Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon (S20)


Season	Season 20 of the English dub · the first of three seasons of Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon, covering episodes SM001–SM043 of Japan’s Pocket Monsters Sun & Moon
Series	Sun & Moon series (ポケットモンスターサン＆ムーン Pocket Monsters Sun & Moon in Japan, 146 episodes from 17 November 2016 to 3 November 2019), dubbed in three seasons as Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon
Region	Alola & Kanto — Melemele Island, home of the Pokémon School, with a visit to Kiawe’s family farm on Akala Island (SM011) and the class’s Akala field trip (SM031–SM037); the field trip to Kanto (SM042–SM043) ends the season
Episodes	43 on TV and on video (SM001–SM043) — the same 43, in the same order, in Japan, on Disney XD and on DVD
First episode	Alola to New Adventure! (SM001) · Japan 17 November 2016 · US 12 May 2017 (Disney XD sneak peek 5 December 2016)
Last episode	When Regions Collide! (SM043) · Japan 21 September 2017 · US 9 December 2017
Japanese opening themes	Alola!! (アローラ!!) – Satoshi (Rica Matsumoto) with Pikachu (Ikue Ōtani) (SM001–SM029) · Aim to Be a Pokémon Master -20th Anniversary- (めざせポケモンマスター -20th Anniversary-) – Rica Matsumoto (SM030–SM043)
Japanese ending theme	Pose (ポーズ) – Taiiku Okazaki (every episode)
English opening theme	Under the Alolan Sun – Jannel Candrice and The Sad Truth (all 43 episodes; its instrumental is the English ending theme)
Classmates	Ash Ketchum & Pikachu live with Professor Kukui and study at the Pokémon School with Lillie, Mallow, Lana, Kiawe and Sophocles; a Rotom moves into Ash’s Pokédex in SM003
Z-Crystals won	Normalium Z (Verdant Cavern trial, SM009) · Electrium Z (Melemele grand trial, SM010) · Grassium Z (Lush Jungle trial, SM035) · Rockium Z (Akala grand trial, SM036) — Alola has no Gyms or Badges
Other events	Ash catches Rowlet (SM004), Rockruff (SM015) and Litten (SM021) · Rockruff evolves into Dusk Form Lycanroc (SM037) · Lana’s Brooklet Hill trial (SM033) · Brock and Misty return in Kanto (SM042–SM043)
Related movies	Pokémon the Movie: I Choose You! (Japan 15 July 2017, between SM033 and SM034 · US cinemas 5 November 2017 · Disney XD 25 November 2017) · Volcanion and the Mechanical Marvel (Disney XD 5 December 2016, with the Sun & Moon sneak peek · US DVD 21 March 2017)
Previous season	Season 19: Pokémon the Series: XYZ
Following season	Season 21: Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon – Ultra Adventures

Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon is the twentieth season of the English-language Pokémon anime and the first of three seasons of the Sun & Moon series, set in the tropical Alola region. It covers the first 43 episodes of Japan’s Pocket Monsters Sun & Moon, SM001 to SM043, which TV Tokyo broadcast on Thursday evenings from 17 November 2016 — the eve of the release of Pokémon Sun and Moon — to 21 September 2017. It was the first season on Disney XD, the dub’s new US home after Cartoon Network: the first two episodes were shown as a sneak peek with the nineteenth movie on 5 December 2016, and the season proper began on Friday 12 May 2017 with a week of daily premieres, settled into Saturday mornings and ended with When Regions Collide! on 9 December 2017. All 43 episodes aired in production order, with nothing banned or skipped.

The season breaks with almost every habit of the series. Ash does not travel: on holiday in Alola with his mother and Mr. Mime, he receives a Z-Ring from the island guardian Tapu Koko, enrols at the Pokémon School and moves in with Professor Kukui, studying alongside Lillie, Mallow, Lana, Kiawe and Sophocles, with a talkative Rotom living in his new Pokédex. There are no Gyms or Badges; instead Ash takes the island challenge, beating giant Totem Pokémon in trials and the island kahunas, Hala of Melemele and Olivia of Akala, in grand trials, and earning the Normalium, Electrium, Grassium and Rockium Z that power his Z-Moves. He catches Rowlet, Rockruff and, after the death of its old friend Stoutland, Litten, and Rockruff evolves into a rare Dusk Form Lycanroc. A softer, rounder art style, more slapstick and fewer characters of the day set a new tone.

Lillie, who cannot bring herself to touch Pokémon, hatches and catches an Alolan Vulpix she names Snowy and wins her first battle with Ash’s Pikachu; Mallow’s Bounsweet evolves into Steenee; Lana clears her own trial for a Waterium Z; Kiawe catches an Alolan Marowak; and Sophocles catches the Charjabug Ash gives him. Team Rocket arrive on Giovanni’s orders, catch Mimikyu and Mareanie and are adopted by a wild Bewear, while the ruffians of Team Skull and Lillie’s brother, Gladion, cross Ash’s path. The season ends with a field trip to Kanto, where Brock and Misty return and Ash’s Pikachu beats Misty’s Mega Gyarados at the Cerulean Gym. Our complete episode guide below has a synopsis, both titles and the air dates for all 43 episodes.

