At Naranja Academy, the Multi Battle of Liko and Katy versus Rika of the Paldea Elite Four is about to begin. While Roy, Ann, and Nemona discuss about Liko's chances, Dot sees Terapagos wandering off and runs after it, unnoticed by the other three. On the battlefield, Rika, noticing Liko acting nervous, delays Dendra's declaration to start the match and walks over to Liko. She offers to let her pet her Clodsire to help her feel less tense, but when Liko tries to do so, Rika abruptly tells her to stop, since Clodsire's poisonous skin is unsafe to touch without protective gloves. Liko is unamused by the tease, but is surprised to notice she's feeling less tense now, being ready to start battling.
Once Rika has returned to her spot, Dendra properly starts the battle. Rika starts her offensive right away, telling Dugtrio to use Dig and Clodsire to follow up with Sludge Wave. Nemona explains to Roy and Ann that Sludge Wave is a move that hits the entire field, so Dugtrio had used Dig to avoid being hit by it. While Floragato and Lokix both dodge the Sludge Wave, Floragato ends up taking a hit from Dig as Dugtrio resurfaces. Although it is not very effective on the Grass Cat Pokémon, Nemona knows that repeated hits from it can still sting. Rika repeats her previous moves, as do Floragato and Lokix, except this time, Floragato manages to wrap her vine around Dugtrio, who proceeds to spin around to send her flying. Floragato performs a hard landing, though Liko doesn't notice her partner's pained expression and only congratulates her performance. Rika orders Dugtrio to use Rock Slide on Floragato, who trips while trying to dodge due to her hurt leg. Fortunately for Liko, Katy has Lokix defend Floragato with Throat Chop, stopping the barrage of rocks before they can hit. Liko thanks Katy for her help, and Katy tells her to pay attention on other things than just Clodsire. Liko complies by glancing all around the field, but Rika criticizes her for having too many thoughts in her head at once, telling her that during a battle, she shouldn't be think about anything else. She asks Liko what she thinks she's battling for, and while she admits that Liko is not wrong by saying that she wants to win, there's also more to it than that. Katy assures Liko that she'll understand everything by the end of the battle, which Rika is already eager to continue. Looking at Floragato, Liko smiles as she can sense how excited and eager her partner is, and promises to focus on winning.
Meanwhile, in the academy's lobby, Dot's chase for Terapagos is momentarily interrupted by her spotting an entire shelf full of issues of the Occulture magazine, but Quaxly urges her to focus on the task at hand. Following Terapagos's voice, she follows it to the upper layer of the lobby, where it turns out that the bag containing Terapagos has been found by Penny. Dot asks her to return the bag and keep Terapagos a secret from others, but Penny instead turns around and tells Dot to keep quiet, surprising Dot with her knowledge of her name.
Back at the battle, Rika repeats her reliable combo of Dig and Sludge Wave. Liko is prepared for it this time, though, and has Floragato slice the Sludge Wave apart with Magical Leaf, jump into the air to dodge Dugtrio's Dig, and then hit the Mole Pokémon with a super effective Magical Leaf. In the audience, Geeta notices Grusha getting interested by Liko's strategy. Rika is happy to see the battle heating up and decides to start fighting harder too. Clodsire and Dugtrio fire a double assault with Mud Shot and Rock Slide, forcing Floragato to do easive maneuvers. When she tries to deflect an incoming Mud Shot, she's left wide open for a Rock Slide barrage that rains down on her. Katy creates an opening for Liko by having Lokix use Lunge, which turns Rika's Pokémon's attention to it and allows Liko to command a Quick Attack on Clodsire. Rika, however, anticipated this and has Clodsire use Poison Jab, extending its spines in preparation. Lokix quickly jumps in and pushes Floragato aside at the last second, taking the hit instead and getting poisoned in the process. This, however, plays into Katy's strategy, as Lokix's Swarm Ability is triggered, giving its Bug-type moves a significant boost. To Liko's surprise, Katy suddenly declares that she's going to stop holding back and fight with her full power now. Dodging its opponents' attacks, Lokix hits Clodsire and Dugtrio with a Struggle Bug and Lunge barrage, before aiming a Bounce at Clodsire, which Dugtrio takes the hit from in its place. Liko is left speechless by Katy's performance, but ultimately, the damage from the poison catches up to Lokix, and Dendra declares it unable to battle. With Bounce having left Dugtrio paralyzed, the match has now effectively turned into a one-on-one battle between Floragato and Clodsire. Liko can still sense Floragato's excitement, wondering if she wants to start bouncing around like Lokix did. In the audience, Roy and Ann are feeling uncertain about Liko's chances, since Clodsire, as a Poison type, has a type advantage over Floragato, but Nemona assures them that Lokix's Struggle Bug has lowered the power of Clodsire's attacks, so the match should still be plenty exciting.
