XY019

←	XY018 : Awakening the Sleeping Giant!

A Conspiracy to Conquer!

XY019

EP818

マダムＸの陰謀！恐怖のカラマネロ！！
Madame X's Plot! The Scary Calamanero!!

First broadcast

Japan	March 13, 2014
United States	May 24, 2014

English themes

Opening	Pokémon Theme (Version XY)
Ending

Japanese themes

Opening	Ｖ（ボルト）
Ending	Ｘ海峡Ｙ景色

Credits

No additional credits are available at this time.
Animation	Team Kato
Screenplay	藤田伸三 Shinzō Fujita
Storyboard	尼野浩正 Hiromasa Amano
Assistant director	瀬谷新二 Shinji Seya
Animation directors	瀬谷新二 Shinji Seya
Animation directors	篠原隆 Takashi Shinohara

A Conspiracy to Conquer! (Japanese: マダムＸの陰謀！恐怖のカラマネロ！！ Madame X's Plot! The Scary Calamanero!!) is the 19th episode of Pokémon the Series: XY, and the 818th episode of the Pokémon animated series. It first aired in Japan on March 13, 2014 and in the United States on May 24, 2014.

Spoiler warning: this article may contain major plot or ending details.

Blurb

As Jessie, James, and Meowth are plotting yet again to steal Pikachu, they are interrupted by two mysterious figures: a hooded woman known only as Madame X, and Malamar, a Pokémon with incredible hypnotic powers. Jessie and James quickly fall under its spell, but Meowth manages to escape—and runs right into our heroes!

Ash, Serena, Clemont, and Bonnie help get the injured Meowth back on his feet, and he warns them that Madame X and Malamar are coming for Pikachu. They soon show up along with the mind-controlled Jessie and James, swoop Pikachu up with Malamar’s Psychic, and take off toward their hideout.

Clemont has a new invention, a Pikachu-shaped robot designed to track down Pikachu’s energy signature, and they follow it to an observatory...where it gets stuck in the fence and explodes. Clemont makes some quick repairs, and then Bonnie spots Officer Jenny’s motorcycle parked outside the building. When our heroes investigate, they find Madame X inside—along with Pikachu, who’s fallen under Malamar’s spell! Malamar quickly puts Serena, Bonnie, and Clemont under hypnosis as well, but Meowth attacks Ash to keep him focused.

Pikachu initially obeys Madame X’s order to stop Ash at all costs, but the bond between Ash and Pikachu is stronger than any hypnotic power, and Pikachu manages to shake off the trance. Then the Pikabot, which has resumed its tracking, bursts onto the scene. It slams into Malamar, disrupting its powers, and everyone is returned to normal—including Madame X, who throws off her hood to reveal that she’s really Officer Jenny!

Malamar does some gloating, and Meowth translates. Apparently Malamar had a master plan to use a mind-control device to take over the world. Controlling Officer Jenny to turn her into its accomplice was only the first step, but now that its plan has been discovered, it’s decided to destroy the device. Everyone runs for it as the entire building explodes, but Malamar escapes! What will become of its master plan?

Plot

In a dark cave, Team Rocket reviews their footage of Pikachu performing several moves and they grow even more determined to capture him. They are interrupted by a sharp laugh, and turn around to see a hooded figure known as Madame X, accompanied by a Malamar. Malamar shines a bright light to hypnotize Jessie, James, and Meowth.

