The COMPLETE Guide to Ash's Pokemon Journey!

For fans of Pokémon, even more so the anime, 2023 is a bittersweet year. Ash Ketchum is one of the most iconic characters in fictional media, having a signature look that has only changed slightly since the late '90s. And after these past couple decades, his journey throughout the world of Pokémon is set to come to an end by the end of this year.

When originally hearing that announcement, I felt two things: one, a sense of closure that never felt like it was a reality that would happen, and two, this emotional sense of nostalgia that has driven me to re-experience Ash's journey from his beginnings in Pallet Town to becoming world champion to his final goodbye. Looking through over 25 seasons, 1,200 episodes, and two dozen movies, we will be going on this journey with Ash to cope with the ending of a character that has been there nearly my whole life.

As much as the character has meant to me as a child, I have had the pleasure of calling Sarah Nanny, the current voice actor of Ash, for over 16 years. A friend in more recent years, and it has just been such an enjoy to see the legacy of the character do so many things he was trying to achieve back when I was a kid, and now get to this well-deserved finish line. Whether or not you're a massive fan of Pokémon, at one point, I feel like Ash Ketchum and his adventures in the Pokémon world has meant something to you. Today, we're going to gear up and begin our journey right where it all started, with a boy from Pallet Town who is eager to get his first ever Pokémon. Welcome to the complete guide to Ash's Journey.

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Do you ever find yourself sitting back and thinking, "Who is Ash?" Well, that's the million-dollar question. Maybe throughout our 1,200-plus episodes of the show, we'll be able to answer that. He's a complex character that we see change over time from era to era. But for where he is now, at the beginning of the series, Ash is very much a kid with little knowledge of the Pokémon world, regardless of how much he likes to think he does. He's not super responsible, he can be kind of rude sometimes, and his determination can blind him from his shortcomings. But by golly, does the kid have heart.

I feel why we, the viewers, got attached to him as a character was because he was kind of a goofball. He had all the makings of a main character we would want to root for, but he was nowhere near perfect. In fact, he loses and fails quite often, making it known that it is okay to do so, but to never give up. You could see yourself in Ash, believe in his journey, and root for him along the way. While I do believe Ash grows in character throughout the Indigo League, it's easier to look all the way towards the end, within the Sword and Shield Journey Series, where he does feel a lot different. While he's still someone to root for, and a lot of the original themes are still there with him, a lot more of those childish nature moments he had that drip-fed into the attitude in the original series really aren't there as much. I think a lot of what makes Ash so special throughout the show are his connections to the other companions he has along with him on his journey, with it constantly being changed after the Johto series.

"Who's that Pokémon?" "It's Pikachu!" Ah, the start. Has something ever been so scary and daunting, yet so exciting and fun? Well, we start things off with a vision of the Pokémon League, and a young, 10-year-old Ash Ketchum is gearing up for his big day tomorrow of seeing Professor Oak and choosing his starter Pokémon for his journey to begin. At 10 years old, trainers are able to get a starter Pokémon and go off alone on their own journey to, well, do whatever, I guess. Most of them go up against the Pokémon League. Some find other purposes in life outside of just battling, though. But Ash here wants to be the best.

But thanks to Ash accidentally destroying his alarm clock, the following morning, he wakes up late to be at Professor Oak's lab to choose his starter. Upon arriving, half-awake and still in his pajamas, he sees Gary Oak, his ultimate rival for the series and the grandson to the professor. The attitude Gary serves Ash drives him to be the best that he can be, especially against Gary down the road. When speaking to Professor Oak, he learns that all of the starter Pokémon, aside from one special option, had been taken. This is where we first meet Pikachu, and Ash tries his best to enjoy the choice he's making, while Pikachu wants nothing to do with him and kind of reluctantly ends up going with him. Pikachu also isn't a fan of being in his Poké Ball, causing problems from being outside of it, like shocking everyone, including Ash's overprotective, yet oddly easy to push him out of the house mother, making the whole leaving in celebration on the journey pretty awkward.

These first moments along with Ash and Pikachu are very crucial, with Pikachu being completely standoffish and Ash being determined to become his friend rather than just a trainer. Ash, without the help of Pikachu, just tries to capture Pokémon right off the bat but has many issues, not understanding that he needs to weaken the Pokémon first for a better chance. Pikachu just mocks him for this. But Ash attempts to throw a rock at a group of Pidgey, but the rock hits a Spearow who was in the middle, and they aren't as chill as the average Pidgey. So, in retaliation for literally getting hit with a rock, Spearow swoops in and starts attacking them. Pikachu gets attacked as well for just being associated. Ash tries to help Pikachu, but Pikachu is just defending himself at this point. Once the Spearow calls in for backup, the two run away as they constantly get pecked by these birds, while Ash's main concern is Pikachu's safety rather than his own, carrying him away once he is badly attacked.

Ash then comes across a girl who we get introduced to as Misty, shortly as she is fishing. As Ash gets lectured about what a Pokémon Center is and what way to go to get Pikachu there, as he then steals her bike for a faster getaway, and she stands there pissed. The sky starts darkening, a storm starts up, as the Spearow swarm closer, knocking Ash and Pikachu from the bike and right into the mud. Ash does what he can to protect Pikachu, offering him to get in his ball for safety and just asking Pikachu to trust him, as he stands up blocking the Spearow from attacking Pikachu any further. But as they swoop in for an attack on Ash, Pikachu uses the last bit of strength he has to jump in front of Ash and hits them all with a blast of electricity, defeating them.

The two of them later awake as the skies clear, face to face on the ground, weakened but in relieved states, as above them, a mysterious gold silhouetted Pokémon flies above. At the time when this came out, we had no idea who this was. It wasn't in the 151 that we knew, and it had to be in the more to part of the song. As this Gen 2 Pokémon plays a bigger factor, connecting to this moment here way later on in Ash's journey. Ash's Pokédex makes no note of what this Pokémon is, as it's not registered in Oak's Pokédex database. But side note, the Pokédex itself is an underrated sassy character all on its own. But I just love how this episode ends with Ash escorting Pikachu to Viridian City for the Pokémon Center, but it's what the narrator says that puts it best to describe the journey.

"After this initial opening, this is just the beginning of the amazing adventures of Ash and Pikachu. Their journey is destined to be packed with non-stop action, millions of laughs, heart-pounding perils, and endless excitement. Together, they'll encounter fantastic friends, evil enemies, and meet creatures beyond their wildest imagination. And as their story unfolds, we will unlock the magic and mystery of a most wondrous place: The Incredible World of Pokémon." And if that's not an introduction, I don't know what is.

Once there in Viridian City, Ash meets a lot of familiar faces that we'll get to know from here on out. From right off the bat, running into Officer Jenny, who just has an endless amount of identical cousins in the police force. While on the lookout for some Pokémon poachers and mistaking Ash for possibly being one, she notices that he is a trainer and his Pikachu is in major need of help. As she whips the motorcycle right into the Pokémon Center and helping get Pikachu over to Nurse Joy, who, just like Jenny, essentially has a never-ending lookalike family that are all nurses.

While waiting for Pikachu to be treated, Ash takes a moment to call back home and report into Professor Oak about the mysterious golden Pokémon, where the professor doesn't fully believe him. But it's okay, one day we'll have those answers. Oh, and Misty comes back, and now she's angry at Ash for not only stealing her bike but getting it completely trashed. Misty calms down after Ash explains it was for the well-being of Pikachu, and now she worries about Pikachu more so than her ruined bike.

But here is where we meet the true antagonists for the entire series: Team Rocket. But more specifically, Jesse, James, and Meowth, who can talk. That's right, their scheme here is to break in and steal all the Pokémon from the Pokémon Center. But as tensions are high and the power cuts out, a bunch of other Pikachu help keep the power on. As we hear the mention of the next city we travel to, Pewter City, which Nurse Joy wants to get all of these Pokémon here to safety over there. Ash's Pikachu is starting to wake up, but isn't fully recovered yet, so all the other Pikachu gather around him to charge him up and give him the strength to unleash another huge Thundershock, which ends up causing an explosion thanks to Team Rocket's coughing gas.

After seeing this, Team Rocket pulls back and makes a new plan that they now have their eyes set on Ash's Pikachu for how powerful it truly is, and it will totally impress their boss, Giovanni. But they aren't going to get away that easily. Their Meowth balloon gets damaged, and the team gets sent blasting off for the first time. So, eventually, they will be saying, "We're blasting off again!" A solid catchphrase.

This is where the world starts opening for Ash. We meet some new people, get introduced to the villains, and by the end, Ash now has Misty as a tag-along on his adventure for the main reason of his broke butt one day paying her back for the ruined bike. But regardless, this sparks the beginning of a great friendship between the two, even if things are still pretty at odds constantly between them.

But not long into their traveling, Ash and Misty are startled by a Caterpie in the woods, where Misty has a phobia of bug Pokémon, and Ash is finally ready to catch something. And luckily, he does end up catching the Caterpie as his first Pokémon outside of Pikachu. And on top of that, apparently he's going catching crazy, ending up with a captured Pidgeotto, the evolution of Pidgey, which he couldn't capture in episode 1. But in doing so, he indirectly uses Caterpie's bait. This will come back to play in a second. Clearly, from the carelessness and lack of knowledge in battle strategy, Misty begins really showing signs of her knowledge. And while she lays into Ash about this, it's really giving him some important lessons to learn to be a better trainer overall.

Team Rocket returns to make their plans very, very clear to Ash about wanting to steal his Pikachu, and thus begins the repetitive clashing of Team Rocket and Ash and Pikachu, where the setups only get more ridiculous from here to try and somehow capture the Pikachu. And technically, Ash does have his first real Pokémon battle here, despite Team Rocket double-teaming him, which is against the league rules, but he refuses to break them himself, stopping Misty from joining in on the fight. But scratch all that, he tries to fistfight them at one point, not sure that's in the rulebook there. But regardless, his last attempt is to send out Caterpie into the battle, and this little scrapper starts taking out Ekans and Koffing like it was light work. Team Rocket ends up leaving, and Caterpie is celebrated. But as Misty overcomes her fear of bug Pokémon to give Caterpie some congratulatory head pats, Caterpie does this. Yeah, understandable. But this silk spray turns into a cocoon for him as he evolves into a Metapod.

And now, as Ash continues through the routes and trying to capture more Pokémon, this odd boy dressed as a samurai challenges Ash to a battle. At first, Ash's Pidgeotto loses to the other kid's Pinsir. But when Ash tosses out his new Metapod, its Harden ability takes out one of the pincers. Pincers, geez, that's some manga-esque violence vibes right there.

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Then the classic Metapod vs. Metapod match happens between the two, constantly having them use Harden as nothing really happens here because of that. A funny moment for the series overall, but the determination from Ash to win in a winless stalemate shows how it can quickly turn into stubbornness. But later on, a Beedrill swarm swoops in, where the samurai kid recalls his Metapod to save it, while Ash sits there trying to get the Beedrill's data into his Pokédex. Because of this, the Beedrill ends up taking Ash's Metapod, causing him to freak out. I mean, they just stole his fairly new Pokémon, and Ash didn't act in a way to take care of his Pokémon first before trying to learn about this new Pokémon. The kid lays into Ash about this, and as the night comes, Ash is hurt with the thought of Metapod being alone out there in danger.

So, the next morning, he goes out looking for him, putting himself in danger for the sake of getting Metapod out of a Kakuna nest. But once Ash goes in to rescue him, Team Rocket messes things up and sets off the Beedrill. And now Ash makes his move to recall Metapod back into his ball, but Metapod is pretty sour towards Ash, thanks to how Ash was pushing him so hard in battle and how he could just let him be taken like this, and maybe some resentment for being used as bait when he was a Caterpie. It makes Ash realize how he put the battle and the excitement of new Pokémon over the health and assurance of his own Pokémon.

But in the most dramatic and worrisome moment, after Ash sincerely apologizes to Metapod and promises a lot better and more responsible care, Ash's Metapod jumps in to protect him from a Beedrill attack, ending up with a major slash into Metapod's body, but it starts to glow, ending up evolving once more, already into a Butterfree, who uses Sleep Powder to put the attacking Beedrill and Team Rocket to sleep. The samurai kid shows respect to Ash for how he handled this situation.

Though now reaching Pewter City, it's time for Ash to face his first challenge, as he learns about the Pokémon League Championship and the fact that he needs to earn eight badges throughout Kanto from the various gym leaders. And it just so happens that here in Pewter City, there is a gym for him to battle against his first gym leader in hopes of winning a Boulder Badge, his first of eight. Ash is clearly unprepared for this, as the training we've seen so far is well, practically nothing. Like, sure, one of his Pokémon evolved twice, but that really doesn't mean much here. The gym leader is Brock, and Ash jumps in gung-ho into the battle with his Pikachu versus Brock's Onix, who easily takes out a non-experienced Pikachu who isn't ready for a battle like this yet. Ash, defeated in spirit, leaves the gym but spends time with this mysterious person named Flint that we originally meet on our way into Pewter City.

This guy shows Ash the other side of Brock, telling him about his father abandoning him to go off to be a Pokémon trainer, and his mother abandoning the kids as well, well, leaving Brock here to take care of his large amount of siblings, something he does take pride in. While he has to hold up the city gym and battle trainers by day, Ash still faces Brock the next day after some intense training, and to everyone's surprise, Pikachu, under Ash's commands, is not doing so bad. But even though Pikachu uses a new Thunderbolt attack that does end up hurting Onix a bit, Onix still has the upper hand with Pikachu on the verge of being knocked out from the tight grip wrapped around him.

But thanks to the sprinklers going off in the gym, it ends up making Onix a lot weaker and opening up a prime time to strike for Pikachu. But all of Brock's siblings try to convince Ash not to, persuading him by saying that winning under these circumstances is not really winning. If the sprinklers weren't on, you wouldn't have had the chance to make this move. Ash, even though he isn't the most knowledgeable about anything, it seems for some reason, is dead set on following the rules and being fair and square with his battles. If he does win, he wants it to be from his merits and skill over outside conditions or health.

Ash leaves the gym having a heart-to-heart with Pikachu about about maybe pushing him a bit too hard in training. But before they can all walk away for the day, Brock comes running up to them. He ends up handing Ash a Boulder Badge anyway, which Ash refuses to take at first. But Brock tells him that his kindness to Pokémon is what made him earn this, which one makes sense for Brock's character, as we will see throughout the show, where he cares more about Pokémon's well-being over winning battles. But for Ash, this starts a pattern with how Ash earns a lot of these badges in the Kanto region. We can point this out as they come, but he earns a lot of the badges by not even winning the battles. So, I guess he just accepts taking the badge, and all those merits we just discussed are thrown out the window. Nice.

Brock, however, opens up about his passions in being a Pokémon breeder, caring for and nurturing Pokémon rather than running the gym. But the mysterious Flint guy reveals the whole time that he was Brock's runaway father, and that he never returned to his family due to the shame of feeling like a failure, but always watched from afar, making sure things were okay. He wants to be back in his life and help take care of the family, which Brock quickly starts breaking down just how much they truly is to do for him, as he can now shed the responsibilities of running the gym and take time away from playing parent for all of his siblings and go forward with Ash and Misty to pursue more of his calling, helping Pokémon.

Not too long after this, we shift from a Brock-centric episode to a Misty-centric episode. Where the trio arrive in Cerulean City, where Ash is extremely excited to go and get his second badge from the gym there, the Cascade Badge. Misty, not as excited to be there, and starts acting pretty weird towards it all in general, splits from the group. As well as Brock goes and does Brock things. Ash attempts to head to the gym on his own, meeting three synchronized swimming sisters: Lily, Daisy, and Violet. And apparently, they all are the gym leader. They seem pretty well-trained, but tell Ash that they are too tired to battle and literally just offer him the badge for free. I mean, come on, what are the chances here? Ash, two for two without doing anything. Well, almost.

Misty shows up after listening in on all of this and calls out Ash to battle her, as we find out that Misty is also a gym leader for this gym, and those other girls are her older sisters. She definitely feels this pressure of perfection from them being separated by age, height, and experience. But she doesn't want Ash to just get another badge without a proper battle, like the last one as well. But before this battle can finish, Team Rocket, like usual, interrupts things and ends up vacuuming up all the water Pokémon from the gym. But Pikachu and Ash jump in to stop them, having Pikachu Thunderbolt them out of the area and reverse the vacuum to release back all of the Pokémon. And then one of the older sisters just gives Ash a badge anyway, even even though he didn't win a battle, once again.

Now, the sisters go tell an angry Misty that she would have lost due to the type advantage anyway, and have a moment with her about her coming back this great trainer they know she'll become by continuing her journey with Ash, giving her another reason outside of the bike payback to stay with him.

Sometime later, on their way to Vermilion City, they come across an Oddish. As Misty wants to actually catch it, and it's easily defeated by her Starmie. But as she goes in to capture it, her Poké Ball is smacked aside from a Bulbasaur vine, as it steps in to defend the Oddish, attacking and defeating Misty's Starmie. And after Ash sends in his Butterfree to help Bulbasaur and Oddish escape back into the woods, so the group now just continues along until they're on a rope bridge that breaks as they're crossing it, and Brock falls all the way down into the water below. As Ash helps pull Misty and Pikachu to safety after holding on to the bridge, as they now find a way to get to the water safely to look for Brock. Misty falls into a pit trap, and then after Ash helps her out of that, Misty ends up snagging a rope on the ground that pulls them all up into a net. What a weird case of bad luck here, almost like it was all on purpose. H. But not long after that, Brock shows back up and helps them out and introduces them to a girl named Melanie, who ended up helping him out of the river.

We learn all about this hidden village, a place that separates itself from outsiders to help injured and hurt Pokémon, as well as those abandoned by their trainers, which is a subject we'll be touching on here with these next few episodes of Pokémon. Melanie takes care of the Pokémon for as long as they are there for and makes the medicine she uses for healing them herself, as she also set all of the traps up herself as a form of protection for the hidden village. After this, we get a good moment of learning to care for Pokémon equally, showing such a caring and loving side to sharing the world with them outside of the more widespread and popular ways of battling with them, of course.

Team Rocket, who is always following them, gets in the way and tries to take some Pokémon, but Ash and Bulbasaur end up fighting back to protect all of the Pokémon there. And after easily doing so, Melanie makes note that Ash and Bulbasaur would make a great team, so why not have Ash take Bulbasaur with him? Bulbasaur ends up wanting to go with him, but on one condition: Ash battles him for it, where Pikachu steps in and wins the battle, allowing Ash to capture Bulbasaur and add one of the three starters he originally missed the opportunity to get from Professor Oak at the start of the series.

Now, shortly after this, we get one of the most emotional episodes of Pokémon, as we come across the next starter Ash missed out on, Charmander, where the group run into him just hanging out on a rock, but he refuses to be caught by Ash or even battle Pikachu, as it is waiting for someone to return to get him. So, upon believing that this is someone else's Pokémon, they continue along the route and end up spending the night at a Pokémon Center lodge. As the weather starts getting pretty bad outside, Brock's nature has him worrying about that Charmander and hoping that the trainer actually did come back for him in time. But they end up overhearing from this person named Damian that the Charmander was his, and it was so weak that he told it to just stay there and wait for him, and he had no plans to come back and get him.

Brock here jumps in to tell Damian off about how awful of a Pokémon trainer and overall person that he is, with Ash and Misty behind him backing him up. Damian, though, really doesn't care and just ends up leaving, as now the three of them rush back to go and help that poor Charmander. When they find him, he is trying to cover his flame on his tail from the rain so it doesn't go out, as well as he gets attacked by Spearow. Where now, after Ash throws a rock at them like in the first episode, Pikachu is ready to take them all out to get them away from Charmander. Ash makes sure that he protects Charmander's flame as they now hightail it back to the Pokémon Center to get it some proper care. Nurse Joy is there to help, of course, but scolds them about letting Charmander get like this. But the situation diffuses once they explain that it was them saving the Charmander, and it was the other trainer, Damian's.

After a while of everyone worrying about the outcome in the waiting room, Nurse Joy tells them that Charmander is all good and will be feeling better by the morning, which relieves them all. But in the morning, the Charmander has escaped and returned back to the forest to go find the rock to wait for Damian to return, because of how loyal his nature is. After the trio leave the Pokémon Center and get into another scuffle with Team Rocket, who now has rubber suits to not get hurt by Pikachu's attack, they are able to actually capture him away from Ash. But that same Charmander comes around to stop them and speak with Meowth, telling him that they need to let Pikachu go. And when they don't, all that pent-up anger that Charmander has after being told he's weak and not strong enough by Damian, he lets out a powerful Flamethrower that takes out Team Rocket and sets Pikachu free from their captivity.

Damian actually catches a glimpse of this while he's just standing there in the woods for some reason. And while Ash thanks Charmander and offers him a choice to come with them, Damian interrupts them, now being impressed at all the power that Charmander actually had and is now back for him after all this time. He claims that this was a method of training, seeing the other side of how Pokémon can be looked at and treated in this world. Charmander ends up rejecting going back with Damian, as he tries to force him to get back in a ball, but Pikachu stands alongside Charmander to fend off against Damian, scaring him away. Leaving Brock to have Ash offer Charmander to go with him, as he excitedly jumps into a Poké Ball.

Now, this Charmander and how it grows throughout the series is very interesting as well, having had its loyalty broken once and finding it hard to trust again. Now that Ash has two of the three starters, better make it all three, right? Continuing on the road, they fall into a pit, a running trope that we will see for the series, and you'll hear me say it a lot. And a group of Squirtle, all wearing some fun sunglasses, peer in, laughing at them. After they climb out, Ash tries to battle them, as the other Squirtle protects the leader of the group. This is broken up once Officer Jenny shoos them away and explains to the gang that these Squirtle are the Squirtle Squad, and they are going around pulling pranks on people for the heck of it, as they have all come together after being abandoned by their trainers, which the past two episodes and this episode have all had a focus on, clearly. Not too long into a trainer's journey, they're just getting rid of them like they aren't a companion. It's heartbreaking stuff.

The pranks continued to get out of hand, however, and Ash really wants to battle them. And after a series of events that go in no one's favor, aside from the Squirtles, they end up tied up and Pikachu trapped in a cage. But why would they do this? Well, Meowth from Team Rocket convinced these Squirtles, who already don't trust humans, that they need to separate the humans from Pikachu and capture him. Obviously, this is for Meowth to present Pikachu back to Team Rocket once they catch up with them. But the Squirtles don't know that. Meowth has a verbal battle here with Ash, as the Squirtles here are just keeping guard. But Ash is able to convince the Squirtles to help him out with Pikachu, as he is injured pretty bad and needs some medicine. The Squirtle see that there is some care from the humans here towards their Pokémon, allowing Ash to leave and run to town to get some.

But upon making it to the shop, the door is slammed in his face by his rival Gary, who doesn't even notice him or even say a word. This apparently knocks him out for the entire rest of the night, though. When he wakes, Jesse and James are literally robbing the same shop he was going to, getting supplies that will be all used at the demise of the Squirtle Squad, as they were heading there to meet up with Meowth, who is just standing by with Pikachu. Ash runs into the shop quickly after trying to get some potion, but everyone pulls the strap out on him, thinking that they were getting robbed again. But Jenny comes in just in time to diffuse the situation. Man, he's 10, y'all need to chill.

Ash shows back up as the Squirtle just realized that they aren't such bad humans after all, and that they themselves are only just pranksters, not evil, at least not like these guys, where they start throwing explosives to get back at the Squirtle for pranking them earlier as well, and so that they can steal Pikachu. In the chaos, Ash jumps in to save the leader Squirtle from getting hurt, causing the Squirtle to be in tears over the love he was just shown. Now, helping him get up and go after Team Rocket to take them out, Pikachu is returned, and the Squirtle Squad ends up helping put out the fires from the explosions, making them town heroes, and not just these annoying pranksters, becoming the firefighters for them. The leader Squirtle follows Ash and friends as he takes off his glasses and runs into Ash's arms, excited to join the team. And just like that, three for three. Ash now has all the Pokémon that he could have had a chance to pick between at the start, all with backstories relating to bad trainers giving up on them, but Ash not. It's emotional and truly a nice way to build up Ash's team and how we see him grow along his journey.

"Who's that Pokémon?" "It's Snorlax."

As the journey continues, Ash and company have some interesting encounters. Ash, though, finds himself trying to capture a smaller in size Krabby, as we will learn here more about Pokémon sizes. But after he catches him, the Poké Ball disappears from his hand, as Ash has reached his max party limit of six Pokémon with him at once. So Krabby gets sent back to Professor Oak's lab, and from here on out, we sometimes cut back to any of the Pokémon over at the lab with Oak, as they just annoy him in their excitement to say hi to Ash.

More about the sizes of Pokémon. Oak informs Ash that Gary also caught a Krabby, but it was a lot bigger in size. They later run into Bill, who is stuck in a Kabuto costume for a while, who, when freed, alludes to the mysteries of the Pokémon World, exploring more than the known at the time, more than 151 Pokémon species, 'cause this is only one region, and it's the first season, so the so far in total of over a thousand aren't known technically yet. He spends his time studying, researching, and also trying to find out more about this supposed large Pokémon ever that no one has seen, as he brings them to the top of the lighthouse, looking into the sea.

Shortly after, now this giant Pokémon does appear in this silhouette, glowing-eyed form, towering as large as the lighthouse stands high. This encounter doesn't last long, as Team Rocket is there, and James says, "So, size does matter." As then they fire rockets at it, ruining this beautiful moment of trust between this mysterious beast and Bill. I mean, clearly, it's a gigantic Dragonite. And outside of it being out of the normal size it should usually be, this could be retconned in the form of the Dynamaxing abilities of the Galar region, but then that logic breaks again, since he would be really far away from that area where that would even be possible. So, who knows. But sizes in Pokémon are cool and never really matter all that much, but they are brought up from time to time. Oh, and a Dragonite cloud at the end, that's nice.

Once Ash and everyone made it to Vermilion City, where Ash has another shot at a gym badge, battling against Lt. Surge, the gym leader. Ash is ready to prove that he can do it on his own without some other circumstances. He will win this badge by beating Surge, but things don't go well when Surge's Raichu, the evolution of Pikachu, which Pikachu is intimidated by the strength of him, is ready to battle. Pikachu is ready to give it his all as well, especially since Surge has done nothing but mock Ash for his "baby Pokémon" and not having the stronger evolved Pokémon. Pikachu is losing pretty badly, but has a warrior spirit, refusing to listen to Ash to stop fighting. In return, it's too late, though, as Raichu hits Pikachu with a big Thunderbolt attack, knocking him out of the battle.

While after healing up, Ash is happy that Pikachu is okay, but Pikachu himself is not. Physically, he's fine, but his mind is clouded at the loss of this battle, as Raichu represents a picture of what he could be if he evolved. Ash is offered a Thunder Stone that Nurse Joy happened to have, and to evolve a Pikachu into a Raichu, it isn't about experience, it's about using this stone. This was such an important moment right here. This was the equivalent to a season finale of a reality show, and you're wondering if Pikachu is going to accept the stone or deny it. You really had to be there. This is the big decision. There is no coming back from this. Once Pikachu evolves, that's it.

Ash contemplates the stone and knowing that he could now have the power that Surge has if Pikachu were to evolve, but he knows it's not his decision that he can make. This would be a forced evolution, and he leaves it up to Pikachu to decide. We then have this powerful moment of Pikachu letting out his emotions, smacking the stone away, and feeling that he can be stronger for himself without this stone. He doesn't want to change. All he wants to do is defeat Raichu and do it as himself. He wants to do it for not only him, but for all of the Pikachu out there who feel inferior to their evolution counterpart. We know this because Meowth is explaining to Team Rocket what Pikachu is going through. And as a quick aside, Team Rocket here just kind of spies on Pikachu for the most part and ends up rooting for him the whole time from the sidelines, as they have faith that he will be stronger than this Raichu and worth all the time that they spent trying to capture him.

So, part good spirit, part bad reasons, Brock has some ideas for a strategy to work out with Ash and Pikachu. As the determined team show back up to face Surge again, this time using speed and agility to work around Raichu's powerful attacks. When Surge got his Pikachu, he immediately evolved it into a Raichu without the chance of Pikachu learning speed-based attacks and defenses, resulting in a more even matchup between the two. But when Raichu goes in for a powerful finishing attack that literally starts destroying the gym, Pikachu is shown to be unharmed from it, with his tail stuck in the ground to save him from the full effects of the attack.

Now, when Raichu is exhausted and weakened, Ash has Pikachu hit him with a Quick Attack, dodging Raichu's takedown, causing Pikachu to knock him out with them winning the gym battle fair and square. Ash is awarded his well-earned Thunder Badge, and Raichu shows respect to Pikachu for an incredible battle. This moment really put Ash and Pikachu to the test, and in the end, helped strengthen their bond as a great duo. It also showed more complex characteristics of Team Rocket, as they didn't do anything wrong here. In fact, they rooted for their enemies to do good, so that's neat.

Now we get some of the most infamous moments in the first series of Pokémon, the S.S. Anne arc, where Ash and company are given access to go aboard the luxury cruise liner from a disguised Team Rocket, as there is a Pokémon trainer party happening aboard. Team Rocket's plans here is to get all of these Pokémon on board this contained area at sea and steal all of their Pokémon to please Giovanni, who we see here is this menacing figure in a darkened room with his Persian, Meowth evolution, as he hopes that they don't mess this up.

While on board, Ash is having a great time seeing all the other trainers battle, being fixated on this one trainer's strong Raticate, challenging that trainer to a battle and sending out Butterfree. Before Ash can win, though, the trainer pulls back his Raticate and says it's a draw, offering to trade their Pokémon, as he really liked Ash's Butterfree, and Ash accepts to the trade without thinking, just so he can get a chance at that Raticate. And moments later, the trade is official, and the ownership of the Pokémon has changed. But after doing so, Ash starts having some second thoughts about the trade, feeling like he just said goodbye to a friend without saying goodbye and without a care. The memories he's had along the way so far with this Butterfree, from when he first captured him as a Caterpie, being the first Pokémon he ever caught, really gets to him.

As Team Rocket kicks off their plans, and all of the trainers and their Pokémon start fighting back, now has Ash wanting to help. When seeing a bunch of these Butterfree are teaming up, he gets excited, tossing out his Butterfree, quickly realizing that it is now a Raticate, and his Butterfree is gone. This does it for him, and he wants the trade to be reversed. So, as this battle on the S.S. Anne goes on, the ship drifts into a major incoming storm, resulting in large waves crashing into the ship, and the tension of the passengers to get uneasy. Ash, during this, finds the man he traded with and has him agree to do a trade back, and just in the nick of time, as right after the waves get more intense, as the captain abandoned ship into a lifeboat, and the rest of the passengers are left to freak out and run to the remaining lifeboats before the ship tips over.

Misty and Brock go grab Ash from this trade station, as they then try and make their way to safety. But then the crash of another wave causes Ash to drop his Butterfree's Poké Ball, and so he goes after it. It's now clear that there are no other passengers on board except for our main trio and Team Rocket themselves. Another wave hits the ship, causing it to fully flip upside down and begin to sink. And this is where the episode itself would cut off, which is like horrifying as a kid. Luckily, the next episode starts us with Officer Jenny giving a speech about all of them being presumed dead, tossing some flowers into the ocean and playing some sad trumpets as they salute. None of this made me feel better, but thanks for the trauma.

Under the sea, however, the ship is positioned at top of this rock structure, barely balancing the ship from falling further into a darkness-filled trench. Both groups, main crew and Team Rocket, make their way through the areas that they still can within the ship, and at one point are forced to work together because that's the only way that any of them will hopefully make it out of their alive. Their last resort here is to have Charmander melt a hole into the ship for all of them to escape by holding on to a water Pokémon that can bring them to safety. Ash has Squirtle, Misty has Goldeen, and Brock would use Misty's Starmie. But Team Rocket doesn't have any water Pokémon, so they think they are stuck down there. But James remembers that he does have this Magikarp that he was tricked into owning earlier.

But we cut away from them and visit the surface. Ash, Misty, and Brock make it to some floating debris and see no sign of Team Rocket surfacing. But in the meantime, they have Ash's Pidgeotto search for any sign of land in what direction to head towards. But he also spots Team Rocket now on the surface, passed out on the Magikarp. And once the kids see Team Rocket here, they think that they're actually dead and say their tidings, getting ready to push them out to sea to their watery graves. But they wake up right as this was happening, so it's all good, I guess.

Now, spending the next day at sea with all of them starving and ornery from it all, James gets fed up with Magikarp, feeling like he's nothing but useless and an annoyance since he was given him. He ends up kicking him into the ocean, where now he returns after a massive glow to reveal that he evolved into a Gyarados, a fearsome water beast. Who remembers the kick and in revenge finds some other Gyarados friends, and they perform their Dragon Rage attack, causing a cyclone and water tornadoes to form, as they all get blasted off and later find themselves now in a mysterious island. And Ash's Pikachu, Squirtle, Charmander, and Bulbasaur are missing. Jesse and James survive as well, without Meowth, as he is separate from them, along with their signature Pokémon. Pikachu and Ash's other Pokémon run into Meowth, coughing and Ekans, as they now have to work together to find their trainers.

We also get to look at how an already abandoned Pokémon sees this. As Bulbasaur seems very nonchalant and how he claims their trainers have abandoned them, but Pikachu shuts that narrative down real quick. After the heart-pounding stakes of the last couple episodes, this separated from each other episode is pretty fun. As we start seeing these giant Pokémon roaming the land with all of these different parties here running into them, resulting in a full-on destruction of these, what turns out to be, mechanical giants. As it's revealed that this whole island is Pokémon Land, an amusement park full of giant Pokémon that, funny enough, is owned by Giovanni. So Team Rocket couldn't capture all those Pokémon, helped sink a ship, and on top of all of that, destroyed an expensive-looking amusement park island. So, I'm sure things are going well there.

I think it's about here that I started to realize how smooth this adventure feels in Pokémon. We move from location to location as things naturally progress from there. After all these traumatic events, they now are at this resort where Ash sees his mom, Professor Oak, and even Gary. But this is more of a beach filler episode that still has its charm. And seriously though, the filler moments that aren't important to the story and the journey all that much, at least have a real nice level of entertainment value to keep you invested in the original series, specifically. Like, we get a whole story of these angry Tentacool and Tentacruel that are mad over the building of a hotel built upon a coral reef that is literally coming out of the ocean. We see size come back into play as a giant Tentacruel goes on a giant rampage through a city, disgusted at humans and not understanding how Pokémon could fight by their side. This is full-on monster movie level destruction here, taking out building after building.

Also, from some of the filler, have you seen the combination Pizza Hut Taco Bell mashup known as Venuso? Well, I have. Sometimes fillers, however, aren't just fully fillers. Some major events can be misinterpreted as fillers. Like, before we reach our next city for a gym battle, we have "Bye-Bye, Butterfree," another contender for saddest Pokémon episode. The crew stumble across these.

Butterfree celebrating their um finding of a mate ritual, as Ash tries to help Butterfree see if there is a partner for him amongst the other Butterfree. With them all having something unique about them to attract a mate or at least gauge some interest. So when Ash's Butterfree comes back sad with no bites, especially after being rejected by this pink Butterfree who isn't a shiny. This is what a Shiny Butterfree would look like. This is just a unique pink one. Maybe one day some generation of Pokémon will actually make this a regional variant that for some reason just happened to be here in Kanto at this time. I mean, they accidentally made Alolan Exeggutor decades before they actually turned it into a real Pokémon.

So to spice things up for Butterfree here and give him some more confidant, Brock adds this nice little scarf around his neck. You know, he's the ladies' man. But even before Butterfree gets to go show this off, Team Rocket comes in and starts trapping all the Butterfree. So when Ash's Butterfree can help free them all, he does it and comes through, helping all of them escape and leaving him exhausted. He still protects the pink Butterfree who stayed behind to see if he was okay. This begins some real flirting between them.

As in the end, Butterfree has to make a choice: stay with Ash or go on this migration path with the rest of the Butterfree and his new pink Butterfree partner. Ash emotionally gives a tear-filled goodbye to Butterfree as they fly away into the drowning colors of the sunset. As Ash looks back on their time together as his first Pokémon that he ever caught on his journey, and how he's learned so much from how the relationship has gone from their ups and their downs to even trading him for all of about 10 minutes. But he wishes Butterfree the best life from here. And hey, maybe one day, decades later, I don't know, we'll see that Butterfree return.

We now make it to Saffron City, where things start getting spooky for a while, as the next gym leader is Sabrina. Where Ash has a chance to win the Marsh Badge here. We deal with psychics and psychic and ghost Pokémon. As when we get to meet Sabrina, we meet this weird possessed little girl who makes a deal based on the battle regarding if Ash loses, that him and his friends have to play with her in the context of being trapped and most likely possessed. After Ash quickly agrees because he just wants to battle and not give it any real thought, we meet the real Sabrina. Who stoically seems to not be all there, but somehow is in deep control of everything. She floats to the battle arena, holding the little girl who is sending out the Poké Balls for her. Abra is her Pokémon, whose abilities are pretty powerful, and even more so when it awakes and evolves right into a Kadabra at the start of the battle and sends any attack that Pikachu has right back at him. Then using telekinesis to control Pikachu, hurting him pretty badly to the point Ash has to call the match to stop and he forfeits because of this.

The little girl teleports them to a creepy empty suburb per their deal of being trapped to play with her. And upon further inspection, they all find out that they are now stuck inside of a dollhouse, where a giant Sabrina and a giant little girl tower over them. Eventually, they end up being saved from a random man they met before heading into the gym, rescuing them from this torture before getting squashed. This man gives Ash a stern warning about never being able to beat her and how she's dangerous, which Ash doesn't believe. And this old telekinetic man pants him.

Okay, after Ash's stubbornness, he gets pointed in the direction of Lavender Town to catch a ghost-type Pokémon to combat Sabrina's psychic-type Pokémon. As they head off, this mysterious old man remarks that maybe this kid is the one who can help save Sabrina. But what does that mean? I guess we'll find out shortly. When Ash goes to Lavender Town and faces some ghost Pokémon head-on, like Gastly, Haunter, and Gengar. Uh, him and Pikachu die. Literally, they are crushed by these ghosts pulling pranks on them, and their spirits are literally yanked out of their bodies. And then they go and pull some pranks with the ghosts on their friends. And through the power of not fully being dead, they get to go back into their bodies and be humans. And before they head back to face Sabrina, Haunter ends up joining Ash's team, or maybe not, just kind of goes along with him, as he didn't really capture Haunter here, but regardless of them all referring to him doing so in the following episode.

But all of this was useless, as when the battle is ready to start, Haunter just disappears. And now none of Ash's Pokémon want to battle, making Ash disqualified and Sabrina angry, turning Misty and Brock into literal dolls. And the telekinetic man shows up to save him once more. And he sits down and explains to Ash why Sabrina is the way she is now. Where, as a kid, her use of telekinesis tore her family apart. And over time, ripping her in two: one being a young girl with no one to play with, and the older version that we see of her who enjoys battling and taking down trainers. And that the little girl that she has there with her now is the representation of the real her before all of the telekinesis stuff happened. Oh, and this old man is Sabrina's father and only tries to help her victims without getting in the way and hurting his daughter.

So, in the end, with no Haunter, Ash has to fight once more with Pikachu. But in the middle of the battle, Haunter shows back up, laughing in Sabrina's face. At first, Haunter is just making some faces, but eventually, he just pulls out an explosive. And now everyone's dead. Okay, just kidding. Sabrina, however, does crack a smile that leads to full-on laughter, confusing Ash and making her father fill with joy. Also, we see how non-perceptive Ash is by still not realizing that this man is Sabrina's father. But in the end, Sabrina makes a major breakthrough, finding some joy in her heart after all that has happened. Where that little girl representation now disappears, and Sabrina seems to be okay. And since the Kadabra is psychically linked with Sabrina and is laughing, he is unable to battle. And Ash is declared the victor by default, giving him the Marsh Badge. And even Ash questions if he deserves this one. But he did reunite fully Sabrina's parents with her. And I guess Haunter stays behind with Sabrina to bring her joy. He's not a fighter, he's a prankster.

Really, on their way to the next gym battle, Ash has to now deal with some monkey business, or should I say, some Mankey business, as he fails in trying to catch one. And after a fun game of "Hey, who stole my hat?", Ash ends up capturing a new Pokémon for his team. Yep, that's right, he caught a Primeape, because Mankey actually evolved into Primeape here.

Now arriving in Celadon City, a great scent fills the air, and Brock's attention heads to a window looking into some women in a perfume store. And when Misty is interested in the scent as well, Ash disrespects perfume as a whole and thinks that it is a waste of money in front of all the employees that work there. So they get mad, and he gets kicked out. So now he just decides to make his way over to the local gym. But when he gets there, he's not being let in, and he is stamped with a red X because the word has spread of his rudeness in the perfume store. It travels faster than the scent itself.

So Ash now has to take cues from Team Rocket and disguises himself to get close to the gym leader, Erika. As she tells the tale of how she met Gloom and had the idea of becoming a gym leader. Once his cover is blown, he calls her out and challenges her to a battle, which she surprisingly says yes. The battle goes on to where Pikachu is stepping into the fight, but Team Rocket also does what they do best, and they ruin the battle with some explosions, causing a large fire because, well, this is a grass-type gym. And Ash jumps into the action to save Erika's Gloom, who becomes trapped by the fire and is scared, releasing its scent. Where Ash just ignores it, holding his breath to scoop Gloom up, making it outside with no major injuries. As Ash is awarded the Rainbow Badge again. Another badge that he did not earn because he did not win any battle. Sure, don't get me wrong, he did an incredible thing here, that's wonderful, but this is almost like cheating to get into the Pokémon League. Anyway, rant aside, we get to see how Ash can unintentionally but partially intentionally be a jerk. But like I said at the start, the kid still has heart.

From here, the group continues on their adventures towards the next gym in Fuchsia City. Misty ends up capturing a Psyduck for the rest of their journeys, as Psyduck's constant confusion has always been a nice break and some tension. As Brock ends up getting a Vulpix after they all come across this Pokémon breeder named Suzie, from whom of course Brock wants to learn some pointers for his work towards being a great breeder. Ash gets his Primeape into a Pokémon fighting tournament called the P1 Grand Prix, where we see the toughest of the tough Pokémon duke it out like prime-time boxing, and Primeape ends up winning the whole thing, earning him the belt and a passion for this. And Ash shows him how proud of him he is, and even supports him further when Anthony, the trainer of the Hitmonchan here, offers to train Primeape further to become a real P1 fighting champion, and Ash allows him to stay behind to do so. The little tough guy even gets emotional. I'm so happy for him.

But as one Pokémon goes, another one comes in, as Ash becomes the proud trainer of a Muk that he just immediately sends back to Professor Oak for him to deal with. He's a hugger. Even Jessie and James have their main two Pokémon, Ekans and Koffing, evolve into Arbok and Weezing. So good for them. And Ash continues on to face the Fuchsia City Gym Leader, Koga. And despite some interruption from Team Rocket, the regular battle continues on for Ash's Charmander to score the winning blow against Koga's Golbat, winning him the Soul Badge, which is nice to see Ash truly earn this one rather than just being given it for something other than battling. Then they all get into a little fun race. Ash's Ponyta, that he's riding, evolves into a Charmeleon. And then, because of this, Ash wins this little... that's just main character energy right there. And with how many losses that he has in his career going forward, it's nice to see him win something.

Now, at least we face a "bite gang," which isn't as scary as it sounds once you see that it's just bicycles. We even meet a Ditto that can't even Ditto, well, but it's okay, I'm still proud of him. But now, this one for sure is the hardest contender yet for saddest, most emotional episode of the series: with Pikachu's goodbye. Yeah, get the tissues ready.

While on one of their rests on the routes between cities, Pikachu spots SLS another Pikachu and chases after it. As the rest of the group follows Pikachu, they all stop when they run into a whole large group of Pikachu hanging out together as a giant family in the woods. This gets Pikachu excited to meet some friends, but they are all mostly scared because he's an outsider Pikachu, as well as the humans are there with him. The smaller size Pikachu, which totally would have just been a Pichu if Pichu were invented at this moment. But this little Pikachu comes and greets this outsider Pikachu, as now they accept him as one of them. Ash, however, sadly scares them away when he was just trying to get close and joining on the fun with his Pikachu. Later on, Brock makes note that these Pikachu aren't used to humans, so while they are more open to Pikachu, they are less familiar with Ash and the others in general.

Pikachu starts getting more entangled with the other Pikachu once the small one falls into the river. And without hesitation, our Pikachu jumps in to save him. And then the rest of the Pikachu follow suit to save both of them as one close family. Before they all fall down a giant waterfall, and because of this, they parade around Pikachu as a savior and even give him an apple as a thanks for rescuing the little one. Ash, though, really wants to spend time with Pikachu and starts getting kind of jealous of him having such a good time without him. But Brock holds him back from going and doing that and just letting Pikachu be a Pikachu with other Pikachu. Ash and the group here see how happy Pikachu is. And as night falls and all of the Pikachu singing fills the silence, Ash struggles to be in high spirits, no longer eating or sleeping. Using this time to think has given him perspective on his wants versus Pikachu's happiness. As he thinks that Pikachu should be here with these other Pikachu that are just like him, that feel like they need him here, they want him here.

But now we hear Pikachu screams as Team Rocket shows up to steal all of the Pikachu they can, because this many is way better than just one, you know. But even the net that James traps Ash and the others in, while they hoist away the Pikachu, as they just get out of it. And Pikachu chooses to the electric-proof net, allowing all of the other Pikachu to jump out of that net and onto the other that Ash, Misty, and Brock are holding up to catch them safely. As Ash's Pikachu goes up to pop Team Rocket's balloons, sending them blasting off. Pikachu jumps down into Ash's arms, and they share this touching moment. As Pikachu then also runs over to the other Pikachu, who all starts celebrating together. Ash feels like this is the end of this journey together. He's sad but understanding. As we hear remarks about how well he has trained Pikachu from Misty and Brock. Ash starts leaving without Pikachu. And when he tries to, Pikachu comes up to him. And Ash explains that he will be happier here in the forest with Pikachu who need him. As Ash yells goodbye and runs away crying alone on the path with the memories of his adventures with Pikachu along their journey so far, from foes to friends. As we hear this emotional song play over the moment called "The Time Has Come." As a kid, heck, as an adult man, this just puts all the feels out here for you. We see how much this hurts Ash, but he wants Pikachu to be happy.

But in the end, when you think all is lost, a top the hill, Pikachu rises with the sun, ready to be with Ash on his journey forward forever. As we do get a Pikachu goodbye, as he's saying it to the forest. "Pas, our journey is far, far, far from over." Much like this video. Sorry, I figured I'd break the tension there. It was getting a little too onion-cuttery in here. This episode is also important, as it is attached to a massive and very famous incident in Japan, to an episode that was banned and unaired from broadcast in the States. This we will touch on later. Oh, sorry, am I doing that whole uh thing again where I say that I can't talk about it now, but we'll talk about it later? Oh well, just making a note about it now, but I will bring it up later.

Moving on, still on the road, after helping wake a sleeping Snorlax, Ash's Charmander evolves into a Charmeleon, as well as develops a sassy attitude, as to not listen to Ash, likely built up from his loyalty being broken with Damien. This is something Ash will continue to struggle with here as a trainer going forward with Charmeleon and beyond this into a Charizard soon. That same loyal Charmander he once started out is now a Pokémon that demands you to earn his loyalty and respect. He doesn't just give it out.

The group also finally runs into Jigglypuff, who becomes this running gag that follows the group around. And due to the singing power of Jigglypuff that is meant to put others to sleep, she ends up still getting mad about this and puffs up to switch her not microphone, microphone that she steals from Ash, that's really a marker, and makes fun little doodles all over everyone's faces as revenge for dissing her music. And that shortly after for Charmeleon evolving, well, that happens soon after as Charmeleon evolves into a Charizard. There was no growth in between both moments, so the disobedience Charizard shows is still there in full force. Ash didn't get to have these uh middle years, if you want to call them that, really working with Charmeleon here to bring him back. But regardless, they all found a mysterious egg that they are all in the care of now, and I'm sure we'll bring that up again real soon.

This is a quick non-sequitur. I had an old video where I mentioned this next episode before, but the episode is "Holy Matrimony," and I think it may be one of the weirdest, if not the weirdest episode of Pokémon, focusing on James from Team Rocket and his past at home. Him running away from this Jezebel person who looks a lot like Jessie, and that his parents are trying to force him to marry here. They also pretend that they are dead at one point, which is pretty messed up to do his parents towards James. And oh, James's family is rich, but he'd rather give up this life to be the person he wants to be and to spend time with Jessie and Meowth, but not his childhood growly, as he asks him to look after his parents. I implore you to seek this episode out if you want to see some weirdness. I'm leaving a lot of the story out here, but watch it for yourselves. I, I just had to mention as we pass it in the timeline.

Oh, and that egg is now ready to hatch, as we meet a brand new Pokémon not from generation one, named Togepi. As now Brock, Ash, and Misty fight over who gets to take care of Togepi. And despite Ash winning, Togepi chooses Misty since she was the first thing that the baby saw, and Togepi imprinted on Misty as a mother figure. We later meet Todd, the main character from Pokémon Snap, that you play as, and in the sequel, makes an appearance as a side character. Now more grown up, he hangs out with the group for a little while, and we even meet some other Team Rocket members, Butch and Cassidy. From here, though, to make their way to the next gym, they have to travel to Cinnabar Island. And in order for Ash to face the gym leader, Blaine, once the battle is underway, we get to see how Charizard isn't really listening to Ash. It's Charizard versus Rhydon, but before anything, he just leaves the area and goes to nap, disqualifying Charizard from the match, leaving Ash more vulnerable in battle, having to rely on Pikachu to clean things up. When Pikachu battles all the way up to Blaine's Magmar, nothing seems to be working in his favor anymore. As Pikachu is trapped between a fiery grave below him and a fiery attack coming his way, Ash forfeits the match in order to save Pikachu from the dangerous situation, showing some real growth in Ash's trainer profile.

As they now start spending some time in this area to heal up and relax, prepare themselves for the next battle. Of course, Team Rocket messes things up and nearly causes the whole volcano to erupt. So Magmar and a bunch of the other Pokémon chime in to help. And of course, Charizard at first doesn't want to help when Ash asks him to, but on his own decides to help after starting to form this determination to take down Magmar after this, feeling like he could be a worthy opponent for battle. Once the lava flow is under control and the eruption is stopped, Ash makes a comment about Blaine just giving him a badge for all the help here, which makes sense since that's how he really got a few of the other ones. But Blaine actually makes him battle for it. So good on you, Blaine. I always liked this dude. Charizard, though, does want to battle now, but not for Ash, for himself, showing off how powerful he is now, hitting Magmar with a Seismic Toss and winning the battle, earning Ash his seventh badge, the Volcano Badge, meaning he only needs one more badge to be able to enter the Indigo League.

After a few, few more stops along the way, they eventually find themselves in Viridian City, where Gary ends up going for the badge before Ash. He faces off against this cloaked in darkness gym leader, who ends up taking out Gary with his new and testing Pokémon weapon that the Pokedex can't even understand what it is. Through some circumstances, we find out that Giovanni, the leader of Team Rocket, is this gym leader and puts Jessie and James in charge of the gym battling responsibilities, as he has to go deal with something and heads down to this hidden area to worry about this mystery armored Pokémon. So when Ash gets to go inside, he finds Gary, who warns him about the gym leader being too powerful. But Jessie and James make an appearance, and surprise to everyone, it is now that they must face them to earn the final badge, the Earth Badge.

Ash's battle here has even higher stakes, risen thanks to the platforms that they're on admitting this pain that the Pokémon feels onto the trainer. But both sides are set up for this, causing a technically fair fight, except for Meowth, who wants to set up these explosions planted under the column for Ash. But before he can use his remote control to set it off, Gary jumps in and tackles him, making sure Ash isn't tampered with further in this battle. But it's okay, in the end, Ash defeats Team Rocket, where Gary actually is nice to Ash for once, giving him the respect he finally deserves, at least from Gary, cuz he actually was doing something before even Gary did. And Gary admits that, "Hey, you're actually a pretty good trainer, Ash." But whatever, Gary already showed Ash at the start of the episode, before he even challenged this gym, that he had 10 badges. He didn't even need this extra badge. He had some from some other gym somewhere. Great, good job, Gary.

Not long after that, the mysterious armored Pokémon breaks out of his containment and flies away. Hey, maybe that ties into the first movie somehow. Gary and Ash have a battle together, although they can't finish it because of Team Rocket's interruption. So once they deal with Team Rocket, Gary declares to Ash that after the league ends, that they can have a real battle, both having a newfound respect for one another while keeping up that rivalry spirit in good spirits.

There's also this really beautiful episode that focuses on Meowth and how he learned to speak and understand human language. As we get to see his life before Team Rocket and how then he later became a member of the group.

But now it is time, the moment that Ash has worked so hard for, kind of, to get to. As they all arrive at the Indigo Plateau for the Indigo Plateau Conference. Ash gets to participate in running in the torch filled with some Moltres flames that when they light in the arena will stay burned the entire tournament. Thus now leading us to round one of the tournament, where Ash speaks with Professor Oak, who suggests that he swap some of his Pokémon around between his party and what's at Oak's storage PC of a lab, which is nice. Maybe he'll get a chance to work with and bond with the other Pokémon he just caught along the way.

In Ash's first match, he faces Mandy, where Krabby is ready for his first battle with an Exeggutor, where things aren't looking too good for Krabby in comparison at the moment. But somehow, in the end, this smaller in-size Krabby defeats the Exeggutor and ends up finally getting a bit bigger and more formidable by evolving right then and there into a Kingler. Kingler then has his next challenge, facing off against Mandy's second Pokémon, Seadra, which she has a much easier time taking care of. And she is now down to her final Pokémon, a Golbat, which makes the match a lot tougher for Kingler. But rather than swapping Pokémon, Ash is confident in his new Kingler, truly giving him the confidence to shine in his debut battle. Kingler ends up scoring a nice shot with a Hyper Beam and wins his first match for Ash Ketchum in the Indigo League. I think this is where the younger me actually found such a strong like for this Pokémon and its design. But that's not the end of the tournament, just a match.

So as Ash advances forward, his next opponent is... I don't know. We just cut directly into his third match with good old Pete Peelman. Who is he? I don't know either. But I do know that he has some strong Pokémon with both an Arcanine and a Cloyster. Kingler proves to be a wild powerhouse for Ash here, as he even takes out that Cloyster, leaving Arcanine to start tearing up some crab. And this ain't no imitation. Ash noticing that Kingler is struggling decides it's time for him to rest and decides to send out Pikachu, who has quite the experience training with Ash on this journey, being ready to fight and actually defeating the Arcanine, becoming the winner of the third round.

As he heads on to the next, Gary has also made it to the fourth round, continuing that rivalry, but now with Ash being a lot closer in all of the skill that Gary claims to have. Because here, I don't see it. He ends up losing now, being eliminated from the tournament. Ash, though, is just about to start his battle with Jeanette Fisher, who has a grass and bug team, which kind of seems like a no-brainer with who Ash should send out. Yep, that's right, Bulbasaur. Wait, Bulbasaur? Why? I'd like to think that the risk of getting Charizard out there, you know, kind of pronto, regardless if he listens or not, would probably be pretty easy here, but fine. Bulbasaur manages to take out the first Pokémon, which is a Beedrill. And after some smart maneuvering, Bulbasaur also takes down the second Pokémon, which is her Scyther, leaving a Bellsprout as her final Pokémon fit for battle. But this thing is in its own world here, its own little planet, being able to easily take out Bulbasaur, as well as Pikachu right after he steps in. This little thing is a lot more powerful than you think.

Where it is now match point with both trainers down to their last Pokémon. Ash's final Pokémon is his good old hug and pal, Muk, who gets to show off that they are both a lover and a fighter. His sheer mass is able to overpower the little Bellsprout, defeating it and granting Ash the winner of his fourth round. And just proving to us that, hey, technically, he got further than Gary did. And now we get a little break before the fifth round, which if Ash makes it past, will become full battles for all of the trainers, unlocking the ability to use all six Pokémon instead of only choosing three.

Here we get to meet Ritchie, in this little intermission, a smaller character that we end up seeing here and there in other series. Him and Ash hit it off really well, as they are extremely similar in so many ways, from their spirit to their Pikachus, where here he is named Sparky. And just this one little detail I like about Ritchie is that all of his Poké Balls have some decorations on them. After a run-in with the Rocket crew, the two work together to save the day, building their quickly assembled bonding to a nice wholesome friendship. Honestly, I always felt like this character is a rejected design for Ash, as it didn't give off enough main character energy, and this was just the team's way to kind of include him in the series here. But after all of this and the unluck or luck, depending on how you look at it, Ash randomly pulls Ritchie's name as his next opponent for the fifth round. It's bittersweet, but there is no going easy now. Ash has to face his greatest challenge yet, a new mirror-like version of himself.

Now with both the trainers on the Indigo Plateau battle arena, as Ash was almost disqualified for not making it there on time, thanks to another attempt from Team Rocket. Ritchie didn't let the ref call the match, and instead, he helped out by some time for Ash to get there. As they both made a promise to one another about having an all-out battle, and he intended to stick to that. The battle starts, and we see matchups from some familiar Pokémon. Ash's Squirtle starts to fight Ritchie's Butterfree, who ends up taking down Squirtle pretty quickly with minimal effort, showing off just how strong his Pokémon truly are. Pikachu, however, jumps in to take out the Butterfree, but Ritchie sends out Zippo, who has a way better communication skillset with Ritchie over Ash and his Charizard. And is able to take down Pikachu. And having no other option left, Ash now has to send out the mirror of obedience, the disobedient Charizard. And after acting like he can care less about everything and embarrassing Ash as a trainer in front of everyone, he is pushed to battle by Zippo.

And now, as things look like they're going to start ramping up, it goes down to one Pokémon left for each. As Ritchie calls back Zippo, treating it as a knockout, and sending in his Pikachu, Sparky. And Charizard is way too strong for this Pikachu, making his dominance clear. As we've seen throughout his limited time in battle, he is looking for a strong opponent, someone he deems worthy to fight him. And this extra level of disobedience here just embarrasses Ash more, as Charizard's just laying down and not fighting. Ash does his best to beg him to stop this behavior and actually care about what he's doing, but sadly, this only resulted in Charizard being disqualified for essentially forfeiting. Ritchie is declared the winner of the battle and is able to move on to the next round, where Ash, after his whole journey, loses. Which I think is extremely important here. This whole time that we've seen him on this journey, he's dealt with a lot of struggles, some he's overcome and some he's yet to tame. Plus, the majority of the gyms he didn't really beat, he was just given the badge in some other arbitrary way. So the lack of experience should push him to go further, get better, and never stop working to become the best, like no one ever was. He still has a lot to learn and understand about battling and becoming a great trainer.

Congratulating his friend Ritchie, and is placed in finishing in the top 16 for the Indigo League. In the end, it does seem that Ash has learned a lot about Pokémon, about himself, but he falls, falls into a slump about this and how good of a trainer he truly is or isn't. And all of his friends try their best, but they really can't pull him out of this self-wallowing. Ritchie ends up losing his next battle, placing him in the top eight, showing that he still has a long way to go as well, just like Ash. These two bond and share another moment that helps keep up their motivation to follow their path forward. And Ash learns that he shouldn't be sad about this, but rather happy to have learned so much so he can do better next time.

For tradition, Team Rocket attacks one more time and are defeated by the two once more. But now, during the closing ceremonies, Ash still ends up receiving a badge anyway, because of course he does. But all of the competitors do who took part in the league tournament. And that night is enjoyed by fireworks, celebrating the end of the conference. Once morning comes, Ash and Ritchie have been hanging together all night, reminding each other of the promise that they made when hanging out after they both lost, and that is to become a Pokémon master, no matter what. Both part ways as Ash heads back to Pallet Town with all of his friends and family, as more adventures wait for them right around the corner.

Wow, these initial 80 episodes by themselves are incredible. Such rich character development, story progression, and fun action on its own. It's a great work of art, but yet it is only the beginning of a much larger story. And before this larger story even happens, we have some islands that need to be visited. So as we get ready to sail out, we still have a few things that we need to go over. "Who is that Pokémon?" It's Onix. Back in Pallet Town, everyone celebrates Ash's placement in the Indigo League, and it's just a nice neighborhood get-together. That's it until Team Rocket stops by and attempts once again to steal Pikachu. So Ash sends Pidgeotto after them, but he gets hurt by Arbok. And doing so, while they end up getting Pikachu back thanks to Charizard showing off. Ash wants to make sure Pidgeotto is okay, and while he's being healed, we see a nice little bonding moment together between them, where their relationship seems fairly trustworthy. We get to note some differences here from the Pokémon, where Pidgeotto and Charizard respond to Ash completely opposite of one another.

Professor Oak, however, has a special task for Ash and his friends. Come in, where he asks them to head over to the Orange Archipelago and visit another professor, Professor Ivy, who has this mysterious Poké Ball. And as a new, smaller adventure, this really seems what Ash would need right now. Gary, as well, had already left on a new adventure, but they both still have a deal for a battle with one another since the Indigo League has come to an end. So we shall be seeing him soon, I'm sure.

Just like in the first episode of Pokémon, the first episode of the Orange Islands has Spearow come around, where now an angry Fearow, the evolved form of Spearow, is specifically after Ash in remembrance of what Ash did to him. Yep, that's the same Spearow he hit with the rock all the way back then. As now it has evolved into a Fearow and just wants its sweet, sweet revenge. He's been waiting all this time to strike, getting more powerful. So the Fearow grabs Ash and Pikachu. And as they get taken, Pikachu shocks him, which releases them from his grip. As they fall into the trees, where they find a little Pidgey and Pidgeotto family. So as Fearow attacks, Ash sends his Pidgeotto out to help the little guys away from this danger. But Pidgeotto stands up for them and against the Fearow, leading him to be hit hard and falling all the way down to the ground. Here he ends up badly hurt, but the safety of the other Pidgey and Pidgeotto is his primary concern. Crying out as loud as he can, glowing and evolving into Pidgeot. And now he tries to take on Fearow once more. Ash also tried to catch Fearow, but that didn't come close to working. Pidgeot gets the upper hand, and together with the flock of Pidgey and Pidgeotto by his side, they run the Fearow and Spearow out of the area. And now Pidgeot feels a sense of responsibility in caring for the group of his own evolution line Pokémon. Where Ash understands this, similar to his Primeape, that this is the calling that Pidgeot needs. Taking flight with them all following behind, as he will now lead and protect them from any more attacks like that again. Again, it's a fitting end for Pidgeot, finally having an episode to truly shine on a deeper level with Ash and offer a fulfilled purpose to loyal Pokémon's journey.

The group end up taking a blimp right over to Valencia Island, which they crash into, but they manage to get out fine and go meet Professor Ivy to acquire the odd Poké Ball, the GS Ball, aka the biggest nothing burger in all of the Pokémon mysteries we've ever had, or so we believed, based on this item's perceived relevance and importance that the show gave it. Clearly representing the gold and silver look for the second generation of Pokémon. The story of the GS Ball would carry from the Orange Islands to the next stretch of our journey, next time, the Johto series. But this is a big responsibility for Ash, he must protect it and be responsible with it, and we'll circle back to this in part two of this video series. Also, this episode serves as a temporary goodbye for Brock, who finds a sense of his calling, staying behind with Professor Ivy for strictly Pokémon care-related reasons, of course, nothing else. They say their goodbyes and head back to see Professor Professor Oak with the GS Ball. And somehow, they end up back on another blimp, put to sleep by Jigglypuff and left in a cage from Team Rocket with no pilot. How did this happen? Yeah, they, they crash land once more. And when they wake up, they're just somehow okay. And they find themselves in a forest with nothing around for miles. On their journey to find anything, they come across a Lapras stuck on the beach, where Ash and Misty jump in to confront these random guys who are messing with it. Where we also learn about the Orange League, where it's a mix of challenges and battles from for gym leaders and one supreme gym leader. Yes, his drip is worth more than your whole life. There are four badges to earn and a final trophy to win for making your way through. This is all somewhat similar to what would come to the video game side of things, as well as the anime for Generation 7 with the Alola region. This episode shows the great lengths Ash would go to help a Pokémon that wasn't even his, and it's quite a lot of action. But Lapras ends up trusting and respecting Ash, and now Ash adds Lapras to his team. And now they don't have to take any more blimps because it could just give the team rides between the islands. That's so nice.

We meet Tracey, a Pokémon watcher that observes Pokémon in their natural habitat for research, and he's a good artist. But he joins Ash and Misty to travel, as he wants to come back with them to meet Professor Oak. Ash also makes a decision here: be responsible and bring the GS Ball back to Oak right away, or compete in the Orange League. Of course, he chooses the league. Professor Oak says it's fine, so you can't really be mad, right? Well, this arc begins quickly, as Ash makes his way to Mikan Island to compete in a competition with the gym leader here. [ __ ] where the competition they have starts with a Water Gun accuracy test. Ash sends out his Squirtle, as [ __ ] sends out her Seadra. This results in a draw, thanks to Ash's Squirtle keeping up with her Seadra so well. And now for the second competition, it's time for a race: Lapras versus Blastoise. Giving Lapras a chance to shine for Ash. Already, it's a neck-and-neck race as they essentially surf these Pokémon until we see Lapras has an Ice Beam attack. And clearly, since they are falling behind, Ash has Lapras use it as a path forward, since Lapras goes faster on the ice. Because of this massive speed boost, they are able to catch up and win the race. He earns the Coral Eye Badge and successfully cements his entry into the Orange League.

Down the road, on these island adventures, Ash finds himself on Naval Island to face off against Danny, where the challenge here is started before it starts, where the challengers would have to climb up the mountain without Pokémon helping them, as Danny would also be there climbing the mountain with them. Eventually making their way to the top. After a stressful climb, the official challenge is set for three rounds of activities, where you have to at least win two of them. First is to see who can freeze a hot water geyser the fastest. Danny's Neo Queen takes the round by beating Lapras to it. Next is carving an ice sled using three of your Pokémon. Ash, with the help of Pikachu, Charizard, and Bulbasaur, with Charizard reluctantly helping, edges out the win over Danny and having their sled made first. And now the fun part, round three is a race to the bottom, finishing at the beaches down below with this ice sled. As we see the terrain change, change from this snowy area to rough rocks, and Ash somehow flies through the air in the last moments to beat Danny and earn his second badge, the Sea Ruby Badge. And then, after on another island, he catches a Snorlax after not being able to catch the last one that he saw back in Kanto, so that's cool. He also tried to catch a Scyther but failed, and Tracey caught it instead. Hooray.

Ash and the crew are now on Trovita Island and meet Rudy, the gym leader. He makes Ash complete a target-hitting challenge before having a regular three-round gym battle with matching types to each round, on top of this very scary arena. As Pikachu faces off against Electabuzz and loses to it. Bulbasaur is up next and faces Exeggutor, putting it to sleep, and then saving it before it falls. That's nice. And for the final round, Ash has Squirtle face off against Starmie. And the strength that he needs comes from Ash pushing him and believing in him to still win, which he does in spectacular fashion, winning Ash the Spike Shell Badge. As they now move on to the fourth gym leader. We do take a moment, though, to look into Charizard and how his relationship with Ash is at a boiling point. Ash can barely get Charizard under control to at least work with him for any battle or just in a friendly way outside of battle. We start to see the fixing of this with a confident Charizard losing a battle with a Poliwrath, learning that he isn't as big and tough as he thought. The effects from this battle leave Charizard weak, and Ash still goes out of his way to do whatever he can to comfort his Pokémon, which starts breaking Charizard down to become more relaxed. Ash tells Charizard that he wants to get better as a trainer and hopes that this journey in doing so includes Charizard wanting him to be there side by side instead of at odds. He hears what Ash is saying and just really lets it sit in, looking back through his journey with Ash thus far. The next day, Team Rocket serves as a vessel for Ash and Charizard to learn to work together, resulting in them having a better relationship for the most part and will actually work with him when it comes to battles in general. I love that we finally took some time to address these issues and begin repairing their relationship as Charizard begins opening up his trust and loyalty to Ash, but still not 100% just yet.

Ash is now on Kumquat Island, and he meets Luana, the gym leader, so he can earn his fourth and final badge from the league. We get to see right away Charizard thrown into learning how to work with others when this challenge requires a double battle, a 2v2 brawl, where Pikachu and Charizard face off against a Marowak and Alakazam. There is this issue currently between Pikachu and Charizard over some uh petty and small things that ruins their battle flow, and they end up mixing shots at each other in the battle, only fueling this. But in order to win, they need to put their differences aside and be in sync. And I'm not talking boy bands, they have to use their moves together to have the other Pokémon collide their shots, winning the battle and granting Ash the Jade Ear Badge. Pikachu and Charizard are Ash's strongest Pokémon, and despite having some issues sometimes, can pull through and work together. It's not just how Charizard can work with Ash going forward, it's how Charizard can work within a team space among any of the Pokémon that Ash has at any time.

Now on Pamelo Island, it's time for the end of the Orange League, as we meet Drake, the Supreme Gym Leader, and Ash's toughest obstacle yet, who offers a really strong battle with some high-level and highly experienced Pokémon. This is a full six-on-six battle. Everything shown here will be a testament to Ash's training abilities, as well as his battle strategies on the fly. Where we first see Ditto versus Pikachu, where this Ditto, unlike the Ditto we saw a long while back, has no issues becoming a Pikachu himself and replicating the full moveset. Pikachu's resilience, however, in fighting nets him the win over the Ditto. Where Pikachu now gets switched out for Ash's Squirtle to aid in this matchup. Squirtle has trained hard for this and has the discipline to focus and execute great attack strategies. So this little guy is able to knock down this towering beast. But now is where things heat up. Drake starts getting more serious about this all, sending out a Gengar. With Ash not having any Pokémon on him that can combat this typing, Ash pulls a risky move, tossing

out a Tauros hoping for some beginner's luck, but that was a bad plan. So he recalls him before he gets defeated and instead sends out Lapras, who goes toe-to-toe with Gengar in a blast that shrouds the arena. With us unaware of the result, we see in this battle that Ash can be stubborn from advice during it, where Misty throughout the series always tries to offer some friendly advice and most times just gets blown off by Ash, just going and doing whatever he thinks he should do, which can work in his favor sometimes, but not every time.

Now, when the clears on the arena, it appears that they both were defeated and they have to send out new Pokémon. Drake brings out his Venusaur, and Ash tosses Tauros back out. Clearly, we saw Lapras end up doing well to hold their own from this nice bond built with Ash, but Tauros here really has nothing to go off of. But I guess that beginner's luck sure is something because in the most shocking twist, Tauros clutches the victory, leaving only two Pokémon left for Ash to defeat.

Ash swaps Pokémon to send out Bulbasaur to face off against Electabuzz, resulting in Bulbasaur not being able to have a sharp enough defense and ends up taking the loss. With Ash's next resort giving us Charizard's entrance, where he makes light work of Electabuzz. We also hear the announcer reference Ash's Charizard as his only fully evolved Pokémon, which plays into the evo-shaming we saw back with Pikachu versus Raichu, as it seems to be a commonplace thing within the Pokémon world.

Now, for the final Pokémon, we see Dragonite, a formidable opponent for an exciting conclusion. The two engaged in an intense battle, trading blows and making sure to really give it their all, ending in both using their Dragon Rage attack against one another. Or Dragonite is severely stunned by it, and Charizard sadly gets knocked out, turning the tides back from Ash's favor so far in the battle.

Ash's only strategy here now is to believe in using his remaining Pokémon in a way where they all work together to wear down Dragonite, since no other Pokémon is strong enough or well-rested enough from their previous fights. Squirtle jumps back in, doing a great job at bringing Dragonite to a more weakened state, despite losing as well. Tauros comes back and does whatever he can do until he's fully defeated, where Pikachu is the only option left.

It's all down to this. Pikachu's high levels of training with Ash and the bond that they have aids in Pikachu's heightened agility to last long enough to fully wear out Dragonite, but also himself, as he can barely hold himself up. But before Pikachu would collapse, Dragonite collapses, resulting in Ash winning the league, earning a trophy, and entered into the Orange League Hall of Fame. While this was a smaller in-size tournament, it still was a nice small redemption for his journey to see how far he has come, how much he has learned, and how the bond with his Pokémon is truly beautiful.

On his way home, he ends up saying goodbye to one of his newer friends, Lapras, as Lapras ends up finding its lost family. It's this nice emotional moment where Ash wants Lapras to be happy and back with the rest of the other Lapras, and Lapras is grateful to Ash. They're a lot stronger thanks to his training and care, and now goes on with the other Lapras, as we wave goodbye to another incredible Pokémon, but more so an incredible friend who helped them get from island to island.

In the end of this Orange Island journey, Ash and Company return home to Pallet Town, where we find Brock awaiting their arrival. They also bring the GS Ball to Professor Oak, as well as Tracy can go and finally meet him. Team Rocket eventually comes in to stir things up, having now taken the GS Ball into their possession, but of course, this is all short-lived when an Onix helps take out Team Rocket, all thanks to G making his return.

Now with them defeated, Gary looks to Ash, as Ash is supportive of Gary's training to have such a powerful Pokémon, and the two finally prepare for their battle they have been waiting to have. It'll be a one-on-one battle, one win takes it. Pikachu is ready, as Gary sends out an Eevee. And if you've ever wondered why and where Eevee became the unofficial second mascot of Pokémon, it was this moment when Ash's rival had one, or just the sheer popularity of the Pokémon over the years in general. But regardless, both of them give it their all, but in the end, Gary's Eevee was just too powerful for Pikachu, giving Gary the win, and Ash left to ponder over this loss.

Gary does, however, tell him that he gave him a great fight, and Ash promises that next time he will win. As Gary leaves on to another adventure. Back now with Professor Oak, he just can't crack the case with this GS Ball, with Tracy helping where he can. The professor makes note that Gary went off to the Johto region to compete in the Johto League, where Ash learns all about this other region, and yet again, Gary has the upper hand of getting a head start. Besides Ash's want to go there, Oak gives him the GS Ball back and asks him to bring it to Kurt, a designer of special Poké Balls that we will be introduced to later on.

The journey may have had a lengthy road thus far, but this was just Ash's official start and welcome to the rest of the wide Pokémon world. He is given a new Pokédex. Tracy stays with Professor Oak as a lab assistant, following his dreams like Ash taught him, and our original trio of Ash, Misty, and Brock set off towards New Bark Town as they make way to the Johto region.

"Who's that Pokémon?" It's Suicune! Ah, the start of a brand new adventure, and you know what that means, another encounter with a mysterious legendary Pokémon that we are unsure of yet. Well, at least it's from this generation, as it's Suicune, one of the three legendary beasts that does have a connection to Ho-Oh, the Pokémon we saw in the first episode of Pokémon. Ash, Misty, and Brock, who are all back together now, when making their way downtown, walking fast, faces pass, and their New Bark Town bound.

Stumble across this legendary sighting when being somewhat lost in an insanely fog-ridden part of the woods. And when they do arrive in town, they find out that something is amiss, thanks to Nurse Joy not being around due to being busy at the professor of the region, Professor Elm's lab. It's a crime scene, as the nurse is yelling at Elm for being careless with being too lost in his work. So, what had happened was that Team Rocket found themselves at the lab first, and his busy work didn't let him pay attention to who was actually there to check on their Totodile, thinking it was Nurse Joy, but clearly, it wasn't. So now Team Rocket has Pokénapped a Totodile, one of the Johto region starter Pokémon. We also see Cyndaquil, and that's my favorite starter Pokémon in general of all of them. I just love him.

Ash and Company end up coming across Team Rocket, but thanks to Totodile having a fixed bite on Jessie's hair, it's not as simple as them just, you know, giving them back. Ash's Bulbasaur is able to save the Totodile, but it's this all-out affair where Ash has out a full lineup of heavy hitters taking out Team Rocket, and then Nurse Joy helps Ash become signed up for the Johto League, officially sparking Ash's personal journey through the new region with some stops he'll need to make along the way.

We next get to meet the last one of the three new starters, the Chikorita. It belongs to the new on her adventure trainer, Casey, that is an eccentric sports fan. Which of course, Ash proceeds to diss their skills by just pointing out the obvious little fact of that team not doing so well. But a sports fan will take anything like that personally. So Casey here challenges Ash to a battle. Literally, the first match is a Pidgey that she has, and Ash is Charizard. But this is a new trainer who isn't as skilled as to where Ash is, at least. And so, after Pidgey, both Rattata and Chikorita follow suit in easily being taken out by Charizard, who uses 0.1% effort to do so.

Ash is looked at as the bad guy here for going this hard on a new trainer. But who hasn't skipped an early trainer battle in the video games, only to come back with a level 100 Pokémon to destroy their sub-10 level Pokémon, then rob them of their coin? Team Rocket even convinces Casey when they run into her after this battle that Ash was a cheater, using such a skilled Charizard like that. It's not fair, and Casey ends up challenging Ash once more, now with Pikachu versus Chikorita. And Ash's friends switch up on Ash, now rooting for Casey, which is cool, you know, like support these new trainers, encourage them, but you need to back your boy Ash, come on, that's your, that's your guy. But they still give these call-outs to Ash, which is kind of funny, as he still doesn't believe in type advantages. And his friends in the audience are still like, "Hey, uh, you know that you're using the wrong type here, you're you're at a disadvantage." He just does whatever he wants and sends out whoever he feels like for the most part. Who has the time to go by typing? He's just like me, for real.

The battle gets interrupted by Team Rocket, of course. And when Casey feels defenseless here in getting her Pokémon back, as they tricked her, Ash builds up her confidence to not give up and keep fighting for what's important. They defeat Team Rocket eventually, and they share a mutual respect for one another from their battles and lessons learned before they part ways.

But now it's time for Ash to catch his first new Johto region Pokémon, a Heracross. Where Ash helps it in battle from some Pinsir, and afterwards, it just drinks the soul out of Bulbasaur aggressively. Well, all right then. But Ash and Friends get involved in this divided land war between Pinsir and Heracross to make sure that they all stay out of each other's areas, especially being this battle-ready towards one another. As Heracross wanted to make sure this Butterfree was okay, and after this whole little adventure, Heracross just follows them out of the forest and wants to be on Ash's team. So Ash just caught a Heracross. I guess I like Heracross now.

Just like we saw in the first Pokémon movie, that there was a new Pokémon named Donphan that we didn't know about. We get to see a bunch of them for a brief moment, which is nice. Heck, they all run into Gary already, who has a Hoothoot with his Hoothoot messing with the group, giving Ash some more drive to be on Gary's level or better. Nothing like good old motivational rivalry to really get the blood flowing in the morning, you know? We get to meet some Bellossom, a fancy Snubbull, you know, just really get the tour of some new Generation 2 Pokémon. But we also get to meet another Chikorita, which Ash wants to catch. This one, and of course, has Charizard out to battle it again. But this Chikorita puts up a way better fight, resulting in Chikorita still needing some help from the Pokémon Center, but having this strength like Ash to not give up and to keep getting back up. Even when Ash is trying to help the Chikorita, it bites him. Maybe it's her tough spirit that she doesn't give up in the fight, so she's still attacking Ash, or it's a sign of thanks and how much Chikorita may come to love Ash, foreshadowing could be guessed. We shall see.

After getting Chikorita some help, though, at the Pokémon Center, Team Rocket gets involved as usual. Chikorita ends up running off, and a snowstorm comes in. Ash goes out after the Chikorita and gets stuck out there, but doesn't give up the search. When we catch up with Chikorita, she's not doing too well within the weather. Chikorita is brought back to safety thanks to Ash showing her some genuine care. They together take out Team Rocket, and once again, another Pokémon just wants to join Ash. Chikorita follows him and wants to be on Ash's journey with him after the great lengths of care and strength Ash has shown.

We also get to hang out with Quagsire for a moment, where we deal a bit with Ash's responsibility in taking care of the GS Ball, and I want to just mention that here, but later we will have a lot to talk about when it comes to that little GS Ball. Okay, so far, a majority of these episodes are bringing in a bunch of new Pokémon from the second generation, much like the original series, showing us all of the Pokémon at that time. So far, this season, every episode is bringing in a bunch of fun new Pokémon, giving us the feeling of the world expanding, of Ash's journey widening. It's so refreshing while feeling so similar.

But now Ash and friends have made it to Violet City, where he can can finally start his new badge collecting goal by facing off against the gym leader, Falkner, who just helped them take out Team Rocket before officially revealing himself to the group. With Ash ready for a battle against him and his flying Pokémon, things start pretty simple with Chikorita fighting his Hoothoot. Ash gets some more lectures about type advantages, this time from the gym leader himself, but Ash finally says it like it is that not everyone should be judging by the typing. On one hand, yeah, I feel that. On the other hand, technically, there is some importance there, because Hoothoot takes out Chikorita. So now it's Pikachu's turn, where he ends up taking him out, and then now faces off against a Dodrio, who ends up putting up a decent fight, but Pikachu ends up still clutching that victory.

Too. Now down to his last Pokémon, Falkner sends out his Pidgeot that easily takes down Pikachu, leaving Ash with only one Pokémon that can match the strength and is determined for a challenge: the Charizard. The two winged beasts engage in a massive battle, resulting in Charizard pushing himself with getting the upper hand, ending the battle with a Seismic Toss from the the heavens down to the arena, taking out Pidgeot and giving Ash his first badge in the Johto region: The Zephyr Badge.

And we ain't talking the level from Spyro to Ripto's Rage, but we need to speak about Charizard briefly here, as not long after him and Ash together win the Zephyr Badge, the group run into Liza, who is a caretaker of the Charizard training grounds, which is full of other Charizards and even a romantic interest Charizard for Ash's Charizard named Charla. How cute. Ash has never ridden on his Charizard for flying around, and until Charizard is now convinced to allow Ash to try and do this from Liza and Charla. It was a whole new experience, and Charizard wasn't too into this whole idea. But we do get to learn about Charizards needing to train against one another in the wild for the most part to truly become the battle-ready but extremely disciplined warriors that they are. The Charizard here are way tougher than Ash's, easily getting the upper hand and testing each other's strengths. But this wild Charizard here is kind, as it's a big softy, making sure Ash's Charizard is okay.

But of course, the old tendencies of Charizard are sneak sneaking back in, as he begins to go on a rampage, regardless of Ash telling him he's still great no matter what, and Ash thinks no different of him not being as powerful, which we'll get to that line again in a second. The other Charizards here do not tolerate this behavior, and Ash's Charizard is no longer welcome to be there. In fact, the whole group gets pushed out and told to come back once Ash's Charizard has had some real training. All Charizard wants to do is get back inside, prove his strength, and become like the others, standing there pounding at the gate until knocked back by Charla and told again from Liza to reflect on your behavior. Because of this, the trio spend the night outside of the area since Charizard has refused to leave and is determined to wait there until he can get back inside. Liza makes note of Charizard's determination throughout the night, though.

But then on cue, in the morning, Team Rocket comes through to try and get to the gates themselves to find a strong Charizard to steal for themselves. But Ash's Charizard easily defeats them, making Charizard look really good for defending off the gates. But let's rewind. Team Rocket here is actually doing another good thing for Ash's Pokémon. Back in the original, original series, Meowth translates to Jessie and James what Pikachu is going through when refusing to evolve into a Raichu with the Thunderstone he was given. And then they go and root for Pikachu to win against Raichu. Here, with Charizard, they notice that it isn't as strong as the others, and Meowth relays how Charizard is feeling in his determination and struggle, helping him physically here by both making sure Charizard stays awake with his flame lit, and then by knowing that their mecha would be easily destroyed by Charizard if they used it, basically going out there just to get blasted off at the expense of Charizard looking good.

Now the gates are opened, and he is welcomed in, to which he is excited about. But Ash, well, he pulls a "goodbye, Pikachu," but still having this tendency that being mean is easier than saying goodbye because it somehow will hurt less. But Ash mentions to Charizard he can stay if he wants to, and that he doesn't want a weak Charizard anyway. "H, I thought you said you didn't care how strong he was, Ash. H." Now fully holding back his real emotions, continuing on to say that he has a lot to learn here in this valley. And with him not giving Charizard the chance to think twice, Ash, knowing that this is what Charizard wants, he runs out of there crying in sadness of losing a friend for now, but happy Charizard will find his happiness and the strength that he wants to find. Charizard, out of respect to Ash, sends a Flamethrower beaming into the sky, roaring out as we hit one of the hardest pieces of art in the whole series. This is big for Charizard in his path for growth, as well as Ash for him to continue to grow as a trainer, knowing what's best for his Pokémon and how he needs to navigate it. I do think he needs to not be a butthead being all like, "Who wants a weak Charizard anyway?" But I like to imagine it as him having this fun, playful gut punch where it helps make Charizard work harder and it motivates him, and it just shows that they're closer in their friendship. Like, "I don't want a weak Charizard anyway, huh? Why don't you go in there and train, buddy?" But then he just runs off crying. So, regardless, great episode and a super early on lash for one of Ash's strongest Pokémon for this new journey.

Another pattern we see here is Ash acquiring the starter Pokémon from the region. With one down, I guess it's time for another, replacing him, his first fire starter for a new one, welcoming in Cyndaquil. Just look at this little dude. I love him. Now we reach our next major moment, at least to me, where Ash and Friends reach Azelia Town, where Ash wants to take on the gym. But Misty brings up finishing the errand with the GS Ball first, especially since there is a drought going on and the gym is currently closed because of it. There seems to be a lot of Slowpoke love around the town, as Ash steps on a Slowpoke tail by accident, causing everyone in the town to chase them out of it for some reason.

Here's where they meet a mysterious man in a Slowpoke costume, who has multiple backup costumes for them to wear as well. But now we get the tale, pun intended, of why Slowpoke are so beloved and worshiped in this town. 400 years ago, during another drought, a Slowpoke came to the area and yawned, causing it to rain, and everyone was happy because Slowpoke saved the town. So Ash basically disrespected a whole town's religion. So, along with this mysterious dude, the group ends up saving the day, helping out the Slowpoke, and defeating Team Rocket. And hey, look, it rains.

