Pokémon the Series: XYZ (S19)


Season	Season 19 of the English dub · the third and last season of Pokémon the Series: XY, covering Japan’s Pocket Monsters XY&Z (XY094–XY140) and the special XYS05
Series	XY series (ポケットモンスター XY&Z Pocket Monsters XY&Z in Japan, the continuation of Pocket Monsters XY), dubbed as Pokémon the Series: XY
Region	Kalos — from the road to Snowbelle City by way of the Ninja Village, Couriway Town, Terminus Cave, Fleurrh City and the Master Class in Gloire City to Snowbelle, then Lumiose City for the Kalos League and Team Flare’s attack; the finale ends in Pallet Town
Episodes	48 on TV and on video — XY094–XY140 and the special The Legend of X, Y, and Z! (XYS05), the season finale
First episode	From A to Z! (XY094) · Japan 29 October 2015 · US 20 February 2016
Last episode	The Legend of X, Y, and Z! (XYS05) · Japan 3 November 2016 · US 28 January 2017 — the last regular episode is Till We Compete Again! (XY140; Japan 27 October 2016, US 21 January 2017)
Japanese opening theme	XY&Z (エックスワイアンドゼット) – Satoshi (Rica Matsumoto) (every episode)
Japanese ending themes	Puni-chan no Uta (プニちゃんのうた Puni-chan’s Song) – Eureka (Mariya Ise) (most episodes) · one-off endings: Team Rocket’s Team Song (XY107), DreamDream (Serena Ver.) (XY113, XY138), Kirakira (Clemont ver.) (XY124, XY137), Pikachu’s Song (XY129–XY131), Meowth’s Ballad (XY135, XY136, XY139) and V (Volt) (XY140)
English opening theme	Stand Tall – Ben Dixon and The Sad Truth (all 48 episodes; its instrumental is the English ending theme)
Travelling companions	Ash Ketchum & Pikachu, Serena, Clemont and Bonnie, with Squishy in Bonnie’s bag (XY094–XY136); Alain and Mairin join the story from the Kalos League
Badges won	Iceberg Badge (Snowbelle Gym, XY122, after a loss in XY120) — Ash’s eighth and last Kalos Badge
Other events	Lumiose Conference (XY125–XY131): Ash runner-up to Alain, his first League final · Serena’s third Princess Key (XY109) and the Master Class final (XY113) · Team Flare’s attack on Kalos (XY131–XY136)
Related movies	Volcanion and the Mechanical Marvel (Japan 16 July 2016, between XY126 and XY127 · US TV, on Disney XD, 5 December 2016) · Hoopa and the Clash of Ages (US DVD 8 March 2016)
Previous season	Season 18: Pokémon the Series: XY Kalos Quest
Following season	Season 20: Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon

Pokémon the Series: XYZ is the nineteenth season of the English-language Pokémon anime and the third and last of the XY series, set in the Kalos region. It covers Japan’s Pocket Monsters XY&Z, episodes XY094 to XY140, broadcast by TV Tokyo from 29 October 2015 to 27 October 2016, and closes with the special The Legend of X, Y, and Z! (XYS05), which Bulbapedia, the US broadcast and every DVD release count as the season’s 48th episode — the first special included in a dubbed season. Cartoon Network premiered it on Saturday 20 February 2016 with From A to Z! and ran it on Saturday mornings, in production order and with nothing banned or skipped, until Till We Compete Again! on 21 January 2017 and the special a week later. It was the last Pokémon season on Cartoon Network: in November 2016 Disney XD became the anime’s new US home, premiering the nineteenth movie while XYZ was still on the air.

With seven Kalos Badges, Ash heads for Snowbelle City, and on the way Bonnie adopts a little green creature she names Squishy — a Zygarde Core hunted by the scientists of Team Flare. In the hidden Ninja Village Frogadier evolves into Greninja and, through the Bond Phenomenon, takes on a form that resembles Ash himself. That power loses to Alain’s Mega Charizard X at their first meeting and costs Ash his first battle with the Gym Leader Wulfric, but after a night in the Winding Woods Trainer and Pokémon fight as one, win the Iceberg Badge and carry Ash past Sawyer to the final of the Lumiose Conference — his first League final — where Alain beats him. Noibat evolves into Noivern, Goodra returns for the Conference, and Ash flies home with Pikachu, Talonflame, Hawlucha and Noivern after leaving Greninja behind to help Zygarde protect Kalos.

Serena’s Eevee evolves into Sylveon, and she wins her third Princess Key and reaches the Master Class final, where Aria keeps her crown; turning down the former Kalos Queen Palermo’s offer of coaching, she leaves for Hoenn’s Pokémon Contests with a kiss for Ash at the airport. The last act belongs to Team Flare: Lysandre unleashes the captured Zygarde Z2 on Lumiose City, Alain turns against him, Clemont sacrifices Clembot to free Z2, all eight Kalos Gym Leaders defend the Anistar Sundial, and Squishy and Z2 merge into Zygarde Complete Forme to destroy the Giant Rock. Our complete episode guide below has a synopsis, both titles and the air dates for all 48 episodes.

48episodes — XY094 to XY140 plus the special The Legend of X, Y, and Z! (XYS05)
8Kalos Badges for Ash — the Iceberg Badge (XY122) fills his case
2ndplace for Ash in the Lumiose Conference, his first League final
3Princess Keys for Serena by XY109, taking her to the Master Class
5episodes in the Team Flare arc, XY132 to XY136
2Pokémon Ash says goodbye to in one episode, Goodra and Greninja (XY139)

Follow Ash, Pikachu, and their friends as they explore the deepest mysteries of the Kalos region! Team Flare has plans for the Legendary Pokémon Zygarde and the secret it holds. Alain’s ongoing search for the source of Mega Evolution intersects with our heroes’ adventures. And true to Gym Leader Olympia’s prediction, Ash and his Frogadier will work together to reach surprising new heights! Journey into uncharted territory with this exciting season of Pokémon animation!

— Official description

Quick Answers

How many episodes are in Pokémon the Series: XYZ?

48. The season covers TV Tokyo’s XY094 to XY140 — 47 episodes broadcast from 29 October 2015 to 27 October 2016, with XY135 and XY136 together as a one-hour special on 15 September 2016 — and the special The Legend of X, Y, and Z! (XYS05), which aired in Japan on 3 November 2016 and closed the US run on 28 January 2017. Bulbapedia, Cartoon Network and the VIZ and Beyond DVD releases all count it as episode 48, the first special included in a dubbed season; English Wikipedia lists 47 episodes plus two specials, the other being Japan’s XYS06, which paired Clemont and Bonnie with Cilan and was never dubbed. The episodes aired in the US in production order, with nothing banned or skipped.

Does Ash win the Kalos League?

No, but he comes closer than ever before. At the Lumiose Conference (XY125–XY131), a 64-Trainer tournament in a new stadium in Lumiose City, Ash beats Titus in the first round as Ash-Greninja dodges Altaria’s Draco Meteor, Astrid’s Mega Absol in the quarterfinals with a single Flying Press from Hawlucha, and Sawyer in a six-on-six semifinal Full Battle decided by Ash-Greninja against Mega Sceptile (XY128) — his first League final. There Alain beats him: with three Pokémon down on each side, Alain’s Mega Charizard X survives the clash of its Blast Burn with Ash-Greninja’s giant orange Water Shuriken, and Ash-Greninja collapses (XY131). It was the first time Ash lost a League battle to someone he had battled before, and Alain became the first primary rival to win a League.

What is Ash-Greninja?

The form Ash’s Greninja takes through the Bond Phenomenon, which Professor Sycamore describes from an old manuscript as the latent power that emerges when the trust between a Trainer and a Pokémon deepens (XY129); Greninja takes on markings that resemble Ash, and Ash feels every blow it suffers. Frogadier evolves and transforms for the first time protecting Pikachu in the Ninja Village (XY100); the form beats Sawyer but loses to Alain (XY106), forms a giant Water Shuriken for the first time against Diantha (XY118), fails against Sawyer (XY119) and costs Ash his first battle with Wulfric (XY120), where Bonnie coins the name. After a night in the Winding Woods the two act in harmony (XY121) and win the Iceberg Badge (XY122). Ash releases Greninja in XY139, and the form reached the games as a Battle Bond Greninja in the Sun and Moon Special Demo Version.

Which Badge does Ash win in XYZ?

One — the eighth and last, the Iceberg Badge of Wulfric’s Snowbelle Gym. In the first battle (XY120) Hawlucha knocks out Abomasnow, but Avalugg, healing itself in the hail with Ice Body, beats Hawlucha, Talonflame and Ash-Greninja, and Ash faints from the shared pain; Wulfric withholds the Badge until Ash learns to trust his Pokémon. In the rematch (XY122) Pikachu runs laps to melt the ice and beats Bergmite, Talonflame beats Avalugg with Flame Charge, and Ash-Greninja, skating across the field on its frozen water blades, defeats Wulfric’s Mega Abomasnow with Aerial Ace. It is Ash’s last official Gym battle in the anime, and it qualifies him for the Lumiose Conference.

What happens to Serena in XYZ?

Eevee’s stage debut in Couriway Town ends in a fall, and Jessie wins (XY101); Eevee evolves into Sylveon at Monsieur Pierre’s dance party (XY105), and Serena wins her third Princess Key in Fleurrh City, where she meets the former Kalos Queen Palermo (XY109). In the Master Class in Gloire City she beats Miette, Sara Lee, Shauna and Jessie and, with a sprained wrist, loses the final to Aria, who keeps the title of Kalos Queen (XY112–XY113). After the Team Flare crisis she turns down Palermo’s offer to coach her — the first Performer ever to do so — and decides to compete in Pokémon Contests in Hoenn (XY138), and at Lumiose Airport she kisses Ash goodbye (XY140).

How does Pokémon the Series: XYZ end?

With farewells. After the Team Flare crisis Clemont rebuilds Clembot and reopens the Lumiose Gym, and Professor Sycamore awards medals to everyone who fought (XY137); Serena chooses Hoenn (XY138); Ash returns Goodra to the wetlands and releases Greninja to help Squishy and Z2 destroy the roots still hidden under Kalos (XY139); and after a last battle with Clemont, whose result is never shown, Ash flies home to Pallet Town (XY140), the final main-series episode on Cartoon Network. The season closes a week later with The Legend of X, Y, and Z! (XYS05), in which Professor Sycamore and Alexa uncover an ancient Kalos legend of Xerneas, Yveltal and Zygarde — the first dubbed episode in which no main character appears. Sun & Moon followed on Disney XD.

Story Arcs

Pokémon the Series: XYZ runs for 48 episodes and follows Ash, Serena, Clemont, Bonnie and Squishy from the road to Snowbelle City to the Lumiose Conference, Team Flare’s attack on Kalos and the farewells at Lumiose Airport. Here is how the season breaks down, with stills from our episode guide below.

Squishy & Team FlareXY094–XY098

On the road to Snowbelle City Bonnie finds a little green creature she names Squishy, and the group’s first clash with the scientists of Team Flare — Celosia, Bryony, Mable and Aliana, working for Xerosic and Lysandre — ends with Squishy gathering Zygarde Cells into a dog-like 10% Forme to drive off Bryony with Land’s Wrath; Sawyer, four Badges further on, suggests a detour to Terminus Cave, and Ash passes Alain without either of them noticing (XY094). A lovestruck Quilladin pursues Serena’s shy Eevee (XY095), a field-working Nurse Joy’s Audino Mega Evolves with Professor Sycamore’s Key Stone while he takes a DNA sample from Squishy (XY096), a Litleo cast out by its pride rescues the Pyroar who drove it away (XY097), and a Darkrai pulls Pikachu and Meowth into a dream in which Squishy can talk and begs to be taken home to Terminus Cave (XY098).

The Ninja Village & Ash-GreninjaXY099–XY100

Sanpei brings the group to his hidden Ninja Village for its festival, where an underground monument honours a legendary Greninja hero who looked unlike any other, before the renegade ninja Kagetomo’s forces kidnap Chief Hanzo (XY099). On Otori Mountain Frogadier throws itself in front of a Shadow Claw meant for Pikachu, evolves into Greninja, unleashes Water Shuriken and transforms into a strange new form to beat Heidayu’s Bisharp; Ippei’s Greninja defeats Kagetomo’s Weavile, and Ippei becomes the village’s chief (XY100).

Couriway, Terminus Cave & SylveonXY101–XY105

Eevee’s stage debut at the Couriway Town Showcase ends with a fall, and Jessie wins her first Princess Key (XY101). In Terminus Cave Team Flare corner Squishy, which transforms and slips away, and Ash feels Greninja’s pain as it transforms again (XY102); Bunnelby is hurt saving Bonnie, and Squishy, watching unseen, helps her reach the medicine it needs before curling up in her bag again (XY103). Noibat learns Acrobatics freeing a Floette and a jealous Breloom from Team Rocket (XY104), and at Monsieur Pierre’s dance party Eevee evolves into Sylveon in a Tag Battle that Ash and Serena win against Miette and James (XY105).

Alain & the capture of Z2XY106–XY111

Ash beats Sawyer three-on-three, then meets Alain and loses to his Mega Charizard X, while Mairin’s Chespin, Chespie, lies in a coma and Team Flare test a weapon of Zygarde Cells on a distant island (XY106). Giovanni orders Team Rocket to capture Zygarde, but Alain helps Team Flare capture the second Zygarde Core, Z2 (XY107). Clemont helps a boy and his grandfather’s robot restore a forest (XY108); Serena wins her third Princess Key in Fleurrh City and meets Palermo (XY109); Noibat evolves into Noivern to save Hawlucha from a furious Zapdos (XY110); and in Jacore Town a gentleman thief makes peace with his old master while Xerosic experiments on Z2 (XY111).

