XY076

A Not-So-Flying Start! (Japanese: 風とタマゴとオンバット！ The Wind, the Egg and !) is the 76th episode of the, and the 875th episode of the Pokémon anime. It first aired in Japan on June 11, 2015, in Canada on August 15, 2015, and in the United States on August 22, 2015.

Blurb
When Ash’s Hawlucha finds a Pokémon Egg, everyone teams up to keep it warm, including a very helpful Fletchinder. Soon, a cute little Noibat hatches from the Egg! It starts trying to fly at once, but isn’t very successful. Hawlucha tries to show it how to ride the wind—until Team Rocket swoops in and grabs both of them!

Jessie and Meowth are hoping to evolve Noibat on the spot into a powerful Noivern, but James does some research and learns it won’t be that easy. During their discussion, the two Pokémon manage to escape into a pitch-black cave, where they quickly get the better of the villains thanks to Noibat’s sonar.

Once everyone is reunited and Team Rocket is sent blasting off again, our heroes are ready to set off again toward Anistar City—and Noibat decides to join them!

Plot
While on their way to Dendemille Town and Anistar City, and  take a short rest. While everyone is relaxing, is in the nearby forest practicing its moves against an old tree. After knocking off one of the tree's decaying branches, Hawlucha sees something glowing at the base of the tree. As everyone is preparing to leave, they notice Hawlucha's absence as Hawlucha arrives, carrying its discovery. Ash and both immediately recognize the object as a Pokémon Egg, and Hawlucha takes them back to the place where it first saw the Egg. Suddenly, the Egg begins to glow and they all realize that it is about to hatch. Per 's suggestion, Ash begins to try and warm the Egg by wrapping his body around it, and all of his Pokémon help as well. uses its Ability,, to speed up the Egg's hatching.

Finally, the Egg hatches to reveal a. As Noibat opens its eyes, it sees Ash and the rest of the group as they all introduce themselves to it. However, the Noibat is overwhelmed by all of the attention and uses. tries to calm Noibat down, but it continues using Supersonic and Ash is the only one able to comfort it. Once Noibat has stopped crying, everyone looks for fruit that Noibat likes to eat. Unfortunately, when picks a fruit for Noibat, Noibat uses its highly sensitive ears to examine the fruit and refuses to eat it. Trying to convince Noibat to eat the fruit, Bonnie takes a bite and discovers that it tastes terrible. All of the Pokémon help to pick lots of fruit for Noibat to examine, but it deems them all inedible. Noibat then discovers that Bonnie is holding two more pieces of fruit, and it decides that they will taste good.

Once Noibat has finished eating, it walks away and tries to fly into the air, but it soon falls back to the ground again. When Ash comforts Noibat again, Serena surmises that it might consider Ash to be its parent. Although Noibat's second attempt at flight is again unsuccessful, Ash manages to catch Noibat before it falls to the ground again. , watching from a nearby tree, decide to steal Noibat because its evolved form,, would make a good addition to Team Rocket's ranks. Meanwhile, Fletchinder and Hawlucha assume the roles of Noibat's teachers, guiding it through the air and showing it how to fly. Although Noibat does much better this time, it still fails to remain airborne for more than a few seconds. At this, Clemont suggests teaching Noibat to glide before teaching it how to fly, and Ash tells Hawlucha to instruct Noibat. Once again, Noibat does very well, but only for a moment. Fortunately, Hawlucha catches it before it can hit the ground again. At this, everyone is out of ideas for how to teach Noibat to fly, when Hawlucha suddenly remembers something and leads the group to a hill with a strong breeze at the top. Hawlucha flies out into the air, followed by Noibat and Fletchinder, when suddenly a huge net comes out of nowhere and ensnares Hawlucha and Noibat. Team Rocket reveal themselves and then leave, with Ash's Pokémon in tow. Despite Fletchinder's attempts to stop them, keeps it at bay long enough for Team Rocket to escape.

Once Fletchinder has recovered from Inkay's attack, it immediately goes off in search of Team Rocket. Meanwhile, Hawlucha and Noibat have been tethered to a tree, and Noibat's Supersonic does nothing against the special earplugs worn by Jessie, James, and. Hawlucha and Noibat both try to escape, but without success. While Jessie, James, and Meowth are trying to figure out how to evolve Noibat, Hawlucha surreptitiously picks at its rope with a sharp claw and tears through it. Hawlucha does the same to Noibat's tether, but just as the two of them are about to escape, Jessie spots them and Inkay and give chase. Because Noibat is still unable to fly, Hawlucha carries it on its back. Inkay and Pumpkaboo are no match for Hawlucha's superior agility, and Hawlucha hides with Noibat in a nearby cave. As Fletchinder watches from overhead, Jessie, James, and Meowth head into the cave, leaving their Pokémon with instructions to attack Hawlucha and Noibat as soon as they exit the cave.

