#leafstormshipping

So, notice something funny about these episode titles?

They both have romantic titles. I know that the point is that she uses Attract, but given how that move only just kind of exists in this episode without it being a focal point, it feels more to me like it's framing Ash's touch-and-go pursuit of Snivy as your archetypal romantic chase.

And, that gave me an idea that became a lot of ideas.

The canon anime infers that Snivy has had multiple trainers before, and has negative experiences with them, given her initial distrust of Ash.

But, what if I made something of that?

So, Ash has his first encounter with Snivy, and fails to catch her. It wouldn't be as embarrassing as in the anime, but that's another topic.

But as she's lingering in the tall grass, she overhears that trainer talking to his companions. He talks about finding her again. The green-haired male among them proposes an argument: Is it ethical to pursue a Pokémon who's already fled you? Is that not denying them freedom?

Reina expects the trainer to dismiss this for his own gain. But instead, he agrees on principle... but, he goes on to say that he thinks this case is different. She rolls her eyes again. Of course, there's the arrogance.

He continues, and says that he thinks they had a connection: he could "see it in her eyes." They'd be great partners. His choice of language confounds her. He's addressing her in a reciprocal context.

He also says that he appreciates her strength and cunning. A Pokémon like that would be great to work with! 'Work with,' he says.

This calls to her, but she refuses to believe that a human could be trustworthy, and he wouldn't just be using her. And, if he really means it, he'll prove it by putting the work in. So, she leaves again.

She overhears the young woman with the purple hair tell Ash he's being stubborn, and he should just move on. The trainer says that if he doesn't act now, he knows he's going to regret it, and he refuses.

They battle a second time, where the trainer allows his Oshawott to battle. A suboptimal choice, and his companions tell him, but the trainer ignores them, favoring Oshawott's preference. A sign of weak leadership, she thinks; particularly when said Oshawott is something of a dolt, and a womanizer. He's overwhelmed quickly, and you go for the finishing blow. But, the trainer jumps in the way to take your Vine Whip.

The battle was over, he reasons. He didn't want to see Oshawott get hurt. Maybe she was a bit harsh in dismissing his leadership. But, he still lost, and her pride won't allow her to submit to someone weak.

After he and his poor Pikachu fall into some quicksand, she rescues them, because he's wormed his way into her heart a little. She still demands a battle. This time, he sends out his Pidove. A smart choice.

Not only does she have the type affinity, but as a female, she can't be affected by the mechanics of Reina's Attract. And, while the Pidove is a bit dopey, as they usually are, her aim is immaculate, and pressures Reina, forcing her to fight back with her powerful Leaf Storm.

It very nearly knocks her out. The trainer adjusts his strategy outloud, and makes note: "She's already used Leaf Storm once! It'll be weaker, next time. That'll be our chance!" This stuns Reina into silence.

Now, why do Leaf Storm's mechanics matter?

This leads me to Reina's backstory. Reina was a pedigree bred Snivy, for the purpose of bearing the deadly combination of Contrary and Leaf Storm. Attract was a bonus, and her high stats were a part of the package. She was reared to be deadly in battle; a Pokémon who hits harder and harder with the most powerful Grass-type attacks, behind Frenzy Plant, with absolutely no drawbacks. It's a recipe for a menace.

But, a Pokémon isn't a recipe. They're an individual. Once Reina came to understand this truth about why she was obtained, she left her trainer. She was caught several more times, and every trainer wanted the same thing: Her ability and moveset. It was never who she was.

Yes, this is a romantic metaphor for someone being desired for their body. As a timely disclaimer, she and Ash are adults during the events of Best Wishes. This is only thematic subtext, but it bears mentioning.

That's where Ash comes in. He didn't know that her ability was Contrary, or possible that the ability existed at all. His desire to catch her had nothing to do with her past, and he spoke about her as a person to cooperate with, not as a means to an end. She ultimately lost to Pidove; without Attract handicapping his Pikachu, or that bumbling Oshawott, he showed himself to be a very competent tactician.

Reina was successfully, and willingly caught!

