We now catch up to our heroes, who are still making their way to Orbarrow City, site Ash's next Gym Battle, and Serena's next Pokémon Pageant. Right now, it seems that Ash is carefully preparing with his Pokémon.
"Okay, Pikachu, one more time," said Ash. "Try an Iron Tail!"
"Pika!" Pikachu's tail turned metallic silver and it prepared to attack Charmor.
"Now, Charmor, use Rapid Spin!" Ash called out. Charmor spun around and knocked Pikachu's tail away.
"Awesome form, you guys!" said Ash.
Off to the side, Vernon and RotomDex were watching Ash train with careful attention. Vernon didn't say anything, and there was no kind of look on his face. He just quietly watched.
"Okay, Humbeat, Platide, it's your turn!" said Ash, turning to face his other Pokémon. "Okay, Platide, use Aqua Tail."
Platide covered it's tail in water and swung at Humbeat.
"Now, Humbeat, counter with a Wing Attack!"
Humbeat's wings turned white before it was then able to counter any attempt Platide made to hit it.
"Platide, try a Scald attack!"
Platide shot a stream of boiling hot water at Humbeat. Although Humbeat was able to block it with Wing Attack, the force of the move still pushed it back.
"Yeah, nice one, Platide!" said Ash.
RotomDex was taking pictures of every collision between the Pokémon. "This is great," he said. "If he keeps training, I'm sure the next Gym should be cakewalk for him!"
That was when Vernon took notice of something. "Say, where's Serena? I figured she'd be training a little for her next Pageant."
Suddenly, a low groaning was heard. Everyone looked over to a tent they had pitched and saw a groggy Serena coming out of it, her hair a complete mess and her eyes wrinkled.
"Whoa, Serena?" said Ash. "Are you just getting up?"
"Yeah, sorry, I was up all night trying to protect our food from a certain, mischievous Pokémon," Serena said, rubbing her eyes.
"What are you talking about?" said RotomDex.
As if to answer, the group suddenly heard a loud crunching sound coming from the tent. "No, no, not again!" said Serena, bolting back into the tent. Everyone followed her to see none other than Roachoid scarfing down Poké Puffs and macarons.
"What?" said Ash. "It was Roachoid?"
"Ugh, he must have escaped from its PokéBall last night," Serena moaned. "I don't know how, but I had to stay up all night guarding that food."
"Hey, come on, Roachoid, cut it out!" said Ash, moving over to grab his Pokémon. However, Roachoid quickly moved out of the way, before picking up all the food and running away with it, laughing.
"Hey, come on! Get back here!" Ash chased after it. Unfortunately, the cockroach Pokémon was running to fast for him to keep up with. Eventually, though, Roachoid was hit with a huge Discharge attack, and it dropped the now charred food all over the ground. It looked up to see Quokkawatt shaking its finger at it disapprovingly.
"Quokka, Quokka!" it reprimanded. Of course, it was then that Roachoid looked around to see that Quokkawatt had charred everyone in camp.
"Pfft, Roa, Roachoid, Ro," it stood up and reprimanded.
"Come here, Roachoid," Ash said, picking it up. "You know what? I think maybe it's time I tried training you."
Hearing this, though, Roachoid just lazily rolled it eyes, uninterested.
"Hey, Serena," said Vernon. "We'll clean up the food and keep an eye on Roachoid, okay? Why don't you just get some-"
CRASH! Before Vernon could even finish his sentence, the exhausted Serena fell to the ground and fell asleep. Quokkawatt walked up to her a bit worried, before deciding to slip into her arms and fall asleep with her.
Later, Ash had Roachoid and Pikachu facing each other on the battlefield. "Okay, Roachoid, I want you to try using Struggle Bug, okay? Ready, go!"
But nothing happened. Ash looked down at Roachoid who was now laying on its side, its face in its hand, bored.
"Oh, come on, Roachoid, you've got to participate from now on!" said Ash, but Roachoid refused to move an inch.
"Pika!" cried Pikachu, annoyed. It decided to charge at Roachoid using Quick Attack, but Roachoid, seeing this, rolled over to get out of the way, causing Pikachu to miss.
"Pika pi!" Pikachu said annoyed. It used Quick Attack again, but Roachoid kept on rolling out of the way.