But now we need to get back to find finding Kurt. Oh, that's Kurt. Wow, that's convenient. I totally didn't see that coming. Anyway, now for the moment of truth with the GS Ball. We are finally going to get our answers, right, right? Oh boy. Okay, so here we meet Kurt and his granddaughter, as Kurt is a Poké Ball expert who can create special Poké Balls through Apricorns, as we really start expanding through all the different types of Poké Balls out there. Kurt begins to look at the GS Ball, trying to figure it out, and spends the majority of the episode doing so. As Ash lets Professor Oak know about this and asks that Ash report to him as soon as possible if there is anything of note. But by the end of the episode, Kurt only knows that it's sealed by a mighty lock and nothing more than that, but he wants to spend more time with it. So Ash just leaves the ball within his care to do just that, as Ash has a gym battle to go face.

Okay, now before we continue on the journey, we have to talk about the GS Ball. Okay, probably the biggest nothing burger that was supposed to be a something burger, but yet my plate is left empty and my disappointment is immeasurable and my day is ruined. In the Orange Islands, Professor Ivy is the one in possession of the mysterious Pokeball, who needs it to go over to Professor Oak. So Ash takes on the responsibility of that. It literally is the plot-driving device that is constantly talked about for the rest of the Orange Islands and into the Johto region. And the biggest thing we get is, "Oh, I want to research it longer. Thanks, Ash. See you later." It's literally written out of the show after this. It doesn't matter whatsoever. Later on, we get a flashback that involves it, but outside of that, for the anime, there is nada. You can't just invent the coolest Pokeball and give it no payoff. That's not fair, and this is where I first experienced heartbreak and why I have so many trust issues. It was a complete ball of nothing, literally, or so we are led to believe in the context of the anime itself.

We have several avenues to break this down. The GS Ball has not only appeared in the anime; in fact, it's in the other forms of Pokémon media as well. If we look to the video game Pokémon Crystal Version, no, not that one, this one, the Japanese release, there was an event item you can get from the Trade Center attendant where you receive the GS Ball. And so you bring it to Kurt, just like in the anime. He spends a day looking at it, whereupon him returning it to you, you head to the Ilex Forest, specifically looking for the shrine, and when you interact with it, you will encounter the mythical Pokémon Celebi here at level 30. Interesting. Because in the Pokémon Adventures Manga, specifically during the Gold, Silver, and Crystal chapter, which covers volumes 8 through 15, it even comes with more lore, as we learn about the GS Ball being created by someone who goes by the name the Masked Man, who is essentially the replacement for Giovanni and leading a new version of Team Rocket. Well, his real identity may actually shock you if you actually read the manga or plan on reading it, so I won't spoil it here. Still thinking about making that manga channel. I can do it, but I might not. But just another warning, I can do it. And the whole backstory of this GS Ball being involved in time travel is all really exciting, being partly made both by the feathers of Lugia and Ho-Oh. Gold and Silver, it all makes sense. But what the heck is it for? Well, to capture and control Celebi so that the effects of time travel do not wear on the person who travels through time. Also, the GS Ball gets destroyed in the manga. That's a bummer.

But what do both of these avenues have in common? Clearly, that the ball was made to introduce a storyline involving Celebi that would follow some similar path as either of these stories. How do we officially know that this would be true for the anime as well? Well, thanks to an interview with PokéBeach back in 2008 with Masamitsu Hidaka, the director of the Pokémon anime up until the Battle Frontier arc of Generation 3, he confirmed in this interview that yes, Celebi was planned to be in relation to the GS Ball with a whole major arc in the show that followed through with some sort of storyline that doesn't just end and disappear like it did. But when the team working on the Pokémon standalone movies were working on the next movie, it was decided that it was going to focus on Celebi, time travel, and all that fun stuff, meaning that to fit into continuity, the storyline for the show needed to be scrapped, and the secret to the GS Ball to just be left as a mystery. And that's how it shall remain, according to him, as they just wrote it out of the show, hoping most people watching would just kind of forget about it and leave it as nothing more than it was.

So all of this extensive lore that we got in the manga, this really cool event in the Japanese version of Crystal, is something that never came to fruition in the anime. Well, in a way, I guess it did, if you just look at the movie Pokémon Forever, which we'll be speaking about more in depth later in this video. Anyway, as that film has a lot of parallels to the story in the manga and possibly the story that would have been written into the anime if it were to progress that way. Sadly, Masamitsu Hidaka would pass away on March 10th, 2022. And I just want to say, thanks for making our childhoods fun and our adulthoods youthful.

But here's how I see it. Since there isn't really anything in the other direction to look at, I feel that this can just be viewed as a responsibility test. And throughout Ash's time having it, he kind of struggles dealing with that and just doing whatever gym or challenge-related thing that captures his attention instead. Also seeming like this GS Ball is a burden. As much as he seems interested in whatever it is at first, he puts off going right back to Professor Oak by spending time in the Orange Islands competing in the competition. Then, somehow, Pidgey gets his hands on it, or or really his head. But whatever, right? He made it back to Oak with it in one piece, who then now has to get it back from Team Rocket after they end up taking it. But since Ash's journey then begins to head to Johto, he was tasked with bringing it over to Oak's friend Kurt. But on the way, like I mentioned earlier, a Quagsire steals it after Ash is taking some nice care of it. This feeling of responsibility here has him literally do anything to get that ball back from this Quagsire, but obviously, is still annoyed when he can't focus on going to the Azelia Gym first over just finishing this errand and delivering the ball. Regardless of the grand reveal being anything but, Ash had to take care of something and make sure he did all that he could in the end to make sure it was safe and ended up being delivered. So I like to see it as, "Wow, Ash, you did it. Good job, buddy." Sure is that a lot more lame than having a really cool payoff? Yeah, duh. But hey, it's at least something. Okay, all right, no more GS Ball talk unless I feel like it. I've held up continuing on long enough like this side story for Ash getting to the next gym, so let's just get into it.

Ash goes to challenge the Azelia Town gym leader, now Bugsy, who is easy to jump into battle mode, sending out Spinarak. With Ash sending out his new buddy, Cyndaquil, but he's just this little tired thing and he's not too great at pulling off any of his attacks yet, so Ash just recalls him and sends out Chikorita. This time, however, in full knowledge of the typing here, not needing anyone to tell him he's wrong or he's right, he just, he knows what he's doing. I guess he's at least aware of what he's doing, and Chikorita has this little love quirk here and is just really happy to see Ash in general. See, I told you it was foreshadowing. Also, she defeats the Spinarak, leading to Bugsy dropping the freshest Season 1 meme of a Metapod, much to everyone's confusion. But this one knows a bit more than just Harden, taking out Chikorita, leaving Ash to send out Pikachu, who dodges what the Metapod has to bring to the battle and ends up knocking it out, leaving a final battle between Pikachu and Scyther. Which Scyther gets the upper hand here, and Pikachu is knocked out. But it's okay. Remember, Ash still has that Cyndaquil, who doesn't really know how to battle, but now it's ready to go. And oh baby, is it, 'cause this little dude ends up taking out the Scyther. I always believed in you. And so now Ash has won his second Gym battle in the Johto League, earning him the Hive Badge.

"Who's that Pokémon?" It's Cyndaquil. Ash then has some fun swapping in one of his Tauros with his Heracross to take place in the running of the Tauros event, where he uses his and ends up winning. How nice. I love seeing Ash send and swap Pokémon from the lab and spend time with some of them, usually the ones that don't always get that much attention or time to shine. But after this win, he just sends him right back to the lab, as well as keeping Heracross there. But we can't focus on that, we have a reunion to worry about.

There's another Pokémon-based event called the Fire and Rescue Grand Prix, where Pokémon show off their firefighting abilities against each other. So you know who shows up? That's right, Captain Aiden and Team Wartortle. Were you expecting someone else? Well, these characters were met in the Orange Islands and are past champions of this competition. Yes, the OG Squirtle Squad is there as well, and Squirtle gets excited to see them, and they all seem so happy together, regardless of how nervous the rest of the squad are to compete here without really having a formal leader. When the time calls for it, Ash's Squirtle rejoins the squad to help them out, becoming that leader that they have all been needing to fully get their shells in the game. The team operates so much better having Ash's Squirtle with them.

So, in between rounds, Ash and Squirtle have a moment to talk. Ash, just having let Charizard go in a very emotionally aggressive way here, has a more reserved conversation with Squirtle, letting him know how much his friends need him and how strong that he's become, giving him the option here, but with a more peaceful and understanding tone. Or Squirtle chooses to then go and rejoin the squad, and he gets to show why he's so good at this. When it comes down to the end, it's the Squirtle Squad versus Team Wartortle, as both team leaders are fiercely making sure things are running tight on their teams, with the Squirtle Squad clutching their win by just over a second. Ash congratulates them and says a final goodbye to his Squirtle, still very choked up, but yelling nice sentiments as their distance grows. Wow, so far this season, it's been all about goodbyes. It feels sure, we welcome in some new faces, but at this rate, Ash will have no more Pokémon if he just keeps letting them go.

Okay, now it's time to replace one water Pokémon for another. Here we get to see another Totodile that Ash and Misty are both after, when they each toss a lure ball at it, and one of them lands a catch, but it was obscured to see whose Poké Ball it was that actually ended up making the catch. So these two get in a fight over this, but regardless of who did catch it, it'll now be settled over a battle between these two, which is genuinely pretty hyped to see both of these strong-headed characters who constantly clash are battling. With Ash's Bulbasaur defeating Poliwag that evolved into a Poliwhirl mid-battle, it was so much fun. But hey, it's good to know here that even though Ash got a Chikorita, he didn't abandon, ditch, or send away his Bulbasaur to do so, like the rest of the great starter reset. See you later, Charizard. Hello, Cyndaquil. See you later, Squirtle. Hello, Totodile. Yeah, anyway, Ash won the Totodile, which is cool or whatever. But come on, let Misty get something. She's the water main. Give her some main character energy, please.

But for more main character energy for Ash, hey, shiny Pokémon are cool, right? Well, how about we find one? Oh, look, a shiny Noctowl. Wow, that was easy. I don't know why shiny hunters spend months trying to do this. Has Reversal caught that shiny Feebas yet? I don't know. We deal with Dr. Wiseman being outsmarted by a smaller in size to other Noctowl that is actually pretty smart. Imagined being named Wiseman and being outwised by an owl. He eventually gives up and tells Ash to go for it once it wants to battle Ash. So Pikachu has a 10 standoff with this Wise Night Bird, but gets a nice hit on him, and Ash chucks a Poké Ball, capturing the shiny Noctowl. Hey, that's pretty cool.

Well, the journey continues on as we now enter Pokémon Johto League Champions, as Ash, Misty, and Brock have made their way to Goldenrod City in hopes of Ash facing off against the gym leader there. Sadly, the gym is closed, and they have to wait until the next day for Ash to battle. The group then runs into Whitney and her Clefairy and get tangled up in some Team Rocket drama that results in them working together to help one another. At the end, she admits to wanting to battle Ash because he seems like a strong and competent opponent, which Ash of course is like, "Hey, maybe later. I'm trying to get prepared for my battle with the gym leader tomorrow." As Whitney then reveals herself as the gym leader. Man, Ash just knows how to run into gym leaders and not know that they're gym leaders, huh?

They head to the gym and commence battle with Ash taking the lead, having his Cyndaquil defeat her Nidorina, having her now send out Clefairy, who she's a little too overprotective of and calls her back at the slightest problem. Things are looking pretty good for Ash here, but if you played the games, you know Whitney still has an ace up her sleeves. Well, she's not wearing sleeves, but the point still stands. Miltank is now sent out, and they aren't called "tank" for no reason. They literally plowing through Ash's Pokémon with Rollout, and out goes Cyndaquil, then next goes Totodile, and finally Pikachu, resulting in Ash losing the gym battle and not earning a badge this day.

After this intense battle, Ash's Pokémon are healing up, and Whitney shows off some nice hospitality to the group on her farm with a bunch of other Miltank there just hanging out. When Team Rocket attacks, Ash gets to see this Rollout attack some more, and even build up some new battle strategy because of it, which is nice to see Ash learning and applying this knowledge to become a smarter, overall better trainer. Ash and Whitney are set to battle once again, while Whitney takes out Cyndaquil fairly quick. His Totodile carves some trenches into the floor with the force of his water, making the Rollout attack harder to navigate. Totodile still gets defeated, but now Pikachu and his fast speed is able to help Miltank hit these trenches where Pikachu hides and waits for Miltank to roll over one as he attacks from underneath, sending Miltank flying. As now he shoots a Thundershock that ends up defeating the Miltank. Now, while this is exciting, this was only for for a battle, not a redo of the gym battle itself, but she ends up giving Ash the Plain Badge on the technicality of him defeating her top Pokémon, making him worthy of the badge. Sure, okay, at least he wasn't just handed it for no reason.

So no time to waste, on to the next gym, right? But along this way, we meet up with Casey again, as Ash enters a bug-catching contest at the park. She seems a lot more confident in herself and has had some more time to work on her skills as a Pokémon trainer. At one point, though, she's just like Ash in the beginning of his journey, putting too much pressure on her Chikorita, especially facing off against a really tough Scyther. Ash jumps in to save them and let her get her Chikorita out of there, as he berates her about being this bad and inconsiderate of a trainer, much like he was, if we look back to when Metapod was stolen by Beedrill early on in the original series. Her Chikorita has had enough and won't listen to her anymore after her constant pushing, and she realizes her competitive nature overshadowed her caring for Chikorita. So she apologizes, and the two make up, and all is fine, helping her grow again, in a similar way that Ash had to, or he had to go through the same thing with that Metapod as he was originally yelled at by the Samurai kid.

Here's another parallel. Remember the original Beedrill swarm that took Ash's Metapod? Well, here they run into another Beedrill swarm, but this time Ash ends up catching a Beedrill, and to me, symbolizing his growth and now being prepared under pressure, overcoming those lingering emotions from this originally happening. Casey and Chikorita's growth is also symbolized here as well when dealing with Team Rocket, as then Chikorita now evolves into a Bayleef at the end of the contest. Ash's Beedrill catch nets him the win, and his prize is a Sun Stone, which is another evolution stone in the Pokémon world that helps evolve certain Pokémon. As this will come into play another time, but Ash ends up giving Casey his Beedrill since she's always bumping with Cifa and loves black and yellow striped Pokémon. It helps build up her confidence as a trainer even more. It's a cute moment for these two who are very similar in many ways, but both have their own long journeys ahead of them.

There is another contest that Ash takes part in, this time with Misty, as it revolves around catching Seaking, and they both do. But unlike the Bug Contest, they aren't allowed to keep the catch. But Misty here really takes the lead in this story, facing off against this butthead of a character, Andreas, who belittles and makes fun of Misty and her Poliwhirl while he has a Poliwrath. Their tension heats up as they both catch a Seaking weighing the same, so now they must battle to determine the winner. Ash here gets to learn that certain typings can change to allow learning certain moves that the base typing of that Pokémon may not be able to learn, as the Poliwrath here knows Fighting-type moves alongside of its Water typing. Misty and her Poliwhirl end up winning this battle in the end, resulting in a trophy and a bunch of chocolate bars for her to enjoy and share, as Ash somehow gets left out of having any. But hey, at least that jerk Andreas apologizes to Misty for the awful things he said to her and congratulates her on winning. A happy ending for all, except for Ash not getting some chocolate.

Later, they also come across Gary in the middle of a battle, where we see his Eevee has now evolved into into one of the two new Eevee evolutions for the second generation, Umbreon, as he is fighting against an Alakazam. The battle seems pretty intense, but we really get to see just how good Gary is when it comes to battling, ultimately defeating the Alakazam, and Gary wins. Ash of course wants a piece of this, but Gary declines fighting him, as Gary feels there is no current challenge there when it comes to Ash and his Pokémon right this second. Gary walks away, leaving Ash only more fired up to beat him at some point.

In a struggle now with Team Rocket, where Gary gets involved when the power is out at places like the Pokémon Center, which is not good, and the generator at the power plant needs to be started up again. After all this Team Rocket hoopla, so Pikachu uses a powerful Thundershock to bring it back to life, where Gary sees how Ash and his Pokémon handle Team Rocket and work together in a situation like this, and is pretty impressed with him, mentioning that he is getting better and stronger every day, and just maybe when they next meet, he may be the one challenging Ash to a battle first. The moment of respect represented here is so wholesome. While he started to earn Gary's respect towards the end of the original and Orange Island seasons, here it's a fully realized mutual level of respect that Ash feels like he's truly earned, as the two both go on their own paths to cross each other's again soon.

Ash also gets in another contest tournament of sorts called the Grass Tournament. James enters with his Victreebel. Meowth pretends to be a Sunflora for Jessie. All their cover is blown. Ash ends up losing in the final round, remembering that in the end, winning isn't everything, as he learns a nice lesson in humility. Just having a sense of pride in power in a battle is not enough when a trainer needs more than just those things to truly win.

Ash and the group finally arrive in Ecruteak City, where there is a lot of lore to learn and a gym battle to be had. The trio get tricked into thinking that this other building was the gym, but it wasn't. We're inside a fire breaks out, setting them all in a panic before they realize that it isn't real, and Ash's Noctowl helps reveal that all the fun trickster ghost Pokémon, like we saw in the original series before the Sabrina fight, were casting illusions to ward them off from their home. Where this guy reveals to them that this is the Burned Tower, and also that his name is Morty, and he's the gym leader. Convenient. Ash here learns about Ho-Oh and realizes that this was the Pokémon he saw on the first day of his journey in the original episode of Pokémon. We learn that the tower originally burned down some hundreds of years ago, which can also be tied into Ho-Oh resurrecting perished Pokémon, turning them into the legendary dogs.

During a battle with Team Rocket, Ash sees just how powerful Morty's Gengar is, and now has the night to prepare mentally for this battle. The next day, we see Ash spend time pondering over strategies, where he gets some advice from a pretty surprising person: this city's Nurse Joy, suggesting he should use his Noctowl in the fight. He may just come in handy. Noctowl's foresight helps reveal the Ghost Pokémon when they aren't visible, which is what happened when the battle starts. Having used the move on Gastly before recalling him, making it easier for—no, not Pikachu, he loses—but for Cyndaquil to take out the Gastly. Next, Haunter comes out and ends up taking out Cyndaquil, leaving Ash with with only his Noctowl and still two Pokémon to defeat. Noctowl's battle with Haunter isn't too tough, but the final battle with Gengar is pretty intense, resulting in some pretty close calls, but Noctowl ends up the victor after a powerful Tackle, with Ash now winning his fourth badge, the Fog Badge. A well-fought and well-earned one, for sure.

During their next leg of the trip, they run into an old friend, Todd. Yes, Mr. Snap himself is back since his last anime appearance 137 episodes ago. Todd is after a photo of one of the legendary birds, Articuno, but their adventure gets sidetracked by a frozen Sunkern that requires some attention. And it is luckily brought to the Sunflora Lodge, where this year would be their 50th Anniversary. Where every year the Sunflora come, they get a nice photo together with the older couple who run the place. Todd wants to take the photo for them for the 50th Anniversary, but the Sunflora aren't coming around because of the weather. So when the couple was going to just settle with a small photo with the Sunkern instead, Ash uses his Sun Stone that he won a little while back to help the Sunkern become a Sunflora, and because of this, Sunflora is able to call in all of the other Sunflora to be a part of this 50th Anniversary photo, and it's just a sweet little story.

Before the group, now featuring Todd, head literally up a dangerous snowy mountain in a blizzard to get a glimpse of this legendary bird, and luckily, they do run into Articuno, who screeches to save Ash from falling off a cliff. Things are great as Todd gets ready for the photo, but Team Rocket attacks the bird, but

Who cares? Because it's Articuno, and it easily takes them out. Todd is now able to get a glamorous photo of the bird and decide to stay there for more photo opportunities. As our main trio say goodbye to Todd once again, they now continue on to the next gym.

But Ash, he just loves getting sidetracked into random contests or competitions. As now he wants to enter a Pokémon Sumo competition, swapping out his Knuck do for a Snorlax so Professor Oak can now study a Shiny Pokémon up close. And Ash, well, he has a Snorlax for this competition now, so that should be fun.

And somehow, because Ash is Ash, he makes it to the final round where his Snorlax has to face off against this powerful frigor. But after a pretty rough bout, Snorlax ends up winning. And Ash receives a couple of things, like a King's Rock, another random evolution item that he personally will have no need for, but will find some use for later. As well as a year's worth of Pokémon food that Snorlax instantly eats in seconds and then goes to sleep. Yeah, that sounds about right.

Ash then spends some time with Chikorita. We encounter an Electabuzz, and where's Casey when you need her? But in these struggles, Ash now faces Team Rocket's Pokémon with Chikorita evolving into a Bayleef, saving the day. Finding this strength to do so from her love of Ash.

Following this, though, Bayleef's larger size hurts Ash when jumping onto him with joy, much different from when she was a small Chikorita. So Ash kind of gets scared and makes a comment about her staying away from him, upsetting Bayleef, who then runs off in sadness, overthinking that Ash doesn't care for her anymore. But she's just not aware of her size now and didn't know it was hurting him.

But by the end of this, Ash learns to be more considerate towards Bayleef, since it was never meant in malice. And Bayleef finds a more fitting way to show her affection towards him and has learned more self-control instead of being more impulsive like she was. Well, maybe she might still have some old tendencies.

We also get to meet some Generation 3 Pokémon a bit earlier than they would premiere. Well, one new species that is, and that is Kecleon, here with a green one and then a purple one, which isn't a shiny but is shown to just be a special in color Kecleon that appears here in the anime. And in Pokémon Mystery Dungeon, and I love when Pokémon does random previews of upcoming Pokémon with the series before they premiere. And we will see more of that later on too.

Ash and the crew make it to Olivine City, meeting the gym leader of the city, getting right into the battle. But as it rages on, the real gym leader Jasmine appears, claiming that this was her apprentice and this match does not count for a real battle with a gym leader. So now Ash has to deal with Jasmine, who has a sick Ampharos that she needs to attend to and has to have her apprentice head across the waters to an island that has Seaville City to get medicine and come back.

While Ash can't battle her now because of this, Ash decides to head to the island as well, knowing that there is a gym there that he can face in the meantime. And once they get there, Ash meets with the spirit-filled tough guy Chuck, who happens to be the gym leader. Again, convenient.

When the battle starts, Chuck sends out a Poliwrath, and Ash uses his Pikachu. But the strength of the Poliwrath knocks out Pikachu pretty quickly. With Ash now sending out Bayleef, who then knocks out the Poliwrath in return, showing off an impressive strategy from Ash to do so. Where next Machoke is sent out, and Ash needs to find a good strategy to overcome this again. And after a really tough battle of strength and resilience, Bayleef knocks out the Machoke, and that's the end of the gym battle, giving Ash his fifth badge, the Mineral Badge.

Who's that? [Music] Pokémon! It's Bulbasaur! Welcome to the start of the end, Master Quest, our final stretch of episodes in the Johto region. We start off with something really cool as well, out in the Whirl Islands, where deadly whirlpools are constantly a problem. The group end up fighting, being pulled into a whirlpool, and once safe, a very specific silhouette swims under them, making a familiar noise to Pokémon fans. As we can clearly tell that it was a Lugia that had swam by.

As after this, some other Pokémon come up to them and bring them to safety on Professor Elm, who was on a boat. We also get to learn about the Whirl Cup, a smaller in-size battle tournament for water Pokémon that only happens every 3 years. And what great timing, it happens to be happening this year. So why not jump into another side quest?

And as we build up to this and spend some time looking for some more water Pokémon, and Misty worrying about that more, so we meet a character named Luca, who is someone who spends time in the island area looking for the Silver Wing, a feather that relates to Lugia. Which here we can kind of see the remnants of the GS Ball storyline being reworked. Yes, sorry to bring up the GS Ball again, but I probably will bring it up another time here soon, so just wait.

Next, our group reaches where the Whirl Cup Tournament will be. Ash and Misty both enter, with both of them being sent to different stadiums, as they both need to do some qualifying matches in order to be allowed into the 64 official contestants for the tournament. Ash and Misty both win their first and second matches to qualify them pretty easily, and now they await the start of the real tournament.

Ash sends his Bayleef to the lab so he can use his Kingler, but Bayleef doesn't handle this too well, crying out for not being with Ash. But this will only be temporary. Ash has an exciting match using his Totodile against a Qwilava, where he ends up winning and advancing forward.

In between this win and the next day for more battles, Ash has a moment with Misty where they are both up in the middle of the night in anticipation for the next round, contrasting them earlier in the episode arguing with each other. It's always nice to get a more calm moment between the two.

Misty and her Corsola end up battling against a Qwilfish, where Misty finds a nice rhythm and battle strategy with her newer Pokémon to ultimately clutch a win in the end and move on to the next round. Both Ash and Misty celebrate with one another for their wins. But this all comes to an abrupt halt when the matchups for the next rounds get posted, showing that they now will have to face each other in a higher stakes battle, friend versus friend, with no holding back now.

The two face off against each other. Ash sends out his Totodile, and Misty uses her Poliwag. The battle is pretty fierce, but Misty is able to get the upper hand with her Poliwag putting hands on Totodile, knocking it out. Ash then sends out his Kingler, and they don't name him Kingler for nothing, as he shows his incredible strength and takes out Poliwag. Misty was going to send out her Corsola, but Psyduck comes popping out instead, which really makes an embarrassing statement to the crowd and for her confidence in the match.

But miracles do happen, and somehow, despite everyone not taking Psyduck too seriously, except for real breaking Nate, Psyduck ends up defeating Kingler, with Misty winning the match and moving on, while Ash would now be knocked out of the tournament. This is the first time Misty had ever beat Ash in a match. It's a really big deal for her.

Ash sends back his Kingler to get Bayleef, who is literally begging to come back. And at the end of the day, Ash is still supportive of Misty as she moves on to fight in the next day's battle against an opponent named Trinity, that ends up defeating her. Trinity would go on from there to then be interrupted by Team Rocket. Ash, Misty, Trinity, and this other dude who she was battling all work together to stop them.

After this, Trinity ends up losing to this guy, but they all just end up celebrating the fun that they had in the tournament, sharing a high level of respect for each other and all the skills that they have with their Pokémon. Now resuming their exploration of these multiple islands, the group runs across Sparky, the Pikachu that belonged to Richie, the trainer Ash lost to in the Indigo League, who he made a promise with at the end as they went their separate ways.

Then Richie comes around as well and reunites with him being here in search of the mysterious Pokémon, the same one Ash and the group had swim under them and has a relation to the Silver Wing. We meet Oliver, who has a secret Pokémon friend under the water who goes by the name Silver, who he is trying to hide the existence of when others are looking for it. Oliver's secret is that Silver is actually this little Lugia.

Which brings on more of the conversation of legendary Pokémon and there being more than one of them. And I guess same thing with mythical. Have you seen all those Celebi? But regardless, the real thing here is the name Silver. The GS Ball, Gold and Silver, made from a Rainbow Wing and Silver Wing. Hmm, you know, lots to think about here. Sorry, I'll hold back on that now for now.

We need to focus on this dude here, Dr. Namba, who is a Team Rocket scientist and is after the baby Lugia. With returning Team Rocket characters Butch and Cassidy, the underrated and sometimes overhated Team Rocket duo, they try to swoop in and capture the little Lugia. But all of them, including Luca, who shows back up, all stop this from happening.

Oliver admits to the group that he was just trying to protect this little Lugia, as it was too young to fly or really defend itself at all yet. But then Mama Lugia appears, visibly angry at everything going on. As our heroes do what they can to get it to understand what really happened. And then Lugia, you know, calms down a bit. The two Lugia go back together in the ocean in peace. They swim. It's nice.

But then later on in this episode, Team Rocket plans another attempt to get the little Lugia, where this time they succeed in doing such. Parent Lugia doesn't take this well, causing an emotional rampage, stirring up a storm. In a panic, Ash, Richie, and Luca all head through this storm, dodging the attacks from Lugia to get through to them that they are there to help. Get Lugia back. Ash knows his way around how to communicate with Lugia. We all saw the second movie. So eventually Lugia calms down a bit and just disappears.

But then Dr. Namba sets a trap using the baby Lugia to trick the adult Lugia to come after it, so they can also capture the big Lugia, living the collection dude from the second movie's fantasy. Now, what are our heroes supposed to do? Both Lugias are captured. We are facing a much more powerful faction of Team Rocket that isn't just Jessie and James. Ash, Richie, Misty, and Brock are all now captured and in the base that has gone back under the water.

Oliver then swims down there with his Lantern and breaks in, with Jessie and James, who are trying to free Lugia as well. They just, you know, they don't like Butch and Cassidy. So this giant battle breaks out in the base. Pokémon are throwing attacks everywhere. Jessie and James are fighting Butch and Cassidy. Ash and Richie are taking on the doctor, and the base is rising back up from the sea to make sure that they all don't get stuck under the water from all the damages to the base, mostly thanks to the freed parent Lugia going Luga-luga. And eventually Silver is freed. So now the base just falls apart. Lugia protects them from all the falling parts as they make their way out, and it explodes.

So now we get to see a nice goodbye to the Lugia. Richie decides to stick around the area some more, and Ash and the others continue back on their journey. Just a fun little Lugia set of episodes there. I love that. While I like that the Johto series brings back some fun characters here and there, was this at all a worthwhile return for Richie? If we take him and his part out, does it really change what happens here? Maybe only by a percentage. But regardless, I guess it's still nice to see him around. It does help make the world feel lived in, and that these other characters are off doing stuff, and we may just run into these people again whenever.

But now back on track for earning a badge, Ash returns to Olivine City to face Jasmine for real this time, as now her Ampharos should be fully healed up after that little arc. When the World Islands, but it doesn't matter, 'cause she won't use the Ampharos, and she's not here for an easy fight. She plans on giving Ash her all, with Magnemite going against Pikachu in the first matchup, with Pikachu getting the best of Magnemite. Where she now sends out a Steelix, who is too powerful, easily taking out the Pikachu. Trying to deal with a type advantage, Ash sends out Cyndaquil, who puts up a strong fight against Steelix, and on the brink of defeat, is able to let out a massive Flamethrower, causing a fire vortex when combining with Steelix's Sandstorm, that ends up draining Steelix completely, causing it to faint, giving Ash the win and the Mineral Badge. Just look at little Cyndaquil go.

Ash certainly has learned a lot as a trainer, and as a result, even his smaller and more unassuming Pokémon put up strong fights, and some David versus Goliath moments to still pull off a surprising victory. But remember earlier when I mentioned that there is still time for Ash to ditch the final one of his original three starters? Well, it's time to say bye-bye to Bulbasaur. Well, it's not as bad, he just sends him back to Professor Oak, who ends up needing him around to help keep the peace and the place in order, with Bulbasaur being the best choice to help around through a series of events, events that require Bulbasaur as a necessity. There, both him and Ash agree that this is where he needs to be right now, leaving Ash's current party, but at least still right there when he needs them, I guess.

But now back in Ecruteak, the crystal bells within the tower were stolen, resulting in chaos starting to happen with the balance of everything feeling a little off with Pokémon behavior. Ash finally learns about how Ho-Oh created the three legendary beasts from the burnt tower to maintain peace, with one of Thunder being Raikou, one of Volcanoes being Entei, and one of the Northwind being Suicune. Eventually, they are able to track the bells back to Team Rocket, and Jessie has apparently broken one after a struggle with all the mad Pokémon around. Suicune ends up showing up, allowing the others to make their way back to the city, and now with a rainbow in the sky, hoping one day to see Ho-Oh's return, which would be known to this town because the bells chime for Ho-Oh when it's around.

Soon after, Ash crosses paths with Gary again, but rather than battle, there is an extreme Pokémon race where the trainer holds on to the Pokémon as they ride a skateboard. Gary using his Arcanine to pull him, while Ash trusts Bayleef for this, and that was a good idea because at the end of the race, it's Ash and Bayleef who end up winning and receiving this Pokey. Also, this resulted in Ash beating Gary at something that, sure, Gary is first annoyed at with this loss, but you can tell he's kind of proud of Ash, giving him some congrats before moving on.

Now Ash has this egg, and oh look, it's ready to hatch. Hey, it's a Phanpy, the pre-evolution of Donphan. And Ash tries to build some sort of connection with it, as this newborn isn't just jumping into a Poké Ball and ends up causing a chase to get in that now involves Team Rocket and Ash, especially for him to learn building trust with this Pokémon rather than just expecting it, since imprinting here was different from when Misty got Togepi. Ash saves the Phanpy at one point, and then they work together to take out Team Rocket, and the two of them find their special bond as trainer and Pokémon.

The group now reaches Lake Rage, and we all know why this lake is so famous, right? Well, it contains a very special and powerful shiny Red Gyarados. We also get to meet Lance, a Pokémon League champion that is here with his Dragonite doing some investigation on Team Rocket, worried about the well-being of Pokémon being part of the g-men. This Gyarados was the result of Team Rocket experimenting on forced evolution. And so, for the compassion of Pokémon, Ash and friends join Lance in his efforts to take out the device they made that does this. Ash fights to defend Gyarados from full-on capture, as it was getting more and more weakened and beat down, but the rage continues building, now shifting from the lake and heading towards Mahogany Town, where this random dude has a Dewgong that stops Gyarados travel.

And Lance ends up in a battle with it to stop its anger, showing everyone how fast and powerful his Dragonite is, taking out the Gyarados and capturing it with that being the only proper response to save everyone, and by extension, save the Gyarados right then and there. They all part ways. And hey, that random dude we saw, well, he's the gym leader in Mahogany Town, and he thinks Ash is a weaker trainer for him having these more emotionally charged bonds with them, not really giving him the time of day until letting him battle his Dewgong. If he wins this unofficial battle, then he will be granted an official gym battle with him.

Ash here loses, and while he may have a good heart, Pryce thinks that he is blinded by this to come up with better battle strategies to actually win. And now he will no longer get his gym battle from here, thanks to Team Rocket. Pryce and Ash fall into some caverns, as we learn from both Pryce and through this character of Sheila speaking to Brock and Misty, that Pryce is so hardened and cold as a trainer from once being like Ash, really caring about his Pokémon. We then hear about his old Piloswine that just left after a battle where both of them were badly burned by a Magmar. Piloswine disappearing after he would have protected it as much as he could, thus hurting himself worse from the burn, breaking this feeling of Pokémon being considered friends or having a strong connection to them outside of strength and discipline for battle.

But during their time in these caves, they come across the same Piloswine now frozen in ice, who didn't run away but was looking for herbs to help heal the burn but was stuck and frozen in time ever since. This breaks Pryce's feeling like he was the one who gave up on Piloswine. Ash helps melt the ice to free the Piloswine, and Pryce has it rest to restore its energy to get it out of the caves. After they are out, he is grateful to Ash and gives him the opportunity to battle him the next day.

Now Pryce is shown to be more compassionate to Pokémon, spending time taking care of his Piloswine before the battle starts. At first, it's Dewgong versus Cyndaquil, as Pryce is impressed at Ash's skills and not expecting the outcome of Dewgong being defeated. He then sends out his reunited Piloswine that takes out Cyndaquil. No more burns for this guy. Then Pikachu comes out, and the battle is really tough. Pikachu takes quite a beating, but Ash doesn't give up, especially when Pryce tries to convince him to. Pikachu ends up fighting all that he can, but Pryce ends up forfeiting the match, which at first upsets and angers Ash, as he is robbed of the full battle. But it's not for any other reason than knowing when to pull back and take care of his Pokémon, knowing not to push Piloswine past its limits any further, giving Ash the win for how great he did in battle.

Ash accepts this response. He gets the Glacier Badge, and I'm a little bit conflicted here, as he didn't really win it, but like, he did really want to win the battle. And at least he's been really solid in earning his badges here in Johto, so I'll let it slide for now. Also, Ash gets turned into a Pikachu after this. I just like seeing this little Ash Pikachu. It's really funny for some reason.

And remember that King's Rock Ash won a bit ago? Well, Misty's Poliwhirl ends up with it and evolves into a Politoed, the newer introduced Generation 2 evolution option instead of a Poliwrath. Eventually, they all nearly reach Blackthorn City, as they run into Clair, the gym leader, who gets to have a moment of speaking about the Red Gyarados with them, talking about Lance, as we see some Pokémon similarities between him and Clair, especially when her Dratini evolves into a Dragonair, being now the evolution before Dragonite. These two train together and have some sort of bond between them.

And after a nice day of the usual affair of things, the two get ready for a battle, as this would be the eighth and final badge Ash would need to complete all of the Johto gyms. Clair starts off with Kingler, with Ash sending out Pikachu. When Pikachu's attacks aren't doing enough, he sends out Noctowl instead. But this battle would be interrupted by Team Rocket, and that's annoying. It only happens all the time. But at least we get to see a Wobbuffet, the pre-evolution of Wobbuffet, that wasn't introduced until Generation 3, so once again, another fun add-on of a future Pokémon sprinkled in there for good measure.

Soon, Charizard, Liza, and Charla all come around, with Charizard showing a lot of love to Ash, excited to be reunited with him for now. With this whole kerfuffle over the Dragon being stolen from the Dragon's Holy Land by Team Rocket, really being this intense and pretty big segue mid-gym battle, Charizard tangles with an enraged Dragonite, and in the end, Dragonite was calmed down, and it is sad to see all the damage caused at her expense. But they get the Dragon Fang back from Team Rocket, and everything's all good.

So now it's time for the rematch. Ash sends out his Snorlax that ends up putting out a strong defense against Krabby, rather than trying to catch up with its speed. Snorlax was able to wear out the Krabby, leaving it open for Snorlax to hit it with a giant Ice Punch, taking it out. Here, Gyarados then comes out and breaks Snorlax down easily, but Ash's initial strategy was good here and pretty smart based on what he learned from their previous partial match.

Now Pikachu heads out to battle, and Pikachu's speed and perseverance end up with him knocking out the Gyarados. So now it's time for her final Pokémon, Dragonair, who is a lot tougher than what it may seem, taking out Pikachu. But Ash has a guest Pokémon on his team, welcoming back battling with Charizard after a long time of training in the Terrific Valley. Ash tries to strategize certain moves to be able to catch Dragonair with a more powerful one, where Charizard goes in for a Seismic Toss, converting it to mix with a Fire Spin that ends up massively slamming into the ground and knocking out the Dragonair, as Ash is now the victor and awarded the Rising Badge.

We started at the first gym in the region with Charizard winning, and to where Charizard is now coming through to help clutch the final gym was pretty epic and satisfying. After this, Charizard heads back to the valley, and now the group has 3 months to explore, train, and become prepared for the Johto League Silver Conference.

During this time, Ash is tasked with getting an egg from the Marine Pokémon Laboratory, which through this, we get some time to see Ash's Lapras again from the Orange Isles. We get to see how much Lapras has grown, even being promoted to the leader of their group after how well it helped protect the herd from Team Rocket. Just a nice little reunion, as Ash now has to take care of this egg, which quickly hatches into a Larvitar, a really cool Pokémon that can one day through evolution become a Tyranitar, being a truly unstoppable force. If you know me, I like Tyranitar. We love Tyranitar around these parts.

Ash is given the responsibility of looking over Larvitar for Professor Elm, with a goal of bringing it to Mount Silver, which would be the direction that they would need to head in anyway. Ash and Larvitar quickly build a nice bond and some real trust here, as it's new to the world, trying not to be afraid of everything in it. And now on the path, they come across Entei, the real Entei this time, and that's pretty exciting.

At one point, we run into an Elekid, the pre-evolution for Electabuzz, that is checking in on the group's break site before both the Elekid and Larvitar get captured by Team Rocket. As now they have to go after them, they run into Casey again, who has definitely had some time to grow as a trainer and really start finding her own footing now, with her Bayleef being evolved into a Meganium. She was trying to find that Elekid and wants to catch it. So after working together to stop Team Rocket and get these two back, Casey battles and catches the Elekid. Larvitar is just happy that Casey is going to take good care of the Elekid, and we get to see that she is halfway done getting all of her badges now, having four of the eight.

We then get a trippy episode featuring a sick Unown. And I don't know why, but seeing this image of the Unown in a little bed with a little washcloth on its head, I, whatever that is, it's just really funny. And then shortly after this, we get Larvitar's final destination for a drop-off with its mother. So not too much time with Larvitar, but it was fun while it lasted, and Larvitar gained some nice confidence along the way.

We now meet Harrison, who is from a different region, specifically the Hoenn region, which we speak about our journey through there in part three. He is here to compete in the tournament as well and looks forward to a nice little rivalry with Ash. And we get to see the Ho-Oh shrine be the start of the torch running event for the Silver Conference, which it is now time for. Wow, time flies.

Ash and Gary meet up again and continue their rivalry for how well they're going to do against each other. They all have to pass their screening matches so that the brackets can be made, resulting in Ash defeating a Furret, one of my more favorite Pokémon, with Pikachu, as we see that both Gary and Harrison also passed no problem.

During the night, in excitement, Ash can't sleep, and finds that Gary can't either, as they both spend the night looking back on their journey as trainers, with Gary pondering of what kind of trainer would Ash have been if he didn't arrive late that day. How would things have changed for either of them? They vowed to give it their all, but no matter what, if they have to face each other along the way, there is no holding back, fully wanting to give each other the battle they deserve. I think this was a really sweet moment to show how much both of these two have grown, how much respect they have for one another, and what's ahead for their futures. They even work together for the opening ceremonies when Ash gets tied up by Team Rocket, and Gary has to save him, as they now chase them to get Pikachu back.

As Jessie and James also collide with a torch runner, and Gary catches the torch, and the two of them help the injured runner and get the flame back to the arena to make sure it's transferred in, signifying the official start of the end. Okay, that sounds a little dark. The official start of this tournament.

Ash gets caught up the next day in a weird love but not love love triangle. As this one girl, Macy, who helps as this one girl, Macy, who helps out save her Vulpix from Team Rocket, becomes infatuated with Ash. Where Misty jumps in, and she asks if Misty is his girlfriend, so they get into a whole big screaming match about it. But Ash needs to focus on crafting his team, needing water Pokémon, as Macy will be his first opponent, and she has fire-type Pokémon. All he has access to right now is Kingler and Totodile.

But surprise, surprise, Officer Jenny brings Ash a familiar friend, his Squirtle, who rejoins Ash for now, especially after Kingler gets injured and won't be able to battle. And as the battle starts, Ash has Totodile go out against Macy's Slugma, but after Totodile is getting the upper hand, she recalls the Slugma for now and sends out a surprise for Ash, an Electabuzz. So Ash responds, swapping Pokémon as well, sending out Phanpy, with Ash having a solid backup typing in the event of this happening. But Macy is annoying, so she recalls the Electabuzz and sends back out Slugma, but Phanpy still takes it out. She sends in Graveler, who takes out Phanpy. So Totodile comes back out, and then she swaps back to the Electabuzz. Great. This is so annoying. I get the strategy, you're still insufferable. Electabuzz takes out Totodile, leaving Ash with only Squirtle left. And that's okay, because Squirtle comes through here, Skull Bash-ing the Electabuzz to knock it out, and then against the Graveler, Hydro Pump-ing it out of commission, resulting in Ash as the victor of the match.

But this is just part of the preliminary rounds for the semifinals. The 48 trainers who pass the screening are split up into 16 groups of three, and only one of the three, based on the points of how their matches end, is able to advance to the victory tournament. With Ash having three points for winning his match, and Macy now defeating Jackson and earning three points, Ash must now face Jackson and try to beat him in order to have enough points to win out of their group.

Ash switches around some Pokémon choices for his party and is ready to take him on. We start off with a Zangoose versus Pikachu, and Ash is able to work with Pikachu, taking out a Zangoose. Where now more sparks will fly, thanks to him sending out a shiny Magneton that is able to overpower Pikachu and knock him out. Cyndaquil comes out next, and it does its best, but ultimately loses to the Magneton as well. So with one Pokémon left, Ash sends out Bulbasaur to handle things, being able to stop the rampage of Magneton and then hold up as long as it can. With a Meganium serving to be quite the opponent, where they both end up fighting at the same time, leaving the match as a draw, but giving Ash enough points to technically win overall. They show some good sportsmanship.

Both Harrison and Gary made it out of their groups as well and into the top 16 with Ash. But in the first matchup here, Ash will go up against Gary. Finally, the rival fight is about to happen, maybe a bit earlier than expected. The fun of the rivalry comes back with Gary getting under Ash's skin. This is going to be a tough battle, and Ash truly has to give it his all here, more than ever.

We get a deeper look into why their rivalry is so strong and where some of these deeper feelings are coming from. Ash pulls out a smaller white bottom half of a Poké Ball, where he tells Brock and Misty that before Ash and Gary got started on their Pokémon journeys, they both liked to fish at this similar spot around Pallet Town. And Ash catches a Magikarp who flails and hits him in the face, to where now Gary laughs at him and pokes fun at how he can't even name moves that Magikarp would have in competition while fishing at this spot. They both end up getting hooked on a Poké Ball under the water, as they both tugged on it, and it splits in two, seeing who is going to win this battle of strength. With Ash getting the technically smaller white half, and Gary ending up with a larger red half. Ash calls this a draw, but Gary disagrees with this. It's either that Gary won or nothing, because to tie with Ash would be just as bad as losing, which is pretty harsh. Ash holds on to this half still as a reminder and good luck charm, but is now confident to finally get a win against Gary.

This was a nice little look into the relationship Ash and Gary have had, seeing right before they left that there was this rivalry between them already. But what was their relationship before this? It's something to ponder over for now. Ash, along with his friends, try working on a strategy based on all of the options of Pokémon that Gary has and may use. Then, like a gift from the heavens to help out in this tournament, Charizard appears from the sky. As Brock made a reach out for him to come and visit, perhaps a secret weapon. Professor Oak arrives to speak to both Ash and Gary as well before the match, upgrading their Pokédexes with new data.

It's now all led up to this. Ash sends out his Tauros, as Gary sends out his Nidoqueen, which we know how much of a powerhouse that Pokémon is for Gary, and it is able to literally grab life by the horns, or in this case, Tauros by the horns, and deliver an inescapable Hyper Beam, taking Tauros out completely. Heracross comes out to play, good to see him again, as Gary switches between Nidoqueen and Magmar, and the two go at it for a while, but Heracross's Megahorn takes down the Magmar. But Gary doesn't really mind, he just sends out his Blastoise now, and the battle fiercely continues.

Who's that Pokémon? It's Charmander! This is a larger battle, being a full six on six, so there is a lot of action left to go. Blastoise's power was too much for Heracross, though, and we get another old friend to return, Muk. He does a decent job holding up against Blastoise, but Ash switches Muk out for Bayleef, but despite her best efforts, is left knocked out from Blastoise. Ash's mom and Professor Oak reminisce over the boys' younger days growing up, clueing us into a less rival-filled past before things changed for them.

Ash sends out his Snorlax, and Gary has his Arcanine at the ready, and Snorlax shows off how strong he truly is and takes out the big fire dog. Nidoqueen comes back out, but that good old Ice Punch that Snorlax has takes out the Nidoqueen as well, leaving the match at a tie so far, both trainers having three Pokémon left. Ash is truly giving Gary a battle worthy of his respect, and potentially a lot more than he anticipated. For Gary sends out a Scizor, who wastes no time to find a lead, taking Snorlax back to Dreamland. Muk comes back out, but gets tossed around and diced up, leaving Ash with one final Pokémon. That's right, and no, it's not Pikachu, it's Charizard, showing that throughout all of his battles here, he uses one of his original three starter Kanto Pokémon each: first Squirtle, then Bulbasaur, and now his Charizard, which, you know, we'll just count as the Charmander, but you know, it evolved twice, and the others didn't.

After a long time of training, becoming a better disciplined and more battle-ready Pokémon than ever before, and now fully willing to work with Ash on a respectful level, Charizard is back, and it's a beautiful sight to see. He takes out Scizor pretty easily, then pushes through Golem like he's Chris Redfield and he's punching a boulder, leaving the final matchup between Charizard versus Blastoise. Ash darts coming up with some sort of tactics, as the typing advantage is all in Gary's favor here, massively. He has Charizard burn the field to surround the arena in nothing but heat, making Blastoise kind of stuck. Blastoise tries to keep up by cooling things off, but Charizard goes in for some close-up combat, where Charizard grabs Blastoise for a Seismic Toss, ignoring the biting coming from the Blastoise, as they slam into the ground, causing a dust cloud for them to hide the results in, as everyone waits to see who's the winner.

The dust settles, and Blastoise picks itself up, staring intensely at Charizard, who is glaring right back, but he couldn't hold himself up for long, collapsing, and Charizard had won the fight, meaning Ash had just won the battle, defeating Gary Oak for the first time in a real and meaningful way, to show how much he has grown, to no longer feel like he's in the shadow of Gary, having to play catchup and be belittled by him. Ash and Charizard share a special moment of excitement over the battle, and Gary speaks with Ash privately later that night, giving Ash the top half of the Poké Ball, showing that he had it with him this whole time as well. He shows a calm respect for Ash, declaring him a real winner, as the rivalry is no more, or at least no longer a mean-spirited one, shaking hands and having Gary there to root for him now. Also, yeah, this was like the first match that he didn't use Pikachu for his most important match, maybe to date, at least for personal reasons, and he doesn't toss in his boy at all. Very interesting to note. But it's okay.

It's time for the next round. With Ash now having to go up against none other than his newer rival from the Hoenn region, Harrison, who sends out a Kecleon, as Ash now uses his trusty Pikachu. This is another six on six battle. We all are excited for Ash to go all the way with this tournament, especially now that his biggest challenge is behind him. Things start out well with Pikachu defeating the Kecleon, but Pikachu gets slashed up by a Sneasel. Totodile avenges Pikachu, defeating the Sneasel, but Hypno does the same, avenging of his own, sending Totodile out of the match. This back and forth showed itself to be a stacking layer of skills and strategic plays, but who will send out the heavier hitter to stop this?

Snorlax is back and takes out the Hypno. And after a brief intermission, the match continues, where Ash now sends out Noctowl, and Harrison sends out a Steelix, who is just enough bronze to take out Noctowl's brains, leaving Ash to send back out his Snorlax, who handles taking out the Steelix with some nice and powerful combos. Harrison now sends out Houndoom, who runs through Snorlax, no problem. The back and forth knockout for knockout hasn't stopped. Nothing here is too one-sided, it could go to anyone. This match, Bayleef comes out and gives it her all, ending in a Body Slam to the Houndoom, bringing Harrison to his last Pokémon, Blaziken, a Generation 3 Pokémon in the full evolved version of the Hoenn fire starter, Torchic. This power-foul anthropomorphic beast is something to fear, easily taking out Bayleef and becoming the perfect opponent for Ash's Pokémon, Charizard.

This battle is probably one of the most exciting yet in the series, pure powerful skill from two tiptop fire Pokémon who try to best each other with a final test of strength. When both of them get back up after some massive attacks on each other, with Charizard sadly falling back to the ground, giving Harrison the win, and Ash is officially knocked out of the tournament. Ash is pretty bummed about this, but his Pokémon did great, and he worked well implementing more strategy into his battles. He still beat Gary, and he has a full group of people who are there supporting him.

We get to see a nice goodbye to Squirtle, who heads back to the Squirtle Squad. Harrison, in the next match, would lose as well, with none of the three who we were looking at here making it to the end to become champion. And Ash blames himself for Harrison's loss because of Blaziken being too hurt for battle in the next round. And later in the night, the two have a conversation, and Harrison mentions that Ash should go and travel to the Hoenn region, meet even more new Pokémon, see what new experiences are out there that await him. Ash of course gets excited over this, wanting to check out what an even further away region could hold.

We also get to see how smart Gary is when it comes to knowing things about Pokémon, where we've seen some hints about this in the past, but here he has a new goal in mind for his future, and that's becoming a Pokémon researcher, studying evolution to fully try and understand it. He bows out of further Pokémon tournaments, no longer believing that this is his journey, giving props to Ash and giving him encouragement for his journey, as they part ways. Harrison, Gary, and Ash all head down their own separate paths from this point on.

Our main trio travels back. Misty gets a call from her sisters, who are leaving for a trip, and they need Misty to come back home and look over the gym and be its leader. She's not really ready to leave this big adventure though with Ash, but Ash is all for her taking some time to go be a gym leader, even surprising her with her bike all fixed up, thanks to Nurse Joy, back from when Ash took it and got it destroyed in the first episode. Instead of being happy at this, she runs away emotionally. She feels that Ash doesn't care that this would split up their group after their adventures, even though he was just looking out for her and repaying his long overdue debt.

She then ends up getting harassed by this trio of trainers while being in this state, that basically force her hand into battling them, where it's three against one, but Brock and Ash jump in to make it a fair three on three. Misty notes that she could have handled this all on her own, and they knew that, but the opportunity to battle together as a trio was something they didn't want to pass up.

After all of this, and some Team Rocket stuff, Ash tells Misty how good she is as they head out onto their path home. Misty, while still being sad, makes sure Ash knows to take care of Pikachu, and of course himself. Also mentioning one last thing to him, and that is to just keep doing your best. Ash notes that them meeting this whole journey was meant to happen, whether it just randomly started or not, it was always meant to be. As Brock adds on that they all have become best friends, walking until they hit a three-way intersection of paths that all lead them separately back to their hometowns.

Brock has had to head back home as well, but didn't want to bring it up until he had to, as they all give some thoughtful goodbyes. With Ash being given a picnic setup from Brock, and Misty giving him a handkerchief that it gets wrapped in, Ash is emotional at this. As after they separate, he runs home crying. Once there, he also finds that Gary had already made it back home and left also, leaving behind all of his Pokémon to go start a new on his own path. But Ash goes and finds him to figure out where he's going, only to ask that he doesn't know where he wants to go now. Gary is off to learn more about Pokémon, as he tells Ash to go spend some time and figure out what's next for him. And Ash hands him back the top half of the Poké Ball that was split as a gesture to always be connected and remember each other while on their journeys.

Ash is now back at home outside, sulking in the fact that his friends are not around. He feels alone and doesn't like it. But then he sees Ho-Oh once again in the sky, this time in full color, flying in the direction of a new region unexplored by Ash, the one that Harrison comes from, the Hoenn region. Following Gary's lead once again, he wants a fresh start. But dealing with Team Rocket shortly after this, he knows that even without his friends being directly there, they are always with him, and willpower to always move forward. He gives Professor Oak all of his Pokémon, clearly not Pikachu, and wants to start a new journey in the Hoenn region. Ash's mom knew this was probably coming and packed him some fresh new clothes and a fresh new backpack, and she also got him a ticket for the ferry to take him from Kanto to Hoenn. His Pokédex is upgraded to have information on the Hoenn region Pokémon now, and Tracey promises to take care of his Pokémon that are there. And Ash, now feeling more determined and excited than ever, heads to the ferry to go start the next leg of his adventure.

Ash and Pikachu are now on their way to a brand new land and are excited to further their bond with one another. They've come so far in becoming a dynamic duo, both in and out of battle, as they together will now brave a solo adventure, unless you count the fact that

They have each other as Ash changes into his new clothes, slightly changing his look. Now, he sees Hoenn coming into sight with new Pokémon like Wingle, Pelipper, and Sharpedo all around, expanding the horizons even more for their Generation 3 journey to begin. But just before we arrive, Pikachu isn't feeling good and comes down with a bad fever, stopping the excitement and bringing in all this new worry as we end one journey and start our next one.

So, funny enough, the first episode of this new generation really parallels the start of Pokémon in general in a lot of ways. First, we see May, a new character we haven't met yet, but it felt like this was somewhat of a bridge to the video games because, in the video games, the design and base name of the character there that you can play as is May. Here, she is riding her bike and on her way to the starting town area of Littleroot Town, where she is going to meet up with Professor Birch, receive her first Pokémon, and begin her own journey into the grander Pokémon world. But maybe training for Pokémon battles isn't the way she wants to take her adventure, really just for now wanting to take in the whole traveling aspect. We get to see a Duscl right off the bat, which I thought is pretty cool, but it just scares her, causing her to speed off and crash into a tree.

But what about our original main character, Ash Ketchum? He is just getting into town with Pikachu's health at the forefront of his priorities right now. But Littleroot Town has one major problem for Ash: there is no Pokémon Center in sight. But luckily, there is a professor who should have a lab that can help in the area, Professor Birch. Upon arrival, though, he sees that the professor is out of the lab and doing fieldwork because that's just convenient. Luckily, Joshua, here, the lab assistant, reaches out to Birch, who comes speeding back to the lab to see Ash and his Pikachu.

When inspecting Pikachu to see what he is going through, we find out that Pikachu is dealing with what is called electric overload. And if an electric Pokémon in this situation doesn't get the immediate help that it needs, well then, they blow up worse than an Electrode using Self-Destruct. Why it exploded? In order to help Pikachu, he would need to be drained of his energy, but the tests and everything aren't working. Pikachu is too built up with energy, and he ends up running away, leaving Ash in pursuit of him, and Birch following as well. Because Ash has no other Pokémon and it's dangerous to head out there with no Pokémon protection, he grabs the Poké Balls for the three new starter Pokémon just in case. But these starters were there for May so that she could choose which one she wants for her journey.

Yeah, so this can be an issue, you know, a slight bit of conflict here because shortly after this, May arrives at the lab to choose that starter Pokémon that she wants and doesn't want to wait around for Birch to come back. So she heads out in the direction that they went. And now, to tie in the start of the video games, Birch here is trapped by himself because of these Poochyena. With May seeing this happening, she reaches into Birch's bag to grab a Poké Ball so whatever Pokémon that comes out can help fend off the wild Poochyena. The ball she grabs, after not being sure with her choice, ends up being Mudkip, which I heard you like. So May learns quickly what to do, having Mudkip spray her in the face. Yeah, she's not really good at the whole having a Pokémon yet. Birch helps out with commands for Mudkip, and all the Poochyena run away, leaving Birch very thankful but still needing to find both Ash and Pikachu. So May tags along with Birch on the rest of this whole mess.

Speaking of Pikachu, he's going full evil. His eyes are glowing red. He's even attacking Ash when he approaches. Whatever shall we do in this situation? Well, hopefully, we can all understand that Pikachu here is in a state of delusion and only is attacking Ash because he thinks he's an enemy threatening him. But Team Rocket shows up this time in a giant battery plug mecha that should protect them from Pikachu's electricity attacks and power themselves up even more. Wait a second, this seems extremely convenient. Then, when they start pulling in all this energy from Pikachu, he's only getting stronger. Also, a bolt of electricity shoots out of the way and hits May's bike and fries it. Yeah, that's that's another parallel for you there. Team Rocket blasts off again, but for the first time of this generation, as they all take Pikachu back to the lab with him no longer being a threat and completely wiped out. Team Rocket really helped out Pikachu here without meaning to. So I guess the day is saved by Team Rocket after all.

May gets to meet the full set of new starter Pokémon, being Treecko, Torchic, and of course, the Mudkip that she already met. But she doesn't end up picking that Mudkip because they didn't mesh well in the Poochyena battle. But hey, neither did Ash and Pikachu at first. But whatever, that's fine because she ends up choosing Torchic as she is given all the gear and items that she needs to start her journey. Similar to Misty, May was also ready to let Ash have it regarding her destroyed bike, but holds back when seeing him asleep, caring for his Pikachu. Later, these two meet in a very calm way, and Pikachu meets with Torchic, and there seems to be a mutual respect building here between the two trainers with their Pokémon already becoming friends. And thanks to May's bike being destroyed, she can't really just go on with her journey and leave Ash in the dust. So she asks Ash to tag along with her through Hoenn, and just like that, Ash has already made a new friend and companion in May. We've saved Pikachu, and we've seen a bunch of new Pokémon already. A great way to bring us right into the vibe of this new region with some familiarity and a whole lot of new.

The next step is getting to the first Pokémon Center so that they can register for the Hoenn League, with this being Ash's next big challenge. Which, when they get to the next stop along the way of their travels, Oldale Town, they are able to get to the Pokémon Center. Ash gets officially registered, and this episode really just becomes a setup for several storylines that we will see. For one, Team Rocket isn't the big baddies over here. Every region from this point on starts getting their own teams of bad people, all with different goals. But for Team Rocket, Jesse and James, they're eternal, with Giovanni having them create their presence of Team Rocket in the Hoenn region. But along with that, we learn about the conflict building between Team Aqua and Team Magma. As at first, we meet Team Magma, so there will be a massive conflict that, of course, our main characters will end up in the middle of at several points. But Ash needs to head to the first gym in Petalburg Town.

So after this really heartfelt goodbye all of, like, I don't know, three episodes ago, Brock is already coming back to the Pokémon anime. In the meantime, Ash and May arrive in Petalburg City, where May gets pretty weird about some questions regarding the gym leader of this city and kind of just wanders off for a bit. Ash, of course, heads to the gym only to be met by this kid who knows of Ash and critiques him on his battle, specifically with Harrison and his Blaziken from the Johto League. And Ash, of course, doesn't take the comments too well and demands this kid go and get the real gym leader already. But to Ash's surprise, the kid notes that he is the gym leader, so a battle is about to break out. Being a three-on-three, like usual, like we've seen before, but there's just one problem: Ash only has Pikachu still.

But we don't need to worry about that just yet, as May appears and questions the kid about what he's doing, revealing him to not only not be the gym leader but be her brother, Max, in fact. The gym leader is their father. We get to meet the rest of the family, though, with May and Max's mom and dad. As Max is excited to see what Pokémon May has chosen as her starter, where he's a bit of a Treecko fanboy, more so than a Torchic one. Ash stays for some lunch and gets to know the family and, of course, turns the conversation into wanting some information about Norman. How this battle would actually operate going against him, not being too excited that he needs at least three Pokémon for the battle, making note that he doesn't want to send any over through the PC since this was supposed to be a fresh start, but he really hasn't focused on finding any new creatures to befriend.

While Norman can't give him an official battle at the moment, right there, he decides to offer him a taste of what a match with him would be like with an unofficial battle, a one-on-one that sees Ash's Pikachu taking Norman's Vigoth head-on. Both Pokémon are very fast, so Ash tries to make sure speed is his key here over any electrical attacks for the most part, but gets defeated pretty quickly in the end. After the battle, they all have to deal with a Team Rocket surprise, one that results in another pit trap. But I like how connected things still feel when Ash tries reaching and calling out for Bayleef to easily help him out of this situation. But alas, he has to understand that he chose a fresh start. After this whole confrontation, we know that we will be back here for a proper battle to win a badge at some point.

But as Ash is going to continue his journey forward with May coming along as well, Max ends up joining in as the group's third, being a knowledgeable companion, and the group heads on to the next city as Ash can then truly start his Hoenn League journey. It doesn't take long for them to all start getting pretty hangry and becoming argumentative as Ash talks about how good Brock was at cooking and essentially nourishing them on previous adventures. Yeah, I'd call that some pretty good foreshadowing as they begin to figure out how to split up some of these cookies that Max has had in his bag. A Taillow comes flying in and takes them, and naturally, as the food should be the concern here, Ash is more mesmerized by Taillow and of course wants to capture it.

As we get into this whole Taillow debacle here, and one Taillow becomes a flock really quickly, they all come swooping in. But out of nowhere, a Fast Ball comes flying in, and out comes a familiar force, saving our new trio that belongs to none other than Brock himself, showing up in glorious fashion to save the day. Ash is in shock to see Brock in the Hoenn region as he explains how and why he is there, getting directions to catch up to the group thanks to Professor Birch pointing the way, and officially, Brock joins the group for further travels. So more familiarity with Brock being around, and the group here will get some great meals because of it. That's fantastic. It's crazy to think that Brock at one point was written off the show for a while during the Orange Islands with his fate in the show kind of up in the air. But now, not only appears back after he leaves a second time, but stays on the team once again as a main character, making this new traveling party a solid group of four. Also, Brock did bring some Pokémon with him after all.

Ash still gets engaged into a battle with the Taillow, and more specifically, the one that ate all the cookies, as it keeps taking these attacks but not backing down. So thanks to Brock's advice to worry about catching it now instead of continuing to battle, Ash catches the Taillow and immediately calls it out to have Brock help heal it back up. As we see Ash pull out that handkerchief that Misty gave him to help clean it up, and having this bird boy look as good as new. As then Taillow gets on Ash's shoulder while they celebrate a new connection between trainer and Pokémon, as well as Ash's first Pokémon catch in the Hoenn region.

A bit later during their travels, we run into a bunch of wild Treecko as Ash tries to just catch it off the rip without battling it, so nothing becomes of that wasted Poké Ball. But May reminds him what we all know and what he should know is that one does need to actually battle the Pokémon first in the majority of the cases. I like this episode a lot because of a few reasons. One, we get some wild Pokémon lore in the way of seeing all these Treecko living at this massive tree in the woods and seeing how their community among each other actually works. Having this dispute between our edgier and moodier Treecko that we're focusing on here and this elder too, showing us a look into another lightly touched upon topic here and there, and that's Pokémon aging, especially ones that aren't evolutions. Seeing this Treecko as it's the basic evolution form, but it still has this more wrinkled skin and slower demeanor, showing that it is an older Pokémon.

In the end, the Treecko end up figuring out their differences. Ash and Pikachu help out in trying to save their massive tree home, but even in tragedy, there is always a gleam of hope. The tree may be gone, but a new seed rolls out for life to begin anew. A Treecko, though, sees this as a sign for his life to begin anew as well, challenging Ash to a battle and ultimately gets caught by him, joining on as a member of the team, giving Ash three Pokémon that he definitely could have needed before, but more importantly, a new friend to grow alongside of together. They plant the seed as the other Treecko of the woods will watch over it.

While we still haven't arrived at our first gym battle yet, we stop at something extremely important to this season and for a certain character's arc in general, and that's the introduction of Pokémon Contests. It's all about style. It's part showing off the Pokémon and their flair and part battling. With round one being a showcase of what the Pokémon can do, mixed in with elegance and coordination, and for the second round, it becomes a mix of keeping that crafted style while battling. While they are mere observers for this contest, May is extremely interested and is even shown bummed out when not being able to enter this one last minute. This whole thing gives a lot of purpose to May's character going forward, someone who hasn't been too into battling or hasn't had any interest in truly becoming a traditional Pokémon trainer, as they figure out what they are into from these contests. Which is nice to have the characters around Ash grow as well on their own and not just in the service of helping Ash grow. Misty and Brock really became their own characters throughout their journey with Ash originally, and even thanks to Chronicles continuing beyond that. So it's nice that right off the bat, not far into this new generation, new characters like May and Max are shown to develop with their own stories being established very early on. May even catches a Wurmple, which will help lead her in the contest path.

As Ash also learns about something new in the world of Pokémon, something that was specifically introduced in the Ruby and Sapphire video games, and that's double battles, having a trainer send out two Pokémon to battle two other Pokémon. As Ash faces off against this character, Forester Franklin, who teaches Ash all about them, having his Ariados and Yanma face off against Ash's Pikachu and Treecko, resulting in Ash actually winning, which is nice to see that as a trainer, he has truly been improving and can adapt to new strategies. Well, with a legacy companion like Pikachu and newer ones like Treecko, or so we may think. We'll see soon enough.

Continuing from there, we enter Rustboro City, where we end up meeting the gym leader Roxanne, who also doubles as a teacher for the Pokémon Trainers' School that helps teach even younger trainers to become very knowledgeable about Pokémon. Of course, Ash is in need of his battle, so that's all he's after. But we get to see Max, who is the youngest of the group, have this interest in the school, especially after seeing Professor Oak speak to the class, in which for Max, that's his idol. Another aspect aside from knowing about Pokémon is how to properly build strategies and how to treat your Pokémon in the battle itself. So Max does have his first battle ever that gets interrupted by Team Rocket, but he learns how to have Pokémon help it in urgency, helping command this Poliwag's attacks and work together with another student that he at first didn't see eye to eye with. And it's nice to see Max learn all about this stuff and have future goals in mind, as we now get more detail into how there are many ways and age groups for learning how to prepare for your Pokémon adventure, whatever direction it takes you.

Ash has also been hard at work training with Pikachu for his use of Iron Tail, a Steel-type attack, and at this point, feels pretty confident with Pikachu trying to master it, even if it's not all the way there yet. As Ash will finally have his first gym battle in the Hoenn region with Roxanne. She also uses this battle as a teaching lesson for her students, giving them an opportunity to learn, win or lose, how more experienced trainers can be in battle, a useful tool to study from. Unlike for Norman's rules of a three-on-three, this battle will only be a two-on-two with Roxanne sending out a Geodude and Ash using his Treecko for the type advantage. Which, hey, Ash really has learned so much. Until Brock mentions that Treecko currently doesn't know any Grass-type attacks, so the type advantage is only in classification. This first battle results in Geodude being a little too fast and powerful for Treecko, knocking him out with Pikachu jumping in for the rest of the match.

Pikachu and Geodude have at it, with Pikachu taking the win with a Thunder attack, which surprises Roxanne, as Geodude has never lost to an electric-based attack before. Something interesting to study from for her students watching the recording and for her to teach. She now sends out Nosepass, one of the weirdest Pokémon to come out of all time. Little do we know that was before we would see the future evolution of it in the next gen, but that's why I love this thing. He's great. Just look at him. Pikachu gets some good shots in and is trying to land a solid Iron Tail attack, but nothing is working, as Nosepass is no joke, offering a pretty tough challenge to Pikachu, especially when Nosepass showcases it knows Zap Cannon, an electric attack, flipping the script on Ash for his Pikachu knowing a Steel-based attack. Having her Rock-type Pokémon knowing an electric-type attack is a surprise. While Pikachu is drained of energy, Ash has Pikachu take a hit from the Zap Cannon directly, as it wouldn't hurt Pikachu, it would only help him by retaining that electrical charge to build up Pikachu's energy. As it then stuns Nosepass, giving Pikachu an open shot to take out the Nosepass with a perfect Iron Tail, fully mastering it and defeating Roxanne in battle. Ash then receives the Stone Badge, his first badge in the Hoenn region, and the official start of his Hoenn League conquest.

We also get another moment to see some of the Team Aqua versus Team Magma stuff play out, as we had already had a Magma member that we had met earlier, now getting the chance to meet the Aqua Alliance. This will be more important later down the road, but the building blocks of these other bad guy teams are starting to build. We also get the mention of Steven, who is important and someone of note, but at this point in the journey, this is just someone who the characters are going to run into, as they are told by his father that he's a good person for them to know.

To get to the next location of where this next gym battle would be, the group must take a boat ride to Dewford Island. As all the excitement for the second gym battle is trampled, literally, as all these fan girls rush out of the gym. As Brawly, the gym leader, appears, who isn't in a battling mood at the moment, as it's time to hit the waves in Surf. And yeah, him and his Makuhita really do be carving those waves. And putting my cringe aside there, Ash eventually gets his battle request. As we learn that Ash still has his overconfidence and ego fully back on, not caring too much for strategy, but going in with strength, having his Taillow rapidly attack his Machoke, as it just stoically takes the blows, building up on its own power, allowing Machop to take out the Taillow in one hit. Ash isn't taking advice from his friends to have a better strategy, as he insists on using power attacks to wear out his opponent's Pokémon, but as we just saw, that clearly doesn't work.

Treecko comes out and follows suit with power at the forefront and edges out a win over Machop, but don't take this as skill on Ash's part of the plan here. While it does have a bit of merit, clearly it is not a solid plan for the end all be all of the battle. With Makuhita coming out next, who Seismic Tosses Treecko to a point where it can barely stand, showing just how tough and headstrong this Treecko actually is. But this powerful attack from Makuhita causes it to evolve into a Hariyama, who is a lot bigger and a lot more powerful, and for sure too much for this barely standing Treecko to take. So Brock tells him to call the match, but of course, Ash doesn't listen, once again putting the goal of winning over the safety and care of his Pokémon, as he sends Treecko in for an attack. As Hariyama swiftly takes out the Treecko with no effort, leaving Brawly the winner, Ash the loser, and a lesson to be learned again for like the 10th time.

Ash refuses to hear all of that stuff that he should already know from Brock and Nurse Joy, as he tells them to shut up, running out of the room that they're all in. Pikachu catches up with him, and in a more clear and reflected mind, Ash knows that he shouldn't have done that to Treecko, even if he felt that they were on the verge of winning this one, mainly due to how he views Brawly being less of a respectable trainer, as he just puts surfing all day ahead of training, rather than understanding that the way that Brawly trains, the reason why he has such strong defenses, calculated maneuvers, and a calm demeanor, it all stems from the way that he does it. It doesn't have to be in the traditional way that Ash believes or sees it. So he overhears Brawly training with his new Hariyama and mentions that if Ash did have a level head, things could have been different. Ash knows that he has a lot of training to do and some personal growth to face, as he apologizes to his friends for his actions, as they decide to stay on the island and train to take Brawly on once more.

We end up spending some time on the island before we get to this rematch, allowing time for us to breathe for some other fun adventures, give Ash a chance to train, and overall just showcase a bunch of new Pokémon. We get to meet that Steven fellow we've heard about, as him and his Aron are looking for some evolution stones in the Granite Cave, and we get this whole thing with Team Rocket that ends up with Steven sending out his Aggron, the final evolution for Aron, that is this massive and powerful beast, taking out Team Rocket in a single attack, giving Ash a preview of just how powerful of a trainer Steven is. Steven is an interesting person. He has a deep care of the Pokémon world and is a powerful trainer who just says goodbye after meeting them all to go and look for more evolution stones. We'll probably see him again later.

Ash would later encounter a Corphish, another Pokémon that the anime helped me really enjoy. Similar to Ash's Krabby to Kingler, Corphish is just cool. Ash thinks so too, based on how fast and powerful it is, putting up a strong battle until Treecko helps take him down for Ash to have a chance to catch him. This battle, though, deployed more strategy from Ash, having his Treecko build up Focus, meditating instead of attacking, using Corphish's weakness of being impatient and territorial against itself, where Treecko is able to Quick Attack then to Pound Attack combo when it was coming in for a strong attack. His friends note that there was some impressive stuff just shown, and that he is learning in training to be ready for this battle. Brock also then gets a Mudkip, so for once, Ash doesn't have all the starters. They're dispersed out nicely. We get to also see more of the evil teams, each possessing their own special orb, a red one and a blue one, as their conflict grows more interesting and intense in the background of Ash's journey that we sometimes intersect with.

Ash eventually meets back up with Brawly and ends up having a match with this one girl, Shauna, who wanted to prove to Brawly that she is worthy to be his apprentice. Ash wins, but Brawly notices two things: one, that Shauna is good, and with the right mentorship, could be great, so he asks her to be his apprentice. And two, notices that Ash has improved a lot, added so much more into his mindset towards a battle, and that he is ready to face him once more. Now, the battle is about to begin. Brawly sends out his Machop once more with Ash bringing out Treecko first, having a nice strategy of being quick and calm, waiting for the right moment where Treecko goes in for a Quick Attack, but Machop is just becoming more powerful from this. So Ash knows not to have Treecko in this situation, we're calling him back in his Poké Ball, sending out Corphish instead, who is able to keep up with the power of Machop and take it out, leaving the battle up to Brawly's Hariyama. The arena that they are on allows for some good strategies, especially in favor of Corphish here, using this water, allowing it to disappear from view. But Hariyama forces it out of the water to then Seismic Toss and knock it out.

And now the battle, once again, is Treecko versus Hariyama. Ash's training with Treecko is panning out well here, as Treecko is able to dodge a lot that is coming after him and is able to get a bunch of blows in, tiring both Pokémon out, but having them fly at each other one last time with a more powerful attack, giving us this moment of tension. As silence falls, and then so does Hariyama, giving Ash the win for the battle, leaving Brawly impressed. Ash is then rewarded with his second badge, the Knuckle Badge, as our time now on the island has come to an end. May gets to spend time on her contest arc, even getting herself a rival in this guy named Drew. She then enters the Slateport City Pokémon Contest, but ultimately doesn't win.

Eventually, we arrive in Mauville City, where Ash is going up against the gym leader Watson, an Electric-type trainer. So obviously, the right choice of Pokémon for this battle is none other than Pikachu. Well, he sure is eager and confident for some reason. As the gym leader and the rest of Ash's group, including Ash to an extent, are, no pun intended, shocked by this. But that quickly gets put to bed as Pikachu just takes all three of the gym leader's Pokémon out in one hit, from Magnemite to Voltorb, and finally Magneton. While that was odd, Ash does win his third badge just like that, the Dynamo Badge. Which I will admit, while Ash is surely winning these badges fully, it's nice to see how different these battles are, from learning a skill to defeat one, to then one focusing on losing a battle and building up strategy, and then to now just being the easiest gym battle he's currently ever had.

Pikachu, though, isn't well after this. But as he is being healed up, we learn about why he was all fired up and powerful earlier, and it was all thanks to before the battle even happened when the group had to fight this at first thought real, but turned out to be fake, mechanical Raichu. It sent this high voltage throughout Pikachu after defeating it, charging him up to a new power level. During all of this, Watson is pretty bummed out. It's one thing to lose a gym battle, but it's another to lose like that and still have the title of gym leader, feeling pretty down on himself and questioning his age and his tactics, if he's even fit for the title anymore. And now, at the power plant in the area, of course, there is some Team Rocket trouble going on, so the crew ends up helping out and saving the day.

After this, Ash consoles a still pretty down Watson, telling him about Pikachu being overcharged, and since that was the case, Ash trying to give him back the badge. But Watson declines it, saying that he has earned it in general for also helping out at the power plant, and they both agree to have a friendly rematch one day. And as much as it's split here with this gym, with Ash technically fairly winning, but also on a weird technicality, but then also being able to be given back the badge based on just helping out, it's just a very interesting dynamic the way they set it up in this episode. But I would say the most important part is that Ash was trying to give the badge back. We've seen him decline things before, but to see him actively have already have won something to then go and return it after he learns about why he won the battle, regardless if it's deemed fair or not, there's just a cool little character trait about Ash that I find truly interesting. And for now, that's the first season of the journey today, with Ash now having three badges out of eight for the Hoenn region, a gang of new friends, and even a returning one, plus some new Pokémon on his team to train and grow with.

Who's that Pokémon? It's Squirtle. Continuing on now with Advanced Challenge, we get more involved with Team Magma and Team Aqua. We're now at Mount Chimney. Both teams are there for this special meteorite bit found. Both team admins, Tabitha and Shelly, are there to deal with this, and of course, both teams get into a huge battle, causing quite the commotion as they engage with one another. Ash and Company are in the cable cars on their way up the mountain, but it gets shut down during this whole altercation. As Ash tries to get everyone out of the car and onto this nearby tower, Team Rocket, who was in disguise originally, ruins everything, and now everyone is stranded on the car, aside from Ash, who will come back to rescue them as he finds a way.

Ash ends up running into this guy, Professor Cozmo, the one responsible for finding the meteorite, and he explains to Ash that it fell from space, being a piece of a larger asteroid, and he doesn't know why either team wants it, but they are after it. Team Aqua technically retreats for now, as Team Magma heads to the summit. Team Magma also has a Golbat take the meteorite from the professor, as they now carry on with their plans. They end up placing the meteorite in a special machine at the summit, as a laser aims down to the center of the volcano. Where Ash and the professor catch up to Team Magma. He has Pikachu hit the machine with a Thunderbolt to get the space rock back, but all it does is hurt the machine and give everyone an alert that, hey, uh, right over there, yeah, this kid is, uh, messing with the device. Do something about it. So the professor, in the interest of no bad guys using this thing, knocks the rock and the whole device, for that matter, into the volcano. And oh yeah, Ash does end up saving his friends. So for now, both teams are at bay for whatever evil plans they are up to.

The heat continues to turn up as well, as we enter Lavaridge Town to meet Flannery, the gym leader, where Ash is ready to face her for his fourth badge. Starting off with Ash's Corphish going up against Flannery's Magcargo, Ash makes sure to hit with a powerful attack and go into a strong defense to counter, proving to be a solid type advantage as well. With his confidence high, eventually being able to take out her Magcargo. Ash still ends up swapping Pokémon while she sends out Slugma, losing the type advantage. With Treecko joining in on the fun, as Treecko was holding his own for a while, he ends up getting burned. So Ash flip-flops right back to Corphish, who gets put to sleep by a Yawn immediately. Ash again recalls the Corphish with Pikachu jumping in now and is able to knock out the Slugma, leaving her with one Pokémon left, a Torkoal.

Which Ash may just take a liking to here. Pikachu's Iron Tail is no match for his Iron Defense, so it's no easy battle in this final stance from Flannery. With Pikachu ending up getting knocked out, leaving Treecko to then get taken out as well, and Corphish to come back, waking up and figuring out how to break this defense and just land that perfect direct attack, and ensuring a win for the battle, earning Ash his fourth badge in the Hoenn region, the Heat Badge. Which is great, but Ash may just need a Torkoal of his own.

So now, in an area known as The Valley of Steel, the coolest name ever, Ash ends up conveniently running into one Torkoal that needs help because they're in a bad situation, as nothing good happens in the valley here, as this Torkoal is just constantly under attack. By the end of this fun time here, Torkoal's strength, thanks to Ash helping him realize that being scared isn't going to help him, comes in handy in being set free from a Steelix. Seeming like a glance of respect was given to Torkoal, as Ash wonders if Torkoal would then like to join him on his adventures, and of course, Torkoal emotionally joins on, excited to be there. We love a wholesome moment like this.

Ash eventually has that friendly rematch with Watson. Ash loses, and Watson still got it and ready to continue to be that gym leader he's worked so hard to become. A bit later on in their adventure, Ash is getting ready for gym number five, AKA Norman's gym, AKA May and Max's dad. And during this training, Ash meets a guy named Guy who has this out of control Loudred, the evolved version of his Whismur. Who, in an effort to help calm it down, has Ash battle against it with Treecko jumping in to stop it. But the battle is intense between the two, so much so that they both evolve at the same time, with Loudred becoming Exploud and Treecko becoming Grovyle. Through a big mess of an intense battle, Team Rocket getting involved in this trainer saving Exploud from danger. Exploud learns to trust Guy and starts listening to him as the battle between Grovyle and it continues.

Now back at Petalburg, Ash is ready to face the father of his friends. After a bunch of experience on the road, Norman sends out Slaking first with Ash going up against it with Pikachu. But thanks to their first unofficial battle, he knew the key to play against speed is balance and trying to trip them up over it. That's all Norman's goal is. But Ash recalls Pikachu when things get a little bit frosty and instead has Torkoal come out to knock out Slaking, heating things up just a little bit. But now Torkoal has to face off against Vigoth, and it's just too strong and gets the best of Torkoal, having Pikachu come back out for the rematch against Vigoth, and we see all these different types of moves here that are a bit shocking to see, maybe at first, especially from the Pokémon that they're coming from. This is all thanks to Norman taking Ash way more seriously in battle than most opponents. Pikachu eventually lands a nice Iron Tail hit, knocking out the Vigoth. And this was such a tough challenge. Pikachu also faints from the amount of power used. So they can't really be anything tougher, right? Well, well, there is. With both their final Pokémon coming out as Grovyle taking up the challenge against the big strong Slaking. And while this battle is tough on Grovyle, we even reach a point that mirrors Ash being a little too heavy on Treecko. With Norman suggesting he withdraw for safety, or show him what he's really made of. And with Ash's belief in Grovyle, knowing that he can do this and that it's not pushing him too far based on all the training they've had, this encouragement helps Grovyle excel in the end, and ending up defeating the Slaking and win the fifth gym badge, the Balance Badge.

Uh oh, uh, Max just stole the badge from Ash. He's running away and he locks himself in the greenhouse and he's yelling that his dad can't lose. There's no way. He's very emotional based on how he sees and looks up to his father, truly wanting to be like him, as we saw when we first met him pretending to be the gym leader. He struggles seeing him in a losing light. But Norman tells him that losing is just as important as winning. It's how you learn, become better, gain experience. Ash even notes that he doesn't need the badge, he can live without one, and just the experience from the battle was enough. A selfless act that is almost impossible to believe in some ways, but also very much seen in Ash's character in other ways. Max eventually comes out and gives Ash the badge and mentions battling his father one day as well. And now Ash has officially won the Balance Badge.

Earlier, Ash learned about double battles, but what about tag battles? So Ash and May work together to battle with Oscar and Andy over here, and they end up losing to these two. As the rest of the episode, even when dealing with Team Rocket, they argue back and forth until defeating Team Rocket by truly coming together. With May and Ash making up for their arguments, and all is right. You know how Ash also likes to just get involved in random contests or tournaments sometimes? Well, he does it again here with the Poké Ring competition, where it's all about flying Pokémon. Ash and his Taillow get in sync, minus the boy band, and wipe the floor with the competition with how well they are able to complete the task for the tournament, as well as hold at bay the opponents in their attacks while delivering some back. With Taillow evolving into Swellow at the end, defeating James from Team Rocket in the finals and winning the competition. It would be crazy if this happened again in the next generation.

We get some more fun along the journey as we meet Castform and this whole Team Magma espionage plan, having this Brody fella sneak around as a weather institute scientist under Team Aqua's radar. But eventually, we make our way to Fortree City, where we meet Winona, the gym leader, and once again, Ash is ready for gym badge number six. The arena is set, elevated up into the air. Winona has this deep connection to the sky and all of the air within it. And Altaria, what she sends out her Altaria. See you, see what you see what I did there. Anyway, Ash sends out Grovyle, and it's a battle of speed versus power, with Grovyle running and flipping around as Altaria tries to land some Dragon-type attacks, but Grovyle finds an opening to get to Altaria to bring it down to the ground, knocking it out, with Winona genuinely impressed with how well thought out Ash's strategies with Grovyle were.

Next, she sends out her Pelipper, and Ash swaps out Grovyle with Pikachu to take on the challenge. Both Pokémon seem pretty equal in their abilities and skills that it ends up being quite a solid battle, but both end up knocking each other out, having her Swellow come out, which is a shiny variant, that goes against Ash's Grovyle, but proves to be too powerful, knocking out Grovyle. And you know what that means? It's time for Swellow versus Swellow. Dawn of a gust of wind, as Ash sends out his large bird boy to fight the other shiny large big bird. And I am glad we can all tell them apart because of this, as both of these powerful aviators clash in the skies. We see the dedication and determination in both the Pokémon and their trainers to win, but in the end, Ash's Swellow lands a final Wing Attack, knocking out Winona's Swellow, giving Ash the win and his sixth badge, the Feather Badge.

