XY002

Lumiose City Pursuit! (Japanese: メガシンカとプリズムタワー！ Mega Evolution and the Prism Tower!) is the second episode of the, and the 801st episode of the Pokémon anime. It first aired in Japan on October 17, 2013 and in the United States as a sneak peek preview of the full series on October 19, 2013 to coincide with the worldwide release of Pokémon X and Y. It later debuted in sequence in the United States on January 25, 2014.

Blurb
As Serena trains with her mother to become a Rhyhorn racer—with little success or enthusiasm—Ash, Clemont, and Bonnie are in Lumiose City, racing to Professor Sycamore’s Pokémon Lab to get help for Froakie, who took a lot of damage during the battle with Team Rocket. The professor welcomes them and puts Froakie under the care of his assistant, Sophie, where he’s sure it will recover in no time. He explains to Ash and the others that Froakie is an unusual case—though it’s a Pokémon meant for new Trainers, it doesn’t always listen to them, and it’s been returned to the lab more than once. This shocks Ash, who admires the fearless Froakie for the way it saved Pikachu.

Sycamore also talks about his research on Pokémon Evolution, including a newly discovered phenomenon known as Mega Evolution, where even fully evolved Pokémon (like the friendly Garchomp that lives at the lab) can evolve again—and then return to their previous form. The science-minded Clemont is very intrigued…and so are Jessie, James, and Meowth, eavesdropping as usual. They decide to catch Garchomp and figure out how to make it Mega Evolve—but when they spring out of hiding and clamp a collar around Garchomp’s neck, it goes into a rampage, blasting them off immediately and crashing through the city until it ends up at the very top of Prism Tower.

Ash goes after it, determined to get the collar off. With the help of one of Clemont’s brilliant inventions, he gets into the tower through a back entrance and starts climbing, with Pikachu and Froakie on his shoulders. There’s a huge crowd at the base of the tower watching Ash’s courageous rescue—and a news crew broadcasting the whole thing on TV, where Serena and her mother are watching.

Struggling with its collar, Garchomp nearly steps off the edge of the tower, but Froakie acts fast and glues its feet to the building with some sticky Frubbles so it won’t fall. With Garchomp secured in place, Ash finally manages to get close to it, and a handy Iron Tail from Pikachu slices through the collar. The weary Garchomp is finally free!

Professor Sycamore thanks Ash for his bravery and gives him a new Pokédex for his journey. And it seems Ash will have a new friend to travel with, because as he turns to leave, Froakie blocks the way and presents Ash with its own Poké Ball. So, with Froakie on hand as his first Pokémon from the new region, Ash sets off on his journey in Kalos!

Plot
The episode begins with being forced to train for  racing under the watchful eye of her mother. However, the Rhyhorn keeps jumping around and throws Serena off, causing her to scream at her mother in frustration.

Meanwhile, in Lumiose City, and, with  lagging behind, are rushing an injured  to Professor Sycamore's Pokémon research laboratory. They happen to run right by, who overhears them talking about the research lab and immediately begin plotting to steal the Pokémon inside it. In the laboratory, Ash, Bonnie, and Clemont meet Professor Sycamore, who immediately expresses his concern for Froakie and gives him to his assistant Sophie so that she can treat his injuries. When Ash asks if Froakie's Trainer is on its way to pick up his Pokémon, Sycamore laments that the Trainer has given up on Froakie due to his refusal to listen to orders. Even more shockingly, Sycamore tells them that Froakie has had multiple Trainers but either refused to obey them or simply didn't like them. After introduces themselves to the professor, they see a  that lives at the laboratory, obviously worried about her friend Froakie. Since Garchomp is a gentle Pokémon, Sycamore allows Bonnie to pat her head and play with her. When Clemont brings up the subject of Pokémon evolution and asks if there are other Pokémon at the lab, Professor Sycamore takes the group to see them, but Ash waits until he has expressed his gratitude and admiration for Froakie to the injured Pokémon.

