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| Season | Pokémon Ultimate Journeys: The Series (Season 25) · To Be a Pokémon Master: farewells arc (JN142–JN147) |
| Episode | Season 25, episode 48 · English episode 1218 · Japanese episode 1228 · Bulbapedia code JN142 |
| English title | The Same Moon, Now and Forever! |
| Japanese title | そして、おなじ月をみている！ Soshite, Onaji Tsuki o Mite Iru! — “And We’re Looking at the Same Moon!” |
| First aired (Japan) | 17 February 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) · Hyakugojūichi (One Hundred Fifty-One) – Professor Oak (Unshō Ishizuka) and the Pokémon Kids |
| English opening | Gotta Catch Em All – Ben Dixon and The Sad Truth |
| Who’s That Pokémon? | Caterpie (US) · Caterpie (Japan) |
| Previous episode | A Squad’s Worth of Passion! (JN141) |
| Next episode | Ride, Lapras, Ride! (JN143) |
Filler / stand-alone episodePikachu and Meowth
The Same Moon, Now and Forever! is the 48th episode of Pokémon Ultimate Journeys: The Series, the twenty-fifth season of the Pokémon anime, and the 1218th episode of the English dub overall (Japanese episode 1228, Bulbapedia code JN142). It first aired in Japan on 17 February 2023 and in the United States on 8 September 2023. It falls within the season’s To Be a Pokémon Master: farewells stretch (EP142–EP147).
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 6 of 12 in that listing; Teletoon had premiered it in Canada on 17 June 2023.
Synopsis
When a Team Rocket robot explodes, Pikachu is blasted away and separated from Ash, and the two search for each other across the countryside, Pikachu in an uneasy truce with Meowth, until an invisible Latias saves them from a fall as they reunite. Team Rocket ambush Ash in a giant robot and trap him and Pikachu in a net; Snivy’s Leaf Storm cuts Ash free and wrecks the robot, but Pikachu, still tangled, is launched skyward with the trio, and when a piece of the robot breaks off, Pikachu and Meowth fall into a river. Escaping a hungry Gyarados, Meowth proposes a truce until they find their partners, secretly planning to have Jessie and James grab Pikachu the moment they meet. When Meowth throws a rock at Pidgey eating Oran Berries, it hits a Spearow instead, and Pikachu’s Thunderbolt scorches the berries; the Spearow summon their flock, knock Pikachu’s hat off in a cave, and a Caterpie helps Pikachu follow it.
Ash, Misty and Brock find the burnt berries and a Spearow feather and piece together what has happened. Fleeing the flock, they find an injured Spearow, which Brock heals with a Potion, and Ash kindly gives his cheese to a hungry Rattata that tries to raid his backpack. Smelling Pikachu’s scent on Ash, the Rattata agrees to help, and the Spearow follow along, while Jessie and James trail the group. Caterpie leads Pikachu and Meowth to a tree where the hat has landed among sleeping Venipede; Pikachu recovers it, but Meowth’s sneeze wakes them, and Meowth is poisoned during the escape. When Ash’s group reaches the same tree, Rattata and the Spearow flock hold the Venipede back so they can escape unharmed.
An Oddish helps Pikachu find a Pecha Berry to cure Meowth, just as Ash once did for Pikachu, and that night Ash and Pikachu, far apart, both gaze at the moon and remember their adventures together, from the day Ash received Pikachu at Professor Oak’s lab through every region they have explored. The next morning, both pick Leppa Berries and split them at the same moment, sensing each other nearby. They run towards each other and embrace, only to realise they are standing on the edge of a ravine and falling. Latias swoops in at the last moment and lifts them to safety, though, being invisible, it leaves Ash unaware of who has saved them. Jessie and James arrive in their balloon to collect Meowth and quietly leave Ash and Pikachu to enjoy their reunion.
Major Events
- Pikachu and Meowth. Separated from Ash for a night, Pikachu makes a truce with Meowth
- Caterpie, Rattata and Spearow
- Flashbacks in the original art styles
- Latias saves Ash and Pikachu
- Goodnight, My Pikachu as an insert song
- Snivy’s last appearance
Trivia
- The screenplay is by Shōji Yonemura.
- 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
- Goodnight, My Pikachu -2017 ver.- as an insert song; the dub uses an instrumental of the twentieth movie’s ending
Part of our Pokémon Ultimate Journeys: The Series guide. Browse every season of the Pokémon anime.