Chapter Summaries

Xia Chi’s video revealed Paradox Pokémon and their powerful Abilities, while Professor Oak and Blue watched and discussed their implications. As Xia Chi prepared to travel to Unova, Dragonair asked to join him and train, and he agreed.

• Xia Chi’s footage showed Ogerpon had beaten Koraidon, then introduced Paradox Pokémon and explained Protosynthesis, Quark Drive, and Booster Energy.
• Xia Chi revealed Koraidon’s Orichalcum Pulse and Miraidon’s Hadron Engine, stunning Professor Oak and Blue with their weather-setting effects and stat boosts.
• The video’s release sparked worldwide excitement about catching Paradox Pokémon, while Xia Chi decided he would bring his whole Pokémon team to Unova.
• Yui told Xia Chi that Dragonair had been challenged by a strong wild Gyarados and suggested Dragonair might want to travel with him.
• Dragonair asked Xia Chi to take it to Unova so it could grow stronger and see the world, and Xia Chi agreed after warning it that training would demand perseverance.

After Dragonair joined Xia Chi’s team, Xia Chi strengthened his Attack and Speed and traveled to Unova, where Lacey welcomed him to Driftveil City. Their evening ride on Miraidon ended at the Driftveil Gym, where Clay confronted them as Lacey was still holding Xia Chi’s waist.

• Dragonair joined Xia Chi’s team, and Xia Chi chose Attack and Speed enhancements for him through the Late Bloomer Bond.
• Xia Chi traveled to Driftveil City because he could not find suitable lodging in Castelia City, and Lacey met him at the airport.
• Lacey petted Dragonair, then rode Miraidon with Xia Chi around Driftveil City until nightfall.
• Lacey invited Xia Chi to dinner at the Driftveil Gym, then realized she had forgotten to tell Clay she was bringing him.
• Clay and Krookodile appeared beside Miraidon near the Gym and asked Lacey to introduce Xia Chi.

Xia Chi visited Lacey’s home in Driftveil City, where he earned Clay’s approval and accepted a Gym battle challenge for the next day. After encountering Team Plasma preaching in a park, he heard Reshiram awaken and discussed the flaws in the group’s arguments; the next morning, he arrived at Driftveil Gym to face Clay.

• Lacey explained to Clay why Xia Chi had brought her home late, and Clay relaxed and welcomed him to dinner.
• Clay asked why Xia Chi had come to Unova, then challenged him to a battle at Driftveil Gym the next day; Xia Chi accepted.
• At a park, Xia Chi recognized Team Plasma members preaching that Pokémon should be freed from Poké Balls and decided not to confront them.
• Reshiram contacted Xia Chi, and he explained the rhetorical fallacies in Team Plasma’s speech before leaving with his Pokémon.
• Xia Chi spent the evening exploring Driftveil City, then arrived at the crowded Driftveil Gym the following morning for his battle with Clay.

Xia Chi challenged Clay at the Driftveil Gym, where Dragonair faced Clay’s Flygon in its first major battle. Dragonair’s hidden bond bonuses helped it endure Flygon’s attacks and win their final Dragon Rush clash, leaving Flygon unable to battle.

• Xia Chi entered the Driftveil Gym challenger passage after explaining to the waiting Trainers that he had arranged his visit with Clay.
• Lacey announced a three-on-three Single Battle with Terastallization, Mega Evolution, or a Paradox Pokémon holding Booster Energy permitted, then started the match.
• Xia Chi sent out Dragonair against Clay’s Flygon, and Dragonair’s Flying-type bond activated Tailwind as Flygon attacked with Dragon Claw.
• Dragonair slowed Flygon with Icy Wind, then endured Flygon’s attacks while its Dragon-type bond strengthened its moves and steadily weakened its opponent.
• Clay ordered Flygon to use Psychic Noise, and Xia Chi deliberately made him believe Dragonair had a powerful healing ability that the move could disable.
• Dragonair and Flygon clashed with Dragon Rush, and Dragonair remained standing as Flygon crashed onto the field; Lacey declared Flygon unable to battle.

