Tear Jerker / Pokémon: Harmony and Chaos

Pokémon: Harmony and Chaos

• Lightning Blitz's Establishing Character Moment, where he rejects all three of the starter Pokémon offered to him at Celestia's lab, claiming he doesn't need a weakling for a partner. He draws specific attention to the Aquana, who Flash eventually makes part of his team as Riptide. His harsh words cause the small water lizard to burst into tears. The next chapter shows he is still feeling upset over it and needs to be comforted by Celestia's Champagoon. In fact, Riptide's desire to get stronger and prove he isn't weak are basically his character arc for the series, with it all being traced back to this moment for him.
• After Flash catches Skyler and learns that he can't fly yet, the Chickling is Trying Not to Cry as it fully expects Flash to tell it to get lost. Luckily for it though, Flash instead decides to help it learn how to fly.
• The reason behind Prongs being a Well-Intentioned Extremist against humans is revealed to be because when he was growing up in the forest he witnessed one of his friends, an Oakid, battle a trainer that wanted a Grass-type and was captured. Prongs didn't like seeing one of his friends leave like that and developed a grudge against all trainers over it, seeing them all as thieves and kidnappers. This well-meaning but misplaced quest also put his own dreams of seeing the world beyond the forest behind him, so he could focus on protecting his friends, not realizing the harm he was actually causing. Luckily he finally realizes he was wrong after Flash helps save him and a friend of his during a storm.
• When Flash is defeated by Big Score, Rickashay, and Boulder in his first encounter with them, Spike tells Twilight she needs to help him. But Twilight, remembering her poor battle performance against Pipple and Movine, simply says she can't.
• After Riptide loses a battle against Viper, when he was still a wild Hisscor, despite having the type advantage, Twilight checks his nature on the Pokedex and sees he has the Adamant Nature. This means his Special Attacks like Water Gun are weaker than usual, which is a major handicap for most Water-types because they mainly use Special Attacks. Twilight actually suggests that Flash should consider replacing Riptide with a different Water-type because of this.
• Flash faces off with Lightning again in "Lightning Strikes Twice", and unfortunately loses to him 2-1. This just serves to reinforce Lighting's view that Flash's entire team is weak through Unsportsmanlike Gloating. It is one of the few chapters where The Bad Guy Wins and there is no positive side to look on at all.
• Peewee the Terragon was abandoned by the rest of his flock just because he was too small and was the runt of the litter.
• Twilight clearly does not take being separated from Spike in the tunnels very well after a cave in, and is constantly freaking out over how he might be. A flashback reveals that Spike was abandoned at Twilight's house when he was just a baby with just a note saying "Hello, I'm Spike. Please look after me." Twilight, when she was only three years old, promised her new brother she would never abandon him like whoever left him at their door and would keep him safe no matter what, and she is desperate to keep that promise now.