Oh, and then after this, Pikachu catches some amnesia, and he ends up working for Team Rocket. But Ash will do anything for him, so Ash tries rescuing him from their air balloon, and Pikachu shocks them, and they fall from above into the river below. And as they wash up out of the river, Pikachu gives him a lick on the face. Ash wakes up, and Pikachu shows that he remembers everything again, and no matter what, they will always be friends forever. And Ash shows Pikachu that even in impossible circumstances, he's going to do whatever it takes to come through in the end. Just a fun little moment here. And Ash is now only two badges away from completing the qualifications for the Hoenn region. May's been doing her contest stuff to some success and some losses, but the Pokémon along the way with Ash have been truly growing, aside from a couple of evolutions. The teamwork and battle strategies seem to be building up better and better each battle.

Back on our journeys with Advanced Battle, our group ends up at sea thanks to Team Rocket once again, and this time, after becoming lost at sea, Maxie, the leader of Team Magma, is holding them captive. As we learn that the opposing sides have captured the opposite color matching Legendary Pokémon. Team Magma currently has Kyogre captured, as we see some espionage happening again to awaken him from his chamber. We get some insight to what Team Magma and Team Aqua's plans are and their reasonings for this all. Maxie tells Ash that it's not for the express purposes of controlling some ancient divine beasts, but for the sake of Team Magma's goals, it's to increase the world's total land mass, as Groudon is the key to creating new land. They know that Team Aqua has Groudon and want to trade with them, but thanks to Shelly, in disguise from Team Aqua, she sets Kyogre free, who swims away.

And another reveal we get through this all happening is that Lance was there in disguise the whole time as a Magma grunt, but we know him better for doing his G-Man duties, keeping a close eye on things going on. That's our boy Lance. But clearly, this whole altercation with Kyogre getting free messes up the trade deal, but it's on purpose, offering no leverage from Team Magma over Team Aqua. Thanks to some rocking around the office, Pikachu ends up grabbing the blue orb that ended up flying through the air, and whoever holds it controls Groudon. But for some reason, it fuses with Pikachu, making him more like a zombie Pikachu from this one that is supercharged with power, that gives them all a chance to escape, but it's still very zombie in pain, possibly Pikachu. We see that Archie, the leader of Team Aqua, knows that Kyogre was set free and has the red orb, as now he can control Kyogre and uses him to continue this assault on Team Magma's ship.

Our group makes their escape from the ship, but Ash is held back and taken captive and brought with them to some Team Magma members in a helicopter as they go to Mosu Island to meet with Team Aqua, where they try and make some negotiations for the things that they each want from each other, knowing full well that there is a lot of playing each other going on constantly. Team Rocket is around as they think that they're going to still Groudon and Kyogre for their boss, he'll be super happy. Yeah, okay guys, good luck with that. Anyway, Lance and Ash fully reunite, as they need to stop whatever is going on and help Pikachu from the pain it's having because of the blue orb inside of him. Team Aqua has the opposite goal of Team Magma, wanting to use Kyogre to make it endlessly rain, flooding out the land masses around the globe, as we see Kyogre being fully controlled by Archie, and how he's not concerned for anyone under his command, from Shelly all the way down to Perry, for the cause. He even fuses with the red orb, just like Pikachu did with the blue one. There is this tension now building up. Lance warns of a fight between both ancients is inevitable at this point, and the consequences are world-ending. Pikachu gets

Pulled towards Groudon as the orb's effect is pulling at him, so he runs off. As Ash is reunited with everyone else, Pikachu ends up on top of this box containing Groudon, pulling in heavy strikes of lightning from the skies down to the containment, releasing Groudon and awakening him for this battle. The raw power that these two creatures have is really beginning to shake everyone.

During this intense battle, with everyone being this important moving piece and having a role to play in it, the orbs phase out of Archie and Pikachu. As Ash jumps to save a falling, passed out Pikachu, he gets a hold of them just in time. Archie starts waking up without much memory of what's been happening. It can convenient Kyogre appears from the depths with Ash and Pikachu safe and sound. As Kyogre ended up saving them, Pikachu wakes up fine as well.

The two orbs are now in the sky, circling one another as they combine into one and disappear. Kyogre and Groudon have a mutual understanding that they aren't being controlled anymore, so there is no need to be fighting right now. They head back to their respective territories, with Kyogre heading towards the trench deep under the sea and Groudon heading towards the volcano's pit. So, I guess that ends the Team Aqua versus Team Magma situation right there. There's nothing else they can really do to control the beasts. Those orbs are gone, so there's really no mission anymore. There's no side story for these villains, so back to the regular journey then, I guess.

Ash and Company make it to Moss Deep City, where the next gym battle would be. But oops, tripped, fell, and now Max, this person named Tate, and this dude Jyn are all on this spaceship that Team Rocket jacks and literally blasts off with. So, uh, yeah, that's pretty wild. Uh, see you later, Max. It was nice knowing you. It's okay, they make it back. It's just, it's a wild journey.

But these two characters here, Tate and Liza, are actually the next gym leaders, as they are a duo, so it'll be a double battle. It's Solrock and Lunatone versus Pikachu and Swellow. An interesting duo for an interesting battle, as Pikachu and Swellow learn to work together really well, while Solrock and Lunatone are clumsy and bumping into each other. As Tate and Liza are arguing and clearly not as focused as Ash's, so they aren't properly working together here. Team Rocket interrupts, ruining the arena. Pikachu rides Swellow to go deal with them, and the battle ends up continuing outside.

As Pikachu shoots Thunder into the heavens, receiving a supercharged bolt of lightning back, turning our boy's golden and ready for the final strike, knocking both out. And Ash celebrates by hugging his Pokémon with how great they performed together and ends up winning his seventh badge, the Mind Badge.

After this, Ash runs into Drake. No, not that Drake. No, not that one either. Yeah, yeah, that's the one. And he's a member of the Hoenn Elite Four, so yeah, Ash is going to try and battle him, but of course, loses. What did you expect? Ash did what he could, but sorry, he's in the Elite Four for the region for a reason. Ash takes some more L's as well, thanks to not being able to catch this larger-than-normal Claydol. And you know, it's realistic not being able to catch every Pokémon you want, so I do appreciate these moments. But it's okay.

Ash ends up later meeting a Snorunt with a blizzard rolling into the area, and it just likes playing tricks on him, having fun with Ash's badges just to annoy him. So the only thought to get everything back while being fashionable in these snow coats is to have Snorunt join the team, offering it a battle and catching it afterwards, giving Ash a new friend. And even has a nice little talk to him about acceptable behavior after it freezes his Feebas. Adorable.

It's time for the final badge, as we get to Stoppus City, where Ash will face off against the gym leader, Juan. The battlefield here is a giant swimming pool, and the battle will be well different than most others. As we first start off with a double battle, and later we'll have a single battle with Juan having Luvdisc and Seaking out against Ash's Pikachu and Snorunt. Or thanks to a combo of Icy Wind from Snorunt and Pikachu using it as a running pad for Iron Tail, this seems like it could be good, but it's not going to be that simple.

With Snorunt taking a direct hit from a Hyper Beam and is just out of the match already, sending in Feebas now to help Pikachu, and they do their best to work together. Pikachu gets a shot and lands a solid Iron Tail on Seaking, knocking him out. While Pikachu is now surfing Feebas with Ice Balls being chucked at it from the Luvdisc. Feebas and Pikachu have to use some solid strategy and teamwork here so that Pikachu can help distract the Luvdisc and Feebas can get in close for a powerful direct hit, knocking it out.

Now, from this, the battlefield changes into something larger, a full-on lake now. As for the single battle, it's starting. Ash gets ready his Grovyle to go up against Luvdisc, but Grovyle gets hit with a Sweet Kiss. And now, depending on the effects of this and if it controls him or not, Ash might not be in the best spot here. It actually ends up confusing Grovyle, and before Ash can even recall him, he ends up getting knocked out.

So back out goes Feebas, and he even uses a strategy Broly used on him by hitting the water extremely hard in a certain way, sending Luvdisc flying into the air. And Feebas is now able to grab it and defeat it. Can't say the same when Whiscash comes out, as this powerful fish knocks out Feebas very quickly, leaving Ash with Swellow to come out and face the earth-shaking fish. Hitting it with an Aerial Ace and taking it out, leaving Juan on his final Pokémon. A specific Pokémon that shouldn't be taken lightly, Milotic. It appears, and while Swellow holds this serpent off for a while, Milotic's Twisters take him out, bringing Ash to just Pikachu. Good old faithful, using the terrain to Pikachu's advantage. After some very tough-to-dodge attacks, Pikachu grabs onto Milotic, who dives under the water, bringing him along.

Is now Pikachu uses Thunder, creating a massive shock explosion that now above the water has Pikachu still able to fight, but Milotic completely fainted, giving Ash the win and his eighth and final badge for the Hoenn region, the Rain Badge. Ash will now be able to enter the Hoenn League, but like usual, there is a few month wait until this happens, giving us some time for some filler episodes. Which again, filler can be fun and great. A lot of this time is just Ash training, especially with Snorunt being, well, the runt of the group in terms of battle experience and power. May gets to spend time with the contest stuff, so I guess that all works out. We meet some new potential rivals for Ash, like Morrison and Tyson. And Tyson has a literal own Puss in Boots in the form of this cute little Meowth. And eventually, Ash's Snorunt evolves into a Glalie, as it becomes a lot more powerful.

Also, May gets a Munchlax. Another example of Pokémon having a Pokémon from the next generation in an earlier one, with Munchlax being a Gen 4 Pokémon and also the pre-evolution of Snorlax. But now it's time for the championship to start. Ash is all registered and ready to go, but of course, like tradition, the sacred flame is being tampered with. It's thanks to Team Rocket, and all of the heroes and even Tyson help stop them to save the sacred flame. It's just part of the events now, something that always happens with the darn flame.

Throughout the series of upcoming battles, I like how we focus on Ash, Morrison, and Tyson traveling up the ranks through them and supporting each other. So, yes, Ash is able to beat his opponent for the preliminary round, like the others do, where Pikachu ends up defeating a Hitmonlee. The next set of battles for everyone is a double battle, so Morrison and Tyson win their battles. But for Ash, he has to face off against a Tropius and Swalot with his Corphish and Torkoal. As Torkoal is able to take out the Tropius and itself, Corphish has to stand against Swalot, and he sure does swallow a lot because he's getting filled with bubbles and explodes inside, causing him to pass out. So Ash moves on as well.

Another set of doubles come and go real quick. Everyone advances as Ash had his Grovyle and Claydol fighting a Quagsire and Charizard, and these two are no match for Ash's duo here. Now, things get more rough for this round because full battles are starting, having Ash go up against this trainer named Katie first. It's Torkoal versus Venomoth, and they have at it until she ends up calling it back and now continues with Golduck to take out Torkoal swiftly with a barrage of attacks. Pikachu enters the fight as she swaps out Golduck for Dusclops, and Pikachu ends up getting taken out by surprise. Things don't look too good for Ash here, but he then sends out Claydol, who takes out the Dusclops and the following Venomoth, but then also faints himself. So that's fun.

The battle continues with Corphish and the Golduck coming back, and this fight is the most intense yet. Lots of flinging around the arena, lots of energy used for attacks, but in the end, Corphish has done the unthinkable. And created a school survival guide for... oh, sorry, that's a different video I'm doing. Anyway, Venomoth is back. I know swapping in and out Pokémon is a, you know, a strategy, but I find it so annoying, and I probably very much dislike you if this is how you play. Where's the commitment? Ash swaps out as well and brings out Swellow, who can take out the Venomoth. As next, Scizor comes out, and after a pretty back-and-forth battle between two strong Pokémon here, Swellow edges out the win, knocking out Scizor, leaving Katie with her last Pokémon, a Walrein, who is her most powerful Pokémon. So it takes out Swellow, then Corphish easily, back to back, with Grovyle remaining. And this little Grovyle has that dog in him, proving once again that proper training from both a physical and mental standpoint has real results. As Ash gets in the final order for him to slice straight up at the last second to take out the Walrein, winning the battle.

And now they can all move on to the final 16, where Ash will now have to face Morrison head-on with Corphish leading against a Girafarig, where Ash gets the first win, taking out the Girafarig. As Morrison is not fully all there right now, kind of overthinking this battle or how to change strategies on the fly here, ending up sitting there in a state of shock, not knowing what to do. And he risks being disqualified because of this. Ash encourages him to keep battling, regardless of how friendly they are with each other. He wants him to go all out and deliver a good battle. So Morrison starts trying to get into the hang of things, so he sends out Growlithe, but Corphish also takes out Growlithe as well, pretty easily. So Ash keeps egging Morrison on even harder to just truly take this seriously, really laying into him. As it then sparks a flame again, as he now sends out Swampert, which takes out the Corphish, but then also gets knocked out. Pikachu now comes out, going up against his Steelix, and yeah, Pikachu gets more than he bargained for, being defeated. Don't worry, though. Ash still has Torkoal. Never mind, Steelix took him out too. What a good callback from the first time we met. Ash's Torkoal now Grovyle comes out to the party, taking out Steelix, but then loses to his next Pokémon, which was Gligar. So in response, Swellow comes out strong, and they end up knocking each other out. One Pokémon left each, a Metang against Ash's Glalie, who ends up with a solid finishing blow on Metang, giving Ash the win and entrance into the top eight.

His next opponent is Tyson, naturally. And Ash starts with his Glalie. As Tyson sends out a Sceptile, but once again, we see another double knockout extremely fast. As then Treecko and Torkoal face off. Torkoal really pulled a Troy Bolton and got his head in the game and got a win over the Treecko, but then lost focus and wasn't strong enough for Harama, who defeats him. Ash sends out Corphish, but Corphish gets defeated as well. So Swellow is ready for action now with Aerial Ace, as that rarely ever fails, taking out the Harama and giving us a Dawn Fan to see continue the battle. But Swellow is on that high of winning, coming down for seconds and defeating the Dawn Fan. Man, Ash's Swellow is just on another level. But Tyson sends out a heavy hitter next with Metagross. And yeah, this juggernaut of a Pokémon steamrolls Swellow, and then as a follow-up, steamrolls Grovyle as well, having Pikachu left, who does everything he can, sending massive attacks to ultimately defeat the beast.

But now the legend of Meowth comes out. And while we just see a Meowth here in retrospect, right? It's just a Meowth. Might have a cute outfit, it's just still a Meowth. This one in particular is no joke himself, being able to fight extremely well against Pikachu, evenly matching blows, but in the end, gets the upper hand with its own Iron Tail, resulting in Pikachu's defeat. It's kind of poetic in a way, starting off the series with Pikachu defeating Roxanne with that move, only to lose to it in the championship. A nice congratulations is in order as Tyson goes on to win the whole thing.

From there, we get a bit of a split-off, though, with May and Max heading home for a moment. As Brock heads back to Pewter City, and Ash learns about the Battle Frontier, a special area that's also tied into the games as well, that Ash gets alerted to and can visit. And for us, it gives us a fourth season. But Ash, for now, goes home to Pallet. But first, see Misty and check in on her, which is sweet. But now we just have fun back home, where we see new Pokémon hanging with old Pokémon, and all of the fun characters we've come to know and love throughout the series so far, just having a nice time together. May wants to travel through Kanto for some more contests. Ash leaves a few Pokémon at the ranch with Oak. See you later, Torkoal and Glalie. But he does end up grabbing Feraligatr to join the team once more, so that's exciting.

But now to get to the Battle Frontier, that is located near Cerulean City. For some reason, the whole gang rolls deep together, continuing their journey now back in Kanto. Now, the season has a weird split here, so I think cutting it right here and having everything that has to do with Battle Frontier in the Battle Frontier season just seems a bit better. Who's that Pokémon? It's Mewtwo. Now for the final arc of the generation, Battle Frontier, which just like the games, feels like a small extra bonus for us to have a little bit of fun with at the end. But it feels a lot less exciting because we already have gone through what feels like a finale. That being said, things do start out pretty fun.

As we arrive at the Battle Factory, as Ash looks to take on the first Frontier Brain, Factory Head Noland, and none other than Charizard makes his return from the valley to support Ash in a battle here. As Noland would have a freaking Articuno. Is that even legal? Who does he think he is? That guy from the second movie? Well, Charizard is a nice addition to have back for a fun battle overall. So getting to see him battle with Ash again after so long was surely a nice treat and made the fight a lot more exciting overall. Pretty intense as Charizard, after a crazy tough fight, manages to take out Articuno and win this one-on-one match. We also can see how much Charizard has trained and learned since we last saw him. And now, for winning, similar to a badge, Ash receives a Frontier Symbol. This one being the Knowledge Symbol. As well as he is given a Frontier Folio to house the symbols in. Then Charizard leaves once more to the valley, as it was just a brief but nice time seeing such a good orange, technically not dragon, dragon. Okay, well, the first place, the Battle Factory, was near Cerulean. All of the other main locations are set near different areas, so that means we have lots more traveling to do in between the challenges. May is still doing her contest thing, and I'll bring up Harley now, just briefly. He's this, uh, cosplay get-up guy. We meet him way earlier, but since we have a breather right now, I wanted to make sure that I don't forget to mention that he, uh, at least exists.

Ash also gets his Snorlax back on the team for a bit, which after the other three seasons, it's nice to see some familiar faces from the past come back out to play. The group finds the Battle Arena, which was near Saffron City, as Ash will go up against the next Frontier Brain, Arena Tycoon Greta, as she will have a battle with Ash where she has a Heracross and Machoke. So Ash will have Grovyle and Snorlax ready for this fight. Grovyle goes to take on Heracross, and while he puts up a strong fight like he's known for, Heracross is just too strong, regardless of how fast Grovyle is. Snorlax comes out next and Ice Punches Heracross for a knockout, turning the tides from losing to even. With Machoke entering the battle, Ash learns to pull back on offense attacks sometimes here and use a smart defense for a counter by letting Snorlax rest for a moment to heal back up. And as the energy levels are flying high, so is Snorlax, slamming down with a Body Slam on Machoke and winning the match. Ash is the winner and earns his next symbol, the Gut Symbol.

Now, with the journey ahead to the Battle Dome near Lavender Town, here Ash faces the next Frontier Brain, Dome Ace Tucker, who challenges with a double battle, having Arcanine and a Swampert, two pretty powerful Pokémon at the ready to take on Ash's Swellow and Corphish. And yes, power-wise, the odds were stacked against Ash, but thanks to him truly knowing how to use the tactics and strategy right for his Pokémon, specifically the ones he's been training with for them, but now having these two unique Pokémon pair together, Ash is able to defeat them both, having him become the winner, earning the Tactics Symbol. And for sure, he truly earned this one because of the name.

Next, Ash heads towards the Battle Pike near Fuchsia City, but along the way, his Feraligatr that he brought with him finally evolves into a Donphan, which is just nice to see. Calling all the way back to the first movie where we first see a Donphan premiere against Ash in a battle to now him having his own. You just love to see it. We even get some time with Celebi in the anime itself, as it's helping Pokémon in a forest fire. As we meet a Pokémon Ranger named Solana, and if I could spend hours talking about the Pokémon Ranger games, I would. Maybe on the gaming channel someday, but we get this nice connection of building what a Pokémon Ranger does as our characters interact with and help out the ranger on their mission. Brock also gets a Gen 4 Pokémon early in the form of another pre-evolution, with it being Bonsly, which are the pre-evolution of Sudowoodo.

But now at the Battle Pike, Ash gets to face the fourth Frontier Brain, Pike Queen Lucy. Well, first, we have to deal with Team Rocket, but then he can battle Lucy with Ash's Donphan taking on her Seviper and taking it out. But her second serpent Pokémon is Milotic, which we are familiar with how powerful this Pokémon can be, especially as it takes out Donphan, leaving Pikachu to face off against Milotic once more. Pikachu squeezes out the win, though, and Ash gets the Luck Symbol. But no luck was had doing this. This was pure skill. Okay, maybe a bit of luck in there.

They now head for the Battle Palace on Mt. Coronet Island. Yes, you heard that right. But along the way, the group gets involved in an orienteering competition where contestants get this map of Pallet Town where you must locate five checkpoints representing five Pokémon to receive a stamped silhouette of that Pokémon. And the first team to complete getting all of the stamps and get to the Pokémon Center is declared the winner of this little side quest here. And surprisingly, James and his Mime Jr., yes, another Gen 4 baby Evo Pokémon that this time would turn into Mr. Mime, ends up winning. So a good win for him. And not too long after, Ash's Grovyle evolves into a Sceptile, and he is in love with this Meganium who rejects him. And now Sceptile can't perform any attacks. I'm sure this won't be too big of a problem, right? Uh, wrong. Yes, this carries on even further as Ash tries to comfort the big fella here, but he runs off with Ash wanting to help in any way he can, not just to get his powerful Pokémon back, but to help his Pokémon buddy here. Eventually, through a fun adventure together, Sceptile seems all good once more and is able to perform his attacks again. And that's great because now we have to deal with the next Frontier Brain, Alice Maven Spencer, where Ash now has Heracross on his team again, which is good to see. But this becomes a battle amongst the trees, and while we get to see a variety of a lot of fun Pokémon here going back and forth, in the end, it's down to Sceptile and Claydol, where Sceptile absorbs the sunlight, becoming more energized and focused, being able to avoid a Hyper Beam and use the sun to Solar Beam Claydol for a win in the battle, which gives Ash his next symbol, the Spirit Symbol.

Jumping to the next part of the challenges, Ash arrives at the Battle Tower to face the sixth Frontier Brain, Salon Maiden Anabel, where Ash grabs a Tauros for his team now for good measure. But this battle, though, is pretty tough. As her Alakazam takes out Ash's Corphish and his Tauros, but Pikachu steps in to take the Alakazam down. But now she has a Metagross. Like, come on, these are truly the premium high-tier battles that any trainer needs years of training for. Sure, Pikachu has beaten a Metagross before, but this one is just a lot more powerful, and it knocks out Pikachu, resulting in Ash losing for the first time in the Battle Frontier. But we know that Ash will come back the next day, ready to fight again. And now Corphish ends up with the win against Alakazam, but not the Metagross. But hey, let's give Tauros some credit here. He held out in a tough battle with Metagross, as we end that match in a draw, leaving one final Pokémon left each with Ash using Pikachu and Anabel using Espeon. And after a little while, some back and forth, Pikachu lands a solid Volt Tackle, knocking Espeon out, and Ash claiming the victory against Anabel, and him receiving the Ability Symbol.

Now it's time to head to the Battle Pyramid near Fortree City. On the way, we get some more Pokémon Ranger goodness, as aside from dealing with some Deoxys in the movie that we spoke about earlier, Ash and Company deal with Sam once again, helping out the ranger in this two-part special event that feels like another mini-movie that features Deoxys in it. So for what it's worth, it's neat. We then get to Fortree City, and before heading to the pyramid, the group spends some time with Brock's family, as we get to learn about how things are going here at the gym, and that Onix is now a Steelix, so that's exciting. Things though do get a bit weird here, but you know, that makes it fun, right? When Ash enters the Battle Pyramid to face off against the last Frontier Brain, Pyramid King Brandon, Ash in a different part of the pyramid gets possessed by the King of Pokélantis. This is real. And to save him from this, Brandon battles Ash's Sceptile with a Regirock and defeats him. While Ash technically loses, it was to help him out of this possessed state, and he will get a real match anyway. And in the end of this episode, Ash sees Ho-Oh for a third time, which is pretty cool to see from a viewer standpoint.

In the meantime, between this moment and his next battle with Brandon, Ash notices an Aipom following the group, traveling around with them. And he's kind to it, but it likes to steal Ash's hat and continues to follow them. Nevertheless, he tries to catch it, but fails for now. But eventually, he does get the chance to catch him, and Aipom becomes an official member of Ash's team. The Battle Pyramid has moved, though, so Ash heads now to the Sinnoh region. And Aipom already gets sent to the Oak Ranch, where Torkoal comes back to the team, going head-on against Brandon once more at the pyramid. But even if Torkoal holds his own for a bit, he still loses. I mean, he's using, you know, a Registeel. This is the second Regi he's using. Another Regi. And Brandon mentions that once Ash is able to fight as one with his Pokémon, then he will truly be ready and have a shot at winning.

In the meantime, we get some more seeds planted for the next region. Maybe Brandon has something to do with a character that'll be in the next generation. But we also get this postcard from Gary regarding the Sinnoh region. It's nice to hear from Gary after so long. Misty also sends him this nice fishing lore. And if we look back to when Ash first met Misty, she hooked him in on her fishing lore, pulling them out of the water, so that's pretty symbolic. Ash also then swaps his Torkoal back for Aipom. Ash, though, is getting ready for this final battle with Brandon. One more chance to actually win, prove that he is a trainer who is one with his Pokémon. We get a lot of OGs coming back with Bulbasaur coming through from Tracey, Squirtle returns from the Squirtle Squad, and Charizard once again makes an appearance, joining Ash.

And now it's time for their battle to take place. Brandon sends out a Dusclops. Now, with Charizard stepping out first, if Ash can actually beat this battle, he will be entered into the Hall of Fame, so it is kind of a big deal. Charizard is strong and does what he can, but Dusclops gets the upper hand here, taking out one of Ash's most powerful Pokémon. So Bulbasaur comes out now, and just like Sceptile throughout this past series, he has that dog in him as well and takes the win. Brandon sends out Ninjask, so Ash swaps out for Squirtle, who still has that Skull Bash power to take it out. With Solrock getting quick revenge on the Squirtle, so Bulbasaur comes back out and risks it all for a double knockout. Where it's down to Ash's Pikachu and our third Regi, Regice. And just knowing how things have gone before, yeah, this is not going to be an easy feat, and it truly wasn't. But Pikachu eventually gets the upper hand here after all these powerful attacks and defeats Regice, giving Ash his official win, burning the Brave Symbol, and entering the Hall of Fame for the Battle Frontier. As all of his OG starter Pokémon head back to where they originally came from, Ash was also offered a role as a Frontier Brain, but knowing his own journey and where he feels he's at skill-wise, he declines the position. And Brandon wishes to battle him once again at some point, and I'm sure we may just see him again.

Maybe in the next video to round out the end of Battle Frontier, Ash enters into his first Pokémon contest with May, while she finally has a Blaziken with her Torchic now fully evolved up. In the final round of the contest, Ash and May end their competition in a draw, so the medal that they win gets split in half, as they celebrate the win since it's just a contest, more so for fun, being an unofficial one. But now it's time for characters to part ways. May ends up going to finally check out the Johto region all on her own, as Max and May head back to their home first. Brock goes home for now, and Ash ends up running into Gary on his way back, who now has a brand new Generation 4 Pokémon with him, Electivire. As of course, in Pallet Town, they have a nice battle just like old times, but Ash loses, giving him that itch to experience another new region full of powerful Pokémon. As Gary would also head back out that direction. Ash gets a new Pokédex from Oak and prepares to head to the Sinnoh region as well, only taking Pikachu at first. But on the boat, a stowaway came along, and it's none other than that pesky little Aipom.

Much like the start of the previous generation of episodes, we don't start the new series with Ash, but the first new companion we get along the journey. And here that is, Dawn. Dawn is a pretty fun and well-remembered companion. I think style-wise, has one of the more memorable color palettes, and hey, as a beanie wearer myself, that's a few extra points in my book. We enter in on her journey just starting as she wakes up in Twinleaf Town, as her mother and her prepare for what's about to happen in her daughter's life. It's her turn to pick out a starter Pokémon from this region before she sets off to discover the ever-growing world of Pokémon. The regional professor here, Professor Rowan, sends her an invite to come to the lab and do just that. So the three new Pokémon starters she must choose from are the grass-type Turtwig, the fire-type Chimchar, and of course, the water-type Piplup. Right off the bat, we know that Dawn is interested in Pokémon contests, much like May found her passion for, so the possibilities of what each of these starters could really do is exciting to her.

Other parallels begin once Dawn actually gets going, and while at the lab, gets some time seeing how all of these starters are interacting with one another. It's honestly a complete mess. There's this battle between the Chimchar and the Piplup that results in them running into the woods. As now an Ariados is capturing all of the local forest Pokémon critters for some dinner. But don't worry, Dawn has to make a cool first impression for the audience watching, so she tricks the cool red spider Pokémon into taking itself out with the web, and Piplup is now safe with Dawn, regardless of how much the Piplup doesn't want to cooperate with her. Of course, Ariados comes back with backup, and Piplup ends up winning. And while the early stages of bonding are happening here with Piplup and Dawn, she ends up passing Lake Verity, where she sees this mysterious Pokémon for a brief moment, the mythical Pokémon Mesprit, one of the three Lake Guardians introduced this generation. So there is a nice Ash-Ho-Oh esque moment that really sets up an interesting new character to follow alongside Ash, and that's who she'll really be this series, another, another character to follow rather than just a sidekick or companion, as they will eventually link up, at least for this leg of the journey. Dawn is given all of the tools needed to start her journey, though, some Poké Balls, her Pokédex, but more importantly, her partner Pokémon, which of course she chooses Piplup and begins her adventure.

But this isn't about Dawn, this is about Ash. So where is he? Oh, here he is, currently on his way to the Sinnoh region with his Pikachu, of course, but also his Aipom, who decided to join Ash going forward. But as for Ash, he's pumped to be going to Sinnoh. He's ready to see what Gary was hyping up about this place and knows that he'll become the champion of Sinnoh. Well, don't get ahead of yourself, Ash. But of course, Team Rocket ends up getting in the way right as they get to Sinnoh, and this ends up with Team Rocket being defeated, but Pikachu flying away as Ash and Aipom go searching for Pikachu right away. And it's kind of funny how Pikachu always gets the short end of the Poke stick here when it comes to arriving in new regions, I swear.

But Dawn is still going on like nothing has changed, just going up the route as she and Piplup try and find their bearings together. As she knows her full direction in her journey is to become a Pokémon Coordinator, which is the term for a trainer who trains their Pokémon to perform in Pokémon contests. But they end up coming across Pikachu, who is currently by himself. And since Dawn hasn't had any luck capturing any new Pokémon yet, this is just another free opportunity for her to try again. And the two Pokémon battle here, despite their energy levels, as Pikachu takes out the Piplup with a Thunderbolt, causing the Piplup to fly back and hit Dawn's bike, frying it up as well. Once as an incident, twice as a coincidence, but three times, this is a pattern of destructive bike behavior. Pikachu, though, is very much sorry, but sorry doesn't cut it here in the Sinnoh region. You got to pay up. Dawn tries to catch him, but when it doesn't work, she realizes that this is another trainer's Pokémon, which means a nice insurance payout for that bike is definitely coming. Or it also means that her and Ash's paths will become intertwined for nearly two hundred episodes and a few movies.

But when the Rockets show back up and their Pokémon come out to battle and chase off Pikachu, Piplup jumps in to help him, showing a level of respect to who Piplup was just bested by. The two defeat Team Rocket, though, and end up rushing to the nearest Pokémon Center due to Pikachu's condition. Dawn decides that she will wait around to make sure Pikachu is okay and that he gets reunited with his owner. Speaking of his owner, Ash is still on the lookout for Pikachu. Aipom is doing their best to assist as well, but help comes riding in as Officer Jenny was going by. So out of the severity of the situation, Ash gets a free ride over to Professor Rowan's lab, where Ash then gets notified that Pikachu was brought into a Pokémon Center, and right now, the person who has Pikachu is out there looking for him. So Ash high-tails it over to that area that the Pokémon Center is at.

But along the way, a car pulls up beside him, and who could this be? Brock. What is he doing here? Well, funny story. So Brock met this girl here who is driving claudina, as she was planning to travel to the Sinnoh region from Pewter City. And he wanted to go that way anyway, partly because Ash, but also forgetting Ash because he was into her, much like any girl that he sees. But he decides to continue forward with Ash instead, once they randomly run into him, mainly for the sake of her already being in a committed relationship. See you never again, random lady driving around. Brock notices Pikachu is gone, and Ash is frantically looking for him. So the two journey forward like nothing has changed, except for his outfit, of course. Oh, but hey, along the way now, Aipom runs into a Starly that causes a battle to flare up. And you know, Ash needs a regional starting bird for his Pokémon team. So after a little battle between the two, Aipom is able to land a hard hit to the Starly after taking a small beating, giving Ash an opening, resulting in him capturing his first Pokémon in the new region, a Starly.

But something feels off. While Ash is excited that he caught the bird, he notices a lack of celebration alongside him from Pikachu and gets pretty sad about that. But he gets nudged by Brock to use the Starly to help look for the Pikachu. As Starly goes right back out and from high above goes on patrol. While all of that was happening, some mysterious purple-haired trainer watched Ash and make some pity-filled remarks to himself towards Ash about capturing such an easy-to-catch, weak Pokémon. Now, that was up until the end of episode two. The series premiered with three episodes back to back to back on April 20th, 2007, and it really acts as a nice trilogy of episodes that tell one larger plot to get us prepared for the rest of the series.

The final part of this three-episode introduction starts us off with meeting the purple-haired wonder thanks to his Elekid's attack in the distance, tricking Ash into thinking that it was Pikachu. It turns out that it belongs to this guy. To their surprise, and when they ask about if he's seen a girl and this Pikachu, he says no. But then he makes a remark about Ash catching that Starly from earlier, saying, "Is it the best one he could have caught or not?" seemingly calling out his new Starly as weak and not worth the catch, giving Ash a full-on lecture-filled presentation of the Pokédex, being able to evaluate the Pokémon by showing what attacks that it currently knows and what it can do, claiming it saves you all this time and hassle to know what to catch or not. So rather than seeing each and every Pokémon as the living being that they are, it only matters if you get the best one possible stats-wise, as the rest aren't worth a second thought. The example he shows are between three Starly that he has caught, with one of the three knowing a more powerful move in Aerial Ace, setting the other two free, telling them to get lost. Yeah, I hate this dude, and I don't use the term hate lightly. Good on the writers, because if you're going to make a character feel like the rival or more of a bad person that the main character has to overcome in some way, then yeah, making me very much want to see that person lose everything is a great way for me to be invested in what Ash has going on.

Ash, of course, rebuts about that style of trading Pokémon overall, and that any Pokémon has the same chance to grow and be strong, no matter where they are skill-wise. The trainer challenges Ash to a three-on-three, but Ash can't right now, only having two Pokémon on him, as they need to get back to searching for Pikachu. This dude calls Ash pathetic and heads out. But Ash can't worry about clapping back at this guy right now, he needs to get going.

Team Rocket now is in a deep battle with Pikachu and Piplup, as they end up getting the upper hand on Pikachu and capturing him once more, knocking out Piplup in the process. But in the nick of time, Aipom and Starly joining on the fight. As Ash takes a note from Aipom and begins climbing up a tree to help get a better angle on jumping onto Team Rocket's machine of the week. All these efforts result in Team Rocket's machine hurting itself and exploding, sending Team Rocket blasting off again. Ash, Pikachu, and his other two Pokémon are all safe, though, as they now end up reuniting with Pikachu and are extremely grateful that everyone is safe. Ash gets to also meet Dawn now, finally, and Brock helps heal up Piplup a bit, as they then call back to Professor Rowan, where they find out that a special care package from his mother had arrived. And the trio now head back to the lab.

Now, we can't just have Ash out here dressing in last generation's clothes, now can we? If Brock gets a new outfit, then you better believe Ash needs one. Because of action figures, I mean, just to keep him fashionable. The care package had everything: new shoes, new clothes, a new backpack, but most importantly, a new hat. Goodbye green, hello blue. He calls back to his mom to check in, always keeping her in the loop like a good son should, so she's not up all night worried. As well as checks in with Professor Oak, because we got to check in with the GOAT, who also spends a lot of time with Ash's mom. But after this, Dawn makes a comment about traveling together after learning why Ash and Brock are here, knowing that they would all be going in the same direction. Much like Ash, Dawn wants to be the best like no one ever was when it comes to Pokémon contests and has this powerful, infectious enthusiasm to conquer the challenges in her way. Of course, she gets the yes from them, as there seems to be a nice mutual bond after just coming together. Plus, with Ash being thankful to Dawn for looking after Pikachu, and Dawn being thankful to Brock after helping take care of her Piplup, everyone just feels right here in this trio. Playing into the whole, "every individual Pokémon is special and unique" setup. Ash explains to Dawn about Pikachu being out of his Poké Ball when she brings it up, causing Professor Rowan to mention every Pokémon may just have their own personality, so there can be many, many Pikachu out there, all different from one another, which we have seen in the series on multiple occasions.

But just like clockwork, when they leave the lab, they run into the purple-haired dude who reveals himself as Paul. The name's Paul. So now I can properly say Paul. I don't like you. You are in the running for character I'd least care about if they were alone in a room with no escape with an irritated Machamp. This is the only Paul that I like. Hi, I'm Paul. Paul challenges Ash to a battle now because he stalked him some more and knows that he has three Pokémon again. The three-on-three battle would commence with the first trainer to two wins out of the three being labeled the winner. So finally, it's time for Ash's first real battle in the Sinnoh region with his Starly going up against Paul's Starly. Right away, playing into Paul's way of seeing things, his Starly ends up being currently more powerful and takes out Ash's. With them both now sending out their next Pokémon, Ash sends out Aipom with Paul sending out his Chimchar. But with Aipom and Ash learning the strategies of how Chimchar is battling, Aipom is able to take out the Chimchar to Paul's surprise. So in round three, he sends out that Elekid from earlier, and Ash sends out Pikachu. It's a battle of electricity, and when Pikachu Zooms in for a Volt Tackle, a move that Paul took notice of before, you know, when he was doing the whole stalking and being a prick to Ash thing, and has Elekid protect itself as Pikachu takes damage, only since that move pulls a lot from the Pokémon's energy. The battle goes back and forth a bit until both Pokémon faint, ending the match in a tie. Ash considers it a loss on the technicality of Pikachu falling down first, but Paul takes things literal and holds it to the fair ruling of telling Ash that it's a draw. And he releases his third Starly that he had, saying there will be stronger Starly out there, as this one was no longer good enough for him. But with this whole setup, that's where we start our journey. Ash has gained his traveling companions, and both a familiar friend and an ambitious new one, along with a new Pokémon, new outfit, and is ready to explore the new region while having a new rival in the form of this Paul person. It's a great introduction that took the proper time to establish a lot of the base plots that will take place in the Diamond and Pearl era.

Now again, while this is Ash's journey, I do bring up a few side things here and there that focus on the companions or rivals, usually to give context into something in relation to Ash. We quickly run into this person here, Nando. He's a bit cheeky. Just kidding, he's extremely chill. He's a character that is playing in both worlds. Not sure what he wants to do more, go for badges or go for ribbons. He also has a Mew-shaped harp, and that's pretty cool, I must say. He runs into our trio, and Dawn is looking for her first battle, challenging him and his Budew. But then clarifies, "What is this battle for?" Where Dawn makes mention of making her way to the Grand Festival for the contest. So Nando makes sure this will be a contest-type battle, then, which is more so like a regular battle, but it has some flare and style to it. She ends up losing, which does get her pretty bummed out, mixing this with her bad luck of not catching any Pokémon every time she has tried so far. But they make their way to the Pokémon Center to stay the night, and Dawn gets a chance to speak with her mother. Which I like that we get moments like this throughout the series, whether it be with Ash and his mom or now Dawn with her mom. But these check-in updates make the characters feel a lot more real, especially when Dawn's mother takes her comments about nothing to worry about.

As making her worry as a mom because that's what mothers are always going to do. Ash ends up officially signing up for the C League though, and Nando shows up for a quick heal as well. But everyone sees that something is on his mind and not fully knowing what's up until Nurse Joy fills them in on his struggle to pick what his future focus would be.

Ash and Don clash a bit when they both want him to pick their respective choices of focus and head out after him. Eventually finding and confronting him where he cuts them off, creating silence and asking for them to just listen. Where we get an ASMR moment of hearing nature, the Pokémon in the area moving around them and just taking it all in. Thanks to a brief moment of calm, Don and Ash are able to make up with each other over the arguing as they mention and get into the special legendary and mythical Pokémon that they saw.

Nando strums his harp and ponders over the wondrous fascinations of the world. And Ash now challenges him to a battle, only fair he battles in a regular style now that would be used in a gym before he makes up his mind for what path to take. Pikachu goes up against his Badu, but as the battle goes on, the Badu ends up evolving into a Roselia, but Pikachu ends up still winning in the end.

Nando is appreciative of both of them and right then and there makes up his mind, claiming that he will be going after both, wanting to earn Badges and ribbons alike. A nice episode here that builds up the interest in both Ash's journey and Don's and telling you the audience that it's okay to follow both. Since it's also a new generation, it would only make sense that Ash would get a starter Pokémon from that region as well, right?

So enter in Turtwig, who helps Pikachu out of a Team Rocket situation. And afterwards, we find out this twig is a lot like Bulbasaur and that it was helping protect this area and those that live around there. And even more so like Bulbasaur because somehow an Oddish is thrown into the introduction mix. This lady named Clara talks about how she found twig and took care of it, and we see it has some of those Cheeta vibes by showing respect or fondness towards a person by giving them a big old bite shown here on Ash.

The two get the chance to work together in battle thanks to more Team Rocket interruptions. And afterwards, Clara notices that twig wants to go with Ash and even runs up to him for a battle to catch him. So Ash happily agrees, having Pikachu come out and fight. Twig puts up a decent fight, causing Pikachu to put in a lot of work dodging and maneuvering, but in the end, Pikachu gets the upper hand and Ash goes in for the catch, adding Turtwig to the team as they now continue forward towards Jubilife City.

Right after this though, the team runs into Paul once more. And even with a new Pokémon, Paul thinks little of Ash and his trainer ways. This resulting in another battle thanks to Ash being easy to temper and of course all for his pride, where his new twig heads out to battle Chimchar at an extreme type disadvantage to it. And Turtwig just ends up eating the attacks to Ash's confusion. But before things get way too bad, Team Rocket comes to ruin things.

And this forces Paul and Ash to work together to stop Team Rocket from doing their usual business. And in the end, after defeating them, Ash tries to make a play to be friends with Paul and squash whatever they have going on here. But Paul refuses this offer and walks away. So I guess the battle is over then.

Anyway, Ash gets into this trippy situation thanks to Stantler projections of illusions hitting him directly. And then Paul saves Ash from this because he's dying from the cringe that he is witnessing here. Paul catches the Stantler but then immediately releases it. As Ash is left confused once more. But more importantly, Ash now has a moment with Turtwig as they are eating and they go over what happened in the battle earlier, claiming him to be stubborn for not listening to his battle commands and that listening to him to dodge those incoming attacks was the proper call. That twig just wasn't listening to, mentioning to him that Turtwig and him are friends, not just a trainer and Pokémon here.

From here, Ash ends up having some more shenanigans in the woods as we encounter Beedrill and this Ursaring. But Paul comes back and catches the Ursaring. So Ash makes a joking comment about him probably not keeping the Pokémon because of a whole list of weak related reasons. But to his surprise, Paul thinks he found a great Ursaring and decides that he should keep it.

The two of them get back into the battle from earlier, having Turtwig and Chimchar come back out. As Turtwig finally starts responding to the commands Ash is throwing out. But even in doing so, Paul and his Chimchar seem to be getting even better and tighter on their battle strategies, where the two Pokémon end up in a climactic collision. But ultimately, Chimchar emerges the victor, leaving Ash defeated for the first time by Paul. As Chimchar celebrates a good battle and win, but Paul yells at Chimchar for this, prompting Ash to react. And Paul pushes back further now at Ash, claiming that he doesn't care what a weak trainer like Ash Ketchum would have to say in a moment like this and leaves, making Ash irate and fueled up for the next time that they cross paths.

Who's that Pokémon? It's Golem. Later on, now in Jubilife City, Don gets everything set up for her Pokémon contest. As the show starts building up her own rivals and other characters as well, and even a secret villain who's in the contest coming from Jesse from Team Rocket as well, also having an arc for the character that she plays to be in these contests. Oh, and by the by, Ash is also signing up for the Pokémon contest stuff as well, thanks to his Aipom having an interest in it, officially getting him a contest pass and all the stuff that he needs.

While Ash and Don make it past the performance part of the contest, so does Zoey, the new rival here for Don. And Mosely and Jessina, Jesse's fake persona, to be allowed to enter discreetly. Ash has to now go up against Zoey in the first battle here, with Ash using Aipom and Zoey using Glameow. Now remember, there is also a time limit here. So even if Ash's Aipom was still standing and going in for the knockout hit, if the time hits zero, it's all about points. And the time does hit zero, and Zoey is declared victor thanks to the overall points left by each of them by the end. With Zoey telling Ash that the battle was great and if the time didn't run out and that attack had landed, it may have been it for her and her Glameow.

From here, Zoey defeats Don in the next round, then defeats Jesse, I mean Jessalina, in the finals, resulting in Zoey winning and getting her second total ribbon. Don has a moment where she calls back home, disappointed she lost. And it definitely makes things harder since her mother was a contest performer and that she lost to a Glameow, a Pokémon that her mother has at home and used when competing. Her mother offers some encouraging words though, and also says that her friends are there for her. Zoey and Don have their moment of respect for one another to become friendly rivals.

But something I find interesting was before their battle, Zoey mentions that Aipom should be raised by Dawn since her path is the contest and this isn't truly Ash's scene at the end of the day. But ignore that for now, as we have some training to do with Ash working with his Starly to get stronger and more battle-ready. As Starly works alongside all of the other bird Pokémon to take out Team Rocket, and through this, they end up evolving into a Staravia and finishes off Team Rocket with an aerial ace. There's just something about Ash and his bird Pokémon that hit on such a strong connection each generation, and I am glad that hasn't stopped here.

Soon, the group arrive at Oreburgh City and notice that Paul, along with this Ian fella, are walking out of the gym. Where Ash is genuinely curious if Paul had won and earned a badge, but he shuts him up by telling him to mind his own business. While Ian mentions that the gym leader isn't there at the moment and that the typing is Rock Pokémon. So Paul gets some ideas in his head and heads off to the Pokémon Center. Heck, Ash even wishes him good luck, and Paul smirks back at that comment because of course he does.

Ash gets given a case for his badges to go in though, and is told where to find the gym leader Roark, at which leads him to the mines. Upon finding him, Roark is very much into mining more so than being a gym leader, often forgetting his duties at the gym apparently. So now that he heads back to the gym, his first battle is with Paul. As Ash and friends get a chance to sit in and watch the battle. After their battle goes on for a bit, Paul takes the win and earns the Coal Badge and wants to just go on his way. But Ash won't let him, telling him to stay and watch his battle. Now he ends up getting under Ash's skin, and then Dawn's skin for his comments towards both of them. And once the gym leader mentions staying, he decides to do so.

But now this, "Hey Paul, could you stay for an extra 30 minutes?" turns into, "Hey, can you stay for an extra day?" Because Roark tells Ash that they should battle the next day. But the battle that comes may not be that easy. Ash spends time planning which Pokémon to send out for the battle, trying to figure out the strategy here. But when choosing Pikachu, Aipom, and Turtwig, Staravia gets pretty disappointed, wanting to have a chance to battle. Ash reassures the bird that next time is when he will call upon him.

Paul walks up to them all and mentions to Ash that he just needs to copy what he did and it'll be a piece of cake. But Ash refuses to train or treat his Pokémon in such a way where there is no regard for the Pokémon's emotions. And just like clockwork, we find out that Paul gave up one of his Pokémon, an Aeril, to a random younger trainer, as this Pokémon was defeated easily in the battle earlier. Ash is irate over this, but Paul just does his walk out and leave thing, bringing us to the next day where the battle for the Coal Badge for Ash begins.

With him sending out his Aipom against Roark's Cranidos, which is insanely powerful. That Hard Head is able to take out Aeril, putting Pikachu next in line to fight in the battle, but ends up taking a beating. Even at one point looking like Pikachu was going to be knocked out, which would result in the battle being over. So Paul was ready to piece out of the building. Pikachu though seems to still be in for the fight a bit, but Ash brings him back and swaps him for Turtwig in that moment. And the battle strategies really did start working well for these two. As Twig is able to eventually take out the Cranidos. Onyx is sent out next and knocks out Twig pretty fast. So Pikachu comes in to hopefully help against Onyx, but no matter how hard Pikachu fought, in the end, the Onyx was able to get a solid final attack in, knocking Pikachu out. Meaning Ash has lost to the first gym in the region, and in front of his new rival Paul. And before Paul leaves, he makes sure to get in one final comment to Ash, telling him that he has never thought lower of him than in this moment right here.

Now, before we get to another rematch, of course, the gym leader's Cranidos ends up evolving into a Rampardos, and that's an even harder battle for Ash to face. Dawn ends up wearing a cheerleader outfit to cheer for Ash, which reminds me of Gary's groupies from the original series. But now the battle begins with Onyx being sent out, and Pikachu jumping in for the rematch. After a good back and forth here, Pikachu lands a strong Iron Tail on the Onyx, knocking it out. And having Geodude come out next, with Ash now switching to Aipom for this battle. Aipom's tactics with Ash end up working well against Geodude over here, knocking him out and putting Ash in a good lead for this battle.

But now it's time for Rampardos. It's even stronger. It's a much bigger challenge to face. And within moments, Aipom is defeated. And Pikachu comes right back out. But the clash of Pikachu's Iron Tail and Rampardos' Zen Headbutt favors on the side of Rampardos, allowing him to quickly go in for another and knocking out Pikachu. Next comes Turtwig, as they are both on their last Pokémon. And following through with all of the strategies that worked last time, the Pokémon we now face is a lot more powerful thanks to it just evolving. So this is going to be a lot harder for Twig.

So Ash starts having Turtwig combine some of the speed and power that it has by running around and still sending out Razor Leaves. As Rampardos retaliates in burning them up, but that backfires for it as his vision is obscured to Turtwig, giving an opening due to the element of surprise. Going low when it goes high, getting up behind the Rampardos and hitting it with a direct attack, thus resulting in a knockout. And Ash becoming the victor of the match and being awarded his first C League badge, the Coal Badge. So only seven more to go. Wow, I feel like we've gone over so much but aren't too far into this adventure. I will say that Diamond and Pearl is the most spread out series thus far, really letting all of these side stories and other adventures develop as we still work on Ash's main goals.

Some more fun stuff happens when they run across Pokémon Hunter J. Pokémon Hunters are those who capture and/or steal Pokémon that they are hired to find for others, usually secret, shady, private type people. Well, she ends up stealing Pikachu as a bonus when Ash tried stopping her from stealing a Garchomp. And in the end, while getting Pikachu back, Pokémon Hunter J stays another day free from capture by Officer Jenny thanks to leaving with no trace and lack of known true identity. I think moments like this add some cool lore to the world of Pokémon, and I like how there are always different interpretations or iterations throughout different Pokémon media, whether it's in the games, manga, show, or something else, just building up lore through these one-off characters or groups that appear through all these different mediums. I just think it's really cool.

So now, after making it to Floaroma Town for a contest for Dawn to enter, we meet another person that is shown to be Dawn's rival. This time, a less friendlier one than Zoey, and that's Kenny. Kenny just kind of teases her a lot and also notes that he lost to Zoey in a final round of a contest himself, and then going on to say other embarrassing things about Dawn. So she challenges him to a battle out of anger, but he doesn't care for that. Rather, he wants a battle with Ash to gain some real, real experience battling that Pikachu. This battle doesn't go anywhere thanks to Team Rocket. But after that gets taken care of, the contest goes forward with Dawn, Kenny, and of course Jesse, I mean Jessalina. And Dawn ends up face to face with Kenny in the final round, resulting in her winning and getting her first ribbon ever.

As they continue on, Ash and Dawn face off against the Champ twins, Ryan and Brian. So this would be a tag battle, two on two. But before they start, the C Network team shows up to record this for TV, showing off trainers really giving it their all. As Dawn and Ash use Piplup and Turtwig against the Croagunk and Quagsire. These twins are on a winning streak, and it doesn't break here as Dawn and Ash are not on the same page for this battle, causing them to argue and be uncoordinated and lose afterwards.

The fighting continues until Pikachu quiets them up with a Thunderbolt. And with Brock's help, giving them a moment to calm down and apologize to one another. Now they want to battle the Champ twins again, but want to really work on a strategy that gets formed pretty naturally through the combined efforts of having Turtwig and Piplup work together, getting that practice in as they fight Team Rocket here. So now, when the next battle happens, their strategies and ideas start to really gel well with each other, and they are able to take out the Croagunk and Quagsire and end the winning streak for now. And they look good for TV, since Dawn said it's literally the most popular show in the whole region.

Later, they went into Cheryl and her Chansey. As she's been trying to capture this one Pokémon and finally ends up capturing this Burmy. She introduces herself to the group and claims to be a treasure hunter of sorts, following in her grandfather's footsteps. She is looking for enchanted honey. What makes it enchanted? I don't know, it's sweeter, I guess. She needs her newly caught male Burmy to evolve into a Mothim, since female Burmy cannot, and Mothim can lead the way to the location for the honey thanks to the scent of it.

So Ash decides to help out and battle the Burmy to give it that experience to do so. But this Burmy is too weak compared to Turtwig and is getting too hurt and not doing anything back to Turtwig. So Ash pulls back, deciding now to send out Pikachu to help in this situation. As now he acts over hurt in a dramatic way when Burmy finally goes into attack. And then Team Rocket steals the little guy, as they want the enchanted honey as well for some reason. But they can't get Burmy to evolve either.

And as our group and Cheryl work together to take Team Rocket down and get Burmy back, he finally ends up evolving into Mothim, who helps Ash and Pikachu finish off Team Rocket, at least for the day. And Mothim is now ready to lead Cheryl and the group along on this adventure to find this honey. And now we have a new member for our team for a little bit here.

Along the way though, the group run into a woman named Gardenia, who is all about Grass Pokémon. As she is one of the upcoming gym leaders for Ash to face. But here, when she actually challenges him to a battle, she makes it clear that this is only practice and not an official gym battle or anything of the sorts. It'll be a two on two battle with Gardenia sending out a Cherubi with Ash's Turtwig coming out, ready to battle as well. With him seemingly being the more powerful Pokémon here, so she swaps out Cherubi for her own Turtwig, who ends up getting the upper hand and knocking Ash's Twig out thanks to just being a lot faster.

Ash finally uses Staravia here for some help, and it doesn't really help because her Turtwig outmaneuvered it and struck at the right time. So Ash does lose, but at least it was unofficial and he got some decent practice for when you actually have to face her for real. Eventually, on this side journey with Cheryl, they end up finding the enchanted honey as well. As we get some time with cool new Pokémon like Combee and Vespiquen, who at the end of the adventure and after dealing with Team Rocket, give Cheryl a jar of the honey to fulfill her journey. She leaves the group after these few episodes, and our trio head up further down the road.

But not too much further up the road, because the series went even deeper with things to do in the anime. It was truly side quest galore. At one point, finding themselves entering a dress up your Pokémon contest with the winner receiving a special mystery Pokémon egg. And our trio and even Team Rocket all enter the contest. Of course, Brock finally gets some love here, winning the contest by dressing up his Croagunk and even he is surprised to win, as he was just doubting his chances here. But he gets the egg, so I'm happy for him.

They randomly run into Lucien, a member of the Sinnoh region's Elite Four. As Ash gets to know about what happens if he wins the Pokémon League conference, and that's getting a chance to enter the Champion League, where the Elite Four await, as well as the champion of the league. Dawn ends up in a battle with Lucian thanks to her newly caught Buizel wanting to go. Paul, to Paul, was such an experienced and high-regarded trainer. Ash, of course, always wants to get too far ahead of himself and battle him, but again, he gives that attention to Dawn here instead, giving her a chance against his Bronzong. Clearly, this didn't go over well, and things end up bad for Buizel. As Lucian apologizes for getting too into it and unleashing his high-level Pokémon's power onto a newly captured Pokémon.

After recovering from this, Buizel is definitely down in the dumps about everything. And he knows how powerful he can be. So through some quick training with Dawn so that they can bond a lot better together, Buizel is ready to challenge the Bronzong again. But as the battle was getting heated up and Buizel was putting up way better of a fight, Lucian calls the match before things get too out of hand, claiming how great they do now work together in battle and wants them to continue to find their group. As he decides to hold back any more power from his Pokémon and leaves. And Ash, well, he never got the chance to battle, but knows that he will face him at some point.

As they now continue to return to Eterna City, where a few things go down. One, we see Nando again. He has a Sunflora and he's doing great, having a ribbon and a badge. And oh, is Gardenia the gym leader in this specific town? That's great. More interesting though, is the fact that this is where we get our first meeting with the evil team of this region, Team Galactic. Where apparently Team Rocket was hired by them to steal this orb from the history museum that is linked to the regional legendaries Dialga and Palkia. The orb is rescued and returned in the end. And Nando tells them about the Creation Trio created by the original one, as well as the three Lake Guardians. As we then ponder on the people who put Team Rocket on the mission. As we see one of the commanders of Team Galactic named Saturn, looking disappointed in Team Rocket's failures. As we eventually know more about these people at some point, I guess.

But now it's time for another Gym battle, Ash versus Gardenia for real this time. With Cherubi versus Turtwig coming out first, but now Cherubi is really giving Turtwig the business here. As Ash recalls Turtwig and sends out Staravia for some aerial action. A non-stop barrage from the air and using the clouds and sunlight to mess with Cherubi's abilities to end up taking it out. Gardenia seems impressed by Ash's strategies thus far, sending out her Turtwig. As Staravia continues to battle until her Turtwig lands a solid tackle on it, knocking him out.

Now it's Turtwig vs. Twig part two. As the two go at it like before, with speed, good dodging, and some powerful attacks. The battle is pretty solid on both sides until each run at each other with a tackle, almost causing a double knockout. But Ash's Twig remains on his feet, bringing her to her final Pokémon. And that Pokémon here is Roserade. And she quickly takes out what's left energy-wise of the Turtwig, bringing Ash's final Pokémon out as well, with Aipom, who decides to make a really fun and whimsical entrance with style and skill all in a dazzling fashion. And is able to finish off Roserade and win the battle, giving Ash a big old hug as he wins his second C League badge, the Forest Badge. Also seeing how Aipom is excited to show off her flair in battle, maybe those comments about Aipom being raised by Dawn and having Aipom work on competing may have some validity to it.

Also, Brock's egg hatches and becomes Happiny, the baby evolution of Chansey. So that's fun. But you know what else is fun? The relationship between Ash and Gary. As it's finally time for them to reunite. Uh oh, it's not yet. We have some more Paul stuff instead. The evil new rival instead of exploring the ex-rival now friends again. Okay, fine. But it better include Cynthia. Oh, cool, she's here. But before that, Paul shows up and Ash is eager to talk to him, trying to show off that he now has two badges since they last met. But he doesn't care one bit. Of course, he'd rather focus on Cynthia and demands to battle her six on six right now. And I'm not sure if you know this, but Cynthia, well, she's the Sinnoh region Champion trainer. Paul also has a Torterra now, which is the final evolved form of Turtwig, as well as Pokémon such as Weavile and Magmortar. But in the end, forfeits and gets made fun of by the crowd of people watching. Where Ash actually jumps in to defend him based on thinking that he made a smart and safe call to finally protect his Pokémon.

We get to learn a bit more about Paul here. As Cynthia helps heal his Pokémon. As they continue to talk, we learn that Paul has been traveling to the previous regions and training as he competed and lost in the respective conferences. For some reason though, he is extremely hard on his Chimchar, not allowing him to receive any compliments without him pushing back, causing Ash to get very angry at him and call him out on his training practices. More and more, Cynthia steps in to really get into this discussion, taking them to a stone tablet where she mentions that she used to aggressively train and train with no thought more than that with her Pokémon. But then she truly discovered and understood the different personalities that Pokémon have, and it changed her connection to viewing and respecting these creatures more. He doesn't really click with all this because after Team Rocket ends up capturing his Chimchar and he becomes free once again thanks to Ash's help, he watches his Chimchar, who he pushes too hard, fall to the ground and has no reaction other than to view him as useless if it could just be captured so easily by those idiots, not caring for the health of this Chimchar at all. Dawn gets mad at those comments, but Cynthia takes control and is trying to make sure that Chimchar is okay. That anything other than that right now is not important.

After that whole situation, she leaves for some emergency, one that is dealing with another orb that has some relation to the other orb that we dealt with before that has the connection to the legendary Pokémon. Okay, now we get to talk about the ex-rival. As when they all notice some trouble with Pokémon Hunter J at Mt. Coronet, they bump into a familiar face, that being Gary Oak. Gary talks about how he is now a part of this environmental project that would protect part of the mountain as a Pokémon preserve and works alongside Professor Rowan. As the mission is to bring the Shieldon into safety. Ash offers his help to Gary, to which he is thankful. And the two work together to get to the extraction point, while still butting heads a bit on if they should be attacking or only focusing on getting the Pokémon out of there. After a daring fight to rescue a Shieldon that was taken by the Pokémon Hunter, the group are able to make sure that the Pokémon are free and the job for the hunter is called off, and they all leave. As Jenny is determined to figure out who this Pokémon Hunter J truly is and to take them down. Gary leaves on a nice note, telling Ash that he is thankful for his help and that they'll be friends to the end. They've come so far, and I think that's pretty cool to hear.

They also run into Paul again randomly throughout this cave and maze area. As they continue on, a girl named Maya saves them a lot of walking for multiple days by eventually helping them teleport right to their next destination, Haruka City. Thanks to the help from her Abra. Once there, we get to see Nando again. We also learned that we have to wait for the gym battle because the gym leader isn't around. And I'm sure this won't play into a long plot point of stuff to just wait around for it to happen. But there is also a tag battle competition in the city where Ash and Brock want to enter. Dawn goes off to do her contest, but only ends up not making it past the performance stage, sadly. But it's okay, she joins the tag battle competition with the boys.

As things get spicy when Ash is paired with none other than Paul. They really just can't escape this dude, can they? Their two Pokémon for the battle are going to be Pikachu and Chimchar, as they have to face Aridaron and Magmar. And despite the issues between the two trainers, Pikachu and Chimchar are able to effectively work together in taking down the larger Pokémon, advancing them to the next round, as well as Dawn and her partner and Brock and his partner advancing as well.

Throughout the night, the trainers spend time working with their Pokémon. As Paul is having his other Pokémon non-stop attack his Chimchar to push him to a limit of awakening a do or die strength. The shouting matches towards Paul continue. As Paul mentions that getting hurt from the weaknesses that you have will make you stronger. To them, that's why he lets his Pokémon take head-on attacks to build up against what they are weak to. Ash counters that he should be working on the strengths that Chimchar already has to improve those to great heights. But Chimchar is stuck listening to how Paul wants it. Ash tries to tell Chimchar directly that things can be different. But Paul walks away with his Pokémon. His continued training leaves him extremely weak and unable to stand with Paul trying to force him to. But Ash and Dawn stop this from happening and make sure that he is taken to the Pokémon Center.

Brock helps treat him. As we get a little backstory from Paul about how he came into getting Chimchar, seeing firsthand how powerful he was when pushed to a do or die moment, being chased by some Zangoose. Or would it be Zangoose? Either way, he was impressed by the power Chimchar had and wanted to capture him. He only wants to push him to that limit so he can be that unstoppable force of nature. But regardless of that story, everyone agrees that he should not use Chimchar for the next round and he should let him get the rest that he truly needs.

But when the next round starts in the morning, Ash and Paul send out Turtwig. And to shock everyone, he sends out Chimchar. And of course, you know, everyone's booing this man. And to top things off, the Pokémon they face are a Metagross, which is annoyingly tough enough on its own, but also a Zangoose, which has to be the weirdest bit of coincidence in such a random way. The two starter Pokémon work together and go back and forth saving each other from immediate harm. But Paul stays pretty silent now, noticing that this isn't going to get Chimchar to the level he wanted him to get to. And decides to mentally check out of the match. So Ash takes control of the team, commanding both Pokémon to a surprising victory to advance them forward. Dawn and Brock also won their battles. But Paul is the only one not celebrating. In fact, later that evening, he sets his Chimchar free, kicking him to the curb, telling him to get lost like the rest of the Pokémon who he deems too weak or not good enough.

This is where Pokémon hits me in the feels for how sad this is. The abandonment that Chimchar feels after being loyal, loyal to Paul and going along with everything he's put him through up until this point. As Ash and the others lay into Paul, as they should, but he truly has no emotions towards any of it. Ash is heartbroken for the little guy, but does the most Ash thing possible: offers Chimchar to join his team and train in a proper way that shows Paul that his way is harmful and wrong, especially after his disgusting comments regarding both of them as deserving the worst and finding that in each other. Chimchar on the verge of agreeing, or so it seems, went out of nowhere, Team Rocket attacks and takes Chimchar. But it's resolved really quick, barely an inconvenience. As Chimchar officially decides to join Ash in a very fun jumping in the air moment. And just like that, Ash gets a new Pokémon.

But they still have a random tag battle tournament to complete. Where when the two come back together and they have to face off against Brock and his partner, Ash's Staravia and Paul's Torterra take on Brock's Croagunk and Jolly's Farfetch'd. And they end up winning, but at the cost of them being very uncoordinated as partners, arguing during the battle. And Paul claiming that his Pokémon did all the work. For the final battle, Ash and Paul send out Chimchar and Electabuzz. As they face Dawn and her partner Conway with their Buizel and Heracross. The battle gets tougher and tougher as Electabuzz gets constantly hit hard with attack after attack, but doesn't give up. But this pain turned into Electabuzz evolving into an Electabuzz. And the two take down the opposing Pokémon, making Ash and Paul the victors of the competition. Paul says that they only won thanks to his Electabuzz. And Ash knows Chimchar did a great job out there. And now both trainers here win Soothe Bells as their prize for winning the competition. As Paul wonders over how such a dysfunctional team was still able to win and defeat every other opponent. And later on, he just tosses his prize Bell over to Ash, not wanting it, and heads out. And a Soothe Bell is an item that increases a friendship status, so it just makes sense that Paul gets rid of it.

Now the crew gets ready to head to their next city to earn his third badge. Wow, only third badge, huh? We just reached the end of the first season of Diamond and Pearl, and we only have two badges. Well, okay then. Starting off the new season, Pokémon DP Battle Dimension on a particularly strong note is the bonding of Ash and his new Chimchar, spending time helping it overcome the fear and issues it has with Zangoose. This is big for Chimchar, as he conquers that fear and is able to be stronger thanks to Ash's training versus how Paul was doing it, making him emotional and grateful.

They also run into Gardenia again, who also happens to run into Team Rocket. And likes James's Cacnea and offers him to tag battle Ash and Dawn. To which Ash and Dawn end up winning. As the episode focused more on James' story, as the show will often give Team Rocket some deeper story beats to explore. With James letting Gardenia take his Cacnea to help train it, same as when Ash left his Charizard to train or even his Primeape. And I'm sure future Pokémon as well, similar to that with a Pokémon wanting something from their trainer to help get them towards their goal somehow.

We get to something that was building up through the contest stuff and just in a certain Pokémon's own wants, and that is the decision about Aipom for Ash. Clearly, the contests are her favorite thing more so than battle, always watching Dawn train and is shown to give a special entrance when coming out for battles. Anyway, Zoey once again notices what's going on and plants the idea of Dawn trading her Buizel for Ash's Aipom. And everything may be a stronger fit there. The two at first are kind of stunned at the thought, but see a trade happen at the Pokémon Center and take a moment to reflect on the Pokémon and their personal connection with them and all the training that they've been through already. So to pretend like they did trade, they just borrow each other's Pokémon and end up having to practice with them by, of course, facing off against Team Rocket. And things go pretty well. So in the end, they decide that they are comfortable with this trade, as they now officially swap the Pokémon. And the two make a promise to them, claiming to use Buizel in the next gym battle and Aipom in the next contest.

This is an interesting trade based on how close Ash and Aipom are, with Aipom sneaking aboard with Ash towards this region, not wanting him to leave without her. And earlier in the show, when Dawn was able to catch the Buizel, Ash also wanted to catch it for himself. So there is some attachment for Ash to both of them. It's not long though, before Aipom ends up evolving into Ambipom. And some more of Team Galactic's plans unfold with Saturn stealing a special cube artifact that also has all these unknowns involved. And it's a wild time for everyone.

Dawn's next contest doesn't go well, as she doesn't get past the performance stage once again. And as a result, she feels pretty low and has lost a bunch of confidence she had. But eventually, she gets to see her old childhood friend Leona. And the two of them have a tag battle with Ash and Brock. Ash's Chimchar and Brock's Sudowoodo against Dawn's Piplup and Leona's Swinub. And thanks to Blizzards and Mimics, the result is all of the Pokémon being frozen solid, so it's just a tie. The time spent seeing her friend and getting into a fun battle brought her confidence back up, but she still has a way to go. Although it was still nice to see some service to her arc here.

We also run into Paul again, as he catches a Garchomp, the evolved form of Gible. As Ash catches a Gible. You know, if I didn't know any better, I'd say the show is trying to tell me something. With Paul getting the evolution and Ash getting what seems to be the slow flying Gible. I'm picking up what you're putting down. But eventually, the trio make their way to the next city, Veilstone City. As right away, they experience some Auroraspar flying towards them. As some lady is dodging all of these attacks coming from a Lucario. But all this excitement here is disrupted as Pikachu and Piplup get into a spat with Electabuzz. As the lady sends in her Lucario to stop whatever was going on. As a different purple-haired dude who isn't Paul comes over and mentions that the woman with the Lucario is Maylene and that his name is Reggie. He turns out to be none other than Paul's older brother, regardless if Paul has the face of a 40-year-old man. And that this Electabuzz, well, of course, it was Paul's newly evolved one. But he didn't outright release it or abandon the Pokémon, he just left it with his brother for the moment to train and be taken care of, since Reggie is a Pokémon breeder. Which is an interesting duality in the family, one brother who truly cares about Pokémon and one who only sees them as tools to use for winning battles.

Through speaking, Ash finds out that Paul had already clearly been through here. And he even already defeated the gym leader, who happens to be Maylene. But she's not really into the whole gym battling thing at the moment. And Lucario keeps attacking her to push her back into it, as she is a newer gym leader and has these doubts of her right to be a gym leader. Also, it doesn't help that after Paul won, he said to her that she is the weakest leader he's ever fought. Which is part for the course when it comes to Paul. And Reggie mentions that he's very much been like this forever now.

But later on, Dawn and Maylene have a moment to speak. As we just recently spent time with Dawn overcoming some personal confidence issues a bit, thanks to the whole losing streak that she's been on for the contests. And Dawn asks for a battle with Reggie. And Don makes note that she wants to battle Maylene at the same time. Reggie wants to battle Ash, so of course, he's in on this. Reggie just has a completely different vibe from his brother, making note that Chimchar seems the best he's ever been happiness-wise. As we see Badges and Frontier symbols collected around the house, and they're Reggie's. But one symbol from the Battle Frontier is missing, the one that Brandon gives out, the Brave Symbol. Brandon was a character that we talked about when going through the Battle Frontier arc, as Ash had the hardest challenge through him. And I made note that he may be important in the Sinnoh arc, just a little bit as well.

But for now, Reggie has a Bidoof come out versus Ash's Turtwig. As Ash has Gible not go out in battle, just watch firsthand from the sidelines. Turtwig shows off how much he has learned and the strength that he has by being able to take down the Bidoof with an Energy Ball. So when he now sends out Swalot, Ash swaps Pokémon to send out his Staravia. Which this battle feels like anti-aircraft weaponry taking down a flying threat. And as the result of this, Staravia takes a heavy hit and falls from the sky. Reggie thinks that Ash's Staravia was doing a great job, but to one up him, he then sends out his Staraptor, the next and final evolution for Staravia. So Ash keeps Staravia out to watch. As Pikachu now jumps in for the battle. And his Staraptor is no joke when it comes to power, knowing a move that Reggie will help teach Staravia for Ash's training called Brave Bird. But in the end, Pikachu holds strong and beats out the Staraptor. And Ash is considered the winner here.

So being impressed with Ash, Reggie tells Maylene that she should battle Ash. But before that can happen, Dawn gets to have her battle with Maylene to truly help both of them out in their own individual confidence struggles. And it does just that. Who knew? So Maylene agrees to battle Ash right now, another three on three. She sends out Machoke, and Ash uses Staravia once more. And this birdie is determined to make a difference with its skills in battle. And after escaping a Seismic Toss, Staravia is able to take out the Machoke and go up against her next Pokémon, a Meditite. But the focus the Pokémon has builds up too much and is able to get to the Staravia. But Ash calls him back quick and sends out Chimchar for now. But the Confusion attack that Meditite keeps throwing out results in Chimchar getting hurt and not having control of direction. So Ash reaps back out to Staravia, who wants to prove something here and finish the battle, showing off finally that it was able to learn the Brave Bird move. And her Pokémon is defeated, leaving her final Pokémon down to the one and only Lucario.

Without wasting any time, Lucario finishes off Staravia from battle. And Ash brings back out Chimchar. And with as much of a fight that he ends up giving the blue anthropomorphic dog, he ultimately gets defeated, leaving Ash with a final Pokémon as well, getting the chance to use the Buizel in a battle that he promised. And throughout this fierce showdown, Buizel starts having some issues with battle commands and ends up just barely pulling through with some of Dawn's encouragement. So there's definitely some post-trade personal things to work out. But giving it all he's got, both Pokémon and their fight with powerful attacks on each other. And because of this, both Pokémon get knocked out at the same time, making this gym battle a draw. Which means we have to do this all over again. Right? Wrong. Maylene decides that Ash gave her one of the best battles she's had. And thanks to Dawn and Ash's battles, her restored faith in herself and her confidence to be the best gym leader she can be is back, giving Ash the Cobble Badge anyway. Which I'm not saying anything about, we only have three badges in at this point and I feel that we're fairly deep into the series. So yeah, thanks for the lore building here, but let's keep moving with the journey. Thanks for the badge.

And some things do get a bit fun here with the whole new side team of the region evil subplot that they have. As in the last generation, we had Team Magma and Team Aqua showing off more devious plans than what Team Rocket usually gets into. As now we continue seeing where the plot of Team Galactic goes, and it's pretty interesting to me. As if I don't know what happens already, but for the sake of pacing in this video, we shall explore it together.

Who's that Pokémon? It's Butterfree. Aside from operating on the sidelines now, Ash and Company are finally made aware of who these people are, meeting them head on. Paul is also in the area, and he is speaking with Reggie.

And Reggie does his best to let Paul know how great of a trainer Ash truly is, but of course, he could care less. As hearing his brother say that just annoys him greatly.

Team Galactic, though, is doing some weird evil organization stuff by having this object hover and transform around these meteors lodged into the ground of of this one area, as now they begin to glow, shooting light beams into the sky. Clearly, this catches a bunch of people's attention. Kind of hard to hide something like that. But at first, our crew thinks that this is Team Rocket behind everything. But Officer Jenny mentions it's Team Galactic.

As the meteors begin to rise from the ground, Saturn and his grunts here send out some Golbat to battle with everyone so that they can distract them as they enact their plans. As Reggie brings Electabuzz to fight and offers to help out with Pikachu teaming up with a semi-Ral Pokémon as they now pull off some powerful electrical moves together. And Pikachu even makes sure that Electabuzz is doing okay. Down, nice of them. All of the Pokémon are pulling off some really cool moves here in general, doing their best to fend off Team Galactic in their evil doings. Each Pokémon here is playing their part.

As Pikachu also jumps in with Lucario once the meteors are now stopped from being lifted, sending some attacks at the helicopters fleeing the area for whatever they're working on. Ash and friends are clearly in the mix of it now. And while they didn't catch Saturn or fully bring any of the team to justice, the mission to secure the meteors and keep everyone safe was a success.

Speaking of Saturn, we get to learn where their next plan lies. We don't know much from just the anime alone for what this team is up to yet, but we do know that it ties into the Creation Trio thanks to what they've targeted thus far. But I do like that Pikachu and Electabuzz find a nice respect for one another post their battle history with Paul, after now coming together for the greater good.

But you know what also fills me with joy? The Pokémon Rangers again. I won't go into the video games, I'll save that for my gaming channel, Jordan Fringe Gaming. Go subscribe. But in the anime, they've appeared a few times as Ash and friends end up getting in the mix of their own stories happening. And they even have that movie we talked about. But here, they cross paths with the Rangers once more in a special two-part event regarding a kidnapped Riolu, which is the pre-evolved form of Lucario.

I like that the story continues based on Ash's experience, as we've learned in the Lucario and the Mystery of Mew movie, which is that Ash has the ability to use Aura. As Dawn, for the first time, learns about that as well. As all of this Ranger business, imagine traveling with someone for a while, truly getting to know them, and then one day randomly learning that they have some mystical powers. And it's something that he just forgot he could do or ever brought up.

Either way, this special pair of episodes brings in more of the Pokémon Hunter J person storyline. And she's after this Riolu. At one point, turning Riolu into a frozen figurine and is able to take the Riolu away from Ash. Ash isn't giving up that easily, though. He never lets a Pokémon suffer, or in this case, be stolen and sold to a client for nefarious reasons. So he just tries to run up on her after sneaking on her ship and is quickly stopped by her Drapion. Which, side note, I like Drapion a lot as a Pokémon. But regardless, she has a hatch under Ash's feet, sending him falling. And then Ash dies. I guess the complete Ash Ketchum journey ends here. Thanks so much for watching. Make sure to... Oh, never mind. Ash is saved. We can carry on now.

They decide to make it to their meeting point where Riolu will be given from J to the client. And just look at this shady dude. I hope we get to take him out. Oh, we do. This is great. The secret rich evil client dude here ends up hiding while his Pokémon help him do so. But you don't mess with the Pokémon Rangers, especially if Ash Ketchum and company are involved. Or if Lance decides to show up. Since aside from the Rangers helping out, there are also G-men in the world of Pokémon that operate on a more spy and informational gathering level, but still will help Pokémon and take down some baddies if need be. Uh, he doesn't show up, though.

There's also the International Police with someone like Looker, who first starts showing up a few times throughout the Pokémon Diamond and Pearl. But he's not involved here either. Riolu is retrieved in the end, and now J gets a new mission to go on and leaves once more. Curse you, Hunter J. We will get to the bottom of your crimes one day. Or you will get to the bottom of a lake. That's foreshadowing. But for now, Riolu ends up okay. The client and his henchmen are arrested. And Ash has some communication with the Riolu through their Aura abilities. It's always a fun time when we're with the Pokémon Rangers. But we must continue on for now.

Which is where we run into Show, a trainer that has a love for the Pikachu line, but only has a Pichu and a Raichu. What a conundrum. Offering Ash a slew of electric Pokémon for trade. But Ash would never trade Pikachu in a million years. His Eevee, sure, any time. But not Pikachu. The end.

They end up having a battle with Pikachu facing off against his Raichu. As skill-wise and move set-wise, they are pretty evenly matched. With this Raichu also knowing Iron Tail. But thanks to being larger and a bit faster, Raichu is able to pin down Pikachu to deliver a Hyper Beam at close range, having 100% accuracy. Ash now, not worried about winning or losing, only cares about Pikachu being okay from this. And right here, at this lowest point for Ash right now, it's the perfect time for Paul to show up and call Ash pathetic. Thanks, Paul. See you. See you later.

We then get a chance to bring up those old conversations again, where in the original show, Pikachu had a moment of deciding that he didn't want to evolve into a Raichu, thanks to the Thunder Stone being an option for him. Oh, and before Paul leaves, he tells Ash that to be equal in that battle with the Raichu, he should just evolve as Pikachu. But it's not Ash's decision to make, it's Pikachu's. But he's not doing too well, giving us this emotional flashback and sad music as they do what they can do to help him at the Pokémon Center.

Thankfully, Pikachu ends up waking up and all is okay. He actually wants to go get his revenge on Raichu right then and there. But Ash holds him back to make sure he gets his rest, having a talk with Pikachu again about the Thunder Stone, showing that he has still had it this whole time since then. So Ash gives Pikachu the decision once more, leaving the Thunder Stone with him in his room.

We get Team Rocket seeing this once again and having the discussion about something being off with Pikachu evolving into a Raichu, always having this weird protective care from afar with Pikachu, but still trying to steal him. Basically, any other time. Pikachu struggles with his own thoughts alone, knowing he's been here before and not sure what the right answer is. Maybe what it should be, what it could be. But for him, in the end, he decides against it. And when the others decide to check in on Pikachu, he is gone, as well as the Thunder Stone is gone, freaking everyone out as they all rush out to search for him.

When Ash finds Pikachu, he went out to train on his own in the forest, performing his moves stronger than ever. And Ash is happy to see that it's still his old pal Pikachu and not Raichu. Team Rocket ends up taking the Thunder Stone, one for them to sell, but two, so so Pikachu isn't in that position again. But who knows? We still have half the generation of Ash's journey to cover here. And this storyline has happened twice here, and almost the exact same fashion.

Ash now has a chance to battle Show once more, and the two electric mouses go at it again. Now with Pikachu giving Raichu a lot harder of a fight, still having a similar move set to counter. But Pikachu starts sending in powerful attacks together, having his Volt Tackle mixing with his Iron Tail to really get to Raichu. And now, when the Hyper Beams are out to play, Pikachu uses his agility and strength to draw energy from that attack, allowing for a strong direct hit with an Iron Tail onto Raichu, knocking it out. As Ash wins the battle, he ended up throwing some of Dawn's strategies in the mix for Pikachu to move around and have more power in his attacks. As Dawn is happy to see that something she worked on herself actually helped Ash in his battle strategies, showing just how much she has grown on her journey so far, and that she deserves to have the confidence that she built and rebuilt for herself.

As I'd like to point out, a lot of what I'm leaving out of this video is Dawn's story, rather than Dawn really being a companion here. Dawn is a main character who has a complete focus and full-on arc in this series, where I'd say almost an equal amount of time is spent on Dawn as it is to Ash. But again, this is Ash's story, not Dawn's. Maybe we'll revisit other things to talk about at some other point. But for now, Show and Ash part ways after a level of mutual respect is given, with a rematch promise for sometime in the future if and when their paths ever cross.

We then get a surprise appearance of Wallace, who is a Pokémon Champion from the Hoenn League and is hosting this special Wallace Cup contest. And along with Dawn, Ash will be entering in the Wallace Cup. As Wallace himself tells Ash to compete in it with his Buizel. But the real surprise this episode is at the end when Ash receives a message from someone at the Pokémon Center in Snowpoint City. When he calls in, it turns out to be none other than the return of his Hoenn traveling buddy, May.

She then arrives at the lake to meet up with Ash and the others. As we see her with a slightly new look, giving her the Emerald version vibes. As she is excited to see her old friends and meet Dawn, giving them some presents as they all reunite. Max didn't come on this journey to Sinnoh, as he's back home, following in Brock's footsteps about caring for Pokémon, helping his dad out at the gym. As May has just been traveling, training, and competing. She also shows off that she was training her Eevee up in the north in Sinnoh, where an Ice Rock evolved her Eevee into a Glaceon.

We just get to spend some time between May and the group catching up and showing that the friendship is still there and as strong as ever. With May bringing up if Ash still has that half of the Terracotta Ribbon that they shared the win of last series, and he does, as they hold both up as it acted as a lucky charm for May. Dawn has a ribbon from her mom as her lucky charm, as these three are all going into the Wallace Cup to give it their all. I think it's just a nice wholesome moment there.

Now, the outfits in this competition here are great. I just love how swaggy Ash gets right here. Look at him. All of the usual players are here as well, meaning Zoey and Jesse. I mean, Jess, Elina. And after the performance stage, showing off that Ash and Buizel are working together well, at least enough to impress the judges. And that Dawn makes a nervous but still impressive display with Ambipom to make it to the next round with the others. As now the battle stage is ready to begin.

During the break before this, Ash ends up taking a walk around the lake at night, having an overall great experience being a part of the contest in general. As Ash and Pikachu notice something going on in the lake, seeing some form of mysterious Pokémon. As this would be another Lake Guardian, like Dawn saw, with this being Azelf. Ash runs to speak with the others. And Dawn brings up her sighting from the start of the series, and that May and Zoey know a lot about the legend of the lake up in the Snowpoint area, having its own mysterious Pokémon spirit as well. Again, there are three Lake Guardians, and that marks two of them. So maybe that third lake that they're talking about, maybe has, I don't know, another one. This is all in favor of building out the lore a lot more. As the Sinnoh region has always felt so special to the world of Pokémon, being the generation that brought in the God Pokémon, having the creation of Pokémon being set up, and even when we go into the far past of the region, seeing how it all plays into the larger picture of things, thanks to the Legend Arceus game and the anime special that we'll talk about way later down the road. But enough of that for now, we have some battling to get to.

As Ash ends up defeating Aaron in his first round of battles, but loses in the second round due to time running out and having less points than his opponent, Kyle, and his Lanturn knocking him out of the Wallace Cup. Although he does get complimented during a post-battle interview over his work with Buizel, and Wallace seems happy with the performance as well. By the end of the day, Dawn, May, and Zoey, along with Kyle, are going into the semifinals, with Dawn having to face Kyle and May going up against Zoey. But no matter what, the girls together make it a fun time, each of them promising to give it their all.

The next set of battles result in Dawn taking out Kyle and May taking out Zoey, leaving the final matchup for the win between a Generation 3 and Generation 4 side protagonist, Dawn versus May. So the matchup itself is exciting, with Piplup going up against Glaceon for a grand battle that ends in time running out, and by only .5 points, Dawn ends up defeating May to take the win for the Wallace Cup. It's a massive deal for her, as her last few contests didn't end well. And after some soul searching and training, she was able to go toe-to-toe and win against May, who is way more experienced in the contest field.

