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Hey guys, kanna here. Well, after going through the excitement of episodes 39-43 of Pokémon XY&Z, it's time we wrapped up the series with episodes 44-47.
Not much really happens in episode 44, except for everyone rebuilding Lumiose City. Clemont fixes Clembot, but its memories are gone because he kinda-sorta died (see previous post). A challenger comes in, wanting to challenge the Lumiose City Gym and won't battle anyone but Clembot for a rematch. Despite the fact that Clembot needs assistance with battles, the challenge takes place and the challenger gets his Gym Badge. Yay...? This was basically a filler episode, I think.
The next episode is a Serena focused episode. If you remember the beginning of the series, Serena went on her journey because she didn't want to become a Rhyhorn racer like her mom, and decided to become a Pokémon Performer. To cheer up the citizens of Lumiose City, she decides to put on a showcase with her friend and rival, Shauna. Jessie, in disguise, also joins in the showcase.
After the showcase, Serena has thoughts about her path going forward and she doesn't know what to do. Her mom arrives in Lumiose City, and Serena spends the night at the hotel with her mom as she thinks about what she wants to do going forward. Her mom decided not to keep her at home to be a Rhyhorn racer, so Serena wasn't sure what she wanted to do going forward.
The day after, Serena's mom leaves. We then find out the paths that Shauna, Trevor, Tierno, and Sawyer have chosen, before Ash suggests to Serena that they have a battle: Pikachu vs. Braixen. During the battle, Serena comes to a decision. She calls Palermo, Kalos Queen Aria's manager (?), who had previously offered to take Serena under her wing and mentor her so she could become Kalos Queen.
Serena declines the offer and reveals to Palermo that she wants to go places other than the Kalos region and thinks that she would behave like a spoiled child if she went with Palermo. Palermo reveals that this was her intention and that Serena was the first person to turn down her invitation. Serena reveals that she has no destination in mind at the moment, but then Palermo suggests that she go to the Hoenn region, where they have Pokémon Contests, and show her Pokémon off there.
Serena reveals her plan to Ash and co., who wish her the best.
The next episode is definitely on the more emotional side of things.
Ash releases Numelgon--I mean Goodra--back to its home, the wetlands. It's a pretty emotional goodbye. Even little Dedenne is in tears over it. It really kind of sucks that they had to release Goodra, but I understand why they did it.
After leaving the wetlands, Greninja jumps out of its pokéball and suddenly, a vine...ivy...thing from when the mind controlled Zygarde attacked Lumiose City comes up from underground. Greninja manages to destroy it by becoming Ash-Greninja, but we then find out why the vines are still coming up. One of Team Flare's members, Xerosic (I have no idea what his name is in the English dub, but this is how the subs refer to him, so we're going with it), wants to revive Team Flare and re-obtain Zygarde's power to get the world Lysandre wanted. He kidnapped a few Zygarde cells, as well.
Clemont gets kidnapped and Ash has Greninja follow the van...truck...thing that has Clemont. Xerosic reveals his sinister plan: he wants to reform Team Flare by brainwashing humans, and Clemont will be his first "member." Clemont gives up and asks to wipe his glasses as a last request. This is granted.
Cut back to Serena, Ash, and Bonnie. Ash continues to see through Greninja's eyes what's going on, and it's basically a game of cat and mouse, until they finally manage to catch up with the truck...van...thing that can apparently fly and turn invisible. Greninja manages to get them on board, and they climb inside the thing.
They see Clemont, but Xerosic is there, as well. He orders Clemont to go after Ash and the others, before Clemont reveals that Xerosic's plan was a failure. When Clemont went to wipe his glasses, he attached a device that...you know what? It's basically techno-babble from here, so I'm just going to move on. Point is, Xerosic's plan didn't work.
