Making Friends and Influencing Villains! (Japanese: 森の呪いと白いボクレー！, Hepburn: The Forest's Curse and the White Phantump!) is the 24th episode of Pokémon the Series: XYZ.
Synopsis[]
Team Rocket finds some delicious macarons in the forest and happily digs in, only to be attacked by a group of Phantump who think the treats are theirs—but one little Phantump with unusual coloring accidentally gets blasted off along with them! When the frightened Phantump lands among our heroes, they introduce it to some new friends and promise to take it back home, but Team Rocket has other ideas…
In disguise, the villains lure Phantump away with the promise of more new friends—but its real friends soon come to the rescue, as the group of Phantump from the forest shows up to send Team Rocket blasting off again![1]
Episode plot[]
Somewhere, in the woods, Team Rocket is eating macarons. They are delighted to have encountered these sweets, thinking someone left it for them. Suddenly, they hear voices and find a lot of eyes, which James identifies to be seven Phantump, from which one of them is white. Meowth translates these sweets Team Rocket was eating actually belongs to the Phantump. Jessie disagrees and pushes the white Phantump away, who spout out purple branches and entangle Team Rocket. Jessie continues eating the sweets, so the Phantump use Shadow Ball, blasting Team Rocket away. In addition, the white Phantump is blown away as well, trying to get one macaron from Jessie. She refuses to give it back, so the white Phantump tickles her nose, causing her to sneeze and lets go of the macaron, while the white Phantump falls down. The other Phantump are worried and went to search for their friend. As the heroes travel, Ash wants to train for the Snowbelle City's Gym. Just then, the white Phantump falls on Ash's head, making them both to fall down unconscious.
Ash recovers, while Bonnie asks why this Phantump fell down from the sky. Bonnie points out this white Phantump has a different shiny color than an ordinary Phantump, while Bonnie approaches it. However, the white Phantump is startled and spouts out purple branches, entangling everyone, a move Clemont recognizes as Forest's Curse. The white Phantump leaves, while Pikachu's Iron Tail cuts the branches. Clemont finds it odd the Phantump is here, rather than in abandoned forests. Serena reads a legend states the Phantump, who live in big trees, imitate children's voices to lure people in, causing them to get lost. Bonnie wishes to hear such voices, but neither Serena nor Clemont want such an experience. Since Ash is hungry, the heroes have a meal. Ash goes to eat a muffin, but the white Phantump snatches the muffin away from him and eats it. Bonnie takes one of the muffins and gives it to Phantump, who eats it. Bonnie wonders if the white Phantump has friends, making Phantump startled, as it got separated from the group. Ash thinks they could take the white Phantump back.
Serena checks for a big tree, finding one is at the top of the mountain and reads there is a shrine, where people offered sweets so the Phantump would not use their voices to get people to be lost in the woods. Without further ado, the heroes set off. On their way, they encounter some Diglett and Dugtrio, who are greeting them. Phantump is startled, since it never saw any of those Pokémon before, since this is the first time it has left its habitat. Ash points out there are many people and Pokémon, so Bonnie wishes to become Phantump's friend. Phantump is amazed and flies off. After traveling a bit, the heroes come to a part of the mountain, where they have a break. Serena shows some macarons, so Clemont's Chespin comes out of its Poké Ball and immediately takes some. However, it is forced to share some to the white Phantump, who recalls the other Phantump have shared some macarons as well. This makes Phantump cry, so Bonnie calms it down, by stating they can eat macarons together. The heroes suspect the white Phantump is homesick and is missing its friends.
A Helioptile arrives and Dedenne gives it a macaron. The Helioptile is grateful and happily shares some electricity with Dedenne and Pikachu. Phantump is startled, but Bonnie points out Helioptile is their friend. Helioptile snuggles with Phantump, who likes that. A Bidoof passes by and greets Phantump, while Bonnie urges Phantump to make more friends. Team Rocket watches this and James comments as long as Phantump is around, its Forest's Curse will not allow them to capture Pikachu. Jessie claims they need to use their "acting skills" to separate Phantump and capture Pikachu, which startles James, Meowth and Wobbuffet. The heroes continue onwards and find a Ralts, Kirlia, Gardevoir and Gallade (who are actually Team Rocket, in disguise). Jessie orders the others once they have Phantump, they need to abandon it somewhere else. Meowth (as Kirlia) and Wobbuffet (as Ralts) come to Phantump and play with it a bit, then come to James (as Gallade) and Jessie (as Gardevoir), who also play with it. They all start running off, but Meowth notices the enemies are following them as well. Team Rocket continues to run, but falls down a cliff, causing the white Phantump to be sent flying into Bonnie's arms.
The heroes notice the "Pokémon" are gone, displeasing Bonnie, who wanted to play with them as well. Meanwhile, the other six Phantump are searching for the white Phantump. As the heroes continue traveling, Jessie claims they need to act even better. The heroes find three Phantump (who are Team Rocket, in disguise). The white Phantump approaches them, but senses something is odd and gets taken away by Team Rocket. Beyond a rock, Team Rocket separates, while the white Phantump leaves a macaron. While Ash continues on, Serena notices the macaron being on the ground. A moment later, Serena, Clemont and Bonnie find James, Meowth and Wobbuffet with the trapped white Phantump. Regardless, James inflates the balloon on the white Phantump's capsule, causing it to fly off, while James, Meowth and Wobbuffet run off. Just then, the six Phantump appear and use Forest's Curse to free the white Phantump from the capsule. Elsewhere, Ash and Pikachu follow the Phantump (who is Jessie in disguise). Jessie stops and drops fake Phantump, which explode and one of them turns into a capsule to capture Pikachu. Jessie takes off her disguise, while James, Meowth and Wobbuffet come to her after their motto. Pikachu uses Thunderbolt to get out, but as usual, it has no effect on Electric attacks.
As Team Rocket flies off in their balloon with their enemy in tow, a laughing sound is heard. Meowth sees they are being surrounded by Phantump, who use Energy Ball, piercing Team Rocket's balloon, while Bonnie, Serena and Clemont come to Ash. Pikachu's cage is dropped and he is freed. Meowth sees the Phantump are angry, since the macarons are the latter's offerings and did not even apologize, even trying to capture the white Phantump. Jessie (after calling out the Phantump for not sharing the macarons) sends Gourgeist to use Dark Pulse and James sends Inkay to launch Psybeam. The attack strikes at the Phantump, who use Horn Leech to counter the attacks, followed by Forest's Curse to entangle Team Rocket. Pikachu punishes them with Thunderbolt, defeating Gourgeist and Inkay. Later on, the heroes arrive to the Phantump's home. Serena offers the Phantump some food, which they eat delightedly. Bonnie asks the Phantump not to get lost once more. Suddenly, the Diglett, Dugtrio, Heliolisk and Bidoof from before appear, whom the white Phantump wants to introduce to its Phantump friends. With everything over, the heroes bid farewell to the Pokémon and continue their journey. Meanwhile, Team Rocket is wandering to search for food after they were sent blasting off from earlier. After they hear strange voices and suspecting those are the Phantump again, The Villains run off in terror. However, the voices were only coming from two campers.
Debuts[]
Move[]
Trivia[]
- "Pokémon Quiz:" Shiny Phantump (JP)
- "Who's That Pokémon?:" Phantump (US)
Gallery[]
References[]
- ^ (n.d.) . "Making Friends and Influencing Villains! | Pokémon TV (pokemon.com)". From The Official Pokémon Website | Pokemon.com. Archived from the original on February 8, 2024.
