Wiscash and Ash

        Our heroes take a rest stop at a beautiful picnic area with a lake. Brock’s just finished lunch and Ash is sitting by the water admiring his badges.  The glint of the sun catches the attention of a pokemon in the water.  At that moment May and Max call to Ash to come help them set up to eat.  He stands and trips on a bucket.  His badge case flies up into the air and the pokemon jumps out of the water and swallows it!

        The rest of the gang comes over to check it out.  The pokemon is a wiscash and it resurfaces, but it doesn’t seem inclined to surrender the case.  Ash sends out Corfish to battle it, but wiscash knocks it out with a single water pulse. Ash then jumps into the water himself and swims after the pokemon. He runs out of air and tries to come up for more, but his foot is caught in seaweed.  He begins to drift out of consciousness and somehow his leg is released.  Just before he completely blacks out he sees a very tiny pikachu and grabs on to it.  It turns out to be a fisherman’s lure.  Ash gets pulled up into a boat by an old man.

        Back on the shore with the rest of the crew the man tells them about the wiscash.  He calls it Nero and says that the lake is its territory.  It has ruled the lake for over 100 years.  It took Ash’s case because wiscash like shiny things. The old man volunteers to get Ash’s case back.  The man’s name is Sullivan and he has spent 50 years trying to catch Nero.  Max hurts his feelings and he almost leaves, but some flattery brings his spirits back up.  He gives them all rods and even lets them use his lures.

        Team Rocket is on a boat in the middle of the lake, eavesdropping as usual.  When they see a whiscash they get all excited and decide to catch one.

        The group is having no luck catching anything.  But Sullivan catches water pokemon after water pokemon.  He throws them all back saying they are too small.  They ask him how to catch water pokemon.  He first tells them to look for places a fish could hide, like rocks or lily pads. He then tells them how to cast.  Ash misses his aim the first time, but Max gets it on his first try.  And he catches a wiscash.  Not Nero… but Nero pops up right after and taunts them by showing them Ash’s case before he disappears into the water.

        Team Rocket isn’t catching much… that might be because they’re using bottle caps as bait…  But Jesse does manage to catch feebass with her hair…

        Ash and co. are on a row boat now, fishing in different spots.  And Team Rocket decides that maybe they should let the twerps do the work.  Sullivan suddenly says that he knows Nero is nearby.  He casts and catches… a tiny magikarp.  But Ash finally has a bite.  It’s a big pokemon!  He’s caught Nero!  Nero takes them for quite a ride, and it takes everyone to keep Ash in the boat.  They are about to hit the rocks, so Ash has corfish crab hammer him onto the rocks.  He manages to pull Nero up onto shore and demands him badge case.  But Nero seems to be laughing at them.

        Team Rocket shows up and grabs Nero, taking off in their balloon.  The gang gives chase, using Mudkyp and Lombre to keep up.  Ash manages to sink the balloon.  On the shore a pokemon battle ensues.  Wiscash gets free and uses earthquake on Team Rocket.  That gives Ash the opening to have Pikachu send Team Rocket blasting off.  Nero sneezes and Ash’s case flies into the air.  He catches it and Nero starts to leave.  But Sullivan sends out his Flaffy – Hannah – and starts to battle it.  Wiscash is part ground type so it can withstand electric attacks.  Sullivan then pulls out a master ball – which wiscash swallows…  before promptly returning to the lake…  Sullivan says he’ll try again tomorrow.

        That evening Ash and co. say goodbye to Sullivan, who wishes Ash luck.  And as they walk away Nero floats along the lake triumphantly with the master ball on its tongue…   

      Location:    A picnic area between Petalburg and Four Tree city.

      Notes:     That’s a pretty deep lake.

                Who uses a Pikachu lure?  That’s kinda morbid…  do wiscash eat pikachu?

                 Wiscash like shiny things… great, but why’d it tease Ash like that?

                Max asks why Sullivan can’t catch Nero and Sullivan does that thing Brock used to do when anyone mentioned professor Ivy.

                You know, Ash gets his badges taken every season… you’d think he’d learn…

                They all had to hold Ash in the boat, but when he tells them to let go he can stay just fine O.o

                In the Team Rocket motto, Jesse has James and Meowth caught on her hook…  that’s hurt…

                Why do they always leave at sunset?  Shouldn’t they leave in the morning so they have a nice place to stay at night?  What do they do, leave town at set up camp right outside?