Fresh off of a string of episodes spent, strangely enough, accomplishing things in the vicinity of Laverre City, Ash and friends are doing what they do best – absolutely nothing! Bonnie and Serena are brushing Braixen's tail and the boys are watching their Pokemon go at it like the combination slavemaster/cockfighters that they are. Meanwhile, Ash's Mexican wrestling bird, despite what Donald Trump might think, is actually doing something productive. While Karate Chopping a tree (because f#*& nature!) Hawlucha comes across a glowing purple Pokemon egg!
Ash spends about half a second pondering whether he should return the unborn Pokemon to its parents before "doing the Macarena" when it begins to glow – inspiring Bonnie, Chespin, and Pancham to join the impromptu Charlie Brown-style dancing.
Ash's consternated girlfriend points out that the egg really just needs to be warmed, so our fearless leader declares "just leave it to me!" (never comforting words coming from Ash) and with a look of pure constipation on his face, he hunkers down and prepares to hatch the egg/recreate that famous scene from "Snow Way Out"
Thanks in part to Fletchinder's Flame Body ability, everyone is soon introduced to Noibat – the Sound Wave Pokemon. Zubat's French cousin wastes no time in living up to its species' name by issuing a Supersonic that, under different circumstances, would be sure to torment would-be Pokemon masters trapped in the bowels of Mt. Moon.
Serena (probably wisely) reminds Ash that he needs to feed the live creatures under his care, and a quick check with Dexter informs us that Noibat's favorite food is berries. (How original. Seriously, how do Pokemon manage to keep their internal organs properly functioning on an all-berry diet? Charles Darwin and I miss the days when it was implied that some Pokemon ate other Pokemon…) Dedenne fetches Noibat a "berry" (which is clearly an apple – have apples somehow become to TPCi what rice balls were to 4Kids?), but it fails to pass the little bat's inspection.
Bonnie considers for a second that perhaps Noibat doesn't like "berries" (is she implying that the Pokedex is somewhat-less-than infallible?!?!
– although to be fair, Professor Oak does live quite a busy life, what with the radio show hosting, poetry writing, and Delia Ketchum banging. I can imagine a few errors creeping into his work), but this is quickly dismissed when she tastes the "berry" in question and discovers how sour it is. It seems that despite being "blind as a bat" (although it actually has eyes?), Noibat uses its supersonic waves to determine the ripeness of food. "So it's a foodie!" interjects Clemont, trying desperately to seem as cool as his Unova counterpart and professional gourmand, Cilan. The assembled Pokemon gather an entire tree's worth of apples for Noibat to consider before finding the one that is "just right." Never one to be shown up by other Pokemon, Chespin tries to use his own supersonic apple inspecting powers – with minimal success.
Now that Noibat is fed and watered, our heroes can move on to the crux of today's episode, the Sound Wave Pokemon doesn't know how to fly. Serena assumes that there is a trick to flying, much like bike riding (Ash has certainly mastered the trick of destroying bicycles…), but up a nearby tree, Ash's most persistant stalkers don't quite see the appeal of stealing a Noibat that can't even fly. But thanks to his own Team Rocket issued Malaysian knock-off Pokedex, James discovers that Noibat evolves into Noivern – and even the dim-witted Rocket Trio can see the appeal of owning a fully-evolved Dragon Pokemon.
Although sadly, Jessie's wistful "I can see it now," doesn't lead to a patented insane Meowth boss fantasy, or even an insane Jessie queen bitch goddess fantasy, just an assurance by Meowth that Noivern would become an excellent addition to the team.
