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| Season | Pokémon Journeys: The Series (Season 23) · Rivals & setbacks arc (JN031–JN041) |
| Episode | Season 23, episode 34 · English episode 1114 · Japanese episode 1120 · Bulbapedia code JN034 |
| English title | Solitary and Menacing! |
| Japanese title | 孤高の闘士サイトウ！オトスパスの脅威！！ Kokō no Tōshi Saitō! Otosupasu no Kyōi!! — “The Solitary Fighter Saitou! The Threatening Otosupus!!” |
| First aired (Japan) | 23 August 2020 · TV Tokyo |
| First aired (US) | 4 December 2020 · Netflix |
| Screenplay | Atsuhiro Tomioka |
| Opening / ending (Japan) | Wan, Tsū, Surī (One, Two, Three) – Nishikawa-kun and Kirishō · Pokémon Shiritori (Mew → Zamazenta Ver.) – Pokémon Music Club |
| English opening | The Journey Starts Today – Walk off the Earth |
| Who’s That Pokémon? | Riolu (US) · Riolu (Japan) |
| Previous episode | Trade, Borrow, and Steal! (JN033) |
| Next episode | Gotta Catch a What?! (JN035) |
Plot episodeBea debutsAsh’s first Series loss
Solitary and Menacing! is the 34th episode of Pokémon Journeys: The Series, the twenty-third season of the Pokémon anime, and the 1114th episode of the English dub overall (Japanese episode 1120, Bulbapedia code JN034). It first aired in Japan on 23 August 2020 and in the United States on 4 December 2020. It falls within the season’s Rivals & setbacks stretch (EP31–EP41).
Synopsis
At the Fighting Dojo in Saffron City, Ash meets the stoic Galar Gym Leader Bea and suffers his first World Coronation Series defeat when her Grapploct overwhelms Riolu, while Goh earns a Hitmonchan from the dojo. Ash arrives hoping to extend his winning streak by challenging the Karate Master, and while Riolu spars with the dojo’s Pokémon, Goh agonizes over whether to choose a Hitmonchan or a Hitmonlee. Ash’s Rotom Phone signals another World Coronation Series participant inside, and a fainted Hitmonchan flies through the doorway and lands on him: the Karate Master has just been beaten by a challenger whose Grapploct the Black Belts call unusually strong. The challenger is Bea, a master of Galar Karate who travels to test herself against dojos, and she accepts Ash’s demand for an official match on the dojo floor. Goh learns that to receive his Pokémon he must defeat the Karate Master himself, but Ash’s battle comes first.
Bea is ranked 751st to Ash’s 890th, but Ash, undefeated in the Series and recalling his win over Korrina, is unconcerned—until Bea reveals that she has beaten Korrina too and calls him overconfident. Both, it turns out, want to battle Leon. In the two-on-two match, Bea’s Hawlucha raises its power with Hone Claws, dodges Night Slash and knocks the leek from Farfetch’d’s grip with Karate Chop; Farfetch’d recovers it and lands Brutal Swing, but the attack leaves it spinning, and Hawlucha springs off the leek for a Flying Press that knocks it out. Bea switches to Grapploct, and Riolu insists on fighting in Pikachu’s place. Grapploct evades a barrage of Vacuum Waves with Detect, pummels Riolu with Close Combat and clears its Double Team with Liquidation.
Ash has Riolu blast the floor with Force Palm to scatter debris as a distraction, but a tentacle snatches it from the air and Grapploct binds it with Octolock. Bea calls the strategy wasteful, yet Riolu uses its free legs to leap and spin so that Grapploct hits the ground first and loosens its grip, the first time Bea looks genuinely surprised. Reversal and Liquidation collide and push both Pokémon back, but the exhausted Riolu drops to one knee, and Grapploct traps it in a second Octolock that binds its legs too. Ash refuses to surrender, and a point-blank Liquidation knocks Riolu out, giving Bea a nearly flawless win and dropping Ash to 930th. Bea thanks the Karate Master and leaves, and Goh takes his turn against the master, winning off-screen. At the Pokémon Center, Goh shows off his new Hitmonchan while Ash apologises to Farfetch’d and Riolu for letting them down and vows to get even with Bea.
Major Events
- World Coronation Series, battle 8. At the Saffron City Fighting Dojo Ash meets Bea, ranked 751st
- Bea’s Hawlucha and Grapploct beat Ash’s Farfetch’d and Riolu, Ash’s first Series loss, dropping him to 930th
- Goh receives a Hitmonchan from the Karate Master after beating him off screen
Pokémon making their anime debut
Grapploct#0853 · JN034
Captures and evolutions
Hitmonchan#0107 · Goh · received from the Karate Master, chosen over Hitmonlee
Trivia
- The screenplay is by Atsuhiro Tomioka.
- This is a plot episode: it advances the Kanto, Galar & beyond storyline.
Changes in the English Dub
- Dub error: the vocal opening plays over the end credits
Part of our Pokémon Journeys: The Series guide. Browse every season of the Pokémon anime.