Journey to the Unown! – Pokémon Season 11, Episode 8

Plot episodeAipom evolves into AmbipomTeam Galactic at the ruins

Journey to the Unown! is the 8th episode of Pokémon DP: Battle Dimension, the eleventh season of the Pokémon anime, and the 523rd episode of the English dub overall (Japanese episode 527, Bulbapedia code DP060). It first aired in Japan on 20 December 2007 and in the United States on 7 June 2008. It falls within the season’s Solaceon: the Unown ruins & Dawn’s slump stretch (EP60–EP65).

The original Cartoon Network title card read “Journey to the Unknown!”; it was corrected later.

Synopsis · Major Events · Trivia · Dub Changes · All episodes

Synopsis

Training for the Solaceon Contest, Dawn has Aipom perform a move that makes it look as though it has two tails, and Brock explains that it is Double Hit, a sign that Aipom is close to evolving. Kenny turns up and teases Dawn for not knowing that Aipom evolves into Ambipom, calling her “Dee Dee”, a childhood nickname that leaves Ash puzzled, and he turns down Ash’s request for a rematch because he wants to see the Dialga and Palkia carvings at the Solaceon Ruins. Meanwhile Team Galactic Commander Saturn and two Grunts slip into the ruins, and Team Rocket, recognising Saturn from the theft at the Eterna museum, sneak after them in search of treasure. At the entrance, flanked by statues of Dialga and Palkia, Kenny changes his mind and challenges Ash, and Dawn’s Pokétch coin toss gives Ash the first move. Expecting Prinplup, Ash chooses Turtwig, but Kenny surprises everyone by sending out a Breloom.

Breloom’s Mach Punch beats Turtwig’s Tackle to the punch, and its Energy Ball cancels Razor Leaf and Bite. Impressed, Ash asks Kenny to teach Turtwig Energy Ball; Kenny points out that it would first have to learn Bullet Seed and agrees to help only if Ash wins. Deep inside the ruins, Saturn’s team place the Splash, Iron and Draco Plates on a triangular floor panel, and the Unown inscriptions on the walls come to life. Saturn taunts Team Rocket, takes a mysterious cube from the chamber and escapes by helicopter while Bronzor’s Confuse Ray covers his retreat, leaving the trio to run from the angry Unown. As the disturbed Unown rearrange the ruins, the entrance rises and traps Dawn, Piplup and Aipom inside, and Ash and Brock leap in just before it seals. They find Kenny panicking over the shifting walls, and Ash calms him by reminding him to think about how his Pokémon feel.

Dawn finds Piplup and Aipom disoriented and comes under attack from a swarm of confused Unown; Swift and Bubble Beam break their confusion and restore the room, but she still cannot find the way out. The boys face their own group, which Thunderbolt, Razor Leaf, Energy Ball and Bubble Beam snap out of it. When more Unown close in on Dawn, Piplup clears them with Whirlpool, Team Rocket tumble down a nearby staircase, and Aipom’s Double Hit triggers its evolution into Ambipom, whose Swift calms the next group. As the two parties meet, Unown illusions make each appear to be walking on the ceiling until Piplup’s Bubble Beam dispels them, and Happiny’s strength catches Dawn and Team Rocket as they fall. Outside, Team Rocket slip away vowing revenge on Team Galactic, without ever blasting off. Dawn is sure Ambipom can win the Contest, and Kenny agrees to teach Turtwig Energy Ball, provided that Ash keeps quiet about how frightened he was.

Major Events

• Dawn’s Aipom evolves into Ambipom. Saturn takes a mysterious cube, the Spear Key, from the Solaceon Ruins using the Splash, Iron and Draco Plates
• Kenny reveals a Breloom
• Ash’s battle with Kenny is interrupted by the Unown
• Kenny agrees to help Turtwig learn Energy Ball
• Bronzor’s TV debut

Pokémon making their anime debut

• Ambipom#0424 · DP060
• Bronzor#0436 · DP060

Captures and evolutions

• Aipom → Ambipom#0424 · Dawn · using Double Hit in the Solaceon Ruins

Trivia

• The English title plays on “journey to the unknown” — which is what the first English title card actually said.
• The screenplay is by Atsuhiro Tomioka.
• This is a plot episode: it advances the Sinnoh storyline.

Changes in the English Dub

• The first English broadcast’s title card read Journey to the Unknown!, corrected later

Part of our Pokémon DP: Battle Dimension guide. Browse every season of the Pokémon anime.