Back at the school lobby, Dot and Penny have sat down to talk. Dot once again questions how Penny knows her name, to which Penny replies that she does maintenance for the Tera Training course registration system, since she's an engineer working for the Pokémon League. Dot tries to tell Penny how she work on technical stuff as well, just as Penny stands up and peers down to the ground floor, spotting a disguised Chalce reading a book. Sitting back down, she tells Dot that she's feeling suspicious about Chalce, who recently appeared in the school's database out of nowhere under the name of "Agepan". Neither she nor Dot feels comfortable with the idea of going to talk to her about it. Just then, Quaxly notices that Terapagos has wandered off again. Dot quickly spots Terapagos on the ground floor and catches up with it, though this causes Chalce to notice her. In an attempt to distract her, Dot asks her what she thinks about Occulture. Chalce thinks that the ideas presented in the magazine about Pokémon from a distant past are absurd, and when Dot tries to defend them by saying that even rumors can have a tiny bit of truth in them, Chalce ominously warns her that some truths are better left undiscovered. Chalce puts her book away and leaves, with Dot wondering why she looks so familiar. Dot takes the Scarlet Book that Chalce had been reading and starts skimming through it, with Terapagos suddenly becoming interested in one image in particular. Dot returns the book to the shelf and exchanges phone numbers with Penny before heading off to reunite with her friends.
Liko crying after losing to Rika
At the battlefield, Clodsire counters Floragato's Magical Leaf with Mud Shot and tries to fend off her Quick Attack with another bombardment of mud. When Floragato keeps approaching, Clodsire prepares a Poison Jab, but Floragato wraps her vine around one of the toxic spines, before lunging in and hitting Clodsire hard with a new move, which Katy identifies as Acrobatics, making Liko excited. Dot reunites her friends in the audience just as Floragato, becoming increasingly exhausted and slowed from the damage she's sustained, takes a hit from a Mud Shot. Despite realizing that someone of Rika's strength level is going all out against her, Liko still can't help but smile. Smirking, Rika reiterates her earlier question on why Liko thinks she does battles. Liko confidently answers that it's so she can immerse herself with battles and become one with her Pokémon. Recognizing that Floragato has always taken battles seriously, Liko declares that from now on, she will take them seriously and enjoy them as well. Rika is very pleased with the answer and the expression on Liko's face, so both Trainers decide to take the battle to the next level by Terastallizing their respective Pokémon. Floragato attacks with a boosted Magical Leaf, which Clodsire counters with a powered-up Earth Power, overpowering the Grass-type move and defeating Floragato, thus making Rika the winner. After recalling and thanking her partner, Liko suddenly finds herself shedding tears. Katy gives her a comforting hug, recognizing that she's feeling passionate because she took the battle seriously, thus making the loss hurt more. After calming down, Liko approaches her friends and accepts their compliments on how well she performed. Roy and Dot note how Liko is acting more enthusiastically and seriously about battles than she ever has before, which she herself also recognizes and also thanks Rika for.
Later, at the school lobby, Liko is approached by Grusha, whom she doesn't recognize. While Grusha almost immediately leaves with Geeta, he has enough time to comment that if what Liko just experienced was enough to raise her spirits, she must be pretty frigid. Liko is left very confused by this encounter, but is quickly cheered up by Roy coming up to her and expressing his desire to battle someone strong and become a better Trainer, a sentiment that Liko now also shares. Dot approaches the two and shows them the Scarlet Book, which she had just borrowed from the school library. She opens the book to show them the picture that Terapagos was interested in. Liko notes the drawing's resemblance to Terapagos and feels that a new adventure is about to start for them.
