Sword and Shield, Slumbering Weald!


Season	Pokémon Journeys: The Series (Season 23) · Sword and Shield: the Darkest Day arc (JN042–JN045)
Episode	Season 23, episode 42 · English episode 1122 · Japanese episode 1128 · Bulbapedia code JN042
English title	Sword and Shield, Slumbering Weald!
Japanese title	ソード&シールドⅠ「まどろみの森」 Sōdo ando Shīrudo I "Madoromi no Mori" — “Sword & Shield I – "Slumbering Forest"”
First aired (Japan)	23 October 2020 · TV Tokyo
First aired (US)	5 March 2021 · Netflix
Screenplay	Shōji Yonemura
Opening / ending (Japan)	Wan, Tsū, Surī (One, Two, Three) – Nishikawa-kun and Kirishō · Pokémon Shiritori (Pikachu → Mew Ver.) – Pokémon Music Club
English opening	The Journey Starts Today – Walk off the Earth
Previous episode	Pikachu Translation Check… / Up to Your Neck! (JN041)
Next episode	Sword and Shield: The Darkest Day! (JN043)

Plot episodeSword and Shield, part 1Zacian and Zamazenta

Sword and Shield, Slumbering Weald! is the 42nd episode of Pokémon Journeys: The Series, the twenty-third season of the Pokémon anime, and the 1122nd episode of the English dub overall (Japanese episode 1128, Bulbapedia code JN042). It first aired in Japan on 23 October 2020 and in the United States on 5 March 2021. It falls within the season’s Sword and Shield: the Darkest Day stretch (EP42–EP45).

Synopsis

In the first chapter of the Sword and Shield arc, mysterious Dynamax energy spreads across Galar, Ash and Goh are separated after meeting Zacian and Zamazenta in the Slumbering Weald, and Ash joins Champion Leon in calming rampaging Dynamax Pokémon. At the Energy Plant, the core of Chairman Rose’s Macro Cosmos has absorbed too many Galar particles and been damaged; his secretary, Oleana, orders urgent repairs as the particles drift into the sky, while Rose simply smiles. At the Cerise Laboratory, Ash’s Dynamax Band glows red, and Chrysa and Ren report Dynamax sightings all over Galar, far from stadiums and the Wild Area, so Professor Cerise sends the boys to investigate. On a train to Wedgehurst, where they are to meet Professor Magnolia, thick fog halts the journey, and a hungry Bunnelby steals Ash’s scones.

The boys chase it into the Slumbering Weald, where Goh catches it but loses Ash. Ash meets Zacian, which is not in his Pokédex, and Pikachu’s Iron Tail passes straight through it; Goh meets Zamazenta, and his Poké Ball and Raboot’s Ember pass through it too. The two Legendaries howl, the fog thickens, and Goh wakes alone, unable to reach Ash, and misses the departing train. Streaks of light like those seen when a Pokémon Dynamaxes fall across the sky, and Sonia, pulling up in her car to study them, is surprised to find Goh. Ash and Pikachu also wake in the forest and see the falling stars. In a small town, one strikes Centy, the Centiskorch of Doug and his daughter Eva, which Gigantamaxes and destroys a building with G-Max Centiferno. Told of the incidents, Rose coolly remarks that a few casualties are inevitable when the future is at stake.

Ash ignores Doug’s advice to stay back and tries to calm Centy with Pikachu’s Electroweb, Riolu’s Vacuum Wave and Dragonite’s Hurricane, but Max Flutterby cancels their combined attacks and another G-Max Centiferno sends them scrambling. Leon and Charizard swoop in with Rock Tomb and, handling the situation alone, return Centy to normal with a final Air Slash; Eva hugs her friend and the townspeople cheer Leon, who announces that he will investigate the surge in Dynamax Pokémon. Ash begs to come along, and Leon relents, so Ash follows on Dragonite. Goh finally reaches Ash by phone and explains that he and Sonia are heading to the Turffield geoglyph, which may be linked to the Dynamax energy; they agree to meet up later. As a dark red cloud gathers overhead, Ash ends the call to face the next rampaging giant, a Dynamax Pangoro.

Major Events

Sword and Shield, part 1. Galar particles leak from Chairman Rose’s Energy Plant and Dynamax outbreaks spread
Goh catches a Bunnelby
Ash meets Zacian and Goh meets Zamazenta in the Slumbering Weald, where the boys are separated
Goh joins Sonia
Ash joins Leon against a Gigantamax Centiskorch
No Who’s That Pokémon? from here to JN045, the first episodes without one since XY078