May ends up departing from here, saying her goodbyes to her friends, new and old. As our group in Sinnoh continue forward. And it's been long enough, I guess. So here's Paul once more, and Ash is ready to battle this dude. They exchange their verbal disagreements with each other once more. And when the battle starts, Ash sends out his Glalie, the one that he's been heavily training, to go up against Paul's Garchomp. If only we could have seen this Garchomp. And yeah, Garchomp gets knocked out by its more powerful evolution. But Ash lets him hang out and watch and cheer for the battle.

Paul sends out that Ursaring he caught. As Ash sends out Paul's old Chimchar, who wanted to step into this fight regardless of if anyone thinks that he is ready emotionally to do so. But this intense battle results in Chimchar reaching that level Paul always wanted him to unlock again, getting his Blaze ability to show up, pulsing power throughout him. Paul knew that Chimchar can get back to this powerful state. And Chimchar ends up taking out the Ursaring, but at the cost of not being able to calm back down. The rage, the pain, the sadness Chimchar feels towards Paul has taken over him completely, as he goes to then just directly attack Paul. So the group pitches in to try and calm the fire monkey down. But in the end, only Ash can get through to Chimchar, going in for a hug to restrain him and enduring the heat and power, crying out for Chimchar to come back to himself, which eventually works, and he's back to his normal Chimchar self.

Then we have this moment of Chimchar thinking that he was in trouble, viewing is yelling that was trying to get through to him, as Ash being angry with him, when it was Ash just trying to get his voice to be louder than the angry voice inside of Chimchar, assuring the little guy that he is super powerful. Paul is curious about how Ash will combat this in the future. But Ash doesn't show any worry. He knows Chimchar will be able to harness that power he has in a way that doesn't come off as an outburst.

Their battle, though, doesn't continue. Paul dismisses Ash's confidence in training Chimchar. And if there is a chance that he somehow is able to conquer the Blaze ability issue, that's when the two will face off against each other once more. As anything else, he sees as a waste of time. Moments like this are pretty important to showcase the talent Ash has as a trainer thus far, learning to communicate with his Pokémon on a deeper level and help them find their own strengths in a natural way with a caring environment to do so. Chimchar is young and has a lot of power, but his mind is all over the place, trapped in this chokehold of his old trainer and his brutal training ways, and how he needs to work with Ash and be better than letting Paul get to him like this.

Now, as we go on, we end up in Pastoria City, where right away we meet Crasher Wake, the Gym Leader. Where before they can battle, he has some things to do, but offers the group to come along with them. And once they get through this little side krunk competition thing, Crasher Wake is ready to battle Ash. Buizel really wants to win something here, not happy about the draw from the previous gym. So the training session is on. Before the match, Dawn even gives Ash a practice battle. Where Buizel, who wasn't even in this Piplup versus Pikachu practice match, gets hit by a rogue lightning bolt and is pretty pissed off about this. So Ash steps in to get Buizel to not attack everyone over the accident. But it's time for the battle now.

And Crasher has a Floatzel on his team, the evolved version of Buizel, meaning there's some personal triumph Buizel wants here. First, Crasher sends out a Gyarados with Ash sending out Pikachu. And oh boy, Pikachu has an energy about him right now, being able to take down Gyarados with nothing but strategy and from the training that he's been doing. A lot of Quagsire comes out now. So Ash switches to his Turtwig to face off against the GS ball stealer. But Turtwig takes quite a beating. So before being fully finished off, Ash called back Turtwig and decided to send out Buizel, who uses his Aqua Jet attack to combat the Ice Beam from Quagsire to hit right back at him to knock him out. With Floatzel coming out now to face off against Buizel, there is a clear power level difference here, leading all of the attacks towards the Floatzel to be minimal, as Buizel is left in a bit of a daze and now confused from the barrage of attacks. Being swapped out for Pikachu to fight here now, as even he is having a hard time facing the Floatzel. Buizel sees Pikachu pushing hard and decides that he's the one who needs to face this mountain of a challenge, not Pikachu. So he gets Ash to put him back in, getting a pokey high paw when Pikachu passes him and goes in with full force. Because of this, he is able to get a surprise up-close shot on Floatzel, knocking him out and leaving Ash and Buizel the winner, where Ash earns his fourth badge, the Fen Badge. While Pikachu and Buizel have a moment to work things out from the training incident from earlier.

We get to meet up with Gary again, as he helps Ash train his Gible. And at one point, offers Ash a Razor Fang, an item that can evolve Gible. As Gary goes on to mention that it will help give him the strength to better master these moves. And of course, Gible wants all that comes with that offer. But Ash is hesitant, telling Gible to wait a moment, going into this type of decision being a big one, and that training hard and working for it is not going to be replaced by evolving. But then, by battling Team Rocket, where Gible ends up being able to grow a lot stronger and help save the day. Ash gives him the chance to make the decision. And since Team Rocket still comes back for more to save Ash, Gible grabs the Fang and evolves into Garchomp, and catches him. And the day gets saved once again through their relationship and time training together. Ash and Garchomp are becoming more powerful, proving that Ash's methods and sentiments about every Pokémon having the ability to become strong through friendship and training that doesn't push past a certain line can work. And Gary is just so wholesome now, calling Ash the hero in this situation. And they part ways again for now.

When going back to Hearthome City, the Gym Leader still isn't around, so Dawn and Ash end up in the Hearthome Collection, where it's all about style. Ash, uh, surely did try here. But in the end, Dawn wins. And even gets offered for their style and collection to get going with Pokéchick Magazine. But this was just for fun. Her heart is set on the contest for being a coordinator. And since this whole series has the most amount of in-depth exploration of side quests to go on, here's another one where the group enroll in this one week-long training camp called the Pokémon Summer Academy. It's a fun little several episode arc, but but it feels so filler-esque in a time where there is already so much time spent between gyms just going and doing other things or competing in contests, just a lot of not moving the plot anywhere of this season. And for the end of this camp, the people there compete in a triathlon that Ash ends up winning. So that was fun.

After this, we finally meet Fantina, the Gym Leader for the Hearthome Gym. But for now, there's only room for a random contest battle with Zoey in an unofficial battle with Ash, where she just keeps putting his Pokémon to sleep. And Ash calls the match, giving him some knowledge to come up with a plan before their real battle. Team Galactic hasn't been around in a while, so they go in for another orb steal. As Ash and Company link back up with Cynthia and meet Professor Carolina, who runs the Celestic Town Historical Research Center. As a businessman, playboy, philanthropist named Cyrus is heading towards the building. Team Galactic is keeping an eye on this, though, noticing Ash from their last encounter, as they get ready to pull off something.

We get to learn more lore about Dialga and even the Lake Guardians, with Cynthia going into to the meaning of the two spirits that they've seen so far, with Mesprit having the meaning of emotion, and Azelf having the meaning of willpower. And for the one they haven't seen yet, Uxie has a meaning of knowledge. With Cyrus now there, he pushes for Ash and Dawn to be shown the other orb in connection to all of the Dialga and Palkia. As Team Galactic are sneaking around, setting up some sort of attack, seemingly waiting for that right special moment once the orb is less protected and shown. Then Cyrus starts acting aggressively towards Ash and Dawn when they don't really feel anything while being around the orb. Mars, another commander, sets off planted explosions, getting everyone to panic, and for Cynthia to work with Ash to protect the orb and get it out of there. But in the end, Team Galactic ends up taking possession of the second orb and getting away, while Cynthia now has to go have a battle for someone who's looking for the title of Pokémon Champion, which she must go attend and leaves.

As we also get the reveal that this Cyrus guy, yeah, well, he's actually the leader of Team Galactic, unbeknownst to our heroes, though. And that now their plan is simple: they collect the Lake Guardians, and Cyrus's big plan with Team Galactic is starting to fully come together with his love and obsession regarding the creation of time and space, the origins of it all, truly driving his actions here.

On a cool down from that, the group meets Aaron, another Elite Four member in Sinnoh, who is on his way to battle Cynthia for the title. The world just feels so lived in when you can randomly come across interesting people like this, just going about their own journey. But he loses to Cynthia, so that sucks for him. But look, Paul is back, and he's won a Relic Badge, meaning that Fantina is back at the gym, so Ash can officially battle her. Also, somehow Ash convinces Paul to battle regardless of what he said last time. But I do like how Brock tries having a conversation with him beforehand about his brother Reggie, as we learn that he never won that final Frontier Badge when he lost at the pyramid, which is when Reggie gave up being a trainer. With Paul shading his brother's decisions and wanting to be a better trainer than he ever was.

The one-on-one battle between Paul and Ash has his Turtwig go up against Paul's Honchkrow, who ends up really getting Turtwig weakened. But through his strength and perseverance, Turtwig evolves into a Grotle. But even in the end, still loses. After a Pokémon Center visit, Paul's Torterra ends up outside waiting for them. And he then helps teach the newly evolved Grotle how to handle having a slower speed as he gets bigger and heavier through their evolutions. And after, when Paul is coming back around, Torterra leaves, making this whole thing a bit weird. But there is no time to dig into that until he sees him the next day and thanks him for what his Torterra did. And Paul acts like he had nothing to do with it and walks away, with Ash looking forward to their next battle, claiming that that's the one that he'll win.

We end up meeting Barry, who doesn't leave the best first impression on our group here. As Ash gets really fired up to battle him. And Ash's Chimchar ends up taking out Barry's Staraptor right off the bat, but ends up getting knocked out when facing off against his Roserade. As Garchomp comes out to get revenge on that Roserade, but they're both knocked out as a result of them clashing, leaving us with Ash sending out Pikachu and Barry sending out a Buizel to end off in a defeat for Barry, thanks to Pikachu's Volt Tackle finishing off the Buizel. Barry just thinks that Ash got lucky and there's no way he could have lost to him. Well, you better believe it, Barry bucko.

But now for his battle with Fantina, he spent time setting up a strategy, a new technique, if you will, one that can help him against his Pokémon being put to sleep by her Pokémon, calling this new idea the Counter Shield tactic. So when the battle begins, he can actually stand a chance here. As Barry also watches from the sidelines. First, Gengar comes out, going up against Ash's Buizel, showing off the Counter Shield in action when combining the spin maneuver learned from Dawn with certain attacks, in this case here, a Water Pulse, creating a way to shield the Pokémon from the Hypnosis and creating a set of water-like whips around Gengar, with Buizel winning the first round, eventually knocking out the Gengar.

Next, she sends out Mismagius. As Ash sends out his Chimchar, who through the technique of the Counter Shield being used again and combines the use of that fire element shooting all around. And by the end, Chimchar sticks a knockout, giving Ash the win again for that round. But for the the final round, she sends out Drifblim. As Pikachu comes out to face it, and once again, the power of the Counter Shield works with basically any typing, having Pikachu use it with his electricity. But Drifblim is extremely powerful. As Fantina quickly develops a counter-counter Shield strategy that ends up taking out Pikachu, then Buizel, with only Chimchar left, able to clutch this. But Chimchar channels all that he can, relying on his speed in the end to land a direct Flamethrower attack to finish the Drifblim off, giving Ash the win for the whole match and earning his fifth badge, the Relic Badge. Barry even sees him as a real rival to focus on going forward.

And in the end for this season of Pokémon, the group reach the Canalave Gym, but the Gym Leader isn't around at the moment, as he is training. But there is something off in this area regarding sleepless nights and the constant nightmares. As we see this is a struggle between Darkrai causing the nightmares and Cresselia protecting all from that. So at least we get to see Darkrai again outside of the movie. And through this, the group helped make sure Cresselia can ward off the Darkrai. As Ash gets to training for the next gym battle, which will happen next season. As that is it for DP Battle Dimensions. Who's that Pokémon? It's Psyduck.

And speaking of stakes, it looks like those are also going to rise for this next season here titled DP Galactic Battles. Ash has continued on his training, getting his Pokémon in their best shape yet. As we finally meet Byron, the Gym Leader for Canalave City. And hey, also the father to the first Gym Leader, Roark. The battle officially begins with Chimchar facing off against Bronzor, and Chimchar nearly edges out the win here, leaving Ash with the counted win, but recalls him because he needs a rest for sure. Next to battle is Steelix, and Buizel is ready to face the beast. And thanks to the sheer strength and power of the Steelix, Buizel gets defeated. With Chimchar jumping out next, Chimchar holds his own and is able to land a solid strike to finish what Buizel started. But now Bastiodon comes out. As Ash has to think back to the first gym back battle that he had, focusing on what he did to take down Roark's Rampardos. But Chimchar was too drained to win the battle and gets knocked out. As Ash relies on one more Pokémon, and that's his Garchomp, who escapes getting pulverized and lands a nice win, knocking out the Bastiodon. As Ash now wins his sixth badge, the Mine Badge.

Before heading to get his next badge, though, the group head over to Iron Island. After speaking with Barry and hearing that for some reason Pokémon are becoming violent there. The group meet Riley and his Lucario. Wait a minute, what is this character design? In coincidence of him having Lucario, looks so similar to H. Odd. They all end up working together to investigate and solve whatever is going on. As we find out that Team Galactic are here under the Commander Mars, as they are trying to find everything that leads to the past through the Pokémon of Creation Legend, where here they found ruins and ancient etchings that, thanks to the key that she has, shoots out a beaming light that directly affects Mt. Coronet, getting the information that the Spear Pillar location may be somewhere on the the mountain. The longer the beam is up, the more time that they have to scan for that pillar. But when Ash and Company interfere and stop it early, the pillar ends up not being located, but the margin to search now is only 40% of the mountain. As they retreat with this info that is gathered, as well as that key once more. But the mystery of how all of this is connected continues to be looked at by the constant side characters that we run into and by Ash and his friends whenever they happen to randomly pass by some evil Team Galactic stuff happening.

But do you remember last generation? We went over the Poké Ringer contest that's all about the Avary competitions. Well, it happens again. This time, it's Ash versus James again, as well as Paul. And it's a repeat of last time, almost perfectly, as Ash would end up winning this again. And his bird Pokémon would evolve. Last time, Taillow to a Swellow, and here with his Starly evolving into a Staraptor. Honestly, with how good Ash is with flying Pokémon, he should just follow this as a career path. He just doesn't miss. And he gets to put it in Paul's face that this little old weak Starly from the start did grow and become this strong Staraptor with a level of skill brought out by its teamwork with Ash.

We also get a random mini-arc for the few episodes that's all about a ping-pong tournament that gets all built up. And as weird as this aside was, and not for the fact that they all lose, this a big moment happens with Ambipom, who ends up loving ping-pong so much and has what it takes to become a ping-pong champion. So after everyone makes up their mind about this, Ambipom ends up going with this one character over here who takes him back to Veilstone City in the Kanto region to train in ping-pong. Well, I guess that abruptly ends Ambipom's story, or at least for now. But I am happy that she found something that she truly loved. I thought we were focusing on the contest stuff with Ambipom, but no, ping-pong. That's sure. That's fine.

Well, eventually Ash and Company make it to Snowpoint City, as Ash gets ready to fight the seventh Gym Leader, Candice. So my only question is, Candice, dude, pull off a win. The first time around, maybe. They start off with Ash's Grotle taking on her Sneasel. And despite the odds, Grotle uses some of the tips that Paul's Torterra was teaching, teaching it, proving that those strategies worked by taking out the Sneasel in the end. So there's a little bit of Paul's tactics being used here. Interesting. Ash then swaps out for Staraptor for the advantage against Candice, sending out a Mamoswine. And Staraptor, of course, clutches this one after some small struggle. Being swapped out for his Garchomp, once she sends out her Abomasnow, and it proves to be too much to handle for the Garchomp, landing a bunch of Bullet Seed hits and knocking Garchomp out. Chimchar comes out next to heat up the temp, as Abomasnow gets taken out quickly. But she sends in her last effort to win, and Obamasnow. Ash quickly swaps out Chimchar when things look too rough and has Staraptor come right back out, only to go right back in, thanks to being knocked out, giving Ash the full understanding of the power this Pokémon has. Grotle comes out and also gets defeated. So that seemed like a waste of time, because Chimchar comes right back out, right where we started. And oh boy, Chimchar puts up one heck of a fight, as he fully gets into a groove here with Ash about what to do next, as they power through and is still standing after knocking Abomasnow out. And Ash is officially declared as the winner and awarded the Icicle Badge.

Then Paul comes in for a gym battle. But more interesting than that is that we start getting more Paul lore. As Reggie comes around as well. Then all of a sudden, before the gym battle, the Battle Pyramid from the Battle Frontier appears. As Ash makes note of defeating the Brain there and winning the symbol. As Paul reacts to it in shock. And now we all go and worry about the Battle Pyramid. As again, Reggie is well decorated in badges and in the Frontier symbols, minus the final one from this pyramid. As he said, that day he realized he had a lot to learn and switched his whole career path. When they meet up with Brandon, the Frontier Brain, we waste no time before Paul snaps out of his own mind and challenges Brandon to a battle. He wants to finish what his brother couldn't. And if Ash could do it, that means he could do it too, and take him down. As that day that his brother lost so bad that he stopped battling, Paul truly became the way he is, doing whatever he can to make the strongest Pokémon team out there. And of course, you know he defeat this guy that's on his list. Paul loses, though.

And as a side adventure with Brandon begins, as he looks for another Reggie. No, not that Reggie. Another Reggie Pokémon. Paul gets offered to have a battle in 10 days with Ash. So there is something to look forward to. Reggie really wants to see these two go at it to give each other the fair shake, full battle that they've been teasing the whole time. So the side story brings us to a plot point that involves Pokémon Hunter J again. As thanks to her, the fourth Reggie, Regigigas, is awakened. Brandon deals with this like usual. And wow, 10 days have already passed by. As yet, it's time for that big battle with Paul.

Ash sends out his Buizel, and Paul sends out his Torterra. And then Ash flips the script, recalling Buizel and sending out Garchomp, who is having a tough back and forth with Torterra, not doing so hot energy-wise. So then Ash recalls Garchomp to then send out Staraptor. Now Torterra is pretty beat, but Paul plays all or nothing for the experience purposes to overcome tough battles, but also for predicting Ash's plan of attack here, putting up a strong defense. But now Paul recalls it, sending out a Weavile. As it jumps onto Staraptor's back, but Staraptor turned out to be a better scrapper in close combat and ends up winning this battle, but needs to rest. So Ash switches out Pokémon again. With Paul putting out Electabuzz now, and Ash putting out Grotle. And after a couple blows back and forth, Electabuzz gets swapped out for Honchkrow, who has such a fierce battle with Grotle that after plenty of fun action and strategy on both ends, Honchkrow lands the final blow, taking out Grotle. With Ash sending in Pikachu to face Magmar, the evolution of Magmortar. One thing I like about Generation 4 is all the random evolutions that we got here. I feel like Generation 4 was like, okay, this Pokémon from Gen 1 gets an evolution. This Pokémon from Gen 2 gets an evolution. Ah, maybe a couple here from Generation 3 get an evolution. Have you seen a Probopass? What is what is going on? I like it. What is happening here? Is that a nice mustache?

After seeing this Pokémon's power and how Pikachu was faring, Ash swaps in Buizel. And then Paul ends up switching as well, and out comes Ursaring. And Buizel does great at first, but starts getting hurt pretty badly. But he doesn't want to be recalled. He wanted to finish this battle with Ursaring. But the bear ends up getting faster, being able to land a pretty big blow onto Buizel, who is now no longer able to battle. Ash is putting faith in his Pokémon in their action to battle harder if they want to keep going, despite his normal judgment to swap when needed. It's if they are not on the same wavelengths, working together, then winning this battle would be nearly impossible. Ash sends out his Staraptor again, but Ursaring is still too powerful, taking out the Staraptor. He sends out Electabuzz once more, as Ash throws in his Chimchar to battle, who's fired up to go against Paul. But Electabuzz was there just to put out a Light Screen for his next swap, which was again Torterra. As Chimchar would now have trouble getting in some attack. So Ash swaps out for Garchomp, who gets knocked out instantly. Pikachu wants to be back in and give it a shot, but Torterra gets swapped out for Ursaring. And Paul's strategy here has fully confused Ash for what to do, ruining his strategies. For Pikachu nearly ends up dead in a lake. And Ash sends out Chimchar as his last chance, and he ends up powering through the fight with Ursaring, getting him knocked out of the match as he starts to evolve and becomes Monferno, along with a powerful new move in Mock Punch.

So Electabuzz comes out for a furious battle full of Flying Fist. As Monferno's determination burns his fighting fire up a level in heat to face Electabuzz. But in the end, Monferno faints, leaving Paul the victor in this match, with most of his Pokémon still all good for battle, and Ash out all six. Paul finally experiences some bit of joy in his life and is happy that he won. But does know that that battle was spectacular. So at least there's that. Oh, and then Ash does that thing where now he thinks he's not a good enough trainer to be worthy of competing in the Sinnoh League, despite everything else that he's already done. But I'm sure things will be okay. Know, usually he does this multiple times in a season, but he's he's been pretty good so far, so I'll let him slip a little bit. By the way, that whole battle took place on the third special lake in the area, and it gave Brock a chance to see something. As in the lake, he ends up seeing Uxie. So that's cool.

But Team Galactic are still doing things with Saturn and Cyrus up at the mountain searching for the pillar. As Ash just gets in the way and gets involved like usual. Nothing to really see here. But we eventually meet Palmer, who is a Frontier Brain, but from the Sinnoh Battle Frontier. Here, we also get this quick festival tournament, where Ash beats Barry in the end, and he ends up winning this whole thing too. So that's kind of cool. Again, Ash is really good at winning random things when it comes to League championships, not really. But you better believe if he has to tell a bird to fly, that bird will fly and win. But that win grants him a battle with Palmer, and Ash loses. He loses, but still got his trophy, so I guess it doesn't matter.

Dawn gets this egg after defeating this trainer named Lyra, who is with this dude named Cory, who are from the Johto region. So the egg hatches into a Cyndaquil. While the two end up joining the group for a bit. The Cyndaquil has its first battle ever with Ash's Grotle, although it was stopped at a certain point to give the newborn Pokémon a rest from the experienced Pokémon. Later on, the two have a tag battle against Ash and Dawn, where Ash and Dawn take the win. And they end up saying goodbye to these two Johto travelers as they part ways. And that's another point that I really like about this series. As they go on, whether it be in the third generation or now here in the fourth generation, they aren't scared to just add companions for several episodes. Where it may seem that there's a lot of characters to focus on, but it just makes the journey that much cooler. I like these little moments.

Team Galactic ends up completing their Red Chain, which is a special device, and they have found their way to the Spear Pillar. So Ash and Company have to get in the way, like usual, to stop this whole whatever it is thing that they're planning. And there's another Commander around named Jupiter. You know, I also really like the name. They're just so on-brand for the team, and I am here for it. Pokémon Hunter J returns again. This time working for Cyrus to go and capture the Lake Guardians. Cynthia comes back around, but her presence doesn't scare away the bad guys like it should, because J already has finished capturing the targets. But they prove to be a powerful handful, causing J's ship to break open and sink down to the depths of the water. And I, I just, I think they're dead. I think they're all dead. How would you survive this? We we just witnessed something here. I'm not saying nothing, but I would have wanted to learn the answers as to who Pokémon Hunter J truly was. She doesn't come back from this, by the way. I want to make that clear.

But luckily for Ash and his friends, he gets some help from the Lake Guardians to be put in the Team Galactic home base. And now learning that Cyrus was really the leader here. And yeah, that was so last season, guys. Keep up now. Nothing stops him from summoning Dialga and Palkia. As he has everything needed to begin appearing at the pillars with the orbs and the Lake Guardians captured. Now using the Red Chain to force the three Pokémon to power up the orbs, bringing forth Dialga and Palkia. As two dimensional portals begin to appear with both respective Pokémon coming forth, only to be captured and held by the Red Chain. But Ash and Company get the Lake Guardians free, pushing back the two legendary space and time creatures into their dimensions. But don't worry, Cyrus had a backup plan. You don't get this far and not have one. So using more power from the Red Chain, the two Pokémon appear once more, this time to their full extent. The Guardians ask Ash and everyone to help them by setting free Dialga and Palkia. As Cyrus has them using their different abilities is to create a portal to a different dimension that would essentially grow and replace the world around it. As Cyrus wants to have this whole new world.

To himself, ditching his team under him, specifically the commanders. As when the legendary Pokémon are set free from their hold, the portal begins to disappear, and Cyrus goes through. As then the portal fades away, but things are fine, just Dialga and Palkia still being mad and creating a black hole, threatening all life itself once again. Nothing big, but thanks to the Lake Guardians and our heroes here, they are calmed down and nicely returned home to their dimensions. As Ash, Dawn, and Brock became the perfect vessels to be marked in aiding the Guardians in this moment because their friendships and bonds as a group are really strong. So Sinnoh is saved, Cyrus is probably dead, and Team Galactic is no more, with the commanders all getting arrested. Also, here's a shout-out to another moment with Jezebel returning and trying to marry James once more, which is just a nice little random callback I wanted to do to the episode in the original series.

We see Paul again, and he has won all eight badges and is qualified for the Sinnoh League conference, so Ash needs to uh, get a move on it here. But he doesn't really. Instead, he comes across a Gible and tries to help it learn this dragon attack, Draco Meteor. As Gible then follows the group around until Gible wants to be caught, and instead of letting it just happen, he's just eating the Poké Balls, and then he eats Barry's bike. You know, this bike trope really affects so many people in this franchise. Eventually, Gible is captured but used in battle against Barry and loses pretty badly to his Infernape. Yeah, well, that's going to wrap up this season of The Diamond and Pearl era, and we aren't done yet.

Yet, who's that? [Music] Pokémon. It's Ponyta. Now we officially enter the end of The Diamond and Pearl era for the show with the final season called DP Sinnoh League Victors, and I sure hope that there are some victories to be had. It's been such a long era of stories, it would be nice to have some good payoffs here in this shorter season. I mean, Ash takes place in a Pokéathlon, and he ends up coming in second. He, he didn't win, and we just move along. When Barry comes back around, he's passed Ash, having fully earned eight badges and qualified for the Sinnoh league, so Ash needs to train and get himself all eight badges as well. You know, that'd be nice. Maybe there's another Pokéathlon to go do or something, maybe even another ping pong tournament. Ash, but Ash's Monferno gets set off, and his Blaze ability takes over again, now more powerful and unstoppable than ever. But Ash jumps in to take on some direct damage and pain. But for the efforts of reminding Monferno about their promise of them training together. As Paul, who's here by the way, sees how much Ash truly is giving his old Pokémon that care that he deserved. But once in his right mind again, Monferno evolves into Infernape, with Paul being impressed that Monferno held off the Blaze that well and was able to control the power and energy surge to aid it in its evolution.

Ash and friends end up getting to Sunny Shore City so Ash can face off against the final gym leader, with that being Volkner. But Ash first meets Flint, another Elite Four member for the Sinnoh region, who has an Infernape. That's convenient. But Volkner is not in the mood to battle. He's down in the dumps and just offers the badge to Ash. But you know what? I'll give Ash some credit here. He refuses it. He decided not to take the badge and wants to earn it fair and square. So now, in the meantime of that not happening right now, Flint has a battle with Ash, as his Infernape takes out Ash's Buizel pretty quickly. So Ash evens the playing field by sending out his. And we just get a fun battle here. Oh, it's, it's over. Oh, well, that buildup was for gosh darn nothing. Pikachu comes out now to try and fight the Infernape, and by the end of it all, Pikachu faints after giving it his all. So Flint wins. But hey, at least now Volkner is into battling again and agrees to battle with Ash for the badge. But who cares about that? Their battle gets cut off thanks to Team Rocket. This whole tower is a rocket ship, and Ash is screwed from battling for the badge because of the damages here. So it just feels that everything that we just experienced was for nothing. But sure, Grotle evolves into a Torterra. So there, there's that. The reason I'm so disappointed in all of that now stopping is that it all just feels so dragged out as we approach the end of the series. Here, season 4 already has the shortest amount of episodes compared to the past three, and it feels like everything's just going to be condensed and squeezed down to in the end. When instead of just battling for the eighth badge, we have to go through another random battle, a whole Team Rocket thing, and then, uh-oh, now he can't battle for the badge. We just have to wait a long time now until we can come back and do so. It feels like progression becomes less of a focus while we get fake-out progression moments like this. Because you want to know what we do in the meantime until Ash comes back to face Volkner? Well, let's continue on, and we'll see.

Ash has a battle with another Sinnoh Elite Four member, as Bertha agrees to a battle, and her Hippowdon ends up knocking out Ash's Torterra after displaying some impressive moves to Bertha. But Ash loses to yet another member of the Elite Four. From there, we go to another lakefront for the Grand Festival for a bit, and after that several episode arc, Ash finally gets the information that he can go back to face Volkner again, and Dawn wears the cheerleading outfit once more to cheer him on. Volkner sends out an Electivire with Ash sending out his Torterra, and poor Torterra not getting a win again, being knocked out pretty fast here. Pikachu comes out next, who ends up wearing out the Electivire, giving Pikachu an opening to land a solid Iron Tail, knocking him out. With Falkner sending out Jolteon, and Ash switching to Infernape, who is able to land some fast and strong attacks, ending with a Mach Punch to take out Jolteon. As Volkner is down to his last, sending out his Luxray, with Ash putting Pikachu back out. The Luxray, however, was too powerful and takes Pikachu out shortly after that, leaving Infernape to come back out and face this final challenge. And through this, is shown to truly use his Blaze abilities in a way that can be controlled and harnessed, helping him power through the fight and knock out the Luxray, giving Ash the win and his final badge for the Sinnoh region, the Beacon Badge. But a Beacon Badge would have been nice. It took him long enough, but now he's just like Paul and Barry and qualifies for the championship. It's a month away, but I'm sure time will fly right by. As in the meantime, they are already heading to where it will be held and come across Kenny again. So Ash faces him in battle and loses fairly fast.

Before we continue to Lily of the Valley Island, and once there, they meet all of the familiar faces you would expect, and yes, that includes Nando. I'm glad you made it. Ash wants to play things differently for the league here, swapping around his team, while that all ends up going wrong thanks to Team Rocket and Professor Oak messing up which Pokémon he was sending over for Ash. That's a fun scavenger hunt. Go and find your mis-sent and swapped around Pokémon, and I do mean that. It's a fun time because we get to see a bunch of returning Pokémon here get the spotlight in general because of this, mainly seeing Bayleef get excited to see Ash again and doesn't want to stay in their ball, as well as Ash's Quilava helping save the day and ends up evolving into a Typhlosion and now knows the move Eruption. So Ash spends time with more of his older Pokémon here, giving us an array of friends returning for cameos or for use in the tournament as well. Hey, the month is over. The Sinnoh League Championship is about to start, and right off the bat, Ash will have to face Nando in the very first round of the tournament. Paul still thinks Ash is pathetic, but that doesn't stop Ash from being determined here. As when the battle starts, Nando sends out a Roserade, as Ash sends out Staraptor, who is able to take down the Roserade, but has a struggle with his Armaldo that would come out next, knocking the bird out. And Ash sending out his Quilava. And during this battle, we start hearing rumors from Barry about some mysterious trainer that is in the tournament and has a Darkrai. But back to the match, Quilava puts up a little bit of a fight against Armaldo, just enough to knock him out, as he also got knocked out as well. Nando sends out his last Pokémon, with it being Cradily, and Ash sends out his Heracross. And these big bugs beat the dirt off of each other until Heracross uses both Megahorn and Horn Attack to knock out Cradily and win the first round. As Nando thanks Ash for the battle and leaves.

Now, Ash wins this random second match with his Snorlax and prepares to battle in the third round against Conway. While Barry faces Paul for that match, Paul wins. And that trainer with the Darkrai is revealed as this person named Tobias. I'm sure he won't be a problem at some point at all. For Ash versus Conway, Conway sends out Shuckle, while Ash sends out his Noctowl. But you never underestimate a Shuckle, is what I always say. As it does a great job of keeping Noctowl from staying in the sky. So Ash recalls him and sends out Donphan instead, but just gets recalled right away after being knocked aside. With Gible coming out to play next, as Gible performs that mastered Draco Meteor and defeats the Shuckle. Ash switches from Gible to Noctowl, who defeats the Lickilicky, and in return gets knocked out by Conway's next Pokémon, Dusknoir. So Donphan is back and tries his best, but quickly is defeated by a Shadow Punch from the ghost, leaving Gible the last resort here to win the battle, as it lands a direct shot using Dragon Pulse to knock out the Dusknoir and win the third round of the tournament. Which leaves Ash now having to face Paul in the next round, which excites Ash, who after making some party updates, the battle is ready to begin. With Ash sending out Pikachu and Paul sending out Aggron, so a pretty powerful opponent Pokémon right at the start. And Pikachu is able to fend off Aggron for a bit before getting enough damage for Ash to say, "Okay, I need to swap out right now," and sends out Infernape instead. Pretty early on, Infernape seems more ready than ever to battle, being able to swiftly and with a lot of power defeat the Aggron. As Paul brings out Gastrodon, and Ash swaps to his Staraptor, but couldn't pull off the certain strategies he knows that could work thanks to Gastrodon's skills. So he swaps again for Buizel, where Ash has to think on his feet quickly to help guide Buizel to a victory, as he takes out the Gastrodon. So next, he sends out his Drapion again. Drapion is cool, like Drapion, and speed won't work here to get to a spot Drapion won't see an attack coming from, thanks to its torso-twisting abilities, making it hard for Buizel to land any attacks. Fairing too hard for him to win, as Drapion takes the W here. Ash sends out Staraptor, who also falls victim to Drapion's power. So Ash goes even bigger, sending out his Torterra, who finally is able to show more of the power he possesses, but even in this important moment, he loses once again to Drapion. He's just not letting up in this fight at all. Ash sends out Glaceon, and Paul swaps for Ninjask, who gets to Glaceon pretty bad. So Ash recalls him and now uses Infernape once more, who slows down Ninjask's speed so he can hit it with a direct attack, knocking out the Pokémon. With Ash recalling the Infernape again so he can rest. Next, Paul sends out Froslass, as Ash sends out Pikachu, who has to find a way to get through and stop Froslass's hail so it can no longer be hidden in it. As Paul sees and recognizes Pikachu's skills, as he manages to take out Froslass and then be recalled to rest for the moment. Paul sends out Drapion again, with Ash sending out Glaceon, with the two holding strong against one another, as we officially bring this battle to its third episode in length, with an impressive win from Glaceon against the Drapion, finally taking down the beast. Now, Paul sends out his Electivire, who goes hard against Glaceon and squeezes out the last bit of energy it has, sadly ending up in it getting knocked out. With Pikachu returning to the fight for now. Pikachu has known this Pokémon for its whole evolutionary line, ending up with both having respect for one another. That one time, so the battle is very much a blow-for-blow battle up until Pikachu ends up passing out and is unable to battle. But now, the real rivalry that's still there comes out with Infernape always having a power struggle with this Electivire, going back to when they were just Elekid and Chimchar through Paul's extreme training ways. Two opponents with a lot of multiple experience in training now split between two different training methods, who are now ready to duke it out. And all is well until Electivire tosses the hardest possible Thunder, causing Infernape to collapse. But Electivire stops the judge from calling it there, knowing that Infernape has more fire in there and isn't done just yet, giving Infernape that moment to get up, showing that even in their rivalry, they respect one another. But Paul tries breaking him down further, thinking that he's just like Ash, pathetic. But Ash knows that the battle is never over until it's over, with Infernape harnessing the Blaze ability once again, finally bringing us the battle Paul has truly been wanting from Ash this whole time, with Electivire really pushing harder than ever now. But after a tenth standstill following a massive attack from Infernape, Electivire feels the pain and passes out, making Infernape the winner of the bout, and in that, the defeat of Paul on the grand stage for all to see. Infernape was able to face down Paul stronger than Paul ever saw him to be. Ash was able to prove that his methods bring the true results he promised, and everyone in the crowd is excited to see this. Heck, Team Rocket gets emotional over this win here. Cynthia watched over this and notes that while they are very different trainers, their connection now has a bond that can't be broken. Ash calls out Paul before he leaves, as Paul finally admits that Infernape is truly strong. As Ash appreciates the acknowledgement and growth on Paul's end, as the two end on a note of respect for one another, as Ash wants another battle in the future, and even Paul waves goodbye as he now heads out to find Brandon again to face him on his own for his story to continue.

As Ash now moves on to the next round, having to face none other than Tobias, and what mischief he has in store. So Ash must pull out all the stops that he can. But Tobias having that Darkrai out and ready first thing, with Ash sending out Heracross for the battle. But Darkrai demonstrates why it's been such a threat, taking Heracross out extremely quickly. But next, we get another familiar face, Torkoal, who in good old Torkoal fashion, sadly gets defeated as well, leaving Ash pretty nervous with this Darkrai. So Gible comes out next, and that doesn't work out too well either, with Gible's attacks getting dodged and it not being able to avoid Darkrai. So Sceptile comes out next, which is a refreshing turn of events to see this powerhouse becoming the first Pokémon able to take out Darkrai. Yet, and it's just fun to see Sceptile, a cool Pokémon. I like the relationship with Ash in the last generation, and it just defeated a Darkrai. Even Tobias seems to be impressed with Ash's training skills here. But now he shows off his next Pokémon in his unfair arsenal, because aside from already having a freaking Darkrai, which blows everyone watching's mind, as it proceeds to take out Sceptile. But Ash is bringing back all of his old friends. So next comes out his other award-winning bird, Swellow, but they weren't fast or powerful enough to compare to Latios and gets taken out, bringing Ash to his final Pokémon, which turns out to be none other than Pikachu, as they are ready to battle to the end, no matter what the result turns out to be. In the end, Pikachu ends the match in style, going down fighting with Latios falling as well. So while Ash did bring down a second way above the power limit Pokémon here, he was out of all six, meaning that regardless, he still loses. While the others feel sad for Ash, it's actually pretty good for him, making it the first time he's ever cracked the top four in a league conference. And Brock notes how great Ash was here. Tobias ends up winning the whole thing, of course, because, well, do I even have to say it?

The group head out from the ending ceremonies, all excited about their future. But what about Brock? Where are his passions right now? Is becoming a Pokémon breeder still in the cards? Is traveling with Ash still a thing he wants to do? Well, we get some insight to that. As his Happiny evolves into a Chansey, and he's been really helpful this season, even more so acting as a help for Nurse Joy at any Pokémon Center. As here we see him helping this Pichu, and Nurse Joy gives him the thought that he should become a Pokémon doctor, as she thinks he'd be excellent at it. As their journey back to Twinleaf is going on, Brock takes time to think about his future and if being a Pokémon doctor could be his true passion in life.

We end the series the way we started with Dawn waking up in her bed, as they all spend the night at Dawn's house. Dawn gets some news and then decides that she will stay in Sinnoh thanks to getting a gig. She accepts this time for her Buneary to be a model for the Poké Chic Magazine from earlier. So Ash and Brock say their heartfelt goodbyes to Dawn, as they all have some interesting journeys ahead of them. When Ash and Brock are arriving back in Kanto, the two of them part ways once more, with Brock heading back to Pewter with the support of Ash for his doctor career path, while he wishes Ash luck in becoming a Pokémon Master, putting Ash on his own once again. As now he is overlooking his hometown of Pallet, as him and Pikachu excitedly run home for a break before they venture off into another region not long from now.

We catch up right where we left off, as Ash has returned home and excitedly grabs his gear to head out on a new adventure. But we learn that this was all supposed to be a vacation, one that the professor is looking forward to. Ash, Pikachu, his mother, and the professor board a plane and begin heading towards the Unova region, where Oak makes Ash even more excited based on the Pokémon here not being found in basically any other region, at least not now, making him determined to also meet some new Pokémon while he is there. In the background of all of this, Team Rocket, with our usual three, are on board the same flight, making their way to the region, as Giovanni is interested in the Unova region based on his intel of a new organization that appeared on his radar located in that area as well. Upon arriving, it isn't all sunshine and rainbows, literally, as Pikachu's attention faces towards a dark cloud coming onto the land where electricity is clearly surging. But as a storm cloud, it definitely is a bit odd. In this distraction, Team Rocket makes an attempt to capture Pikachu, but the sky had other plans, with a dark cloud completely taking over the sky and sending a lightning bolt crashing down that takes care of Team Rocket and sets Pikachu free from the cage they had him in. But in a connected bolt of lightning being sent back and forth between Pikachu and the sky, the attention of where this is coming from makes itself known as the legendary Pokémon Zekrom makes an appearance from the jump for the region, showing off a menacing force of its power. During this, a person we have not met yet notices what is going on, along with her partner Pokémon, an Axew, who both make their way toward the center of the situation. Zekrom releases a final show of strength onto both Ash and Pikachu before disappearing for now, and the skies returned to normal as if none of this ever happened. Much like Pikachu's entrances to the previous regions, this leaves him weak and in need of some help for it, and his electricity is starting to spark up a bit again, another sign of something we've seen before with Pikachu when entering a new region.

The newest regional professor arrives to meet them all, as Professor Juniper picks them all up as they head to her lab in her car. And upon arrival, she wants to take a look at Pikachu and help him recover. During this time, we meet another new character to this arc for the series named Trip, who makes it no secret that they are going to become this region's rival for Ash, as he makes fun of the town Ash is from, sending them into a heated argument. Trip also shows some traits like Paul, based on selecting their partner Pokémon carefully, choosing the best possible choice for how they plan on being a Pokémon trainer, so selecting Snivy, Unova's grass-type starter, and offending the fire starter Tepig and the water starter Oshawott for how this whole selection went down. Getting all of his gear for the journey along with his first Pokémon, Trip heads out for now. As Ash catches up to them and learns about the Unova League, which is the same setup as before, needing eight badges from across the region leading up to the championships at the end. Pikachu comes running out of the lab towards Ash, as he has made a nice recovery. And of course, Pikachu comes running out of the lab towards Ash, as he has made a nice recovery. And of course, based on his power levels, Trip wants to immediately battle Ash right then and there, as he documents all of the moments on camera, adding to how this trainer will be studying Pokémon for their training research. While the battle was going back and forth for a moment, Pikachu is having issues performing any electricity-based attacks, giving Trip material to mock Ash with because of this. In his still weakened state, Pikachu loses the battle to the Snivy, as Trip pokes fun at his trainer skills. As Ash rushes back to Juniper's lab. After some more tests at the lab, Pikachu is overloaded with electricity once more, but from the power of Zekrom, Pikachu is currently unable to perform electric-based attacks. Suddenly, electricity and electronics in general start going haywire, as the dark cloud makes its way back to the area with a bolt of lightning striking the lab and cutting all of the power and directly linking with Pikachu again. Now, as Professor Juniper understands what the cloud is, she explains it to the others and mentions Zekrom being the guardian protector of the area, but something is clearly wrong, as Zekrom's eyes are piercing red and the lightning storm rages on. Ash jumps in to grab Pikachu, but this causes him to feel the power of the shock as well, as he falls to the floor alongside Pikachu, with Zekrom now disappearing once more. Even while hurt, Ash gets up, concerned about Pikachu, and this poor little fella has gone through so much, no matter where he goes. But luckily, it seems electricity may be flowing correctly through him again, as Ash has him use attacks on him to see if the electrical-based attacks are back, and to his own pain, they, they seem to be okay.

Once things have calmed down from this event, Ash announces to everyone that he wants to spend time in the Unova region and go on a new adventure here as well as take part in the Unova League. As Ash will only have Pikachu with him to start off once again, giving him an opening to capture and make plenty of new Pokémon friends along this journey. He is given a new updated Pokédex for the region, some gear, and is sent off in the direction of his first gym challenge. His route takes him through a forest where he thinks he spots his first Pokémon, as he sees something purple in the bushes. But upon checking his Pokédex, it shows him the information for Axew, who is in fact not purple. Go figure. He throws a Poké Ball anyway, but to his surprise, it wasn't a Pokémon, but a girl. A girl whose name is Iris. Ash apologizes for that, and all is good as she introduces herself and Axew to them. Ash apologizes for that, and all is good as she introduces herself and her Axew to them, and she kind of gets excited to see a Pikachu and squeezes him with a hug harder than Timon's Mom in Lion King 1 and a half, choking, not breathing. The result of this, though, ends in her getting a little shock from Pikachu, and now she apologizes to Pikachu for that. The two trainers chatted up a bit, trying to understand the dark cloud occurrence as well as Zekrom once again. Though Ash has to learn that he must battle Pokémon, not just throw Poké Balls at them, when he spots a Deerling that leads him to a herd of them, with Iris repeating that fact that at this point, he should be more than well aware of. Later on, as the night rolls in, a lot of them enjoy some apples and discuss further about the mysterious world of Pokémon and the fantastical Pokémon like Zekrom that are out there. Until Iris and Axew fall asleep, giving Ash and Pikachu a moment to stargaze and ponder on their upcoming adventure. And as a shooting star flies by, it gives them the right spirit for what the Unova region holds. But what's this? Oshawott ended up following them, sneaking out from the bushes unbeknownst to them. But for now, the morning comes, and Iris and Axew have disappeared. So his adventures leads him to finding an opportunity to catch his first Pokémon, getting into a rather semi-intense battle with a Pidove who manages to escape his Poké Ball once, but eventually is captured by one and officially joins Ash's team as the newest regional bird for Ash to grow alongside for their travels. Iris and Axew appear back after this, but before long after sharing some food, Team Rocket makes an attempt to capture Pikachu, and now by extension, Axew. Ash uses his newly captured Pidove to jump in and help, but Jessie and James may have some new fifth-generation Pokémon to help them. As a Woobat comes out and defeats the Pidove, but to be fair, she was already very much weakened from the battle she just had with Ash. But when all seems hopeless and Team Rocket is making an escape, Axew jumps in to attack, sending Team Rocket crashing, with both Iris and Ash catching their respective Pokémon. Team Rocket is surprisingly back up for a battle, but before Pikachu and Axew could even be feeling good enough to get into that battle, Oshawott continues to take the reins here and finishes them off. As Axew now gets thanked for their help, but they quickly take Pikachu and Axew to the nearest Pokémon Center, running towards it and leaving Axew behind as they get their Pokémon all healed up. They think about why that random Axew came and helped them with Ash not knowing that this is the same Axew from Juniper's lab and had followed him on his adventure. At the same time, the Axew is looking at him from a distance, clearly still following them.

Shortly after this, along Ash's momentum to continue on to the first gym, he gets into an argument with Iris over both of them going in the same direction, claiming each other is following each other. But the real entity that was following them was Oshawott, as Pikachu gets pushed out of the way by him. So their tensions rise, leaving Ash the accidental victim of the attacks. Ash offers the Oshawott to join his team, to which he wanted to, but Ash couldn't catch him because Oshawott is already registered to a Poké Ball back at Professor Juniper's lab. So now he knows it's the same Oshawott from the lab. He rings up the professor and gets the Poké Ball sent to him. She does mention to him that this Oshawott has an issue with potentially liking to run off. Well, I guess we all know that since it ran from the lab to follow Ash anyway. But also, he just ran away again. That's great. During this search for Oshawott, we run into a new Pokémon for the region, Sandile, where much like Squirtle, one is wearing some sunglasses and also begins to just follow Ash around. You know, throughout his journeys, a lot of Pokémon just end up following Ash, which is pretty funny that this is how Ash gets a portion of his Pokémon. At least, but in the end of this little side mission here to get Oshawott back, he is able to get the water starter in his original Poké Ball, and all is good for now. But that won't be the only regional starter that Ash gets. We need another dramatic abandoned fire starter Pokémon for his roster as well. But let me catch up to that.

Ash and Iris, who are now traveling together, but really not traveling together at this point, arrive in Accumula Town, where Ash is able to learn about the Pokémon Battle Club, which is like Fight Club, but you get to talk of. Dang it, I just talked about Fight Club. Uh, hey, look over here at how many copies of the film I have. Please don't tell Brad Pitt that I mentioned the name of this film. Thanks. Here we meet Don George, the owner of several of these Battle Club facilities all over the region. Ash gets noticed for his Pikachu by Don, and one of the other trainers who just won a battle offers Ash a battle. But Oshawott jumps out and wants the smoke. But seeing that the opponent's Pokémon is Oshawott's evolution, Dewott, he lets Pikachu take on the battle instead. The battle, though, comes to a pause thanks to some nearby commotion from Team Rocket, leading Ash to eventually find a Tepig in need of some help, having a rope tied around his mouth, freeing it and giving him some food. Speaking with Don, we learn that that Tepig was abandoned by some trainer who left it after losing a battle. When trying to still follow his trainer, Tepig ended up tied up and abandoned there. So thanks to Ash's help, the Tepig feels grateful and stands with him to fight off Team Rocket from their shenanigans and chooses to stick with Ash, even if Iris wanted to capture him, giving Ash his third new Pokémon in just four episodes of the new series, two of which being starter Pokémon, one of which being another abandoned fire starter is some things just never change.

Who's that? [Music] Pokémon. It's Clefairy. Continuing on from that town, Ash and Iris find themselves in the next major area, Striaton City, where right away we meet Cilan, a sharply dressed man with green hair, who is fascinated with Ash and Iris, along with their partner Pokémon. He is a Pokémon connoisseur, someone who can judge the relationship a Pokémon trainer has to their Pokémon. In search of the city's gym, Cilan leads them to where it is, as it has the appearance of a restaurant, where two others answer his request for a battle. The red and blue-haired waiters named Chili and Cress. For the moment, Ash gets served as if he was there for some food, but Ash is impatient and is upset that there is no battle, trying to leave in anger. But the lights dim, as now the two waiters plus Cilan all reveal themselves as the gym leaders of the city, a trio of brothers ready to battle, something similar to the sisters of Cerulean City, aka Misty's sisters. Each one of the brothers has a corresponding Pokémon to match their hair, that being each of the three new monkey Pokémon: Pansear, the fire type; Panpour, the water type; and finally, Pansage, the grass type. Ash wants a battle against all three of them, with Ash having to defeat two of them to win his first badge. Pansear is up first, with Ash choosing to fight fire with fire, sending out Tepig for the battle. Tepig may not be super powerful yet, but the performance it gives while listening to Ash results in the fire pig being able to defeat the fire monkey, giving Ash the first round victory. Next up is Panpour, and Pikachu steps up next to battle. Surprisingly, Pikachu is taken out by the Panpour, making it a tied battle at one win each for the gym leaders and Ash, making the third battle now against Cilan and his Pansage, with Oshawott coming out to handle this battle for the match point. Oshawott has another panic moment of not wanting to battle initially, aside from showing off an incredible bit of help against Team Rocket when he first appeared. He hasn't been the same since seeing that evolutionary form, but eventually gets into the spirit after being reminded of how tough he truly is from Ash. As this fierce battle rages on, Oshawott is struggling to defeat the Pansage, and Cilan dishes out his catchphrase of "Time for the battle to be served!" but "I ordered a Caesar salad, so I'm going to have to send this dish back." Cilan doesn't hold back on judging Ash either, claiming his connection to Oshawott and the choices that he is making in the battle are not all that great. But Ash doesn't subscribe to the notion that type advantages matter all that much. After several more food-related quotes from Cilan, which I am sure won't get annoying, Oshawott pulls off the win in the end, shocking all of the gym leaders. Ash now earns his first badge in Unova, excitedly showing off his new Trio Badge. Iris spoils the moment, though, criticizing Ash for the type matchups that he chose. But at this point, I think Ash knows what he's doing because of this constant feuding between the two. Cilan questions if they actually are traveling together, to which Iris says no and leaves.

Not long later, at the Pokémon Center, Ash is stopped by Cilan again, having more questions for him in regards to the battle that they had. But Iris runs in with Axew not looking too good. This is all thanks to some dream mist from the Drowsing Pokémon, Musharna, the evolved version of the Dream Eater Pokémon, Munna, who comes along with someone named Professor Fennel, who helps wake up the Axew from the mist. Officer Jenny rolls up, warning them all to put their Pokémon away and to stay clear of the mist that is causing this forced pink glowing sleep to happen. Pikachu is not one for Poké Balls, so they just place Ash's hat on him for now. The group here all help out the professor in reuniting with the Musharna and stopping the sleep madness, and the daydreaming is saved. As now Cilan makes an announcement to his brothers that he wants to travel around with Ash and learn more from him and his interesting ways of training and battling. Iris decides to tag along as well, officially giving us the trio of trainers for this part of the journey, as they all make their way to where the next gym lies.

Now we have two of the region's starters, and something Ash is sure good at most times is somehow ending up with every starter Pokémon from those regions. Here it's no different, as Ash wants the grass starter, Snivy, as part of his team after coming across one. Similar to other grass starters, Ash needs to earn the respect of this grass snake, as it's being quite the hard catch here. By the end of this episode, though, that Snivy has gone through some battles with Ash in escaping Jessie from Team Rocket's attempts to catch her, so she sees that Ash is truly a trainer that she can be confident in becoming part of his team, catching the Snivy and sending it back out to reassure that their journey together will be great, and Snivy seems happy to be a part of the team. Ash now has a team of five Pokémon already, and three of which are the new starter Pokémon. Talk about being OP from the jump. We learn more about Iris and Axew and how they come together and how she is meant to care for and train the Axew up to its final evolution, Haxorus, which we got to see back when being asleep from the dream mist that Axew dreams of evolving fully. Iris talks about where she is from, a place called The Village of Dragons, and that Axew was given to her from the Elder in the village as a rite of passage for a young trainer to fully be recognized as a trainer that truly understands their connection to their Pokémon. I really like this moment in the show, giving some good motivation and struggles for Iris, as she is concerned about their training and how Axew is developing, offering some good growth for her character and Axew throughout the series.

Later on, the trio will find themselves in Luxuria Town, where another Battle Club exists. Don George appears again, to Ash's excitement, but upon him not remembering Ash, we learn that much like Nurse Joy or Officer Jenny, Don George is an omnipotent entity that exists in multiple versions of himself for all of the Battle Clubs. Okay, but in reality, it's the same setup of there just being a large family of Don Georges that run the individual clubs. Trip appears once more, being the rude rival that he is, as we learn that Trip has acquired two badges already, as well as caught a bunch of Pokémon himself, and his Snivy has now evolved into the next evolutionary form, Servine. After refusing to battle a trainer with only one badge like Ash, he gets his mind changed and decides he will battle Ash once more in a five-on-five battle. Trip sends out his Tranquill first, as Ash sends out his Oshawott, who quickly gets defeated by the bird. Ash realizes that he may be in trouble here, but is determined as always to continue the battle. Ash sends out his Tepig, but once again the Tranquill is too powerful and defeats the Tepig. Pikachu decides to step in now, this time having his electrical abilities back to fight Trip. Pikachu taking full advantage of this ends up defeating Tranquill, giving him the first defeat of one of Trip's Pokémon. Trip's Servine comes out now and shows off just how powerful it is when it was a Snivy, being able to defeat Pikachu at the start of the series, and continuing that now as Servine being able to defeat Pikachu once more. In annoyance of Trip's taunting over that and how for the whole battle is going so far, Ash sends out Snivy. Snivy is able to get the upper hand and take out the Servine, leaving Trip surprised that that was even possible. Frillish is his next Pokémon of choice for the battle, and Ash swaps out Snivy for his Pidove, but with little training experience thus far and going up against the powerful floating jellyfish, Pidove loses the battle quickly, leaving Ash with his Snivy left for the battle, who was already worn out from her previous battle. While Snivy put up a fierce final fight, the Frillish was able to defeat her, and Ash is declared the loser of this battle, losing to Trip for a second time, but at least putting up a decent fight back against him. Trip taunts him once more afterwards, giving the backhanded compliments of how well his Snivy and Pikachu battled, but how pathetic and weak his other Pokémon are. Ash, of course, challenges him to another future battle, that he mentions he will consider, but we all know that plenty more Trip interactions will be happening. It's Paul all over again, just like Paul 2.0. He even looks a bit like Paul, ripping off his whole attitude flow bar for bar, leaving Paul somewhere out there in the world of Pokémon on some radio station being all like, "Trip, Trip."

Not long after, on a side quest from the main journey, Ash ends up receiving an egg to take care of from a daycare owner, adding on this responsibility for him to have for now. From here, Ash and Company make it to the next destination and meet up with Lenora, the gym leader for not-Green City, and eventually they end up having a battle. With Ash having his Tepig come out to face her Lillipup, but the Pupitar quickly uses Roar, sending Tepig right back into the Poké Ball. And out comes Oshawott, who is basically asleep at this time, having to wake up and prepare for this battle. As she swaps for her Watchog, whose Mean Look prevents Ash from calling back Oshawott for now. Oshawott puts up a good fight, but not a fierce enough one to match the Watchog's abilities and is defeated. As both trainers swap out now for Ash's Tepig coming out to fight her Lillipup again. This fight ends pretty quickly too, as Lillipup wastes no time in knocking out Tepig, resulting in Ash's loss in the battle and not earning his second badge. Lenora, though, still enjoyed that battle and how Ash handled himself with his strategies, offering him a rematch whenever he felt ready to do so. After a bit of training, Ash returns to the gym for a second attempt at the battle, where now Lenora's Lillipup has evolved into a Herdier, and a rematch between the now even stronger Pup and Tepig commences. After Tepig is able to put up a stronger fight this time, Roar is used again to force Ash to swap out Pokémon, now once more having Oshawott back on the field. As she switches to her Watchog again, Oshawott also puts up a stronger fight this time, but is clearly barely left standing by the end of it. But both Oshawott and Watchog give one final strong attack back and forth, resulting in Oshawott using Aqua Jet after being being sent flying from a Thunderbolt coming crashing down with the attack onto Watchog, leaving both of them unable to battle, giving the trainers one win a piece. With their only options being Tepig and Herdier again, Tepig is determined to win his battle and prove himself, giving us another battle where Tepig is barely standing by the end, but isn't willing to give up. But now Herdier is in the same position, not being able to outlast in stamina to stay standing when staring down Tepig and faints, giving the victory to Ash as he now officially earns his second badge, the Basic Badge. Lenora even comments on how impressed she is with the way Ash is able to strategize and care for his Pokémon during a battle, kind of boosting up Ash as if it feels most times he is just criticized for his battling style by others.

For the next bit of their traveling to the next gym, Ash's egg finally hatches, and it turns out to be the Pokémon Scraggy, giving him another Pokémon for his team to train. Ash also catches a Swadloon soon after this and adds them to the team as well. We also get to see some Ducklett at one point, which is real Breaking Nate's favorite Pokémon. Totally not side-up, 100%. It's Ducklett. Don't let him tell you different. As well as that Sandile with the sunglasses that is following Ash evolves into a Krokorok. The group has now made it to their next destination, Castelia City, where we get another run-in with Trip for a moment, and Ash's Pidove evolves into a Tranquill when Ash and Trip technically work together to wrangle up some Venipede in the area, as each of them now have a Tranquill on their teams. Someone they have met recently was Burgh, who is actually the next gym leader, giving Ash the chance to battle now. With the first matchup in the battle being Tepig facing off against Dwebble, to which Dwebble quickly gets the upper hand and defeats Tepig. With Ash now sending out his Swadloon, the battle may just be turning around. Swadloon is able to knock out Dwebble, with the gym leader's next Pokémon being Whirlipede, who serves to be really powerful, finally trying to end the battle with a Solar Beam that directly hits Swadloon, but it ends up being absorbed into the Swadloon, leaving him glowing. The power of the Solar Beam and Swadloon's determination ends up mixing together for Swadloon to evolve on the spot into a Swadloon, who now has the power and energy to end up defeating the Whirlipede. Berg's last Pokémon turns out to be Leavanny, the final evolution for the Sewaddle line, who is able to take out the newly evolved Swadloon, leaving Ash on his final Pokémon as well for this battle, with that being Oshawott. Just kidding, Oshawott wanted to step into the battle on his own, but Ash chooses Pikachu for the end of this battle. But Pikachu was the right call because the powerful.

Lani was ultimately defeated with a combination of Pikachu's Iron Tail and a newer move he just recently learned, Electro Ball, giving Ash now his third badge, the Insect Badge. Bianca, another trainer that the group ran into a bit back, now ends up joining them for a bit as part of their travels, really only being there as Iris catches an Emolga that isn't the best at listening to battle commands and ends up starting a rivalry with Ash's Snivy before she ends up departing from the group.

We also get some more time with Iris and her storyline regarding her training of Axew as a responsibility, but now fully sets forward a path for her goals to become a Dragon Master, which is just like being a Pokémon trainer, but one that mainly focuses on Dragon-type Pokémon.

Now, it's not long after just seeing Trip that we get to see him again, and this time Ash runs Trip's attempt to catch a Palpitoad, but we at least get another battle between the two. Also, Trip now has an additional two badges from where we last saw how many he had, only fueling Ash further with determination for this three-on-one battle. Trip brings out Servine, as Snivy comes out as Ash's choice. Last time, Snivy surprised Trip by being able to defeat his Servine, so let's see if that happens again here. The answer is no, specifically because Trip was ready with counter-maneuvers to what happened last time. Snivy was not ready for and lost rather swiftly. Trip remarks about how Ash has not improved or learned to adapt over the course of time since their last battle, as we also learn about the Unova League Champion, Alder.

Trip now sends out Timburr, and Ash sends out Oshawott, who becomes a bit scared once again from the situation, trying to get Ash to send in Pikachu instead. But Ash gives Oshawott a little pep talk, telling him that he believes he is capable of taking on this challenge. Oshawott's attacks, however, aren't fully there yet in mastering, specifically that Aqua Jet, where his eyes keep shutting when he uses the move, causing it to not be a focused attack and be more sporadic and all over the place. The battle has been paused for a moment as Trip has captured some photos on his camera to show this to Ash, both being condescending but also a good teachable moment with constructive criticism. Oshawott, for now at least, will not use that attack in the battle, and through a series of other moves like Razor Shell, the two Pokémon clash and end up in a Timburr knockout situation.

Ash sends out Tepig, and Trip sends out Vanillite. Everyone's favorite Pokémon to point out for Pokémon creature designs being creatively bankrupt, but I'd like to think that people nowadays have come to enjoy more Pokémon that fit that call-out category. Uh, but to each their own, no judgment. This battle of fire and ice comes to a head when both Pokémon end up fainting, leaving the match as a draw for the rules given out. So, I guess at least Ash didn't lose this time, right? Ash vows to fully win the next time, as Trip continues away from the group.

Ash now spends some time directly training with Oshawott, helping him overcome not being able to open his eyes while using Aqua Jet, and they are able to accomplish this feat. And Ash even catches that Palpitoad, so take that, Trip! This season, Ash has pretty much gone Pokémon-catching crazy, at least more so than some of the other seasons, catching another new Pokémon, Roggenrola, as another little side series.

Ash and Company get involved in a Battle Club tournament because we know Ash loves his random side tournaments. For Ash's matchup, he goes up against the trainer named Burgundy, a Pokémon connoisseur who has been the rival of Cilan. She uses Stoutland, the fully evolved version of Lillipup, as Ash uses his new Palpitoad. By the end of this quicker battle, Ash ends up victorious and proceeds to the next round of the tournament.

For Ash's next battle, he goes up against Georgia, a Dragon-type trainer who has become the rival of Iris. She sends out Fraxure, as Ash has sent out his Snivy for this battle. It ends up turning into a pretty fierce battle where Snivy is struggling throughout, to a point where Ash is trying his best to get Snivy to recover from the various attacks and isn't fully able to get up at one point with Fraxure coming after her. Snivy, though, is eventually able to recover and ends up delivering a strong final blow with Leaf Storm, as Ash moves on to the semifinals. And in the good spirit of things, Ash compliments her on a great battle, but her attitude being sour already keeps her from accepting it from him and blames the battlefield that they were battling on as the problem.

Later on, Ash's next battle for the semifinals is with Dino, who sends out a Darumaka as Ash uses Palpitoad once more. In a quicker battle than the rest, Ash and Palpitoad are able to defeat Dino and his Darumaka, as Ash is now heading to the finals.

For the finals, though, it's Ash versus Iris, which makes this quite the interesting battle to see between them and in such an official capacity with an audience and all. Ash decides on using Old Faithful, AKA Pikachu, with Iris using her Excadrill. Sadly, the battle isn't as wild and drawn out as it may seem and ends pretty quickly with Excadrill getting the upper hand and knocking out Pikachu, giving Iris the win, meaning she has won the entire tournament. Being given the winning prize of a shadow box display plaque of the different stat-boosting wings or technically feathers. And honestly, if this was a real item for sale on the Pokémon Center website, I would totally buy it. I already buy stuff like this, this chess set, and and the train set, heck, even this coin set, so this would look great on my wall.

For another fun part of the journey after the tournament, Meowth from Team Rocket ends up joining the team, saying that he was fired from Team Rocket, coming up with this whole sob story of being let go and being on his own now, as well as needing their help when they found him. So, after some convincing, Meowth is able to hang out with them for a handful of episodes until it's revealed in Nimbasa City that it was all a ruse this entire time to get close to them and capture all at once a bunch of Pokémon from the Pokémon Center, which in turn also meant all of the group's Pokémon. And they get away using the Subway. Eat fresh, sorry for that, I have brain rot. But through working together with Ingo and Emmet, the group are able to foil Team Rocket's master plan, which kudos to them, this one worked out pretty well in the first half, but like usual, they lost in the second with all the Pokémon being returned and our group getting their Pokémon back.

Ash now has a chance to go to the Nimbasa City Gym to battle for his next badge, but for now, with Ash heading off to that next big battle, our time with the first season of the Black and White series is over.

As they end up meeting the next Gym Leader, Elesa, they also meet up with Bianca again, as well as her father, who is hard on her, not wanting her to go any further with her own journey in the Pokémon world, giving her an ultimatum that if she loses to the Gym Leader, she must come home with him, and she confidently accepts this. We witness her battle happen, which results in her losing. And once the Pokémon are all healed at the Pokémon Center and they have some time to get some food, Ash stands up to Bianca's dad about forcing her to come home and not grow as a trainer while making a rash decision for his daughter. It's mainly out of worry for her, but Ash challenges her father to a battle with a new deal being that if he wins, she gets to continue on without going home, but if he loses, Ash must go home instead, essentially leaving the region and living the simple life back in Pallet Town.

He sends out a Darmanitan that is in its Zen Mode state, as Oshawott does his usual random pop out of a Poké Ball, but Ash allows him to battle. During which we see the Darmanitan break out of the Zen Mode and have a strong back-and-forth with Oshawott to a point that Bianca's father is clearly winning the battle thus far, with Oshawott being very worn out. Bianca feels guilty Ash is doing this with her father, even questioning why he would step in and risk the terms of the deal. As he exclaims that Bianca is his friend, showing her father that there are people out there looking out for her, offering a smirk in response and finishing off the battle with Darmanitan defeating Oshawott. Bianca's father then tells Ash that the deal doesn't need to be seen through, having had a fun time with the battle and remembering the good times he had in the past, and even pushes him to train even harder and to keep growing stronger. He also tells Bianca that she is free to continue on her own journey, especially having friends like Ash and Company out there. The father and daughter hug, get out, and it's a happy ending for all.

Ash is now able to face off against Elesa for his next Gym battle in a three-on-three battle. She starts off with her Zebstrika, and Ash sends out his Palpitoad first, who is just able to take these attacks coming after him and is also able to eventually take out the Zebstrika. Next, she sends out an Emolga, as Ash's Palpitoad is ready to continue on for the fight, but thanks to a strong Aerial Ace, he ends up getting defeated. Ash spent a lot of time focusing on Palpitoad carrying the whole battle, but now, not being prepared for the outcome, he takes a moment to run out of the gym into the Pokémon Center to swap Pokémon, which apparently is just okay to do mid-battle, I guess. He comes back fast with Snivy now, but it didn't turn out to be worth it as Snivy is pretty quickly defeated, leaving Ash with a final choice of Pokémon for his battle, choosing to now fight electricity with electricity. Well, at least Pikachu made the decision for him, going for the whole relationship bond between him and his Pokémon over a typing strategy. Everyone always annoys him about this typing strategy thing, and the one time he does it, he's in trouble. So, now going back to his own version of the Heart of the Cards, called Heart of the Balls, or something, I don't know, what do you want from me? Pikachu takes the field and now faces off against Emolga, mixing in a lot of Pikachu's speed to his attacks, being able to defeat the Emolga. And now it's down to her final Pokémon as well, sending out Tynamo, AKA her Electric Queen, as she calls her. And this tiny little fishy is ready to square off against Pikachu. Tynamo is similar to Pikachu, as it is also a very fast Pokémon, having the speed to not only keep up with Pikachu but in some cases move faster. After retreating back and forth between the two, Pikachu is able to evade an incoming attack from Tynamo and swiftly land a heavy Iron Tail, sending the electric fish frying and flying into a wall, as Tynamo is no longer able to battle, resulting in Ash's fourth badge, the Bolt Badge.

On their way to the next gym, the group runs into Trip again, who is in anticipation to meet the Unova League Champion, Alder, that they all end up running into. Trip, distracted in the act of trying to be parasocial towards him, gets annoyed at Ash for asking him for a battle before he could, trying to push him out of the way and ask for the same. Alder decides to give Ash a battle, though, first sending out his Bouffalant with Pikachu stepping up to the plate here. But shortly into the battle, Alder has fallen asleep through a combination of needing some food, not being truly into a battle at the moment, and overall being a sleepy boy. Bouffalant is angry at this and attacks him instead of Pikachu, but for now, the battle is over. Trip is disappointed in his idol and leaves, having no interest in battling him anymore if this is how serious he takes it.

Through spending some time with Alder, he asks the group what they plan to do when they finally accomplish their goals, giving them a moment to reflect on not really giving it all that much of a thought and giving us context clues to see how Alder may feel himself about being the Champion. Before the group departs from Alder, he notes that he believes the most important thing for a trainer to accomplish their goals is their friendship between their Pokémon and how their bond develops, giving Ash even more determination for what the future holds.

Ash eventually learns about Triple Battles and how they work, facing off against the trio of Maractus, but it was cut short thanks to one of the Maractus being afraid of heights and the other parts of the trio all freaking out in tandem. So, for their well-being, the match is over, but at least Ash knows what a Triple Battle is now.

Eventually, they all arrive in Driftveil City where Ash meets Clay, the Gym Leader for the city. But when Ash asks him for a battle, he denies him as he couldn't care less about battling right now since he was busy looking in the underground for something. Ash and his friends are pretty peeved about this, but after some side stuff, the group run into Clay again with Ash asking for a battle now, but he is still busy looking for a Revival Herb. So, Ash does the Ash thing and offers to go and find it, and he agrees that if he does find it and brings it back to him, that they can finally have that battle.

But this side quest turns into a pretty crazy encounter involving the Forces of Nature Pokémon, with both Thundurus and Tornadus causing uh some problems. The group must now figure out how to summon the remaining Force of Nature, Landorus. I say remaining Force, as the reveal of the fourth, that being Enamorus, wasn't around yet and only introduced recently through Pokémon Legends: Arceus. Landorus can step into to help stop all of the madness from happening. So, the group, along with Lewis, who is there to help them locate the herb, head to where Landorus's Obelisk is to ask for help summoning the third Force of Nature. Team Rocket tries to do their thing and capture these beasts, but Ash and his friends are able to stop this from happening, as well as help Landorus confront the two others and eventually gets them to stop all of this fighting. And together, all three work to replenish the area, including leaving Revival Herbs aplenty.

As Ash now can return to Clay with them, and Clay will finally have that battle with Ash in return for doing so. Sending out Krokorok first with Ash sending out Oshawott, and with the size and strength odds heavily in Clay's favor, Oshawott ends up pulling off the first win of the battle. Clay now sends out his next Pokémon, that being his own Palpitoad, as Oshawott stands firm and continuing to battle on for now. But Palpitoad is able to get the upper hand here and finishes off Oshawott with a Rock Smash. Ash now sends out Snivy, who quickly takes out the Palpitoad, resulting in Clay's final Pokémon for the battle to come out being an Excadrill. But in a furious way over Ash's tactics and using certain moves not being fair in his opinion, criticizing Ash's strategies in battle. So now, with Clay being big mad and salty over the battle, Excadrill comes in strong and very quickly defeats Snivy, leaving Ash with his final Pokémon for the battle is Roggenrola, who at one point during the battle just kind of stands there for a moment to everyone's concern, but the Roggenrola begins to evolve, turning into a Boldore. With this new power, Boldore is able to stand strong against the Excadrill, and with a strong final blow, Excadrill is knocked out, resulting in Ash winning his fifth Gym Badge, the Quake Badge. Clay's attitude towards Ash has changed, as he thanks him for a great battle before parting ways.

As they continue on from there, later on, after the group gets roped into exploring the Hero's Ruins to learn more about Zekrom's relationship with the hero from the older legend about him, they run into the Krokorok with sunglasses that has been following them and is ready to face off against Ash and Pikachu. Pikachu knocks the sunglasses off the Krokorok, who scrambles in a panic to put them back on, but gets back into the battle, but ultimately is defeated by Pikachu. Ash tries to check in on Krokorok, but he starts walking away, sad for being defeated. Ash then offers him to join his team. Ash then offers him to join his team and his journey, to which Krokorok is excited to do so, as Ash then captures him.

Not long after, the group reaches Mistralton City. They meet up with Skyla, who is the Gym Leader there. After Cilan and Skyla get into a battle over his anger in her battling ways and loses, Ash gets the chance to battle her now. As Skyla sends out her Swoobat, with Ash using Krokorok first, her skills with her aviation Pokémon make it easy for her to earn the first round win with Swoobat taking out Krokorok. Ash now sends out his Tranquill, who is able to keep up with the Swoobat and takes it out. She now sends out the form of Tranquill in Unfezant, specifically the male line evolution based on the visual look of the bird. Ash is worried about Tranquill and swaps out for Pikachu, and he is able to catch the bird off guard with an Electro Ball, winning this matchup. Skyla sends out her final Pokémon, Swanna, with Pikachu offering him any further, pulling him out of the battle and giving Skyla another point for a technical defeat. Tranquill comes back out to face Swanna, getting beat up quite a bit until we get another evolution mid-battle, where she evolves into the female Unfezant, having a distinct look separate from the male one. This new energy, along with her new Aerial Ace move, allows her to be able to defeat the Swanna, giving Ash the overall win in the battle and the sixth badge, the Jet Badge.

Along their way to their next location, Ash and friends join in on another random contest. This being the Wishing Bell Festival contest that has multiple parts to it, starting off with a quiz leading into a scavenger hunt. From there, it's a race across a lake and even a dress-up contest consisting of doing impersonations, with Ash doing Alder with Pikachu being Bouffalant. After this, there is another race, this time through a forest, and finally a climb to the top of a staircase to bring their candles that resemble Litwick to the top, trying not to let it get burnt out and cross the finish line up there. Ash ends up losing his flame right before the finish line thanks to Stephan's Litwick candle being an actual Litwick and caused Ash's flame to go out, with Stephan taking the win. He also informs Ash and friends that the next Battle Club they get to, there's a tournament called the Club Explosion, as they all now plan on entering.

Now arriving in Castelia Town, the group head to the Battle Club to enter in in the tournament, as would be some good training before he is ready to face off against his next Gym battle. We see familiar faces enter in as well, like Bianca, Georgia, Burgundy, and of course, Trip, making it a friend and foe-filled fiesta of feuds. When it gets to Ash, his battle is with Angus, another trainer with a green monkey Pokémon who has matching colored hair and even went as far as to style it like the Pokémon, this time being the evolved form of Pansear, a Simisear. Ash decides to use his Scraggy for the battle, who is able to have a solid battle with Simisear, resulting in Scraggy comboing Leer to lower the defense of Simisear and then use a strong Headbutt to defeat him.

With Ash now moving on to the next round of battles, Ash spends some time before his next battle helping Scraggy perfect his newest move, Focus Blast. But things may not just be there yet. Ash's next opponent is Betty, who also has an evolved elemental monkey here, being Panpour's evolution, Simipour. Some similarities in the hair here, but but a little let down that it wasn't exactly matching the way it could be, but oh well. While his Focus Blast wasn't perfect yet, they stuck to the trusty Leer and Headbutt combo, and while Simipour is able to fight this better, one final Headbutt is able to knock back the water monkey, as Scraggy serves up a final High Jump Kick to knock it out, sending Ash to the semifinals. I wonder what his next matchup will be. The results may shock you, because no, it's not Simisage, the evolved version of Pansage. It's Throh, as Ash faces off against Montgomery. This battle isn't super long, with Scraggy not being able to get Focus Blast fully nailed down, allowing Throh to get in a powerful Seismic Toss, knocking out Scraggy, as well as Ash from the tournament. Stephan, along with his Pokémon that is opposite to Throh being Sawk, face off against Montgomery for the finals, as Stephan wins. I guess winning tournaments is his specialty. He also wins a year's worth of vitamins, so that's cool, I guess. I don't see any Flintstones Vitamins in there, so did you even really win?

Continuing on their way, Ash's Swadloon ends up evolving into a Leavanny, and he's really excited about this. Also, the group takes a rest at another Battle Club that they pass, but there they meet Sheamus, the trainer that abandoned Tepig before Ash came along and gave him a second chance at trusting trainers, but still has this love for his original trainer, trying to show that he still cares for this guy. But after the group gives him a piece of their mind over abandoning Tepig, he refuses to apologize for doing so and tosses him back to Ash. After a random courtroom drama about the initial incident, Ash and Sheamus agree to a double battle, and that if Sheamus loses, he must apologize to Tepig. Tepig is pretty conflicted about this battle and his thoughts as a whole about his previous trainer, but still agrees to battle along with Snivy next to him for it. Sheamus has both a Heatmor and an Emboar for his two Pokémon, with Emboar being the fully evolved form of Tepig, while the sizes and power levels are completely swayed to one side, and in general, it looks like Sheamus replaced his old Tepig to now have his powerful evolved form on his team. The two base evolution Pokémon put up a strong fight against them. Tepig, though, struggles with his emotions to fully be in the battle, leaving Snivy to hold up a lot of the front-end work here thus far, and when both of Sheamus's fire Pokémon combined their power of a Flare Blitz attack sent directly towards Tepig, Snivy launches in to push Tepig out of the way, saving him while taking the hit directly and getting knocked out. Tepig now fully starts pulling himself together for the battle, and thanks to everyone cheering him on and showing their love for him, he ends up evolving on the spot into his next evolution, Pignite, while Sheamus remarks that he still stands no chance of winning this battle. The encouragement from Ash, Snivy, and the rest of the group outweigh those comments, fueling Pignite up for a massive new attack, and in one fell swoop, both of Sheamus's Pokémon are defeated, resulting in his loss in the battle. Ash, Snivy, and Pignite all embrace in a loving hug, showing how close they all are, as Sheamus now apologizes to Pignite, even offering a chance for him to come back to his team, which has him excited for a moment, but then this leads to Pignite using Flamethrower on him to everyone's delight. Okay, well, maybe not Sheamus's, but you get the point.

We now make our way to Icirrus City where we meet Brycen along with his Pokémon Beartic. As Ash is interested in training in his ways before finding out in the end that Brycen is the Gym Leader and they prepare to battle. Ash sends out his Krokorok first with Brycen sending out Vanillish, but with Krokorok getting turned into ice from the ice cream, he swaps out Pokémon for now, sending out Scraggy, who is able to take care of the the cone. Brycen now sends out Cryogonal, but this isn't your average snowflake. He has no Twitter or X or whatever it is now, and here is able to defeat Scraggy. But Ash reassures him that they will keep getting stronger, and for this battle, he did good, and that they will still win. Ash sends out Pignite next, who was able to finish what Scraggy started, being able to take out Cryogonal, as Brycen now sends out his third Pokémon, his trusty Beartic, and Pignite is still ready for battle, but Beartic's strength and move set overpowers Pignite and quickly knocks him out, leaving Ash with Krokorok to help pull off a victory. As the battle intensifies and Krokorok is not having the easiest of times here, Ash comes up with a strategy to first use Stone Edge, putting Beartic on the defense from the attack, but Ash tells Krokorok to jump up and grab pieces of the stone from that last move, fastening them tightly in his hands like daggers. As Beartic launches at him, with the two clashing mid-air and landing opposite of each other on the battlefield, as Beartic falls to the ground moments later, leaving Ash the winner as he gets his seventh badge, the Freeze Badge.

On their way to Ash's final Gym battle, they arrive in Virbank City where they all get caught up in this massive random side plot that involves Virbank's Hollywood-esque traits like movies, the Walk of Fame, amusement parks, and so much more, as they help Luke here work on his film. Ash sees and also saves the mythical Pokémon Meloetta before it disappears for now. Also, this really cool Mecha Tyranitar starts going on a rampage. Just kidding, it's for the movies, Hollywood magic, am I right? If only they paid the writers and actors their fair worth, the industry would be better. This movie, however, involves a giant Kaiju battle, UFOs, aliens, and even a Porygon. But by the end of this whole thing, that Meloetta from earlier starts to follow Ash, being interested in learning more about him. Seriously, how many Pokémon are going to just randomly follow this dude? But now Ash heads for his eighth and final badge to which the Gym Leader is Roxie, a member of the punk band Koffing and the Toxics, equal parts gym and concert venue. Ash is excited for his last Gym battle with Roxie, offering a deal too good to be true, a six-on-three battle in Ash's favor, but she is the one pushing for this, so Ash agrees to it, and the battle is about to begin. Meloetta is watching from a distance, though, sneaking in without paying.

Roxie first sends out her Koffing, with Ash sending out his Boldore. From the band pumping music to the crowd cheering, this battle is surely going to be an epic one. Now, Koffing isn't this unassuming threat that it may seem, being used to seeing the Koffing evolution line through James of Team Rocket's lineup of Pokémon. As this Koffing is able to move at a higher speed, easily clearing Boulder for the first round knockout in her favor. Ash may be understanding why she insisted on him having access to more Pokémon for this battle. Unfezant comes out next, having her speed to help keep up with the Koffing, but once again, Koffing's speed and use of poison moves gets the better of Unfezant and becomes unable to battle, already leaving Ash at four Pokémon left and Roxie with her full three. Ash needs a win here, so he counts on his Leavanny to come out and face Koffing with a quick combo of lowering Koffing's defense before trapping it in a String Shot. Leavanny tosses the gas bubble around before going in with a strong final hit that finally knocks the Koffing out, bringing Roxie to her second Pokémon, a Scolipede. Scolipede is a pretty powerful Pokémon, getting in some toxic shots onto Leavanny to a point where it can barely move, being open to a final Sludge Bomb that takes him out, leaving Ash with half of his team knocked out. He now sends in his Pignite, and thanks to the strong fire attacks, Pignite is able to show just how strong he truly is by taking out the Scolipede, but not before Pignite is poisoned from it. Down to her final Pokémon, Roxie sends out her Garbodor. Roxie also gives Pignite a berry that will cure it of its poison, making the challenge more fun for her, but even with the help of the berry, Garbodor was a lot more powerful, being able to counter the fire attacks and take out Pignite from the battle. Ash now sends in Palpitoad, who meets a similar fate from Garbodor, not being able to handle this trash pile power and is knocked out. All that Ash is left now with is his trusty Pikachu to hopefully defeat her remaining Pokémon. Garbodor, though, is still dominating the battlefield, and while Pikachu is still holding his own, Garbodor is able to break through a lot of Pikachu's attacks and defenses, leaving Ash a bit worried here. But thanks to his friends cheering him on, he finds the confidence for this battle and is still believing in himself and in Pikachu to win this battle. The two Pokémon continue to clash as Pikachu is at one point able to paralyze Garbodor, leaving it open for Pikachu to land a final blow and take it out. With the crowd now paralyzed themselves in shock, Pikachu is still hurt from the poison, though. But Roxie hands him a berry to cure him of the ailment and awards Ash his eighth and final Badge of the region, the Toxic Badge.

Ash is now able to enter the Unova League Championships, and Meloetta, who was still watching everything, is happy about this before disappearing for now. But now we enter into the Meloetta Arc of the Black and White series for a moment, as we have a gap in time before the Championships start. Anyway, the group runs into Cynthia, the Sinnoh region Champion, who is here for the Pokémon World Tournament Junior Cup, with the winner getting to battle with Alder, which Ash kind of, but not really, already had, but he is eager to potentially have a real battle with him this time. So, of course, Ash, along with his companions, all want to enter in, as they travel with Cynthia now towards it. As far as Meloetta here, it is attacked by Team Rocket, who wants to capture it, but just ends up getting injured and narrowly escaping, landing in front of Cynthia's car as she slams on the brakes. Ash remembers the mysterious Pokémon from their first private encounter, as they are told from Cynthia that this is Meloetta. As they heal the mythical Pokémon, and as Ash also helps in aiding the Pokémon, it finally wakes up and is excited that Ash is the one they're helping. Oshawott comes out to help as well and instantly falls in love with Meloetta. How adorable.

Later on, after Meloetta is feeling better, sings a song, and then pieces out for now, Cynthia mentions to Ash that someone at their place she's staying at in Undella Town is waiting to see him. As we cut to Dawn and her Piplup in this new region. I love when previous companions make appearances, it just makes the world of Pokémon feel so lived in. I mean, just any people from other regions is really cool. You could say the same here for Cynthia, just being in this region. The group all arrive in Undella Town, and right now, Meloetta is still curiously following Ash, but here Ash meets up with Dawn, now being excited to see her and Piplup, giving her a high five as they now chat it up and catch up. As then they all realize the presence of a Pokémon around them, with Ash knowing that it's Meloetta and that they're just acting shy. Pip gets a crush on the singing Starlight Pokémon as well, causing Oshawott to be jealous and starting a rivalry with Piplup. The groups spend time together with Dawn, as well as Meloetta, as they have some time for a little bit of side questing together, going to an island full of Onixs and even a shiny one that acts as a leader to the others in the area. It's always just fun to see a shiny, but eventually, it is time for the World Tournament Junior Cup, where we see Trip once again, who this time is eager to battle Alder, knowing that he will have to be sharp and at least awake for his battle with him. This time, all the usuals are here as well, once more to battle their respective rivals, hopefully with each of them being determined to win. Our group is excited to see a fun matchup of Cynthia and one of the Unova Elite Four members, Caitlin, take place as an opening 10-minute exhibition match that ultimately ends in a draw, but at least it was fun to watch. The first round is quickly blown past, only showing us a little bit of the action, but for Ash, he beats his opponent, Maris, and is heading to the next round. Ash goes up against Geraldo, who sends out a Reuniclus, with Ash using his Boldore, and is shown to quickly defeat him, sending him on once again to the next round. Iris and Dawn have to face each other here as well, with Iris ending up the victor thanks to her recently caught Dragonite. But now, in the semifinals, the matchups are Cilan versus Trip and Ash versus Iris, giving us an open shot at any one of these trainers taking the overall win here for the tournament. Trip is able to defeat Cilan and advances to the finals with his determination to face Alder, as we now get to Ash versus Iris. Iris sends out Dragonite with Ash sending out his Krokorok, with the battle raging back and forth with two friends giving out their best strategies to hopefully win, not holding back to offer the best possible battle for one another. Dragonite ends up getting the upper hand in the fight, as Krokorok is struggling to get up at one point, taking a moment to harness his own will to win the battle and prove himself, beginning to glow and evolve into his final evolution, Krookodile. This new power and energy is shifted for the Pokémon to stay in the fight here, as the two continue to clash with each other. Dragonite, though, has been giving Iris some issues in listening to her, as they haven't fully bonded yet, leading to Krookodile getting in a strong finishing hit that knocks out Dragonite, giving Ash the win and sending him on to the finals to battle Trip once more. Both Iris and Dragonite are sad at the loss, as she questions herself and why they aren't on the same page, as Cynthia offers Iris some wise words about them training together and truly building that bond, giving her the confidence in knowing that her and Dragonite will be on the same wavelength at some point.

