Episode 29: Family Food Feud

Ash, Brock, and Brenda, along with all of their Pokémon, seem to be preparing to eat. The Pokémon are all gathered in a circle with bowls of food in front of them. Ash and Brenda are sitting at a picnic table, and Brock is cooking over a portable stove. He says, "Alright, breakfast is almost ready."

Ash cheers, "Yeah, I'm starving!"

On their way to meet with Professor Oak at the Starstreak Mountains, our heroes take a much deserved break to eat some breakfast, after all, it is the most important meal of the day!

Pikachu is just about to grab some food from his bowl, when Rabbolt slyly pushes the bowl to the side. Pikachu's hand misses the bowl. Pikachu seems confused, but shrugs. It then reaches for the bowl again, and this time Rabbolt pulls it in closer to it, causing Pikachu to miss again. Pikachu tilts its head. "Pika?" It reaches once more. Rabbolt pushes the bowl again, but Pikachu notices this time. It shouts accusingly, "Pika pik chu!"

Rabbolt laughs. "Rab rab rab rab!" It then makes a face at Pikachu.

Brenda snaps, "Hey you two, cut it out."

Pikachu turns away from Rabbolt, and takes its bowl with it. It begins to eat. After a few moments, Pikachu notices something in the bushes nearby. It looks up. "Pik?"

Out of the bushes walks a Munchlax. It happily declares, "Munchlax!"

Ash points out, "Hey look, it's a Munchlax!"

Brenda and Brock look over. Brenda exclaims, "Look, it's so cute." She pulls out her Pokédex.

The Pokédex says, "Munchlax, the Big Eater Pokémon and a Normal-Type. Munchlax's metabolism works in a unique way, making it so that it must consume massive quantities of food to keep its energy up. When not eating, it will conserve energy by sleeping. Evolves into Snorlax through friendship."

Brenda suggests, "Hey Brock, do you have any extra Pokémon food? We should give some to Munchlax."

Brock nods. "Sure, I have plenty." He turns around and pours some food into another bowl. He places it down in front of Munchlax and says invitingly, "Here you go, help yourself."

The Munchlax walks over to the bowl and inspects it. It then grabs a piece and plops it in its mouth. It happily declares, "Munch!" It then turns around and calls out, "Munchlax lax!"

As it calls, heads of other Munchlax begin to poke out of the bushes. The happy sounds of Munchlax can be heard all around. The first Munchlax picks up its bowl of food and runs to the opposite side of the clearing. After that, the other Munchlax come running into the clearing. First a group grabs all of the Pokémon food, then several jump up onto the table and grab the condiments.

Ash shouts, "Hey, stop!" He tries to grab one, but it leaps off the table.

Several other Munchlax leap at Brock and take the food he's cooking. All of the Munchlax then run off after the first.

Ash, Brock, Brenda, and the Pokémon stare off in their direction with shock. Brenda says with disbelief, "Those…Munchlax…just…stole…our…food…"

Ash shouts angrily, "How dare they!?" His stomach growls. "I really need some food!"

Brock turns back to his cooking station and says, "Not to worry, I've made some extra." He walks towards the table with a plate of food, but just then another Munchlax leaps out of the bushes, grabs the food, and runs away towards the rest.

Ash, in shock, asks, "Brock?"

Brock, equally in shock, responds, "Yes Ash?"

"You have more food, right?"

He shakes his head slowly. "No, that was the last of it."

Ash shouts angrily, "Munchlaxxxxxxxxx!" The growling of his stomach interrupts his scream. Everyone looks at him. He chuckles awkwardly. "I could use some food…"

Brock sighs. "I suppose we could go to a restaurant at the nearest town."

Brenda says, "Yeah, we should do that… before Ash tries to eat the table." They all laugh.

After a moment of laughter, Ash asks, "Wait, can I do that?"

Team Rocket is gathered around a tree stump. On the stump is a platter covered with a pile of berries. James declares, "How lucky for us that we found that berry orchard!"

Meowth agrees, "Yeah, now we can finally fill our bellies!"

Jessie declares, "Stop talking, let's dig in!"