Ash then joins Clemont and Bonnie in the area where all of the Pokémon live. While playing with the Pokémon, Professor Sycamore tells them how he is researching a method of evolution called Mega Evolution that can take place with certain Pokémon. He is still in the process of studying the topic, but it is his belief that a strong bond and a special stone are the two keys to Mega Evolution. He also explains how Mega Evolution, unlike conventional Pokémon evolution, is not a permanent change and how Mega Evolved Pokémon can revert to their original states. Meanwhile, Team Rocket have been listening to the entire conversation and enter the lab disguised as scientists who have come to help Professor Sycamore with his Mega Evolution research, despite Sophie and Cosette's protests. Froakie, who has awoken from his rest, recognizes Team Rocket as the people who injured him before. Garchomp is also suspicious, and as Team Rocket throws a device at Froakie, she steps in front of her friend and falls prey to a collar that begins causing her obvious agony. Garchomp's shrieks are loud enough to alert Ash, Clemont, Bonnie, and Professor Sycamore to the events in the laboratory and they rush over to find an enraged Garchomp with Team Rocket. Although Team Rocket tries to make Garchomp come along with them, she sends them blasting off with an uncontrolled. Before anybody in the laboratory can do anything, Garchomp flees into the streets of Lumiose City and sends Hyper Beams left and right, sending the townspeople into a panic.

As Ash, Clemont, Bonnie, and Professor Sycamore follow her and try to figure out what to do, Garchomp is still firing random Hyper Beams, showing no signs of calming down or even hearing their voices at all. Officer Jenny is evacuating the area, and a news crew is filming Garchomp in a helicopter as she flies towards Prism Tower. After landing on the tower, she fires a Hyper Beam at the news helicopter, barely missing it. Back in Vaniville Town, Grace is watching the broadcast and tells a still upset and rebellious Serena to come and have a look at what she is watching. Meanwhile, Ash decides to try and get close to Garchomp and, with Clemont's help, makes it into Prism Tower and begins climbing up to where Garchomp is. However, a Hyper Beam narrowly misses Clemont and Bonnie and blocks the entrance, leaving Ash alone to go and stop the rampaging Pokémon. Once Ash reaches the part of the tower where Garchomp is still rampaging, Professor Sycamore and Officer Jenny see him there and cry out in alarm. Barely dodging yet another Hyper Beam attack, Ash keeps trying to approach her.

Ash continues to try to calm Garchomp down as the news crew notices him on Prism Tower. Serena's mother wonders if the boy she is seeing on the screen is Garchomp's Trainer, while Serena watches silently in amazement. Just as Ash begins to get close to her, Garchomp flies towards the top of the tower, with Ash, and Froakie following her on a ladder. Seeing how brave and selfless Ash is, Clemont decides that he needs to get up there and help. Using his Aipom Arm to clear the rubble, Clemont manages to get himself and Bonnie to where Garchomp was, but Garchomp and Ash are now at the top of the tower. Ash is trying to get close to her again, but Garchomp is still shrieking in pain and stumbles back, almost falling off of the edge. However, Froakie uses his frubbles to pin Garchomp's feet to the tower, immobilizing her, and Ash grabs hold of her long enough for to destroy the collar with an  attack. Relieved that Garchomp is all right, Pikachu and Froakie run towards her and Ash, but the edge of the tower collapses under Pikachu's feet due to the reduced structural integrity, sending him hurtling to the ground. In a desperate attempt to save his best friend, Ash dives over the edge after Pikachu, much to the horror of everyone watching. Just after Ash catches Pikachu, the Pokémon that Ash had seen earlier that day rescues them and deposits them safely in Centrico Plaza. As the Pokémon leaps away, Professor Sycamore tells Ash that the Pokémon is 's Mega Evolution. Clemont and Bonnie are both visibly relieved that Ash is all right, as is Serena. As Serena keeps watching the broadcast, the television shows a close-up of Ash's face, and she recognizes him as a boy she had met several years previously.

The next morning, after everybody got some sleep in the wrecked research lab, Sycamore gives Ash a Kalos Pokédex. As Ash, Clemont and Bonnie leave the lab, they are surprised to see Froakie waiting there with his Poké Ball, looking expectantly up at Ash. Professor Sycamore says that Froakie has chosen Ash as his Trainer. With a new Pokémon and a new friend in the Kalos region, Ash prepares to leave for Santalune City.

