Great Marsh

The gang finally arrived in Pastoria City. Pastoria City was one of those places where humans and nature coexisted with each other. But before the gang headed to the gym, there was something Tomo wanted to do first. In Pastoria City, there was an area called the Great Marsh, which was a bit like the Safari Zone in regards to catching Pokemon. Tomo had read in a book that you could catch Carnivine in the Great Marsh and he wanted to catch one for himself. The gang went up to the entrance and Tomo was given 30 Safari Balls so he could catch Pokemon in the Great Marsh.

"I'm all set." Tomo said.

"Good luck, Tomo." Ash said.

He and the others weren't joining in and decided to wait for Tomo at the entrance. Tomo and Growlithe excitedly entered the Great Marsh.

The Great Marsh was a large wetland with lots of big puddles and the ground was thick with mud. Luckily there were a lot of wooden footpaths so no one had to walk in the mud that much. Tomo couldn't wait to see what Pokemon the Great Marsh had.

Tomo wasn't the only one visiting the Great Marsh. Team Rocket was also there.

"Ugh this mud is gross." Meowth complained.

"I can't believe we've come to this swamp." Jessie said.

She didn't like the mud either.

"Ah this place brings back memories; this is where I caught my Carnivine." James said. "Carnivine was stuck and weak in the mud and I got it out of there. Then of course Carnivine stayed with me."

Jessie and Meowth weren't that interested.

"So what Pokemon are here for us to send to the boss?" Meowth asked.

"Well apart from Carnivine." James said. "The best ones to catch here are Toxicroak and Drapion."

"Hey Toxicroak is what Team Galactic has and Drapion is what that Hunter J has." Meowth said.

"That still makes them perfect for Team Rocket though." James said.

"I agree." Jessie said. "So how many of each will we catch?"

"We each have 30 Safari Balls Jessie." James said. "And the best bet will be catching 20 of the Pokemon. So I'll use my first 20 to catch Carnivine and the last ten to catch 10 Drapion. And you Jessie use your 20 balls to catch Toxicroak and your last 10 to catch another 10 Drapion."

Jessie liked the idea and the trio set off to look for the Pokemon they wanted.

*Meanwhile...*

Tomo and Growlithe had just come across a Pokemon. It was a Staravia.

"Cool, I can get my own Staravia." Tomo said.

He threw a Safari Ball and successfully caught it.

"Having a Staraptor would be really helpful when I become a Pokemon ranger." Tomo smiled.

Growlithe agreed.

"Come on Growlithe, let's go find some more Pokemon." Tomo and Growlithe walked further on into the Great Marsh, when suddenly they saw a small purple scorpion-like Pokemon.

"Hey, what's that?" Tomo asked.

He took out his Pokedex.

"Skorupi, the Scorpion Pokemon and the pre-evolved form of Drapion. It grips prey with it's tail claws and injects poison. It tenaciously hangs on until the poison takes."

"So it evolves into Drapion huh?" Tomo remembered J's Drapion. He threw a Safari Ball at Skorupi and caught it. "Well we've caught ourselves a cool Pokemon Growlithe. Now let's go find ourselves a Carnivine."

The search didn't take long and Tomo finally caught a Carnivine for himself.

"Okay Growlithe." He said. "Since I've caught my own Carnivine as well as two other cool Pokemon, let's go."

But before Tomo and Growlithe could head back to the entrance, Growlithe noticed something purple in the mud. He went over to it and showed it to Tomo. Tomo picked up the purple object.

"Hey, this looks like one of those plate things Ash has been collecting." Tomo said to Growlithe. "We better take this to him immediately."

Growlithe agreed. Then they quickly headed to the entrance.

By now Team Rocket had made it back to the entrance and sorted out their 20 Drapion, 20 Toxicroak and 20 Carnivine. Just then the receptionist spoke to Jessie and James.

"Do excuse me." He said. "But can I ask you something please?"

"What is it?" James asked.

The receptionist presented a Poke Ball.

"In here is a Tangela." He said. "Somebody caught it the other day but he didn't want it. So I was wondering if any of you wanted it, saves me from having to release it back to the Great Marsh."

"I'll take it." James said. "I always wanted a Tangela."

So James had a Tangela as a new Pokemon for himself.

*Meanwhile...*

Tomo made it back to the entrance and told the others that he caught a Staravia, Carnivine and Skorupi.

"Wow, you caught some good Pokemon for yourself Tomo." Brock said.

Tomo was happy with himself.

"Oh Ash, I also got something else." He said.

He revealed the purple plate.

"Another one?" Ash asked.

"How many of these plate things are there?" Dawn asked. "I mean, this makes seven plates that Ash has now."

"I don't know Dawn, but I get the feeling there are going to be more of these." Ash said.

This mystery was becoming stranger and stranger.

By now Team Rocket was waiting for Delibird from headquarters to appear.

"Hey James, are you really not sending Tangela to the boss?" Meowth asked.

"Team Rocket HQ already has a lot of Tangela." James said. "So I'm keeping this one."

"Fine with me." Meowth said.

Just then Delibird floated down and Jessie and James gave it their Poke Balls.

"Don't lose these." Jessie warned it. "We worked hard to get these for headquarters."

Delibird left to return to Team Rocket HQ.

So not only did Tomo catch new Pokemon, Team Rocket caught Pokemon for Giovanni.