Xia Chi’s Dragonair defeated Clay’s Flygon but fell to Excadrill, after which Urshifu revealed it could switch between Single Strike Style and Rapid Strike Style. Urshifu overcame Excadrill and battled Clay’s Terastallized Krookodile, with the chapter ending after Urshifu’s Reversal struck Krookodile down.

• Dragonair defeated Clay’s Flygon after Clay wasted time guarding against a nonexistent Life Absorb ability, but Excadrill knocked Dragonair out with Dig.
• Xia Chi sent out Urshifu, and it switched from Single Strike Style to Rapid Strike Style to unleash Surging Strikes, nearly knocking out Excadrill.
• Urshifu finished Excadrill with Earthquake, despite Excadrill escaping Dig long enough to land a counterattack.
• Clay sent out his ace Krookodile, which used Swagger and Dark Terastallization to power up Foul Play against Urshifu.
• Urshifu survived repeated Foul Play attacks, restored some health with Aqua Jet, then overwhelmed Krookodile with Reversal as Clay tried to counter it.

After defeating Clay at Driftveil Gym, Xia Chi earned his first official Gym Badge and spent the day in Castelia City with Lacey, where Reshiram reflected on how Unova had changed. He grew wary of Team Plasma, then spent four more days battling Clay’s team to train Dragonair and earned another Dragonair Pokémon Shard, leaving him one short of evolution.

• Urshifu defeated Clay’s final Pokémon, Krookodile, and Xia Chi received the Driftveil Gym’s Iron Boulder Badge.
• Xia Chi and Lacey rode Miraidon to Castelia City, where Reshiram compared its modern skyline with the ancient Unova she remembered, and Xia Chi defended the ongoing pursuit of ideals.
• At lunch, Xia Chi warned Lacey that Team Plasma might conceal ambitions like Team Magma and Team Aqua, and she worried that Champion Alder was too unreliable to handle them.
• Xia Chi watched Lacey battle at Castelia Battle Tower, toured the city, then returned with her to Driftveil Gym for dinner with Clay.
• Xia Chi stayed in Driftveil City for four days and repeatedly battled Clay’s Pokémon with Dragonair, improving its skills and earning a Dragonair Pokémon Shard.

After leaving Driftveil City, Xia Chi encountered N during a Team Plasma rally and challenged his belief that humans and Pokémon should live apart. He exposed how Ghetsis had shaped N’s worldview, leaving N shaken and urging him to test the ideals he thought were his own.

• Xia Chi decided to leave Driftveil City after defeating Clay’s Mudsdale, and Lacey planned to return to school as well.
• On his final night, Xia Chi drank with Clay, then walked through the city with Lacey and his Pokémon after Clay passed out.
• Xia Chi spotted N at a Team Plasma rally and went to hear his argument that Poké Balls and battles oppressed Pokémon.
• N defended separating humans and Pokémon, but Xia Chi pointed out that this would deny Pokémon who chose to bond with humans their freedom.
• N listened to Xia Chi’s Pokémon and heard their trust and affection, then invited Xia Chi to join Team Plasma.
• Xia Chi told N that Ghetsis had confined him to a world of curated suffering and urged him to test whether his ideals were truly his own, leaving N stunned.

After leaving Driftveil City, Xia Chi traveled toward Nimbasa City with his Pokémon, stopping for a lakeside picnic before arriving. He arranged a Gym battle with Elesa, who was busy with Fashion Week and would fight him after her schedule ended.

• Xia Chi explained to Reshiram why he thought N could still be guided, then accidentally insulted her and spent the night with her sulking in silence.
• Xia Chi said goodbye to Clay and Lacey, left Driftveil City on Miraidon, and chose Nimbasa City as his next destination.
• Xia Chi and his Pokémon stopped by a lake, caught fish, gathered wildflowers, and shared a picnic; Ogerpon gave Xia Chi a bouquet.
• Xia Chi flew to Nimbasa City, checked into a hotel, and contacted Elesa through Skyla to arrange a Gym battle.
• Elesa accepted Xia Chi's challenge but postponed the battle until she finished her Fashion Week commitments.

