It originally aired in Japan from November 6, 2014 to October 22, 2015 on and in the United States from February 7 to December 19, 2015 on. The episodes were directed by Tetsuo Yajima and produced by the animation studio. The Japanese version features four pieces of theme music. He next meets up with Hoenn Region Champion, Steven Stone. Steven has also been traveling to understand the secrets of Mega Evolution and the Mega Stones, but both are caught off guard when Rayquaza appears in the skies. The Dance for Tomorrow!! Ashita e no Suteppu!! Serena demonstrates her Pokémon's performance to Nini. Nini helps Pancham improve its dance choreography for the Showcase. Team Rocket kidnaps Chespin, Fennekin, Pancham, and Nini's Pokémon: Smoochum and Farfetch'd. Pancham and Chespin temporarily stop fighting each other to team up and defeat Team Rocket. However, Team Rocket tries stealing a safe containing treasure inside the Cussler, which makes its structure begin to collapse. Ash helps the Water Pokémon who live in the Cussler prevent the Cussler from collapsing. Team Rocket drops the treasure it looted after their submarine is swept away by a whirlpool. Ash lets his Hawlucha understudy for Gallade while it recovers. Team Rocket tries stealing the Pokémon from the show. Ash's Hawlucha teams up with its Dark Hawlucha costar to beat them. When the show starts, Ash's Hawlucha and Dark Hawlucha have an unscripted battle with each other. The scroll is actually blank, and the mission is intended as a test to prove how much Sanpei has improved his ninja abilities. As part of the test, Saizo disguises himself as a masked ninja who pursues Sanpei and the scroll with a Barbaracle. Ash and Froakie assist in battle against Saizo's Barbaracle, during which Froakie evolves into Frogadier. Sanpei succeeds in delivering the scroll. The Wild Meecle Race!! Serena wins, and continues her adventures with Ash. The Bonds that Would Save the World!! Kizuna wa Sekai o Sukuu!! James, Meowth, and Clemont escape and convince a group of wild Inkay and Malamar to free their friends. An evil Malamar puts James's Inkay under hypnosis, but Inkay being reminded of its friendship with James frees it. Jenny's Manectric stops the device with a Thunder attack. The evil Malamar escape into the future to avoid arrest. Team Rocket kidnaps Pikachu and Goomy, but they break out of their cage with the help of Goomy's slippery body and return to Ash. Team Rocket has the upper hand in the battle against Ash when Inkay confuses Pikachu and Fletchinder. Goomy saves Pikachu and Fletchinder with a Bide attack, giving Pikachu enough time to break out of confusion and beat Team Rocket. Do it for Numera!! Numera no Tame ni!! When Goomy gets frightened off by Serena battling Team Rocket, Dedenne goes looking for it. Dedenne protects Goomy from being taken by Team Rocket. Ash, Serena, and Clemont find them and Pikachu finishes off Team Rocket. The Coumarine City Gym Leader Ramos has his Jumpluff use its Sunny Day to stop the snowstorm, while his many Sunflora melt the fallen snow with their combined Solar Beam. As a back-up plan, Team Rocket steals Vanillite, Vanillish and Vanilluxe with their giant robot. Ramos' Gogoat and Ash's Frogadier destroy the robot's air vent which is blasting cold air from the stolen Pokémon, and Pikachu frees the Pokémon with Iron Tail. Gekogashira Bui Esu Gōgōto! Ash's Fletchinder overwhelms Ramos' Jumpluff with the speed of its Flame Charge. Ramos then sends out Weepinbell, who finishes off Fletchinder and Hawlucha with Slam. Ash's last Pokémon is Frogadier who breaks through Weepinbell's Grass Knot attack and finishes it with Aerial Ace. Ramos then sends out Gogoat. Gogoat uses its Razor Leaf to surround Frogadier to hide from Frogadier's attacks. Frogadier breaks out of the circle of Razor Leaf and defeats Gogoat with Water Pulse, earning Ash the Plant Badge. The Tree of Promises and the Presents!! Chikai no Ki to Purezento!! When Ash has trouble deciding on a present for his Pokémon, Serena suggests getting them something that would make Ash happy, as they think just like he does. Inspired by Serena, Ash hand picks a bunch of berries for all of his Pokémon to feast on. Serena Makes her Debut!! The theme for the first round is Pokémon styling. Serena loses in the first round after Fennekin trips up. Shauna wins enough votes from the audience in both rounds win a Princess Key. The Spoink takes them to the area's