Night has fallen in the region of Kalos. On Route 1, which is also known as the Vaniville Pathway, the five young trainers from Vaniville Town continue on their journey in the dark. While everyone else travels on foot, X remains in his reclusive state, and sits within a little white-cloth tent set up on the back of Y's Rhyhorn.

Trevor soon spots street lights in the distance, and believes that they are approaching Aquacorde Town. Tierno wonders where they should stay for the night as it is starting to get late, and Shauna quickly states that she hates to camp out. Y tells everyone not to worry, and reveals that she has already arranged accommodation for them in town.

Soon, the group reaches the dome-shaped town gates of Aquacorde, and sees an amiable old lady waiting with a lamp in hand. Wearing a pair of small rounded glasses that hangs on the bridge of her nose, the old lady dons an old-fashioned laced cap and apron, and is accompanied by a Spritzee which is constantly hovering over her shoulders. She gently inquires if the group is with Y na Gabena, and Y rationalizes that she must be from the inn which she made reservations with. The old lady is relieved that they have finally arrived, and remarks that she has been waiting for them the whole day. She has actually become worried that they might have lost their way, and quickly beckons them to come along.

A while later, the young ones arrive at a two-storey building, which has a Ponyta-shaped plate hanging outside its entrance, engraved with the name 'Dancing Ponyta' on it. The old lady leads them to the front counter, and helps them with the registration as she takes out the guest book. She gets baffled that there are only four of them since the reservations states five, and both Tierno and Trevor sweatdrop as they steal a glance at the tent on Rhyhorn's back. Their reaction makes the old lady curious, and before Y could stop her, she makes her way over to the tent to check inside. Naturally, the appearance of X in his pajamas, especially his face which is devoid of emotions, causes her to jump in shock. She stutters as she questions what is wrong with the boy, and Y quickly shields herself in front of the tent to apologize. She hopes that the old lady will leave him be so as not to cause further nuisance, and volunteers to complete the guest registration on his behalf. Both Tierno and Trevor chime in to help the persuasion, and the old lady has no choice but to let the young ones do as they want.

As the old lady turns to leave, Y shoots a glare at the tent, and demands that X come out right away. X refuses, and Y hollers that she didn't set out on a journey to have him lock himself up inside a confined space again, not to mention the fact that he has changed back into his pajamas. She gives X a last warning to get himself into the inn, but X firmly rejects, and Y instantly breaks into a rage. Tierno and Trevor quickly stop their childhood friend before she resorts to violence again, and convince her to get the registration done properly first.

Later, up inside the guest room which the group shares, Shauna lies in bed and sighs that both X and Y never change. Trevor agrees, but points out that Y must be suffering, since taking X out of his home doesn't seem to be helping his condition as she would have hoped. Tierno understands what Trevor is saying, but believes that they need to have patience, as it takes time for things to play out. He beckons the two over to look out from the window, and to their surprise, they see that X is no longer hiding, and has partially emerged from the tent to talk with Kanga.

X sits in a curled up position, and wants to know if Kanga and Li'l Kanga are mad at him. He rationalizes that they should be, since he has abandoned them and left them to Tierno's care for so many years. However, they still protected him when the enemy attacked the day before, and Li'l Kanga even mysteriously jumped out from its pouch and transformed into another appearance. In that state, it wielded strength it didn't possess before, and soon after returned to its usual form. X honestly felt astonished by it, but has no idea how it came about. He wonders if Li'l Kanga knows what happened, but the baby Kangaskhan simply stays silent inside its mother's pouch.

X wears a bitter smile, and knows well why Li'l Kanga wouldn't want to talk to him. He steals a glance at the bracelet on his wrist, which he has now placed a plastic tape over, and deduces that it must be the reason Li'l Kanga changed appearance, since the stone embedded in it glowed so intensely when it happened. He believes that if this mysterious power gets known to others and they become famous for it, they will be harassed by fishy adults again, just like before.

Tierno intercepts at that moment and asks if it is the reason X decides to continue hiding, and is apparently aware that X is covering his bracelet with plastic tape. X quickly retreats into the tent upon the approach of the burly boy, and refuses to say anything. Tierno states that true constraint comes from oneself and no one else, and challenges if X could really ignore the inquisitive eyes of Li'l Kanga, who is currently peeking out from its mother's pouch.

Tierno opens up the two glass boxes he has brought along, and proceeds to send out the starters contained within the Pokeballs, Chespin and Froakie. X takes a peep through the tent opening, and nonchalantly asks what they are for. Tierno explains that Trevor received them as gifts from a famous Pokemon professor living in Lumiose City, and says while there were three to begin with, the fox Pokemon Fennekin was lost during the havoc in Vaniville, whom they must try to find on their journey.

X doesn't understand what Tierno is getting at, and Tierno explains that after discussion with Shauna and Trevor, they have decided to let X and Y raise the starters, since the two of them have the best trainer sense among them all. X thanks Tierno for his compliment, but carries a hint of sarcasm in his tone. He sighs that it is just as he expected, and wagers that it must be an idea of Trevor's, who probably thinks that a new Pokemon could bring him out of his seclusion. Tierno grins that X made a correct guess, and states that he needs a new starting point. Now that he has reestablished his bond with Li'l Kanga, he should perhaps give another chance to his talent as a Pokemon trainer. He believes that Li'l Kanga must have felt lonely all these years, and would certainly enjoy having a new companion.

