| Ash and Cilan ask if she's alright, but Iris is only worried about her Excadrill, saying she caught it as a {{p|Drilbur}} by her [[Village of Dragons]]. We see a flashback sequence, with young Iris playing with a {{p|Deerling}}, {{p|Pidove}}, {{p|Patrat}}, {{p|Minccino}}, {{p|Sandile}}, {{p|Pansear}}, and {{p|Panpour}}. Deerling comes running with an injured Patrat on its back, and Iris follows to where it got hurt. She finds a Drilbur who has been stealing their berries, and is determined to teach it a lesson and defeat it. But, every time she swings from a vine to kick it, she is hit by Drilbur's Metal Claw, and is dragged away by Deerling. One lucky time, she counters Metal Claw, and sends Drilbur flying into some vines, and gets tangled in some hanging right over a ledge. They break, and it falls, but is caught by Iris swinging on by. Thankful for its life, it agrees to go with her, and together they defeat many opponents, including {{p|Fraxure}}, Sandile, {{p|Watchog}}, and {{p|Darumaka}}. During a battle festival in her hometown, it is up against a {{p|Druddigon}}. In the midst of the battle, it evolves into Excadrill, and defeats it with a {{m|Drill Run}}. Happy for their victory, they do a little dance. They are then introduced to the Dragon Master [[Drayden]]. Iris challenges him to a battle. He sends out his {{DL|Drayden|Haxorus}}, and she sends out Excadrill. His Metal Claw attacks seem to have no effect, and is whipped away by Haxorus. Iris commands {{m|Dig}}, which also does nothing. Excadrill is surprised by this. When he performs a Drill Run, Drayden counters it with Rock Smash, and Excadrill faints. After this, Excadrill always curled up, never listening to Iris for many years. When Iris mentions the battle, it closes its eyes in agony. | | Ash and Cilan ask if she's alright, but Iris is only worried about her Excadrill, saying she caught it as a {{p|Drilbur}} by her [[Village of Dragons]]. We see a flashback sequence, with young Iris playing with a {{p|Deerling}}, {{p|Pidove}}, {{p|Patrat}}, {{p|Minccino}}, {{p|Sandile}}, {{p|Pansear}}, and {{p|Panpour}}. Deerling comes running with an injured Patrat on its back, and Iris follows to where it got hurt. She finds a Drilbur who has been stealing their berries, and is determined to teach it a lesson and defeat it. But, every time she swings from a vine to kick it, she is hit by Drilbur's Metal Claw, and is dragged away by Deerling. One lucky time, she counters Metal Claw, and sends Drilbur flying into some vines, and gets tangled in some hanging right over a ledge. They break, and it falls, but is caught by Iris swinging on by. Thankful for its life, it agrees to go with her, and together they defeat many opponents, including {{p|Fraxure}}, Sandile, {{p|Watchog}}, and {{p|Darumaka}}. During a battle festival in her hometown, it is up against a {{p|Druddigon}}. In the midst of the battle, it evolves into Excadrill, and defeats it with a {{m|Drill Run}}. Happy for their victory, they do a little dance. They are then introduced to the Dragon Master [[Drayden]]. Iris challenges him to a battle. He sends out his {{DL|Drayden|Haxorus}}, and she sends out Excadrill. His Metal Claw attacks seem to have no effect, and is whipped away by Haxorus. Iris commands {{m|Dig}}, which also does nothing. Excadrill is surprised by this. When he performs a Drill Run, Drayden counters it with Rock Smash, and Excadrill faints. After this, Excadrill always curled up, never listening to Iris for many years. When Iris mentions the battle, it closes its eyes in agony. |
