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| Season | Pokémon Ultimate Journeys: The Series (Season 25) · Chasers, homecomings & Paul arc (JN110–JN114) |
| Episode | Season 25, episode 20 · English episode 1190 · Japanese episode 1196 · Bulbapedia code JN110 |
| English title | Narrowing the Chaser Chase! |
| Japanese title | 裏切りのバトルロイヤル！ Uragiri no Batoru Roiyaru! — “The Battle Royale of Betrayal!” |
| First aired (Japan) | 13 May 2022 · TV Tokyo |
| First aired (US) | 24 February 2023 · Netflix |
| Screenplay | Michihiro Tsuchiya |
| Opening / ending (Japan) | Wan, Tsū, Surī (One, Two, Three) – Satoshi & Go (Rica Matsumoto and Daiki Yamashita) · Batsugun Taipu (Supereffective Type) – Pokémon Music Club |
| English opening | With You – Echosmith |
| Previous episode | Aim For The Eight! (JN109) |
| Next episode | The Homecoming Crown! (JN111) |
Plot episodeProject Mew battle royalHorace wins
Narrowing the Chaser Chase! is the 20th episode of Pokémon Ultimate Journeys: The Series, the twenty-fifth season of the Pokémon anime, and the 1190th episode of the English dub overall (Japanese episode 1196, Bulbapedia code JN110). It first aired in Japan on 13 May 2022 and in the United States on 24 February 2023. It falls within the season’s Chasers, homecomings & Paul stretch (EP110–EP114).
Released on Netflix in the US on 24 February 2023 with the second part (JN103–JN117); Teletoon had premiered it in Canada on 22 October 2022.
Synopsis
Goh’s Project Mew Trial Mission is a battle royal aboard Sea Mauville, where he and Horace team up against treacherous rivals before facing each other, and Horace’s victory leaves Goh outside the top three who will become Chasers. Ash and Goh ride a Wailmer to the derelict ship, but Danika stops Ash at the door, since the mission is for challengers only, and warns the disappointed Goh, who learns that Gary is at a different site, not to dismiss any rival. In the survival match, every challenger fights the others, and the last one standing wins three tokens. Goh’s Inteleon flattens a Granbull with Mud Shot and, with help from Horace’s Gardevoir, dispatches a Barbaracle and a Zangoose, and the two friends agree to team up while Ash and Danika watch on a holographic screen. Elsewhere, a challenger named Sterling beats several opponents until Lyla offers him an alliance.
A Banette and Shiftry duo targets Gardevoir and Inteleon with super-effective moves, and when Gardevoir falls, Goh almost charges in alone until Horace reminds him of the Articuno Raid Battle. Leaving Reflect and Heal Pulse to Gardevoir, Inteleon attacks both opponents and wins. Danika then releases swarms of Jumpluff, Koffing, Roselia and Magby across Sea Mauville, and their Sleep Powder knocks out several Trainers; she explains to Ash that the drill tests how challengers deal with surprises. Hiding in a small room, Horace tells Goh he would rather befriend other Mew seekers than fight them. A cry for help leads them to Lyla, who claims that Sterling betrayed her by knocking out her Liepard. Goh is suspicious, since the drone has not ruled Liepard out of the battle, but Horace is won over, and the moment he turns his back, Liepard’s Sucker Punch and Sterling’s Vikavolt’s Discharge paralyse Gardevoir.
Sterling and Lyla mock Horace’s trust and trap Inteleon with String Shot, but Gardevoir rises and confuses both opponents with Confuse Ray, letting Inteleon break free and finish them with Snipe Shot and Liquidation. Only Goh and Horace remain, and Danika reminds them that only one can win. Horace offers to forfeit, but Goh insists that he must not waste his chance at reaching Celebi through Mew, and asks for a battle with nothing held back. With both Pokémon badly hurt, Gardevoir’s precognition anticipates Inteleon’s invisible attacks, and its Moonblast knocks Inteleon out, Goh’s partner’s first defeat. Goh lets Horace go ahead and clenches his fist where his friend cannot see. Horace receives three tokens, Goh two, and Sterling and Lyla one each, and Quillon reports that Gary has won at his site. Because the rainy season is ending early, the Chaser selection is being brought forward and anyone with fewer than four tokens is eliminated: Gary leads with 12, and Goh trails Horace, Sterling, Lyla and two others, outside the top three.
Major Events
- Project Mew: the battle royal. On Sea Mauville Horace wins the survival match, his Gardevoir’s Moonblast handing Goh’s Inteleon its first defeat
- Goh comes second
- Horace gains three tokens and Goh two, leaving Gary on 12 and Horace on 8
- The selection is brought forward
- Debuts of Sterling and Lyla
Trivia
- The screenplay is by Michihiro Tsuchiya.
- This is a plot episode: it advances the Kanto, Galar & beyond storyline.
Changes in the English Dub
- The Sea Mauville caption is removed
Part of our Pokémon Ultimate Journeys: The Series guide. Browse every season of the Pokémon anime.