The gang has finally made it to Pinwheel Forest. They were advised by Nurse Joy that they should remain on the straight path. If they were to go off the pathway, they could be lost in there for days. They were lucky at first, until Tracey wanted to sketch all the new Pokémon he has seen.
They all raced to make sure their friend was going to be alright. When they got to him, they all noticed a Pokémon. Ash's pokedex identified it as a Snivy. Snivy just huffed at the clumsy trainer and walked away. Ash was determined to catch the Pokémon, so he followed it. The others tried their best to catch up.
When Ash confronted the Pokémon, it retaliated with Leaf Storm. From out of nowhere, Snivy has vanished. Ash was more determined to catch it now more than anything. As Ash ran off deeper into the woods, Iris was going to tend to Tracey to make sure he would be in good health. Cilan thought it was going to be best if he traveled with Ash, that way they were not traveling alone.
The two male companions went deeper into the woods. When Ash realized that they have gone way too far off the path, he asked Cilan how they were supposed to get back to the other. Neither of them had any idea on how they would be able to find the other; or even how to get out of the forest. They tried to travel backwards, but the area looked as if had changed for some unknown reason. Somehow, they both got lost from being lost. With no other option, they decided to take a rest and have a little snack.
Unbeknown to them, Snivy was watching from a distance. Snivy wanted to make sure that the humans would have a miserable time in the forest. Snivy never could trust humans after the trainer she had. Snivy never wanted to even think about that person. She went to get ready to use her Vine Whip to terrorize the people, until she saw and heard what they were doing.
"Ah man, we forgot to pack lunch." Ash moaned.
"All we have are two apples." Cilan said as he looked at his Pansage.
"Here you go Pikachu. You need this more than me." Ash handed his only source of food to his partner.
"Here Pansage, eat up." Cilan smiled. To which both Pokémon tried to deny the offer.
"Go on buddy. You need to eat, we'll be fine. We will find the others and get out of this crazy forest together."
"Agreed, so for now: dig in." Cilan cheered.
Snivy was astounded that they were giving up their only food for the Pokémon: as if they were friends. What was more shocking to see, was that the Pokémon split the apples so they all could have something to eat. She decided that it was best to not scare them into getting more lost. Ash Snivy started to walk away; she tripped over a mudslide and started to fall.
Before she could even react, Snivy was caught by a mysterious figure. Upon closer inspection; she soon found out it was the green haired trainer she was spying on. They made sure she was ok. Snivy then tried to walk away before the humans tried to catch her. Ash had then spoke, asking why she was running away.
Cilan chimed in saying that maybe Snivy does not want to be captured. Both of them gave Cilan a pondering expression. Cilan stated that Snivy are very intelligent beings and this Snivy was no exception. He used the move Leaf Storm for an example. That move is very high leveled so Snivy must have belonged to a trainer before. Now it looks as if Snivy wants nothing to do with people at all.
When asked if that was true, Snivy nodded. Ash at first frowned at the thought that the Pokémon he was chasing did not want to be around people, nut still respected the creature's wishes. Snivy played off the appearance of not caring very well. Even though it was stunned to see that people do care about how a Pokémon feels. Snivy tried again to walk away from the two, except it was getting dark.
Cilan offered for the Pokémon to sleep near them for the night. He said it was too dangerous to be walking here at night. Snivy was hesitant of the offer but knew it was best to camp out for the night. They managed to set up tents for all of the Pokémon and themselves. Snivy was underneath a nearby tree when Cilan reached out for the Pokémon. He told her that they made one for the grass snake too; being that is was chilly out right now.
Snivy could not keep her exasperated facial expression to herself at this point. She accepted the offer of a tent for the night. When they had woken up, Snivy got them some fruit for helping her with the prior day. They accepted the offer and started to walk in a random direction. That is until Snivy called out to them. When they looked back, she had a vine pointing in a complete different way than where they were going. They knew this meant that she knew where their friends were and went that way.
All of them were surprised with what they were seeing. Tracey and Iris were surrounded by floating stones and holes in the ground. Ash and Cilan raced over to try and help their friends when a new group of Pokémon had emerged. They all had a fiendish grin on their face and were getting ready for a battle.
Ash pulled out his pokedex to see what the new species was. It was identified as Dwebble. It became clear to them that these creatures claimed this as their habitat and did not take well to travelers. Ash remembered the stones from when he faced Roark back in Sinnoh. It was a move known as Stealth Rocks. Cilan noticed the patches of dirt to be Spikes. This was how the Dwebble mark their territory to forewarn others they are getting to close.