43episodes — SM001 to SM043, the same in Japan, on Disney XD and on DVD
4Z-Crystals for Ash: the Normalium, Electrium, Grassium and Rockium Z
3new Pokémon for Ash — Rowlet, Rockruff and Litten
5classmates at the Pokémon School: Lillie, Mallow, Lana, Kiawe and Sophocles
6episodes premiered in one three-hour Disney XD block on 1 July 2017
2old friends back in Kanto — Brock and Misty (SM042–SM043)

What starts as a summer vacation in the tropical Alola region turns into the next exciting chapter in Ash Ketchum’s quest to become a Pokémon Master! There’s plenty for Ash and Pikachu to explore in this sunny new region, with exciting new Pokémon to discover and interesting people to learn from along the way—including the cool Professor Kukui and the fun-loving Samson Oak. More new faces will help guide Ash’s Alolan adventure, in the form of a group of skilled Trainers—Kiawe, Lana, Mallow, and Sophocles—and a mysterious research assistant called Lillie. Frequent foes Team Rocket have also made the trip to Alola, looking to swipe some high-powered new Pokémon. But they have some heavy competition on the villainy front: the ruffians of Team Skull, who delight in causing chaos and may have more sinister intentions…

— Official description

Quick Answers

How many episodes are in Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon?

43. The season covers TV Tokyo’s SM001 to SM043, broadcast from 17 November 2016 to 21 September 2017 — SM001 and SM002, SM003 and SM004, and SM020 and SM021 were shown together as one-hour broadcasts — and Japan, Disney XD, Bulbapedia, English Wikipedia and the DVDs all count the same 43 episodes in the same order. The Japanese series ran on to 146 episodes, which the dub split into three seasons: SM044, broadcast in Japan on 5 October 2017, opens Season 21, Sun & Moon – Ultra Adventures. Nothing was banned or skipped in the US.

Does Ash battle Gyms in Alola?

No — Alola has no Gyms or Badges. Ash takes the island challenge instead: trials that end in a battle with a huge Totem Pokémon, then a grand trial against each island’s kahuna, with Z-Crystals as prizes. He beats the Totem Gumshoos of Verdant Cavern for a Normalium Z (SM009) and Kahuna Hala’s Crabrawler and Hariyama with his first Breakneck Blitz, after which Tapu Koko swaps Hala’s Fightinium Z for an Electrium Z (SM010); on Akala he beats the Totem Lurantis for a Grassium Z (SM035) and Kahuna Olivia in a Double Battle for a Rockium Z (SM036). The season’s only Gym is in Kanto: at the Cerulean Gym (SM043) Pikachu beats Misty’s Mega Gyarados in an exhibition with no Badge at stake, and Professor Kukui resolves to bring a Pokémon League to Alola.

Which Pokémon does Ash catch in Sun & Moon?

Three, all from Alola. Rowlet, a sleepy owl, flies into his backpack after helping him save its flock from Team Rocket and becomes his first Alolan catch (SM004). Rockruff, the wild Pokémon Professor Kukui had been looking after, is caught after it beats a Magmar at Clawmark Hill with its new Rock Throw (SM015), and it evolves at sunset at the Ruins of Life into a Dusk Form Lycanroc, a form Rotom has no data on (SM037). Litten, the stray who looked after an old Stoutland, joins him after the Stoutland’s death and a battle with Pikachu (SM021) — Ash’s last first-partner and last Fire-type catch. Ash left his other Pokémon at Professor Oak’s laboratory before the trip (SM001), and he fails to catch a Grubbin (SM004) and an Alolan Geodude (SM032).

Who are Ash’s classmates in Alola?

Five students of the Pokémon School: Lillie, a polite girl who cannot touch Pokémon until she hatches and catches Snowy, an Alolan Vulpix (SM013–SM014); Mallow, whose family runs Aina’s Kitchen and whose Bounsweet evolves into Steenee (SM018); Lana, a lover of Water types who clears the Brooklet Hill trial with Popplio for a Waterium Z and her own Z-Ring (SM033); Kiawe, a Fire-type Trainer from a farm on Akala, whose Turtonator uses the series’ first Z-Move (SM001) and who catches an Alolan Marowak (SM034); and Sophocles, a tech whiz with a Togedemaru, who catches the Charjabug Ash gives him (SM026). Their teacher is Professor Kukui, the principal is Samson Oak, Professor Oak’s cousin, and Ash’s Pokédex is home to a talkative Rotom (SM003).

