XY086: A Legendary Photo Op!

A Legendary Photo Op (シャッターチャンスはファイヤー ！伝説を撮れ！！) is the 36th episode of Pokémon the Series: XY Kalos Quest.

Synopsis
Ash and his friends meet up with their friend Trevor again and his newly evolved Charmeleon. Trevor plans on taking a picture of Moltres to complete his set of legendary bird pictures. While traveling through the volcanic mountain, Team Rocket shows up and steals Pikachu. When Moltres appears, it attacks. Team Rocket is blasted off again and now the gang has to deal Moltres, who goes on a rampage. Ash's Fletchinder defends its Trainer and his friends and as a result, it evolved into Talonflame but it got injured in battle. Can Ash saves his newly evolved Pokémon before it falls to the volcano and will Moltres calm down?

Episode Plot
As the heroes continue towards Anistar City, they come at the foot of Mt. Ardres, a volcano, from which smoke comes out. Suddenly, the heroes encounter a Charmeleon. Pikachu and Dedenne run to it, but nearly get burned by its Flamethrower attack. From a bush, Trevor appears, looking for Charmeleon, but gets hit by its Flamethrower. Trevor greets them, but tries to subdue Charmeleon. Thinking Charmeleon wants to battle, Ash sends Fletchinder. Charmeleon starts with Fire Spin, but Fletchinder flies up, dodging the attack. Charmeleon uses Flamethrower, but Fletchinder repels the attack with Steel Wing and uses Flame Charge, hitting Charmeleon. Charmeleon uses Dragon Claw, but misses Fletchinder. Charmeleon uses Flamethrower, but Fletchinder flies up and defeats Charmeleon with Steel Wing. Charmeleon, despite being defeated, has calmed down and is not in a bad mood.

The heroes hear Trevor, since the Summer Camp, has managed to train Charmeleon well, earning himself the Bug Badge from Viola. Trevor sees Tierno was right, for Serena looks lovely after changing her appearance. Trevor asks did they come to find Moltres. Serena and Bonnie wonder about Moltres, so Clemont explains Moltres, Articuno and Zapdos are three Legendary Birds, which are extremely hard to find. Trevor admits he has discovered Moltres living in Mt. Ardres, thinking he has to take a picture of it, as he does for all other Pokémon for his photo collection. Trevor shows he managed to take a picture of Articuno and Zapdos. He also shows some Scatterbug, showing it is amazing to notice they have different lengths of their feelers. He also shows a Whiscash with straight whiskers and a Golem with different color pattern.

The heroes see Trevor has traveled far to take photos of these Pokémon and decide to accompany him to find Moltres. Team Rocket observes the situation, thinking they have to catch Moltres first and then Pikachu to raise their reputation with the boss. Trevor shows them a blurred photo of a Moltres. Bonnie asks how can Trevor be certain that is Moltres and is told no Pokémon has wings shaped like that Moltres, which has been seen on Mt. Ardres before. He thinks the rock in the photo is their only clue where to find Moltres. Clemont's eyeglasses flash, as he shows a machine he recently invented. He places the photo inside the machine, which will show them where the rock lies. As the machine searches, the heroes follow the machine, while Team Rocket spies on them to follow as well.

As Clemont's machine searches the rock, Trevor descends down, taking pictures of a Crustle and a Butterfree. While Trevor is taking the pictures, Team Rocket sneaks by and follows the machine. The machine stops at a crater and finds the corresponding rock from the picture. Team Rocket thinks the sound is actually an alarm and bash it, causing the machine to explode. The heroes go to the machine, seeing it broken. However, the machine starts chasing them before falling into the lava crater. The heroes sit down, but Pikachu gets captured by Team Rocket. Team Rocket admits they followed the heroes to go after Moltres, but since the twerps took too long to find it, they decided to catch Pikachu instead. Ash sends Fletchinder, while Team Rocket sends Gourgeist and Inkay, who attacks with Shadow Ball and Psybeam, but Fletchinder dodges them.

Trevor is amazed by Gourgeist's size and takes pictures of her. Serena reminds him it is not the time to do such things, so Trevor sends Charmeleon to use Flamethrower, but is countered by Inkay's Psybeam. Gourgeist and Inkay repeat their attacks, but Fletchinder repeatly dodges the attacks. A rock falls into the crater, as everyone hears strange sounds. The lava raises up, as Moltres appears. Trevor remembers Moltres supposedly rests in magma to rest and conserve its energy. Trevor is amazed and takes pictures of Moltres. Team Rocket has Gourgeist and Inkay attack Moltres instead, wanting to catch it. However, Moltres repels the attacks and blasts Team Rocket off with Flamethrower. Pikachu's cage starts falling down, so Fletchinder uses Steel Wing to break the cage. However, Moltres uses Flamethrower; the heroes hide behind the rocks, for Moltres thinks they are Team Rocket's allies.

Ash sends Frogadier, who uses Water Pulse, but the attack evaporates, due to Moltres' heat. Charmeleon uses Flamethrower, hitting Moltres, who retaliates with the same attack. Fletchinder flies up, but gets hit by Moltres' Flamethrower. Ash tries to reach Fletchinder, but is stopped by Trevor. Moltres turns to them and uses Flamethrower, so Fletchinder flies to them and evolves into a Talonflame. Talonflame speeds up and hits Moltres with a newly learned Brave Bird. Talonflame chases Moltres, dodging its Flamethrower attacks and hits it with Brave Bird. Talonflame is hit by Fire Blast and falls down, but Ash descends down and jumps, catching Talonflame. Frogadier releases Frubbles and wraps Ash and Talonflame before they fall into the crater.

Serena scolds Ash, for that was a reckless attempt. Ash thanks Talonflame for saving them all. Moltres, seeing they aren't its enemies, flies away. Trevor is glad, for he has the picture of Moltres. Ash praises Talonflame, so Trevor takes a picture of their pose.

Pokémon

 * Ash's Talonflame
 * Trevor's Charmeleon

Trivia

 * "Pokémon Quiz:" Moltres (JP)
 * Similar to "Freeze Frame", Todd Snap, like Trevor, travels with the heroes into the harsh climate to take a picture of the Legendary Bird of Kanto, Articuno.