PS503

Tooth and Claw (Japanese: VSムンナ VS Munna or 仲間 Companions) is the 503rd round of the Pokémon Adventures manga.

Plot
This round continues the flashback to 's childhood, when he and his friends were five years old.

, seeing a wild chase  and a wild  appearing to eat Black, starts crying loudly. Suddenly, Munna lets go of Black, who remains motionless and in a daze even after Cheren rushes over to hug him. Cheren is surprised that Munna appeared to eat Black even though his head and face weren't bitten off. Black, after saying sorry, then decides to show Cheren what he saw after Munna let go of him.

Black uses a twig to draw on the mud what he saw - a footprint. Black claims to have seen this image in his mind, and Cheren begins to worry for Black again. But Black goes into the tall grass for Bianca, and sees the exact same footprints that he saw in his mind. Looking towards the Rufflet still attacking Bianca, he observes the footprints leading up to Rufflet and notices that one footprint was actually made by Bianca's shoe, which stepped over a berry. From this, Black deduces that Rufflet gather berries on the ground and crush them before eating them. Because Bianca stepped on a berry meant for Rufflet to eat, she angered the Rufflet.

Cheren still thinks Black's deduction is not enough to help Bianca. Black thus picks up other crushed berries on the ground to catch Rufflet's attention. They grab Bianca and return to Nuvema Town while Rufflet is distracted. Later on at night, Black and Cheren endure a shouting marathon caused by Bianca's father, visibly upset at seeing his daughter wounded. They retreat to Cheren's home, where Cheren starts to read a book about Rufflet, and the book confirms what Black observed earlier. After finding out that Rufflet evolves into, Black decides to make the Rufflet his own and nickname it Brav. Cheren wonders how he will fight the wild Rufflet; Black responds by saying he will use another.

The next day, Black and Cheren return to the same spot where they encountered the wild Rufflet. Black also brought some empty Poké Balls that he bought. Within moments, the same Rufflet appears and begins to attack Black, while dodging Poké Balls that he throws. Black, bleeding from his nose, tells Rufflet that he knew it had been through many battles before, and wants Rufflet to join him on a journey to the 🇺🇳, in which it can grow stronger on the way. Rufflet pauses, but resumes its assault on Black, causing Cheren to cry out as more wounds are inflicted on Black.

Black knows that Rufflet is treating him with contempt because he doesn't own a Pokémon. But, he proves Rufflet wrong, and also surprises Cheren, by beckoning to the tall grass behind him. The wild Munna which Black encountered the day before, appears once more and starts to charge towards Rufflet. Rufflet dodges with ease, then swipes Munna onto the ground. Black is surprised at Rufflet's speed - though this makes him more eager to have the Rufflet for himself. He cheers on Munna to get up and deliver a. To Cheren's shock, Munna responds, and proceeds to stun Rufflet with a powerful wave of energy. Black follows up by throwing an empty Poké Ball at Rufflet to successfully capture it.

Cheren celebrates with Black, then wonders how Black managed to command a wild Pokémon. Black says he met up with Munna the night before, and Black agreed to train Munna as a reward for eating his dreams and clearing his mind. Cheren then remembers that he also read about Munna from the same book he read last night.

Black then proceeds to call out his newly-caught Brav in order to hug it, and when Munna also snuggles up to him, Black realizes that it also wants to join. Black happily accepts the offer by addressing Munna with the nickname Musha.

And so, Black finishes reminiscing about his past, standing next to Musha, Tula, Bo and Costa. With that, he speeds off towards Icirrus City, causing Iris to go after him.

As Drayden prepares to make an announcement regarding the upcoming 🇺🇳, Black has already reached Icirrus City, and inadvertently cracks a frozen puddle. Iris notes that winter has arrived, and Logan states that the city would soon be covered in snow. Black journeys through the city and notices the snow is indeed beginning to settle, and is later informed that they will visit Brycen's home next.

At Brycen's home, which is built into a cave, Black sees that it looks like an exhibition. Logan reveals that Brycen used to be a movie star when he was younger, but then suffered a nasty injury during a film shoot, and while recovering from the injury, decided to become a Gym Leader instead. Logan knows this because he was the doctor that assessed Brycen's injury, and later offered personal care to Brycen and his Pokémon as he recovered. Before Logan can talk any further, Brycen arrives and reminds his former therapist of his current duty.

Logan complies and leads Black to a door at the other side of Brycen's home. Black is pushed through the door, and finds himself sliding on ice in a big room. Logan tells Black that he is at the Icirrus Gym. Brycen, who is standing on a ledge somewhere in the Gym, congratulates Black for completing his first three training missions. He announces to Black that his next challenge is to reach him, and the final challenge will be a battle against him.

Major events

 * In a flashback, thanks to the wild 's help, saves  from the wild.
 * In a flashback, Black decides to capture the wild Rufflet and name it Brav.
 * In a flashback, with Munna's help, Black captures the wild Rufflet.
 * In a flashback, the wild Munna joins Black's team and is named Musha.
 * Black starts his challenge of the Icirrus Gym.

Debuts

 * Kimi

Humans

 * (flashback)
 * (flashback)
 * (fantasy)
 * Brycen
 * Drayden
 * Iris
 * Ghetsis (fantasy)
 * Zinzolin (fantasy)
 * Gorm (fantasy)
 * Rood (fantasy)
 * Ryoku (fantasy)
 * Giallo (fantasy)
 * Bronius (fantasy)
 * Shadow Triad (fantasy)
 * Bianca's father (flashback)
 * Logan
 * Kimi
 * (flashback)
 * (flashback)

Pokémon

 * (Brav; 's; flashback)
 * (Musha; 's)
 * (Bo; 's)
 * (Tula; 's)
 * (Costa; 's)
 * (Brycen's)
 * (×3; Brycen's)
 * (Brycen's)
 * (picture; flashback)
 * (picture; flashback)

Trivia

 * In the VIZ Media mini-volumes of the, this round was collected in.
 * In the Kurokawa translation from, this round was released in.
 * In the original Japanese magazine version, the end five pages of this round were originally published as a part of School of Hard Knocks. Since the pages caused a continuity error by leading into 's Gym battle with Brycen and leaving no space for The Beginning, the pages were moved when collected into.
 * In international publications that are directly based on the magazine version, such as in Pokémon Black and White volume 13 and the translation from France, the pages were split off into a separate round. In the English translation of the magazine version, the separate round is titled "Welcome Home".
 * In the magazine version of this round, Black was only seen with his Pokémon. When this round was collected into volume 48, he is joined by Iris and Logan.

In other languages
Kapitel 503 (Pocket Monsters SPECIAL) PS503