When did Sun & Moon air in the US?

On Disney XD, the first Pokémon season there after the dub left Cartoon Network. A preview of the first two episodes aired with the Disney XD premiere of Volcanion and the Mechanical Marvel on 5 December 2016; the season proper began on Friday 12 May 2017 with Alola to New Adventure! and The Guardian’s Challenge! at 9:00 and 9:30 p.m., followed by daily premieres of SM003 to SM010 from 13 to 20 May. From 27 May the episodes aired on Saturday mornings at 9:00, with six (SM016–SM021) in a three-hour special on 1 July, no new episode on 12 August, SM041 and SM042 with the Disney XD premiere of I Choose You! on 25 November, and the finale, When Regions Collide!, on 9 December 2017. Canada and the UK began their regular runs earlier, in March and April 2017.

How does Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon end?

With a trip back to where it all began. For the Pokémon School’s 20th anniversary the class flies to Kanto, where Brock — now training as a Pokémon Doctor — and Misty guide them around Professor Oak’s corral, Ash’s thirty Tauros send him flying, Team Rocket’s mecha is wrecked and Mew flies past unseen (SM042). At the Cerulean Gym (SM043) Brock Mega Evolves Steelix to beat Kiawe’s Turtonator, and Ash’s Pikachu defeats Misty’s Mega Gyarados with Gigavolt Havoc; at the airport Brock and Misty hand out replica Boulder and Cascade Badges, Jigglypuff stows away on the plane, and Professor Kukui resolves to bring a Pokémon League to Alola. The story continues in Season 21, Sun & Moon – Ultra Adventures.

Story Arcs

Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon runs for 43 episodes and follows Ash from his first day at the Pokémon School through the island challenge on Melemele and Akala to the class’s field trip to Kanto. Here is how the season breaks down, with stills from our episode guide below.

Welcome to AlolaSM001–SM004

Ash arrives in Alola on holiday with his mother and Mr. Mime, delivers Professor Oak’s Egg to the principal of the Pokémon School, Samson Oak, and meets Lana, Mallow, Sophocles, Kiawe, Lillie and their teacher, Professor Kukui; when Team Skull pick a fight, Kiawe’s Turtonator unleashes Inferno Overdrive, the anime’s first Z-Move, and that night the guardian Tapu Koko leaves Ash a Z-Ring, persuading him to stay and study (SM001). Pikachu’s Gigavolt Havoc against Tapu Koko shatters the Electrium Z, and Ash resolves to take the island challenge (SM002). A Rotom moves into his new Pokédex, and Team Rocket arrive on Giovanni’s orders to meet a Pikachu-hating Mimikyu and the Bewear that adopts them (SM003); Jessie catches the Mimikyu as Ash catches Rowlet, his first Alolan Pokémon (SM004).

Classmates & the first trialsSM005–SM010

Lana takes charge of a fishing lesson, and her Popplio’s balloons save the class’s Ride Pokémon from Team Rocket (SM005); Ash and Sophocles are trapped in a blacked-out mall (SM006); Ash meets the stray Litten that feeds an elderly Stoutland and decides to leave it free (SM007); and Lillie, who cannot touch Pokémon, takes the class’s white Egg home and shields it from a Salandit (SM008). Kahuna Hala, who made the Z-Ring Tapu Koko took, sends Ash to Verdant Cavern, where Pikachu and Rowlet beat the Totem Gumshoos for a Normalium Z (SM009), and in Hala’s grand trial Pikachu’s first Breakneck Blitz defeats Hariyama — and Tapu Koko swaps the Fightinium Z for a new Electrium Z (SM010).

Snowy, Rockruff & SteeneeSM011–SM018

Ash helps Kiawe deliver Moomoo Milk, visits his family’s farm on Akala and drives off Team Skull with Gigavolt Havoc (SM011); James catches a lovestruck Mareanie, and Team Rocket make Bewear’s den their base (SM012). Samson Oak’s Komala wins the Pokémon Pancake Race, and Lillie’s Egg, which she has nicknamed Snowy, hatches into an Alolan Vulpix (SM013); Lillie catches it and, rescuing it from Team Rocket, finds that she can touch her own Pokémon (SM014). Kukui’s Rockruff turns out to be a wild Pokémon testing itself at Clawmark Hill, and Ash catches it after it learns Rock Throw (SM015); Rowlet, Popplio and Litten share an adventure (SM016); Rotom plays detective over a missing Electrium Z (SM017); and Mallow’s Bounsweet evolves into Steenee to stop Team Rocket stealing Yellow Nectar (SM018).

SM012 The Sun, the Scare, the Secret Lair!

