 |
|
| Season | Pokémon Ultimate Journeys: The Series (Season 25) · To Be a Pokémon Master: old friends arc (JN137–JN141) |
| Episode | Season 25, episode 45 · English episode 1215 · Japanese episode 1225 · Bulbapedia code JN139 |
| English title | Must Be Our Heroes and the Witch! |
| Japanese title | タケシとデントともりのまじょ！ Takeshi to Dento to Mori no Majo! — “Takeshi and Dent and the Forest Witch!” |
| First aired (Japan) | 27 January 2023 · TV Tokyo |
| First aired (US) | 8 September 2023 · Netflix |
| Screenplay | Shōji Yonemura |
| Opening / ending (Japan) | Mezase Pokémon Masutā -with my friends- (Aim to Be a Pokémon Master) – Satoshi (Rica Matsumoto) · Takeshi no Paradaisu (Takeshi’s Paradise) – Takeshi (Yūji Ueda) |
| English opening | Gotta Catch Em All – Ben Dixon and The Sad Truth |
| Who’s That Pokémon? | Hatterene (US) · Hatterene (Japan) |
| Previous episode | A Fated Face-Off! (JN138) |
| Next episode | Bearing Down Easy! (JN140) |
Plot episodeBrock rejoinsCilan
Must Be Our Heroes and the Witch! is the 45th episode of Pokémon Ultimate Journeys: The Series, the twenty-fifth season of the Pokémon anime, and the 1215th episode of the English dub overall (Japanese episode 1225, Bulbapedia code JN139). It first aired in Japan on 27 January 2023 and in the United States on 8 September 2023. It falls within the season’s To Be a Pokémon Master: old friends stretch (EP137–EP141).
Released on Netflix in the US on 8 September 2023 with the fourth part, Pokémon: To Be a Pokémon Master (JN137–JN147 and JNS05) — episode 3 of 12 in that listing; Teletoon had premiered it in Canada on 27 May 2023.
Synopsis
Ash and Misty reunite with Brock and Cilan, and when a heartbroken Brock is lured into a forest by the illusion-weaving Hatterene known as the Forest Witch, the friends rescue him with the help of a young Hatenna. At a café, Ash and Misty find that their sandwiches were made by Brock, who is working there to win the heart of the owner, Kathy, until she announces that her boyfriend is coming home to marry her. As they try to cheer him up, Cilan arrives; Misty recognises him from the lure Ash used, introduces herself as the Cerulean Gym Leader and sister of the Sensational Sisters, and Cilan evaluates her Psyduck. Ash learns that Brock and Cilan already met in Johto and watched his final together. Cilan suggests a flower field to lift Brock’s spirits, but Brock soon sinks back into gloom, and a Hatterene in the nearby woods senses his sadness, conjures an illusion of Kathy that draws him into the forest and gives the others headaches until he is out of sight.
Switching into “Connoisseur Detective” mode, Cilan explains that Hatterene, known as the Forest Witch, traps people with negative emotions and attacks anyone too loud nearby. In the forest, the group meets a Hatenna, which can sense emotions through the protrusion on its head and agrees to help find Brock. An angry Hattrem chases them, Misty is frightened by a Joltik, and Hatterene casts new illusions: Delia offering croquettes to Ash, a crowd of Water-type Pokémon for Misty, and Ingo and Emmet offering boxed lunches to Cilan. Each chases a vision until the illusions turn unpleasant, burying Ash under croquettes, turning Misty’s Water types into Bug types and sending Ingo and Emmet away by railroad cart, and Pikachu’s Thunderbolt breaks the spell.
Following Hatenna, which relays the emotions it senses to Pikachu, Cilan deduces that Hatterene is making Brock cycle endlessly between love and rejection so it can feed on the negativity of each heartbreak. Under the illusion, Brock sees Ash as Kathy’s boyfriend and sends out Steelix to defend his love, while Hatterene attacks too. When Ash shields Hatenna from the attacks, Hatterene’s hold on Brock weakens and breaks just before Hatenna is struck by Psycho Cut; Ash treats its wound, and with Brock’s gloom gone, Hatterene calms down and thanks Brock for helping Hatenna, while an invisible Latias watches. Brock decides to rejoin Ash and Misty to strengthen his heart, but Cilan declines to come along, preferring to see a new railroad coach being unveiled by Ingo and Emmet, and the friends bid him farewell. Meanwhile, Hatterene has found new playmates in Team Rocket, who are trapped in an illusion of eating endlessly without ever feeling full.
Major Events
- Brock and Cilan. Brock becomes a travelling companion again after 567 episodes
- Cilan’s last appearance
- A Hatterene is the Forest Witch
- Takeshi’s Paradise as the Japanese ending
- Debut of Hatenna, the last Pokémon debut of the series
Pokémon making their anime debut
Hatenna#0856 · JN139
Trivia
- The English title plays on Donovan’s song “Season of the Witch”, for the Hatterene “forest witch”.
- The screenplay is by Shōji Yonemura.
- This is a plot episode: it advances the Kanto, Galar & beyond storyline.
Changes in the English Dub
- Takeshi’s Paradise as the Japanese ending, in the edited version with a recoloured Jynx
Part of our Pokémon Ultimate Journeys: The Series guide. Browse every season of the Pokémon anime.