A Not-So-Flying Start

### Written by

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

### Directed by

Sonic876 and NegimaLover

***A Not-So-Flying Start*** is the 28th episode of *Josh's Adventures of Pokémon the Series: XY Kalos Quest*.

## Plot

While on their way to Dendemille Town and Anistar City, Ash and his friends take a short rest. While everyone is relaxing, Hawlucha is in the nearby forest practicing its moves against an old tree. After knocking off one of the tree's decaying branches, Hawlucha sees something glowing at the base of the tree. As everyone is preparing to leave, they notice Hawlucha's absence as Hawlucha arrives, carrying his discovery. Ash and Clemont both immediately recognize the object as a Pokémon Egg, and Hawlucha takes them back to the place where he first saw the Egg. Suddenly, the Egg begins to glow and they all realize that it is about to hatch. Per Serena's suggestion, Ash begins to try and warm the Egg by wrapping his body around it, and all of his Pokémon help as well. Fletchinder uses its Ability, Flame Body, to speed up the Egg's hatching.
Finally, the Egg hatches to reveal a baby Noibat. As Noibat opens his eyes, he sees Ash and the rest of the group as they all introduce themselves to him. However, the Noibat is overwhelmed by all of the attention and cries, unintentionally using Supersonic in the process. Bonnie tries to calm Noibat down, but he continues using Supersonic and Ash is the only one able to comfort him. Once Noibat has stopped crying, everyone looks for fruit that Noibat likes to eat. However, when Dedenne picks a fruit for Noibat, Noibat uses his highly sensitive ears to examine the fruit and refuses to eat it. Trying to convince Noibat to eat the fruit, Bonnie takes a bite and discovers that it tastes terrible. All of the Pokémon help to pick lots of fruit for Noibat to examine, but he deems them all inedible. Noibat then discovers that Bonnie is holding two more pieces of fruit, and he decides that they will taste good.

Once Noibat has finished eating, he walks away and tries to fly into the air, but he soon falls back to the ground again. When Ash comforts Noibat again, Serena surmises that he might consider Ash to be his parent. Although Noibat's second attempt at flight is again unsuccessful, Ash manages to catch Noibat before the Sound Wave Pokémon falls to the ground again. Team Rocket, watching from a nearby tree, decides to steal Noibat because its evolved form, Noivern, would make a good addition to Team Rocket's ranks. Meanwhile, Fletchinder and Hawlucha assume the roles of Noibat's teachers, guiding him through the air and showing him how to fly. Although Noibat does much better this time, he still fails to remain airborne for more than a few seconds. At this, Clemont suggests teaching Noibat to glide before teaching him how to fly, and Ash tells Hawlucha to instruct Noibat. Once again, Noibat does very well, but only for a moment. Fortunately, Hawlucha catches him before he can hit the ground again. At this, everyone is out of ideas for how to teach Noibat to fly, when Hawlucha suddenly remembers something and leads the group to a hill with a strong breeze at the top. Hawlucha flies out into the air, followed by Noibat and Fletchinder when suddenly a huge net comes out of nowhere and ensnares Hawlucha and Noibat. Team Rocket reveals themselves and then leaves, with Ash's Pokémon in tow. Despite Fletchinder's attempts to stop them, Inkay keeps it at bay long enough for Team Rocket to escape.

Once Fletchinder has recovered from Inkay's attack, it immediately goes off in search of Team Rocket. Meanwhile, Hawlucha and Noibat have been tethered to a tree, and Noibat's Supersonic waves are unable to do anything against the special earplugs worn by Jessie, James, and Meowth. Hawlucha and Noibat both try to escape but without success. While Jessie, James, and Meowth are trying to figure out how to evolve Noibat, Hawlucha surreptitiously picks at his rope with a sharp claw and tears through it. Hawlucha does the same to Noibat's tether, but just as the two of them are about to escape, Jessie spots them and Inkay and Pumpkaboo give chase. Because Noibat is still unable to fly, Hawlucha carries him on his back. Inkay and Pumpkaboo are no match for Hawlucha's superior agility, and Hawlucha hides with Noibat in a nearby cave. As Fletchinder watches from overhead, Jessie, James, and Meowth head into the cave, leaving their Pokémon with instructions to attack Hawlucha and Noibat as soon as they exit the cave.

