Pokémon the Series: XY (Season 17)


Season	Season 17 of the English dub · the first season of Pokémon the Series: XY, covering Japan’s Pocket Monsters XY from its first episode to XY049, without XY024
Series	XY series (ポケットモンスター XY Pocket Monsters XY, XY001–XY093 in Japan), dubbed as Pokémon the Series: XY
Region	Kalos — from Lumiose City and Vaniville Town to Santalune City, back through Lumiose to Camphrier Town, the Battle Chateau and Ambrette Town, Cyllage City, Geosenge Town and Pomace Mountain, Kalos Canyon, Professor Sycamore’s Summer Camp and Shalour City, then on towards Coumarine City
Episodes	48, on TV and on video (XY001–XY023 and XY025–XY049) — An Undersea Place to Call Home! (XY024), postponed in Japan, was dubbed in Season 18
First episode	Kalos, Where Dreams and Adventures Begin! (XY001) · Japan 17 October 2013 · US sneak preview 19 October 2013, regular run 18 January 2014
Last episode	Bonnie for the Defense! (XY049) · Japan 30 October 2014 · US 20 December 2014
Japanese opening themes	Boruto (Ｖ（ボルト） V (Volt)) – Yūsuke (XY001–XY028) · Mega Boruto (メガＶ（メガボルト） Mega V (Mega Volt)) – Yūsuke (XY029–XY049)
Japanese ending themes	X Kaikyō Y Geshiki (Ｘ海峡Ｙ景色 X Strait Y Scenery) – J☆Dee’Z (XY001–XY028) · Pīsumairu! (ピースマイル！ Peace Smile!) – J☆Dee’Z (XY029–XY046) · Doridori (ドリドリ DreamDream) – Shōko Nakagawa (XY047–XY049)
English opening theme	Pokémon Theme (Version XY) – Ben Dixon and The Sad Truth (all 48 episodes; its instrumental plays under the end credits)
Travelling companions	Ash Ketchum & Pikachu; Clemont and Bonnie (from XY003); Serena (from XY007, after catching up in XY005); Alexa (XY001, XY005–XY006, XY023) and Korrina (XY030–XY034) for stretches
Badges won	Bug Badge (Santalune Gym, XY006), Cliff Badge (Cyllage Gym, XY025), Rumble Badge (Shalour Gym, XY044) — three of the eight Kalos Badges
Other events	Battle Chateau, where Ash becomes a Baron (XY020) · Pokémon Summer Camp (XY039–XY042), won by Team Froakie
Related movies	Diancie and the Cocoon of Destruction (Japan 19 July 2014, between XY035 and XY036 · US TV 8 November 2014) · Genesect and the Legend Awakened (US TV 19 October 2013, followed by the sneak preview of XY001–XY002)
Previous season	Season 16: BW Adventures in Unova and Beyond
Following season	Season 18: XY Kalos Quest

Pokémon the Series: XY is the seventeenth season of the English-language Pokémon anime and the first of the XY series, set in the Kalos region. It covers the first 49 Japanese episodes of Pocket Monsters XY but one: TV Tokyo broadcast XY001 to XY049 from 17 October 2013, five days after Pokémon X and Y came out, to 30 October 2014, but An Undersea Place to Call Home! (XY024), pulled from its 24 April 2014 slot after the Sewol ferry disaster, did not air until 20 November 2014 and was dubbed with the next season, so the English Season 17 has 48 episodes. Cartoon Network gave the first two a sneak preview on 19 October 2013, two days after Japan and straight after the US premiere of Genesect and the Legend Awakened, then ran the season on Saturday mornings from 18 January to 20 December 2014 in Japanese order, with Mega Evolution Special I in the slot on 31 May.

Ash arrives in Kalos with only Pikachu, is thrown out of the Lumiose Gym by a robot for having no Badges and meets the inventor Clemont — secretly the Gym’s Leader — and his little sister, Bonnie, while in Vaniville Town Serena, who met Ash as a child at Professor Oak’s Summer Camp, recognises him on television and sets out to find him. He builds a new team of Froakie, Fletchling, which becomes Fletchinder in his first Sky Battle, and the masked Hawlucha, and wins three Badges: Viola’s Bug Badge in Santalune City at the second attempt, Grant’s Cliff Badge on a climbing wall in Cyllage City and, after Pikachu beats a Mega Lucario, Korrina’s Rumble Badge in Shalour City. Along the way he becomes a Baron at the Battle Chateau and leads Team Froakie to victory at Professor Sycamore’s Pokémon Summer Camp.

The season’s great novelty is Mega Evolution: Professor Sycamore researches it, the masked Trainer of a Mega Blaziken — Clemont’s father, Meyer — watches over the group, the Champion Diantha Mega Evolves her Gardevoir, and Korrina’s five-part quest for a Lucarionite and control of her Mega Lucario forms the season’s longest arc. Serena makes Pokévision videos, meets her Poké Puff rival Miette, discovers Pokémon Showcases and, catching Pancham, resolves to become a Pokémon Performer; Clemont catches Dedenne for Bonnie, Chespin and his old friend Luxio; and Team Rocket, back to comic disguises, add Inkay and Pumpkaboo. Thirty-nine species make their TV debut, Japan replaces Dare da? with the Pokémon Quiz, the dub gets a new composer, Ed Goldfarb, and our complete episode guide below has a synopsis, both titles and the air dates for all 48 episodes.

48episodes — XY001 to XY049 without XY024, which was postponed in Japan and dubbed in Season 18
3Kalos Badges for Ash — Bug, Cliff and Rumble
3new Pokémon for Ash: Froakie, Fletchling and Hawlucha, with Fletchling evolving into Fletchinder
39Pokémon species make their TV debut, every one from Generation VI, from Froakie to Xerneas
5episodes in Korrina’s Mega Lucario arc (XY030–XY034), the season’s longest story
2days between Japan’s premiere and the US sneak preview of XY001–XY002

It’s time for Ash and Pikachu to set off on their adventures in the Kalos region! Along the way, they’re joined by some new friends—a genius inventor named Clemont, his little sister Bonnie, and Serena, a Trainer on her first journey. Ash immediately tries to challenge the Gym in Lumiose City, but doesn’t get very far before a robot throws him out! In between Gym battles, Ash and friends will be exploring this unique region, meeting all kinds of new Pokémon, and looking into a fascinating new Pokémon mystery!

— Official description

Quick Answers

How many episodes are in Pokémon the Series: XY?

48. TV Tokyo broadcast XY001 to XY049 from 17 October 2013 to 30 October 2014 — XY001 and XY002 together as a one-hour premiere, and XY029 and XY030 on 29 May 2014 — but An Undersea Place to Call Home! (XY024) was held back and dubbed with the next season, so the English season is XY001–XY023 and XY025–XY049, numbered 1 to 48. Cartoon Network showed all 48 in that order from 18 January to 20 December 2014, after a sneak preview of the first two on 19 October 2013, and the VIZ Media and Australian DVDs hold the same 48. Mega Evolution Special I, which took the slot on 31 May 2014, is a special rather than an episode, although Netflix in Asia lists it as episode 49.

Which Badges does Ash win in Pokémon the Series: XY?

Three. The photographer Viola beats him first, Surskit freezing the field and Vivillon winning with Solar Beam (XY005), but in the rematch Pikachu plants its tail in the ice to Thunderbolt Surskit and wakes itself with Electro Ball to beat Vivillon for the Bug Badge (XY006). On Grant’s battlefield atop a climbing wall Froakie leaps across Rock Tomb to beat Onix and Pikachu rides the rocks of Tyrunt’s Draco Meteor to win the Cliff Badge (XY025), and at the Tower of Mastery Hawlucha and Fletchinder each win a round before Pikachu beats Korrina’s Mega Lucario for the Rumble Badge (XY044), Ash’s first official win over a Mega Evolved Pokémon. In the premiere Clemont’s robot, Clembot, had thrown him out of the Lumiose Gym for having no Badges, and Clemont promises him a battle once he has four (XY009).

What Pokémon does Ash catch in Pokémon the Series: XY?

Three. Ash arrives in Kalos with only Pikachu, and the Froakie that had rejected several Trainers and saved Pikachu from Team Rocket chooses him, waiting with its own Poké Ball (XY002) — the first time a region’s first partner Pokémon was Ash’s first new Pokémon there. Froakie’s cliffside tactics help him catch a food-stealing Fletchling (XY003), his last Normal-type catch, and the masked “Forest Champion” Hawlucha joins him after he helps it perfect Flying Press (XY035), his first single-stage catch since Torkoal, 502 episodes earlier. Fletchling evolves into Fletchinder during his first Sky Battle (XY036) — the only time one of Ash’s Pokémon has changed type by evolving — so he ends the season with Pikachu, Froakie, Fletchinder and Hawlucha.

Who travels with Ash in Pokémon the Series: XY?

Clemont, Bonnie and Serena. Clemont, an inventor and secretly the Lumiose Gym Leader, locked out of his own Gym by his robot double, travels with Ash from XY003 with his little sister Bonnie, too young to be a Trainer, who carries Clemont’s Dedenne and keeps asking young women to marry her brother. Serena sets out from Vaniville Town after seeing Ash on television, chooses Fennekin (XY004), catches up with him at the Santalune Gym (XY005) and joins in XY007, revealing that he once helped her at Professor Oak’s Summer Camp — the first companion who already knew Ash. The journalist Alexa flies in with Ash and returns twice, and Korrina travels with the group for her five-episode Mega Lucario arc (XY030–XY034).

How does Mega Evolution appear in the season?

It is the season’s new mystery. A masked Trainer’s Mega Blaziken is glimpsed in the premiere and saves Ash and Pikachu atop Prism Tower, where Professor Sycamore has just explained that Mega Evolution needs a Mega Stone, a Key Stone and a strong bond (XY002); viewers learn in XY010 that the masked man is Clemont’s father, Meyer. The group first see one up close when the Champion, Diantha, Mega Evolves her Gardevoir (XY028). Korrina then claims a Lucarionite in Geosenge Town (XY031), but her Mega Lucario’s power overwhelms it (XY032–XY033) until the Mega Evolution Trainer Mabel teaches her to unite one heart with two viewpoints (XY034); her grandfather, Gurkinn, tells the story of the first Mega Evolution (XY043), and Ash finally beats Mega Lucario in the Shalour Gym (XY044).

What happened to XY024, An Undersea Place to Call Home!?

It was postponed. The Skrelp and Dragalge episode, set in a sunken liner on the Muraille Coast, was due on TV Tokyo on 24 April 2014 but was pulled after the Sewol ferry sank off South Korea on 16 April, and every later episode moved up — Climbing the Walls! (XY025) by two weeks. It finally aired in Japan on 20 November 2014, between XY050 and XY051, unedited for continuity, so Fletchinder is still a Fletchling and the Cyllage Gym is still ahead. In English it skipped Season 17 and premiered in Season 18 on 7 February 2015, its narrator speaking in the past tense to mark its place, which leaves a gap in this season: the rock-jumping trick that beats Grant’s Onix in XY025 is learned in XY024.

Story Arcs

Pokémon the Series: XY runs for 48 episodes and follows Ash, Serena, Clemont and Bonnie from Lumiose City to the road beyond Shalour City. Here is how the season breaks down, with stills from our episode guide below.

Arrival in KalosXY001–XY004

Ash lands in Lumiose City with Alexa and only Pikachu, is thrown out of the Prism Tower Gym by Clembot for having no Badges and meets the inventor Clemont and his little sister, Bonnie, while a stray Froakie takes a hit meant for Pikachu. At Professor Sycamore’s lab he learns about Mega Evolution, a masked Trainer’s Mega Blaziken catches him and Pikachu as they fall from Prism Tower after freeing the Professor’s collared Garchomp, and Froakie chooses him. Ash registers for the Kalos League and catches Fletchling, James catches Inkay and Clemont catches Dedenne for Bonnie, while in Vaniville Town Serena, who has recognised Ash on television, leaves home and chooses Fennekin.

XY001 Kalos, Where Dreams and Adventures Begin!

Santalune City & Serena joinsXY005–XY008

Viola, the photographer who leads the Santalune Gym, beats Ash with Surskit’s ice and Vivillon’s Sticky Web and Solar Beam, and after training against Alexa’s Noivern he wins the Bug Badge in the rematch. Serena, who caught up with him mid-battle, reveals that he helped her at Professor Oak’s Summer Camp years ago, coaches him through a Rhyhorn race in Odyssey Village and joins the group, and an apprentice groomer’s Furfrou exposes Team Rocket’s fake salon in the series’ first filler episode.

Clemont’s secretXY009–XY010

Back in Lumiose City Clemont reveals that he is the Gym Leader, locked out by the robot he built to stand in for him; Bunnelby beats Clembot’s Heliolisk, Clemont reprograms it, and Ash promises to return with four Badges. At Sycamore’s lab a gluttonous Chespin helps foil Team Rocket’s Mega-Mega Meowth mecha and joins Clemont, and viewers learn that the masked Trainer of Mega Blaziken is Clemont and Bonnie’s father, Meyer.

Stops on the road to CyllageXY011–XY019

Jessie catches Pumpkaboo in a bamboo forest guarded by Pangoro, a rescued Scatterbug evolves twice to help catch a smuggler — the series’ first evolution — and Penelope’s Sylveon introduces Ash to the Fairy type. A lonely Espurr haunts a mansion, Chespin goes on a diet, Dedenne and a Pichu are swapped, the ninja Sanpei’s Frogadier beats Froakie, which learns Double Team, Ash wins back the Poké Flute from Princess Allie to wake Camphrier Town’s Snorlax, and Madame X’s evil Malamar hypnotises Team Rocket, Pikachu and, it turns out, Officer Jenny.

