Looking out from the helicopter window, Trevor sees that the Vivillons have brought the fainted Sky Trainers one by one to the ground, and Shauna thinks they are a rather tender species considering the fact that they have not been ordered to do so. Tierno feels glad that that they survived their trip to Cyllage, but Cassius thinks he spoke too soon.

Cassius's words alarm the Vaniville kids, and they wonder what exactly he means. It turns out that the helicopter has been out of control since it was hit by the Hurricane attacks, and from the weird mechanic sounds that he is hearing, Cassius believes that the propellers have been damaged. As he says that, one propeller blade breaks off, and spins towards Y rapidly, who is still hovering in front with Fletchy, oblivious to what is going on. Everyone cries out in horror, and X screams for Y to watch out. Unfortunately, it is too late for Y to react, and the propeller blade hits her from behind and knocks her off the sky.

X's face whitens with terror and he tries to jump out from the cabin door, but Tierno stops him and hollers that he will die if he throws himself out at this height. Cassius thinks their fate will not be that different if the helicopter crashes to the ground, and feels stumped that the propeller should break out of all things. As the Pokémon Storage System maintenance guy struggles to regain control of the craft, X sticks his head out and makes a visual memory of the direction Y fell towards.

Just then, Cassius sees a possible landing spot, and feels thankful that not all hope is lost. He tells his passengers to brace themselves as the landing will be rough, and yanks hard on the steering stick to lower their altitude. The half broken helicopter soon scratches the face of a cliff, chipping a good portion of it off, and breaks its cabin door as it makes contact with the cycling road on the hill. It then continues to plow its way downhill towards the shore, wrecking all the plantations along, and finally comes to a halt right before it hits the river.

Cassius pants to catch his breath, and is glad that they didn't end up in the water. He turns to check on the Vaniville kids, who are fortunately unharmed thanks to the protection by Gourgeist's hair-like arms. Cassius sees that Rhyhorn has remained unscathed as well, and everyone proceeds to get off from the helicopter. X requests to see the flying records, and Cassius wonders what he wishes to do with them. X explains that he is trying to find figure out where Y possibly landed by reviewing the course of their flight, and sincerely hopes that the girl is alright.

Meanwhile, Fletchy keeps Yvette in its claws and searches around the mountainous area for Y. It soon hears its trainer's voice calling out to it, and flies over to see that she has landed safely on a cushion of frubbles created by Croaky. Y feels grateful that their practice gave them plenty of experience with falling from height, and thanks Croaky for its ever-dependable support. She sees that Yvette is still passed out, and recalls that Shauna also took a while to come around when she was controlled by Team Flare's Aegislash. She feels bewildered that the enemy has resolved to using Sky Trainers to target X's Mega Ring, and while she gets that they are using her seniors' resentment towards her as a tool to control them, she wonders how they ended up in the enemy's hands in the first place.

Unable to come up with an answer, Y decides to leave the thinking the Trevor and X, and believes her foremost task is to take Yvette to a safe place and figure out how to regroup with X and others. Unfortunately, she soon discovers that her flying suit has been torn at the sleeves, which means she will not be able to fly now. Feeling troubled, she spans her gaze across the mountainous route around her, and wonders out loud what she should do in an unfamiliar area. However, she suddenly realizes that she actually knows this place, and gasps that it is the Spikes Passage on Route 9, which is an exclusive path for Rhyhorn Riding. Since she was a little girl, Grace has regularly brought her to this route, and she can basically map it out even with her eyes closed. The only problem is, she must do it on foot this time, not to mention the fact that she has to carry an unconscious person. Pulling Yvette onto her back, Y starts to head towards the direction of Ambrette Town, and wishes that someone riding a Rhyhorn would come by.

Just then, she hears voices nearby, and tells Fletchy to check it out. However, after a brief inspection, Fletchy hurries back and even covers Y's mouth with its wings to keep her quiet. Y knows that something must be up, and places Yvette down before hiding behind a boulder to spy on what is going on. To her shock, she sees two women speaking, and one of them is the Team Flare Scientist who controlled Shauna, named Celosia if she remembers correctly. For the other pink-haired woman, Y knows she has seen her reporting gossips on TV, and after a moment of thought, recognizes her as the famous Holo Caster reporter Malva. She feels surprised that they are together, and wonders if they are comrades. In that instant, she remembers Alexa's words that someone with great power is trying to hide the truth from sight, and bolts with realization that Team Flare must have infiltrated the mass media.

Malva returns the Pokéball of Aegislash to Celosia, and thanks the Scientist for lending it to her. Celosia wants to know how her Aegislash fared, and Malva thinks she raised it well. She wonders if Celosia gave it any special training, and Celosia replies that she has. Back in Santalune City when she mind-controlled a young girl in the Vaniville group, Aegislash's spectral powers broke earlier than she expected, and also failed to penetrate Lucario's aura. Since then, she has focused on overcoming these two flaws, so as not to make the same mistake a second time.

Malva is impressed with Celosia's analytical mind, and Celosia wishes to know how her Aegislash failed this time. Malva says she wouldn't call it a failure, but Celosia argues that it didn't manage to get rid of the kids. Malva grins that the mission she put Aegislash through was purely experimental, and since experiments are never intended to have huge successes, Celosia has no reason to despair and should keep her confidence. Malva understands that there is a limit to the effective range of spectral powers and knows it takes training to expand this range, especially from a distance. Although Aegislash only controlled fifteen people this time, it is clearly capable of manipulating double the amount or more, which will enable them to mobilize their captured labor force and move Xerneas to their Absorber to connect with the Ultimate Weapon.

