ENGLISH NAME	JAPANESE NAME	POKEMOPOLIS NAME	DODGINESS RATING	ANIMATION	STORY	TEAM ROCKET	MORAL LEARNT
766: The Light of Floccesy Ranch!	772: Kiri no Sangi Bokujo! Denryu no Akari!	Those Who Can, Teach?			Dragonite helps a wimpy Ampharos grow some balls	3 sheep does not a doomsday weapon make	Beat people up to earn respect!

Today finds Axew happily stumbling along ahead of the twerps, followed by a happy Pikachu into the woods and out of sight. To Pikachu's surprise he discovers a Mareep blocking his path, staring with blank stupidity directly ahead, and no Axew in sight. Pikachu is confused, looking about for Axew when the little dragon toddler appears from out of Mareep's fleece with a happy cry. The twerps arrive, and Iris scolds Axew (who seems to be getting naughtier with each episode) for playing about in another Pokémon’s "hair". To their concern they spot something else emerging from the darker, thicker foliage, something with two glowing spots high and low on its body. What is this monster? It's... an Ampharos, a happy kangaroo looking thing that toddles up to Mareep and grabs it by the tail, trying to haul it out of where it is standing. When Mareep remains stationary, Ampharos gestures back the way it came, insistent, but Mareep is having none of it. Finally showing signs of life, it blasts Ampharos with electricity, making it clear it isn't going to listen to...



A young girl with a Southern accent named Ellie arrives, pleased to see Mareep and congratulating Ampharos for finding it. She explains the two Pokémon come from her family's nearby ranch, and invites them along to see it. It's Floccesy Ranch, owned by her Grandfather, and they keep a "flock" of 10 Mareep there. She tells the stray Mareep to get back with the others and it races away, listening when SHE speaks at least.

Her Grandpa passes by with a wheelbarrow of feed as the twerps join Ellie on the porch, Ash enjoying the clean, fresh air (surely he smells cleaner and fresher nearly every day bumming around the countryside?). Ellie tells her Grandpa she invited the trainers over, and he doesn't seem to mind the strangers getting the run of the place - maybe he's just happy she has somebody roughly her own age to talk to. She prepares them a meal of sandwiches and soup, and as they compliment her on the food, Axew is down amongst the sleeping Mareep, enjoying the feel of their fleece and unable to resist diving in again for a swim. Iris snaps at him but Ellie says it is okay, the wool feels cosy. Pikachu agrees, jumping in as well, and Cilan tells Iris that the fleece is warm in the winter and cool in the summer. Pikachu and Axew play hide and seek in the fleece, having a good time, but Ampharos isn't having as good a time. Spotting a Mareep wandering off, it rushes to get in the way and the Mareep scowls at it, and it immediately flinches, intimidated. Ellie admits that Ampharos is eager to be a watch-Pokémon but is too timid for its own good, making it ineffective at its job. Ellie has been working on teaching Ampharos Thunder Punch to improve its confidence and gain respect from the Mareep, but it is struggling with the move.

Iris has an idea, calling out Dragonite and asking him to demonstrate the move. He immediately smashes through a rock with Thunder Punch. Iris asks if Dragonite will help Ampharos learn the move, and Ash and Cilan eagerly agree that this is a great idea, but Dragonite seems less than enthusiastic. Ash and Axew rush up wanting to see too, so Dragonite grumpily barks orders at Ampharos to show him what it’s got... and what it has is pathetic. With hilarious grumbling, Dragonite growls out a mumbling disapproval of Ampharos' ability, and Ellie rushes up begging him to keep trying. Ampharos looks depressed, Dragonite looks long-suffering, and Pikachu and Axew are absolutely fascinated as Dragonite demonstrates once again how to do a PROPER Thunder Punch.

Ampharos tries again, attempting to build up electricity, but once again things fizzle out, leaving it to sweatdrop with embarrassment. Wonderfully expressive in his body language, Dragonite grabs Ampharos' paw and taps it impatiently, wanting it to step up its game. Ellie offers encouragement, and Ampharos manages to build up and hold its charge a little longer... but then it fizzles out again.

As Dragonite sighs, Team Rocket are watching from high on a hill from their binoculars. Meowth wants to run straight in and make a grab at Pikachu, but James and Jesse have other ideas - they've noticed those Mareep and figured if they can get their hands on them, they'll be able to use them to negate Pikachu's electric advantage over them.

