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| Season | Pokémon Journeys: The Series (Season 23) · A tour of the regions arc (JN006–JN011) |
| Episode | Season 23, episode 9 · English episode 1089 · Japanese episode 1095 · Bulbapedia code JN009 |
| English title | Finding a Legend! |
| Japanese title | あの日の誓い！ジョウト地方のホウオウ伝説！！ Ano Hi no Chikai! Jōto Chihō no Hōō Densetsu!! — “The Promise We Made that Day! The Houou Legend of the Johto Region!!” |
| First aired (Japan) | 19 January 2020 · TV Tokyo |
| First aired (US) | 12 June 2020 · Netflix |
| Screenplay | Dōko Machida |
| 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? | Fearow (US) · Fearow (Japan) |
| Previous episode | The Sinnoh Iceberg Race! (JN008) |
| Next episode | A Test in Paradise! (JN010) |
Filler / stand-alone episodeHo-OhEcruteak City
Finding a Legend! is the 9th episode of Pokémon Journeys: The Series, the twenty-third season of the Pokémon anime, and the 1089th episode of the English dub overall (Japanese episode 1095, Bulbapedia code JN009). It first aired in Japan on 19 January 2020 and in the United States on 12 June 2020. It falls within the season’s A tour of the regions stretch (EP6–EP11).
Synopsis
Chasing reports of Ho-Oh, Ash and Goh travel to Ecruteak City in Johto, where they help a boy and his disillusioned grandfather call the Legendary Pokémon from the top of the Bell Tower, and Goh catches a Sentret, a Misdreavus and a Stantler. Goh reads a news story about a Ho-Oh sighting, and Professor Cerise, Ren and Chrysa explain that the Pokémon is part of Johto folklore and that every sighting has been near Ecruteak. Ash wants to battle it and Goh wants to catch it. On the way to the Bell Tower Goh catches a Sentret, and then a bird that looks just like Ho-Oh flies overhead; Pikachu’s Thunderbolt brings it down, revealing a Fearow and a Cyndaquil in disguise. Their Trainer, Chad, is angry and tries to hide the hoax, and his grandfather Jaye, a Hoothoot on his shoulder, declares that Ho-Oh is not real. When Ash says he saw Ho-Oh on the first day of his journey, Jaye dismisses it as wishful thinking and walks away.
Sheltering from the rain, Chad explains that his grandfather once believed in Ho-Oh completely: he owns a Rainbow Wing from an earlier encounter and searched far and wide for it, but over the decades lost hope. Chad faked the sightings to cheer him up. Ash suggests finding the real Ho-Oh instead, and Goh recalls a legend that it appears when a Rainbow Wing is waved from the top of the Bell Tower—something Jaye has already tried many times. Inside the tower a golden mural shows Ho-Oh flying in front of a rainbow, and Goh concludes that the two are linked; his Rotom Phone shows that the moving clouds and low sun are ideal for a rainbow. Chad fetches the feather and his reluctant grandfather, and the group begins the long climb.
A wild Misdreavus plays tricks with Confuse Ray, making the stairs feel soft and wobbly and then turning them into a slide that sends everyone tumbling to the ground floor. A Stantler’s antlers then conjure a towering cliff and a desert, and Goh’s Rotom Phone shows only static until Jaye realises they are trapped in an illusion and has Hoothoot use Foresight to break it. Goh spots the culprits on the floor above and catches both Misdreavus and Stantler, telling an impressed Chad that he plans to catch every Pokémon. At the top, with the rain over, Chad waves the Rainbow Wing as a rainbow appears, but a gust tears it from his hand and Jaye catches it. Inspired by the boys, Jaye waves it himself and they all call out, yet no answer comes; Jaye is not discouraged and asks Chad to search with him in future. As the boys head off for homemade curry, the feather glows and Jaye sees Ho-Oh in the distance at last, smiling even though the others miss it. Back at the lab, Goh and Ash restate their dreams.
Major Events
- Ho-Oh’s legend. Trip to Ecruteak City in Johto
- Goh catches a Sentret, a Misdreavus and a Stantler
- Ho-Oh appears for the first time since Dawn of a New Era!, but only the old man Jaye sees it
- From this episode Ash and Goh read the Japanese title card
Captures and evolutions
Misdreavus#0200 · Goh · with a Sentret and a Stantler at the Bell Tower
Trivia
- The screenplay is by Dōko Machida.
- This is a stand-alone episode: it can be skipped without losing the thread of the Kanto, Galar & beyond story.
Part of our Pokémon Journeys: The Series guide. Browse every season of the Pokémon anime.