Ash was a competent trainer, and a good person, from what she could tell. First appearances weren't everything, and if he wasn't going to judge her with bioessentialism, then she wouldn't judge him for two subpar battles before a sporting one. She hoped for her cynical view of humans to be proven wrong, even if she held onto this fact quietly.

The next benchmark in their relationship occurrs at the Nacrene Gym.

Ash selects two Pokémon for his battle with Lenora: Reina and Tsuyo; Ash's Tepig. Lenora's strategies are ruthless and disruptive. Roar forces Tsuyo out of the battle, just before Mean Look traps Reina in. With Watchog's Confuse Ray, she can't safely approach, and her Leaf Storm... weakens with every use!? That's what Ash says, anyway.

Once more, she's shocked that Ash still hasn't clocked her ability. She does something that, just a week or two ago, she would have found unthinkable: She grabs his Pokédex out of his jacket pocket with her vine, and makes it scan her to show Ash Contrary. Lenora notes that she clearly wants him to make use of her attributes, but this means more than either she or Ash, at the time, could possibly know.

Ash apologizes for overlooking this, and they go on to use Contrary.

The rest of the battle is a stomp. They defeat Lenora with ease.

Ash is offered the Basic Badge! But, there's a problem: Tsuyo looks awfully dejected. As a Pokémon with already fragile confidence, he feels terrible having played no part. Ash rejects the badge, insisting he win it again so it's not tainted with his own Pokémon's pain.

It's a bold request, but it's one Lenora respects, and Reina does even more: moreso, when they train for it at the Don George facility, and Reina volunteers to help with their training on the treadmill. Ash's friends and Don George himself insist that adding a third party is counterproductive, but Ash insists on believing in Reina. Her Vine Whips added to the mix make running and deflecting the balls more difficult, but this is done with intention: Reina wanted to sharpen their teamwork and reflexes, to give them the sharpness to subvert Lenora's status affliction tactics! Ash's faith makes her fall for him, mroe.

The rematch occurs, where Reina, Tsuyo, and Oshawott all fight. Everyone plays their part, but Tsuyo secures the win with his Blaze!

Tsuyo's story is one for another time. But, Reina's continues now.

Ash is informed, after the fact, that after two Gym Badges, the Unova League circuit starts including held items as a battle mechanic, to allow new trainers to adjust before throwing them into the new metagame.

Ash goes about gifting all of his current team hold items of some kind. Ash has some old trinkets from home sent to him to equip his party!

Oshawott receives a Mystic Water gifted to Ash by Misty. Tepig receives the Focus Band that Ash acquired in Diamond/Pearl, to help with his resilience and confidence. Reina receives the Soothe Bells from the Hearthome Tag Tournament, which Ash won together with Paul.

Reina hasn't divulged her past to Ash just yet, but Ash has an eye for Pokémon and their feelings. He can tell that she's guarded, and that she was lonely. He wants her to feel loved and included. But understandably, Reina misinterprets this as a romantic gesture.

He's giving her jewelry to symbolize their bond. She accepts the gesture with an underpowered Attract, striking Ash with hearts. She accepts!

Ash is briefly confused, and she realized she fucked up. She clamps down out of shame, until Cilan helpfully interprets the situation:

She thought he was proposing a relationship and accepted. Ash apologizes for miscommunicating. Luckily, before she can feel the sting of rejection, he also goes on to say that he's flattered, and actually really likes the idea. They make a good team, and she's an admirable woman.

Why would he refuse!

She wears the Soothe Bells as pendants in her first two stages.

So, as of the very early benchmark of two badges, Ash and Reina are an item! For most of Unova, it's smooth sailing for them. She even goes as far as pestering and begging Iris's Emolga to help teach Ash's Pikachu Volt Switch for their battle with Elesa. She loves Ash a lot, okay.

There's nothing much of note to say between Nacrene and Icirrus, except that Ash and Reina are a happy pair who treat each other well.

Unfortunately, things go bottoms-up at Dragonspiral Tower.