A guardian rematch & LittenSM019–SM022

After speed training at Sophocles’s house Ash battles Tapu Koko again: Gigavolt Havoc lands, a blast sends Pikachu over a cliff, and the guardian saves them both and flies off without a result (SM019). On a day alone on Treasure Island, Ash and Pikachu rescue a trapped Wimpod and meet Tapu Lele, whose scales heal Ash’s scratches (SM020). Litten’s Stoutland falls ill and passes away, and after a long vigil in the rain Litten accepts Ash as its Trainer (SM021), then masters Fire Fang inside a Palossand (SM022).

School life, Gladion & Team SkullSM023–SM030

An Alolan Diglett helps DJ Leo reunite his Dugtrio band (SM023); Delia and Mimey visit for Family Visit Day and help see off Team Skull (SM024); Team Rocket meet Team Skull for the first time, and Meowth ends up with a Darkinium Z (SM025); Sophocles, convinced his family is moving away, catches the Charjabug Ash gives him (SM026); and Lillie’s brother, Gladion, battles Ash’s Rockruff with his Midnight Form Lycanroc before Continental Crush sends Team Rocket flying (SM027). The baseball star Oluolu coaches a Pokémon Base game (SM028), Morelull drain the class on a camping trip (SM029), and in a weekend partner swap Lillie wins her first battle with Ash’s Pikachu (SM030).

The Akala Island field tripSM031–SM037

Olivia, Akala’s clumsy, warm-hearted kahuna, takes the class to her island (SM031), where Lana wins a Stoutland treasure hunt with the ore for her Z-Ring (SM032) and clears the Brooklet Hill trial against a Totem Wishiwashi for a Waterium Z (SM033), and Kiawe catches the Alolan Marowak that stole the Wela Crown (SM034). Litten’s first Breakneck Blitz beats the Totem Lurantis of Lush Jungle for a Grassium Z (SM035), and Ash wins Olivia’s grand trial in a Double Battle with Rowlet and an unruly Rockruff for a Rockium Z (SM036). After a brutal night with Tapu Lele, Rockruff is healed at the Ruins of Life and evolves at sunset into a rare Dusk Form Lycanroc, while Gladion calms his Type: Null (SM037).

Back on MelemeleSM038–SM041

Jessie mends her Mimikyu’s torn disguise and earns its trust, while Lycanroc learns to control Continental Crush (SM038); Mallow runs away from her family’s restaurant and finds Oranguru, her father’s old teacher (SM039); Lana apprentices herself to Ida and her Brionne, and Popplio masters Hydro Vortex against a Dhelmise (SM040); and Sophocles, Ash and Kiawe beat Horacio’s Shiny Charjabug in a Charjabug race (SM041).

The Kanto field tripSM042–SM043

For the Pokémon School’s 20th anniversary the class flies to Kanto, where Brock and Misty show them around Professor Oak’s corral, Team Rocket’s mecha is wrecked, and Mew flies past unseen (SM042). At the Cerulean Gym Brock’s Mega Steelix beats Kiawe’s Turtonator, Ash’s Pikachu beats Misty’s Mega Gyarados with Gigavolt Havoc, and Professor Kukui resolves to bring a Pokémon League to Alola (SM043).

Episode Guide

All 43 episodes of Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon are listed below in the official order, which this season is at once the production order, TV Tokyo’s broadcast order, Disney XD’s order and the DVD order. The # column is the season number, and the orange code is the Bulbapedia number used by most fan sites. Every episode has its own page with our full synopsis, both titles, air dates, major events, Pokémon debuts, trivia and dub changes — click the title or the screenshot. US dates are the Disney XD premieres, from the double bill of 12 May 2017 and the daily episodes of 13 to 20 May to Saturday mornings from 27 May, ending on 9 December 2017; Japanese dates are TV Tokyo’s Thursday broadcasts from 17 November 2016 to 21 September 2017, with SM001 and SM002, SM003 and SM004, and SM020 and SM021 aired in pairs as one-hour broadcasts.

Who’s That Pokémon? continues in the English dub, and each episode page gives its answer; from this season the segment is often read by characters from the episode rather than the narrator — Team Rocket in SM003, Lana and Ash in SM005, and Lillie’s butler Hobbes, the first character outside the main cast to read it, in SM008. Japan has its own Dare da? quiz, whose answer differs from the dub’s in 17 episodes — SM043’s is the first to show a Mega Evolution — and from SM003 it replaced Poké TV with Poké Problem, a question posed at the start of the episode by a student, a teacher or a recurring character and answered after the credits.

