"As Victor continues his training at the Master Dojo, he is given his second trial: retrieving a Max Mushroom at the Warm-Up Tunnel. But along the way, our heroes meet a Bouffalant that was protecting some injured Pokémon. After resolving that conflict, our heroes' travels take them to the Forest of Focus…"

"Focused Romance"

Victor and Gloria are walking through the forest, watching Impidimp running ahead.

"Impi, Impi."

"Impidimp seemed to be having fun," Victor says.

"Yeah, the forest must remind it of its old home in Glimwood Tangle," Gloria guesses.

"Impi, Impi," Impidimp comes to a stop, looking around, when it hears something.

"Something's wrong?" Gloria asks, as she and Victor stop next to it.

They then hear it as well, the sound of fighting.

"A battle?" Victor wonders.

Suddenly, Impidimp runs ahead, with Victor and Gloria going after it, and a few moments later, they reach a clearing where a Morpeko, in Fully Belly Mode, and a Grimmsnarl are staring off.

"Morpe!" Morpeko shoots a series of seeds from its mouth.

"A Morpeko?" Victor realizes.

"Grimm! Snar!" Grimmsnarl swings with both of its arms, covered in dark energy, knocking away the seeds.

"And a Grimmsnarl?" Gloria realizes.

"Aura Wheel!"

"Morpe!" Morpeko, running and switches to Hangry Mode, is surrounded with a wheel of red and blue lights, before slamming against Grimmsnarl, who crosses its arms to block.

Victor looks to the side to see Marnie, "Marnie?"

Marnie looks to the side and sees them, "Victor? Gloria?"

Morpeko, switching to Full Belly Mode, and Grimmsnarl back off and turn to the two Trainers.

Suddenly, from the other side of the clearing are Jean and Paul, who quickly run across the clearing to get in close to Victor and Gloria.

"What do you think you're doing?!" Jean asks.

"Interrupting Marnie's training session?!" Paul asks.

"That's enough, Jean, Paul," Marnie says, rubbing her forehead.

Jean and Paul back off, but keep their eyes on Victor and Gloria.

Marnie sighs and walks over, "So, what are you doing on the Isle of Armor?"

"Oh, I'm training under Master Mustard at the Master Dojo," Victor rubs the back of his head, blushing.

"I'm also training, though on my own," Marnie explains. "All to prepare myself for taking over the role of Spikemuth Gym Leader."

"That's great," Victor smiles.

Jean and Paul slide over to Gloria.

"And that would make you a tagalone, huh?" Jean mocking asks, with Paul grinning.

"That's what you are," Gloria says, with a sweatdrop.

"Victor, I have to admit, our battle during the Champion Cup is still the greatest challenge I have ever had," Marnie starts, with a slight blush. "So I wonder if you wouldn't mind taking some time off from your training to have a battle with me."

"There isn't any time limit on the trial Mustard sent you on," Gloria tells Victor.

"Right," Victor nods his head. "Marnie, I would love to train with you some."

"Thanks," Marnie says.

At that moment, Jean and Paul sneak away from the group and hide themselves behind a tree.

"I never seen Marnie like this before," Paul says, with his arms crossed. "What do you think?"

"There's only one explanation," Jean places a fist into an opened hand. "Marnie must like Victor."

"Like?" Paul asks.

"Like-like," Jean answers.

Paul and Jean look up, as they start to imagine Victor and Marnie, as they hold hands.

"Oh Victor, you're almost as strong as me and that just makes my heart beat faster."

"Oh Marnie, I will never be as good a Trainer as you're, and it makes me feel the same."

"It's settled," Jean says, ending the fantasy.

"It's settled?" Paul asks.

"Yeah, we gonna help the pair of love Rookiedee getting together," Jean holds up a fist.

"Yes!" Paul holds up a fist.

Victor, Cinderace, Marnie, and Grimmsnarl are standing across each other in the clearing, with off to the side are Gloria, Impidimp, and Morpeko, who is eating a berry.

"Grimmsnarl, Spirit Break!" Marnie calls out.

"Grimm!" Grimmsnarl holds back a fist, as it glows

"Cinderace, Double Kick!" Victor calls out.

"Cinder!" Cinderace charges, before jumping.

Grimmsnarl punches, "Snar!"

"Cinder!" Cinderace launches a kick.

The punch and kick collide, as wind blows away.

At the same time, Jean and Paul stand behind a tree, watching them.

"Time to start 'operation: romance'," Paul says.

"The perfect introduction to a romance is a heroic rescue," Jean says, imagining Marnie in a dress, clasping her hands, as Victor stands before her in knight armor.

