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| Season | Pokémon Ultimate Journeys: The Series (Season 25) · Ghost trains, Gigantamax & stories from the lab arc (JN091–JN098) |
| Episode | Season 25, episode 3 · English episode 1173 · Japanese episode 1179 · Bulbapedia code JN093 |
| English title | It’s All in the Name! |
| Japanese title | 君の名はフランソワーズ Kimi no Na wa Furansowāzu — “Your Name is Françoise” |
| First aired (Japan) | 14 January 2022 · TV Tokyo |
| First aired (US) | 21 October 2022 · Netflix |
| Screenplay | Yuka Miyata |
| Opening / ending (Japan) | Wan, Tsū, Surī (One, Two, Three) – Karaage Sisters · Batsugun Taipu (Supereffective Type) – Pokémon Music Club |
| English opening | With You – Echosmith |
| Who’s That Pokémon? | Magnemite (US) · Magnemite (Japan) |
| Previous episode | The Winding Path to Greatness! (JN092) |
| Next episode | Suffering the Flings and Arrows! (JN094) |
Filler / stand-alone episodeRen’s Magnemite
It’s All in the Name! is the 3rd episode of Pokémon Ultimate Journeys: The Series, the twenty-fifth season of the Pokémon anime, and the 1173rd episode of the English dub overall (Japanese episode 1179, Bulbapedia code JN093). It first aired in Japan on 14 January 2022 and in the United States on 21 October 2022. It falls within the season’s Ghost trains, Gigantamax & stories from the lab stretch (EP91–EP98).
Released on Netflix in the US on 21 October 2022 with the first part (JN091–JN102); Teletoon had premiered it in Canada on 11 June 2022.
Synopsis
A signal from a malfunctioning satellite sends Vermilion City’s Magnemite into a frenzy and threatens to fuse Ren’s beloved Magnemite, Francois, into a giant swarm. At dawn at the Cerise Laboratory, Ren unpacks a retro lamp back from repairs and plugs it in so that Francois can feed on its electricity; the picky Magnemite turns down Pikachu’s offer of power, preferring the current of old-fashioned appliances. A brief blackout follows, which Professor Cerise blames on a geomagnetic storm, and Chrysa calls with footage of Magnemite acting strangely across the city. Francois begins picking up an unusual transmission and refuses to be recalled, so Ren wraps the screw on its head in tinfoil and covers it with a doorknob cover, which Francois rather likes. Professor Cerise suggests getting it out of the city, and Ash and Goh call out Dragonite and Flygon to fly Ren to the outskirts. To distract the height-fearing researcher, Goh asks how he met Francois, and Ren recalls an antique-filled café where the Magnemite loved to eat electricity from the chandelier.
A group of Magnemite gives chase and tries to pull Francois away with magnetism. They eat through Pikachu’s Electroweb, so Dragonite holds them back with Hurricane, and Goh hides Grookey under Ren’s lab coat as a decoy, drawing the pursuers after himself and calling out Cinderace when cornered. Ren and Francois slip back into downtown Vermilion, but Francois jumps out of its hiding bag near a car the Magnemite are feeding on. Escaping with Supersonic, the pair hide in a dumpster and emerge in front of the old café, and Ren remembers how it closed, how Francois refused every appliance he offered, including the lamp the owner gave him as a parting gift, and how it flew out into the snow. Then another swarm ambushes them, the tinfoil falls away, and the transmission takes control of Francois, which joins the other Magnemite as they gather in the sky and begin fusing into something unlike any known evolution.
Professor Cerise reports that the signal comes from a satellite that malfunctioned during the storm; the space centre is trying to shut it down, but the overloaded Magnemite may fuse beyond recovery first. Remembering how the swarm devoured Electroweb, Ren asks Ash for a Thunderbolt: the Magnemite rush to eat it, but picky Francois refuses, and the mass bursts apart. Ren runs to his friend, recalling how he once searched the snowy streets, found Francois weak with hunger and nursed it back to health with the retro lamp, promising to find its favourite chandelier again. He grabs Francois and is shocked until he calls its name, and the Magnemite recognises him and returns to normal, as do all the others; whether it is a miracle or the satellite has just been switched off is left unclear. Later the café reopens, the owner thanks Ren for his support, and Francois feeds happily on its chandelier once more. Ren reveals that he named it after the café: Café Francois.
Major Events
- Ren’s Magnemite. A malfunctioning satellite makes the Magnemite of Vermilion City fuse, and Ren’s Magnemite Francois is nearly lost
- Café Francois
- Billy Kametz’s last recorded episode as Ren, carried with a dedication on Netflix
Trivia
- The screenplay is by Yuka Miyata.
- This is a stand-alone episode: it can be skipped without losing the thread of the Kanto, Galar & beyond story.
Changes in the English Dub
- Billy Kametz’s last episode as Ren; the Netflix release carries a dedication to him
Part of our Pokémon Ultimate Journeys: The Series guide. Browse every season of the Pokémon anime.