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| Season | Pokémon Journeys: The Series (Season 23) · Rivals & setbacks arc (JN031–JN041) |
| Episode | Season 23, episode 40 · English episode 1120 · Japanese episode 1126 · Bulbapedia code JN040 |
| English title | A Crackling Raid Battle! |
| Japanese title | VSサンダー！伝説レイドバトル！！ VS Sandā! Densetsu Reido Batoru!! — “VS Thunder! A Legendary Raid Battle!!” |
| First aired (Japan) | 9 October 2020 · TV Tokyo |
| First aired (US) | 5 March 2021 · Netflix |
| Screenplay | Deko Akao |
| Opening / ending (Japan) | Wan, Tsū, Surī (One, Two, Three) – Nishikawa-kun and Kirishō · Pokémon Shiritori (Pikachu → Mew Ver.) – Pokémon Music Club |
| English opening | The Journey Starts Today – Walk off the Earth |
| Who’s That Pokémon? | Zapdos (US) · Zapdos (Japan) |
| Previous episode | Octo-Gridlock at the Gym! (JN039) |
| Next episode | Pikachu Translation Check… / Up to Your Neck! (JN041) |
Plot episodeZapdos Raid BattleRaboot learns Blaze Kick
A Crackling Raid Battle! is the 40th episode of Pokémon Journeys: The Series, the twenty-third season of the Pokémon anime, and the 1120th episode of the English dub overall (Japanese episode 1126, Bulbapedia code JN040). It first aired in Japan on 9 October 2020 and in the United States on 5 March 2021. It falls within the season’s Rivals & setbacks stretch (EP31–EP41).
Released on Netflix on 5 March 2021 with the rest of the fourth batch; POP had premiered it in the UK on 4 March 2021.
Synopsis
When blackouts strike the Cerise Laboratory, Goh tracks the cause to the Legendary Zapdos recharging at the Kanto Power Plant and, after a Raid Battle alongside Team Rocket, makes his first attempt to catch a Legendary Pokémon. Ash and Goh are enjoying shaved ice from a vending machine in Vermilion City when it suddenly dies, and back at the lab the lights flicker. Professor Cerise detects a strong pulse of energy, Goh spots a dark thundercloud and predicts Zapdos, and Cerise posts his assistants at Vermilion Harbor; the boys argue over whether Ash will battle it or Goh will catch it with Flygon’s help, until the cloud vanishes. Goh muses about whether Zapdos lives in thunderclouds or creates them. When Chloe mentions that her own house still has power, Goh has a hunch: as new clouds gather over the harbour, he leads Ash the other way, to the unmanned Kanto Power Plant that supplies the lab.
Inside they bump into Team Rocket, who claim they are only scouting the site as a second base. A cry leads everyone to the generator room, where Zapdos is absorbing the plant’s electricity. Zapdos quickly knocks out Pikachu and Raboot, but the Rocket Prize Master’s Rhydon and Stunfisk are Ground types and shrug off its attacks, although Rhydon’s Horn Drill only hits the walls and Stunfisk’s Water Gun is feeble. Ash, Goh and Team Rocket join forces in a Raid Battle—Rhydon shields Raboot, Stunfisk carries Pikachu on its back—but Rock Blast, Thunderbolt and Double Kick all miss, and Zapdos escapes through the broken ceiling. Team Rocket turn on Pikachu again, so Ash stays to fight them while Goh races to the roof alone.
Goh sends out Flygon, whose Dragon Claw and Dragon Breath land, and his Poké Ball briefly holds Zapdos before it bursts free. Ash arrives after blasting Team Rocket off and urges him on. Flygon carries Raboot aloft, but Raboot’s Double Kick misses and lightning strikes it until Flygon catches it; Raboot insists on continuing. Flygon showers Draco Meteor, Raboot leaps from meteor to meteor, and instead of Double Kick it learns Blaze Kick on the spot, striking Zapdos out of the sky. Raboot tells Goh to focus on the catch, and the ball seems to hold until a lightning bolt shatters it. Zapdos rises, summons a powerful storm that leaves Pikachu energised rather than hurt, shares its electricity with the wild Electric types around the plant, and flies away. Goh, his Pokémon exhausted, waves goodbye, calling the battle fun. Back at the lab, Cerise concludes that Zapdos recharged at the plant after spending its energy on the storm, and Goh is thrilled to learn that it both makes and lives in thunderclouds.
Major Events
- Zapdos. The first episode in the Friday 6:55 p.m. slot
- Zapdos recharges at the Kanto Power Plant
- Ash, Goh and Team Rocket’s first Raid Battle
- Raboot learns Blaze Kick
- Goh fails to catch Zapdos, the first time a main character actively tries to catch a Legendary Pokémon
Trivia
- The screenplay is by Deko Akao.
- This is a plot episode: it advances the Kanto, Galar & beyond storyline.
Changes in the English Dub
- 1·2·3 as an insert song at the end of Goh’s battle with Zapdos
- From here the two versions of Pokémon Shiritori alternate between even- and odd-numbered episodes
Part of our Pokémon Journeys: The Series guide. Browse every season of the Pokémon anime.