"The curtain's up! And the spotlight's on my greatest work of all!"
—Lysandre
Japanese Title: Kalos League Victory! Satoshi's Ultimate Match!!
Original Airdate: August 18, 2016
US Airdate: November 5, 2016
Who would have thought that Ash's sixth League loss here meant The End of the World as We Know It?
The one where… the fans got really angry.
It all comes down to this. Ash and Alain battle to the wire in the Lumiose Conference Final. But Lysandre and Team Flare have a very nasty surprise waiting at the finish line.
This episode contains examples of the following tropes:
- Bullying a Dragon: Team Flare's last experiment on Z-2 convinces it that humans need to be exterminated. Which is what Lysandre wants to happen as he shares the same belief.
- Darkest Hour: Both in-universe and out. In-universe, Team Flare makes their move and launches a brutal attack on Lumoise City, capturing Ash in the process. Out of universe, Ash has somehow failed yet again at the moment of truth, and many fans are left questioning if he can ever win a league.
- Foreshadowing: The dub is called "Down to the Fiery Finish!"
- Graceful Loser: As usual, Ash congratulates Alain for his victory.
- Inelegant Blubbering: Team Rocket is overcome by Ash's show of sportsmanship after the battle.
- Irony: Ash has finally reached the League finals for first time, one victory away from the championship that he had long sought after since the beginning of his journey, and yet has the temperament of a reigning champion while Alain, despite defeating nearly everyone, including Ash twice, has a temperament of a challenger who has yet to achieve victory. And that's before things really go to hell.
- Oh, Crap!:
- Goodra's reaction when Bisharp is about to strike with Guillotine.
- Alain's reaction when he sees Ash-Greninja preparing to launch the glowing, giant Water Shuriken at Mega Charizard X, which causes him to immediately drop everything for a one last desperate Blast Burn. It is perhaps the first time where he starts to think twice about Mega Charizard X's invincibility.
- The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: Jessie roots for Ash simply because she doesn't want to see him lose to anyone except Team Rocket.
- Power Up Letdown: When Ash-Greninja summons the giant Water Shuriken this time, it uses the veil around itself to power up the Water Shuriken, causing to to change color from blue to orange. Surely this new powerup that will never be seen again after this will allow Ash to cinch the win… But no, instead somehow Mega Charizard X tanks the attack and just stumbles a bit, and Greninja faints instead.
- Red Herring: This League battle is built up as the culmination of everything that XY has been building up to, hinting to Ash's first League victory with Ash-Greninja gaining a larger and more climatic Water Shuriken than ever before. But that large Water Shuriken did not bring down Mega Charizard X and the battle itself is merely a decoy to the real climax: Team Flare and Zygarde. Bonus points for the giant Water Shuriken to be colored red.
- Soundtrack Dissonance: Triumphant music plays after the battle is over- except Ash lost and everyone is disappointed.
- Status Quo Is God: If the past twenty years isn't any indication, Ash still hasn't won a league. Up until Alola.
- The Day the Music Lied: An instrumental of the opening plays in the Japanese version during the final battle. Unfortunately, Ash loses.
- Wham Episode: This is the episode where nothing will ever be the same anymore for the remainder of XYZ. Ash's League loss, while rendered inevitable once Pikachu went down, is presented as being unnatural, with music completely disappearing after Greninja fell, the low-key nature of the ceremony, and Alain failing to learn anything from the battle. Then Lysandre makes the move to unleash Z-2 upon the Kalos region, sending the League Conference into a state of panic.
- Your Princess Is in Another Castle!: While the battlers are preparing for the medal ceremony, Lysandre begins his master stroke, powering up Z-2 from the Prism Tower and overrunning Lumiose City.
