Ash, May, and Max have left Touka City, and venturing through Touka Forest. Max seems to be disappointed that there doesn’t seem to be any sign of a Pokemon anywhere… so he insists that they go on a different route. Ash, who wants to catch some Pokemon, agrees, slthough he feels hungry. May, grabbing on Ash’s arm, insists that they take a rest as well. So, they eat for a while, fill up and stuff… until they get ready to take out the Pokemon food for Pikachu. Apparently, they find it empty! Then, as Ash apologizes to Pikachu… who is to appear but our ol’ friend Brock! Ash introduces him to May and Max… and then he confesses that he tested the Pokemon food, and criticizes them by saying it wasn’t the best cooking. However, this gets them really offended, and they get in a fight… eventually Brock decides to leave them alone for a while. As this happens, Team Rocket are watching them, amused at their bad manners, as they plan to make their move…

Meanwhile, Ash, May and Max finish their meal with chocolate, so they decide tosplit it since there’s only one. However, just as they split it… out of a nearby tree comes a Taillow, and grabs it! Desperately, May begins to chase it (it was her chocolate), but before she could reach it, it stops in a nearby tree, and eats it. May upset, Ash and Max sigh, so they just decide to make their way to Kanazumi quickly and get something to eat there… but then, in front of Pikachu, an apple falls! They look around, and just as they expect, find lots of apples around. Ash has Pikachu use its electricity to knock the apples down… but just as it does that, the flock of Taillow return, and steal the apples! May gets upset again, but Max seems to be amused at the group of Taillow. Apparently their territory was ruined, so Ash tries to be careful of them. Ash slowly apologizes… but as usual, they attack. Quickly, Pikachu Thunderbolts them all… and they collapse to the ground. It seems as though they have all fainted…or not. Dissapointed, Ash wonders why it didn’t faint them, considering Electric attacks are strong to Flying types! He decides to try again. However, this time, they dodge the Thunderbolt…

Meanwhile, as Team Rocket watch this, they get an idea. They plan to get Taillow on their side, since it seems they can beat Pikachu… and maybe then they can capture Pikachu…

Anyways, Pikachu tries a Thunderbolt again at the flock… and this time, the Taillow from before (the one the stole the chocolate) jumps in the way, protecting them. Max realizes that that one is the Taillow’s leader. Taillow then goes for a Peck, which Pikachu jumps and dodges. However, Taillow happen to be good at making sharp turns, as well as being one of the fastest flyers. So, as soon as Pikachu jumps, Taillow quickly heads up, and manages to hit Pikachu with a Quick Attack! Desperately, Pikachu tries yet another Thunderbolt, easily dodged. Now the Taillow are really angry, so they start attacking all over Ash and co!

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a Forretress appears nearby, exploding and scaring the Taillow away! The three of them get up, and notice it was Brock and his Forretress that saved him. They thank him and Forretress, and he returns it. Then, they decide to hang around by the river and socialize a bit. As Brock says hi to Pikachu after a long time, he notices his arm is injured. He then takes out some kind of spray, and easily treats Pikachu’s arm. Ash thanks him, and then asks what he’s doing here in Houen. Brock then explains that after taking care of some business at home, he heard Ash was in Houen, so he went to New Bark Town, where Professor Odamaki told him he was headed for Kanazumi City. So, he headed that way too, and found them. Ash and Brock shake hands, then Ash introduces May and Max and Brock to each other, and they shake hands as well, and then Brock brags that he was the leader of the Pewter City Gym for a while. Ash then argues by stating that May and Max are the children of the Touka City Gym leader. May then explains that she’s also planning to become a Gym leader there in the future. Max chimes in that he also wants to become the Gym leader there, but he doesn’t have any Pokemon yet. Brock then pats him on the shoulder saying that right now he’s too young to even train, but maybe in the future he can. Then, Brock explains how he left Onix and the others at the Gym, and just took Forretress with him. Ash then explains that he did practically the same thing, taking just Pikachu. Then, Brock apologizes for what happened earlier today, and offers some of his cooking. May, who is STARVING by now, accepts. Brock then gets ready to make the meal—but he finds that the rice dumpling he had in the bag is missing! Luckily, Brock has a spare one. However, Max and May seem to be worried about the flock of Taillow, but Brock says he knows about the Taillow and their habit of stealing food, and he can assure that right here is a safe place where the Taillow won’t get them. So, they sit down and enjoy their meals. However, little do they know that deep in the forest, the Taillow are hanging around the crater caused by the explosion, wondering where Ash and co are. After resting from the damage, they get up, looking for them…

