from the backpack that they had found abandoned while Brock was racing to find the others. And now they had returned to the scene of the fight, where the Taillow had regrouped around the large crater left from Forretress' explosion attack.
"Calling all Taillow!" Meowth called to the flock.
"We come bearing gifts," added Jessie, as she and the others held up the sandwiches in their hands for all the Taillow to see.
"Yummy sandwiches!" chimed in James in his most charming voice.
"Wobbuffet! Wobbu," said Wobbuffet, as they all waved the sandwiches about in the air in order to tempt the Taillow over to them.
"They're yours to chow down on," started Meowth, "but first we got to talk and make a little dealio."
But the greedy Taillow were not going to wait. They shot straight towards Team Rocket, causing the villains to panic and drop the sandwiches on the ground. Within seconds, the Taillow were upon the food, eagerly eating it all up, as a befuddled Team Rocket looked on.
"Or you could eat first, and then we'll talk," mumbled Meowth.
"Oh, I still say we should've saved one to eat ourselves," sighed Jessie, as the Taillow continued to devour the sandwiches.
"A rumbling tummy is small price to pay to capture a Pikachu!" shrugged James, as the Taillow finished their meal and looked eagerly at Team Rocket, hoping about on the ground and making loud and impatient squawking noises.
"They're saying they want some more," translated Meowth.
"Do these feather brains think this is a restaurant?" snorted James indignantly.
Undeterred, Jessie addressed the Taillow flock. "Fine! You can have some more to eat. But first, you have to do a little something for us..."