The Master ClassXY112–XY113

In Gloire City twenty-seven Performers with three Princess Keys each compete for the right to challenge the Kalos Queen: Serena beats Miette and Sara Lee with Braixen and advances with Pancham alongside Shauna and Jessie, disguised as “Jessilee” (XY112), then wins the semifinal despite spraining her wrist. In the final Aria’s Delphox, Aromatisse and a newly revealed Vivillon keep her title, and Palermo offers to teach Serena everything about performing; Serena asks for time (XY113).

XY113 Performing a Pathway to the Future!

Mastering the bond & the Iceberg BadgeXY114–XY122

Bonnie makes her last proposal on Clemont’s behalf, to the future company president Lilia (XY114), Serena battles in Ash’s clothes while he lies in bed with a fever (XY115), and a lost Shiny Phantump finds its way home (XY117). Clemont’s Battle Pulse meters show Ash and Greninja in sync, but a rematch with Alain ends when Ash collapses (XY116); Diantha sees the first giant Water Shuriken against her Mega Gardevoir (XY118); the transformation fails against Sawyer (XY119); and at the Snowbelle Gym Wulfric’s Avalugg beats Ash-Greninja and Ash faints (XY120). Alone in the Winding Woods, Ash remembers why he became a Trainer and fights in harmony with Greninja for the first time (XY121), and in the rematch Ash-Greninja beats Mega Abomasnow for the Iceberg Badge (XY122).

The Lumiose ConferenceXY123–XY131

On the way to Lumiose City Ash revisits Goodra in the wetlands while Alain wins Korrina’s Rumble Badge (XY123), and Clemont drags everyone to the Gadget Festival (XY124). The Kalos League opens with 64 Trainers: Alain sweeps Trevor and Ash-Greninja beats Titus (XY125); Ash beats Astrid, Sawyer’s Sceptile Mega Evolves to beat Tierno, and Goodra arrives to give Ash six Pokémon for the Full Battles (XY126); Alain beats Remo, and Ash’s semifinal with Sawyer ends with Ash-Greninja defeating Mega Sceptile (XY127–XY128). On the eve of the final the group meets Mairin and Lysandre and learns of the Bond Phenomenon (XY129); in the final, with three Pokémon down on each side, Alain’s Mega Charizard X outlasts Ash-Greninja, and moments later Lysandre unleashes Z2 from Prism Tower (XY130–XY131).

The Team Flare crisisXY132–XY136

Giant roots overrun Lumiose City as Lysandre reveals himself as the leader of Team Flare and captures Ash, and Squishy shows its friends its 50% Forme (XY132). Ash breaks Lysandre’s control device through the Bond Phenomenon and Alain turns against Lysandre, while the controlled Squishy goes on a rampage (XY133); Bonnie’s song frees it, Malva turns against Lysandre and Steven Stone arrives, and Clemont shuts down Team Flare’s system to free Z2 at the cost of Clembot (XY134). Ash and Alain defeat Lysandre’s Mega Gyarados, but the Giant Rock absorbs Chespie and heads for the Anistar Sundial, where Diantha and all eight Kalos Gym Leaders make their stand (XY135); Ash and Alain rescue Chespie, Blaziken Mask is unmasked as Meyer, and Squishy and Z2 merge into Zygarde Complete Forme to destroy the Rock as Lysandre vanishes (XY136).

Farewells & the legend of X, Y and ZXY137–XY140

Clemont rebuilds Clembot, which loses its first Gym battle to Alvin, and Professor Sycamore awards medals and takes Alain back as his assistant (XY137). Serena stages a performance for the recovering city, turns down Palermo and chooses Hoenn’s Pokémon Contests (XY138); Ash returns Goodra to the wetlands, foils Xerosic’s “Team Neo Flare” and releases Greninja to help Squishy and Z2 destroy the roots left under Kalos (XY139); and at Lumiose Airport Serena kisses Ash goodbye before he and Clemont battle one last time and Ash flies home to Pallet Town (XY140). A week later the season closes with The Legend of X, Y, and Z! (XYS05), Professor Sycamore and Alexa’s tale of Jan, his beloved Aila, Yveltal, Xerneas and Zygarde.

Episode Guide

All 48 episodes of Pokémon the Series: XYZ are listed below in the official order used by Cartoon Network, Bulbapedia and the DVDs, which this season is also the production and Japanese broadcast order. The # column is that season number, and the orange code is the Bulbapedia number used by most fan sites; the 48th row is the special The Legend of X, Y, and Z! (XYS05), which older lists that follow English Wikipedia keep apart from the 47 numbered episodes. 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 20 February 2016 to 28 January 2017, with no new episode on 26 November or 31 December 2016; Japanese dates are TV Tokyo’s Thursday broadcasts, from 29 October 2015 to 3 November 2016, with XY135 and XY136 together on 15 September 2016.

Who’s That Pokémon? continues in the English dub, and each episode page gives its answer. Japan kept its Pokémon Quiz, and the two versions show different Pokémon in 29 of the 48 episodes, usually because the Japanese quiz shows a particular individual — Serena’s Eevee, Sylveon and Braixen in stage costumes, Alain’s Charizard, Chespie, Squishy or Ash-Greninja. The dub’s first answer, Squishy (XY094), is the first given as a nickname, XY128’s Salamence the first repeated from an earlier segment, and the answer to XYS05 is read by Ash. In place of Professor Oak’s Pokémon Holo Caster, Japan ended the episodes with Poké TV, a line-up of mock programmes that Xerosic hijacks during the Team Flare arc, and returned to the Holo Caster for XY140 and XYS05.

#	Episode	First aired	In short
1XY094	From A to Z!Z爆誕！カロスに潜む者！！	Japan 29 Oct 2015 US 20 Feb 2016	Bonnie finds a mysterious little green Pokémon she names Squishy, and the group has its first clash with Team Flare, whose scientists are… · Squishy debuts Episode guide →
2XY095	Love Strikes! Eevee, Yikes!熱血ハリボーグ！狙われたプニちゃん！！	Japan 5 Nov 2015 US 27 Feb 2016	A lovestruck wild Quilladin falls head over heels for Serena’s shy Eevee, setting off a rivalry with Chespin and Pancham that only ends when… · Quilladin falls for Eevee Episode guide →
3XY096	A Giga Battle with Mega Results!メガタブンネVSギガギガニャース！！	Japan 12 Nov 2015 US 5 Mar 2016	The group helps a field-working Nurse Joy patch up her quarrel with her veteran partner Audino, and when Team Rocket raid the Pokémon Center,… · Mega Audino Episode guide →
4XY097	A Fiery Rite of Passage!シシコとカエンジシ！炎の旅立ち！！	Japan 19 Nov 2015 US 12 Mar 2016	The group watches a young Litleo that has been driven from its pride struggle to survive on its own, until it proves its courage by rescuing the… · Litleo leaves its pride Episode guide →
5XY098	Dream a Little Dream from Me!ピカチュウ、プニちゃんの夢を見る！	Japan 26 Nov 2015 US 19 Mar 2016	A Darkrai pulls Pikachu and Meowth into a shared dream in which Squishy can talk, the group’s Pokémon appear in strange new forms, and a… · Darkrai’s dream Episode guide →
6XY099	The Legend of the Ninja Hero!ようこそ忍者村へ！英雄ゲッコウガの伝説！！	Japan 3 Dec 2015 US 26 Mar 2016	Sanpei invites the group to his hidden Ninja Village for its festival, where they learn of a legendary Greninja hero, before a renegade ninja named… · Ninja Village, part 1 Episode guide →
7XY100	A Festival of Decisions!忍者村決戦！ゲコガシラ対キリキザン！！	Japan 10 Dec 2015 US 2 Apr 2016	Ash’s Frogadier evolves into Greninja while protecting Pikachu and transforms for the first time into a mysterious new form, as the friends… · Frogadier evolves into Greninja Episode guide →
8XY101	A Dancing Debut!踊れイーブイ！トライポカロン･デビュー！！	Japan 17 Dec 2015 US 9 Apr 2016	Serena gives Eevee its stage debut at the Couriway Town Showcase in a bid for her third Princess Key, but Eevee stumbles in the Freestyle round and… · Jessie wins a Princess Key Episode guide →
9XY102	Meeting at Terminus Cave!ついの洞窟！動き出したZの謎！！	Japan 24 Dec 2015 US 16 Apr 2016	Squishy leads the group into Terminus Cave, where Team Flare ambush it, and both Squishy and Ash’s Greninja reveal their transformed powers… · Terminus Cave Episode guide →
10XY103	A Cellular Connection!ユリーカとプニちゃん！	Japan 14 Jan 2016 US 23 Apr 2016	Bonnie’s desperate search for the missing Squishy leads Bunnelby to get hurt saving her, and when she climbs a cliff alone to fetch the… · Squishy returns Episode guide →
11XY104	A Windswept Encounter!オンバットとフラエッテ！風の中のめぐりあい！！	Japan 21 Jan 2016 US 30 Apr 2016	Ash’s Noibat falls for a wild Floette and must stand up to a jealous Breloom who also adores her, learning Acrobatics when Team Rocket capture… · Noibat learns Acrobatics Episode guide →
12XY105	Party Dancecapades!サトシとセレナ！ダンスパーティでゲットだぜ！！	Japan 28 Jan 2016 US 7 May 2016	At Monsieur Pierre’s dance party for Performers, Serena hopes to dance with Ash, and when the two team up in a Tag Battle against Miette and… · Eevee evolves into Sylveon Episode guide →
13XY106	A Meeting of Two Journeys!最強メガバトル！ゲッコウガＶＳメガリザードン！！	Japan 4 Feb 2016 US 14 May 2016	Ash beats Sawyer in a rematch, then meets Alain for the first time and loses a fierce one-on-one battle in which his transformed Greninja falls to… · Ash meets Alain Episode guide →
14XY107	An Explosive Operation!爆裂グランドフォース！ジガルデ捕獲作戦！！	Japan 11 Feb 2016 US 21 May 2016	Giovanni orders Team Rocket to capture Zygarde before Team Flare can, and the trio clash with Team Flare over Z2, only for Alain to help Mable and… · Team Flare capture Z2 Episode guide →
15XY108	A Watershed Moment!荒野のブリガロン！木を植えるロボン！！	Japan 18 Feb 2016 US 28 May 2016	In a barren wasteland, the group meets a boy named Henny and the robot Robon, built by his late grandfather to replant a lost forest, and Clemont… · Henny and Robon Episode guide →
16XY109	Master Class Choices!マスタークラスへの試練！どうするセレナ！？	Japan 25 Feb 2016 US 4 Jun 2016	Serena wins her third Princess Key at the Fleurrh City Showcase and qualifies for the Master Class, but former Kalos Queen Palermo tells her she… · Serena’s third Princess Key Episode guide →
17XY110	An Electrifying Rage!サンダーとオンバーン！怒りの雷撃！！	Japan 3 Mar 2016 US 11 Jun 2016	On the way to Joule Town’s Zapdos Festival, Ash is cut off from his friends while carrying medicine through a mountain cave, and Noibat evolves… · Noibat evolves into Noivern Episode guide →
18XY111	Unlocking Some Respect!レフトとライト！揺れる心のカメテテ！！	Japan 10 Mar 2016 US 18 Jun 2016	In Jacore Town, a gentleman thief who only picks one locksmith’s locks turns out to be that locksmith’s former apprentice, and the two… · Master Thief Keyes Episode guide →
19XY112	Master Class Is in Session!マスタークラス開幕！火花散る乙女の激闘！！	Japan 17 Mar 2016 US 25 Jun 2016	The Pokémon Showcase Master Class begins in Gloire City, and Serena battles through the first two rounds against her friends and rivals to… · Master Class, part 1 Episode guide →
20XY113	Performing a Pathway to the Future!エルVSセレナ！開け未来への扉！！	Japan 24 Mar 2016 US 2 Jul 2016	Serena wins the Master Class semifinal despite spraining her wrist, but Aria defeats her in the final to remain Kalos Queen, and Palermo offers to… · Master Class final Episode guide →
21XY114	A Keeper for Keeps?シトロンの花嫁！？ユリーカのシルブプレパニック！！	Japan 7 Apr 2016 US 9 Jul 2016	Bonnie finally meets a girl who might actually want to marry Clemont, a future company president named Lilia, and the prospect of losing her brother… · Bonnie’s last proposal Episode guide →
22XY115	Battling at Full Volume!セレナ、サトシになる！最強ピカチュウ対決！！	Japan 14 Apr 2016 US 16 Jul 2016	When Ash falls ill with a fever, Serena disguises herself as him to accept a challenge from Jimmy, a self-styled “Pikachu Trainer,” and… · Serena disguised as Ash Episode guide →
23XY116	The Synchronicity Test!サトシとアラン！ゲッコウガＶＳメガリザードンふたたび！！	Japan 21 Apr 2016 US 23 Jul 2016	Clemont studies the strange transformation of Ash’s Greninja with special monitoring devices, and in a rematch with Alain the two synchronise… · Battle Pulse meters Episode guide →
24XY117	Making Friends and Influencing Villains!森の呪いと白いボクレー！	Japan 28 Apr 2016 US 30 Jul 2016	The group helps a lost Shiny Phantump find its way home to a great tree on a mountaintop, while Team Rocket, who caused it to get lost, try to use it… · Shiny Phantump Episode guide →
25XY118	Championing a Research Battle!サトシ対チャンピオン・カルネ！VSメガサーナイト！！	Japan 5 May 2016 US 6 Aug 2016	Kalos Champion Diantha seeks out Ash to warn the group about the crisis Olympia has foreseen, then tests Greninja’s power in a battle in which… · Ash vs Diantha Episode guide →
26XY119	A Full-Strength Battle Surprise!ライバル対決！サトシVSショータ！！	Japan 12 May 2016 US 13 Aug 2016	Sawyer returns with eight Badges and a stronger team, and in a three-on-three rematch he finally defeats Ash when Greninja’s transformation… · Sawyer beats Ash Episode guide →
27XY120	All Hail the Ice Battlefield!エイセツジム戦！氷のバトルフィールド！！	Japan 19 May 2016 US 20 Aug 2016	Ash challenges Snowbelle Gym Leader Wulfric for his eighth Badge, but even Ash-Greninja cannot overcome Wulfric’s Avalugg, and Ash loses,… · Snowbelle Gym loss Episode guide →
28XY121	Seeing the Forest for the Trees!迷いの森…進化の夜明け！	Japan 26 May 2016 US 27 Aug 2016	Ash broods alone in the snowy Winding Woods after his loss to Wulfric, until Serena’s harsh words and a rescue in a blizzard help him and… · Ash-Greninja perfected Episode guide →
29XY122	A Real Icebreaker!サトシゲッコウガVSメガユキノオー！発動巨大水手裏剣！！	Japan 2 Jun 2016 US 3 Sep 2016	Ash returns to the Snowbelle Gym for a rematch with Wulfric and, fighting in harmony with Greninja, defeats the Leader’s Mega Abomasnow to win… · Iceberg Badge Episode guide →
30XY123	A Diamond in the Rough!メレシーを探せ！ヌメルゴンとデデンネ！！	Japan 9 Jun 2016 US 10 Sep 2016	On the way to the Kalos League, the group revisits the wetlands to reunite with Ash’s old friend Goodra, who helps them deal with a mischievous… · Goodra reunion Episode guide →
31XY124	A Gaggle of Gadget Greatness!爆熱の機巧（からくり）フェスティバル！！	Japan 16 Jun 2016 US 17 Sep 2016	Clemont drags his friends to the Gadget Festival, Kalos’s biggest exhibition of inventions, where a playful obstacle-course building separates… · Gadget Festival Episode guide →
32XY125	A League of His Own!カロスリーグ開幕！メガリザードン対決・X対Y！！	Japan 30 Jun 2016 US 24 Sep 2016	The Kalos League’s Lumiose Conference begins with sixty-four Trainers, and Alain sweeps Trevor while Ash, after a detour to battle a… · Lumiose Conference begins Episode guide →
33XY126	Valuable Experience for All!メガジュカイン対ライチュウ！経験値いただきます！！	Japan 7 Jul 2016 US 1 Oct 2016	Ash wins his quarterfinal with a single Flying Press, Sawyer defeats Tierno in a hard-fought battle that ends with a newly revealed Mega Sceptile,… · Goodra rejoins Ash Episode guide →
34XY127	Analysis Versus Passion!準決勝フルバトル！サトシ対ショータ！！	Japan 21 Jul 2016 US 8 Oct 2016	Alain defeats Remo to reach the final, and Ash begins his six-on-six semifinal Full Battle against Sawyer, who opens with a carefully planned… · Semifinals Episode guide →
35XY128	A Riveting Rivalry!ライバル決戦！サトシゲッコウガVSメガジュカイン！！	Japan 28 Jul 2016 US 15 Oct 2016	Ash wins his semifinal Full Battle against Sawyer when Ash-Greninja defeats Mega Sceptile, reaching a Pokémon League Conference final for the… · Ash beats Sawyer Episode guide →
36XY129	Kalos League Passion with a Certain Flare!激闘カロスリーグ！集え、すべての熱き想いよ！！	Japan 4 Aug 2016 US 22 Oct 2016	On the eve of the Kalos League final, the friends meet Alain’s friend Mairin and learn about the Bond Phenomenon from Professor Sycamore, while… · Ash meets Lysandre Episode guide →
37XY130	Finals Not for the Faint-Hearted!決勝戦！サトシ対アラン！！	Japan 11 Aug 2016 US 29 Oct 2016	The six-on-six Kalos League final between Ash and Alain begins, and the two trade knockouts until the score stands level at three apiece and Pikachu… · League final, part 1 Episode guide →
38XY131	Down to the Fiery Finish!カロスリーグ優勝！サトシ頂上決戦！！	Japan 18 Aug 2016 US 5 Nov 2016	Alain wins the Kalos League when his Mega Charizard X outlasts Ash-Greninja in a titanic final clash, and moments later Lysandre unleashes the… · Alain wins the League Episode guide →
39XY132	A Towering Takeover!襲撃フレア団！プリズムタワーのジガルデ！！	Japan 25 Aug 2016 US 12 Nov 2016	As giant roots overrun Lumiose City, Lysandre reveals himself as the leader of Team Flare and captures Ash, Alain learns the truth about the man he… · Team Flare arc, part 1 Episode guide →
40XY133	Coming Apart at the Dreams!衝撃ジガルデ対ジガルデ！壊れゆく世界！！	Japan 1 Sep 2016 US 19 Nov 2016	Squishy battles the enraged Z2 and falls under Team Flare’s control, but Ash breaks free of Lysandre’s restraints through the Bond… · Team Flare arc, part 2 Episode guide →
41XY134	The Right Hero for the Right Job!突撃ミアレジム！シトロイドよ永遠に！！	Japan 8 Sep 2016 US 3 Dec 2016	Bonnie’s song frees Squishy from Team Flare’s control, Malva and Steven turn the tide against Lysandre, and Clemont shuts down Team… · Team Flare arc, part 3 Episode guide →
42XY135	Rocking Kalos Defenses!進撃する巨石！カロス防衛線！！	Japan 15 Sep 2016 US 10 Dec 2016	Ash and Alain defeat Lysandre, but Team Flare’s Giant Rock absorbs Chespie, destroys Lysandre Labs and heads for Anistar City’s Sundial,… · Team Flare arc, part 4 Episode guide →
43XY136	Forming a More Perfect Union!反撃のジガルデ！カロス最終決戦！！	Japan 15 Sep 2016 US 17 Dec 2016	Ash and Alain rescue Chespie from inside the Giant Rock, Blaziken Mask is unmasked as Clemont and Bonnie’s father, and Squishy and Z2 merge… · Team Flare arc, part 5 Episode guide →
44XY137	Battling with a Clean Slate!はじまりはゼロ！シトロンの決断！！	Japan 6 Oct 2016 US 24 Dec 2016	As Lumiose City recovers, Clemont rebuilds Clembot without its old memories and reopens the Lumiose Gym, while Professor Sycamore awards medals to… · Clembot rebuilt Episode guide →
45XY138	The First Day of the Rest of Your Life!サトシとラストバトル！セレナの選択！！	Japan 13 Oct 2016 US 7 Jan 2017	Serena organises a performance to lift the spirits of Lumiose City, and after a heartfelt talk with her mother and a battle with Ash, she declines… · Serena chooses Hoenn Episode guide →
46XY139	Facing the Needs of the Many!さらばサトシゲッコウガ！クセロシキの逆襲！！	Japan 20 Oct 2016 US 14 Jan 2017	As the journey nears its end, Ash returns Goodra to the wetlands, the group thwarts Xerosic’s attempt to revive Team Flare, and Ash releases… · Ash releases Greninja Episode guide →
47XY140	Till We Compete Again!終わりなきゼロ！また逢う日まで！！	Japan 27 Oct 2016 US 21 Jan 2017	Ash’s journey through Kalos comes to an end as the friends say goodbye: Serena leaves for Hoenn with a parting kiss, Ash and Clemont battle one… · Series finale Episode guide →
48XYS05	The Legend of X, Y, and Z!ＸＹＺの伝説！	Japan 3 Nov 2016 US 28 Jan 2017	A special in which Professor Sycamore and Alexa uncover an ancient Kalos legend of a young man named Jan, his beloved Aila, who was turned to stone… · Special Episode guide →

