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| Season | Pokémon Journeys: The Series (Season 23) · Sword and Shield: the Darkest Day arc (JN042–JN045) |
| Episode | Season 23, episode 43 · English episode 1123 · Japanese episode 1129 · Bulbapedia code JN043 |
| English title | Sword and Shield: The Darkest Day! |
| Japanese title | ソード&シールドⅡ「ブラックナイト」 Sōdo ando Shīrudo II "Burakku Naito" — “Sword & Shield II – "Black Night"” |
| First aired (Japan) | 30 October 2020 · TV Tokyo |
| First aired (US) | 5 March 2021 · Netflix |
| Screenplay | Michihiro Tsuchiya |
| 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 |
| Previous episode | Sword and Shield, Slumbering Weald! (JN042) |
| Next episode | Sword and Shield: "From Here to Eternatus!" (JN044) |
Plot episodeSword and Shield, part 2Goh’s Dynamax Band
Sword and Shield: The Darkest Day! is the 43rd episode of Pokémon Journeys: The Series, the twenty-third season of the Pokémon anime, and the 1123rd episode of the English dub overall (Japanese episode 1129, Bulbapedia code JN043). It first aired in Japan on 30 October 2020 and in the United States on 5 March 2021. It falls within the season’s Sword and Shield: the Darkest Day stretch (EP42–EP45).
Synopsis
As the Dynamax outbreaks spread, Goh and Sonia uncover clues to the legend of the Darkest Day and meet Professor Magnolia, while Ash fights alongside Leon, meets Chairman Rose and turns down his offer of sponsorship. At the Turffield geoglyph, Sonia explains that the Darkest Day engulfed Galar 3,000 years ago until a hero with a legendary sword and shield stopped the giant Pokémon, and she fears it may happen again; Goh, remembering the dark cloud that heralded Lugia, guesses that the Darkest Day was caused by another Legendary Pokémon. Under Giovanni’s orders, Team Rocket sneak into the underground Energy Plant disguised as miners hunting for the most evil Pokémon, while Oleana keeps pumping Galar particles into the core and Rose declares that Eternatus will soon be revived to secure Galar’s future. Ash and Leon defeat a rampaging Gigantamax Coalossal with Gengar and Leon’s Dragapult, and Ash shields the fallen Pokémon when the miners start throwing stones at it.
Tailed by Oleana’s subordinate, Goh learns on the drive to Wedgehurst that Sonia is Professor Magnolia’s granddaughter. She shows him photos of tapestries from the Hammerlocke Vault, and Goh suggests that the two figures depicted might both be heroes, which leads Sonia to suspect that the legend is wrong. She explains that she and Leon travelled together as children but drifted apart after his talent made him Champion, so she chose to work with Pokémon in a different way. Rose and Oleana, meanwhile, introduce themselves to Ash; Leon explains that Rose’s company, Macro Cosmos, supplies Galar’s energy and discovered his own talent. Rose denies knowing anything about the outbreaks, calling them perhaps a trial for a stronger future, and when he invites Ash to dinner, Leon decides to investigate the Energy Plant himself.
At Magnolia’s lab, a Wishing Star crashes nearby, and the stern professor explains that such stars fall for people with sincere dreams. She tells Goh that Galar particles cause Dynamax, that Power Spots let Pokémon Dynamax in the Wild Area and stadiums, and that she helped Macro Cosmos create the Dynamax Band, and Sonia fashions the fallen star into a Band for Goh. Magnolia praises Sonia’s research but asks what became of the legendary sword and shield. At Rose Tower, Rose tells Ash that he was lifted out of poverty and wants to protect Galar, and offers to back his career; Ash politely declines to forge his own path, to Oleana’s visible anger. The next morning Magnolia confesses that she ended her partnership with Rose because she sensed his ill intentions. Oleana’s subordinate follows Goh and Sonia to the Stow-on-Side mural, a Power Spot, and attacks with a Gigantamax Garbodor. Goh Dynamaxes Raboot, which fires Max Flare, but G-Max Malodor hurls it into the mural, which crumbles to reveal statues of two knights with Zacian and Zamazenta.
Major Events
- Sword and Shield, part 2. Sonia and Goh study the legend of the Darkest Day and meet Professor Magnolia
- Ash meets Rose and Oleana and declines Rose’s sponsorship
- A Wishing Star becomes Goh’s Dynamax Band
- Goh’s Raboot Dynamaxes against a Gigantamax Garbodor
- The Stow-on-Side mural crumbles to reveal statues of Zacian and Zamazenta
Pokémon making their anime debut
Dreepy#0885 · JN043
Dragapult#0887 · JN043
Trivia
- The screenplay is by Michihiro Tsuchiya.
- This is a plot episode: it advances the Kanto, Galar & beyond storyline.
Changes in the English Dub
- Japanese captions naming places such as the Energy Plant, Turffield, Wedgehurst, Rose Tower and Stow-on-Side are removed
- The arc’s stylised title cards are kept
Part of our Pokémon Journeys: The Series guide. Browse every season of the Pokémon anime.