Ash's Naganadel

Ash's Naganadel (Japanese: サトシのアーゴヨン Satoshi's Agoyon) was the fourth that   in the Alola region, and his fiftieth overall.

As a wild Pokémon
When Naganadel was in its home world as a Poipole, it lived in a nest with multiple other and an elder. A, in its , also lived in the same world, whose light would make the world a lush and green planet. Although it would often protect the Poipole and Naganadel, one day a meteorite came crashing down and in order to protect the world from its impact, Necrozma collided with it. But in destroying the meteorite, it turned into a different form with a black appearance and fell into a crevasse. After falling, the change in Necrozma's form caused it to be encased in a spiky and crystallized cocoon and turned the lush and bright world into a desolate and dark place. The Poipole and Naganadel would huddle together and take in the remnants of light left. Poipole later left the world, attempting to find a better place to live.

Poipole debuted towards the end of The Professors' New Adventure!, where it was seen traversing through an Ultra Wormhole. In A Mission of Ultra Urgency!, it emerged from the wormhole on Melemele Island and started roaming around. Soon, it came to witness and  battling a  during their first Ultra Guardians mission, and became fascinated by the light produced by 's attacks. It excitedly approached Pikachu while the rest of the group had their attention on whether Buzzwole's capture was successful or not. In Love at First Twirl!, Poipole recalled Pikachu's after encountering a wild, and went looking for him, eventually finding him at the Pokémon School. While Ash and his classmates were focusing on their lesson, Poipole attracted Pikachu's attention and lured him away, wanting to see Pikachu's moves again. After Pikachu had shared an apple with it, Poipole started showing its affection towards him with constant nuzzling. Ash's Rowlet, who was looking for Pikachu, mistook this as Pikachu being in trouble and tried to attack Poipole, only for Poipole to panic and use on Rowlet, ing it. After Pikachu scolded Poipole, it understood its mistake and offered to help carry Rowlet. While going through Hau'oli City, the two were attacked by, who tried to capture them, but were saved when Ash showed up.

Later, Poipole was brought to the Ultra Guardians base where Lusamine contacted the group and, since had been unable to recognize it, told them the  name they had chosen to give for Poipole. Lusamine also suggested that Ash should Poipole and take care of it until they could figure out the location of the wormhole it had appeared from, which he agreed to. However, Poipole happily evaded all the Beast Balls that Ash tried to throw at it, thinking that Ash was playing with it. suggested that they'd demonstrate to Poipole what going into and being let out of a Poké Ball would be like, which Ash did by repeatedly recalling and sending out Rowlet. With the demonstration done and Poipole now understanding his intentions, Ash prepared to throw another Beast Ball, only for Poipole to touch the ball and be caught voluntarily, much to everyone's surprise. Later, Poipole was seen playing with Ash and at 's house, even painting a picture of Pikachu on the wall.

With Ash
In Showering the World with Love!, Ash and his classmates visited the Hokulani Observatory to witness showers falling from the sky and then floating back into space. When the first Minior fell, Poipole immediately became fascinated by the shining light they emitted. One Minior, however, hadn't managed to break out of its shell like the rest, so Ash and carried it to the observatory. At the observatory, Poipole kept examining the Minior, until next morning, its shell finally broke, revealing an. Poipole wanted to be friends with the Minior, but initially upset it by spraying some of its paint-like ooze on it. Poipole, however, understood that it had made Minior angry, and cheered it up by painting a picture of it on the wall. Over the course of the day, the two played a lot together, becoming good friends. The next night, another Minior shower came, reuniting Minior with its friends. However, as they started floating back up again, they began to fade away, as they couldn't survive too long without their shell. The same also happened to the Orange Core Minior that Poipole had become friends with, making Poipole sad, but it was calmed down by a gentle hug from Ash. In The Shape of Love to Come!, Ash encountered Mina, an artist whose is capable of detecting the emotions of others. With Ribombee's help, Mina deciphered that Poipole expressed its emotions through its paintings and that it loves Ash and considered him and everyone who lives at Professor Kukui's house to be its family. During the following night, Poipole had a dream about a dark place filled with multiple sad Poipole and a tired Naganadel, causing it to wake up and go look at the moon while crying. The next day, Ash noticed that Poipole was sad and met with Mina again to help find out what Poipole was feeling. Mina accepted and discovered that Poipole was on a mission of some kind. Later that day, Ash noticed Poipole painting a picture of "The Blinding One", which it had taken notice of in a book Acerola read to them previously.