Ash and his friends continue to Cyllage City and notice a radio observatory. Suddenly, a scratched-up Meowth, who the group instantly recognize, stumbles from the bushes and collapses in front of the group, and Clemont takes a Potion out of his backpack to help him recover. When Meowth comes to, he thanks them graciously and tells the group, who is skeptical of his intentions, that he came to warn them about danger. He tells the story, beginning with the bright light Malamar used on Team Rocket. Jessie and James shook it off, sent out Inkay and Pumpkaboo, and commanded them to use Psybeam and Shadow Ball respectively. However, the Pokémon were stopped by Malamar's bright light, which turned their eyes blank and brainwashed them, Jessie, and James. Meowth realized that he could remain conscious only by enduring intense physical pain, so he used Fury Swipes on himself and escaped. Meowth warns the group that they must run because Madame X is also targeting Pikachu, but they remain skeptical. Just then, a brainwashed Jessie, James, and Wobbuffet appear behind Meowth, telling him to hurry up and capture Pikachu. The group runs away only to immediately turn into Madame X and Malamar. Malamar uses its Hypnosis, and Meowth warns the children not to look into it. Ash tells Pikachu to use Electro Ball, and the group uses the opportunity to flee, but are stopped by Jessie and James, who look to make Pikachu part of Madame X's Pokémon corps. Pikachu is lifted into the air by Malamar's Psychic, and he and his captor disappear into the distant sky.

To find them, Clemont brings out the "Automatic Pikachu Retrieving Device", that can sense Pikachu's Electric energy and track him down. The group follows after the machine, which brings them to the radio observatory, where it gets stuck in the wire fence and electrocutes the group after suffering a malfuction. Bonnie notices Officer Jenny's motor bike parked outside the observatory and assumes that the observatory is Madame X's hideout and Officer Jenny came to investigate. The group goes inside, watched by a security camera. Inside the observatory, Malamar brainwashes Pikachu. Team Rocket notify Madame X that Ash and his friends are on the property.

Pikachu hypnotized by Malamar

In the observatory halls, Ash's group splits up, Clemont with his sister and Serena with Ash. Clemont and Bonnie are met with Malamar, who brainwashes them. They find Ash and Serena, who realize that the siblings are being manipulated. Malamar appears behind them and shines the brainwashing light over them, and they are unable to run. being blocked by Bonnie and Clemont. Ash asks Meowth to use Fury Swipes on him, to which Meowth complies, using the attack on both himself and Ash. However, Serena, not wanting her face to be scratched up, is brainwashed. Meowth cuts down a hanging planet model from the ceiling, which stalls Malamar, allowing him and Ash to escape. The pair arrive at an observation chamber and are greeted by Madame X, who makes Pikachu use Thunderbolt on Ash, and attacks him repeatedly. Ash is determined to get through to his partner, but the situation grows more dire as the Pokémon corps are revealed, consisting of a Beedrill, Noivern, Pangoro, Scolipede, and Exploud.

Pikachu electrocutes Ash continuously, forcing Ash to his knees, but he, in the midst of the electricity, tries to communicate with Pikachu. As Ash tells Pikachu that he believes in him, Pikachu hesitates in his attack. Outside the observatory, Clemont's machine awakes and rushes off towards the observatory. It comes into the observation chamber and crashes into Malamar before bursting into flames, and Madame X screams and falls at her defeat. All the hynotized people and Pokémon return to normal, including Pikachu and the Pokémon corps. Madame X's cloak falls off, and reveals her to be Officer Jenny, who had been brainwashed by Malamar, who appears behind her. The group realizes that Malamar tricked them into believing that Madame X was a real person by using Officer Jenny as its pawn. They also learned that everything Malamar said about Madame X's goal of taking over the world was a lie. Meowth translates for Malamar, who hopes to restructure the world under its command using a weapon. Angered at Malamar's lies and dishonesty, James and Ash send Inkay and Pikachu to attack Malamar, but it escapes.

The group runs after Malamar, finding it in a room full of strange vines and spikes; the weaponized machine. Malamar decides to destroy its grand machine as its plan has been discovered, which leads everyone to abandon the chase and flee outside. The humans, their Pokémon, and the Pokémon corps escape outside as the observatory explodes behind them. They watch as Malamar flies off into the sky, but are left wondering about its grand plan for global domination.

Later, Team Rocket, embarrassed at the day's events, relax on some forest rocks. Meowth remembers that Malamar is the evolved form of Inkay, and as the rest of the team look at it with fear, Inkay winks and laughs nervously.