Dragonite has moved on from the electric portion and is trying to teach Ampharos how to throw a punch now, and it can't even do that right. An eager Pikachu and Axew shadow-box as well, but when Dragonite and Ampharos charge up their electric attacks, Pikachu ends up joining in as well and overdoes things a little, scaring Axew and Ampharos and even startling Dragonite who wasn't expecting this.



Iris is impressed by Dragonite's skills as a teacher, with Cilan and Ash perhaps reading a bit much into this all as they loudly proclaim how the grumpy Dragonite truly wants to teach Ampharos, and is showing a softer side. This is all pure bullshit, but it makes them happy, so they all continue to watch Dragonite mentor Ampharos. As a result, none of them notice the thin beam of electric energy that zaps out of the forest and connects with one of the Mareep's heads. Delighting in the electrical energy it enjoys, Mareep gets up and follows the flow of the energy back to its source, and with simple stupidity climbs right into the cage waiting for it. On top, a delighted Team Rocket laugh at the simplicity of their plan (and their prey!), they're sure once they have all 10 Mareep, they'll be a match for Pikachu's power.

Back at the ranch, Ellie freaks out when she realizes that one of her huge flock of 10 Mareep are missing. Ampharos freaks out when it realises that this happened while it was distracted by training, and the twerps quickly offer to help locate it. Iris asks Dragonite - taking the moment to relax - to take to the air and look for Mareep, and he grumbles and makes no move... till Iris roars at him to get going and he leaps up in shock, doing as he's told - Dragonite has no illusions about who the boss is now.

They head into the forest, calling out for Mareep, confused as to how it couldn't have gotten that far in such a short time. Dragonite lands with bad news, he hasn't seen anything either, somehow having completely missed Team Rocket who are right out in the open capturing another Mareep as we speak. Maybe Dragonite didn't bother to do anything but fly up, take a grumpy cursory look about and then land again! Meowth sings a happy song as the next Mareep goes happily to its doom, but Jesse tells him this is too serious for singing. They mean to have all 10 Mareep, but also Ampharos, they want as much power as possible when they take on Pikachu.

Everybody returns to the ranch, none of them having spotted that Mareep, and Ellie realises that they're down another one. At first it seems Ampharos has finally gotten fired up... but then it just runs about in circles in a panic, completely useless. Wearily they head back into the forest calling out futilely for the Mareep, only for a fog to roll in. Iris cattily complains that NOW they have to deal with fog too, and Ellie explains that fog often rolls in unexpectedly in these woods. They can't see a thing (they have a fucking Ampharos) and they return to the ranch, going over the map of the area. Ellie says she knows the Mareep wouldn't cross the river (lady, what you don't know would FILL a river!) and admits to Grandpa that they've gone and lost two Mareep. He's understandably upset, this represents a fifth of his entire flock after all (haha, what a terrible ranch), and he declares that Ampharos - who is nowhere to be seen - just isn't working out as a Watch Pokémon. He is going to trade it in at the next Pokémon Exchange Meeting, overheard by Dragonite who scowls at the notion of giving up a Pokémon as too weak and timid. Ash and Cilan agree though that you can't force somebody to be brave, but then they learn that Ampharos has other talents.

Axew and Pikachu return excitedly to lead them back into the foggy forest, where they discover Ampharos is still looking, using the glow of its head and tail baubles to see the way. Apparently none of them thought about using this before even though Ampharos are well known for doing just this very thing, and yet it's Ampharos who is going to be sent away for being useless.

Just to REALLY hammer home how useless Ellie and her Grandpa are, Team Rocket have got electronic tracking surveillance on all 10 Mareep. So even in spite of the fog they know exactly where each Mareep is at all times, because they're smarter than the people who own the fucking ranch. They call on another Mareep with a beam of electricity, though this one also catches Axew's attention. Touching the beam it is startled by the shock and stumbles back with a cry, getting Iris' attention. Pikachu steps up and touches the electric beam safely, and then they spot the Mareep following it stupidly. Ampharos tries to grab it but it grumpily fidgets free, no respect at all for its guardian, and continues on, followed by the twerps.