Characters & Travelling Companions

Ash sets out with seven Kalos Badges and ends the season with eight and a League final. His Frogadier evolves into Greninja shielding Pikachu in the Ninja Village, learns Water Shuriken and transforms for the first time into the form Bonnie later names Ash-Greninja (XY100). He beats Sawyer but meets Alain and loses to his Mega Charizard X (XY106), loses again to Sawyer when the transformation fails (XY119) and to Wulfric when it overwhelms him (XY120), and after a night alone in the Winding Woods masters it (XY121) and wins the Iceberg Badge (XY122). Noibat learns Acrobatics (XY104) and evolves into Noivern against Zapdos (XY110); Goodra rejoins him for the Lumiose Conference, where he beats Titus, Astrid and Sawyer before losing the final to Alain (XY125–XY131). Captured by Lysandre at the top of Prism Tower, he breaks free through the Bond Phenomenon and defeats Lysandre with Alain (XY132–XY135), then returns Goodra to the wetlands and releases Greninja to help Zygarde (XY139) before flying home to Pallet Town (XY140). Pikachu shares Squishy’s dream with Meowth (XY098), beats Tyranitar and Metagross in the League final before falling to Charizard (XY130–XY131), is the target of Team Rocket’s last capture attempt in Kalos (XY137) and sings the Japanese ending Pikachu’s Song (XY129–XY131). Ash is voiced by Sarah Natochenny in English and Rica Matsumoto in Japanese, and Ikue Ōtani remains Pikachu in both.

Serena, seen without her waistcoat for the first time in XY094, gives Eevee its stage debut in Couriway Town, where it stumbles and Jessie wins (XY101); Eevee evolves into Sylveon in a Tag Battle with Ash at Monsieur Pierre’s dance party (XY105), and Serena wins her third Princess Key in Fleurrh City, where she meets the former Kalos Queen Palermo (XY109). In the Master Class in Gloire City she beats Miette and Sara Lee, then Shauna and Jessie, and loses the final to Aria with a sprained wrist (XY112–XY113); Palermo offers to teach her, and Serena postpones her answer. She disguises herself as a feverish Ash to battle Jimmy (XY115), scolds Ash out of his gloom in the Winding Woods (XY121), helps rescue Chespie (XY133–XY134), organises a performance for the recovering Lumiose City (XY138) and, declining Palermo, leaves for Hoenn’s Pokémon Contests with a kiss for Ash at the airport (XY138–XY140). She is voiced by Haven Paschall in English and Mayuki Makiguchi in Japanese, who also sings DreamDream (Serena Ver.).

Clemont helps a boy and his late grandfather’s robot restore a forest (XY108), builds Battle Pulse meters and a Clembot Mini to study Ash-Greninja (XY116), defeats Xerosic and shuts down Team Flare’s control system at the cost of Clembot’s memory (XY134), learns that Blaziken Mask is his father, Meyer (XY136), rebuilds Clembot and reopens the Lumiose Gym (XY137), fakes mind control to beat Xerosic once more (XY139) and stays in Kalos after a last battle with Ash (XY140); his Bunnelby does not evolve this season. Bonnie finds and names Squishy (XY094), searches for it when it slips away (XY102–XY103), makes her last proposal on her brother’s behalf, to Lilia (XY114), frees Squishy from Team Flare’s control by singing its song (XY134), wins Z2’s trust (XY135) and promises Squishy that she will travel with it once she is a Trainer (XY139). Clemont is voiced by Mike Liscio in English and Yūki Kaji in Japanese — Kaji also voices Squishy and Z2 — and Bonnie by Alyson Leigh Rosenfeld and, in Japanese, by Mika Kanai until XY100 and Mariya Ise, back from maternity leave, from XY101.

Ash-Greninja, the form Ash’s Greninja first takes in A Festival of Decisions! (XY100), at the Lumiose Conference

Team Rocket

Jessie, James and Meowth get new orders when Giovanni confirms the rumours about Team Flare and tells them to capture the shape-shifting Zygarde first; they rescue Z2 from Team Flare and nurse it in the sun, only for Alain to help the scientists take it from them (XY107). Jessie wins the Couriway Town Showcase — her first Princess Key — with Wobbuffet bouncing Gourgeist’s attacks back with Counter (XY101), reaches the Master Class semifinal as “Jessilee” (XY112–XY113) and, after performing with Serena and Shauna for the recovering city, decides to stay in Kalos to chase the Kalos Queen title, to her partners’ dismay (XY138). Their schemes run from the Giga Giga Meowth Machine (XY096) and the Charizard-shaped Vavoominite Mark 4 (XY097) to a Kirlia-family disguise (XY117), an “Unbreakable Mega Ring” for Diantha’s Gardevoir (XY118) and the Poké Ball Stealer of the Gadget Festival (XY124), and at the Lumiose Conference they work as Malva’s television crew (XY125–XY131).

During the five-part Team Flare arc they never recite their motto or blast off: Jessie reports on the crisis herself, the trio fly Serena, Mairin and Professor Sycamore to Lysandre Labs disguised as a TV crew, Wobbuffet’s Mirror Coat turns back Team Flare’s attacks and James nets Celosia and Mable (XY132–XY135), and Gourgeist fires Seed Bomb from their helicopter at the Giant Rock (XY136). Their last motto, blast-off and attempt on Pikachu in Kalos come in XY137, and in the finale they report to Giovanni with doctored footage claiming they brought down Team Flare single-handedly and are recalled to headquarters (XY140). Meowth sings the Japanese ending Meowth’s Ballad (XY135, XY136, XY139) and Matori speaks for the first time in XY (XY107). Jessie is voiced by Michele Knotz, James and Meowth by James Carter Cathcart, and Wobbuffet by Kayzie Rogers, whose last episode in the role is XY140.

Rivals, Team Flare, Gym Leaders & friends

Alain, the Mega Evolution Trainer of the specials, passes Ash unnoticed in XY094 and meets him in XY106, beating Ash-Greninja with Mega Charizard X; working for Lysandre to gather Mega Evolution energy that he believes will wake Mairin’s comatose Chespin, Chespie, he helps Team Flare capture Z2 (XY107), wins the Rumble Badge from Korrina (XY123) and the Lumiose Conference with Charizard, Metagross, Tyranitar, Weavile, Bisharp and Unfezant (XY125–XY131). When he learns the truth he turns against Lysandre (XY133), rescues Chespie with Ash (XY136), gives up his Mega Ring and Charizardite X, rejoins Professor Sycamore as his assistant (XY137) and sets out for Frost Cavern with Mairin (XY140) — the first primary rival to win a League, and the only major rival Ash never beats. Sawyer, Ash’s rookie rival from Hoenn, returns with four more Badges (XY094), loses a rematch with Grovyle now a Sceptile (XY106), beats Ash when the transformation fails (XY119), Mega Evolves Sceptile to beat Tierno (XY126) and loses the semifinal to Ash-Greninja (XY127–XY128) before helping Steven Stone search the ruins of Lysandre Labs (XY140).