The Battle Chateau to the Cliff BadgeXY020–XY025

At the Battle Chateau Ash becomes a Baron and watches Grant beat Viola before learning that Grant leads the Cyllage Gym. Serena makes her first Pokévision video as Fennekin learns Flamethrower, the group reel in Team Rocket’s submarine in Ambrette Town while hunting a golden Magikarp, and Alexa returns for the rescue of a revived Amaura. With An Undersea Place to Call Home! (XY024) held back, the season jumps to Cyllage City, where Froakie leaps across Rock Tomb to beat Onix and Pikachu rides Tyrunt’s Draco Meteor to win the Cliff Badge.

Rivals & the ChampionXY026–XY029

Serena meets the Poké Puff baker Miette, who becomes her rival in a contest neither wins and warns her to tell Ash how she feels; a Flabébé and its ailing owner need a Fairy Flower; and the Kalos Champion and film star Diantha, met in Brackish Town in disguise, Mega Evolves her Gardevoir to escape Team Rocket — the first Mega Evolution the group have seen up close. Team Rocket then impersonate the heroes and trick Clemont into building them anti-Electric gear.

Korrina & Mega LucarioXY030–XY034

The roller-skating Shalour Gym Leader Korrina beats Pikachu for her 99th straight win, and the group join her quest for a Lucarionite. In a cave near Geosenge Town her grandfather, Gurkinn, tests her against his Blaziken and Lucario Mega Evolves for the first time, but its new power overwhelms it and it turns on Pikachu, so Gurkinn sends her to Pomace Mountain. On the way Mega Lucario regains control just long enough to beat Team Rocket’s “Mecha Evolution”, and the Mega Evolution Trainer Mabel and her Mega Mawile teach Korrina to unite one heart with two viewpoints before she skates home alone.

New wings & other worldsXY035–XY038

Ash helps a masked Hawlucha, the forest’s self-styled champion, perfect its Flying Press and catches it, and in Kalos Canyon’s first Sky Battle Fletchling evolves into Fletchinder to beat Moria’s proud Talonflame. In Reflection Cave Ash is pulled into a mirror world of reversed personalities, and after clashing in training Froakie learns Cut and teams up with Hawlucha in the “Super Flying Cut” to rescue Ash from a protective Trevenant.

Pokémon Summer CampXY039–XY042

At Professor Sycamore’s seaside camp the group meet Shauna, Tierno and Trevor, and Serena loses her first battle and starts wondering about her own dream. Shauna tells her about Pokémon Showcases and the Kalos Queen, Aria, Team Froakie’s film wins the Pokévision showdown, Bonnie, lost in the fog, glimpses Xerneas, and after rescuing their rivals’ Pokémon from Team Rocket, disguised all week as the camp chefs, Team Froakie win the final Team Battle and enter the camp’s Hall of Fame.

Shalour City & the road to CoumarineXY043–XY049

At the Tower of Mastery Gurkinn tells the story of the first Mega Evolution, and Pikachu beats Korrina’s Mega Lucario for the Rumble Badge, Ash’s third. On the road to Coumarine City a treasure hunt reconciles two brothers and their Meowstic, a clumsy Wigglytuff calms a berserk Salamence, Serena sees her first Showcase, catches Pancham and resolves to become a Pokémon Performer, Clemont is reunited with his school-days Shinx, now a Luxio, and catches it, and Bonnie helps three children return an injured Lapras to the sea in the dub’s season finale.

Episode Guide

All 48 episodes of Pokémon the Series: XY are listed below in Japanese broadcast order, which is also the order of the English dub, the DVDs and streaming. The # column is the season number used by Cartoon Network, VIZ Media and streaming services, and the orange code is the Bulbapedia XY number used by most fan sites — note the jump from XY023 to XY025: An Undersea Place to Call Home! (XY024) was postponed in Japan and dubbed in Season 18. Every episode has its own page with our full synopsis, both titles, air dates, major events, Pokémon debuts, trivia and dub changes — click the title or the screenshot. US dates are the Cartoon Network premieres on Saturday mornings, from 18 January to 20 December 2014; XY001 and XY002 had already been shown as a sneak preview on 19 October 2013, and Mega Evolution Special I took the slot on 31 May 2014. In Japan XY001 and XY002 premiered together as a one-hour special on 17 October 2013, as did XY029 and XY030 on 29 May 2014.

Who’s That Pokémon? continues in the English dub as its mid-episode break, the silhouette shown halfway through and the answer near the end, although from A Shockingly Cheeky Friendship! (XY004) it no longer leads into or out of the adverts; each episode page gives its answer. Japan replaced its own quiz with the Pokémon Quiz, four cards — the right Pokémon, two look-alikes and a Team Rocket “joker” — presented by a different character each week, so the two versions show different Pokémon in 13 episodes, from Spritzee against Fletchling in the premiere to a Mega Lucario (XY032) and Team Rocket themselves (XY042). Japan closed each episode with Professor Oak’s Pokémon Holo Caster, replaced from XY042 by Mairin’s Mega Evolution Journal and in the last two episodes by Steven Stone explaining Primal Reversion.

#	Episode	First aired	In short
1XY001	Kalos, Where Dreams and Adventures Begin!カロス地方にやってきた！夢と冒険のはじまり！！	Japan 17 Oct 2013 US 18 Jan 2014	Ash arrives in the Kalos region with Pikachu and Alexa, is thrown out of the Lumiose Gym for having no Badges, and meets Clemont, Bonnie and a… · Season premiere Episode guide →
2XY002	Lumiose City Pursuit!メガシンカとプリズムタワー！	Japan 17 Oct 2013 US 25 Jan 2014	At Professor Sycamore’s lab Ash learns about Mega Evolution, and after Team Rocket’s control collar sends the Professor’s Garchomp… · Ash catches Froakie Episode guide →
3XY003	A Battle of Aerial Mobility!ケロマツVSヤヤコマ！空中機動バトル！！	Japan 24 Oct 2013 US 1 Feb 2014	Ash registers for the Kalos League, Clemont and Bonnie join his journey, and Froakie’s clever cliffside tactics help him catch a fast,… · Ash catches Fletchling Episode guide →
4XY004	A Shockingly Cheeky Friendship!ピカチュウとデデンネ！ほっぺすりすり！！	Japan 31 Oct 2013 US 8 Feb 2014	Serena chooses Fennekin as her first Pokémon, while Pikachu and a wild Dedenne, separated from Ash’s group, fight off Team Rocket… · Serena chooses Fennekin Episode guide →
5XY005	A Blustery Santalune Gym Battle!ハクダンジム戦！華麗なるビビヨンの舞バトル！！	Japan 7 Nov 2013 US 15 Feb 2014	Ash loses his first Kalos Gym battle to Santalune Gym Leader Viola, the photographer sister of Alexa, while Serena finally catches up with him. · Santalune Gym, part 1 Episode guide →
6XY006	Battling on Thin Ice!氷上決戦！ピカチュウVSビビヨン！！	Japan 14 Nov 2013 US 22 Feb 2014	Ash wins the Bug Badge in his rematch with Viola, turning her own ice battlefield against her. · Bug Badge Episode guide →
7XY007	Giving Chase at the Rhyhorn Race!セレナにおまかせ！？激走サイホーンレース！	Japan 21 Nov 2013 US 1 Mar 2014	Serena explains how Ash once helped her at summer camp, coaches him through a Rhyhorn race, and after foiling Team Rocket officially joins the group. · Serena joins Episode guide →
8XY008	Grooming Furfrou!ポケモントリマーとトリミアン！	Japan 28 Nov 2013 US 8 Mar 2014	An apprentice groomer named Jessica finally earns her Furfrou’s trust after the group help her expose Team Rocket’s fake grooming salon. · First filler episode Episode guide →
9XY009	Clemont’s Got a Secret!ミアレジム攻略！シトロンの秘密！！	Japan 5 Dec 2013 US 15 Mar 2014	Back in Lumiose City, Clemont reveals that he is the Lumiose Gym Leader, locked out of his own Gym by the robot he built to stand in for him, and… · Clemont is the Gym Leader Episode guide →
10XY010	Mega-Mega Meowth Madness!ハリマロンVSメガメガニャース！！	Japan 12 Dec 2013 US 22 Mar 2014	A gluttonous Chespin at Professor Sycamore’s lab helps foil Team Rocket’s Mega Evolution mecha, then chooses to become Clemont’s… · Clemont receives Chespin Episode guide →
11XY011	The Bamboozling Forest!竹林の追跡！ヤンチャムとゴロンダ！！	Japan 19 Dec 2013 US 29 Mar 2014	Two mischievous Pancham lead the group and Team Rocket into a bamboo forest guarded by a powerful Pangoro, and Jessie catches a Pumpkaboo along the… · Jessie catches Pumpkaboo Episode guide →
12XY012	To Catch a Pokémon Smuggler!ポケモンバイヤーを捕まえろ！コフーライ偽装作戦！！	Japan 9 Jan 2014 US 5 Apr 2014	The group help Officer Jenny catch Dolan, a smuggler of Scatterbug and Spewpa, after a rescued Scatterbug evolves twice into a Vivillon. · First XY evolution Episode guide →
13XY013	Kindergarten Chaos!ニンフィアVSケロマツ！幼稚園は大さわぎ！！	Japan 16 Jan 2014 US 12 Apr 2014	Ash learns about the Fairy type when Penelope’s Sylveon beats Froakie, then rescues Sylveon and a timid boy from Team Rocket at her… · The Fairy type Episode guide →
14XY014	Seeking Shelter from the Storm!ぶきみな雨宿り！ニャスパーは見ていた！！	Japan 30 Jan 2014 US 19 Apr 2014	Sheltering from a storm in an old mansion, the group discover that its ghostly happenings are caused by a lonely Espurr waiting for its late owner. · No title card Episode guide →
15XY015	An Appetite for Battle!ハリマロンVSマフォクシー！ダイエットバトル！？	Japan 6 Feb 2014 US 26 Apr 2014	Clemont’s overfed Chespin wanders off to an elderly couple’s cottage, where it ends up battling Wylie’s Delphox and reconciling… · Chespin’s diet Episode guide →
16XY016	A Jolting Switcheroo!デデンネがピチューでピチューがデデンネで…！？	Japan 13 Feb 2014 US 3 May 2014	Bonnie’s bag, with Dedenne asleep inside, is swapped with a little girl’s identical bag holding her sister’s Pichu, and both sides… · Dedenne and Pichu swapped Episode guide →
17XY017	A Rush of Ninja Wisdom!ケロマツ対ゲコガシラ！忍者バトル！！	Japan 20 Feb 2014 US 10 May 2014	A young ninja named Sanpei and his Frogadier beat Ash and Froakie, then train Froakie in ninja speed, which ends with it learning Double Team. · Froakie learns Double Team Episode guide →
18XY018	Awakening the Sleeping Giant!カビゴンを起こせ！パルファム宮殿でバトルです！	Japan 27 Feb 2014 US 17 May 2014	In Camphrier Town a snoring Snorlax will not leave the street, and Ash wins back the Poké Flute needed to wake it from the spoiled Princess… · Snorlax and the Poké Flute Episode guide →
19XY019	A Conspiracy to Conquer!マダムＸの陰謀！恐怖のカラマネロ！！	Japan 13 Mar 2014 US 24 May 2014	A hooded Madame X and her evil Malamar hypnotise Team Rocket and then Pikachu in a scheme to conquer the world, until Ash’s faith in Pikachu… · Madame X Episode guide →
20XY020	Breaking Titles at the Chateau!挑戦バトルシャトー！ビオラVSザクロ！！	Japan 20 Mar 2014 US 7 Jun 2014	At the Battle Chateau Ash wins his first battle and becomes a Baron, then watches Grant, revealed as the Cyllage Gym Leader, defeat Viola. · Battle Chateau Episode guide →
21XY021	A Pokévision of Things to Come!デビューです！セレナとフォッコでポケビジョン！！	Japan 27 Mar 2014 US 14 Jun 2014	Serena makes her first Pokévision video with Fennekin, and when Team Rocket kidnap their Pokémon, Fennekin overcomes its dislike of mud… · Serena’s first Pokévision Episode guide →
22XY022	Going for the Gold!黄金のコイキングを釣り上げろ！！	Japan 10 Apr 2014 US 21 Jun 2014	In Ambrette Town the group help an aquarium curator search for a legendary golden Magikarp, accidentally reel in Team Rocket’s submarine, and… · Golden Magikarp Episode guide →
23XY023	Coming Back into the Cold!オーロラの絆！アマルスとアマルルガ！！	Japan 17 Apr 2014 US 28 Jun 2014	At Ambrette Town’s Fossil Lab the group meet a revived Amaura and Aurorus, and when Team Rocket kidnap the heat-sensitive Amaura, Aurorus leads… · Amaura and Aurorus Episode guide →
24XY025	Climbing the Walls!ショウヨウジム戦！ピカチュウ対チゴラス！！	Japan 24 Apr 2014 US 5 Jul 2014	Ash wins the Cliff Badge from Grant at a Gym built around a climbing wall, with Froakie defeating Onix and Pikachu defeating Tyrunt. · Cliff Badge Episode guide →
25XY026	A Battle by Any Other Name!ペロッパフとペロリーム！！甘い戦いはあまくない！？	Japan 8 May 2014 US 12 Jul 2014	Serena meets a rival Poké Puff baker named Miette, and the two enter a Poké Puff Contest that Team Rocket try to sabotage. · Miette debuts Episode guide →
26XY027	To Find a Fairy Flower!フラベベと妖精の花！	Japan 15 May 2014 US 19 Jul 2014	A Flabébé that has lost its flower clings to Bonnie’s hair, and the group search the high plains for a rare Fairy Flower to save… · The Fairy Flower Episode guide →
27XY028	The Bonds of Evolution!チャンピオン・カルネ登場！霧の中のメガサーナイト！！	Japan 22 May 2014 US 26 Jul 2014	The group meet Kalos Champion Diantha, and when Team Rocket steal her Gardevoir during her battle with Ash, she Mega Evolves it to break free. · Diantha debuts Episode guide →
28XY029	Heroes – Friends and Faux Alike!ジャジャーン！ニセサトシ現る！！	Japan 29 May 2014 US 2 Aug 2014	Team Rocket impersonate Ash, Serena and Bonnie to ruin their reputation, and trick Clemont into building them anti-Electric gear to capture Pikachu. · Team Rocket’s impostors Episode guide →
29XY030	Mega Revelations!コルニとルカリオ！メガシンカの秘密！！	Japan 29 May 2014 US 9 Aug 2014	The group meet Korrina, the Shalour Gym Leader, whose Lucario beats Pikachu for her 99th straight win, and join her quest for the Mega Stone that… · Korrina arc, part 1 Episode guide →
30XY031	The Cave of Trials!ルカリオVSバシャーモ！試練の洞窟！！	Japan 5 Jun 2014 US 16 Aug 2014	In Geosenge Town Korrina must defeat a fearsome Blaziken in a remote cave to claim her Lucarionite, and Lucario Mega Evolves for the first time. · Korrina arc, part 2 Episode guide →
31XY032	The Aura Storm!メガルカリオ対メガルカリオ！波導の嵐！！	Japan 12 Jun 2014 US 23 Aug 2014	Korrina’s newly Mega Evolved Lucario loses control during a battle with Ash, and her grandfather sends her to train with a Mega Evolution… · Korrina arc, part 3 Episode guide →
32XY033	Calling from Beyond the Aura!呼び合う心！波導のむこうへ！！	Japan 19 Jun 2014 US 30 Aug 2014	On the way to Pomace Mountain, Korrina’s Mega Lucario briefly regains control while protecting her from Team Rocket, before losing it again. · Korrina arc, part 4 Episode guide →
33XY034	The Bonds of Mega Evolution!メガルカリオ対メガクチート！メガシンカの絆！！	Japan 3 Jul 2014 US 6 Sep 2014	On Pomace Mountain the Mega Evolution Trainer Mabel teaches Korrina to understand her Lucario, and Lucario finally masters Mega Evolution before… · Korrina arc, part 5 Episode guide →
34XY035	The Forest Champion!森のチャンピオン！ルチャブル登場！！	Japan 10 Jul 2014 US 13 Sep 2014	Ash helps a masked Hawlucha, the self-styled champion of a forest, perfect its Flying Press, and catches it after it protects the forest’s… · Ash catches Hawlucha Episode guide →
35XY036	Battles in the Sky!スカイバトル！？ルチャブル対ファイアロー！！	Japan 24 Jul 2014 US 20 Sep 2014	In Kalos Canyon Ash has his first Sky Battle, and Fletchling evolves into Fletchinder mid-battle to defeat a proud Talonflame. · First Sky Battle Episode guide →
36XY037	The Cave of Mirrors!うつしみの洞窟！鏡の国のサトシとサトシ！？	Japan 31 Jul 2014 US 27 Sep 2014	In Reflection Cave Ash is pulled into a mirror world, where he meets very different versions of his friends and helps his crybaby double rescue both… · The Mirror World Episode guide →
37XY038	Forging Forest Friendships!蠢く森のオーロット！	Japan 7 Aug 2014 US 4 Oct 2014	Froakie and Hawlucha, who clash during training, learn to work together to rescue Ash from a Trevenant that is guarding a Bonsly and a Sudowoodo. · Froakie learns Cut Episode guide →
38XY039	Summer of Discovery!ポケモン・サマーキャンプ！ライバル三人組登場！！	Japan 14 Aug 2014 US 11 Oct 2014	At Professor Sycamore’s Pokémon Summer Camp the group meet three new rivals, Shauna, Tierno and Trevor, and Serena, after losing her… · Summer Camp, part 1 Episode guide →
39XY040	Day Three Blockbusters!セレナVSサナ！ポケビジョン対決！！	Japan 21 Aug 2014 US 18 Oct 2014	On the third day of camp Team Froakie win a Pokévision showdown, and Serena learns about Pokémon Showcases and the Kalos Queen, Aria. · Summer Camp, part 2 Episode guide →
40XY041	Foggy Pokémon Orienteering!ポケエンテーリング！霧の中のＸ！	Japan 28 Aug 2014 US 25 Oct 2014	During the camp’s orienteering race Bonnie is lost in the fog and rescued with the help of rival Team Squirtle, and she glimpses a shining… · Summer Camp, part 3 Episode guide →
41XY042	Battling into the Hall of Fame!チームバトル！殿堂入り決戦！！	Japan 4 Sep 2014 US 1 Nov 2014	Team Froakie win the camp’s final Team Battle against Team Squirtle and enter the Hall of Fame, after rescuing their rivals’… · Summer Camp, part 4 Episode guide →
42XY043	Origins of Mega Evolution!マスタータワー！メガシンカの歴史！！	Japan 18 Sep 2014 US 8 Nov 2014	At Shalour City’s Tower of Mastery, Gurkinn tells the story of the first Mega Evolution, and Korrina’s Mega Lucario stops Team Rocket… · Tower of Mastery Episode guide →
43XY044	Showdown at the Shalour Gym!シャラジム戦！ピカチュウVSメガルカリオ！！	Japan 25 Sep 2014 US 15 Nov 2014	Ash defeats Korrina and her Mega Lucario to win the Rumble Badge, his third in Kalos. · Rumble Badge Episode guide →
44XY045	Splitting Heirs!シトロン対ユリーカ！？ニャオニクスできょうだいバトル！！	Japan 2 Oct 2014 US 22 Nov 2014	Two feuding brothers and their Meowstic compete in their father’s treasure hunt to decide who inherits the family estate, while Clemont and… · Clemont and Bonnie quarrel Episode guide →
45XY046	The Clumsy Crier Quiets the Chaos!どじっこプクリンVS暴走ボーマンダ！！	Japan 9 Oct 2014 US 29 Nov 2014	A clumsy Wigglytuff training as Nurse Joy’s assistant proves its worth by calming a rampaging Salamence that Team Rocket tried to control. · Wigglytuff calms Salamence Episode guide →
46XY047	Dreaming a Performer’s Dream!セレナ、初ゲット！？ヤンチャムVSフォッコ！！	Japan 16 Oct 2014 US 6 Dec 2014	After watching her first Pokémon Showcase, Serena catches a mischievous Pancham, her first capture, and decides to become a Pokémon… · Serena catches Pancham Episode guide →
47XY048	A Campus Reunion!シトロン、想い出のキャンパス！電撃の再会！！	Japan 23 Oct 2014 US 13 Dec 2014	Visiting the academy he once attended, Clemont is reunited with the Shinx he befriended there, now a Luxio who believes he abandoned it, and catches… · Clemont catches Luxio Episode guide →
48XY049	Bonnie for the Defense!出動ラプラス防衛隊！ユリーカがんばる！！	Japan 30 Oct 2014 US 20 Dec 2014	Bonnie joins three children secretly caring for an injured Lapras, persuades them to trust Nurse Joy, and helps return it to the sea despite Team… · Season finale Episode guide →

