M23: Difference between revisions

Deep within the [[Forest of Okoya]], a tribe of {{p|Zarude}} live at the Heart Tree and its surrounding healing springs. The Zarude reign over the jungle, regularly terrorizing other wild Pokémon and stealing their food. One day, after collecting stolen food, [[Dada|one of the Zarude]] hears crying and discovers a human infant in a cradle on the riverbank. Unable to let the child perish in the wild, the Zarude brings him back to the Heart Tree, incurring the wrath of the others as the law of the Zarude prohibits outsiders from entering the area. The Zarude decides to leave his tribe and go into exile to raise the boy, giving him the name {{OBP|Koko|M23}} and being dubbed "Dada" by him in turn.

Ten years later, {{OBP|Ash Ketchum|M20}} and {{OBP|Ash's Pikachu|M20|Pikachu}} plan to travel into the Forest of Okoya from nearby [[Milyfa Town]]. They set out after a brief phone call between Ash and {{Delia}} that the former abruptly ends. A short time later, Ash and Pikachu come across a wild {{p|Cramorant}} in the jungle, but it escapes after {{DL|List of Pokémon with form differences|Cramorant|attempting to swallow Pikachu}} and {{a|Gulp Missile|spitting him out}}. They then pursue a wild {{p|Flapple}}, which also escapes. Ash and Pikachu come across [[Sharon]] and a research team from the Biotope Company, a scientific organization studying the jungle in search of the healing springs. Nearby, {{TRT}} spy on the conversation. [[James]] looks up information regarding the Biotope Company on his tablet and finds out about the group's goals as well as its leader, [[Doctor Zed]]. The trio and {{TP|Jessie|Wobbuffet}} decide to infiltrate the Biotope Company in search of whatever they can steal for {{an|Giovanni}}. They disguise themselves as new employees of the company to spy on Zed, and are told by another scientist that they must not go near Zed's personal office.

Meanwhile, Koko and Dada come across the aftermath of another of the Zarude tribe's rampages. Koko gathers seeds from the remains of the {{Berries}} left behind, and Dada plants them as their own private garden. A wild {{p|Hoothoot}} appears and informs them of trouble; a {{p|Flygon}} and {{p|Pangoro}} are fighting nearby and Koko heads off to stop it. By the time he separates them, Flygon is injured, so Koko brings it to the healing springs. He is caught by one of the other Zarude and threatened, but Dada arrives to collect him and apologizes for violating the tribe's territory. When Dada later admonishes Koko for trespassing on the Zarude territory, Koko lashes out, complaining that he is beginning to believe he is not a Zarude despite Dada's claims due to his different appearance and inability to use [[move]]s. Koko runs off, and while swinging through the trees, hits a pipe erected by the Biotope Company and is knocked out, falling into a river. Ash sees him go over a waterfall and pulls him to safety, bringing him to Milyfa Town's [[Pokémon Center]] for treatment. When Koko awakens, he grows alarmed and flees into the city. Ash follows and witnesses Koko calm a rampaging {{p|Drednaw}}. Seeing Koko communicate with Drednaw and Pikachu, and react in confusion to witnessing the use of a [[Poké Ball]], leads Ash to realize Koko believes he is a {{OBP|Pokémon|species}} and has not seen other humans before. Ash introduces himself and manages to learn Koko's name, and the two spend time in Milyfa Town together, acquiring human clothing and food for Koko and watching people and Pokémon interact. That evening, they come across a {{p|Falinks}} driving humans away from the site of a planned fireworks display. After communicating with the trooper members of the Falinks, Koko saves their brass from one of the firework tubes, resolving the issue. Milyfa Town's mayor later thanks them for the aid and explains that the display is to honor {{p|Celebi}}, who is said to visit in times of peace and leave an egg from the future behind in its wake.

