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| Season | Pokémon Master Journeys: The Series (Season 24) · Mega Evolution & Bea arc (JN084–JN088) |
| Episode | Season 24, episode 39 · English episode 1167 · Japanese episode 1173 · Bulbapedia code JN087 |
| English title | Breaking the Ice! |
| Japanese title | 氷の女王とグレイシア Kōri no Joō to Gureishia — “The Ice Queen and Glacia” |
| First aired (Japan) | 12 November 2021 · TV Tokyo |
| First aired (US) | 26 May 2022 · Netflix |
| Screenplay | Aya Matsui |
| Opening / ending (Japan) | Wan, Tsū, Surī (One, Two, Three) – Karaage Sisters · Batsugun Taipu (Supereffective Type), Version 1 – Pokémon Music Club (on TV Tokyo, with a live-action dance video in place of the animation) |
| English opening | Journey to Your Heart – Haven Paschall |
| Who’s That Pokémon? | Glaceon (US) · Glaceon (Japan) |
| Previous episode | A Battle of Mega Versus Max! (JN086) |
| Next episode | Looking Out for Number Two! (JN088) |
Filler / stand-alone episodeChloe meets GlaceonRegina
Breaking the Ice! is the 39th episode of Pokémon Master Journeys: The Series, the twenty-fourth season of the Pokémon anime, and the 1167th episode of the English dub overall (Japanese episode 1173, Bulbapedia code JN087). It first aired in Japan on 12 November 2021 and in the United States on 26 May 2022. It falls within the season’s Mega Evolution & Bea stretch (EP84–EP88).
Released on Netflix in the US on Thursday 26 May 2022 with the rest of Part 3; Teletoon had premiered it in Canada on 5 March 2022, followed by e.tv in South Africa on 26 April 2022 and Australian television on 13 May 2022.
Synopsis
Chloe befriends Regina, a lonely transfer student whose fiercely protective Glaceon freezes anyone who upsets her, and helps the two learn to protect each other. A plane lands in Vermilion City at night, and Regina’s father assures her that she will make friends; holding a Poké Ball, she mutters that she already has one. The next morning, on the way to school, where Goh is giving a presentation about Ash, Chloe glimpses Regina playing with a Glaceon she calls Mirche, but the pair vanish when the boys call out. Goh’s talk draws laughs when Ash insists he thinks about food as well as Pokémon, and then the teacher introduces Regina as a short-term transfer student. Chloe takes her to the school’s Pokémon Garden to leave Mirche there during class, where Pikachu, Grookey and Eevee’s attempts to befriend Mirche annoy it. Regina recalls that her parents plan to have Mirche examined at the Cerise Laboratory.
When classmates swarm Chloe with questions at the classroom door, Mirche rushes in, senses its Trainer’s distress and freezes the entire class with Blizzard, and Regina remembers being bullied at another school as the “Ice Queen,” after a picture-book character she resembles. Pikachu, Grookey and Eevee break everyone free. At the Cerise Laboratory, Regina’s parents tell Professor Cerise that Mirche freezes anything it dislikes, which has forced Regina to change schools repeatedly, and they ask him to examine it, thinking that separating them may be the only way she can make friends. At lunch Regina keeps her distance, expecting to be expelled; Ash, Goh and Chloe burst into the teacher’s office to plead for her, only to learn the teacher was merely explaining school rules. When Mirche, still distrustful, prepares another Blizzard and Regina tells it to stop, it collapses.
At the lab, Cerise finds Mirche’s body temperature dangerously low even for a Glaceon: it has been overexerting itself with powerful Blizzards and could push itself to a fatal level. Regina explains that Mirche first used a strong Blizzard to save her from bullies and has stayed on guard ever since, and she blames herself for failing to protect it in return. Chloe tells her that they are friends and that Mirche protects her because it cares. When her parents arrive, Regina stands up to them and vows to grow stronger so that she can protect Mirche, and they apologise for not understanding, relieved that she has had a friend all along. The next day Regina apologises to the class and, with Mirche, Goh’s Arctozolt and Dewgong, Ash’s Dracovish and a Copycat Ice Beam from Eevee, turns the schoolyard into an ice theme park. Later, Regina sends Chloe a snow globe and a letter promising a visit, and Chloe hopes she and Eevee can become as close as Regina and Mirche.
Major Events
- Chloe meets Glaceon. The transfer student Regina and her overprotective Glaceon, Mirche
- Chloe’s fourth Eeveelution encounter
- Dewgong shows Icy Wind
- The last Japanese episode before Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl
Trivia
- The English title plays on the phrase “breaking the ice”, as Chloe befriends Regina and her Ice-type Glaceon.
- The screenplay is by Aya Matsui.
- This is a stand-alone episode: it can be skipped without losing the thread of the Kanto, Galar & beyond story.
Part of our Pokémon Master Journeys: The Series guide. Browse every season of the Pokémon anime.