Ash is eager to battle Trip, though, excitedly running out to the battlefield when it's time for his battle. Trip sends out his Serperior, the final evolution of Snivy, with Ash sending out Pignite, but will this clear type advantage be enough to keep up with how fast and how strong Serperior is? Well, let's see. The battle is fierce, and Pignite does give it his all, but in the end, Serperior ends up Superior. Sorry, I had to. Sometimes the lowest hanging fruit is the sweetest, or something. Ash loses the battle and is extremely disappointed in losing to Trip once more, but his friends are all there to cheer him up and get him pumped up for his next battle with Trip that he knows he will win. Trip is given the trophy from Alder for winning the tournament, as they both now prepare for their battle against each other. Trip loses, though, which is fine. Alder gives some kind words to Trip, as he also promises him another battle in the future once Trip asks for one, leaving him in high spirits and not so mean to Ash before he departs, seemingly looking forward to seeing each other in the Championships.

Out of nowhere, a new trainer arrives named Cameron, as he thinks the whole tournament that just happened hasn't happened yet. They break the news to him that it's all over, and he is upset about this and just pals around with the group for now. Dawn, however, is ready to head back home, saying her goodbyes to everyone, and even Piplup and Oshawott get over their whole rivalry and hug it out once she leaves. They all hang out with Cameron for a bit as they watch him go and get his eighth badge before separating from the group.

Throughout our time so far in this generation of the show, Team Rocket, along with their leader Giovanni, have been working on this whole plan in the background, more so than just interfering with Ash. Called Operation Tempest. For now, though, Ash and Company are interrupted by a man named Ridley, who points fingers at them, saying they attacked and stole Meloetta. But before things escalate to a crazy degree, Meloetta steps in and makes it clear that these people are friends and they weren't taken by them. Ridley apologizes for his hostility towards them and explains that he is the descendant of the protectors, a lineage of people who have been protecting Meloetta for thousands of years. He further explains where Meloetta comes from and the ancient Abyssal Ruins that are lost to time, now saying that Team Rocket has been after Meloetta in order to summon the Abyssal Ruins once more. But suddenly, Team Rocket appears and surrounds the group. Ridley battles with the Pokémon attacking them, allowing Ash to take Meloetta and make an escape, but are quickly stopped by Jessie, James, and Meowth before things get too out of hand here. Though, a certain presence is recognized by Pikachu as a Persian appears, this being none other than Giovanni, who makes his dramatic, cool bad guy entrance as well. Giovanni notices Meloetta and captures Ash and Pikachu in a cube that starts getting smaller and smaller, offering Meloetta the choice of coming with him or letting Ash and Pikachu be crushed to like death. Meloetta ends up instantly agreeing and goes with Giovanni, along with Ash and Pikachu, who are still trapped in the no longer shrinking cube.

Now in a submarine to where the remains of the Abyssal Ruins lie, Meloetta is then put into an altar as a recording of Meloetta's song starts playing, a device that changes the Forces of Nature Pokémon to change their form that now raises from the ruins while this pyramid makes itself visible. Giovanni gets his hands on the revealed glass, shooting a beam into the sky that brings forth a raging storm, along with it the three Forces of Nature we met before. Meanwhile, Ash has Pikachu help him break the cube to be set free, as they both now sneak their way to try and rescue Meloetta. But Jessie and James try stopping them, as Ridley and Cynthia come and rescue them from the attacks. Giovanni, though, now has control of the Forces of Nature, changing them into their Therian Forme forms to now battle Ash and everyone who all step in to stop all of this from happening, fighting the elements and the forces now controlling it all. Pikachu's Electro Ball from the electricity surging through him ends up blasting a part of the temple to pieces, setting free Meloetta and the Reveal Glass flying with Giovanni getting it and staring directly into it on accident, stunning him in pain as it blasts him in the face. In this moment, Ash's Unfezant safely brings Meloetta back to Ash, as Giovanni gets up with his eyes glowing red and a glowing symbol now smack dab in the center of his forehead, saying they no longer need Meloetta anyway. Jeez, Pokémon is getting darker and darker with its visuals, I kind of love it. Reminds me of Merri Ishtar in Yu-Gi-Oh, but I'll talk about that in my Yu-Gi-Oh videos. Giovanni is completely consumed in a path of destruction, controlling the Forces of Nature to now destroy this whole region. We learn that Meloetta is the balance of these forces, and now that there is no balance, these three forces can be used to cause nothing but destruction. Ridley is able to grab the Reveal Glass and and set it back up in its rightful place, having Meloetta aid in fixing all of this. Ridley requests the Reveal Glass to grant him the power to stop this, as a new beam comes from it and combines with Meloetta, bringing out a melody that calms the Forces of Nature into a relaxed state, making their way to the Reveal Glass and entering into their Incarnate forms again, and no more destruction is brought forth to the world. During all this, Team Rocket had already escaped in a jet, as Giovanni is back to normal now, thinking back on his own desires and wants, nearly causing his own demise. Maybe this means a new chapter for him? Probably not, but who knows. For now, the ruins sink back into the water as the Forces of Nature disperse in peace. Meloetta departs from the group with Ridley, as they say their goodbyes, with Oshawott left the most upset about this. But that's not the only thing departing, as we are as well from this season of the Black and White anime, and what a way to end the season, such a fun segue into some incredible lore for this region. Giovanni getting a full chance to shine rather than just being in the shadows or sparsely used, and now we have the Unova League Championships left to look forward to. Who's that Pokémon? It's... As we now continue on for the adventure, Ash and friends decide to take time to visit where Iris is from, the Village of Dragons, before the Championships start up, giving us some time with Iris as we see her personal story start taking place a bit more. Eventually, we make our way to where the Unova League is held, where we get to see a bunch of familiar faces that we met throughout the region. Once the opening ceremonies happen, we learn about the first round matchups, resulting in Ash having to face Trip right away in the tournament, not having us build up separate battles through several rounds before a major climactic battle between the two happen. Sure, I can appreciate jumping into this right from the jump, but there is something a bit disappointing in not building this up into something larger for their battle.

Trip starts off with his Serperior, with Ash choosing Pikachu first. Technically, this isn't even even the main part of the tournament yet either, being this early on and only being a single Pokémon use battle. As Pikachu and Serperior go back and forth, Ash is mentally pushing himself to not lose this time to Trip, feeling that his journey in the region will have been for nothing if he can't get past his current rival here. At one point, with Pikachu already worn out, the two Pokémon collide as Serperior counters Pikachu's one-two combo of Iron Tail and Electro Ball, causing a massive explosion on the battlefield, allowing the smoke to dissipate from the scene to reveal the outcome, which seems to happen all the time in the Pokémon anime. I'm not complaining, it's a staple of how these battles usually go, and Pikachu is shown to barely be up, but we then see excitement take over as Serperior is shown to be knocked out. This surprises Trip, as Ash has now defeated him, and it was done in an official tournament, with Ash being able to move on in the Championships. The two have a moment to speak, as Trip knows that Ash has a lot of training to still do in order to face off against someone like Alder at some point, as they shake hands and look forward to a future battle between each other one day from the more experience they have left to gain, with Trip heading out for now.

As the tournament continues on, Ash goes through the different rounds and continues to win, leaving him now up against Stephan, who uses his Liepard, with Ash sending out Krookodile. These two Pokémon show off a nice display of their power, giving us Krookodile at his best, coming a long way from the Sandile that he used to be. With not much energy left, Krookodile ends up the victor of this first battle, as Stephan now sends out Zebstrika. Ash swaps out Pokémon for his Palpitoad now, as the two Pokémon seem very evenly matched, coming to a head when both Pokémon knock each other out at the same time, leaving Ash with two wins and Stephan with one, but he's down to his final Pokémon for this battle now, sending out Sawk, as Ash chooses Leavanny next. As powerful as Leavanny is, Sawk's powerful attacks are able to break through Leavanny's defenses, resulting in him being defeated, as Ash only has his Krookodile left, who is already pretty battle-worn from earlier. Both trainers are at their all-or-nothing moment, having their Pokémon give it their final best shots, with Krookodile ending up the victor of the battle, sending Ash to the quarterfinals.

The crowd erupts in excitement. The two trainers congratulate each other on a great battle. As Ash prepares to face off against the Cameron kid that they met earlier after the other tournament.

As the next day starts, Ash is ready to battle with Cameron sending out his Hydreigon first, which Ash wasn't prepared for. In response, Ash sends out his Boldore, who learns rather fast how strong of a Pokémon Hydreigon is. Getting hit with a barrage of attacks, ending the first round with a Dragon Pulse that completely takes out Boldore.

His next choice for the battle is Swalot, which may not have been the best choice. No matter how much heart this little guy gives in a battle, with Razor Shell not being able to truly do all that much here. With Dragon Rush being used to finish off Swalot. From that battle, Ash is getting pretty worried about the outcome of this battle now. While he knows Cameron was already not a bad battler, he severely underestimated what he had in his arsenal for this battle.

He next sends out Pignite, who finally is able to break through the power Hydreigon has, scoring a knockout win for Ash. Cameron sends out his Ferrothorn next, which may not have been the best choice for him, as it was at a big disadvantage typing-wise. And not everyone believes or can fully conquer winning at those kinds of odds, leading to a quick defeat at the hand, or rather flames, of Pignite.

Now the battle is tied up, with the crowd loving the spectacle. To gain the lead again, though, Cameron sends out the final evolution for Swalot, a Samurott, who easily takes control of the battle, taking out Pignite. And Ash now sending in Pikachu to counter. With Samurott using moves like Razor Shell, Ash feels more comfortable in navigating it thanks to training. Swalot having Pikachu deflect the attacks and use an Iron Tail to take out Samurott.

Cameron chooses Swanna next, but with both having high stats in their speed, Pikachu is just faster, allowing Pikachu to get in a direct hit with an Electro Ball, knocking out the Swanna and putting Ash in the lead for the battle overall. Since Ash is using his closest partner Pokémon. Cameron sends out his being the Riolu traveling with him that we saw in his first appearance. And Riolu isn't an easy opponent. Cameron, however, doesn't have any other Pokémon left after Riolu for a full six on six battle, continuing his traits of always being slightly off, like being late to that other tournament, or thinking that he only needed seven badges, so we had to go with him and see him get his eighth badge. And now thinking that a full battle was five on five, not six on six. Never change, Cameron. Never change.

Nevertheless, he commits to using Riolu as his last Pokémon for the rest of the battle. With Ash still having three that are able to battle, but maybe not for long. As Ash swaps out Pikachu for his Unfezant, who quickly gets knocked out by Riolu. With Ash's team narrowed down to just Pikachu and one other choice, he sends out Snivy to help in the battle. Snivy ends up putting up a strong fight against Riolu, leaving him fairly weak. But in the heat of the battle and all the cheering on from Cameron, Riolu starts evolving, becoming Lucario. And one thing we all know about Lucario is that they are for sure no joke in battle. Maybe Cameron does really stand a solid chance here after all.

Getting their bearings and being used to this new power, Lucario is able to stop Snivy's constant attacks, landing a direct hit with Aura Sphere, knocking out the grass starter. The battle now comes down to each trainer's final Pokémon, as Pikachu comes back out to face Lucario. The two Pokémon go at it, coming to a massive collision of attacks, leaving both Pokémon weakened. But with Pikachu clearly struggling to stay in the battle.

For a moment, Cameron and Ash paused the battle to speak with each other. As the two show a great respect for one another in how this battle has turned out. Having both of their Pokémon continue on to decide the fate of their time in the Championships. Pikachu gives it everything he's got left, but Lucario just couldn't be stopped, evading an Electro Ball from Pikachu and landing another solid Aura Sphere attack, knocking out Pikachu. Resulting in Ash losing the Unova League.

As the two trainers thoroughly enjoyed an intense battle that pushed them to do the best that they could. Virgil, another trainer that they meet briefly before the tournament started, ends up being the overall victor for the Unova League. In the end, though, afterwards, our main group, along with all of the trainers, friends, and rivals alike, hang out and share their compliments to one another for some great battles and great entertainment before they all separate.

Ash spends some time with Stephan as they discuss what their immediate future holds for them. As Ash isn't going home just yet, planning on spending some more time in the region. But both trainers plan on becoming even stronger for another battle at some point. Ash also goes to spend some private time back at the stadium, reflecting on how the battles went, understanding what went right and what could be improved on in his training. He notes that his journey isn't over for him. He is still determined to be a master, and another league loss isn't going to stop him.

Our main trio come back together to continue on for what else the Unova region holds. Now, if you know anything about the Black and White video games, there is a certain storyline and a certain character who hasn't made an appearance in the anime yet. So as we move forward, meet up with Professor Juniper again, and see that Team Rocket is back to their usual business of trying to get Pikachu. A new green-haired character comes into play. All the while, Ash and his friends are heading out to the White Ruins in hopes of seeing the other main legendary Pokémon for the region, Reshiram.

Ash also looks forward to this extra credit gym battle, wanting to get some training in to prepare for it. But Pikachu senses this new character watching them. As he approaches, he's kind and calls Pikachu cute and said that he heard a friend's voice, claiming that he considers all Pokémon to be his friend and that he can hear their inner voice and instantly can tell how close of a friendship Ash and Pikachu have. While being a bit weirded out by this guy, he introduces himself with the name N, just the letter N.

When Ash tells him that they are in search of hopefully meeting Reshiram, a flashback occurs for N. As we see this legendary Pokémon wanting to burn down the world through N's encounter with him some time ago, but he doesn't mention this to them. He learns that Ash has already met Zekrom and wants to know more about that. As Ash goes over what happened at the start of his journey in the Unova region. They both discussed the legend of the hero who is able to turn the darkness into light, having a pure connection to Pokémon and being able to work together with Zekrom. As N discussed that there is the same story, but a version of it with Reshiram.

The group and N continue to discuss their goals and ambitions, with Ash, of course, claiming to want to be a Pokémon master, and N wanting to discover all of the mysteries in the Pokémon world. When Team Rocket interrupts the moment. N is at first shocked to see and hear Meowth, who is able to speak like a human, but also demonstrates that he is able to seemingly speak with Pokémon in a way that no one else can. Summoning the help of some Alomomola he sent for around to help out Pikachu after their encounter with Team Rocket.

While N departs from the group for now, he looks forward to seeing them again. As he thinks there must be a reason that Ash had an encounter with Zekrom and a similar way to how he had one with Reshiram. For now, Ash gets to meet Cheren, a new gym leader whose gym isn't officially open yet. As the two have an unofficial battle, mainly for fun and for training, giving the students of his watching a chance to get excited about becoming Pokémon trainers. Cheren sends out his Herdier, as Ash sends out his Swalot, showing off a fun back-and-forth battle. But Herdier is able to get the better of Swalot here, resulting in Ash losing. At least it was fun for both of them, and it made Cheren more confident in being in the position that he's in.

We also get into some more of the Black and White video game lore, as we meet with Looker, a character who comes around here and there, and honestly, you can make a whole separate video on just this character and all the theory surrounding him alone. But for now, he is there in the pursuit of Team Plasma, another shady organization out to do some dastardly things in the Unova region. So, of course, Ash and company get tangled into a storyline of helping out and stopping them.

At one point, Team Plasma gets control over Pikachu, showing off the power of the technology that they have. But do you know what's stronger than a machine? Friendship. So Ash begs and cries out to Pikachu, who then is able to short-circuit the device and set himself free once more. Team Plasma and their lead scientists are able to make an escape from the area before anything else really happens. And until the next encounter with this new regional bad guy team, Ash and his friends continue on to the White Ruins like before.

We already catch back up with N, who makes a daring rescue of a Braviary captured by Team Plasma and ends up a bit hurt from this, landing in need of some help in front of Ash. As they all head together to help the bird Pokémon and talks about his own personal mission in freeing all of the Pokémon that Team Plasma is trying to place their control on. As everyone agrees to aid in N's crusade, this leads to another altercation with some Team Plasma grunts coming back after Braviary. With N not backing down to them, with Braviary feeling a connection to N and would rather help in the situation. With Ash and Pikachu also jumping in to help. Once they defeat the Team Plasma grunts, they end up releasing the Braviary back into the wild. As they now help N get his injuries treated and have him travel with them for the time being.

Not long after this, the group stumble upon a Kanto-themed fair, one that celebrates the culture and Pokémon from that region and shares it in the Unova region. So Ash feels a sense of nostalgia when seeing so many things that remind him of his home region, and he is excited for his friends to experience this as well. After helping a Charmander at the fair, Ash reminisces and goes over his own early days of traveling with his own Charmander and what their time together entailed, all the way up until he became a Charizard, and why he isn't a current member of his team.

All of this leads to Ash wanting to see and spend time with his Charizard again, having Professor Oak help get Charizard back from Liza, sending Oak his Unfezant, who will love flying around with Ash's other bird Pokémon from regions past. Ash gets his Charizard now in return and sends him out. As they're all excited to see him, and his friends are in all of this powerful fire beast. Charizard, though, is interested in Iris's Dragonite, wanting to square off. So Ash challenges Iris to a battle, which she accepts, and the two titans start going after one another, leaving Dragonite a little bit too hurt for N's liking. So he calls the match. He claims that the two now have had the chance to show off their power to one another and have settled whatever display of power they wanted to prove. Charizard also stays with Ash for now, as the adventure continues, which is nice to see. Always glad that Charizard gets to shine for Ash here and there, and it did feel like a long time since we've seen him.

Anyway, coming across more Team Plasma shenanigans, our group here gets in the way to help stop a Haxorus that is being controlled through more devices made by Team Plasma. Through intervening here, N ends up getting hurt, as Team Plasma notes that they have found N and confirmed it's him before leaving. As two girls end up coming to grab N and head out with Ash and friends following them into the forest. They place him in some water that begins healing him back up, as these two are his foster sisters. And N tells them that they are good people and can stay here for the time being.

N opens up more in regards of why he is on a mission to rescue all of the captured or controlled Pokémon at the hands of Team Plasma, going into his backstory about why he doesn't like Pokémon battles, all being tied into being sold the lie by Team Plasma, saying their dream was to free all the Pokémon. With N's ability to hear the inner voices of them, persuading him to be a part of Team Plasma before he found out the truth, leading to the Reshiram attack and these two girls helping him. And since then, N has been an ex-member of Team Plasma, wanting to do right by Pokémon and stop them from hurting any more Pokémon.

Ash and his friends go back and forth a bit with N and his sisters regarding the relationships between Pokémon and humans, saying that not all humans are cruel or mean to Pokémon. With the two groups not seeing eye to eye on every viewpoint in the regards of their needing to be a separation between humans and Pokémon for the creatures to be able to truly live free. I do like when Pokémon gets pretty introspective like this, getting to see where the ideals behind the ethics of being a Pokémon trainer and battling with Pokémon come from. Obviously, Pokémon and the lore of everything have this natural want to compete against other Pokémon, wanting to grow strong and have these bonds with humans for the most part. Sure, there are outlier situations, but in general, the relationship Pokémon and human share is mutual and one built on respect, which can come in many different forms of how these bonds are built.

Ash has clearly been proven to grow and understand what it means to do right by his Pokémon. Has he stumbled here and there? Yeah, he's 10, but he's constantly becoming more knowledgeable and compassionate towards all Pokémon, whether they are his Pokémon, someone else's Pokémon, or just wild Pokémon. It's cool that the games and now the show continue to explore people within the world of the IP having these internal conflicts on both sides of the discussion, like Ash and his friends, or N and his sisters, giving the viewer a moment to reflect and build an understanding.

Some Team Plasma grunts have found the location of the secret hideout, using a dimensional portal to try and capture N. As the sisters then blame our group for this, and they all fight back against Team Plasma. In this altercation, Ash tells N to get out of here with his sisters to safety. As N reluctantly does so, by the end disappearing from view along with the forest, thanks to the use of Gothitelle's psychic powers.

As the fog dissipates, the group sees a large tower through the clearing. This is the Dragonspiral Tower. And upon looking at it, Professor Juniper's assistant comes and gets them to bring them to the White Ruins. When meeting with the professor, as they find the Light Stone, she picks it up, and it becomes consumed by fire, shooting a beam of fire up into the sky, getting the attention of N as well as all of Team Plasma, leading them all to that one central point. And jumps in as the professor is explaining the mythology behind Reshiram and how the Pokémon declares someone special as a hero with a pure heart.

As Professor Juniper wants to study the stone further, but in saying that, N grabs the stone, thinking that all it is to her is something for humans to benefit in the form of knowledge from, and runs off with Ash in pursuit. It is until Ash falls into a pit trap, barely hanging on from slipping all the way in. But N turns back to help him. With the ground becoming unstable, he starts falling in as well, now having to sacrifice possession of the stone to save Ash. As it drops and falls into the pit. But hey, both of them do as well, ending up falling all the way to the bottom.

As Ash and Pikachu seem to be okay, with N checking in on them to make sure. As now their pathway to get back out of it is blocked. The two now spend their time discussing their views along with how extreme his sisters' views are. As N sits in this middle ground, knowing that there are people like Ash who treat Pokémon with respect and see them as family, not just trying to use them for personal gain or being plain cruel to these incredible creatures. This also gives Ash a moment to explain that the professor's scientific studies on something like the Light Stone provide pathways to better understand Pokémon, something in the benefit of helping build the relationship Pokémon and human share. It's easy to see it in a negative light thanks to how bad intentioned people like Team Plasma would use a stone like this, but there is a difference for whose hands it's in, scientific or not.

Outside of this conversation, Team Plasma has started attacking the ruins. As Looker jumps in to help Ash's friends and the professor get to safety. Team Plasma starts using their controlling device to have Pokémon go and attack them. As Iris and Cilan try and fight back, but things aren't looking good. With N sensing trouble through hearing different Pokémon's cries, the two know that they need to get out of the situation that they're in fast and help out. Ash sends out his whole team of Pokémon, who all start helping get them out. As N sees and begins to fully understand how Ash operates as a Pokémon trainer and how much his Pokémon care about him and are willing to help him as much as he would do anything for them. Crocodiles is able to make a path for them to get out. As now they can make their way back to the surface.

But with the power of Team Plasma's device, Ash's Pikachu fights back against what it's doing to them. As one of Team Plasma's higher-ups, Colress, is directly targeting them now. With Iris telling Ash to return his Pokémon quickly and Looker trying to buy them time. Ash gets all of his Pokémon back in their Poké Balls safely, minus Pikachu, who once again falls under control and starts attacking them. Ash won't give up on Pikachu ever, as he gets in front of Pikachu, begging him to stop this. With Pikachu hitting him directly with his attacks, as he just takes it, using whatever strength he can muster up to still confront Pikachu, trying whatever he can say to use the power of their bond to break through the control of the device.

As Ash makes his way closer to Pikachu and is able to lay a hand on him, Pikachu attacks him once more, leaving Ash passed out. With N watching in horror of everything going on, he tried to make an offer to give Team Plasma the Light Stone if they just free Pikachu, and if they don't accept, he will destroy it. They agree to this, and Pikachu is free once more, passing out from what the control did to him. Team Plasma takes N and the device and head out to bring forth Reshiram to control him.

As Ash and Pikachu wake up a bit later and are happy to just see each other. The leader of Team Plasma, Ghetsis, begins the ritual. As N's sisters appear to rescue N from captivity and tells them what is going on. As the sisters want to get him out of there and leave in safety, but he wants to prevent from what he has witnessed before happen again, and to that on a bigger scale, and stands firm on not going with them and avoiding the situation. He wants to help Reshiram and find out how he can help the legendary Pokémon.

The control device ends up going after the psychic Pokémon that were helping the sisters and stops them from doing anything further. With Reshiram emerging onto the land and begins to try and speak with Reshiram, but it's useless at this moment, as the rage flowing through Reshiram is too great, especially now with Ghetsis taking full control and commanding the Pokémon at his will. Team Rocket has been in the shadows mainly, but want to steal the control device for themselves. But Looker stops them and pleads for their help in destroying it instead. To which they think this will be the moment that they can do something to get one over on Team Plasma and look pretty good to their boss.

Doing so, Colress tries to stop Ash from getting involved further by using the device on Pikachu again. But Ash stands in front of Pikachu this time to protect him. As Meowth launches in to help get Ash to safety, telling them that Team Rocket is now helping Looker, and now the whole "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" thing comes into play. Well, at least for now. As Ash tries to have Pikachu just stay out of sight while he goes and deals with things. But Pikachu comes running in to help him, as they make their way to the device. Iris, along with Team Rocket, helped keep the other controlled Pokémon at bay. As Ghetsis commands Reshiram to go after them, stopping them from reaching the machine.

Pikachu makes an attempt to send in an Electro Ball, but Colress hits him with another direct shot of the device. As Pikachu tries everything to resist it, trying to ward off Reshiram with an attack. As N can finally hear Reshiram's inner voice. Somehow, the electricity from the attack is helping break through to Reshiram for it to use those bolts as a way to escape the control. Pikachu is blasted with the device even further, but he is still pushing through it as much as possible. As Pikachu sends another attack in, with Reshiram trying to send in an attack as well, leading to the destruction of the machines, bringing the Pokémon under its control back to normal.

Reshiram is now building up its own power, stronger than ever, toward Team Plasma, taking out their jet so there is no easy escape for them. And N steps in, though, to speak with Reshiram before it continues to do more to them, regardless if they deserve it or not. And N explains to the legendary beast that there is a world in which Pokémon and humans can coexist, a world that doesn't contradict the values that Reshiram holds based on his legend and how the beast sees things. Suddenly, all the rage stops. Reshiram has begun to calm down. While all the rage seems to be at Ghetsis, now berating Reshiram. All of the good guys here are able to now capture Team Plasma to bring them to justice.

As N asks Reshiram how it feels to see humans and Pokémon come together to stop evil doings. After a brief pause, it smiles as he understands the Pokémon's inner voice before it parts ways, and they all say goodbye. Iris wanted to know what Reshiram said to N, but Ash said that they will get that answer in the future when they meet Reshiram another time. As they are all at peace once more, with Team Plasma under arrest and discussing a new invention, one that lets them understand Pokémon.

Our group says goodbye to N and company, with N trying to work with his sisters to now fully understand his goals of helping make the Pokémon world one of which humans and Pokémon fully understand one another. As far as this part of the storyline, this is where we cut off before the final arc of the Black and White Saga ends. It's a weird situation where it's really one season that is split into two story arcs, with this part giving us all of the N storyline featuring Team Plasma and Reshiram, with the next part adding "And Beyond" to the title of the show to wrap things up. This part was very exciting, though, giving us discussions of Pokémon ideals, some really fun characters, and even some Team Rocket helping save the day. All we have left to do now is finish our Unova adventure in the final part.

Who's that Pokémon? It's easy. We start off this epilogue arc with Ash and friends at Professor Juniper's place, getting a moment to calm down from all that just happened. With Jessie and James speaking with Giovanni about taking down Team Plasma, getting a congratulations from him, which means a lot to them, regardless of how impressed or not the boss truly is. But for them, it's back to business as usual, trying to get Pikachu once more.

Ash was ready to now head back home to the Kanto region, as Iris and Cilan both want to come with him to better their personal journeys as well. Ash calls Professor Oak to let him know that they're on their way, taking a boat back to the region. And we get a nice little cameo from Muk once more, smothering Oak in excitement of seeing Ash. After an altercation with Team Rocket and nearly leaving on the wrong ship, the crew meet Porter, who will navigate them back to the Kanto region through the Decolore Islands that are in between their travels from one region to the other.

As we navigate through the area, we get to stop at some fun places, bringing up a lot of similar feelings to the Orange Islands, as our group gets to have some fun side adventures in the area. One of their stops is on Shellos Island, where there is another little side tournament called the Shellos King Competition for Ash's Swalot and Dewott to take place in. Ash's Swalot wants to enter naturally, with the winner getting a solid gold Shellos. Team Rocket is entering in as well, but in disguise, and having Meowth cosplaying as a Dewott to trick their way in.

The competition is broken down into several rounds, starting off with a Shellos exhibition, showing off their individual Shellos, as the judges take into consideration how nice they look, from their shape that they're in to the specific color they are. The next round involves their accuracy of throwing their Shellos at a target. With the round after that involving the strength of them, as they use their Shellos to break through as many bricks as they can. Next, it's a stage performance with them, to which Meowth gets outed out as not being a Dewott, leading to the final round.

As the last two participants having to battle is Ash with his Swalot, who has made it that far, facing off against a Dewott. Where Swalot needs to build up its courage of facing the stronger evolution of himself that shocked him, scared all the way back towards the start of the series. Luckily, Swalot is able to land the victory here, winning the whole competition. And after being given the award, a caveat about the competition is brought up, saying that Swalot will now have to be the ruler of the island, meaning that he has to stay on the island as king until the next competition comes around next year.

With Ash now left in shock, he sees that Swalot is excited to spend time here with the queen, a female Swalot, and considers letting him stay here to be happy if that's what he truly wants. But we quickly see that she may not be in love with him, so in his heartbreak, his Shellos falls and breaks, which suddenly disqualified him from being the king. Swalot and now the runner-up becomes the winner. And Ash gives Swalot confidence again that despite not being the king of the island, that the two of them have each other and will continue their journey on another island.

Our group meets up with Professor Oak, giving us a fun little reunion, as we see the professor go after and catch a Rotom before saying see you soon and continuing on through the islands for now. Now, we've had random episodes throughout this generation of Pokémon that deal with a lot of the UFO Pokémon. Are they even Pokémon at this point? Because we also have an interesting encounter here with the alien Pokémon, AKA Starmie, that involve a crashed UFO and these Pokémon controlling everyone around to help them look for a missing piece of their ship that will help them get out of here. And at one point, they end up using Meowth as this mouth puppet to communicate, and that's pretty fun. And in the end, Ash helps them in favor of freeing everyone by giving them an Amulet Coin to fix their ship and head home, thanking Ash for his help.

But we need a little tease for the next upcoming region and for that matter, generation of Pokémon. During the Grand Harvest Festival on another island, the group meet up with a reporter from the Kalos region named Alexa, who travels around the world. As we get to see some Pokémon that are brand new that Ash's Pokédex can't help him learn about yet, like Helioptile and Goomy. Ash also enters in a Sumo tournament with Pignite and ends up winning, earning a Focus Band. As they spend time with Alexa, hearing about the Kalos region, as she joins the group for now.

On the ship, we see another familiar face on Cave Island, with that being Clair, one of the gym leaders from the Johto region, who we got to see catch a shiny Dragonair here. We also learned that Alexa has a Noivern, another new upcoming Pokémon in the next generation, and one that holds a special place in my heart. I just love this Pokémon so much. We eventually arrive in the Kanto region, and Alexa is excited to meet Professor Oak to interview him for journalistic purposes. Now sharing some food in Vermillion City, Iris and Cilan speak with Ash about where they are interested in going, having spent a lot of time with Ash and gaining so much experience in training, learning, and growing. They both want to start off on their own journeys, as Iris wants to head to the Johto region to learn more from Clair and her dragon-type ways. Cilan wants to participate in a fishing tournament, and it would take him through the same region as Iris. As Ash is both sad to see his friends go, but is excited for them to live out their personal journeys without him. They share a heartfelt goodbye with one another.

As Alexa stays with Ash on their way back to Pallet Town. There were also two special episodes that were unaired in the states that each follow the journeys of Iris and Cilan. With Cilan crossing paths with Brock, which is pretty cool. And Iris training with Clair, catching herself a Gible and having her own legendary encounter to guide her excitement of her adventures, seeing a Rayquaza fly by and wanting to see where it's heading. For Ash, though, we reach the final episode in the Black and White series. As Ash and Alexa arrive in Pallet Town, spending time back at his house. As Alexa gets to spend some time with Professor Oak. We get to see that Tracey is still happily working with the professor at his lab, and that's great. And Ash gets to show all of his past Pokémon, his new Pokémon, spending some time hanging out with all of them. Team Rocket tries to spoil the fun at one point, but Ash has his Pokémon all go in and make quick work of getting them out of here, you know, and blasting off again.

We get another moment of Team Rocket now meeting with Giovanni again, happy that he is at least somewhat proud of their work taking down Team Plasma. But Giovanni takes all of their Unova Pokémon. But at least Wobbuffet's back, so that's a win. Back at Ash's house for dinner, Ash says that he wants to head out to the Kalos region and take on the Kalos League there, needing to face off against a new set of eight gyms for badges. To which Alexa's sister is a gym leader over there and makes note to go and see her first. Ash's mom leaves the room, as Ash worries that she is mad or sad about her son leaving again so soon on another worldwide adventure. And while that may be true, she returns with a new outfit for Ash to wear, already fully knowing that Ash is going to be heading back out into the world and wishes him success in this new region.

During the night, Ash thanks Pikachu for always being by his side and going on all of these adventures with him. The two are both determined to give it their all there in the Kalos region. And the next day, they arrive at the airport with Ash dripped out in his newest look, saying goodbye to his mom and Oak as he and Alexa aboard the flight. One thing I love is that they never forget to add in some emotional moments between mother and son, the heart and invisible felt support to keep Ash going. As Ash's mom, with tears in her eyes, watches the plane take off, confidently knowing that Ash knows she's always on his side, rooting for him every step of the way, no matter how far from home he is or how long he's away.

As we now have officially ended the Black and White era of the anime, and wow, what a great way to wrap it all up. Structurally, it was interesting in how they approached splitting the arcs, not having anything involving N or Team Plasma until after the Unova League, giving that story its complete focus rather than here and there building it up. Even giving us our own little island arc again, which turned out to be really fun, getting us prepared for where Ash's friends are going to go, and to that matter, where Ash is going to go. Ash here seemed to be at his best throughout the seasons, being a lot more focused on how he trains and works with his Pokémon, being able to take on gyms a lot better, despite having a rival that could easily make him feel like he's not progressing as a trainer to reach his Pokémon master goals. Overall, a surprisingly solid entry into Ash's journey, and it leaves me extremely excited to dive back into the XY era in the Kalos region, where things may get a lot more serious story-wise, and heck, maybe even more than Ash is expecting for his own personal relationships with both humans and Pokémon.

Okay, so technically, it doesn't start with Ash right away. Instead, much like getting introduced to Dawn, we start off at a new home in the Kalos region, where we meet Serena, a character we get very well acquainted with in this season, who gets woken up by her mother's Fletchling, as she has some training to get ready for with a Rhyhorn for some Rhyhorn racing. Now, we catch back up with Ash as his plane touches down in the region with Alexa exiting with him, entering the region the only way he would perfectly know how, by falling at the end of the last season. Alexa revealed to Ash that her sister is a gym leader, and the two should meet right away. But upon arriving, we find out that her sister is the gym leader for a different town and is away at the moment. Ash is a little bummed by, but he did get to have this encounter with a familiar yet unfamiliar Pokémon. You and I both know that that Pokémon he saw was just a special form of the Pokémon Blaziken, but we shall get into the whole Mega Evolution thing as we get into it in the show. For now, this is a mystery chicken. Ash is pushed in the direction of Lumiose City to seek out his first gym battle. As Alexa parts ways with him for now, and they seem to have enjoyed each other's company from the end of the last season and the first initial episode of this one.

When Ash now arrives in the city, he heads straight to the gym, disregarding only having Pikachu with him and not having any prep just yet. And even more so, he doesn't have enough badges to face the gym leader yet, being told that he needs four badges first before he can fully enter the gym and challenge the leader. Ash and Pikachu then get shocked and dropped through a trap door, where two new characters come to rescue him, Clemont and his younger sister, Bonnie. Clemont helps Ash initially, while Bonnie catches Pikachu, doing one thing that Pikachu can't stand: being smothered in a hug, specifically even more so from a stranger, getting to a point where he ends up shocking her. And she apologizes to Pikachu, and Ash makes some introductions. So the three of them here all become a little more familiar with each other. He explains where he is from and what he is here in the region for. As they head to an open field for Ash to have his first battle in the new region with Clemont, as he is open for a battle with him.

During this time, a random Froakie is watching all of this happen. And for those that don't know, this is the water starter for the Kalos region. Clemont sends out his Bunnelby, with Ash just going with Pikachu. I mean, who else are you going to choose here, right? Bunnelby seems to be ready to encounter the electrical attacks coming his way, even holding his own when attacks like Electro Ball or Iron Tail come at him. Unfortunately, the battle doesn't get to go anywhere thanks to Team Rocket making their debut this season and interrupting the battle. As Ash is getting into facing Team Rocket, the random Froakie jumps into help, giving Clemont an open shot for the Bunnelby to send Team Rocket flying. As Pikachu now finishes them off with Froakie passing out from the injuries it sustained from jumping into the battle. This was almost a cut and pace from Swalot from the last generation, but here Froakie didn't outright save the day. He just helped take on some direct attacks and allowed the others to get some direct hits on Team Rocket in return.

For the help, they all bring Froakie to the professor for the region, Professor Sycamore, at his laboratory. In the meantime, we cut back to Serena for a moment, who is clearly having some struggles training with the Rhyhorn for her racing, being knocked off while her mother watches in disappointment. But while this character is being built up and introduced in the background, Ash and his new friends here arrive at Professor Sycamore's lab, getting the Froakie some immediate help. As Ash is told by the professor that the trainer who claimed Froakie to start their Pokémon adventure had already abandoned the Pokémon again, while being another trope we have seen countless times. At least it's not another fire-type starter that's getting abandoned. But this time, though, it wasn't for the trainer just being a prick and not wanting to care for the Pokémon or thinking Froakie isn't strong enough. It was for Froakie not wanting to give the trainer commitment to training together, refusing to listen to them. This doesn't happen just once, but multiple times to multiple trainers. Ash ponders on this and chooses to stick around and wait for Froakie to heal up so he can properly thank the Pokémon and give him some respect back.

Here is where we learn about what Mega Evolutions are, as the professor is researching more about how certain Pokémon can temporarily evolve into a stronger form through these Mega Evolutions before turning back to the form they were before. Two things are necessary to help the certain Pokémon achieve this level of power, and that's thanks to mostly these Mega Stones along with a strong bond between Pokémon and their trainer in most cases. But Team Rocket gets in the mix once again, listening in on everything and trying to disguise themselves as scientists at the lab. As well, a pretty helpful Garchomp that works at the lab with the professor gets sent into a rage, as Team Rocket uses a device to try and control the Pokémon, causing quite the commotion.

Now, thanks to the series of Hyper Beams blasting in multiple directions, Froakie is now up and feeling better, joining Ash and the others to help calm down and rescue the Garchomp. As things get more out of hand with Garchomp, Ash becomes the sole defense against the Pokémon. All of this is now being broadcast on the news, where even Serena's mother watches in question of what is going on. Ash's selflessness inspires Clemont to not give up in helping as well, doing what he can to get himself and Bonnie up to where this confrontation is happening. Froakie helps secure the Garchomp down with Pikachu getting a clear shot at the collar, causing Garchomp to act like this, breaking it and successfully calming the Garchomp back down to its calm nature. But now being on top of this tower, Pikachu falls off as part of the tower begins to crumble after the altercation. And without a second thought, Ash jumps off the tower after Pikachu to catch him, leaving everyone in shock about what is happening.

Ash is able to secure Pikachu, but before they both crash land to their deaths, the Mega Blaziken from earlier shows up and catches both of them and lands them safely in the plaza. As the Pokémon quickly jumps away, giving us a glimpse as this mysterious trainer is waiting for Blaziken. As he is known as Blaziken Mask. You know, that name seems a little too on the nose for what we're looking at here. That's like pointing at Ash and calling him a hat kid. Serena is shown watching the news broadcast as well, and has a memory come up of knowing Ash, claiming to have met him many years prior to this moment.

After a night of rest from all of this, Ash is given an updated Pokédex for the region. But before Ash's new adventures can begin from here, winning outside of the lab is none other than Froakie, along with his original Poké Ball, giving Ash a clear nod that he wants to join him on his adventures and has enough respect for him, willing to give this trainer the chance to train with him, unlike the previous trainers he didn't. Ash is excited about this, as Froakie sends himself into the ball, giving Ash's first new Pokémon for the Kalos region and the start of one of the closest Pokémon he will ever have on his journey thus far, despite Ash not knowing this yet. So far, as an intro, this is pretty exciting, and yet we haven't fully passed what I would consider the intro of the series, regardless of already being a couple episodes in. XY so far is clearly taking its time establishing Ash in the region, the morals that he carries, the new companions he will have along the way, and his mysterious new connection to Froakie.

Speaking of his new companions, we take a look back at Serena for a moment once again, as she now wants to head to Professor Sycamore, having a familiarity with Ash and wanting to catch up with him, along with getting her first starter Pokémon for her own journey. With her mother recognizing Serena's wants to do this, but reminding her that she needs to keep practicing her skills in Rhyhorn racing. Thanks to Clemont and Bonnie, Ash is brought to a Pokémon Center to register for the Kalos League before he officially starts earning some badges around the area. With Clemont expressing to Ash clearly just how much he looks up to the type of person and trainer he is. The bravery he displayed by jumping into action to help the Garchomp without so much as a second thought showcased his character, with Clemont drawing from that the strength that he wants to have for himself personally.

Once Ash is all set and registered for his adventures here, Clemont and Bonnie make the decision that they would like to travel with him, asking Ash if they could join him further, to which he excitedly would love for them to do so. Now, this new trio make their way together to Santalune City, where Ash can officially take place in his first ever Gym battle. Immediately, they run into a new Pokémon den, but before Ash could even consider wanting to catch the new electrical Pokémon, Bonnie is extremely infatuated with it. With Clemont asking Ash if he can have it for his sister, to which Ash agrees. But the den gets the berry just given to it taken away by a Fletchling, causing the den to start crying, as it now runs away, leaving Bonnie just as much of an emotional wreck.

Froakie, on behalf of Bonnie, gets pretty irritated about this and attempts to face off against the bird and doesn't listen to Ash when he tries to strategize with the water frog, showing us examples of how Froakie may have operated in the past with other trainers. Ash does get a chance to calm Froakie down and stop him from wildly going after the Fletchling, listening to Ash as he plans out their strategy to battle the bird and hopefully catch it. Clemont, who is an inventor of sorts, tries using a device to bring in flying-type Pokémon, but it doesn't work quite right, and instead, it attracts a swarm of Beedrill, reminiscent to the multiple other times a swarm of Beedrill have been a problem for our main characters. Eventually, after running away from the swarm and messing with the machine so much, it explodes, causing them all to fly out of the direct area and away from the Beedrill, leaving Clemont disappointed.

In himself for not having the invention working, Ash does what Ash does best and cheers Clement up by telling him how cool it was that he created a device that can attract Pokémon directly to it. Despite it being a swarma be drill, it's a nice trait that Ash has when it comes to his friends, even ones that he's just met, giving Clement more to look up to about him.

Ash now plans with Froi how to go after the Fletchling, being able to get close enough for Froi to send in an attack. But the Fletchling is clearly toying with them, soaring higher to evade the attacks, but gets tricked over a fake Froakie, leaving it open for Ash to throw a Pokeball at it. But the Fletchling quickly escapes from it. Froi is able to land a direct hit, sending the bird plummeting towards the ground. But Ash throws another Pokeball, capturing it before the Fletchling crash lands.

Afterwards, Fletchling comes back out as Bonnie decides to teach it the values and morals of not stealing and makes peace with the bird. D is witnessing this from afar and doesn't make itself known to the others for the time being.

Serena ends up at Professor Sycamore's lab, curious about Ash further, but also ready to get her starter Pokémon for her own adventure. Learning where Ash and Company have gone off to, and now having to make the decision about which starter Pokémon she would like to choose. Will it be Fro, the water starter, Chespin, the grass starter, or Fennin, the fire starter? She had pretty much already made up her mind, going with Fennin. "And as a Fennin, appreciate her myself, that's a solid choice."

With her now heading towards Ash, Ash and friends are taking some time to eat and recover from their adventures thus far. As Den sneaks in to take some food before running away, causing them to follow it. In doing so, Pikachu and Den get separated from everyone else, forcing the two to work together to get back to the others. With Team Rocket seeing a chance to get both of them, the two fend off the attempts to get them as they now end up in a river. With Fletchling's help, spotting them for Ash and friends to go meet back up with.

Clement brings out another invention that can help quickly recharge the Den, who isn't in the best condition right now from everything that had just happened. While the invention works at helping the Den, it quickly turns into a problem once it won't turn off and it explodes. So that seems like a constant running trope for Clement in his inventions. When Team Rocket comes back into the picture, they help fend them off with Pikachu, as Clement is able to catch the Den. As he lets Bonnie play with and take care of the Pokémon like she wanted to all along, while they continue on from there.

Serena isn't too far behind, dealing with the Vesa Queen and eventually making her way to a Pokémon Center near her. Serena gets to spend some time at that Pokémon Center, just being happy to be on her own adventure and away from training for Ryhorn racing, eager to catch up with Ash soon enough.

Speaking of him, he runs into Viola, a photographer, who helps point him in the direction of the gym, which he quickly continues running up to. At the gym, a Helioptile, who is excited to see Ash, is there as this is the same one who belongs to Alexa, the journalist Ash traveled with to the region, as she is there as well. With Viola coming back around from just moments ago, as she is the sister Alexa was mentioning from last season, meaning that yes, Viola is the gym leader and reveals that she specializes in bug-type Pokémon and loves sharing her photography of them. Bonnie awkwardly tries to wingman her older brother, telling Viola to be Clement's wife, with Clement pulling her away from annoying Viola.

Ash begins his first ever Gym battle for the Kalos region, as Viola sends out her Spritzee. As Ash sends out his Pikachu. Thanks to Spritzee using Ice Beam, the ground becomes a skat surface for it to move quickly. Even with Pikachu putting up some strong attacks, Spritzee has a good advantage here now and is able to take out Pikachu pretty easily in the end, much to Ash's surprise. Now he sends out Fletchling, while Serena arrives and gets invited by Alexa to join in in watching for now. She excitedly watches Ash as him and his Fletchling are able to defeat the Spritzee. As she now sends out her Vivillon, who quickly traps Fletchling within a sticky web that the Spritzee had left previously, keeping the bird from flying away. As Vivillon uses a Solar Beam to directly hit Fletchling, causing Ash to lose his first gym battle in the region and in front of Serena.

Ash immediately asks for a rematch soon, to which Viola accepts. With Ash now heading to the Pokémon Center to heal his team back up. Serena was hesitant to say something to him as he rushed out of the building, but since he forgot his backpack, she decided to bring it to him there. The sisters then discuss Ash, with Viola seemingly unenthusiastic about Ash's abilities as a trainer, even thinking that there wasn't this strong bond between him and his Pokémon based on how they operated together in battle. Alexa is on Ash's side though, saying not to downplay Ash so easily and that the rematch may go completely different.

Serena arrives at the Pokémon Center, handing Ash's backpack while he's deep in thought. As Clement and Bonnie say hello to her, not having the chance during the battle to formally meet. With Ash apologizing for not even noticing that she was there and was watching. Serena wanted to say something further to Ash, but she gets cut off as Ash's Pokémon are returned to him fully recovered from the battle. Alexa also stops by, wanting to help train Ash before the rematch, testing out his Pokémon skills against the move Gust, using her Noivern to use this move against his two Pokémon. Even then, both of the Pokémon are then blown away, as Ash jumps to catch both of them so they don't get hurt from it, having the chance to verbally hype up his Pokémon to do their best and that they can overcome this. After another test, while faring a bit better, both Pokémon can't handle the attack thrown their way, with Ash worrying how he will be able to defeat Viola at this rate.

Serena finds an opening to speak with Ash further, handing him a handkerchief to use and asking Ash if he remembers who she is, as she has been thinking about this moment so deeply since noticing that he is in the region. Sadly, he doesn't fully remember who she is, which ouch, that sucks. But he does remember what she is referencing, which was a special Pokémon summer camp that Professor Oak had run. This leaves her kind of bummed about it, traveling all the way, thinking about how this would play out. She further explains that Ash told her back then to never give up until it's over. While appreciating hearing that, he gets back into training for the night.

And by dinner, Ash thinks that he has a strategy to go up against Viola, with looking forward to showing it off during the battle. Also, Clement has another invention he makes explode on him, just wanted to point that out.

And now it's time for the official rematch. As they start out the same way, Spritzee versus Pikachu. Thanks to Ash's training, Pikachu is able to deal with the icy battlefield, with Ash having Pikachu lodge his tail into the ice for balance, being able now to aim a Thunderbolt with accuracy to knock out the Spritzee. As she prepares to send back out her Vivillon, Ash calls Pikachu back, swapping out for his Fletchling instead for another rematch. While having a better fighting chance, Fletchling still gets overpowered by Vivillon's Sleep Powder and Solar Beam combo, resulting in the bird now being knocked out.

Pikachu comes right back out and needs to clutch the win here, but with Vivillon's Sleep Powder, Ash is worried that he can't break through to defeat it. Serena calls out to Ash to keep his determination up, giving Ash the confidence to stay in the fight. Having Pikachu attack himself to zap away the sleep effects on him. Pikachu sends in another attack that directly hits Vivillon, knocking it out, giving Ash his first gym battle win in the Kalos region and his first badge, the Bug Badge. He credits his win to all of his new friends who helped him in training to be able to pull this off, as he now heads in the direction of the next gym battle.

Before they go, Ash asks Serena what she plans on doing now, leaving her a bit stunned in the moment to the question. Ash jumps in before she can answer, offering her to join on with them as a group, to which she happily agrees to do, making the group an official team of four companions for the first time since the Ruby and Sapphire era.

Serena ends up explaining to Clement why she wanted to join the crew, fully going back to the handkerchief, which was Ash's in the first place, but at the summer camp all those years ago. She ended up lost at one point in the woods, getting her knee injured after being jump-scared by a Poliwag. Ash eventually finds her and uses the handkerchief to wrap it around her leg, then helping her back up, as he gave her the original advice of never giving up until it's over. Continuing on to then help her get out of the forest and safely back to the camp itself, as she never forgot that moment with Ash. Now fully remembering the whole thing, accepting the return of the handkerchief.

We spend some time getting a bit into the whole Ryhorn racing stuff with Serena, as she teaches Ash about it and how to do it. But later on, Serena ends up baking some cookies, storing them in a container and giving them to Ash as a personal thank you for what he did for her back at summer camp. Clearly, there is a spark of some feelings here, and one thing Ash really doesn't deal with in Pokémon is a love interest written into the show. Now, this is early in their journeys together here, and a lot more happens, but it genuinely is just really sweet.

[Music] Pokémon.

It's we then get a major reveal about Clement in his past, going back to the whole first gym. Ash approaches, having a badge limit in the technology there, refusing to let him in. Well, Clement here is, or was, the gym leader of that gym, but it drained him, taking up all of his free time from getting to work on his true passions of being an inventor. So one day, he came up with an idea to build a robot to act like him and stand in place as the gym leader, giving him the name Clembot. And well, things got out of hand. He programmed a difficulty level to the Clembot that focused on trainers' skills that are equal to those who have four badges or so. With Clembot quickly turning on him for not having any badges. Suffice to say that the Clembot took over the gym and won't allow those with under four badges to enter, and Clement has failed multiple attempts to sneak in and fix the problem.

Upon all sneaking in together, Clement says the correct code that bypasses the gym badge limit and is able to face off against his own creation. He's able to mostly defeat the Clembot in battle, taking an opportune moment to fix the programming, earning control of the gym once more. He makes a decision though, going to speak with his father regarding the whole being a gym leader thing, wanting to go on this adventure with Ash. As his father understands, giving his children a hug and supporting his choice. Later on, Clement promises Ash a full-on gym battle with him as the leader once he does have four badges, and it will be a fight to remember.

In the night though, the Mega Blaziken and Blaziken Mask are still around. As later on, the vigilante and his mega Pokémon cross paths once more with the group. It's also revealed to us, the audience, that the Blaziken Mask is actually Clement and Bonnie's father. Go figure. Clement also becomes the trainer of the last regional starter not owned yet in the group, Chespin, which is nice to see that the starters are spread between all of the main characters here rather than just in Ash's party.

On their way to the next gym, Ash spends time with Froakie for a while, being able to truly get in some training with him. Eventually, Ash learns about the Battle Chateau, where certain formal ranks can be given out and earned by taking place in battles there. So, of course, Ash wants in. And needing to abide by the rules, he can only battle certain ranks based on his own basic ranking. To earn the title of Baron rank, Ash must battle with Chester, a trainer who is going to use a Fletchling against Ash's Pikachu. The battle isn't anything too fancy, despite the fancy situation they're all in, as Pikachu is able to defeat the Fletchling, and Ash now being granted a white cloak along with the new title of Baron.

Viola is there for her own battle to go for a new ranking, but loses to Grant, who ends up being the gym leader for the next city's gym that Ash looks forward to facing soon.

Serena ends up finding a hobby or passion all her own with that of Poké Visions, the self-made TV programs that feature trainers making some sort of fun or informational video about them and their Pokémon. It's like YouTube but on TV, so I guess it's more like public access television. Clement has the gear and the gadgets to actually produce something like this, as Serena wants to make one. Everyone seems to be on board to making this happen, aside from Ash, who just wants to train in preparation for his next battle. So a bunch of shenanigans happen here, with Ash mostly just training.

Later on, they run into Alexa again, as they end up helping her with her next article and seeing some really cool Pokémon along the way. Ash still spends some more time after this training for his battle with Grant, and knowing the power of Grant's Onix from witnessing firsthand how powerful its Rock Tomb attack is, he tries to come up with a way that he can counter this move, pointing his strategy towards Froakie's high leaping abilities.

Once arriving in Cyllage City, Ash wastes no time in making his way to the gym, which happens to reside on the top, top of a mountain overlook that he must climb to reach it. Before Ash even has a chance to battle, he gets a new kind of challenge here, one that hearkens back to stuff from the Orange Islands, where Grant challenges him to scale the wall while his friends get to use this handy elevator to make their way up. After doing so, Grant explains that he climbs the walls to find a balance of concentration along with keeping a calm composure. Regardless, the real battle starts with Grant sending out Onix first, and Ash sending out his Froakie. Onix proves to be the fierce opposing Pokémon that Ash had worried about, with Froakie taking this challenge head-on with full determination, finally being able to use those high jumps to scale the beast and directly hit Onix with a Water Pulse that ultimately knocks the Rock Snake out.

Grant now sends out a Tyrunt. It's not a shiny blue one like the one I recently caught in Pokémon Go, but it's still cool, I guess. Ash stays steady, rocking with Froakie on the field, but the mini T-Rex is able to defeat Froakie fairly fast. Ash sends out Fletchling next, and even though the rest of the battle is fierce, this little bird is able to show off some skill in battle, finally, but just not enough to win, being knocked out as well. Pikachu comes out as Ash's last hope to win the battle, and thanks to his Iron Tail attack, Pikachu is able to counter Tyrunt's Rock Tomb attacks, getting in close for a direct Thunderbolt attack, knocking out Tyrunt and giving Ash the win in the battle. Grant was extremely impressed with Ash in this battle, though, and tells him he truly earned this win. As Grant grants Ash with his second badge, the Cliff Badge. With Ash being pointed in the direction of the next gym based on Serena's suggestion of where to go. Grant warns Ash that the next gym battle he may face there will be some differences than what he has faced before, getting him both excited to see what that means and somewhat a bit concerned about what that means.

Along the way to the next gym, the group gets distracted by a special exhibition battle with the Champion of the Kalos region, Diantha, who also doubles as a famous actress based on her status as the regional Champion. Ash wants a battle with her while the others are just excited to meet her. While she is kept away from the public who is chopping at the bit to meet her, Professor Sycamore shows up and is able to sneak the group into a back area as he is studying the Mega Evolution abilities of Diantha's Pokémon, a Gardevoir. Ash tries to go to the room next to them to speak with Diantha, but she opens the door, surprising all of them. Her manager quickly appears though, telling them that she is too busy at the moment, and she invites them to hang around and watch her battle, to which she wins and swiftly leaves for a movie shoot that she was scheduled to go be at.

With nothing the group can really do now, they decide to go and get some of the town's famous cake. Which upon arriving to get some, the line is very long, but they're able to at least grab one last slice before they run out. Before they can even share this slice though, they notice a lady saddened over not being able to get one. This lady turns out to be Diantha, to which the group offers her their slice, and Bonnie offers her to marry Clement. Ash though, takes the opportunity to ask her for a battle, to which she accepts. But not long into this battle, Team Rocket interrupts things as usual, and now we get to witness a full Mega Evolution process take place, with Gardevoir turning into a Mega Gardevoir, who makes quick work of Team Rocket. Right after, her manager shows back up and needs to take her away back to her busy schedule. Clearly, she tries to sneak off in disguise to have some sort of normal life, like just trying to get a slice of cake, but between her acting schedule and her battling schedule, she doesn't get much freedom from the limelight anymore. So she enjoyed her segway from work with Ash and Company, as she looks forward to a full-on battle with Ash down the road from here.

They run into a girl named Karina, who is on roller skates, traveling along with her Lucario. They challenge Ash to a battle, as she is on a winning streak and wants to earn their 99th win in a row. Of course, Ash accepts this, and the two of them get right into it, with Lucario being her choice and Pikachu being Ash's. Lucario wastes no time in taking out Pikachu with a barrage of attacks, earning her the win, but hands over a Sitrus Berry for Pikachu to heal up, as they proceed to have lunch together. In surprise, she's the gym leader for Shalour City, the place Ash was heading anyway. She reveals to the group that Lucario can't Mega Evolve yet, as she doesn't have the Mega Stone for it. In the meantime of not having the stone required, she has been building up the strongest bond possible with her Lucario, looking forward to earning her 100th win, hopefully soon. And thanks to an altercation with Team Rocket, the 100th battle is decided for her, as it becomes a double battle with Ash and Karina facing off against Jessie and James. Of course, they defeat them with ease, and this marks her and Lucario's 100th official battle win in a row.

Karina wants to now set off in search for the Mega Stone for Lucario, as Ash and Company ask to tag along for now, wanting to be there for this special occasion upon hopefully finding it, to which she agrees. Little so they know that this whole ordeal would turn into one big side quest for their adventures, spanning several episodes. On their path to find the stone, they get pointed in the right direction from this photographer named McGinty. No, not Troy McGinty from Max Keble's Big Move, but he does take a nice photo of them all, where Serena scoots closer to Ash a bit. How cute. They then enter a cave system where the stone could possibly be, when a Blaziken guards the path forward, getting into a heated battle with Lucario, as things aren't looking too good for them. Ash stops Serena from interfering with the battle, claiming that this is Karina's fight to overcome, as he helps encourage her to not give up. When Lucario was able to finally get the upper hand, Karina's grandfather appears and informs her that she has won the battle, and this was her final trial before getting the Mega Stone for Lucario. The Lucario Knight. Yeah, I feel the same way you feel about the naming structure here.

In her excitement, she celebrates by Mega Evolving Lucario for the first time. Ash offers another battle to Karina so she can test out the strength that Mega Lucario has, but during the battle, Mega Lucario begins getting more and more enraged, having its eyes glow red and battling with some dirty tactics. Karina tries to stop Mega Lucario, but it won't listen to her, as Ash jumps in to protect Pikachu, and her grandfather sends out his own Lucario to fend off Karina's. Luckily, her Lucario returns to normal form and passes out at the Pokémon Center. Now, her grandfather explains that this power is new to Lucario, and it could be easy for Lucario to become overwhelmed and uncontrollable, as Karina needs to work with Lucario in controlling the power it draws from the stone. He takes her outside for a battle between Lucario, as they both are Mega Evolved and face off for training, but the battle doesn't go as planned for her. Still, with her grandfather letting her know that her Lucario is too prideful in its abilities, and that she doesn't fully understand her Lucario enough to have the proper bond needed before she can continue her gym leader duties. She is sent to a mountain to train further against another trainer that has a Pokémon that can Mega Evolve. Ash and Company tag along and try to keep her in positive spirits about her training.

On their way to the mountain, they have some time to train and eventually have another run-in with Team Rocket, where Lucario wants to Mega Evolve, and through this battle, Karina goes in and out of being able to control the Mega Lucario, having moments where it can break through and listen, but also having moments where it cannot be controlled before fainting once more. Now at the mountain, a trainer named Mabel and her Mawile are there, getting into a battle with one another's mega-evolved Pokémon to test out their strength, with the mega Mawile taking the win. Clement has another invention blow up, but aside from that, Karina is able to learn and train properly to fully control Mega Lucario, and things are all swell. Ash ends up deciding to go train some more, knowing that his actual battle with Karina will be a tough one, as she then departs from the group.

During this period of time, Ash is able to come across the Pokémon Hawlucha and becomes pretty determined on wanting this powerful Luchador on his team. Through helping its escapades in the forest of earning the reigning champ title of Forest Champion, Ash extends an offer to Hawlucha to join his team, to which it agrees. As Ash sends out Froakie to battle, the two end up colliding, causing a double knockout, but Ash thanks Hawlucha for a great battle overall, and officially Hawlucha joins Ash's team. Compared to last season, it's about time Ash caught another Pokémon already.

Furthering his training, Ash gets familiarized with air battles. They're just like regular battles, but they're done in the air, go figure. During his battle where his Hawlucha is facing off against a Talonflame, the fully evolved form of Fletchling, Ash's Fletchling watches the battle to study Talonflame. And thanks to Hawlucha's gliding abilities and not flying abilities, Hawlucha loses the battle, causing Fletchling to get a chance at battling its final form. As Fletchling falls behind though in this battle, the determination it has helps evolve it into a Fletchinder, learning some new fire-related moves to boot. This new burst of power and speed fully helps Fletchinder defeat the Talonflame and feel pretty confident.

After a few more side adventures and even some time going to a summer camp similar to the one that Ash and Serena both originally met at, the group arrive at Karina's gym with Ash being ready to face her in an official Gym battle this time. Both trainers seem more ready than ever to battle, with Karina back on a winning streak and Ash having had some time to train up for this battle. But first, we have a fun and weird part. This is not the stuff in which Grant warned us about some time ago, but we'll see more of that as they have to face the Tower of Mystery, which is currently inaccessible thanks to water blocking off the pathway to reach the island. Yeah, so here in the meantime, Ash ends up having to dance. After trying to adapt a grooving battle style. No, not that battle style, get that out of here. So to train, Clement pulls out his not-a-very-good-dancer automated good dancing device to help, but it blows up. And Ash isn't a good dancer, so Serena offers to help Ash learn to find this rhythm. But after several hours, nothing gets much better. Eventually, the tide opens up for them to cross to the island that houses the Tower of Mystery. Karina's grandfather appears once more, telling Ash the rules of the tower here. They get told the history of the first ever Mega Evolution and how it started with Lucario, and through generations, their family has protected Mega Evolution Island. They all then sharing a dinner. Team Rocket tries stealing a sacred and secret scroll. They all rescue it back, and as the next day arrives, it's officially time to battle.

Karina sends out Meowstic as her first Pokémon, with Ash choosing to send out his Hawlucha. The two go back and forth, but the Meowstic is getting the upper hand. As Ash has to tap into his training and dancing practice, following Serena's guidance of flowing with his own natural instincts, and from there, he is able to get into a flow with Hawlucha and take down the Meowstic, netting the first win of the battle. She now sends out her Machoke, as Ash swaps out for his Fletchinder, who gets a great chance to shine here. While still taking a few licks from Machoke, Fletchinder ends up clutching the victory with a Flame Charge. Now down to her last Pokémon, she sends out her Lucario and Mega Evolves it instantly, with Ash choosing to keep his Fletchinder in the fight. But Mega Lucario is a lot more focused now and in sync with Karina, being able to quickly defeat Fletchinder. Ash sends back out his Hawlucha for the battle, but once again, Mega Lucario is able to land some powerful attacks and direct hits, knocking out Hawlucha. Both down to their final Pokémon, Ash sends out Pikachu for the finisher. Even with some powerful attacks and countermeasures coming from Mega Lucario, Pikachu puts up a strong fight, being able to hit Mega Lucario with a direct Thunderbolt in the end that knocks it out, officially defeating Karina and earning Ash his third badge, the Rumble Badge. Karina shares in a bro-fist with Ash, as they have a great respect for one another, as one day they may just battle again.

As they set forward a path towards the next gym, Serena finds a purpose that she truly sees herself doing, and that's becoming a Pokémon Performer, a goal that requires her to compete in Pokémon Showcases to show off their relationship and bond to their Pokémon. But as for now, this is where we leave off for the first season of the XY anime. Lots of intense training, fun battles, and some really interesting characters have been met along the journey, but we still have so much more to dive into on the horizon. We continue our newest quest in the Kalos region with the next season of the XY era, XY Kalos Quest. The name just fits, you know.

Not far into continuing on our way to the next gym battle, Ash spends time learning the ninja way, and his Froakie ends up evolving into a Frogadier. Serena even finds time to make peace with her mother regarding her own passions in life versus Ryhorn racing, beating her in a scooter race and earning her mother's blessing to go after being a Pokémon Performer. Ash even catches a new friend for his travels, a Noibat. Eventually, the group gets to Coumarine City, where we get to meet Ramos, the gym leader for the city, before Ash officially goes to battle him.

When Ash does go up to battle with him, he's more interested in tending to his gardening activities over rushing into a battle, giving Ash some advice about losing sight of what's important if you only look at what is in front of you. As we get into the battle, though, Ramos sends out his Jumpluff, as Ash uses Fletchinder. The flame bird is able to burn up the Jumpluff pretty easily, with Ramos now sending out his Weeping Bell next, who is able to poison and then slam Fletchinder to take it out of the battle as well. Ash decides to send out his Hawlucha, but sadly Hawlucha ends up with the same fate that Fletchinder did, getting poisoned quickly and slowed down for an easy knockout. Ash is now down to his final Pokémon, choosing Frogadier to face the Weeping Bell, and through his skillful training with Ash, he is able to deflect and protect itself from the poison attacks and scores a direct Aerial Ace hit, knocking the Weeping Bell out. Ramos's final Pokémon for the battle is a Gogoat, but Frogadier uses a combo of Double Team and Water Pulse to take the Gogoat out, resulting in Ash winning the battle and earning the Plant Badge.

Ash has appreciated how much Serena has been supporting him, so he returns the favor, supporting her with her debut performance in a Pokémon Showcase in the same city, hyping her up about it. In the meantime, the city is all decked out for a festival that celebrates trainers and their bonds with their Pokémon. The festivities center around giving special gifts to their Pokémon at the end of the main celebration day under a tall central tree called the Pledging Tree. This whole festival ties into some more traditional lore regarding the city itself, and of course, our group here wants to share in the customs of the city. To keep the presence a surprise, Ash and Serena go out separately to look for the perfect gifts, while Clement wants to use his inventing powers to create the perfect gift. Bonnie though, gets tasked with watching the Pokémon for all of them.

As Ash and Serena are now on their own and getting some downtime from the main adventure, she starts getting awkward and a bit uncomfortable as the setting feels too intimate and could be mistaken along the lines of a date. Ash though, couldn't be more oblivious or even focusing on anything but what they are actually out and about doing. We can already take note of Serena's feelings about Ash just from how her journey in the show begins, as well as their time training and hanging out together within the group, or even stuff like when she gifted him the cookies. So these feelings that she has may just come from herself being so uncomfortable about her own feelings, not fully wanting to confront them properly, at least for now.

Ash at one point ends up going to look for something himself, as every time he finds something to think about, Serena has pointed out why it may not be the most practical or even personal gift he could choose. So they promised to meet back up at a certain area later on in the day, but after some time has passed, they meet back up as Serena has found the presents she thinks are perfect for her Pokémon, as Ash, not surprisingly, hasn't found a thing, being concerned that he doesn't know what the perfect gifts would be. As they get on the monorail together, Ash gets stopped for being the 1 millionth person to ride, given a blue ribbon and congratulated for doing so. This will mean something later, it's not just for random sake.

Ash talks to Serena about not being able to accomplish finding the right presents, as she points out that his Pokémon are very similar to him, specifically because of the bonds that they share. And instead, she tells him to think about what he would want if he were given gifts from. This Ash gets an epiphany and departs on his own, as Serena heads back to Clement and Bonnie. Bonnie shows Serena the present that she's working on for all of the Pokémon, as it's a drawing that she made of all of them. Ash eventually returns with a large haul of gifts, and the group now head to the Pledging Tree to present the presents to their Pokémon. We see Serena and her Pokémon having a nice time as they receive their presents. Clement presents his invention of a music box, hopefully it doesn't blow up. Bonnie shows off her drawing, as Ash then reveals to his Pokémon all that he got for them, which is a giant pile of berries, since the way to Ash's heart is food, so he figured it would be the same for his Pokémon as well, to which they all did enjoy.

Before the day ends, there is one present left, and it's made out to Serena. Inside is a new dress sent in from her mother for her first Pokémon Showcase. The night ends with some fireworks, as Ash gives Serena a gift as well, being the blue ribbon that he was given earlier, as a thank you for helping him in finding the perfect present for his Pokémon, that she is overwhelmed with joy over the sentiment, treasuring the ribbon for what it represents. I know that was all really sort of a side thing, but Ash's journey here regarding his friendship with Serena is pretty pivotal for this generation, and it's honestly just really sweet.

Serena finally gets to perform in the Showcase, to which she is understandably nervous, but uses advice from Ash to guide her into giving it her best shot, and that her doing this well, whether she excels or fails at it, it was never a waste of time. At first, things seemed to go well until they don't, causing her to be out of the running to win the whole thing, being pretty bummed out about it, but not wanting to lose her composure fully to everyone around. Privately, she ends up breaking down and crying when looking out into the ocean, mixed with emotions of sadness for her loss, but grateful to be on the path that she is now.

Before long, she takes out a pair of scissors to cut her hair and puts on a new outfit, adding on the ribbon that Ash had given her as a present to keep close to her and be a reminder of her own strength. From here, the group now head back on their journey to the next gym, which now will be back in Lumiose City, where he was promised a special battle after having four other badges. During this time, Ash's Goodra ends up evolving into a Sliggoo and even learns a new Dragon-type move as well. Clement even leaves the group for a bit to train before the battle with Ash, getting a chance to really be ready for this fight and delivering on a promise of a fight worth remembering. Ash also doesn't waste time in between either, getting a chance to work on his skills and train with his Pokémon, even getting a chance to battle with a side character that comes in and out of the series, Tierno. This double battle has Ash's Pikachu and Sliggoo facing off against Tierno's Wartortle and Raichu. Of course, any time there is a Pikachu and Raichu related battle, it's exciting, but that's not the main focus here. Sliggoo is especially when Team Rocket interrupts the battle, and Sliggoo ends up evolving into its final evolution, Goodra, afterward.

When the battle continues, Ash ends up winning, putting him in high confident spirits as they arrive back in Lumiose City, meeting back up with Clement. With them having to quickly deal with the Clembot from earlier, now being arrested and locked up based on some security footage of it committing crimes. So now they set off to prove the Clembot's innocence, especially after Clement already reformed the Clembot. This brings back in Alexa, who is there investigating the crimes for her journalism, and a Blaziken Mask, aka Clement and Bonnie's father, to do his vigilante work. Clement is able to find evidence that it wasn't Clembot, but in fact, this evil professor named Belmond and his own Clembot, Dark Clembot. Dude wants to be one of those dark Pokémon cards so bad. This leads to both of the Clembots having a battle until Team Rocket tries to get in the way, and Blaziken Mask interferes to save them, while Belmond and Clement finish the battle, where Clement wins and Belmond is arrested. Blaziken Mask gets out of the area, and everyone shifts back their focus to this gym battle.

Clement starts the match using his Bunnelby, as Ash chooses Pikachu to start things off. Bunnelby does try putting up an intense fight, but Pikachu is just ready to pull off a perfect counter and take Bunnelby out. Clement then sends out his Helioptile, with Ash switching to Goodra, but when things seem to not be going in Goodra's favor here, Ash quickly swaps again and sends out Hawlucha for the battle. Don't get me wrong, Helioptile has been putting up a solid fight here, but in a moment when Helioptile is open, Hawlucha takes advantage of this with a close-up High Kick that knocks the lizard out, leaving Clement down to his last Pokémon, sending out Luxray. Luxray, compared to the rest of the Pokémon on Clement's team, is clearly the most powerful here and the one Pokémon he's been training to truly be at this power level, showing a strong force of power right away, knocking out Hawlucha and trying to turn the tides of the match. Pikachu comes back out to fight electricity with electric, but Luxray's powers were too powerful for Pikachu, making the match even with one Pokémon left each. Goodra is back on the field and is able to match the force that Luxray itself is countering its terrain-based abilities and is able to end things off with a B to knock Luxray out, resulting in Ash defeating Clement. I don't know personally if I'd call this a battle to always remember, but I'll give it to Clement, he almost completely flipped the match into his favor, but he still needs to work on training and strategy with his other Pokémon as well. They celebrate a good match against each other, as Ash receives the Voltage Badge, only needing three more badges for the region. Clement decides to continue on the road with the group, leaving the reformed Clembot to run battles and operations in the meantime, as they all head to the next gym.

From there, along the way, they all have some side adventures featuring stuff like meeting up with Professor Sycamore again, who helps his Gogoat Mega Evolve, as well as the professor finds out the identity of Blaziken Mask, as they then work together in researching more of the mystery surrounding Mega Evolutions. We also get more time between Ash and Goodra, as we learn about Goodra's home, with the end of this resulting in knowing that Goodra is happy back in the wetlands with the community of Pokémon there. And thanks to Ash's training, Goodra can be a powerful protector of the area for the others, and Ash has Goodra stay there, saying their goodbyes for now, promising to always be friends.

Ash meets another trainer named Sawyer for the first time, and he wants to be where Ash is at, having more badges and seeing Ash as a skilled trainer. For now though, he wants a double battle with Ash, and of course, Ash accepts it, as Sawyer sends out his Throh and Bagon, with Ash using his Frogadier and Hawlucha. But this all gets interrupted by a fashion show starting up, so there's that. Valerie, the gym leader for Laverre City, is also a big and famous fashion designer, so it all takes a higher importance at the moment for this event. Sawyer is called up to battle against Valerie first, and Ash gets to witness her strategies before his match with her, with Sawyer losing this battle.

Later on, Ash gets a chance to officially battle Valerie, with her sending out her Sylveon and Ash sending out Fletchinder. Also, Valerie likes to speak to her Pokémon like she's a Pokémon as well, you know, typical pet owner behavior. But the two Pokémon duke it out fairly well against one another, but Ash's Fletchinder is able to string enough attacks together to take Sylveon out. She then sends out her Spritzee, who tries with Trick Room to mess with Fletchinder, but Ash's strategy breaks through this, and Fletchinder is able to boost up its stats thanks to Ash coming up with how to navigate this Pokémon from watching Sawyer battle. In the end though, Spritzee is still able to hit back with a Moonblast that takes Fletchinder out, as Ash now chooses to use his Hawlucha. With a bunch of back and forth between the two Pokémon, they get to show off just how powerful each of them are, giving each other a dose of direct attacks and counters, but Hawlucha here is able to end things off with a High Jump Kick, defeating Valerie and earning his sixth badge, the Fairy Badge.

Sawyer feels both inspired to be a stronger trainer and wanting to learn directly from Ash, as they both agree on having another battle, this time hopefully finishing it. Throughout our time with Sawyer here, we get to see Ash take this mentorship role, really pushing up Ash's character for the trainer he has become thus far, showing full-on growth that isn't just explained, but it's shown. He directly coaches Sawyer to keep him calm and confident in battle, so it's really nice to see this level of maturity and responsibility Ash is displaying. For their battle, Sawyer sends out his Bagon to face off against Pikachu, with Pikachu eventually being the victor of the first round face-off. Next up, Sawyer sends out his Slurpuff, with Ash using Hawlucha. Thanks to Sawyer being too focused on his notebook full of tactics and strategies he tries to jot down, it becomes too late with his head in the books and not in the moment of the battle, and Hawlucha takes the second round. This is how Ash is able to directly connect the way he trains in battles to help Sawyer be more comfortable with not getting nervous and panicking mid-battle. Next up, Sawyer sends out Throh, as Ash sends out his Frogadier, with Frogadier having the upper hand at first, but Sawyer tries to take Ash's advice to heart, sticking to a calm demeanor and focusing directly on the battle. Due to the level-headedness, Sawyer's Throh is able to feel the same, finding the strength needed in the battle to evolve into a Gogoat, making the battle a bit more intense between the two mid-evolution Pokémon. While Gogoat is able to offer a way more explosive battle against Frogadier, Sawyer still ends up losing the match once Frogadier ends up defeating Gogoat, but Sawyer is a stronger trainer thanks to this battle and thanks to Ash. With both Pokémon forming their own little rivalry from there, Sawyer now heads off to train even more, as both trainers look forward to another battle sometime in the future.

As we head to the next gym, Ash ends up coming across a Pokémon egg that immediately hatches into a Noibat, and if you know me and my love for both Noibat and Noivern, then you know I'm very excited for this. They spend these first moments with the newborn Pokémon, trying to comfort it down and also save it from Team Rocket, resulting in Noibat not wanting to leave Ash's side going forward, thus joining Ash's team officially, excited to train and become a strong member of his team. I love it.

In the past, specifically during the Ruby and Sapphire and Diamond and Pearl arcs, Ash has entered into some flying-based Pokémon competitions, and here Ash joins in on a Pokémon Sky Relay race with Ash's Fletchling, Hawlucha, and Noibat partaking in it. Through this process, Noibat is able to learn how to fly again. This is a newborn Pokémon, and there was no mother Noivern around to help teach the young Pokémon to fly, so even though Ash didn't win here, only coming in right behind a Starly, Noibat is celebrated for overcoming the whole not knowing how to fly hurdle and doing his best to still take second place, never giving up.

Hearkening back to things like when Ash and Company had an experience coming across Articuno in the anime itself, here we get another legendary bird encounter, this time with Moltres. With the bird going wild thanks to Team Rocket making Moltres angry and just plain irritated by humans, so it begins attacking them with their Pokémon, trying to intervene. Through this, Fletchling is doing all that it

can do to help. Being a fire-based bird as well, and from the attacks that it gets hit with, in the determination to help Ash and the others, Fletcher ends up evolving into its final evolution, a Talonflame.

Ash ends up jumping in to catch Talonflame, though once Moltres sends it flying to the ground, and more specifically, the magma down below. Frogadier ends up helping as well to help fashion its abilities into a rope for them to hang on to as they are saved from a crispy death.

Moltres sees all of this and realizes that Ash and Company are not the enemies here, and there is no need to attack. No longer feeling threatened once again, Ash's bonds with his flying-type Pokémon continue to grow, and even his relationship to Frogadier, which once again, is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to what is next for the Frog's connection to Ash.

Now being an Anistar City, we get more into the great lore packed into the XY era of the series as well, as we get to meet Olympia, the gym leader of the city, who has special psychic abilities. No, not like Sabrina from back in the original generation, but in ways where she is able to predict certain things about the future. Beyond this, she can project these visions to show the others what she foresees, like this incredibly dark future crisis taking place in the Kalos region, further showing that Ash will have a significant role to play in all of this. And Professor Sycamore, who is there in the city as well, becoming some sort of leader figure that sets a path forward for some point of this whole future mishap. Vagueness aside, this is foreshadowing what is left to come in the series before everything in the Kalos region is wrapped up.

Carrie, an apprentice of Olympia, decides to take things into their own hands when seeing this vision as well, interpreting it as the professor and Ash are the problems in the situation, bringing about this supposed troubling future, as she begins going after them. Olympia interferes, making her stop what she is doing, as Carrie has some issues jumping to conclusions before fully understanding what the vision means.

Once things are settled back down, Olympia goes further into what she showed them may just mean, expressing a direct correlation from another vision that involves Ash's Frogadier. "That's So Raven" over there talks about some sort of curious fate that Frogadier holds, as we learn about Frogadier's past as a newly hatched Froakie, training hard by itself, and not being fully integrated with the other Froakie around it in the wild, being the odd one out. Froakie faced hardship amongst the others, being attacked and left injured by them, receiving help from a Nurse Joy, and learning to find the perfect trainer to work alongside to become the stronger version of itself. These standards of the perfect trainer caused us to get the story we already knew with Froakie not willing to stick by the trainers that it perceived as too weak and not being compatible with them to journey with. That is until Ash came along.

That missing quality that made Ash different was the universal emotion of love, understandable amongst any language and between species. The bond Ash and Frogadier have is incredibly strong, as they both feel extremely close to one another.

For some more foreshadowing, Ash and Frogadier are enlightened to more visions from Olympia, expressing that Frogadier will evolve once more, and an even greater power that involves Ash will make itself clear soon enough. To what this means, they don't really know yet. For now, they assume it's in relation to Mega Evolving, but from all the research done on Mega Evolution, Greninja, the final evolution from Froakie, has no Mega Evolution form. With this information, everyone is a bit excited, albeit maybe a bit scared, with some of those future chaos visions, but none are more excited than Ash and Frogadier.

But of course, there are other important matters to directly deal with now, and that's a gym battle. So, Ash challenges Olympia to a battle, to which she accepts. After dealing with a little attempted thievery from Team Rocket, Ash prepares for this gym battle with Clemont, nervous for Ash going up against a powerful psychic trainer who can also see the future. Ash couldn't be more excited, though, as the two prepare for Ash's attempt at his seventh badge in the region.

This gym battle will be a lot of fun too, as it will be a double battle with Olympia using both of her male and female Meowstic at once, with Ash choosing to have a fire and water combo with Frogadier and Talonflame. Despite Pikachu thinking he was going to be in the battle, sorry Pikachu, Ash may have promised you that at the end of the last series you'd be training together to get stronger within the Kalos region, but this is really the Froakie evolution line series here.

Both teams of Pokémon need to work together respectively to win, with both Meowstic directly helping each other out in battle. With the battle being hard for Ash to overcome the power of the Meowstic, and specifically the attack Future Sight, Ash does ask Pikachu for a favor in battle, building their bond in a different way, where Pikachu meticulously watches the pair of cats to time when their moves are being used. This way, Pikachu can directly warn Ash when certain moves are being used. As the strategy helps Ash use the timing to his advantage, commanding his Pokémon to get the Future Sight attack to directly hit the Meowstic. Frogadier and Talonflame get in sync with each other to both be protective and keeping each other from taking too much damage, as well as allowing a solid opening for them to land some attacks. Talonflame is able to hit one of the Meowstic with a direct Flame Charge, as Frogadier deals with breaking through its paralysis from them, ending up delivering a massive Water Pulse that defeats the Meowstic Duo and winning Ash the battle.

Through some incredible strategies and a strong bond between Ash and his team, he truly worked hard to win this battle. With Olympia even giving him and his Pokémon props for pulling off the win, noting that there was true love there that helped drive Frogadier to push through its paralyzed state to finish things off. Ash gets handed his badge for winning the Psychic Badge, but also receives a warning. Olympia expresses that if Ash and Frogadier don't move forward with a sincere purpose, that a great danger lies ahead for them. But on the contrary, both of them are going to reach these greater heights in all aspects, from their relationship to their strength and beyond.

Olympia also speaks with the professor a bit more when he asked further about the vision from earlier. As she responds with, "Green fire, a flickering green flame. I saw it engulf Kalos and threaten to consume all of the people and Pokémon in that swirling fire. You will all play a substantial role in the chaos and turmoil." And every one of the villains who tried to steal the Sun Dial. This being in regards to the great chaos and danger she's been referring to from the vision, along with mentioning that even Team Rocket, the ones who tried to steal the Sun Dial in the city from earlier, will have a part to play, because why wouldn't they? I guess they, they always do.

Ash and Company get given an updated Pokédex from Professor Sycamore before Ash sets forward a path to Snowbelle City for his eighth and final badge. As we end this season, seeing another vision through Olympia's eyes, revealing a pair of glowing green eyes piercing the screen. And wow, what a way to end everything. This far has genuinely been so much fun, and Kalos's Quest gave us an exciting middle season that does a great job at feeling important for Ash's training, his growth, and all the stories of the friends around him, but ending on such a high note for something of great importance to come in the next and final season for the XY generation. And so far, the XY anime has been nothing short of one of the most exciting and refreshing series yet, comparatively to everything else that has come before it. And yet, we have an explosive final season to still get to shortly.

"Who's that Pokémon?" "It's ARBOK!"

When we return to the next season, dubbed XYZ, we begin on the regional bad guy group, Team Flare, trying to capture the legendary Pokémon Zygarde. When this is unsuccessful, the leader of Team Flare, Lysandre, sends out the team to search for Zygarde further. However, we catch back up with Ash and friends, who are still on their way to Snowbelle City for Ash's final gym badge, as they stumble across what would be known as a Zygarde cell. For how the structure of Zygarde works, but with the Pokédex data informing them that there is no data on the squishy green blob, Bonnie properly names it "Squishy." How fitting! Ash is just excited to have seemingly discovered a new species of Pokémon to add some more fun.

