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| Season | Pokémon Ultimate Journeys: The Series (Season 25) · Mew & separate roads arc (JN133–JN136) |
| Episode | Season 25, episode 42 · English episode 1212 · Japanese episode 1222 · Bulbapedia code JN136 |
| English title | This Could be the Start of Something Big! |
| Japanese title | サトシとゴウ！あらたなる旅立ち！！ Satoshi to Gō! Aratanaru Tabidachi!! — “Satoshi and Go! Embark on a New Journey!!” |
| First aired (Japan) | 16 December 2022 · TV Tokyo |
| First aired (US) | 23 June 2023 · Netflix |
| Screenplay | Shōji Yonemura |
| Opening / ending (Japan) | None – JN136 has no opening · Wan, Tsū, Surī (One, Two, Three) – Satoshi & Go (Rica Matsumoto and Daiki Yamashita) (an extended version, used as the ending) |
| English opening | With You – Echosmith |
| Who’s That Pokémon? | Ho-Oh (US) · Ho-Oh (Japan) |
| Previous episode | Heroes Unite! (JN135) |
| Next episode | The Road Most Traveled! (JN137) |
Plot episodeAsh and Goh partButterfree returns
This Could be the Start of Something Big! is the 42nd episode of Pokémon Ultimate Journeys: The Series, the twenty-fifth season of the Pokémon anime, and the 1212th episode of the English dub overall (Japanese episode 1222, Bulbapedia code JN136). It first aired in Japan on 16 December 2022 and in the United States on 23 June 2023. It falls within the season’s Mew & separate roads stretch (EP133–EP136).
Released on Netflix in the US on 23 June 2023 with the third part (JN118–JN136, without the clip shows); Teletoon had premiered it in Canada on 6 May 2023. The last episode of Netflix’s third part and of its Pokémon Ultimate Journeys: The Series listing.
Synopsis
After a Raid Battle against Lugia ends in a flight across the world and a glimpse of Ho-Oh, Ash and Goh say goodbye to the Cerise Laboratory and part ways at a crossroads, each setting off on a journey of his own. Ash’s Pikachu and Lucario and Goh’s Cinderace, Inteleon and Grookey land hit after hit, but Lugia barely reacts, and even a combined attack of Pyro Ball, Aura Sphere, Thunderbolt, Mud Shot and Wood Hammer is shrugged off. Lugia’s Aeroblast destroys the Poké Ball Goh throws and shatters the cliff beneath the boys, who are caught in mid-fall on Lugia’s back. It carries them over landscapes teeming with Pokémon, and seeing how vast the world is, Goh begins to doubt his plan to travel alone, until Ash reminds him that he earned his place in Project Mew and met Mew through his own efforts. Speaking to them telepathically, Lugia flies into a thick cloud where they glimpse Ho-Oh, and the encounter strengthens both boys’ resolve to explore the world.
At the Cerise Laboratory, Professor Cerise, Chrysa and Ren approve of their decisions and thank them for their help, and Chloe announces that she will become the lab’s new research fellow on weekends and promises that the staff will care for Goh’s Pokémon. Meanwhile, Team Rocket tell Giovanni that the Masters Eight Tournament has shown them the strongest Pokémon in the world, and he approves their plan to catch Pikachu. That evening, the boys find a surprise farewell party at Cerise Park, organised by Chloe, the lab staff, Professor Oak, Delia and both families, with all their Pokémon present and Suicune watching from afar. The next day Goh leaves most of his Pokémon with the lab, keeping only Cinderace, Inteleon and Grookey. In Vermilion City, Team Rocket seal Pikachu in an insulated capsule, but Morpeko, in a hunger fit, bites it open, and Pikachu’s Thunderbolt blasts the trio off.
At a fork in the road outside the city, Goh says he will explore Kanto first, while Ash will simply follow the road. They share a fist bump and set off, and when Goh hesitates, Ash calls down from a ledge, urging him to pursue his dream of befriending Mew, and Goh tells Ash to chase his dream of becoming a Pokémon Master. Both run down their own paths, and Ash tells Pikachu that the sunny day reminds him of the day they left Pallet Town. In closing scenes, the Cerise lab cares for its Pokémon as Chloe begins fieldwork, Gary introduces Horace to his grandfather, Leon watches Hop train with Bea, Danika and Quillon help Pokémon in the Arctic, Goh meets Misty at the Cerulean Gym, and Ash reunites with his Butterfree and its mate on a beach. Finally, Chloe and Eevee spot a Beautifly over a river where Goh has just caught a new Pokémon, and further on, Ash’s Lucario battles a Trainer’s Lapras as Team Rocket watch from above.
Major Events
- Ash and Goh part. The Lugia raid is called off, and Ho-Oh appears for the first time since AG178
- Chloe becomes a research fellow
- Goh keeps only Cinderace, Inteleon and Grookey
- Ash and Goh part ways at a crossroads
- Goh meets Misty and catches an unrevealed Pokémon
- Ash is reunited with Butterfree for the first time since EP021, 1,200 episodes earlier
- Storyboarded by Kunihiko Yuyama, who makes a cameo
- No Japanese opening, with 1·2·3 at the end
- The last episode of the Pocket Monsters arc
Trivia
- The English title plays on Steve Allen’s song “This Could Be the Start of Something Big”, as Ash and Goh go their separate ways.
- The screenplay is by Shōji Yonemura.
- This is a plot episode: it advances the Kanto, Galar & beyond storyline.
Changes in the English Dub
- A Lugia vocalisation is removed, leaving Ash’s understanding of Lugia unexplained
- The shortened credits remove the Cerise Laboratory scene and Danika and Quillon’s scene
- No Japanese opening: an extended 1·2·3 plays as the ending
- In the dub the theme plays at the beginning instead of the end
Part of our Pokémon Ultimate Journeys: The Series guide. Browse every season of the Pokémon anime.