#	Episode	First aired	In short
1SM001	Alola to New Adventure!アローラ！はじめての島、はじめてのポケモンたち！！	Japan 17 Nov 2016 US 12 May 2017	Ash travels to the tropical Alola region on holiday, meets the students of the Pokémon School and receives a Z-Ring from the island guardian… · Ash arrives in Alola Episode guide →
2SM002	The Guardian’s Challenge!守り神カプ・コケコ登場！挑戦、オレたちのZワザ！！	Japan 17 Nov 2016 US 12 May 2017	On his first day at the Pokémon School, Ash makes friends with his new classmates, performs his first Z-Move in a battle with Tapu Koko and… · First Z-Move: Gigavolt Havoc Episode guide →
3SM003	Loading the Dex!よロトしく、ボク、ロトム図鑑ロト！	Japan 24 Nov 2016 US 13 May 2017	A Rotom moves into Ash’s new Pokédex and becomes the talkative Rotom Dex, while Team Rocket arrive in Alola and meet a strange,… · Rotom Dex Episode guide →
4SM004	First Catch in Alola, Ketchum-Style!モクロー登場！アローラでポケモンゲットだぜ！！	Japan 24 Nov 2016 US 14 May 2017	Ash catches his first Alolan Pokémon, a sleepy Rowlet, after it helps him rescue its flock from Team Rocket. · Ash catches Rowlet Episode guide →
5SM005	Yo, Ho, Ho! Go, Popplio!アシマリ、がんバルーン！	Japan 1 Dec 2016 US 15 May 2017	Lana takes charge of a fishing lesson about Water-type Pokémon, and her Popplio’s improving balloons save the class’s Ride… · Lana and Popplio Episode guide →
6SM006	A Shocking Grocery Run!びりびりちくちくトゲデマル！	Japan 8 Dec 2016 US 16 May 2017	Left alone at Kukui’s house, Ash makes a mess of the chores, then is trapped with Sophocles in a shopping mall after Team Rocket cause a… · Sophocles and Togedemaru Episode guide →
7SM007	That’s Why the Litten is a Scamp!市場の風来坊ニャビー！	Japan 15 Dec 2016 US 17 May 2017	Ash tries to befriend a stray Litten that steals food around town, and discovers that it is caring for an elderly Stoutland in an abandoned house. · Litten and Stoutland Episode guide →
8SM008	Lillie’s Egg-xhilarating Challenge!タマゴ係はだ～れだ？	Japan 22 Dec 2016 US 18 May 2017	Lillie takes home the class’s Pokémon Egg, hoping to overcome her fear of touching Pokémon, and protects it from a Salandit at… · Lillie’s Egg Episode guide →
9SM009	To Top a Totem!ぬしポケモンはデカグース！	Japan 5 Jan 2017 US 19 May 2017	Ash begins the island challenge by meeting Melemele’s kahuna, Hala, and defeating the Totem Gumshoos of Verdant Cavern to earn a Normalium Z. · Verdant Cavern trial Episode guide →
10SM010	Trial and Tribulation!出るかZワザ！大試練への挑戦！！	Japan 12 Jan 2017 US 20 May 2017	Ash defeats Hala in Melemele Island’s grand trial with his first Breakneck Blitz, and Tapu Koko swaps the promised Fightinium Z for a new… · Grand trial vs Hala Episode guide →
11SM011	Young Kiawe Had a Farm!サトシ、カキんちに行く！	Japan 19 Jan 2017 US 27 May 2017	Ash helps Kiawe with his family’s milk deliveries, visits their farm on Akala Island and teams up with him to drive off Team Skull. · Kiawe’s farm Episode guide →
12SM012	The Sun, the Scare, the Secret Lair!課外授業はヒドイデ！？	Japan 26 Jan 2017 US 3 Jun 2017	A beach lesson turns into a battle with Team Rocket, during which James catches a lovestruck Mareanie and the trio turn Bewear’s den into their… · James catches Mareanie Episode guide →
13SM013	Racing to a Big Event!アローラパンケーキ大レース！	Japan 2 Feb 2017 US 10 Jun 2017	Ash and his classmates enter the Pokémon Pancake Race, which Samson Oak’s Komala wins, and the next day Lillie’s Egg hatches into… · Pancake Race Episode guide →
14SM014	Getting to Know You!勇気の結晶、リーリエとロコン！	Japan 9 Feb 2017 US 17 Jun 2017	Lillie catches the Alolan Vulpix that hatched from her Egg, names it Snowy, and after rescuing it from Team Rocket discovers that she can touch her… · Lillie catches Snowy Episode guide →
