With the Brave Olivine still heading for Paldea, Dot does a Nidothing livestream. One of her commenters says that they can't hear her, and as she tries to fix the problem, the computer ends up falling apart, leaving the video on standby. Liko comes running to Dot's door to make sure she's okay. Upon opening the door, Liko covers her eyes at the sight of Dot coming out of the Nidothing costume, trying to make herself believe that Nidothing is Nidothing and that there is nobody inside her. A dejected Dot decides to cancel the livestream.
Friede decides to make Steelbound Town their next stop to stock up on supplies, which thrills Orla since she is running low on iron for ship repairs. Liko asks about the town, and Mollie says that it's a place famous for industrial products, which include machines. Dot contacts Liko, requesting a new mic if she's going; a condenser-type unidirectional cardioid. Liko doesn't know about any of what Dot pointed out and suggests that Dot should come too. Dot becomes nervous, but Roy thinks it's a good idea. However, Murdock insists that Dot already has so much to do, making Dot shudder anxiously. The ship arrives outside Steelbound Town, and as everyone goes outside to see it, Dot comes out having decided to go out shopping.
In the town, Dot, Liko, and Roy get the mic Dot needs from a store. Dot walks the two around, eventually arriving at the specialty shop district. Liko and Roy decide to check it out, and Dot simply smiles and complies. As Liko looks at an old TV and Roy checks out an old radio, Dot obtains a pink microphone to use as a prop for her videos. Dot then notices that Liko and Roy are gone. She takes out her phone to call them but realizes that they'll think she got lost if she calls them. She soon comes across a Tinkatink trying to take a worker's iron hammer, despite his pleas not to. The tearful Tinkatink runs towards him, but trips over a rock, dropping her hammer. Dot hands Tinkatink her hammer before the Metalsmith Pokémon becomes amazed seeing the pink microphone she got, taking it and hitting it with her hammer to Dot's dismay. She scans Tinkatink with her Pokédex, realizing that Tinkatink is trying to turn her new mic into a new hammer. After watching Tinkatink for a bit, Dot hears Liko and Roy calling for her. She looks at Tinkatink before heading to their location, which doesn't go unnoticed by the Metalsmith Pokémon. With Dot meeting up with the two, Liko thinks Dot got lost, to which the latter says that they were the ones who were lost. Tinkatink finishes her new hammer and is satisfied with the results, then runs in the same direction Dot went.
The kids arrive at the ship, where Murdock immediately runs over and throws his arms around Dot, having been incredibly worried about anything happening to her. As they head back inside, something is seen tunneling in the ground below them. Ludlow senses its presence, saying that the waves are calm, but a storm is approaching. Maushold is hanging out in the hold when that same figure scares them away. It then proceeds to devour the iron bars stored in the hold.
Later, Orla is excited to tend to the ship with all that iron she bought. However, her excitement to turns to shock at the sight of all the iron ransacked. She demands to know who is responsible, and Dot thinks she just might know. Tinkatink arrives on the ship, happy with her new hammer provided by Dot. However, she runs into Muk. Both of them get frightened by each other, with Tinkatink running away in fear and Muk collapsing. Running into the engine room, Tinkatink gets frightened even more at the sight of Slugma in the furnace and Carkol looking at her, running away from them too. Dot sees a hole in the ship made by some kind of Pokémon but has doubts that it was made by Tinkatink. Arriving in a dark hallway, Tinkatink gets scared and runs away from a scary-looking shadow around the corner, which turns out to be Orla's Elekid and Metagross playing together. Dot hears Tinkatink's voice, catching the Metalsmith Pokémon as she comes down the stairs. Dot asks Tinkatink why she's here, and Tinkatink shows Dot her new hammer, which elates her that she likes it. Knowing what Tinkatink's true intentions were, Dot thinks that another Pokémon was behind the iron being destroyed.
Liko and Roy arrive, and Dot introduces Tinkatink to them as someone who likes to make hammers out of iron. Murdock arrives to hear this, getting the idea that Tinkatink was the one responsible for Orla's iron going missing. Tinkatink stands still nervously before running off prompting everyone to run after it. Running from Roy and Liko, Tinkatink runs into Rockruff in the meeting room before Liko goes around back. Roy tries and fails to catch Tinkatink in the meeting room, and Tinkatink jumps off Liko's back to get away from her. Friede notices this, Liko telling him that Murdock thinks Tinkatink is the culprit. Heading into the hold, Tinkatink runs into Mollie and Orla as the others arrive as well. An overwhelmed Tinkatink starts to tear up, leaving the others confused. Dot rushes in and defends Tinkatink, telling the crew that the Metalsmith Pokémon was only trying to find her so she could show her the new hammer. She reveals that she found a large hole in the ship that was made by something bigger, the real culprit. Friede enters and agrees with Dot, saying that the iron wasn't stolen; it was eaten. The scraps left behind show bite marks, and Tinkatink are not known to eat iron. Dot reassures Tinkatink that everything is fine now that they know the truth.
Tinkatink facing Orthworm
Friede is ready to reveal the true culprit behind the missing iron, who comes crashing in and reveals itself as an Orthworm. Liko scans it with her Pokédex just as it makes a lunge for the group, forcing them to move out of the way. Orthworm snatches up Tinkatink's hammer before burrowing through the floor. Seeing Tinkatink's tears, Dot knows how precious that hammer is to her and jumps into the hole with Tinkatink to get it back. As Dot arrives outside the ship, it suddenly starts falling over, Orthworm having cut the anchor. The Earthworm Pokémon then swallows Tinkatink's hammer and taunts the group. Quaxly uses Water Gun, but Orthworm burrows underground to avoid it. It then lunges at the group, who jump out of the way. Friede and Charizard catch the ship's cut line as it is about to fall over. As the others come outside, Friede tells Dot to just focus on getting Tinkatink's hammer back. With that, Dot pulls back the hair covering her eyes ready to take on Orthworm, who emerges from the ground. Quaxly uses Water Gun, and Orthworm dodges before taunting Tinkatink. Seeing Orthworm slither around the wet part of the ground, Dot gets an idea, having Quaxly use Water Gun to draw it in. As Dot keeps this up, Friede and Liko can tell that she has some kind of plan. As Quaxly's Water Gun creates a circle of wet sand that traps Orthworm, Liko figures it out, the others knowing that Orthworm rusts if it gets wet. As Orthworm charges, Quaxly uses Pound, which hits the Earthworm Pokémon hard and makes it spit out Tinkatink's hammer. Tinkatink leaps and grabs her hammer before slamming it into Orthworm, defeating it and forcing it to retreat. Dot praises Tinkatink, who lifts her hammer in the air triumphantly.
At sunset, Liko and Roy apologize to Tinkatink for chasing her around earlier before bidding her farewell. The kids are ready to head back inside, but Dot stops in place, with Tinkatink starting to tear up again. Dot isn't sure what to say at times like these, feeling like Tinkatink wants to come with her. Quaxly hands Dot a Poké Ball, and Dot asks Tinkatink if she would mind being caught by her. Tinkatink is thrilled and smacks the button with her hammer. Successfully catching Tinkatink, Dot lets her out of the Poké Ball and promises that the two will be good friends. Murdock tears up at his niece growing up so fast. Later, Dot starts another Nidothing livestream, apologizing for the technical difficulties before introducing Tinkatink as her new friend. Nidothing's zipper catches Tinkatink's eye, and she grabs it and pulls it down, making Dot panic as Quaxly frantically shuts off the camera.