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| Season | Pokémon Journeys: The Series (Season 23) · The Great Class & a return to Galar arc (JN025–JN030) |
| Episode | Season 23, episode 25 · English episode 1105 · Japanese episode 1111 · Bulbapedia code JN025 |
| English title | A Festival Reunion! |
| Japanese title | 命爆発バトルフェス！VSメガルカリオ！！ Inochi Bakuhatsu Batoru Fesu! VS Mega Rukario!! — “A Battle Festival Exploding With Life! VS Mega Lucario!!” |
| First aired (Japan) | 21 June 2020 · TV Tokyo |
| First aired (US) | 4 December 2020 · Netflix |
| Screenplay | Atsuhiro Tomioka |
| Opening / ending (Japan) | Wan, Tsū, Surī (One, Two, Three) – After the Rain · Pokémon Shiritori (Mew → Zamazenta Ver.) – Pokémon Music Club |
| English opening | The Journey Starts Today – Walk off the Earth |
| Who’s That Pokémon? | Binacle (US) · Binacle (Japan) |
| Previous episode | A Little Rocket R & R! (JN024) |
| Next episode | Splash, Dash, and Smash for the Crown! / Slowking’s Crowning! (JN026) |
Plot episodeAsh vs KorrinaGreat Class
A Festival Reunion! is the 25th episode of Pokémon Journeys: The Series, the twenty-third season of the Pokémon anime, and the 1105th episode of the English dub overall (Japanese episode 1111, Bulbapedia code JN025). It first aired in Japan on 21 June 2020 and in the United States on 4 December 2020. It falls within the season’s The Great Class & a return to Galar stretch (EP25–EP30).
The first episode of Netflix’s third batch, JN025–JN036, released on Friday 4 December 2020; POP had premiered it in the UK on 6 November 2020 and 9Go! in Australia on 3 December.
Synopsis
At the Battle Festival in Kalos’s Shalour City, Ash reunites with Gym Leader Korrina and defeats her Mega Lucario in a World Coronation Series match that lifts him into the Great Class, while Goh catches his way through the local Pokémon. Goh, on his first visit to Kalos, quickly catches a Binacle, and Ash enters the Battle Festival Challenge to climb the rankings. Against a Trainer named Lob, Pikachu’s Thunderbolt is cancelled out by Clawitzer’s Flash Cannon, but Pikachu dodges Crabhammer and wins with Iron Tail—Ash’s third straight festival win, which raises him to 1,022nd, one victory short of the Great Class. Goh keeps catching, including Flabébé in several flower colours, and chases off after a colour he does not yet have. As Ash prepares for his decisive match, he and Riolu sense an Aura, and Riolu leads them to a Lucario that Ash and Pikachu recognise as Korrina’s. Korrina greets Ash warmly, encourages Riolu to grow strong alongside him, and explains that she is entering as a World Coronation Series competitor, not a Gym Leader, hoping to beat Leon. Ranked 1,001st, she too needs one win, so they agree to settle it in battle.
Raboot’s Ember flushes a Lucario from a bush, and its Trainer, Gurkinn, praises Goh’s reflexes and admires his list of Kalos catches, especially an Orange Flower Flabébé; Goh still needs a White Flower one. Gurkinn mentions that his granddaughter once battled a Kanto Trainer named Ash, and Goh realises the connection. On the stadium’s Rock Field, Ash asks Pikachu and Riolu to watch, though Korrina asks Riolu to cheer for her Lucario. Korrina’s Mienshao hits Gengar with Acrobatics and leaps over its Psychic-lifted boulder with U-turn, switching to Lucario, whose Bone Rush and deft dodging of Shadow Balls knock Gengar out. Gurkinn tells Goh that Korrina’s strength lies in being completely in tune with her Pokémon. Dragonite then answers Mienshao’s High Jump Kick with Dragon Claw; Dragon Dance raises its power and turns Double Slap’s spin to its advantage, and a boosted Dragon Claw knocks Mienshao out.
Korrina sends Lucario back out and Mega Evolves it with her Key Stone, a sight Goh has only read about, while Gurkinn explains that Mega Evolution was discovered in Kalos and draws out hidden power through the bond with a Trainer. Dragonite uses Dragon Dance again, but Aura Sphere tracks it through the sky, Hyper Beam comes too late, and Mega Lucario pummels it with Power-Up Punch. Dragonite rises again and whips up Hurricane, flinging rocks at Lucario, but Korrina’s twin Aura Spheres, fired in opposite directions, break the winds apart. Power-Up Punch and Dragon Claw collide, both Pokémon fall and struggle up, and after a tense pause Lucario collapses and reverts. Ash wins, Dragonite celebrates with one of its hugs, and Ash rises to 921st and the Great Class. Riolu runs to Korrina and Lucario, its admiration undimmed, Korrina declares that she is not out of the competition yet, and Goh calls it one of the most moving battles he has seen—before a White Flower Flabébé floats by and he races off to catch it.
Major Events
- World Coronation Series, battles 4 and 5. First trip to Kalos, at Shalour City’s Battle Festival
- Goh catches a Binacle, four Flabébé, a Scatterbug, a Phantump and a Fletchling
- Ash’s Pikachu beats Lob’s Clawitzer (1,022nd)
- Ash’s Gengar and Dragonite beat Korrina’s Mienshao and Mega Lucario, and Ash reaches 921st and the Great Class
- Korrina’s first appearance since XY136
- Goh sees Mega Evolution for the first time
- Dragonite shows Hyper Beam
- The first Shinji Miyazaki music in Journeys
Captures and evolutions
Mienfoo → Mienshao#0620 · Korrina · off screen, revealed at the Battle Festival
Trivia
- The screenplay is by Atsuhiro Tomioka.
- This is a plot episode: it advances the Kanto, Galar & beyond storyline.
Changes in the English Dub
- The 命爆発 (“Life Explosion”) kanji are cut
- Music from Volcanion and the Mechanical Marvel as Korrina Mega Evolves, the first piece by Shinji Miyazaki heard in the series
- The dub credits name Tokyo (David) Speirs as a writer of The Journey Starts Today from this episode to JN030
Part of our Pokémon Journeys: The Series guide. Browse every season of the Pokémon anime.