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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 50 · English episode 1220 · Japanese episode 1230 · Bulbapedia code JN144 |
| English title | Getting to the Heart of it All! |
| Japanese title | ジュペッタのさがしもの！ Jupetta no Sagashimono! — “Juppeta’s Search!” |
| First aired (Japan) | 3 March 2023 · TV Tokyo |
| First aired (US) | 8 September 2023 · Netflix |
| Screenplay | Michihiro Tsuchiya |
| 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? | Banette (US) · Banette (Japan) |
| Previous episode | Ride, Lapras, Ride! (JN143) |
| Next episode | Rocket Revengers! (JN145) |
Filler / stand-alone episodeBanetteLast Pokédex
Getting to the Heart of it All! is the 50th episode of Pokémon Ultimate Journeys: The Series, the twenty-fifth season of the Pokémon anime, and the 1220th episode of the English dub overall (Japanese episode 1230, Bulbapedia code JN144). It first aired in Japan on 3 March 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 8 of 12 in that listing; Teletoon had premiered it in Canada on 1 July 2023.
Synopsis
In a small town, Ash, Misty and Brock track down a Banette that is stealing heart-shaped objects and discover that it was once a girl’s plush doll searching for the owner who left it behind. Arriving at dusk, Misty shows off a heart-shaped hair tie she has just bought, and the group comes across a theft in progress; Officer Jenny explains that an unknown Pokémon has been taking items around town. Ash sends out Gengar, and Brock identifies the culprit as a Banette, which escapes every time they corner it. When Jenny reads out the list of stolen goods, they realise that every item is heart-shaped. Banette, meanwhile, takes its latest haul to an abandoned house on the edge of town, but none of the items is what it is looking for.
Ash’s Rotom Phone explains that Banette is a doll brought to life by resentment at being abandoned. After a meal at the Pokémon Center, the group spots Banette on a rooftop, where the wind blows away a photo it has been studying. Brock catches it, and Banette starts chasing Misty’s hair tie before Gengar loses it near the abandoned house. The photo shows a young girl hugging a plush doll wearing a heart-shaped hair tie, and the friends realise Banette is searching for the tie its owner gave it; Misty agrees to give it her own. In a flashback, the doll is left behind by movers when the girl’s family leaves the house, wears down over the years into a Banette, and finds its old hair tie crumbling to dust in its hands.
The next day, Gengar leads the group to the abandoned house, and Ash lures Banette out with the promise of its photo. They give it Misty’s hair tie and promise to help find its owner, but a girl in town turns out not to be the one in the photo, and Misty realises the photo is years old, so the owner has grown up. By dusk they have had no luck, and a dejected Banette boards a train to keep searching elsewhere as Gengar waves goodbye. Back at the Pokémon Center, Brock realises that the girl in the photo is Nurse Joy herself. Ash calls out Dragonite to catch the train, and Banette leaps aboard Dragonite to return. Joy recognises the hair tie, tearfully embraces her childhood toy and apologises for leaving it alone for so long. The next day, Banette becomes Nurse Joy’s assistant, and Ash and his friends continue their journey.
Major Events
- Banette’s search. A Banette that steals heart-shaped things is reunited with its former owner, Nurse Joy
- The last episode in which Ash uses a Pokédex
- The only episode without James Carter Cathcart in the English cast and the last without the Team Rocket trio
- Followed in Japan by a Pokémon Horizons preview
Trivia
- The screenplay is by Michihiro Tsuchiya.
- 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
- The only episode without James Carter Cathcart in the English cast
- The dub omits a Black & White track
Part of our Pokémon Ultimate Journeys: The Series guide. Browse every season of the Pokémon anime.