As the battle between May and Drew continues, an intense competition between the two rivals finally reaches its exciting conclusion.
- Attack! Attack! Attack!: Scoot and Brock observe that May is inadvertently influenced by Ash's battle style, which relies heavily on dazzling power attacks. While this approach served her well in the past, it proves ineffective against an experienced coordinator like Solidad, who shares the style, but is aware of the glaring flaw of vulnerability to maneuver and reprisal assaults. This ultimately leads to May's crushing defeat in the semifinals.
- Bittersweet Ending: On the sweet side, Ash finally gets that pesky Aipom onto his team. On the bitter side, May ends up being eliminated in the Top 4 of the Grand Festival to Solidad, leaving her crushed after being defeated.
- The Cameo: The Magikarp Salesman shows up in the background when Aipom is struggling to get out of the Pokeball.
- Counter-Attack: After noticing May's preference for an aggressive battling style similar to her own, but with less experience, Solidad adapts her strategy to focus on evading and counterattacking May's moves, putting May in a vulnerable position.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: In stark contrast to her close battle with Drew, Solidad doesn't even give May much of a chance to fight back, and creams her with minutes to spare.
- Flaw Exploitation: Solidad secured a resounding victory over May by capitalizing on her opponent's reliance on the dazzling, offense-heavy attacks they shared with Ash. By studying May's previous battles with Harley and Drew, Solidad recognizes the dangers of attempting to use the same battling style against her. Instead, she cleverly adjusts her style to focus more on counterattacks, leveraging her greater experience to outmaneuver May. Unfortunately for May, her lack of experience prevented her from adapting her own battling style to counter Solidad's adjustments, resulting in a devastating defeat.
- Foreshadowing: Scott arrives after Ash catches Aipom, but the camera cuts to another scene before it's revealed what he could say to him. It's later revealed that he came to let Ash know that Brandon is ready.
- "Not So Different" Remark: Scott points out that May's (and Solidad's) battling style isn't too dissimilar to Ash's, meaning that he had inadvertently inspired her on how to battle with his own style.
- So Proud of You: The others console May this way after her loss, with Max saying she's the best big sister ever.
- Sore Loser: Harley, who May already eliminated from the contest, is even more incensed when she manages to beat Drew.
- Surpassed the Teacher: May finally manages to beat her rival Drew, who's given her sound advice on contest battles in the past.
- Stepford Smiler: May is graceful enough to quickly bow to Solidad for the good battle, but it's clear she's bottling up her feelings about losing in the semifinals. She breaks down in tears once she's in front of her friends, who give her a hug.
