With the second round concluded, the group reunites in preparation for the second round, though Doc has a brief encounter with an important Pokémon.
- Abusive Parent: Trixie's dad, having previously hinted to be one by the way Trixie spoke about him earlier, is now shown to be emotionally abusive to Trixie when he calls her just to bad mouth her performance and loss against Applejack.
- Breather Episode: After four chapters of intense Pokémon battles, this chapter takes a break from the Hoof Cup to provide more exposition and set up the next round of the tournament.
- Embarrassing First Name: It is revealed that Trixie's real name is actually "Beatrice" when her dad calls her that, with all of her friends giggeling when they hear it themselves.Flash: (through laughter) Beatrice?!
Trixie: Shut it. - Exact Eavesdropping: As Celestia explains to Flash and Doc that they may be involved with legendary Pokémon and the fate of the world, Lightning eavesdrops on the exposition and bitterly mutters how he should've been picked instead.
- Ms. Exposition: Celestia explains the nature of the legendary Pokémon, Alicormony and Dischaos, with the former dividing its power into three heralds and how Flash and Doc may be associated with them.
- Noodle Incident: Celestia remarks that Luna doesn't like reporters because they once took a picture of her, frowning at a fundraiser. Luna defensively says that she was just resting her cheeks. It's also a reference to the episode "A Royal Problem".
- Paparazzi: As the victorious and defeated contestants from the Hoof Cup leave the stadium, they are bombarded by a mob of photographers. Luckily, Luna scares them away before they can harass the exhausted trainers.
- Training from Hell: Lightning Blitz is shown to put his Pokémon through this, but it is also Deconstructed. Celestia and Luna explain how some Pokémon don't care much about their trainers on a personal level and just stay with them so they can get stronger under them. It is assumed that some of Lighting's Pokémon feel that way like his Higear and Geckoxic, with Flash assuming the latter stays with him to get strong enough to get revenge on him and Viper. The fact that none of his Pokémon have tried to leave him despite his harshness adds merit to these theories and suggest they want to be trained this way.