In The Prism Between Light and Darkness!, Poipole returned to its home world when the Ultra Guardians followed through an Ultra Wormhole. Poipole reunited with the other Poipole and Naganadel, who told the group about Poipole's motive for coming to Alola. Poipole later joined the rest of Alola in showering Necrozma with light so it could return to its. After the Ultra Guardians helped return the light to its homeland, Naganadel informed the Ultra Guardians that Poipole wanted to stay behind. Thus, Poipole left Ash and returned to its hive, but not before drawing Ash and Pikachu's faces on the ground to express its goodbye to them.

In SM140, Poipole returned through an Ultra Wormhole, having evolved into a Naganadel and learned Thunderbolt since Ash last saw it. Temporarily teaming up with Professor Kukui, it helped Ash and Pikachu to attack a  that was threatening Manalo Stadium. Together, they sent it away through the Ultra Wormhole Naganadel had just come out of, using the force of two simultaneous s.

Personality and characteristics
As a Poipole, Naganadel is quite playful with other Pokémon. In one instance of this in A Mission of Ultra Urgency!, whilst Ash and his classmates were waiting to see if Buzzwole had been captured, Poipole attempted to play with before flying off. It has also been shown to have a fascination with light, as shown how it tends to stop to admire Pikachu's moves, much like how Ash's Goodra admired Pikachu's strength. In addition, Poipole is known to laugh even when attacked. Poipole took an instant liking to Ash after he helped saved it from Team Rocket. This was also seen when Ash showed it how Poké Balls work. Equally, it also became quick friends with its teammates. Despite being a playful trickster, Poipole never seems to intend any serious harm, as it clearly felt sorry when Pikachu scolded it for poisoning Rowlet, and offered to help carry Rowlet.

Poipole has a habit of spinning on its head when feeling happy. It also likes to express its affection for Pikachu by nuzzling him. Despite Poipole's playfulness, it has been shown to be there for its friends, like in Some Kind of Laziness!, when it rescued and brought back after it was almost blown away by the harsh winds blowing through the Haina Desert. Poipole has also been shown to love making paintings with its ooze, especially of those whom it wishes to be good friends with, like Pikachu and. As revealed in The Shape of Love to Come!, Poipole uses its drawings to express its feelings to others. It draws lighting bolt-shaped marks on or next to things that it likes or loves, and has been seen drawing teardrop shapes when feeling sad.

Being an Ultra Beast, Poipole is quite unfamiliar with the world of Ash and, and is driven by a great sense of curiosity, as seen in Real Life...Inquire Within!, when it began to play with an 's tail head, unintentionally causing the Exeggutor to send Ash rolling out of the Pokémon Center he was in. This same curiosity almost got it in trouble with a on 's family's farm. Poipole appears to lack the ability to smell, as it was unaffected by the stench produced by Garbodor in Real Life...Inquire Within! and reacted with indifference to the aroma produced by the flowers grown by in Some Kind of Laziness!.

Trivia

 * Excluding temporary Pokémon, Naganadel was the first Pokémon that  in a Poké Ball variant since, which he caught with a Lure Ball in The Totodile Duel, 855 episodes earlier.
 * Naganadel is the first Ultra Beast in the to be owned by a  for longer than one episode.
 * Excluding his temporary, Naganadel was the first Pokémon to be caught by Ash since  in Sparks Fly for Magnemite, 976 episodes earlier.
 * Naganadel is Ash's first non-temporary genderless Pokémon.
 * Out of all the Pokémon Ash has, Poipole is the only one not to be fully evolved at the time of its release.
 * Naganadel is Ash's first Pokémon to evolve off-screen after being caught.

Related articles

 * Ultra Beasts (anime)