Flash's journey now takes him to the Grand Desert, but the group is harassed by a thief before they can head to Appaloosa.
- Big "SHUT UP!": The thief yells at the group to shut up when they say that he doesn't actually care about his Shadusk, since he outright calls it weak and resorts to using it to steal instead of training to get stronger, which has shot its confidence. They however just yell back at him to shut up and give Flash back his stuff.
- Didn't Think This Through: As a last resort, the thief tries to get the group to let him go by threatening to drop Flash's bag off a cliff otherwise, saying if he can't have them then nobody can. Flash and his friends call his bluff, pointing out that Flash's badges would survive the fall undamaged and anything that breaks can be replaced, and even pointing out all the ways they could stop him or save the bag if he dropped it.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: The thief greatly cares for his Shadusk and gets offended when the heroes insults him for using it to steal rather than train with.
- Filler: The author's notes directly call this a filler chapter and something they wrote off the top of their head.
- Heel–Face Turn: The thief gets convinced by the group to return all the stuff he stole and turn himself into the authorities after they saved him from falling down a cliff.
- Hypercompetent Sidekick: The thief is really successful with his crimes because his Shadusk can hide in any shadow and act stealthy enough to prey on any unwitting victim.
- Living Lie Detector: Springer invokes this power when Spike voices his doubts that the thief hasn't really changed his character, in which the Pokémon assures them that he was being genuine.
- No Name Given: The teenage thief never gives his name.
- Sticky Fingers: The antagonist of the chapter is an unnamed teenage thief who steals Flash's bag and has to be tracked down to get it back.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: The thief wants to sell Flash's badges so that he can get the money to retire to a life of comfort with his Shadusk.