• Flash's first Gym Battle with Thorax. Despite warnings from Twilight and Doc, he decides to go right in without making a strategy, under the belief that it worked against Doc so it will work again. What follows is a massive Curb-Stomp Battle, where Flash only wins one battle, mainly because by that point Thorax's Movine was already exhausted from the first two battles. Though this is experience is a wake-up call for Flash and shows him he needs to take things more seriously going forward, it can be hard to sit through, especially when he apologizes to his Pokémon afterwards.
• "Evolutionary Block" has Flash tell the story of how he met Springer to his friends. He has a surprisingly Dark and Troubled Past, that confirms something that was slightly foreshadowed earlier, that Springer can't evolve. Springer was originally with a pack of wild Riolu that were led by a Lucario, and one day he demonstrated his ability to use Aura Sphere. The Lucario realized that if Springer ever evolved he could challenge him for leadership over the pack and easily beat him, so he led him away from the others and exposed him to a Everstone by slamming him right into it with Force Palm and destroying it with Aura Sphere. Though he was fortunately saved by Flash and Shining Armor, this memory still brings Flash anger, knowing that his best friend had his entire future stolen from him by that jealous Lucario and he can't do anything about it.
• Doc's story of how he met Tockwork, when he tried to repair him in a junkyard after being told nobody else was ever able to fix him. He worked on him for years, but nearly gave up himself when he seemed to make no progress.
• After arriving at Maud's Gym, she says her Pokémon are still recovering from a brutal battle they had a few days ago, with Limestone saying a trainer with a Sharazor swept through her entire team like it was nothing. Once they confirm that trainer was Lightning Blitz, the whole mood takes a nosedive, not only upset that he won again but he used the Sharazor he basically stole from them to do it and knowing he is getting even stronger.
• When the gang meets Flash's grandmother Cloud Clipper, she says that she retired from being the original Cloudsdale Gym Leader so she could take care of Flash after his parents died. They both died in an accident and Cloud, being Flash's only relative, became his guardian, and she wanted to focus exclusively on him instead of dividing him with her work.
• When the gang runs into Trixie again while on their way to The Hoof Cup, she tells them that her badges were stolen and she is trying to get them back. When they ask her why she can't just explain what happened to the Gym Leaders and get replacements sent, she explains it isn't that easy. Not only do the badges hold memories for her that replacements wouldn't have, which both Flash and Doc completely agree with, but if she replaces them her dad would find out since he is always checking her profile and would notice the different serial numbers. According to Trixie, her dad constantly says she is never good enough for his expectations and even discouraged her from starting her journey, saying she shouldn't bother. He finally said he was proud of her after she won her third badge, and she is afraid of what he'll say if she finds out she lost them.
  • We see her father's treatment of her first-hand, when she receives a call from him after the first round of The Hoof Cup just to tell her she should be ashamed of herself for her "poor performance", even speculating her badges were just given to her out of pity.
• At the start of the Hoof Cup, the gang finds out Sunset Shimmer is now working for Celestia as her new assistant. Twilight is briefly saddened by this, believing that Celestia has replaced her, before Celestia explains she can have more than one student at a time.