Unfortunately for Team Rocket, the cave is pitch black. Using, Noibat tells Hawlucha exactly where each member of Team Rocket is, and Hawlucha brings them down one by one, knocking off their Supersonic-resistant earplugs. Noibat then uses Supersonic again, driving Team Rocket out of the cave and into Inkay and Pumpkaboo's waiting ambush. At that moment, Ash and his friends arrive, and easily defeats both Inkay and Pumpkaboo. After sends Team Rocket blasting off, Hawlucha and Noibat emerge from the cave. That evening, Ash invites Noibat to continue traveling with him, and Noibat happily agrees.

Major events

 * and come across a Pokémon Egg, which hatches into a.
 * Ash's Fletchinder is revealed to have as its Ability.
 * Ash catches the newly hatched.

Pokémon debuts

 * Ash's Noibat

Humans

 * Jessie
 * James
 * Jessie
 * James
 * Jessie
 * James

Pokémon
Who's That Pokémon?: (US and international) Pokémon Quiz:  (Japan)
 * (hatched; new)
 * (on James's computer)
 * (hatched; new)
 * (on James's computer)
 * (hatched; new)
 * (on James's computer)
 * (hatched; new)
 * (on James's computer)
 * (on James's computer)
 * (on James's computer)
 * (on James's computer)
 * (on James's computer)
 * (on James's computer)
 * (on James's computer)
 * (on James's computer)

Trivia

 * Professor Oak's Pokémon Holo Caster:
 * This time, accompanies  and his.
 * ,, and Ash's Noibat narrate the preview for the next episode.
 * Instead of a normal preview, a special preview of the Cosplay Pikachu shorts and A Relay in the Sky! were shown.
 * This is the first episode in the to air in  before the, due to airing in place of Mega Evolution Special III.
 * The English dub was released on iTunes and Amazon Video on August 16, 2015, six days before the episode aired in the United States. The same occurred for all episodes in Volume 3 of Pokémon the Series: XY Kalos Quest that aired after Mega Evolution Special III (A Not-So-Flying Start! through A Festival Trade! A Festival Farewell?).
 * Ash's Fletchinder and remain outside of their Poké Balls throughout this episode.
 * Ash's Fletchinder used its to help Noibat hatch. This is a reference to the games, where Flame Body and  make Pokémon Eggs hatch faster.
 * When is wondering about how a  evolves, Jessie suggests that it might evolve if held upside down, with  emerging from his Poké Ball to demonstrate. This is referencing how in the games,  evolves by holding the Nintendo 3DS upside down when it levels up, starting at level 30.
 * With Noibat, this is the first time Ash has three Pokémon of the same type in his team; the others being Fletchinder and Hawlucha.

Errors

 * In a scene where Ash and are looking for Hawlucha,  and  are missing, but they reappear back with rivalry when Ash and  find Hawlucha carrying Noibat's Egg.
 * After Noibat drinks the water Ash gave it, its feet are colored black instead of purple.
 * When Ash is petting Noibat's head after it fails to fly for the first time, its two teardrop-shaped spots are black instead of purple.
 * In the same scene, the black sclera's in Hawlucha's eyes are missing.
 * When Ash dives to catch Noibat from falling, the three triangles on the right side of its fur are colored black instead of purple.
 * For a brief second when Noibat is running down a hill in order to gain momentum for it to fly, the black triangles on the bottom of its eyes are missing.
 * When Ash sends Fletchinder after Team Rocket's balloon, the 'R' logo on it disappears briefly.
 * When Hawlucha and Noibat are quietly trying to escape from before they notice them, the two purple teardrop-shaped spots on the front of Noibat's face are colored the same way as the background.
 * After Hawlucha knocks off Jessie's earplugs, James and Meowth appear to still be able to hear her.
 * After being hit by Pikachu's, Team Rocket flew off in the following order: , Jessie, , James and Inkay. When they were blasting off, they were in this order: Jessie, Pumpkaboo, James, Meowth, and Inkay.
 * In the Pokémon Holo Caster segment, when is popping out from its ring, its sclerae are colored white instead of yellow.

Dub edits

 * Like in the dub of The Path That Leads to Goodbye! and So You're Having a Bad Day!, the apples are referred to as.

In other languages
Fliegen ist kein Kinderspiel! EP880 XY076 XY076 XY編第76話 精灵宝可梦 XY 第76集