Soaker meets back up with the group as well, as right then and there, they lose track of where Squishy has gone. Team Flare coming across it, causing a commotion that our group takes note of. When they pull up to the scene, they tell Team Flare to back off and let Squishy go, getting into a quick battle that frees the green blob right back into Bonnie's care, as Ash and Friends get to escape. At one point, getting to a safe place to rest up for the night, as Squishy refuses to eat anything offered to it. It then reaches out to these hidden in plain sight camouflage Zygarde cells that it can then view the whole area through, showing that things are pretty clear for now as the core absorbs the sunlight.

Zygarde has many forms, with the cells being the base, the core, or Squishy here, being the next form. And from there, it goes into the 10% form, resembling this dog-like Pokémon, then to the 50% form, resembling this more snake-like design, and then finally, a complete form that reminds me more of a Digimon. As the group discusses going to a place called Terminus Cave along the way to the next city, Squishy starts indicating that it would like to travel there, specifically. So, they agree to bring this little green blob there.

Team Flare shows back up sometime later and causes a lot of problems for the group, splitting them up and causing Squishy to gather some of the Zygarde cells in the area to turn into the 10% form to fight back when cornered. Afterwards, Squishy releases the cells and turns back into the core form, fainting from the power it had to use. Our group comes back together and makes sure to help take care of the core, with Soaker departing from the group but grateful for Ash's advice once more from their chats.

We then get another quick glimpse at the 50% form Zygarde hiding somewhere in the woods, as Ash and Company continue towards the cave, walking past the character named Alan, a person who will begin to play a big role in the anime proper, but has had their own personal story, including introducing Zygarde and Team Flare in several Mega Evolution specials, leading to his story finally crossing paths with Ash, regardless if each of them are aware of each other's parts to play in the story, walking by each other as total strangers with zero acknowledgement.

Professor Sycamore gets invited to learning about Squishy, wanting to research this seemingly new Pokémon species further. But we then reach episode 100 of the XY series, as it also turns out to be a very special moment for Ash and his Frogadier. During this ninja war between a village being under attack, Frogadier jumps ahead to protect Pikachu from further getting hurt during a battle with a Bisharp, evolving right then and there to pull from an incredible amount of strength needed in the moment, turning into Greninja and using its newer Water Shuriken to battle. But beyond this, something special happens: a fully connected body between Greninja and Ash, with Greninja's appearance changing slightly to resemble Ash, with his look being dubbed "Ash-Greninja." This immense power is able to defeat the Bisharp with ease now, and quickly turns back into the regular-looking Greninja, with Ash left with more questions than answers about what just happened.

After this whole altercation, Ash and Company continue on their way, with those in the village deeming what they witnessed with Ash and Greninja representing this hero and protector from the past. Well, until we deal with whatever happened there again. We now get to Terminus Cave, giving us more run-ins with Team Flare and the group seeing that Squishy here can change forms, adding on to the mysteries of Zygarde and the group's knowledge of what's going on. Eventually, we meet back up with Sawyer, with him and Ash already once again battling with one another. For Sawyer, his Grovyle has evolved again and now has become a Sceptile, with the rivalry continuing between Sceptile and Ash's Greninja, as their match-up this time is a lot more intense since the last time these two Pokémon battled. When Sceptile is overpowering Greninja, the bond between Ash and Greninja link once more, with the Ash-Greninja transformation taking place again, confusing Sawyer, along with another somewhat familiar face we cross paths with briefly at the start of the season: Alan. Alan is watching this battle happen, interested in why his Mega Ring isn't reacting to the transformation he just witnessed, cluing us into this not having anything to do with Mega Evolutions. Ash-Greninja delivers a powerful Aerial Ace that takes out Sceptile before Greninja turns back to normal, and both it and Ash nearly pass out fully from whatever power was just used.

After the battle, Ash gets asked about what this transformation was, but he still has no clue what happened. Once they get their Pokémon all healed up, Sawyer thinks that Ash may have become Greninja in that moment, and Greninja may have became him, symbolizing this deep, interlocked connection between human and Pokémon. Who really knows? But Ash thinks it's pretty cool. Sawyer departs from the group once more, with Alan walking into the Pokémon Center, but doesn't make himself known to Ash just yet.

Now being woken up in the morning to Team Rocket doing what Team Rocket does, and that's trying to steal Pikachu. Alan and his Charizard intervene to rescue Pikachu and blast Team Rocket out of there, and Ash is thankful to this mysterious guy. As Alan then offers a battle with him and his Charizard against Ash's Greninja, and of course, Ash is game for this. The battle starts off pretty normal until Alan Mega Evolves his Charizard into its Mega Charizard X form. Similar to Mewtwo like in the Genesect movie, having a Y form, it also does have an X form. The Charizard, being the popular Pokémon it is, also has an X and a Y form. With the X form fully changing the Pokémon's colorings, aside from basic appearance changes, Mega Charizard X dons this slick black and blue look, pulled together with burning blue flames. This, of course, impresses Ash and everyone watching the battle. But for Greninja, the battle just got a whole lot more intense, as Greninja takes quite a beating in the battle. Ash tells Greninja that they can't give up here, causing the bond between them to connect once more, bringing back out Ash-Greninja. This is exactly what Alan wanted to happen, but he's still so confused on this not being linked to Mega Evolving and how Ash is able to even do this with his Pokémon.

The intense battle continues, resulting in the two colliding as Mega Charizard X uses Blast Burn that knocks Greninja out, and showing just how powerful this Mega Evolved Charizard is, with Ash collapsing to the ground alongside Greninja. Once Ash has some energy, he checks in on Greninja, with Alan thinking that the battle was really good, as the defeated Greninja nods in agreement. Alan now properly introduces himself, as they share in a mutual respect after the battle, healing back up at the Pokémon Center once more.

Clemont wants to help Ash in figuring out this power he and Greninja share, or join in on, as they all would like to know more about just what in the heck is happening. Alan heads out on his own path for now, as this wouldn't be the only time these two will cross paths, as neither of the two trainers know that this helps spark the start of the visions Olympia forewarned Ash about last season. The chaos has yet to begin, but all is beginning to build up in the background, as the groundwork is being laid.

Giovanni is back at it again with Team Rocket, commanding Jessie and James to get involved with capturing Zygarde and getting in the way of Team Flare, and figuring out what their plans truly are, giving us more of a motivation for our Team Rocket Trio here to be involved, not that they haven't been in recent generations towards the original bad guy teams, but I enjoy how they are more integrated here in the overall story, as well as playing into that Kalos ending vision.

Squishy uses its connection to other Zygarde forms to try and continue its communications with Z2, another Zygarde core with a different colored gem represented in its stomach, that is currently caught up in the Team Flare and Team Rocket struggle, ending up now being captured by Team Flare, leaving Squishy worried about why Z2 isn't responding to Squishy's reach out attempts anymore.

Alan, as well, has been shown off to have connections with Team Flare, obviously overlooking the special standalone Mega Evolution specials that give us that connection here directly in the anime. He's in communication with Lysandre, and now even helps out Team Flare capture Z2. When the Team Flare members are curious about Alan, and more specifically, why he only directly works with Lysandre, he only offers up limited information about him being told by Lysandre to capture Z2. So, there's more to this Alan character than what we've been shown thus far. Well, duh, he's been nothing but mysterious.

For now, the group continues on to Snowbelle City, which the main eight badge journey seems to have taken quite the back seat for a while. But along the way, we get another legendary bird encounter, this time with Zapdos, as Ash's Noibat finally gets to shine here. Similar to the Moltres incident earlier in this series, Team Rocket has caused Zapdos to become angry, and in this rage-filled state, Ash tries to help calm the electric bird down. Zapdos is pretty powerful, though, and Ash's Pokémon can't do much to stop the situation, as Noibat swoops in to help, having to catch Hawlucha, who is sent plummeting to the ground. As Noibat does this, it evolves into Noivern, pulling out this level of strength that Ash and the other Pokémon have helped the little bat find within itself to become this large bat. Noivern ends up taking on Zapdos directly, and it outsmarts it, giving Noivern a direct attack that sends Zapdos now heading towards the ground. With Ash worried for the legendary bird, asking Noivern to save it before it hits the ground. Together, Noivern and Pikachu destroy Team Rocket's machine causing this and freeing Zapdos, to which the lightning bird is grateful for the help and understands who the threat was, and it wasn't Ash and his Pokémon, as it now flies away in peace.

With Noivern now in Ash's arsenal, and the day saved, the group get to celebrate in the town festival that they're at, as well as enjoy some fireworks that are on display. I'm just so happy that Ash not only got to have a Noibat on his team for a while, but now has a full-on Noivern, and it's just such an awesome Pokémon.

Serena's own path has been continuing on as well through the Pokémon Showcase circuit, with many of them already having taken place. Serena finds herself doing well in the Master Class Showcase, making her way to the finals where she faces her own personal rival, Aria. She holds the current title of Kalos Queen already from these showcases, and sadly, that doesn't change here, as Aria ends up winning the Showcase and holding on to the title. While Bonnie is sad for Serena, the whole group knows that she gave a great performance, with Ash relating to the feeling of not winning within the leagues he's participated in before, offering the nice perspective that even though she lost, it only means that she still has her dream to tightly hold on to and work towards again, showing the growth of Ash. Aria even speaks with Serena and thoroughly enjoyed the competition and would love to perform again sometime, to which Serena agrees and holds on to that drive to become Kalos Queen one day. Even Serena's mother supports her and encourages her regarding her dream, knowing she did her best and will continue to give it her all. You know, it's just nice to see that even though she wanted her to do one thing in life, she accepts her daughter's passions and wants her to be happy and succeed.

Later that night, when Serena is sitting alone, Ash has a heart-to-heart with her and expresses his personal feelings when he loses or comes up short of where he thought he could be, thinking that she's already sort of pumped and planning out her next performance. Serena just kind of sits there and admires how much of an optimist Ash is in situations like this. "Hey Serena, trust us, it took Ash a lot to be here. We've seen him nearly give it all up before, getting his own pep talks of sorts to keep going." And heck, he can even go through this all again for all we know. Is that foreshadowing? Maybe. Ash further goes into him not having the answers of what to do in situations like this, but no matter what, he always rather do what he needs to do to continue on than do nothing at all. If he loses, reiterating that nothing he does is a waste of time. The journey is the journey, and it will have its ups and its downs, but win or lose, it's all experience and meant to be for that particular moment. This talk means a lot to Serena and it shows just how great of a friend Ash is.

The next morning, Palermo, a character who has been in and out of the series in relation to the showcases and has offered Serena some harsh criticism throughout the series, enters back in once more. She's a former Kalos Queen herself and is the sole person behind training Aria to be the Kalos Queen that she is now. But after Serena has lost in the Master Class and has this understanding of why she didn't win, mixed with the drive to still become Kalos Queen, Palermo offers to officially tutor Serena, which sparks happiness in Serena, but just for the thought of realizing that she is growing on her own path to be recognized in this light by Palermo. For now, she turns down the offer, wanting to still travel with Ash on his journey. As Palermo gives Serena her phone number and tells her to give her a call when she is ready.

From here, Clemont spends time with Ash, using his Clemontic Gear to show his studies thus far regarding Ash-Greninja. He feels it's this psychological connection that causes them to act and move in sync with one another. He hands Ash and Greninja some Battle Pulse Meters that will gather data to see the difference in brain waves and more in battle to see how it affects each party. While they are working on some testing, Alan comes back around, and this becomes the perfect opportunity to truly test things out to get some clear readings for research, as Ash challenges Alan to another battle. For right this second, Greninja needs to be healed up by Nurse Joy, but they still wish to have some sort of battle in the meantime, with Ash sending out his Noivern and Alan sending out his Metang. This battle doesn't last too long, as Metang comes out victorious.

But right after this, Greninja is returned to Ash, being fully healed up, as they gear up for another battle with Alan. With Alan quickly Mega Evolving his Charizard after a few hits back and forth, as the battle starts really heating up, just like before. Ash's encouragement and cheering on of Greninja to stay in the fight brings up their synchronization, with the data being captured reflecting this. Ash-Greninja comes back out now, as they need to both be perfectly in sync for this transformation to occur. During the battle, as Mega Charizard X gets some direct hits, Ash begins fully feeling the pain that Greninja feels, with it at one point becoming a different source of pain as they desync, resulting in Ash passing out and Greninja changing back into its regular form and doing the same, stopping the battle.

Ash ends up having a nightmare while passed out that has him stuck with Greninja walking away from him, as he begs Greninja to stop. Waking up moments later, with Greninja still by his side, Ash is worried about the paralysis he faced towards the end of the battle, as the power of the synchronization is really harsh on the body and mind. Ash asks Alan for another battle in the future, once he has some more training to figure out this whole Ash-Greninja thing out and hopefully master it. As Ash also mentions the Kalos League, which intrigues Alan, based on it consisting of the pure strongest trainers in the region. But for now, Alan goes off again on his own path, as we see him look back to a time where he was around Professor Sycamore, as well as now reassuring his Charizard to stay strong, tying him closer to the story and familiar characters even more.

We check back in with Olympia, who is speaking with Dethia about the visions that she has, as they start looking into Zygarde, as well as Dethia quickly finding Ash while he's in the middle of training. She explains to them about some of the stuff going on regarding Olympia's visions, with images showing an island that was attacked thanks to Team Flare, as she mentioned that it isn't the only place, as other parts of Kalos are being affected, seemingly being the start of the Kalos crisis, and that Zygarde is at the center of the whole thing. When seeing if anything new and or weird has been happening for them recently, the whole Ash-Greninja thing is brought up, with her now wanting to have a battle with Ash to see for herself. Ash, of course, accepts, and his Greninja begins facing off with her Garchomp, as she eventually Mega Evolves Garchomp, with Ash getting in sync with Greninja, following suit, as they end up getting the upper hand against Mega Garchomp. The energy between them once again surges, and they desync and faint. Dethia wants Ash to keep focusing on learning more about this for the sake of the whole region, while she leaves for now.

At the same time, Lysandre is setting in motion the final steps of Team Flare's project, building us up to the crisis potentially coming together. But Ash and Greninja look to one another in acknowledgement that they must master this power and not give up on each other. With all this side story stuff, Ash has fallen behind in finishing earning all eight badges, as Sawyer comes back around and now has all eight of his, like usual. Ash and Sawyer end up wanting to test their current skills with one another and have a battle. Sawyer clearly has had time to train a whole lot more, taking a lot of what he has learned from Ash and being more confident in battle. While Ash's Noivern is able to take out Sawyer's first Pokémon, Honedge. Sawyer's Critter is able to land some powerful direct attacks on Noivern, taking it out of the battle, as Ash sends out Hawlucha to continue. Sawyer's strategy with Critter once again comes in clutch and defeating Hawlucha, bringing Ash to his final Pokémon for this battle, which is none other than Greninja. Critter may be powerful, but Greninja was just way too powerful and ends up knocking it out, with Sawyer now sending out Greninja's rival, Sceptile. With both Pokémon giving it their all against one another, Sawyer is doing his best to strategize against Greninja so Sceptile can hopefully score a win against it for the first time. Ash and Greninja, though, are preparing to get in sync to bring out Ash-Greninja, but something doesn't quite align here, causing the transformation to not happen, leaving an opening for Sceptile to knock out Greninja, granting Sceptile its first win against Greninja and Sawyer his first win overall against Ash.

Ash tries not to overthink why the transformation failed this time, as Sawyer joins the group on their way to Snowbelle City for Ash's final gym battle. We really haven't had a gym battle since last season, and we are moving closer to the end of the season rapidly. Finally, they all arrive in the city, and we meet Wulfric, the Snowbelle City Gym Leader, with Ash asking for a battle, to which he is ready for. Ash starts off with Hawlucha, as Wulfric sends out Abomasnow, with the snow beast bringing on hail thanks to its ability, while being pelted with ice, Hawlucha weathers the storm to still land some close-up attacks, knocking out Abomasnow with a High Jump Kick. Avalugg gets sent out next, and it thrives in the hailing conditions, being able to restore some health. After Hawlucha tries to get some attacks in, this powerful chunk of ice ends up defeating Hawlucha, with Ash thinking of heating things up with Talonflame. And even with the flame, Avalugg is still healing from the hail and is able to land an Avalanche attack that really hurts Talonflame. As this goes back and forth again, Avalugg was just too powerful for Talonflame's fire to burn it, causing Talonflame to be unable to battle. Ash relies on Greninja now to come out and help shift the battle. Once things seem to be going better, Ash and Greninja find that perfect sync level and become Ash-Greninja once more, with Ash feeling the pain from any attacks landed from Avalugg immediately. But Ash's burning desire to win keeps him heated and focused on the battle, and slightly disregarding his trust in Greninja, giving room for Avalugg to freeze Greninja and in turn freeze Ash, coming in after with a direct hit with a Gyro Ball taking out both Ash and Greninja, as he loses this gym battle. Both of them took a lot of damage and need to find a way to truly master all of this, even at the guidance of Wulfric, who tells Ash that he needs to have this deep trust in their Pokémon, with Ash specifically focusing on winning and not 100% trusting Greninja to do this alone, having too much control over the bond rather than sharing it.

For now, Sawyer leaves again to go train before the league starts, with Ash and him looking forward to battling again soon. Ash takes this time to speak with Greninja, apologizing for not keeping a clear and focused mindset. He also then heads away from the group, wanting to be by himself and clear his head for a bit, as he goes and sits in the woods and ponders over his defeat and everything in relation to his connection with Greninja. Greninja has also snuck out of the Pokémon Center and for now, has gone missing. Serena is worried and heads out to look for Ash herself, as Pikachu releases Ash's flying Pokémon to help find Ash. We see Greninja is also out there by itself, thinking about the same stuff Ash is, with both of them being so similar in general, which is why they are so compatible.

Serena ends up finding Ash and tells him that she is there for him, offering to speak to him about anything, returning the same sentiments Ash shared with her during her loss at the Showcase. But here comes some momentary regression from Ash, as he snaps at her and says that she doesn't understand what he is going through and how it feels. Now mad, she throws a snowball at him and rebuts with, "That's not the Ash that I know. Ash would never just give up or not try his best," tearing up before running away. It finally hits Ash why she would be so upset and what her words meant in regards to who Ash has shown himself to be. But upon trying to head back, he ends up slipping down the mountain and actually becoming lost.

"Who's that Pokémon?" "It's GROVYLE!"

When Ash still hasn't returned and the weather is getting worse outside, an upset Serena still agrees to help bring Ash to safety. As time passes and Ash is still not found, Serena is filled with regret for yelling at him and just didn't want to see him be so down, wanting him to be the Ash that he usually portrays himself to be. Ash ends up finding himself a cave to take shelter in for now, even noticing some wild Pokémon there who are trying to find some warmth, offering them to come in the cave alongside him. This triggers some memories for Ash, always having compassion for wild Pokémon, as they all try and stay warm for now. Ash also ends up noticing some Spewpa stuck in the cold on a tree and wants to go and help them out. And as he does, he goes to save the last one as the branch breaks, with them being saved by none other than Greninja. But when a gust of wind sends the last Spewpa out of Ash's hand, immediately Greninja transforms into Ash-Greninja and catches the little fella. Clearly, Ash and Greninja need some time to chat.

And now being back in the cave, Ash opens up about his past and tells Greninja about him helping some Pokémon before they got stuck in a bad rainstorm, sticking by them as they waited it out in a tree, becoming the exact moment he knew he wanted to become a trainer. It's always been about love and compassion, not just about being the best like no one ever was. He apologizes to Greninja once more, and since they are a team, they need to work together, not just Ash dealing with everything on his own. That's part of the reason why they can sync up. They both agree on continuing their training, as the storm finally comes to an end. Ash and Greninja end up finding their way back to the others, and first apologizes for running off and cuts Serena off before she apologizes for running off too, saying thanks to her for trying to speak some sense into him. Ash and Greninja are fully in sync from this point on, as Greninja reminds Ash of their bond by offering his Poké Ball to him, symbolizing their friendship and teamwork.

Ash now heads back to face Wulfric in battle. Starting off, Wulfric sends out Bergmite, with Ash sending out Pikachu, as this little iceberg puts up a decent little fight, but Pikachu is able to combo a Quick Attack with its Iron Tail to defeat Bergmite. Next, Wulfric brings Avalugg out, which was the heavy factor from the last battle to overcome. Already being a tough problem, the ice beast is able to take out Pikachu pretty fast, with Ash now trying with Talonflame again to redeem its ability to melt some ice from their last match, now being able to deal with Avalugg's Avalanche attack and surrounding it in flames to defeat it. With Wulfric down to his final Pokémon now, he sends out Abomasnow, with the hail now starting back up as well, thanks to it, to even the score back up. Abomasnow manages to take out Talonflame with some swift and powerful attacks, bringing us to Ash sending out Greninja for the finale to this battle. It's not long before both of them agree to transform into Ash-Greninja to deliver a strong show of power, but because of this, Wulfric has a surprise, showcasing that his Abomasnow can Mega Evolve, making the battle even more fierce from here. Ash and Greninja hold strong, working together to deal with the more powerful attacks coming their way and coming up with a strategy to use the icy elements to their advantage, taking the Mega Abomasnow's attention and directing it to the Water Shuriken attack that went after its feet, while they rush in for some Aerial Ace attacks to defeat it, resulting in Ash defeating his eighth and final gym, earning the Iceberg Badge, and now being ready for the Kalos League.

Now on their way back to Lumiose City for the conference, we get a pit stop and checking in with Goodra for a moment, as we also see that in the meantime since we last saw him, Alan has been going around the region and defeating the gym leaders to earn enough badges to enter the league, being a tough competitor for Ash to potentially face there, regardless of where the story with him outside of that will go. Now back in Lumiose City, a bunch of familiar faces all show up and are eligible to enter the league, making it once again a league finals filled with some tough matchups. After fully registering for the league, Ash is surprised Alan was able to earn enough badges in time, as the first round of battles begin to show their lineup with who will be facing who. Ash's first battle will be with a character named Titus, but that is if Ash can make it in time, as this rude and pushy trainer named Everett corners Ash and forces him to have a battle, to which Ash, albeit reluctantly, accepts, while the crowd waits for Ash who is nearly disqualified. He ends up showing up with seconds to spare, cutting back to show us Everett back in the hallway being defeated, as well as what happened after the battle where they shared in a moment of respect, with Everett telling Ash to win the league, as Ash confirms he will do so.

For Ash's first round battle, he sends out Greninja, with Titus sending out Alakazam, as Ash-Greninja comes back out as well to defeat Alakazam, and for that matter, Ash fully defeating Titus in the first round and moving on. Rather than give us full detailed battles each round, we get a more sped-up montage and clipped-up highlights version of things that bring us to know that Ash has made it to the quarterfinals, as we see him then defeat Ashlyn and her Mega Absol, thanks to Hawlucha moving him on to the semifinals.

In the meantime, Sawyer has an intense battle with Tierno, as we get to see Sawyer has an even more powerful Sceptile than ever, thanks to Mega Evolving it, with the Mega Sceptile being able to win the battle for Sawyer to advance to the semifinals as well. Well, now the final two matchups before the finals get announced show off that Alan is in the top four and is facing off against another trainer, while Ash will have to face off against Sawyer this time in an official capacity and for all the marbles.

Before we get to this battle, though, Ash gets a special delivery, as Goodra gets dropped off for him, giving us a flashback of him asking for Goodra's assistance in the league, and as a good friend, Goodra agreed to come battle for Ash. Alan easily defeats his opponent and he is going to be the final battle for whoever wins between Ash and Sawyer, with both of them prepping for their battle. Ash hypes up his team of Pokémon, giving them a speech in preparation. Before you know it, it's time for their match, with both of them now on the field. Ash is determined to win, with Sawyer feeling the same, having learned a lot from Ash in their time together here and there throughout the region.

Ash sends out Hawlucha at first, who has a nice new cape that it really wanted Serena to make for it. How adorable! Sawyer sends out Slaking, as Hawlucha tries going in on all these attacks with Slaking barely flinching from them, but with Ash thinking that Slaking has to be taking some damage from this. Slaking ends up being able to counter at one point and sends Hawlucha flying into a tree and knocking it out. At least Hawlucha had a cool new cape. Ash is impressed with Sawyer, but now sends in Talonflame, who tries to hold up fully until there is a clear signal that Slaking is actually hurt from Hawlucha, to which they all eventually do, just like Ash had predicted, giving Talonflame a strong opening to rush in with back-to-back attacks, defeating Slaking. Sawyer now sends Critter out, a powerful Pokémon of his, based on their last battle, and once again, Critter is able to get the better of Talonflame, using its Aqua Jet to forcefully catch Talonflame and deal back damage, resulting in Talonflame being defeated.

But now it's Pikachu's turn to battle, jumping in this back and forth fight and ultimately ending with Pikachu sending an Electro Ball off inside of Critter's pincer when it was clamping down on Pikachu's tail, getting an opening for a direct Thunderbolt from there, giving Pikachu the win. Sawyer, though, is ready to bring weapons into the battle with him now sending out Aegislash. Pikachu is doing whatever he can to stay in the battle, as Aegislash is extremely powerful and being able to limit Pikachu's speed to stay in the advantage, but Ash's strategy at one point has Pikachu throw a tree log that gets lodged in between its sword and shield, stopping it from completing its attack, as Pikachu can now hit directly with a Thunderbolt, taking Aegislash out.

Now with the battle halfway over, the battlefield has changed up a bit, giving the field a desert vibe as we continue on. Ash brings out Noivern, and Sawyer brings out Salamence, both dragon types go at it, as they have ascended to their final evolution forms from their small basic origins, doing their best to showcase just how much they've grown. The two Pokémon end up colliding one final time with Dragon Rush and Acrobatics, as they end up both unable to battle, giving us a double knockout. Sawyer sends out Slurpuff next, with Ash sending out Goodra, giving Sawyer a challenge of one of Ash's Pokémon that he's not familiar with. Sawyer does his best on the spot to stay focused and not panic, following the advice of Ash, doing well to have Slurpuff be just as strong as Goodra, but Goodra won't give up that easily, even when it seemed like the battle would go in Slurpuff's favor by the end of it. The two Pokémon hit with moves at the same time, giving us a repeat of the last matchup, as both Pokémon are knocked out.

With Sawyer now down to his final Pokémon, he sends out Sceptile, with Ash sending back out Pikachu. Luckily for Sawyer, Sceptile is able to catch Pikachu with Frenzy Plant, which lifts him in the air and tosses him into the ground, fully defeating him. Now the match is even once more, both trainers down to their final Pokémon, with Sceptile's favorite rival coming out next: Greninja. Both trainers get into the battle we've been waiting for between the two, with Ash and Greninja sinking up for Ash-Greninja, and Sawyer Mega Evolving Sceptile, as the two finally get to go at one another with all that they've got, achieving the most powerful levels that they could be at yet. After a bit, Sceptile seems to have the upper hand in the fight, but Greninja should not be counted out just yet, with the power of Ash and Greninja together forming the largest Water Shuriken they could. With Sawyer having Mega Sceptile send out a Leaf Storm attack in a bit of a panic, with another collision between attacks occurring, and the dust clouds slowly dissipating, Mega Sceptile is shown unable to battle, with Ash-Greninja standing as the winner, officially defeating Sawyer and sending Ash to the finals to face Alan once again, in a match that may be even harder for him than this one.

Ash and Greninja celebrate their win together, as Sawyer feels honored to have had such a battle, still highly respecting and looking up to Ash, as they congratulate one another on an incredible battle, shaking hands and looking forward to the next time that they do so in the future. This whole series has been about really getting to his most powerful form as a trainer, with so many little mentions here and there about him actually winning the League this go around. Heck, he's made it to the finals, and he's one battle away from finally doing so. This is Ash's era, and it's all up to this final match.

Before we get to the battle, Ash and the others are taught about Bond Phenomenon from Professor Sycamore, explaining exactly what Ash is experiencing with Greninja, making the mystery a bit less mysterious. Lysandre comes around and officially meets Ash face to face, with Ash and the others oblivious to the parts they all play regarding the Kalos Crisis storyline. Professor Sycamore gets a moment to speak with Alan, as we see a rippled past between them, as he went to work for Lysandre and his feelings on Mega Evolution energy, knowing that there are people out there using it for evil, and he can't return now until his personal reasons are taken care of, but he is surprised when the professor isn't mad or angry with him and is only met with understanding and support.

Lysandre, however, still speaks with Ash, hearing him explain about the Bond Phenomenon, but Lysandre alluding to what the type of power can bring upon the new world. Hmm, mysterious, don't you think? Lysandre wants to learn more about this from Ash, and he gets him to promise to meet him after the league is over to do so, sending him some luck for the battle before leaving for now.

The next day, Ash and Alan enter the stadium for this final battle. It's all led up to this moment right here. Ash sends out Pikachu first, with Alan sending out Tyranitar, immediately using its Sand Stream ability to be a disruptor for Pikachu. In round one, despite this, Pikachu is able to fight through the sandstorm to defeat Tyranitar with a final Electro Ball attack when Tyranitar was swinging.

Pikachu around by his tail. A solid way for things to start off in Ash's favor, but it's no time to get cocky. Ash swaps out Pokémon, sending in Noivern for now. As Alon sends out WEEI, Noivern is able to pull off some counters, as WEEI is a fast and feisty Pokémon. But after getting hit by an Ice Beam and then Night Slash, Noivern ends up unable to battle. Hawlucha is chosen next and is finally able to show off those wrestling moves at its absolute best, hitting WEEI with a Flying Press attack that knocks it out.

Alan now sends out Bisharp, who immediately paralyzes Hawlucha with a Thunder Wave, making it fairly easy for Bisharp to defeat Hawlucha. Alan then swaps out for his Unfezant, as Ash sends out his own bird. With Talonflame joining the battle, through their aerial combat, both Pokémon seem evenly matched in their abilities. Leading to Talonflame using Brave Bird and Unfezant using Sky Attack, colliding with each other, resulting in both Pokémon being knocked out.

Halfway through the battlefield changes, now offering a small moment to breathe from the battle. Lysander ominously watches the battle, remarking, "This moment here, the final part of the match, the climax, will have every eye on Lumiose City." As the battle resumes, Pikachu comes out again, as Alan sends out Metagross. Pikachu does his best to face the metal marvel and ultimately ends up being able to land a heavy Iron Tail that defeats it.

Alan now wants to heat things up, sending out Charizard, as Pikachu wastes no time trying to get in a quick attack with a Thunderbolt, following, knocking Charizard down a bit. As the crowd watches in awe, but Charizard didn't have to use much effort in retaliating, as Pikachu was already very worn out from the battle, now being defeated by Charizard's Dragon Claw.

Ash now sends out Goodra, with Alan swapping Pokémon, sending out Bisharp again. The two Pokémon go at it, giving it all that they have. Powerful blow after powerful blow, back and forth. Even though Goodra gave a strong fight here, Bisharp is still able to end things off with a final powerful attack, as Goodra's endurance fully runs out, resulting in it now fainting.

Ash only has one Pokémon left, his true final stand, as he sends out Greninja. And it goes right into taking on Bisharp, defeating it. For that, Greninja already had this little stat boost thanks to Goodra using Rain Dance earlier. But will that matter for this final round of the battle? Alan's last Pokémon is his Charizard once more, who he was truly waiting to send out to face off against Greninja. Ash is determined, he's not going to lose this time, and that he will win the Kalos League. All synced up, Ash-Greninja is here and ready, as Alan mega evolves Charizard. And their moves here feel so much more powerful and calculated from both sides. Clearly, both trainers are giving it their all, along with their Pokémon.

This leads up to another collision, causing an explosion that slowly dissipates, with the crowd holding their breath. But surprise! Both Pokémon are still standing after that, giving each other a menacing stare. Eventually, Charizard stumbles for a moment, but Greninja does as well, fully falling out of Ash-Greninja mode, and then fully collapsing on the ground. Sadly, Greninja is unable to battle, meaning that Alan is the Kalos League champion, and Ash has once again lost, even after all the signs pointed to him winning it here. In fact, if he never told Alan about the Kalos League, he may have actually just won the whole thing. He created his own defeat, in a way.

Ash, though, is in a mopey mess. Rather, he looks to Alan and his Charizard in admiration for their strength and teamwork. Ash wears a big smile on his face for how fun the battle was, and being proud of how his Pokémon did, congratulating each other on such an incredible battle that pushed them to battle at the best of their abilities. Even Team Rocket is all emotional over this, so much so that they decide to not try and steal any Pokémon right now. Ash's friends hype him up over a great battle, as he looks forward to working harder to become even stronger, as he still has a dream to hold on to, and nothing on his journey is a waste of time.

Oh yeah, Team Flare's plans. That's right. Well, they are ready to begin their operation, firing this Zygarde cell-powered device at Z2, starting their process in the background of the award ceremony, as Dethf gives the trophy to Alan with everyone in the crowd cheering, all except for Lysander, who has mysteriously disappeared. Squishy starts to sense that something is wrong with Z2, having an uneasy feeling about whatever's going on.

We see that Lysander is now back to his operations with Team Flare and forces Z2 to let loose the immense power that it stores. The device has worked in corrupting Z2, declaring that it will now rid the world of humans. Breaking free from its containment, as it lifts up into the air, pulling in Zygarde cells from all around. With the energy surging throughout the land from this, causing roots to break through the ground and even into the league stadium, as Lysander declares, "A world reborn."

A new Squishy ends up running away towards the situation, with Bonnie, Serena, and Clemont following it. But the destruction and chaos seemingly begins to grow, as Zygarde, now fully glowing red, roars over Lumiose City. Squishy turns into 10% form to move faster, as all the others scattered, dealing with different parts of the situation, whether it be going to save the others from the damage being done, looking for Squishy, or trying to stop what is going on in general.

With Ash and Alan dealing with the roots, Ash finds out more about Alan thanks to Team Flare themselves, as they're all after Ash now that Lysander, the leader of Team Flare, changes the plans to capture Ash, with Alan not really saying or confirming anything. Furthermore, Ash finds out that Alan works directly for Lysander. And with a confused Ash now in shock, he eventually gets hit with a Confuse Ray that knocks him out, with Pikachu trying to fend Team Flare off from taking Ash, but to no avail.

Lysander takes control of television broadcast to state what is going on, mentioning his plans for a new world with Zygarde being upset with humans, as well as Pokémon. Only the chosen people will survive this chaos to prosper into a new future, exposing to those not in the know that Team Flare is an evil organization. When Alan arrives to speak with other higher-ups in Team Flare, he flips out on what is going on, both with Ash needing to be captured and Zygarde's role in everything.

Alan is brought to Lysander from there, who is shocked to see and hear his true intentions revealed after all this time working for him, feeling lied and used for this horrific crisis taking place. Squishy ends up trying to communicate with Z2, but this only causes it to attack Squishy, as Blaziken Mask ends up joining Bonnie, Clemont, and Serena to help out in everything. Ash, along with all of his Pokémon, are then strung up in the air with these clamp-like devices, as Alan watches in horror.

Ash begins waking up, with Lysander thinking that Ash may be part of the chosen ones, as Ash witnesses Zygarde's destruction. The true nature of Squishy is revealed, as the others learn that Squishy is in fact Zygarde, as well as the other Zygarde. The red one approaches Squishy, with tensions at an all-time high. Ash listens further, as Lysander tells him about Zygarde's order of things, watching over the world, as it's not to be disturbed or face Zygarde's judgment. With this kind of power under control from Team Flare, it's not just Kalos that could be destroyed from this chaos, but the world as a whole, shaping the new world in Lysander's design. If Squishy also were to fall under the same control and turn red, there is nothing strong enough to combat that.

Ash is angry at all this, still being locked up for now, and wanting some sort of explanation out of Alain, who still stands there in disbelief of everything Team Flare, and more importantly, Lysander, is doing and saying. Squishy and Z2 begin battling one another, causing more destruction, with Team Rocket in the background sneaking into the Team Flare labs, trying to figure out a way to help bring their whole organization down, both for the sake of their lives and the world the way they know it, as well as for Giovanni. Though look really good for doing so, I mean, they were in the original vision after all.

Alain's part to play on helping Team Rocket was being lied to by Lysander to collect Mega Evolution energy, being promised it would help bring a Chespin named Chespie back out of a coma, a coma that was caused by experiments being done to Squishy before it escaped from Team Flare's capture. Thanks to that Chespin's help, and a lot of that is shown in the Mega Evolution specials, explaining the backstories of characters like Alain, his travel companion Marin, and of course, Chespie. The trick was having Alain get this Mega Evolution energy for Lysander, as he would then use it towards his evil plans. Here, with Alain now realizing that he had unknowingly helped cause this, he was tricked into leaving his position and helping Professor Sycamore, and basically forced into secrecy and being told that he needs to be as strong as possible.

As for why Ash is captured, Lysander wants to use the Bond Phenomenon that Ash has unlocked with Greninja to reach a new level of power, bringing out devices to control it for himself, sending the two into a controlled state. With Alain pleading with Lysander to stop this, Pikachu screams out for Ash, helping get through to him, as well as Greninja. With them now no longer being controlled by the device, Lysander tells Ash that he will be the one to help guide the people of the new world, as the time ticks away, as by the next day, the sun will rise on that new world. Ash brushes this off, not allowing to be taken control of, telling Alain to do something, anything to help. It doesn't matter what he helped cause, it matters what he helps be a part of stopping. Ash doesn't care about the bad things that he's done in the past, believing that he is a good person based on their several interactions throughout this season.

With Ash's emotional plea, he begins sinking with Greninja, giving them the strength to break free from their restraints. Lysander stands in awe, witnessing this power of the Bond Phenomenon, seeing it put out more power than Mega Evolution energy. Alain appreciates what Ash has said to him, helping him pull a Troy Bolton and get his head in the game, as they now take on Lysander.

Lysander goes on about how he once was a generous and caring person, but watched those in need that he helped become comfortable and used to the help, with him seeing that is nothing more than greedy, feeling that this world is full of ugly intentions, and a true beautiful world filled with peace requires this forceful reset. Starting a battle with Ash and Alain from there, sending out a shiny Gyarados and his matching Pokémon, Pyro, on top of that. He then mega evolves his Gyarados, making his team here even more extremely powerful than ever. Alain mega evolves his Charizard, ready for this battle, as Ash is also ready, sending out all of his Pokémon to aid in this fight, working together to help take down Lysander. They end up being able to take down his Pyro, with the Zygarde struggle still taking place in the background, with Squishy ending up now being corrupted by Z2 and beginning to cause its own mass destruction as well.

With Pyro gone, the battle takes aim at Mega Gyarados. Now, with Noivern saving Pikachu from one of the attacks heading its way, resulting in Noivern being taken out. Mega Gyarados continues showing off its power by taking out Hawlucha as well. Outside, with all the other characters still playing their individual parts in helping the situation, a familiar face returns as a Shiny Mega Metagross steps in to handle some members of Team Flare. With Steven Stone last time being seen in the anime in the Ruby and Sapphire series, he does have a role in the Mega Evolution specials, tying him into Lysander's lie, but in general, he enters the picture to help out.

Lysander's Mega Gyarados ends up taking out Ash's Goodra, followed by Talonflame as well. Malva, a member of the Kalos Elite Four that was supporting Lysander's efforts, ends up countering the Mega Gyarados in battle with her Mega Houndoom, telling Lysander that the world the way it is is worth fighting for, and that seeing the younger generation taking a stand and helping out selflessly, that there truly is good in the world, believing in the future rather than starting a new.

The youngest of the group, Bonnie, has become so brave in the face of everything happening, directly jumping in to help Squishy, standing in the controlled Pokémon's way, as it no longer recognizes her and tries attacking her. But she doesn't give up, seeing a special song that she would sing to Squishy on their adventures, as she breaks down in tears, leading to Squishy slowing down in movement, upon hearing it, snapping back a bit to its original self, trying to fight through the control it's under. Blaziken Mask had already taken a hit from Squishy to protect Bonnie, so Mega Blaziken stands in front of Bonnie to protect her as she sings louder. Blaziken Mask uses the strength that he has left to run and shield Bonnie as Squishy's attack charges up, but thanks to Bonnie's song, Squishy is able to fully break through this, sending the attack away from Bonnie and turning back into its original green color, as Bonnie and Squishy reunite in complete happiness.

Clemont and Clembot have been dealing with their own part of this, with Clemont taking on a powerful higher-up in Team Flare, while Clembot works on taking out the device causing Z2 to be controlled. In order to take out the device, a sacrifice must be made, with Clembot telling Clemont that he must consider the many over just one, as Clement is hesitant in going through with the plan, as it would mean Clembot being destroyed. Clembot is grateful to Clemont for creating him and even helping reprogramming him after it took over the gym. Clembot tells him that he is saving the world by following through with this, as an emotional Clemont shuts everything down, short-circuiting Clembot and taking out the device, releasing Z2 from its control that it was under.

Seeing this happen, Ash notes to Lysander that their plans are over, and that Team Flare is done for. Greninja, Charizard, and Pikachu are able to finally take out Mega Gyarados, with Lysander still confident that he will reshape the world, jumping off of the tower, with Ash even trying to save him from doing so, but it was too late. I would say this was extremely dark of Pokémon, but everything's not over just yet.

Serena, Steven, Professor Sycamore, Marin, and Chespie end up at this special giant rock that begins to glow red, shattering the housing that encapsulates it, sucking in Chespie, with Marin freaking out as they must get out of the area as the building completely collapses. Steven notes that the rock is part of the problem causing the crisis, not being sure of what is going to happen next. The sentient rock continues on a path of destruction, and the Sundial back at Anistar City starts glowing red as well, as Olympia takes notice.

Ash and Alain reach Clemont, who is still in shambles over Clembot, with Serena giving them a call to explain what is going on now, shocking Alain when hearing about what has just happened to Chespie, with them all heading to meet the rest of the group now. Squishy and Z2 have a discussion regarding the behavior of humans and how it's affected the order of things. Z2 thinks that there is evil within humans, as Squishy defends them, believing that humans can be good despite some evil out there. Eventually, Squishy convinces Z2 to trust in these good humans, with Bonnie extending her love to Z2.

Ash, Clemont, Alain, and Malva find the others, as the Professor and Steven believe that the rock has this similar energy to Zygarde, pulling in Chespie, mistaking it for being a part of Zygarde since the original incident that put it in a coma was from the surging energy of the experiments on Squishy mixed with the energy of a Zygarde in general. They believe that the rock is moving towards where the Sun Dial is, thinking that if the two structures come in contact with one another, the energy that would come from it could itself end the world as they know it. Ash vows to make sure that that doesn't happen and that Chespie is rescued. Alain reassures Marin this, as he promises to save Chespie. Team Rocket is still helping by keeping track of the rock, reporting on it, as all of the members of the group get their Pokémon to attack the rock, with the rock fighting back similar to how Zygarde would.

Ash is able to locate where within the rock Chespie is, as the rock starts trying to capture all of their Pokémon, only to be stopped as the rest of the Gym Leaders from all around the Kalos region, along with Dethf, come together and attack with all of their Pokémon. While the rest of the group's Pokémon are saved from this rock, the rock itself seems to be completely unscathed, as they all form one giant squad to go after it and stop it from connecting with the Sun Dial and ending the world. Ash has Serena watch over Marin and Bonnie for their safety, with the battle for the sake of the Pokémon world in the hands of this incredible group of powerful trainers, as they begin their assault on the rock. It begins capturing trainer after trainer, as Ash and Alain continue making their way forward to the center. Surprisingly, Team Rocket saves Ash and Alain from the rock's attacks, giving them a solid chance to continue on, as their helicopter gets attacked and destroyed.

Eventually, Ash and Alain break into the rock and get to Chespie, fighting off these crystals that try to keep them at bay. Ash helps Alain get to Chespie, with the rock now halted in place. Ash and Alain escape from the rock with Chespie in hand, as they still have to figure out a way to take out the whole structure in general. Lysander reappears, still primed on destroying the world and rebuilding a new. See, he's not dead. He attacks the group, as they all eventually recover, with Blaziken Mask falling off, revealing his secret identity to everyone, but none more so than Bonnie and Clemont, who are both shocked to see this.

For stopping Lysander, though, Clembot points out that there is a device on Lysander's wrist, and that they need to destroy it. Squishy has learned a lot about love for one another and working together, showcasing these values that it learned from the humans onto Z2, as they fuse together from calling every Zygarde cell from around the world to come to them, as they turn into the complete form of Zygarde, vowing to save the world. With the complete Zygarde facing off against the rock, Ash and Alain have Charizard, Pikachu, and Greninja attack Lysander, knocking the device off his wrist, as Zygarde breaks the rock, destroying the core. Lysander then falls into the explosion, as he denies his plans being foiled. With the day now being saved, maybe Lysander isn't saved this time, but the world for sure is.

Chespie ends up finally waking up from its coma to both Marin and Alain's excitement. Zygarde heads to the group, as Squishy thanks Bonnie for all that she has done to help and care for it, as it then starts helping bring the world back to normal. Squishy then says goodbye to Bonnie for now, thanking her one more time for giving it such a worthwhile journey for their time together, then saying goodbye to everyone, as Squishy and Z2 disperse from there. The sun finally shines on a new day, but upon the world the way it was, and not a new utopian one.

We now get the aftermath of everyone for their stories. With Clemont being able to rebuild Clembot. Alain gets an offer from Professor Sycamore to repair their relationship with him being asked to come back and be his assistant, with Alain accepting to do so, as he can help Lumiose City repair from all the damages. Ash tells the Professor his plans now are to head back to Pallet Town and continue on his own journey. Everyone receives medals for their efforts in saving the world, defeating Team Flare, and coming together in the most selfless act possible, being on the front lines for this all. Serena mentioned that she isn't sure what her plans are next, but thinks back to Aria's offer, considering taking her up on it for Serena to be mentored by her later on. Serena helped plan a performance exhibition with more familiar faces of friends showing back up one last time, with the performance being a lot of fun for everyone, and Serena really beginning to master her craft. Her mother watches, enjoying to see her daughter happy, with them later on fully becoming close again.

Ash and Serena spend some more time together, as Ash notices her going in and out of a more sad mood, trying to cheer her up with a fun battle between the two, grabbing her hand and bringing her to the battlefield, and specifically the first one that he battled on when he arrived here, when he faced off against Clemont. This is what makes him feel better when he's not feeling so great, and hopes it'll help her as well. She sends out her Braixen, with Ash using Pikachu, as Braixen is able to land some good hits on Pikachu, allowing Ash to praise Serena on her battle skills. The friendly battle kind of ends there, as Ash assures her of what he has learned from his journey. Serena fully makes up her mind about her future, calling up Aria and declining her offer from before. She wants to travel the world with her performances to bring fun and joy to as many people as she can, feeling like she has a lot to gain from all these new experiences outside of the Kalos region that she can go and have. Aria is shocked at being turned down, but understands where Serena is coming from, suggesting that she starts taking part in some Pokémon contests, visiting the Hoenn region first, as she sets her sights on those new horizons. Aria leaves her with some nice and encouraging words, looking forward to when she returns. Turns, she then tells the others about her plans, to which they fully support her ambitions and following her dream.

Ash ends up bringing Goodra back to the wetlands and thanks it for coming to help out in the Kalos League and, you know, for helping save the world a bit, saying goodbye for now and looking forward to when they see each other again later on. The group run back into Squishy again, who leads Greninja to Z2, as they telepathically speak with one another, alerting Greninja to the damage to the region that still needs help fixing, and that Greninja would be able to help locate the specific problem areas within the underground. Ash understands that this is extremely important, saying that this chaos can never be allowed to happen again. Their bond was no coincidence, and all that has happened on their journey together throughout the Kalos region has been for a reason. He assures Greninja should go help the Zygarde keep the problems from getting worse and keep the land protected, shaking hands and embracing in a final hug, as Greninja officially leaves Ash's team and heads to his own destiny to work alongside the Zygarde.

Ash now makes a call back home, as Ash's friends get to say hello, with Ash excitingly regaling his mother with stories about what has happened in the Kalos region and alerting her to the fact that he is going to be heading home. Ash speaks with Alain again, as he notices that his Mega Ring is gone, as Alain explains that it was given to him by Lysander, so he turned it into the police, fully understanding that he could no longer Mega Evolve his Charizard for now. The two say goodbye and look forward to a future battle again someday.

As we now get to the airport, where Ash and Serena are waiting for their flight. Serena's flight is revealed to leave before Ash's does, with her committing to head over to the Hoenn region. All the friends and their Pokémon share in some heartfelt goodbyes, as her flight is nearly ready to take off. Serena begins to thank Ash, Clemont, and Bonnie for everything, being there for her and helping her find herself, as well as the path that she wants to be on now. Speaking directly to Ash, she couldn't be more happy with making the decision that she did in going to find him, calling Ash her ultimate goal, leaving him speechless. Continuing on, she claims to look for him again, with her being a more mature woman when they meet, with Ash looking forward to whatever the future holds for their friendship, or maybe more. As she starts descending down the escalator, she turns back around, fully confident with her emotions and feelings now, running back up to Ash. As we cut away to only seeing her feet lifting up in the air, implying that she is giving Ash a kiss on the lips, before we cut back to the full frame of her being carried back down the escalator. This leaves Ash stunned, with Pikachu, Bonnie, and Clemont shocked by what just happened. Serena leaves the scene blushing, as they all say their final farewells for now.

After seeing her plane take off, Clemont asks Ash for one final battle between them, as they both want to offer each other a fight to truly remember, but not for us to remember, because they don't show it, and we don't know who the winner is. We now see Ash on his plane, reminiscing on the most action-packed, growth-filled journey of his life yet. He arrives back in Pallet Town late at night, as he sees the lights are still on at his house, knowing his mother is up and waiting for him. We end this journey with Ash walking into his home, as he looks forward to what comes next for him, Pikachu, and any other person or Pokémon he will meet.

That, my friends, is how the XY era of the anime ends, giving us three incredible seasons that build upon the last, leaving little time for anything short of fun and exciting. From the way the action in this series is animated to the more heartfelt and character-driven storylines, it's easy to see why the XY anime is ranked among some of the best out there of the entire franchise, with it being a lot of fans' personal favorite series. Ash has fully matured into the best version of himself yet, giving his character so much depth in how he handles situations, how he handles his Pokémon, and how he handles his friendships. The stories here do satisfy so much that we've envisioned for Ash since his first day as a Pokémon trainer, giving us details about his younger days and the person he was back then, showing us what gave him the drive to become a Pokémon trainer in the first place. While he didn't end up winning the Kalos League like the series was leading you to believe, the quick pivot to the world-ending storyline gave us something larger for the anime itself that was done in spectacular fashion to deliver an all-out war to save the planet. Sure, this was Ash's clear attempt at the league where maybe he should have won, but as we will find out by the end of Ash's journey, there is something more special in store. I can gush on and on about how good all three seasons are, rewatching them reassured just how much I was impressed the first time I saw the XY series.

Who's that Pokémon?

[Music]

It's after Ash returned home from the Kalos region. He was able to get some R&R when he appears now to be on vacation in the Alola region along with his mom and her Mr. Mime, Mimey. Our opening moment in the series has Ash riding on a Sharpedo, having fun and essentially getting a tour of the wildlife in the area, showcasing a ton of new Pokémon, brand new to the series through this generation. After a little bit of time and one burst of fire from a Litten directly to Ash's face, we learned that Mimey actually helped them win this vacation, with Ash leaving his most recent team of Pokémon, minus Pikachu, back home with Professor Oak once more. They were also given a task from the professor to bring an egg to the Pokémon School in the area to Samson Oak, the professor's cousin. In the meantime, Ash gets distracted and separated from his mom when he has to deal with several new Pokémon causing him some pain or giving chase to him, leading him to a Tauros riding area to which he gets trampled by them. He just can't catch a break, but he does partially meet some new faces we'll see throughout the series, realizing that he has somehow stumbled his way to the Pokémon School he was heading to with his mom anyways, getting a chance to meet Lana, Mallow, Sophocles, and Lillie. With Mallow bringing Ash to meet with the principal, as they believe he is a new student, as the principal is none other than Samson Oak, who looks just like Professor Oak but tanner and more relaxed. "Wow, I didn't know you were chill like that." Later on, the egg is given to Samson, as Ash is able to clear up that he isn't a student there at all, and he was just on a mission to help deliver that egg. As Mallow stops by to ask if she can continue giving Ash the tour, walking him around the campus to Ash's excitement to want to learn more about the school. We meet the main teacher and professor for the region, Professor Kukui. This gets quickly interrupted when Ash outside sees another trainer and his Charizard getting bothered by the local bad guy group, Team Skull, forcing a battle to happen, continuing that force pushing a deal on him as well, claiming to take his Charizard if he loses, as they then send out a bunch of Pokémon. Ash rushes to jump into the unfair fight, as Ash meets the trainer, Kiawe, who claims not to need any help from him, regardless. Ash still jumps in, sending out Pikachu, as Kiawe sends out his Turtonator. Ash's skills with Pikachu in terms of speed and power end up impressing all the students, along with a mysterious unknown Pokémon watching secretly from afar. Kiawe takes control of the rest of the battle, activating a crystal in a device that's on his wrist that allows his Turtonator to perform a special powerful move called Inferno Overdrive, defeating all of the Team Skull Pokémon at once, sending the group running away for now. Ash is in awe of what Kiawe just did, with the professor coming up to him to explain that what he witnessed was a Z-Move, a special move that gets earned and passed down to trainers after completing Island Challenges across the four Alola Islands. Ash thinks that this is really cool, as he gets distracted by noticing the mysterious Pokémon above fly away. Once he describes the look of the Pokémon, the others are interested in how Ash got to see this Pokémon, as they explain that the Pokémon he saw was the guardian of Melemele Island, Tapu Koko. For now, though, Ash heads back out with his mom, enjoying a night out in the area, eating some dinner, as he quickly becomes distracted again, thanks to him seeing Tapu Koko once more, running after it to meet face to face with it in the woods. Ash then gets given a familiar device that resembles the one that Kiawe was wearing called a Z-Ring, that allowed for the Z-Move to take place, with the guardian of the island allowing Ash to take it and put it on before it flies away for now. Along with that, a special crystal that goes inside. Ash is super interested in learning more about this region, the mysteries that it holds, the power of the Z-Moves, and more, being able to stay behind as his mother and Mimey head back home to Pallet Town, with Ash becoming enrolled in the Pokémon School the next day.

Ash races Pikachu in excitement to the school, as we begin our newest adventure in the Alola region, with all the students having their own lives going on and in school, different tasks that they are focusing on. The professor walks in alongside Ash, reintroducing him to the class and telling the others that Ash will be joining as a student now. Kiawe and the others noticed that Ash has a Z-Ring along with the Z-Crystal known as Electrium Z, with Kiawe questioning how he would end up with both of those in the first place. Ash goes into how they were given to him from Tapu Koko, explaining how it all happened, as they react in shock to an almost unbelievable story. Lillie brings up some lore about Tapu Koko, who has this thing for helping out certain travelers, but sometimes it's not always as it seems, having a trickster side to its personality. Of course, Ash is excited to unlock the power of Z-Moves, just like how he witnessed Kiawe did, much to the annoyance of Kiawe here, who had to work hard and complete trials to earn the right to have this. He mentions that there is a responsibility to those who have access to Z-Moves, as Ash says he'll do his best, without really knowing what that fully means.

It's the first day of school for Ash, and it's time for his first lesson, with Samson Oak coming in to teach about Reg variants of Pokémon, using Exeggutor and Alolan Exeggutor, with the latter being introduced in the Sun and Moon generation, despite being accidentally made a reality in March of 1997 on the cover of the Japanese Pokémon Jungle booster box. Yeah, nearly 20 years earlier. But aside from that, Ash learns about this and how the variant, aside from looking different yet similar, can also be completely different typings, as this tall, skinny tree is technically a Dragon-type, and Charizard isn't. Sorry, you orange lizard.

The next day, the others at school throw a surprise party for Ash, to his excitement, with Sophocles offering Ash a friendly battle, or at least that's what Ash thought he meant, but really it was a challenge: who can pop the most balloons with their Pokémon's attacks? With his Togedemaru not only getting the lead, but then absorbing Pikachu's Thunderbolt and using it for itself to pop the rest, winning the challenge. But the challenges aren't over yet, as Lana challenges Ash to a race with her Popplio that is unfairly able to win. But for another race, Kiawe challenges Ash to a Tauros race, and Ash loses once more. Ash may know how to battle, but he sure can't hang when it comes to these random challenges thrown his way.

During a break for some food, Ash notices Tapu Koko come back around, with Ash thinking it is for the Z-Ring, as it then takes Ash's hat that is part of his trademark hat-kid look and flies off, with Ash chasing after it. Now stopping in the middle of the forest, Tapu Koko gives his hat back and wants to battle with Ash. With nothing too exciting happening yet, until Tapu Koko comes up to Ash and gets him to use the power of the Z-Ring. From there, Ash gets ready to use a Z-Move with Pikachu, as they get in sync with the required poses needed to activate it, as Pikachu then performs his first Gigavolt Havoc Z-Move attack, unleashing a powerful explosion. But for some reason, after the move is used, his Electrium Z breaks apart, with the guardian Pokémon now flying off. Kiawe explains to Ash that since he hasn't proven himself in the trials yet, the ability to use the Z-Move isn't an option for him yet. But this doesn't stop Ash's determination, as he then vows to take on the island challenges to show that he can be worthy to do so, as his new friends at the school are excited to hear. Ash gets given a new Pokédex, with his latest adventure just really starting out. On top of just getting a Pokédex, he gets one that is powered by Rotom, who lives in and becomes the Pokédex itself, and this allows the Rotomdex to be an adaptable, self-learning device to help the trainer understand and learn more information than usual, along with having its own personality.

We then get an encounter with one of my favorite Pokémon ever created, and that's Mimikyu. With Ash trying to capture the mysterious-looking Pokémon, but since it has this dislike of Pikachu and simultaneous want to be a Pikachu to feel as loved as one, it ends up eventually working with Team Rocket, so that's fun. Ash begins to become a lot more familiar with new Pokémon in the area, trying to capture a Grubbin that ends up winning the battle and it running away before Ash can do so. However, we get the introduction of the grass starter Pokémon for the region, Rowlet, who hangs out with the evolution group of Dartrix and Decidueye. Rowlet isn't the best at bringing back some food or paying attention to conversations without falling asleep, as he is now being sent to find some actual food. From there, eventually, Rowlet comes across Ash and Mallow, thanks to her bonbon sweet smell being released in order to draw in some flying-type Pokémon. This causes Rowlet to swoop in, but quickly finds itself in peril when it hits a power line and falls down, with Ash catching it and helping the Rowlet wake back up, giving it some food to eat and offering it a place on his team to be his first official Pokémon in the new region. Unfortunately, Rowlet gets distracted by some more fruit and heads out, causing Ash and Mallow to follow it. Rowlet brings the fruit back to the other birds, with the leader Decidueye being happy that Rowlet actually brought some food back. The other two birds, the Dartrix, are on their way back from another mission, getting some berries from the big deathly hugging bear, Bewear, which involves Team Rocket, who were recently helped by that same bear Pokémon, as they're now helping it by getting the berries back. Once Ash and Mallow arrive to the nest to see where Rowlet went and noticing the friends that it has, they quickly have to help out once Team Rocket starts capturing the other birds in honor of Bewear getting its food back, causing Ash to defend the birds in battle, now having the Rowlet also helped to free the other birds. As the battle is coming to an end, with an attack heading Pikachu's way, Rowlet jumps in with an attack and swoops in to get Pikachu out of danger, as Bewear steals Team Rocket away out of protection. The birds are all happy and thankful for the help, as Ash says goodbye, not wanting to catch the Rowlet since it has a group of friends that he doesn't want to split it up away from. Being sad seeing Ash head away, the Decidueye leader gives Rowlet the nod to go ahead and travel with Ash, knowing it would be happy with him, as it then flies directly towards him, much to Ash's surprise. Ash is given the chance to now catch it, as Rowlet officially joins Ash's team, allowing Ash to now have his first new Pokémon in the Alola region.

We also get the start of a story that involves Litten and a Stoutland, with Ash coming across the Litten, but does not catch it for now, as the little fire cat is helping take care of the Stoutland that helped take care of it, with this older Pokémon now being helped by Litten as it brings the old dog food, as it lounges on a couch and is a lot slower moving, but still finds time to help out Litten learn some moves and grow stronger. For now, we only see the struggle for Litten to find food, food, and having a place for it in the Stoutland to live before we return back to their story.

The character of Lillie gets some more details given to both Ash and the audience, with her having this fear of Pokémon for the most part, having spent some time with her mother at one point, coming back from an experience, now having this fear. Ash tries helping Lillie with this, especially since she gets tasked with watching over an egg given to the class to take care of. While we have some more of this mystery to learn about, she ends up facing her fears a bit to fend off the egg when a Sandile tries to take it from her, standing between the Pokémon and the egg, as Pikachu and Rowlet jump in to scare it out of the area. Ash then gets introduced to Hala, one of the four Kahunas of the islands, who oversees the island challenges. Hala shows Ash that the Z-Ring that he was given was taken from him by Tapu Koko, and goes into what the purpose of the island challenges are, as they're not just to make a trainer stronger, but to help them form an understanding and connection of love for the islands themselves, a way to protect the people and the Pokémon on them. He then gives Ash a task that focuses on a group of Alolan Rattata and Alolan Raticate that have recently been causing some trouble, and having him deal with them in a way that isn't just facing them in a battle, like Ash was planning to. This is a test for Ash to see if he has what it takes to take place in his first trial. Ash's plan is to head to the cavern that houses a Totem Pokémon, with Ash heading in to face this challenge of making his way through the cave to where this Totem Gumshoos is to then have a battle with it, win, and have the Totem Pokémon chase away the Rattata and Raticate from the areas that they are causing trouble. Sounds pretty simple.

Hala calls out to the Totem Pokémon, announcing their arrival, as a non-Totem Gumshoos appears alongside its pre-evolution Pokémon, a Yungoos. As Hala describes them as the Totem Pokémon's allies, and that here they must be battled first. Ash has his Pikachu and Rowlet come out to face them, with Pikachu focusing on an Iron Tail on the Gumshoos, while Rowlet quietly flies behind the Yungoos to use a surprise tackle, as both Pokémon take out the ally Pokémon with ease. Once the battle ends, the Totem Gumshoos appears, revealing a much larger version of the Pokémon than Ash just faced, emitting off a much stronger presence. Tapu Koko flies around to witness the battle take place and observe Ash, as the Totem Pokémon jumps right into the battle. The Gumshoos sends Pikachu flying from an attack immediately, with Rowlet sneaking behind for an attack itself. The Gumshoos, though, is not falling for it, quickly picking up a rock and throwing it at the Rowlet, knocking it out, leaving Pikachu to face the Totem Pokémon alone. Pikachu and Gumshoos go back and forth, with the Totem Pokémon using a Sand Attack at one point that Ash has Pikachu use as cover, sending him running through it in circles to create a solid cloud of dust, or Pikachu can then sneak in some quick attacks and then a Thunderbolt to deal damage directly to Gumshoos. The Totem Pokémon is able to break out from the zaps it was receiving, seemingly unscathed, until it eventually collapses, with Ash winning the battle. Ash goes up to the Pokémon to check in on it, as it understands that it had lost the battle, but it offers Ash and Normalium Z Crystal as a reward for doing so. Hala makes note to Ash that the Pokémon itself offering up the crystal is a rare occurrence to witness. Ash asks Gumshoos if it can help in the Rattata and Raticate situation, to which it appears happy to do so, going on to help Ash and the others involved in the problem, as the Totem Pokémon along with its allies show a bit of force to make the Rat Pokémon understand the need to scurry away, as they all head back out into the wild and no longer are a problem for the town. Hala believes Ash has done a great job and showed that he is ready for the Grand Trial, which would be facing off against him. Ash also gets some recognition from Officer Jenny and the local newspaper, showing off and thanking Ash for his achievement at helping the town and connecting Officer Jenny with her new partner Pokémon, Gumshoos.

But now it's time for Ash's Grand Trial, as he has to go and face off against Hala, with the two praying to Tapu Koko to bless their battle, setting up more of the traditions in honor found in the Alola region. Tapu Koko answers their prayers by crying out from somewhere in the distance, giving the two reassurance of their battle being watched over. Ash is also preparing how to properly use the new Normalium Z Crystal properly in battle, as the professor is there and tells him that a Z-Move can only be used once in the battle. With everything being set up and ready to go, Ash sends out Rowlet, with Hala sending out his Crabrawler. Rowlet gets confident for this battle at first, being able to land a strong attack, but when trying to do so again, the Mike Tyson of Pokémon here is able to land a strong swing and punch that knocks Rowlet back, as Crabrawler goes in for some more.

Punches as this battle goes on. Ash has Ret distract the crab brawler with one move so that it can sneak around behind it and land a quick succession of pecs until the crab has had enough and is able to counter with some more punches. Ret is able to dodge one of the attacks and hit back with another tackle that sends Crow brawler to the ground and knock it out.

While Ash is excited for the first round win, Ret quickly falls asleep and is not able to wake up despite the attempts from Ash and Pikachu to try and do so. Hala then sends out his Harama as Ash now has to recall Ret and send out Pikachu. Sending him in with a quick Iron Tail, but the Harama is able to catch the attack and heavily counter it. Pikachu is having a hard time connecting his attacks as the ones coming his way are hitting him pretty hard.

With the battle intensifying, Hala gets into his formation and uses his Z-Move attack with Harama using All-Out Pummeling. With Pikachu avoiding some of the attack but still getting hit, barely getting back up afterwards, Pikachu starts to use his speed once again, running around the beast of a Pokémon, confusing it to where it actually is, allowing for an Iron Tail to swing by and sweep the leg, knocking Harama to its knee.

In this moment, Ash syncs up to use his Z-Move as well, having the Normalium Z activate Pikachu to perform the move Breakneck Blitz, landing a direct hit on Harama, knocking it out. With Ash officially winning the battle and completing the Grand Trial, Hala rewards Ash with the Firium Z Crystal. With Ash thankful for the battle and for the Crystal, but then another cry from Tapu Koko can be heard. As in a blur, something flies by as they notice the Firium Z has now been replaced with another Crystal, a brand new Electrium Z Crystal instead. Hala thinks that the guardian's actions are both funny and odd, especially for having this much interest in Ash.

Celebrating the win, Ash asks if he can invite the rest of the class to partake in the festivities, as he appreciates them for being able to follow this path and earn the Z Crystal. Now spending the evening in high spirits together for Ash passing the Grand Trial, Ash looks forward to mastering the Gigavolt Havoc attack the next time Tapu Koko decides to come and test Ash.

Lily is still taking care of the egg given to her as a responsibility to do so, as she has grown an attachment to it, coming up with a name for it, with that being Snowy, which turns out to be the perfect name, as the egg eventually hatches in front of everyone into an Alolan Vulpix, which is like regular Vulpix but all icy now. While she has trouble still trying to have physical contact with a Pokémon, being hesitant to pet it, Samson Oak comes in and announces that the egg that Ash brought to him is hatching as well, as it turns out to be a regular Vulpix, which was cool for everyone to see the regional variants being born at the same time as each other.

Mallow tries to get Lily to overcome her issues with Pokémon and suggests that she should catch and care for the Alolan Vulpix. Snowy is clearly showing signs that it wants Lily to be its trainer, with the others all showing support for her to take the steps into not fearing Pokémon. After being handed a Poké Ball, she throws it in order to catch Snowy, but instead hits Ash with the ball, falling somewhere else, as Snowy walks up to it and casually captures itself. As then everyone cheers for her capturing this Pokémon, the Professor proclaims this moment as her officially crossing over into becoming a Pokémon trainer.

All of this helps her feel a lot more confident in herself and determined to get over her fears. But as she spends time after school walking home and trying to connect with Snowy, Team Rocket is up to no good and decided to start causing some trouble in their neighborhood. They begin giving chase to Lily and Snowy once they confront her, and she begins to make an escape. As Ash and Mallow hear a commotion going on and head towards the screams that they believe is Lily, as Snowy is currently trying to face off against Team Rocket on its own, leading to Snowy being hit and sent flying.

As without a moment to hesitate, Lily jumps up to catch Snowy, with Ret coming in to send in some leaves to save them from getting hurt from falling. Once again, though, that Bewear appears and grabs Team Rocket, dragging them back to safety once more. To protect them, Lily embraces Snowy in a hug, with her realizing that she has overcome the whole touching Pokémon thing. From then on, Lily has a closer connection to Snowy and even arrives at school confidently holding it in her arms, with everyone happy to see this. While she still has some fears to get over with having issues touching the other Pokémon in class, at least she has made a real breakthrough with her Alolan Vulpix.

Throughout Ash's time there and spending a lot of time with the Professor, he's known that he has a Rockruff as a Pokémon, but it turns out that the Professor doesn't technically own the pup, but instead has just been taking care of it, from feeding it to healing any injuries it gets from being in the wild. As he explains how the two met, the Rotom Dex ends up explaining that Rockruff's evolved form can have multiple options depending on a few factors, and that it's possible that Rockruff here is getting closer and closer to evolving, based on the habits it's currently showcasing, being a sign of that.

Later that night, both the Professor and Ash end up following the Rockruff to see where it goes and what it gets into. Within the woods there, we see two versions of Lycanroc, the evolved form of Rockruff, with one being the Midday form and the other being the Midnight form. Apparently, the Pokémon in the area have their own secret fight club. Sorry, didn't mean to mention Fight Club again. That's my bad. The Lycanrocs start things off by facing off against each other, as the other Pokémon battle to test out their own skills. A tougher Pokémon opponent that is clearly stronger than the others is a Magmar, with the Rockruff standing up to it for a fight.

While Rockruff shows great determination in battle, it eventually gets knocked out by the power of Magmar. Once the defeated Rockruff heads home and runs into Ash and the Professor, Ash tells it how awesome it was in battle and offers to help train with it to become even stronger, as well as to learn a new move for its battle that it's been trying to accomplish. Rockruff is deed for this and agrees, as the Professor mentions that that move that it was trying to learn was probably Rock Throw.

Ash then spends time showing Rockruff how to dodge attacks like Flamethrower and helps it build the strength to start learning Rock Throw fully. After this, Rockruff heads out for another match against Magmar. As this time Rockruff is able to put up a stronger fight, dodging the Magmar's Flamethrower, but still getting hit with some direct attacks, not being defeated yet. Rockruff tries to send in a Rock Throw, but gets cut off when a Flamethrower does connect with it, but only giving the dog more determination to prove it does have that dog within itself, as it then rushes in and hits Magmar with some more attacks, ultimately defeating it.

The Professor ends up suggesting to Ash that he should capture Rockruff, seeing how great he was at helping it train, as this would be great to help it become even stronger if Rockruff was on his team. Rockruff agrees to this, and Ash then catches it and is excited to add Rockruff to his journey.

Later on, as we catch back up with Ash at school, he is having a battle with another student, facing off against his Mudbray. With Rockruff, Ash uses his Normalium Z Crystal with Rockruff to use Breakneck Blitz, like Pikachu once performed, as Rockruff defeats the Mudbray. Ash gets more and more excited to be tested by Tapu Koko again, as the others mention helping him with his strategies in battle, especially since Tapu Koko is both an Electric and Fairy type Pokémon. Sophocles decides to help Ash out since he has his Togedemaru and clearly specializes in that typing. Sophocles puts him through some intense and different training than usual, resulting in this wheel device that they're on to overload and explode, getting the attention of Tapu Koko in the distance.

But in the meantime, Sophocles analyzes the data from their training, leading to the next day where outside of the school, Tapu Koko appears with Ash excited to face it in battle. Quickly, the guardian Pokémon pushes away both Ret and Rockruff with ease, showing how powerful it is, before facing Pikachu, the only Pokémon from Ash that it truly wants to battle with. The two electrical Pokémon going at it, Tapu Koko ends up dealing a lot more damage to Pikachu, with Ash now ready to show off some power of his own. With Pikachu activating his Electrium Z Crystal since it's now powered up, Pikachu then uses Gigavolt Havoc, hitting Tapu Koko, but not enough to do that much damage to it. Countering Pikachu's other attacks by sending Pikachu flying off a cliff, with Ash hesitating to jump over as well to catch him, as they now both continue to fall. Tapu Koko ends up saving them and then flies off once more, ending this battle with no official winner, with Ash determined to get even stronger for their next battle, getting some more time fighting against it to learn and prepare for when it comes back.

Later on, Ash had helped rescue a Wimpod and in doing so suffered some scratches and cuts overhead. Another guardian Pokémon flies by, covering the area with its powers that began to heal the cuts that he had. Thanking this mysterious Pokémon for their kindness, the Professor tells him that this other guardian Pokémon was Tapu Lele and is pleasantly surprised that Ash also had an encounter with yet another guardian of the islands.

We now continue on with the Litten storyline as Ash comes back across the Fire Cat along with the elderly Stoutland. At first, Litten is cold to Ash and not accepting of the food being offered to it, until the Stoutland nudges Litten to take it. Ash also takes notice of the condition Stoutland is in healthwise before leaving them be for now, as Ash was going to return to them the next day. Team Rocket gets in the way but is briefly knocked aside when Litten rushes in with an attack and directs Ash to follow it.

Quickly coming back to their spot under the bridge, the Stoutland has passed out onto the ground with the Rotom Dex informing Ash that Stoutland is having complications with its breathing. While being a large and heavy dog, Ash gets Stoutland situated on his back and begins heading to the Pokémon Center for immediate treatment. Ash ends up spending the night there, waiting with Litten for any updates on Stoutland's conditions. But at one point, they discover that Stoutland has gone missing along with Litten when he was trying to bring them back some food. Thinking of where they could have gone, Ash and Pikachu had running in the direction of the bridge, getting stopped by Meowth of Team Rocket, who expresses to them that he wants Litten to be protected, having a bit of care for the other cat Pokémon and knowing what may be coming.

We see Stoutland under the bridge again, as it is still using whatever strength it has left to teach the young Litten the Fire Fang attack that it wants to learn but hasn't mastered yet. As it gets late, the two Pokémon curl up together and fall asleep. As Litten ends up having a nightmare that it keeps trying to run and catch up to Stoutland as it slowly gets further and further away, becoming impossible for the little cat to reach it, waking up when Stoutland was too far away in the distance and noticing now that in real life Stoutland is nowhere to be seen. Litten starts searching everywhere it can think of that Stoutland could have gone, but having no luck.

As it returns under the bridge, we see the couch it usually rests on break, as we see a final leaf fall off a tree that has been slowly dying to symbolize the passing of Stoutland. Litten connects what it all means, looking up to the now bare tree, as it yells out in the rain, releasing its sadness and pain over understanding that Stoutland is gone. Ash and the Professor find the grieving Litten and are sorry to see that Stoutland has passed away. Litten jumps onto the couch, curling itself up and resting where Stoutland used to rest.

We cut to Meowth staring up at the sky, feeling the pain and hurting for the other Pokémon. Ash tries to give the Litten some food, but the Fire Cat refuses to eat anything right now, as Ash feels for the poor cat. Later on, M checks up on Litten, but is quickly scared away once he notices Ash coming back around, with Ash deciding to stay with Litten until it is able to start eating again.

Once Ash and his Pokémon are fast asleep and the rain has parted, Litten wakes up to see a rainbow formed in the sky, along with a cloud that resembles Stoutland, helping Litten come to terms with Stoutland's death and to keep moving on in life without its mentor and friend. Ash wakes up trying to offer some food once again to Litten, as well as a spot on his team so he can help Litten train and learn that Fire Fang move. But after a brief moment, the Litten just hits Ash with an Ember attack, seemingly wanting Ash to earn Litten on his team. Pikachu and Litten end up going back and forth a bit, with both Pokémon proving themselves in battle. Ash offers the Litten to come with him once more, to which it now agrees and jumps into Ash's Poké Ball to begin their adventures together. Meowth watches in happiness, thinking that this is the best for Litten and jokes that Litten will technically now be his enemy.

Ash sends Litten back out, and it finally accepts some food to eat. This episode and just the storyline as a whole regarding Litten and Stoutland is heavily talked about as a great standout moment for the Sun and Moon series, offering a very emotional episode in the series and one that deals with Pokémon death, a subject often overlooked in the franchise due to the nature of the target audience and what the show is in general. But the way that it's done here in the show is so powerful and can speak beyond the death of a Pokémon, giving us a look into understanding, dealing with, and grieving the death of a loved one. Truly a standout moment for the franchise in general and something I'm glad Pokémon decided to touch upon, especially in the way they portrayed it here.

And from here, Ash spends time with Litten, and thanks to Ash's training, Litten is able to master the Fire Fang attack, bonding the Pokémon and training her further. We get to see Ash's mom and Mallow again, as she flies out to the Alola region for a family visit day for the Pokémon school, just a nice little visit from her as a mother who loves her son. But what's cool is at one point, when she's spending some time with Litten, she ends up getting to battle, having Litten face off against some Team Skull members, with Ash jumping in and battling alongside his mother. This is just such a cool little moment for the series. The others in the school look upon Ash and his mom and see where Ash gets a lot of his personality and ambitions from, tying the family bond closer for the audience to witness.

Sometime later, we meet Gladion, who is shown to be a powerful trainer that defends himself from some Team Skull grunts. As at the Pokémon School, the others discuss hearing about a trainer that has both an Umbreon and the Midnight form of Lycanroc being in the area, with Ash of course eager to have a battle with whoever this trainer is. Later in the day, Ash ends up shopping in town and notices a battle going on, seeing that Midnight form Lycanroc defeating a Blastoise. Ash is excited to run into that trainer being discussed earlier, as Lily calls out his name, and it's revealed that Gladion is Lily's older brother. Ash tries offering a battle against him, but he decides that maybe they will at some point, especially after seeing Ash's Z-Ring and learning about how he acquired it. Lily explains to Ash once Gladion leaves that he went off by himself to go train, stating that something about him has changed based on her time with her brother before he left home.

In the night, Gladion's Umbreon drops off a note for Ash to read, having him go out and meet him for them to have a battle so he can truly see Ash's skills. Ash sends out his Rockruff, as Gladion sends out his Lycanroc, as the two dogs start battling, with it easily going in Lycanroc's favor over the power the Midnight form has. The battle gets interrupted, though, as Team Rocket steps in to capture the Pokémon, resulting in Gladion's Umbreon attacking them as their Pokémon make their escape from being captured. Once free, he finishes off Team Rocket by having Lycanroc use the Z-Move Continental Crush, as they are then blasted away. Ash is pretty excited to see the power that comes from the Rock-type Z-Move, as Gladion points him in the direction of Poni Island, where he would have to pass the Grand Trial there to obtain the Rockium Z Crystal.

As they were about to finish their battle, Lily comes around to get Ash, as it's very late, so late in fact that it's almost time for school to start in the morning, so Ash's battle with Gladion will have to wait for another available time. Gladion admits to Ash that Lily being around makes it hard for him to have a battle for some reason, before leaving the area. Lily is disappointed that he left, as she wants him to come home.

Who's that Pokémon? It's Rhyhorn. Now it's time for a school field trip, minus Miss Frizzle, as they all head to Poni Island, where they get to meet the Poni Island Kahuna, Olivia. Lana gets some time to shine here, as she ends up finding a sparkling stone, a material that is necessary to create a Z-Ring and are said to also be gifts given to who a Tapu Guardian deems worthy of it. In the anime, they refer to the material as Z-Ring Ore, as Olivia says she'll work on using it to make a Z-Ring for Lana.

From there, Ash and Lana head to a fishing area where they both want to have a little fishing contest with one another, but it turns out that the lake that they're on may house a Totem Pokémon. After a while of fishing with nothing too exciting happening, Lana finds a Wishiwashi that appears injured and stuck in a shallow bit of water. Being in her kind nature, she ends up bandaging up the little fish and helping it back into the regular part of the lake. As they get back to fishing, Lana ends up reeling in something big. It ends up being the Totem Pokémon, as it's revealed to be a Wishiwashi itself, but the version of it that consists of a school of small Wishiwashi fish coming together to form this way more threatening and massive fish that helps it against other Pokémon that may prey on small individual Wishiwashi.

With Lana's Popplio scared to face off against it, Lana continues holding it off until Tapu Koko builds up the courage to help, seeing Lana be fearless and needing this help. The ally Pokémon Alomomola joins in to take Popplio's attention away, as Ash then jumps in to help distract the ally fish with both his fishing skills and Pikachu's attacks. Because of this, Popplio is able to help face off against Wishiwashi using Aqua Jet to defeat the school of fish, as they all swim apart. Then that same Wishiwashi that Lana helped earlier comes up to her with a Waterium Z Crystal as a prize for defeating the Totem Pokémon and for helping care for it when it was stuck and injured.

By the end of the day, Lana gets presented with her Z-Ring from Olivia, as she adds her new Z Crystal to it, accomplishing a lot with some help from Ash. As for Ash's own challenges, he finds himself in the presence of another Totem Pokémon after being assigned to look for some ingredients from the land to make some special Rare Curry. Ash stumbles across a very nice clearing filled with lots of vegetation, with Mallow traveling with him. After searching the area and finding the final ingredient, a Miracle Seed, a giant Lurantis, aka the Totem Pokémon of the area, appears. As Ash sends out his Litten to fight the Lurantis, but it calls for its ally with a Comfey showing up and helping stop Litten for now. As Ash chooses his Ret to head out, as it's able to end up defeating the Comfey, leaving only the Lurantis left to deal with. And with Ash now having Litten back, able to battle, he activates his Normalium Z Crystal, giving Litten the Z-Move Breakneck Blitz to use, as it takes out the Lurantis, leaving the Totem Pokémon defeated.

After the battle, Mallow helps bring both defeated Pokémon back to better health, and Ash is given a Grassium Z Crystal, leading to a nice celebration where curry is served. Olivia lets Ash know that he can now partake in the Grand Trial, but warns him that she won't go easy on him, as Ash now eagerly awaits their battle. Just like before, the two meet up and pray to the island Guardian, this time being Tapu Lele, as they then take the battlefield and begin. Before the battle, though, she has her Lycanroc by her side, with Ash having Rockruff currently out as well, as this little pup takes notice of the Lycanroc and starts to become aggressive, looking to be in this battle specifically against it, even biting Ash so that he can jump out of his arms. But as the battle starts, she first sends out her Probopass. Now that's one snazzy fella, look at that magnetic mustache, it's marvelous. Rockruff still wants to get into the battle anyway and heads out onto the field in front of Ash. Olivia offers Ash an extra surprise for this battle, though, as it would be a double battle instead, now sending out her Lycanroc as well, much to Rockruff's aggressive delight. With Ash now sending out his Ret to fight alongside it, the sheer power of Probopass ends up being a problem for both Rockruff and Ret, as things only get worse when Lycanroc fully joins in on the attacks as well. Ret and Rockruff try to work together as much as they can, as Rockruff has helped Ret out of a sticky situation already. As its anger rises during the battle, Olivia already decides to use her Z-Move for the match, having Lycanroc's Continental Crush, but both of Ash's Pokémon evade it before it lands directly on top of them.

With the battle still going back and forth, Ash uses his new Grassium Z Crystal to have Ret use the associated move, but Probopass rushes in to stop this. Luckily for Ash, the Z-Move Bloom Doom hits the Probopass first, taking it out of the battle. But in celebrating this, Ret shares in the joy with Rockruff, who only sees rage in its eyes towards the Lycanroc, attacking Ret in annoyance, accidentally knocking out Ret, much to everyone's surprise. Rockruff realizes what it did and feels awful for it, but Ash keeps the PPP in good spirits by helping Rockruff remember all of their training, believing that Rockruff is able to win this battle. Lycanroc begins fighting back with Rockruff, now as the little doggo has the determination to stay in the fight, avoiding the Lycanroc's Rock Slide attack by jumping onto the rocks to get in close and land a Rock Throw directly on the Lycanroc, taking it out. Ash officially wins his second Grand Trial, as Rockruff passes out from the effort it used. Olivia enjoyed the battle and gives Ash a Rockium Z Crystal, as her and the Professor both confirmed together that based on the aggression Rockruff has mixed with it wanting to handle a lot of the battle on its own, that Rockruff may just be ready to evolve sooner than Ash thinks.

Tapu Lele shows up real quick one more time in the skies above, having taken notice of the prayers reaching out to it to bless the battle at the start. In the night, Rockruff is having trouble sleeping, being confused and upset over attacking Ret in the battle. It then runs off and accidentally wakes up Pikachu, who now alerts Ash, as they both go after the Rockruff. With Rockruff out on the land on its own, Tapu Lele notices the pup and ends up watching it, trying to train harder on its own. The guardian ends up displaying a bit of power for the Rockruff to see, but this only causes Rockruff to want to face it in battle. Tapu's strength was too much for Rockruff to handle, leaving it badly hurt, as Ash runs up to it, scaring away Tapu Lele. Rockruff isn't in a great mood or in great shape, causing it to emotionally not want to listen to Ash and wanting to just run off, but Ash tries stopping it, as Rockruff bites Ash again, this time realizing it just did this to hurt it and feels shame for it, escaping from Ash and running away further, as Ash continues to chase after it.

The sun begins to rise, as Ash has had no luck in finding where Rockruff went. Olivia tells Ash that her Rockruff ran away and did the same thing before it ended up evolving. As Olivia's Lycanroc ends up running off to look for Rockruff itself, hearing Rockruff's howls in the distance, Gladion's Lycanroc takes note of this and gets permission from Gladion to go and see what's going on. We also see Gladion dealing with an interesting Pokémon of his, a Type: Null, but more about that later. Both Lycanroc, Midday and Midnight form alike, find Rockruff and bring it to Tapu Lele, asking the guardian to use its healing abilities on Rockruff, to which it denies and attacks them. After asking again, Tapu Lele looks back to the battle that it had with the Rockruff, noticing how injured it left the pup, as it then heals it up a little bit before trying to attack it again, but Olivia's Lycanroc jumps in front and takes the attack directly.

