In an early evening in Mochew City, many people are sitting in a Pokémon Center, as Maushold pushes a cart of Poké Balls. Mollie and her Chansey, in Nurse Joy uniforms, take two Poké Balls and return them to a Trainer at the front desk. He thanks her enthusiastically, and he and his Pokémon leave. Mollie is told by Nurse Joy that her shift is over, and then promptly leaves to go to her locker. At her locker, her mother congratulates her on the hard work, and expresses her appreciation at Mollie's return, to which she appears dismissive. Mollie sees on her phone that Pokémon were found injured in a forest, and immediately leaves with her partners to help.
Liko, Roy, and their Pokémon are eating dinner by a hotel lobby, which all seem to be enjoying. They agree to rest up the following day to recover energy, right before hearing a woman telling a concierge that her Pokémon started feeling sick out of nowhere in a forest. Though her Pokémon are now fine, people nearby started telling similar stories. Liko and Roy choose to find out more and arrive at the nearby forest soon, by which point the sun had completely set. While navigating through the forest, they discuss what they should be looking for. No dangerous or strong Pokémon apparently live in the forest, and none of the people mentioned that their Pokémon were attacked, just that their energy suddenly depleted. They are now a little on edge due to the near-pitch darkness, and the prospect of an energy-stealing Pokémon, and so are both startled by a face in the shadow, only to find that it is simply a shape cast by shadows of tree branches. They get startled again by more faces, once again finding them to be shadows cast by leaves. Regaining confidence and digging through some bushes, they find Mollie and her partners sitting by a lantern, treating a poisoned Furret. Surprised to see each other after so long, Mollie explains that there is an unusually strong poison prevalent in the area. They each explain their recent ventures, Mollie having returned to her family's Pokémon Center, and Liko and Roy having restarted the Rising Volt Tacklers. Mollie is surprised, and a little annoyed too. She tells them not to call themselves by that name, and reminds them that the team was disbanded.
In a flashback, taking place soon after Friede's disappearance, the remaining members of the Rising Volt Tacklers discuss the team's future. Now that Pagogo had been taken to Laqua, and the Laquium had been removed, there was nothing left to do. The team could not work together properly without Friede, and the engine had received heavy damage. Though Roy and Dot protested, Liko and the others could not help but agree, and the group was officially disbanded.
Mollie fully supports Liko and Roy's desire to keep travelling together, and has very fond memories of her time with the Rising Volt Tacklers. But she does not wish for them to stick with that name, and that legacy. The children disagree. Roy is happy to embrace that name, and say he couldn't lose it even if they wanted to. Liko knows that the public image of the Rising Volt Tacklers can change, and uses her recent experience with Litten Smitten as proof. But as they speak, Cap notices something. They all leave in a hurry as the night sky darkens, and find more poisoned Pokémon. After treating them, the cause of the poisoning emerges: a Vileplume. Mollie recognizes it, and says it is not the type to spread poison for no reason, but Roy recognizes the tell-tale sign of Laquium affliction. Meowscarada and Crocalor stand tall, but could not avoid the Vileplume's strong poison. A Magical Leaf and Flamethrower are entirely blocked, leading to the children deciding to recall their partners. Roy sends out Lucario, which is immune to poison, but its Metal Claw only leads to an even larger outpouring of poison pollen. Vileplume's Effect Spore Ability has also left Lucario paralyzed. Liko sends out Hattrem. Vileplume is hit with a supereffective Confusion, but retaliates with Giga Drain, regaining its lost health. Lucario manages to defend Hattrem from another Giga Drain, and the poison pollen is cleared up by Maushold's use of Tidy Up, Kilowattrel's wings, and Cap's Rising Volt Tackle. Now with a chance to win, Liko Terastallizes Hattrem into the Psychic type. Maushold uses Follow Me to distract Vileplume, allowing Hattrem to land a Terastallization-boosted Confusion attack to finally knock it down. But while Hattrem readies a final attack, she stops. She senses Vileplume's anger, and does not want to attack it anymore. Liko wants to help her partner fulfill her desire to help Vileplume. Hattrem uses Heal Pulse on Vileplume, but is unable to calm it, and gets poisoned in the process. With Chansey's help, Hattrem learns Healing Wish, and finally manages to calm it down before fainting. Pagogo removes the Laquium, and the battle is over.
Even though Vileplume is in perfect health, it is very low in energy from overexerting itself under the effects of Laquium, so Mollie and the others take it to a Pokémon Center. While waiting for Mollie, Liko and Roy overhear Pokémon Center visitors talking about some power-up spheres which should come to the market soon. After everyone has been healed up, Liko and Roy invite Mollie to join them, but she chooses to stay at the Pokémon Center for now, until the day when the team is fully back together, since it's the good chance to learn. Liko and Roy take Vileplume back to the forest and watch it make peace with its friends, but Cap finds something. It's an Exceed facility, located at the edge of the forest.