"Well, it's gotten good at dodging at least," said RotomDex.
Eventually, though, one of Pikachu's Quick Attacks hit, and Roachoid was knocked into the air, landing face first in the dirt.
"Whoa, Roachoid, are you okay?" said Ash. As soon as he said this, though, Roachoid stood back on its feet, and glared at Pikachu. Pikachu looked confused, before Roachoid suddenly charged forward and bashed it back with Iron Head.
"Whoa, whoa, Roachoid, settle down!" said Ash. Unfortunately, his pleas fell on deaf ears as Pikachu and Roachoid found themselves in tense battle, Roachoid on the offensive, with Pikachu just trying to avoid getting hit.
"C'mon, knock it off," Ash begged as he ran towards his Pokémon to stop them. However, just then, something swooped in to pluck Roachoid off the ground. Ash then looked up to see Humbeat now holding Roachoid in its feet.
"Whoa, Humbeat, did you do that?" said Ash.
Roachoid struggled to get free, but Humbeat slowly lowered it to the ground before dropping it, and then sitting in between Pikachu and Roachoid with a scolding look. "Beat, beat, humbeat," it shook its head.
"Thanks for that, Humbeat," said Ash, walking up to his Pokémon. "I didn't think Roachoid here could get so intense."
"Roa, roa, roachoid!" Roachoid angrily spoke, shaking a fist at Humbeat. Humbeat glared at it and flew upwards, as if getting into a battling stance.
"Hey, Ash," said RotomDex, flying up to Ash, "I have an idea. Why don't you try fighting Roachoid with Humbeat?"
"Huh?" said Ash. "What do you mean?"
"Clearly, Roachoid is in a bad mood right now, but I think Humbeat might just be the right Pokémon to take it on right now. Hopefully even get it to calm down."
Ash looked at the determined look Humbeat was giving Roachoid, before grinning and nodding, "Okay, let's try it. Okay, Humbeat, I want you to use Wing Attack!"
Humbeat lit up its wings and flew straight at Roachoid, who quickly rolled and dodged. It then used an Iron Head knock Humbeat away.
"Mm, not bad, Roachoid," said Ash. "Okay, Humbeat, use Razor Wind!" Humbeat launched some wind in the shape of crescents at Roachoid, who turned and blocked it with its hard back.
At this point, Humbeat was feeling frustrated and decided not to wait for Ash's next command, charging forward with another Wing Attack. But Roachoid simply rolled and dodged again, chuckling up a storm to itself. Annoyed, Humbeat whipped up another Razor Wind to throw at it.
"Whoa, whoa, Humbeat, slow down!" said Ash. "We gotta cooperate, remember?"
However, Humbeat ignored him and kept throwing Razor Wind attacks at Roachoid. Eventually, one hit Roachoid's feet causing it to lose its balance. Seeing this, Humbeat charged forward with another Wing Attack, and this one connected and launched Roachoid high up in the air.
Humbeat tried to fly up to it to attack again, but Ash suddenly grabbed it, and said, "Slow down! You can't let Roachoid get you all riled up, okay, Humbeat?"
Meanwhile, in the air, and angry Roachoid looked down at Humbeat, before dropping down with an Iron Head attack. But before it fell very far, a Staravia suddenly swooped in and grabbed Roachoid, flying away with it.
Ash gasped, "Roachoid, no!" Quickly, with Humbeat still in his arms, he took off after the Staravia, Pikachu, Charmor, and Platide running right behind him.
"Ash, wait up-" RotomDex tried calling after him, but Ash was already too far to hear. Grumbling to itself, RotomDex quickly flew over to were Vernon was watching over a sleeping Serena.
"Sheesh, you'd think you haven't slept in days," Vernon said to himself.
"Guys, guys!" RotomDex shouted, causing Vernon to look at him and Serena to reluctantly wake up.
"Ugh, what's all the yelling about?" said Serena, rubbing her eyes.
"A Staravia just took off with Roachoid! Ash and his Pokémon just took off after it! We gotta go help them!"
"Huh? Really?" said Vernon, before he stood up. "Well, come on, what are we waiting for!"
It shakes its head back to front, causing its antennae to hit each other and sound like a xylophone.
