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| Season | Pokémon the Series: XYZ (Season 19) · Mastering the bond & the Iceberg Badge arc (XY114–XY122) |
| Episode | Season 19, episode 25 · English episode 913 · Japanese episode 918 · Bulbapedia code XY118 |
| English title | Championing a Research Battle! |
| Japanese title | サトシ対チャンピオン・カルネ！VSメガサーナイト！！ Satoshi Tai Chanpion Karune! Tai Mega Sānaito!! — “Satoshi VS Champion Carne! VS Mega Sirnight!!” |
| First aired (Japan) | 5 May 2016 · TV Tokyo |
| First aired (US) | 6 August 2016 · Cartoon Network |
| Screenplay | Shōji Yonemura |
| 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? | Diglett (US) |
| Previous episode | Making Friends and Influencing Villains! (XY117) |
| Next episode | A Full-Strength Battle Surprise! (XY119) |
Plot episodeAsh vs DianthaFirst giant Water Shuriken
Championing a Research Battle! is the 25th episode of Pokémon the Series: XYZ, the nineteenth season of the Pokémon anime, and the 913th episode of the English dub overall (Japanese episode 918, Bulbapedia code XY118). It first aired in Japan on 5 May 2016 and in the United States on 6 August 2016. It falls within the season’s Mastering the bond & the Iceberg Badge stretch (EP114–EP122).
On sale on iTunes and Amazon Prime Video from 5 August 2016, a day before the US premiere.
Synopsis
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-Greninja forms a giant Water Shuriken for the first time. At the Anistar Gym, Olympia shares her vision of the coming disaster with Diantha, who sees an image of Zygarde in the seer’s deep green eyes and recognises it. Meanwhile, Ash races Greninja through the forest, convinced that he can master their transformation if he becomes more like Greninja, and falls flat on his face trying to leap between branches as it does. Diantha arrives by helicopter, having heard Olympia’s prophecy, and tells the group about strange incidents across Kalos, including an island attacked with a Team Flare weapon, and says she suspects Zygarde lies at the heart of them. Team Rocket, listening in, realise it is the Pokémon Team Flare kidnapped.
Clemont recalls Olympia’s words from when Greninja was still a Frogadier and explains his Battle Pulse meters, and Diantha asks for a battle against her Gardevoir to see the phenomenon for herself. Team Rocket plan to steal Gardevoir once it Mega Evolves. At first Gardevoir easily dodges Greninja’s attacks, destroys its Double Team with Shadow Ball and catches it in Moonblast’s shock wave, and Diantha sees nothing remarkable. Then Water Shuriken raises a cloud of vapour, Greninja lands a Cut from behind and transforms. Diantha is astonished. The pressure of Aerial Ace forces her to Mega Evolve Gardevoir, whose Reflect blocks the blow, and Ash and Greninja begin moving in perfect sync, their Double Team and Cut breaking Reflect apart.
Greninja’s veil of water rises and forms a giant Water Shuriken on its back, which smashes through Shadow Ball and knocks Mega Gardevoir away. As Ash orders a final Cut, the energy between him and Greninja becomes too much, and both collapse. While Diantha tends to Ash, Team Rocket try to capture Gardevoir with their “Unbreakable Mega Ring,” but it slips free and blasts them off with Shadow Ball. Ash and Greninja recover, and Diantha leaves, urging the group to keep researching their power for the sake of Kalos. Far away, Lysandre looks at the captive Z2 and orders the final stage of his project to begin. Ash tells Greninja that they must grow stronger together if they are to master their new power, and the friends continue towards Snowbelle City.
Major Events
- Ash vs Diantha. Diantha warns of the crisis Olympia foresaw and battles Ash
- Ash-Greninja forms a giant Water Shuriken for the first time against Mega Gardevoir, and Ash and Greninja collapse
- Lysandre orders the final stage of his plan
Trivia
- The screenplay is by Shōji Yonemura.
- This is a plot episode: it advances the Kalos storyline.
Changes in the English Dub
- An XY&Z remix and Team Rocket’s Team Song; the dub uses Stand Tall
- Music from Kyurem VS. the Sword of Justice
Part of our Pokémon the Series: XYZ guide. Browse every season of the Pokémon anime.