Lysandre, revealed as the leader of Team Flare (XY132), wants to “restart” a world he has given up on: his scientist Xerosic experiments on the captured Z2, and Celosia, Bryony, Mable and Aliana hunt Squishy from XY094. Lysandre controls Z2 and the Giant Rock, captures Ash, is defeated by Ash and Alain with Pyroar and a Shiny Mega Gyarados (XY133–XY135) — the first villainous team leader Ash defeats in battle — and vanishes in the Rock’s destruction (XY136); Xerosic loses to Clemont (XY134) and is arrested after founding “Team Neo Flare” (XY139). The Elite Four’s Malva, a Team Flare Admin who reports on the Conference for television, turns against Lysandre with her Mega Houndoom (XY134) and promises to dismantle Team Flare and turn herself in (XY136). Squishy, the Zygarde Core Bonnie carries in her bag, and Z2, the Core Team Flare capture, merge into Zygarde Complete Forme (XY136); Squishy has appeared in more episodes than any other recurring Legendary Pokémon.

Wulfric, the jovial Snowbelle Gym Leader, withholds the Iceberg Badge until Ash learns to trust his Pokémon (XY120) and gives it to him in the rematch (XY122). Diantha, the Kalos Champion, tests Ash-Greninja against her Mega Gardevoir (XY118) and opens the Conference; Professor Sycamore studies Squishy (XY096), explains the Bond Phenomenon (XY129) and hosts The Legend of X, Y, and Z! with Alexa (XYS05); Steven Stone joins the fight with Mega Metagross (XY134–XY136); and Meyer is unmasked as Blaziken Mask in front of his children (XY136). Palermo, the former Kalos Queen, offers to coach Serena and suggests Hoenn when she declines (XY113, XY138); Aria keeps her title in her last appearance (XY113); Grace watches the Master Class and backs her daughter’s decision (XY112–XY113, XY138); Shauna, Tierno and Trevor enter the Master Class and the Conference; and the ninja brothers Sanpei, Ippei and Nihei (XY099–XY100) and Alvin, who wins the Voltage Badge from the rebuilt Clembot (XY137), are among the characters of the day.

Squishy, the Zygarde Core Bonnie finds and names in From A to Z! (XY094), here in Dream a Little Dream from Me! (XY098)

Alain, the Mega Evolution Trainer who beats Ash at their first meeting (XY106) and in the Lumiose Conference final (XY13

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	Mika Kanai (to XY100), Mariya Ise (from XY101)
Squishy and Z2	Billy Bob Thompson	Yūki Kaji
Jessie	Michele Knotz	Megumi Hayashibara
James	James Carter Cathcart	Shin-ichiro Miki
Meowth	James Carter Cathcart	Inuko Inuyama
Wobbuffet	Kayzie Rogers (her last episode is XY140)	Yūji Ueda
Alain	Jonathan Silver	Kenshō Ono
Mairin	Zoe Martin	Mikako Komatsu
Sawyer	Robby Duncan Sharpe	Ikue Ōtani
Lysandre	H.D. Quinn	Hideaki Tezuka
Xerosic	Abe Goldfarb	Tsuguo Mogami
Malva	Samara Naeymi	Akeno Watanabe
Wulfric	Michael Alston Baley (as credited)	Ryūzaburō Ōtomo
Professor Sycamore	Jake Paque	Hiroshi Tsuchida
Palermo	Eileen Stevens	Rei Sakuma
Grace	Erica Schroeder	Hitomi Nabatame
Shauna	Jo Armeniox	Yurie Kobori
Tierno	Todd Haberkorn	Anri Katsu
Trevor	Michael Lockwood Crouch	Minami Fujii
Narrator	Rodger Parsons	Unshō Ishizuka

Pokémon: Captures, Changes, Encounters & Evolutions

In brief:

Ash starts the season with Pikachu, Frogadier, Hawlucha, Talonflame and Noibat, catches nothing new, and ends it with Pikachu, Talonflame, Hawlucha and Noivern, the four he takes home to Kanto. Frogadier evolves into Greninja shielding Pikachu from Heidayu’s Bisharp and learns Water Shuriken (XY100) — the first fully evolved Water-type first partner owned by a main character — and in the same moment first takes the Ash-Greninja form, which forms a giant Water Shuriken against Diantha (XY118) and is perfected in the Winding Woods (XY121), after which Greninja gives Ash its Poké Ball. Noibat, confirmed male, learns Acrobatics saving a Floette (XY104), evolves into Noivern and learns Boomburst as it catches Hawlucha in mid-air against Zapdos (XY110) — leaving every Pokémon Ash caught in Kalos fully evolved — and adds Dragon Claw against Sawyer (XY119).
Goodra, released in Season 18, rejoins Ash for the six-on-six Full Battles of the Lumiose Conference (XY126) — the first time a Pokémon he had released returned to his team — and goes back to the wetlands after the crisis (XY139). In the same episode Ash releases Greninja to help Squishy and Z2 destroy the roots Team Flare left beneath Kalos, the first time a main character has released a regional first partner. Hawlucha wears a cape Serena designed for it in the semifinal (XY127), and the League final is the last official battle for Talonflame, Hawlucha and Noivern.
Serena’s Eevee, confirmed female and shown to know Double Team (XY095), stumbles in its stage debut (XY101) and evolves into Sylveon, learning Fairy Wind, in the Tag Battle at Monsieur Pierre’s dance party (XY105) — the first time Serena defeats a Pokémon in a proper Trainer battle; Braixen and Pancham are unchanged. Clemont’s Pokémon do not change — Bunnelby is not evolved this season — but Heliolisk returns to him during the crisis (XY134) and stays at the Lumiose Gym with the rebuilt Clembot, whose Magnemite and Magneton are revealed as Gym Pokémon (XY137). Bonnie’s Squishy, a Zygarde Core that is never caught, travels in her bag until it leaves with Z2 (XY136). Team Rocket’s Meowth, Wobbuffet, Gourgeist and Inkay are unchanged.
Among rivals, Sawyer’s Grovyle has become a Sceptile and his Bagon a Shelgon by their rematch (XY106), his new Honedge evolves into Doublade (XY119) and Aegislash (XY126), Shelgon becomes Salamence (XY128), and Sceptile Mega Evolves with a Sceptilite (XY126); Alain’s Metang becomes Metagross (XY127), and his Tyranitar, Weavile, Bisharp and Unfezant are revealed in the final (XY130); and Trevor’s Charmeleon has evolved into Charizard, which he Mega Evolves into Mega Charizard Y (XY125). Mega Evolution is everywhere: a Nurse Joy’s Audino (XY096), Diantha’s Gardevoir (XY118), Wulfric’s Abomasnow (XY122), Astrid’s Absol (XY126) and Remo’s Garchomp (XY127), Lysandre’s Shiny Gyarados (XY133), Malva’s Houndoom and Steven Stone’s Metagross (XY134) and Professor Sycamore’s Garchomp at the Sundial (XY135), besides Alain’s Charizard.

New Pokémon captured or hatched

Honedge#0679 · Sawyer · his new Pokémon, revealed in his rematch with Ash · XY106

Evolutions

Frogadier → Greninja#0658 · Ash · shielding Pikachu from Bisharp; learns Water Shuriken and first takes the Ash-Greninja form · XY100
Eevee → Sylveon#0700 · Serena · in the Tag Battle at Monsieur Pierre’s party; learns Fairy Wind · XY105
Grovyle → Sceptile#0254 · Sawyer · off screen, revealed in his rematch with Ash · XY106
Bagon → Shelgon#0372 · Sawyer · off screen, revealed in his rematch with Ash · XY106
Noibat → Noivern#0715 · Ash · catching Hawlucha in mid-air against Zapdos; learns Boomburst · XY110
Honedge → Doublade#0680 · Sawyer · off screen, revealed in his win over Ash · XY119
Spewpa → Vivillon#0666 · wild · the Spewpa Ash and Greninja save in the Winding Woods · XY121
Charmeleon → Charizard#0006 · Trevor · off screen, revealed at the Lumiose Conference · XY125
Doublade → Aegislash#0681 · Sawyer · off screen, revealed against Tierno · XY126
Metang → Metagross#0376 · Alain · off screen, revealed in his semifinal against Remo · XY127
Shelgon → Salamence#0373 · Sawyer · off screen, revealed in the semifinal against Ash · XY128

Releases, departures and returns

Ash parts with two Pokémon in Facing the Needs of the Many! (XY139): he thanks Goodra, which had rejoined him for the Conference, and returns it to its wetland home, promising that they will meet again; then, recalling Professor Sycamore’s words that their meeting was no coincidence, he releases Greninja, which can sense the roots still hidden beneath Kalos, to destroy them with Squishy and Z2 — the first time a main character has released a regional first partner, and the first episode with two releases. Bonnie says goodbye to Squishy when it merges with Z2 to save Kalos and rises into the sky to restore its energy (XY136), and when it returns in XY139 she promises to travel with it once she is a Trainer.

Clemont leaves Heliolisk, with Magnemite and Magneton, at the reopened Lumiose Gym with Clembot (XY137), and Alain hands his Mega Ring and Charizardite X to the authorities as evidence, because they came from Lysandre, and sets out with Mairin to find a new Mega Stone in Frost Cavern (XY137–XY140). Among wild Pokémon, the cast-out Litleo sets off on its own after earning the Pyroar’s respect (XY097), the freed Zapdos clears the storm over Joule Town (XY110), the lost Shiny Phantump returns to its great tree (XY117) and the prankster Carbink is forgiven by its friends (XY123).

Teams at the end of the season (XY140)

Trainer	Pokémon	Changes this season
Ash	Pikachu, Talonflame, Hawlucha, Noivern (taken home to Kanto)	Frogadier evolved into Greninja (XY100), mastered the Bond Phenomenon (XY121) and was released (XY139); Noibat evolved into Noivern (XY110); Goodra rejoined (XY126) and was returned home (XY139)
Serena	Braixen, Pancham, Sylveon	Eevee evolved into Sylveon (XY105)
Clemont	Bunnelby, Chespin, Luxray and Dedenne (looked after by Bonnie); Heliolisk, Magnemite and Magneton at the Lumiose Gym	Heliolisk returned to him (XY134) and stayed at the Gym with Clembot (XY137)
Bonnie	Dedenne (Clemont’s)	Squishy travelled with her from XY094 and left with Z2 (XY136)
Jessie	Wobbuffet, Gourgeist	No changes; won her first Princess Key (XY101)
James	Inkay	No changes

Rivals’, villains’ and Gym Leaders’ Pokémon this season

Trainer	Pokémon	Episodes
Alain	Charizard (Mega Charizard X), Metang (later Metagross), Tyranitar, Weavile, Bisharp, Unfezant	XY106–XY107, XY116, XY123, XY125–XY137
Sawyer	Sceptile (Mega Sceptile), Shelgon (later Salamence), Honedge (later Doublade, then Aegislash), Clawitzer, Slurpuff, Slaking	XY094, XY106, XY119–XY120, XY125–XY128
Wulfric	Bergmite, Avalugg, Abomasnow (Mega Abomasnow)	XY120, XY122
Trevor	Charizard (Mega Charizard Y), Aerodactyl, Florges (White Flower)	XY125
Tierno	Ludicolo, Raichu, Blastoise	XY126
Shauna	Ivysaur, Flabébé	XY112–XY113
Lysandre	Pyroar, Gyarados (Shiny; Mega Gyarados)	XY132–XY136
Xerosic	Malamar, Crobat	XY134, XY139
Malva	Houndoom (Mega Houndoom)	XY134–XY136
Team Flare scientists	Celosia: Drapion, Manectric · Bryony: Bisharp, Liepard · Mable: Weavile · Aliana: Druddigon	XY094–XY135
Diantha	Gardevoir (Mega Gardevoir)	XY118, XY132–XY136
Aria	Delphox, Aromatisse, Vivillon	XY113
Professor Sycamore	Garchomp (Mega Garchomp)	XY132–XY136
Steven Stone	Metagross (Mega Metagross)	XY134–XY136
Sanpei, Ippei, Nihei	Greninja, Greninja, Venusaur	XY099–XY100
Remo / Astrid / Titus / Everett	Rhyperior, Garchomp (Mega Garchomp) / Absol (Mega Absol) / Altaria / Furfrou (Kabuki Trim)	XY125–XY127
Alvin	Vivillon, Pyroar, Cubone	XY137

Pokémon making their anime debut this season

By this point nearly every Kalos species has reached the anime — with Sawyer’s Aegislash in XY126, Bulbapedia notes, every Generation VI Pokémon except the Legendary and Mythical ones has appeared in the main series — so the season’s debuts are few. Zygarde itself leads them: its 10% and 50% Formes appear in From A to Z! (XY094; its Cell and Core had debuted in Mega Evolution Special IV), and its Complete Forme first appears in Pikachu’s dream (XY098) before Squishy and Z2 form it for real (XY136). Quilladin, the female Pyroar, Phantump, Bergmite, Avalugg, Carbink and Aegislash make their anime debuts, Chesnaught, Doublade, Clawitzer and Yveltal their TV-episode debuts and Binacle its main-series debut. New forms appear too: Ash-Greninja (XY100), the Orange Flower Floette, with Red and Yellow Flower Floette on TV for the first time (XY104), Lysandre’s male Pyroar in the main series (XY094), and Trevor’s Mega Charizard Y and White Flower Florges (XY125). Outside the episodes, Volcanion and Magearna debuted in the nineteenth movie.

