 |
|
| Season | Pokémon Ultimate Journeys: The Series (Season 25) · To Be a Pokémon Master: farewells arc (JN142–JN147) |
| Episode | Season 25, episode 53 · English episode 1223 · Japanese episode 1233 · Bulbapedia code JN147 |
| English title | The Rainbow and the Pokémon Master! |
| Japanese title | 虹とポケモンマスター！ Niji to Pokémon Masutā! — “The Rainbow and the Pokémon Master!” |
| First aired (Japan) | 24 March 2023 · TV Tokyo |
| First aired (US) | 8 September 2023 · Netflix |
| Screenplay | Atsuhiro Tomioka |
| Opening / ending (Japan) | Mezase Pokémon Masutā -with my friends- (Aim to Be a Pokémon Master) – Satoshi (Rica Matsumoto) · Taipu: Wairudo (Type: Wild), 1998 version – Rica Matsumoto (the dub: a piano arrangement of the first English opening) |
| English opening | Gotta Catch Em All – Ben Dixon and The Sad Truth |
| Who’s That Pokémon? | Pikachu (US) · Pikachu (Japan) |
| Previous episode | Ash and Latios (JN146) |
| Next episode | Distant Blue Sky! (JNS05) |
Plot episodeSeries finalePidgeot returns
The Rainbow and the Pokémon Master! is the 53rd episode of Pokémon Ultimate Journeys: The Series, the twenty-fifth season of the Pokémon anime, and the 1223rd episode of the English dub overall (Japanese episode 1233, Bulbapedia code JN147). It first aired in Japan on 24 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 11 of 12 in that listing; Teletoon had premiered it in Canada on 22 July 2023. The last regular episode of Ash’s story, followed on Netflix by the special JNS05.
Synopsis
In the final episode of Ash’s story, Ash parts from Misty and Brock, returns home to Pallet Town, reunites with his Pidgeot and, pondering Gary’s question about how close he is to his dream, sets off again to become a Pokémon Master. At a series of crossroads at dusk, Misty and Brock say goodbye and head for Cerulean City and Pewter City, each hoping the three will travel together again. At home, Delia sends Ash and Pikachu to the bath while she washes his clothes and cooks dinner, and over the meal with Delia and Mimey, Ash tells stories of his travels; in bed he wonders how Latias and Latios are doing. The next morning he oversleeps, nearly runs to Professor Oak’s lab in his pyjamas and leaves without the new shoes Delia offers him. At the lab, Tracey, heading out on an errand, tells him the new first-partner Pokémon have arrived, and Ash finds that the Charmander is missing; Pikachu locates it at the bottom of a small cave, Ash climbs down to rescue it, and Gary, who brought the three Pokémon, offers him a hand up.
Gary congratulates Ash on winning the Masters Eight Tournament and asks how much closer being World Champion has brought him to becoming a Pokémon Master, leaving without waiting for an answer, and the question stays with Ash as he enjoys Delia’s cooking and days at the lab. At Team Rocket HQ, the still-feuding Jessie, James and Meowth are serving food to dozens of Grunts in the cafeteria, refusing to speak to one another, to Wobbuffet’s worry. In Viridian Forest, all three sneak through the grass after Pikachu at the same time, and, sick of cafeteria work, they make up, recite their motto and trap Pikachu in a net. Ash has left all his other Pokémon at the lab and is helpless, until a gust of wind heralds the arrival of his Pidgeot, which slices the net open with Wing Attack. Pikachu blasts the trio off, and they vow to keep chasing it together.
Pidgeot’s flock has grown considerably, and once its members give their approval, Pidgeot rejoins Ash. The next day, watching Poliwag and Poliwhirl float on their backs in a river, Ash dozes off thinking about Gary’s question, and when a rainstorm drives him under a big tree among many sheltering Pokémon, he tells Pikachu that becoming World Champion was never his final goal and that he is still a challenger. To him, a Pokémon Master is someone who has befriended every Pokémon in the world, which is why Latios’s refusal stung, and every meeting and adventure brings him closer. As the rain stops, a rainbow appears, and Ash asks Pikachu to stay by his side when he becomes a Pokémon Master; Pikachu happily agrees. The next morning, Delia finds that Ash has left early, this time wearing his new shoes. With Team Rocket’s balloon still following, Ash reaches a crossroads, where Pikachu hands him a twig, and he tosses it into the air to choose where his journey will lead next.
Major Events
- Series finale. Misty and Brock go home
- Tracey’s Venonat evolves into Venomoth
- Gary asks Ash how much closer becoming World Champion has brought him to being a Pokémon Master
- Team Rocket reunite
- Pidgeot rejoins Ash for the first time since EP081, 1,151 episodes earlier
- Ash defines a Pokémon Master as someone who has befriended every Pokémon and sets off again
- Type: Wild as the Japanese ending
- The last episode with Ash and Pikachu as protagonists
Captures and evolutions
Pidgeot#0018 · Ash · rejoins him after 1,151 episodes
Venonat → Venomoth#0049 · Tracey’s · the first evolution of any of his Pokémon
Trivia
- The screenplay is by Atsuhiro Tomioka.
- This is a plot episode: it advances the Kanto, Galar & beyond storyline.
Changes in the English Dub
- The closing “Next Time… A New Beginning!” card is removed
- Ted Lewis returns as Tracey’s English voice
- The 1998 Type: Wild as the Japanese ending; the dub replaces it with a piano arrangement of the first English opening
- An arrangement of the Red and Green title-screen music at the end
Part of our Pokémon Ultimate Journeys: The Series guide. Browse every season of the Pokémon anime.