Pokémon the Movie: Total Eclixie of the Heart

• Poor Sunset Shimmer really goes through the wringer for a majority of the story.
  • Her backstory is that she was put in an orphanage at a young age due to the death of her parents, but ran away due to feeling she never fit in there. She ended up alone and miserable, until Eclixie's egg showed itself to her and Doctor Mechano took her in because of it.
  • Although Mechano took Sunset in and taught her everything she knows now, he also doesn't hide that he only did so because she is Exlixie's guardian and wouldn't have bothered with her otherwise, seeing her as just another piece of machinery.
  • As soon as Sunset realizes Mechano was just planning to use Eclixie as a living battery for his machine to open portals, Sunset steals the egg back and goes on the run. This leads to her being hunted down by those she thought were her friends, with the very first scene of the story being her running for her life from Forest, Pyron, and Cecelia.
• Everyone saying goodbye to Eclixie. Though they finally managed to get it home, they now need to say goodbye, possibly forever. Sunset especially takes it hard, saying that looking after it for years made her feel special, but once it is gone she'll go back to being a nobody. Though Eclixie tells her that it chose her because she was special, rather than it making her special, reducing Sunset to Tears of Joy and pulling the tiny fairy into one final Bear Hug.

Pokémon: Equestrian Adventures

• Riptide explains he wants to get stronger so he isn't The Load for Flash and the rest of the team, and feels like all he has done since joining is let Flash down.
• "A Siblings Spat" shows the Sibling Rivalry between Celestia and Luna in this setting, with both of them at each other's throats over a presentation they are supposed to give together and arguing about whose content needs to get cut. Luna in particular feels like she is Always Second Best compared to Celestia, with everyone only thinking of her as "Celestia's little sister". As seen in a flashback, when Luna managed to make it to the finals of the Equestria League, when Celestia had only made third place previously, all the reporters who interviewed her only asked her questions about Celestia, and phrased all them to make it seem like Luna only got as far as she did thanks to her sister, still putting her in Celestia's shadow even when she accomplished something better than her.
• There are plenty of moments throughout the Camp Everfree arc, not the least of which are caused by Flash and Twilight's Plot-Mandated Friendship Failure which practically makes it a Feud Arc between them.
  • Flash does not have a good start to camp at all. Not only do he and Twilight start their escalating argument, he is paired with Shuckle, which Timber Spruce dismisses as the worst Pokémon for the activty. Flash ends up challenging Timber to a battle to prove him wrong and stays up all night bonding with Shuckle and training with it. Despite all his efforts though, he and Shuckle still lose. In a particularly bitter moment, Celestia grabs the Jerkass Ball and punishes Flash for his efforts by stripping his cabin of all but one "pity point" for him staying up late without permission. Pretty much the only person who shows Flash any respect for his efforts at all is Gloriosa Daisey.
  • By the time of "A Night of Fright", Flash and Twilight are still at each other's throats, with Twilight constantly comparing him to Timber and Flash calling Twilight an immature school girl that goes gaga for everything Timber says and does while also blatantly ignoring or excusing his negative traits. This escalates to them arguing about pretty much everything, with the two of them storming off in opposite directions after saying that they would be fine if they stopped traveling together entirely and spending the rest of the day staying as far away from each other as possible. This later leads to Timber blatantly trying to steal Twilight away for himself, inviting her to join him on his own journey once camp is done, not caring how far this will set Flash back or if he'll end up traveling alone without his other friends. This puts Twilight in an impossible situation where she knows leaving would upset Spike, but she isn't sure if Flash would even care.
  • Both Flash and Twilight finally have a Jerkass Realization in "Camp Town Races" but both feel the other one hates them now. When Flash overhears Timber repeat his offer to Twilight, Flash believes Twilight is going to accept it and fears he has ruined their friendship. During the race, when Flash tells Timber he knows about his offer and believes she is going to accept it because of how he's been a jerk to her, he warns him to keep Twilight safe, he explains how much Twilight means to him and how much she has helped him, he is unaware that Twilight is listening to the whole thing via a device Timber is wearing. Twilight is reduced to tears hearing this and remembers what she learned traveling with Flash herself.
    Twilight: Flash... I'm the real jerk, aren't I?
• When the gang runs into Heath Burns again, they learn that his Lizash evolved into a Blazard, and started to disobey him and run wild. It even damaged its Pokeball, thus causing it to become a Wild Pokémon again. So Heath needs to win back Blazard's friendship and stop other trainers from hunting it down for its rampages.
• In "Spike's Little Friend", Spike and Peewee befriend a Stegolate, which later evolves into a Stegoliath, to the point that Spike asks Twilight to catch it for him the same way she did for Peewee. Twilight agrees, but discovers she can't catch Stegoliath because it already belongs to someone else. It turns out Stegoliath belongs to some scientists at a Pokémon Fossil Research Lab, and the gang need to return Stegoliath to them since Big Score and his goons kidnapped it. Spike is depressed for the rest of the chapter over losing his new friend, and when Stegoliath tries to follow him again Spike ultimately needs to tell him to stay.