Major events

 * meets Professor Sycamore for the first time.
 * Ash,, , and learn about Mega Evolution.
 * Ash meets the Pokémon he saw at the airport and learns that it is a.
 * sees Ash on TV and recognizes him from when they were younger.
 * Ash receives a new Pokédex from Professor Sycamore.
 * Ash catches the he befriended in the previous episode.

Humans

 * Professor Sycamore
 * Sophie
 * Cosette
 * Blaziken Mask

Humans

 * Jessie
 * James
 * Officer Jenny
 * Professor Sycamore
 * Blaziken Mask
 * Sophie
 * Cosette
 * Police officer
 * Citizens
 * Reporters
 * Sophie
 * Cosette
 * Police officer
 * Citizens
 * Reporters

Pokémon
Who's That Pokémon?: (US and international) Pokémon Quiz: (Japan)
 * (new)
 * (flashback)
 * (Professor Sycamore's)
 * ('s)
 * ('s)
 * (Blaziken Mask's; )
 * ('s)
 * ('s)
 * (Blaziken Mask's; )

Trivia

 * Professor Oak's Pokémon Holo Caster: /
 * This and the previous episode are the first episodes to air in Japan after the release of Pokémon X and Y.
 * In addition to, this episode aired as a sneak peek on October 20, 2013 in , , , , and.
 * Due to this fact, this episode is tied with the previous episode as the shortest gap between the airdates of the Japanese version and the English dub. However, both were aired as a sneak preview, not regular episodes, as the hadn't completed its run outside Japan yet.
 * This episode marks the first appearance of Officer Jenny in her design for the Kalos region.
 * The reporter and her cameraman from the MTV helicopter are the same ones that went to Greenfield in Spell of the Unown: Entei.
 * This is the first episode to use music from Meloetta's Moonlight Serenade.
 * breaks the chain of 's first Pokémon captured in a new region to not have Flying in its evolutionary line.
 * It's also the first time a starter Pokémon became his first Pokémon in a new region.
 * The Japanese airdate of this episode is used in the Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon Special Demo Version for the met date of Ash's Greninja that the player receives at the beginning of the demo.
 * This is the only episode of the not to feature a.
 * This is the only episode of the XY series where the title card sequence features a special glitter sound effect before the episode title is read.

Errors

 * During one scene, 's needle on its tail is completely light-brown.
 * When looks impressed after entering Sycamore's yard, the shadow on his hair is briefly colored black instead of dark cyan.
 * During one scene when was holding a, Zigzagoon's hind legs are colored beige like its paws.
 * When Ash is seen speaking to Froakie in the original English dub, he says "Anyone who wouldn't want a Pokémon like you isn't too smart". In doing so, Ash is visibly seen not speaking. This line was changed in a later dub.
 * In the shot just following the hole in the ceiling after Team Rocket gets blasted away, we see in front,  next to  on its right with both just behind and to the right of Ash,  is right of, Professor Sycamore in front of the arch frame, and Sophie just behind and to the left of him. A couple shots later where it shows them just prior to dodging 's , Pikachu is now in front of Ash, Froakie is now next to Ash on his and Pikachu's right, Bonnie is now left of Clemont and in front of Professor Sycamore who is now under the arch frame with Sophie no longer there. She reappears with the group a few shots later after the explosion.
 * When Serena is petting Rhyhorn, its horn is shown to be white instead of gray.

Dub edits

 * For unknown reasons, the title card is lacking the characters' shadows and the To Be Continued text does not appear at the end of the episode in the . The, and presumably all international versions, has the To Be Continued added in, while the US iTunes release adds the characters' shadows along with the To Be Continued.
 * In the official debut of this episode's dub, a large portion of the original music is replaced with dub music. However, this was not the case in the preview airing, in which the episode used all of the original music.
 * In the initial airing of this episode, Ash says "Anyone who wouldn't want a Pokémon like you isn't too smart" while at the Professor's lab. This was changed to "I don't get it. I'd want a Pokémon like you" in later airings.
 * For unknown reasons, the title card segment was skipped in the Hindi dub.

In other languages
Verfolgungsjagd in Illumina City! EP806 XY002 XY002 XY編第2話 精灵宝可梦 XY 第2集