138 You Never Can Taillow!

Ashlyn, May, and Max were walking through the Petalburg Forest, heading towards Ashlyn's next gym battle.

May was starting to get exhausted while Max was looking for Pokémon with his binoculars. Soon enough, the siblings started complaining.

"How about we take a small break and then look for some Pokémon, okay?" Ashlyn suggested.

"Okay!" May and Max agreed.

The two siblings sat down on the grass, but they noticed that Ashlyn was still standing up and looking towards one of the trees.

"Ashlyn, is something wrong?" May asked.

Ashlyn took out her flute and played Oración. The melody echoed throughout the forest, calming all of the Pokémon in the area.

"Taillow!" A Pokémon called out.

The three looked up and saw a bird like Pokémon appear from the trees. It was a small bird Pokémon with dark blue feathers. A red marking with pointed tips stretches from its chest to its forehead, and it has a white underside. It has narrowed brown eyes and a short yellow beak. It has elongated wingtips and black feet with yellow talons. Each foot has three toes facing forward and one backward. Two sharply pointed feathers form its tail.

Ashlyn held her arm out to the bird Pokémon who gently perched onto her arm. Ashlyn put her flute away and gently stroke Taillow's wings who was liking Ashlyn's touch.

"It's a Taillow." Max said.

May took out her Pokédex and scanned the Pokémon:

[Taillow, the Tiny Swallow Pokémon. Taillow has a fierce personality, never backing down, even against the most powerful opponents.]

"Taillow, I don't mean to be rude, but do you know why we haven't seen any Pokémon around here?" Ashlyn asked.

"Tail Taillow. (You're near our territory.)" Taillow replied.

"Well that explains it." Ashlyn commented.

"What did Taillow say?" Max asked.

"We're near Taillow's territory." Ashlyn replied.

"What does that mean?" May questioned.

"Pokémon tend to stay away from a certain Pokémon's territory in order to avoid conflict." Ashlyn explained.

"That makes sense." Max agreed.

"Could you lead us to a path around your territory? We just want to get to Rustboro city." Ashlyn requested.

Taillow nodded, "Taillow. (Of course.)" He flew up into the air and hovered in front of them, "Tail. (Follow me.)"

The group followed Taillow who lead away from its territory.

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Soon enough, the group was safe from Taillow's territory.

"Thank you for your help, Taillow." Ashlyn thanked the Tiny Swallow Pokémon.

Taillow smiled, "Taillow!"

Ashlyn went into her backpack and held out a can of Pokémon food. She opened the lid and took out a few pieces, "It's not much, but consider it as a thank you for helping us."

Taillow stared at the food and ate the Pokémon food from Ashlyn's hand. Once he had his fill, he looked up at Ashlyn, "Taillow. (Thank you.)"

"You're welcome, Taillow." Ashlyn smiled.

Suddenly they heard cries of Pokémon nearby.

"Taillow! (My flock!)" Taillow panicked.

Taillow flew off and Ashlyn followed after him with May and Max behind her. When they got there, they saw a giant blue robot holding a huge orb that contained a bunch of Taillow's which were Taillow's flock.

"Mission accomplished!" James cheered.

"We got all of the Taillow's!" Meowth added.

"Let those Taillow's go!" Max demanded.

"The twerps!" Team Rocket yelped.

"Tesla, use Iron Tail!" Tesla jumped from her shoulder as her tail glowed a metallic color. She ran towards the robot as Team Rocket tried to grab her. But she gracefully dodged the arms. She then bagged her tail against the orb container, breaking the glass, freeing the Taillow.

"Oh no!" Team Rocket gasped.

"We worked hard to get those Taillow!" James shouted.

"Now give them back!" Meowth demanded.

"Forretress, Explosion!" A male voice called out.

The said Pokémon appeared in front of Team Rocket's robot and set off its attack which blinded Team Rocket for a moment.

Then someone appeared right in front of the group. It was Brock with his Ninetales and his Midday Form Lycanroc on either side of him. Brock's outfit consisted of a brown short-sleeved jacket with orange trim, a green short-sleeved undershirt, grayish-brown cargo pants, and indigo sneakers with light blue trim.

"Brock!" Ashlyn smiled.

"Thought you need some help." Brock smiled back.

Ashlyn nodded, "Alright! Tesla, Thunder Shock!"

"Forretress, Zap Cannon! Ninetales, Flamethrower! Lycanroc, Rock Slide!" Brock ordered.

All the attacks hit Team Rocket's robot which made it explode and sent Team Rocket into the sky.

"Can't believe that older twerp showed up again!" Jessie growled.

"Those Pokémon of his has gotten stronger." James commented.

"Yeah." Meowth agreed.

"Wobba!" Wobbuffet appeared and saluted.

The trio sighed.

"TEAM ROCKET'S BLASTING OFF AGAIN!" The trio screamed before they disappeared into the sky.

"They still haven't given up, have they?" Brock asked.

"Nope." Ashlyn replied, "It's great to see you again, Brock."

