En route to Fillydelphia City, Flash and his group stop by to help a boy named Shady Forest become a better trainer.
- The Cameo: Dawn makes an unnamed appearance with her Togekiss, defeating Shady and his Instick in a battle.
- Double Standard: Abuse, Female on Male: When Flash and Springer fall asleep during Twilight's lecture, she beats them up in "One super-violent scene too graphic to be described or be shown due to this story's rating". All of it is Played for Laughs.
- Foreshadowing: Flash is very defensive when talking about evolution around Springer and why he hasn't evolved yet despite the strong bond the two share.
- Interspecies Friendship: Shady Forest and Instick have a very close partnership with each other, ever since the former caught the latter when it fell out of a tree.
- Shout-Out: The girl who battles Shady at the beginning is a stand-in for Dawn from Pokémon.
- That Came Out Wrong: When the characters are discussing how Springer hasn't evolved yet, Flash comments "sometimes evolution isn't always the way to go". When Springer hears this, Flash frantically tries assuring him that he's perfect the way he is now.
- Took a Level in Badass: As Instick rescues Shady from a river, he evolves into Movine, becoming a more powerful Pokémon in the process.