Meanwhile, Team Rocket are planning to use the rice dumplings they took from Brock’s bag as bait for the Taillow. Suddenly, the Taillow flock approaches, just as they expected, and gobble up all the dumplings. They seem to be thanking them for the great meal… so James and Meowth ask the Taillow for help. After that meal, it seems they are willing to cooperate…

Meanwhile, Ash and co. are having fun, socializing, enjoying their meal and stuff. However, to their surprise, who is to appear but the Taillow leader! It seems to be telling Pikachu something. Ash then realizes the Taillow wants to challenge Pikachu to a match. May and Max are surprised, since it’s a rare occasion for a wild Pokemon to actually challenge someone to a battle. But Brock seems to understand, considering it’s the leader of the pack, and wants to test its fighting skills. So, Taillow and Pikachu prepare to battle by the river, as they take their stance.

Taillow starts by trying to hit Pikachu by flying low and Quick Attacking him, but Pikachu dodges it, and tosses a nearby rock to distract Taillow. As he does this, he Quick Attacks it while its in the air. Taillow easily avoids it, and goes for another attack on Pikachu as he lands, but again, Pikachu immediately jumps and avoids it. As May suspects that Taillow has a better advantage because it can fly, Pikachu crushes that theory with a Thunderbolt. However, Taillow, being fast, dodges it, trying to attack Pikachu, who dodges again as well. Now, Taillow tries a new strategy. It grabs Pikachu by the tail, and drags him around, eventually flying over the river! Desperately, Pikachu uses a Thundershock. Taillow takes some damage, but still manages not to let go of Pikachu! Taillow then uses Wing Attack, which hurts Pikachu. But just as he lands, he tackles Taillow, as he uses Thunder! Pikachu lands on a rock, as they glare at each other… and Taillow, having barely any energy left, slowly and weakly attacks Pikachu. Ash is surprised that’s its still fighting, and is a little worried about Pikachu. Brock then gives an idea to get the battle over with: Capture it! So, Ash grabs a Pokeball, and tosses it at Taillow… waits a few seconds… until Taillow appears to be captured! Ash then happily takes it out, to make sure its ok. Just as they suspect, it comes out all out of breath. However, Brock sprays Taillow with something, which quickly recovers its energy! Ash thanks Brock, and welcomes Taillow to the team as he wipes the chocolate off his beak. Max and Brock also greet Taillow, but May, a little scared, hides behind Brock as she shakily greets Taillow. Ash then returns Taillow as he does his usual pride pose, since this is his first capture in Houen.

Suddenly, out of the woods, the infamous Taillow flock appears again, along with… Team Rocket! They say their motto, and then explain how they used a rice dumpling to get the flock of Taillow on their side. Brock, surprised, asks what the hell they’re doing in Houen, a Rocket-free place. They explain how they plan to conquer Houen. Then, Brock asks if they were the ones that stole his rice dumpling. They admit they were the ones who took the dumpling, and this gets May and co angry. However, Team Rocket have the flock of Taillow attack Pikachu again! May then tries taking out Torchic, but it runs around, too hyper to follow commands. Ash and Brock gasp, as May gets frustrated. Eventually, Torchic frolics too much, and crashes into a nearby rock. Frustrated, May returns it. However, just when Team Rocket try to get the Taillow flock to attack Pikachu again, an alarm sounds. Brock’s stew has been overcooked! Brock quickly turns it off, but then, as Ash and Brock taste it, they seem to enjoy it! The Taillow also run to eat it, but Brock immediately insists that they share. To everyone’s surprise, the Taillow agree, and they all happily eat the meal. Just as Pikachu finishes his own meal, his energy gets all worked up, so he lets out a Thunderbolt, blasting TR off.

May and Ash finish their meal, and thank Brock, and Ash tells May that Brock always makes the best stews. As the Taillow finish their meal, they motion thanks to Brock as well. They fly away, as Ash and the others wave goodbye, as well as their ex-leader. They seem to be saying something, but Ash can tell that they are wishing Ash and their ex-leader good luck.

Ash returns Taillow, and as they clean up the food, Brock congratulates Ash on his first Houen capture, and together, they continue on their way to Kanazumi City!

Thanks to Spinazak for writing This for us