Characters & Travelling Companions

Ash arrives in Kalos with Alexa and only Pikachu, having left the rest of his Pokémon with Professor Oak, and is thrown out of the Lumiose Gym by Clembot for having no Badges (XY001). He receives a Kalos Pokédex from Professor Sycamore (XY002), registers for the Kalos League and gets a Badge case (XY003), and wins the Bug (XY006, after a loss in XY005), Cliff (XY025) and Rumble Badges (XY044). His new team — Froakie (XY002), Fletchling (XY003), which evolves into Fletchinder (XY036), and Hawlucha (XY035) — learns as it goes: Froakie picks up Double Team while training with the ninja Sanpei (XY017) and Cut (XY038), and Hawlucha a perfected Flying Press (XY035). He becomes a Baron at the Battle Chateau (XY020), loses to Penelope (XY013), Sanpei (XY017), Korrina (XY030) and, under the first-touch rule, Tierno (XY039), sees his battle with the Champion Diantha interrupted (XY028) and leads Team Froakie into the Summer Camp’s Hall of Fame (XY042). For the first time in a series premiere Pikachu is not injured (XY001); it wins the deciding round of all three Gym battles, is hypnotised by Malamar (XY019) and in XY020 is seen with its Poké Ball for the first time since the Advanced Generation series. Ash is voiced by Sarah Natochenny in English and Rica Matsumoto in Japanese, and Ikue Ōtani remains Pikachu in both.

Serena, training unhappily as a Rhyhorn racer under her mother, Grace, in Vaniville Town, recognises Ash on television as the boy who helped her at Professor Oak’s Summer Camp years before (XY002), sets out (XY003) and chooses Fennekin (XY004). She catches up with him at the Santalune Gym (XY005) and, in XY007, returns the handkerchief he once tied around her knee and joins the group — the first companion who already knew Ash, the first he invited along and the slowest to join. She makes Pokévision videos (XY021, XY040), meets her Poké Puff rival Miette (XY026), loses her first battle to Shauna (XY039), learns about Pokémon Showcases and the Kalos Queen, Aria (XY040), and after watching her first Showcase catches Pancham — her first catch, 43 episodes after becoming a Trainer — and resolves to become a Pokémon Performer (XY047). She is voiced by Haven Paschall in English and Mayuki Makiguchi in Japanese.

Clemont, an inventor whose devices usually explode, is secretly the Lumiose Gym Leader: Clembot, the robot he built to stand in for him, locked him out and threw Ash out (XY001, XY009). He travels with Ash from XY003 with Bunnelby, catches Dedenne for Bonnie to look after (XY004), receives a gluttonous Chespin from Sycamore (XY010), cooks for the group as Brock and Cilan did before him (XY015) and catches Luxio, the Shinx he befriended at school (XY048); his father, Meyer, is secretly the masked Trainer of Mega Blaziken (XY010). His little sister Bonnie, too young to be a Trainer, carries Dedenne in her satchel, asks every young woman she meets to “please take care of” her brother from XY005, is too small for a wingsuit (XY036) and leads the season finale (XY049). Clemont is voiced by Mike Liscio in English and Yūki Kaji in Japanese, Bonnie by Alyson Leigh Rosenfeld and Mariya Ise.

Serena in her official XY artwork; she sets out from Vaniville Town in XY003 and joins Ash in XY007

Team Rocket

Jessie, James and Meowth follow Ash to Kalos with Giovanni’s approval to steal rare Pokémon (XY003) and, after their serious Unova mission, are back to comic schemes and disguises — groomers (XY008), Pokévision film-makers with Meowth as “Spiel-Meowth” (XY021), tour guides (XY027), scientists from the Kalos Institute of Technology and the heroes themselves (XY029), Mega Evolution appraisers (XY030), paramedics (XY046) and, for a week, the Summer Camp’s chefs, who earn a pay rise for their cooking (XY039–XY042). James catches the Inkay that stole his croissant (XY003) and Jessie a Super Size Pumpkaboo she trips over (XY011), and their machines include the Mega-Mega-Mega Mecha Meowth (XY010), a Heliolisk mecha immune to Electric moves (XY029), the Octillery Mark Three (XY026) and “Mecha Evolution” armour for their Pokémon (XY033).

Madame X’s evil Malamar hypnotises Jessie, James and Wobbuffet, and Meowth stays free only by scratching himself awake with Fury Swipes (XY019). Giovanni appears only to approve the Kalos plan (XY003) and to praise the fake-scientist scheme (XY029), besides a boss fantasy (XY018). Posing as Ash, Serena and Bonnie, with Inkay dressed as Pikachu, the trio ruin the heroes’ name in a town (XY029) — James’s second Ash disguise, after EP174 — and in the finale Meowth stands in for James in the motto (XY049). Wobbuffet misses several episodes, the first of them XY014. Jessie is voiced by Michele Knotz, James and Meowth by James Carter Cathcart and Wobbuffet by Kayzie Rogers.

Gym Leaders, the Champion, professors & rivals

Viola, the Santalune Gym’s Bug-type Leader, a photographer and Alexa’s sister, beats Ash and then loses the Bug Badge to him (XY005–XY006), and later loses to Grant at the Battle Chateau (XY020). Grant, the Cyllage Gym’s Rock-type Leader and a climber, becomes a Grand Duke there before giving Ash the Cliff Badge on his climbing-wall battlefield (XY020, XY025). Korrina, the roller-skating Fighting-type Leader of the Shalour Gym, wins her hundredth straight battle, travels with the group in search of a Lucarionite and learns to control Mega Lucario (XY030–XY034) before losing the Rumble Badge to Ash (XY044); her grandfather, Gurkinn, the Mega Evolution Guru of the Tower of Mastery, tests her with his Blaziken and his own Mega Lucario (XY031–XY032, XY043–XY044). The Kalos Champion and film star Diantha shows the group their first Mega Evolution (XY028).

