Liko and Roy arrive at Artazon, where they see lots of Grass-type Pokemon. They spot two Sunflora by a Sunflora sculpture, made by Brassius himself. Brassius is in a dark room marveling at a giant Rayquaza sculpture draped in shadow. Roy asks an ice cream vendor about any signs of the black Rayquaza but to no avail. Soon, Liko and Roy encounter Nemona, who uses her Pawmo to defeat a Skiploom in battle. Seeing Liko and Roy are trainers too, Nemona challenges them to a battle, but they tell her that they are here to see Brassius.
Nemona takes Liko and Roy to Brassius's atelier, telling them that he is also Artazon's Gym Leader. Liko then recognizes Nemona as a Champion-ranked Trainer, nervously shaking Nemona's hand. Nemona has business with Brassius too seeing how he's been absent from Gym battles for a while now. The group hears shattering nearby and they find Brassius smashing one of his sculptures. Brassius looking so on edge makes Liko anxious as she nervously introduces herself and tells him that she was told to come by her father, Alex. This thrills Brassius, whose unsettling brand of excitement scares Liko even more. Brassius invites Liko, Roy, and Nemona inside for tea as they notice his passion for art, as seen with all the sculptures of Grass-type Pokemon around his house. Brassius's Dolliv shoots its oils onto Pawmo. Dolliv is nervous until Sprigatito uses its sweet scent to make it happy. The elated Dolliv shoots more oil at Pawmo. Roy, wanting to stay on topic about why they came here, tells Brassius about the black Rayquaza, which doesn't thrill him one bit. Brassius heads downstairs and anxiously stands over a shattered black Rayquaza sculpture. Out of the corner of her eye, Liko notices a piece of the black Rayquaza sculpture, realizing that Brassius is in a slump, something Alex has experienced as well. She resolves to do something that will make Brassius smile, and Roy proposes gathering Sunflora for him like the kids were doing for him earlier.
Arriving at Sunflora Lawn, Liko, Roy, and Nemona split up to look for Sunflora. Liko already finds two Sunflora as Brassius watches from afar. Liko heads to a field of grass and thinks she sees another Sunflora on a cliff, but it's just another sculpture. After seeing Sprigatito relaxing in the sun, Liko deduces that Sunflora likes places with lots of sunlight. Using this knowledge, Liko gathers up a lot more Sunflora (33 Sunflora by careful count) than Roy (10 Sunflora) and Nemona (15 Sunflora) by the time their search is over. Liko is confident that so many smiling Sunflora will cheer Brassius up. Dolliv then shows up and shoots Brassius with its oil, blowing his cover. Brassius, seeing no other way around it, brings Liko, Roy, and Nemona back to his house, where he presents the giant black Rayquaza with a tortured Sunflora sculpture he worked on. Brassius has been working on this piece to capture the intensity of the Rayquaza through a Sunflora's eyes, and then his whole world was turned upside down when he saw the real black Rayquaza, which is why he has had a slump and lost interest in Gym battling. Liko feels bad seeing Brassius at such a low point. Just then, Roy, amazed by Brassius's life-sized sculpture of Rayquaza, wants to head to the forest where Brassius saw it.
Seeing Roy's resolve, Brassius proposes a Gym battle with him, sending out his Sudowoodo to face Roy's Fuecoco. Liko tries to warn Roy about Sudowoodo's type, but Roy, thinking it's a Grass type, has Fuecoco use Ember. However, it does little damage due to Sudowoodo being a Rock type. Brassius commands Sudowoodo to use Rock Throw, which hits Fuecoco hard. Sudowoodo uses Rock Throw again. Fuecoco dodges, charging at Sudowoodo with Tackle. However, Sudowoodo uses Substitute, which outsmarts Fuecoco again and again. Sudowoodo follows up with Taunt, making Fuecoco mad and prompting it to use Ember instead of Tackle as Roy commands. Brassius tells Roy that his focus should be on his own Pokemon instead of finding the real Sudowoodo. In its rage, Fuecoco stomps the ground and cracks it underneath its feet. Fuecoco has learned Stomping Tantrum, which gets rid of another substitute. Fuecoco follows up with the same move, scoring a super-effective hit on the real Sudowoodo. Brassius then Terastallizes Sudowoodo into a Grass Tera Type, calling this piece "The Lie That Came True". Roy has Fuecoco use Ember, but Sudowoodo avoids it and hits Fuecoco with Trailblaze, knocking it out.
After the battle, Nemona explains how Tera Types work for different Pokemon. Brassius congratulates Roy on a great battle before sharing another sculpture at his house, "The Forest Arboliva". Arboliva's forest is where he saw the black Rayquaza, and then Arboliva resonated with the Legendary Pokémon. Liko notices something about this sculpture before she and Roy return to the Brave Asagi and share what they found. Liko tells Roy that the sculpture Brassius showed them gave off a sad vibe. Meanwhile, in a dark forest, a shadowy Arboliva walks through.