They're just about to when Wobbuffet appears. "Wobbuffet!" It reaches for a berry.

Jessie slaps its hand. "Hey, there's barely enough for the three of us!" She returns it to its Pokéball.

James asks, "Hey, what's that?" He points to a bush that's rustling nearby. Out of it jumps a Chipmunch.

Meowth says, "Hey, it's a Chipmunch!"

Jessie and James look to each other in panic and then jump up, putting their bodies between the Chipmunch and their berries. Jessie shouts at Meowth, "Don't you remember what happened last we saw one of those monsters!?"

James shouts, "It ate all of our food!" He shouts at the Chipmunch, "You're not getting a paw on our berry stash!"

Chipmunch looks around, and then calls out, "Chip munch munch chip!" At its call, several Chipmunch leap out of the bushes.

James shouts, "Stay back you savages! Back!" They ignore him completely, and run around and leap over them. The first Chipmunch lands on Jessie's face, and leaps onto the stump from there. The group of Chipmunch grab the platter and run off into the forest with the berries.

Jessie, James, and Meowth look at each other and sigh in despair.

Ash, Brock, and Brenda have now arrived in a town. They're walking down a street looking for something to eat. They turn towards a door with a large sign above it. Just as they're about to walk in, a man steps out and says, "Sorry, but we're closed, you can't eat here." He slams the door shut.

Brenda complains, "That was the fifth closed restaurant in a row, what's going on here?"

Brock suggests, "Maybe it's a holiday or something."

Ash complains, "I really need some food, and soon."

Pikachu nods weakly in agreement. "Pika…"

Brock says, "Alright, if all the restaurants are closed, then maybe we should try the market."

Ash nods anxiously. "Yes, yes! Let's get some food!"

They've now made it to an open air market, however it is completely deserted. They walk by stand after stand, all of which are absolutely empty. Brock shakes his head. "No good, these are all empty too."

Ash shouts to the sky, "Isn't there a single scrap of food somewhere in this town!?"

Pikachu adds, "Pika pi!?"

An old woman steps out from the shadows of a shop stand. She says, "No, there isn't."

Everyone leaps in surprise. They turn to see her. Brock asks, "Why isn't there?"

The old women responds, "There hasn't been any extra food in this town for weeks. We've been plagued."

Brenda suddenly realizes something. "Wait a second! There is some food. I forgot that I had these." She rummages in her bag and pulls out a bag of chips. "We can at least share it for a snack."

The old woman backs off with horror. She shouts, "No, you fool! Put that away! Put it away now or they'll come!"

Ash and Pikachu are too excited to notice her warnings. Brock asks, "Who? Who will come?"

"They will come! They will come!" She runs back into her shop.

Brenda opens the bag. As soon as she does, the head of a Chipmunch pokes up over a nearby counter. Brenda points to it. "Hey look, a Chipmunch!"

Ash doesn't seem to care. "Come on, just give me some of those chips."

On the opposite side of the market, a Munchlax pokes its head over a counter. Brenda exclaims, "And it's another Munchlax!"

Ash looks at it and shouts, "Oh no, you're not getting my chips!"

The Munchlax leaps up shouting, "Munch!"

At the same time, the Chipmunch leaps up and shouts, "Chip!"

Once they have both leaped up, they are followed by others of their species. A group of Munchlax rush at the bag of chips from one side, and a group of Chipmunch from the other. Brenda holds the bag of chips in the air in an attempt to stop the Pokémon from getting it. The two groups collide and begin to fight. The Chipmunch use Super Fang to attack the Munchlax, while the Munchlax attack the Chipmunch with Body Slam attacks. One Chipmunch climbs up Brenda's body and grabs the bag in its mouth. Brenda shouts, "Hey!" but the Chipmunch ignores her and leaps off.

A nearby Munchlax notices the Chipmunch has the food and chases after it. It catches up and grabs onto the bag. The two Pokémon each tug at the bag in a tug-o-war. The bag rips and explodes open, sending chips flying everywhere. The Pokémon all stop fighting and rush to pick up as many chips as they can. Once all the chips have been picked up, the Pokémon regroup and the Chipmunch run off in one direction, while the Munchlax run in the other.