Xia Chi met Elesa and Caitlin in Unova, where Caitlin offered to train his psychic abilities in exchange for help investigating Team Plasma. He agreed to infiltrate the organization’s upcoming King's Coronation with Caitlin, who planned to travel with him for the next month.

• Xia Chi met Elesa and Caitlin in a hotel lobby, and Caitlin invited him to lunch in exchange for teaching him more efficient meditation.
• At lunch, Caitlin asked how Xia Chi had gained psychic powers, and he said they first appeared around the time he met Latias.
• Caitlin offered to teach Xia Chi psychic techniques in exchange for his help investigating Team Plasma, and the system triggered Battle Round 4-2, “The Dragons of Truth and Ideals.”
• Elesa and Caitlin revealed that Team Plasma had infiltrated League ranks and secretly funneled donations into a heavily secured laboratory.
• Caitlin told Xia Chi that Team Plasma’s leaders would gather for a King's Coronation in about a month, and he agreed to accompany her and investigate.
• Caitlin said she would travel with Xia Chi for the next month to train him, while Elesa teased her about stealing her best friend's man.

Xia Chi returned to Nimbasa City with Caitlin, who recruited him to help investigate Team Plasma and began teaching him psychic techniques. After rapidly learning to materialize inner focus and achieve a short Teleport with help from his aura, he joined Caitlin at Elesa’s Fashion Week show, where Pokémon also walked the runway.

• Caitlin revealed that she had come to Nimbasa City to enlist Xia Chi in dealing with Team Plasma, and Xia Chi agreed to learn psychic techniques as part of their arrangement.
• Caitlin brought Xia Chi to her private training suite and taught him to materialize inner focus; Xia Chi used aura to sense its structure and succeeded on his first attempt.
• Xia Chi learned about psychic applications from Caitlin and chose to practice Teleport, managing to move ten centimeters before becoming exhausted and falling asleep.
• Ogerpon told Xia Chi that Caitlin had taken his Pokémon out for a feast, and Caitlin later invited him to Elesa’s fashion show.
• Xia Chi and Caitlin attended Fashion Week, where a Gardevoir modeled a custom gown on the runway.

Xia Chi joined Caitlin and Elesa for lunch after Elesa’s fashion show, then battled Elesa at Nimbasa Gym while Caitlin refereed. Dragonair faced Mega Ampharos and forced it back with Dragon Tail, but Elesa sent out an unfamiliar Hydreigon.

• Xia Chi watched Elesa close the fashion show, then went with Caitlin to a private lunch with Elesa.
• After lunch, Xia Chi and Elesa began a three-on-three Single Battle at Nimbasa Gym, with Caitlin refereeing and the Gym’s livestream drawing a large audience.
• Elesa immediately Mega Evolved Ampharos, and its Dragon Pulse overpowered Dragonair’s Dragon Pulse, though Dragonair used Dragon Dance and endured the hit.
• Elesa ordered Mega Ampharos to prepare Cotton Guard, but Xia Chi sent Dragonair into a Dragon Rush that clashed with Ampharos’s Dragon Pulse and injured both Pokémon.
• Dragonair used Dragon Tail to interrupt Ampharos’s next Dragon Pulse and force Mega Ampharos back into its Poké Ball.
• Elesa sent out a Hydreigon that Xia Chi did not recognize.

Xia Chi’s Dragonair traded itself for Elesa’s Hydreigon with a close-range Draco Meteor, after which Xia Chi sent out Tyranitar against Elesa’s returning Mega Ampharos. Tyranitar weathered Mega Ampharos’s strongest Thunder and remained standing as their battle continued.

• Xia Chi ordered Dragonair to use Bind during Hydreigon’s point-blank Draco Meteor, forcing the attack to backfire on Hydreigon.
• Dragonair and Hydreigon both lost the ability to battle after Dragonair’s Draco Meteor struck them in the crater.
• Elesa recalled Hydreigon and sent Mega Ampharos back out while Xia Chi summoned Tyranitar, whose Sand Stream created a sandstorm.
• Elesa tried to paralyze Tyranitar with Thunder Wave, but Xia Chi’s Taunt stopped the move before it could form.
• Tyranitar charged through Mega Ampharos’s Electroweb and struck it with a boosted Lash Out, then hit it with super-effective High Horsepower.
• Mega Ampharos’s boosted Thunder engulfed Tyranitar, but Tyranitar remained standing after the lightning faded.