Professor Sycamore, the Kalos Professor and a Mega Evolution researcher, gives Ash his Pokédex, Serena her Fennekin and Clemont his Chespin, with his assistants Sophie and Cosette, and runs the Summer Camp (XY002–XY003, XY010, XY028, XY039–XY042). The journalist Alexa flies in with Ash, trains him against her Noivern for his rematch with her sister and returns for the Fossil Lab story (XY001, XY005–XY006, XY023). Meyer, Clemont and Bonnie’s father, is secretly Blaziken Mask, the masked Trainer of Mega Blaziken who saves Ash and Pikachu on Prism Tower (XY002, XY009–XY010). Serena’s mother, Grace, is a famous Rhyhorn racer (XY001–XY003, XY007); Mabel of Pomace Mountain trains Korrina with her Mega Mawile (XY034); and the Kalos Queen, Aria, seen on Pokévision (XY021) and in Shauna’s stories (XY040), performs with her Braixen at the Lagoon Town Showcase (XY047).

At the Summer Camp the group meet Shauna, an aspiring Performer from Vaniville Town with a Bulbasaur, who introduces Serena to Showcases and brings the group to Lagoon Town (XY039–XY042, XY047), the dancer Tierno and his Squirtle, who teaches Ash rhythmic battling, and Trevor, a photographer who wants to see every Pokémon, with his Charmander (XY039–XY042), all three watched by the custodian Madame Catherine. Miette, a Poké Puff baker with a Slurpuff, becomes Serena’s rival and warns her to tell Ash how she feels (XY026); the ninja Sanpei and his Frogadier, hoping to surpass his brothers Ippei and Nihei, beat Froakie and help it learn Double Team (XY017); and the Sky Trainer Moria and her Talonflame give Ash his first Sky Battle (XY036). The new Kalos designs of Officer Jenny, with Manectric, and Nurse Joy, with Wigglytuff assistants, also debut (XY002–XY003, XY008).

Professor Sycamore, Kalos’s Mega Evolution researcher, at his Summer Camp in Summer of Discovery! (XY039)

Viola, the photographer who leads the Santalune Gym; Ash wins her Bug Badge at the second attempt (XY005–XY006)

Voice cast

Character	English voice actor	Japanese voice actor
Ash Ketchum	Sarah Natochenny	Rica Matsumoto
Pikachu	Ikue Ōtani	Ikue Ōtani
Serena	Haven Paschall	Mayuki Makiguchi
Clemont	Mike Liscio	Yūki Kaji
Bonnie	Alyson Leigh Rosenfeld	Mariya Ise
Jessie	Michele Knotz	Megumi Hayashibara
James	James Carter Cathcart	Shin-ichiro Miki
Meowth	James Carter Cathcart	Inuko Inuyama
Wobbuffet	Kayzie Rogers	Yūji Ueda
Professor Sycamore	Jake Paque	Hiroshi Tsuchida
Alexa	Jessica Paquet	Aya Endō
Viola	Lori Gardner	Noriko Shitaya
Grant	Cory Willis	Hirofumi Nojima
Korrina	Lisa Ortiz	Yuka Terasaki
Gurkinn	Jason Griffith	Unshō Ishizuka
Meyer / Blaziken Mask	Tom Wayland	Kensuke Satō
Diantha	Vanessa Gardner	Fumiko Orikasa
Grace	Erica Schroeder	Hitomi Nabatame
Shauna	Jo Armeniox	Yurie Kobori
Tierno	Todd Haberkorn	Anri Katsu
Trevor	Michael Lockwood Crouch	Minami Fujii
Miette	Maggie McDowell	Saori Hayashi
Aria	Lindsay Sheppard	Marina Inoue
Sanpei	Chris Patton	Yūko Sanpei
Mabel	Erica Schroeder	Mika Kanai
Giovanni	Ted Lewis	Kenta Miyake
Narrator	Rodger Parsons	Unshō Ishizuka

Pokémon: Captures, Changes, Encounters & Evolutions

In brief:

Ash starts the season with Pikachu alone, having left the rest of his Pokémon with Professor Oak, and ends it with four: Pikachu, Froakie, Fletchinder and Hawlucha. Froakie, which had walked out on several Trainers, chooses him after saving Pikachu and helping free Sycamore’s Garchomp (XY002) — the first time a region’s first partner Pokémon was Ash’s first new Pokémon there; Fletchling is caught after a cliffside chase (XY003), his last Normal-type catch and his last of a Pokémon that did not join willingly; and the masked Hawlucha joins after Ash helps it perfect Flying Press (XY035), his first single-stage catch since Torkoal, 502 episodes earlier.
Fletchling, which has shown Steel Wing in the Santalune rematch (XY006), evolves into Fletchinder mid–Sky Battle and learns Flame Charge (XY036) — the only time one of Ash’s Pokémon has changed type by evolving, and his first non-starter Fire type since Torkoal. Froakie learns Double Team trying for Quick Attack (XY017) and Cut while saving Pikachu from a falling log (XY038), and forms the “Super Flying Cut” combination with Hawlucha in the same episode.
Serena receives Fennekin (XY004), which shows Hidden Power and learns Flamethrower (XY021), first uses Scratch in XY038 and is confirmed female in Japanese (XY021); after failing to catch a Corsola (XY022) she catches Pancham with her second throw (XY047). Clemont, already the owner of Bunnelby and, at his Gym, Heliolisk, Magnemite and Magneton (XY009), catches Dedenne for Bonnie to look after (XY004), receives Chespin from Sycamore (XY010) — it learns Vine Whip in XY011 and its Overgrow is revealed in XY015 — fails to catch Grey’s Flabébé, which already has a Trainer (XY027), and catches Luxio, his old school friend, which shows Wild Charge in the finale (XY048–XY049).
Team Rocket gain two Pokémon: James catches the croissant-stealing Inkay (XY003), whose Tackle, Psybeam and Foul Play are revealed in XY004, and Jessie a Super Size Pumpkaboo on her first try (XY011), which uses Frustration for its only time in XY021 and shows Dark Pulse in XY029; James’s attempt to catch two Pancham is stopped by their Pangoro (XY011).
Elsewhere, a rescued Scatterbug evolves into Spewpa and then an Elegant Pattern Vivillon, the XY series’ first on-screen evolution, and the smuggler Dolan’s caged Spewpa evolve into Vivillon of many patterns (XY012); Aria’s Fennekin has evolved off screen into Braixen (XY040); Clemont’s Helioptile, it is revealed, became Heliolisk with a Sun Stone before the series (XY031); and Korrina’s Lucario Mega Evolves for the first time with the Lucarionite (XY031).

New Pokémon captured or hatched

Froakie#0656 · Ash · chooses him at Professor Sycamore’s lab after saving Pikachu · XY002
Fletchling#0661 · Ash · after a cliffside battle, with his second Poké Ball · XY003
Inkay#0686 · James · the Inkay that stole his croissant · XY003
Fennekin#0653 · Serena · her first Pokémon, from Sycamore’s lab · XY004
Dedenne#0702 · Clemont · caught for Bonnie, who looks after it · XY004
Chespin#0650 · Clemont · from Professor Sycamore · XY010
Pumpkaboo#0710 · Jessie · Super Size, caught on her first try · XY011
Hawlucha#0701 · Ash · the masked Forest Champion, after a test battle with Froakie · XY035
Pancham#0674 · Serena · her first catch, with her second throw · XY047
Luxio#0404 · Clemont · the Shinx he befriended at school · XY048

Evolutions

Scatterbug → Spewpa#0665 · a rescued wild Scatterbug, the series’ first evolution · XY012
Spewpa → Vivillon#0666 · the same Pokémon, into an Elegant Pattern Vivillon, to stop the smuggler Dolan · XY012
Helioptile → Heliolisk#0695 · Clemont · with a Sun Stone before the series, recalled in Geosenge Town · XY031
Fletchling → Fletchinder#0662 · Ash · mid–Sky Battle against Moria’s Talonflame · XY036
Fennekin → Braixen#0654 · Aria · off screen, revealed at the Summer Camp · XY040
Shinx → Luxio#0404 · Clemont’s old school friend, evolved while they were apart · XY048

Releases, departures and returns

No Pokémon is released or traded by a main character this season. Ash starts it with Pikachu alone, his other Pokémon staying with Professor Oak (XY001), and carries only his Kalos team after that; Bonnie, too young to be a Trainer, looks after Clemont’s Dedenne, and Clemont’s Heliolisk, Magnemite and Magneton stay behind to help the reprogrammed Clembot run the Lumiose Gym (XY009).

Among the guests, the Vivillon freed from the smuggler Dolan fly away (XY012), Espurr goes with Elise to its late owner’s grave (XY014), Lord Shabboneau’s Poké Flute sends Snorlax back to the mountains (XY018), the revived Amaura recovers in Aurorus’s care (XY023), Flabébé returns to its ailing owner, Florence, with a new Fairy Flower (XY027), Hawlucha leaves its forest in Keaton’s care (XY035), Nurse Joy keeps her clumsy Wigglytuff as her assistant (XY046) and the injured Lapras rejoins its family at sea (XY049).

Teams at the end of the season (XY049)

Trainer	Pokémon	Changes this season
Ash	Pikachu, Froakie, Fletchinder, Hawlucha (his other Pokémon are with Professor Oak)	Obtained Froakie (XY002); caught Fletchling (XY003) and Hawlucha (XY035); Fletchling evolved into Fletchinder (XY036); Froakie learned Double Team (XY017) and Cut (XY038)
Serena	Fennekin, Pancham	Received Fennekin (XY004), which learned Flamethrower (XY021); caught Pancham, her first catch (XY047)
Clemont	Bunnelby, Chespin, Luxio and Dedenne (looked after by Bonnie); Heliolisk, Magnemite and Magneton at the Lumiose Gym	Caught Dedenne (XY004); received Chespin (XY010); caught Luxio (XY048), which used Wild Charge (XY049)
Jessie	Wobbuffet, Pumpkaboo	Caught Pumpkaboo (XY011)
James	Inkay	Caught Inkay (XY003)

Gym Leaders’, rivals’ and guests’ Pokémon this season

Trainer	Pokémon	Episodes
Viola	Surskit, Vivillon	XY005–XY006, XY020
Grant	Onix, Tyrunt	XY020, XY025
Korrina	Lucario (Mega Lucario), Mienfoo, Machoke	XY030–XY034, XY043–XY044
Gurkinn	Blaziken, Lucario (Mega Lucario)	XY031–XY032, XY043–XY044
Diantha	Gardevoir (Mega Gardevoir)	XY028
Professor Sycamore	Garchomp	XY002–XY003, XY010, XY028, XY039–XY042
Meyer / Blaziken Mask	Blaziken (Mega Blaziken), Ampharos	XY001–XY002, XY009–XY010
Alexa	Helioptile, Noivern	XY001, XY005–XY006, XY023
Sanpei	Frogadier	XY017
Miette	Slurpuff	XY026
Mabel	Mawile (Mega Mawile)	XY034
Moria	Talonflame	XY036
Shauna	Bulbasaur	XY039–XY042, XY047
Tierno	Squirtle	XY039–XY042
Trevor	Charmander	XY039–XY042
Aria	Braixen	XY021, XY040, XY047

Pokémon making their anime debut this season

Thirty-nine species make their first appearance in the TV series during Pokémon the Series: XY, every one of them from Generation VI, thirteen in the premiere alone. A few Kalos Pokémon had arrived before the season — Alexa’s Helioptile, Noivern and Gogoat in the Black & White series and Sylveon in the short Eevee & Friends — and Xerneas, Yveltal and Diancie debuted in the seventeenth movie, Xerneas reaching the TV series in XY041; Bulbapedia counts Sylveon (XY013) and Klefki (XY047) as main-series debuts. Mega Evolutions arrive too: Blaziken Mask’s Mega Blaziken in the premiere, Diantha’s Mega Gardevoir (XY028, already seen in Mega Evolution Special I), Korrina’s and Gurkinn’s Mega Lucario (XY031–XY032), a Mega Ampharos in a fantasy (XY033) and Mabel’s Mega Mawile (XY034). Skrelp and Dragalge, which debut in the postponed XY024, belong to the next season’s dub, and old faces return: the premiere alone brings back Kingdra after 546 episodes.