15SM015	Rocking Clawmark Hill!爪あとの丘、イワンコとルガルガン！！	Japan 23 Feb 2017 US 24 Jun 2017	Professor Kukui’s Rockruff turns out to be a wild Pokémon testing itself in nightly battles at Clawmark Hill, and after Ash helps it… · Ash catches Rockruff Episode guide →
16SM016	They Might Not Be Giants!小さな三匹、大きな冒険！	Japan 2 Mar 2017 US 1 Jul 2017	Rowlet and Popplio are carried away in a runaway balloon and, with help from Litten and Stoutland, escape from Team Rocket and find their way home. · Rowlet, Popplio and Litten Episode guide →
17SM017	Crystal-Clear Sleuthing!アローラ探偵ロトム！消えたクリスタルの謎！！	Japan 9 Mar 2017 US 1 Jul 2017	When Ash’s Electrium Z goes missing, Rotom turns detective in the style of a TV sleuth and solves the case, only to discover that the culprit… · Detective Rotom Episode guide →
18SM018	A Seasoned Search!マジィ！？マオのお料理大作戦！！	Japan 16 Mar 2017 US 1 Jul 2017	Mallow tries to recreate a legendary stew for her family’s restaurant, and while hunting for its rare ingredient with Ash, her Bounsweet… · Bounsweet evolves into Steenee Episode guide →
19SM019	A Guardian Rematch!電撃猛特訓！カプ・コケコとの再戦！！	Japan 23 Mar 2017 US 1 Jul 2017	Ash trains with Sophocles to cope with Tapu Koko’s Electric Terrain, then battles the guardian again, a fierce rematch that ends with no winner. · Tapu Koko rematch Episode guide →
20SM020	Partner Promises!サトシとピカチュウ、二人の約束	Japan 6 Apr 2017 US 1 Jul 2017	On a day off alone together, Ash and Pikachu explore Treasure Island, rescue a trapped Wimpod and meet Tapu Lele, the guardian of Akala Island, which… · Treasure Island Episode guide →
21SM021	One Journey Ends, Another Begins…ニャビー、旅立ちの時！	Japan 6 Apr 2017 US 1 Jul 2017	Litten’s elderly companion Stoutland falls ill and passes away, and after a long, rainy vigil the grieving Litten joins Ash as his newest… · Ash catches Litten Episode guide →
22SM022	A Shivering Shovel Search!スコップに要注意！！！	Japan 13 Apr 2017 US 8 Jul 2017	When Rockruff knocks a Sandygast’s shovel into the sea, the angry Pokémon evolves into Palossand and swallows Ash and Litten, and the… · Litten masters Fire Fang Episode guide →
23SM023	Getting the Band Back Together!衝撃！ダグトリオ解散！？	Japan 20 Apr 2017 US 15 Jul 2017	Team Rocket break up DJ Leo’s popular Dugtrio band by posing as talent scouts, and an admiring Alolan Diglett helps reunite the group and joins… · DJ Leo’s Dugtrio Episode guide →
24SM024	Alolan Open House!アローラ！はじめての授業参観！！	Japan 27 Apr 2017 US 22 Jul 2017	Delia and Mimey visit the Pokémon School for Family Visit Day, where Rotom’s attempt to give Ash’s speech backfires and Delia… · Delia visits Episode guide →
25SM025	A Team-on-Team Tussle!クリスタル争奪戦！ロケット団対スカル団！！	Japan 4 May 2017 US 29 Jul 2017	Team Rocket learn about Z-Moves and clash with Team Skull over a Darkinium Z guarded by a Totem Raticate, and Meowth ends up with the crystal. · Team Rocket meet Team Skull Episode guide →
26SM026	So Long, Sophocles!さよならマーマネ！	Japan 11 May 2017 US 5 Aug 2017	Sophocles believes his family is moving away from Alola and spends a sad week hiding it from his friends, until a farewell party and Ash’s gift… · Sophocles catches Charjabug Episode guide →
27SM027	A Glaring Rivalry!出でよ！紅き眼差しルガルガン！！	Japan 18 May 2017 US 19 Aug 2017	Ash meets Lillie’s older brother, Gladion, a skilled Trainer with a Midnight Form Lycanroc, but their battle is cut short when Team Rocket try… · Gladion debuts Episode guide →
28SM028	Pulling Out the Pokémon Base Pepper!熱闘ポケベース！ねらえ逆転ホームラン！！	Japan 25 May 2017 US 26 Aug 2017	Pokémon Base star Oluolu gives the class a baseball lesson, and the students, with Oluolu and his Snorlax on their side, beat Team Rocket in a… · Pokémon Base Episode guide →
29SM029	Lulled to La-La Land!ネマシュの森であなたも寝ましゅ？	Japan 8 Jun 2017 US 2 Sep 2017	On a class camping trip, Ash and his friends wake up mysteriously exhausted and starving, and discover that a Morelull has been draining their energy. · Camping trip Episode guide →
