Back at the rocky path where Ash and his friends were resting by the river, Brock had fed Pikachu and Togepi, and was now cooking some stew in a pot for everyone-else. As Brock stirred the stew, Misty told him about some of the events that had happened since he left, while Ash and May both waited intently by the pot, their mouths drooling with anticipation.
"I'll have to introduce you to my new Mudkip after lunch, Brock," grinned Misty. "It's one of the cutest, most adorable water Pokémon there is!"
"Sounds great, Misty," smiled Brock, as he checked how the stew was doing. "Just a little while longer now, and it'll be ready."
He then noticed the way Ash and May were staring hungrily at the stew and he chuckled. "Guys, you're drooling on me!"
"Yeah, don't get impatient, you two," said Misty. "Nothing's going to get in the way of lunch this time."
Misty had spoken too soon, for there suddenly came the sound of fluttering bird wings, getting louder as it came closer towards them.
"Pika!" cried Pikachu, as it jumped onto a rock to face the familiar shape of the Taillow leader flying towards them, its mouth still covered in chocolate.
"Oh no! It's that same Taillow!" cried Ash.
"At least it hasn't brought its friends with it this time," said Misty as she noted that the Taillow was all alone.
"But, what does it want now?" asked May, as the Taillow landed on a rock facing Pikachu and squawked at the electric Pokémon.
"Taillow, Taillow," crowed the Taillow in a challenging tone at Pikachu.
"Pika! Pika, Pika," replied Pikachu defiantly.
"Can you tell what they're saying?" asked Max.
"It looks to me like that Taillow is challenging Pikachu to a battle," said Misty.
"It sure does," agreed Ash. "Is that right, Pikachu?"
"Pika!" confirmed Pikachu with a nod.
Ash addressed the Taillow with an eager expression on his face. "Alright, we accept!"
May was puzzled by Taillow's challenge. "I don't get it. What's the point?"
"I guess Taillow wants to prove which Pokémon is the best," remarked Brock. "A strong opponent always make Taillow want to battle. I'm guessing it wants a clear winner decided in its battle with Pikachu."
Pleased that its challenge had been accepted, the Taillow flew into the air and hovered directly over the river, poised for battle!
"All right, Pikachu! Let's do it!" grinned Ash, as Pikachu leapt onto a rock in the middle of the river and faced its feathered opponent. With a loud screech, the Taillow swooped down and charged straight towards Pikachu, who stood unafraid on the rock.
"Pikachu, Quick Attack!" instructed Ash.
Pikachu began leaping fast from rock to rock, building up its speed before shooting straight towards Taillow. Momentarily taken by surprise, Taillow quickly swooped downwards, just narrowly avoiding getting hit by Pikachu!
"Whoa, did you guys see how fast that bird moved?" gasped an astonished Misty.
"How could it have dodged that Quick Attack?! First attacks are almost never off target," said a surprised Max.
"But Taillow can fly and Pikachu can't. A clear advantage," replied May anxiously.
Pikachu landed gracefully onto a rock, but then had to leap from one stone to another in order to dodge Taillow's own quick attacks!
"Use Thunderbolt!" called out Ash, and Pikachu quickly fired a powerful bolt at Taillow, hitting it dead-on. But as before in the forest, Taillow quickly recovered and shot towards Pikachu, who just managed to leap out of the way.
"Aw, wow! That Taillow's awesome! It just won't quit!" said Ash in awe.
Taillow shot towards Pikachu again, but this time, rather than go straight for the yellow-furred mouse head-on, the crafty Taillow instead aimed for Pikachu's tail, grabbing it with its beak! With a firm hold on the tail, Taillow flew upwards, dragging the surprised Pikachu up with it. With a startled cry, Pikachu let off a strong electric shock attack, but the Taillow ignored the pain and kept its grip on the tail!
"Oh no, it's like before back in the forest!" said Misty apprehensively. "That Taillow is just ignoring the attack no matter how painful it is!"