As Ash, Olivia, and the Professor are searching for Rockruff and notice the evidence of Tapu Lele in the area, they explain that Tapu Lele doesn't know its own power, often leaving some Pokémon badly injured without knowing it. As they all run into the Lycanroc, Rockruff, and Tapu Lele situation happening, Tapu Lele ends up using Draining Kiss to pull energy from both of the Lycanrocs, with Ash getting caught in this as well, as the energy that was drained is used to help heal Rockruff. As both Lycanroc and Ash wake back up, with the guardian Pokémon now flying away, Rockruff ends up looking out into the ocean with the sun beginning to set, with both Lycanroc hanging right behind it on both sides, with Rockruff beginning to evolve. As we see a third evolution form of Lycanroc get revealed as a Dusk Form Lycanroc, as all three of them begin to howl together, as a very rare green light flashes and then ends up residing within the Dusk Lycanroc's eyes. As the Professor explains all of this to Ash, his new Lycanroc seems stronger and more comfortable than ever, as the group all head back to Melemele Island with their field trip now over.

Now in some more day-to-day downtime, Sophocles ends up taking place in a Charjabug race and ends up winning, but we do at one point get to see this other trainer who has a cool shiny Charjabug. Later on, in celebration for the Pokémon School's 20th anniversary, oddly enough being around the time of Pokémon's 20th anniversary, Samson Oak announces another field trip of sorts, with the Professor letting them know that they are heading to the Kanto region and getting to meet some special people there as well. Of course, making Ash excited to visit home. They board a plane and not long later, they arrive in the Kanto region, as a familiar face greets them. Behold, the return of Brock. As Ash is excited to reunite, until Brock runs past him to flirt with the plane attendant, that is, until another familiar face pulls up and starts dragging Brock away, as we get the return of Misty as well. Ash is so excited to see them and introduces the whole class to them.

Ash is surprised to see that both of them are here, as they explain that Professor Oak sent them to meet with the class, as they all now head over to Professor Oak's lab. Both Oaks bask in seeing each other, while our two companions from the past show the students around Oak's Ranch. In doing so, with Ash mentioning that all of his other Pokémon are here on the ranch as well. Every single one of his Tauros come stampeding in excitement to see him, knocking him up in the air. You got to love a reunion episode like this, right? It just feels like home for Ash. It literally is home. Even Muk gets a chance to smother Ash, being happy to see him again. How adorable. As the class gets to have a real close-up lesson about regional variants, we get another callback that has Ash, Brock, and Misty coming across a Caterpie in the wild, as Misty is shown to still be freaked out by bug Pokémon. It's a nice time, though, as we get to see these three hang out once more and look back on their past adventures together. Ash even gets a moment to reunite with his Bulbasaur, who still acts as a babysitter of sorts for some of the other Pokémon.

The group have a little run-in with Team Rocket, but throughout Team Rocket's interference this season, there has been a running gag of the Bewear showing up to rescue them in more and more ridiculous ways each time than the last time he appeared, with this time having the giant bear jump down from a random plane and scoop them up. It's random, but I appreciate how silly this Bewear is while still being such a menacingly powerful Pokémon. A Jigglypuff appears after this and puts them all to sleep from its singing, and yes, it's that original Jigglypuff, who gets angry at this and then uses its microphone marker combo to draw all over them. As everyone eventually wakes up and laughs at one another, at the end of the day, everyone celebrates together, having a nice little party that Ash's mom helped put together. And when the Rotom Dex is upset that it doesn't have a photo with every Pokémon native to the region, missing one final photo, a Mew is seen to have heard this and then flies away. Oh, Mew, you're such a goofball.

The next part of the trip, though, would be them heading over to the Cerulean Gym, where they can take place in a proper Gym battle instead of Island challenges and trials. Upon arriving at the gym, they are greeted by Misty's Psyduck, to which a happy, heart-breaking cry can be heard cheering in joy somewhere in the distance. With both Misty and Brock being Gym Leaders themselves, well, former in Brock's case, Professor Kukui talks about the typings they specialize in, as he further explains the way most regions work with their gyms and badge collecting structures. Ash confirms to the others that he did earn all of the badges in the Kanto region back in the day, but funny enough, Misty and Brock bring up the age-old debate about how he earned the badges, saying that he got his from these gyms out of pity. Ash doesn't even try to deny it at this point; he just changes the subject.

The Pokémon School students get a chance to have some fun Gym Battles with the two nostalgic companions, as it's great to see them both in battle again. Brock and Kiawe get to have a more serious one-on-one battle, where even Brock shows off that he knows about Mega Evolutions that we learned about in the last generation, showcasing his Mega Steelix. Kiawe ends up losing the battle, but Ash here is going to have a fun battle with his old pal Misty for everyone. Ash sends out his Pikachu, with her sending out her Gyarados, and the battle begins. It starts off pretty fierce, but even with how tough things are for Pikachu, Misty makes it tougher, revealing that she knows a lot about Mega Evolution herself, using the power of Mega Evolution on her Gyarados.

Now, at the end of the last series, Ash had a lot of trouble with Lysander's Mega Gyarados, and that's with him even having help from Alain in that fight. However, when the combination of Mega Gyarados' Hurricane and Rain Dance moves are happening, a combo no challenger has been able to get past, according to Misty, Ash has Pikachu use Thunderbolt. With the electricity being trapped in the vortex, as Pikachu uses the trapped electricity to bounce around the cyclone with ease, thanks to his speed, as Ash then primes up Pikachu to use a Z-Move to send in a direct Gigavolt Havoc that defeats the Mega Gyarados, shocking Misty. But overall, she is happy to see just how much he has improved as a trainer since they were traveling companions. She still calls him childish, which gets Ash heated, but you know you love their playful poking fun at each other nature.

But now it's time for the class to head back to the Alola region, with them all saying their goodbyes for now, with Samson Oak excited to hopefully bring some of the Pokémon League culture to Alola one day, thanks to Professor Oak helping him find the spirit and drive to do so. Ash tells Brock and Misty to come visit him in Alola at some point, as they both plan on taking him up on that offer sooner rather than later. They reminisce over the old days together again as they part ways, and the plane begins heading back, and Jigglypuff somehow got on board and is heading back there with them. Oh boy. Team Rocket's going back to the Alola region as well, thanks to Bewear, who for three straight days has been holding on to them while running at super speeds across the water again. Sometimes the ridiculousness is entertaining, and I'm not talking about Dear Deck Show on MTV that plays 24/7.

But with that, we have reached the end of the first season for the Sun and Moon Saga. What a way to end it as well, with a fun little detour back to the Kanto region to reunite with some familiar faces that make any longtime viewers of the anime get filled with a true sense of nostalgic joy that can only be found with something as generational as Pokémon. While the vibe of the show is a lot slower, having more slice-of-life moments with a lot less battle action than previous seasons, the show has managed to offer a lot of cool moments and even some truly emotional ones, especially when it comes to Litten's backstory with Stoutland. But there are still two more seasons to go for the Sun and Moon Arc of the anime and a whole lot more left to happen that we haven't discussed, so let's continue on as we enter into a new season of the Sun and Moon anime titled Ultra Adventures.

We see Ash somewhere in the mountains as he gets visited by the two main legendaries of the region, Solgaleo and Lunala. They look down to Ash, who seemingly understands what they are trying to communicate to him, as he promises them whatever they are asking of him, with this beam of light pointing to the presence of a special Pokémon that gathers the attention of the Guardian Tapus as well as Gladion's Type: Null. But then Ash is woken up, coming to the realization that whatever he just witnessed was just a dream, or was it? I guess we'll find out, right?

As the day is getting started, a broadcast on TV shows that another professor on the island, Professor Burnet, has won the Woman of the Year award. With Professor Kukui explaining to Ash that her research focuses on what are known as Ultra Wormholes. We cut to two Professor Burnet along with some other characters, Faba, Wicke, and Lusamine, who are looking into some runs where energy readings from an Ultra Beast are rising heavily. But we'll get into that shortly. For now, wakey, wakey, it's time for school. As Ash is already on his way, he gets sidetracked though, thanks to Tapu Koko, who leads him to a mysterious little Pokémon. As Ash has the realization that this was the Pokémon he saw in his dream, the one in which he made the promise about. Making things extra weird for whatever he experienced, Ash arrives to class now barely making it before being late, as he shows everyone the new Pokémon, to which Lily nicknames it Nebby. As it is a young little Pokémon, it becomes overwhelmed and it begins to cry, as the others are now trying to calm it down, as they end up feeding it.

Later on, as Ash and Lily head to the Professor's house, they are greeted with some guests who want to meet them and more importantly, meet Nebby. One of the guests turns out to be Lusamine, as she quickly begins smothering Lily in a hug, as Lily is more annoyed to see her than anything. Surprise, this is Lily's mom, and yeah, there are some unresolved mommy issues between them. Aside from that, Professor Burnet, Faba, and Wicke are there as well and proceed to explain some lore to Ash and Lily regarding the Guardians of the islands, as well as Ultra Beasts, as they believe that Nebby is actually one itself. Ultra Beasts are these Pokémon that come from different dimensions that can appear through these Ultra Wormholes, the ones that were mentioned earlier from their work at the Aether Foundation. Lusamine wants to take Nebby to keep the mysterious Pokémon under their care, but Ash remembers his promise, saying he will look after Nebby himself. The group of guests are hesitant about this, but Professor Kukui reassures them that Ash has a special relationship to Pokémon, like Tapu Koko. And Lusamine makes the judgment call to let him look after Nebby.

Ash and Lily spend time with Nebby, as Lily begins documenting things down. Ash, along with all the other students, end up going to visit the Aether Paradise building that sits alone in the middle of the ocean. After being annoyed by her mother, when they arrive, Lily ends up giving the others a tour of the area, as Wicke and Professor Burnet go into the history of the organization or foundation, however you want to look at it, as we get to see how Professor Burnet ends up helping look after and take care of any Pokémon that is there. In the background of all this, Faba has some other devious plans to capture Nebby, hiring Team Rocket to work directly for him as employees of the foundation. Faba does back off his plans at one point in fear of Lily remembering certain things about her past regarding him and this place that could spell some trouble, as Team Rocket sneaks around the labs on their pursuit of Nebby, who can teleport to move around away from everyone, leading them to finding some documents regarding Gladion's mysterious Type: Null Pokémon that travels with him, along with some Ultra Beast information.

After the trip and now back on land, Ash learns that his Lycanroc has this uncontrollable rage side to it that occurs when it feels its fur get dirty. Its eyes will glow red and it will attack whoever helped cause such a thing to happen. With Litten getting the rage aimed towards it this time, Ash finally manages to calm Lycanroc down and clean it up, as he thinks about Gladion. And because of this, Nebby instantly teleports Ash to his location, putting him in some danger from a bunch of Pinsir that Gladion helps him with, thanks to his Type: Null. The two of them begin talking about Ultra Beasts, thanks to Gladion thinking that Nebby could in fact be one, as he learns about the dream that Ash had, or not dream that he had. Gladion reveals to Ash that Ultra Beasts are the reason Lily is scared of Pokémon in the first place, being attacked by one at some point, as Gladion opens up to him further about him not being able to help her when this happened and how this haunts him. But who did help her was the Type: Null that he is, named Silvally. This may get confusing in regards to the technical evolution of Type: Null, as it is Silvally, and in the past it was Silvally that helped her, and really the evolution or whatever it is is just Type: Null but without the face. He belts, claiming to take down every single one of them that he comes across, which includes Nebby if there becomes a threat there. Ash combats his way of thinking and speaks highly of the good nature Nebby has. Gladion explains that Type: Null was created to take down Ultra Beasts, not fully going into the details surrounding Type: Null's creation, though. He does, however, want to know more about why Ash is at the center of all these strange events, as Ash really has no clue. It's almost like he's the protagonist of this journey or something. Beats me. But to keep things like usual, Ash brings up having a battle, as Gladion agrees to this, sending out Type: Null to face his Lycanroc. During this, the mysterious Pokémon sends Lycanroc flying into some water, causing it to get filled with rage once more. After getting its fur dirty, no longer listening to Ash's commands, Lycanroc goes berserk, with Ash not being able to calm it back down, causing Nebby to freak out from the commotion and start to cry. And the power of these cries help remove any dirt on the rage-filled pup, which truly calms it back down. And now with the battle continuing, Type: Null is able to defeat Lycanroc, giving the win to Gladion. Enjoying the battle, Gladion asks Ash to keep it hush that he saw him, and he agrees to keep it private, with the two heading different ways for now.

But not long later, Lily is thinking about her brother, as Nebby does its thing and teleports her to him, with Type: Null approaching her. As she gets flashbacks of the mysterious Pokémon approaching her in a similar fashion when she was younger, regressing her feelings on Pokémon, as Gladion tries reaching out to her. As Nebby then teleports her back before he could do so. This encounter has scarred her once again, now not being able to even touch her own Pokémon, Snowy. Gladion now approaches Ash regarding what just happened with Lily, as Ash tries defending Nebby for doing that, but Gladion doesn't want to hear it and is angry about it all.

After this confrontation and Gladion being alone now, Faba shows up looking to take Type: Null back per his mother's request, but he denies him doing so and they end up in a battle. This battle leaves Gladion defeated, as Faba takes the Poké Ball that Type: Null is in and leaves. Ash tries spending some time with Lily, as she already assumes that him and her brother have already met, as she opens up about what happened to her in her past. As Nebby teleports them to all of the locations from these moments and time that she mentions. This only causes more memories of her and her family to come out in the conversation, eventually bringing them to be teleported back to Aether Paradise. Faba, though, while storing Type: Null's Poké Ball away, notices on the security feed that Ash and Lily are in the facility.

We cut back to Gladion, who is now confronting his mother about all of this, as she claims that she didn't tell Faba to do anything of the sort. Lusamine knows that Faba said Type: Null was a failure, but she didn't tell him to go after bringing the Pokémon back. Faba tries to get Team Rocket to help bring Lily to him so he can forcefully get rid of her memories, but even they refuse doing so and resign from working with him. This causes Faba to do it himself, confronting the two with his Pokémon, knocking Ash away while he snatches Lily. Gladion and his mother head to Faba's office and backtight Null's Poké Ball, as an alarm then goes off, with Faba's Hypno trying to erase Lily's memories on the spot. But Pikachu comes in to stop this, with this battle for Lily's memories going on. Her mother and Gladion arrive just in time, as Gladion sends out Type: Null, who then technically evolves into Silvally, as its mask breaks off from all of this. Lily ends up remembering that Silvally was the Pokémon that actually saved her when she was attacked by Nihilego, an Ultra Beast, and that Faba was there as it happened, to which he was trying to cover up. Silvally takes out Faba, with Lusamine getting a chance to apologize to her daughter over what happened. And now, thanks to Silvally's help, she is able to not have the fear of touching Pokémon anymore. Faba was able to escape, though, with Lusamine speaking with Wicke and Professor Burnet about all that just happened. Gladion isn't satisfied with just the foundation looking for Faba and decides to look for him.

On his own now, angry at his actions more than anyone else. The kids are back at school like normal, but not too far away, Faba is watching them and keeping an eye on Nebby, thinking that he can be redeemed in Lusamine's eyes if he's able to open an Ultra Wormhole. Being able to do so if he steals Nebby from Ash and Lillie. With Faba now attempting to capture Nebby, Team Rocket ends up saving Nebby by capturing it themselves, causing Faba to chase after them. But eventually, Nebby just teleports itself back to the school where Faba now heads back to and ends up going up to it, using its powers to bring him to the Aether Paradise. As Ash and the others witnessed that happen, Gladion shows up to the school, and they explain what they just saw, now having his and Lillie's butler fly them to the building.

Faba quickly uses his equipment as at the lab to house Nebby from leaving and using its energy to open an Ultra Wormhole. Everyone shows up and they get Lillie's mom and Lusamine down to Faba's lab. Ash sees the opportunity and goes right to Nebby and tries to free the Pokémon with Pikachu and Gladion's Umbreon eventually being able to break it free of its captivity. As the Wormhole then closes, Nebbi, which is technically called Cosmog, ends up evolving into a Cosmoem. And this energy is able to rip back open the Wormhole as the same type of Ultra Beast that attacked Lillie appears and comes through it. Faba gets knocked out from the beast in a rather satisfying way, but Gladion steps in front of Lillie to fend off the beast from hurting his sister again. But their mother ends up jumping in front of both of them, being fully captured by the Ultra Beast to protect them as it takes Lusamine back through the Wormhole as it closes up, successfully stealing their mother into another dimension right in front of them. "Jeez," you think your relationship with your parents is weird. After their mom has been taken, the siblings plan to work together to get her back, but first, they need to find a way to reopen the Wormhole. As Professor Burnet helps out with this, he gets sent to keep protecting the newly evolved Nebby and continue on as is for now to prepare.

Lillie heads back home and pulls a Serena, changing her look. With Gladion showing up, thinking he knows a way to get an Ultra Wormhole to open, he is willing to do this on his own. But Lillie convinces him that she is coming along, as she jumps on the back of Salazzle with Gladion, as they then ride off together. At school, Ash fills in the others about what has happened. With Lillie's butler coming in with the professor, saying that Lillie has gone missing along with her brother. The siblings reach a place called Vast Poni Canyon, as they find a way to open a door to get access inside. To which they are greeted by the evolution line of Jangmo-o, Hakamo-o, and a Kommo-o, with the latter being a Totem Pokémon that the brother and sister battle together to defeat. With the area therein being unstable, they end up at the fate of the collapsing ceiling. But just in time, the others who had gone after them to save them from this are able to rescue them and convince Gladion that this is them all in this together. Like at the end of High School Musical, he begrudgingly accepts them joining in on their family rescue. As they all head forward towards the Altar of the Sun, as the four Island Guardians appear in front of them, revealing the final two being Tapu Fini and Tapu Bulu. They all begin to explain why they are there and that they need to meet with the legendary Pokémon Solgaleo to help them. The four Guardians discussed things for a moment before letting out a cry in unison that forms a sphere that ends up displaying both Solgaleo and Lunala entering into a battle after entering in an area from separate Ultra Wormholes. As a Cosmog appears, as they understand that it looks just like Nebby. It's also revealed to everyone that Tapu Koko led Ash to find Cosmog and be entrusted with the Pokémon all along. "I mean, well, we saw that, we knew that." Once it's revealed that Nebby has now evolved, the Guardians begin some sort of ritual for it. As Professor Kukui gets a call from Professor Burnet, as she is on her way. With him walking away from this area now, whispering to his Braviary through his Poké Ball, as he arrives riding on the back of it right to where she is and is able to pick her up. And she is pretty happy to see him. Maybe there's something going on between these two.

Back at the ritual, the four Guardians take position over the pillar that represent them, creating a tone in harmony that has the ground below glow along a set pattern that eventually opens up the Altar for them all. A beam of light shoots directly into Nebby, evolving the Pokémon once more into Solgaleo, shocking everyone. Lillie walks up to it and is able to hug the legendary Pokémon without fear. As they then ask the big sun beast if it can carry them through a wormhole. A new Z-Crystal that doesn't fit in a regular Z-Ring appears. As the Tapus take Ash's Z-Ring and perform another ritual that transforms it into a Z-Power Ring, upgrading it for a whole bunch of new power to unlock. The mystery Z-Crystal ends up being Solganium Z, clearly able to work directly with Lunala. "All right, I'm kidding, of course, it's Solgaleo." The legendary Pokémon lowers itself to allow anyone joining in on the interdimensional traveling aide. As Solgaleo then waits for Ash to learn and perform the poses necessary to activate the Z-Power Ring, linking to Solgaleo now with the symbol on the Pokémon's head. As it performs the move Searing Sunraze Smash, opening up an Ultra Wormhole, as they all go through it. While both professors arrive in time to watch them take off. On the other side of the Wormhole, they all arrive in Ultra Deep Space, filled with nothing but empty space and floating bits of land. We get to see several Nihilego around them, as the Ultra Beasts are not just a one-off Pokémon. As the group have a lot of ground to cover, they begin planning and splitting off into teams. But the now captured and seemingly corrupted Lusamine appears and commands that they all stay away from her. With Lillie not listening and charging forward anyway, as the mother beast sets up a barricade of sharp rocks to stop her. As Ash jumps in to save Lillie from them. Gladion has his Umbreon break the rocks. As Ash wants to proceed forward, but with Nihilego pulling energy from Lusamine, they need to handle this with caution. Through Lusamine, she responds to them all in a way that makes it seem like she's excited to have met the Ultra Beast. As her controlled fusion pushes away from them, further confusing the others if it's actually Lusamine speaking or if it's a corrupted version of her from the Beast itself. With the attacks of their Pokémon not helping in getting through or making a difference in the situation.

Lillie, Gladion, and Ash make their way further to confront Lusamine. As they and all the others battle further with the Pokémon she is sending out to stall them all. Of them seem to be under some form of control as well. But when Lusamine sends out her Clefable, this becomes even more personal to Lillie. As this was her childhood Clefairy that her mother evolved against her wishes. She pulls out her old polka doll and clutches it tight, trying to get through to the Pokémon. As Clefable eventually snaps out of the controlled state it was in and joins the fight alongside her. Ash advances as well, along with Nebby. As Lillie and Gladion soon catch up, along with their Pokémon, enraging Lusamine even further, sending in a powerful attack right towards Ash that Nebby intercepts to protect him. As she continues to move further away, Lillie wants to go and confront her mother by herself, asking Gladion to stay back. As she does this, Lillie makes her way up to her and begins emotionally yelling at her, saying that she hates her and breaks down her character as a spoiled, selfish brat. She knows that this form of her, whatever it may be, Ultra Beast or not, isn't her mother. And she demands to have her mother back now. Through this, Lusamine is able to snap out of the control of the Ultra Beast and mentions her daughter's name, trying to reach back out to her before the Beast takes over once more, sucking up an even greater amount of energy and becoming more powerful and even larger in size. It tries to attack Lillie, but Gladion jumps in to save her. As he fears that the bond between the Ultra Beast and their mother is too strong based on their interests of one another. Ash tries to go in with an attack. As the siblings try to become a distraction, with Ash's Electrium Z transforming into a new Z-Crystal that represents Pikachu's tail. This new crystal is known as Pikanium Z, as him and Pikachu sharing a fist bump with Pikachu wearing Ash's signature hat, downgrading Ash from "Hat Kid" to "Kid." With the Z-Crystal now being activated and Pikachu being able to send in the new attack, the 10 Million Volt Thunderbolt, a move 100 times stronger than your average Thunderbolt, that ends up hitting Lusamine directly, collapsing the beast-human hybrid to the ground. As the special crystal reverts back to its original form. The siblings then rush in to separate the two beings, rescuing their mother from Nihilego. As it then flies away. Their mom eventually wakes up and she is back to normal, albeit in a very weakened state, with her kids help propping her up. As she says whatever she went through was horrifying and dark, until the bright light of Lillie's voice helped her start pulling through. With her apologizing for everything she put her kids and their friends through. As they share in a nice family hug. Lillie breaks down in tears as well at the thought of actually having her mother back together. They all leave the Ultra Deep Space area and return back to the Altar through another Ultra Wormhole. As the class of students celebrate in their collaborative achievement in pulling this rescue off. Even Team Rocket is happy to see them all okay. Then, Bewear rushes them out of the area.

"Who's that? [Music] Pokémon! It's Mr. M!" Life continues on for the group from there, with Lillie dressed back how she used to be and her mother recovering from all the events that took place. Nebby has disappeared back to the wild for now, leaving Ash wondering where it went off to. Professor Kukui and Professor Burnet spend some time together walking along the beach, sharing a cute moment that reveals how close they actually are. As she points at him and chooses him, like a Pokémon, playfully. As he then pulls out a Poké Ball with a ring inside, and he chooses her as well, asking for her hand in marriage. With her saying yes, and Ash finding out about this and being excited for both of them, rushing into a wedding from there. The students end up helping put together a ceremony for them, surprising them both with a beach wedding. As Ash becomes the ring bearer. Lusamine shows up to the wedding and explains that Faba will be working under the supervision of Wicke now. As he then apologizes for his actions that caused the whole mess in the first place. The Aether Foundation also has a new sector in operation that they invite Ash and all his classmates to be a part of, dubbed the Ultra Guardians, who are tasked with any situation involving Ultra Beasts that may happen. As they all then agree to join up. After the bouquet is thrown, Nebby goes running through the sky, celebrating the wedding day. As they are happy to see their legendary buddy say a brief hello before disappearing once more.

As some time passes and more adventures happen, Ash gets to visit another one of the islands, this time visiting Poni Island. As we see Hapu join in on the travels and even has her Crabrawler evolve into a Crabominable at one point. The Ultra Guardian task force gets called in by Lusamine for an Ultra Beast alert, turning this class into the secret elite group of spy kids. So the Power Rangers here end up getting shown an Ultra Beast coming out of a wormhole, and it is identified as a Buzzwole. And to keep the region safe, they must capture it. Any specially designed Mr. Beast balls, I'm sorry, just regular Beast Balls. This powerful Ultra Beast seems agitated being in this unfamiliar territory, causing it to face off with other Pokémon in the area. As Ash and the others begin to battle it until it begins to have a flex off with Kiawe. As Ash tosses a Beast Ball and successfully captures the Ultra Beast. During all of this, another mysterious Ultra Beast creature appears in the area as well and begins following around Pikachu out of curiosity. Eventually running into Pikachu after Ash catches the Buzzwole, as it then flies off from there. Either way, they're able to send the Buzzwole back home through a new Ultra Wormhole. As they are all excited for a job well done for their first ever mission. Since, since joining the initiative, we enter into a little side plot that brings in some wrestling. As Ash is watching the Battle Royale match with the fan-favorite Massif Royale having his Incineroar, the fully evolved form of Litten, by his side. Ash ends up even getting to participate in the Battle Royale along with fellow classmates Kiawe and Sophocles. With the Massif Royale ending up winning the whole match in general. But hey, Ash's Litten learned Flame Charge and even evolved into a Torracat through having a one-on-one battle with the Massif Royale that Ash also loses. Later, the mysterious purple Pokémon following Pikachu, which is the Pokémon Poipole, which just sounds like I'm saying "purple" weird, makes sense, it's purple, comes back around and messes with Pikachu, causing it to chase after it. Poipole, however, ended up wanting to just have some fun with the electric mouse. Ash gets involved in the mix by the end of things and is granted permission from Lusamine to take care of this little Ultra Beast until they can find the direct wormhole that can bring it back home. As it then goes directly to one of Ash's Beast Balls and captures itself, joining Ash's team for now.

Another mission finally calls to them after Sophocles tells the others the legend of the Celestial Starship. As this mysterious creature fell from space some time ago, with the ability of that creature being able to become the space-traveling vessel itself. Sophocles proves the story somewhat real after accidentally finding where the creature is buried. And after he gets the rest of the Ultra Guardians to help unearth it, they don't know what to make of the creature in full. After freeing it from its 200 years of being buried, the Ultra Guardians are officially debriefed about this creature named Celesteela. As it is in fact an Ultra Beast. And with the fact that it has this built-up stored easily flammable gas to help it take back off with its spaceship traversal abilities, the launch could prove to be deadly. They have to try and stop the beast from blasting off, and not in the Team Rocket way of blasting off. As it becomes ready for launch, Ash and Kiawe try and hold it off. As they send in their ridable Pokémon to create a shield of sorts that can hold back the blast radius as a form of a contingency plan. And good thing, because Celesteela takes off, leaving the damage to a minimum thanks to the barrier they had built. As they watched the Ultra Beast launch itself into space for its own adventures and journeys among the stars. It may not have been captured, but at least they were able to save the land from what could have been catastrophic. Ash eventually decides to continue on to face the Grand Trials left for him. As he now heads back to Poni Island to conquer what lies ahead.

Back at the school, Professor Kukui gets the students to aid in helping establish the Alola Region's first Pokémon League, much to their excitement. The ultra-forever-tired Nanu is shown to us as this police officer in that area, getting a call from Team Rocket's leader, Giovanni, showing us that he has some shady connections to the OG bad guy and his organization. But he clearly is living his own life now in the Alola region. As he ends up running into Ash, but he doesn't want to directly reveal that he's the Island Kahuna to him. At one point, to kind of ditch Ash, he asks him to look after this Alolan Meowth. Back at the station, as he does so for now, with Nanu heading out for no real particular reason. As another character named Acerola, along with her own Mimikyu, come walking in looking for Nanu. And it's a shiny Mimikyu. She ends up telling Ash that Nanu is her uncle. As then she leads him to where she works at, which is the library. With Poipole being excited to see all of the books there, only getting taken aback by seeing a page in a book that shows what we will come to learn as the Ultra version of Necrozma, with the other two legendaries, Solgaleo and Lunala, by its side. Acerola ends up explaining the tale of the Blinding One, a Pokémon brighter than anything the world could ever produce, being around as the Alola region originally formed. As all three legendary Pokémon together brought light to the land and the people of the land. Becoming grateful for this, there are some beliefs that the Blinding One itself is an Ultra Beast, but it is not confirmed to be true. Nanu arrives back around to Ash's bombardment of challenging him, figuring out just who he is. With Nanu only deciding to see what skill Ash has outside of an official trial, mainly thanks to Acerola pushing him to do so. Nanu sends out his Krokorok. As Ash sends out his Lycanroc, with the two having fierce looks in their eyes. With the Lycanroc getting dirtied at one point and going "Goblin Mode" once more. And due to it not listening to Ash and just doing whatever it wants, enough damage is done to Lycanroc for Acerola to call the match. Ash rushes to care for his injured Lycanroc. As Nanu tells him to just head back to the other island, but he refuses, claiming that he will get stronger to then face him for a rematch. With Nanu caring little either way. Later, Ash speaks with an upset and angry Lycanroc. Replaying the same feelings. Acerola thinks that the Island Guardian Tapu Bulu could help them train in the meantime. As Ash gives his Lycanroc a bunch of food and gets it ready and determined to go and train. They make their way to where the Guardian resides. And upon reaching the sleeping Guardian, it displays some cool moves that help bring lush life to the area. And this mystical power ends up instantly teaching Lycanroc a new move to Ash's surprise. As they spend some time playing around. As the rain comes in, Tapu Bulu pushes Lycanroc to join in with them in the mud, causing Lycanroc to become enraged again. But Ash jumps in to help it down, making it remember the days of it being a Rockruff and that playing in the rain and mud was a fun thing that never bothered it before. In fact, Rockruff quite liked it. This leads to a quick breakthrough for the Lycanroc. As it happily hangs out with Ash and joins in. Tapu Bulu now comes over to Ash and offers him a battle, having Lycanroc face off against the Guardian. Lycanroc ends up getting knocked into the lake. As Ash worries the worst with the rage that can come from Lycanroc. But it just comes out of the water and shakes itself dry a bit with no issues happening. Through this intense battle, Lycanroc ends up learning and showing off a new move, Stone Edge, causing Tapu Bulu to protect itself, then officially call the match. With the Guardian seeing just how strong the Lycanroc is now. Tapu Bulu begins growing a tree filled with Oran Berries for Ash and his Pokémon to have as a sign of respect. As Ash appreciates the training that the Guardian was able to give him. Ash now heads back with Acerola, confident that he can face off against Nanu now.

This next part is very Mimikyu themed, and for that, I love it. Ash meets with Nanu again, declaring to face his trial. But Nanu agrees on the condition that he must face some other trainers and their Mimikyu first at an abandoned Mega Mart beforehand. With Acerola looking over him for this. Ash gets to the Mega Mart and ends up realizing that his opponents for this are none other than Team Rocket with their Mimikyu. As this battle begins, we cut back to the school classroom where the students are, funny enough, learning about Mimikyu and by extension, us the audience finding a unique way to explain some things about the Pokémon without it being used as exposition during the moment. For Ash, Mimikyu ends up being a tough challenge for Pikachu, wearing him down. As Team Rocket shows off their own Z-Move Pokémon powers, getting into formation and having Mimikyu use the move Let's Snuggle Forever, pulling Pikachu underneath the costume it wears and attacks it within its deadly darkness. But Pikachu ended up using Electro Web to protect itself, allowing Ash to return a Z-Move attack back. As the Z-Crystal transforms into Pikanium Z once more, Ash puts his hat on Pikachu and sends in the overpowered 10 Million Volt Thunderbolt that manages to defeat the Mimikyu. With Ash clearing the trial, much to the annoyance of Nanu upon hearing this. But he still delivers on the promise to give him his Grand Trial. For the battle, Nanu sends out his Krokorok. With Ash sending in his pumped-up Lycanroc, with the battle still being a tough one between the two Pokémon. Lycanroc ends up getting dirty again, but being able to calm itself down from the red-eye state it was falling into and now using that energy to take out the Krokorok. Nanu sends out his Salazzle next. As Lycanroc starts becoming enraged again throughout the course of this next fight, but now finds a way to fully use that anger as just pure strength, still listening to Ash's commands. Lycanroc defeats the Salazzle, but is clearly exhausted from the battle and energy output. But Tapu Bulu flies in real quick to give Lycanroc a Sitrus Berry to help it recover to continue in battle. Nanu's final Pokémon ends up being an Alolan Persian that proves itself powerful against the Lycanroc once again, getting into a rage-filled red-eyed mode for another time in this battle. But this time it was a purposeful tactic of Nanu, as he knows Lycanroc can be pushed to a state that makes it reckless. But it still ends up hitting hard, going after the puffy-faced kitty cat. With Nanu taunting Ash, calling him a worthless trainer, as he can no longer calm his Lycanroc down. And at one point, it ends up turning on Ash and hitting him instead. It stares at Ash with its glowing red eyes. As Ash now understands that Lycanroc is still in control in this state, looking for Ash to give trust in it. As they then continue to work together. With Nanu using his own Z-Crystal to have Persian use the Z-Move Black Hole Eclipse. As Ash uses his Z-Move as well, sending in a Continental Crush. As both Z-Moves stop each other from fully being pulled off, giving a chance for Lycanroc to rush in with an attack. And Ash officially defeats Nanu, as his last Pokémon is revealed to be knocked out. He awards Ash with a Lycanium Z, as it directly is made for Lycanroc. As Tapu Bulu comes by again to deliver another Sitrus Berry for Lycanroc in the end. With another Grand Trial complete, Ash leaves the island. As Acerola looks forward to seeing him again at some point, leaving Nanu there in somewhat higher spirits towards Ash, thinking he's quite the interesting guy.

But now it's time for another Ultra Guardians mission. With two Ultra Beasts appearing being Pheromosa and Xurkitree. These very interesting and odd Pokémon offer the students a difficult challenge for them to capture. The two finding an eventual opening as they are distracted. With Ash using his new Lycanroc-specific Z-Crystal to perform the move Splintered Storm Shards, hurting the Ultra Beasts enough for them to capture them. As they then get sent back to their respective places through an Ultra Wormhole. Their next mission comes not too long after this, as the Ultra Guardians are sent in to deal with a Stakataka, weakening this seemingly impenetrable structure and being able to calm it down from its rampage. As then it happily gets captured and then released back through the Wormhole. Another Ultra Wormhole appears, and this time it hangs above the Altar of the Sun. As it begins sucking up any Ultra Aura in the area, pulling away the ability for any trainer to use the power of their Z-Rings. As now the Ultra Guardians end up back on a mission to deal with this. As they arrive back to the Altar with Gladion showing up as well. All with the abilities to use their Z-Rings still intact. From the Ultra Wormhole, the legendary Pokémon Lunala appears from it. But the problem isn't Lunala, it's what's followed it. As Necrozma summons itself through the Ultra Wormhole as well. Necrozma is clearly chasing Lunala, as the dark and mysterious third legendary is wanting to drain any Ultra Aura that Lunala has. The Ultra Guardians all come together for the rest of their mission and head towards the two beasts. Tapu Koko also gets involved by trying to shield Lunala from Necrozma, allowing the moon bat to get away for the moment and hold back Necrozma. But this doesn't hold for long, as Necrozma breaks past the Guardian and continues on Lunala's tail. Lunala tries fighting back to defend itself, but gets hit with a strong direct attack that knocks it into the ocean below. Ash and Gladion begin intervening by attacking Necrozma, but now it shoots back at the Ultra Guardians, causing Lillie to begin falling to her peril. As Lunala springs back into action to catch her. Everyone now begins attacking Necrozma together, but nothing seems to really be working. Poipole is entranced by Necrozma. As the Ultra Rangers start connecting in some dots, believing that the Blinding One and Necrozma are related. Well, yeah, but let's let them figure that out, okay? Necrozma grabs Lunala, seemingly trying to control the legendary Pokémon. As part of it splits off and fuses with Lunala, creating Dawn Wings Necrozma. As things look bad, Nebby comes through the Ultra Wormhole. With Ash and the others excited to see Nebby again, but the legendary Solgaleo is now quickly thrown into the battle. Nebby is able to hit the Dawn Wings Necrozma, having it separate from Lunala, but puts a target on its back. With Necrozma coming and grabbing Nebby, splitting again and taking control of it, forcing it to become Dusk Mane Necrozma, opening a wormhole and then going through it. In the meantime, they all head back to the Ultra Guardians' base of operations, being able to bring Lunala there to help heal the legendary Pokémon. As they then begin to understand everything that is going on and strategize what to do next. Lusamine starts believing that there may be a connection to Necrozma and the Blinding One as well. With Poipole trying to communicate something, but it's like playing charades here.

A new day dawns on the Alola region. The Island Kahunas all head to their own ruins to pray, specifically to the different Island Guardians. With the Ultra Guardians now surrounding Lunala. As the power from their different Z-Rings ends up glowing and restoring Lunala back to full health. The Ultra Guardians are set on now going with Lunala to find and save Nebby from this evil. Lunala opens up another Ultra Wormhole, and our young heroes all head in along with it. On the other side, they enter a dark area. Poipole is excited, as we see that this is the home world, filled with other Poipole just like it. As well as its evolution, Naganadel, jumps in to explain to the others that Ash and company are not your enemies here. As Naganadel is clearly weak, they offer it food that it eventually takes. With all of them hearing a voice that tells them "thanks." As the Naganadel revealing to be the one able to communicate with them. The Naganadel understands that they are looking to save their friend Nebby, but it tells them to leave Necrozma be. As they rely on the power of Ultra Necrozma, further explaining this with a vision for them all to see, showing a world that was graced with the shining light from this Ultra Necrozma, aka the Blinding One. We then see a meteor coming down to them. As Necrozma steps in to destroy it, but at the cost of Necrozma turning into its base black form. It saved their world, but in doing so, it lost its own light. As Necrozma fell into a deep sleep, and the powers of the light no longer being there, the world started to die. As the remaining members of the species barely making do with any remaining light left over. The Naganadel has been trying to find a new place for its species to live, but it is becoming old and sick. All hope was gone until Nebby and Lunala came around. With Necrozma finally waking up and going after them to absorb the power needed to get its light back. As they want Necrozma to help restore their world to a viable place for them to live once again, and for their species to continue on. Stuck in a moral conundrum, needing to free Nebby and save it from its controlled state, but also understanding the struggle of survival for this species and why they want Necrozma to succeed. They all ponder on what to do. But Dusk Mane Necrozma shows back up and attacks Lunala, sending them all into another battle. Ash is left wanting to find the right solution for both saving Nebby and helping save this world and its inhabitants. Ash comes up with a plan that requires the Ultra Guardians to give their Z-Power to Necrozma in exchange for Nebby. With Gladion agreeing to this idea. During all of this, Professor Burnet ends up understanding the text regarding the Blinding One, learning that it's not just the two other legendaries that help share the light with Necrozma, but it was the people and Pokémon of Alola as well. The Ultra Guardians form up and have all of their chosen Pokémon to use their Z-Power on. As they all send in their individual attacks to cause a combined hit to strike Dusk Mane Necrozma. With a now singular energy beam, Dusk Mane Necrozma does take in all of the energy, but it also sends an attack right back at our group afterwards. It begins to charge at them. As Lunala gets back up to tackle it to protect them. Tapu Koko then is seen sending its own energy through the Ultra Wormhole. With those outside finally establishing a connection to communicate with the Ultra Guardians on the other side. Both sides swap information that they have learned. As they believe they need to mimic what Tapu Koko was doing, having the Ultra Guardians and their Pokémon do just that. At the same time, Lusamine asks the Island Kahunas for their help as well, getting them all to do the same, along with others around them. As everyone is trying to push this energy through the Ultra Wormhole. Dusk Mane Necrozma feels this presence and focuses on it. With the species of the land that they're in joining in along with more Pokémon and people on the outside doing so as well. From all this power it feels, Necrozma separates from Nebby, but it's still targeting this energy towards the Ultra Guardians. With the Island Kahunas now sending in the power of their Z-Move attacks. As Ash sets up his Z-Power Ring with the special Solgaleo Crystal, needing Nebby to lend his power, or at least what power it has left. Ash, Gladion, Nebby, and Lunala all stand together now, sending in their Z-Moves at Necrozma. With the power finally changing Necrozma to its full Blinding Light form. As the Ultra Guardians watch in shock, Ultra Necrozma is back, and the overall mission seems to be a success, having brought this light back to a dying world, and Nebby as well as Lunala being saved from Necrozma's capture. With the Wormhole now beginning to close, Poipole decides to leave Ash's team and stay with its own kind, who are now able to have a home again. It wants to become the protector for its kind. As Ash says goodbye, as Poipole and him begin to tear up. With Poipole drawing Ash and Pikachu's face in the sand below. As Ash and friends now head back through the Wormhole to the Alola region. As we see life turned back to normal, with school continuing on for the students, and the world is at peace once more, for now. And after all of that, season 2 of the Sun and Moon era has come to an end, giving us an arc that has some familiarity, as Ash does train with his Pokémon and further his own goals on his adventure. But also giving us a giant epic arc that turns Ash and his friends into these kid superheroes that deal with the biggest, weirdest, and wildest threats that get sent their way from literal other dimensions, leading to fighting against a near unstoppable being to help it restore the light missing from the world, or worlds, or dimensions, or whatever you get it. But we aren't done just yet, as we have one final season to go to wrap up the Sun and Moon saga. So let's see how easy or complicated our final bit of time in the Alola region ends up being.

"Who's that? [Music] Pokémon! It's we!" We now enter the final season of the Sun and Moon era. As our students here are still sent on their Ultra Guardian missions, now even being sent on investigations just to find out what's happening and if there's any truth to follow for their Ultra Beast responsibilities. But even if they don't lead anywhere, they can still end up lending a helping hand to those in need. So that's nice. We also meet some new characters this season, like how Hau's grandson, as he makes his way to the island in the efforts of challenging him. He ends up crossing paths with Ash, as they decide to have a battle with his Dartrix, the middle evolution in the Rowlet line, against Ash's Rowlet. Ash loses the battle here, as he ends up dropping his Grassium Z-Crystal into the grass and went down to look for it. As Dartrix takes out Rowlet in the meantime. Ash notices that Rowlet is for some reason more focused on this particular battle. And Ash offers Rowlet a rematch, but for now, he declines, as he has to make it somewhere else on time. But they agree on battling the next day for some training. Ash brings Rowlet back to its bird friends that we saw at the start of the series to learn a few things from them. Going beyond this, Ash helps Rowlet learn some new moves before they next meet with Hau. When Hau comes back around for the rematch, Hau is able to get the upper hand this time, especially with Ash not fumbling the Z-Crystal and being able to use the Bloom Doom Z-Move, defeating the Dartrix. The two part ways for now, but they both look forward to their next battle with each other in the future. Tapu Koko shows back up to battle against Ash to test him once more. But as the battle gets cooking, both Ash and Tapu Koko's attacks collide, as we then break the veil into another dimension. As another Tapu Koko, this one being the shiny variant, is also sending in an attack, fully opening a rift that sends Ash and Pikachu into a different place somewhere in the desert. Horrifyingly running into an Ultra Beast, with this one being Guzzlord. Quickly being chased by the Beast once it takes notice of them. A mysterious trainer and his unknown Pokémon come in to rescue them, facing off against the Guzzlord, allowing them time to flee. Once they are all in a safe place, now the trainer introduces himself as Dia and his Pokémon as Zeraora. Dia is confused with how Ash ended up in this area that, as he claims, is restricted. With Ash explaining what happened, but even then, the explanation doesn't really help much, as Ash truly doesn't know what happened either or where he even is. Dia explains that the Guzzlord showed up one day in this land and started to eat everything in sight, living up to its name, turning a city that was once there into the ruins of what's left of it. A group going by the name of the Ultra Rangers tried to fight back against Guzzlord, but to no avail. The only two left in the area are Dia and Zeraora, as they hold on to the place that this used to be. Ash mentions that he is part of the Ultra Guardians, but this means nothing to Dia, as he sees Ash as just a child, dismissing Ash when he wants to help out. Ash gets kind of pissed off at this response and wants to battle Dia. As Pikachu faces off against his Zeraora. After a few blows back and forth, Zeraora is able to defeat Pikachu. With Dia telling him to just return home, to which he doesn't know how. With Dia trying to organize a way for him to get out, as he himself was a member of the Ultra Rangers. The two end up having to traverse the area together, eventually arriving at Dia's house. As Ash notices the building looking just like the Pokémon School. Looking around the building further, Ash knows that this was in fact the Pokémon School. With Dia thinking that Ash has to be from some parallel world, explaining the whole process and concept in a rather school lesson fashion, starting to worry Ash. As he warns him that potentially choosing certain wrong paths in his world may result in what happened here in this one. The two spend more time together, as Dia explains how he and Zeraora met. With the Pokémon not really being his Pokémon, but rather a partner with a shared desire to send Guzzlord back to where it came from. He also talks about Guzzlord's one weakness that they found so far, with that being the tiny little face that it has above its giant mouth body. When discussing the power of Z-Moves, Dia explains that there is no power to use them once the land became barren and Tapu Koko vanished. Ash gets psyched up to get back to training with Pikachu for this situation, getting Zeraora into the mix after not having any interest in getting involved and honestly being pretty frustrated with Ash and Pikachu's pep in their steps. But Pikachu here gets a chance at showing Zeraora that it is powerful as well, landing a Thunderbolt on the fast Pokémon. As Pikachu was able to keep up with it, both trainers and Pokémon are able to bond a bit better now. Afterwards, all the commotion though alerts the Guzzlord, as they spring into action and begin trying to lure it away towards an Ultra Wormhole. As they are on the run from the Beast chasing them, they come up with a plan. As they begin approaching the limited-left-open Wormhole, Pikachu uses his Electro Web to stop the Beast for a moment in its tracks. With Pikachu and Zeraora going in to land some good blows before Guzzlord is able to break free. As it now begins to start fighting back. With Dia believing that they should retreat for the time being. That shiny Tapu Koko then shows back up and confronts Guzzlord. As it then shouts out loud, allowing power to come back to the trainer's Z-Rings. Together, Pikachu and Zeraora perform Gigavolt Havoc, that combined is able to push the giant Beast back into and through the Ultra Wormhole before it closes, saving the land from Guzzlord's continued wrath. Dia can't believe it, after all this time, they finally accomplished what seemingly felt impossible. With this Tapu Koko shooting a Lightning Bolt up into the skies, Dia knows that they have to get Ash back to his world right now. Having another battle that feeds into a dimensional rift opening again. As the two make their way back to their world, with Dia more determined than ever to help restore the Alola region in his world. With Ash vowing to protect his. When Ash returns, thinking he's been gone for days, virtually no time has passed in his world. With Dia, Zeraora, and some help from their Tapu Koko, begin restoring the land for a brighter future.

The holidays are coming up. As a nice little surprise, Misty and Brock took Ash up on his offer to visit him and his friends in the Alola region and see the area. Brock, aside from being distracted by Nurse Joy at the Pokémon Center, gets distracted from doing some other stuff in the region. With everyone else seeing that he can actually help out here with Nurse Joy when an injured Pokémon gets brought in. As the others spend the day together. Further, Misty is able to enjoy some nice food with everyone, check out the local market, walk around the mall, and even catch some waves going Mantine surfing. Later, they end up beginning to wrap up the day. As an explosion catches their attention, noticing that Team Rocket has captured the Mantine. As they are piloting their new Mecha Meowth. Misty can't believe that all the way in Alola, Team Rocket is still up to their old tricks. Misty sends out her Gyarados in to help take them out. As it's able to wrap itself around the Mecha Meowth. With all of the group's other Pokémon sending in attacks to start damaging it. With Team Rocket trying to fight back, Misty mega evolves her Gyarados. As Ash, Kiawe, and Lana have their Pokémon send in some Z-Move attacks, dealing some solid damage. As Mega Gyarados sends in a Hydro Pump, dealing the final blow, exploding the Mecha Meowth. With Team Rocket blasting off once the day is saved. Ash spends some time with Misty on a walk near the water, noticing that Brock set up a tent and has whipped up a meal for them, just like the old days, appreciating being in each other's company once more. Together, they head over to Poni Island and explore that area, climbing the volcano and just seeing the sights. Much to Brock's excitement, he meets Olivia. And even better, she takes an interest in him, and specifically battling him, based on his resume of being a former Gym Leader in the Kanto region and specializing in Rock-type Pokémon. As they get into all of that, Team Rocket decides to cause some trouble for them. With Brock grabbing Olivia's hand as she sets off her Z-Crystal for her Lycanroc. As it sends in a heart-shaped Continental Crush. As it uses that "Crush" part literally, continuing to heavily push down on Team Rocket's latest Mech. As it eventually blows up, and you know, Team Rocket does the whole "blasting off again" thing. After another day saved and a peaceful end to it all, Misty and Brock are happy to have come to the Alola region and thank Ash for having them there, claiming that they will not forget this trip. They all reaffirm their individual dreams in life, with Ash still heading to be a Pokémon Master, Misty wanting to make the Cerulean Gym the best gym in the world, and Brock, well, he's already been where he feels he belongs and wants to be helping Pokémon. Ash and Misty vow to battle again next time they meet each other. As they then put their hands in a circle and lift them up into the air to show their close friendship, like Yugi and his friends did at the start of the original Yu-Gi-Oh series. As both old companions now head back to the Kanto region.

Professor Kukui brings the class to Poni Island. As Ash sets his sights on finding Tapu Fini to face off against the Island Guardian. As a more makeshift Grand Trial, since currently there is no Island Kahuna at the moment to fill that role. However, they all end up coming across Hapu along with her Mudsdale, who are attending to their radishes. As Hapu thinks that they are radish thieves and sends in Mudsdale to face off against Ash. With Pikachu jumping into battle, the Mudsdale though quickly knocks out Pikachu before Hapu then walks off without even confirming what they were doing around her radishes, as they were just admiring the Mudsdale at work. After getting Pikachu healed, Nurse Joy explains that Hapu lives alone and has been dealing with a constant theft of her radishes, explaining why she was quick to attack them. Later on, Ash seeks out Tapu Fini. As he comes across the actual radish bandits being this trio of Team Skull Grunts and demands that they face him in battle now. With Hapu seeing this all happen along with her radishes being involved, Ash explains to her that these are the real culprits. As she sends out her Mudsdale to take out all of their Pokémon. After this, Hapu apologizes to Ash for earlier, before potentially promising a rematch sometime in the future. Later on, Hapu is now praying at the ancient ruins nearby, seeking guidance from her grandfather. As she wants to become the new Island Kahuna, but is confused why Tapu Fini has yet to bestow the role onto her. Soon after, her Mudsdale is going out of control and she can't calm it.

It down, but Ash sees this and notices that there is a corsel horn piece lodged in its hoof, and Ash helps take it out, much to the horse's relief and to Hapu's as well. As she then thanks Ash and wants to repay him some way, he suggests a battle.

In the meantime, Gladion shows up and speaks with Lillie, as he has the same goal as Ash: wanting to face off against Tapu Fini in a makeshift Grand Trial. In the absence of an Island Kahuna, he talks to his sister further regarding Tapu Fini apparently being able to let a person see someone who has passed away, as he hopes that he can meet his dad. With Lillie recounting that their father had passed away in an Ultra Wormhole-related incident, they both really never got to know him, as it happened at a young age. But Lillie decides to get into better spirits, claiming to help Gladion and somehow summoning the guardian of the island for them.

We see that Hapu is not willing to give Ash a battle, though, claiming that she doesn't do so for fun. As Ash mentions that he has plans to face Tapu Fini in battle for his Grand Trial, she gets angry, claiming that he has no idea what a Grand Trial is in terms of what it represents and the exact traditions behind it. With no clear way of having a full conversation, digging deeper into all these things, or being able to understand one another, Ash encounters Gladion again. As they use this opportunity to have a battle between them and their Lycanroc, Tapu Buu though ends up overseeing it regardless. As Ash's Lycanroc starts getting the upper hand in battle until the end, with Gladion being impressed with the training that he has had with his Lycanroc and mentioning that Tapu Buu's training must have really helped him out a good bit. Hau is now more curious than ever about this Ash fella, seeing that there is maybe more to Ash than she assumed. As the battle continues, Gladion finishes things off with a Z-Crystal, having his Lycanrock use the Z-move, devastating Drake, defeating Ash.

After the battle, Tapu Fini appears above them, flying by, with the others excited to have seen the guardian Pokémon in the middle of their travels on this island. Different characters get to have some emotional breakthroughs thanks to the mist left by Tapu Fini that allows some of them to meet with someone in their lives that has died. Tapu Fini is watching over all of this from a distance, as it starts laying out the mist throughout the area. First, we see Ash and his Torracat are in it, as well as Torracat's old friend Stoutland appears, having a moment to share in the joy of seeing each other again and even using this time to help teach Torracat Fire Blast.

During all of this, Hapu focuses on making her way to confront Tapu Fini, telling it to free the others from the mist. And when it doesn't listen, she sends out her Golduck to attack, but the guardian Pokémon disappears, revealing her grandfather there. As he informs her that Tapu Fini has selected her to be the new Kahuna for the island, especially for her selfless efforts to go and confront it to save her friends, showing the guardian that she has what it takes to fully be given this honor. Hapu also announces that she has been bestowed the honor of Island Kahuna, and soon enough, Ash will be able to face this Grand Trial against Hapu once she is fully initiated into the role. In the special ceremony, she grants Ash the chance to battle with her, with Ash sending out Pikachu to face off against her Mudsdale. As the horse holds up against Pikachu's attacks with a solid defense full of powerful counters, the Mudsdale even getting to perform the Z-move Tectonic Rage, cracking open the ground below Pikachu, with the surrounding water starting to come into effect on the battlefield. Once Mudsdale gets soaked itself, Pikachu sends in an Electro Web, with the horse having the ability Soak, absorbing in the sea water to become a full Water type. This gives Ash and Pikachu the advantage here, as they activate the Z-move Gigavolt Havoc to knock Mudsdale out. Hapu then presents Ash with a choice of different Z-crystals for winning, as Pikachu picks Steelium Z, with Ash officially having won his final Grand Trial.

As now their time on the island has come to an end, heading back on a boat that some secret new Pokémon have made their way on to through the ship's cargo hold. These little metal-looking creatures end up back with them now, eating all the metal that they can on the island, finding some sort of trouble to get into, like how about a toolbox that the students are using, causing them to come across the odd thing. And after being poked and prodded enough, the little thing uses Flash Cannon to free itself from them, as the students are confused as to what just happened. They then spot more of these creatures in the toolbox, as they try and get a hold of them, as they all get defensive, feeling a sense of danger.

Once everyone in the room is able to calm down, Sophocles notices that his tools are gone, thinking that the creatures are eating them, testing this out to see if that's the case, as they all watch in curiosity. Sophocles grabs his electromagnet that pulls them all together, but they end up escaping and running off after Kiawe's heated field welcome to them has them worried it's uh too hot for them to be around. After a full day of this chase, Ash calls Professor Oak to tell him about this new mysterious Pokémon, supplying him with a bunch of data that he learned about it, with Oak being pretty impressed. As we then see one of the creatures has made its way into Ash's bag.

The next day, Oak calls into Kukui, explaining the Pokémon that they came across as a Meltan, with the kids at school continuing to look for all of them. But by the end of the day, Lillie comes up from the Ultra Guardian's base with all the Meltan that hid down there that gave Clefable a bunch of trouble. The other missing Meltan was getting into a whole bunch of other shenanigans that happened with Ret, but eventually, after dealing with all that, Ret ends up bringing the Meltan to where Ash is. As both Pokémon land and hug one another, and Ash sees that there's some sort of connection between the two, and offers this Meltan a place on its team. The Meltan confirms with Ret that it is okay, as it wants to join along on Ash's journey, with Ash then capturing the Meltan.

It's time for another Ultra Guardians mission, as they have to go after the Ultra Beast named Nihilego, as they successfully capture and release the beast back into Ultra Space where it came from, completing yet another mission. As Ash gets get a chance to train with Pikachu, they try using the new Steel-type Z-Crystal, with the Z-move being Corkscrew Crash, with both of them being excited over the results thus far.

Professor Kukui is set to make an announcement, though, as the class makes their way to the Aether Paradise to hear it. The whole thing is a big to-do, with the professor announcing the first-ever Alolan Pokémon League being established in the region, in which whoever wins gets a chance to claim the title of not just Champion, but the first-ever Champion in Alola history, cementing their name in the history books. The long history of the Kahunas of each island is sacred, but they all come together in full support of bringing in this new tradition. The Aether Foundation announces that they are building the stadium where this will all take place, ushering in a brand new battlefield fresh for the competitors. Ash is pumped about this, with Kiawe sharing in those sentiments. The leader of Team Skull, Guzma, takes note of the announcement and vows to destroy the league, whatever that means.

The next day, during class, Guzma shows up to the school grounds, calling out Kukui, telling him to come outside to have a word with him. As this catches the attention of all the students, of course, Guzma thinks that he's the greatest thing since sliced potatoes, claiming to be the strongest trainer around. Kukui refuses to play into this yapping and doesn't want to have a battle with him, but Ash does. As Guzma learns that Ash has passed all the Grand Trials across the islands, so he accepts Ash as a suitable battle opponent. Ash sends out Pikachu, with Guzma sending out his Golisopod, a pretty powerful Pokémon to go up against, with Pikachu not being able to do too much. Ash sets up the Z-move Corkscrew Crash, but to its surprise, the Golisopod deflects it, continuing on to poison Pikachu, really putting Ash in a bad position for this battle. Pikachu still fights through this, but eventually, the Golisopod uses Emergency Exit and returns to its Poké Ball, confusing Ash as the battle wasn't really over yet. But Guzma smugly says that his Pokémon deemed him too weak to entertain the battle any further. Ash and the professor tell him that's not how a battle works, and something like this would be considered forfeiting in any other official capacity. But Guzma's ego was unfortunately right, as we see Pikachu eventually collapsing. Guzma leaves for now, making the same vow to take down the new league.

With everyone watching, for now, though, the students all go on another field trip for a bit to a different city, where there they find a Kanto-ian Gym. It's totally unofficial and just put together based on the interest in the Kanto region and just trying to act as if. But with Ash being from the region, he's definitely suspicious about them boasting about its authenticity. They eventually meet the Gym Leader, Ryuki, who has a battle with Kiawe first, but he ends up losing. As Ash gets a chance to have a Gym battle as well, as it's been quite some time for him having an official Gym battle, well, I guess unofficial with this one. Ash sends out his Rowlet for the battle, as Ryuki has his Zisu take the field. Yeah, real Kanto-ian authentic here, couldn't use any original 151 to stay on brand. Dragonair could have been a similar substitute, but hey, to each their own, I guess.

With Rowlet getting hurt a bit in the battle, Meltan has this unrelenting care for it, rushing over to Ryuki and chewing on his metal outfit, or eating it, however this mercury blob intakes nutrients. Ash goes and grabs Meltan, apologizing for the inconvenience, but Ryuki surprisingly likes the drive that this little thing has, requesting to change the battle to a double battle now and having Meltan take the field with Rowlet. As his Zisu is joined by his Dreepy, yeah, two seemingly more powerful and definitely larger Pokémon versus a starter Pokémon and a metal-eating little monster. Well, I've seen Ash come back from worse. Thanks to the nature of the battle, Rowlet is able to suddenly learn Brave Bird, offering a strong attack, as Meltan goes to hug Rowlet afterwards in joy. Ash now has both Pokémon attack together, with the combo of another Brave Bird attack and Flash Cannon taking out both of Ryuki's Pokémon and officially winning this totally not real, real Gym battle. Ash even earns a badge for doing so. It's just this dude's face on it, but hey, it's something.

All right, but on the way back from the city, Meltan started snacking on the badge as Ash tries to recover whatever is going to be left of it. The Ultra Guardians end up going on their next mission, as it involves the Ultra Beast Kartana, definitely one of the coolest ones, with it even solving its own issue of being in the Alola region and this dimension in general. As the Ultra Guardians fail to capture it, as it can just slice up their Beast Balls, eventually opening up its own Ultra Wormhole and leaving on its own. This could be a good thing, this could be a bad thing, but it surely was a thing. Just like that, their mission is over for now, so that's cool.

But do you ever find yourself training with your Torracat and a random Celebi happens to fly by, get scared, and then try and time travel away from the area, sucking you and your medium-sized fire cat with it? No? Just Ash figures. Well, Ash now finds himself with his Torracat in the past, meaning a younger Kukui there, spending time with him. He eventually ends up talking about his previous journeys, going around and collecting badges, competing in regional Pokémon leagues, and Ash literally inceptions this young Kukui into having the dream to create a league for the Alola region. I mean, like, kind of. If this isn't a dream where Ash implants the idea, he just goes to the past and does so, so my reference still counts. Smash that like button, or I'll literally cry. Celebi does bring Ash and Torracat back to their correct time in history, so all is well.

Speaking of time, as it continues to pass, the construction of the new stadium is complete, along with the announcement that whoever wins also gets to have an exhibition battle with the Masked Royal. How exciting! Preparing for the league now, all of the trainers began meeting up at the stadium, including Hau, whose Dartrix has now evolved into a Decidueye. Guzma shows up as well, as Kukui confronts him about why he's here, with him just doing what the league offers, joining in and revealing that his plan is to become Champion, earning that title, and then making sure another league wouldn't happen again. This would literally destroy Kukui's dream, and that's what he wants. Hala explains to the others that at one point, both Kukui and Guzma were both apprentices studying under him, as they both feel responsible for not being able to save him from himself, as he didn't respect the traditions and often broke the rules, running away from his responsibilities to become strong on his own, leading him down the path to where he is now. But for now, the conference is about to start, with the Masked Royal explaining that all of the participants will partake in this free-for-all, as the 16 finalists left standing being set into the brackets for the full-on tournament.

151 competitors take place all around the field, as this free-for-all is literally just all of them sending out their partner Pokémon and just going battle crazy while trying to survive every battle opportunity. I kind of like this chaos, in fact, I wish it was even more chaotic. As the time goes by, more and more trainers become eliminated, narrowing down who is going to make it to the official tournament itself. A lot of familiar faces make it to the starting round, though, like Ash, Gladion, Guzma, Samson Oak, Hau, both Jessie and James, along with other classmates of Ash.

The first round matchup for Ash ends up being Faba, of all people. Right off the bat, Faba cheats, as he's going to use his Hypno in battle, while Ash was going to send in Pikachu, but he sneakily has Hypno pull one of Ash's balls forward to send out Meltan instead. But the little blob loves the crowd in the arena, so Ash lets Meltan battle if it wants to. This battle starts going poorly for Faba really fast, as his Hypno was trying to use hypnosis, but Meltan runs in and latches onto its pendulum and just won't let go, melting a bit of it and ruining it, much to Hypno's sadness. In this bewildered state, Ash has Meltan use Flash Cannon that knocks out Hypno, with Ash winning and moving forward in the tournament, despite Faba trying to protest what just happened, even though you literally cheated in the beginning, buddy.

As the rest of the starting round is going on for the other trainers, we finally conclude with the top eight winners being sorted into their next matchups, as Ash will be facing off against Hau in the next round. In some downtime, with Rowlet knowing it'll be facing off against Decidueye, Rowlet asks a random Wingull to fly over to its old group of birds it lived with and wants Wingull to bring them here. In doing so, the Pikipek, Trumbeak, and Toucannon group head over to witness Rowlet in action. Although Ash would be smart to use his Torracat in this next battle, Ash believes in his Rowlet, as this small owl is excited and ready for the challenges, and it's spherical, spherical. As the birds arrive, Rowlet gets a moment to say hello to its found family, as they try and help teach Rowlet a new move, that being Feather Dance. They also bring Rowlet a little gift, a snug little outfit that has Rowlet resembling a little Decidueye. I said "little" too much in that sentence, but I don't care. They hope this outfit helps Rowlet be focused and determined in battle, as they want to see their old pal do well and be encouraged to win.

Ash and Hau take the field, as they begin their battle, sending out their respective owls, as they waste no time in sending in attacks at one another, with Ash trying to use the Bloom Doom Z-move with Rowlet super early on, but Hau predicted this, as he has Decidueye shoot an arrow sticking Rowlet to the ground. As Hau uses the Decidium Z-Crystal, causing the Decidueye to send out the special to it only Z-move Sinister Arrow Raid, showing a direct hit on Rowlet. Or was it? As Rowlet reveals itself to be okay, and that it used that outfit it was wearing to act as a dummy stand-in. Some view this moment as Ash potentially having a small cheating scandal. Nope, not that type of cheating scandal, but regardless, Nanu, who's judging, just comes and takes the outfit off the field and away from Rowlet for now.

As the battle continues, the owls are back at it, going after each other, including some close knockout scares, but this one's okay, 'cause Rowlet was just sleeping. And eventually, Rowlet's Brave Bird attack is able to knock out the Decidueye, leaving Ash the winner of this match, as he gets to move on to the next round. Both Ash and Hau thank each other for a great match, looking forward to battling once again in the future.

After the rest of the battles, we get down to the final four trainers, with Kiawe having to now go against Gladion, and Ash will now have to go and face Guzma. Kiawe does his best in his battle, but Gladion ends up victorious and is now waiting for the winner of the other battle for the finals. With Ash feeling the pressure to defeat Guzma here, not just for advancing himself to the finals, but to stop Guzma's plans of becoming Champion and destroying the league Kukui has always wanted to create.

Ash and Guzma head to the field now, with Guzma sending out his Scizor, as Ash decides to go with Torracat. Guzma sucks, and here's why: having another Pokémon that can pull itself out of the battle or force a substitution. I hate this. I hate Guzma, and I hate... no, that's it. I just hate those two things. Scizor's U-turn move sends Golisopod out to battle, and Torracat is getting in some good attacks. Golisopod uses Emergency Exit when Torracat sends a Fire Blast heading its way, forcing a swap, as Scizor comes out and gets hit directly by the Fire Blast, knocking it out, much to Guzma's rage over what Golisopod just did, forcing it now to come back out and face Ash again. Golisopod, though, makes up for costing Scizor a loss by knocking out Torracat, as Ash sends in Pikachu to battle. Pikachu displays a strong move set, constantly throwing his most powerful attacks at Golisopod, even using the Gigavolt Havoc Z-move, but the Golisopod withstands it all.

During this, Guzma enters into some deep self-reflection, though, specifically regarding his own past. As the two Pokémon then collide, some strong hits together, but Pikachu remains the Pokémon standing in the end, leaving Guzma officially defeated and Ash the victor, heading to the finals. Guzma then leaves quietly, not replying to Kukui, even though he invites him to still partake in the challenge next year, just as a form of a reach out to build some bridges back between them.

Ash and Gladion prepare to now face each other in battle for the title of Champion.

Who's that Pokémon? This double fringe miss is brought to you by Gamer Subs. I just got one word for you, but come close. You got to make sure you listen to this one. Use code FRINGE for 10% off of Gamer Subs. Look, the choice is yours. You can either pay an extra 10% or you could save the 10%. Use code FRINGE, Gamer Subs. It's Raichu.

Ash's mom, along with Mallow and Professor Oak, flying to witness Ash's Championship battle. On top of this, Ash's Meltan has all the other Meltan from earlier fuse into it, as it evolves into Melmetal, this way larger, hulking beast of metal. And Mel... I don't even get the joke. Ash is super excited about this.

As the next day, the battle takes place, both trainers make their way to the field, as they start off strong with Gladion sending out Silvally and Ash sending out his new Melmetal. When we are talking about power levels, these two Pokémon are top of the class right now. The only difference is that Melmetal is a lot less experienced here, not really knowing its own power or how to control it to a high capacity, whereas Silvally was born for this, literally. This thing was created to be powerful and has a lot of experience under its belt. Its face belt, the one that broke earlier, to be... ah, you get it. While Melmetal gets some favorable blows in, Silvally was just quicker and stronger, knocking Melmetal out, giving Gladion the first round lead.

Ash sends Pikachu out next, or rather, he sends himself out, as he is pumped up more than ever for this. Using a combo of his speed and power, Pikachu shoots out an Electro Web, rushing towards it, using it like a springboard to gain an even faster momentum, launching into an Iron Tail that takes Silvally out. Gladion sends out his Lycanroc next, but something seems off. I knew that something was off the moment that Pikachu hits it with a Thunderbolt, as then it was revealed that it was Zoroark all along, just using an illusion. I mean, of course, I knew. As it happened, things were weird, specifically in that moment. I'm a genius. Hah, but not according to my SAT scores. What do they know?

Gladion activates his Ghostium Z-Crystal to have Zoroark use the Z-move Never-Ending Nightmare, that quickly comes towards Pikachu, making a judgment call now, as Ash activates one of his crystals to have Pikachu use the Z-move Breakneck Blitz to counter, causing an explosion on the field, with both Pokémon ending up being knocked out from this, leaving the trainers with one Pokémon left each. As they now send out their respective forms of Lycanroc, both doggos seem evenly matched, fiercely facing off, landing some blows, but dodging and countering a bunch of moves in both directions. In a final standoff, Ash's Lycanroc charges in with Gladion's Lycanroc countering it, connecting a blow with Ash's Lycanroc, but it was ready to immediately counter the counter, catching Gladion's Lycanroc off guard and sent it flying into a wall, knocking it out, with Ash being declared the winner.

As he not only officially has won the Alola League but his first league ever. Oh, and he's the first-ever Champion in Alola now, which is also pretty cool. Yeah, he should have won his first league victory in the previous generation when he was at his peak, but it's still a cool moment. But just you wait until the next generation, it becomes bigger than just a league. Then Ash right now is just in shock from winning, finally achieving this dream of an accomplishment on his journey to be a Pokémon Master. Gladion congratulates Ash, as he hopes that they can battle again one day, with Ash looking forward to it. I mean, at this point, I think Ash just owes so many people battles, 'cause every time he beats someone in a battle, like, "Hey, we should fight again sometime," and then sometimes they do, and often times they don't.

At night, the award ceremony begins, as the Masked Royal gets on stage, presenting Ash with his trophy. But Professor Burnet is bummed to see that Kukui is nowhere to be found and is missing this really important moment for Ash. Ash gets his trophy and looks forward to the exhibition match with the Masked Royal tomorrow, and then everything goes to crap because it's been too long for it not to. An Ultra Wormhole appears overhead, with none other than a Guzzlord making its way through to ruin the party. Ash, along with his classmates, Gladion, Hau, and the Masked Royal, all prepare to fend off the Guzzlord. Remembering what Dia told him, Ash explains that its real weakness is the small, smaller face that sits atop of the belly mouth. First, they begin helping, getting people out of the stadium, but things are about to get much worse, as more Ultra Wormholes appear, this time bringing in two shiny Guzzlords. Why? 'Cause why not, you know? This is kind of epic. It reminds me of those multiple Kaiju spawning events in Pacific Rim, and we're now just getting to them. Dealing with the Guzzlords in the water, feeling even more like Pacific Rim. All we need is a robot or a mech to make it feel more complete. Oh, wow, Team Rocket. You shouldn't have. No, seriously, you really shouldn't have.

As all this chaos is happening, the Island Kahunas jump into help alongside them all, with Gladion knocking one of them off balance so Kiawe and Hau can launch attacks at its smaller head. The Guzzlord protects itself, but Hau has Decidueye hold it in place for a moment from going anywhere, but that doesn't hold for long. This is the pure chaos I live for, especially for this part of the Pokémon journey through the generations. You have my full attention. Eventually, through working together, the Island Kahunas use their Z-moves in unison to send the original Guzzlord back into an Ultra Wormhole, with Gladion doing the same with his smaller group, combining their Z-moves to send one of the shiny Guzzlords back through an Ultra Wormhole as well. All that is left is the final shiny Guzzlord to deal with, but the Ultra Wormhole closes, leaving Ash and the Masked Royal worried about what to do.

But then, a large stinger pokes through the sky, forcing open a new Wormhole, as out comes a Naganadel, specifically Ash's previous Poipole that evolved into a Naganadel in the time since they've been apart, clearly growing to become the protector of its species in its world. Ash is excited to see his old friend return and seeing it become so much more powerful, but they still have to face a big white problem, and I'm not talking about me. The Masked Royal suggests to Ash that they both send in Pikachu and Naganadel with their Electrium Z-Crystal power, charging them up, as they have both Pokémon use Gigavolt Havoc together. As the Ultra Beast tries to counter, causing this jolt of energy blowback, ripping off the Masked Royal's mask, but the power from the Gigavolt Havoc attacks overpowers Guzzlord and sends it through the Wormhole, as they are all excited over their victory.

Ash gets caught off guard in shock to see the now unmasked Royal, revealing that he is in fact Professor Kukui. No one is more shocked than his wife, Professor Burnet, but at least it makes sense why he wasn't around for Ash to receive his trophy. He was the one literally giving Ash his trophy. Burnet comes to speak with Kukui before the match, as she feels kind of silly for not realizing this in the first place, being such a fan of the Masked Royal while literally being married to the man behind the mask. Either way, she knows now and gives him some well wishes for the battle.

They both enter onto the field, as Ash sends out his Torracat to start things off, with Kukui sending out his Incineroar for a fiery feline fluff, AKA a cat fight. I'm not going to make that joke. This face-off, though, leaves Torracat pretty worn out and even injured quite a bit thanks to Incineroar's immense power, so Ash calls it back for now, sending out Lycanroc. Once Lycanroc can score some pretty strong hits, leaving Incineroar injured a bit as well, Kukui switches Pokémon, bringing to the field his Braviary. Lycanroc lasts as long as it can, but Braviary just leaves it too hurt for it to stay up in the fight, fainting from having no more power or strength left to battle. Ash sends out his Rowlet to make this a bit more fair of a flying-based fight, especially since Rowlet knows Brave Bird and is able to move around really well in the fight, dodging attacks and landing a final Brave Bird blow on the Braviary, knocking it out.

Kukui next sends out his Venusaur, who uses its vines to defeat Rowlet fairly quickly, as this back-and-forth knockout match continues. Ash brings out Torracat once again to help against Venusaur, using its fire-based attacks. Venusaur becomes a lot easier of a target to battle and eventually burn up, defeating it with a Fire Blast. Ash recalls Torracat again, waiting for Incineroar to call it back out, with Kukui having a Primarina enter the field for now. With Pikachu jumping in to fight this large Ice-type penguin, Primarina puts up a strong fight for Pikachu, even seemingly in the lead when it comes to damage taken and strength left, with Pikachu a bit hurt and dazed. Ash swaps it out for Melmetal, as the big lug of nuts charges in to take Primarina out. Kukui then sends Incineroar back out, as the wrestling fire cat is able to defeat Melmetal. You know, we learned earlier it just doesn't like fire. With Kukui waiting for the fire cats to have a fiery battle later, he swaps out to Lucario, with Ash sending out Naganadel. With us already knowing from many past experiences that Lucario is a very tough competitor, Naganadel gets its time to shine, though, working with Ash for its first time in this evolutionary form and revealing just how powerful of an Ultra Beast it is, keeping up with Lucario's moves, as it's then able to overwhelm Lucario with its stingers, ending off with Dragon Pulse, knocking Lucario out, with Ash happy that it got to win.

As both the professor and Ash agree that it is time, Ash now swaps back out Torracat once again to face Incineroar. The battle here gets so intense, with Torracat giving its all in the battle, being able to find the strength to knock Incineroar back, dealing some heavy blows to it. And with both of them eventually getting too worn out, they jump at each other with one more powerful attack colliding and causing a big explosion, as the two try their best to still stand afterwards, but Incineroar can't hold itself up for too long, falling to the ground, as Torracat celebrates the victory with a loud roar, as it then evolves into its own Incineroar, a surprise way to end things off, and then it passes out. Great.

And speaking of surprises, Kukui has one final surprise, as Kukui pulls out, "Now, here's something we think you'll really like," with Tapu Koko entering into the area to act as Kukui's final Pokémon. Ash sends out Naganadel to face the guardian Pokémon, but Tapu Koko isn't here for this Pokémon, taking out Naganadel and waiting for Ash to send out his final Pokémon, Pikachu. With the battle underway, Tapu Koko wants Kukui to use the power of the Z-Ring, but he can't, already doing so a lot earlier. In response, the guardian summons the rest of the Tapus to the fight, as they all begin to harmonize with Ash and Kukui now having the power to use a Z-move each again, and granting Kukui with a special Tapunium Z-Crystal that it needs for a special attack. Performing the right pose, Kukui helps unlock a long-stored ancient power that changes Tapu Koko into this giant force to be reckoned with. But also, thanks to Tapu Koko, Ash's Electrium Z transforms back into Pikachu's specific Z-Crystal, and this time permanently. Ash launches Pikachu to use the Z-move 10,000,000 Volt Thunderbolt, as the Pokémon clash their powers together, with Ash and Pikachu pushing as hard as they can with all their energy, as they then find themselves in this white mystery void where they get to spend a moment together, recognize and reflect on their journey, the challenges that they've faced, the people that they have met, and the bonds between Pokémon that have occurred. And with this strength, Pikachu and Ash are able to overcome Tapu Koko with a bright light blinding the area for a moment, as afterwards, Tapu Koko lands on the ground and passes out, leaving Ash the victor of the exhibition match, being able to finally best the Island Guardian in battle after all this time. Tapu Lele sprinkles some of its healing dust over the area to help the trainers and their Pokémon feel a lot better and all healed up, as Kukui is proud of Ash, but warns him not to get too cocky over this, in a joking manner. But Ash takes the advice to heart, feeling the respect from the professor, as the craziness of the journey begins to wrap up.

Ash says goodbye to Naganadel, as it heads back home to its dimension. With all the students now sharing their wants and goals in life, all of which seem really cool, but Lana's here is the best, as she wants to go and find a Manaphy, which is my personal favorite Pokémon. Yeah, that's right, I make the rules here. Who do you think you are? I am. Kiawe even wants a nice, final, and friendly battle with Ash, as they didn't get a chance to face each other in the league itself. Ash ends up the winner, though, as he now plans on heading back home to Pallet Town, eager to start a new adventure, one that may take him beyond just being constricted to one location. The end game is near. Nebby returns for a moment to say goodbye to Ash, which is just cool to see again. But the final kicker, we get the announcement of an in-the-womb kicker, as Professor Burnet says that she is in fact pregnant.

You know, the Sun and Moon series is definitely one for the books, whether you finally remember it for your own sense of nostalgia or for various other reasons, like just enjoying or being put off from the drastically different look to the series holding you back from giving these three seasons of the anime a chance. Well, it definitely has its shortcomings. There were a lot of really great, memorable moments that the Sun and Moon arc displayed, going in further to discuss dealing with death and learning to let go of the pain inside to make room to house the best memories you had together. Plus, the Ultra Beasts were really cool, but admittedly, taking Ash and his class to become these pseudo superhero guardians equipped with these colorful jumpsuits was definitely a choice that I'll give some more personal credit to, as it led to us seeing lots of Ultra Beasts and some cool battle moments that got to drag us away from the more chill slice-of-life nature the show had. As the true issue of the series really being the struggle it has with tonality, as the two genres, the action and adventure, and the slice-of-life here were played around in enough so that the ride the show took us on felt like it was going too fast up and down between them, never finding its perfect balance, needing to space out or flow them together. But other than that, having several episodes that feature Brock and Misty were a lot of fun, especially for fans of the original Generation anime.

Starting off the series strong, we enter in on Ash's life before all of the adventures, with him now being 6 years old, as this tries to tie back into Professor Oak's summer camp where he met Serena, and which we learned about during the XY series. This younger Ash is excited about this camp, asking his mother to go, as she sees how much he really wants to and signs him up for it. The deal she makes for doing so is that Ash has to wake himself up in the morning to go. Ash is just too excited about it in general to really listen to what his mother has just told him.

Throughout this episode, we start following the journey of this young Pichu in the woods around Pallet Town, being young and scared of the world a bit. Pichu ends up nearly falling off a cliff until a Kangaskhan catches the little mouse, and she places Pichu in her pouch next to her child, as Pichu would go on continuing to live with the Kangaskhan.

After some time has passed and Professor Oak's summer camp has started up, we see him and a group of young campers getting to camp on time, while Ash, well, he's still asleep because he broke his alarm clock. Clearly, we know this is going to be a pattern for him. But we meet two other campers in the meantime, Goh and Chloe, with the day's activities for the camp starting up. Of course, Ash eventually wakes up and starts freaking out over being late, heading out of the house still in his PJs, trying to get to Professor Oak's lab. Unfortunately, the group is out and having a good time walking around in nature already, as the professor is helping the campers learn in a very hands-on way more about Pokémon and what their futures could be as a Pokémon trainer once they reach 10 years of age. Goh starts becoming that one know-it-all kid who tries to show off their knowledge, making himself look cool to the other campers, while Chloe is just annoyed at him, wanting to hear the professor do the teaching, not Goh. The friendly and sometimes not-so-friendly bickering between the two causes them to fall behind from the group, with Goh exclaiming his plans of looking for a never-before-seen Pokémon. I mean, how cool would that be, right? The confidence and determination give off Ash vibes already. As he then gets his own spectacular Pokémon sighting, well, his and Chloe's sighting, as they witness Mew having a battle with an Nidoking. Witnessing this and all of Mew's abilities, they see it defeat the Nidoking and decide to follow after it once it begins to head away from there. We see how Mew can hide itself, as any other Pokémon. Because I've said it before, and I'll say it again, Mew is just a little goofball sometimes.

And now, since it's been some time since Pichu was picked up by Kangaskhan, Pichu is having a great life living with Kangaskhan, with the latter coming across the Mew itself and begins to try and follow it, causing distress for the mother Kangaskhan when she can't find her child. The baby Kangaskhan ends up in trouble, though, slipping from these heights it was scaling, now plummeting towards the water below. Mew ends up saving the baby Pokémon and bringing it back to its mother, much to her relief, as Mew then flies off.

Professor Oak finds Chloe and Goh, as they explain all that they have seen, with Oak saying that it was most likely the Mew that they saw, and that this mythical Pokémon carries within it the genes of every single Pokémon, giving Goh the goal of wanting to catch Mew one day, but not in the Team Rocket type of way where they want to use its DNA to create a Mewtwo, so at least there's that. Ash never got to partake in the summer camp that day since he was late, as we see him back at home, upset about this.

As we now fast forward in time a bit more, first we see Pichu seeing the struggle Kangaskhan goes through to not only take care of its own child but what it does to take care of the Pichu as well, as he thinks that he should head back out into the world himself, shedding a tear and sneaking away as they are sleeping through this love that Pichu felt and gave through being adopted into Kangaskhan's family. The Pichu ends up evolving into a Pikachu, excited to see this when it looks at its reflection in a puddle.

We then cut to 4 years later, as we have the start of the original series replay out, with Ash still having trouble being late getting to Professor Oak's lab to receive the last Pokémon he could offer to Ash, a Pikachu, with us now having learned about its past in the wild and how it evolved from a Pichu in the first place. As now we can jump to present day.

We start off once again with Ash sleeping through his alarm, as Pikachu wakes up and breaks it for him, but zaps Ash awake, as they have to head over to Professor Oak's lab. Oak is packing up a car, ready to hit the road to Vermilion City, as another professor is setting up a lab there, as Ash gets invited along to come see the opening. Ash's mom and Mallow also tag along, as they now hit the road.

When they arrive, Ash encounters a brand new Pokémon, one that is usually found in the Galar region, as this electric Pokémon known as Yamper is the first thing to greet Ash and Pikachu. We also see Chloe come around, walking past Ash to enter the building, as she lives there and it's just getting back from school. We then get introduced to the new professor for that city now, Professor Magnolia. As Chloe receives a text from Goh saying that he will be late to the opening, and much to her disappointment, Goh is busy waiting to see something special based on the weather conditions, pointing to the perfect setup for a legendary Pokémon to appear based on the professor's research and equipment. Apparently, in 20 minutes, a legendary Pokémon will appear.

With Ash rushing to the harbor where a crowd of people wait and watch the area for the entrance of something truly special, and right on time, the weather becomes the perfect matching conditions, as Lugia emerges onto the scene. With Ash immediately trying to challenge the beast to a battle, and then somehow both Ash and Goh jump to make their way on to Lugia's back, as it flies around, giving the two trainers an experience they'll soon never forget.

After getting some time just taking things in, Goh and Ash officially introduce each other to themselves, as these two quickly become friends. I mean, you don't get to have an experience like this without bonding over it, right? After Lugia lets them get off for the night, the two make their way back to the new lab, where Chloe greets them and isn't happy that Goh wasn't there for the opening. On the good side, Goh took some footage of the Lugia, as they explain to the professor what happened and what research data that they could provide based on what they learned. Because of this, Professor Magnolia offers them a chance to work for him as researchers whose goal is to meet and learn from as many Pokémon as possible, all in the name of his research. Goh jumps to saying yes, as Ash gets everything that could be an excuse taken care of for him to stay, as he can live at the lab, much like Chloe and Goh, with even Mallow getting able to stay there and help out. Goh gets offered to pick a Kanto starter Pokémon for his own adventure, but he refuses, saying that Mew will be his first Pokémon. I doubt it.

But Ash and Goh also are given some phones, where just like in the Alola region, both get taken over by some Rhyhorn, making them Rhyhorn phones to tie into the new video games at the time. Ash and Goh learn about the Galar region and the special powers that are locked to that region only, where they both get excited to go and investigate it to report back their findings and studies.

Upon returning, going to this new land is very exciting for them. Beyond just what will be special about this place, later the two just like to travel at this point. This brings us to meeting Scorbunny, the fire starter for the region, where the two end up trying to trace and track the bunny down, and this wild chase throughout the city ends up with Goh potentially having an attachment to Scorbunny. After dealing with the situation that they're in and continuing on in the region, the Scorbunny ends up making the decision to want to be with Goh, following him now to get on a train that both Ash and Goh have boarded.