Zygarde#0718 · XY094 · anime debut of its 10% and 50% Formes; Squishy and Z2
Quilladin#0651 · XY095 · anime debut; the wild Quilladin smitten with Eevee
Pyroar#0668 · XY097 · anime debut of the female, in the pride that casts out Litleo
Chesnaught#0652 · XY098 · TV-episode debut, in Pikachu’s dream
Binacle#0688 · XY111 · main-series debut; Lefty and Righty
Phantump#0708 · XY117 · anime debut, with a Shiny one
Doublade#0680 · XY119 · TV-episode debut; Sawyer’s Honedge has evolved
Clawitzer#0693 · XY119 · TV-episode debut; Sawyer’s
Bergmite#0712 · XY120 · anime debut; Wulfric’s
Avalugg#0713 · XY120 · anime debut; Wulfric’s
Carbink#0703 · XY123 · anime debut; a mischievous wild Carbink and its friends
Aegislash#0681 · XY126 · anime debut, in its Shield Forme; Sawyer’s Doublade has evolved
Yveltal#0717 · XYS05 · TV-episode debut, in the legend of Jan and Aila

Key Events, Gym Battles & Tournaments

Events of note

Bonnie finds and names Squishy; first clash with Team Flare (XY094 – From A to Z!)
Professor Sycamore takes a DNA sample from Squishy; a Nurse Joy’s Audino Mega Evolves (XY096 – A Giga Battle with Mega Results!)
Frogadier evolves into Greninja and transforms for the first time (XY100 – A Festival of Decisions!)
Jessie wins the Couriway Town Showcase, her first Princess Key (XY101 – A Dancing Debut!)
Squishy transforms in Terminus Cave and slips away (XY102 – Meeting at Terminus Cave!)
Squishy returns to Bonnie (XY103 – A Cellular Connection!)
Noibat learns Acrobatics (XY104 – A Windswept Encounter!)
Eevee evolves into Sylveon (XY105 – Party Dancecapades!)
Ash beats Sawyer, then meets Alain and loses to his Mega Charizard X (XY106 – A Meeting of Two Journeys!)
Team Flare capture Z2 with Alain’s help (XY107 – An Explosive Operation!)
Serena wins her third Princess Key and meets Palermo (XY109 – Master Class Choices!)
Noibat evolves into Noivern (XY110 – An Electrifying Rage!)
Serena loses the Master Class final to Aria (XY113 – Performing a Pathway to the Future!)
Bonnie’s last proposal on Clemont’s behalf (XY114 – A Keeper for Keeps?)
Clemont measures Ash and Greninja’s synchronisation; Ash collapses against Alain (XY116 – The Synchronicity Test!)
Ash-Greninja forms a giant Water Shuriken against Diantha (XY118 – Championing a Research Battle!)
Sawyer beats Ash (XY119 – A Full-Strength Battle Surprise!)
Ash loses to Wulfric (XY120 – All Hail the Ice Battlefield!)
Ash and Greninja fight in harmony for the first time (XY121 – Seeing the Forest for the Trees!)
Ash wins the Iceberg Badge, his eighth (XY122 – A Real Icebreaker!)
Ash visits Goodra; Alain wins the Rumble Badge (XY123 – A Diamond in the Rough!)
The Lumiose Conference begins (XY125 – A League of His Own!)
Goodra rejoins Ash; Sawyer’s Sceptile Mega Evolves (XY126 – Valuable Experience for All!)
Ash beats Sawyer and reaches his first League final (XY128 – A Riveting Rivalry!)
Ash meets Mairin and Lysandre; Sycamore explains the Bond Phenomenon (XY129 – Kalos League Passion with a Certain Flare!)
Alain wins the Lumiose Conference; Lysandre unleashes Z2 (XY131 – Down to the Fiery Finish!)
Lysandre reveals himself as Team Flare’s leader (XY132 – A Towering Takeover!)
Alain turns against Lysandre (XY133 – Coming Apart at the Dreams!)
Bonnie’s song frees Squishy; Clembot is sacrificed to free Z2 (XY134 – The Right Hero for the Right Job!)
Ash and Alain defeat Lysandre; the eight Gym Leaders unite (XY135 – Rocking Kalos Defenses!)
Squishy and Z2 form Zygarde Complete Forme; Blaziken Mask is unmasked (XY136 – Forming a More Perfect Union!)
Clemont reopens the Lumiose Gym; Sycamore awards medals (XY137 – Battling with a Clean Slate!)
Serena chooses Hoenn (XY138 – The First Day of the Rest of Your Life!)
Ash returns Goodra and releases Greninja (XY139 – Facing the Needs of the Many!)
Serena leaves for Hoenn; Ash returns to Pallet Town (XY140 – Till We Compete Again!)
Sycamore and Alexa uncover the legend of X, Y and Z (XYS05 – The Legend of X, Y, and Z!)

Gym battles & the League

Pikachu, Grovyle, Frogadier, Braixen and Luxray v Celosia’s Drapion and Team Flare Grunts (Team Flare withdraw) — XY094
Quilladin v Pancham, then v Chespin (Quilladin beats Pancham; Chespin and Quilladin end in mutual respect) — XY095
Mega Audino v Team Rocket’s Giga Giga Meowth Machine (Audino wins) — XY096
Nihei’s Venusaur v Sanpei’s Greninja (Nihei wins) — XY099
Frogadier v Heidayu’s Bisharp (Frogadier evolves and wins as Ash-Greninja); Ippei’s Greninja v Kagetomo’s Weavile (Ippei wins) — XY100
Noibat v Breloom (interrupted by Team Rocket) — XY104
Tag Battle: Ash and Serena (Pikachu, Eevee) v Miette and James (Slurpuff, Inkay) (Ash and Serena win) — XY105
Ash v Sawyer, three-on-three (Ash wins three to nothing); Greninja v Alain’s Mega Charizard X (Alain wins) — XY106
Z2 v Team Flare and Alain’s Mega Charizard X (Z2 captured) — XY107
Noivern v Zapdos (Noivern wins) — XY110
Serena, disguised as Ash, with Pikachu v Jimmy’s Pikachu, Spike (interrupted by Team Rocket) — XY115
Noivern v Alain’s Metang (Metang wins); Greninja v Mega Charizard X (stopped when Ash collapses) — XY116
Ash-Greninja v Diantha’s Mega Gardevoir (stopped when Ash and Greninja collapse) — XY118
Ash v Sawyer, three-on-three (Sawyer wins) — XY119
Ash v Wulfric, Snowbelle Gym (Wulfric wins) — XY120
Ash v Wulfric, rematch (Iceberg Badge) — XY122
Alain v Korrina, Shalour Gym (Alain wins the Rumble Badge) — XY123
Lumiose Conference, first round: Pikachu v Everett’s Furfrou (unofficial; Ash wins); Ash v Titus (Ash wins); Alain v Trevor (Alain wins three to nothing) — XY125
Lumiose Conference, quarterfinals: Ash v Astrid (Ash wins); Sawyer v Tierno (Sawyer wins) — XY126
Lumiose Conference, semifinals: Alain v Remo (Alain wins); Ash v Sawyer, six-on-six (Ash wins) — XY127–XY128
Lumiose Conference, final: Ash v Alain, six-on-six (Alain wins) — XY130–XY131
Ash and Alain v Lysandre’s Pyroar and Mega Gyarados (Ash and Alain win) — XY133–XY135
Clemont’s Bunnelby and Chespin v Xerosic’s Malamar and Crobat (Clemont wins); Malva’s Mega Houndoom v Lysandre — XY134
Alvin v Clembot, Lumiose Gym (Alvin wins the Voltage Badge) — XY137
Ash v Serena, Pikachu v Braixen (called off) — XY138
Greninja and Chespin v Xerosic’s Malamar and Crobat (Xerosic arrested) — XY139
Ash v Clemont, Pikachu v Bunnelby (result unseen) — XY140

Gym Badge won this season

Badge	Gym & Leader	Leader’s Pokémon	Ash’s Pokémon	Result	Episode
Iceberg Badge	Snowbelle Gym · Wulfric	Bergmite, Avalugg, Abomasnow (Mega Abomasnow)	Pikachu, Talonflame, Greninja (Ash-Greninja)	Win at the second attempt — three-on-three on an icy field. In the first battle (XY120) Hawlucha knocks out Abomasnow with High Jump Kick in the hail, but Avalugg heals with Ice Body, beats Hawlucha with Gyro Ball and Talonflame with Avalanche, and freezes Ash-Greninja with Ice Fang before Gyro Ball wins; Ash faints from the shared pain, and Wulfric withholds the Badge until he learns to trust his Pokémon. In the rematch Pikachu runs laps to melt the ice and beats Bergmite with Quick Attack and Iron Tail before falling to Avalugg’s Stone Edge; Talonflame beats Avalugg with Flame Charge and falls to Abomasnow’s Wood Hammer; and when Wulfric Mega Evolves Abomasnow with the Key Stone in his locket, Ash-Greninja, its Cut now blades of water, skates across the field on its frozen blades and wins with Aerial Ace — Ash’s eighth Kalos Badge and the last official Gym battle of his career	XY122

The Lumiose Conference

The Kalos League’s Lumiose Conference (XY125–XY131) gathers 64 Trainers in a new stadium in Lumiose City, announced in XY121 and opened by the Champion Diantha with fireworks, while the Elite Four’s Malva reports for television with Team Rocket as her crew. Early rounds are three-on-three; from the semifinals they are six-on-six Full Battles with a change of field at half-time, the first proper Full Battles since the Diamond and Pearl series. On his way to the first round Ash beats Everett, a Trainer with seven Badges who cannot enter, then arrives just before he would be disqualified and beats Titus, Ash-Greninja dodging Altaria’s Draco Meteor; Alain sweeps Trevor, Mega Charizard X against Mega Charizard Y, without losing a Pokémon (XY125). In the quarterfinals Hawlucha’s Flying Press beats Astrid’s Mega Absol and Sawyer’s Mega Sceptile beats Tierno’s Raichu, and Goodra arrives to give Ash six Pokémon (XY126).

Alain beats Remo, losing only Metagross, when Mega Charizard X knocks out Remo’s Mega Garchomp (XY127). Ash’s semifinal against Sawyer swings both ways: Slaking’s Counter beats Hawlucha, Talonflame beats Slaking and falls to Clawitzer, Pikachu beats Clawitzer and Aegislash, Noivern and Salamence and then Goodra and Slurpuff knock each other out, Mega Sceptile beats Pikachu and Ash-Greninja beats Mega Sceptile (XY127–XY128) — Ash’s first League final. There Pikachu beats Tyranitar, Weavile beats Noivern, Hawlucha beats Weavile and falls to Bisharp’s Guillotine, Talonflame and Unfezant knock each other out, Pikachu beats Metagross and falls to Charizard, Bisharp’s Guillotine cuts through Goodra’s Dragon Pulse and Greninja beats Bisharp; then Mega Charizard X’s Blast Burn meets Ash-Greninja’s giant orange Water Shuriken, and Ash-Greninja falls (XY130–XY131). Alain wins, and Diantha presents a trophy patterned like the Radiant Chamber of Pokémon X and Y; Team Flare cut the closing ceremony short, so Professor Sycamore hands out medals afterwards (XY137).

Pokémon Showcases & the Master Class

Two Rookie Class Showcases remain. At Couriway Town (XY101) the Theme Performance is baking Poké Puffs while dancing, with an audience-vote threshold to reach the Freestyle; Nini, now with two Princess Keys and a Gothita, a newcomer named Sara Lee and Serena, with Braixen and Eevee, all perform, but Eevee falls on stage and Jessie wins her first Key with Wobbuffet’s Counter bouncing back Gourgeist’s attacks. At Fleurrh City (XY109) Performers must attract the most Rhyhorn; Serena rides a lone Rhyhorn back to the herd to win her round, Amelia, whose family sponsors the event, wins hers with a Shiny Dragonair and Espeon, and Serena takes the vote and her third Key with Braixen, Pancham and Sylveon, Fire Blast and Swift turning to sparkles, watched by the guest judge Palermo.

The Master Class in Gloire City (XY112–XY113) brings together 27 Performers with three Keys each. There are only Freestyle Performances — one Pokémon in each of the first two rounds, two in the semifinal and any number in the final against the Kalos Queen — and viewers across Kalos vote too. Jessie, as “Jessilee”, beats Nini and Concetta with Gourgeist; Serena beats Miette and Sara Lee with Braixen, then advances with Pancham alongside Shauna’s Ivysaur and Jessilee; and in the semifinal Serena’s Sylveon and Pancham beat Shauna and Jessilee, though Serena sprains her wrist on landing. Palermo bandages it, and in the final Aria’s Delphox, Aromatisse and a newly revealed Vivillon beat Serena’s Braixen, Pancham and Sylveon, so Aria remains Kalos Queen. After the crisis Serena, Shauna and Jessie perform together for Lumiose City in a Performance Exhibition that is not a contest (XY138).

Rivals & other battles

Away from the Conference, Sawyer loses a three-on-three rematch to Ash’s Hawlucha, Pikachu and transformed Greninja (XY106) and then beats Ash with Doublade, Clawitzer and Sceptile when the transformation fails (XY119). Alain beats Ash-Greninja with Mega Charizard X at their first meeting (XY106), his Metang beats Noivern and their rematch is stopped when Ash collapses (XY116), and he wins the Rumble Badge from Korrina (XY123). Diantha’s Mega Gardevoir battles Ash-Greninja until Ash and Greninja collapse (XY118), Ippei’s Greninja beats Kagetomo’s Weavile in the Ninja Village (XY100), Noivern beats Zapdos (XY110), and Ash and Serena win a Tag Battle against Miette and James (XY105).

In the crisis, Ash and Alain defeat Lysandre’s Pyroar and Mega Gyarados (XY133–XY135), Clemont beats Xerosic’s Malamar and Crobat (XY134) and Malva’s Mega Houndoom turns on Lysandre (XY134). Afterwards the rebuilt Clembot loses the Voltage Badge to Alvin (XY137), Ash’s battle with Serena is called off when she realises what she wants (XY138), Greninja and Chespin defeat Xerosic once more (XY139), and in the finale Ash and Clemont end their journey as it began, with Pikachu against Bunnelby — the result is never shown (XY140).

