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| Season | Pokémon: BW Rival Destinies (Season 15) · Mistralton City arc (BW067–BW069) |
| Episode | Season 15, episode 21 · English episode 722 · Japanese episode 727 · Bulbapedia code BW069 |
| English title | Climbing the Tower of Success! |
| Japanese title | 難関突破！天空の塔を登れ！！ Nankan Toppa! Tenkū no Tō o Nobore!! — “Barrier Breakthrough! Climb the Tower of the Sky!!” |
| First aired (Japan) | 8 March 2012 · TV Tokyo |
| First aired (US) | 7 July 2012 · Cartoon Network |
| Screenplay | Shōji Yonemura |
| Opening / ending (Japan) | Besuto Uisshu! (Best Wishes!) – Rica Matsumoto · Nanairo Āchi (Seven-colored Arch) – Pokémon BW Choral Gang |
| English opening | Rival Destinies – Alex Nackman & Kathryn Raio |
| Who’s That Pokémon? | Sawk (US) |
| Previous episode | An Amazing Aerial Battle! (BW068) |
| Next episode | The Clubsplosion Begins! (BW070) |
Filler / stand-alone episodeWishing Bell FestivalStephan wins
Climbing the Tower of Success! is the 21st episode of Pokémon: BW Rival Destinies, the fifteenth season of the Pokémon anime, and the 722nd episode of the English dub overall (Japanese episode 727, Bulbapedia code BW069). It first aired in Japan on 8 March 2012 and in the United States on 7 July 2012. It falls within the season’s Mistralton City stretch (EP67–EP69).
Synopsis
Ash, Iris, Cilan and Stephan compete in the Wishing Bell Festival at Mistralton Tower, where Stephan beats a self-proclaimed psychic to ring the bell. Each contestant enters with a partner Pokémon, and Skyla’s grandfather Miles hosts a series of challenges, starting with a true-or-false quiz whose last question, whether Miles prefers Officer Jenny to Nurse Joy, is answered correctly by a boy named Ricky, who claims psychic powers.
In a scavenger hunt Ash catches the Thunder Stone he needs before it can touch Pikachu, and Ricky “bends” a Twisted Spoon with help from his hidden Elgyem; in the tub race Stephan’s Sawk scrapes into the last qualifying spot. For the costume round Ash and Pikachu dress as Alder and Bouffalant, while Cilan’s Elesa disguise fails with Miles, a devoted Elesa fan.
A forest race full of Ghost- and Water-type ambushes knocks Iris out, leaving Ricky, Ash and Stephan for the final climb up the tower with lit candles. When a flock of Pidove blows out Ricky’s flame, Stephan edges past Ash and rings the Wishing Bell, wishing that people would pronounce his name correctly and that he will win the upcoming Clubsplosion in Ambiga Town.
Major Events
- The Wishing Bell Festival. A quiz, scavenger hunt, tub race, costume round, forest race and candle climb at Mistralton Tower
- The fake psychic Ricky
- Stephan wins and wishes to win the Clubsplosion
- Iris finishes fourth
Trivia
- The English title plays on “climbing the ladder of success”, for a tower climbed in a race to ring the Wishing Bell.
- The screenplay is by Shōji Yonemura.
- This is a stand-alone episode: it can be skipped without losing the thread of the Unova story.
Changes in the English Dub
- The Japanese gags on Stephan’s name, among them “Tom-Yum-Goong”, are lost
Part of our Pokémon: BW Rival Destinies guide. Browse every season of the Pokémon anime.