Chapter 17: Runaway Toedschool, come back!
Ash and his group have just arrived back at Mesagoza where they decided to relax before they decided to go on and continue their journey through Paldea. Ash decided to write down some lesson ideas he had, including the basics on raising a Pokemon, the needs that can vary between a species, and so on.
"Hey Nemona" Ash said to his assistant "Have there been any signs of this Team Star going around the area?" "Not really" Nemona replied, as she had revealed that they had suddenly gone quiet before she left to join the group. "For all intents and purposes, they have completely vanished from the city" Nemona then added, which made Ash think, if they aren't anywhere in Mesagoza, then where are they now?
"Now that I think of it" Gus decided to chime in "Penny has been acting rather odd lately, usually sticking to herself" this didn't sit well with Nemona whom then scolded him "Gus, we don't spy on others!" "Hey, I'm just saying what I know" Gus defended himself with his hands in front.
"Ok that's enough, let's not escalate things" Ash dispelled the tension and they all went back to doing their own thing.
Ash proceeded to write down a list of ideas for later, until he was interrupted by the sound of an angry chef running. "Get back here you thief!" The chef shouted as he was chasing something. Ash got closer to the action to see what the commotion was about.
When he got there, he saw the chef chasing an odd Pokemon. It resembled a Tentacool, but it was a mild green color with yellow spots and was running around on two tentacles while balancing bread on its head.
"What kind of Pokemon is that!?" Ash asked himself as he brought out his Rotom Phone.
Toedscool: The Woodear Pokemon, a grass and ground type
Despite the fact that it heavily resembles a Tentacool, it isn't related to one. Their thin legs allow let them run at an astonishing 30 mph
Ash was confused as he also saw that Toedscool usually lived in swamps and marshes, but this one was in an urban area. He assumed that the Toedscool was attracted here because of all of the food that was present in Mesagoza, but he decided to put that behind and focus on the matter at hand.
The Toedscool easily ran passed the chef and was soon darting off into a nearby alleyway.
"Wow, that guy is really slippery!" Ash exclaimed as he pulled out Wattrel's Pokemon "Wattrel, I choose you!" The storm petrel cam out with a "Watt" and was then ordered to chase Toedscool and stop it.
That proved to be a bit easier said than done.
Despite Wattrel's impressive agility, Toedscool knew where to turn to avoid Wattrel's Peck attacks, and when to take cover as well. Eventually, Wattrel managed to get in front Toedscool, whom was about to tackle him to the ground with a Quick Attack, but Toedscool emitted a green mist from his yellow spots that immediately put the petrel to sleep.
"That was Spore!?" Ash said in astonishment before returning Wattrel and sending out Nymble to go after Toedscool. "Watch out for Toedscool's Spore attack Nymble" Ash warned, which got a "Nym nym" from his grasshopper Pokemon.
Nymble began hopping after the running mushroom until it managed to stop it by landing a Double Kick attack towards its back, which allowed the chef to retrieve the bread that was stolen.
Reasonably angry at being foiled, Toedscool began to attack Nymble with a Tackle attack, sending it back a few feet. "Hang in there Nymble, use Pursuit!" Ash ordered, which Nymble did so by surrounding himself with dark energy and slamming into Toedscool, making him stagger.
"Alright, great job Nymble" "Pi pikachu!" Nymble looked back and cheered at the appraisal he got from his trainer, but he was then wrapped by glowing green legs that began to sap the energy from him.
"Oh no! That's Absorb!" Ash shouted as he and Pikachu recovered from the shock. Nymble couldn't do anything as he felt his energy being drained by the grass/ground type.
"Quick Nymble, use Double Kick to get him off of you" Ash ordered, and Nymble mustered up all of his strength and managed to land a powerful hind kick to Toedscool's face, but he didn't budge, and eventually, Nymble was almost out.
Fortunately, Wattrel had just woken up and had let himself out of his pokeball. He then saw his fellow teammate in trouble and flew into the fray, landing a powerful Peck that forced Toedscool to let go of Nymble, which allowed for Ash to recall his bug type.
"You did great Nymble, Wattrel, ready for another round?" Ash said, and Wattrel responded with a firm "Treeel" "Alright, go get em!" Wattrel flew in and blind-sighted Toedscool with a Quick Attack, and proceeded to fly circles around the woodear Pokemon, confusing him until he was Pecked in the back.
But the stubborn grass type got back up and wrapped Wattrel before he could go in for another Peck attack and used another Absorb attack. "Gah! That Absorb attack is really troublesome, unless..." Ash began to think of an idea, if energy was now going through Toedscool's legs, then what would happen if other energies were added into the mix.
"Wattrel, Thundershock!" Normally, an electric attack wouldn't affect a ground type like Toedscool, but because his legs were being used to absorb energy, he ended up getting the brunt of the electric attack, similar to how Ash had Pikachu deal electric damage to Blaine's Rhydon through his horn. Toedscool's legs can be used as a sort of conductor, and Wattrel's electricity was the input.
Toedscool was utterly charred from the aftermath, and Ash took this chance to throw a pokeball at the mushroom Pokemon. Toedscool was turned into red energy and sucked into the ball and it then fell to the ground. The ball began to shake a few times while Ash, Pikachu, and Wattrel looked on in anticipation, until they heard the familiar ding of a confirmed capture.
Ecstatic, Ash pikced up his newly caught Pokemon and shouted "I caught Toedscool!" with Pikachu and Wattrel cheering with him.
Scene cut
It was now dinner time, and Ash was with his students at a restaurant enjoying a meal. "So class" Ash started "What did you all do?" "Oh you should have seen it" Gus shouted as he released his Tadbulb. "Ok bud, show them what you learned" Tadbulb nodded and formed a ball of water as it threw it towards the nearby river. "Incredible! Tadbulb learned Water Pulse!" Nemona shouted, impressed with their achievement "I know, it took us a long time for us to get the move down, but we pulled it off" "Pfft, you think that's something? Check this out" Zeke then showed what he had to offer, and he then showed that his Marill had evolved again, now as an Azumarill.
"Marvelous, that must have took a lot of effort for it to fully evolve!" Felia marveled at the water rabbit, whom brushed one of his ears like it was hair. "W-well um" Thomas started "We went over to the East, and I found this" He sent out a pokeball and released the Pokemon within, which was a Gastly.
"Wow, a Gastly! You don't see those everyday" Vanny remarked "Yeah, a ghost type is a real big help against psychics" "Heh... Yeah I guess" Thomas muttered, rubbing the back of his head.
"Say Ash, what happened with you?" Arven asked "Well... let's just say that me and the team got our jogging done early" Ash said as he pulled out his new teammate, and sent out Toedscool. "Wow, a Toedscool!" Felia shouted with stars in her eyes "Hold on.. you don't normally see Toedscool around here" Nemona stated, to which Ash replied with "That's what I was thought, must have gone astray."
As they continued to eat, Pikachu's bowl was snatched by Toedscool, but before he could get so much as a nibble, Pikachu smacked him with Iron Tail, making him run away. This got a good laugh out of everyone at the woodear Pokemon's antics.
End of Chapter
Ash catches Toedscool, Zeke's Marill evolves into Azumarill, Thomas catches Gastly, Gus' Tadbulb learns Water Pulse