AG012

The Lotad Lowdown (Japanese: ハスボーとフラワーショップの三姉妹！  and the Three Sisters of the Flower Shop!) is the 12th episode of the, and the 286th episode of the Pokémon anime. It was first broadcast in Japan on February 13, 2003 and in the United States on December 20, 2003.

Blurb
''Ash, Pikachu, Brock, May and Max decide to cool off in a picturesque lake en route to Rustboro City. But they're not the only one's splashing around! The lake is actually home to a whole flock of Lotad. The Lotad seem to be having fun with their new friends, but a little girl named Natalie thinks that Ash and crew are out of line. She brings them back to the flower shop which her two older sisters run. There, Ash and the gang learn all about berries and the effects that different berries have on Pokémon. Brock promptly falls in love with the two older sisters, making little Natalie very jealous. In fact, Natalie isn't the only one smitten with Brock—a quirky little Lotad seems to have taken a liking to him as well. Natalie decides to win Brock's affection by finding a Sitrus Berry and she wanders off into the woods. She finds one, but a Beedrill wants it, too! Luckily, Brock arrives in time to save her from the Beedrill. Meanwhile, Team Rocket has decided to catch all the Lotad in the lake and it's up to Brock's quirky Lotad friend and Pikachu to save the day.''

Plot
The episode starts with (in his bathing suit) jumping into a pool, followed by,  and Max. Max splashes water at May and Ash swims around with Pikachu on top of his head. is standing on a rock, doing exercises. He places his right foot in but trips. The others are laughing at him. Then, a pair of red eyes appear in the water, watching Ash and. Without them noticing, more pairs of red eyes appear. Then, they see leaves floating on the water. Scared, they swim back to shore but Max is pulled in the water and everybody else is too. They saw that they were being pulled in by. The Lotad pile up and throw Ash and his friends back to the shore. As the Lotad leap up to the shore, May gets frightened and she hides behind Max. Then, all the Lotad use up into the air. All but one use Water Gun lightly. Brock walks up to the Lotad but its Water Gun turn back to normal and hits Brock in his face. A girl, Natalie, appears behind them, asking what they are doing with the Lotad. She then takes them to her sister to be punished for trespassing.

Meanwhile, is wandering through the forest, dying of thirst, when James suddenly collapses on the ground telling Jessie and  to leave him there to die. The trio spot a Tamato Berry in a tree and Jessie and Meowth fight over who gets to eat it, until they both take a bite and begin breathing fire from the Berry's spicy flavor.

The gang are taken to a flower shop run by Natalie's sisters where she is scolded by her sister, Nicole, for treating them rudely. They introduce themselves and Brock begins flirting with Nicole. She invites them to some pie she made when her sister,, comes in complaining that their Wailmer Pail has a leak. Brock is in awe at Rita's beauty and begins to flirt with her as well, until Natalie becomes insulted that Brock wasn't attracted to her as much as he was to her sisters. Rita questions if perhaps Natalie is in love with Brock herself. They all go in and eat the pie Nicole prepared which she explains she made from the Berries they grow around their house. Rita explains that because of the climate they are able to harvest all kinds of Berries around their house and offers to show the gang their orchard. Natalie is then shown offering Brock a huge plate full of pie just for him to which he reluctantly thanks her.

The gang heads outside and call out their Pokémon to enjoy the nice weather when Nicole and Natalie come out of the shop to take them to their Berry patches, Natalie literally dragging an over-stuffed Brock by the arm over to them. May compliments the size of their Berry garden, and Nicole points out the different types of Berries grown in their garden and explains the different effects Berries have on Pokémon. Brock takes up a strong interest in Berries and asks that Nicole explain more when Natalie offers to make him a list of all the effects each Berry has on Pokémon. He thanks her and she claims that she "would do anything for her boyfriend". Rita approaches the group claiming that some of the pipes have gotten old and since they stopped working, they should replace the entire system. Nicole agrees but is concerned about the amount of work that would needed to get the job done when the group of Lotad from the lake arrive with their pads filled with water. They begin to water the garden, and Rita thanks them for their help. May asks why the Lotad are helping them water the garden, and Natalie explains that it's the Lotad's way of thanking them for growing all the Berries for them. Max is confused why the Lotad are able to learn Water Gun so Nicole explains that they are special Lotad that can do other unusual attacks. Ash then offers to help water the garden and May, Max, and Brock excitedly agree.

Team Rocket has started drinking water from the lake when Jessie and Meowth don't come up for air. James asks if they're okay, and they raise their heads revealing red markings around their mouths from the Tamato Berry still unhappy from the Berry's burn. James spots Ash and co. on the other side of the lake as they collect water and Meowth points out the group of Lotad with them. Meowth claims they should capture all the Lotad to give to as a gift that can assist him in the morning routines.