| Back in the real world, Cilan explains that it probably doesn't listen to her because it distrusts her guidance in battle. Later that night, Iris is sleeping with Excadrill, still curled up. She mentions what Cilan said, and realizes that Excadrill had known it wouldn't win the battle with Haxorus but that she had kept on pressuring it to battle anyway. She tearfully apologizes and promises to be considerate of its feelings from now on, which causes Excadrill to cry under its armor. Later, it gets up and walks away from Iris, who wakes up and sees this. She finds it training in the forest, trying to learn {{m|Focus Blast}}, but it loses its sphere shape and turns into a blob, which explodes in its hands before it can release it. Iris volunteers to train with it, and it takes until sunrise to full master the move. As they are celebrating, Ash and Cilan find her, telling her it's breakfast time. They are surprised to find that Georgia is at their breakfast table, and has eaten their food. They decide to have another battle again, Beartic versus Excadrill. They counter each other with {{m|Metal Claw}} and {{m|Slash}}, but Beartic proves to be stronger, knocking it away. Beartic uses {{m|Icicle Crash}}, and Excadrill dodges with {{m|Dig}}. Dig lands, and Excadrill releases its new Focus Blast, which hits Beartic down. It uses {{m|Drill Run}}, which also lands, but it uses Ice Beam while being hit. Excadrill falls, frozen in a block of ice. It breaks free to Iris's command. Beartic uses Icicle Crash, and Excadrill knocks some of them away with Focus Blast, but is still hit. Iris still has faith in him, and he regains strength to fight for Iris. Beartic uses {{m|Rock Smash}}, which Excadrill counters with Drill Run. Excadrill falls, fainted, but at the same time, Beartic faints, resulting in a tie. Georgia says that she couldn't care less as long as her Pokémon didn't lose to a Dragon-type, then she walks away, expecting another meal from Cilan next time. Even though Iris and Excadrill didn't win, they are still happy, and Iris says that they'll become stronger together. Having regained their friendship, Ash and company continue their journey towards [[Nimbasa City]]. | | Back in the real world, Cilan explains that it probably doesn't listen to her because it distrusts her guidance in battle. Later that night, Iris is sleeping with Excadrill, still curled up. She mentions what Cilan said, and realizes that Excadrill had known it wouldn't win the battle with Haxorus but that she had kept on pressuring it to battle anyway. She tearfully apologizes and promises to be considerate of its feelings from now on, which causes Excadrill to cry under its armor. Later, it gets up and walks away from Iris, who wakes up and sees this. She finds it training in the forest, trying to learn {{m|Focus Blast}}, but it loses its sphere shape and turns into a blob, which explodes in its hands before it can release it. Iris volunteers to train with it, and it takes until sunrise to full master the move. As they are celebrating, Ash and Cilan find her, telling her it's breakfast time. They are surprised to find that Georgia is at their breakfast table, and has eaten their food. They decide to have another battle again, Beartic versus Excadrill. They counter each other with {{m|Metal Claw}} and {{m|Slash}}, but Beartic proves to be stronger, knocking it away. Beartic uses {{m|Icicle Crash}}, and Excadrill dodges with {{m|Dig}}. Dig lands, and Excadrill releases its new Focus Blast, which hits Beartic down. It uses {{m|Drill Run}}, which also lands, but it uses Ice Beam while being hit. Excadrill falls, frozen in a block of ice. It breaks free using Metal Claw to Iris's command. Beartic uses Icicle Crash, and Excadrill knocks some of them away with Focus Blast, but is still hit. Iris still has faith in him, and he regains strength to fight for Iris. Beartic uses {{m|Rock Smash}}, which Excadrill counters with Drill Run. Excadrill falls, fainted, but at the same time, Beartic faints, resulting in a tie. Georgia says that she couldn't care less as long as her Pokémon didn't lose to a Dragon-type, then she walks away, expecting another meal from Cilan next time. Even though Iris and Excadrill didn't win, they are still happy, and Iris says that they'll become stronger together. Excadrill confirms this by hugging his trainer. Having regained their friendship, Ash and company continue their journey towards [[Nimbasa City]]. |