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| Season | Pokémon the Series: XY Kalos Quest (Season 18) · Rivals, ninjas & a postponed voyage arc (XY050–XY054) |
| Episode | Season 18, episode 1 · English episode 844 · Japanese episode 850 · Bulbapedia code XY050 |
| English title | Pathways to Performance Partnering! |
| Japanese title | 踊れヤンチャム、魅せろフォッコ！明日へのステップ！！ Odore Yanchamu, Misero Fokko! Ashita e no Suteppu!! — “Dance, Yancham — Captivate, Fokko! The Dance for Tomorrow!!” |
| First aired (Japan) | 13 November 2014 · TV Tokyo |
| First aired (US) | 7 February 2015 · Cartoon Network |
| Screenplay | Yukiyoshi Ōhashi |
| Opening / ending (Japan) | Mega V (Mega Volt) – Yūsuke · Doridori (DreamDream) – Shōko Nakagawa |
| English opening | Be a Hero – Ben Dixon and The Sad Truth |
| Who’s That Pokémon? | Smoochum (US) |
| Next episode | When Light and Dark Collide! (XY051) |
Plot episodeNini debutsPancham and Chespin team up
Pathways to Performance Partnering! is the 1st episode of Pokémon the Series: XY Kalos Quest, the eighteenth season of the Pokémon anime, and the 844th episode of the English dub overall (Japanese episode 850, Bulbapedia code XY050). It first aired in Japan on 13 November 2014 and in the United States on 7 February 2015. It falls within the season’s Rivals, ninjas & a postponed voyage stretch (EP50–EP54).
Premiered on Cartoon Network at 8:00 a.m. ET on Saturday 7 February 2015 and was shown again at 2:30 p.m. in that afternoon’s four-hour marathon, which also reran Diancie and the Cocoon of Destruction and Mega Evolution Special I and premiered Mega Evolution Special II, XY051 and XY024. Portugal reportedly skipped it in its first run and aired it later in reruns.
Synopsis
Serena meets Nini, a fellow Pokémon Performer preparing for her Showcase debut, and her bickering Pancham and Clemont’s Chespin must team up to rescue the group’s Pokémon from Team Rocket. The trouble starts at lunch: Serena returns with a basket of Poké Puffs to find that Clemont has eaten nearly all of them, and Pancham and Chespin start a squabble that spreads until they crash into a passing Trainer and her Pokémon. Nini scolds both Pokémon for their manners and makes their Trainers apologise, then explains that she is rehearsing for the same Showcase Serena hopes to enter. She asks for an honest opinion of her routine, in which Smoochum’s spinning Powder Snow ices the field, Farfetch’d soars through the snowfall and splits Smoochum’s Heart Stamp into a shower of hearts with Fury Cutter. Serena suggests tighter choreography and Ash a flashier Heart Stamp, and Nini takes notes before asking to see Serena’s act.
Serena is not quite ready, and before she can begin Chespin kicks Pancham and another brawl breaks out, because Chespin wants to perform too. Clemont unveils a dancing robot partner for Chespin, but it hurls Chespin around and explodes when he cannot find the off switch. Serena then opens with Fennekin’s Flamethrower while Pancham spins dangerously through the flames, finishing with a fireworks burst of Flamethrower and Dark Pulse. Nini and Clemont agree that Pancham’s acrobatics clash with Fennekin’s style. Smoochum has fallen for Pancham, and when the two dance together Nini offers to trade for it, but Serena refuses: Pancham was her first catch and will be her performance partner. Watching from a distance, Jessie decides to steal Smoochum to win the Showcase herself.
Team Rocket return disguised as a famous choreographer, La Grande Dame Brûlée, and James inflates a “practice space” balloon that turns out to be a trap. Serena sees through the act, Team Rocket fly off with the Pokémon behind a smoke bomb, and Ash sends Fletchinder to follow. The balloon comes down in a forest, where Inkay’s Psybeam and Pumpkaboo’s Shadow Ball knock out Smoochum, Farfetch’d and Fennekin, leaving only the rivals standing. Remembering their Trainers’ words, Chespin and Pancham finally cooperate: Pancham’s Dark Pulse blocks Psybeam, Chespin’s Vine Whip counters Leech Seed, and after the Trainers arrive a Dark Pulse and Pin Missile combination defeats Inkay and Pumpkaboo before Pikachu’s Thunderbolt blasts Team Rocket off. That evening Nini sets out again, and she and Serena part as friendly rivals who will meet at a future Showcase.
Major Events
- Serena meets Nini. The Performer Nini critiques Serena’s routine and rehearses her own with Smoochum and Farfetch’d
- Pancham and Chespin squabble, then team up to beat Inkay and Pumpkaboo
- Team Rocket pose as the choreographer La Grande Dame Brûlée
- Serena reads the title card, the first non-Ash reader kept in an XY dub
- The last Japanese episode before Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire
- Debut of Nini
Trivia
- The screenplay is by Yukiyoshi Ōhashi.
- This is a plot episode: it advances the Kalos storyline.
Changes in the English Dub
- Serena reads the title card, which the dub keeps: the first time an XY dub keeps a reader other than Ash
- Debut of the English opening Be a Hero (Ben Dixon and The Sad Truth); the Japanese Mega V and DreamDream continue
Part of our Pokémon the Series: XY Kalos Quest guide. Browse every season of the Pokémon anime.