As the train passes some more open land, it comes to a stop, letting us all experience the Wild Area, which are these sprawling locations full of Pokémon that trainers can enjoy and explore in large open parts of land between major cities and towns. Ash and Goh are excited to see what they can find and learn within the Wild Area, as now they also spot Scorbunny following them around, with Ash suggesting to Goh that he thinks the Scorbunny wants to be caught by him, coming all this way.

To prove that, but Go is just all like, "Nah, you're not Mew! Get out of here already!" Okay, maybe not to that degree, but he still tells the Scorbunny that Mew is his target first Pokémon to catch, causing Scorbunny to feel embarrassed for coming all this way and, overall, just being sad at Go's response, truly thinking that there was something special there between them.

But now, they end up seeing a Snorlax that has this red energy coming down that lands on it, seemingly taking over the Pokémon. As we see Snorlax Gigantamax in the wild, not only the size of the Pokémon changes, but the appearance does as well, literally having its own ecosystem growing right on its big old belly.

But they need to spring into action and help it, as this massive, tired beast is now completely blocking the train tracks, making things worse with limited time before the train would actually collide with that spot on the train tracks being covered. Now, moving a regular Snorlax with a Poké Flute? No problem. Moving a Snorlax larger than anyone has ever seen before that, if not moved, could have dire consequences? Probably a bigger problem.

Goh spots a large Berry that is grown on the tree on Snorlax's stomach, thinking that the real way to get Snorlax to wake up would be to get it hungry and eat. As they struggle to get this Barry and fully move it to get Snorlax up, Scorpan still decides to help out despite feeling pretty soured over Go rejecting him.

Go does see Scorbunny trying his best, as he asks Scorbunny to use Double Kick on the Barry, providing enough force to get the Berry moving. As Snorlax semi-wakes up to make sure it catches the Berry in its mouth before slamming back down, the force of the slam causes the approaching train to come to a halt. Which is good in a way; no major accident actually happened, only some major delays. But that's the beauty of public transit, right? Well, not in Japan! It's actually incredible there, and I'll explain my connection by mentioning Japan later on.

For now, Go thanks the Scorbunny for the help, as their teamwork saved the day. And while the bunny appreciates the compliments from Go, the happiness is short-lived, realizing it doesn't matter anyway; Go already rejected his want to travel with him. But Go stops the Scorbunny from walking off, and to the Scorbunny's surprise, Go offers Scorbunny to be his first Pokémon, getting over the pretty ridiculous idea of needing Mew to be his first Pokémon and can still have that want to eventually obtain Mew.

This nice moment is ruined a bit, though, since Go has no Poké Ball throwing experience and just can't properly capture Scorbunny. So, the rabbit just goes up to the Poké Ball, kicking the center button and capturing itself, giving Go his first ever official Pokémon. As Ash is excited to see this for him, Scorbunny comes back out as we see a cool, signature high five, or high foot, or whatever would be the name of this half-and-half concoction, a "high limb" regardless.

Go starts a nice friendship with his new Pokémon, as both him and Ash head back to the Kanto region to discuss what they witnessed with the Gigantamaxing Storla to the Professor. Scorbunny, however, wants to settle in with being friends with Pikachu and, hopefully, the Yamper there. But that Yamper be yappin', only becoming chill thanks to Pikachu, with Scorbunny feeling a bit left out, cluing us into some more complex feelings that the fire rabbit may struggle with in the future.

So now that we've gotten a taste of what I mean about region hopping, you can see how much more open this series already feels, where we can go and spend a couple episodes in the Galar region, then come right back to the Kanto region as a nice little home base. It's pretty cool to see.

Now, capturing his first Pokémon and getting over needing to capture Mew first, Go catches the catching bug and then literally goes and catches every bug in the Kanto region he could. That may be the most fun sentence I've ever written. Seriously though, Go captures anything possible, but it does show him failing to catch several other Pokémon as well. But it helps him realize that he now wants to capture every single Pokémon, and Mew is the ultimate Chase Pokémon for him.

There's over 1,000 Pokémon now, good luck with that, bud! Plus, stuff like Legendary Pokémon. Mew is already a crazy goal, but do you think you're casually going to capture even one Legendary Pokémon with ease, shocking everyone that you did? So, why do I have a feeling that will happen at some point?

Anywh who, to house all of these Pokémon, Professor S surprises Go and Ash with this massive biodome ecosystem for the Pokémon to live in a nicer, open space, which is much better than just being stuck in a Poké Ball and transferred to a PC somewhere, sitting in this storage system alone until the trainer decides otherwise.

The regional traveling continues as Ash and Go head to the Hoenn region for the Battle Frontier specifically, so Ash can partake in the Flute Cup competition, wanting to enter in with Pikachu and Mii. Which is cool to see Ash take Mr. Mime to go do something fun and out of the ordinary for that Pokémon. Go reluctantly decides to join in on the competition as well, mainly because Ash's persuasion is infectious, but sometimes maybe not the good kind of infectious.

Go does perk up once they arrive to the Hoenn region, seeing plenty of new Pokémon to go and catch. For the first round, Go is up, as this will be his first ever Trader battle, having his Bunny and Scyther to use. He sends out Scyther first to go up against his opponent's Midana, but didn't stand too much of a chance, being that he's literally brand new to battling. Midana takes out Scyther, with Go feeling bad for his Pokémon. Still continuing on, though, sending out Scorbunny next. But again, Midana defeats Scorbunny with ease, and this loss hurts Go as he rushes to the Pokémon Center and is realizing that he just isn't into battling; he just likes catching Pokémon, much like the base concept of Pokémon Go. Ah, you know what? His name makes sense now! He then quickly goes off to catch more Pokémon, even though Ash wanted to have him watch him in the tournament.

After some time has passed, Ash has made it to the finals to face off against the same trainer that beat Go, as Go returns from his adventures to finally watch Ash battle. Ash has Mii come out first, facing off against the trainer's other Pokémon, a Hariyama. Mii displays some awesome moves in battle, using those mime skills to show off both tactics and strength to defeat such a powerful Pokémon like Hariyama. While everyone is cheering on Mii, and he did appreciate getting a chance to battle for once, he's just done for now, letting Pikachu take the field instead to face off against the Mighta from earlier.

Pikachu's ability to string multiple attacks together to create a strategy that can help in almost every situation is always fun to see, being able to overcome the Midana speed tactic and encounter being hit and thrown into the air by slamming down with an Iron Tail, making it more powerful thanks to the force of gravity. As he defeats the Mighta, Ash officially wins this random little side tournament. For winning, Ash receives a cool set of flutes, and Go admits that seeing Ash battle makes battling seem a lot more fun than what he experienced during his first battle.

Another significant moment comes from their next bit of traveling, with reports from the Johto region that Ho-Oh has been spotted there recently. Ash wants to go and battle against it after all this time since seeing the Legendary Pokémon on the first day of his Pokémon journey, and Go just wants to catch it. Once they arrive, they head to the Bell Tower. It is there they believe to see Ho-Oh in the sky, having Pikachu send in an attack. But really, it was two Pokémon in a disguise, with their trainer responsible being outed to Ash and Go, as Go thinks that all the reports were a hoax thanks to this trainer being behind it all.

This trainer, named Chad, and his grandfather have this weird relationship to their feelings of if Ho-Oh is real or just a legend. As the grandfather did believe at one point, even getting Chad a Rainbow Wing from when he claims he had an encounter from some time ago, but now doesn't believe in the legendary bird existing despite Ash saying, "Nuh-uh! I saw one! Ho-Oh is definitely real!" But the grandfather brushes it off, saying he only thought he saw what he saw.

So, through helping out, trying to prove that Ho-Oh is real so Chad can make his grandfather happy to see the Pokémon does exist and to relive those feelings he once had from his past, the group head to the top of the Bell Tower. As the rain comes to an end, with Chad holding up the Rainbow Wing and calling upon the Legendary Pokémon to appear, a rainbow presents itself in the sky with nothing happening until a gust of wind takes the Rainbow Wing and delivers it to Chad's grandfather's hands. And having seen the belief that his grandson has, along with Ash and Go, he starts feeling some hope about Ho-Oh existing once more, joining in and calling out for Ho-Oh to appear.

After a bit with nothing happening, the grandfather still is filled with this sense of joy that he hasn't had in a long time and wants to continue looking to find Ho-Oh again one day, offering Chad to join him on these adventures. At this moment, the Rainbow Wing begins to glow, but Ash, Chad, and Go head inside for some food since they're all a bit hungry. But the grandfather stays outside for a moment longer, noticing that Ho-Oh has appeared in the distance, giving proof to him once more that this legendary creature is truly real and not just a legend. But no one else saw, so he becomes content with just enjoying the moment he's experienced here.

"Who's that Pokémon? It's Alakazam!"

Back in the Kanto region now, Ash and Go are sent to go find and report about Dragonite Island, an exclusive club for only Dragonites in their evolutionary line that is not easy to find. Ash and Go, however, get caught in a bad storm when searching for it and wake up to find themselves surrounded by Dragonite as they realize where they are. One of the Dragonites, along with the Dragonair, give Ash and Go a tour of the island, and it's a beautiful area that can't be found on any GPS as it's kept private from the world.

But at one point, Ash witnesses some Dragonair learn how to earn their ability to fly around, but takes note that their guide Dragonair clearly hasn't learned yet. Ash eventually learns how the other Dragonair were able to do so thanks to the move Dragon Dance, as he then offers to somehow train the Dragonair who can't fly yet to learn the move. After a bit of wacky training, Ash helps the Dragonair have that breakthrough moment and fully learn Dragon Dance, giving it the ability to fly like all the others.

But this joyous moment stops when Dragonair notices something is off because Team Rocket planned to pretend to be shipwrecked to bring the Dragonites to them. But of course, their plans get foiled. But through that, Ash is sent flying into the sky as Dragonair then swoops down to try and save him. But Dragonair's body is just too slippery for Ash to hold on to, so the love and gratefulness it feels towards Ash causes it to evolve into a Dragonite, successfully being able to catch Ash.

After all of the commotion, the Dragonite has become very fond of Ash, giving him a big hug as it would like to join Ash on his adventures. Ash excitedly catches the Dragonite, now adding a fan favorite OG Pokémon to his team. Even though they went to this island for research purposes to help map out where it is, if it even was real, they decided against making its location public knowledge for the sake of the Dragonite line of Pokémon living there in peace.

Speaking of OG fan favorites, we start learning about that the lab may be haunted by a Gengar, but more on that later.

Now we get to officially learn about the biggest competition in the world, the World Coronation Series. This all boils down to see who is the strongest trainer in every aspect of the word in the world. Is, yeah, this title isn't regional; this title is for the entirety of the world, if the name of the competition didn't give that away. Finally, the real challenge Ash has been waiting for his whole 25-ish years of being 10 years old.

This go around for the event is coming to a close already as Ash and Go get tickets to witness the finals take place in the Galar region. They even see a mostly obscured, mysterious Pokémon go past the plane before landing in the region, just putting that out there that could be for something later, probably something not good.

But the final match to determine the World Champion, a.k.a. the Monarch, is preparing to happen as we see a familiar face return to the show: the mysterious Elite 4 member and Gman member Lance, who we haven't seen in quite some time, so that's cool. His opponent, however, is Leon, the reigning Monarch and Champion. As Lance starts off with that shiny Gyarados he took responsibility of way back when, and Leon sends out his Charizard, with the battle between the two Pokémon being extremely aggressive.

The power levels are about to get even higher as Lance uses the power of Dynamaxing to make his Gyarados more massive and stronger. As Leon responds with what the crowd was waiting for, having his Charizard Gigantamax to become this new massive, flame-winged beast, as the audience enjoys what feels like this Kaiju fight right in front of them with how huge these Pokémon now are. While Gyarados sure is a lot more powerful than it was moments ago, Lance's Gigantamax Charizard is just on another level as it takes out Lance's Gyarados, leaving Leon the reigning champion of the world.

Ash is beyond impressed with what he just saw and is chopping at the bit to have a battle with him. Team Rocket starts some trouble with this now Gigantamax Dreadn outside the arena, with Ash and Go not too sure about how they can combat a Pokémon as big and powerful as this is right now. But just then, through the cracks in the ground, a familiar glowing red light shines through as it energizes Pikachu, forcefully growing him into his Gigantamax form, surprising them all. But this huge Pikachu now has to find its footing, no longer being able to be the fast little electric mouse it usually is.

Ash does his best to figure out how to command Pikachu in this situation as Leon takes witness to this, finding it odd that Ash doesn't have a Dynamax band that would allow him to have the power to Dynamax or Gigantamax his Pokémon in the first place. Now, with help from Leon telling Ash what to do in the battle, Pikachu is able to defeat the Dreadn as it returns back to its smaller, regular form, along with Pikachu returning to his. The comes to speak with Ash about what happens as Ash quickly challenges Leon to a battle, but they are both interrupted about illegally Dynamaxing Pokémon in the area right outside of the stadium. But Leon says that Ash is a hero and saved the stadium from any worse damage than it already received, getting Ash off the hook.

Ash spends the next day contemplating everything he just saw from Leon's battle, still wanting to face him. As Go tells him to sign up for the next World Coronation Series, as if he wants to make his way to the top eight trainers to take part in the finals, then he would need to register in the series, see where his ranking placement would be, and start earning his way up through the ranks to become one of the top eight trainers in the world.

To make it there, the rankings are broken down for Ash. For the top trainers, there are four groups to be in, with the Normal Class being any trainer with the rank of 1,000th best trainer in the world or anything beyond that. From there, to be a part of the Great Class, you need to be ranked between the 100th and 999th best trainers in the world. Moving up to Ultra Class, you must be ranked between the 9th and the 99th best trainer in the world. And finally, the Master Class, or the top eight trainers in the world. Winning battles is how you move through the ranks, and Ash sure does love to battle.

But before he signs up, Leon is giving Ash a fun, unofficial battle and even giving him a Dynamax band to control those abilities. Paul in the Gallow region sense these abilities to do so for their Pokémon is special to the energy radiating from Galar. As they begin to battle with both Pikachu and Charizard respectively, they both end up Gigantamaxing their Pokémon to make the battle more exciting and to really help give Ash a taste of what makes come in the future and what he should really train and prepare for.

Pikachu does his best through Ash's strategies, but the sheer power of a much more trained Pokémon in the mastery of this ability, Charizard, defeats Pikachu, with Ash losing the battle. Leon loved the battle, though, with Ash asking to battle again in the future as he accepts it with a smile. This next step of his journey is fully unlocked for him to be able to become a Pokémon Master. His next part of this path is to officially enter in the World Coronation Series and defeat Leon to become a World Champion.

As we now return back to the Kanto region, we get to experience some more traveling, like going back to the Unova region, which is cool. But remember when I mentioned Gengar earlier? Well, back in Kanto at the lab, Ash ends up coming across the Gengar as the other lab scientists try and figure out why the Gengar is here and haunting this place, as the Professor goes into exactly why, as this place was supposedly haunted when he bought it.

Well, come to find out, after Gengar is messing around with Ash a bunch, causing him to leave the lab for a while, Ash runs into a specific person in the streets of Vermillion City. And then we quickly find out that that Gengar was abandoned by that same person Ash had just bumped into, as the guy starts reflecting on how happy he was to abandon it, claiming how bad it was in battle and just being glad that Gengar has been gone now for 3 years. The guy promised the Gengar he'd return to pick it up from this abandoned site that eventually turned into the lab, but of course, the man never showed up. As Gengar has been waiting there ever since, trying to scare anyone there to leave.

In the meantime, Gengar, who has been hidden within Ash's shadow here, appears now emotionally angry at his former trainer after hearing all of these awful things being said. This causes Gengar to start attacking his former trainer until he runs off, but Gengar ends up disappearing as well, not willing to hear anything from Ash about it. And Ash hates that Gengar was so mistreated and has always had a soft spot for the Pokémon that are.

Team Rocket overhears all of this happen and ends up going to Gengar first to trick it into working with them. But luckily, Ash comes around and tries to persuade Gengar into helping get Team Rocket out of there, as Gengar is shocked that Ash, after all the ghostly torture he's been putting him through, is showing that he cares about him. Ash then shows that he trusts the Gengar, but puts no pressure on it to trust him back right away, and Gengar feels something his old trainer never gave it: love.

After Gengar helps take care of Team Rocket, he later on throws a Poké Ball to Ash with the intention of having Ash catch him. Ash does so as he now gets another really cool and iconic OG Pokémon on his team.

Ash goes to officially enroll in the World Coronation Series and learns that more than 10,000 participants are involved. The lower the rank number is on a trainer you battle and beat, the lower your number will go. So Ash ends up having a battle with Lieutenant Sergeant's Gym Leader substitute while he's out of town training, with their ranking being 2,109, and this would help Ash greatly reduce his ranking to a way better one.

We start off with the classic Pikachu versus Raichu matchup, and with this Raichu being trained just like Sares, the battle is tough on Pikachu, causing Ash to switch out to Gengar so Pikachu wouldn't be out of the fight just yet. Gengar gets to have some fun showing just how powerful it can be, and despite its previous trainer claiming it never won a battle for him, Gengar proves that it can, taking out the Raichu. The second Pokémon is an Electrode, though, and unfortunately, Gengar couldn't keep up with it in battle, getting knocked out, with Pikachu needing to come back in after a bit. When Electrode goes to explode itself, Pikachu saves himself from it by shielding within an Electro Web, revealing that Electrode has knocked itself out, and Ash is the winner.

With that, Ash's new ranking comes all the way down to 3,763, leaving him far from his goals, but a lot closer along his way. Continuing on with these battles, Ash has another opportunity to make larger leaps in ranks when facing this trainer named Oliver, who sends out his Meganium to go against Pikachu. Their battle isn't long, but Oliver's Meganium proves to be quite powerful as Pikachu works to combat a lot of the attacks coming his way. Luckily, Pikachu Iron Tails Meganium's throat, knocking it out and cutting Ash's rank more than half to 1,512.

In another similar battle, Ash faces off against Hayden, who uses his Tauros as Ash uses Pikachu again, ending in a win for Pikachu thanks to his Thunderbolt taking the bull out. But the rankings here aren't established to our knowledge as viewers.

As a mysterious Pokémon egg and Ash are having this weird connection based on Aura waves, soon later Ash gets given this egg from Nurse Joy. In surprise, it turns out to be a Riolu, the pre-evolution of Lucario, and an evo line that fans of the series have wanted Ash to have ever since Lucario first came around in the franchise. After doing a little bit of search and rescue with Riolu, the newborn Pokémon wants Ash to catch it, officially adding Riolu to his team.

Continuing their traveling to other regions, we end up back in the Kalos region where Ash has another battle to move through the rankings, with Pikachu defeating a Kwitzer as Ash now moves to the ranking of 1,022, making him so close to entering in the Great Class rankings. But Ash and Riolu sense something, leading them to find a Lucario not far from them, as they recognize it as none other than Korrina's Lucario, as she is there in the area as well. Excited to see Ash now having a Riolu, the two catch up and realize they both plan on taking down Leon in the World Coronation Series, with her current ranking being slightly better than Ash's at 1,001, meaning she's right on the edge of entering the next class.

Even more so, they decide to battle here, of course, with Ash having Riolu watch and study Lucario from the sidelines. The battle starts off with Korrina sending out her Mean Fu and Ash sending out Gengar. But after a few attacks, she swaps to her Lucario, who swiftly defeats Gengar. (H, maybe that other trainer was right about Gengar? I'm kidding, I'm kidding, it's a bad joke, I'm sorry.)

She swaps back between the two Pokémon as Ash sends out Dragonite, giving it a chance to shine in battle, and shine it does, defeating the Mean Fu with the Dragon Claw attack, leaving the fate of the battle up to Lucario again to face Ash's Dragonite. She Mega Evolves Lucario without hesitation as Dragonite gives it all it's got and still ends up pretty hurt from Mega Lucario's attacks. By the end of their battle, both Pokémon go in for one final move, colliding and hurting each other pretty badly. As now they try and outlast each other in stamina to stay standing, but Lucario ends up collapsing, making Ash the victor and technically now a Great Class ranked trainer with his new score being 921. Riolu is in awe of Lucario, though, hoping to be as strong as Korrina's one day, with Korrina and Ash enjoying the battle in general.

Ash and Go then head back to the Galar region for a bit as Ash ends up battling a Galarian Farfetch'd, giving Riolu some good training. But he even roots for the regional variant to keep fighting hard as well when it gets close to fainting. Thanks to this, and with Ash bringing the Pokémon to the Pokémon Center and getting it all healed up, when Ash asks if it wants to join his team to train and become stronger, the Galarian Farfetch'd agrees, with Ash now officially capturing it.

Ash is really focused on Riolu, especially since they have that Aura connection, as Pikachu starts feeling sidelined and forgotten about. After defeating another trainer, a part of the World Coronation Series, and his Electabuzz, Ash's rank moves a little bit, becoming 901. Ash is really pushing hard on Riolu, claiming to keep using Riolu in Coronation battles for now, and Pikachu really starts taking this to heart. Even though we've seen Ash sideline Pikachu so many times before, even having a whole series where Ash spends more time with a Froakie that ends up becoming a Greninja that Ash can essentially fuse with, but now Pikachu feels some type of way.

After Ash's mom comes to visit and Pikachu feels lots of love from her, he notices how little Ash has been giving to him as Pikachu decides now to make his way back by himself to Pallet Town, leaving Ash with Riolu behind. The jealousy and sadness Pikachu feels made it hard for Miami to convince Pikachu to stop, so for now, Miami just keeps company with Pikachu along the journey to Pallet Town. By the time they end up reaching Pallet Town, Pikachu has had plenty of time to think and decides to head back, wanting to still be with Ash. But to his surprise, Ash was there now too, heading back to get Pikachu as he apologizes to his best buddy for making him feel the way he did. And since they're there, at least they got to enjoy some of Ash's mom's home cooking, ending the night with them passing out together to sleep, and all is well.

Ash soon finds himself with another battle for rank against Crica, who, funny enough, uses Heracross for the battle with Pikachu coming out to face it. As yet another smaller battle ends in Ash's favor, bringing him to 890. He also gets to meet one of the Gym Leaders for the Galar region, Bea, and he has a battle with her for rank for the Coronation Series. Ash gives his Farfetch'd the chance to battle with Bea, who's using her Hawlucha. As the latter is able to get Farfetch'd to drop his leek, making it the only thing it can focus on trying to get it back. But even when it is able to get it back, the Lucha just shows off some wrestling skills to defeat Farfetch'd.

At this moment, she ends up switching out to her Grapploct as Ash sends in Riolu. The fight Riolu puts up is admirable as it shows off a lot of great technique from the training Ash has done with it. But Grapploct was just too powerful, getting Riolu in an unbreakable Octolock. As Bea tells Ash to call the match for the sake of Riolu, but Ash doesn't, pushing Riolu to maybe a little bit of an unsafe limit here as it couldn't break free, with Grapploct pulling off a final move, knocking it out, causing Ash to lose the battle and go back in the rankings to 930.

This starts sending Ash into a battle funk as his next match against an Octillery results in Riolu being defeated again and Ash dropping further down in the rankings, now at 975. But it doesn't stop there as he reactively takes another battle against a Tentacruel, with Riolu once again getting knocked out. This pushes Ash's ranking all the way back to 1,021, regressing him from the Great Class back to Normal Class. With his confidence soured a bit and him losing constantly, Go helps inspire Ash to get back into the right head space, and with his own battle skills from him fighting and catching a Flygon, Ash does come around again from seeing it. Pikachu and Riolu are both there for Ash to support him as Ash feels like himself again.

For a quick bit of R&R, though, Ash takes Go to the Alola region as we get a nice little reunion with the other students from the Pokémon School that Ash attended in the last generation, catching up with them in their lives, with Go getting to learn about the Z-Crystals and Z-Moves native to the region. We also see that Professor Kukui and Professor Burnet had their baby. This feels like a nice little bit of an epilogue for the Sun and Moon era.

Later in the Johto region once more, Ash and Go run into Bea as she has gone significantly up in the rankings. We also get to see one of the Gym Leaders from that region, Chuck, make an appearance as Ash recounts their battle together from back in the day. Off camera, Ash was able to have more battles and win them to raise in the rankings again, returning back to the Great Class. As Bea and him then get into a rematch, this time she sends out Hitmontop with Ash using Pikachu. Even though this Beyblade-enjoying Pokémon makes it difficult for Pikachu to land some solid attacks, Pikachu ends up coming out on top.

Bea brings Grapploct out now and pulls a similar move to what it did to Riolu in the last match, getting the best of Pikachu and knocking him out. Riolu steps up to battle, looking for redemption, being able to break free of the grip it was put in last time. But as they both collide with Close Combat and Force Palm, both Pokémon end up knocking each other out, settling this match as a draw with no ranks changing. Bea thinks Ash did pretty good with Riolu being able to escape that deadly embrace Grapploct has.

But now it's time to get into the video game storyline, taking plot points and aspects of the Sword and Shield games as things in the Galar region may just get a bit tough as Ash and Go head back that way. For now, as Ash's Dynamax band is starting to glow red on its own, at one point Go runs off to capture a Bunnelby with Ash in tow as they head into the Slumbering Weald. With the fog in that area making it hard to keep up with the Pokémon, on top of that, Ash and Go become separated from one another, leading to Ash getting greeted by the Legendary Pokémon Zacian, while Go ends up meeting the opposite Legendary Pokémon, Zamazenta.

They both realize quickly that whether trying to battle the Pokémon or catch them, that their attacks or Poké Balls go through them, leaving them unfazed. The fog gets worse with the wolf-like legendaries howling as we snap back to them individually, waking up at different points in the area and still being by themselves. They both end up witnessing something weird happening in the sky as what seems like stars are falling down across the region. But instead of being something magical to witness, it turns out to be deadly for the region real fast, with the falling stars hitting Pokémon, instantly transforming them to their Dynamax or Gigantamax forms, causing destruction to their surroundings.

Ash jumps in to help against the Gigantamax Centiskorch, with Leon flying in to help out as well, quickly taking care of the rampaging beast and getting it to revert back to its original size and look. Leon tries to calm the people of the area, claiming that he will figure out what is going on and stop it as Ash begs him to let him help. And who can say no to this kind of pure soul just wanting to help out? Ash gets on his Dragonite and follows Leon on his Charizard as they head to the other areas that need their help.

During this, Go is able to reach Ash with a phone call as they catch up about what's happening on each other's end of things as they plan to hopefully meet up later on. But for now, Ash and Leon begin to stop the next Dynamax outbreak infected Pokémon, with Dynamax Pangoro popping up to cause uncontrollable trouble. And all of that was just the start of "The Darkest Day" bit of story that was from the video games, with the major moments all about to take place. But more surprisingly, this early on into the series, not being a season 2 or season 3 thing, but rather just jumping into the madness and major moments right from the jump.

Essentially, Go works with Sonia, the assistant to the Professor of the Galar region, Magnolia, as well as being her granddaughter, as they try to understand more about the mystery of an ancient hero told through modern day. As this legend of the land and an event that happened 3,000 years ago called "The Darkest Day," fearing that it is what is happening once more. Based on their research thus far, they consider that the cause behind this event and everything happening now is the work of an unknown Legendary Pokémon.

Thanks to Team Rocket getting involved in the way they do, being told by Giovanni to sneak into this underground power plant in the Galar region, we get to overhear and see special Galar particles being forcefully put into the core of the power plant, purposely causing the outbreak of these Dynamax Pokémon. This provides evidence that the person behind this all is Rose, the Chairman of the Galar League and the person responsible for taking care of all the power and resources for energy in the region, who has some deeper ties to characters like Leon and Sonia. He mentions the name of a Pokémon called Eternatus that will soon be resurrected thanks to all of this energy, and apparently it can save the Galar region.

Go and Sonia dig in deeper to understand the original legend of the hero, finding out that the stories told today are wrong as there wasn't just one legend, but two, potentially. Leon and Ash take down more Dynamax and Gigantamax Pokémon as Rose and his secretary, Oleana, say hi to them. And Leon introduces them to Ash and mentions that Rose was the one who discovered Leon's talent to help position him for his career in battling he's reached. We also see that Rose is kind of shady, acting dumb in regards to the whole Dynamax issue, even though he's the one behind it.

Rose wants to get Ash and Leon to stop stopping his doings as he invites them to a special dinner, with Ash being hungry and Leon saying that he should go 'cause it may be worth it for him 'cause as for now, Rose is a person in Leon's life that helped change his for him. But Leon does think that something may be a little bit off. Because of this, he now sneakily investigates the energy plant to see if any of that is connected to what's happening and, furthermore, if Rose is involved in any way, hoping that's not the case.

During Ash's dinner with Rose, he is offered for Rose to represent him as a trainer in general, believing in Ash the way he did Leon. Ash denies this, though, as he wants to travel on his own path forward to earn what he gets in life, not wanting his dreams to be more spoon-fed to him, but going out and finding the real meaning of becoming a Pokémon Master all on his own. You know, let's not to say that, you know, that Leon didn't earn where got, he's definitely a great trainer, I'm just saying.

Go and Sonia eventually find a long-hidden-from-the-world area behind this main mural in these runes that they're in, proving that there were two knights who fought to stop the Darkest Day together as they had Zacian and Zamazenta with them. They take notice of the sword in the mouth of Zacian and the shield-bodied Zamazenta. Leon finally finds the core of this energy, leading him to the summit of the tower, seeing it in action caused the red star-like bits to go and affect Pokémon throughout the region. At this point, Eternatus emerges from the core as Leon figures out Rose is behind this all.

Go and Sonia head to find Zacian and Zamazenta where Go and Ash encountered them earlier. They both appear to Go at once, but leaving in the mist quickly. But Go moves further in, finding the altar of the legend as they find both a rusted sword and shield there, grabbing them and heading over to the Hammerlocke Gym where Eternatus is currently at after breaking free.

Rose meets with Ash and Leon at the stadium to deal with Eternatus, but Rose shows up and mentions his evil plans, claiming themself to be doing this for the good of Galar's future. Rose tries to manipulate Leon into doing his bidding and that it's doing a good thing for the future, mentioning that Leon needs to catch Eternatus in order to control it and use the Pokémon as this infinite well of energy to keep Galar operational. As Rose claims that the region has used all of its resources up and he vowed to find an alternative way to create energy ever since his dad died in an accident while working in the mines. Wow, this is very political for Pokémon in a way!

But eventually, Leon gets convinced by Rose's persuasion to capture the mistake mysterious legendary as it then begins using its own particles to transform a bit larger to fight back. Leon knows this Pokémon is too powerful, though, and with the access to it, only bad things will come, thinking that they have to capture it and then seal it away rather than using it for its resources for the land, thus disappointing Rose.

With Ash jumping in to fight Rose and his Pokémon while Leon figures out how to handle Eternatus, Go is there now as well, fighting against Oleana. But for Ash's battle, it's a double battle with Pikachu and Riolu facing his Fair Thorn and Karaja. During this battle, Rose sends in an attack to hit both Pikachu and Ash, with Riolu jumping in at the last second to shield them from the blow as it then evolves into a Lucario on the spot, giving Ash his own Lucario after all this time. Now it makes quick work of Rose's Pokémon, defeating Rose in battle.

Eternatus has had enough and transforms even further, becoming a much larger, curled-up being with what looks like a terrifying hand reaching down. So not only have we dealt with other Pokémon Dynamaxing and Gigantamaxing, but now this thing just Eternamax! Great! When it aims a powerful attack at everyone, the rusty sword and shield start glowing, waking up Zacian and Zamazenta as they now rush over, jumping to grab their specific item and transforming into their more fierce Crown modes, ready to fight back against Eternatus. Both of them, along with Ash and Go having their Pokémon attack, end up hitting and weakening Eternatus greatly as Go finds an opening to throw in a larger Poké Ball, officially capturing the legendary beast.

So that's wild, right? I mean, we can do that in the games, but that's not how it's really kind of supposed to work in the show. I mean, it's not fair! Ash never gets that kind of cool treatment; he just says bye to the Legendary Pokémon like nothing ever happened.

With Eternatus captured, Zacian and Zamazenta leave to head back now that the battle is over as the dark clouds begin to dissipate from the sky. The Darkest Day has been avoided and the average amount of sunlight day has begun. But Rose made an escape and went into hiding, with Leon setting out to find him. Professor Magnolia is able to take the captured Eternatus and seal the Poké Ball away. So sorry, Go, you don't get access to that power, and that's good too, 'cause it could corrupt you.

So was something so threatening avoided thanks to Ash and Go helping Leon along with the two legendary dogs? What's next? Well, our main duo head back home for now in the Kanto region, but then they also get a potential lead on where Mew could be, getting Go really excited to go and head out on this next bit of field research. Upon this random island that they head to, they run into Mewtwo. So not a bad consolation prize there, right, Go? Ash also recognizes Mewtwo this time as both Ash and Go want to initiate a battle. Yeah, it's a fun and interesting bit of battling, but it's really no use to think that you'd win; this is Mewtwo after all. So yeah, Mewtwo wins, but hey, it enjoyed both of their company and had some fun. But then Mewtwo makes it clear that this secret island of Pokémon is not open to humans being there.

Ash and Go then suddenly wake up outside of the lab in Vermilion City, thinking that Mewtwo carefully sent them home. I like to think he just flew over and dropped him, but hey, that's me.

But now there are many more journeys to cover in Season 2 of the Journeys era as we have finally reached the end of a jam-packed Season 1 of the show. From start to finish, the story moments we follow are pretty exciting, constantly building and thrilling moments from the World Coronation Series ranking battles, rarely offering some time to breathe with less focused moments. As we also get a bunch of Go's own adventures of just catching every Pokémon ever. Again, that's a crazy goal, but I support it!

"Who's that Pokémon? It's Alakazam!"

Now we enter into the second season, titled Pokémon Master Journeys, as we start to get some time building up Chloe's story a lot more than she ever was utilized in the first season. Go ends up asking her a bunch of questions about why she didn't have any Pokémon, leading to her saying that she doesn't want to feel the pressure to be like her father and following his career path, wanting to pave her own journey forward. When she figures out what that actually looks like, she goes into saying that she'll probably never end up having her own Pokémon. But that quickly changes as she builds an attachment to an Eevee very fast and officially has this Eevee become her first Pokémon. She even gets a Rotom Phone as she decides to go figure out her future path.

As it comes, Chloe ends up starting to travel on some adventures with Ash and Go, like when they head to the Galar region to see some pretty cool and rare fossils. But something you either love and think is funny or hate and think is dumb are the fossil Pokémon from Generation 8, as they only have certain complete and uncomplete fossils that get mixed up and put together during the revival process, leading to one of the funniest being Dracovish. I mean, look at it! Existence is pain! And with both Ash and Go getting to look after one of these creatures, Ash adds Dracovish to his team. So yay, a new Pokémon, whatever, whatever this thing is.

Ash has still been working on his battling for the World Coronation Series, currently all the way up to 415 in the rankings, as he has a match with Lester Oak's construction worker here, using his Farfetch'd against a Gerder. This match has some nice back and forths, but Farfetch'd gets the upper hand here, breaking the Gerder with his leek and striking the Pokémon directly and defeating it, bringing Ash to the new ranking of 381.

Ash and Go later on find themselves in the Johto region again as there have been sightings of the Legendary Pokémon Suicune running around, and much to both their excitement, it's truly the Legendary Pokémon itself, not just other Pokémon in disguise. Suicune just wanted to keep the lake clean from the polluters that are purposely dumping into it along with their Pokémon that are shooting sludge into it to make it worse. Ash and Go jump in to help the Suicune from all this madness, and Go ends up randomly just catching the Legendary Pokémon as everyone looks in shock, much like all of the viewers as we ask, "Did, did that just happen?"

But out of respect for the Legendary Pokémon's position in the world, having responsibilities, Go offers to let it go back out and be released. But a deal is made where that Suicune will technically be Go's to call upon if needed, but will still go out in the world for now. Go also gets a Grookey on his team. Yeah, the final Galarian starter Pokémon, and now he's got all three of them! Who does he think he is, Ash?

Speaking of Ash, he ends up training his Galarian Farfetch'd at the Castle of Chivalry because everyone could take some time to learn how to be proper and royal and use that newfound way of life to evolve into a Sirfetch'd. As it then helps to defeat another trainer for ranked placement, putting Ash at 184. Now that's cool and all, but I'm feeling pretty nostalgic a bit, so later on Ash gets a letter from an old pal, Iris, one of the main traveling companions from the Unova region, filled with updates about herself and how she is doing following.

Her goals. She's also taking part in the World Coronation Series, currently ranked within the Great Class as well. Ash is excited to read about all of this, but even more so that she invites him to come to the region and have a battle for rank. Not wasting any time and heading over there now.

As they wait for her to show up and greet them, a grand entrance begins. As we see that Iris, since we last left her in the show, has now become the Champion of the region. And after some friendly hospitality, it is time for them to have an official rank battle.

Starting off strong, both Ash and Iris send out their respective Dragonites. Ash's Dragonite is definitely a strong Pokémon, but still has a long way to go to get as strong as it can be versus Iris's Dragonite, who has had so much training and experience since we last saw it, allowing it to take the lead and weaken Ash's quite a bit. Causing Ash to swap out Dragonite before it was knocked out.

He then sends out Dracovish for an interesting match. But hey, Iris is really fascinated by the hybrid of ancient Pokémon that it is. Luckily, this ancient mismatch is strong, literally catching Dragonite's head in its mouth and then directly attacking it while it's in this compromising position, freezing Iris's Dragonite into a dragon-flavored popsicle and defeating it, giving Ash the first round win.

She now sends out her Haxorus, which yes, is her Axew from the Black and White era of the show, finally all evolved up to its final form, something the little Axew dreamed of doing. In proving Iris is all worthy of being this Dragon-type trainer that has fulfilled their destiny tasked with her from back when she lived at her village and helping Axew become a Haxorus. Displaying a show of force, Haxorus knocks out Dracovish quickly, evening up the match so far.

Ash brings back out his Dragonite, hyping it up, as Iris starts trying to communicate with it as well on a more human-to-Dragon level. Seeing that there is some true support and love between Dragonite and Ash going on, to tell it to have a fun time battling, as Ash always does, giving some true drive for Dragonite to give it his best shot. With Haxorus and Dragonite now going at it, the two Pokémon hold each other off fairly well. With Ash telling Dragonite to use Draco Meteor, that ends up overpowering Haxorus' defenses and knocks it out, leaving Ash the winner of this fun reunion battle between the two old traveling companions.

The victory, though, brings Ash's rank to 99, officially filling in the last slot of the Ultra Class, bumping him up into a new bracket. The two compliment one another on a great battle and look forward to seeing each other again soon.

Taking a moment to travel back to Pallet Town and see Professor Oak in his lab. Goh ends up discussing with the professor and Ash about seeing Mew all the way back at Summer Camp. With the professor bringing up something called Project Mew, which is a special group of researchers who all share in a goal of looking for Mew, adding other members to the team that have the same goal in mind. While that sounds cool, Goh denies Oak's offer to join that team, as he currently wants to keep his goal for himself rather than work with the team.

In the meantime, Ash gets to see a bunch of his old Pokémon at Oak's Ranch, all happy to see him again. Ash gets happy to see another familiar face in the area as well, and that's his longtime rival turned friend, Gary Oak. Gary, in a playful and friendly kind of way, makes comments to test Goh to see if he is a good and strong traveling companion for Ash. Goh gets a bit offended, but Ash tells Goh that Gary is just teasing him and that he used to get it way worse from Gary back in the day.

Gary mentions that the legendary bird Moltres may be around in the area, not far from here. As they all tag along with him to see if they can spot the firebird. They do, however, find Ash's Infernape along the way, who gets happy to see Ash again after all this time. This reunion is interrupted when Moltres does appear, as Infernape was looking to challenge the legendary Pokémon. And here it is, looking to respond to Infernape. As the battle starts between Infernape and Moltres, Gary jumps in with his Blastoise to help it out. Eventually, Goh joins in with his Cinderace, as well as Gary and Ash sending out their electric Pokémon, Electivire and Pikachu, to aid in the battle as well.

The show of force causes Moltres to head away for now, as Gary only wanted to battle it to earn from the Moltres what he just got, and that was a burning feather. As he is part of the Mew Project, and this was a part of his trial mission that he was sent on to go complete. Seeing Gary be a part of this and all that it entails, Goh officially takes up Oak's offer to join in on Project Mew.

Continuing on, Ash and Goh head to the Sinnoh region for Goh to arrive at the Project Mew lab, meeting with Gary once more at the lab. Goh gets introduced to the project itself and the person heading it, Professor Amaranth. And no, they're not a live streamer. The group's main goal is to look for Mew, and for Goh here, he needs to learn more about Mew, the project itself, and just overall start to really get into it. And to do that, he must go through several trial missions, like we just saw Gary doing one, in order for the project group to see how smart, tough, and prepared he is when it comes to the world of Pokémon. And after that, you'd be able to move up the ranks in the group to a Chaser, being a part of one of the Mew search teams. Goh gets put through a qualifier to even see if the trial missions are going to be something he can handle, as he has to go help find and capture an Alolan Ninetales in the area that needs to be returned back to the Alola region after becoming stuck here from a Pokémon hunter who stole it from its home and then their plane crashed in the area. Goh accomplishes this and now is able to receive trials to go on, as they will eventually get sent his way.

Ash and Goh get informed from Professor Sycamore that a Darkrai may be up to some of their old tricks and keeping people from sleeping, thanks to causing awful nightmares for them to experience. As Team Rocket are the first line of defense, holding back Darkrai from doing this.

Paleia Chloe ends up heading to the Sinnoh region with Ash and Goh already still there. And as she arrives there, she gets interested in hearing and seeing stuff regarding Pokémon Contests. In the meantime, she decides to camp in the area near a lake where she runs into a familiar friend that we know, Dawn. She's in the area as she's going to take part in the upcoming contest. As the two hang out and get to know each other, eventually the two start poking at one another, leading to some arguments, mostly from being deprived of sleep. As they end up having to work together to defend themselves from a Rhyperior with their Eevee and Piplup, and being able to defeat it together. Each of them are really impressed with how they handled themselves in the battle, becoming friendly with each other once again.

And now, at the same time, Ash and Goh meet the Darkrai responsible for the nightmares. While Dawn and Chloe encounter the Cresselia, who is currently pretty hurt. Dawn and Chloe attend to healing and taking care of it as much as they can for now. As the two end up getting into a personal conversation about stuff with Chloe's direction in life of what she wants to do. As Dawn offers a nice bit of advice and words for her to consider, that sudden realizations that come from long periods of thinking can help build where the great dreams and goals in life come from, and that Chloe wanting to try and do new things is good for her to help figure out that kind of stuff, seeing what she does or doesn't like, giving her something to think about now. When telling her that giving a try at performing in the Pokémon contest could be a lot of fun for her.

Team Rocket are the ones who are responsible for causing all the issues here, as they are still currently going after the Pokémon. As right now, they are engaging in battle with Darkrai, trying to capture it. As Ash and Goh finally run into Dawn and Chloe, as they realize just how small of a world it can truly feel like sometimes. As Ash is certainly happy to see a familiar face. In the end, they stop Team Rocket together and set both Darkrai and Cresselia free, as the two are in harmony with one another, with Darkrai having no intentions of causing the nightmares on people that it was doing, and really cared for Cresselia being okay. As they now both head back to their islands after this. With Chloe interested in trying the contest out and hanging out with Dawn for a bit.

Ash and Goh head back to the Alola region once more, and together they compete in a Catch Adventure Race. And you know, Goh is perfect for this, since he likes to capture every Pokémon ever. And surprise, surprise, they win. Ash is also able to grab his Z-Ring and Z-Crystal while he's there. As now they head back to the Galar region again for his next World Coronation Series battle with a returning Gym Leader from there to face.

Raihan. Ash starts off with Lucario, while Raihan chooses Luxray, making the battle a pretty explosive one right off the bat. Ash swaps out for Gengar at one point, as it starts getting the better of Luxray, causing Raihan to switch it up as well, sending out Dragapult. And surprisingly, Gengar gets defeated by it. Ash sends in Pikachu next, who traps Dragapult with an Electro Web, but before Pikachu can continue his attacks, Raihan swaps it out again, bringing Electivire out and hitting Pikachu pretty hard. So Ash pulls Pikachu from the match to send back out Lucario for now. Their little bout here leaves Lucario paralyzed, with Raihan swapping out again for Dragapult. But Ash calms and focuses Lucario for it to be able to land the perfect attack, knocking out Dragapult. With Luxray back out on the field, the two Pokémon used their remaining energy to face off once more, as they each directly hit each other, resulting in a double knockout. Pikachu and Electivire are brought back out for the final matchup, but Ash and Pikachu know what they must do to overpower Electivire, and that is to perform the Z-Move, 10 Million Volt Thunderbolt. As the massive attack completely knocks out Electivire, leaving Ash the winner of this rank battle, bringing his ranking up to 64. Raihan is left extremely impressed by Ash and looks forward to seeing what he'll do in the rest of the World Coronation Series, especially with some of the toughest opponents in the world left to face off in battle.

As some time passes, Goh completes further work into his Mew Project trials and even finds himself catching a Shiny Voltorb, which is pretty neat. We also meet Cynthia again, the Sinnoh League Champion, who is also in the World Coronation Series and perhaps is sitting somewhere in the top eight, being in that Master Class, but looking forward to how Ash will make his way through the ranks to get there as well, promising her that he will do so.

We then meet back up with Korrina, with Ash and his Lucario wanting to learn to Mega Evolve for their training. She gives Ash some Mega Gloves that unlock that Mega Evolution link between Ash and Lucario. As together they head out to get the Mega Stone needed for Lucario so Mega Evolving could even be possible for them. Eventually getting a chance to face off against a Mega Alakazam as Lucario's trial to earn the right to have the Mega Stone. But what the challenge really is, is for Lucario to get past him and get the stone. To which, after a bit of battle, Lucario is able to do so, earning the stone for himself.

But now it's time for Ash's next major challenge, as he has to face off against Bea again for a third time. Ash starts off with Pikachu, and Bea starts off with Grapploct. With Pikachu struggling to fully pull off any strategized combos, Ash swaps him out for Lucario, now facing off against the Grapploct that gave it plenty of trouble as a Riolu. Lucario comes in fierce to show how much it has grown in strength since evolving and training, but Bea ends up swapping as well, sending out Hawlucha instead. Lucario fends off a lot of the attacks from Hawlucha, but is clearly taking some damage. But seeing Lucario's determination, Bea swaps again, sending out her Machamp, to which she activates her Dynamax Band to bring forth Gigantamax Machamp.

When Lucario becomes fully overpowered by the hulking beast, Ash starts activating his Key Stone to Mega Evolve Lucario, but to his surprise, Lucario doesn't want to Mega Evolve right now, pulling enough strength on its own without it to attack back. With Ash, sorry to his Lucario, for trying to push him in an aggressive way to do so. During this moment, Leon shows up to watch and add some commentary over the battle, believing in Ash, saying that him and his Lucario have a really strong bond and they will perform a Mega Evolution at the right time for them to be in sync.

For now, now Ash swaps out Lucario for his Sirfetch'd, surprising the viewers of the match with the choice. As Bea swaps out to Hawlucha again, who quickly defeats Sirfetch'd. Pikachu takes the field once more and is able to keep up with the high-powered fast attacks Hawlucha can perform, as Pikachu ends things off with a perfectly timed Thunderbolt that takes Hawlucha out. Grapploct comes back out now and takes Pikachu out with its Close Combat, leaving Ash to just Lucario again. Now Lucario is able to really show Grapploct all that it's trained for, knocking the octopus out when their powerful moves collide, showing just how much Lucario has been preparing for this moment. Gigantamax Machamp comes back out to the field, where Lucario now gives the signal to Ash that everything's good to go and when he is ready with the Key Stone, as they successfully get in sync and Lucario Mega Evolves for the first time, being able to fully keep up with the Gigantamax Machamp. As they go back and forth trying to break the other one back down, Lucario ends up landing a Steel Beam attack that defeats it, leaving Lucario and Ash the victors of this rank match.

Ash's new rank is 36, as Bea shows respect to Ash for the match, looking forward to their next battle, seeing Ash as a truly worthy trainer. Goh continues on his Mew Project missions with Ash helping out. As we even see another familiar face along this most recent mission, being one of the Hoenn Region's Elite Four members, Drake, as Ash had battled him before in the past.

Let's get a couple of weird episodes here, since it's been a while since we've had some. And somewhere in another dimension, Palkia and Dialga are fighting again. Dawn is having some training struggles with her Piplup in the meantime, but then she becomes frozen in shock over seeing another Dawn grabbing her Piplup and heading through a portal, freaking her out. Calling the only number that she knows who can help, Ghostbusters, but they don't pick up. So then she calls Ash to come help.

Ash, Goh, and Chloe head over to Sinnoh to do what they can to figure out what is happening and how they can help. Ash at first thinks it could be an Ultra Wormhole, but Officer Jenny refers to these portals as more of gates between our world and another. Team Rocket tries doing their usual thing and gets pushed aside. But then a different version of Team Rocket that looked to be cosplaying at a Star Trek convention come around and snatch Ash's Lucario and Goh's Cinderace, bringing them back through the gate. As Ash gets knocked back, as Goh and Dawn go through the gate before it closes, with Ash and Chloe left on the outside.

The place they enter feels like a copy of their same world, just with a different skybox around them. Also, there seems to be no Pokémon around at all. As Dawn and Goh head to Dawn's house in this place and end up confronting the other Dawn that took her Piplup, who now runs back to her real Dawn. This other Dawn starts explaining what has happened here, and with her not having bad intentions in stealing Piplup in the first place, going on to say that one day all the Pokémon started regressing for some reason, de-evolving and eventually becoming eggs again. She apologizes for taking Piplup, but just was overwhelmed at seeing it again, feeling all these emotions ever since it turned into an egg for her. Goh notes that this world has been twisted and distorted, with Dawn bringing up Dialga and Palkia being able to manipulate space and time. Chloe and Ash start trying to figure things out from their end, thinking that Palkia has the ability to go between dimensions. As they head to the library to get some more information about this, where they run into Cynthia. She ends up explaining a lot about both Dialga and Palkia, as well as the creator of all, Arceus.

During this alternate dimension, Team Rocket open up a gate to come after them again, but this opens up a chance for them to cross to the other side. As Ash and Chloe go through the gate, and when they go through, they end up coming across Ash from the alternate dimension. The other Ash sees Ash's Pikachu and breaks down in tears, hugging it, as his Pikachu, much like the other Pokémon in this dimension, is nothing more than a Pokémon egg now. Together they head to regroup with Dawn and Goh, as they meet this dimension's Professor Rowan, who explains that this age-reversing effect isn't only for Pokémon, but anything living as well, meaning as humans, they could be getting younger by the minute.

Our group here head to the Spear Pillar and enter into the gate there, which brings them to a dark dimension where the controllers of space and time are still locked in battle. The alternate Team Rocket are the ones responsible for all this happening, using the Red Chain containing the power of Arceus to cause them to fight in the first place, and using the power of Palkia to have gates appear for them to travel through, and Dialga to reverse time, making Pokémon eggs again, so that when time can move forward, Team Rocket can raise every stolen egg that they get into Team Rocket Pokémon from birth. That's a pretty grand plan, especially for Team Rocket, but these alternate versions of them seem smarter. Anyway, as the funny armor that they wear is blocking the effects of time and space, keeping them safe and okay from what's happening. The Ash, Goh, Chloe, and Dawn from this alternate world show up and help. As both Ashes go after breaking the Red Chain, while the others and their other-world doppelgangers go after Team Rocket. Dialga surges its time power, hitting everyone, though, making all their Pokémon turn back into eggs, and them themselves turning into little kids. The only thing that they have left is their feelings, using them to send energy to Arceus, praying for the help to reverse all of this. Arceus ends up appearing, getting rid of the Red Chain and stopping Dialga and Palkia from fighting to start fixing this problem. As everything becomes undone, everyone returns to their right age, and all the Pokémon come back from their eggs to be their exact same Pokémon that they once were. Getting a chance to say goodbye to the other versions of themselves. Ash, Chloe, Dawn, and Goh get brought back to their dimension, as everything is okay once more, parting ways with Dawn and Cynthia, as Ash, Chloe, and Goh head back to the Kanto region, leaving us off here for the end of the second season of Pokémon Journeys.

Yeah, a whole random sci-fi filled adventure to end the season on a really fun note. It was surprising to see, and I think the story going on for it was genuinely really cool. It's nice to have these larger-than-life little bits of sci-fi moments in Pokémon here and there. But there is still a whole bunch left to cover, as Ash's focus on his run in the World Coronation Series being super close to making it to the top eight, and by extension facing Leon for his goals of becoming a World Champion, as he strives to become a Pokémon Master.

Who's that Pokémon? It's...

As we return back to the third season of the show, titled Pokémon Ultimate Journeys, we get a little bit of a special set of episodes that tie into the Pokémon Legends: Arceus game a bit. As Ash and Goh are in the Sinnoh region once more at a festival celebrating the rich history of the region. They end up running into Dawn again, as she wants them to get into the spirit of things, taking them to get traditionally dressed. As they go off to meet with Cynthia, who is there as well, and gets them fitted out and starts explaining to them a lot about the history of the region.

During this, Team Galactic is up to no good and are trying to capture a Heatran. As they corner and catch the legendary Pokémon, while Cynthia reveals more about Sinnoh's past. Ash, Dawn, and Goh all get to take care of the regional starters, or at least were the regional starters from back then, with Ash going to capture Rowlet, Goh going to capture Cyndaquil, and Chloe going to catch Oshawott, just so they can have that full authentic experience in the first place of how trainers would capture Pokémon back in the day. Really, this is all just to tie in to the video game for a fun bit of content.

But then a massive pulse can be felt throughout the area, thanks to Team Galactic having the Heatran and the Arceus energy-infused Flame Plate in their possession and using them for their plans. With that being to bring back their team leader, Cyrus, after what happened to him in the Diamond and Pearl era of the anime. Arceus is also alerted to the strange feeling, sending out the Lake Guardians to find help in solving whatever this problem is. As they now appear to our group, showing them horrifying visions. As Arceus appears to them, quickly scattering away after this, leaving the group confused, but letting Ash and Dawn reminisce about working with the Lake Guardians before when they had to help Palkia and Dialga.

The group end up running into Brock, who is helping out some Pokémon in the region from all that's going on. But when seeing his old pals and meeting Goh for the first time, he decides to go with them on their trip to Mount Coronet, giving them a ride there. As he helps break down what the spirits showed them earlier, thinking it was a plea to help out in the situation sent from Arceus itself. With Team Galactic setting things in motion and getting into some more chaos with the Heatran, Ash notices as they approach the madness that it looks like the visions of fire that they saw. Team Galactic ends up bringing the Heatran to the Spear Pillar, as the Guardian Spirits try to calm the Heatran down. As it changes into a ball of flames and lava. With this immense power and its loud roars, the space and time portal above react to it, as Heatran becomes more powerful than ever, thanks to the Arceus Flame Plate that it's been given. With Team Galactic trying to protect Heatran from the others coming to save it and stop their plans, sending out Pokémon to battle during this. As some are trying to stop Heatran, Brock and Cynthia start digging their way through the mountain, figuring if they can get to Heatran and make it lose its balance or footing, then the madness can stop. But things may be too late, as a beam of energy strikes down on Heatran, feeding it the fuel to now open the space-time rift. But now that this is done, Heatran seems to be a ticking time bomb, ready to go off from the stored energy inside of it, now with enough power to wipe Mount Coronet off the face of the Earth.

But again, Arceus appears, bringing in some justice over what just happened, stopping the massive damage to the land, as well as Team Galactic. Pikachu helps get Heatran free of the Flame Plate, as all of the Pokémon and people try and stop the explosion from happening. But Arceus is able to contain it once it goes off. With the remaining Team Galactic members begging for answers about the whereabouts of their leader to Arceus, but get no answers, as they are arrested. Arceus flies off and the day is saved in this smaller tie-in adventure.

As we then get a look into the past of Poké Balls being made and this trainer about to set off on his journey into the world of ancient Sinnoh. Fun stuff. But now for the main part of the show, huh?

This season also offers some more fun callbacks, like seeing Butch and Cassidy from Team Rocket making a return, but are no longer a part of Team Rocket. I just think they're cool characters and it's a brief surprise to see them again. We meet Sophocles from the Alola region again, as he has his head in the stars for his research and overall interest in life.

Going back to the Galar region, Ash and Goh end up meeting the technical regional bad guy team, Team Yell, as they have their around spirit for the Gym Leader Piers and Marnie. With Marnie making her much-anticipated entrance for the anime that fans of her from the video games have been waiting for. Ash also ends up having a rank battle with her, with Ash using Gengar and Marnie using Grimmsnarl. As after a bit, she Gigantamaxes Grimmsnarl, with Ash having to respond by doing the same with Gengar to make this a way more explosive match, leading to Gigantamax Gengar being able to hit the Grimmsnarl one too many turns have happened, and the Grimmsnarl changed back to the regular version of that Pokémon, knocking it out and leaving Ash the winner with a new rank of 15. With Marnie eventually offering Ash a smile in return for a fun battle, as they shake hands and we move on from there.

Goh continues on with his Project Mew missions alongside Gary and some others. As at one point, they end up having to battle against an Articuno.

Ash and Goh later end up in the Kalos region once more, as we reunite with Clemont and Bonnie to catch up with them. Clemont also helps Ash run tests and train to fully help out Ash's Sirfetch'd and Dracovish, getting them to learn some new moves and become more ready for future battles. As they end things off with a friendly practice double battle, where Ash ends up winning, feeling more confident with these two Pokémon, as the two have even bonded with one another.

His next rank battle is with the Kalos Elite Four member, Drasna, as Ash sends out his Sirfetch'd and her sending out Noivern. Hey, good choice. Sirfetch'd is able to last a good bit in battle here, dealing some good damage to the Noivern, but in the end gets hit with a direct Dragon Pulse from Noivern after dodging Sirfetch'd's attack, stunning the royal guard of a Pokémon. As Ash swaps him out now to send in Dracovish. As it was able to get some powerful attacks back at Noivern, but Drasna does the same, swapping out for her Altaria instead. During the battle, she ends up Mega Evolving it, giving it defense from Dracovish's Dragon-type attacks. Ash then swaps back to Sirfetch'd, who lands a Meteor Assault attack, knocking Altaria out as well as itself, leaving the battle up to Dracovish and Noivern to close it out. Even though Dracovish is getting bodied a bit by the bat, it still has the strength to stay in the fight, colliding attacks with the Noivern to the result of Noivern collapsing and Ash winning the match, changing his ranking all the way up to nine, meaning he is one placement away from entering the top eight.

Ash, Goh, and Chloe head back to the Hoenn region, where Chloe ends up the winner of a Contest Pass and fully gets pushed into giving the contest side of things a shot. And ends up meeting Serena, as they discuss Eevee and Eeveelutions, as well as giving her advice about her forging her own path forward. As Serena sees a lot of herself within Chloe from how she felt with her struggles during the XY era.

Ash ends up meeting Wallace again after all these generations, as they reflect back on some stuff like the Wallace Cup, giving us a cool look back of Dawn and May. But now, as Ash and friends are already heading out of the area, Ash spots Serena just a little bit too late, as the two have a brief moment of saying hi to each other with smiles on their faces, still hoping to meet in the future as they both work on their goals for another reunion.

Ash meets with his Greninja again after he heads to the Kalos region, with his Lucario being able to get some practice in with it. As Ash takes note about how similar these two Pokémon are and how they have such a close bond with him in different ways.

Ash's next battle to get into the top eight is with the Galar Gym Leader, Raihan, as he sends out his Flygon with Ash sending in Dragonite for the battle. Both Pokémon offer some awesome fights back and forth, changing up strategies on the fly, but Flygon swoops in quickly to stop Dragonite from sending in Draco Meteor, as he gets hit by Steel Wing and ends up being knocked out. Ash sends out Gengar next, who keeps getting hurt by Flygon, making things look rough. As both trainers here really want this win and have the drive to face and defeat Leon to become World Champion. This drive keeps Ash focused, but he needs a new strategy. So instead of waiting to Mega Evolve Lucario like he originally was going to, he decides to Gigantamax Gengar instead, giving it the power to stop Flygon from buzzing around and ends up defeating it.

Raihan sends out Goodra, as it hits Gengar with a barrage of Water and Electric attacks that weaken Gengar quite a bit. But Ash sticks with Gengar here, as the two Pokémon collide, a Hydro Pump with Max Starfall that leaves both Pokémon unconscious and unable to battle. With one Pokémon left each, Ash sends out Lucario, as Raihan sends out Duraludon. Things may look bad, as Ash already used his one-per-match special ability boost. As Raihan now uses his Gigantamaxing his Duraludon into this giant skyscraper of a Pokémon. Things aren't looking too good in Ash's favor, but he stands calm and ready, finding the perfect link with Lucario, syncing up with their auras, as Lucario unleashes a world-shattering Aura Sphere that takes out the Duraludon, making Ash the overall winner, putting his rank now at eight, qualifying him for the Master Class.

The final eight now include Leon, Cynthia, Steven Stone, Dethia, Lance, Iris, Alain, and of course, Ash.

In a moment of downtime, we get to revisit and finish off a story from the previous generation about Lillie and Gladion looking for their supposedly alive father. They arrive in the Crown Tundra and follow all the leads that they have to a house where inside, a man that seems to be their father is inside. As Lillie gives him a hug. After speaking with the man further, who they then confirm by name that it is their father, we learn that the Ultra Beast incident that at one point they believed killed their father didn't. Instead, the shiny Ultra Beast here found him in Ultra Space, bringing him back here to this world, just not to the right location. Unbeknownst to the Ultra Beast, in connecting with him and seeing his memories, hearing him utter the name Lily and adapting that name if he mistakes it for her. The beast cloaked their look to seem like Lillie to him, and then began growing an attachment to the man. Everything comes rushing back, and the illusion of this Ultra Beast being his daughter wears off, as he begins naming every member of his family when looking at them, with Lusamine crying tears of joy with them all sharing in a big hug before the small Ultra Beast leaves. Lillie asks if it will stay with them. It saved their father, and in everyone's eyes, it's family. As they all hold up a Beast Ball together and capture it, ending on taking a photo of them as they all live together happily ever after. A nice, yet weird end to that storyline from the last generation.

That along with Ash, Goh, and Chloe, everyone heads back to the Alola region for some more good vibes and reuniting with Ash, even getting to have a fun Battle Royale with Professor Kukui, Kiawe, and Gladion, with no result given about who wins. We even get a surprise hello from Tapu Koko again. Goh even completes all of his Mew missions, making them eligible to be considered Chasers for the Project now.

Ash heads home to Pallet Town for a bit of training, but he meets a familiar face there that we haven't seen in like four generations, and that's Paul, one of his old rivals. Ash's Infernape seems to have made full peace with Paul based on the issues of Paul abandoning the Pokémon back then and Ash taking responsibility for training it. From there, Paul comes back as a way of training for Ash, with them agreeing to battle, but he only wants to battle the Pokémon Ash is going to use in the top eight matches. Ash agrees to this and grabs his Pokémon for the match, as they start.

Ash sends out Lucario first, with Paul sending out Gyarados. With the two wasting no time trying to show their power in battle, as Lucario comes out on top for the first round victory. They both send out their next Pokémon, with Ash using Dragonite and Paul using Garchomp. This match doesn't go quite the same, as there is some good back and forth, but Garchomp is able to counter Dragonite's attacks and land a final Dragon Claw, defeating Dragonite. Now for the last picks, Paul sends out Metagross, as Ash sends out Gengar, who thanks to its new Will-O-Wisp move, is able to defeat Metagross in the end with a Shadow Ball, making Ash the winner between them. Goh takes note that the three Pokémon Paul chose for this battle each represent the main partner Pokémon from Steven Stone, Lance, and Cynthia, all as a way of potentially prepping Ash for what's to come. Paul also announces that he was offered to become a Gym Leader, only now being reassured of this thanks to a good battle with Ash. While Paul is still kind of a prick sometimes, it's good to see his growth going in a nice direction.

But now we get to the big showcase, the Masters 8. As everyone begins arriving in the Galar region. Ash gets to have a little battle with Leon's little brother, Hop, and he wins. But everyone else begins to arrive, as Iris and Ash reunite again, with the others all showing up and meeting those that they haven't properly met yet. Alain has found himself a new Ring and Mega Stone for his Charizard again, which is nice to see for him since we last left him in the XY era. The matchups to start things off have Leon facing Alain, Dethia facing Lance, Iris facing Cynthia, and Ash going up against Steven Stone.

The battles start ripping through, as Leon takes out Alain and his Mega Charizard X right off the bat. As Leon waits, facing Dethia in the semifinals after she ends up defeating Lance. Up next is Iris's battle with Cynthia, as this one offered the most spectacle thus far. As Iris gives it her all, but in the end, Cynthia takes the victory. With Ash sad for Iris, as she ends up breaking down a bit, but she is still going to be rooting for Ash the whole time, no matter what.

And now it is time for Ash's big moment. His first battle is here, and he starts thanking everyone who helped get him to this point, taking position on the battlefield against Steven Stone, as they get ready to begin. Steven starts off with his Shiny Metagross, of course, with Ash using Dracovish, as the two start going at it. Metagross, especially Steven's, is just too powerful, but Dracovish has a lot to offer in battle, causing quite the challenge for Metagross. Steven ends up swapping out to his Aggron instead, who is able to end things off with a Heavy Slam and taking out the Dracovish, as Ash doesn't get the first round victory. But that's okay, he's mentally prepared to stay focused in battle. He sends out Gengar, hitting it with a Will-O-Wisp right away, giving the Aggron a little burn, thanks to this, slowly draining the beast. Aggron eventually collapses later in battle and ends up defeated. Everyone who was in Ash's life and watching right now is excited to see him doing well and get this knockout, from his friends in the seats of the stadium to Professor Oak, along with all of his previous Pokémon watching back home.

But the match isn't over yet, as Steven sends out Cradily. As it non-stop hits Gengar with so many powerful attacks that it defeats it fairly quick, leaving Ash with only Pikachu left. Which is a good thing in a moment, but first, Pikachu has to defeat Cradily, which he does with a flashy Iron Tail. But now it's good, because Steven's last Pokémon is just his Metagross again, and Pikachu has defeated many a Metagross throughout his journey with Ash. So Pikachu gives it all he's got against the toughest Metagross battle he's had to face yet, especially once Steven Mega Evolves it. So Ash and Pikachu sync up for their 10 Million Volt Thunderbolt attack, that Pikachu has full control of its direction, avoiding Metagross's deflection of it, striking Metagross and winning the battle. Ash now is able to move on to the semifinals and face off against Cynthia. Steven gives his compliments to Ash for a great battle, as he believes Ash has what it takes to defeat Cynthia.

Leon and Dethia begin their battle, making the start of the full six-on-six setup. Leon ends up defeating Dethia, as the reigning champ now awaits for the final finalist to face him in the finals.

Finally, Cynthia is ready to face Ash, as she claims that after this whole event, she wants to retire from battling, shocking to hear, but if that's the vibes, that's the vibes. The battle starts with Ash choosing Dragonite, and Cynthia choosing Spiritomb. And Ash loses that first round victory, with Spiritomb overpowering Dragonite and defeating it. With Ash choosing to send out Gengar, as she swaps out for Roserade. As Gengar gets another Will-O-Wisp attack to hit, slowly burning the Roserade. With Cynthia repping back to Spiritomb, making the matchup more spooky, but the ghost Pokémon battle results in Spiritomb taking down another of Ash's Pokémon. Where Ash needs to really start picking up the pace here, or he's ghost, sorry, I mean toast.

Pikachu comes out to face her newly swapped out Togekiss, that Pikachu ends up starting to battle until she swaps out again, this time for a Gastrodon. We really need a swap limit, I swear. Pikachu though, powers through to defeat Gastrodon, giving Ash more confidence in the match. She sends back out Spiritomb for the 900th time, as Pikachu holds up as best as he can to avoid all the tactics that worked on Ash's other Pokémon. Cynthia pulls a surprise, though, having Spiritomb unleash its darker power, going in and popping back out of its Key Stone to now resemble this much larger show of force. As it grabs Pikachu with Destiny Bond, forcing the remaining energy out of Pikachu and itself, resulting in a double knockout. Ash is feeling the heat, but he moves forward, sending out Dracovish. As Cynthia sends out Garchomp. She lets the land shark land some heavy hits before she swaps out again for her Roserade, who is still under the burn effect left on it. Dracovish uses this to its advantage, taking out the Roserade with a Samurott. While pretty hurt, Dracovish wants to keep battling, sticking on her Milotic now, as long as he can, delivering a few powerhouse hits that hurt the Pokémon, but Dracovish ends up gassed out and unable to battle. Ash uses Sirfetch'd now, as it pushes through Milotic's attacks to get in a powerful Meteor Assault, defeating the serpent. With Garchomp back out now, while offering a valiant effort, Sirfetch'd ends up defeated not long into their bout. Ash sends out his final Pokémon, Lucario, as Cynthia swaps her Garchomp out for her Togekiss, surprising Ash, who was waiting for her to Mega Evolve Garchomp, but instead Dynamaxes her Togekiss. Ash responds with Mega Evolving Lucario to make this a powerhouse fight, but thanks to Ash getting in sync with Lucario on an Aura level again, Lucario sends out a massive Aura Sphere that nearly takes out Togekiss. With Cynthia really enjoying the match so far, even if her Togekiss goes down moments later thanks to Lucario. Garchomp comes back out now for the final part of the match, with the two Pokémon now going blow for blow, being swiftly fierce and incredibly tough, proving that they are both powerful individuals, even when weak and nearly out of the battle. Lucario is able to launch a powerful counter to Garchomp, as they both knock each other to the sides and down, and Lucario uses whatever strength it has left to stand up, with Garchomp left unconscious on the ground, resulting in Ash winning the battle and earning the second spot in the finals to face Leon in the most important match of the competition.

The battle was so good that Cynthia changes her mind about not wanting to battle anymore after this. She congratulates Ash on the battle and is blown away by how connected him and his Pokémon are.

Before the final match takes place, we get a brief moment of downtime to recharge. Eternatus's Poké Ball is no longer sealed away, and Goh leaves the Pokémon under the care and watch of Leon. As Goh has to leave himself, saying goodbye to Ash for however long he's going to be gone due to being called away for the Project Mew thing. They share a fist bump and are making sure that each other are following their dreams. Dawn ends up coming to watch the final match for Ash, which is just nice to see.

But now, Leon and Ash get ready for the biggest battle of the entire franchise ever. Ash is going to start things off with Pikachu, while Leon chooses Cinderace. With at first, things going in a more regular fashion of trading some blows back and forth, but both of them swap Pokémon fairly quickly. As Ash sends out Gengar, and Leon sends out Inteleon. With Ash choosing to use his extra ability up front, having Gengar Gigantamax, but this does result in Gengar defeating Inteleon, giving Ash his first round victory of the finals. Leon starts getting more into the battle, and it gets heated, enjoying it more and more the more challenging his opponent is. Leon now sends out his Mr. Rime, as Ash underestimates this silly little Pokémon a bit, until it's able to change the terrain and finish off Gengar, evening back up the match. Ash sends out his Sirfetch'd next, but using it to fix the terrain advantage that Mr. Rime had set, switching back out to his Lucario, and oh boy, is Lucario locked in for the fight, sensing all of Mr. Rime's movements to eventually then take it out. Leon brings out Dragapult next, as Ash swaps to Dracovish, and Dracovish is able to provide quite the fight for Dragapult, even pulling out a secret drip bit of power when its spikes start glowing red, bringing forth this ancient energy that helps it really weaken Dragapult, but not fully knock it out, as its Dragon Tail attack forces Dracovish back into its Poké Ball. With Dragonite coming out by force, but Ash is ready to strategize on the fly, having Dragonite grab onto Dragapult and slam it into the ground and delivering direct attack moves right to it, taking Dragapult out. Next up, Leon chooses Rillaboom, who avenges Dragapult by taking out Dragonite. As Ash now sends out Sirfetch'd once more. Rillaboom puts up with Sirfetch'd for a tiny bit until it's had enough, slamming him into the ground and taking him out as well, leaving Ash in a more worrisome spot, but the battle's not over yet, as he sends out Dracovish again, who wants to get some payback for Sirfetch'd being taken out forcefully, returning the powerful hits to Rillaboom, knocking it out. Cinderace is sent back out, as it gets to play on the field a bit with Dracovish, but then it swoops in and High Jump Kicks the mixed-up fossil to nearly make it go extinct again, taking Dracovish out now as well. Ash sends out Pikachu, as this is his last chance to beat Leon, and Leon swaps out to Charizard, as he wants to make it a fun and easy, yet exciting finisher, Gigantamaxing the Charizard right away. With Pikachu surviving what he can from the towering beast, opting to use his Z-Move, as they send in a 10 Million Volt Thunderbolt, with Leon's Charizard using G-Max Wildfire, causing...

Both attacks to connect together, resulting in a massive vortex forming as they both struggle and fight for power. Fire versus electricity, going at it just as hard as the Pokémon themselves would.

This power is activating something within Eternatus, though, as the Galar particles are starting to react in a different way. This attack results in a massive burst of energy that fades away and showcases that Charizard is now back to his regular size and form, with Pikachu still okay. But from all the power of that energy, the clouds over the stadium have not gone away, making it seem like there might be another problem brewing.

But Eternatus comes and makes an appearance for all to see. But in a surprising moment, Eternatus shoots his attack into the sky, ending the dark clouds above and reassuring everyone that this Legendary Pokémon is now the protector of the region, as it leaves both Ash and Leon with a gift before it flies away.

Now having full, full recharge, the abilities for Dynamaxing or Gigantamaxing, so who are they to waste the gift, right? And break the rules, use more than one special in the battle? It's fine. Leon swaps out to his Cinderace again and chooses to Gigantamax it, while Ash does the same with Pikachu. As Pikachu uses the power it has to quickly take down the larger-than-life fire bunny, leaving Leon with only Charizard now, sending it back out.

As this is it, one Pokémon left each, and Pikachu is turned back to its regular size. Both trainers have loved the battle, truly believing to have given it their all so far. Ash makes it clear, though, that from the moment that he met Pikachu, this is the moment that encapsulates everything they've done so far on their journey. It all comes together right here, right now.

The two go all in for a while, not wasting any bit of energy. But later on, in a moment where Pikachu becomes dazed and falls over, leaving the crowd with bated breath, the screen cuts to black as we hear the first words Ash ever said about Pikachu when he first saw him at Professor Oak's lab, leading us to a white void where Pikachu looks around to see every single Pokémon that Ash has ever captured cheering him on, every single one from every generation, leading to Ash walking up to him to give him the power to get back up.

As then we cut back to the match with Pikachu going Super Saiyan with the backing of the original Pokémon theme song, backing up this incredible final bout between Pikachu and Charizard, as this all-out battle turns into the most satisfying climactic moment in the history of Pokémon. Everything has built up to this moment where you know Ash is finally going to win, and do so with Pikachu, thanks to love and friendship over this incredibly long journey, all with the music from your childhood making it more tear-jerking, nostalgic than anything you've ever watched.

As the screen then cuts to black once more, with Pikachu now waking up to Ash above him, happy to see him, as they are now at the Pokémon Center with him recovering from the battle. But don't worry, we cut right back to the results of the battle as we see Charizard then falling over, with Ash receiving the title of Monarch now, and everyone around the world watching this happen live. Ash and Pikachu embrace in a hug of so much love and gratitude for everything that they've accomplished together to be here. Leon congratulates Ash on an incredible and fun battle, hoping to battle again someday, as Leon can go back to just being another Challenger with no title to his name.

At the end, Ash is awarded the trophy with his full team behind him in support, celebrating everything they've worked hard for. The next day, Ash is woken up to a phone call, hoping it's from Go with some news about Project Mew. We then jump a bit back as we go to the start of Go's journey for this particular Project Mew event, as we see him with Gary and the others going to a faraway island, as they go and officially search for Mew there. Their exciting adventure brings them into the middle of a Groudon and Kyogre event, as they all have to deal with these Legendary Pokémon.

But even after that, just seeing the sight of Rayquaza flying by, Go falls back into the ocean, only to be saved by none other than Mew, who drops him in again, leading to this whole altercation with Mew and a bunch of other Pokémon that, by the end of it all, Mew and Go become friends, showing the others this. As then the Project Mew team disbands, still open for a return on expeditions under their Chasers jobs if they want to do so, and thus leading up to the phone call of Go ringing Ash and explaining to him everything that just happened.

As then he asks and wants to hear all about this battle with Leon. Ash spends time going back to Pallet Town before he heads back to Viridian City with Go, as they both talk about the next steps in their paths, specifically taking them in different directions and wanting to go face these journeys on their own. This didn't go over so smoothly with how they discussed it, and Go gets pretty emotional over it. But Chloe mentions to Ash that Go just means he it was his first true friend he's ever made on his own journey, so even if he wants to go alone, it still hurts that Ash declared that he wanted to go alone in a less emotional way as well.

Ash and Go end up working it out and easing up on the tension, seeing Pokémon in nature naturally evolving as they get an alert that pops up on their phone as a legendary Pokémon is about to appear, bookending their journey with Lugia making an appearance once more, as they send out their Pokémon to try and battle it. But through trying to capture it and it failing, both of them start falling off a cliff that breaks apart, only to find themselves now on the back of Lugia and flying around, as Ho-Oh ends up flying alongside Lugia, making a meaningful moment for Ash to happen to see Ho-Oh again as well.

Later on, Chloe reveals that she is following in the footsteps of her father, working as a Pokémon researcher at the lab after all, but coming to this decision on her own. Go leaves all his Pokémon at the sanctuary that they built and only holds on to Grookey and Rillaboom, and of course, Cinderace. Ash and Go start leaving from the lab that they've been living in and part ways officially, with Go ending up at the Cerulean Gym, meeting Misty, and Ash having a moment to reunite with his Butterfree that he let go all the way back in the original series when it found a mate with this pink Butterfree. My Mom is back at the house as well and places a group photo of everyone at the lab with all their Pokémon on the mantle, thus ending the third season of the show and technically the final season in general.

Oh, but wait, there's more. Well, you see, there is sort of this whole special episode and then an 11-episode epilogue that add in the true end to Ash's Pokémon journey. So please join me in a special segment where I celebrate the journey I've been on with Pokémon my entire life, from the first day it aired on TV in the United States, being September 8th, 1998, until premiering in the States on September 8th, 2023, 25 years later, exactly. Who's that? Pokémon!

It's an. We start off in these extra episodes to sunset Ash under the banner of "To Be a Pokémon Master," starting with Ash coming to a crossroads while journeying alone, tossing a stick into the air to determine which direction he heads in. When it lands, but after it chooses for him, he decides to take the opposite. Ash and Pikachu are just having fun in nature, exploring the area and living life by however it comes, especially when Team Rocket comes around and he can easily take care of them. When blasting off, they end up bumping into something that was invisible, launching them away and sending the Pokémon down into the trees below.

As Ash looks back to see the invisible Pokémon become visible again, making him happy to see Latias and rushing over to help it, having his Pokémon help and jump in as well. In the downtime of Latias not doing so well, Ash spends time with it, healing up its wounds, falling asleep next to it. It wakes up before before Ash does and freaks out, overseeing him and all the other Pokémon taking off quickly. As Ash then wakes up and says he just wants to help her and that she hasn't fully recovered yet. Team Rocket comes back around to capture the Latias, as Ash quickly jumps into help, where it finally trusts Ash now.

Once back in safety, the Latias hides itself again, becoming invisible, while Ash wants to see her again, hopefully one day, as this Latias now watches over him. Later on, Ash is fishing, hanging out with his other Pokémon, as Misty comes around, congratulating him for winning and becoming the world champion. She tells Ash that she was so inspired by it all that she wants to set out on her own journey again, giving the gym back to her sisters for now. Both Ash and Misty playfully fight over who wants to capture this pesky Clauncher more, as they get into a battle over it with Ash sending out Corphish and Misty sending out her Politoed. The battle is fun and it shows off the different trainer skills in a smaller one-on-one setting, as Politoed ends up defeating Corphish, with Misty capturing the Clauncher as per the deal.

After hanging out for a while, Ash starts heading out, as him and Pikachu notice that Misty is trying to follow them, with her coming out to say that she would like to join Ash on some travels for a bit, with Ash pretending not to want that, but Pikachu saves her from feeling awkward and gives her the signal that Ash of course would love that. Their travels take them back to the Galar region, where they run into some more familiar faces, Brock and Cilan, as it's nice to see them both, but Cilan returns back to the Unova region after spending some time with the group. As Brock wants to come along with Ash and Misty again, like old times, as the other two are excited for more of his cooking.

These random travels so far just showcase some fun moments that the group get to have again, as Ash just ends up helping a sad Arctibax train and learn to control its powers and help it live a nice life, being dubbed the Ice Master in its environment. Eventually, the group are back in Vermilion City, where they get surprised seeing an ad showing a Squirtle firefighting squad show and noticing that it is in fact his Squirtle and his Squirtle Squad pal starring in it. Squirtle gets excited to see his friends coming to support him, but thanks to Team Rocket getting involved and forcing a gap between Squirtle and them, a big misunderstanding causes Squirtle to think that his friends don't care about him.

But more important than a manipulated feud is a fire breaking out, causing the Squirtle Squad to shed their Hollywood vibes and become actual heroes again, with Charizard and Bulbasaur doing what they can to also help. And in the end, Squirtle and Ash make up, proving that their friendship is stronger than ever, and it was great to spend some time together as they continue on their separate ways from there.

Ash later on comes across his Lapras from back in the Orange Islands days, excited to see it again, as they ride on Lapras after all this time, with Lapras needing some help with something, as it then brings him to where it needs this help. As we find out that it's over a Wailmer who became stuck, so after a bunch of funny and not working ways to free this circular whale, they eventually are able to get it unstuck. When it becomes so happy, it evolves into a Wailord and becomes stuck again. Don't worry, it becomes free again. Ash and the gang get dropped off by the Lapras at the end of everything, as they say their goodbyes, watching the majestic water taxi swim back off with its own horde of Lapras or Lapras.

Later on, Ash finally gets Latias to reveal itself, leading to some mystery that it may need help with, showing a Latios escaping from being captive and getting away, causing the Latias to worry heavily over this. Team Rocket gets to have their own reunion of all their Pokémon, which is cool to see, but what's not cool to see is that Jessie, James, and Meowth end up blaming each other over their failures, and they end up deciding to part ways, breaking up the group officially, now even individually going to Team Rocket headquarters and requesting their own solo Team Rocket careers.

Latias leads them to where the Latios is being held captive, and Ash gets involved in helping save the day from this Pokémon hunter who was responsible for this, reuniting the Latios and the Latias, as they all head home and fly past a familiar Bianca from the Heroes movie. After this, Ash decides to head back home for now, and for the final episode of the entire series, Ash says goodbye to Misty and Brock after getting a little bit of time to travel with them once more. At home, Ash is shown to live a normal kid life, and over dinner, tells his mother all about the travels he had with Misty and Brock again.

Even later on in bed, Ash is still thinking about stuff from his adventures, wondering about Latias and Latios and hoping that they're doing well. The next day, he rushes over to Professor Oak's lab, getting to see Tracey again and being excited to see a new batch of the three original starters being brought in, as the Charmander needs some help, as it fell down to a small cave, and of course, Ash tries to rescue it, with Gary coming to lend a hand, as he's the one that brought them over to the lab in the first place. Gary and Ash get to catch up a bit, as Gary asks what's next for Ash, how much closer is he to becoming a Pokémon master, as Ash lays silent and thought about this.

Gary heads out and says goodbye, but this is all Ash can think about now. What is next? What does it mean to be a Pokémon master? Ash ends in a day-by-day funk, starting to feel directionless now. As in the meantime, Team Rocket ends up coming back together as friends again and starting their trio back up, or for at least the reasons to get out of working for the cafeteria at the Team Rocket headquarters. They come across a sad Ash, catch him, and take advantage of going after his Pikachu, with Ash having no Pokémon on him to help out.

But then his old Pidgeot that he sent free in the original series comes back and helps rescue Pikachu for him, and now joins back on Ash's team for old time's sake. A new day starts in Pallet Town, as Ash heads out, still thinking on what Gary said, as he knows becoming a world champion wasn't the end-all-be-all goal, and his adventures with people and Pokémon friends alike are what make it special. They're what make the journey so great. So to get to actually living this Pokémon Master life, he wants to go out into the world more and more and befriend every Pokémon there is.

A bright rainbow forms in the sky after the rain stops, and Ash looks to Pikachu to be by his side while they head to become a Pokémon master. The next morning, Ash is already up and headed out of the house with his new pair of shoes, coming to a crossroads once more with Pikachu handing him a stick, and he throws it up into the air to pick a direction. And when it lands on the ground, we see that the story of Ash Ketchum has officially come to an end, and it's beautifully done. And wow, what an emotional and interesting way to sunset Ash Ketchum. I am severely moved by just how enjoyable, relaxed, and emotional these handful of final episodes are, and I love that Ash's future is ambiguous. There is no finality; he just continues having journeys as he works to become a Pokémon master.

I also want to say I like that throughout the episodes, Ash's team of Pokémon constantly changes, giving us a showcase of some fan favorites and just a bunch of cool Pokémon that Ash has got over his whole 25 years of catching them. But for Ash's journey, I guess that's the end of the guide, with Ash now becoming world champion, having some time to figure himself out, meeting back with some old friends, finishing some major payoffs for long-term fans of the show, and charting the future for his journey to now continue off-screen, as it officially has ended for us. So I guess overall, this is the official goodbye to Ash Ketchum, and I hope you've had a good time with this complete guide to Ash's Pokémon Journey. I've been Jordan Fringe. Thanks so much for watching. Like and subscribe. Later.