A Battle of Aerial Mobility!

### Written by

Sonic876, Punkasaurus0530, Frogadier55, NegimaLover, TMNTHedgehog5, and DragonSpore18

### Directed by

Sonic876 and NegimaLover

***A Battle of Aerial Mobility!*** is the 3rd episode of *Josh's Adventures of Pokémon the Series: XY*.

## Plot

Serena, having seen Ash on television and recognized him, decides to leave for Professor Sycamore's research laboratory in Lumiose City to receive her starter Pokémon. Her mother wishes her luck and reminds Serena to keep practicing her Rhyhorn racing. Meanwhile, Bonnie and Clemont lead Ash to the nearest Pokémon Center so he can register for the Kalos Pokémon League. On the way, Clemont expresses his awe of Ash's bravery when helping out Pikachu and Garchomp the previous day. They reach the Center where Ash registers using his Pokédex and he also receives a complementary Badge Case. Afterwards, Ash calls Professor Oak to show off his newly caught Froakie. The chat comes to an abrupt end when Oak’s troublesome Rotom zaps him. Team Rocket, who is having lunch elsewhere in Lumiose City, contact Giovanni and inform him they are in Kalos with the intention of stealing rare and valuable Pokémon. Giovanni approves the mission, however while talking the three don't notice an Inkay stealing and eating James's croissant.
Later, as Ash is about to depart for Santalune City, Clemont and Bonnie ask Ash if they may accompany him on his journey, to which he happily accepts. Following on Clemont’s directions, the newly formed traveling trio decide to take the fastest road to Santalune – Route 4. As they walk through a forest, a Berry drops from the treetops, followed by a Dedenne. Ash uses his Pokédex to learn more about it. The Dedenne and Pikachu look at each other, communicating by transmitting electricity from their cheek pouches. Bonnie, overjoyed by Dedenne's charm and cuteness, begs Clemont to let her keep it, to which he agrees. Just before Bonnie gives the fallen berry back to Dedenne, a wild Fletchling swoops down from the sky, snatches the berry from Bonnie's hand, and eats it. Dedenne cries and runs away, saddening Bonnie, because Clemont speculates that Dedenne might not return because its food was stolen.

Froakie is enraged at Fletchling for stealing the berry and attempts to attack it. However, Fletchling's speed and flying prowess prevent Froakie from even landing a hit. Although Ash tries to stop Froakie so that they can form a strategy, his Pokémon's stubbornness is preventing him from listening to reason. Eventually, Ash manages to calm Froakie down and they begin to plan out a strategy for catching Fletchling. Meanwhile, Team Rocket is flying nearby in their balloon. Because his croissant had been stolen earlier, James is hungry, so Meowth brings out some sandwiches, which are also snatched by the Inkay from earlier. While James distracts Inkay with more sandwiches, he throws a Poké Ball and manages to catch it.

In order to find Fletchling, who fled while Ash and Froakie were coming up with their strategy, Clemont produces an invention of his that resembles a phonograph, designed to attract Flying-type Pokémon. However, the machine fails to work properly and instead attracts a swarm of Beedrill. They start running while Clemont continues to crank his device, hoping a different frequency may help, though it only aggravates the Beedrill more. The machine then explodes, sending the three friends flying into a large ravine. Clemont is discouraged at the failure of his device, but Ash encourages him by expressing his amazement that it attracted, albeit unintentionally, all of the Beedrill that it did. Then, the Fletchling from earlier flies overhead, laughing at the three of them. Ash comes up with a new strategy to catch Fletchling, using the cliffs of the ravine. With his strategy prepared, Ash calls on Froakie to battle the Fletchling. Ash's Froakie scales the cliffs of the ravine to bring himself to the same height as Fletchling. He then attacks with a Water Pulse, though Fletchling evades it. Froakie follows on with a frubble barrage, but Fletching soars higher to escape them. Froakie creates a fake version of himself using his frubbles, which Fletchling falls for. Froakie then knocks Fletchling out of the air with a Bubble attack. Ash throws another Poké Ball, but Fletching emerges and immediately goes on the attack. Froakie leaps to escape before delivering a direct Water Pulse at his target. As Fletchling falls towards the ground, Ash throw another Ball, and this time he is successful in capturing Fletchling. Froakie is exhausted from the effort, but he receives praise all round for his spectacular battle performance. Ash calls out his new Fletchling to welcome it to the team. Bonnie takes the opportunity to lecture Fletchling on not stealing from others, and quickly forgives the Tiny Robin Pokémon. Unbeknownst to the group, the Dedenne from earlier continues to observe them.

Serena arrives at Professor Sycamore's lab, which is still partially damaged from Garchomp's earlier rampage. Sycamore greets the new Trainer and asks if Serena is ready to receive her first Pokémon. Serena quickly replies yes, but is more interested in the familiar boy who saved Garchomp. She is pleasantly surprised to learn that it was indeed Ash, like she had thought. Sycamore informs her that Ash is headed to the Santalune City Gym. Keen to hit the road and catch up with Ash, one of Sycamore's assistants, Sophie, brings out the three Kalos starter Pokémon, Chespin, Fennekin, and Froakie, for Serena to choose.

## Major events

* Serena leaves on her Pokémon journey.
* Ash, Clemont, and Bonnie agree to travel together.
* Ash registers for the Kalos League and receives a new Badge case.
* The group decides to head to Santalune City for Ash's first Gym battle.
* Bonnie befriends a Dedenne, which begins to follow the group.
* James catches an Inkay.
* Ash's Froakie is revealed to know Bubble.
* Ash catches a Fletchling.
* Serena reaches Lumiose City and meets Professor Sycamore as she prepares to choose her starter Pokémon.

## Characters

### Humans

* Ash
* Serena
* Clemont
* Bonnie
* Jessie
* James
* Professor Oak
* Nurse Joy
* Giovanni
* Professor Sycamore
* Matori
* Grace
* Sophie
* Citizens

### Pokémon

Who's That Pokémon?: Fletchling

* Pikachu (Ash's)
* Meowth (Team Rocket)
* Wobbuffet (Jessie's)
* Froakie (Ash's)
* Fletchling (Ash's; new)
* Inkay (James's; new; debut)
* Rotom (Professor Oak's)
* Persian (Giovanni's)
* Wigglytuff (Nurse Joy's)
* Garchomp (Professor Sycamore's; flashback)
* Fletchling (Grace's)
* Rhyhorn (Grace's)
* Chespin (starter Pokémon; debut)
* Fennekin (starter Pokémon; debut)
* Froakie (starter Pokémon)
* Dedenne (anime)
* Eevee
* Skitty
* Delcatty
* Panpour
* Poliwhirl
* Zigzagoon
* Beedrill (multiple)

## Transcript

*Main article: A Battle of Aerial Mobility!/Transcript*
## Trivia

* Professor Oak's Pokémon Holo Caster: Meowth
* Ash flips his hat backwards for the first time in *Pokémon the Series: XY*.
* This episode marks the first appearance of the Kalos Nurse Joy design.
	+ This episode also reveals that the Nurse Joys working in the Kalos region use Wigglytuff as assistants.
* This episode marks the most recent appearance of Professor Oak's Rotom in the anime, not counting the Professor Oak's Pokémon Holo Caster segments.
* This is the last episode to date in which Ash catches a Normal-type Pokémon.
* Team Rocket doesn't recite the motto or blast off in this episode.
* Ash, Clemont, and Bonnie narrate the preview for the next episode.