Froakie#0656 · XY001 · later Ash’s
Fletchling#0661 · XY001 · Grace’s; Ash catches one later
Meowstic#0678 · XY001 · male and female
Scatterbug#0664 · XY001
Spewpa#0665 · XY001
Flabébé#0669 · XY001 · Red and Orange Flower
Swirlix#0684 · XY001
Bunnelby#0659 · XY001 · Clemont’s
Dedenne#0702 · XY001 · later Clemont’s
Furfrou#0676 · XY001 · Natural Form; many trims follow
Pangoro#0675 · XY001
Malamar#0687 · XY001 · in the background; the villainous one comes later
Spritzee#0682 · XY001 · the XY series’ first Who’s That Pokémon?
Inkay#0686 · XY003 · James’s
Chespin#0650 · XY003 · Sycamore’s; later Clemont’s
Fennekin#0653 · XY003 · Sycamore’s; later Serena’s
Vivillon#0666 · XY005 · Meadow Pattern, Viola’s; six more Patterns follow
Heliolisk#0695 · XY009 · Clemont’s, at the Lumiose Gym
Pancham#0674 · XY011 · later Serena’s
Pumpkaboo#0710 · XY011 · Jessie’s, Super Size
Diggersby#0660 · XY012 · Dolan’s
Sylveon#0700 · XY013 · Penelope’s; its main-series debut, after the short Eevee & Friends
Espurr#0677 · XY014
Delphox#0655 · XY015 · Wylie’s
Frogadier#0657 · XY017 · Sanpei’s
Greninja#0658 · XY017 · Ippei’s, in a fantasy
Fletchinder#0662 · XY020 · Nico’s
Clauncher#0692 · XY022 · Rodman’s
Amaura#0698 · XY023 · revived from a Sail Fossil
Aurorus#0699 · XY023 · revived from a Sail Fossil
Tyrunt#0696 · XY025 · Grant’s
Slurpuff#0685 · XY026 · Miette’s
Noibat#0714 · XY033 · a wild colony
Hawlucha#0701 · XY035 · Ash’s
Talonflame#0663 · XY036 · Moria’s
Trevenant#0709 · XY038
Braixen#0654 · XY040 · Aria’s
Xerneas#0716 · XY041 · its first TV-episode appearance, after the seventeenth movie
Klefki#0707 · XY047 · Monsieur Pierre’s; its main-series debut

Key Events, Gym Battles & Tournaments

Events of note

Ash arrives in Kalos; Clembot throws him out of the Lumiose Gym, and Froakie saves Pikachu (XY001 – Kalos, Where Dreams and Adventures Begin!)
Mega Blaziken saves Ash and Pikachu, and Ash catches Froakie (XY002 – Lumiose City Pursuit!)
Ash registers for the Kalos League and catches Fletchling; James catches Inkay (XY003 – A Battle of Aerial Mobility!)
Serena chooses Fennekin, and Clemont catches Dedenne for Bonnie (XY004 – A Shockingly Cheeky Friendship!)
Ash loses his first Kalos Gym battle to Viola (XY005 – A Blustery Santalune Gym Battle!)
Ash wins the Bug Badge, his first in Kalos (XY006 – Battling on Thin Ice!)
Serena officially joins the group (XY007 – Giving Chase at the Rhyhorn Race!)
Clemont reveals he is the Lumiose Gym Leader and wins back his Gym from Clembot (XY009 – Clemont’s Got a Secret!)
Clemont receives Chespin; Blaziken Mask is revealed to viewers as Meyer (XY010 – Mega-Mega Meowth Madness!)
Jessie catches Pumpkaboo (XY011 – The Bamboozling Forest!)
A Scatterbug evolves into Spewpa and then Vivillon, the series’ first evolution (XY012 – To Catch a Pokémon Smuggler!)
Ash learns about the Fairy type (XY013 – Kindergarten Chaos!)
Froakie learns Double Team (XY017 – A Rush of Ninja Wisdom!)
Ash becomes a Baron at the Battle Chateau; Grant beats Viola (XY020 – Breaking Titles at the Chateau!)
Serena makes her first Pokévision video, and Fennekin learns Flamethrower (XY021 – A Pokévision of Things to Come!)
Ash wins the Cliff Badge, his second (XY025 – Climbing the Walls!)
Serena meets her rival Miette (XY026 – A Battle by Any Other Name!)
The group meet the Champion, Diantha, and see Mega Gardevoir (XY028 – The Bonds of Evolution!)
Korrina beats Ash for her 99th straight win (XY030 – Mega Revelations!)
Korrina obtains the Lucarionite, and Lucario Mega Evolves (XY031 – The Cave of Trials!)
Mega Lucario loses control; Gurkinn sends Korrina to Pomace Mountain (XY032 – The Aura Storm!)
Korrina’s Lucario masters Mega Evolution, and Korrina leaves the group (XY034 – The Bonds of Mega Evolution!)
Ash catches Hawlucha (XY035 – The Forest Champion!)
Ash’s first Sky Battle: Fletchling evolves into Fletchinder (XY036 – Battles in the Sky!)
Froakie learns Cut (XY038 – Forging Forest Friendships!)
The Summer Camp begins, and Serena loses her first battle (XY039 – Summer of Discovery!)
Serena learns about Pokémon Showcases; Team Froakie win the Pokévision showdown (XY040 – Day Three Blockbusters!)
Xerneas appears in the fog (XY041 – Foggy Pokémon Orienteering!)
Team Froakie win the Team Battle and enter the camp’s Hall of Fame (XY042 – Battling into the Hall of Fame!)
Gurkinn tells the story of the first Mega Evolution (XY043 – Origins of Mega Evolution!)
Ash wins the Rumble Badge, his third (XY044 – Showdown at the Shalour Gym!)
Serena catches Pancham and decides to become a Pokémon Performer (XY047 – Dreaming a Performer’s Dream!)
Clemont catches Luxio (XY048 – A Campus Reunion!)
Bonnie joins the Lapras Defense Force in the dub’s season finale (XY049 – Bonnie for the Defense!)

Gym battles & the League

Ash v Clemont, Pikachu v Bunnelby (interrupted by Team Rocket) — XY001
Ash v Viola, Santalune Gym (Ash loses) — XY005
Ash v Viola, Santalune Gym rematch (Bug Badge) — XY006
Clemont v Clembot, Bunnelby v Heliolisk (Clemont wins back his Gym) — XY009
Froakie v Penelope’s Sylveon (Froakie loses) — XY013
Froakie v Chespin and Dedenne v Chespin, a diet battle (Chespin loses both); Chespin, for Carrie and then Clemont, v Wylie’s Delphox (stopped) — XY015
Froakie v Sanpei’s Frogadier (Froakie loses) — XY017
Pikachu v Princess Allie’s Furfrou (Allie forfeits) — XY018
Battle Chateau: Pikachu v Chester’s Fletchling (Ash wins and becomes a Baron); Grant v Viola (Grant wins) — XY020
Ash v Grant, Cyllage Gym (Cliff Badge) — XY025
Diantha v Magnus, exhibition (Diantha wins); Ash v Diantha, Pikachu v Gardevoir (interrupted) — XY028
Ash v Korrina, Pikachu v Lucario (Ash loses) — XY030
Korrina v Gurkinn’s Blaziken, the cave trial (Korrina declared the winner) — XY031
Ash v Korrina, Pikachu v Mega Lucario (stopped); Korrina v Gurkinn, Mega Lucario v Mega Lucario (Gurkinn wins) — XY032
Korrina v Mabel, Mega Lucario v Mega Mawile (Mabel wins) — XY034
Froakie v Hawlucha (Hawlucha wins and joins Ash) — XY035
Sky Battles: Hawlucha v Moria’s Talonflame (Hawlucha loses); Fletchling v Talonflame (Fletchinder wins) — XY036
Froakie v Mirror Serena’s Fennekin (Froakie wins) — XY037
Froakie and Hawlucha v Clemont’s Chespin and Bunnelby, practice Double Battle (stopped) — XY038
Summer Camp practice battles: Serena v Shauna and Ash v Tierno (both lose); Chespin v Trevor’s Charmander — XY039
Summer Camp Team Battle final: Team Froakie v Team Squirtle (Team Froakie win) — XY042
Ash v Korrina, Shalour Gym (Rumble Badge) — XY044
Fennekin v Pancham (Serena wins and catches it) — XY047

Gym Badges won this season

Badge	Gym & Leader	Leader’s Pokémon	Ash’s Pokémon	Result	Episode
Bug Badge	Santalune Gym · Viola	Surskit, Vivillon	Pikachu, Fletchling	Win — two-on-two, at the second attempt. In the first battle (XY005) Surskit freezes the field with Ice Beam and beats Pikachu with Signal Beam, Fletchling’s Razor Wind beats Surskit after it webs the Gym with Sticky Web, and Vivillon’s Psychic and Gust blow Fletchling into the webs for a Solar Beam. After training against Alexa’s Noivern, Pikachu plants its tail in the ice to steady itself and Thunderbolts Surskit; Fletchling lands Steel Wing and Razor Wind before Sleep Powder and Solar Beam beat it; and Pikachu, put to sleep too, wakes itself with Electro Ball, counters Solar Beam and wins with Thunderbolt — Ash’s first Kalos Badge	XY006
Cliff Badge	Cyllage Gym · Grant	Onix, Tyrunt	Froakie, Fletchling, Pikachu	Win — Grant’s two Pokémon, with no substitutions, against as many as Ash likes, on a battlefield at the top of the climbing wall that Ash scales to reach it. Onix’s Flash Cannon and Rock Polish press Froakie until its Rock Tomb lets Froakie leap from rock to rock, climb its Iron Tail and win with Water Pulse; Tyrunt’s Draco Meteor beats Froakie and Crunch and Dragon Tail beat Fletchling; and Pikachu breaks Draco Meteor with Iron Tail, rides the falling rocks, blocks Dragon Tail, knocks a rock into Tyrunt’s jaws and wins with Thunderbolt — the anime’s first two-on-three Gym battle	XY025
Rumble Badge	Shalour Gym · Korrina	Mienfoo, Machoke, Lucario (Mega Lucario)	Hawlucha, Fletchinder, Pikachu	Win — three-on-three at the Tower of Mastery, refereed by Gurkinn, with only Ash allowed to substitute. Hawlucha struggles with Tierno’s rhythmic style until Ash returns to his own and wins with Karate Chop and Flying Press after Mienfoo’s High Jump Kick misses; Fletchinder takes Brick Break and Low Sweep and beats Machoke with a second Flame Charge; Mega Lucario beats Fletchinder with Power-Up Punch and Hawlucha with Bone Rush and Aura Sphere; and Pikachu breaks free of Metal Sound, parries Aura Sphere with Iron Tail and wins with Thunderbolt — Ash’s first official win over a Mega Evolved Pokémon	XY044

The Battle Chateau

The Battle Chateau (XY020), a stately home run by Duke Turner, lets Trainers, called knights, rise through the ranks of nobility — Baron, Viscount, Earl, Marquis, Duke and Grand Duke — by winning battles. Nico’s Fletchinder beats Baron Farrell’s Dusknoir with Flame Charge to make him a Viscount; Grant, caught climbing the Chateau’s historic walls, may not face a mere Baron, so Turner pairs Ash with Nico’s brother, Chester, whose Fletchling’s Agility, Feather Dance and Steel Wing cannot stop Pikachu’s improving Iron Tail and a final Thunderbolt, and Ash becomes a Baron. Grant and Viola, each one win from promotion, then battle: Grant’s Onix overcomes Surskit’s ice, Bubble Beam, Protect and Ice Beam with Rock Tomb, Flash Cannon and Rock Polish, making him a Grand Duke, before Viola reveals that he leads the Cyllage Gym. No VS graphic appears before any of the episode’s battles, a first for the anime.

Pokémon Summer Camp

Professor Sycamore’s week-long Pokémon Summer Camp by the sea (XY039–XY042) splits its campers into teams named after Pokémon — Team Froakie (Ash, Serena, Clemont and Bonnie), Team Squirtle (Tierno, Shauna and Trevor) and Teams Chikorita, Charmander, Fennekin and Bulbasaur — which earn points through the week, the winners entering the camp’s Hall of Fame, where Diantha was once placed. In the no-points practice battles under the first-touch rule Shauna’s Bulbasaur beats Serena’s Fennekin in Serena’s first official battle, Tierno’s Squirtle touches Froakie first to beat Ash and Trevor’s Charmander sets Clemont’s Chespin on fire (XY039). Trevor’s catch of a Wailord wins the fishing contest for Team Squirtle, Team Froakie’s film, storyboarded by Serena, wins the Pokévision showdown ahead of Teams Chikorita and Charmander (XY040), and in the orienteering race both teams lose their chance searching for Bonnie in the fog (XY041). The on-screen points totals contradict the narration more than once, as the episode pages note.

On the last day Team Froakie beat Furfrou, Manectric and Fletchling to reach the Team Battle final and rescue Team Squirtle’s Pokémon from Team Rocket, who had stolen them posing as a health check-up service. In the three-on-three final Squirtle’s Rapid Spin and Bulbasaur’s Razor Leaf hit all three of Team Froakie’s Pokémon and Aqua Tail knocks out Fennekin, but Chespin’s Vine Whip lifts Pikachu out of Solar Beam’s path, Thunderbolt beats Charmander, Electro Ball stops Bulbasaur and a last Thunderbolt defeats Squirtle: Team Froakie enter the Hall of Fame, and under the fireworks Ash asks Tierno to teach him his rhythmic battle style for the Shalour Gym (XY042).

Mega Evolution, the Champion & other battles

The Champion Diantha beats the former Champion Magnus’s Absol in an exhibition with Gardevoir’s Shadow Ball and Moonblast, and her battle with Ash — Gardevoir dodging everything Pikachu throws — is cut short when Team Rocket steal Gardevoir, which she Mega Evolves to break free; she promises Ash a battle once he enters the Kalos League (XY028). In Korrina’s arc Lucario’s Swords Dance, Bone Rush and Power-Up Punch beat Pikachu for her 99th straight win and a tag battle against Team Rocket brings her hundredth (XY030); Gurkinn declares her the winner of his Blaziken’s trial (XY031); her Mega Lucario’s battle with Pikachu is stopped when it loses control, and Gurkinn’s Mega Lucario beats it with Aura Sphere (XY032); and Mabel’s Mega Mawile beats it with Iron Head and Fairy Wind before Korrina learns to control it (XY034).

