Today's episode was very interesting though unfortunately due to skipped episodes which this was suppose to be leading up to I just wished they would get onto Ash's third Gym Battle already. Though with that said I am at least glad they updated us on what Team Rocket has been doing. Ash & co. have finally gotten to Castelia City for Ash's third Gym Battle but on their way to the Gym they meet up with Burgh who says something is wrong. The Bug-type Pokemon are acting weird which eventually leads Ash & co. down into the sewers where they encounter a Venipede. Meanwhile Team Rocket (specifically the Rocket Trio, Peirce, and Dr. Zager) have been scanning the Desert Resort for the Meteorite which will bring Team Rocket power when the scanners do pick onto something. Did Team Rocket discover the Meteorite they've been looking for in the Desert Resort? What has been bugging the Bug-type (see what I did there?) Pokemon? Will Ash & co. ever be able to taste a Casteliacone? Is there a possible connection between what Team Rocket discovered and the Bug-type Pokemon acting strangely? By now you know one of these questions isn't going to be answered, and it might not be the one you think it is. To see what I mean just read on below:

Webbing Along A Loose End:
We start this episode... WITH TEAM ROCKET! About time! Anyway we see Team Rocket's helicopter flying above what I presume to be the Desert Resort scanning it with a purple beam. Inside the Rocket Trio are watching the sensors as Pierce checks in with Dr. Zager who says everything is excellent if they can remain on course which Meowth says the coordinates are holding. James said they found something and Dr. Zager says he found the Meteorite as the helicopter hovers over one spot with their beam and we see beneath the floor a glowing meteorite.

After having caught up with Team Rocket, we go to Ash & co. who have finally reached Castelia City and Ash is excited for his Gym Battle. Iris looks around surprised how big Castelia City is while Cilan says they need to stop by the Casteliacone to try their ice cream and Iris suggests they go before the Gym Battle but Ash stops them and says they can go after his Gym Battle. Cilan says the Gym is up ahead and they can take a short cut through Square Garden Central Plaza and Iris asks if Ash is ready for his Gym Battle which he says he is. However as they walk through they spot Burgh looking up a tree and Ash tells him he's heading for the Castelia Gym now but Burgh says he can't battle because something is bothering him. Cilan asks what's wrong and Burgh says the Bug Pokemon picked up something last night and have become restless and Iris says she heard this happens when something bad is about to happen. Burgh says she's right and it's been scientifically proven that Pokemon can pick up electromagnetic waves and Iris says she "senses" something too and points in the direction where it's "coming from".

As it turns out Iris wasn't following electromagnetic waves but rather her stomach as she leads them to Casteliacone which Cilan is sad to see is closed (must not be Tuesday). Ash says he thinks Iris was just hungry for some ice cream which Iris takes offense by but Pikachu senses something coming from a nearby manhole cover. Ash asks Burgh what's under (a greenhouse, Ash, what do you think is under a city?) and Burgh tells him it's the sewers which spread thoughout under the city and out to a nearby river. Burgh then remembers once a Pokemon came into Castelia City by travelling through the sewers from the river and Ash says that maybe there is something down there and Burgh says they should investigate.

In the sewers Ash and co. (+ Burgh) find a Venipede who's head is stuck in a pipe and after Iris and Cilan confirms this Ash tries to pull it out but Burgh stops him telling Venipede's Ability is Poison Point (or Swarm). However Ash sees it's helpless and decides to try and pull it out anyway and manages to but falls onto his back as the Venipede plops down in front of them. The Venipede gets up, crawls back, and starts using Screech and Ash asks it to stop which it does but it collapses and seems to be hurt. Ash goes over to it saying he wants to help it but Venipede starts hissing at him as Iris and Cilan warn him it may attack but Ash still tries to calm it down... and it Tackles him. Ash holds onto Venipede though, telling it he just wants to help it and after Pikachu talks to Venipede it clams down but it tuns out Venipede's Ability was Poison Point as Ash tells Burgh to take care of Venipede and Ash faints as Cilan starts looking around for an Antidote.

I've Heard Of Alien And Zombie Invasions But Never This...:
Sometime later Cilan gives Ash some Antidote as Iris applies a Super Potion on Venipede's wound which Burgh covers with a bandage. Ash thanks Burgh but Burgh says it was nothing but Ash had "awed his pure heart" while Iris gives Venipede an Oran Berry which is sucks the inside out of (kind of creepy) making it feel better. Burgh asks why would Venipede stick its head inside the pipe when Cilan hears a noise behind him and they see a Venipede colony walking by them which confuses Burgh as Venipede live on the barren lands outside Castelia City (no they don't, they live in forests) and asks what they are doing here. Another Venipede uses Screech on Ash & co. (+ Burgh) and then uses Sludge Bomb and Burgh tells them to run but Ash asks about the Venipede they just helped and Cilan tells him there's no time and Ash starts to run telling the Venipede to take care.