Celosia feels honored that her Aegislash could serve such a great cause, and Malva compliments her constant efforts. In particular, she likes the way Celosia never spares her targets, but Celosia concedes and says Bryony is the one who really never spares her opponents. Malva acknowledges the fact, and says it is why she prefers to partner up with team A.

Behind the boulder, Y finds herself more and more confused by the conversation between Malva and Celosia. She ponders on the so-called 'experiment', which was apparently intended to attempt control over a large number of people from a distance, and wonders if it refers to the Sky Battle she had with Yvette. Despite not making any sounds, her presence is soon sensed by Malva and Celosia, and the Scientist immediately picks up her Honedge to deliver a slash onto the boulder. The strike easily slices the boulder in half, and even cuts off Y's ponytail as she narrowly evades. Y manages to stay hidden behind the broken boulder, but Celosia has no plans to stop and raises Honedge to unleash another slash. In that split second, Croaky trembles and glows, and evolves into a Frogadier. It carries Y high up into the by taking a giant leap, and dodges the attack while keeping themselves unnoticed thanks the height it manages to reach. Croaky then jumps behind a horde of Rhyhorns for shelter, and throws out a handful of frubbles to disturb them, causing a few to jump onto the path which Malva and Celosia are standing on.

Malva and Celosia seem convinced that they have simply sensed the presence of the wild Rhyhorns inhabiting the area, and stop making further attempts to pursue. Y thanks Croaky, and continues to eavesdrop. Malva states that since her experiment with Aegislash proved successful, she plans to move Xerneas that night. However, it will be a shame if the Boss still hasn't acquired everything he needs for Mega Evolution when they activate the Ultimate Weapon. She states that all aspects must be ready by tomorrow, and Celosia thinks all they need now is the Mega Ring, since the Boss already possesses a Pokémon capable of Mega Evolution and its corresponding Mega Stone. Yet, Malva points out that they don't specifically need the Mega Ring since it is merely one kind of gear, and Celosia finds herself confused. Malva explains that there are other Successors of Mega Evolution who are on the run, and decides to share the information with Celosia. As the two women walk away, Y remains behind the Rhyhorns and wears a pensive look, her mind occupied by the fact that the enemy would take action tonight.

Near the helicopter's crash site, Grant patrols the area with his Aurorus, and is upset to see the chipped edge of the cliff. However, he really gets angry when he sees the destroyed cycling road and fumes with rage as he follows the course of the damaged landscape.

Inside the helicopter, X reviews the flying record again, and is certain that Y landed on the Spikes Passage on Route 9. Cassius doesn't know how they would get there, since the helicopter is a total loss, and thinks the only way is to travel by his old van again. He uses his Holo Caster to make contact with his assistants, and in that instant, Grant arrives and tries to get Cassius's attention from behind. However, Cassius simply focuses on the call, which soon goes through, and a female punk informs him that Emma has gone missing. Grant voices out again, but Cassius ignores him once more, and says it is not the first time that Emma disappeared without reason. At that moment, Grant raises his voice a third time, and Cassius could finally take it no more. He turns around and barks that he is in the middle of a conversation, but Grant snatches his Holo Caster away and glares at him furiously. Cassius demands to know what Grant is doing, and Grant declares that he is the person in charge of keeping the integrity of the cycling and rock-climbing courses, and thus has the right to ask for a full explanation on what happened with the helicopter. Cassius stammers that he has no other choice, and Grant demands to know the reason he had no other choice.

The Vaniville kids keep their mouths shut as Grant and Cassius argue, and X decides to go, stating that he would rather go look for Y than waste time with adults like that. Trevor tries to convince him to wait, but X reminds him of the last point of their pact: do not leave your friends, the five of us should always stay together; and both Tierno and Shauna agree that it is time to leave as well. Trevor asks for a few seconds, and quickly writes a note to Cassius, thanking him of his help and promising to return once they find Y. Since the two men are still engrossed in their fight, he gives the note to Gourgeist, and proceeds to depart with his friends.

Later, the group walks along a rocky path near the shore, and Trevor sees that the sun is starting to set. He hopes Y will find a way to stay safe in the dark, and soon notices that Tierno and Shauna are unusually quiet. He wants to know if something is wrong, and Tierno, after sharing a nod with Shauna, decides to speak their minds and asks X and Trevor to hear them out.

With a sad tone, Shauna states that the five of them have always been together since childhood, and this is the first time something so ominous has befallen Y. Tierno admits to have never really paid attention to it, but now realizes the leader role that Y plays in their group. Trevor echoes his thoughts, and says without Y, their group becomes disorganized and couldn't even decide on what to do next. Tierno points out that since the beginning of their journey, they have made it a habit to rely on Y without realizing it, and on a deeper thought, corrects himself that they have always been this way ever since they were together. He personally feels lucky that they won the recent battle and succeeded in holding off the enemy. However, similar attacks will surely happen again sooner or later, and this is something that they all know by experience.

Shauna sulks that Y is someone who hates to lose and never shows her weak side, but as a result, she shoulders a lot of things on her own. Tierno believes that they should stop placing the burden on Y, and start sharing out the responsibility to make decisions. That said, he has discussed with Shauna, and proposes that as soon as they meet up with Y, they proceed to seek out the enemy's headquarters and infiltrate it. Trevor is bewildered by Tierno's suggestion, but Shauna cries that she is tired of running and being chased around. Tierno explains that it is the only method to break away from this pattern of life, and Trevor can see what they mean. He wants to know what X thinks, and X, after a moment of thought, says he doesn't see why they shouldn't…