Once it got high enough in the sky, Taillow released its grip and sent Pikachu plummeting downwards, hitting the water with a loud splash! Recovering fast, Pikachu broke the surface of the water, only to see the Taillow soaring right towards it, the bird Pokémon's left wing brushing against the water as it built up speed for its next attack!
"Here it comes, pal!" grinned Ash. "Finish it for good this time! Thunder!"
Building up its electric power, a sparking Pikachu began skimming over the water, picking up speed as it charged towards Taillow. As the two Pokémon collided, Pikachu let off its thunder attack, causing a colossal explosion that sent a huge tidal wave into the air. As the human onlookers gasped in shock, the water came crashing back down and they could see Pikachu and Taillow perched on different rocks facing each other. Both Pokémon were panting, with Taillow looking particularly exhausted, but neither were willing to give up.
"Wow, it won't back down," breathed May.
"But it's a Flying-type. Electric attacks should have finished it," said Max as they saw the obviously-tired Taillow lift off the rock with its wings and prepare to attack again.
"It still wants to battle!" said Ash in disbelief.
"But it can't! If it keeps on like this, it'll hurt itself badly! Ash, you've got to stop this battle now!" exclaimed Misty.
"Yeah, but how?" said Ash.
"I think you'll have to catch it!" replied Brock seriously.
As the Taillow shot towards Pikachu once more, Ash quickly got out an empty Poké Ball and threw it right at Taillow, scoring a direct hit! The Ball opened up, and before the surprised Taillow knew what was happening, it found itself getting zapped inside the device, which closed shut and landed onto a rock near Ash.
As the Poké Ball light kept flashing red, everyone anxiously held their breath as they waited to see if Taillow would escape or not. But then, the light stopped flashing and the ball gave a loud positive ping sound, indicating that the Pokémon inside was secure. As the group all sighed in relief, Ash picked up the Poké Ball and started at it, not quite believing what he had just accomplished.
"Wow, I caught it!" he said at last.
"Just as well," sighed Misty. "If that battle went on any longer, Taillow could have done itself some serious harm!"
As everyone gathered around, Ash opened the Poké Ball and Taillow appeared on top of a rock. The bird was panting for breath and looked decidedly shocked by the whole experience.
"Poor Taillow. It's exhausted from its battle," said May, who could not help but feel sorry for the Taillow, even after all the trouble it had caused them.
"It's okay now. Calm down," said Ash soothingly, as Brock got out his bottle of healing potion and gave Taillow a quick spray.
"A shot of that and some rest, and you'll be as good as new in no time," smiled Brock as the Taillow recovered its wits.
Ash knelt down and smiled at his new Pokémon. "Well, Taillow, how do you feel about hitting the road with our group?"
With a new look of respect on its face, Taillow gave a loud positive squark of agreement.
Ash beamed. "Alright, then. We're glad to have you."
"Here, Taillow, let's clean you up a bit," said Misty kindly, as she got out a handkerchief and wiped the chocolate off Taillow's beak. The Pokémon gave a grateful crowing sound, before it climbed onto Ash's outstretched arm and perched itself onto his shoulder.
"My name's Max, Taillow," said Max cheerfully.
"Nice to meet you," added May, who was nervously hiding behind Brock.
"There's no reason to hide, you know," Brock smiled at her.
"I'm not hiding. I'm introducing myself gradually," said May timidly.
"Taillow, you're my very first Pokémon here in the Hoenn region," Ash grinned at Taillow. "Yeah! I caught a Taillow!"
"And an appropriate one for you, Ash, since it's as stubborn and hotheaded as you can be!" teased Misty with a playful wink.
"Oh, you think so, do you?" Ash frowned at her.
Just then, Taillow gave a squark of alert as it heard something coming from the forest. As the group turned to see what it was looking at, they were dismayed to see the rest of the Taillow Flock coming out of the trees and flying towards them!