Ash’s other defeats come from Penelope’s Sylveon, which beats Froakie with Attract and Draining Kiss (XY013), and the ninja Sanpei’s Frogadier, whose Smokescreen and Quick Attack outpace Froakie (XY017); Pikachu beats Princess Allie’s Furfrou, which she forfeits (XY018), Froakie beats Mirror Serena’s Fennekin in the mirror world (XY037) and Hawlucha beats Froakie with Flying Press before joining Ash (XY035). In Kalos Canyon’s first Sky Battle Moria’s Talonflame beats Hawlucha, which can only glide, but Fletchling evolves into Fletchinder mid-battle and wins with Flame Charge (XY036). Off the battlefield Ash rides in Odyssey Village’s Rhyhorn race until Team Rocket disrupt it (XY007), and Serena and Miette both lose the Poké Puff Contest to the Berrybaker children (XY026). The next Gym, Ramos’s in Coumarine City, follows in Season 18.

Movies & Specials Released During the Season

The seventeenth movie, Diancie and the Cocoon of Destruction (破壊の繭とディアンシー, “The Cocoon of Destruction and Diancie”), opened in Japanese cinemas on Saturday 19 July 2014, between The Forest Champion! (XY035) and Battles in the Sky! (XY036), although it is set after Forging Forest Friendships! (XY038), and pocketmonsters.net reported that it debuted in first place at the box office. Directed by Kunihiko Yuyama and shown with the short Pikachu, What’s This Key?, it debuted Diancie and its Mega Evolution, ahead of Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, and the Legendary Xerneas and Yveltal. The Japanese version opens with Mega V and ends with SCANDAL’s “Daybreak Meteor Shower”; the English one opens with the full-length “Pokémon Theme (Version XY)” and ends with “Open My Eyes”. In Japan the season trailed it relentlessly: the first broadcasts of XY019, XY023, XY030 and XY033 to XY039 gave the Holo Caster slot to trailers, quizzes and clips, XY037 to XY041 opened with film clips instead of the opening animation, and players could receive a Darkrai with advance tickets (19 April – 19 July 2014) and Diancie at cinemas (19 July – 30 September 2014). Cartoon Network premiered it on Saturday 8 November 2014, the day of Origins of Mega Evolution! (XY043), when it also opened in Australian and New Zealand cinemas, and it came out on Japanese DVD on 17 December 2014 and US DVD on 17 February 2015.

Diancie and the Cocoon of Destruction poster

Diancie and the Cocoon of DestructionMovie 17 · Japan 19 July 2014 · US TV 8 November 2014 · US DVD 17 February 2015

The sixteenth movie, Genesect and the Legend Awakened, had opened in Japan on 13 July 2013, before the season. Cartoon Network gave it its US premiere on Saturday 19 October 2013 and followed it straight away with the sneak preview of XY001 and XY002, as CITV did in the UK; VIZ Media released it on DVD on 3 December 2013 and it came out in Japan on 18 December. TV Tokyo showed it in the anime’s slot on 17 July 2014, two days before the seventeenth film opened, with Diancie footage and the prologue Diancie—Princess of the Diamond Domain, and its music, with that of the short Eevee & Friends, reaches the TV series in XY043. In the run-up to the US premiere Cartoon Network also showed a digitally remastered Pokémon: The First Movie (4 January 2014) and Mewtwo — Prologue to Awakening (11 January 2014) in the series’ slot.

Two Mega Evolution Specials ran alongside the season. Mega Evolution Special I (ポケットモンスターXY特別編最強メガシンカ～Act I～, “The Strongest Mega Evolution ~Act I~”), written by Atsuhiro Tomioka and directed by Yūji Asada, aired in Japan on 3 April 2014, between XY021 and XY022, and on Cartoon Network on 31 May 2014, between XY019 and XY020; it introduced the Mega Evolution Trainer Alain and his Mega Charizard X, Mairin, Lysandre and 22 Mega Evolutions, first played Mega V over its credits and was the first dubbed special, Pikachu shorts aside, not narrated by Rodger Parsons or Mike Pollock. Mega Evolution Special II followed in Japan on 6 November 2014, a week after XY049, and in English on 7 February 2015. The undubbed Best Wishes special Iris VS Ibuki! The Road to Become a Dragon Master!! (BWS02), in which Iris catches a Gible, aired with XY021 on 27 March 2014, and Pokémon Origins, a four-part retelling of Red and Green, went out on TV Tokyo on 2 October 2013 and on Pokémon TV in the US from 15 November 2013.

Side Stories, Specials & Crossovers

Side-story tie-ins

Japan’s quiz and end segments. Japan replaced Dare da? with the Pokémon Quiz (ポケモンクイズ): a large silhouette, then four small cards — the answer, two look-alikes and a “joker” showing a Team Rocket silhouette — presented each week by a different character, from Ash and his friends to Alexa, Viola, Princess Allie and the narrator. It produced its own firsts: a disguised Pokémon (Inkay as Pikachu, XY029), a Mega Evolution (XY032), an answer not in the episode itself (Ampharos, XY033), humans and the joker card (Team Rocket, XY042) and two Pokémon on one card (Meowstic, XY045). After the credits Professor Oak’s Pokémon Holo Caster presented a Pokémon and a senryū with Oak’s Rotom until XY041, after which Mairin’s Mega Evolution Journal took over ahead of the second Mega Evolution Special, and in XY048 and XY049 Steven Stone explained Primal Reversion for Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire; on first broadcasts the slot often went to the seventeenth movie instead. None of these segments was dubbed, though the Mega Evolution shorts were posted on Pokémon TV.
The Mega Evolution Specials. The row for Mega Evolution Special I in older episode lists is not an episode: the special, in which Alain hunts Mega Stones with his Charizard for Lysandre, aired in Japan between XY021 and XY022 and in the US between XY019 and XY020, and Netflix in Asia counts it as the season’s 49th episode. Its sequel aired in Japan after the finale and in English with Season 18; both are covered under Movies & Specials above.
Companion programming. On 6 October 2013 TV Tokyo replaced Pokémon Smash! with Pokémon Get☆TV, a Sunday show whose hosts included Shōko Nakagawa, the singer of DreamDream; it reran older episodes and carried specials such as a 30 March 2014 Mega Evolution special, a 27 April 2014 rerun of Mega Evolution Special I with a World Championships representative battle and movie specials on 13 and 20 July 2014. TV Tokyo also aired a pre-premiere special, The Road to Kalos, on 10 October 2013 and two XY specials on New Year’s Eve 2013.
Title cards. From Giving Chase at the Rhyhorn Race! (XY007) Japan’s title card focuses on a different character each week — Serena first, then Clemont, Bonnie, Pikachu and, from XY031, Korrina, the first time the card has not focused on a main character — while the English dub nearly always keeps Ash, Bonnie’s card for XY010 being a rare exception. Seeking Shelter from the Storm! (XY014) has no title card at all in Japanese, its title appearing over the background in a horror-film nod; the dub inserts its usual card.

Characters from the games, manga and specials

Pokémon X and Y came out worldwide on 12 October 2013, five days before the premiere, and sold four million copies in their first two days; XY001 and XY002 were the first episodes aired in Japan after the games’ release. The anime takes Mega Evolution (XY002), the Fairy type (XY013) and Sky Battles (XY036) from them, along with Professor Sycamore, Viola, Grant, Korrina, Gurkinn, Diantha, Alexa, Shauna, Tierno and Trevor,. The games’ Lumiose Gym is a quiz modelled on Who’s That Pokémon?, and the Lapras of the finale echoes the gift Lapras on Route 12.
Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, announced on 7 May 2014, came out on 21 November 2014, a month before the US finale; Japan’s last two episodes ended with Steven Stone explaining Primal Groudon and Primal Kyogre, and the first broadcast of XY034 advertised a Mega Diancie event for the games.
Game events that mirror the anime. A Torchic with a Blazikenite was distributed from 12 October 2013, as Mega Blaziken appeared in the premiere; an Inkay was given away when the Pokémon Center Tokyo-Bay opened on 22 November 2013, a month after James caught his (XY003); and the seventeenth movie brought Darkrai with advance tickets and Diancie at cinemas.
Pop-culture nods. Wobbuffet’s costumes include the Mona Lisa, Napoleon and Marie Antoinette (XY008); Penelope drives a Citroën 2CV, a nod to Clemont’s Japanese name, Citron (XY013); the haunted mansion of XY014 has a Hammer-horror atmosphere; James tells Lord Shabboneau he “protests too much”, after Hamlet (XY018); Team Rocket’s fake films send up James Bond, kaiju and Aliens behind an MGM-style Meowth logo, with Meowth as “Spiel-Meowth” (XY021); Diantha’s film in the dub is “My Sweet, Sweet Lady” (XY028); Mirror Clemont’s symbol resembles Metroid’s Screw Attack (XY037); and Serena’s Poliwag flashback parallels the Pokémon Adventures manga (XY007).

Opening & Ending Themes

Pokémon the Series: XY brought a new Japanese opening, its remix and three endings. Yūsuke’s V (Volt) opened XY001 to XY028 and its remix, Mega V, XY029 onwards, both with new animation; J☆Dee’Z sang X Strait Y Scenery (XY001–XY028) and Peace Smile! (XY029–XY046), and Shōko Nakagawa’s DreamDream, a dream of Serena on stage, ended the last three episodes. The XY024 postponement moved the first changeover: Mega V had been due to start in XY028. In English Ben Dixon and The Sad Truth’s “Pokémon Theme (Version XY)”, a new arrangement of the original theme by Ed Goldfarb, opened all 48 episodes, and Goldfarb, the season’s new composer, replaced much of the Japanese background music. As usual, the Japanese themes were never dubbed.

Opening 17 · Boruto (Ｖ（ボルト） V (Volt)) — **Opening 17 · *Boruto* (Ｖ（ボルト） V (Volt))**Yūsuke · XY001–XY028Lyrics by Yūsuke, music by Hirokazu Tanaka, arranged by Chokkaku. The first XY opening shows Ash, Serena, Clemont, Bonnie and Team Rocket with silhouettes of the Gym Leaders, gives away Froakie’s and Fletchling’s captures, Serena’s Fennekin and Clemont’s Bunnelby, Dedenne and Chespin, shows Honedge before its debut and, in one shot, the Palais de l’Isle in Annecy. Sung by Yūsuke (Yūsuke Kamiji), it is, with its *Mega V* remix, the only XY-series opening not sung by Rica Matsumoto; it came out on a CD single with *Jikyū 850-en no Santa Kurōsu* on 4 December 2013 and returns as an insert song in XY036, XY038, XY044 and XY047.

Opening 17 (version 2) · Mega Boruto (メガＶ（メガボルト） Mega V (Mega Volt)) — **Opening 17 (version 2) · *Mega Boruto* (メガＶ（メガボルト） Mega V (Mega Volt))**Yūsuke · XY029–XY049Same credits. First heard over the credits of *Mega Evolution Special I*, the remix arrived with new animation in XY029, adding Diantha, Shauna, Tierno, Trevor, Korrina, Mabel, Gurkinn and a parade of Mega Evolutions and giving away Hawlucha and Fletchinder; from XY045 Serena’s Pancham, Grace and Aria with Braixen take the places of Korrina, Mabel and Gurkinn and their Pokémon. TV Tokyo’s first broadcasts of XY037 to XY041 replaced it with clips from the seventeenth movie, the first time the anime had done so. CD single *Mega V / Sunshine*, 18 June 2014.

Ending · X Kaikyō Y Geshiki (Ｘ海峡Ｙ景色 X Strait Y Scenery) — **Ending · *X Kaikyō Y Geshiki* (Ｘ海峡Ｙ景色 X Strait Y Scenery)**J☆Dee’Z · XY001–XY028Lyrics by Akihito Toda, music and arrangement by Hirokazu Tanaka. Pikachu pulls faces in Ash’s Pokédex, Poké Puffs roll and fly, Pikachu crosses Serena’s Town Map and Dedenne pops out of a Poké Puff in Clemont’s hand; the TV-size lyrics name different Pokémon in different groups of episodes. It replaced *Let’s Join Hands*, also closed the Japanese broadcast of the special BWS02 and is on the album *Pokémon de Odorō with J☆Dee’Z* (23 July 2014).

Ending · Pīsumairu! (ピースマイル！ Peace Smile!) — **Ending · *Pīsumairu!* (ピースマイル！ Peace Smile!)**J☆Dee’Z · XY029–XY046Lyrics by PA-NON, music and arrangement by Hirokazu Tanaka; revealed on 19 May 2014. Pikachu dances with Fennekin, Chespin, Dedenne and Froakie on a floor of macarons and Poké Puffs in front of a screen of stills of the cast. On the same album, *Pokémon de Odorō with J☆Dee’Z* (23 July 2014).

Ending · Doridori (ドリドリ DreamDream) — **Ending · *Doridori* (ドリドリ DreamDream)**Shōko Nakagawa · XY047–XY049Lyrics by Shōko Nakagawa and Yūho Iwasato, music by Kentarō Suzuki, arranged by Katsuhiko Kurosu. Serena performs in several outfits with Fennekin and Pancham before all three are shown asleep — it was her dream of being a Pokémon Performer, matching the goal she sets in XY047. Nakagawa, a host of *Pokémon Get☆TV*, announced it on 24 September 2014; it ran on to XY067 and came out as a CD single on 18 February 2015.