• In the final part of "Team Shadow Strikes", there is a small moment when the gang is following Shining Armor down a long set of stairs in the temple and everyone is talking about the Ankyload Shining received from Luna and how he has mastered it so it can control its strength. Flash just stares on quietly at Shining's back during this, and feeling tiny compared to the champion while chasing after him. It is clear Flash still knows that despite all he has done he still has a long way to go and feels like nothing compared to Shining Armor.
• There is a quick montage of Tantabagot turning everyone's dreams into nightmares. A lot of these are frightening or absolutely horrific, like Springer being trapped in a room that was getting smaller and smaller, Prongs watching his home forest burning, Shine running for her life from Piedoom, or Skyler's wings losing all their feathers. The saddest one though, is Riptide being rejected by everyone.
• "Grand Champion" introduces the former Equestria Champion, Grand Hoof, who also happens to be Lightning Blitz's grandfather. He and Lightning have a very... strained relationship due to his loss against Shining Armor six years ago. Although Grand isn't upset at all about losing his title, it caused Lightning to lose all respect for his grandfather and gave him the bad attitude he still has today and made him obsessed with defeating Shining to take back the title he "stole". Grand is clearly not happy with the path Lightning has taken and has continuously tried without success to get him to change.
• In a case of Poor Communication Kills, five young trusting Dranby approach the group to play with them, but their mother Champagoon goes into full Mama Bear mode when she sees her babies near strangers and attacks them despite them trying to explain they mean no harm. This results in Champagoon almost killing Flash and Hopper due to her overprotectivness, all because her children were being too friendly with strangers. When Hopper manages to defeat her after evolving though and sends her plummeting off the mountain, her babies are also worried for a moment and begin crying, though their fears are luckily dashed when Hopper saves their mother and gently lays her down for them to comfort her.
• The ending of The Hoofington Battle Tournament. Despite everyone's best efforts, especially Flash's, Lightning Blitz wins the whole tournament, and defeats Flash in the final round in a massive Curb-Stomp Battle, with his Chimplug evolving into Gorillamp in the final battle and beating Riptide to within an inch of his life. This event clearly takes a massive toll on Flash, seeing that despite all his efforts and struggles he lost to Lightning once again and was humiliated by him in front of the whole region due to their match being broadcasted. This not only makes Lightning more sure than ever that his way of training is correct, it sends Flash into a massive Heroic BSoD, making him question if Lightning is right about him.
  • There is also one small moment during their battle when Springer and Frostoak need to battle each other. When they realize this they both momentary hesitate, remembering how the two of them worked together back in the underground tunnels when separated from their teams, only to end up glaring at each other and going through with the battle.
• The final arc of the story has a few moments as well.
  • Everyone can tell Flash is depressed following his loss to Lighting, but nobody knows what to do to help him. Twilight even states she doesn't want to make things worse like she did at Camp Everfree.
  • Hopper's origins are revealed as him being the Prince of Dragons who was kidnapped from his home when he was just an egg. According to everyone, his parents Titan and Mercy have been worried sick about him for months, and were heartbroken when he was stolen from them, needing to be talked down from sending all the dragons in the kingdom on a rampage against the surface world to find him.
  • Ryu is very unwelcoming to everyone, even when his father Drayce declares them honored guests. He particularly declares Hopper is wasted on Flash since he still lost the Battle Tournament even with him as part of his team, just twisting the knife further.
  • During the battle between Hopper and Noivern, when Hopper is slammed into the ground from an Aerial Ace, his mother Mercy covers her eyes with her wings to keep from watching anymore, not wanting to see her child in pain.
  • The end of the arc. After Cadmus is defeated, the one event that happens that finally convinces Flash to leave Hopper in the Dragon Kingdom is when he and Princess bond and become mates. Flash realizes he can't take Hopper with him now because it would be the equivalent of stealing the groom from the bride as soon as the wedding ceremony was over, turning a happy moment into a heartbreaking one.
  • When Flash gives Ryu Hopper's Pokeball and asks him to look after him, the only one that doesn't instantly understand is Hopper. Flash tells Hopper he needs to stay, because it is where he belongs and everyone needs him, clearly trying to convince himself just as much as Hopper. When Hopper finally realizes what he means, he starts to tear up too, and when Flash assures him he will be happier there then he could ever be with him, Hopper let’s put a small purr as if to say 'Not without you.' Though Flash eventually convinces him, Hopper still tackles him in one more hug.
  • Everyone else saying their goodbyes to Hopper too. Shine leaps at him, tackling him in a hug and crying her eyes out over losing her best friend. The rest of Flash's team all say goodbye, with Springer, who Hopper has seen as a big brother since the day he hatched, being the last one and telling him to never forget what he learned with them. Finally, Twilight, Spike and Doc go last and each hug him goodbye, saying how much they will miss him and how he will be a great King.

