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| Season | Pokémon Journeys: The Series (Season 23) · Rivals & setbacks arc (JN031–JN041) |
| Episode | Season 23, episode 35 · English episode 1115 · Japanese episode 1121 · Bulbapedia code JN035 |
| English title | Gotta Catch a What?! |
| Japanese title | ピカチュウ、ゲットだぜ！！ Pikachū, Getto da ze!! — “Catch Pikachu!!” |
| First aired (Japan) | 30 August 2020 · TV Tokyo |
| First aired (US) | 4 December 2020 · Netflix |
| Screenplay | Akemi Omode |
| 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? | Pikachu (US) · Pikachu (Japan) |
| Previous episode | Solitary and Menacing! (JN034) |
| Next episode | Making Battles in the Sand! (JN036) |
Plot episodeGoh’s Pikachu becomes Raichu
Gotta Catch a What?! is the 35th episode of Pokémon Journeys: The Series, the twenty-third season of the Pokémon anime, and the 1115th episode of the English dub overall (Japanese episode 1121, Bulbapedia code JN035). It first aired in Japan on 30 August 2020 and in the United States on 4 December 2020. It falls within the season’s Rivals & setbacks stretch (EP31–EP41).
Synopsis
Goh joins a mass outbreak of Pikachu in the mountains, catches a kind and generous female Pikachu, and when Team Rocket vacuum up the Pikachu—including Ash’s—his new partner chooses to evolve into Raichu with a Thunder Stone to rescue them. Reviewing his collection over lunch, Goh decides that his next catch will be a Pikachu, and Professor Cerise tells him about an outbreak in the mountains. At the site one Pikachu leaps away from his ball and another swats it back into his face with its tail, but a third comes to check on him and offers him a Pecha Berry, then shares more with Ash and their Pokémon. Goh’s Pokédex confirms from her tail that she is female, and at Ash’s urging he catches her; when he nuzzles her in welcome, she accidentally shocks him, which Ash explains is how Pikachu say hello.
Goh’s Pikachu leads the group to the other Pikachu, which are digging and using Iron Tail on the rocks; one unearths a Thunder Stone and evolves into Raichu, and Goh realises that the outbreak is a hunt for Thunder Stones. His Pikachu finds one and chases Ash’s Pikachu behind a rock with it, and after a flash of light Ash is relieved to see his partner emerge unevolved. Ash explains that his Pikachu wants to grow strong as a Pikachu and that Pokémon should evolve only when they choose to. Goh’s Pikachu offers Ash the stone, and when he declines she gives it to Goh to keep. Team Rocket arrive with a shock-proof vacuum machine and ignore the Pecha Berries Goh’s Pikachu kindly offers them; the Rocket Prize Master gives them a Buneary and a Minccino, cute but tough, and in the melee Buneary’s Pound sends Pikachu and Raichu flying into the machine.
When Meowth targets Goh’s Pikachu, Ash’s Pikachu pushes her aside and is sucked in instead, and Team Rocket fly off with their haul. At their camp they cannot tell which Pikachu is Ash’s, and the one Jessie grabs with the claw shocks them for calling it flabby. Goh’s Pikachu, miserable without her friends, is promised a rescue, and a flash of light from the captives reveals the hideout. Raboot and Sobble take on Buneary while Goh’s Pikachu fails to crack the glass capsule with her tail; as Meowth’s vacuum pulls at her, she realises that she can become stronger and calls to Goh, who tosses her the Thunder Stone. She evolves into Raichu, wrecking the vacuum nozzle, and frees the captured Pikachu with the other Raichu. Ash’s Pikachu arranges the Pikachu into a tower, and on Ash’s command they unleash a combined Thunderbolt that blasts Team Rocket away. Back at the lab, Goh’s Raichu happily hands out Berries to everyone—until her generosity overwhelms Pikachu, Sobble and Raboot.
Major Events
- Goh’s Pikachu. A mass outbreak of Pikachu hunting Thunder Stones
- Goh catches a female Pikachu, which evolves into Raichu with a Thunder Stone to free the captured Pikachu
- Ash’s Pikachu declines to evolve
Captures and evolutions
Pikachu#0025 · Goh · a kind female Pikachu
Pikachu → Raichu#0026 · Goh · with a Thunder Stone, to free the captured Pikachu
Trivia
- The English title plays on the slogan “Gotta catch ’em all!”, as Goh catches a Pikachu.
- The screenplay is by Akemi Omode.
- This is a plot episode: it advances the Kanto, Galar & beyond storyline.
Part of our Pokémon Journeys: The Series guide. Browse every season of the Pokémon anime.