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| Season | Pokémon the Series: XY (Season 17) · Rivals & the Champion arc (XY026–XY029) |
| Episode | Season 17, episode 27 · English episode 822 · Japanese episode 828 · Bulbapedia code XY028 |
| English title | The Bonds of Evolution! |
| Japanese title | チャンピオン・カルネ登場！霧の中のメガサーナイト！！ Chanpion Karune Tōjō! Kiri no Naka no Mega Sānaito!! — “Champion Carne Appears! Mega Sirnight in the Mist!!” |
| First aired (Japan) | 22 May 2014 · TV Tokyo |
| First aired (US) | 26 July 2014 · Cartoon Network |
| Screenplay | Shōji Yonemura |
| Opening / ending (Japan) | V (Volt) – Yūsuke · X Kaikyō Y Geshiki (X Strait Y Scenery) – J☆Dee’Z |
| English opening | Pokémon Theme (Version XY) – Ben Dixon & The Sad Truth |
| Who’s That Pokémon? | Gardevoir (US) |
| Previous episode | To Find a Fairy Flower! (XY027) |
| Next episode | Heroes – Friends and Faux Alike! (XY029) |
Plot episodeDiantha debutsMega Gardevoir
The Bonds of Evolution! is the 27th episode of Pokémon the Series: XY, the seventeenth season of the Pokémon anime, and the 822nd episode of the English dub overall (Japanese episode 828, Bulbapedia code XY028). It first aired in Japan on 22 May 2014 and in the United States on 26 July 2014. It falls within the season’s Rivals & the Champion stretch (EP26–EP29).
CITV had shown it in the UK on 5 July 2014.
Synopsis
The group meet Kalos Champion Diantha, and when Team Rocket steal her Gardevoir during her battle with Ash, she Mega Evolves it to break free. Ash, who has never heard of the Champion and film star, wants to challenge her; Professor Sycamore brings the group backstage to study Gardevoir, but Diantha declines to lend him her Key Stone, saying it represents her bond with her partner.
In an exhibition match Gardevoir dodges former Champion Magnus’s Absol, redirects its Psycho Cut with Shadow Ball and wins with Moonblast. In Brackish Town the group share the last slice of the town’s famous chocolate cake with a disappointed woman who turns out to be Diantha in disguise, and she agrees to battle Ash.
Gardevoir dodges every move Pikachu throws and knocks it back with Shadow Ball before Team Rocket trap it in a box and escape by balloon. Diantha, sensing Gardevoir through their bond, leads the chase through the fog and Mega Evolves it; Mega Gardevoir’s Shadow Ball breaks the prison, and Moonblast blasts the villains away. Diantha leaves by helicopter for a film shoot, promising Ash a battle once he enters the Kalos League.
Major Events
- Diantha and Mega Gardevoir. The Champion Diantha beats Magnus’s Absol in an exhibition
- Ash battles Diantha
- Team Rocket trap Gardevoir
- Mega Gardevoir breaks free
- The group’s first Mega Evolution up close
- The first Key Stone and Mega Stone outside the specials
- Mega V was due to begin here
- Debuts of Diantha, Kathi Lee and Magnus
Trivia
- The screenplay is by Shōji Yonemura.
- This is a plot episode: it advances the Kalos storyline.
Changes in the English Dub
- Diantha’s film becomes “My Sweet, Sweet Lady”, perhaps after My Fair Lady
- Absol’s Japanese voice can be heard
- Mega V was meant to replace V (Volt) from this episode but moved to XY029 after the XY024 postponement
- The Black & White title-card music plays after Diantha’s exhibition
Part of our Pokémon the Series: XY guide. Browse every season of the Pokémon anime.