All Hail the Ice Battlefield! – Pokémon XYZ Episode 27


Season	Pokémon the Series: XYZ (Season 19) · Mastering the bond & the Iceberg Badge arc (XY114–XY122)
Episode	Season 19, episode 27 · English episode 915 · Japanese episode 920 · Bulbapedia code XY120
English title	All Hail the Ice Battlefield!
Japanese title	エイセツジム戦！氷のバトルフィールド！！ Eisetsu Jimu Sen! Kōri no Batoru Fīrudo!! — “Eisetsu Gym Battle! Battlefield of Ice!!”
First aired (Japan)	19 May 2016 · TV Tokyo
First aired (US)	20 August 2016 · Cartoon Network
Screenplay	Atsuhiro Tomioka
Opening / ending (Japan)	XY&Z – Satoshi (Rica Matsumoto) · Puni-chan no Uta (Puni-chan’s Song) – Eureka (Mariya Ise)
English opening	Stand Tall – Ben Dixon and The Sad Truth
Who’s That Pokémon?	Bergmite (US)
Previous episode	A Full-Strength Battle Surprise! (XY119)
Next episode	Seeing the Forest for the Trees! (XY121)

Plot episodeSnowbelle Gym lossWulfric debuts

All Hail the Ice Battlefield! is the 27th episode of Pokémon the Series: XYZ, the nineteenth season of the Pokémon anime, and the 915th episode of the English dub overall (Japanese episode 920, Bulbapedia code XY120). It first aired in Japan on 19 May 2016 and in the United States on 20 August 2016. It falls within the season’s Mastering the bond & the Iceberg Badge stretch (EP114–EP122).

Synopsis

Ash challenges Snowbelle Gym Leader Wulfric for his eighth Badge, but even Ash-Greninja cannot overcome Wulfric’s Avalugg, and Ash loses, collapsing from the pain he shares with Greninja. Arriving in snowy Snowbelle City with Sawyer, Bonnie plays in the snow and looks forward to seeing “Ash-Greninja,” a name she has just coined. Inside the Gym, five Bergmite emerge from a mechanism, and the jovial Gym Leader Wulfric greets Sawyer, whom he battled earlier, and agrees to battle Ash for his final Badge. On an icy field, Wulfric explains that ice is hard but fragile, so his strategy will depend on Ash’s choices. Hawlucha slips at first, but when Abomasnow’s Snow Warning brings down hail, Hawlucha lands Flying Press, dodges Wood Hammer and knocks Abomasnow out with a High Jump Kick to the face, despite being hit by Ice Shard.

Wulfric’s Avalugg weathers Hawlucha’s Karate Chop, restores itself in the hail with Ice Body and knocks Hawlucha out with Gyro Ball; Serena worries about the hail but thinks the match is still evenly poised. Talonflame’s Flame Charge hits home, but Avalugg heals again, and its Avalanche, which doubles in power after the user is hit, knocks Talonflame out. A frustrated Ash sends out Greninja, whose Water Shuriken freezes Avalugg’s legs and stops its spin, catching Wulfric off guard. Ash urges Greninja on, and the two synchronise into Ash-Greninja; Sawyer recognises the form at once. Aerial Ace badly damages Avalugg and Cut slices straight through Stone Edge, but every Avalanche that strikes Greninja hurts Ash too, because the two are linked, and Ash grows increasingly desperate as he refuses to back down.

Avalugg’s Ice Fang freezes Ash-Greninja and Gyro Ball hurls it down; the transformation breaks and Ash faints from the shared pain, giving Wulfric the win. When Ash wakes, Wulfric explains that water adapts to its surroundings without losing its essence, but that a Trainer can only go so far without deep trust in his Pokémon, and he will not award the Badge until Ash learns that lesson. Nurse Joy reports that Greninja has suffered heavy physical and mental damage but will recover. Sawyer leaves to train for the Kalos League, promising to meet Ash there. Ash apologises to the sleeping Greninja, believing that a calmer mind would have drawn out its power, then puts on his jacket and walks out alone into the night. The next morning, while Serena worries and Clemont expects him back by lunch, Ash sits alone in the snowy forest, brooding over his defeat.

Major Events

Snowbelle Gym, loss. Wulfric’s Avalugg beats Hawlucha, Talonflame and Ash-Greninja, and Ash faints
Bonnie coins the name Ash-Greninja
Sawyer leaves
The first final Gym battle without Pikachu and the only XY Gym battle without a VS screen
Debut of Wulfric
Anime debuts of Bergmite and Avalugg