Bunnelby was first mentioned by Clemont in Kalos, Where Dreams and Adventures Begin!, where it was stated to be a recent capture, presumably captured after Clemont and Bonnie were kicked out of the Lumiose City Gym after it was taken over by Clemont's robot Citroid. It was used by Clemont to battle Ash's Pikachu. Much to Ash's surprise, Bunnelby was able to dodge Pikachu's attacks with its agility. The two seemed evenly matched, but the battle was interrupted by Jessie, James and Meowth.
Bunnelby teamed up with Pikachu to try and stop the villains, but Jessie's Wobbuffet deflected Pikachu's attack and almost injured him. After Pikachu was saved by a Froakie, Bunnelby sent the trio into the air with Dig, allowing Pikachu and Froakie to blast them off.
Bunnelby was used in Clemont's Got a Secret! to battle against Clemont's Heliolisk, which was being used by Citroid. Bunnelby was initially overwhelmed by Heliolisk's strong and direct attacks but eventually overcame the Generator Pokémon by combining its Dig and Double Team attacks to confuse it.