Movies & Specials Released During the Season

The nineteenth movie, Volcanion and the Mechanical Marvel (ポケモン・ザ・ムービーXY&Z ボルケニオンと機巧のマギアナ, “Volcanion and the Mechanical Magearna”), opened in Japanese cinemas on Saturday 16 July 2016, between Valuable Experience for All! (XY126) and Analysis Versus Passion! (XY127), though it is set before the Conference: its opening, Alain’s battle with Korrina, is concluded in A Diamond in the Rough! (XY123). It introduced Volcanion and Magearna — the first film with two Mythical Pokémon in starring roles — and Squishy briefly takes its Complete Forme in it; it is the first film since the fourteenth without a Pikachu short, and the last animated by Team Kamei and the last with Kayzie Rogers. XY&Z -movie ver.- opens the Japanese version and “ポストに声を投げ入れて” (“Mailing out My Voice”) closes it; in English the full-length “Stand Tall” opens it and “Soul-Heart” closes it, and the dub is dedicated to Eric Medalle. In Japan the season promoted it for months: Professor Oak revealed Volcanion in place of Poké TV on the first broadcast of XY101, trailers took that slot after XY108, XY110 and XY115, and the first broadcasts of XY127 to XY131 replaced the opening with its clips, while the film’s events offered a CoroCoro-election Greninja, a Simisear and a Magearna QR code through Pokémon Ga-Olé.

Volcanion and the Mechanical Marvel poster

Volcanion and the Mechanical MarvelMovie 19 · Japan 16 July 2016 · US TV (Disney XD) 5 December 2016 · US DVD 21 March 2017

The film reached English-speaking audiences during the season: in Australian and New Zealand cinemas on 4 November 2016, on CITV in the UK on 19 November, in Singapore and Malaysia on 24 November and in the US on Disney XD on Monday 5 December 2016, with a sneak peek of the first two Sun & Moon episodes — the start of Pokémon on Disney XD, while XYZ itself finished its run on Cartoon Network. Teletoon showed it in Canada on 31 December 2016. It came out on DVD in Australia on 1 December 2016, in Japan in three editions on 14 December 2016 and in the US on 21 March 2017.

The eighteenth movie, Hoopa and the Clash of Ages, which Cartoon Network had premiered on the day of Season 18’s finale, came out on DVD in the US on 8 March 2016, two weeks after this season began, and in Japan TV Tokyo showed it in the anime’s slot as a two-hour movie special on 14 July 2016, two days before the nineteenth film opened. Mega Evolution Special IV, in which Alain defeats Malva’s Mega Houndoom and Mairin’s Chespie absorbs Zygarde energy, opened the one-hour XY&Z premiere in Japan on 29 October 2015 with From A to Z!; Cartoon Network had already shown it on 26 December 2015, before this season’s run. The specials that close the season, The Legend of X, Y, and Z! and the undubbed XYS06, are covered under Side Stories.

Side Stories, Specials & Crossovers

Side-story tie-ins

The Legend of X, Y, and Z! and the undubbed XYS06. The season’s 48th episode is a special written by Atsuhiro Tomioka (Japan 3 November 2016, US 28 January 2017): Professor Sycamore and Alexa trace the Maiden Statue to an ancient Kalos legend of a young man named Jan, his beloved Aila, turned to stone by Yveltal, the oracle Olympica, King Veofum, Xerneas and Zygarde — the first dubbed episode in which no main character appears, and the last special shown on Cartoon Network. A week later Japan aired a second post-series special, XYS06, The Strongest Duo! Citron and Dent!! (最強の二人！シトロンとデント！！, 10 November 2016), written by Shōji Yonemura, in which Clemont and Bonnie meet Cilan at a fishing contest and on a runaway Lumiose subway train with an Eelektross; ending with Kirakira, it is the only XY appearance of one of Ash’s long-term former companions and the only XY special never dubbed. Bulbapedia gives it no English title; English Wikipedia calls it The Strongest Duo! Citron and Cilan!!.
Pokémon Generations. The Pokémon Company International released Pokémon Generations, 18 shorts of three to five minutes retelling the games from Generation I to VI, on YouTube every week from 16 September to 23 December 2016, during the US run and ahead of Japan, where the uploads ran from 9 December 2016 to 2 February 2017. Lysandre appears in its 16th episode, The Beauty Eternal (9 December 2016), voiced by Dean Wein in English and Hiroki Touchi in Japanese; the last two, The Investigation and The Redemption, followed on 16 and 23 December.
Poké TV. Japan’s end segment changed with XY&Z: Professor Oak’s Pokémon Holo Caster gave way to Poké TV, a line-up of mock programmes — I Love Pikachu!, I Love Bunnelby and I Love Chespin, Poké Love TV, Pokémon 24 Hours!, Pokémon Unbelievable, Burn! Pokémon Challenge!!, Performer News and, during the Conference, Kalos League News. XY098’s Pokémon Unbelievable on Darkrai and Cresselia was the first repeat of a programme, Xerosic hijacks the segment in XY132 to XY134, and the Holo Caster returns for XY140 and XYS05. First broadcasts gave the slot to the nineteenth movie after XY101, XY108, XY110, XY115 and XY126 and skipped XY102’s. None of it was dubbed.
Specials and companion programming. TV Tokyo closed 2015 with Uncover All Mysteries! The Pocket Monsters XY&Z Complete Overview Special!! on 31 December, in the anime’s slot. The Sunday show Pokémon Get☆TV ran alongside the season with its Pokénchi segments, the Pokémon Elections 720 and a “Playback the XY&Z” campaign, and XY137 to XY140 and both closing specials were followed by previews of Sun & Moon, which began on 17 November 2016 with a one-hour premiere.

Characters from the games, manga and specials

Pokémon Sun and Moon were announced on 26 and 27 February 2016, with release dates (18 November 2016 in Japan and North America, 23 November in Europe) following on 10 May, and the season’s last act reaches towards them: Zygarde’s Core Enforcer (XY136), aired two months before the games came out, is the first Generation VII move in the anime, and Squishy is among its first Generation VII elements; Ash-Greninja became a real game form, a Battle Bond Greninja with Ash as its Original Trainer, in the Sun and Moon Special Demo Version; and Team Rocket drop Solrock and Lunatone souvenirs at the airport in the finale (XY140).
The 20th anniversary. Love Strikes! Eevee, Yikes! (XY095) premiered in the US on 27 February 2016, twenty years to the day after Pokémon Red and Green, and Pokémon Generations and the Generations and Evolutions trading card sets were 20th-anniversary products, as were the “20th Celebration” distributions of Mythical Pokémon in early 2016. Pokkén Tournament came out on Wii U in March 2016 and Pokémon GO, after field tests that month, in July 2016, during the US run; pocketmonsters.net’s calendars also list Zygarde and alternate-coloured Xerneas, Yveltal and Mewtwo distributions in March and April 2016.
Nods to the games and beyond. The Litleonid meteor shower of Dream a Little Dream from Me! (XY098) comes from the Delta Episode of Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire; Team Rocket’s Ralts, Kirlia, Gardevoir and Gallade disguise in Making Friends and Influencing Villains! (XY117) repeats one from AG109; the gilded “And to our own way” that replaces the usual preview at the end of Till We Compete Again! (XY140) is taken from the ending of Pokémon X and Y, and the episode’s airport scenes copy Kansai International and Saga airports; and the season’s English titles borrow from “Dream a Little Dream of Me”, A League of Their Own, the Preamble to the US Constitution and Star Trek (see Dub Edits).

Opening & Ending Themes

Pokémon the Series: XYZ kept one Japanese opening throughout: XY&Z, sung by Rica Matsumoto as Satoshi — Ash — and written by Tomohisa Sako, whose animation was updated three times as Sylveon, Noivern and the Giant Rock arrived. The endings changed far more often. Mariya Ise’s Puni-chan’s Song, sung as Bonnie, closes most episodes, but one-off character songs took over for single episodes or short runs — Team Rocket’s Team Song (XY107), Serena’s version of DreamDream (XY113, XY138), Clemont’s Kirakira (XY124, XY137), Pikachu’s Song (XY129–XY131) and Meowth’s Ballad (XY135, XY136, XY139) — before the full V (Volt), the first XY opening, closed the finale over clips of the whole series. In English, Ben Dixon and The Sad Truth’s “Stand Tall”, written by the dub’s composer, Ed Goldfarb, opened all 48 episodes, and its instrumental served as the ending theme. As usual, the Japanese themes were never dubbed.

Opening 19 · XY&Z (エックスワイアンドゼット) — **Opening 19 · *XY&Z* (エックスワイアンドゼット)**Satoshi (Rica Matsumoto) · XY094–XY140 and XYS05Lyrics and music by Tomohisa Sako, arranged by Sako and Saku. It replaced *Getta Banban* and was replaced by *Alola!!* when *Sun & Moon* began. Its animation has four variants — the original (XY094–XY105), Serena’s Sylveon in place of Eevee (XY106–XY110), Noivern in place of Noibat (XY111–XY122) and, from XY123, a single scene of Zygarde Complete Forme battling a giant rock shaped like its 50% Forme while Bonnie watches, in place of the Complete Forme-over-the-world and Wulfric scenes — and it shows Ash-Greninja throughout and Sawyer’s Grovyle evolving and Mega Evolving well before the episodes do; TV Tokyo’s first broadcasts of XY127 to XY131 replaced it with clips from the nineteenth movie. It is the first opening of a League arc with no stadium scene, one line quotes *Aim to Be a Pokémon Master*, and an instrumental arrangement, “Ash-Greninja Appears!”, scores the final XY episodes; the song itself is an insert in XY106, XY110, XY116 and XY128, with remixes in several more. Full version released digitally on 10 December 2015 and on CD on the first *Pocket Monsters XY&Z* Character Song Project collection on 20 January 2016; a “-movie ver.-” opens the nineteenth movie. It was not used in any international dub.

Ending · Puni-chan no Uta (プニちゃんのうた Puni-chan’s Song) — **Ending · *Puni-chan no Uta* (プニちゃんのうた Puni-chan’s Song)**Eureka (Mariya Ise) · XY094–XY106, XY108–XY112, XY114–XY123, XY125–XY128, XY132–XY134 and XYS05Lyrics by Tomohisa Sako, music by Naozumi Mabuchi and Naoya Nagata, arranged by Yūichirō Nakanishi; the sequence was storyboarded by the series director, Tetsuo Yajima. Bonnie plays with Squishy in the grass while Ash, Pikachu, Serena and Clemont watch. Mariya Ise recorded it although she was on maternity leave when it debuted, while Mika Kanai voiced Bonnie in XY094 to XY100. Bonnie sings or hums it in XY105, XY107, XY111 and XY119 and, freeing Squishy from Team Flare’s control, in XY134 — kept in the English dub as “Squishy’s Song” — and piano versions play in XY135, XY136 and XY139. On CD on the first Character Song Project collection, 20 January 2016.

Ending · Pikachū no Uta (ピカチュウのうた Pikachu’s Song) — **Ending · *Pikachū no Uta* (ピカチュウのうた Pikachu’s Song)**Pikachu (Ikue Ōtani) · XY129–XY131Lyrics and music by Tomohisa Sako, arranged by Saku. Pikachu climbs a giant ketchup bottle and dances with many other Pikachu among ketchup plants and a ketchup tree, over the three episodes that lead into and through the Lumiose Conference final. Full version released digitally on 4 August 2016, and on CD on the second Character Song Project collection on 26 October 2016.

Ending · Nyāsu no Barādo (ニャースのバラード Meowth’s Ballad) — **Ending · *Nyāsu no Barādo* (ニャースのバラード Meowth’s Ballad)**Nyarth (Inuko Inuyama) · XY135, XY136, XY139Music and arrangement by Hirokazu Tanaka. Meowth sings with a guitar under a full moon while Jessie, James, Wobbuffet, Gourgeist and Inkay listen, a scene that recalls *Meowth’s Song* from the original series; it returned as an insert song in SM021 and JN095. On CD on the second Character Song Project collection, 26 October 2016.

Ending · Kirakira (キラキラ（シトロンver.） Brilliantly, Clemont ver.) — **Ending · *Kirakira* (キラキラ（シトロンver.） Brilliantly, Clemont ver.)**Citron (Yūki Kaji) · XY124, XY137 and XYS06Lyrics and music by Tomohisa Sako, arranged by Atsushi Yuasa. Clemont works at his desk while a projector shows clips of him. Sako’s original recording was on the *Getta Banban* single in 2015, and the song is an insert in XY104.

English opening · Stand Tall — English opening · *Stand Tall*Ben Dixon and The Sad Truth · all 48 episodesLyrics and music by Ed Goldfarb, arranged by Goldfarb and Akhil Gopal; the full-length version, with guitars by Stan Cotey and mixing by Jeff Stuart Saltzman, opens the nineteenth movie, with a violin in the break. The animation was assembled from *XY&Z* footage and never updated for Noivern. It is the first English opening whose last line does not contain the word “Pokémon”; its instrumental is the English ending theme and replaces many Japanese insert songs. It was localised as “Ich bin stark” in German, “Je suis fier” in French, “Non mi arrendo” in Italian and “De pie estoy” in Latin American Spanish, released on *Pokémon Movie Music Collection* and uploaded to Cartoon Network’s US YouTube channel on 20 April 2016.