English opening · Pokémon Theme (Version XY) — English opening · *Pokémon Theme (Version XY)*Ben Dixon and The Sad Truth · all 48 episodesLyrics by John Loeffler, music by John Siegler and John Loeffler, arranged by Ed Goldfarb. A new version of the original *Pokémon Theme*, cut from *V (Volt)* footage: Ash, Serena, Clemont and Bonnie on a hill with diagonal split-screen transitions, Team Rocket’s balloon, Quick Attack, Electro Ball and a glimpse of Mega Lucario, ending on the logo with “the Series XY”. It is the first English opening shown in widescreen; an instrumental with different instrumentation runs under the end credits, a full-length version opens the seventeenth movie, and the US DVDs edit some frames. XY024, dubbed in Season 18, uses “Be a Hero” instead.

Japan’s background music leans on the films: music from Kyurem VS. the Sword of Justice from XY001 onwards, from the short Meloetta’s Moonlight Serenade from XY002 (also XY009, XY017, XY027 and XY035), from Arceus and the Jewel of Life (XY015, XY023, XY029, XY030) and Black—Victini and Reshiram (XY020, XY023, XY029, XY031), and, from Origins of Mega Evolution! (XY043), from Genesect and the Legend Awakened and Eevee & Friends; the Black & White title-card cue plays after Diantha’s exhibition (XY028), and V (Volt) returns as an insert song when Fletchling evolves (XY036), in XY038, at the end of the Shalour Gym battle (XY044) and during Fennekin’s battle with Pancham (XY047). The English dub, the first scored by Ed Goldfarb, replaced much of that music: the 19 October 2013 sneak previews of XY001 and XY002 still used all the Japanese background music, a placeholder opening and a shorter Lumiose City cue for the ending, but the January 2014 broadcasts did not, and from A Battle of Aerial Mobility! (XY003) the dub’s own music replaces everything except the title-card cue. How the dub handled the V (Volt) inserts is not recorded in the sources used here.

Pokémon Theme (Version XY) — Ben Dixon and The Sad Truth’s English opening, used for all 48 episodes, in the compilation of Kalos-era themes that Bulbapedia’s page for the song embeds. Video: The Official Pokémon YouTube channel.

TV Broadcasts & Original Airing Dates

Japan. TV Tokyo broadcast the season on Thursday evenings at 7 p.m. After Pokémon Origins on 2 October 2013 and a pre-premiere special on 10 October, Kalos, Where Dreams and Adventures Begin! and Lumiose City Pursuit! opened Pocket Monsters XY as a one-hour special on 17 October 2013, five days after the games, drawing 5.3% in the Kantō region according to Japanese Wikipedia. There was no new episode on 26 December 2013, 2 and 23 January, 6 March, 1 May, 26 June and 11 September 2014, for reasons the sources do not give. A Pokévision of Things to Come! (XY021) shared a one-hour slot with the Best Wishes special BWS02 on 27 March 2014, Mega Evolution Special I took the slot on 3 April, XY029 and XY030 aired together on 29 May, and on 17 July the slot showed Genesect and the Legend Awakened with the Diancie prologue, two days before the seventeenth movie opened. The season ended with Bonnie for the Defense! on 30 October 2014; Mega Evolution Special II followed on 6 November and XY050 on 13 November.

The missing XY024. An Undersea Place to Call Home!, in which the group explore a sunken liner on the Muraille Coast, was due on 24 April 2014. After the ferry Sewol sank off South Korea on 16 April it was pulled — Japanese Wikipedia says only that it was postponed, the timing suggesting the link that Bulbapedia states — and every later episode moved up: Climbing the Walls! (XY025) aired on 24 April instead of 8 May, XY026 to XY028 a week early, and the one-hour special planned for XY028 and XY029 on 29 May became XY029 and XY030. It finally aired on 20 November 2014, between XY050 and XY051, unedited, so Fletchinder is still a Fletchling and Ash is still on his way to Grant; it may have been shown in South Korea in August 2014, which would make it the first main-series episode to premiere outside Japan. In English it was left out of Season 17 and premiered on Cartoon Network on 7 February 2015, after XY051, in Season 18.

The US run. Cartoon Network showed XY001 and XY002 as a sneak preview on Saturday 19 October 2013, two days after Japan, straight after its premiere of Genesect and the Legend Awakened, with the Japanese background music, a placeholder opening and a shorter ending cue. After a remastered Pokémon: The First Movie (4 January 2014) and Mewtwo — Prologue to Awakening (11 January) in the same slot, the series premiered at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday 18 January 2014 with XY001; XY002 followed on 25 January (the S17 page’s lead says both aired on 18 January, against the episode page and Wikipedia). New episodes then aired every Saturday in Japanese order until Bonnie for the Defense! on 20 December 2014, with Mega Evolution Special I in the slot on 31 May, between XY019 and XY020, and Origins of Mega Evolution! (XY043) on 8 November, the day the channel premiered Diancie and the Cocoon of Destruction and only 51 days after Japan, the shortest gap recorded for a regular US airing. No US viewing figures have been found.

Elsewhere. The UK, Spain, Germany, Italy and France had their own sneak previews the same weekend, the UK’s on CITV alongside the sixteenth movie; CITV began the season properly on 5 April 2014 and ran ahead of the US with weekend double bills from XY021, showing XY025 on 22 June, 13 days early, and XY029 on 6 July, 41 days after Japan. Canada’s YTV previewed the premiere on 7 December 2013 and began the season on 15 February 2014 at noon. In Australia it went out on Toasted TV on Eleven, which showed the finale on 15 December 2014, five days before the US. Italy’s K2 aired XY018 to XY020 on 15, 16 and 19 May 2014, ahead of the US; Latin America skipped Going for the Gold! (XY022) when a Cartoon Network special took its slot; India’s Hungama TV skipped XY019 and XY020 and many title cards in its first run; Hong Kong began the XY anime in July 2014; and the season brought the dubbed series back to Israel after about six years.

The numbering. The dub’s season has 48 episodes, numbered 1 to 48 on TV, DVD and streaming, with Bulbapedia codes XY001 to XY049 skipping XY024 and alternate overall codes EP800 to EP848. English Wikipedia numbers the season 802–849 in Japan and 796–843 in English, the English count this site uses. Japan’s own broadcast numbering diverges after XY023 — Climbing the Walls! is its episode 24 and XY024 its episode 50 — so Japanese sources date the theme changes one episode earlier than Bulbapedia’s codes, and Dogasu’s Backpack, which also counts the two Mega Evolution Specials, numbers the dub’s season 1701 to 1748.

Dub Edits

Changes in the English version

Nothing banned — one episode deferred. All 48 episodes were dubbed by The Pokémon Company International at DuArt and shown on Cartoon Network in Japanese order, with nothing cut from the run. The exception is An Undersea Place to Call Home! (XY024), postponed in Japan after the Sewol ferry disaster: it was skipped in English broadcasts, its title briefly appeared on Turner’s press site before being replaced by Climbing the Walls!, and when it aired in Season 18 its narrator spoke entirely in the past tense to signal that it belonged earlier in the story. Dogasu’s Backpack lists every XY episode of the season without a comparison page, so the changes below come from the “Dub edits”, “Errors” and “Trivia” sections of Bulbapedia’s episode pages.

Who’s That Pokémon? and the Pokémon Quiz. The dub kept its own quiz while Japan introduced the Pokémon Quiz, and the two show different Pokémon in 13 episodes: Spritzee against Fletchling (XY001), Fletchling against Inkay (XY003), Noivern against Helioptile (XY006), Heliolisk against Bunnelby (XY009), Scatterbug against Spewpa (XY012), Bunnelby against Pumpkaboo (XY021), Wigglytuff against Mega Lucario (XY032), Noibat against Ampharos (XY033), Meowth against the whole of Team Rocket (XY042), Pumpkaboo against Fletchinder (XY043), Mienfoo against Machoke (XY044), a female Meowstic against both Meowstic (XY045) and Salamence against Wigglytuff (XY046). From XY004 the dub’s segment no longer leads into or out of a commercial break, possibly because Cartoon Network ran Mixels shorts there.

Music and the previews. Ed Goldfarb, the season’s new dub composer, replaced much of the Japanese score. The October 2013 sneak previews of XY001 and XY002 still used all the original background music, a placeholder opening and a shorter ending cue; before the January 2014 broadcasts several of XY001’s lines were re-recorded and Clembot’s voice changed, and Ash’s line to Froakie at the end of XY002, first heard without lip movement, was redone. From XY003 dub music replaces everything except the title-card cue.

Title cards and visuals. The English title card stays on Ash even when the Japanese one focuses on Serena, Clemont, Bonnie, Pikachu or Korrina — “the start of a regular pattern” from XY007, with Bonnie’s card for XY010 a rare exception — and XY014, which has no title card in Japanese, gets the usual one. The US versions of XY001 to XY003 drop the “To Be Continued” caption, which the UK version keeps; XY003 colours the logo on Ash’s new Badge case, a change not carried over in XY006; and XY044 removes the kanji 命爆発 shown during Korrina’s Mega Evolution poses, a line from the games, in favour of close-ups.

Dialogue, names and slips. Talk of death is softened: Thaddeus’s warning that Amaura’s life is at risk becomes “in big trouble” (XY023), and in the finale Ash’s warning that leaving Lapras would let it die becomes “Lapras is going downhill fast” while Clemont would “rather not think about it” (XY049). Ash calls Froakie male, embarrassed by Attract (XY013); Serena’s explanation of a female ninja, a kunoichi, goes (XY017); Ash’s Piplup “sometimes got carried away” in Japanese but is “something else” in English (XY022); Shauna’s remark that Showcases are for girls only is removed (XY040), and Netflix, UK airings and Disney XD On Demand call them the “Pokétacular”; Sycamore’s ruling that Bulbasaur is unable to battle is cut, though it survives in the closed captions (XY042); and Bonnie’s carrots and Clemont’s peas become plain “vegetables” to fit the mouth movements (XY045). Satoshi, Citron, Eureka, Platane, Pansy, Biora, Zakuro, Corni, Konkonburu, Limone, Carne, Sana, Toroba, Millefeui, Saki, Elle and Maple become Ash, Clemont, Bonnie, Sycamore, Alexa, Viola, Grant, Korrina, Gurkinn, Meyer, Diantha, Shauna, Trevor, Miette, Grace, Aria and Mabel, and Miare, Hakudan, Shōyō and Shara become Lumiose, Santalune, Cyllage and Shalour. Slips include static on Grace’s “usual” (XY001), Kayzie Rogers’s first name misspelt in the credits (XY003), a silent line from Ash (XY011), Pokémon TV’s captions crediting Ash’s words to “Red” (XY022), Absol’s Japanese voice left in (XY028), Cartoon Network listing XY023 as “Coming Back for the Gold!” and Netflix’s description of XY009 calling Clembot “Citroid”.

Episode titles explained

Several of this season’s English titles play on familiar phrases, films and books:

Battling on Thin Ice! — “skating on thin ice”, for a Gym rematch on Surskit’s frozen battlefield
To Catch a Pokémon Smuggler! — Alfred Hitchcock’s To Catch a Thief, as the earlier To Catch a Rotom! did
A Pokévision of Things to Come! — H. G. Wells’s The Shape of Things to Come, a pattern also used for episodes of the Diamond and Pearl and Sun & Moon series
A Battle by Any Other Name! — Juliet’s “a rose by any other name” from Romeo and Juliet, which the Sinnoh motto also paraphrases
Heroes – Friends and Faux Alike! — “friend and foe alike”, after the original series’ Friend and Foe Alike (EP079), with “faux” for Team Rocket’s fake heroes
Splitting Heirs! — “splitting hairs”, for two brothers squabbling over an inheritance
The Bonds of Mega Evolution! — the season’s own The Bonds of Evolution! (XY028)
The Bamboozling Forest! — bamboo and “bamboozle”, for a bamboo forest where two Pancham trick everyone
Going for the Gold! — the sporting phrase, for the hunt for a golden Magikarp
Awakening the Sleeping Giant! — the idiom “wake a sleeping giant”, for a snoring Snorlax
Day Three Blockbusters! — film blockbusters, for the Summer Camp’s Pokévision day

DVD & Blu-ray / Streaming

Pokémon the Series: XY came out in North America from VIZ Media, distributed by Warner Home Video, as two three-disc sets in 2015 and 2016, standard definition only, followed by a six-disc Complete Season in 2024; Australia and New Zealand got two Collections from Beyond Home Entertainment, the first of them while the US run was still on, then a six-disc DigiPack and a slimline repack. XY024 is on none of them, as it belongs to Season 18. No UK DVD release of the season has been found.