Unfortunately, Tierno's words seem to upset X more than convince him, and X suddenly jumps out from his tent to grab Tierno by the collar with a furious expression. He hisses that Tierno should stop pretending to know what others really think, and states that he himself will decide what he wants to do with his life. Tierno stands his ground, and says he has no intention to fight, but he of all people should have the right to speak. After all, when X locked himself inside his house, he was the one who hung on to the belief that X would come out again one day, which is why he has taken care of Kanga and Li'l Kanga all those years. X becomes speechless at Tierno's statement, and after a moment of thought, loosens his grip. Then, without another word, he retreats into his tent, while Tierno watches silently with Chespin and Froakie.

Back at the lobby inside the inn, Y puts on a worried look as she hangs up the phone, and relents that her call is still not getting through. The old lady wants to know who it is she is trying to contact, and Y explains that she is hoping to get in touch with her mother, who was supposed to be on her way home when the havoc occurred. She has no idea of her current whereabouts, which makes her extremely worried. The old lady wonders if the havoc Y mentioned is the one shown on TV, and switches on the news, which is currently broadcasting the coverage on the Vaniville incident by the famous news reporter Malva, a pink haired woman in red glasses. Malva states that a large area of Vaniville Town's landscape has been wrecked by the unexpected explosion, and not only countless houses have fallen but dozens of residents have gone missing.

Y confirms the old lady's suspicion that their group hails from Vaniville, and reveals that before the incident, the boy she just saw inside the tent has actually been locking himself up in his house for the past few years. The truth is, X's parents reside in a distant land due to their work, and it was Y and her mother who took care of his daily life. That said, X is actually very close to Y's mother, and Y wonders if she should let X know that they couldn't get in touch with her. Y's tone sounds uncertain however, and Fletchy shrugs in response. The old lady finds their reaction odd, and Y, after pausing for a moment, reveals that she and her mother are not on good terms. She asks if the old lady has heard of Grace the Rhyhorn Racer, and the old lady beams that she certainly knows the legendary racer who has an unbeatable record of 25 consecutive wins. Y states that Grace is in fact, no other than her mother.

The girl recalls that since she was little, her mother has always wanted her to inherit her legacy, and even openly told people that she was training her to become a racer. Her destiny has thus been assumed by everyone to be that of a Rhyhorn Racer and nothing else. Annoyed that someone else should dictate her fate, Y fought hard against it. She deliberately went against her mother's wishes, and eventually became a Sky Trainer, the exact opposite of a land based Rhyhorn Racer. The old lady remarks that family issues are always complicated, and Y sighs that her antagonism now sounds silly when her mother's current safety and whereabouts remain at large.

At that moment, Tierno returns from the outside with a solemn look, and starts making his way back to his room upstairs. The old lady tells Y that her big friend seems to have failed to convince the other boy to come in, and Y decides that she should let X know about her mother's status after all. However, the old lady stops her, and suggests she do it later since she believes that the boy must be worn out from the havoc and there is no reason to add extra burden to his stress. Y ponders on the old lady's suggestion, agrees that she has a point, but eventually decides to tell X anyway. Yet, the old lady stops her once again, and Y begins to get annoyed. She questions why the old lady is keeping her away from X, and the old lady grins that she has a good reason.

Without warning, the old lady's Spritzee unleashes a pulse of energy and sends Y and her Fletchy flying across the room and crashing against the wall. The old lady then picks up the phone, and reports to someone on the other side of the line that the five young ones have been segregated, with three locked up in the room upstairs, one being held down at the lobby, and the possessor all on his own outside. Startled and furious, Y orders Fletchy to attack, who promptly engages in a combat with Spritzee. Y dashes over to the window, but to her shock, finds it tightly bolted.

Upstairs, Shauna gets awakened by the noise, and sees that Tierno and Trevor have both risen. Tierno struggles with the door knob, but finds that it would not budge. Trevor exclaims that neither the door nor the window would open, and the three become anxious at what is going on.

Downstairs, Fletchy charges towards Spritzee, but the pink bird easily flies out of the way. Out of the corner of its eye, Fletchy sees that Y is having trouble with the window, and quickly does a backflip. However, instead of aiming for Spritzee, it dives down towards the window this time and manages to shatter the glass with its sharp beak. Y grabs the chance to slip out, while Fletchy continues to keep the old lady and her Spritzee busy.

As soon as Y steps onto the front porch, she is astonished to see the same two women in bright red suits who attacked them in Vaniville cornering Kanga. Next to them, Rhyhorn and the two starters from Prof. Sycamore watch on helplessly, while X is still inside his tent, apparently oblivious to all that is happening.

The Team Flare Scientist Mable is furious that the old lady failed to hold down the girl, but Aliana, her comrade, tells her not to fret, and giggles that it is nothing they cannot handle. Y quickly shields herself in front of X's tent, and warns them not to lay a finger on him. However, Aliana laughs that they are there for something else this time, and gestures to her Diggersby, who has held Li'l Kanga captive.

Y cries out Li'l Kanga's name in shock, which finally gets X's attention. Y sees that Kanga dares not make a move since its child is kept hostage, and wonders what she should do as Fletchy is held up at the lobby and Rhyhorn's skills are really limited to racing alone. She turns her attention to Chespin and Froakie, and believes that they are her only option. She tries to convince the two starters to work with her, but Mable wouldn't spare them any slack and orders her Houndoom to attack with Flamethrower.

Just as the ball of flames is about to hit Y, Froakie rapidly expands the bubble around its collar, which absorbs and deflects the attack, much to everyone's surprise. Y is astonished that Froakie protected her, and in that instant, X climbs out from his tent, telling Y to step aside. Still in his pajamas, he wears an angry look on his face, and demands that the enemy return Li'l Kanga right away…