Berry Forest

After leaving the Battle Pyramid, the gang headed to the Indigo Plateau for the Kanto Grand Festival. May was excited and didn't stop looking at her five Kanto ribbons.

"I wonder what this Grand Festival is going to be like." She said.

"One thing's for sure it will be tough to earn the title of Top Coordinator just like in the Hoenn Grand Festival." Ash said.

"Yeah because there will be tough competitors for you and Ash to go up against May." Max said.

May was still excited about entering the Grand Festival and Ash couldn't wait either.

Suddenly the gang heard shouting behind them. A man shouted at a bunch of Aipom who were carrying berries in their arms. The man was yelling "Stop thieves!"

Just then the Aipom ran over to the gang and one took May's ribbon case and another took Ash's hat. May was not happy that her ribbons were stolen.

"You okay?" The man ran up and asked them.

"What on earth are those Aipom doing?" Ash asked.

"Come with me to my place and I will explain." The man said.

The man's name was Taylor and he was a berry farmer who grew berries to make Pokeblocks to and he had a very big orchard. But all of his berry trees had no berries. Taylor explained that the Aipom would often come and get some of his berries only when they were hungry. But now the Aipom had taken all the berries off of the berry trees and Mankey, Vigoroth and Slaking are doing it too.

"Why are they doing this?" Brock asked.

"Well it's like this." Taylor said.

He explained one foggy night a traveler was lost on the mountain roads and there he saw a shadow of what looked like a giant monster behind a giant wooden fence and gate.

"He ran away and found me and told me all about his encounter."

The gang was surprised by that story.

"Do you think that monster has something to do with all the Pokemon around here taking your berries?" Brock asked.

"I do not know I'm afraid." Taylor confessed.

"We should check this out." Ash said. "If there is a giant monster there will be trouble."

"Yeah and I want my ribbons back." May added.

It's true that May wasn't normally one who agreed with Ash's plans, especially if there was something scary involved, but she wanted her ribbons back otherwise she couldn't participate in the Kanto Grand Festival. So May was being brave this time. Taylor agreed to go with the gang because he wanted to see what was going on too.

What no one, not even the wild Pokemon, knew was that this giant monster was a hoax orchestrated by Team Rocket. Meowth, dressed up as a temple priest, convinced the wild Pokemon that the giant monster was a mountain king and the Pokemon believed him. Meowth also made them believe that the mountain king wanted all the berries for food and to keep him happy. But really Team Rocket was having the Pokemon steal all the berries for them. Team Rocket knew about the Kanto Grand Festival at Indigo Plateau and they wished to use all the berries to sell them to trainers for Pokeblocks at Indigo Plateau.

"This was a great idea to use a mountain king to make all the Pokemon around here follow your commands Meowth." Jessie said.

"And they say that king of the mountain is just a kid's game." Meowth said.

James noticed May's ribbon case with the berries and Jessie decided that she would use them to enter the Grand Festival. James and Meowth were aware she didn't win them, but knew better than to argue with her.

*Meanwhile...*

Taylor and the gang headed to where the traveler said he saw the monster, when suddenly they saw some Mankey carrying some berries.

"Let's follow them, they might lead us to the monster." Ash said.

Taylor and the others agreed. They followed the Mankey to the giant wooden fence and some Vigoroth, Slaking and Aipom were there too all carrying berries.

"So all the berries are for the giant monster." Ash said.

Taylor and the gang hid behind the bushes. Meowth thanked the Pokemon for the berries and then the gate opened.

"Now I can get my ribbons back." May said.

May ran towards the gate and the others followed.

Once Taylor and the gang passed through the gate, they saw millions of berries as well as Team Rocket.

"Why am I not surprised you three are behind this." Ash muttered.

Team Rocket simply told the gang their plan was to make Pokeblocks out of the berries and sell them at Indigo Plateau. May saw Jessie was holding her ribbon case and demanded to have them back. But Jessie said she was going to use them for the Grand Festival herself. Meowth revealed the monster to Taylor and the gang; it was a giant Slaking.

"That's a Slaking robot." Ash said.

It didn't smell like a Slaking.

Meowth called the wild Pokemon forward and told them to get rid of the gang. Ash tried to tell the Pokemon that the mountain king was a fake but Meowth convinced the Pokemon that he was lying. The gang was in trouble.

"Run for it!" Taylor shouted.

He and the gang ran away with the wild Pokemon chasing them.

"This plan is working nicely." Jessie said.

"Now let's feed our monster all those berries." Meowth said.