May, Max, and Brock are shown carrying buckets of water followed by the group of Lotad, Pikachu, and Torchic. Pikachu stops and points out that the Lotad at the front of the line has stopped, and Ash (while helping Rita repair the pipes) states that it's the same Lotad from before that couldn't perform a decent Water Gun. Rita explains that it has a unique character, and May claims it's cute. Brock goes over and offers to help the Lotad learn how to water the plants. The Lotad is overjoyed by its achievement and thanks Brock endlessly. Rita claims that she thinks Brock will be an excellent breeder someday, which Ash agrees. Ash and Rita finally fixed all the pipes and Rita thanks the Lotad for all their help and instructs that they go back to the lake for the night. The Lotad say goodbye and begin to make their way back home, though the one Lotad stays put. Brock tells it that it should go home when Nicole comes running up with a note saying that Natalie ran off to find Sitrus Berries. Brock explains that she wants to find the Berries since he said he wanted to have some for himself and offers to find her for them. Rita and Ash offer to come along with him, and the three of them head off into the forest.

The three of them begin searching when Pikachu hears rustling in the bushes. They observe the bush hoping it's Natalie. Instead, it's the unique Lotad that Brock helped out earlier. Brock thinks it's worried about Natalie and allows it to help them search. Natalie is shown wandering through the forest when she finally finds a Sitrus Berry in a tree, but when she goes over to pick it, sometimes moves in the bushes behind her. It jumps out and she screams which Ash and Brock hear. They follow the sound of her scream and it turns out to be a wild. It charges towards Natalie until Brock sends out his Forretress to protect her using its Rapid Spin. The Beedrill retreats into the forest and Brock goes to make sure Natalie is alright. Natalie is thrilled to see Brock saved her, when Rita interrupts by scolding her for running into the forest alone. She apologizes and gives Brock the Sitrus Berry she found. Brock thanks her for finding it for him, and Rita claims that she's only lucky she's safe.

Pikachu then hears something near by which turns out to be Team Rocket on a boat on the lake's shore. They explain that they're going to catch all the Lotad in the lake and speed away. Ash says that they have to warn the Lotad of Team Rocket but Rita is afraid they won't be able to get to the Lotad in time. That's when the Lotad that had been following them offers to take Pikachu and go tell its friends about Team Rocket. Pikachu hops on Lotad's pad and the two speed off in pursuit of Team Rocket while Ash and the gang decide to follow them on land. Team Rocket begin executing their plan to catch all the Lotad when Nicole, May, and Max arrive at the scene. May spots something gaining up on Team Rocket's ship which turns out to be Pikachu and Lotad. Pikachu leaps onto the railing of Team Rocket's boat which Jessie and Meowth figure is a perfect opportunity to capture him now that they've captured the Lotad. Just then, Lotad appears in front of the boat and fires an extremely powerful Water Gun which busts a hole in the front of the boat, releasing all the captured Lotad. Team Rocket watch as all the Lotad swim away, when Ash, Brock, and the two sisters finally catch up. Ash orders Pikachu to fire a to blast Team Rocket off, destroying the boat. Pikachu lands on Lotad and all the other Lotad thank them for releasing them from Team Rocket. The gang is all happy the Lotad are safe, and Nicole tells Natalie that she's not allowed to go search for Berries by herself.

The next morning the group get ready to leave when Natalie gives Brock the list of Berries as she promised him. Nicole tells them Rustboro city isn't far, and Rita wishes Ash and May luck in their Gym battles when Lotad suddenly appears and walks up to Brock. Brock asks Lotad if it needs anything, when Max claims that Lotad wants to travel with Brock. Brock asks Nicole if that's okay with her, to which she agrees. Brock is thrilled to have a new Pokémon, and the gang says goodbye and continue on their way to Rustboro City, as the journey continues.

Major events

 * catches a.

Pokémon debuts

 * Brock's Lotad

Humans

 * Max
 * Jessie
 * James
 * (fantasy)
 * Natalie
 * Nicole
 * (fantasy)
 * Natalie
 * Nicole

Pokémon
Who's That Pokémon?:
 * (new)
 * (fantasy)
 * (Flower Shop sisters', multiple)
 * (new)
 * (fantasy)
 * (Flower Shop sisters', multiple)
 * (new)
 * (fantasy)
 * (Flower Shop sisters', multiple)
 * (Flower Shop sisters', multiple)

Trivia

 * Advance Adventure is used as background music. Music from Pikachu's Vacation and The Power of One can also be heard in this episode.
 * The Wailmer Pail is introduced in this episode.
 * This is the first time are shown in the.
 * This the first time  a  Pokémon,, which is somewhat ironic, considering that he is a former  Gym Leader. He would go on to catch his second and only other Water-type Pokémon, , in this series as well.
 * says "loose lips sinks ships", a reference to the.

Errors

 * In both the English and the Latin American dub, calls the attention of Natalie instead of Nicole as she enters the shop.
 * When everybody is walking to the garden, disappears and then reappears.
 * The Pecha Berry is incorrectly referred to as the Pechan Berry.
 * After Brock helps Lotad pour the water on the Berry tree, the leaf and  are holding disappears.
 * Max erroneously states that cannot learn ; however, Lotad can learn Water Gun through.

In other languages
Rocko und das kleine Loturzel EP288 AG012 AG012 AG編第12話 精灵宝可梦 超世代 第12集