Ash and Clemont battle against Xerosic, who loses in the end. He then decides to (I'm not kidding here), jump out of the plane without a parachute. But Clemont manages to catch him with the Aipom Arm (one of his inventions) and Xerosic is later arrested by Officer Jenny. All seems well and good, until another vine comes out of nowhere and is about to attack Bonnie. A green light slices through the object, cutting it in two. The smoke clears, and...it's Squishy!
Bonnie hugs Squishy, but now isn't the time for a happy reunion, as Squishy asks Greninja to come with it. Greninja follows Squishy, and Greninja is followed by Ash and co., where they see Zygarde in its 50% forme. Zygarde and Squishy use telepathy to explain that the vines...ivies...whatever that were coming up throughout Kalos originated from negative energy deep within the land. What Zygarde destroyed was only the surface.
However, the wound from the incident with Team Flare caused was deep, and Squishy and Zygarde's 50% forme have been wiping out the vines scattered throughout Kalos one by one. You'd think this is easy, right?
You'd be wrong. Very wrong indeed. Pinpointing the location of the negative energy is a difficult task, even for Zygarde, but for whatever reason, Gekkouga--I mean Greninja--is able to see the negative energy. Zygarde asks for Greninja's help, but everyone realizes that this means they'd have to say goodbye to Greninja.
Ash asks Greninja what it wants to do, but it's unspoken that Greninja wants to help Zygarde. They can't have another incident like the one Team Flare caused happen again. After some sentimental stuff about how their meeting might have been fate, Ash wonders if it all led up to this moment in time.
In the end, Greninja decides to go with Zygarde, and the two share a pretty emotional goodbye. I mean it. They hug and everything. It's not as sad as when Ash released Charizard to the Charicific Valley, but it's still pretty emotional.
Squishy tells Bonnie it might be a while before they see each other again, but Bonnie understands and says that when she becomes a Pokémon Trainer, she'll find Squishy and they'll go on another adventure together. Everyone says goodbye to Gekkouga--I mean Greninja--and we go on to the next (and final) episode.
In the last episode of the series, this is the one where everyone goes their separate ways. Serena is off to Hoenn to participate in Pokémon Contests, Clemont is going to stay in Kalos with Bonnie, and Ash is heading back to the Kanto region. The only one who hasn't quite come to terms with all these goodbyes is Dedenne, as it's still a young Pokémon.
When everyone gets to the airport, all the Pokémon say goodbye to each other, but Dedenne throws a fit and runs away. Bonnie explains that she feels the same way as Dedenne, but understands that everyone has their own dreams they want to follow and tells Dedenne that her dream is to become a Pokémon Trainer, with Dedenne as her partner. Dedenne jumps out of hiding and right into Bonnie's arms.
All right, so after that, it's time for Serena's flight to Hoenn. Everyone says their goodbyes to her, but Serena has one last request from Ash. She goes up the escalator that's going down, and (I'm not kidding here) kisses Ash.
Okay, to be fair, that was more implied if anything. But if you saw the looks on Clemont and Bonnie's faces afterwards, then you could be pretty sure that they kissed.
Serena then heads off to her flight, and everyone says their goodbyes. It seems as if Ash has a lot of time, since his flight isn't until the evening. So Clemont suggests they have a battle: Bunnelby vs. Pikachu. And...that's kind of where it ends.
We get this little montage of flashbacks and what the characters are doing currently (including Goodra and Greninja), before Ash finally arrives in his hometown.
Thoughts: I WAS NOT READY FOR THIS SERIES TO END.
Seriously. It was that good. The animation was great, the writing was excellent...I feel like I could go on and on about how amazing this series was. Both XY and XY&Z were fantastic. When the final episode aired and I saw it (granted, it hasn't aired in the US yet, so I saw it with English subtitles), I was almost in tears because I wasn't ready for it to end.
There were so many twists and turns. I didn't expect for Ash to release Greninja, let alone for the idea to even come up. This series was emotional, and you could connect with each of the characters on an emotional level.
Well, see you guys next time! ~k