Roachoid struggled to free itself from the Staravia's grip, but the bird Pokémon was strong. Eventually, Roachoid just bit down on the Staravia's feet, causing the bird Pokémon to drop it. Roachoid tumbled down, crashing into the ground, but thanks to its hard skin, it quickly stood up no worse for the wear.
Suddenly, though, it overheard some rustling inside the nearby bushes, and it peeked over to see another Pokémon coming out. However, it wasn't any Pokémon that Roachoid would've expected. It was a Deino. A Deino just ambled through the bushes, before it spied Roachoid. It did nothing but stare, but Roachoid, refusing to trust it, decided to bombard it with Struggle Bug. Angered, the Deino used Dragon Rage to blast Roachoid back, but the bug Pokémon quickly stood back up. It tried using Iron Head, but the Deino quickly caught it in its jaws with a Bite attack. Roachoid struggled to get free, before it used a bunch of Struggle Bug attacks again, causing the Deino to finally drop it.
Suddenly, a new voice came in. "Deino? Deino, where'd you go?" Deino turned to see a young man with a black mop top and glasses moved through the bushes before he saw the two Pokémon before him. "Oh, there you are, Deino. I was worried about you." He then looked to see a fired up Roachoid, who launched itself forward with an Iron Head, bashing Deino back.
"Hey, what's the big idea?" said the young man, who quickly ran behind Deino. "Don't let 'im get you, Deino! Use Dragon Rage!" Deino launched a blue sphere of energy at Roachoid, and the attack made contact, knocking Roachoid back. Angered, Roachoid charged forward again and crunched down onto Deino's leg using Bug Bite. Deino wailed in pain, before Roachoid quickly rammed its leg with an Iron Head attack.
"Hey! Not cool!" said Deino's trainer, before he cried, "Use Dragon Rush!" Deino was surrounded in a purple aura before it charged forward and bashed Roachoid back.
It was at this point the Ash and his Pokémon had made their way into the area, and witnessed the battle going on in front of them. However, Ash gasped when he saw Deino's trainer.
"Is that... Florian?" he said.
Roachoid charged forward with another Iron Head, but this time, Deino was able to dodge, before launching breathing purple fire at it with Dragon Breath. Roachoid tumbled across the ground, sliding near a cliffside that was hidden by the grass, before it felt itself unable to move, yellow sparks surrounding it as it became paralyzed.
"That'll teach ya," said Florian as he and Deino walked up to it. "Go ahead, Deino, use Dragon Rage one more time."
As Deino prepared to use this move, Ash suddenly ran in between them and Roachoid, yelling, "Stop!"
Florian and Deino stopped a bit stunned, before Ash said, "That's my Pokémon! You can't just beat it up like that!"
"Huh?" said Florian. "That's your Pokémon? Hmph, well, it's a pretty poorly trained one if you ask me."
"Hey, cut it some slack, Florian," said Ash. "I'm trying to work with it."
"Huh? How do you know my name?" said Florian. "Do I know you?"
"What?" said Ash, confused. "We've met before, remember? Corwald City? I'm Ash Ketchum!"
Florian stood silent for a second before saying, "Nope, doesn't ring a bell."
"Are you- you know what, never mind," said Ash. "I just came here for my Pokémon."
"Well, just so you know, your dumb Pokémon was the one who beat up my Deino here," said Florian, before he knelt down to Deino's height. He then gasped as he saw the red marking on its knee. "Aw, and look, it injured Deino's knee!"
Ash looked at Deino's knee and gasped. "Oh, I-I'm so sorry! It's just that Roachoid is a little aggressive sometimes."
"Can't you get that thing under control!?" said Florian. "Some trainer you are."
Ash huffed, deciding he had no interest in talking to Florian like this a second time. He decided to turn his attention to his own Pokémon, who was having difficulty standing up thanks to its paralysis.
Ash gasped, "Aw, no, Roachoid! You're paralyzed? I'm so sorry about this. Here, let me-"
Before Ash could even move one inch forward though, the ground underneath Roachoid crumbled under its weight. Ash gasped as Roachoid ended up falling backwards over the cliffside, before Ash desperately jumped forward and grabbed it, falling over the edge as well.