Ash & co. (+ Burgh) get back to the surface to see that the entire city has been invaded by Venipedes and they're attacking with Sludge Bomb as Officer Jenny rides up with a Herdier in her side care (guess they replace Growlithes in Unova) and tells them to leave as it isn't safe here. Burgh asks what's going on and Officer Jenny only knows a Venipede colony is swarming the city and when Cilan asks why Officer Jenny says they have Professor Juniper working on it. A loud explosion is heard near the Pokemon Center and they rush over to see trainers with Fire-type Pokemon (Darmanitan, Pignite, and Pansear) standing ready and Trip who is taking pictures though sees Ash and immidietly turns away before calling out a Lampent. Trip tells the other trainers to have their Pokemon use Flamethrower and the four Fire-types create four streams of flames which start attacking the Venipedes. The Venipedes kind of don't like being attacked and start using Sludge Bomb on them as Trip tells them to use Flamethrower again but Ash tells them to stop though Trip just tells Ash to get out of the way and has no time for him.

Ash: Why are you attacking the Venipede, Trip?
Comment: Because they're invading the city.
Trip: Because they're attacking us for no reason at all.
Comment: You attacked them with Flamethrower! You both are oblivious!

Trip says the only thing they can do is stop them and Ash tells them Professor Juniper is figuring out what's happening and to "knock it off". Trip calls Ash naive and says this isn't the Kanto region "boonies" (give me a "R", give me an "A", give me a "C", give me a "IST", what does that spell?) which gets Ash angry but are stopped by someone who says they need to act quickly and Officer Jenny says it's the Mayor. The Mayor says the Venipede is bringing the city to its knees and their poison is a great threat and despite Ash's "but"s he says citizen safety is his prime concern and wants all the Venipede removed. Burgh tries to tell the Mayor if they try to remove them the fight will esculate and both sides will get even more hurt and the Mayor asks if Burgh has a better idea which Burgh suggests they put the Venipede into Central Plaza until they can figure out what's the problem. The Mayor thinks about this as Officer Jenny tells him Professor Juniper is working on figuring out what's the problem and Ash & co. ask the Mayor to go along with Burgh's plan. The Mayor asks how will they get the Venipede to go to Central Plaza and Burgh says they find their leader first (if their leader is the Venipede that they helped earlier... I'll probably need to get a new keyboard) they can lead it to Central Plaza and the rest of the Venipede will follow as the Mayor gives a "Oh, I see" and gives Burgh permission to use his plan warning if they're unable to move them to Central Plaza he'll have to remove them.

You'd Thought We Would Have Done A Pied Piper Episode Already:
Burgh agrees and asks Cilan to look for Nurse Joy as they could use Audino's help as they start looking while Trip stays behind and says "the leader of the Venipede" (he's not gonna pull a Paul and catch the leader Pokemon is he?). At Professor Juniper's Lab, Professor Juniper is told by one of her assistants they recieved data from the "Unova Star Satellite" (They're just begging for an OnStar joke here) and as maps start appearing on screen the assistants ask why they need it to figure out the Vanipede's mass migration. Professor Juniper tells him that Venipede dig underground nests but the mass migration might have been caused by a radical underground change.

We cut back to Ash, Iris, and Burgh as Ash asks how they're going to find the Venipede leader and Burgh says because wild Pokemon are constantly under threat the one that senses danger the quickest becomes their leader and usually the leader is perched where they can an eye on the whole colony. Iris points up to a Venipede that is looking from the top of a building and Ash says it looks bigger then the others which Burgh says that's another reason it's the leader and if they're right it'll battle anyone who approaches it as Burgh motions to it. The Leader Venipede jumps down and Burgh tries to tell it their in danger if they stay and need to follow him but the Leader Venipede attacks with a Sludge Bomb which Burgh dodges and asks it to calm down. However Trip appears and tells his Lampent to use Flamethrower but the Venipede Leader dodges and uses Sludge Bomb which Lampent also dodges. Ash tells Trip to stop it and Trip tells him if they can stop their leader it'll break up the colony up and get rid of them (or cause the colony to go into a panic causing them to start destroying the city because they're EVERYWHERE). Ash tells him they promised that if they move them to Central Plaza they won't be attacked but Trip tells them it's useless because the Venipede Leader has no interest in them and tells Lampent to take it out. Lampent attacks with a Shadow Ball but Ash jumps in front taking the hit which sends him flying though all Trip has to say it "that was a waste" (geez, just give him a white hood already...).

