Recap / Pokemon S 19 E 25 Championing A Research Battle

• The Bus Came Back: The return of Diantha. She was actually looking for Ash and his friends after hearing about their part in the upcoming crisis as predicted by Olympia.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: A notable aversion as the battle between Ash-Greninja and Mega Gardevoir is shockingly even matched, and is the first time we have ever seen a Champion actually put effort into a battle; in fact, Ash-Greninja at one point outright overpowers Mega Gardevoir. Ash may even have won if not for another Power-Strain Blackout.
• Chekhov's Skill: All that physical training that Sanpei gave Ash come into play here.
• Epileptic Trees: In-universe, Diantha starts wondering just what kind of transformation is Ash-Greninja?
• The Last Straw: Mega Gardevoir near effortlessly escapes Team Rocket's restraints and blasts them off...only to faint afterwards. After her heated battle with Ash-Greninja, that little force of power was all she could take.
• Logical Weakness: Gardevoir's ability to dodge attacks just by making eye-contact with Diantha is impressive, but it only works as long as she can see Diantha. Once Greninja clouds the battlefield with steam from his Water Shurikens, Gardevoir can't see her trainer anymore, and Greninja is finally able to hit her.
• Nonchalant Dodge: Mega Gardevoir spams this move, complete with Flash Stepping. At first it was considered an accomplishment Greninja could even land an attack on her, let alone overpower her.
• Took a Level in Badass: Throughout the entire series, the Elite Four and Champion were always portrayed as hopelessly out of the league of anyone below them. Even with Ash's impressive performance in Sinnoh, he still got utterly flattened when he went up against Flint or even Diantha herself earlier in this series. But now, with the incredible power of the Bond Phenomenon, Ash and Greninja go from being unable to land a single hit on Gardevoir, to landing one hit without the transformation, to hitting her again after the transformation, to forcing her to Mega Evolve, to outright knocking her down after completing the transformation. Even though the battle wasn't finished, this was the episode that marked Ash's official transition into a Champion-level trainer.
• Wham Shot:
  • Ash-Greninja completing his transformation, to the shock of everyone present.
  • Immediately after the above, Ash-Greninja's Water Shuriken colliding with Mega Gardevoir's Shadow Ball...and Water Shuriken wins, knocking Gardevoir off of her feet.