Meowth is counting a third Mareep into the cage, the act of doing so lulling him close to falling asleep. So he says, at least, maybe he's bored because of how incredibly easy it is to capture these stupid things. The twerps arrive shortly behind Mareep and spot Team Rocket, and demand to know what they're doing. The answer, of course, comes in the form of a motto!

"Prepare for trouble, you know the drill!"
And make it double, you'll get your fill!"
"To protect the world from devastation!"
"To unite the people within our nation!"
"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"
"To extend our reach to the stars above!"
"It's Jesse!"
"And James!"
"Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light!"
"Surrender now, or prepare to fight!"
"Meowth, dat's right!"

Iris snaps that she should have known it was Team Rocket behind the Mareep disappearing (despite the fact the Mareep are constantly wandering off) and Team Rocket strike, putting their plan into action. Drawing on the electric power in the Mareep, they charge their machine to output a massive burst of electricity at the twerps - and more particularly, Pikachu. Ampharos blocks the attack with Thundershock but the three Mareep are too much for it, and Meowth lets rip with another blast right at Pikachu. Pikachu counters with Thunderbolt, negating the attack, so Meowth cranks up the juice to 100%, hurting the Mareep and putting enormous pressure on Pikachu.

Ash tells Pikachu to pour it on at max power, and Pikachu obliges, easily overwhelming the three Mareep (I imagine if pressed he could have maybe taken all 10 at once) and blasting back along the attack to blow up Team Rocket's device. The smoke clears and Team Rocket are nowhere to be seen... but Ampharos and the three Mareep are gone too.

In their Happy Buddha Face Meowth balloon, Team Rocket have accepted their defeat - they knew that Pikachu was no pushover. However they haven't given up on the idea of collecting Mareep to counter Pikachu's electric attacks and set out with the benefit of a birds-eye view to locate the missing sheep and their minder.

The three Mareep don't know where they are but their stupid, simple minds are happy enough to stay there. Anxious, Ampharos is trying to move them but they refuse to pay it any nevermind as it tugs at their tails and even reverts to what looks like pathetic humping, blasting it with electricity to dissuade the inappropriate action (yes I know it was just trying to move the Mareep, calm down).

Sitting back uselessly on its ass, it is alarmed to see Team Rocket show up, sending out Amoonguss and Woobat to beat them down and capture them. Ampharos blocks the attacks meant for the Mareep, and finally succeeds in getting them moving, more because they're in danger now. Amoonguss and Woobat block their escape, and since Thundershock hasn't managed to hit them, Ampharos does what it does best, emanating red light from its body to get Ellie's attention. She spots the sign and leads the twerps to where the attack is happening, marvelling to see Ampharos shielding the Mareep with its body.

Ash and Iris send in Snivy and Dragonite to assist Ampharos, Dragonite absorbing the attacks from Woobat and Amoonguss to protect Ampharos as well as the Mareep. The Pokémon turn their attacks on Snivy next and Ellie screams out to Ampharos to use Thunder Punch, shocking it. Dragonite - tuckered out from the dual attack - gives Ampharos the nod, and the vote of confidence (well, necessity really) gives Ampharos the spirit to finally produce the goods, gut punching Amoonguss and Woobat and knocking them both back into the Happy Buddha Face Meowth balloon. It pops and hits the ground, low enough so as not to matter... except Team Rocket are sent blasting off again anyway!

Shortly after back at the ranch, Grandpa, Ellie and twerps watch as the newly confident Ampharos prevents another Mareep from trying to wander off. It grumbles at Ampharos and is surprised when he grumbles back, and one of the three Mareep that it saved comes over to let its brother know that Ampharos is a good dude after all. The Mareep, being an easily led idiot, accepts this and that's just the way things are now, it will listen to Ampharos.

So the twerps prepare to leave, assuring Grandpa and Ellie that they'll pop back in the next time they're in the area (haha, no they won't!). They're on their way to the White Ruins once more, but before they go, Iris demonstrates again that she and the other twerps really have no idea what is going on in Dragonite's head. They laugh that Dragonite is probably blushing inside its Pokéball knowing that it helped out Ampharos, what a cutie-pie who hides his soft nature beneath a gruff exterior!



Yeah. That ain't no cutie pie!

BEST QUOTES

"Hold on, old chum!" "Hold on to what?"

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