North America (Region 1)

Release	Date	Contents
Pokémon the Series: XY Set 1 (VIZ Media, 3 discs, UPC 782009243816)	4 August 2015	24 episodes: XY001–XY008, XY009–XY016 and XY017–XY023 with XY025; announced on 24 April 2015 as the series’ first Region 1 release
Set 2 (3 discs)	19 January 2016	XY026–XY033, XY034–XY041 and XY042–XY049
Pokémon the Series: XY Complete Season (6 DVDs, 3000097427)	11 June 2024	All 48 episodes in 16:9

Australia & New Zealand (Region 4)

Release	Date	Notes
Pokémon the Series: XY – Collection 1 (3 discs, BHE5509)	3 December 2014 (Australia and New Zealand)	XY001–XY007, XY008–XY015 and XY016–XY023, released during the US run; no English captions
Collection 2 (3 discs, BHE5510)	2 February 2015 (New Zealand 18 February 2015)	XY025–XY045 only; reissued before the end of March 2015 as BHE6242 with all 25 episodes (XY025–XY049), and first copies could be exchanged
Pokémon Season 17 DigiPack (6 discs, BHE6106)	3 June 2015 (New Zealand 10 June 2015)	Discs 17.1–17.6 themed on Chespin, Fennekin, Froakie, Dedenne, Fletchinder and Hawlucha; JB Hi-Fi 20th-anniversary reissue on 14 July (online) and 21 September 2016
Slimline repack (BHE6107)	18 August 2015	The six-disc set repackaged
Sample disc (BHE5867)	2014	Three episodes
Multi-season sets	—	The season is also in the Seasons 1–19 Deluxe, 1–20 Ultra and 1–21 Mega box sets

Japan

In Japan the episodes went out on DVD volumes of Pocket Monsters XY — Vol. 1 on 26 March 2014, Vols. 2–3 on 23 April, 4 on 21 May, 5–6 on 25 June, 7 on 23 July, 8–9 on 27 August, 10 on 24 September, 11 on 22 October and 12 on 26 November 2014; which episodes each volume holds has not been confirmed. Pokémon Origins came out on DVD and Blu-ray on 4 December 2013, the sixteenth movie on 18 December 2013, a Pokémon Get☆TV special DVD on 12 July 2014 and the seventeenth movie on 17 December 2014.

Streaming

Netflix added the season, with the seventeenth movie, on 1 February 2016; What’s on Netflix recorded Pokémon the Series: XY leaving the service on 4 April 2025 and returning on 1 June 2025, where available. The season was also sold in HD on iTunes, and Pokémon TV carried it for a time before rotating it out; that service stopped new viewing on 8 January 2024 and closed on 28 March 2024. In the UK it has been on ITVX after CITV airings and on BBC iPlayer since 1 November 2023. The Pokémon TV channel on YouTube, launched in December 2024, carries only Seasons 1 to 11 so far (as of October 2026). Check your local service, as availability changes often.

Covers

Pokémon the Series: XY Set 1 (Region 1, 2015)

Pokémon the Series: XY Set 2 (Region 1, 2016)

Where to Watch & Buy

Availability changes constantly, so treat this as a snapshot (October 2026) and check your local service. Links will be added here once we have settled on referral partners.

NetflixHas carried Pokémon the Series: XY since 1 February 2016, availability varying by region, with a break from April to June 2025.
BBC iPlayer (UK)Has carried the series since 1 November 2023.
DVD – North AmericaPokémon the Series: XY Complete Season (VIZ Media, 6 discs, 2024) has all 48 episodes in one case.
DVD – Australia & New ZealandThe Season 17 DigiPack and its slimline repack, and several multi-season box sets.
Not on Pokémon TVThe Pokémon TV channel on YouTube carries only Seasons 1–11 (as of October 2026), and the Pokémon TV service closed in March 2024.

Trading Cards Released During the Season

Pokémon the Series: XY aired in the US as the trading card game entered its own XY era, and four expansions came out during the Cartoon Network run:

XY — 5 February 2014 — between A Battle of Aerial Mobility! (XY003) and A Shockingly Cheeky Friendship! (XY004), the first XY-era expansion, with 146 cards from Japan’s Collection X and Collection Y: the Chespin, Fennekin and Froakie lines, Fletchling, Fletchinder and Talonflame, Scatterbug, Spewpa and Vivillon, Inkay and Malamar, Pumpkaboo, Trevenant, Slurpuff, Bunnelby, Furfrou, Xerneas and Yveltal, and Trainer cards for Professor Sycamore and Shauna
Flashfire — 7 May 2014 — between A Jolting Switcheroo! (XY016) and A Rush of Ninja Wisdom! (XY017), with 109 cards from Wild Blaze and the M Charizard-EX Mega Battle Deck: Charizard-EX and M Charizard-EX, Fletchling and Fletchinder, Litleo and Pyroar, Skrelp and Dragalge, Spritzee, Furfrou and the Trainer card Lysandre
Furious Fists — 13 August 2014 — between Mega Revelations! (XY030) and The Cave of Trials! (XY031), with 113 cards from Rising Fist: Lucario-EX and M Lucario-EX, Hawlucha and Hawlucha-EX, Pancham and Pangoro, Tyrunt and Tyrantrum, Amaura and Aurorus, Dedenne, Machoke, Mienfoo, Sylveon and a Trainer card for Korrina
Phantom Forces — 5 November 2014 — between Battling into the Hall of Fame! (XY042) and Origins of Mega Evolution! (XY043), with 122 cards from Phantom Gate: Manectric-EX and Gengar-EX with their Mega forms, Malamar-EX, Florges-EX, Pumpkaboo and Gourgeist, Dedenne, Diancie and Trainer cards for Professor Sycamore, Shauna and Tierno

In Japan the cards had come out months earlier: XY is the English version of Collection X and Collection Y (13 December 2013), Flashfire of Wild Blaze (15 March 2014), Furious Fists of Rising Fist (14 June 2014) and Phantom Forces of Phantom Gate (13 September 2014). Legendary Treasures (6 November 2013), the last Black & White-era expansion, and the 39-card Kalos Starter Set (8 November 2013), with half decks built around Chespin, Fennekin and Froakie, came out between the sneak preview and the regular run, and Primal Clash followed in 2015.

Our TCG section has a full card list, print variations and the most valuable cards for every one of them.

Cards with a link to the season

Three cards from those sets follow Ash’s new Kalos team:

Firsts & Lasts

First season set in the Kalos region, and the first with a companion who already knew Ash: Serena (XY007).
First new-region premiere without the regional Professor, the first with Ash’s male companion in the first episode and the first in which Pikachu is not injured (XY001).
First Mega Evolution in a regular TV episode, Mega Blaziken (XY001), and the first Key Stone and Mega Stone outside the specials (XY028).
First time a region’s first partner Pokémon was Ash’s first new Pokémon there: Froakie (XY002).
First episode of the anime with no title card (XY014).
First Sky Battle (XY036), and the only time one of Ash’s Pokémon changed type by evolving: Fletchinder.
First two-on-three Gym battle (XY025), and Ash’s first official battle against a Mega Evolved Pokémon (XY044).
First Pokémon Quiz in Japan, the first with a Mega Evolution (XY032) and the first guessing eyecatch with humans since EP161 (XY042).
First Shiny Pokémon of the XY series and the first returning Shiny species: the Golden Magikarp (XY022).
First lesson in the Fairy type for Ash, from Penelope’s Sylveon (XY013), and the first Fairy shown unaffected by a Dragon move (XY046).
First time the opening was replaced by movie clips (XY037).
First English opening shown in widescreen, and the first season scored for the dub by Ed Goldfarb.
First time The Pokémon Company International had dubbed more episodes than 4Kids (XY040).
Last Normal-type catch for Ash and his last catch of a Pokémon that did not join willingly: Fletchling (XY003).

Trivia & Facts

A season missing its 24th episode. An Undersea Place to Call Home! (XY024) was pulled from TV Tokyo’s schedule after the Sewol ferry disaster of 16 April 2014, aired in Japan seven months later as its 50th broadcast episode and was dubbed into Season 18 — the second series running in which an episode numbered 24 was lost, after Black & White’s never-aired original BW024.
Two days behind Japan. XY001 and XY002 aired in the US, the UK, Spain, Germany, Italy and France as sneak previews on the weekend of 19 October 2013, two days after Japan — tying the shortest gap ever, though as previews they did not count against BW134’s record; later the UK (XY029, 41 days) and the US (XY043, 51 days) set records for regular airings.
Mega Evolution arrives. Mega Blaziken appears in the premiere, Sycamore explains the phenomenon in XY002, Diantha’s Mega Gardevoir brings the first Key Stone and Mega Stone outside the specials (XY028), and Korrina’s five-part arc (XY030–XY034) is built around Mega Lucario; Kanata Hongō later picked The Aura Storm! (XY032) for Pocket Monsters Premier 10.
A new Japanese eyecatch. The Pokémon Quiz, with a guest presenter each week and a Team Rocket joker card, replaced Dare da? in Japan, while the dub kept Who’s That Pokémon?, so the two answers differ 13 times; XY042’s answer, Team Rocket, made it the first such quiz with humans since EP161.
Serena, the old friend. She is the first companion who already knew Ash, the first he invited to travel with him, the slowest to join (XY007) and the slowest to make her first catch, Pancham, 43 episodes after becoming a Trainer (XY047); the gap was two episodes for Ash, 13 for May and eight for Dawn.

Serena finally catches up with Ash in Giving Chase at the Rhyhorn Race! (XY007) — the first companion who knew him before the journey began, the first he invited along, and the slowest to join and to make her first catch. Screenshot: Pokémon anime, XY007 “Giving Chase at the Rhyhorn Race!” · via Bulbapedia
A Gym Leader in the party. Clemont, the Lumiose Gym Leader, travels with Ash after his own robot locks him out of his Gym (XY009), becomes the group’s cook as Brock and Cilan were (XY015), and turns out to be the son of Blaziken Mask (XY010).
Firsts in the premiere. XY001 is the first new-region premiere without the regional Professor, the first in which Ash’s male companion appears in the first episode, the first in which Pikachu is not injured — Froakie takes the hit — and the first without a Legendary Pokémon.
New types and new battles. Ash meets the Fairy type through Penelope’s Sylveon (XY013), and Nurse Joy’s Wigglytuff is the first Fairy shown shrugging off a Dragon move (XY046); XY036 is the anime’s first Sky Battle, and Fletchinder the only one of Ash’s Pokémon to change type by evolving.
No title card. Seeking Shelter from the Storm! (XY014) is the first episode of the anime with no title card, only its title over the background; the dub added one.
Overtaking 4Kids. With Summer of Discovery! (XY039) The Pokémon Company International’s count of dubbed regular episodes reached 415, equal to 4Kids’ total without Holiday Hi-Jynx and Snow Way Out!; with XY040 it passed it.
Long-awaited catches. Hawlucha is Ash’s first single-stage catch since Torkoal, 502 episodes earlier, and Fletchinder his first Fire type outside the first partners since Torkoal; Froakie is the first time a region’s first partner was Ash’s first new Pokémon there.
An opening replaced by a trailer. On their first broadcasts XY037 to XY041 opened with clips from the seventeenth movie instead of the opening animation — the first time the anime had done this.
A new dub composer. Pokémon the Series: XY is the first season scored for the dub by Ed Goldfarb, who also arranged its opening; the October 2013 previews kept the Japanese music, and the official broadcasts replaced much of it.
Nobility and a Hall of Fame. Ash becomes a Baron at the Battle Chateau (XY020) and his team enters the Summer Camp’s Hall of Fame (XY042), where Diantha was once placed.
A golden return. The Golden Magikarp of Going for the Gold! (XY022) is the XY series’ first Shiny Pokémon and the first time a Shiny species seen before returned; the same episode brings back Team Rocket’s Magikarp submarine after more than 150 episodes.

The Golden Magikarp of Going for the Gold! (XY022) — the XY series’ first Shiny Pokémon, the first return of a Shiny species seen before, and the episode that resurfaces Team Rocket’s Magikarp submarine. Screenshot: Pokémon anime, XY022 “Going for the Gold!” · via Bulbapedia
Specials in the gaps. Mega Evolution Special I aired in Japan between XY021 and XY022 but in the US between XY019 and XY020, and Netflix in Asia counts it as the season’s 49th episode.
Game timing. The season began five days after Pokémon X and Y came out, and its last two Japanese episodes promoted Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire with Steven Stone’s Primal Reversion segments.
Old faces. The premiere alone brought back Kingdra after 546 episodes, along with Seaking, Seadra and Smeargle; later returns include Clamperl after 373 episodes (XY022), Makuhita (XY026), Drifblim and Sneasel (XY041) and Machoke (XY044).
Back on the air abroad. The season returned the dubbed series to Israel after about six years, and in the UK Disney XD carried the series up to this season, after which CITV became the exclusive home of new episodes.
Games and cards. The trading card expansions released during the US run were XY, Flashfire, Furious Fists and Phantom Forces, from the Kalos first partners and Mega Evolution-EX cards to Supporters for Professor Sycamore, Shauna, Korrina and Tierno — see our TCG section.

Reception

Ratings. No viewing figures for the US run have been found. In Japan the only figure for the season is the premiere’s: according to Japanese Wikipedia, the one-hour opening of XY001 and XY002 on 17 October 2013 drew 5.3% in the Kantō region. Diancie and the Cocoon of Destruction opened in first place at the Japanese box office in July 2014, and Pokémon X and Y, which the season launched alongside, sold four million copies in two days and twelve million by April 2014.

Fan scores. MyAnimeList rates Pokémon XY, its entry for all 93 Japanese XY episodes, at 7.49 from about 123,000 users (October 2026), well above the 6.48 of the first Best Wishes! season. Bulbapedia records one notable pick: Kanata Hongō chose The Aura Storm! (XY032) for Pocket Monsters Premier 10, one of only two episodes in that selection from outside the original series. IMDb’s episode ratings could not be checked for this page.

Commentary. Anime News Network’s Shelf Life column reviewed Pokémon the Series: XY – Set 1 in August 2015, but its text could not be read for this page, and no other reviews of the episodes or the DVDs have been found. Dogasu’s Backpack has no comparisons for the season, so fan discussion lives mainly in the Bulbagarden Forums’ episode threads; the season won no known awards.

Continue the journey with Season 18: Pokémon the Series: XY Kalos Quest, go back to Season 16: Pokémon BW Adventures in Unova and Beyond, or browse every season of the Pokémon anime.