Pokemon Anime: XY Series
The Pokemon XY series debuted on October 19th 2013, on Cartoon Network following the TV movie Genesect and the Legend Awakened. XY starts the anime fresh by revealing Serena as an old childhood friend of Ash’s. Like the Pokemon X and Y games, it offers a whole new esthetic to the viewer. Character models, especially Ash, are much taller and leaner. Ash’s fresh new look is pleasing to the eye in a certain frame of the second episode, where he attempts to save a Pokemon. Backgrounds are now heavily detailed, where environmental details were usually specific to the characters in a somewhat watercolor backdrop, only emphasized when a Pokemon was caught or evolving. This is because the series is now animated by a new company: Team Kato. The show also debuted on the 17th of October in Japan during Tokyo TV’s 50th anniversary. The series doesn’t really take the show in a new direction, but is overall still fun to watch for some good nostalgia. There are many similarities to the Advanced Generation series and the show even teases a crush that Serena has on Ash.
Notes:
- Some quips for the episode summaries may contain spoilers.
- Assume Team Rocket is in every episode with some kind of devious scheme. It’s kind of sad they didn’t continue making them competent and doing jobs not pertaining to capturing Pikachu like they did in the Black and White series.
- This is only the United States English dub listings. Japan has quite a few more episodes available for the dedicated watcher. Check out anime sites with fansabs to check these out. The English episodes can be found on pokemon.com.
Episode Synopses:
| # | Episode Name | Release Date | Synopsis |
| XY001 | Kalos! Where Dreams and Adventures Begin! | October 17th, 2013 | Ash arrives in Luminose City and visits the Pokemon Gym there, only to be thrown out for his lack of badges. Ash later meets a boy named Clemont and his sister Bonnie. He then proceeds to challenge Clemont to a battle. |
| XY002 | Lumiose City Pursuit! | October 17th, 2013 | Carrying an injured Froakie (which later becomes his) to Sycamore’s Pokemon Lab, Ash meets the Professor and a Garchomp and learns about Mega Evolution. Team Rocket enrages the Garchomp and Ash tries to calm it down. This inspires Serena back in Vaniville Town to look for him after seeing him on the news. |
| XY003 | A Battle of Aerial Mobility! | February 1st, 2014 | Ash travels to Santalune City at Alexa’s behest to get his first gym badge. Clemont and Bonnie are now traveling with him, when the gang meets a Fletchling that Ash wants to catch. A battle between Froakie and Fletchling begins and Ash gets his next Pokemon. |
| XY004 | A Shockingly Cheeky Friendship! | February 8th, 2014 | Ash and his friends are still making their way to Santalune City to obtain his first gym badge. He encounters a Dedenne that quickly befriends Bonnie. The gang gets separated from Pikachu and Dedenne and try to look for them. |
| XY005 | A Blustery Santalune Gym Battle! | February 15th, 2014 | Ash meets Viola, the Santalune Gym leader, who turns out to be Alexa’s sister. They engage in a thrilling battle that continuously has Ash on the ropes. This is the first episode where Ash meets Serena. |
| XY006 | Battling on Thin Ice! | February 22nd, 2014 | After his defeat against Viola, Ash has doubts about his confidence. Once they are reignited, he trains hard and challenges Viola again. Serena chooses to travel with Ash. |
| XY007 | Giving Chase at the Rhyhorn Race! | March 1st, 2014 | Ash wants to participate in a Rhyhorn race but does not have any skills or experience in doing so. Serena slowly teaches Ash how to race and Serena learns that she is more skilled with it than she thought she was. |
| XY008 | Grooming Furfrou! | March 8th, 2014 | Returning to Lumiose City on their way to Cyllage City, the gang meets a woman named Jessica who has a Furfrou that won’t let her trim it. She gets separated from Furfrou and it’s up to the main characters to find it. |