Ash had then sent out Tepig to face off against the hermit crab Pokémon. Cilan mentioned that since they were dueled with the rock attribute, Tepig's Ember attack would not deal as much damage as predicted. It would be dangerous to send out another Pokémon with the area surrounded by traps. Cilan could not risk getting Pansage hurt in the battle either. The Dwebble attacked with X-Scissor, and all they could do was dodge.
Snivy used her Vine Whip's to block off as many attacks as she could. Cilan then noticed another Dwebble has emerged from behind Snivy ad rushed to protect her. Unfortunately, a different Dwebble intervened and both Cilan and Snivy fell off of a decent sized ledge. As the two of them got up, Cilan noticed scratch marks on the grass snake.
"Those wounds do not look fresh. Have you battled them before?" Cilan concerned, only to see the Pokémon huff. "Then why do you stay here if others just attack you like that? Surely there could be anywhere else you could live."
Snivy just walked away from Cilan. Cilan tried to convince Snivy that she is not alone like she thinks. When Snivy turned around, she noticed that Cilan was just starring at the trainer and knew she could trust him. They both went back up towards the Dwebble to release their trapped friends.
Ash was having a difficult time trying to defeat so many of the foes at hand. When the leader was about to strike, Snivy used her vines to ensnare the leader and tossed it across the field. The leader saw this as a challenge. The two of them had engaged in a one on one battle. Snivy went right for Leaf Storm while Dwebble blocked with X-Scissor.
Cilan commented that while Leaf Storm would get weaker after each use, her physical moves would not suffer the same effect. Snivy had then gone for Leaf Blade, which left a critical amount of damage. Dwebble was not going to lose to what it thought was a weakling. So the Pokémon went for its most powerful move it had: Rock Wrecker.
Snivy did manage to avoid the oncoming boulder; however the impact left the entire forest to rumble. Everyone knew it was too dangerous to stay so they all fled. The leader tried its best to flee with the others, but somehow lost its footing and started to fall into a pile of pillars. As Dwebble screamed in horror, vines came out of nowhere and caught the Pokémon. Dwebble then noticed it was Snivy that rescued it.
Trees were falling in all directions possible. Other Pokémon scattered in fear trying to get out of the forest. Iris took the initiative and guided as many as the scattering creature she could to safety. Something came over Iris, as if she could see an incoming tree fall on top of a small heard of trapped Patrat. She leaped out and tried to grab them before the tree fell on them. She was able to be successful in doing so. Luckily everyone was safe.
The Dwebble looked back at the gang and went on their way to try and find a new place to live. Everyone thought that Snivy was going to join them, but alas she stayed behind. She looked over at the group and thought it would be best for her to stay with them.
"So does this mean that Snivy accepts Ash as her trainer now?" Iris asked.
"Not exactly. Sure I would love to have a strong team member join us. but I think she is choosing Cilan as her trainer." Ash said as Snivy agreed.
"You really think so Ash?" Cilan could not believe what he heard.
"You said it yourself. 'Snivy are very smart Pokémon and know if a trainer is good enough for them or not.' And that trainer is you Cilan." Ash commented.
"That's great Cilan, you got a very cool Pokémon that wants to be with you." Tracey congratulated.
"I guess so. So Snivy, want to join me on an adventure?" Cilan asked as he held out a pokéball.
Snivy raised a vine a touched the ball in order to be caught. Once it was official, Cilan released the Pokémon and made an agreement with the grass snake. He promised that they would get really close to one other and that he would do anything to make sure she was happy. They all started walking towards Castelia City. Tracey asked Iris how she knew the tree was going to fall the way it did. She was not sure herself. She mentioned how it felt like a spirit was watching over her and told her that was going to happen.
Since none of them knew how to explain it, they just dropped the subject and carried on. Outside of the city was a Daycare for Pokémon. Since people were too busy, they needed a place that could watch and take care of their Pokémon while they were at work or something. The gang took this opportunity to take a rest after what they just went through.
As the group headed into the Daycare, a cluster a preschoolers had rushed over to greet the newcomers. Shortly after, the teens were trampled onto the ground and waited for someone in charge to handle the situation. Sure enough, a lady who went by the name Gloria had tried to get the little ones to settle down.