Unfortunately for Team Rocket, the cave is pitch black. Using echolocation, Noibat tells Hawlucha exactly where each member of Team Rocket is, and Hawlucha brings them down one by one, knocking off their Supersonic-resistant earplugs. Noibat then uses Supersonic again, driving Team Rocket out of the cave and into Inkay and Pumpkaboo's waiting ambush. At that moment, Ash and his friends arrive, and Frogadier easily defeats both Inkay and Pumpkaboo. After Pikachu sends Team Rocket blasting off, Hawlucha and Noibat emerge from the cave.

That evening, Ash and his friends prepare to continue on their way to Dendemille Town and Anistar City. Just as they are about to leave, Ash asks Noibat what he will do now, to which the Sound Wave Pokémon responds to by clinging to his arm. Ash invites Noibat to continue traveling with him, and Noibat happily agrees, willingly going into an empty Poké Ball that Ash pulls out, thereby marking his capture. Ash summons the newly-caught Noibat out of his Poké Ball and Noibat continues his flight training with Hawlucha and Fletchinder as the group journeys on.

## Major events

* Ash and his friends come across a Pokémon Egg, which hatches into a Noibat.
* Ash's Fletchinder is revealed to have Flame Body as its Ability.
* Ash catches the newly hatched Noibat.

## Characters

### Humans

* Ash
* Serena
* Clemont
* Bonnie
* Jessie
* James

### Pokémon

Who's That Pokémon?: Altaria

* Pikachu (Ash's)
* Meowth (Team Rocket)
* Dedenne (Clemont's)
* Frogadier (Ash's)
* Fletchinder (Ash's)
* Hawlucha (Ash's)
* Noibat (Ash's; hatched; new)
* Braixen (Serena's)
* Pancham (Serena's)
* Bunnelby (Clemont's)
* Chespin (Clemont's)
* Luxray (Clemont's)
* Pumpkaboo (Jessie's; Super Size)
* Inkay (James's)
* Noivern (on James's computer)

## Transcript

*Main article: A Not-So-Flying Start/Transcript*
## Trivia

* Professor Oak's Pokémon Holo Caster: Farfetch'd
	+ This time, Hoopa accompanies Professor Oak and his Rotom.
* Ash, Clemont, and Noibat narrate the preview for the next episode.
	+ Instead of a normal preview, a special preview of the Cosplay Pikachu shorts and *A Relay in the Sky!* is played.
* This is the first episode in *Pokémon the Series: XY* to air in Canada before the United States, due to airing in place of *Mega Evolution Special III*.
* The English dub was released on iTunes and Prime Video on August 16, 2015, six days before the episode aired in the United States. The same occurred for all episodes in Volume 3 of Pokémon the Series: XY Kalos Quest that aired after *Mega Evolution Special III* (*A Not-So-Flying Start!* through *A Festival Trade! A Festival Farewell?*).
* Ash's Fletchinder and Hawlucha remain outside of their Poké Balls throughout this episode.
* Ash's Fletchinder used its Flame Body to help Noibat hatch. This is a reference to the games, where Flame Body makes Pokémon Eggs hatch faster.
* When Team Rocket is wondering about how a Noibat evolves, Jessie suggests that it might evolve if held upside down, with Inkay emerging from his Poké Ball to demonstrate. This is a reference to how, in the games, Inkay evolves by holding the Nintendo 3DS upside down when it levels up, starting at level 30.
* With Noibat, this is the first time Ash has three Pokémon of the same type in his team, the others being Fletchinder and Hawlucha.