| XY009 | Clemont’s got a Secret! | March 15th, 2014 | Trainers attempting to enter the Lumiose City Gym are consistently getting rejected or defeated. Clemont attempts to stop Ash from entering the Gym, but it is revealed that Clemont is the Gym Leader who was thrown out by his own faulty creation. |
| XY010 | Mega Mega Meowth Madness! | March 22nd, 2014 | Team Rocket steals secrets of Mega Evolution from Professor Sycamore, and Clemont enlists the help of a mischievous Chespin to defeat a Mega Mecha Team Rocket created. |
| XY011 | The Bamboozling Forest! | March 29th, 2014 | The gang gets robbed by two Pancham and chases them into a forest where it is revealed that their mother Pangoro is looking for them. |
| XY012 | To Catch a Pokemon Smuggler! | April 5th, 2014 | Ash and his friends run into a poacher capturing Scatterbug and Spewpa to sell on a world market since the final evolution, Vivillon, has many regional forms. They hatch a plan to trick and capture the poacher with a disguise. |
| XY013 | Kindergarten Chaos! | April 12th, 2014 | Ash’s Froakie loses a match against a teacher named Penelope and her Sylveon and is asked to show his Pokemon to a bunch of kindergartners. They meet a boy named Randall who is afraid of Pokemon. |
| XY014 | Seeking Shelter from the Storm! | April 19th, 2014 | After a storm hits, the gang finds themselves in an abandoned mansion seemingly haunted. It is revealed to be a Psychic-type Pokemon Espurr waiting for an old lady named Lacy, to return a pendant to her. |
| XY015 | An Appetite for Battle! | April 26th, 2014 | Chespin gets separated from Clemont after smelling something delicious. It engages a trainer with a Delphox where it loses after stealing food. Clemont is then informed that Chespin is exceptional in its rolling ability. |
| XY016 | A Jolting Switcheroo! | May 3rd, 2014 | Bonnie’s Dedenne gets switched out with a Pichu. This doesn’t even deserve a second sentence, for it’s the obligatory switch episode Pokemon has done a million times. |
| XY017 | A Rush of Ninja Wisdom! | May 10th, 2014 | Ash meets a boy name Sanpei with a Frogadier and asks him to teach his Froakie Quick Attack. After much training where everyone dresses up as a ninja, Froakie winds up learning Double Team instead taking out Team Rocket. |
| XY018 | Awakening the Sleeping Giant! | May 17th, 2014 | Stopping in Camphrier Town, Ash and his friends find a Snorlax. They go to Parfum Palace to try to get across the bridge. They win a Pokemon battle against a girl holding the Poke Flute, but lose Clemont in the process. |
| XY019 | A Conspiracy to Conquer! | May 24th, 2014 | Team Rocket gets interrupted by a mysterious woman named Madame X and possessed by her. Meowth escapes to warn Ash and his friends. Now they must face a powerful Malamar. |
| XY020 | Breaking Titles at the Chateau! | June 7th, 2014 | Ash enters the Battle Chateau and becomes a Baron after meeting Nico and Chester, two battlers there. He is also reunited with Viola for a short while, and meets Grant, his next Gym Leader opponent. |
| XY021 | A PokeVision of Things to Come! | June 14th, 2014 | Serena learns about PokeVision and attempts to compete in a video competition with her Pokemon, Fennekin. Bonnie has Clemont enter to help him find a wife. |
| XY022 | Going for the Gold! | June 14th, 2014 | Ash and his friends arrive in Ambrette Town, and they meet Rodman, a man looking for a Golden Magikarp. |
| XY023 | Coming Back into the Cold! | June 21st,2014 | Alexa meets up with the gang to tell them about a new discovery in the Fossil Lab. An Amaura and Aurorus were restored from Fossils. Then Team Rocket attacks. What’d you expect? |
| XY024 | An Undersea Place to Call Home! | Unreleased. No US air date. | Will be released on November 20th, 2014 in Japan. There are plenty of sites that sub Pokemon into English. |