Burgh starts to tell Trip to stop as Venipede sends out a signal to the other Venipedes when the Venipede that Ash & co. helped comes up to it and tells it something before crawling over to Ash to see if he's okay and Ash tells Trip the Venipede are nice Pokemon (their evolution on the other hand...). Ash starts to think there must be a reason why they're angry while Trip says he couldn't care less about their reasons and only the end results count but Burgh says Trip doesn't have the right to stop them as "the honesty of their pure hearts haven't been realizes yet". Ash and Iris tell Trip to give them a chance just when Cilan comes running up with Nurse Joy and Audino as Trip returns Lampent and tells them to knock themselves out as he knows the result and Iris ask what's wrong with him though Ash gives a smile. Burgh asks Nurse Joy if Audino could use Heal Pulse to calm down the Venipede which it does and Burgh starts playing a flute (which Cilan calls a "Bug Flute") and pied pippers them to Central Plaza (when do we get to the part where he asks the Mayor to be paid, is refused, and leads the children away from the city?).

Scene Change? What Scene Change:
Burgh tells Ash & co. (+ Nurse Joy) to help any stragglers which they do with Ash having Pidove use Gust on some Venipede hiding in an alley, Iris trying to have Axew use Dragon Pulse on some on top of a building but it fails though the Venipede start crawling down to follow anyway. Continuing Cilan has Pansage use Bullet Seed to trip a couple of charging Venipedes to get them with the colony while Nurse Joy has Audino use Heal Pulse to calm two Venipedes that were fighting. Ash sees some Venipede on a canopy and sends Pidove to use Gust but one Venipede attacks with Sludge Bomb but Trip quickly has his Tranquill use Air Cutter to counter the attack though the explosion still had Pidove fly into Ash's arms who is surprised to see Trip. Trip tells Tranquill to use Air Cutter to scare the Venipede to join their colony and Ash thanks Trip as he has Pidove use Gust on another group of stubborn Venipede and... PIDOVE IS EVOLVING!

Seeing the new evolution animation once more, Ash's Pidove evolves into a Tranquill and has it use Gust to blow a large group of Venipede to follow the colony as Trip has his Tranquill use Aerial Ace to get some more moving and Ash gives a smile over to Trip who snubs him. Back at Professor Juniper's Lab, one of her assistant tells her that they detected an unknown energy flow and Professor Juniper tells them to trace it back to its source and a second energy source has been found in the Desert Resort and the two energy sources are emerging and the numbers are off the charts (don't you mean it's going over NINE THOUSAAAAAAAAAAND!!!!)! Professor Juniper asks "now what" and after the map glows and beeps some more she says something is going on in the Desert Resort. We suddenly cut to an airplane that... Giovanni is riding in! A Rocket Grunt tells him they're arriving in the Unova Region and Giovanni says the meteorite is exclusively for the power and glory of Team Rocket as the plane flies into the sunset.

Back to the main plot, all the Venipede have arrived to Central Plaza which has Herdiers guarding the gate as Ash says he's glad the Venipede are all safe to the he helped earlier in the episode. The Mayor says they can rest easy and congratulates Burgh who says Ash & co. (+ Trip) are the ones to be thank but Ash says they were just following what Burgh said though eitherway the Mayor thanks them. Ash turns around to see Trip walking away and ask where he's going and Trip says he's going to the next time and when Ash brings up the Gym Battle Trip just says it'll take awhile for all this to clear up and instead of wasting his time here he'll go to another Gym. Iris rolls her eyes and Cilan says he senses a bitter aftertaste saying you could say it's part of Trip's ingrediants and Ash says the next time they meet they can have another battle and Trip says they'll have to see if he's worth battling leaving Ash confused and nervously smiling at Pikachu.

Awhile later a helicopter flies into Castelia City and on a roof Professor Juniper comes out and meets with Ash & co. and she says Officer Jenny had told her what happened and congratulates them. Burgh asks Professor Juniper does she know the reason to Venipede's behavior and Professor Juniper says she does showing them a map and explains they found a mysterious energy flow in the barren land around Castelia City. Professor Juniper says they found the source and it's emitting from under the Desert Resort and Burgh says that since Venipede nest underground the huge energy source must have terrorized them. The Mayor asks what is the mysterious energy and Professor Juniper is saying that is what they're investigating right now and Officer Jenny says she'll like to come and observe as does Burgh though the Venipede in Central Plaza concerns him so he stays behind. With that said Professor Juniper and Officer Jenny enter the helicopter and fly to the Desert Resort leaving Burgh and the Mayor behind. What? What about Ash & co.? Well we didn't see them enter the helicopter and the narrator said next time Ash is going to have his Gym Battle. What do you mean that wasn't in the original version and a scene of Ash & co. asking to come along and them entering the helicopter was cut out? Stop trolling me an get excited for Ash's 3rd Unova Gym Battle!