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| Season | Pokémon the Series: XYZ (Season 19) · Squishy & Team Flare arc (XY094–XY098) |
| Episode | Season 19, episode 1 · English episode 889 · Japanese episode 894 · Bulbapedia code XY094 |
| English title | From A to Z! |
| Japanese title | Z爆誕！カロスに潜む者！！ Z Bakutan! Karosu ni Hisomu Mono!! — “Z’s Explosive Birth! What Lurks in Kalos!!” |
| First aired (Japan) | 29 October 2015 · TV Tokyo |
| First aired (US) | 20 February 2016 · Cartoon Network |
| Screenplay | Atsuhiro Tomioka |
| Opening / ending (Japan) | XY&Z – Satoshi (Rica Matsumoto) · Puni-chan no Uta (Puni-chan’s Song) – Eureka (Mariya Ise) |
| English opening | Stand Tall – Ben Dixon and The Sad Truth |
| Who’s That Pokémon? | Squishy (US) |
| Next episode | Love Strikes! Eevee, Yikes! (XY095) |
Plot episodeSquishy debutsTeam Flare appear
From A to Z! is the 1st episode of Pokémon the Series: XYZ, the nineteenth season of the Pokémon anime, and the 889th episode of the English dub overall (Japanese episode 894, Bulbapedia code XY094). It first aired in Japan on 29 October 2015 and in the United States on 20 February 2016. It falls within the season’s Squishy & Team Flare stretch (EP94–EP98).
Premiered on Cartoon Network at 7:00 a.m. ET on Saturday 20 February 2016, as Pokémon.com had announced in January (Bulbanews’s report mislabels the episode “XY093”). Pokémon TV premiered it and XY095 online in Denmark, the Netherlands, Finland, Norway, Brazil and Sweden on 12 May 2016.
Synopsis
Bonnie finds a mysterious little green Pokémon she names Squishy, and the group has its first clash with Team Flare, whose scientists are hunting the creature across Kalos. The episode opens as Team Flare’s attempt to capture a Zygarde fails, and Mable reports the setback to Lysandre, who orders a search. On the road to Snowbelle City, Bonnie spots a small green blob in the forest; Ash’s and Serena’s Pokédexes return no data, and Ash is thrilled to have found a brand-new species. A Dodrio stampede scatters the group, and in the confusion they reunite with Sawyer and his Grovyle but lose sight of Squishy. In the mountains, Celosia and a squad of Grunts seize the creature, and Ash and Pikachu arrive to demand its return. Pikachu’s Thunderbolt meets Drapion’s Toxic, Grovyle’s Leaf Storm slices through the smoke to free Squishy into Bonnie’s arms, and Noibat’s Supersonic covers the group’s escape.
At Lysandre Labs, Xerosic scolds Mable and Celosia and reveals that Bryony will now chase the Core while Aliana pursues the 50% Forme, to the irritation of the first pair. That night at camp, Squishy turns down every snack offered to it and sunbathes on a rock instead. Sawyer, who has won four more Badges, hears that Ash has seven and is bound for Snowbelle; he warns that its Gym is too tough for Ash right now and suggests a detour to Terminus Cave, home to Pokémon found nowhere else. When Serena shows the cave in her guidebook, Squishy bounces on the page so insistently that Bonnie decides it wants to go there. Later, Squishy senses Team Flare through the Zygarde Cells around it and wakes Bonnie, just before Drapion’s Pin Missile strikes the camp.
Frogadier, Braixen and Luxray join Pikachu and Grovyle against Celosia’s Drapion and the Grunts’ Houndour and Skorupi, and the attacks collide in a series of explosions. Ash sends his friends to safety, but Bonnie falls into a stream and Serena dives in after her, and when the smoke clears Team Flare is gone and so is Squishy. By a river, Bryony and two Grunts corner the Core with Houndour, Sneasel and Bisharp, but Squishy gathers the nearby Cells, transforms into a dog-like 10% Forme and drives them off with Land’s Wrath before reverting and collapsing. Bonnie finds it safe, and Ash thanks Sawyer for his help. Bryony reports the new form to Celosia, unaware that Team Rocket is eavesdropping. At sunrise a towering 50% Forme Zygarde watches from the forest, and as the group parts from Sawyer and walks on, they pass Alain without either side noticing.
Major Events
- Squishy and Team Flare. Bonnie finds and names Squishy, a Zygarde Core that uses Land’s Wrath in its 10% Forme
- The group’s first encounter with Team Flare and its scientists
- Sawyer returns with four more Badges and recommends Terminus Cave
- Ash passes Alain without noticing
- The first episode with the Japanese opening XY&Z and ending Puni-chan’s Song
- Serena is seen without her waistcoat for the first time
- Debuts of Celosia, Mable, Aliana, Bryony and Xerosic
- Alain’s first appearance in person
- Main-series debut of Lysandre
- Anime debut of Zygarde’s 10% and 50% Formes
- Main-series debut of the male Pyroar
Pokémon making their anime debut
Zygarde#0718 · XY094
Trivia
- The screenplay is by Atsuhiro Tomioka.
- This is a plot episode: it advances the Kalos storyline.
Changes in the English Dub
- The new Pokédexes keep a female voice in English, where the Japanese uses a male one
- A Team Flare Grunt calls for “Houndoom” (fixed on Pokémon TV)
- Debut of the English opening Stand Tall (Ben Dixon and The Sad Truth) and of the Japanese opening XY&Z and ending Puni-chan’s Song
- Music from Genesect and the Legend Awakened and Diancie and the Cocoon of Destruction
Part of our Pokémon the Series: XYZ guide. Browse every season of the Pokémon anime.