A Venipede Stampede!

### Written by

Sonic876, Punkasaurus0530, Frogadier55, NegimaLover, TMNTHedgehog5, and DragonSpore18

### Directed by

Sonic876 and NegimaLover

***A Venipede Stampede!*** is the 22nd episode of *Josh's Adventures of Pokémon: Black and White*.

## Plot

Flying over Desert Resort overnight, the Team Rocket trio accompany Pierce and Dr. Zager use the stolen Meteonite fragment to locate an even larger piece. Deep underground, the new Meteonite is emanating a lot of energy.
The next day, Ash and his friends admire the scenery of Castelia City. While passing through Central Plaza they notice Burgh staring at a tree. Burgh admits that something isn't right as the Bug Pokémon have been restless since last night. Iris admits she senses something, but everyone realizes that she was only talking about her stomach when they arrive at a Casteliacone stand.

Just then, Pikachu hears weird sounds coming from the sewers. They go down to investigate when they find a Venipede, confirmed by Ash's Pokédex, stuck in a pipe. Ash pulls it out and the scared Venipede immediately Screeches to harm everyone, but stops because of its injury. Despite Burgh's warnings, Ash tries to help the Venipede and gets attacks. Ash holds the confused creature and tells it he still wants to help with its injury. Venipede finally seems convinced as Ash falls to the floor not feeling so well from Venipede's Poison Point Ability. Ash wakes up when Cilan feeds him some Antidote and Venipede is bandaged by Iris and Burgh. Iris sprays Venipede with a Super Potion and feeds it an Oran Berry which it happily sips the juices from. They notice a huge swarm of Venipede marching through the sewers. Burgh is perplexed as to why the Venipede, who normally live in the barren outskirts of Castelia, are in the sewers. The Venipede use Screech to harm everyone, and they attack with Sludge Bombs that Ash and his friends narrowly avoid. The swarm of Venipede start chasing after them as the bandaged Venipede decides to stay behind in the sewers.

Burgh and the others soon resurface, and notice the Venipede are invading the city. Officer Jenny motorcycles onto the scene, and orders them to evacuate the area. Cilan asks for an explanation to the situation, and Jenny replies that Professor Juniper is currently investigating the swarm event. A sudden explosion near the Pokémon Center attracts the group's attention. There, they see a group of Trainers attacking the Venipede with their Fire-type Pokémon, including is Trip and his Lampent. Ash tries to tell the Trainers to stop attacking the Venipede, but the Mayor of Castelia City arrives and tells Ash that the poisonous Venipede need to be cleared out, and that battling them is the only way. But, Burgh suggests that they somehow get all the Venipede into the Central Plaza so that they can find out why the Venipede are in the city. Jenny confirms that Professor Juniper is working on that very strategy. Ash, Cilan, and Iris all insist on this idea and Burgh says that they could find the Venipede leader and have it follow them. The Mayor agrees to this idea, and Burgh has Cilan stay at the Pokémon Center to go get Nurse Joy and her Audino. Burgh, Ash and Iris head off to find the Venipede leader as Trip ponders about the Venipede's leader. Over in Professor Juniper's lab, the data from the Unova Star Satellite is received, as one of Juniper's assistants asks why they need it to diagnose the Venipede's actions. Professor Juniper hypothesizes that since Venipede usually nest underground, a reaction within the ground has caused the Venipede to move into Castelia City.

Back in Castelia, Burgh, Ash, and Iris run through the streets as Ash asks how they'll find the leader of the Venipede. Burgh replies that since wild Pokémon stand side by side in times of danger, they will find a lot of Venipede crowded around one Venipede that's the leader. He also says that the leader will be at a certain place where it can monitor the swarm. Iris spots a larger Venipede on top of a building, which has a bunch of other Venipede around it, making itself the leader, and it jumps down onto the street to challenge them. Burgh advises the leader that lingering in the city will place them in danger, and says to follow him. The leader responds with a Sludge Bomb which Burgh dodges. Suddenly, Trip appears on the scene and tells his Lampent to attack the Venipede leader with Flamethrower. Ash tells Trip to stop, but Trip says that if the leader were to be defeated, the swarm would fall apart. Trip has his Lampent use Shadow Ball on the leader, but Ash jumps in the way and takes the hit instead. Then, the Venipede that was stuck in the sewer pipe from before appears and crawls towards Ash. Ash tells Trip that the Venipede can be gentle Pokémon if people don't attack them. Burgh supports Ash's statement by saying that their hearts have yet to reach them. As Cilan returns along with Nurse Joy and her Audino, Trip recalls his Lampent and agrees to stay out of their way before walking off. Burgh has Nurse Joy's Audino to use Heal Pulse to calm the Venipede, and Burgh pulls out a Bug Flute. He plays it, and all the Venipede start to follow him. Ash and friends are awed by this and Burgh tells them to go round up the remaining separated Venipede.