oasis, where Team Rocket and a Grumpig bully have taken over the food and water. The Grumpig chases the group into a cave where Team Rocket traps Ash and friends inside a prison cell. Ash escapes, and while he defends Goomy from Grumpig, Goomy evolves into Sliggoo. Sliggoo's defeats Grumpig with its Dragon Breath attack. Grumpig returns the stolen food to the rest of the oasis' Spoink and promises not to steal again. Ash and friends sneak inside. Clemont gets through to Luxio, who overloads the system with Discharge and stops the Pokémon-controlling waves. Luxio evolves into Luxray. It uses its Electric Terrain move to charge the Electric Pokémon's attacks allowing them to beat Team Rocket. Clemont returns to Lumiose City on his own to train before Ash challenges him at the Lumiose City Gym. A Parting of the Ways! A doctor named White saves Jessie from drowning in a river. Jessie falls in love with White and decides to quit Team Rocket to live with him. When a Pokémon hunter steals Meowth, Inkay and Pumpkaboo, Jessie realizes that White is in love with his childhood friend Beatrice. Ash and Serena distract the hunter to help James free Team Rocket's Pokémon, and Jessie and Wobbuffet reunite with them. Ash and Serena temporarily team up with Team Rocket to defeat the hunter's Rhyperior. A Splendid Performance Battle!! Karei Naru Pafōmansu Batoru!! The Kalos Queen Aria, disguised as a performer called Arianna, prompts Serena to apologise to Pancham and Fennekin. She challenges Serena to a double battle to show how Serena, Pancham and Fennekin can work as a team. The battle between the two performers is interrupted when Aria is called to an appointment elsewhere. During the battle, Fennekin evolves into Braixen. While trying to steal Pikachu before the battle can start, Team Rocket takes Sliggoo and Tierno's Raichu and Wartortle by mistake. Jessie angrily frees the Pokémon when Wartortle soaks her hair. When Pumpkaboo starts a forest fire while trying to catch Pikachu, Sliggoo stops the fire with its Rain Dance. Sliggoo evolves into Goodra and defeats Team Rocket with its new move, Dragon Pulse. Ash and Tierno have their battle and Ash defeats Tierno's Pokémon with Pikachu and Goodra. Citroid VS Black Citroid!! Shitoroido tai Burakku Shitoroido!! Clemont discovers Clembot's blueprints were stolen in a hack of the Prism Tower computer. He traces the hack to Belmondo. Allying with Officer Jenny, Clemont and a freed Clembot head to the museum to stop Belmondo and Dark Clembot from sneaking inside. With Clembot's name cleared, Dark Clembot challenges Clembot to a Pokémon battle to determine which one is best. The Clembots are forced to rest after Team Rocket fails to kidnap them. Clemont battles Belmondo himself and wins after Belmondo fails to treat his Magnezone with respect. Pikachu beats Clemont's Bunnelby by hitting the ground with Iron Tail while Bunnelby digs underground, then finishes Bunnelby by hitting it with another Iron Tail attack. Ash then uses Hawlucha's speed to beat Heliolisk during the split-second Heliolisk leaves its body open to attack. When Luxray quickly knocks out Hawlucha and Pikachu, Ash sends out his last Pokémon, Goodra. Goodra uses its Rain Dance to counteract the power Luxray gained from its Electric Terrain. Goodra finishes Luxray with its Bide, winning Ash a Voltage Badge. Clemont rejoins Ash, Serena and Bonnie on their journey. However, when Team Rocket crashes the experiment and gets away with the Mega Stone and Garchomp, Ash attaches a tracking device to them for him and the others to follow Team Rocket's escaping mecha. Team Rocket tries using a mind control ray on Garchomp before attempting to make it Mega Evolve. Professor Sycamore uses Blaziken Mask's Key Stone to make Garchomp Mega Evolve before Team Rocket can. Mega Garchomp, Pikachu and Blaziken Mask's Blaziken stop Team Rocket from getting away with Professor Sycamore's Key Stone. Goodra protects its friends from being attacked by Florges. When it seems that Goodra has won, Jessie's Pumpkaboo and James's Inkay create a distraction, allowing Florges to retreat. Later, some Bug Pokémon steal Pikachu and Dedenne. Numelgon, Go Over the Rainbow!! Numerugon Niji no Kanata ni!! They double-cross Florges when they drain all the water in the spring Florges had taken over to heal Floette. Team Rocket takes the water, Pikachu and Dedenne in their airship, and Ash and Goodra ally with Florges to stop them. Florges