True Blue Swablu (LAoPtS)

Plot
A flock of Swablu and Altaria are taking shelter in a tree during a fierce storm. Lightning suddenly strikes the tree, sparking a fire, so the flock are forced to flee. However, one of the Swablu lags behind and is frightened as the tree falls. After the storm has cleared up, Ash and his friends find themselves lost in the forest, with Brock admitting they are genuinely lost. Brock instead suggests they break for lunch, which just disappoints them even more. Brock readies his soup, and the group calls all of their Pokémon out for the meal. Brock introduces Lombre to the rest of the Pokémon, since it had recently evolved. Instead of saying hello to the group, Lombre looks to the side along with the rest of the Pokémon and Pikachu, who had sensed something unusual.

Then, Pikachu and Torchic rush into the forest to investigate, where they find the singed remnants of a tree and a heavily injured Swablu lying on the ground. Ash offers his assistance, but this only frightens Swablu. May suggests he try a more gentle approach, so she approaches Swablu by crouching down. Swablu instead launches a Sing attack, making the whole group fall asleep. Then, Swablu accidentally wakes Torchic up and after a quick exchange of words, Torchic goes over to May and pecks at her nose to wake her up. May notices Swablu's injured wing so she gives it a spritz of Super Potion while Torchic wakes everyone up with a few pecks to the nose. The pecks prove painful and causes the boys to scream in pain, alerting a local Ranger, Mr. Morita and Nuzleaf to the situation.

Mr. Morita arrives on the scene and invites the group over to his Ranger cabin. Brock bandages up Swablu’s wing followed by a spoonful of medicine to help with its recovery. Afterwards, the Ranger offers them all a cup of hot chocolate and he informs them that last night’s storm caused a lot of damage. He reveals that many baby Pokémon were separated from their parents, including this Swablu. Mr. Morita explains that flocks of Swablu and Altaria migrate through this preserve every year. The group expresses their sympathy and Morita assures them that he will take good care of it and offers to tell them the best way to Petalburg. The group happily agrees, but May suggests that they stay together with Swablu until they are sure that it gets better, and everyone is agrees to the plan. Meanwhile, Team Rocket are spying on the cabin from a nearby tree. Jessie admits that Swablu's wings would make a nice pillow. Meowth suggests Swablu would be a great gift for the boss to help him get some quality sleep. The scheme thrills the trio as they imagine their massive promotions.

Night falls, and the boys find May unconscious from exhaustion and lying with Swablu. Max wakes up his older sister. Brock tells her that he will take over, but she insists that she keep on taking care of Swablu. Max admits his sister is stubborn, but his embarrassing story of one of May's crushes is cut short when May covers his mouth. With that, Brock hands May the medicinal supplies she'll need to care for Swablu and gives her instructions. As Brock and the others go to sleep for the night, May stays awake to watch over Swablu as its rests. Several days pass and May continues to care for Swablu, who is already showing signs of getting better. Team Rocket have since built a treetop cabin and hope to poach Swablu once it has fully healed. Sometime later, Brock takes off Swablu's bandage and after a quick examination he declares that its wing has fully recovered. May and the others are thrilled, with Mr. Morita declaring that it will be able to re-join its flock soon. Then, Swablu gets excited and tries to fly, only for it to fall down.

Thinking Swablu may have forgotten how to fly, Ash calls out Taillow to demonstrate how to fly. Ash and Taillow encourages it, but Swablu just runs away and hides behind May's legs. Then, Brock and Morita suggest that Swablu is just too afraid to fly after the trauma it. Morita says that that kind of problem can take a long time to sort out and May fears that Swablu might not fly again. But, Ash encourages her by saying that they will take whatever time they need to help Swablu. Everyone happily agrees and Morita says he will locate the flock in the meantime. Ash decides on another strategy, so he and Pikachu wear some fake wings to teach Swablu how to fly. Max is rather skeptical, but Ash continues and demonstrates that Swablu just needs to run at full speed and then jump. Swablu tries, but it just falls head first into the ground, getting its face covered in mud. The group's next plan is to put Swablu on top of Beautifly and remind it of how great it is to be up in the sky. At first, Swablu is afraid, but after some encouragement, it opens its eyes and notices the great view from up high. Another day ends, and the group struggle to think of another strategy to get Swablu flying. Max declares they'll use magic, much to everyone’s surprise. The next day, he informs Swablu that Beautifly and Taillow can fly thanks to a special "magic powder", which is obviously fake. Then, Beautifly sprays some silver colored powder on Taillow, which successfully takes off into the sky thanks to the "magic powder". May states that Max is getting a little bit carried away, but Brock says that it is just a white lie. Swablu decides to give it a try and succeeds in taking off. Then, Ash and Pikachu want to try some of the magic powder for himself, but his hope for flying gets shattered when the others tell him the truth of the "magic powder", which only disappoints the pair.

Mr. Morita suddenly emerges from the cabin and declares that he has located the flock. He promptly drives them towards the lakeside location, but the journey is interrupted when some mysterious projectiles shoot down the vehicle's front tire. Mr. Morita is annoyed, but admits they can make it to the lake on foot. May advises Swablu to fly the way to the lake. But, Swablu wants more of the "magic powder" and just as May places it on the car bonnet as she goes to get Beautifly, Team Rocket snatches it with an extendable hand. Jessie happily holds Swablu as she and her teammates float into the air in their balloon. Ash tries to use Pikachu's Thunderbolt on Team Rocket, but doesn't because Swablu will go down with Team Rocket if he does so. May then orders Swablu to use Sing, and it promptly lulls Team Rocket falls asleep. But, James manages to order Cacnea to use Pin Missile before falling asleep. That causes Cacnea to use the move while asleep and not having proper aim, which causes the air balloon's burner to catch alight. As the balloon starts to go down, May tells Swablu to get out of the balloon. Swablu, however, is too afraid to follow through as the flames remind it of traumatic forest fire which caused its wing injury. The fire quickly spreads to the whole balloon, increasing the speed of the descent. Ash and his friends keep on telling Swablu to get out of the balloon, but Swablu is still too afraid. May then tells Swablu the truth of the "magic powder" and her pleas give Swablu the courage to escape to safety. Following a loud explosion, Swablu emerges in full flight and its soars directly into May’s waiting arms. The burning balloon hits the ground with Team Rocket still aboard, so Brock sends out Mudkip and Lombre to douse the flames with Water Gun. While the trio are saved, May and her friends are still annoyed. Brock's Pokémon quickly send the Team Rocket blasting off with another Water Gun.

The group reaches the lake by sunset, only to find the flock is disappointingly not there. May turns to Swablu and suggests it join her team. May readies a Poké Ball just as Swablu's flock arrives. Swablu begins to fly towards its friends, leaving May conflicted as she suggests it go with the flock. Max questions May's judgement, but May replies that it is Swablu's happiness that really counts. Max gets disappointed and says that he thought Swablu would become really good friends with the group. May and Swablu share a tearful goodbye and May says that she will really miss Swablu, as Swablu leaves May and follows the flock into the wilderness.

Major events

 * May offers a Swablu a place on her team, but decides against it when Swablu's flock shows up.