Recap / Pokémon S19E36 "Kalos League Passion With a Certain Flare!"

• All Your Base Are Belong to Us: Team Flare infiltrates Prism Tower in preparation for their master plan involving Z-2.
• Breather Episode: A dialogue-driven episode between two intense Kalos League battles, with everyone either reflecting on what's happened or preparing for what is to come.
• Canon Immigrant: This is the first mention of the Bond Phenomenon in the anime series. It is used in Pokémon Shuffle and the Pokémon TCG, but will not be added to the canon video game series until Pokémon Sun and Moon.
• Mr. Exposition: Professor Sycamore tells Ash about the Bond Phenomenon, which is what he suspects is the cause of the Ash-Greninja transformation as opposed to a form of Mega Evolution.
• Villain Takes an Interest: Lysandre approaches Ash, and requests to discuss Bond Phenomenon with him after the finals.
• We Used to Be Friends: Downplayed with Alain and Professor Sycamore. Alain reveals he has associated with Lysandre for his Mega Evolution work, but only stayed away from Professor Sycamore to protect him in case something bad happened. Professor Sycamore understands.
• You Remind Me of X: Inevitable that when Clemont's Chespin literally runs into Mairin, she comments about her own Chespie.