"You too, Ashlyn." Brock smiled as Ashlyn smiled back.

Tesla jumped back onto Ashlyn's shoulder and smiled at Brock, "Raichu!"

"Of course, you too, Tesla." Brock smiled.

"Ashlyn, do you know this guy?" Max asked.

"This is my good friend, Brock. We traveled through the Kanto and Johto region together." Ashlyn explained, "Brock, these are my new friends, May and her younger brother, Max."

"Pleasure to meet you." Brock greeted.

"Pleasure to meet you too." May and Max greeted back.

At that moment, May's stomach growled. She smiled sheepishly as she rubbed the back of her head.

"I think lunch is in order." Brock decided.

"Good idea," Ashlyn agreed, "You don't mind if the Taillow's join us, Brock?"

"Why not? The more the merrier." Brock said.

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Brock began making the stew as the gang let out their other Pokémon to play with the Taillow's. May and Max were very interested in Brock's Pokémon which were Forretress, Ninetales, Lycanroc, Alola Geodude, Stantler, and Blissey. Brock had explained that everything was fine at home, and he wanted to continue traveling.

"I didn't know Lycanroc had another form." Max said.

"Well, Lycanroc has three forms: Midday, Dusk, and Midnight." Ashlyn informed.

"Cool." Max commented, awed.

"You also got some interesting Pokémon as well, Ashlyn." Brock complimented, looking at Ashlyn's new Hoenn Pokémon.

"I can't wait to catch more." Ashlyn smiled.

At that moment, a beeping sound came from Ashlyn's backpack.

"My egg!" Ashlyn yelped and went to her bag. She gently took out the incubator from her bag and then the egg out of the incubator.

She sat down and placed the glowing egg in her lap. Brock instructed that everyone stay behind Ashlyn until the egg hatched. The glow got brighter which made Ashlyn use her arm to cover her eyes. When the glow died down, she saw two Pokémon in her lap.

It was a humanoid Pokémon with a white body. It has thin arms and legs that widen toward the feet. There is a wispy extension trailing off the back of its feet, creating the overall impression of a nightgown or oversized dress. Most of its face is covered by green hair that resembles a bowl cut, but a pair of pinkish-red eyes is sometimes visible. There are two flat, red horns on top of its head: a large one toward the front and a smaller one at the back.

Ashlyn took out her Rotom phone and scanned the two Pokémon:

[Ralts, the Feeling Pokémon. Ralts is the pre-evolved form of Kirlia. It can use the horns on its head to read human emotions. Ralts rarely shows itself to humans but may occasionally approach when it senses positive or happy feelings.]

The two Ralts looked up at Ashlyn.

"Hello young ones. I'm your trainer." Ashlyn smiled.

The two Ralts smiled back and hugged her neck. She chuckled at their affections.

"Wow, two Ralts. You're lucky, Ashlyn." Max commented.

"Are you going to name them?" Brock asked.

"Let me check their genders." Ashlyn took out her Rotom phone out again and scanned the two. The one on her right was a girl and the one on the left was a boy.

"Miku for the female and Lancelot for the male." Ashlyn replied.

"Those are good names." Brock complimented.

Then the alarm for the stew rung. Brock handed out a bowl to everyone and began eating.

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Soon after they finished lunch and cleaning up after themselves, it was time for the group to hit the road. The Taillow flock thanked the group for saving them and giving them such a great meal.

"Well, Taillow's, thanks for having us here, but we have to get going." Ashlyn said, "Maybe we'll see you around."

Taillow's nodded their heads for goodbye and flew off. However, two remained behind. The first one hovered in front of Ashlyn while the second one hovered in front of Max.

"Taillow's, aren't you going with your flock?" Ashlyn asked.

The two Taillow shook their heads 'no'.

"Taillow tail taillow. (We would like to join your team. If that's alright.)" The first Taillow said.

"Tail taillow tail? (Would it be alright?)" The second Taillow asked.

"What did they say, Ashlyn?" Max asked.

"Well, these two Taillow's want to stay with us." Ashlyn replied.

"Really?!" Max gasped with excitement.

Ashlyn nodded and took out a Pokéball, "Then I shall name you, Percy."

Taillow smiled as Ashlyn gently threw the Pokéball towards Percy and Percy went towards it. The Pokéball tapped his forehead and sucked him inside. The Pokéball wiggled for a second and dinged, a successful capture.

Max gently threw a Pokéball towards the other Taillow who was caught without any trouble.

"Alright! We caught a Taillow!" Ashlyn and Max said in unison.

"Congrads, you two." Brock said.

Ashlyn and Max smiled at their captures.

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And so, the gang continues on their way, with Brock joining them, to Rustboro City for Ashlyn's gym badge and first Pokémon contest.

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Pokémon Caught: Poochyena (Lela)(F), Mudkip (Finn)(M), Shiny Torchic (Hestia)(F), Ralts (Miku)(F), Ralts (Lancelot)(M), Taillow (Percy)(M)