*Meanwhile...*

Taylor and the gang ran from the wild Pokemon.

"Growlithe, Roar." Tomo said.

Growlithe roared and the Pokemon ran away.

"What should we do now?" Tomo asked.

"We can't let Team Rocket get away with this deception." Ash said. "And we need to convince the Pokemon that the giant Slaking isn't real."

Just then they heard a noise.

"I think the Pokemon are coming back." Brock said.

Taylor told everyone to split up; Max and May went with Taylor and Ash and Tomo went with Brock.

Ash, Tomo and Brock were chased by a bunch of Aipom. Tomo was about to tell his Growlithe to use Roar again, but then they came to a cliff.

"We better go back." Brock said.

Suddenly two Aipom came and climbed over Ash. One of them wore Ash's hat.

"Hey cut that out." Ash said angrily, trying to get the Aipom off him.

Suddenly Ash slipped down the cliff with the two Aipom.

"Ash!" Tomo cried.

He and Brock became worried.

Ash and the Aipom slid down the cliff and ended up in a bush. The Aipom dropped Ash's hat onto the ground. Just before it could get to the hat, Ash used his psychic power to move the hat over to him. The Aipom were impressed with Ash's power.

"Listen to me you two." Ash said. "You can't go around taking things that aren't yours. Especially other people's belongings; stealing is bad."

The Aipom felt sorry for taking Ash's hat. Ash told the Aipom about the giant Slaking being a fake and then he told them to let the other wild Pokemon know. Just then Brock and Tomo appeared.

"We better go find Taylor, May and Max." Brock said.

Ash and Tomo agreed and they left, leaving the two Aipom behind.

*Meanwhile...*

Taylor, May and Max were hiding from some Mankey, Vigoroth and Slaking.

"We need to get my ribbons back." May said.

She, Max and Taylor ran back to where Team Rocket and their giant Slaking were. By that time Team Rocket made their giant robot swallow every berry.

"Okay now off to the Indigo Plateau." Jessie said.

"Not so fast!" May shouted.

She, Max and Taylor came onto the scene.

"Give me my ribbons." May told Team Rocket to return her ribbons.

"And return the berries." Max added.

Jessie and James refused and Meowth got the giant Slaking to move; he held the remote control.

May decided to fight back and called out her Combusken. Combusken used Fire Spin, but the giant Slaking just blew it away with fan power. The giant Slaking broke through the fence and started to walk away. Taylor was worried; the giant Slaking would cause a lot of damage in the area. Ash, Tomo and Brock then arrived and Pikachu and Growlithe attacked it with Thunderbolt and Flamethrower. Ash then released his Snorlax to battle the giant Slaking; he switched out one of his current Pokemon for his Snorlax.

"Use Fire Punch on that giant Slaking Snorlax." Ash said.

Snorlax started to punch Slaking right away. May and Tomo helped out by ordering Combusken and Growlithe to use Flamethrower. Together Flamethrower and Fire Punch set the giant Slaking on fire. Brock released his Marshtomp and had it use Water Gun. The flames were extinguished by Marshtomp's Water Gun and the giant Slaking revealed it's robotic form.

"I told you it was a robot." Ash said.

Then the wild Pokemon came into view. The two Aipom from earlier told the other Pokemon what Ash shared with them. Now that they saw the robotic Slaking, they realized what Ash was saying was true. The wild Pokemon started to attack the robot kicking, punching and scratching it. That angered Team Rocket and they tried to get the wild Pokemon off them. The wild Pokemon attacked some more and then the roboticI Slaking started to malfunction and break down. It fell down and all the berries came out of it as did Team Rocket.

"Give me back my ribbons." May once again demanded Jessie return her ribbons, but she refused.

Jessie sent her Seviper out to battle.

"Combusken, Quick Attack." May ordered.

Combusken tackled Seviper really hard.

"Seviper, Bite." Jessie ordered.

Combusken dodged it and punched Seviper really hard Sky Uppercut. Seviper crashed into Jessie, and May's ribbon case flew out of Jessie's arms. May caught her ribbon case and was happy to have her ribbons back. Ash didn't have any more patience for Team Rocket's antics and sent them flying with Fire Dragon Roar.

So in the end Taylor got his berries back, Ash got his hat back and May got her ribbons back. Taylor thanked the gang for their help and the wild Pokemon were happy that their home was safe again. The gang said goodbye to Taylor and the Pokemon; it was time for them to leave. Taylor wished Ash and May luck in the Grand Festival and the gang headed to the Indigo Plateau.