Ash is speechless. After a moment he asks, "What…just happened…?"

The old woman comes back out. "I warned you. What you just witnessed is what has been plaguing our town for the past month. If any food is left outside, those two groups of wretched Pokémon will wage war over it! All of our access to food supplies is completely gone! We've barely got enough to feed ourselves."

Brock says, "That's odd. Do you know anything about these Pokémon?"

"The Chipmunch come from the woods to the west, while the Munchlax are from hills in the east. They used to keep to themselves, but something in the past month has caused them to come to our town for food, and they take everything they can get their greedy paws on."

Brenda says, "That's awful. Is there anything we can do to help?"

Ash adds, "Yeah, that way we can get our food back too."

The woman shrugs. "I don't know. People have ventured into the domains of these Pokémon, but they are always chased off before they can find anything out."

Ash declares, "Then we'll just have to give it another go."

Who's that Pokémon!?

This troublemaker sends anything and everything to faraway places using its loop, which can warp space.

Ash, Brock, and Brenda have ventured into the hills where the Munchlax are said to live. Ash asks, "So if no one has ever been able to get close to these Pokémon, how are we supposed to?"

Brock responds, "Don't worry, I have a plan." Out of his backpack he pulls a can.

Ash shouts in surprise, "You had food!? Why didn't you give it to us!?"

Brock laughs. "Settle down. It's Pokémon food. I doubt you'd want it, and it wasn't enough for the Pokémon."

Ash mumbles, "I might just be hungry enough to eat that."

At the same time, Pikachu eyes the can lustfully. "Pika…" He drools.

Brock says, "Sorry Pikachu, but this food will serve as a distraction, allowing us to get closer to the Munchlax's home."

Brenda says, "That's a great idea, if there's something that will distract a Munchlax, it's food."

They continue to walk through the grassy hills. Ash points, "Look, there's some Munchlax over there!"

Brenda adds, "That must mean we're getting close."

The Munchlax look up and notice them. They run towards them shouting, "Lax munch lax!"

Brock shouts, "Alright, now's the time." He waves the can of food around and shouts, "Hey Munchlax, look at what I've got!" They notice the can and become fixated on it. Brock pops the lid off, puts his hand in, and pulls out some food. "If you want it, go get it!" He hurls the handful of food as hard as he can. The Munchlax chase after it. "Alright, let's hurry forward now!" They all rush forward.

They run over a hill, once on top, they look down. Below them is a valley full of Munchlax marching every which way. They carry food with them, transporting it to giant stockpiles. Sitting on one of stockpiles as if it were a throne is a Snorlax. Brenda marvels, "Wow, they seem to be doing this for that Snorlax." She pulls out her Pokédex.

"Snorlax, the Sleeping Pokémon, and a Normal-Type. Snorlax spend 24 hours a day, seven days a week either sleeping or eating. They will eat massive amounts of food, and will only stop when they grow too tired to continue eating. Evolves from Munchlax through friendship."

Ash and Pikachu are also marveling at the sight, but something else entirely. They are drooling while looking at the massive stockpiles of food. Ash says in wonder, "That might just be enough food to fill me up…"

Brock looks like he's thinking something over. "Hmm…"

Brenda asks, "What is it?"

"That Snorlax. The lady from the market never mentioned anything about a Snorlax." He reaches into his bag and pulls out his Pokéssistant.

Brenda asks, "What do you plan on doing with that?"

"I have an app on here that should allow me to take Snorlax's measurement from afar."

Ash states, "All you should be worrying about measuring is how much food there is down there…"

Brenda asks, "Alright, so what will that do?"

Brock holds up the Pokéssistant and points it at Snorlax. "For the first few months of being a Snorlax, all of the extra eating it does causes it to grow heavier at a predictable rate. If I can measure how wide its stomach is, I can predict how long it's been a Snorlax for." After a moment he exclaims, "Aha! Judging by its size, it's only been a Snorlax for a month now."

Brenda exclaims, "The lady at the market said they've been taking food for the past month!"

Brock nods. "So that must mean they started stealing food to help feed Snorlax."