A horrible ruckus brings the group to the ancient tower, where Team Plasma has taken root. Ash and company fight their way to the top, where they find the magnificent Reshiram: No longer allied with Damon, from the Kingdom of Vale, but with Team Plasma's N.

N boasts of his alliance with Truth. But, Reina, now a Servine, rebukes and refuses his vision of a world without trainers and Pokémon working together. She's so devoted to her trainer's honor and vision, in fact, that she evolves on the spot! Her great increase in size snaps the pendant holding her Soothe Bells apart, in quite a dramatic visual.

She rallies Ash to fight N and Reshiram... and she finds herself horribly, horribly mismatched. A quad type weakness is bad enough, but one of Unova's legendary dragons simply far outstrips her. But, her evolution spurs one incredible miracle — Reina channels her royal power into a power fit to fight the Legendary Dragon. She uses Draco Meteor.

A move that would ordinarily drain her strength as a cost for such might, that instead feeds her due to Contrary. Leaf Storm was a stain on her existence; a reminder she'd been used. A move she learned to love again, for Ash. Draco Meteor, itself, was borne of her love for him.

In a moment of panic, Ash forcefully recalls her to her Poké Ball.

It's not enough. But, she's fully willing to fight to the death for Ash's Ideals. N laments her choice to allow her trainer to be an albatross around her neck. But, that is her wish, and he honors it.

N leaves, and condemns Ash for caging his lover. He challenges Ash to find Zekrom, if he's still worthy. But, that's the last thing on his mind at the moment. He and his friends retreat in defeat.

Reina stops listening to Ash entirely, after this. She only barely acknowledges him. In her eyes, Ash rejected her love and devotion, and broke her heart in the process. He rejected her self-determination.

Worse still, is that Ash's resolve starts to break after this. He plasters on a smile and a can-do attitude. But it's feeble. His confidence is broken, by her and N alike. As a Serperior, she can't bring herself to follow the commands of an unfit leader. She gives Ash the cold shoulder.

The only window into her heart Ash can find is through the Elite Four member, and writer, Shauntal, who takes great interest in their relationship and their grief. She proposes the insight that Reina isn't acting purely out of spite and anger: She's hurt, and moreover, she doesn't want to reward Ash for poor leadership. She sees it as spoiling him, and failing him, if he was ever to recover his fighting spirit.

Reina's heart is fractured, but she refuses to leave, like she had the trainers she had before Ash. She holds hope in her heart that the man who she loves will return to her. Until then, she doesn't recognize him.

Ash is somewhat reassured to know that there's hope. But he's far from his best, given these circumstances and others surrounding them.

In the Vertress Conference, Ash faces N in the finals. But, he fails to act as the Hero of Ideals, because he fails in his ideals. He shelves his Unova team, in his fear, for his older, experienced Pokémon.

N calls Ash out for this in front of a national audience, and breaks his spirit, for failing to believe in his Pokémon. Reshiram blazes through Ash's team without remorse, defeating him harshly.

Reina watches this from Juniper's lab. She also watches Ash's Charizard fight to the very end, when his trainer has long since given up. Ash's Musharna, Yume, gives her the gist of Ash's relationship with Charizard: their past, and his abdication at the Indigo League, having long since consumed Ash's dreams. Reina watches a Pokémon who once left Ash on his own give all of his strength on his behalf.

It finally strikes her how callous she's been; how selfish, and short-sighted. She rallies Ash's Pokémon with authority to meet with their trainer and revitalize his spirit. After Ash's loss, it's arranged by Juniper for all of his Unova Pokémon to be sent to him, and accept their trainer with open arms, as he pleads their forgiveness. He receives it.

He and Reina tearfully apologize to one another. During their preparations to stop N at the Pokémon League, they return to Dragonspiral, where they retrieve the Soothe Bells at the peak of Dragonspiral Tower. They're burnt and battered, and they no longer ring. Like their bond, they were seared. But they're a reminder of their love, and so, Reina goes on to wear them both as earrings forever more.

Their relationship was fractured, but it endured and recovered.