It's Kricketot!
Roachoid slowly opened its eyes to see Ash staring at it concerned.
"You okay?" said Ash, cradling his Pokémon. "That was a pretty nasty fall you almost took."
Roachoid would made a response, but the sparks erupted over its body. "Oh, man, we gotta get you back up where we can treat your paralysis," said Ash. He looked up to where they had fallen, and saw Pikachu, Platide, Charmor, and Humbeat all looking down at him concerned.
"Pika, pika!" Pikachu called down.
"It's okay, guys," said Ash. "We're alright. We just need a way to get back up."
Humbeat quickly flew down to check on them, but its eyes widened when it saw the injured Roachoid in Ash's arms. "Yeah, Roachoid took quite a beating," said Ash. "But it's also paralyzed. Hey, Humbeat, can you carry it back up there where it'll be safe?"
Humbeat looked surprised by its trainer's request, but as it looked at the hurt Roachoid in Ash's arms, it nodded and grabbed Roachoid in its feet before carrying it up. It then set it down between Ash's other Pokémon, who looked over concerned.
Roachoid weakly opened its eyes, and was surprised to see everyone looking over it like this. Humbeat spoke up, "Beat, beat hum, humbeat," as if trying to explain what had happened to it.
At the bottom of the cliff, Ash was able to see a way to climb back up, but that was when something else caught his eye. There was small bush just sitting on a ledge, and on it, he could see some Cheri Berries.
"Cheri Berries?" said Ash to himself before he grinned. "Ha! That's perfect! I can use one of those to cure Roachoid's paralysis!
"Hey, Humbeat!" Ash called back up to his Pokémon. Humbeat flew over to the edge to see its trainer pointing over to the bush, and Ash said, "There are some berries on that tree we can use to cure Roachoid's paralysis! Can you help me grab some?"
Humbeat looked over to Roachoid, before back at Ash, nodding, before flying down to him. "Great!" said Ash. "The rest of you! Try to keep Roachoid safe, okay? We'll be there as soon as we can!"
With that, Ash and Humbeat ran off to grab some Cheri Berries, while Pikachu, Platide, and Charmor looked over Roachoid.
Roachoid was having difficulty keeping its eyes open, but then, it heard some footsteps coming towards it. It couldn't see what it was, only that Pikachu was suddenly reacting with hostility.
"Relax, I came to help, okay?"
Ash and Humbeat made it to the ledge with the bush on it, and Ash said, "Okay, Humbeat, fly up there and toss me some Berries, okay?"
Humbeat nodded and flew up to the bush, picking off Berries with its long beak before tossing them down to Ash, who quickly caught them. Humbeat was then about to pick a fourth Berry when suddenly something inside lashed out at it, grabbing onto Humbeat's beak. Humbeat ended up falling down to the ground below, but fortunately, Ash quickly caught it in his arms.
"Whoa, Humbeat, are you okay?" said Ash. "What happened?"
As Humbeat flapped its wings to to get back into the air, Ash then saw what had attacked Humbeat: just a little Mankey. It stomped on the ground angry, but Humbeat quickly shot a Razor Wind attack at it, at which point it ran off.
"Woo, sorry about that, Humbeat," said Ash. "Well, I think we have enough Berries. Let's hurry back to Roachoid."
"Beat," Humbeat agreed.
Shorty afterward, Ash and Humbeat reached a part of the cliffside he believed he could climb up. Tucking the Berries in his pocket, Ash very carefully made his way up the way. It wasn't easy though, as the wall was a bit fragile, and Ash felt like it could crumble under his weight any second. Humbeat hovered by him just in case.
Just as Ash was grabbing the top of the wall, it suddenly crumbled, and Ash really fell backwards back into the pit. However, before that could happen, Ash felt a hand grab onto his. Ash quickly opened his eyes to spy Florian hanging onto him.
"Ugh, hang on!" said Florian, before he turned to face Ash's other Pokémon, who were right beside him. "A little help here, please?"
Quickly, Pikachu, Platide, and Charmor, as well as Humbeat, helped Florian pull a confused Ash back up onto solid ground. "What are you, nuts?" said Florian. "You just dived over a cliff! You know that, right?"
