Umbreon collapsed when he appeared in the abandoned grove Pancham was using as a Secret Base. His sudden arrival startled Pancham so much that he fell off the tree stump he was sitting on, deep in thought.
When he saw Umbreon's injuries, he dashed to his village's healer and asked for her help. Umbreon regained consciousness while she was tending to his more serious wounds.
"Careful," she said while swinging her tag-like tail as a bell sound resonated from her body. "I'm still healing you."
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"Where . . . am I?" Umbreon asked dazedly as he looked at his surroundings.
"You're at my Secret Base," Pancham answered while fiddling with the leaf in his mouth. One minute later, Umbreon's injuries were all healed. "Thank you, Madam Chimecho."
"You're welcome, Pancham," she replied before continuing as she left; "Stay out of trouble." After she moved a ways away, she turned back to Pancham and added sternly; "I mean it."
Pancham groaned and nodded in response as he watched her depart, then turned his attention to Umbreon. "Sorry if this question sounds rude but, what happened to you?"
"I'm not sure if I should answer that question."
"Why not?" Pancham objected. "You're the one who popped in out of nowhere, looking like you've gone round after round with several Fighting-types and lost."
"You're not far off in that assumption," Umbreon told him as he stood from the ground. "Shouldn't you be getting home to your parents?"
Pancham avoided eye contact and stared at the ground, looking sad as tears appeared in his eyes. "My parents are being held prisoner in Dark Castle," he mumbled.
Umbreon was full of sympathy as he replied; "So is my friend."
There were several minutes of awkward and somber silence before Umbreon asked: "Do you know how I can get to Dark Castle?"
"That depends," Pancham answered as he stared at Umbreon with suspicion.
"On what?"
"Whether or not you want to help your friend escape or join forces with Malamar."
Umbreon blinked in surprise at Pancham's frosty tone. "I would never ally myself with anyone who holds innocent Pokemon prisoner!" he expressed with a vein on his head.
"Then follow me," Pancham said before he turned around and left the grove; Umbreon followed behind him after a moment's hesitation.
It was several days of hiding from Mismagius and two Beheeyem, plus a dozen hypnotized guards, before the two of them finally found a shortcut to the castle. Umbreon told Pancham that if he didn't come back by morning, he was to find a human named Jenna who had been turned into a Shiny Gardevoir.
However, the moment Umbreon exited the tunnel, he got caught by some of Malamar's hypnotized puppets and was brought straight to the dungeons. Umbreon would have fought them off but he had been getting weaker the closer to the castle he got.