Xia Chi defeated Elesa’s final Pokémon with Mega Tyranitar, while Ghetsis and Colress discussed Team Plasma’s experiments and N returned from his journey questioning his beliefs. The chapter ended with Ghetsis suspecting that N had changed and wondering what he had encountered.

• Elesa had Mega Ampharos use Cotton Guard, but Tyranitar’s Dragon Tail forced it back into its Poké Ball.
• Elesa sent out Eelektross, and Xia Chi Mega Evolved Tyranitar to renew the sandstorm before the two Pokémon exchanged Thunder Wave, Stone Edge, and Acid Spray.
• Tyranitar used Lash Out to knock out Eelektross, then defeated Mega Ampharos and secured Xia Chi’s victory over Elesa.
• Ghetsis asked Colress about the Genesect experiments and DNA Splicers, but Colress challenged him over the missing legendary Pokémon needed for his plans.
• N returned to Team Plasma’s headquarters and wondered whether his beliefs about Pokémon liberation were truly his own, while Zoroark reaffirmed its loyalty to him.
• N told Ghetsis he wanted to go home, and Ghetsis watched him leave before privately wondering what had changed him.

N returned to his childhood home and, after Zoroark urged him to follow his heart, resolved to pursue an ideal of his own; the Dark Stone began responding. Meanwhile, Xia Chi and Caitlin prepared to investigate Team Plasma’s coronation ceremony, which might be a trap.

• N returned to the castle with Zoroark and reunited with Indeedee, who told him Anthea and Concordia were in town and Arcanine and Darmanitan were playing outside.
• N explored his childhood room and remembered playing basketball with Zoroark, then reflected on how his mission to liberate Pokémon had changed their relationship.
• N asked Zoroark whether it hated humans, and Zoroark said it cared about N and would support whatever he chose to do.
• N resolved to pursue an ideal that truly belonged to him, and the Dark Stone began humming and vibrating in response.
• Xia Chi practiced Teleport under Caitlin’s instruction, and Victini restored his depleted psychic energy.
• Caitlin told Xia Chi that Team Plasma’s coronation ceremony would draw its senior members near League Headquarters and might be a trap, and Xia Chi insisted on going with her.

After draining Elesa’s Pokémon, Xia Chi used a Flutter Mane Shard to upgrade Sister Mane to two stars and then traveled with Caitlin to Opelucid City. There, Reshiram resumed speaking to him as they discussed the city’s ancient dragon statues, and Xia Chi and Caitlin settled into her family’s hotel.

• Xia Chi stayed in Nimbasa City for three days to harvest fear from Elesa’s Pokémon and received a Fear Chest containing the Flutter Mane Shard he needed.
• Xia Chi upgraded Sister Mane to two stars, chose Ghost as her enhanced type, and received another Lucky Lantern without a clear prophetic clue.
• Xia Chi left Nimbasa City with Caitlin on November 20 and reached Opelucid City aboard Miraidon shortly after noon.
• Caitlin explained the history of Opelucid City’s Reshiram statue, and Reshiram spoke to Xia Chi for the first time since their cold war began.
• Xia Chi told Caitlin that he did not consider truth and ideals irreconcilable, then reassured the jealous Reshiram that he preferred her to Zekrom.
• Caitlin led Xia Chi to her family’s luxurious hotel, where they ordered lunch to their suite.

Xia Chi took Victini and Dragonair for a stroll through Opelucid City’s old district, where he met Iris and agreed to a Double Battle. The chapter left them inside a Battle Park arena as an excited crowd gathered to watch.

• After replenishing his psychic energy, Xia Chi took Victini and Dragonair to explore Opelucid City’s old district.
• Victini’s meddling disrupted a training session between Caitlin’s Pokémon and Xia Chi’s Pokémon, but it also helped the groups begin to warm up to each other.
• A Dragonite mail carrier enthusiastically hugged Dragonair, and its Trainer Iris arrived to apologize and recognized Xia Chi.
• Iris explained that Drayden was away and challenged Xia Chi to a battle; Xia Chi proposed a Double Battle with Victini and Dragonair.
• Iris led Xia Chi to a Battle Park, where spectators recognized him and crowded around as the pair entered an empty arena.

