It won't really be able to earn its place on the team otherwise, and there's still plenty of "cute" Pokémon in the regular line-up. Go back to costuming or building mechas or performing ridiculous stunts.
The writers aren't that stupid. This isn't Kanto anymore- we're long past the days where Butterfree leaves not 20 episodes from its debut, and Primeape only appears in its catch episode and three episodes later when it leaves. It did surprise me that they pulled that stunt with Goodra, but to do it with another of Ash's Pokémon, I doubt they'd dare to try it.
True. I could see them getting an episode out of it, though- a pack of Noivern identify Noibat as the Egg they lost, they think Ash stole it, and Noibat has to defend Ash, and in the end, the Noivern accept the fact that Noibat is with Ash. Could even have it come down to Noibat having to save everyone from Team Rocket (or maybe something other than them for once, though I do still like Team Rocket), and the Noivern realize that Noibat's doing it using skills it must have learned from Ash's training. Could even be an opportunity for Noibat to learn a new move, or even evolve.