| XY025 | Climbing the Walls! | July 5th, 2014 | Fun Fact: Ash is very adapt at climbing walls in the series. Ash arrives in Cyllage City where he immediately attempts to challenge Grant. He must first climb a really long rock wall. |
| XY026 | A Battle by Any Other Name! | July 12th, 2014 | Serena makes Poke Puffs for everyone and is challenged by another trainer, Miette in a cooking competition. |
| XY027 | To Find a Fairy Flower! | July 19th, 2014 | A Flabebe lands in Bonnie’s hair, and is weak. It is revealed to be another trainer’s, Grey, and the group attempts to find a new fairy flower for it before it gets any weaker. |
| XY028 | The Bonds of Evolution! | July 26th, 2014 | Ash meets Diantha, the Champion of Kalos. Surprisingly, she accepts a battle with Ash as Professor Sycamore watches. Team Rocket attacks the Champion and her Gardevoir. |
| XY029 | Heroes! Friends and Faux Alike! | August 2nd, 2014 | A boy named Myron encounters Team Rocket as they all disguised themselves as Ash and his friends. Imagine James dressed up as Ash, it’s like what Ash would look like if he was older. |
| XY030 | Mega Revelations! | August 9th, 2014 | Ash meets the Gym Leader Korrina who is trying to get 100 victories near Geosenge Town so she can obtain the Mega Stone that will Mega Evolve her Lucario. |
| XY031 | The Cave of Trials! | August 16th, 2014 | Korrina enters a cave with the group and finds herself struggling against a Blaziken that is guarding the Mega Stone. Gurkinn, Korrina’s grandfather and the Mega Evolution guru, appears in this episode. |
| XY032 | The Aura Storm! | August 23rd, 2014 | Still traveling with Korrina, Ash challenges her after she gets her Mega Stone. However, Lucario becomes exceedingly violent when it Mega Evolved, which means she must undergo special training. |
| XY033 | Calling from Beyond the Aura! | August 24th, 2014 | On their way to the Training site, Team Rocket attacks Korrina and Ash’s friends, which gives Lucario and Korrina a tough choice. |
| XY034 | The Bonds of Mega Evolution! | September 6th, 2014 | Korrina meets a woman named Mable, who trains Korrina in unexpected ways. She has a Mawhile that can Mega Evolve. Korrina leaves the group after this episode. |
| XY035 | The Forest Champion! | September 13th, 2014 | On their way to Shalour City, the group encounters a Hawlucha defending weaker Pokemon from stronger Pokemon so they can eat berries. Ash trains the Hawlucha so it can fight with style and not lose substance. |
| XY036 | Battles in the Sky! | September 20th, 2014 | Ash engages in his first two Sky Battles against a Talonflame. His little bitty Fletchling somehow wins. |
| XY037 | The Cave of Mirrors! | September 27th, 2014 | Ash gets dragged into a parallel universe (from Reflection Cave) where he meets himself and a few identical copies of his friends. They battle Team Rocket like they always do. |
| XY038 | Forging Forest Friendships! | October 4th, 2014 | Clemont suggests that Ash train for his next Gym battle with a double battle. In the process, Ash gets kidnapped by the Pokemon Trevenant. |
| XY039 | Summer of Discovery! | October 11th, 2014 | The gang gets invited to Professor Sycamore’s Training Camp, where they meet and battle with Tierno, Trevor, and Shauna. They also talk about their dreams and such. |
| XY040 | Day Three Blockbusters! | October 18th, 2014 | Ash and Serena fall down a ravine while attempting to shoot a video. Serena, despite not having a dream, is eager to find her own. |
| XY041 | Foggy Pokemon Orienteering! | October 25th, 2014 | During the camp (they’re still there), Bonnie and Dedenne get separated during a race. The whole group scatters to find them. |
| XY042 | Battling into the Hall of Fame! | November 1st, 2014 | The Summer Camp ends. Apparently there’s a lot of inconsistency with the points. |