Pokémon the Movie: Voice of the Ocean

• Sonata Dusk spends a year depressed and unable to sing due to the apparent deaths of her sisters Adagio Dazzle and Aria Dusk. To add to her situation she is being attacked by a mad man who wants to use her powers to control the Legendary Sirenity himself, and she discovers her supposed dead sisters are actually alive but Brainwashed and Crazy but that same man. It is a small miracle she was ultimately able to recover from it all.

Pokémon: Equestrian Champions

• Saying this story has a Downer Beginning would be the understatement of the century. Almost the entire first 3/4 of the chapter is one example after the other.
  • So, at the end of the final arc of the previous story Flash got to be the hero to the Dragon Kingdom, got a big win under his belt, and now has a new Pokémon to look forward to having when his new egg hatches. You think all that should mean he's his usual cheerful self and his Heroic BSoD is gone right? Wrong! The whole experience did nothing to cure him of his depression over the result of The Hoofington Battle Tournament, if anything it just made him feel even worse because he had to give up Hopper.
  • When everyone learns that their Pokémon have been infected with Pokérus, a disease that temporarily boosts the experience a Pokémon gains by a large amount, Flash pushes his Pokémon harder than ever before to make the most out of it. They barely stop to eat or sleep and stay up later than anyone else. It is clear Flash and his Pokémon are all being run ragged but he refuses to stop because he feels it is the only way to catch up to Lightning.
  • Swift Knuckles, the guardian of the Pokérus and owner of the land, watches Flash as he trains his Pokémon so hard. He mentions how he watched Flash in The Hoof Cup and Hoofington Battle Tournament and admired him for his performance and how well he took care of his Pokémon. But now Flash is no longer acting like the same trainer he admired, and he doesn't know why one loss has pushed him to this, not understanding the rivalry he has with Lightning or how it goes much further than just that.
  • When Flash's friends try to step in and get him to take a break, reasoning the harm he is doing to himself and his Pokémon, he brushes them all off. When Twilight goes too far and snaps he is acting just like Lightning, Flash, now suffering from severe sleep-deprivation on top of his previous depression, finally snaps and yells that he is sick of everyone bossing him around and acting like know-it-alls all the time, even saying that maybe he would be better off on his own without them "holding him back" all the time. This leaves everyone else stunned silent until he storms off. His words clearly hurt them, with Spike asking Twilight later if Flash was going to leave them behind, afraid he was going to make good on his threat.
  • When Flash finally passes out from exhaustion, he has a nightmare where Lightning Blitz wins the Equestria League and becomes the new champion, with everyone watching being convinced Lightning's toxic views are correct and planning to copy it, and his entire team abandoning him because they don't want to be trained by a "weak trainer", even asking "isn't that why Hopper left you?" as he begs them to come back.
  • When Flash is confronted by Twilight again when she wakes him up, he finally lets his anger and depression to her, over how despite always saying Lighting is wrong he keeps losing to him, and he failed to keep his promise to Grand to beat Lightning and was humiliated by him in front of everyone and has made him question his very belief of how to properly train his Pokémon. Plus he feels even weaker than he was before now because he doesn't have Hopper anymore.
    Flash: I lost to him! Again and again I keep telling him he's wrong, and again and again he keeps beating me! I promised Grand Hoof I would beat him and show him his way is wrong, but I couldn't!
    Twilight: That's not your fault.
    Flash: Yes it is! Grand counted on me! I'm the trainer! ME! I'm the one that gives out the commands! I'm the one that switches them out! I'm the one that...that keeps training them. And because of that... Lightning beat me.
    Twilight: But that doesn't justify all of this! Lightning may be a strong trainer, but that doesn't make what he does right.
    Flash: Then why did he win?! If it isn't right, then why was he on the winner's podium?! Why did I fail Grand?! Why did Lightning get to lord his victory over me and laugh in my face and call my Pokémon garbage and prove it to all of Equestria?! Tell me why Twilight! (Twilight remains silent) That's what I thought.
  • Twilight's final words to Flash after she gives him a Rousing Speech to remind him of all he has accomplished are simply to say "If you let yourself become like Lightning just to beat him, then he'll have truly won."
• Wingill continuously mocks Flash and Riptide at The Ocean Champion Tournament, mocking them for their loss against Lightning and Gorillamp and saying that Lighting was right, Riptide does look weak even when evolved. This has an effect on Riptide, still feeling guilty for the loss. It also shows that Wingill is proof that others will start to believe in Lightning's toxic ideology if he keeps winning, just like Flash and Grand were afraid of.
