On Team Galactic's private airship, the grunt who has his own thoughts diligently works at the computer, and finally manages to generate a good photo of their target. On the screen, the once blurred silhouette of Lady Berlitz is now in much better resolution, almost showing clearly her facial features.

Born into the number one prestigious Berlitz family, this girl not only has wealth, but is deeply connected to the academic world, with her father, Sir Berlitz, being one of the most active Pokemon scholars. Right now, Sir Berlitz is working as the assistant of a renowned professor named Rowan, and both of them are currently attending a Pokemon Academic Conference at Canalave City. When the girl decided to leave home and go on a journey, for safety reasons, her father has hired two bodyguards to protect her. Now, with both bodyguards gone, she is in a highly vulnerable state.

The grunt walks over to the glass dome at the bottom of the airship, which allows directly visualization of the outside, and spots the Canalave Library where the Conference is being held. He soon sees Prof. Rowan and Sir Berlitz walking towards a food stall for a snack, and sees the calm expression on both men's faces.

Clearly, the girl has not told her father about the disappearance of the bodyguards, and he is carrying out his daily duties as usual. The grunt figures that this would be his perfect opportunity to intervene, and prints out the young girl's picture on a photo paper, ready to bring Team Galactic another step closer to their goal.

Meanwhile, following all the drama at Celestic Town, the trio once again has luck on their side, and moved across the Sinnoh skies on Fantina's Drifblim through the foggy routes, eventually finding themselves back at Hearthome City, the hometown of the purple-haired woman.

Lady Berlitz voices her gratitude to Fantina, and Fantina grins that she doesn't have to thank her, that she can quit her heart and just go home, a joke which she learnt from the boys before and still wouldn't stop laughing over. Pearl feels a bit dizzy seeing the glamorous city again, and says while he is grateful for Fantina's rescue and Drifblim's ride, they have once again moved away from Mt. Coronet, and wonders if they will ever reach their destination.

Lady Berlitz remarks that she doesn't regard coming back to Hearthome as such a bad thing however, since she has heard learnt that a gym exists in the city, and she did not get the chance to challenge the gymleader in their last visit. Pearl is surprised at the Lady's enthusiasm in doing gym challenges, and the girl explains that she is still looking for opportunities to try out the new strength of Empoleon.

Overhearing the conversation, Fantina beams with joy that it will be a great idea, and says she is always looking out for opponents. Her remark is met with silence from the trio, and Dia breaks the awkwardness by saying they are aware that Fantina is a superb Contest coordinator, but the Lady is actually trying to challenge the gym this time. Fantina keeps the grin on her face and says she understands, which is why she is accepting the challenge.

Her reply causes the three young trainers to bolt with shock, and they are surprised to learn that Fantina is the gymleader of Hearthome. The purple-haired woman does a spin with her dress, and laughs that she has studied a lot about Pokemon for the sake of Contests, and the knowledge has also helped her become a gymleader. Winking to Lady Berlitz, she tells the girl to give her best, and says she will definitely not lose to her.

Later, at the suite room of Hotel Great Hearthome, Dia and Pearl are practicing their Manzai.

Pearl: Speaking of Pokemon!
Dia: Speaking of Pokemooon~
Pearl: We are having another gym battle~!
Dia: Indeed! And this time, our opponent is Fantina.
Dia: (sighs) I don't think there is a chance for the Lady to win.
Pearl: You sound quite pessimistic.
Dia: I am, what else can happen when she can't defend-ina?
Pearl: (collapse)

Pearl: Before we make our challenge, we must plan a good strategy in order to win. (flips out notebook) Erm... our opponent's expert type is... ah! Here it is! Fantina's expert type is... ghost!
Dia: (takes out a toast machine)
Pearl: (smacks Dia on the face) That is a toast!!

Dia spreads honey on some toast for Roo and Beh as he comments that their verses have gotten smoother again. Pearl gets a pensive look, and says he has a suggestion to make. He points out that their Manzai and short conte have already reached a quite stable level now, but as comedians, they must always challenge new ways of entertainment. Dia wonders what Pearl has in mind, and Pearl grins that they shall give a go at the most powerful weapon of a comedian, One-shot Gag, which involves a single act or sentence to make the audience laugh. He bestows upon Dia the homework to come up with one, and Dia begins to play around with ideas in his head, although to no avail so far.

