Ya, CVTs have come a long way
Ya, CVTs have come a long way in just a few years. It won't be long before all auto-shift small cars will have them.
The shop manual I have (can't link, it's a CD) shows a small pan on the rear of the transmission just behind the drain plug for the trans. Going from the illustration, I'd say it's about 5" square at most. Inside are two screens, but no filter I guess. There are generally two types of flushes that are done on a transmission. A "drain and refill" and a "cleanse." A drain and refill is common at the second, fourth, etc. flushes while a cleanse (with screen cleaning) is common at first, third, etc. Manufacturers will have different recommendations for specific vehicles, but in the main, the intervals will be like that. The first flush is to check on the gearing wear from break-in as well, which means cleaning off whatever's stuck to the bottom of the pan if it has a magnet or cleaning off the magnetized screens (depending on vehicle).
This generation Civic's intervals are pretty long, though, and are specifying a cleanse each time. The difference here may be between an earlier version of recommendations and a later revision. My manuals were printed in 2001 and are the official Honda manuals used in dealerships.