frees the stolen Pokémon, but the water is lost during the battle. Goodra uses its Rain Dance and Florges uses its Grassy Terrain to restore the dried up wetlands to life. Believing that Goodra belongs in the wetlands, Ash decides to leave it behind. Bonnie and Dedenne find themselves lost in the forest with Meowth, with Bonnie and Meowth getting stuck in a vine together. Bonnie gets knocked unconscious by Foongus's Spore attack. Meowth gets Dedenne to find a Chesto Berry to wake Bonnie up. The three of them get washed down a river, which leads to Bonnie and Meowth being freed. When Meowth reunites with Jessie and James, the Pangoro retrieve the Berries Team Rocket stole and send them flying. Its owner Lon offers them some food. A Gastly, Haunter and Gengar then scare Ash and his friends as a playful way of showing hospitality. Ash, Pikachu, Serena and Bonnie fall down some trapdoors into the basement. After rescuing them, Clemont finds a 200-year-old journal which talks about the secret room the trapdoors lead to which was created for Lon to hide in when he was a boy. Ash and the others are shocked to discover a 200-year-old photograph of Lon and that Lon is no longer alive. Afterwards, everyone wakes up in the forest, with Ash, Serena and Clemont unsure if they were dreaming. They instead meet Sawyer, who had a Gym battle with Clemont recently and gets to challenge the Gym Leader Valerie during the show. Sawyer's Dragon-type Pokémon Bagon loses to Valerie's Fairy-type Spritzee due to a type disadvantage. The Beautiful Fairy Trap!! Utsukushiki Fearī no Wana! Ash's Fletchinder gets tied up in the ribbons of Valerie's Sylveon, but frees itself with a Flame Charge and finishes Sylveon with its Steel Wing. Fletchinder is then defeated by a Moonblast attack from Valerie's next Pokémon, Spritzee. Ash sends out Hawlucha, who uses its Bug-type move X-Scissor to beat Spritzee's Psychic-type move Trick Room. Hawlucha beats Spritzee with a High Jump Kick, winning Ash a Fairy Badge. Ash and Sawyer prove Team Rocket wrong and stop them from stealing the group's Pokémon. Before parting ways, Ash and Sawyer decide to have a three on three battle where the former helps give the novice trainer gain useful experience. Ash wins the battle, during which Sawyer's Treecko evolves into a Grovyle. Ash decides to compete in it with his three Flying-types in hopes for Noibat to fly properly. Team Rocket has other plans up their sleeve when they enter as well. How to Pikachu The Movie! Impressed with Ash's Pikachu, Frank wants to cast him in a movie with the Cosplay Pikachu. Everyone there loved Hoopa's rings, which could make anything and everything appear! One day, the three of them were helping an old woman make donuts. Hoopa's eyes started glittering at the sight of these round treats it had never seen before! When Hoopa's rings get used to make donuts, could things get silly? A Captivating Fiery Performance!! Misero Honoo no Pafōmansu!! Only this time, she faces a tougher competition when a familiar face also appears entering the Showcase to back Serena into a corner. However, when they meet a timid Rotom, they learn that the hotel was not always so dark. July 23, 2015 September 26, 2015 Ash, his friends, and Team Rocket arrive at a costume festival to have fun. During the festivities, Jessie witnesses a Pumpkaboo falling in love with her Pumpkaboo and decides to do something to help it. Manmū to Yukino ō!! Hajimete no o Tsukai!! Tērunā no Tsuyoki Omoi!! He explains his interest in snapping a picture of the legendary Moltres rumored to have been spotted nearby on Mt. Capture at the Flower Garden!! Ohanabatake de Tsukamae te!! Serena sets out to bond with it. Eievui's First Time in a Fight!! The Hyakkoku TriPokalon Tournament!! Serena gets ready to begin her next performance hoping to obtain her second key in the Showcase. The Battle of the Giant Sundial!! Kyodai Hidokei no Tatakai!! After meeting her and learning about Frogadier's past, the Anistar sundial seems to be in trouble. Gojika no Mirai Yochi!! October 22, 2015 December 19, 2015 The time for Ash's Gym Battle has finally arrived. He gets prepared to win his next Gym Badge. Alain loses his Mega Stone and Key Stone if he fails. Meanwhile, Chespin discovers scientists performing experiments on an unknown Pokémon, which leads it to fall victim to a mysterious illness. Other English-speaking nations largely follow either this order or the Japanese order.
