In the middle of the night, Roy approaches the Brave Asagi in the rocky valley where it's docked. As he climbs onto the deck, he's spotted by Captain Pikachu, who shocks him, waking up the Rising Volt Tacklers in the process. They all rush to the deck, with Liko and Friede recognizing him from the previous day. He apologizes for barging in uninvited and expresses his desire to meet Fuecoco again, as he wants to spend a lot more time with it. While Friede understands his feelings, he reminds Roy that he must also be considerate of Fuecoco's own feelings if he truly wishes for them to become partners. Friede allows Roy to spend the night on the ship so he can spend time with Fuecoco. Liko offers to lead Roy to Fuecoco, but it's not where she thought it'd be. Roy tries to sing the song he and Fuecoco sang the previous day, but Fuecoco, sleeping in a food storage, fails to hear anything. Ultimately, Liko and Roy rest on the Wing Deck after failing to find Fuecoco. Roy wonders what Fuecoco thinks about him, but Liko assures things will turn out fine, based on her own experiences with Sprigatito.
The next morning, while Liko and Roy slept well, Orla is anything but well-rested, having spent all night trying to patch the ever-reappearing holes in the airship's gasbag, which are threatening the ship's keel. Roy suggests using the wild Pokémon on the island to help in solving the problem and asking his grandfather for ideas, which Friede accepts, while Orla and the others say they'll move the Brave Asagi to the beach. Before leaving, Roy leaves some Oran Berries for Fuecoco in the kitchen. When Fuecoco finds the Berries a bit later, Mollie tells it how Roy left them for it, causing Fuecoco to run outside and jump off the moving airship to find Roy. Meanwhile, Friede is surprised to learn that Roy's grandfather is the local elder he met the previous day. Roy's grandfather berates his grandson on sneaking aboard someone's ship without permission, but still serves everyone some food. From the shape of the dango he serves, Friede gets the idea to use Caterpie and Weedle's strings to patch up the airship's gasbag, with Roy suggesting that Scyther could cut the strings. The townspeople appear to prepare for lunchtime, and Roy's grandfather invites Friede to join in. At first, he's hesitant, but after seeing how excitedly Liko is studying the Pokémon accompanying the townspeople, he agrees to spare some of his time.
Meanwhile, Fuecoco wanders around the island, looking for Roy, but is unable to find him. Eventually, it winds up at a beach, from which it spots the Explorers' submarine, tracking the Brave Asagi. Even though the airship has moved, Zirc quickly discovers its new location. Onia suggests capturing the airship, but Amethio says their only targets are Liko and her pendant. As such, he orders Zirc and Onia to draw the attention of the ship's crew while he goes after Liko. The Explorers fly off on their Pokémon, and Fuecoco runs away to alert its friends. It ends up running past Roy's home, and Roy notices it. Fuecoco frantically points towards the beach where the ship is, so Friede departs to see what's wrong. On the beach, Zirc and Onia approach the airship, with Orla and Murdock stepping up to confront them. Friede approaches Amethio, who challenges him to a battle as well. Seeing the direction Friede came from, Onia figures Liko must be in the same direction as well.
Noticing Amethio in the distance, Liko realizes the Explorers have found them again and explains them to Roy and his grandfather. Hearing the sounds of the battle going on at the beach, they head to the forest to ask for the Bug Pokémon's help. They're both feeling nervous, but the presence of their Pokémon friends calms them down, especially as the Bug Pokémon agree to help. Along the way to the beach, they're confronted by Onia, with Liko telling Roy to run ahead while she deals with her. Arriving on the beach, Murdock and Orla lead the Bug Pokémon inside while Mollie takes over their place in the battle against Zirc. Thanks to Caterpie and Weedle's String Shot, the leaks in the gasbag are patched, stabilizing the Brave Asagi. With Mollie's Chansey struggling against Zirc's Rhydon and Fuecoco displaying its admiration towards Friede's Charizard, Roy and Fuecoco enter the battle in their place. However, Fuecoco is unable to pull off even a single Ember. Liko, having defeated Onia, arrives on the scene and tells Roy to convey his feelings to Fuecoco. To her bafflement, Roy decides to do this by singing with Fuecoco, which, in fact, allows Fuecoco to pull off a successful Ember against Rhydon. The sight distracts Friede for a moment, during which Amethio flies away from their battle, whipping up a cloud of dust with his Corviknight and diving down at Liko, preparing to seize her.