"Ugh," Ash moaned, trying to stop his head from spinning. "I had to. My Roachoid was about to tumble over it. Ugh, I thought you left."
"Not exactly," said Florian, as he and Ash stood up. "Let's just say your Pokémon persuaded me to stay."
"Huh?" said Ash.
"C'mon, you should get back to your Roachoid," said Florian, leading Ash away.
Florian led Ash to where his Roachoid lay, and it was actually looking a bit healthier. In fact, it was nibbling on an Oran Berry, and when it finished that, Pikachu quickly ran up to it and gave it another.
"Huh? Where'd all these Oran Berries come from?" said Ash.
"From me," said Florian, before Ash looked at him surprised. "You see after you fell, I was standing there stunned for a few seconds, before the next thing I knew, your Pokémon pretty much started tearing into me. They were real mad at me and Deino for what I did to Roachoid. And well..." Florian sighed as he massaged his forehead. "Once I saw you were alright, Deino and I went looking for some Berries so we could help Roachoid recover. I never found any Cheri berries, but... these Oran Berries should help it feel better."
"Really?" said Ash, surprised. "You did that?" Florian said nothing, not even looking at him, but Ash grinned and said, "Thank you so much, Florian! You might have saved Roachoid!"
Florian looked at him a bit odd, before Ash then pulled a couple Cheri Berries out of his pocket and ran over to give them to Roachoid. "Here, Roachoid, eat these. They'll take care of your paralysis."
Roachoid looked up at Ash surprised, as well as Humbeat who flew right next to him. "We saw some on a ledge, so we had to get some to help you feel better!"
Roachoid sat there for a second, before it grinned and quickly snatched the Berries from Ash's hand, gobbling them up in the blink of an eye. With that, its paralysis was cured, and it gleefully began dancing around Ash and his Pokémon.
"Awesome! Great to see you're okay, Roachoid!" said Ash. Before he looked over to Florian. "Seriously, I can't thank you enough, Florian. It means a lot to me."
"Hmph, yeah, sure," said Florian, not making eye contact.
"What a minute, where's your Deino?" said Ash.
"Oh, Deino's probably still looking for Berries right now," said Florian. "But seeing as how Roachoid is looking right as rain, I guess I can go find it now and tell it we can go now."
"Hey! You guys!" came a voice, and Ash and Florian turned to spy Serena, Vernon, and RotomDex running up to them.
"Ash! You're not gonna believe what we just saw-" Serena started before she saw Florian and got confused. "Huh? Is that Florian?"
"Do I know you guys?" said Florian.
"What? We've met before, remember!? Corwald City!?" said Serena.
"Serena, never mind that right now!" said Vernon, grabbing her shoulder. "Remember what we were about to tell Ash?"
"Huh? Oh, right, right!" said Serena. "You're not gonna believe this, but we were just trying to find you, but then, we saw Team Shade!"
"Team Shade!?" said Ash, stunned.
"You see, we saw this Deino walking through the bushes," explained RotomDex, showing some pictures it took on its screen to help explain. "It looked a bit hurt, but it seemed to be in fight with something. "Next thing we knew a net was oer it, and it was dragged away!"
"We tried to pursue it, but it was gone!" said Vernon.
"And look at this!" said RotomDex, revealing on last picture. "Anything look familiar in this picture?"
Ash gasped as he saw a familiar-looking brand of top hat behind a bush. "That is Team Shade!"
"Hold up, did you say they took a Deino?" said Florian. "One that looked hurt?"
"Yes?" said RotomDex.
"Oh, man, I think that was Florian's Deino!" said Ash.
"No, this... this can't be!" Florian said, looking down and clenching his fists. "I... I gotta save Deino! I don't know how, but I'll save it!"
As Florian began to walk away, Ash called after him, "Wait, Florian! Let us help you!"
"You? You can't do anything to help!" said Florian. "Deino is my Pokémon, so it's my responsibility to save it." Florian began to run away, as Ash quickly ran after him, all while Ash's friends stood there confused.
So it would seem that Team Shade has returned yet again, and they've made off with Florian's Deino! Can Deino be rescued? Find out...
Poor Deino was stuck in a net, being dragged away by three Team Shade grunts, looking a bit miserable.
...as the journey continues!