30SM030	The Ol’ Raise and Switch!リーリエ、ピカチュウをかわいがってあげてね	Japan 15 Jun 2017 US 9 Sep 2017	In a weekend partner swap, Lillie looks after Ash’s Pikachu and wins her first battle with it, while the other classmates learn about each… · Partner swap Episode guide →
31SM031	The Island Whisperer!ライチ登場！泣いて笑って、島クイーン！！	Japan 22 Jun 2017 US 16 Sep 2017	The class meets Olivia, the warm-hearted but clumsy kahuna of Akala Island, who takes them on a field trip to her island and helps rescue a Wailmer… · Olivia debuts Episode guide →
32SM032	Treasure Hunt, Akala Style!お宝発見！ムーランドサーチ！！	Japan 29 Jun 2017 US 23 Sep 2017	Olivia runs a treasure hunt on the backs of Stoutland, in which Ash fails to catch an Alolan Geodude and Lana wins with a rare stone that will become… · Stoutland treasure hunt Episode guide →
33SM033	Big Sky, Small Fry!ヨワシ強し、池のぬし！	Japan 6 Jul 2017 US 30 Sep 2017	With Ash’s help, Lana clears the Brooklet Hill trial by defeating a Totem Wishiwashi, earning a Waterium Z, and receives her new Z-Ring from… · Lana’s trial Episode guide →
34SM034	A Crowning Moment of Truth!炎のバトル！ガラガラあらわる！！	Japan 20 Jul 2017 US 7 Oct 2017	When a wild Alolan Marowak steals the crown from the Wela Fire Festival, Kiawe battles it twice to win it back, and the Marowak, impressed, joins his… · Kiawe catches Marowak Episode guide →
35SM035	Currying Favor and Flavor!カレーなバトル！ラランテスの舞！！	Japan 27 Jul 2017 US 14 Oct 2017	Sent by Olivia to gather curry ingredients, Ash and Mallow end up facing the Totem Lurantis of Lush Jungle, and Litten’s first Breakneck Blitz… · Lush Jungle trial Episode guide →
36SM036	Trials and Determinations!ライチの大試練！一番ハードなポケモン勝負！！	Japan 3 Aug 2017 US 21 Oct 2017	Ash wins Olivia’s grand trial in a Double Battle with Rowlet and an unruly Rockruff, earning the Rockium Z. · Grand trial vs Olivia Episode guide →
37SM037	Rising from the Ruins!イワンコといのちの遺跡の守り神！	Japan 10 Aug 2017 US 28 Oct 2017	After a brutal night encounter with Tapu Lele and a desperate search across Akala, Ash’s Rockruff is healed and evolves at sunset into a rare… · Rockruff evolves into Lycanroc Episode guide →
38SM038	Mimikyu Unmasked!ミミッキュのばけのかわ！	Japan 17 Aug 2017 US 4 Nov 2017	Separated from her teammates, Jessie mends her Mimikyu’s torn disguise and earns its trust, while Ash’s Lycanroc masters Continental… · Mimikyu’s disguise Episode guide →
39SM039	Mallow and the Forest Teacher!家出のマオとヤレユータン！	Japan 24 Aug 2017 US 11 Nov 2017	Overwhelmed by work at her family’s restaurant, Mallow runs away into the forest, where an Oranguru that once taught her father helps her… · Mallow runs away Episode guide →
40SM040	Balloons, Brionne, and Belligerence!アシマリ、オシャマリ、いかりのダダリン！	Japan 31 Aug 2017 US 18 Nov 2017	Lana becomes the apprentice of a performer named Ida and her Brionne, and during a treasure hunt that angers a Dhelmise, Popplio finally masters the… · Popplio’s Hydro Vortex Episode guide →
41SM041	Mounting an Electrifying Charge!ダッシュ！デンヂムシ	Japan 7 Sep 2017 US 25 Nov 2017	Sophocles, Ash and Kiawe form a team for a Charjabug race and beat Sophocles’s rival Horacio and his Shiny Charjabug by turning teamwork and… · Charjabug race Episode guide →
42SM042	Alola, Kanto!カントーでアローラ！タケシとカスミ！！	Japan 14 Sep 2017 US 25 Nov 2017	For the Pokémon School’s 20th anniversary, Ash’s class takes a field trip to Kanto, where Brock and Misty guide them around… · Kanto field trip Episode guide →
43SM043	When Regions Collide!ジムバトル！Zワザ対メガシンカ！！	Japan 21 Sep 2017 US 9 Dec 2017	At the Cerulean Gym, Kiawe’s Z-Move loses to Brock’s Mega Steelix, but Ash’s Pikachu defeats Misty’s Mega Gyarados with… · Cerulean Gym Episode guide →