• Though it is a minor moment and partly played for laughs, when Flash realizes the man he is speaking to that is so interested in Astro is working for the the trafficking organization, he pretends to be interested in a trade so he can set up a meeting with the boss. Astro does not realize it is a lie though, and bites Flash's hand, looking up at him with tears in his eyes thinking he is going to trade him. Luckily though Flash explains everything to him to calm him.
• Suri manages to somehow be even worse here than she was in canon. While she was never nice to begin with, acting as a Bad Boss to Coco and a False Friend to Rarity so she could steal her work, here she was a student of Charity Kindheart the same as Coco. When she left the two of them her shop as equal ownership though, instead of splitting profits evenly and becoming partners, Suri made them split the shop in two and take profits from the customers they personally help, so she eventually bought out Coco's half of the store. She also began to enforce her own opinions of fashion and focus on outside beauty through trends and fads instead of continuing Charity's work and bringing out inner beauty in everyone, essentially corrupting her memory for her own gain.
• "Shine Bright Like A Crystal" confirms what has previously been hinted at several times, that the experience with Piedoom at Camp Everfree traumatized Shine and made her horrified of all Piedoom. Cadance says this trauma is holding Shine back from her true potential, and she is forced to face her fear in order to protect Twilight.
• Seeing Aipom upset with itself and depressed when it’s friend Acrobat Bliss almost got hurt during a performance because it didn't catch him, and became too sad to perform.
• Sandbar has a Moment of Weakness where he trades away his friend Sandshrew to the scammer Double Cross. At first he thinks it is because he can’t train him properly, but he realizes the real reason was because he just wanted a stronger Pokémon, only to instantly regret his decision, especially when he realizes he was tricked into getting a Weedle instead of Volthor. Luckily, Sandshrew forgives him and comes back to him.
• When Flash faces off against Lightning again in the Balance Battle Tournament, he is a lot more nervous than ever. After what happened last time, he is nervous about what will happen and doesn't think he can handle losing to him again.
  • When Twilight tells Cadance what happened to Flash last time, how he pushed everyone away from him, including his Pokémon, Cadance is shocked to hear that, wondering how the boy she has gotten to know for the last few days who clearly loves all his Pokémon could ever push them away.
• The gang runs into Grand Hoof for the first time since the Hoofington Battle Tournament, which leads to a few moments.
  • Grand notices how Flash is acting odd and seems to be avoiding him. When he asks Twilight about this, she guesses that Flash is avoiding him because he feels he failed him, when he couldn't beat Lightning. When Grand asks how bad Flash was hurt from it, Twilight explains how he lost Hopper almost immediately afterwards and how he ended up pushing his team way too hard and started acting like Lightning. Grand realizes he never should have made Flash make that promise, and all Twilight can do is agree he put too much pressure on him.
  • When Flash and Grand are alone after being separated from the others, Flash initially still tries to avoid talking to Grand, until he finally breaks down and starts apologizing for everything, not just for how he couldn't beat Lightning like he promised but for how he keeps messing up now while exploring the temple. Grand eventually stops him and apologizes himself, explaining it was his fault Flash lost because he spoke to Lightning before their match to try to get him to change his ways, which only made things worse. He also says it wasn't right of him to ask Flash to help him with Lightning, especially since they had only just met, and says Lightning is most likely Beyond Redemption by this point anyway. Not only does this show Grand has effectively given up on his grandson, he blames himself for anyone Lightning hurts because he didn't discipline him properly.
• Although Cadance is happy for Shining Armor being the champion and will always support him, it is also clear that his responsibilities as champion interfere a lot with their home life. Some of Cadance's dialogue implies she wants to have a baby and be a family together, but she can't because his duties interfere and keep him away from home.
• The chapter "Springer's Destiny" will hit anyone in the heart, especially since it is based on the equally sad "Pikachu's Goodbye".
