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| Season | Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon – Ultra Adventures (Season 21) · The Ultra Guardians & new rivals arc (SM061–SM069) |
| Episode | Season 21, episode 19 · English episode 997 · Japanese episode 1002 · Bulbapedia code SM062 |
| English title | Acting True to Form! |
| Japanese title | 悪のニャースはアローラニャース！？ Aku no Nyāsu wa Arōra Nyāsu!? — “The Evil Nyarth is an Alolan Nyarth!?” |
| First aired (Japan) | 15 February 2018 · TV Tokyo |
| First aired (US) | 23 July 2018 · Disney XD |
| Screenplay | Akemi Omode |
| Opening / ending (Japan) | Mirai Konekushon (Future Connection) – ЯeaL · Jarī Bōi Jarī Gāru (Twerp, Twerpette) – Taiiku Okazaki |
| English opening | Under the Alolan Moon – Haven Paschall and Ben Dixon |
| Who’s That Pokémon? | Alolan Meowth (US) |
| Previous episode | A Mission of Ultra Urgency! (SM061) |
| Next episode | Pushing the Fiery Envelope! (SM063) |
Plot episodeAlolan MeowthMatori’s assistant
Acting True to Form! is the 19th episode of Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon – Ultra Adventures, the twenty-first season of the Pokémon anime, and the 997th episode of the English dub overall (Japanese episode 1002, Bulbapedia code SM062). It first aired in Japan on 15 February 2018 and in the United States on 23 July 2018. It falls within the season’s The Ultra Guardians & new rivals stretch (EP61–EP69).
Premiered on Monday 23 July 2018, in Disney XD’s summer line-up of seven Monday-evening premieres (2 July – 13 August 2018).
Synopsis
A smooth-talking Alolan Meowth wins over Jessie and James, uses Team Rocket’s own Meowth as bait against Ash, and then leaves the trio to become Matori’s assistant at Team Rocket headquarters. The trouble starts when Jessie eats Meowth’s limited-edition ice cream and Meowth storms off, only to fall into a muddy pond. An Alolan Meowth reaches down to help, then pulls its paw away, and when Jessie and James arrive, they mistake the clean newcomer for their partner. At the base, the Alolan Meowth admires the trio’s supplies, fetches Jessie a juice and polishes James’s six Poké Balls—Great, Ultra, Premier, Dusk, Heal and Quick—without being asked. When the real Meowth confronts it, James’s guidebook reveals that it is a Dark type, perfect for the Darkinium Z, but the newcomer reminds them that they lack a Z-Ring. Giovanni and Matori call, and Giovanni seems impressed by the newcomer.
Meowth resents the attention, especially after the Alolan Meowth trips Mimikyu and shows its true colours. He drowns his sorrows at Oranguru’s place, cries, and then devises a plan to make the newcomer look useless by luring it to the Pokémon School—never noticing that it has been scanning Team Rocket’s member data. At school, Ash is in a Double Battle with Lycanroc and Litten against Kiawe’s Marowak and Turtonator when Meowth snatches Ash’s backpack, with Rowlet inside, and drops it in front of the Alolan Meowth. Ash assumes the newcomer is with Team Rocket and attacks, but it stops Pikachu with Feint and fires a Thunderbolt that Togedemaru absorbs with Lightning Rod. The students fall into a pitfall, Pikachu is trapped in a glass capsule, and Jessie and James reveal that Meowth was the bait.
Turtonator lifts the students out of the pit, and when Ash steps on one of its spikes, the explosion blasts everyone free; Rowlet leads them to Team Rocket. In the forest, Jessie’s Mimikyu frees Pikachu instead of attacking, out of spite, and Lycanroc’s Rock Throw meets Mareanie’s Sludge Bomb. Jessie orders both Meowth to attack, but the Alolan Meowth pushes Meowth forward and slips away just as Pikachu unleashes Gigavolt Havoc, and Bewear rescues the trio before they can blast off. Back at the den, the Alolan Meowth has not returned, and Meowth is relieved—until Giovanni calls to praise the trio and reveals the newcomer standing beside Matori as her new assistant. A second call from the Alolan Meowth itself confirms that it used them as a stepping stone, and Jessie fumes while Meowth shrugs it off.
Major Events
- Alolan Meowth. An Alolan Meowth wins over Jessie and James, uses Meowth as bait against Ash and becomes Matori’s assistant
- James owns Great, Ultra, Premier, Dusk, Heal and Quick Balls
- Team Rocket learn they need a Z-Ring
- Giovanni’s Persian is voiced in the dub for the first time
- Eileen Stevens’s last episode as a full-time member of the dub cast
- Debut of Matori’s Alolan Meowth
Trivia
- The screenplay is by Akemi Omode.
- This is a plot episode: it advances the Alola storyline.
Changes in the English Dub
- The Japanese caption naming Gigavolt Havoc is erased
- Giovanni’s Persian is voiced in English for the first time
Part of our Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon – Ultra Adventures guide. Browse every season of the Pokémon anime.