Jean waves her hand, replacing the fantasy with Victor in a suit, clasping his hands, as Marnie stands before him in knight armor. "Of course, Marnie would never be a damsel in distress, she would obviously be the hero in the scenario."

"Obvious," Paul says, as he and Jean walk away and into the forest. "But now we need a wild Pokémon so that Marnie can save him from it."

Jean and Paul continue to walk, looking around.

"Of course, we need to find a single Pokémon first," Jean says.

Paul starts to smell something, "What is that? Sweet flowers."

Jean starts to smell it too, as she and Paul follow the scent before coming across a Lurantis, who is among some tall grass near a tree.

"Lura."

"What Pokémon is that?" Jean asks.

"I think it's a Lurantis," Paul says. "So what do you think?"

"No way, it smells too sweet and it's too cute looking," Jean starts. "No one would see this Pokémon as being dangerous."

"Lura…"

You're right, it's a complete weakling," Paul adds.

"Lura…"

"A small breeze could knock it over," Jean says.

"Lura…"

Jean and Paul start laughing.

"Lura!" Lurantis turns its head to face them, with an angry expression.

Within seconds, Lurantis chases Jean and Paul back and forth.

At the same time, Impidimp is next to Gloria, when it notices something running back and forth deep in the forest, "Impi?"

Impidimp starts to walk toward the scene, when Gloria notices, "Impidimp?"

Impidimp stops walking and looks over at her, "Impi?"

Gloria smiles, "Okay, you can explore some if you want. Just don't go too far."

"Impi," Impidimp nods its head, before turning and walking away, with Gloria returning her attention to the training battle.

Jean and Paul are catching their breaths, unaware that Impidimp is spying on them behind a nearby tree.

"Oh!" Paul snaps his fingers. "I have an idea."

"What is it?" Jean asks.

"Romance often blossoms under blossoming trees," Paul says.

Jean and Paul start to imagine Victor and Marnie, hands in hands, standing under a cherry blossom tree.

"Perfect…!" Jean calls out, ending the fantasy.

A short pause follows, as they stand alone in the forest, before lowering their heads.

"There aren't any trees like that here!" Jean and Paul call out.

"Impi…" Impidimp holds a hand to its chin for a moment. "Impi!"

Impidimp runs out past Jean and Paul, waving its hand to get their attention.

"Is it that wannabe's Pokémon?" Jean asks, as they watch it running past.

"Does it want us to follow it?" Paul asks.

Jean and Paul look at each other for a moment, shrug their shoulders, and then follow after Impidimp.

"Impi, Impi," Impidimp sniffs the air, before continuing forward, leading Jean and Paul to a large area with a huge flower bed.

"I don't believe all these flowers are here," Jean says, before looking at Impidimp. "Guess you're good for something."

"Impi…" Impidimp looks at her, annoyed.

"This is good alright," Paul says. "We could just pick flowers and drop them on Marnie and Victor."

"And create a truly romantic moment," Jean adds.

Jean and Paul hurry into the flower bed, starting to pick random flowers.

Paul then grabs a flower and has trouble pulling it, "Hey, this one is stuck." He continues pulling on the flower. "C'mon, c'mon, c'mon!"

Paul finally pulls out the flower, but finds himself holding a Comfey by its flower, "Com…"

"Oh, it wasn't a flower, it was the Pokémon Comfey," Paul says, with a sweatdrop.

"Com! Fey!" Comfey calls out, as a pair of long vines stretch out from behind one of its flowers.

Comfey starts to chase Jean and Paul back and forth, whipping its vines around them.

Nearby, Impidimp had fallen on the ground, laughing.

"Pyro Ball!" Victor calls out.

"Cinder!" Cinderace kicks a fireball.

"Darkest Lariat!" Marnie calls out.

"Grimm! Snar!" Grimmsnarl swings with both of its arms, covered in dark energy, before using one arm to knock back the fireball.

Nearby, Jean and Paul reach the edge of the clearing, exhausted.

"Impi," Impidimp happily walks over to Gloria.

Gloria looks down at her Pokémon, "You seemed to be in a good mood."

"Impi," Impidimp looks up at her, with a smile.

Jean and Paul watch Marnie and Victor.

"We must do something…" Paul says.

"We must salvage 'operation: romance', for Marnie's sake…" Jean says.

That's when Jean notices something going through a forest, she turns to see a Passimian as it stops its running and starts to look around at the trees.

Jean grins, "The heroic rescue plan could still work."

Paul starts to grin as well, as he and Jean sneak back into the forest.

Not too far away, the Passimian continues to look around, "Passi… Passi…"

"Alright, go, Nickit!" Jean throws a Poké Ball.