  • After Springer defeats the evil Lucario that was the leader of his old pack, When Flash sees how all the other Riolu make him their new leader and how happy he is with them, Flash decides to leave Springer with them due to thinking he'll be happier with them than with him. He tries to leave without saying goodbye, only for that to not work when Springer finds him about to leave. He clearly is heartbroken doing it though, and runs off from Springer trying not to cry. When Twilight, Spike, and Doc run after Flash, all of Flash's other Pokémon stay behind a bit with Springer before finally following after their trainer. The last one to leave is Astro, who like Hopper before him has come to see Springer as a big brother, and just offers a sad goodbye before running off too.
  • Flash tearfully running off while remembering all of his fond memories of Springer, even including a link to the song "The Time Has Come".
    Flash: (thinking to himself) Springer was my very first Pokémon.
  • There is also the ending scene of Springer choosing to stay with Flash and the best friends tearfully reuniting.
• Aggron battles a Heatran to protect Doc and his friends, but ends up getting left behind when the cave they battle in collapses around them, blocking the exit. Doc is especially heartbroken over the apparent death of his friend. Though luckily it turns out to have just been a Disney Death, with Aggron blasting his way out of the mountain and reuniting with everyone, exhausted but otherwise fine.
• When Flash battles Sombra at Mount Tartarus, Sombra shows his true colors by openly mocking Flash and saying that Lightning Blitz was right about him, he is a weakling and unworthy of being chosen by the heralds. Even if he is just egging him on to make him keep fighting, it shows the apparent respect Sombra showed for Flash in secret never truly existed, and he is just another villain constantly mocking Flash for his failures.
• The night before the beginning of the Equestria League, Flash and Twilight go for a walk together, Twilights asks Flash what he plans to do if he should lose the League. They both admit they never thought of that until right now, and they think he might be able to learn more by visiting other Regions instead of staying in Equestria, unless he becomes champion. The sad part is Twilight notes he will most likely need to travel alone, since Doc needs to go back to his Gym, and Celestia probably won't let Twilight travel to another Region since she still needs to work for her, meaning Spike will need to stay home too. It really highlights what they knew from the start, that their journey together is coming to an end.
• After Flash and Trixie are paired to battle each other in the first round of the Equestria League, Trixie's dad calls her, begrudgingly saying he supposes he should congratulate her on making it to the top 16. However, he then says that her battling Flash Sentry is a lost cause and she should just forfeit to save herself the embarrassment of losing. Even after all his daughter has accomplished he still has absolutely no faith in her, and when she refuses to forfeit, despite knowing the odds are against her, he simply tells her not to come crying to him when she loses. The silver lining to this though is Trixie finally stands up to him, telling him she doesn't care about his approval anymore and knows she is great regardless of the outcome, right before hanging up on him.
• While also counting as an awesome moment, Grand Hoof basically tells his grandson Lightning Blitz that he is done reaching out to him and trying to help him change for the better. When Lightning realizes what he is doing is wrong and is ready to put the past behind him he is free to come find him, but until then Grand has basically disowned Lightning.

Pokémon the Movie: Rival and Darkness

• When evidence starts to point to Starlight being the cloaked figure who is stealing energy from Pokémon, Sunburst of course does not want to believe it without talking to her first but when they find schematics for an energy gun, it seems like the final nail in the coffin for her. When they find her and confront her over what they learned, Starlight seems hurt by the accusations, especially when she reveals she has been working on a project to help restore a Pokémon's energy, not steal it.
• After Starlight manages to clear her name to everyone else and is given the evidence they found, she realizes that only one other person could be responsible, her assistant Cozy Glow.
• Cozy Glow previously said the Master Ball she was carrying with her was the last thing she had to remember her grandpa by. Although she lied about not having any intentions to use it, the fact that it was destroyed after Centirek broke free from it means Cozy lost the last piece of him she had.
• Starlight and Sunburst are both clearly hurt by Cozy Glow's betrayal of their trust. After Centirek is resealed and Cozy is being arrested, Starlight and Sunburst refuse to help her after she gives a fake apology to them, knowing they can't trust her to not try the same thing all over again and that extreme measurements need to be taken. The last thing she says to them is to once again show her true colors and scream they will pay.

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