Xia Chi and Iris’s battle turned into a contest of feints and focused attacks as Victini stole Salamence’s Dragon Dance boost and Dragonair repeatedly escaped danger. Their final clash knocked out both Dragonair and Dragonite, leaving Victini and Mega Salamence on the field.

• Victini used Power Swap to take Mega Salamence’s Dragon Dance boost, while Dragonair’s Draco Meteor met Dragonite’s attack.
• Iris ordered Salamence and Dragonite to focus on Dragonair, but Xia Chi used Protect and Victini’s Giga Impact to disrupt their assault and send Dragonite flying.
• Iris chose to have Dragonite strike the temporarily helpless Victini, while Dragonair escaped Salamence’s Dragon Pulse with Fly.
• Xia Chi sent Victini and Dragonair after the injured Dragonite as Iris ordered Dragonite and Salamence to counterattack Dragonair.
• The four Pokémon’s attacks collided, and the explosion knocked out both Dragonair and Dragonite.

Iris and Xia Chi’s battle came down to Mega Salamence and Victini after Dragonite and Dragonair knocked each other out. Victini exploited paralysis and Encore to trap Salamence into repeating Protect, then defeated it with a boosted Giga Impact, leaving Xia Chi victorious.

• Dragonite and Dragonair both fell in the exchange, leaving Iris’s Mega Salamence to face Xia Chi’s Victini.
• Iris’s Salamence missed Victini with Hydro Pump, but paralyzed it with Thunder Wave and then landed a point-blank Hydro Pump.
• Salamence’s paralysis stopped its next Hydro Pump, and Victini’s slow Zen Headbutt gave Salamence time to block with Protect.
• Victini used Encore to force Salamence to repeat Protect, while Xia Chi had Victini use Work Up twice to raise its power.
• Victini struck Salamence with a boosted Giga Impact, and Salamence was unable to battle.

Xia Chi and Iris finished their battle, escaped the crowd, and took their injured Pokémon to a Pokémon Center, where they encountered N and his Zoroark. As Reshiram sensed Zekrom nearby, Xia Chi realized the unexpected meeting might lead to something more.

• Victini defeated Iris's Mega Salamence with Encore, and Iris praised Xia Chi's tactical deception during their handshake.
• Iris used her influence to clear a path through the Battle Park crowd and escorted Xia Chi to a Pokémon Center.
• Nurse Joy Joyna recognized Xia Chi but lost interest when she learned he had brought only Dragonair and Victini, amusing Iris.
• Iris and Xia Chi found N at the Pokémon Center, where he paid for emergency treatment for his unconscious Simipour.
• Reshiram told Xia Chi that it had caught Zekrom's scent, stopping him as he was about to leave with Iris.

Xia Chi met N at the Opelucid City Pokémon Center and learned that N had awakened Zekrom and begun forming ideals of his own, though those ideals seemed destined to clash with Xia Chi’s bond with Reshiram. After returning to the hotel, Xia Chi apologized to Caitlin for disappearing, and they shared dinner before she began teaching Psychic-type moves to his Pokémon.

• Xia Chi left Iris and approached N, who was watching a Trainer berate a Tepig he considered useless.
• N thanked Xia Chi for what he had said in Driftveil City, then revealed that he and Xia Chi would stand on opposite sides because they followed different ideals.
• N refused to explain his ideals and left the Pokémon Center with Zoroark, leaving Xia Chi to wonder what path he would take.
• Xia Chi collected his Pokémon, exchanged contact information with Iris, and declined her invitation to battle at the Gym that night.
• Xia Chi returned to the hotel and apologized to Caitlin for going out without telling her; she accepted and agreed to have dinner with him.
• After Sister Mane and Latias prepared dinner, Caitlin began teaching Psychic-type moves to Xia Chi’s Pokémon, while Tyranitar sulked because he had no suitable move to learn.