That night, Ash recalls a memory of his own father assuring him that his dream was in his heart and would come true if he never gave up. Inspired, Koko begins searching the laboratory for more evidence of his past, and comes across a wallet with the Biotope Company's logo on it. Recognizing the symbol, Ash brings Koko to the company's building the next day. Dr. Zed greets them, but is visibly shaken when he sees Koko. Upon Ash showing him the photo, he explains that Koko's parents were [[Chrom and Phossa Molybdenum]], his former colleagues on the healing spring research, and that Koko's real name is Al Molybdenum. However, he further elaborates that Chrom and Phossa perished in a car accident ten years earlier, after which Al went missing. To confirm Koko's identity, Zed has Sharon scan his pendant, which reveals a cache of corrupted data and an image of the Heart Tree. Zed urges Koko to tell him where the Heart Tree is to honor his parents by finishing their work, but he grows upset and flees back into the jungle. As he draws close to the Heart Tree, he discovers a tracking chip planted on his shoulder by Dr. Zed, who has followed him on a motorcycle with several trucks and a giant spider-tank mecha in tow. Ash and Pikachu, who tried to follow Koko but became lost, are led to the scene by a {{p|Skwovet}} Koko befriended. Zed captures Ash, Pikachu and Koko in his {{p|Ariados}}'s {{m|String Shot}} and imprisons them in one of the trucks to prevent their interference while he leads the rest of the team to the Heart Tree.

At the Heart Tree, the Biotope Company team detects a powerful energy source. Dr. Zed orders anchoring missiles to be fired into the tree, releasing the healing spring water; he informs a horrified Sharon that his target was never the water but the tree itself, as the energy inside it is the source of the healing springs' power. His subordinates notice the Zarude around the Heart Tree and realize that it is their nest, but when they try to convince him to stop, Zed grows furious. Meanwhile, Team Rocket scheme to steal Pikachu by hijacking the truck Ash, Pikachu, Koko and Skwovet were imprisoned in. When the Cramorant reappears, they instead decide to take advantage of Cramorant's habit of swallowing Pikachu, but when it coughs up the drive it swallowed, they let Ash, Pikachu and Koko go in favor of breaking into Zed's office.

Dr. Zed, remembering Chrom Molybdenum telling him something about Pokémon and humans being equals in the past, swears that he is making the right decision before coldly deeming Sharon and his other subordinates the same as Chrom. Ash, Pikachu and Koko catch up to the Biotope Company team, and their intervention causes Zed to completely snap. He throws the spider mecha's pilot out of its cockpit and seizes its controls himself, then confesses the truth: when Chrom and Phossa found the Heart Tree in the past, they realized that it was the Zarude troop's nest and decided to suspend the healing spring research out of respect for them. Zed, considering Pokémon below humans, tried to convince them to change their minds but was unsuccessful. Team Rocket discover an old video log in Zed's office, showing him descending into madness and trashing his desk before deciding he should lead the Biotope Company himself, and thus must eliminate the Molybdenums. He pursued them through the forest, running their car off the road and causing a fiery wreck before stealing their sample of the spring water and leaving them to die in the subsequent explosion. Unbeknownst to him, they had sent the infant Al down the river in a cradle with their remaining data contained within his pendant, leading to Dada finding and saving him.

Deeming Koko's survival as a fortunate miscalculation, Zed closes himself up in the mecha and swears that he will not be stopped. The Zarude troop, rallied by their alpha, join Ash, Pikachu and Koko in fighting Zed, but the mecha overpowers them until Dada, despite being injured, arrives with the Pokémon of the jungle, having convinced them to aid by apologizing for his troop's previous selfish behavior and asking for help saving his son. The army of Pokémon engage Zed in a lengthy, vicious battle, with the doctor declaring that he will do what the Molybdenums could not and prove to the world that his ideas are correct. During the battle, Dada suffers a grievous wound protecting Koko from one of the mecha's strikes. The elder Zarude urges Koko to bring Dada to the healing spring, but when they get there, the water does not heal Dada's injury due to Zed's missiles blasting the Heart Tree open. Dada begins to succumb to his wounds, thinking as he dies that he finally understands the meaning of being a father to be having something you want to protect even more than yourself. Koko, unwilling to accept Dada's death, decides to use his {{m|Jungle Healing|special move}}, which Dada told him only special Zarude could perform. When the elder tells him that it is hopeless as he is a human, Koko calls himself a Zarude. Miraculously, the jungle responds to Koko's wish, and he is able to harness its power to revive Dada. As Ash and his allies struggle to stop Dr. Zed, the mecha's original pilot remembers that the control mechanism for it is located on its back. With the aid of several of the jungle Pokémon and the Zarude, Pikachu manages to get behind the mecha and destroy the mechanism with {{m|Iron Tail}}, shutting it down. Zed flees from the scene of the battle, still believing that he can prove his ideas to be correct, but is spotted by Koko and Dada. Koko chases and corners him on a fallen tree overlooking a river, where Zed tries to escape by leaping into the water only for Koko to trap him with a vine.