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| Season | Pokémon Ultimate Journeys: The Series (Season 25) · Mew & separate roads arc (JN133–JN136) |
| Episode | Season 25, episode 41 · English episode 1211 · Japanese episode 1221 · Bulbapedia code JN135 |
| English title | Heroes Unite! |
| Japanese title | ポケモン！きみにあえてよかった！ Pokémon! Kimi ni Aete Yokatta! — “Pokémon! I’m Glad I Got to Meet You!” |
| First aired (Japan) | 9 December 2022 · TV Tokyo |
| First aired (US) | 23 June 2023 · Netflix |
| Screenplay | Shōji Yonemura |
| 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 |
| Who’s That Pokémon? | Poliwag (US) · Poliwag (Japan) |
| Previous episode | In the Palms of our Hands! (JN134) |
| Next episode | This Could be the Start of Something Big! (JN136) |
Plot episodeLugia Raid BattleAsh and Goh quarrel
Heroes Unite! is the 41st episode of Pokémon Ultimate Journeys: The Series, the twenty-fifth season of the Pokémon anime, and the 1211th episode of the English dub overall (Japanese episode 1221, Bulbapedia code JN135). It first aired in Japan on 9 December 2022 and in the United States on 23 June 2023. It falls within the season’s Mew & separate roads stretch (EP133–EP136).
Released on Netflix in the US on 23 June 2023 with the third part (JN118–JN136, without the clip shows); Teletoon had premiered it in Canada on 29 April 2023.
Synopsis
Back in Kanto as World Champion, Ash reunites with Goh on a camping trip with Chloe, but each boy’s secret plan to set off on a journey alone leads to a quarrel, interrupted only by the appearance of Lugia. Returning to Professor Oak’s Laboratory, Ash thanks all of his Pokémon for their help, Professor Oak reflects on how far Ash has come since his journey began at the same lab, and Delia senses, correctly, that her son plans to leave on a long journey again. At the Cerise Laboratory, Goh thanks his own Pokémon for helping him meet Mew and admits he wants to travel to other regions alone, to become strong enough to stand before Mew someday without relying on Ash. Chloe, who has come to collect him for a camping trip with Ash, overhears, and Goh confesses that he has not told Ash yet and feels that keeping it from him is a kind of betrayal. Ash arrives, and the friends reunite as promised, swapping stories of Ash’s battle with Leon and Goh’s meeting with Mew on the way to the campsite.
Gathering Berries in a forest full of wild Pokémon, Goh shares facts about each species, and when an Abra teleports away he remembers how one once visited him in his lonely childhood and led him to a park full of Pokémon; Ash says that as a boy he wanted to befriend every Pokémon he met. At a Pecha Berry tree, a Poliwag knocks down a Berry that hits a Spearow, and although Pikachu beats the angry bird, a whole flock chases the group to a river, where Chloe’s Eevee copies a Slowpoke’s Yawn with Copycat and puts the entire flock to sleep. Back at camp the Poliwag returns to thank them, and over dinner the three friends talk about their partners: Chloe notes how alike Ash and Pikachu are, Goh credits Scorbunny’s courage with teaching him to help his friends, and Chloe says Eevee widened her horizons.
After a shooting star, Goh tries to tell Ash his plan but loses his nerve, and then Ash announces that he wants to start a new journey with Pikachu. Taking this as an insult to their friendship, Goh runs off, declaring that they are through. Chloe tells Ash about Goh’s own plan and that Ash was the first true friend Goh ever made, but Goh refuses to answer her calls until Cinderace, fed up with his sulking, snatches his Rotom Phone and, with Pikachu, leads both Trainers to the same pond. As a group of Metapod evolves into Butterfree in a nearby tree, the tension eases, and the boys begin bickering playfully about their decisions while their partners and Chloe smile. Suddenly Goh’s phone sounds an alarm, storm clouds burst apart and Lugia emerges. Chasing it to a cliff beside a mountain, Ash and Goh send out Lucario and Inteleon and challenge the Legendary Pokémon to a Raid Battle.
Major Events
- Separate plans. Ash returns to Pallet Town and camps with Goh and Chloe
- Both boys secretly plan to travel alone and quarrel
- A Lugia Raid Battle begins
- The Japanese title echoes EP001’s
- The last appearances of Noctowl, Torkoal, Gliscor and Gible
Trivia
- The screenplay is by Shōji Yonemura.
- This is a plot episode: it advances the Kanto, Galar & beyond storyline.
Changes in the English Dub
- The Professor Oak’s Laboratory caption is removed
Part of our Pokémon Ultimate Journeys: The Series guide. Browse every season of the Pokémon anime.