On a nearby hill, Team Rocket is crouching down, also watching the Munchlax clan. All three are salivating at the sight of the food. James says, "Just look at all that food…we need to get it."

Jessie nods in agreement. "It will replace that food the Chipmunch took from us."

Both jump up and are just about to run down into the valley, but are grabbed by their shirts by Meowth. Meowth says, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, calm down now. We have to think about this fully. If these Munchlax are stealing food, just like those Chipmunch, that must mean the Chipmunch have an equally impressive food supply. We should wait for the right chance, and go after both stashes." Jessie and James seem pleased by this idea.

Back with Ash, Brock, and Brenda, Brenda asks, "What should we do about this?"

Brock thinks it over. "We need to find an alternative source of food for them. Maybe we should search-"

Brock is interrupted by a loud noise. It's Ash's stomach growling. He holds his stomach and laughs awkwardly as Brock and Brenda look to him. It would seem that they weren't the only ones who noticed, as the Snorlax and Munchlax are looking around. The Snorlax points up in the direction of Ash. "Snorrr!" Several Munchlax run up towards their hiding spot.

Brenda shouts, "Oh no, they've spotted us!" They get up and begin to run away. The Munchlax leap after them, shouting angrily.

It's Hoopa!

Ash, Brock, and Brenda have been chased into the woods on the other side of the town. The Munchlax suddenly stop chasing them, angrily shout, "Lax munch lax!" and then turn around to leave. Ash, Brock, and Brenda stop running and take a moment to catch their breath. Ash asks, "Why'd they stop chasing us?"

Brock answers, "They must be satisfied that we're out of their territory now." He looks around. "Actually, we seem to be in the Chipmunch territory now."

Brenda suggests, "Then maybe we should try to get a look at them too."

Ash nods. "And maybe grab some of their food while we're at it."

Brock says, "Alright then, let's take a look in this direction."

Not much time later, they locate the Chipmunch's layer. It's a large gnarled and grisly tree. Piled all around its base is a giant stock of food. Chipmunch all around are carrying in food to add to the pile. Ash points, "Hey, look at that." Further up the tree is a hollow, stuffed into which is even more food, and sitting on that food is another Pokémon. It is similar in body shape to Chipmunch, but resembles a squirrel more than a chipmunk. It is grey in color and has a black stripe running down its back. Its tail is large and fluffy. Its cheek pouches are expanded to a much larger size than Chipmunch's, and it appears to be chubby.

Ash pulls out his Pokédex. "Squirrelutton, the Cheek Pouch Pokémon and a Normal-Type. Having an insatiable appetite, Squirrelutton will stuff as much food as they can into their cheek pouches, making sure there is always food available. If a task does not involve food, they will ignore it. Evolves from Chipmunch at level 15."

Brock looks towards it. "Interesting." He pulls back out his Pokéssistant and points it at Squirrelutton. He nods. "Just as I suspected."

Brenda asks, "What is it?"

"Just like I can estimate how long it's been since a Munchlax evolved into a Snorlax by stomach circumference, I can measure a Squirrelutton's teeth length in a similar way. This Squirrelutton evolved just a month ago."

Brenda concludes, "At the same time as the Snorlax."

Brock nods. "This makes a lot more sense actually. The surrounding area should provide enough food to feed either a Snorlax or a Squirrelutton, but both at once must have put such a strain on the food supply that they've had to resort to taking it from the town."

Ash says, "Alright, that's great, but what do we have to do to get back the food?"

"Once again, the only answer is to find some sort of food supply that can sustain both groups."

As he's saying this, some commotion seems to begin in the Chipmunch group. Several new ones run in, and point out towards where they came from. The Squirrelutton declares, "Lutton!" and points in the same direction. The Chipmunch begin to scramble into action, all except a few move off in that direction. The Squirrelutton gets up from its throne and follows behind them.

Brenda asks, "What's going on?"

Ash says, "It looks like they found something important enough to demand all of their attention…" he pauses. "Which means we can take their food!"

Ash starts to run down, but Brock grabs him. "No Ash, we need to figure out what's going on. This could be the food supply we were looking for."

Ash reluctantly follows.