While Dia thinks hard to come up with something, Pearl looks out of the window, and sees that Lady Berlitz is already busy practicing with Empoleon and Ponyta for her upcoming gym challenge. He decides to take Dia's part of role-playing the gymleader this time, and tells Dia to just sit tight while he grabs the Fantina mask and heads down to join the Lady.

Calling out to the Lady, Pearl says he will practice with her, and the girl thanks him with a grin. Pearl takes out his notebook and says since Fantina is an expert in ghost types, she will most likely use the Drifblim they have taken several rides on, as well as a Mismagius which is in the records of her Contest victories.

He wonders how the Lady plans to tackle the challenge, and the girl flips out her Pokedex to check on the data of Mismagius. She states that she will most likely resort to type advantages and powerful attacks, but is a little concerned about the magical Pokemon's famous illusions. To counter the illusionary attacks, she will certainly use both Empoleon and Ponyta, and wonders if it is enough.

Pearl ponders for a moment, and finally suggests her add Dia's Beh to her challenge team. He advises her to pick a 3-Pokemon switch-in battle, and says he shall come up with appropriate strategies for the combination. With that, he tells the Lady to give him an hour and turns to leave, while the girl questions herself if Munchlax is really a good choice to handle a ghost type's illusions.

The next day, at the Hearthome Gym, the trio enters the front door and sees the multi-layered design of the place. Fantina greets them from the fourth floor next to Mismagius and Drifblim, and the dragon-like statue welcomes them for the challenge, greeting them as the children of the future like it always does. It easily recognizes the three, and asks Lady Berlitz to select the type of battle. The Lady decides to go for a 3-Pokmon switch-in battle, and the statue remarks that Fantina has agreed to the presence of observers.

With that, the platform which the trio is standing on begins to move upwards, and they realize that it is actually a lift. Upon arrival on the next floor, they see three closed doors behind a wooden box, which has a piece of paper on it, and the statue explains that in order to proceed, they must pick the correct answer to the question written on the paper, and open the doors accordingly. Lady Berlitz gets closer to the wooden box, and discovers that her first question is a mathematical equation.

Meanwhile, at Canalave City, Prof. Rowan and Sir Berlitz leave the Canalave Library, and the old gentleman believes that they have gathered enough information for the day. He remarks that the long hours of the Conference is starting to take its toll on him, and suggests going for some sweet snacks before heading back to their quarters to rest. Sir Berlitz agrees to the idea, and Rowan grins that he has learnt of a nice local store from the staff at the Conference.

Just then, Sir Berlitz discovers that he has left behind something at the Library, and tells the professor is keeping walking while he goes to grab it. Rowan says he will meet him down the road in that case, and Sir Berlitz quickly rushes back into the Library. As he climbs the stairs to the higher floors, a Gible suddenly appears out of nowhere and stuffs a photo at his face.

Sir Berlitz sees that it is a picture of Lady Berlitz, and a voice comes on to ask if it is her daughter. The scholar turns around to find himself face to face with a man in black cloak, just when a Staraptor appears from behind and gleams its sharp claws at him. The cloaked man claims that they have kidnapped the girl, and demands a ransom of 1.5 billion dollars.

However, Sir Berlitz puts on a calm look, and finds the remark absurd as his daughter is under the protection of two highly professional bodyguards. He advices the cloaked man not to make bogus claims, and says there is clearly no way anyone could get past the bodyguards to reach his daughter. The cloaked man begins to laugh, and suggests Sir Berlitz challenge his credibility by phoning up the two men personally. He can assure him that the call will not be answered, as the bodyguards have already been eradicated...

(Original Japanese Jokes)

1. In the first part of the Manzai verse, Dia says there is little hope for the Lady to win because 'Douse damerissa', which means 'It won't work after all'. The pun is on Fantina's Japanese name, Merissa, which is deliberately added to 'Dame' (will not work) by Dia.
2. In the second part, the original meaning has been kept.