Ash and friends are still headed for Sootopolis City and are in a rocky area of Izabe Island. May collapses on a rock due to exhaustion, wondering where the next town is. Brock mentions that the bridge to take them into Riado Town is not too far ahead. The bridge comes into sight and Pikachu bounds out into the middle. It stops in the middle and jumps up on the railing. Brock notices that the water is moving way too fast for the bridge to be save just as the bridge is blasted into the air by a geyser.
Pikachu clings on to what’s left of the bridge. Ash goes to get Pikachu but it jumps back up and knocks him over. On the other side of the river, an Absol stands on the ruins of the bridge. May looks it up in her Pokédex. Two men confront the Absol but it just soars to the top of the mountain behind them in three swift leaps.
Ash and the others are taken into town where the villagers explain that the Absol started coming down from the mountain a short while ago and that since they started coming, bad things happen to the town. The bridge that collapsed earlier is the third bridge that was broken. They say that they’ve hired a team of Absol Hunters who are really just Jessie, James and Meowth. Hiding, the three whisper to each other that they were only doing the “Absol Hunter” business so they got free food but then they plan to steal Pikachu and Absol for the boss. Meowth imagines what the boss would say when he received a “Disaster Pokémon” and it’s not very pleasant.
Outside, the villagers ask the “Absol Hunters” to go and hunt the Absol. A boy named Nicky comes up and yells at them all that the Absol are not the reason for the disasters and that his brother Gordon ran away and was not attacked by an Absol. He runs up the path of the mountain and Ash, May, Brock and Max follow. The villagers tell the “Absol Hunters” that they should go too but they just wait saying that they can catch up. When they do go, they tire out very quickly.
Ash calls out for Nicky to stop and asks what the whole story is behind his brother Gordon. Nicky explains that his brother Gordon believed that the Absol were not the cause of the disasters and went off to prove it. Team Rocket finally catches up with them and pretends to have lots of energy, being “Absol Hunters.” Instead of doing anything about the Absol, however, they end up on top of a humongous round boulder. Nicky leads the gang further up the mountain and shows them the peak: Squaretop.
While Max and Nicky show no signs of tiring, Ash, Brock and May are worn out from the hike. Brock discovers water coming out of the rock face of the cliff and May notices water on the ground. Absol waits for them atop Squaretop. Meanwhile, the boulder that Team Rocket is on starts rolling so they lean one way to make it stop but it just goes that way instead. Absol jumps off the mountain and corners Max, Nicky and Pikachu who fires a warning blast of electricity at it.
Suddenly, the rock wall behind the three bursts open and water rushes out. All three are sent over a cliff. Nicky clings on to a branch with one hand while Max and Pikachu lay bent over it like a clothesline.
Nicky loses his hold on it and begins to plummet to certain death but the Absol grabs him and brings him back up. Max and Pikachu also fall off the branch and Ash releases Swellow to catch them.
It successfully retrieves Max but doesn’t have time for Pikachu. As Pikachu falls, a Heracross catches it and brings it to safety. Nicky recognizes the Heracross as his brother Gordon’s and then notices Gordon nearby. Nicky hugs his brother as he begins the story of what happened to him.
He had found an Absol and sent out his Heracross to battle it. Having Heracross use Horn Attack, he knocked the Absol off balance and it began to slide down the mountain. Using his rope, his lassoed a tree branch and swung Tarzan-Style to save the Absol.
He continues that the Absol often get the blame for disasters and he went off on a journey to see other Absol and to see if they too got the blame which they did. Absol are hard to find and hard to study when found. The group wonders about the water and the bridge that broke earlier. Gordon explains that the water source for the river is under the mountains and something is making it fill up faster. The water is then released faster and with more pressure which causes the bridges to break.
Gordon says that the water could break free again soon and cause the town to be completely destroyed and that was why Absol was going down there: to warn them. Meanwhile, Team Rocket is still rocking on the boulder as Gordon and they others rush towards Riado to save the it.
Water bursts from the mountain and begins rushing down it. The Absol fires off a Hyper Beam to knock a boulder in the way of the rushing flood. Heracross attacks the boulder with a Hidden Power. Ash releases Grovyle, Torkoal and Corphish and has them use Bullet Seed, Flamethrower and Bubblebeam. May has Beautifly, Combusken, Skitty and Bulbasaur use Silver Wind, Fire Spin, Blizzard and Petal Dance. Ludicolo and Mudkip use Bullet Seed and Water Gun.
But, even with all of the attacks, the boulder doesn’t budge until Absol dashes up close and blasts it with another Hyper Beam. It blocks the water and sends it down two directions. Team Rocket attacks but they are blasted off with a single Razor Wind from Absol.
That evening, the villagers apologize to Absol and the gang heads out for Sootopolis again.