The one-off endings doubled as insert songs. Team Rocket’s Team Song, sung by Megumi Hayashibara, Shin-ichiro Miki, Inuko Inuyama and Yūji Ueda, ends XY107 and plays in XY103, XY104, XY106, XY108, XY118, XY121 and XY123, and as an instrumental in Jessie’s Master Class routine (XY113); Mayuki Makiguchi’s DreamDream (Serena Ver.), announced on 17 March 2016, ends XY113 and XY138, whose first half uses it as an insert; DreamDream also plays in XY101, XY105 (Eevee’s evolution) and XY109, and Serena’s final Master Class routine imitates the old DreamDream ending. Getta Banban returns, extended, in XY108 and at the end of Alvin’s Gym battle (XY137), and the full V (Volt) greets the eight Gym Leaders in XY135. The background music borrows from Kyurem VS. the Sword of Justice (XY116, XY118), Genesect and the Legend Awakened (XY094, XY111, XY112, XY120) and Diancie and the Cocoon of Destruction (XY094), the Black & White title-card music (XY103, XY110) and Team Rocket’s Sinnoh and Unova motto music (XY124); Meloetta’s singing voice is heard in the dance music of XY105, and her “Relic Song” from Meloetta’s Moonlight Serenade plays at Serena’s airport farewell (XY140).

Stand Tall — Ben Dixon and The Sad Truth’s English opening, used for all 48 episodes, starts one minute into this compilation of Kalos-era themes, the video Bulbapedia’s page for the song links to. Video: The Official Pokémon YouTube channel.

TV Broadcasts & Original Airing Dates

Japan. TV Tokyo broadcast Pocket Monsters XY&Z on Thursday evenings as the continuation of Pocket Monsters XY, beginning on 29 October 2015 with a one-hour “XY&Z start” special that paired Mega Evolution Special IV with From A to Z! (XY094). The 31 December 2015 slot went to the overview special Uncover All Mysteries! The Pocket Monsters XY&Z Complete Overview Special!!, and there was no new episode on 7 January, 31 March, 23 June, 22 September or 29 September 2016. Performing a Pathway to the Future! (XY113) on 24 March was the last episode at 7 p.m.; from A Keeper for Keeps? (XY114) on 7 April the anime started at 6:55 p.m. On 14 July a two-hour movie special showed the eighteenth film in the slot, two days before the nineteenth opened, and the first broadcasts of XY127 to XY131 replaced the opening with its clips. XY135 and XY136 aired together as a one-hour special on 15 September, with XY136’s title card skipped, and Till We Compete Again! (XY140) ended the series on 27 October 2016, followed by The Legend of X, Y, and Z! on 3 November, XYS06 on 10 November and the one-hour premiere of Sun & Moon on 17 November. The only rating found is for A League of His Own! (XY125): under 2.3%, the lowest debut rating for a League Conference.

The US run. Pokémon.com announced the Cartoon Network premiere in January 2016 — Bulbanews’s report mislabels the first episode “XY093” — and a trailer confirmed the Saturday 7 a.m. ET slot. From A to Z! premiered on 20 February 2016 and Love Strikes! Eevee, Yikes! a week later, on the 20th anniversary of Pokémon Red and Green; the episodes then aired every Saturday morning in order, with no new episode on 26 November 2016, when a Teen Titans Go! marathon took the slot, or on 31 December. Till We Compete Again! (XY140) on 21 January 2017 was the last main-series episode shown on Cartoon Network and The Legend of X, Y, and Z! (XYS05), a week later on 28 January, the last special. Nothing was banned, skipped or moved, and no US viewing figures have been found.

The move to Disney XD. On 17 November 2016 The Pokémon Company International announced a multi-year deal making Disney XD the new US home of Pokémon animation, along with 19 previous seasons — over 900 episodes — and 15 movies. Disney XD premiered Volcanion and the Mechanical Marvel on Monday 5 December 2016 with a sneak peek of the first two Sun & Moon episodes, and Sun & Moon itself aired there from early 2017, while XYZ finished its run on Cartoon Network — the last Pokémon season to air there.

Ahead of Cartoon Network. iTunes and Amazon Prime Video sold the season in volumes and released XY114 to XY118 a day or a week before their broadcasts; after the 26 November 2016 marathon pushed the schedule back, every Volume 4 episode, XY134 to XY140, went up six to thirteen days early, until the error was fixed on 11 January 2017 and XY139 and XY140 were briefly pulled, returning on 15 and 22 January. Teletoon on Demand leaked XY138 in Canada on 15 December 2016, and the last four episodes premiered in Canada a week ahead of the US — XY138 on 31 December, XY139 on 7 January, XY140 on 14 January and XYS05 on 21 January 2017; Teletoon also showed the nineteenth movie and the Sun & Moon sneak peek on 31 December. Pokémon TV made it the first season fully available at once on its English service, and the first two episodes premiered online in Denmark, the Netherlands, Finland, Norway, Brazil and Sweden on 12 May 2016, the first online premiere in each of those countries.

Elsewhere. In the UK, CITV began the season on Saturday 9 April 2016 with a “Pokémon Weekend” of the Mega Evolution Specials and the third and eighteenth movies, premiered the nineteenth movie on 19 November 2016 and previewed Sun & Moon the next day; episodes stayed on ITV Hub for 30 days, and BBC iPlayer added Seasons 17 to 19 and Movies 17 to 19 on 1 November 2023. Australia saw the season on Toasted TV on Eleven, with XY138 and XY139 both shown on 1 January 2017, and the nineteenth movie opened in Australian and New Zealand cinemas on 4 November 2016. France aired XY106 and XY107 on 10 May and XY108 on 11 May 2016, ahead of the US; Flanders showed XY113 a week before the US; Belgium aired XY124 between XY126 and XY127; and the English Pokémon TV skipped XY114 in its first rotation on 12 August 2016.

The numbering. The season’s 48 episodes are numbered 1 to 48 on Cartoon Network, on the DVDs and on Bulbapedia, with The Legend of X, Y, and Z! last. English Wikipedia, whose list older guides follow, numbers XY094 to XY140 from 1 to 47, with English overall numbers 889–935 and Japanese 895–941, and lists the special separately — it is 936 in this site’s English count. Japan counts XY&Z as part of XY: Japanese Wikipedia numbers XY094 to XY140 from 94 to 140 and the two closing specials 141 and 142, and Bulbapedia’s alternate codes run from EP893 to EP939. No dub production codes have been found, as Dogasu’s Backpack, which indexed them for earlier seasons, stops before XY&Z.

Dub Edits

Changes in the English version

Nothing banned — and a special counted. All 47 episodes and the special The Legend of X, Y, and Z! aired on Cartoon Network in production order, dubbed by The Pokémon Company International with Rodger Parsons narrating and Ed Goldfarb’s music; only Japan’s second closing special, XYS06, was never dubbed, the only XY special without an English version. The dub changed director mid-season: Theresa Buchheister’s last episode is A Watershed Moment! (XY108) and Lisa Ortiz’s first Master Class Choices! (XY109). Dogasu’s Backpack has no comparison pages for XY&Z, so the changes below come from the “Dub edits”, “Errors” and “Trivia” sections of Bulbapedia’s episode pages.

The XY133 reanimation. The season’s most notable edit is in Coming Apart at the Dreams! (XY133): scenes of Ash, Pikachu, Greninja, Hawlucha and Goodra held in Lysandre’s restraining devices were reanimated so that they are no longer in crucifixion-like poses, and Ash and Greninja no longer scream as the device takes hold but appear entranced. Bulbapedia links the change to avoiding religious imagery and notes that the similar scenes of XY132 were left alone, creating inconsistencies; the reanimation also removed an error from the original, and some other dubs kept the screams with the new animation. pocketmonsters.net reported the edit on 23 November 2016.

Cuts and changed lines. Three episodes lose their post-credits scenes — Quilladin courting a Flareon (XY095), Audino barricading the door (XY096) and Chesnaught facing Pangoro (XY098) — and Darkrai’s faint cry is removed from XY098. Manectric’s order to use “Scratch”, a move it cannot learn, becomes “go after it” (XY102); Jessie’s Seed Bomb command becomes “teach them to be polite” (XY104); Bonnie’s prayer asking God to let Serena win becomes a simple wish (XY113); Ash’s and Clemont’s orders to dodge (XY114) and Clemont’s Electric Terrain command (XY116) are dropped; the announcer’s description of Guillotine as a one-hit knockout becomes a “powerful move” (XY130); Lysandre’s vow to keep the countdown going “even at the cost of my life” becomes “even if I’m stopped”, leaving the pan up the Giant Rock silent (XY136); and Delia’s apology for Ash becomes “how are you?” (XY140). Cartoon Network’s broadcast of the finale also cut 1:20 from Ash’s closing flashback so that the credits ran their usual 30 seconds.

Music. Ed Goldfarb’s score replaced much of the Japanese music, and the insert songs went too. The XY&Z inserts and remixes and the Ash-Greninja theme became instrumentals of “Stand Tall” — in XY106, XY116, XY118, XY121, XY122, XY128, XY133, XY135 and XY139 according to the episode pages, with Bulbapedia’s page for the song also listing XY105 and XY114; DreamDream gave way to instrumentals in XY105, XY109 and XY113; the full V (Volt) that greets the Gym Leaders in XY135 became a brass instrumental, and the finale’s V (Volt) ending an instrumental medley of “Pokémon Theme (Version XY)”, “Be a Hero” and “Stand Tall”; Team Rocket’s motto music was replaced in XY104 and removed in XY124; and the “Relic Song” of Serena’s airport farewell was replaced (XY140). One Japanese song survives: Bonnie’s Puni-chan’s Song, kept as “Squishy’s Song”, including the scene in which it frees Squishy (XY134).

Who’s That Pokémon? and the Pokémon Quiz. The dub keeps Who’s That Pokémon? while Japan runs its Pokémon Quiz, and the answers differ in 29 of the 48 episodes, usually because the Japanese quiz shows a particular individual or form: Serena’s Eevee, Sylveon and Braixen in stage costumes (XY101, XY112, XY113), Alain’s Charizard (XY106), Z2 (XY107), Amelia’s Shiny Dragonair (XY109), Jimmy’s Pikachu, Spike (XY115), the Shiny Phantump (XY117), Mega Garchomp (XY126), Mega Sceptile (XY128), Mega Charizard X (XY131), Lysandre’s Shiny Gyarados (XY134), Chespie (XY135), Squishy (XY139) and Ash-Greninja (XY122, XY133, XY136), the last two with every option one of Ash’s Pokémon. The dub’s Squishy (XY094) is the first answer given as a nickname, its Diglett (XY118) does not appear in the episode and its cry is not played, its Salamence (XY128) is the first answer repeated from an earlier segment (XY046), and Ash reads the answer to XYS05, whose Japanese quiz has no narrator.

Title cards, names and localisation. Japan’s title card focuses on a different character each week, often read by that character — Pikachu and Meowth share XY098’s, Ash and Sawyer XY126’s, and Alain reads XY107’s, the first time no main character does; XY121 and XYS05 have no reader. The dub usually substitutes an Ash card read by Ash (XY098, XY101, XY104, XY105, XY107, XY112, XY115, XY121 and XYS05 among them), though XY124’s English card focuses on Ash and is still read by Clemont. The new Pokédexes of XY094 keep a female voice in English where the Japanese uses a male one, and Jessie’s “gadget”/“budget” mix-up in XY124 sent other dubs looking for rhymes of their own (Finnish vempain/vatkain, Swedish manick/picknick). Puni-chan becomes Squishy, Satoshi Gekkouga Ash-Greninja, the Flare-dan Team Flare, Fleur-de-lis Lysandre, Kuseroshiki Xerosic, Pachira Malva, Urup Wulfric, Carne Diantha, Manon Mairin and her Hari-san Chespie, Yashio Palermo, Limone Meyer, Citroid Clembot, and Eisetsu and Miare Snowbelle and Lumiose.

Slips and title variants. A Team Flare Grunt calls for “Houndoom” (XY094, fixed on Pokémon TV); Japanese voices are left in for Braixen (XY101), Noibat (XY104), a Pinsir (XY123) and Trevor (XY125); a line says “Fury Swipe” (XY101); Clemont says he bandaged “Lilia and Buneary” (XY114); Jessie’s voice is heard in a scene with only James (XY117); Talonflame’s and Noivern’s voices are mixed up (XY121); and Alvin orders “Stun Spore” instead of Sleep Powder (XY137). Noivern keeps its Japanese voice in XY110 and is dubbed from XY116. TV guides and Netflix first listed XY095 as “Love Strikes, Evee Yikes!”; Cartoon Network and the digital stores used “A Keeper for Keeps?!” for XY114, where the UK, Netflix, Disney XD and Pokémon.com have “A Keeper for Keeps?”; and XY119’s original title card reads “A Full Strength Battle Surprise!”.

Episode titles explained

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

Love Strikes! Eevee, Yikes! — a rhyme on Eevee’s name, for the shy Eevee courted by a lovestruck Quilladin
Dream a Little Dream from Me! — the song “Dream a Little Dream of Me”, for the dream Squishy shares with Pikachu and Meowth
Master Class Is in Session! — the phrase “class is in session”, for the opening rounds of the Master Class
Making Friends and Influencing Villains! — Dale Carnegie’s book How to Win Friends and Influence People
Seeing the Forest for the Trees! — the saying “can’t see the forest for the trees”, for Ash lost in the Winding Woods
A Diamond in the Rough! — the idiom “a diamond in the rough”, for a mischievous Carbink
A League of His Own! — the film A League of Their Own (1992), for the opening of the Kalos League
Coming Apart at the Dreams! — the phrase “coming apart at the seams”, as Lumiose City falls apart
The Right Hero for the Right Job! — the phrase “the right person for the job”
Forming a More Perfect Union! — the Preamble to the US Constitution, “in order to form a more perfect union”, as Squishy and Z2 merge
Facing the Needs of the Many! — Star Trek’s “the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few”, as Ash lets Greninja go

DVD & Blu-ray / Streaming

Pokémon the Series: XYZ came out in North America from VIZ Media, distributed by Warner Home Video, as two three-disc sets in 2017 and 2018 and a six-disc Complete Season in 2025; Australia and New Zealand got two Collections from Beyond Home Entertainment, the first while the US run was still on, and a six-disc DigiPack. Every release holds all 48 episodes, with The Legend of X, Y, and Z! (XYS05) as the last, as Bulbapedia counts them. No UK DVD release of the season has been found.