Major events

Ash, his friends, and Team Rocket encounter an evil, psychopathic Malamar.

For a list of all major events in the animated series, please see the history page.

Debuts

Pokémon debuts

Malamar (anime)

Characters

Humans

Pokémon Quiz

Pokémon

Who's That Pokémon?

Who's That Pokémon?: Malamar (US and international)
Pokémon Quiz: Malamar (Japan)

Trivia

The title card segment focuses on Pikachu for this episode

Professor Oak's Pokémon Holo Caster: M17*/Pumpkaboo*
Ash and Serena narrate the preview for the next episode.
Team Rocket doesn't recite their motto in this episode.
Music from Kyurem VS. The Sword of Justice is used in this episode.
This episode aired on May 16, 2014 in Italy (on K2), eight days before it aired in the United States.
At the end of this episode, Ash and his friends come to the conclusion that all Malamar are evil Pokémon. However, 35 episodes later, they realize their error of judgment.
This episode features the first anime appearance of a basic Potion, all the Potions previously used in the anime having been Super Potions.

Errors

When Meowth faints, Serena's legs are completely black like her stockings.
In one shot during Meowth's story, Dedenne's underside is missing.
When Jessie and James block the group from escaping, Bonnie's blouse is black instead of brown.
When the Automatic Pikachu Retrieving Device robot sets off to find Pikachu, Ash's hair is black rather than dark teal.
After the Pikachu robot explodes, Bonnie's leggings become stockings.
When Meowth tells Ash and Serena not to look at Malamar's lights, his right foot is completely cream.
As Meowth runs away from Malamar after it possesses Serena, the end of his tail is cream instead of brown.
When Exploud first appears, the holes on its knees are purple instead of black.
When Malamar is hit by the Pikachu robot, one of its spots disappears for a few frames.
As Bonnie and Dedenne point at Madame X just before she reveals her true identity, the spots on Malamar's body are missing.
When Malamar appears in Officer Jenny's flashback, its outline and eyelids are white rather than light purple.
When Meowth points out Inkay's relation to Malamar, Pumpkaboo's eyes are brown.
In the final shot of Ash and the gang, Officer Jenny is shown without her hat, but the still frame following it depicts her wearing one.

Serena's legs error
Dedenne's belly error
Bonnie's blouse error
Ash's hair error
Bonnie with stockings
Exploud with Purple holes

Dub edits

For unknown reasons, this episode, along with the next one, was skipped during the debut airings on Hungama TV in India. They were later aired during re-runs on Marvel HQ.

In other languages

Language		Title
Chinese	Cantonese	Ｘ夫人的陰謀！恐怖的烏賊王！！
Chinese	Mandarin	Ｘ夫人的陰謀！恐怖的烏賊王！！
Danish		En erobringskonspiration!
Dutch		Een complot om te veroveren!
Finnish		Maailmanvalloitussuunnitelmia!
European French		Conspiration pour la conquête !
German		Gemeinsam gegen geheime Machenschaften!
Greek		Συνωμοσία για Κυριαρχία!
Hebrew		!מזימת הכיבוש
Hindi		दुनिया काबू में करने की साजिश Duniya Kaboo me karne ki Saazish
Indonesian		Konspirasi Untuk Menaklukkan!
Italian		Piano di Conquista!
Korean		마담X의 음모! 공포의 칼라마네로!!
Norwegian		En konspirasjon å beseire!
Polish		Zdekonspirowana konspiracja!
Portuguese	Brazil	Uma Conspiração Para Conquistar!
Portuguese	Portugal	Uma conspiração para conquistar
Russian		Заговор для покорения!
European Spanish		¡Conspiración Derrotada!
Swedish		En konspiratorisk besegring!
Thai		แผนการของมาดาม X! ความน่ากลัวของคารามาเนโร่!!
Turkish		Zafer İçin Komplo Kurmak!
Vietnamese		Âm mưu của Madame X ! Sự đáng sợ của Karamanero