Woodward is a skilled tree surgeon who showed up in "Mending a Broken Spirit!" He's best known for the time he miraculously reattached a Sawsbuck's broken horn, which caught people's attention in the area.
When Serena's Braixen broke her branch, Serena tracked Woodward down on Nurse Joy's recommendation and showed up with a disguised James in tow. At first, Woodward refused to fix the branch. He explained that the Sawsbuck had only healed because of its own willpower, not his work—and he wanted to teach Braixen the same lesson. He challenged Braixen to a battle using his Gallade to prove she had what it took.
Things got messy when Team Rocket showed up and interrupted, but afterward Woodward came clean: Braixen's branch was actually too far gone to save from the start. The whole battle had been about convincing Braixen to let go of the past and grow stronger without clinging to old memories. When they picked up where they left off, Braixen unleashed a Fire Blast she'd just learned, pulling off the move perfectly. The battle ended without a clear winner, but Woodward was satisfied—Braixen had proved herself.
Before Serena headed out, Woodward revealed he'd already grafted the fragments from the old branch onto a sapling. They'd grow into something new together.
Content compiled by AnimeList.moe from publicly available sources.
