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| Season | Pokémon Journeys: The Series (Season 23) · Goh’s first Pokémon arc (JN004–JN005) |
| Episode | Season 23, episode 4 · English episode 1084 · Japanese episode 1090 · Bulbapedia code JN004 |
| English title | Settling the Scorbunny! |
| Japanese title | 行くぜガラル地方！ヒバニーとの出会い！！ Ikuze Gararu Chihō! Hibanī to no Deai!! — “Let’s Go to the Galar Region! An Encounter with Hibanny!!” |
| First aired (Japan) | 8 December 2019 · TV Tokyo |
| First aired (US) | 12 June 2020 · Netflix |
| Screenplay | Deko Akao |
| Opening / ending (Japan) | Wan, Tsū, Surī (One, Two, Three) – After the Rain · Pokémon Shiritori (Pikachu → Mew Ver.) – Pokémon Music Club |
| English opening | The Journey Starts Today – Walk off the Earth |
| Who’s That Pokémon? | Scorbunny (US) · Scorbunny (Japan) |
| Previous episode | Ivysaur’s Mysterious Tower! (JN003) |
| Next episode | Mind-Boggling Dynamax! (JN005) |
Plot episodeFirst Galar tripScorbunny
Settling the Scorbunny! is the 4th episode of Pokémon Journeys: The Series, the twenty-third season of the Pokémon anime, and the 1084th episode of the English dub overall (Japanese episode 1090, Bulbapedia code JN004). It first aired in Japan on 8 December 2019 and in the United States on 12 June 2020. It falls within the season’s Goh’s first Pokémon stretch (EP4–EP5).
Released on Netflix on 12 June 2020 with the rest of the first batch; POP had shown it in the UK on 25 May 2020 and Teletoon in Canada on 30 May 2020.
Synopsis
Ash and Goh fly to the Galar region to investigate giant Pokémon and, stranded in Wyndon, are robbed by a soot-covered Scorbunny and its gang of Nickit. The adventure starts when Goh rushes into Professor Cerise’s lab with a Galarian news article about a phenomenon that makes Pokémon grow enormous, and Cerise agrees to send both boys to look into it. After a plane ride and a train trip they reach Wyndon, only to learn that the next train to the Wild Area leaves in three hours and the bus takes six. Ash sniffs out a bakery, and the boys buy a pile of Galar’s famous scones, but two stones whizz past their heads and Pikachu spots the culprit: a mischievous Scorbunny. While the boys try to photograph it, a pack of Nickit raid Ash’s bag and then make off with the whole backpack. Realising that the Pokémon are working as a team, Ash and Goh chase them through the alleys, fall for Scorbunny’s bicycle-bell decoy and split up to cover more ground.
Goh follows a trail of footprints and calls Ash, and together they spy on the thieves. His Pokédex explains that Nickit’s soft paw pads make it a skilled scavenger but cannot identify the brown Scorbunny, which makes both boys wonder whether they have found an unknown species. When Scorbunny starts sharing out the scones, Ash bursts out to confront it; it kicks his backpack high into the air and lunges at him, but Pikachu blocks its Double Kick. In the battle that follows, Scorbunny dodges Iron Tail with Quick Attack and runs up a wall, but after it crashes into a bin while escaping a Thunderbolt, Pikachu’s Electroweb knocks it out. Pikachu retrieves the backpack from a lamppost, and when Scorbunny kicks Ash from behind in revenge, Pikachu shocks them both. Goh praises the little Pokémon’s skill, and as it rubs its face he is surprised to see white fur beneath the soot.
The scone seller then corners the group, furious that the Nickit have been stealing his stock, and dangles Scorbunny by its ears; Goh apologises and claims to be its Trainer. Back at the shop, the man gives the Pokémon free scones, admits he knows Goh was lying, and explains that Scorbunny has rolled in dirt to blend in with the city and its Nickit friends, whose thefts have hurt his business for some time. Goh’s Rotom Phone identifies the species at last, and Goh urges Scorbunny to stop stealing and explore the world, telling it that its lucky legs could carry it to a bright future—for which Ash receives another kick. When the boys run off to catch their train, the Nickit sense a change in their friend, drag the reluctant Scorbunny to Wyndon Station by its tails and toss it aboard just before the doors close. Moved to tears by their farewell, Scorbunny begins scrubbing off the dirt, while Ash and Goh report to Cerise and head on towards the Wild Area.
Major Events
- First trip to Galar. In Wyndon, Ash and Goh meet a soot-covered street Scorbunny and its Nickit gang
- The Nickit put Scorbunny on the boys’ train to the Wild Area
- Turtwig’s first appearance since DP126 and Togepi’s since DP142
Pokémon making their anime debut
Scorbunny#0813 · JN004
Nickit#0827 · JN004
Trivia
- The English title plays on the phrase “settling the score”, as Ash and Goh square up to the thieving Scorbunny.
- The screenplay is by Deko Akao.
- This is a plot episode: it advances the Kanto, Galar & beyond storyline.
Changes in the English Dub
- A man’s moustache at Wyndon Station is removed, likely because it resembles Adolf Hitler’s
- Animation errors in Turtwig’s eyes and Ash’s bag are fixed
Part of our Pokémon Journeys: The Series guide. Browse every season of the Pokémon anime.