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| Season | Pokémon Master Journeys: The Series (Season 24) · Spring at the lab & into the Ultra Class arc (JN061–JN067) |
| Episode | Season 24, episode 19 · English episode 1147 · Japanese episode 1153 · Bulbapedia code JN067 |
| English title | Sleuths for Truth! |
| Japanese title | 容疑者ピカチュウ！？ Yōgisha Pikachū!? — “Suspect Pikachu!?” |
| First aired (Japan) | 21 May 2021 · TV Tokyo |
| First aired (US) | 21 January 2022 · Netflix |
| Screenplay | Michihiro Tsuchiya |
| Opening / ending (Japan) | Wan, Tsū, Surī (One, Two, Three) – Karaage Sisters · Pokémon Shiritori (Mew → Zamazenta Ver.) – Pokémon Music Club |
| English opening | Journey to Your Heart – Haven Paschall |
| Who’s That Pokémon? | Growlithe (US) · Growlithe (Japan) |
| Previous episode | Under Color of Darkness! (JN066) |
| Next episode | Advice to Goh! (JN068) |
Filler / stand-alone episodePikachu under suspicionInspector Decker
Sleuths for Truth! is the 19th episode of Pokémon Master Journeys: The Series, the twenty-fourth season of the Pokémon anime, and the 1147th episode of the English dub overall (Japanese episode 1153, Bulbapedia code JN067). It first aired in Japan on 21 May 2021 and in the United States on 21 January 2022. It falls within the season’s Spring at the lab & into the Ultra Class stretch (EP61–EP67).
Released on Netflix in the US on Friday 21 January 2022 with the rest of Part 2; Teletoon had premiered it in Canada on 16 October 2021, followed by e.tv in South Africa on 7 December 2021 and POP in the UK on 4 January 2022.
Synopsis
Pikachu is arrested as the prime suspect in a string of electricity thefts in Vermilion City, then clears his name and helps Officer Jenny catch the real culprits: a starving Team Rocket trying to feed Morpeko. Early one morning Officer Jenny and Inspector Decker visit the Cerise Laboratory and line up all of its Electric types against a sketch made from a witness who saw a Pokémon’s silhouette in a car’s headlights. Electricity has been vanishing from homes at night, each theft marked by a sudden surge in use, and since every other Pikachu in the city has an alibi, Decker declares Ash’s Pikachu the culprit and, over Jenny’s objections, takes him to the police station. Decker’s interrogation gets nowhere, but when the station lights flicker, Pikachu senses something and leads everyone to a house that has just been robbed of its power. Having been at the station, Pikachu has an alibi and is cleared.
The thief has vanished, this time in broad daylight, so Jenny reasons that Pikachu’s ability to sense stolen electricity could help, and Decker makes him a special agent on the case. Ash and Goh join the investigation in borrowed police uniforms, but their patrol is spent on everyday problems: finding a lost Vulpix, moving a Snorlax that blocks the road, stopping a reckless Dodrio rider, guiding Psyduck across the street, untangling two Tangela and helping an elderly woman and her Purugly cross the road. Exhausted, the boys learn that police work is mostly routine, and Jenny thanks them. When Pikachu senses another theft, the culprit has already fled, so Goh suggests a trap: with Professor Cerise’s permission, Pikachu pumps a Thunderbolt into an outlet at Chloe’s house, sending every appliance into overdrive.
The thieves are Team Rocket, who have been draining power with a special vacuum car to feed Morpeko, only for the car to use it all up on the way back to their hideout. This time they try to feed Morpeko on the spot as the Cerise house goes dark, but Morpeko has wandered off to steal food from the house, and as it runs back, everyone realises that the witness’s silhouette was Morpeko, not Pikachu. The trio flee in their car, firing electric bolts at Jenny until her Growlithe’s Swift sends them crashing into a stack of planks, which buys them time to escape. In an empty building, Morpeko refuses the stolen power, and their Rotom Phone explains that its hunger comes from generating electricity, so it needs real food. When the heroes arrive, Meowth kicks the container towards them, Pikachu absorbs its energy and blasts the trio off with a supercharged Thunderbolt. Decker later presents Pikachu with a certificate of appreciation and asks him to be his partner, and Pikachu answers with a shock.
Major Events
- Pikachu under suspicion. Inspector Decker accuses Pikachu of a string of electricity thefts in Vermilion City
- Ash and Goh go on police patrol
- The culprits are Team Rocket, stealing power for Morpeko
- 1·2·3 as an insert song
Trivia
- The screenplay is by Michihiro Tsuchiya.
- This is a stand-alone episode: it can be skipped without losing the thread of the Kanto, Galar & beyond story.
Changes in the English Dub
- Decker asks whether Pikachu’s Trainer has a mother (in Japanese, Pikachu itself) and suggests the title “Detective” for Pikachu, a nod to Detective Pikachu
- 1·2·3 as an insert song while the boys help Vermilion City’s citizens
Part of our Pokémon Master Journeys: The Series guide. Browse every season of the Pokémon anime.