Lotad

Today the gang was swimming in a lake to relax. Growlithe stayed on land, as he was a fire type Pokemon. Max's newest Pokemon, a Poochyena was sitting next to Growlithe. Max befriended Poochyena when he found it injured in Rinshin Town, and he took it to the Pokemon Center for treatment. After being treated Poochyena didn't want to leave Max, so Max happily caught it.

So now the gang decided to take it easy for a while. Just then lots of lily pads were floating towards the group.

"What is this?" May asked nervously.

There was nothing to panic about though; it was a horde of Lotad. Lotad was a water/grass type Pokemon with a lily pad on their head.

"This lake is probably the Lotad's home." Brock said. "So let's get out of here so we don't disturb them anymore."

The others agreed.

Ash looked Lotad up on the Pokedex.

"Lotad, the Water Weed Pokemon. Lotad live in ponds and lakes, where they float on the surface. It grows weak if it's broad leaf dies. On rare occasions, this Pokemon travels on land in search of clean water."

The Lotad shot Water Gun into the air.

"All those Lotad have the egg move Water Gun." Tomo said.

Then a girl with magenta hair turned up.

"Excuse me, but is anything wrong?" She asked. "I saw the Lotad using Water Gun."

"No nothing's wrong." Ash answered. "We were just relaxing and realized Lotad lives here."

"Oh I see." The girl said. "Well you should come to my sister's flower shop. You can get plenty of relaxation there."

The girl known as Natalie introduced the gang to her two older sisters Nicole and Rita.

"It's nice to meet all of you." Nicole said. "And you are welcome to relax here."

"I take it you grow a lot of flowers here, right?" May asked.

"Yes and we also grow berries here too." Rita said. "Come on, we'll show you."

In the garden outside the shop, there were indeed a lot of flowers and berries.

"I hear that these berries are good for humans and Pokemon, right?" Ash asked.

"That's correct." Nicole replied. "And these berries also have effects with Pokemon. An Oran Berry for example helps restore a Pokemon's energy and a Pecha Berry cures poisoning."

An Oran Berry was a blue berry and a Pecha Berry was light pink and peach colored.

"Do you sell any books about all kinds of berries?" Ash asked. "I'd like to know about all the kinds of berries there are."

"Yeah me too." Brock added.

"Actually we do." Rita said. "But before we show our books to you, would you mind giving us some help watering our garden?"

Rita explained that their pipes for watering the garden needed replacing and so they needed help with watering the garden. The gang agreed to help.

Just then the horde of Lotad from the lake appeared in the garden.

"What are the Lotad doing here?" May asked.

"They're here to help us water the garden." Rita said. "We share our berries with them and they always help us out in return."

So while Rita focused on repairing the pipes, Nicole, Natalie and the gang focused on watering the garden. The Lotad were indeed a big help; they used their lily pad heads to carry water to and from the plants and their egg move Water Gun was useful with the plants too.

"It's amazing that all of these Lotad know the egg move Water Gun." Max said.

"To tell you the truth these Lotad also know the egg moves Razor Leaf, Leech Seed, Sweet Scent and Synthesis." Nicole said. "It may seem unusual but these Lotad are quite special indeed."

Brock ended up making friends with one of the Lotad.

By the end of the day the watering was all done and the Lotad went back to the lake. Nicole offered to let the gang spend the night at their shop and the gang accepted the offer. Brock and Ash bought a book which showed all the berries there are in the Pokemon world.

"I must ask Nicole." Ash said. "If you grind the berries into juice, would the effects of berries still work on the Pokemon?"

"Oh yes." Nicole said. "Many people grind the berries into juice. That way the berries don't go bad and you can mush it into paste too."

Ash knew right away that berries were really useful, especially when a Pokemon was sick or injured. He read the book about berries until it was time to go to bed.

The next day it was time for the gang to leave and they thanked the three sisters for letting them spend the night at their place. The Lotad who Brock befriended decided to go with Brock and he caught it. So with a new Pokemon in tow, Brock and the others said goodbye to the three sisters and continued onto Rustboro City.