Gloria apologized for the rude greeting the kids gave them. They all just brushed it off as if it did not bother them. Ash asked if they could stay and rest for the moment, saying they just got out of Pinwheel Forest after the natural disaster that took place. Gloria's mother then stepped in and said if they want to stay, they would need to pitch in and help around the facility.
Gloria's mother, Barbara, has always made it a policy that if a trainer wants any assistance then they need to offer assistance in return. The guys did not mind this, but Iris found it strange that Barbara wanted a favor in return when they were only going to stay for an hour or so. However, being out numbered she went along with the others and helped out as best she could.
It was getting close to lunch break for the kids, so the gang decided to help out with kitchen duty. Cilan used his expertise working a restaurant to make the meal. Iris helped out by offering to get the snacks for them. While Ash and Tracey went and did the dishes. They even had their Pokémon come out and help too. The kids enjoyed having their lunch brought to them by Pokémon. Even though they were a little scared of Druddigon at first, but eventually got to like the Pokémon. Everyone was having a nice lunch until a Pokémon entered the room.
"Quick, stop that Pokémon!" Gloria called out.
"Huh? Who's that Pokémon?" Ash asked, as he pulled his pokedex out.
"That Trubbish has always caused us problems." Barbara groaned.
"What do you mean?" Cilan pondered.
"It swallows the food made for the children. And when we try and get it back, it spits it out at us."
"The moves Stockpile, followed by Swallow and Spit Up! That must be one hungry Pokémon!" Tracey noted.
"That's the thing. No matter if we feed it before the kid's lunch, it will still come and take their food." Gloria complained.
"That's a terrible thing to do!" Iris shouted.
"We have been trying to get the Pokémon for months, but it always escapes us." Barbara stated.
"Leave it to us! We will find that Pokémon and make sure it will not bother you again." Ash proclaimed.
The others joined in on the search for the Trubbish. They were first trying to figure out how it could have disappeared without leaving a trail. Tracey took out his binoculars to examine the area for any traces as to where the Pokémon has gone. Tracey managed to find an air duct that had few traces of sludge. When opened, a foul odor smacked them in their face. They seemed to know where and how Trubbish had entered the area now. All they had to do was follow the stench and they would find the Pokémon.
Unfortunately, since it was in an air duct: the smell went through the entire building. So finding the exact location was going to be more challenging than they originally thought. Barbara was able to get them a copy of the air duct blueprint so they could figure out how to lure the creature out. Cilan noticed that one of the spots was a central point that controls where the air goes. Tracey offered to go see if Trubbish was in there.
It took Tracey several minutes to even try and find the area he had to go to. When he did managed to find the Pokémon, he stayed back to observe why Trubbish was doing all of this. Trubbish was watching the other kids in a classroom setting. Tracey then figured out what the Pokémon was doing the entire time. Sadly, Tracey was discovered and Trubbish launched a Sludge Bomb. Tracey fell into the classroom and alarmed the kids and Gloria. The rest of the gang and the construction workers who let them in the air ducts soon followed.
Tracey explained why Trubbish was doing what it did. Trubbish was only eating the food for attention for the kids. They seemed to like it when Pokémon came out to play with them. Trubbish only wanted to make friends so it used humor to do it. However, the adults kept scaring it away into hiding. When Gloria asked her class if this was true, all the kids cheered happily. This caused Trubbish to even smile a bit too. The construction worker was not as happy though.
He sent out his Boldore to surround the Trubbish. The worker stated that the trash bag Pokémon was going to make his job a living nightmare so he had to 'take out the trash.' Ash and company stood by the Pokémon saying that it was wrong to attack Pokémon just because you want to. The construction worker still ordered his Pokémon to attack Trubbish. However, the mover Rock Blast got out of control and almost hit one of the kids. Gloria stepped in to protect them. By this point, Barbara had entered to see her daughter get hit by the worker's Pokémon and fumed. The construction worker fled the scene real quick.
Luckily, Gloria was alright. The school even gave Trubbish its own room to play with the kids. Barbara thanked the trainers for everything they did. She handed Ash an egg as a thank you present. Everyone asked what it was going to be. But ash said he wanted to wait until it hatches, for it makes it more fun that way. Now the gang was about to enter the city.
The gang was now in Castelia City. There was so much that each of them wanted to do. Iris wanted to try out a specialty known as a Castelia Cone. While Tracey wanted to visit the art museum. As for Ash, he wanted to take on the gym as soon as possible. They all went inside the Pokémon Center to heal their Pokémon. Nurse Joy check on Ash's egg to see how it was doing.