The scene shows the boundary between the woods and hills. At that boundary is a giant pile of berries, several feet high. A horde of Chipmunch, followed by Squirrelutton appear from the woods. Opposite of them, a horde of Munchlax come up over a hill. They are followed by Snorlax. The two sides see each other and come to a halt at the command of their leader. It is now a stare-down.

Ash, Brock, and Brenda emerge from the woods nearby. Brenda asks, "What's going on?"

Brock answers, "It would seem that both sides have discovered this conveniently placed stock of berries. Now it seems there is nothing for them to do but fight over it."

Brenda says, "That's awful…"

Ash suddenly gets up and declares, "I'll fight them for it!"

Pikachu leaps off his shoulder and takes a fighting stance as well. "Pika!"

After a moment more of staring each other down, the Squirrelutton and Snorlax declare, "Luttoooooon!" and "Laaaaaaax!" respectively. The two sides charge at each other and an all-out battle for the berries begin. The two armies of hungry Pokémon clash with all the ferocity of their appetites. Meanwhile the berries stand untouched off to the side.

Ash suddenly declares, "For the berries!" and he and Pikachu run down into the battle. Once there, Ash begins commanding Pikachu to attack both sides, whichever is closer.

Brenda shouts, "Ash, wait!" but it's much too late. She turns to Brock and asks, "Should we do something?"

"I don't think there's anything we could do to stop Ash from trying to get his breakfast."

Suddenly the ground begins to shake. What looked like a giant pile of berries begins to vibrate rapidly. Metal panels made to look like berries begin open up, allowing for several mechanical arms to emerge from within the hollow structure. Two legs also come out of the bottom and lift the supposed pile of berries into the air. The mechanical arms begin to swipe up the Chipmunch and Munchlax.

Brock and Brenda gasp. Ash, as well as many of the Pokémon, are still too caught up in the fight to notice. Out of the top of the machine appears Team Rocket. Jessie declares, "Prepare for dinner!"

James shouts, "Make it a winner!"

"To protect the world from hunger and famine!"

"To unite all people within our kitchen!"

"To denounce the evils of an empty belly!"

"To extend our reach to the top shelf's jelly!"

"Jessie!"

"James!"

"Team Rocket eats up all the food in sight!"

"Surrender now and give up all consumables in the light!"

"Meowth that's right!"

"Wobbuffet!"

"Mime mime!"

Ash hears this and turns around to shout, "What!? When did Team Rocket get here!?" By this point, most of the Pokémon around him have been gathered.

James shouts, "If these Pokémon are so intent on stealing food, then we'll just steal it back!"

Jessie declares, "Of course this food will now be lining the stomachs of Team Rocket!"

Meowth explains, "Once all the Chipmunch and Munchlax are out of the way, their food stocks will be ripe for the picking!"

The Snorlax and Squirrelutton realize that due to Team Rocket's interference the battle is winding down. They both run into action, at first looking like they're going for Team Rocket, but it turns out they're charging at each other. As soon as they get close, they go into battle. Snorlax launches a Hyper Beam at Squirrelutton, but Squirrelutton leaps over it, landing on Snorlax's head. It bites down with a Super Fang attack. Snorlax smacks it off. The two leap at each other again for another attack.

Ash says to Pikachu, "We may still be hungry, but we can't let Team Rocket get away with this." Pikachu nods in agreement. "Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!"

Pikachu leaps towards Team Rocket. "Pikaaaaaaa chuuuuuuu!" It unleashes its electric attack, but several of the arms of Team Rocket's machine are used to deflect the attack.

Jessie, James, and Meowth laugh. Meowth says, "Silly Twerp, you should know by now that we wouldn't fall for that silly Thunderbolt of yours."

Brock shouts, "Ash, we need something that will pack a greater punch!"

Ash nods. He looks over to see Snorlax and Squirrelutton fighting. "I think I know who could help." He runs over to them. "Snorlax, Squirrelutton, you two have to listen to me! All of your friends are being taken by Team Rocket! You have to stop them!" They continue to fight and don't respond. "Only by combing your strength can we stop them!" Still no response. Ash realizes something and shouts, "If you don't stop them, they'll take your food!"

