The last match of the Masters Eight Tournament Semi-Finals has gotten underway, and it's Ash vs Cynthia! Both trainers are eager to take on Leon, and plan to give it their all, but what chance does Alola's newly crowned champion stand against the more experienced Queen of Sinnoh?
This episode contains the following tropes:
- Batman Gambit: Cynthia's ploy was to put Ash into a corner by forcing him to call in Pikachu, randomly switching out between her Spiritomb and the rest of her team to keep him off balance just enough before he switched in his ace. Once Pikachu was in the right position, her Spiritomb would use Destiny Bond to KO the electric mouse and keep Ash from using his Z-Move, rendering the battle in Cynthia's favor.
- Call-Back: Ash has Pikachu use the Counter Shield technique he developed when traveling through Sinnoh to stop Spiritomb's Hypnosis which had caused problems prior to his other Pokémon and damages the ghost Pokémon heavily with it, Cynthia then remembers Ash using the technique in the Sinnoh League after he brings up this up (as she had initially assumed Pikachu was simply dancing for victory prematurely until she realized what was truly going on), the counter shield's usage also impresses Leon as he would go on to borrow and use it later during his match with Ash.
- Cliffhanger: The episode ends with the battle halfway over, with Cynthia leading 2-3, and Ash no longer able to use Pikachu.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: By the end of the episode, Cynthia has taken out half of Ash's team, with Gengar and Dragonite both falling rather easily to her Spiritomb.
- Curb Stomp Cushion: Ash's Gengar was able to burn Roserade with a Will-o'-Wisp and Pikachu beat down Gastrodon.
- Mythology Gag: Cynthia has a Togekiss on her team, like in Platinum.
- Shout-Out: The title refers to the song "Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered."
- Taking You with Me: Spiritomb uses Destiny Bond to immediately take out Pikachu when it goes down, leaving Ash without his ace.
- Wham Line: Cynthia reveals she's planning to retire from battling after she wins.
- The Worf Effect: Oh boy, do Dragonite and Gengar get hit hard by this in the episode. Both put up a valiant effort, but they get utterly demolished by Cynthia's team. Dragonite is rendered helpless by Spiritomb using Hypnosis and Dream Eater, and Spiritomb's Sucker Punch knocks Gengar out with one shot.