Nurse Joy complimented Ash for taking very good care of the egg and said it was close to hatching. Ash was getting excited for the Pokémon to be hatched at any moment. As the gang headed out of the Center, a man had approached them. He introduced himself as Burg. He was wondering if the trainers could help with a problem he was having. They asked what the issue was first.
Burg explained that a group of Pokémon known as Venipede was running wild in the city. It was becoming a huge disaster. Burg also mentioned that the police were going to take extreme measures if the problem escalates. They agreed to help in any way they can. When they got to the center of the city, they saw a familiar face. It was Trip standing right in front of them.
"Trip! What are you doing here?" Ash pondered.
"I'm here to get my gym badge of course. And I see that the Gym Leader has arrived too."
"Where's the Gym Leader?" Ash asked.
"You really are from the boonies. That man standing right there is the Gym Leader!" Trip pointed at Burg.
"You're the Gym Leader?!" Ash was baffled.
"Yes, but we need to worry about that later. Right now the Venipede are the main concern."
All of them agreed and went to figure out a way to help. Burg was still wondering why the Pokémon were loose in the city. Cilan thought the possible reason was the tremor in the forest spook the Pokémon and came in this direction. Burg thought could be the case, but still wondered what they could do about it.
Trip had an idea, so he sent out his newly evolved Lampent. Ash pulled out his pokedex to figure out what it was. Ash then learned his Litwik evolved, but Trip mocked Ash for not knowing how evolution worked. Lampent went for a Flamethrower attack by the command of his trainer. Burg insisted on refusing to battle the Pokémon, as they were just lost and confused. Trip then stated that they should not have been trying to terrorize people then.
Cilan stepped in and commented on how they were just trying to find a home, and this was the closest thing they probably could get to. Trip saw no point in continuing to argue so he just left. Ash then thought of an idea. If they could just scare the Venipede out of the city, then no one would get hurt and they could find a new home. Everyone was on board with the plan, so now it was time for action.
Iris had Druddigon use an Incinerate to scare the bug Pokémon. Cilan had Pansage and Snivy keep the Pokémon in a single line to make sure none of them wandered off. Ash and Tracey went and got the stranglers that would try and run away. One of the Venipede tried to fight off the trainers and used Toxic. The poisonous sludge disintegrated the ground around it and Venipede tried to use Rock Climb to get back to the surface. However the ground became unstable and Ash and his Pokémon fell as well.
They all awoke and looked at their surroundings. They were in some sort of cave. Woobats were flying around so ash carried Venipede and Pikachu to safety. Venipede has Poison Point as its ability so got poisoned while running. They managed to get into the sewer line underneath the city. A figure appeared, and ash thought it was a monster at first. Until given a Pecha Berry, it was a man. The man did not have anything to say, he only pointed at the exit. The hero followed the direction and thanked the man. However, when ash turned around, the man was gone.
Back on the surface, the Venipede's were going out of control. They were no longer following the plan that the heroes set up. Cilan wondered if it was the fact that one of their own went missing. Burg was more concerned that the leader of the Venipede would show up. When they asked who the leader was, a Whirlipede arrived. It took one look at Ash and noticed the injury on Venipede. Now the leader was enraged.
Whirlipede started to launch several Sludge Bombs in any direction. The Pokémon were trying to calm it down. Burg stepped in with his ace Pokémon Leavanny. Ash noted the Pokémon into his pokedex, while Tracey sketched the creature using String Shot. Iris yelled at the two to stop standing around and doing nothing. The two of them sent out Pidove and Frillish respectively. The two Pokémon attacked the leader and weakened it down to calm down. Trip had appeared and threw an Ultra Ball at the Pokémon.
They asked what he was thinking; to which he replied that if he caught the leader, then they would follow him out of the city. Ash asked about his gym battle, and rip said based on the way the town looked: he was not going to be able to challenge the gym any time soon. After the capture had been made complete, trip ran away with his newly caught Pokémon and the Venipede followed. Even the one Ash saved went after its leader. the gang gave up and let Trip do what he was doing.
The Pokémon Center was still intact, so they rested their Pokémon there. Luckily the egg was unharmed and it was starting to hatch. The infamous glow started and a tiny creature had appeared. Ash pulled out his pokedex to identify the Pokémon.
