Caring for a Mystery! – Pokémon Journeys Episode 21 (JN021)


Season	Pokémon Journeys: The Series (Season 23) · Climbing the ranks arc (JN019–JN024)
Episode	Season 23, episode 21 · English episode 1101 · Japanese episode 1107 · Bulbapedia code JN021
English title	Caring for a Mystery!
Japanese title	とどけ波導！サトシと不思議なタマゴ！！ Todoke Hadō! Satoshi to Fushigi na Tamago!! — “Convey the Wave Guidance! Satoshi and the Mysterious Egg!!”
First aired (Japan)	12 April 2020 · TV Tokyo
First aired (US)	11 September 2020 · Netflix
Screenplay	Aya Matsui
Opening / ending (Japan)	Wan, Tsū, Surī (One, Two, Three) – After the Rain · Pokémon Shiritori (Mew → Zamazenta Ver.) – Pokémon Music Club
English opening	The Journey Starts Today – Walk off the Earth
Who’s That Pokémon?	Chansey (US) · Chansey (Japan)
Previous episode	Dreams Are Made of These! (JN020)
Next episode	Goodbye, Friend! (JN022)

Plot episodeRiolu hatchesAsh catches Riolu

Caring for a Mystery! is the 21st episode of Pokémon Journeys: The Series, the twenty-third season of the Pokémon anime, and the 1101st episode of the English dub overall (Japanese episode 1107, Bulbapedia code JN021). It first aired in Japan on 12 April 2020 and in the United States on 11 September 2020. It falls within the season’s Climbing the ranks stretch (EP19–EP24).

Synopsis

Ash takes charge of a Pokémon Egg that has never hatched, and after it responds to his Aura and hatches into a headstrong Riolu, he follows it into the wild, helps it stand up to an Onix and catches it. At the Vermilion City Pokémon Center, Nurse Joy and Chansey puzzle over an Egg whose monitors show no change. At the lab, Professor Cerise explains that Professor Elm first revealed that Pokémon Eggs exist, though no one has ever seen one laid; Ash’s casual remark that he has seen Eggs before impresses Goh, who sets out to find one despite Ren’s warning. In a park the “Egg” Goh spots turns out to be an Exeggcute, which he catches. Ash then receives a challenge from Hayden of Fuchsia City, ranked 1,024th, and the Drone Rotom arrives to referee: Pikachu’s Iron Tail meets Tauros’s Horn Attack, sending out waves of Aura that make the Egg at the Pokémon Center stir, and Ash, giving off Aura himself, wins with Thunderbolt despite Pikachu being hurt by Iron Head.

After the match Ash feels as though someone is calling him. Taking Pikachu to the Pokémon Center, he follows the feeling to the back room, where the Egg breaks free of its wires and rolls towards him. Nurse Joy explains that it was found in Sinnoh and passed from one Day Care worker to another without ever hatching, and she suggests that Ash look after it. At the lab Ren and Chrysa explain that an Egg needs to be near healthy Pokémon, and Professor Cerise tells of a Jigglypuff that sang to an Egg until it hatched into an Azurill that sang the same song—proof that Pokémon can hear from inside their Eggs. Ash introduces the Egg to his Pokémon, stopping Dragonite from hugging it. That night the Egg glows and hatches into a Riolu, which looks around for the Aura it sensed, knocks Ash onto his bed with Vacuum Wave and leaps out of the window.

Riolu picks fights with a Poliwrath and other wild Pokémon and is beaten back each time, while Ash insists on searching because it knows so little about the world; he admits that he thought Riolu had been calling him and waiting for him, but now believes he was wrong. On a rocky cliff Riolu climbs onto an Onix, which throws it onto a ledge and hits it with Dragon Tail. Ash arrives and, as he prepares to battle, gives off powerful Aura that Riolu recognises as the waves it sensed before. Riolu pushes Pikachu aside to fight for itself, and on Ash’s command its Vacuum Wave stops the Onix’s attack and its tackle topples the giant, which flees. Exhausted but stubborn, Riolu refuses to be carried to the Pokémon Center. Once it has been treated, it hops off the table and makes clear that it wants to be caught; Ash catches it, and Riolu proudly leads the way out.

Major Events

World Coronation Series, battle 3. Goh catches an Exeggcute
Ash’s Pikachu beats Hayden’s Tauros (Hayden is 1,024th
Ash’s new rank is not shown)
Nurse Joy entrusts Ash with an Egg found in Sinnoh, which responds to his Aura and hatches into Riolu
Ash catches Riolu, his first Generation IV catch since DP157
The first reference to Ash’s Aura since DP072