"Kit!"

"You too, Linoone!" Paul throws a Poké Ball.

"Linoo!"

"Passi?" Passimian turns its head.

"Linoone, use Pin Missile!" Paul calls out.

"Nickit, join in with Beat Up!" Jean calls out.

"Linoo!" Linoone calls out, as needles shoot out of its fur.

"Kit!" Nickit jumps ahead.

"Passi!" Passimian is knocked back and slams against a tree.

"Alright, we just need to lure it to Marnie and Victor, then…" Jean starts, when she hears something.

"Passi…" Passimian pushes itself back up with its large berry, as coming out of the forest behind it are nine more Passimian.

"Huh, Jean, the plan might be working too well…" Paul says, as he, Jean, Nickit, and Linoone look ahead, scared.

Jean slowly nods her head.

"Passi!" all ten Passimian call out.

Suddenly, Jean and Paul, holding their Pokémon, are being chased by the ten Passimian.

Back at the clearing, Cinderace and Grimmsnarl are panting heavily.

"I think that should do," Marnie starts. "Thanks, Vict…"

Marnie stops, as they hear a loud noise coming toward them.

"What's that?" Gloria asks, before suddenly, Jean and Paul, carrying their Pokémon, run into the clearing being chased by ten Passimian. "What's that?!"

Victor's Rotom Phone flies up, "Passimian, the Teamwork Pokémon, The boss chooses 10 members of the group to go out hunting. The hunting party will evenly split the food they find with the rest of the group."

Victor lowers his Rotom Phone, "Why is the Passimian so upset?"

"I knew it was a bad idea," Paul says to Jean, as they continue to run.

"You never said that," Jean says to Paul.

Jean and Paul run past Marnie, who turns her head to them, "What's a bad idea?"

"Passi!" the Passimian start to throw their berries.

"They're using Fling!" Victor realizes, before he notices Grimmsnarl jumping out of the way to dodge one. "That's it." He looks ahead, "Cinderace, use Double Kick to knock them back!"

"Cinder!" Cinderace kicks away a berry, spins around, then kicks away another berry.

"Grimmsnarl, do the same with Darkest Lariat!" Marnie instructs.

"You too, Impidimp, Sucker Punch!" Gloria instructs.

"Grimm! Snar!" Grimmsnarl swings with both of its arms, covered in dark energy, knocking away berries.

"Impi!" Impidimp punches away a berry.

Morpeko catches a berry, happily, "Morpe!"

Cinder kicks away a berry. Grimmsnarl knocks away a berry. Impidimp punches away a berry.

"Passi! Passi!" Passimian start to run away, being chased by their own berries.

Then a Passimian comes to a stop, "Passi?"

The Passimian notices a couple trees full of berries, "Passi! Passi!"

The other Passimian comes to a stop, before the first Passimian leads them all to the trees, with them starting to pick the berries.

"They're happy now," Victor says.

"Cinder…" Cinderace walks over to its Trainer.

"Got a serious workout today, huh?" Victor asks his Pokémon.

"Though I was not expecting Impidimp and me to get such an exercise," Gloria says, before turning to her Pokémon. "Right, Impidimp?"

"Impi…" Impidimp is sitting down, breathing heavily.

Marnie walks over to them, "Victor, thanks for training with me, but honestly I think I still have a way to go on my own."

"You're gonna be a great Gym Leader someday," Victor tells her.

Marnie nods her head, "Hopefully our paths will cross again."

"I hope so too," Victor says.

"Me too," Gloria adds.

"Cinder," Cinderace smiles.

Nearby, Jean and Paul are sitting on the ground, catching their breaths, with Nickit and Linoone also lying down, exhausted.

Then Marnie walks over to them, with her hands on her hips, "Okay, what was that all about?"

Jean and Paul look at each other, before sighing.

"We believed you like Victor, so we would try to help you two to get together," Jean admits.

Marnie looks at them for a moment, blinking her eyes, before sighing, "Unbelievable. Listen, even if I do like Victor, which I don't, I have no time for such a thing. I need to focus on my training.

Jean and Paul bow low to the ground, "We're so sorry. We're so sorry."

As Jean and Paul continue to apologize, Marnie turns away to see Victor and Gloria talking among themselves, "Besides, I don't want to get in someone else's way."

Victor and Gloria turn back to Marnie, before waving, with Marnie returning the wave.

Victor and Gloria turn away, with Cinderace and Impidimp, leaving the clearing.

"A run-in with an old friend allowed Victor a chance to get in some extra training. But now our heroes must continue onward to the Max Mushroom. What could be next?"

"Find out, as the journey continues…"