North America (Region 1)

Release	Date	Contents
Pokémon the Series: XYZ – Set 1 (VIZ Media, 3 discs)	29 August 2017	24 episodes: XY094–XY101; XY102–XY109; XY110–XY117 — rated TV-Y7, list price $24.98
Set 2 (3 discs)	6 February 2018	24 episodes: XY118–XY125; XY126–XY133; XY134–XY140 and XYS05
Pokémon the Series: XYZ – The Complete Season (6 DVDs)	11 February 2025	All 48 episodes in 16:9, with English SDH subtitles
Hoopa and the Clash of Ages (DVD)	8 March 2016	The eighteenth movie, two weeks after the season’s US premiere
Volcanion and the Mechanical Marvel (DVD)	21 March 2017	The nineteenth movie, premiered on Disney XD on 5 December 2016

Australia & New Zealand (Region 4)

Release	Date	Notes
Pokémon the Series: XYZ – Collection 1 (3 discs, BHE7530)	December 2016 (Bulbapedia gives 12 December in Australia and 1 December in New Zealand)	22 episodes: XY094–XY100; XY101–XY107; XY108–XY115 — released during the US run; a pre-release cover with Ash-Greninja was later reused for Collection 2
Collection 2 (3 discs)	1 February 2017 (New Zealand 15 February 2017)	26 episodes: XY116–XY124; XY125–XY132; XY133–XY140 and XYS05
Pokémon Season 19 DigiPack (6 discs, BHE7629)	3 May 2017 (New Zealand 17 May 2017)	All 48 episodes on discs 19.1–19.6, themed on Litleo, the Zygarde Core, Vivillon, Phantump, Slurpuff and Helioptile; promoted as the “Complete Collection”
Volcanion and the Mechanical Marvel	1 December 2016	The nineteenth movie on DVD, four weeks after its cinema release (date from pocketmonsters.net)
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&Z: Vol. 1 on 27 April 2016, Vols. 2–3 on 25 May, 4 on 22 June, 5–6 on 27 July, 7 on 24 August, 8–9 on 21 September, 10 on 26 October and 11–12 on 23 November 2016, according to pocketmonsters.net; the later volumes and the contents of each have not been confirmed. The last XY volumes, 29 to 32, had appeared on 24 February and 23 March 2016. The nineteenth movie followed on DVD in three editions on 14 December 2016, after a Sun & Moon preview DVD on 20 October. Hulu Japan carried the Japanese version, with an error involving Raichu in XY126 corrected.

Streaming

iTunes and Amazon Prime Video sold the season in volumes, several episodes going on sale before their Cartoon Network premieres. Pokémon TV made it the first season fully available at once on its English service, and premiered the first two episodes online in Denmark, the Netherlands, Finland, Norway, Brazil and Sweden on 12 May 2016. XYZ was part of Netflix’s worldwide Pokémon catalogue by April 2017, and Netflix added XY, XY Kalos Quest and XYZ again on 1 June 2025. In the UK, episodes were on ITV Hub for 30 days after each CITV broadcast, and BBC iPlayer has carried the season since 1 November 2023. Check your local service, as availability changes often.

Covers

Pokémon the Series: XYZ Set 1 (Region 1, 2017)

Pokémon the Series: XYZ Set 2 (Region 1, 2018)

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.

NetflixAdded XY, XY Kalos Quest and XYZ again on 1 June 2025, having carried XYZ worldwide by April 2017; availability varies by region.
BBC iPlayer (UK)Has carried Seasons 17 to 19 and Movies 17 to 19 since 1 November 2023.
DVD – North AmericaPokémon the Series: XYZ – The Complete Season (VIZ Media, 6 discs, 2025) has all 48 episodes in one case.
DVD – Australia & New ZealandThe Season 19 DigiPack (Beyond Home Entertainment, 2017) and several multi-season box sets.
Digital purchaseThe season has been sold by the episode and in volumes on iTunes and Amazon Prime Video since 2016; check current availability in your region.

Trading Cards Released During the Season

Pokémon the Series: XYZ aired in the US through the trading card game’s 20th-anniversary year, and five expansions came out from just before the Cartoon Network premiere to the end of the run:

BREAKpoint — 3 February 2016 — 17 days before the US premiere, with 122 cards and a secret rare from Japan’s Rage of the Broken Heavens: Froakie, Frogadier, Greninja and Greninja BREAK, Professor Sycamore, and Gyarados-EX and M Gyarados-EX
Generations — 22 February 2016 — two days after From A to Z! (XY094), a 20th-anniversary set of 115 cards (83 and a 32-card Radiant Collection) from the Japanese Starter Pack and PokéKyun Collection: Charizard-EX and M Charizard-EX, Pikachu, Meowstic-EX, Sylveon-EX, and Gardevoir-EX and M Gardevoir-EX
Fates Collide — 2 May 2016 — between A Windswept Encounter! (XY104) and Party Dancecapades! (XY105), with 125 cards from Awakening Psychic King: Zygarde and Zygarde-EX, Carbink and Carbink BREAK, Audino-EX and M Audino-EX, Alakazam-EX and N
Steam Siege — 3 August 2016 — between Making Friends and Influencing Villains! (XY117) and Championing a Research Battle! (XY118), with 116 cards from Fever-Burst Fighter and Cruel Traitor: Volcanion and Volcanion-EX, Magearna-EX, Xerneas BREAK and Yveltal BREAK, Talonflame BREAK, Clawitzer BREAK, Avalugg, Litleo, Pyroar and Pyroar BREAK, and Gardevoir-EX and M Gardevoir-EX
Evolutions — 2 November 2016 — between Finals Not for the Faint-Hearted! (XY130) and Down to the Fiery Finish! (XY131), with 113 cards from Expansion Pack 20th Anniversary, a Generation I set in the style of the original cards: Charizard-EX, M Charizard-EX, Mewtwo-EX and Pikachu

In Japan the cards had come out months earlier: BREAKpoint is the English version of Rage of the Broken Heavens (11 December 2015), Generations of the Starter Pack (27 February 2016) and PokéKyun Collection, Fates Collide of Awakening Psychic King (18 March 2016), Steam Siege of Fever-Burst Fighter and Cruel Traitor (17 June 2016) and Evolutions of Expansion Pack 20th Anniversary (16 September 2016). Japan also had a Zygarde-EX Perfect Battle Deck, a Volcanion-EX Special Jumbo Card Pack (5 August 2016) and The Best of XY, and the Sun & Moon base set followed in English on 3 February 2017, after the season.

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 the season’s big moments:

Firsts & Lasts

First special counted as an episode of a dubbed season, and the first dubbed episode in which no main character appears: The Legend of X, Y, and Z! (XYS05).
First League final for Ash (XY128), and the first time he lost a League battle to someone he had battled before (XY131).
First primary rival to win a League: Alain (XY131).
First villainous team leader Ash defeats in battle: Lysandre, in the first episode with all eight of a region’s Gym Leaders (XY135).
First fully evolved Water-type first partner owned by a main character: Ash’s Greninja (XY100).
First Pokémon Ash had released to rejoin his team: Goodra (XY126).
First time a main character releases a regional first partner, in the first episode with two releases: Greninja and Goodra (XY139).
First Generation VII move in the anime: Zygarde’s Core Enforcer (XY136).
First loss to a region’s final Gym Leader, and the first final Gym battle without Pikachu: Wulfric (XY120).
First Who’s That Pokémon? answer given as a nickname, Squishy (XY094), and the first answer repeated from an earlier segment, Salamence (XY128).
First Japanese title card read by no main character: Alain’s (XY107).
First episode with more than one Shiny Pokémon: The Right Hero for the Right Job! (XY134).
First English opening whose last line does not contain the word “Pokémon”: “Stand Tall”.
Last official Gym battle of Ash’s career (XY122), last episode made at 30 frames per second (XY140), and the last main-series episode and special on Cartoon Network (XY140, XYS05).

Trivia & Facts

A season that counts a special. Bulbapedia, Cartoon Network and the VIZ and Beyond DVDs all treat The Legend of X, Y, and Z! (XYS05) as the season’s 48th episode — the first special included in a dubbed season — although no main character appears in it, a first for a dubbed episode.
Cartoon Network’s last Pokémon season. XY140 was the last main-series episode and XYS05 the last special shown on Cartoon Network; Disney XD premiered the nineteenth movie on 5 December 2016, mid-season, and took over with Sun & Moon.
Ash’s best League result so far. In the Lumiose Conference Ash reached a League final for the first time (XY128) and lost it to Alain (XY131) — the first time he lost a League battle to someone he had battled before; Alain became the first primary rival to win a League.

Ash’s first League final: he and Alain settle the Lumiose Conference in Down to the Fiery Finish! (XY131). Screenshot: Pokémon anime, XY131 “Down to the Fiery Finish!” · via Bulbapedia
Ash’s last Gym battle. The Snowbelle rematch (XY122) is the last official Gym battle of Ash’s career; the first Snowbelle battle (XY120) was his first loss to a region’s final Gym Leader and the first final Gym battle without Pikachu.
Ash-Greninja’s milestones. It was born in XY100, the 100th XY episode and the 900th of the series counting Holiday Hi-Jynx and Snow Way Out!, named by Bonnie in XY120, mastered in XY121, explained by Professor Sycamore in XY129 and released with Greninja in XY139.
A move from the next generation. Zygarde’s Core Enforcer in Forming a More Perfect Union! (XY136, 15 September 2016) is the first Generation VII move in the anime, aired two months before Pokémon Sun and Moon came out.
A villain beaten in battle. Lysandre is the first villainous team leader Ash defeats in battle (XY135), and the same episode is the first in which all eight Gym Leaders of a region appear together.
A censored crucifixion. The dub reanimated the scenes of Coming Apart at the Dreams! (XY133) in which Ash and his Pokémon are held in cross-like poses by Lysandre’s devices, but left the similar scenes of XY132 alone.
Released before broadcast. After the 26 November 2016 Teen Titans Go! marathon, iTunes and Amazon Prime Video released XY134 to XY140 up to 13 days before Cartoon Network, until 11 January 2017, and Teletoon on Demand leaked XY138 in Canada on 15 December 2016.
Voice changes. Mika Kanai’s run as Bonnie ends with XY100 and Mariya Ise returns in XY101; the dub director Theresa Buchheister hands over to Lisa Ortiz at XY109; Kayzie Rogers voices Wobbuffet for the last time in XY140; and Squishy and Z2 are voiced in Japanese by Clemont’s actor, Yūki Kaji.
Character endings. Besides Bonnie’s Puni-chan’s Song, Japan used endings sung by the characters’ voice actors — Team Rocket (XY107), Serena (XY113, XY138), Clemont (XY124, XY137), Pikachu (XY129–XY131) and Meowth (XY135, XY136, XY139) — and the full V (Volt) for the finale.
Five minutes earlier. Performing a Pathway to the Future! (XY113) was the last episode to start at 7 p.m. on TV Tokyo; from XY114 on 7 April 2016 the anime started at 6:55 p.m.
“And to our own way”. Till We Compete Again! (XY140) replaces the usual preview with golden cursive text from the ending of Pokémon X and Y; it is the last episode made at 30 frames per second, Delia’s only XY appearance and Professor Oak’s only in-person one, and its airport scenes copy Kansai International and Saga airports.
The kiss. Serena kisses Ash before boarding her plane for Hoenn (XY140), after becoming the first Performer ever to turn down Palermo’s tutelage (XY138).

Farewells at Lumiose Airport in Till We Compete Again! (XY140), the episode in which Serena kisses Ash before her flight to Hoenn. Screenshot: Pokémon anime, XY140 “Till We Compete Again!” · via Bulbapedia
Firsts in the Team Flare arc. The Right Hero for the Right Job! (XY134) is the first episode with more than one Shiny Pokémon and the first in which a Pokémon, Ash-Greninja among them, stays transformed for the whole episode; Team Rocket never recite their motto or blast off during the five-part arc, and their last motto of XY comes in XY137.
Goodra comes back. Rejoining Ash for the Conference (XY126), Goodra became the first Pokémon he had released to return to his team; it went home in XY139.
Bonnie stops matchmaking. A Keeper for Keeps? (XY114) is the last time Bonnie asks a woman to take care of Clemont.
One Mythical, one old friend. The Darkrai of Dream a Little Dream from Me! (XY098) is the only Mythical Pokémon to appear in an XY episode, and Cilan’s visit in the undubbed XYS06 is the only XY appearance of one of Ash’s long-term former companions.
Squishy’s record. Squishy has appeared in more episodes than any other recurring Legendary Pokémon.
Games and cards. The trading card expansions released from just before the US premiere to the end of the run were BREAKpoint, Generations, Fates Collide, Steam Siege and Evolutions, with Greninja BREAK, Zygarde-EX, Volcanion-EX and Magearna-EX among them, and an Ash-Greninja-EX promo came out in English in the XY BREAK Ash-Greninja-EX Box on 13 April 2016 — see our TCG section.

Reception

Ratings. The only viewing figure recorded for the season is a low one: A League of His Own! (XY125), the opening of the Lumiose Conference, drew under 2.3% in Japan, which Bulbapedia calls the lowest debut rating for a Pokémon League Conference so far. No US viewing figures, chart positions for the season’s songs or box-office figures for the nineteenth movie have been found for this page.

Fan scores. MyAnimeList’s Pokemon XY&Z entry, which counts 47 episodes, stood at 7.83 from about 107,000 scoring users, with some 169,000 members, in October 2026. IMDb’s episode ratings could not be checked for this page.

Commentary. No named critical reviews of the episodes or the DVDs have been found; The Outer Haven ran VIZ’s press release for Set 1 on 25 August 2017. Dogasu’s Backpack, the usual source of dub commentary, has no XY&Z pages, Bulbagarden’s forum review threads for each episode were not read for this page, and the season won no known awards.

Continue the journey with Season 20: Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon, go back to Season 18: Pokémon the Series: XY Kalos Quest, or browse every season of the Pokémon anime.