HELP: Stuck on Pokemon Storm Gray

[LightningTopaz]

So now that NaNoWriMo is over, I want to get back into writing Pokemon Storm Gray (my remix of the show's Unova arc). However, I've hit a roadblock--what to do about "A Sandile Gusher of Change" now that the Sandile Ash ultimately catches in the real show no longer makes sense in the story I want to tell? I also need to explain how Ash gets a Rufflet for my version of the story.

Also bear in mind Team Rocket, Iris (and ultimately Cilan) are gone in my version of the story--Misty and Brock fill Iris and Cilan's roles, with BW Boy (who I have named Blair) and BW Girl (who I have named Whitlea) playing major supporting roles. Team Rocket has no reason to be in Unova in my version of the story, so they are cut as well.

My known options for what to do about this episode are:

--Keep the episode as is (with my tweaks), and make the Sandile just a random Sandile that no one catches
--Replace the Sandile with the Rufflet (this would also solve my problem of how to give Ash a Rufflet plus Oshawott)
--Delete the episode altogether, and move Ash getting Oshawott to the next episode (the first Battle Club episode in the real show, which I have rewritten into the classic Trio's first performance in the Pokemon Musical), and say he got the Rufflet offscreen

Which option would you pick? Or is there another option I could try?

 

[Daren]

I suggest the second option; it fixes two problems at once, after all.

 

[Greninjaman]

Option 2 works. I agree with Daren. That will solve both problems.

 

[Beth Pavell]

I would probably go for #2 as well - so far as I can recall there's nothing about the episode that would make a Rufflet seem out of place