XY118

Championing a Research Battle!

XY118   EP917 サトシ対チャンピオン・カルネ！VSメガサーナイト！！ Satoshi VS Champion Carnet! VS Mega Sirnight!!

First broadcast Japan May 5, 2016 United States August 5, 2016* August 6, 2016*

English themes Opening Stand Tall Ending

Japanese themes Opening XY&Z Ending プニちゃんのうた

Credits Animation Team Kato Screenplay 米村正二 Shōji Yonemura Storyboard 樋口香里 Kaori Higuchi Assistant director 仲野良 Ryō Nakano Animation directors 上杉遵史 Junji Uesugi 千葉茂 Shigeru Chiba 内田裕 Yū Uchida Additional credits

Screenshots on Filb.de Preview thread on BMGf Closed Original review thread on BMGf Dub review thread on BMGf

Championing a Research Battle! (Japanese: サトシ対チャンピオン・カルネ！VSメガサーナイト！！ Satoshi VS Champion Carnet! VS Mega Sirnight!!) is the 118th episode of the XY series, and the 917th episode of the Pokémon anime. It first aired in Japan on May 5, 2016 and in the United States on August 6, 2016.

Spoiler warning: this article may contain major plot or ending details.

Blurb

After hearing Gym Leader Olympia’s ominous prediction, Champion Diantha visits our heroes just as Ash and Greninja are doing some special training. To find out more about the bond they share in battle, Diantha challenges them, and Ash jumps at the chance!

Diantha’s Gardevoir easily evades every hit…until Ash and Greninja begin to merge. Gardevoir has to Mega Evolve to keep up, and the bond between Ash and Greninja intensifies like never before—until they both pass out!

Diantha promises to learn more about this bond and how it might relate to Olympia’s prediction. After his battle with the Champion, Ash is even more fired up for the Kalos League!

Plot

This plot summary is incomplete. Please feel free to edit this plot summary to add missing sections and complete it.

Major events

• Olympia tells Diantha about the upcoming threat to Kalos.
• Ash and his friends meet up with Diantha again.
• Diantha informs Ash and his friends about various incidents happening all over Kalos, including the island that Team Flare used to experiment on, and about Zygarde.
• Ash's Greninja reaches its final Ash-Greninja form for the first time.
• Ash has a rematch against Diantha, which is interrupted when Ash overexerts himself during the battle and collapses with Greninja.

For a list of all major events in the anime, please see the history page.

Debuts

Pokémon debuts

Characters

Humans

Pokémon Quiz

• Ash
• Serena
• Clemont
• Bonnie
• Jessie
• James
• Olympia
• Diantha
• Alain (flashback)
• Professor Sycamore (flashback)
• Lysandre
• Xerosic
• Mable (flashback)
• Sophie (flashback)
• Cosette (flashback)
• Charlene (flashback)
• Carrie (flashback)
• Aliana (flashback)
• Kathi Lee

Pokémon

Who's That Pokémon?

Who's That Pokémon?: Diglett (US and international)
Pokémon Quiz: Mega Gardevoir (Japan)

• Pikachu (Ash's)
• Meowth (Team Rocket)
• Wobbuffet (Jessie's)
• Dedenne (Clemont's)
• Frogadier (Ash's; flashback)
• Greninja (Ash's; Ash-Greninja)
• Charizard (Alain's; Mega Charizard X; flashback)
• Weavile (Mable's; flashback)
• Druddigon (Aliana's; flashback)
• Meowstic (Olympia's; male)
• Meowstic (Olympia's; female)
• Gardevoir (Diantha's; Mega Gardevoir)
• Zygarde (Zygarde Core; Squishy)
• Zygarde (Zygarde Core and 50%; Z2; 50% in flashback)

Trivia

• Poké TV: "Pokémon 24 Hours!" program focusing on Diantha and her Gardevoir.
• The English dub was released on iTunes on August 5, 2016, one day before the episode aired in the United States.
• Ash's Greninja remains outside of its Poké Ball for the entire episode.
• Music from Kyurem vs. The Sword of Justice is used in this episode.
• An instrumental version of XY&Z is used during Ash's battle against Diantha.
  • There are also a few frames of animation re-used from the theme during the battle.
• An instrumental version of Team Rocket's Team Song is used as an insert song during Team Rocket's motto.
• Sawyer and Ash narrate the preview for the next episode.

Errors

• While Clemont, Bonnie, and Serena wait for Ash and Greninja to come out of the forest, Bonnie is standing to Clemont's and Serena's right, though when Ash and Greninja come out of the forest, their positions are switched with Clemont and Serena standing to the right of Bonnie.
• As Greninja gets ready to reach its final Ash-Greninja form, the star shape on its leg is cream instead of blue for a split second.
• When the Giant Water Shuriken forms, the webs on Greninja's right hand are missing.
• When Greninja throws its Giant Water Shuriken, there is a moment where the Battle Pulse Meter is missing from its wrist.
• When Team Rocket laugh as Gardevoir attempts to escape from their trap, Jessie is missing her lipstick.
• When Ash and his friends are talking with Diantha in front of the helicopter, Greninja is missing the webs on both of its hands.
• In the final scene, when Ash is standing with Greninja and Pikachu is on Ash's shoulder, the brown stripes on Pikachu's back are shorter than normal in the first shot, yet appear longer in the next shot.
• When Mega Evolving, Gardevoir's legs are coloured green instead of white.

• 

  Coloring error on Greninja's leg

• 

  Jessie without her lipstick

Dub edits

• XY&Z is replaced with an instrumental version of Stand Tall.

In other languages

Language		Title
Dutch		Een onderzoekend gevecht met een kampioen!
European French		Un combat pour la recherche !
Italian		Una ricerca da campioni!
European Spanish		¡Un combate de investigación con la Campeona!

This episode article is part of Project Anime, a Bulbapedia project that covers all aspects of the Pokémon anime.