Ash notices several Venipede in an alleyway and has Pidove use Gust to them to join the others. Iris heads towards some Venipede on the roof of a building and tells Axew to use Dragon Rage. Axew's Dragon Rage backfires yet again, but it scares the Venipede into joining the colony. Cilan has Pansage help with Bullet Seed as well. However, one of the Venipede uses Sludge Bomb on Ash's Pidove. However, Trip has his Tranquill save Ash's Pidove from the attack as he decides to help round up the Venipede as well. Through these series of events, Ash's Pidove starts to evolve. Ash's newly evolved Tranquill works with Trip's Tranquill to get the last of the Venipede reunited in Central Plaza.

Back at Professor Juniper's lab, a strange energy signal is received, and she traces it to the Desert Resort, as two unknown energies begin to fuse. Meanwhile on a plane, Giovanni is informed by a Team Rocket Grunt that they'll be arriving shortly in the Unova region. Giovanni exclaims that with the Meteonite's power, Team Rocket will achieve power and glory.

Night has now fallen on Castelia City, as all the Venipede have gathered in Central Plaza. The Mayor of Castelia City thanks Burgh, Ash, and the others for their help. Trip starts to walk off saying that his Gym challenge probably won't come any time soon, and that he's headed to the next city for his Badge. Professor Juniper arrives in her helicopter and tells Ash and friends that she's discovered a strange energy flow that leads to the Desert Resort. Burgh realizes that the energy disturbed the Venipede, and caused them to flee towards Castelia in fear. Officer Jenny volunteers to come with Professor Juniper to investigate the Desert Resort. Burgh has to stay in Castelia City in order to keep the Venipede swarm in safe condition. With that, Juniper journeys to the Desert Resort in a helicopter, while Ash is looking forward to his next Gym battle.

## Major events

* Team Rocket locates the Meteonite in the Desert Resort.
* Ash and his friends arrive in Castelia City and meet up with Burgh again.
* Ash encounters Trip again.
* Trip is revealed to have obtained a Lampent.
* Ash's Pidove evolves into a Tranquill.
* Giovanni heads to Unova as Team Rocket's plan for the Meteonite enters its final stages.
* Ash, Iris, and Cilan meet up with Professor Juniper and leave to investigate the unusual activity caused by Team Rocket in the Desert Resort\*.

## Characters

### Humans

* Ash
* Iris
* Cilan
* Jessie
* James
* Burgh
* Giovanni
* Nurse Joy
* Officer Jenny
* Professor Juniper
* Trip
* Pierce
* Dr. Zager
* Mayor of Castelia City
* Team Rocket Grunt
* Unnamed Trainers

### Pokémon

Who's That Pokémon?: Venipede

* Pikachu (Ash's)
* Meowth (Team Rocket)
* Axew (Iris's)
* Pidove (Ash's; evolves)
* Tranquill (Ash's; newly evolved)
* Pansage (Cilan's)
* Audino (Nurse Joy's)
* Herdier (Officer Jenny's; ×2)
* Tranquill (Trip's)
* Lampent (Trip's; debut)
* Darmanitan (Trainer's)
* Pansear (Trainer's)
* Pignite (Trainer's)
* Venipede (multiple; debut)

## Transcript

*Main article: A Venipede Stampede!/Transcript*
## Trivia

* Professor Oak's Pokémon Live Caster: Yamask
* This episode references the story of the Pied Piper of Hamelin, when Burgh uses his bug flute to lead the Venipede out the city at the request of the mayor.
* Another episode had a similar English dub title to this one. Coincidentally, both episodes featured an evolution.
* Burgh's bug-flute closely resembles an ocarina.
* This is the first episode where Iris's Axew appears to be hit with recoil from his unmastered Dragon Rage.
* This episode reveals that the Officer Jennys working in the Unova region use Herdier as assistants.
* Because of the indefinite postponement and retconning of the next two episodes, this episode marks the final appearance of Pierce. It is also the first and — due to the skipping of the next two episodes, only — time his unique Team Rocket uniform is seen in an aired episode, albeit only from the back.
	+ Pierce's uniform can, however, also be seen in scenes featuring him that were included in previews for the next two episodes.