This last shout seems to hit a chord with them. They both freeze and stop fighting. They turn to Ash and stare at him questioningly.

Ash explains, "They're doing all of this to get to your food. If you stop them, then your food is safe!"

They nod in understanding and turn to face Team Rocket. They look to each other and nod in mutual understanding, seemingly agreeing that their food is more important that this fight. They face Team Rocket again and both begin to charge for a Hyper Beam.

Team Rocket looks at the attacking Pokémon with horror. James says with urgency, "Do something Meowth…"

Meowth shakes his head. "Don't look at me, I didn't think they'd team up…"

Jessie shouts, "So much for our food!"

Both Pokémon unleash their Hyper Beams. The combined attacks destroy the upper portion of Team Rocket's machine, causing to explode, launching Team Rocket into the air.

As they're flying up, all three of their stomachs growl. James moans, "I'm so hungry…"

Jessie adds, "I could eat a Wailord…"

Meowth moans, "I'd settle for a Magikarp…"

They all moan, "Looks like Team Rocket's blasting off on an empty stomach again!"

Back on the ground, the bottom portion of the machine, the part that was holding all the Chipmunch and Munchlax, begins to roll down the hill. Ash shouts, "Quickly, all your friends are in there!" Snorlax and Squirrelutton chase after it. Ash, Brock, Brenda, and the remaining Chipmunch and Munchlax run behind.

As they're running down, Squirrelutton shouts, "Lutton, squirrel lutton!" Snorlax nods in understanding. Squirrelutton jumps up and Snorlax catches it. Snorlax then throws Squirrelutton. Squirrelutton flies through the air and lands on top of the rolling machine. It runs on top in order to avoid falling off. As it's doing that, it leans over and uses Super Fang to chew through circumference of the machine, causing it to fall apart in half. All the Chipmunch and Munchlax leap out happily. Everyone celebrates.

Brenda says, "That's great that Team Rocket was stopped, but we still have our original problem. What do we do about that?"

The machine stopped rolling just outside another section of woods. As if to answer Brenda, three Pokémon come out of the trees, two Gulpin and a Swalot. The Swalot happily says, "Swalot lot!" The two Gulpin then set down a pile of apples. Swalot beckons to them. Snorlax and Squirrelutton quickly eat them up. Swalot then points up to the forest behind them. Upon closer inspection, all of the trees are covered in apples and berries. Gulpin start coming out of the forest, leaving behind piles of food. The Chipmunch and Munchlax happily begin to chow down.

Brock exclaims, "Wow, it looks like the Swalot and Gulpin are more than happy with sharing their food, and it looks like there's more than enough to go around."

Ash walks up to Snorlax and Squirrelutton, who are sharing some food joyously with Swalot. He says, "Hey Snorlax, Squirrelutton, now that you have access to all this food in Swalot's forest, do you think that you could give the town back all their food?"

The Pokémon both look to each other and then nod. They call out to some of their friends, who then run to go and get the food.

Ash, Brock, and Brenda have returned to the market square of the town. Now it is full of people, celebrating the return of their food. A man is saying to them, "Oh thank you so much for getting back our food. Now our town can get back to normal life."

Brock shakes his head and says, "Oh, it's no problem at all. We were just what anyone should do."

The old lady from before walks up behind Ash and taps him on the shoulder. He turns around and she says, "It's because of you three youngsters that my business is open again, please eat as much as you'd like." She points towards her stand, which is now overflowing with a giant pile food. Brenda says, "Thank you so much."

Ash and Pikachu have gone wide-eyed with awe and wonder. A tear comes to Ash's eye as he says, "I don't think food has ever looked as good as it does now." Then he suddenly shouts, "I'm going in!"

Pikachu adds, "Pika pi!" The two literally dive into the pile of food. After a couple of moments they surface, and both begin to throw food into their mouths.

So not only have our heroes saved a town from a famine, but they have taught two fighting groups of Pokémon how to coexist peacefully. Now, one thing is certain, that shop-owner is going to regret using the words "as much as you'd like."

Ash suddenly shouts, "She sure is!" and then resumes stuffing himself.

To Be Continued…