Characters & Travelling Companions

Ash comes to Alola on holiday with his mother and Mr. Mime, who has won the trip in a lottery, to deliver Professor Oak’s Egg to his cousin Samson Oak, and stays: after the island guardian Tapu Koko leaves him a Z-Ring set with an Electrium Z, he enrols at the Pokémon School, moves into Professor Kukui’s beach house and leaves his other Pokémon at Professor Oak’s laboratory, in a new outfit and with only Pikachu at his side (SM001). His first Z-Move shatters the crystal against Tapu Koko and sets him on the island challenge (SM002). He catches Rowlet (SM004), Rockruff (SM015) and Litten (SM021); clears the Verdant Cavern (SM009) and Lush Jungle (SM035) trials and the grand trials of Hala (SM010) and Olivia (SM036); battles Tapu Koko to a standstill (SM019); and is healed by Tapu Lele on Treasure Island (SM020). Rockruff evolves into a Dusk Form Lycanroc (SM037), and in Kanto Pikachu beats Misty’s Mega Gyarados (SM043). Pikachu performs Ash’s first Z-Moves, Gigavolt Havoc (SM002) and Breakneck Blitz (SM010), and spends a weekend as Lillie’s partner (SM030). Ash is voiced by Sarah Natochenny in English and Rica Matsumoto in Japanese, and Ikue Ōtani remains Pikachu in both.

Lillie, a polite girl who lives in a mansion with her butler, Hobbes, cannot touch Pokémon after something she cannot remember happened while she lived with her mother, Lusamine (SM008). She takes the class’s white Egg home and shields it from a Salandit (SM008); it hatches into an Alolan Vulpix she names Snowy (SM013), which lets itself be caught, and when she leaps after Snowy to save her from Team Rocket she finds that she can touch her own Pokémon (SM014). She wins her first battle with Ash’s Pikachu in a weekend partner swap (SM030), rides a Stoutland on Akala (SM032) and sees her brother, Gladion, again (SM027). Mallow, whose family runs Aina’s Kitchen, tramples Ash with a herd of Tauros on his first day (SM001), throws his welcome party (SM002), sees her Bounsweet evolve into Steenee while hunting for Yellow Nectar (SM018), guides Ash through the Lush Jungle trial (SM035) and runs away from home before making peace with her father, Abe (SM039). Lana, who loves Water types and fishing, met her Popplio when she rescued it from Team Skull grunts (SM005), finds the ore for her Z-Ring (SM032), clears the Brooklet Hill trial for a Waterium Z (SM033) and masters Hydro Vortex as Ida’s apprentice (SM040).

Kiawe, a Fire-type Trainer who delivers Moomoo Milk from his family’s farm on Akala, uses the series’ first Z-Move, Turtonator’s Inferno Overdrive, against Team Skull (SM001); his Charizard and Z-Ring came from his late grandfather, and he won his Firium Z in Olivia’s grand trial before the series began (SM011). He catches an Alolan Marowak after winning back the Wela Crown (SM034) and loses to Brock’s Mega Steelix at the Cerulean Gym (SM043). Sophocles, an Electric-type tech whiz who is afraid of the dark, is trapped in a blacked-out mall with Ash (SM006), spends a miserable week convinced that his family is moving away before catching the Charjabug Ash gives him (SM026), and wins a Charjabug race with Ash and Kiawe (SM041). The Rotom Pokédex moves into Ash’s new Pokédex (SM003), plays a TV detective in a wig and gains a video camera (SM017), and adds a voice-sampling function that backfires on Family Visit Day (SM023–SM024). The classmates are voiced in Japanese by Kei Shindō, Reina Ueda, Hitomi Kikuchi, Kaito Ishikawa and Fumiko Takekuma, and Rotom by Daisuke Namikawa; their English voices are in the table below.

Lillie, who cannot touch Pokémon until she catches Snowy in Getting to Know You! (SM014)

Team Rocket

Jessie, James and Meowth follow Ash to Alola on Giovanni’s orders to capture the region’s unique Pokémon, leaving Gourgeist and Inkay at headquarters, and take three episodes to appear — the first time since EP002 that they miss a region’s first episode (SM003). They bring a new motto, and Meowth, peeking under the disguise of a Pikachu-hating Mimikyu, collapses in terror; Jessie catches the Mimikyu in James’s Luxury Ball (SM004), her last catch to date, and James catches a lovestruck Mareanie whose hugs poison him (SM012). A wild Bewear adopts the trio, feeds them honey and carries them home after every defeat, and they turn its den into their Alolan base (SM003, SM012, SM018); Giovanni accepts it as a capture, and his assistant Matori demands regular reports (SM012).

Team Rocket score a rare win when Mimikyu knocks out Pikachu and Rowlet (SM012), meet Team Skull for the first time in a fight over a Darkinium Z, which Meowth keeps and poses with on a home-made Z-Ring (SM025), lose a Pokémon Base game played for Jessie’s pride (SM028) and launch a Bruxish submarine (SM040). Meowth, who declares Litten his rival after Stoutland’s death (SM021), glimpses Mimikyu’s true form again when Jessie mends its torn disguise and earns its trust (SM038). Summoned back to headquarters, the trio follow the class to Kanto, where their mecha is wrecked at Professor Oak’s corral, and Bewear runs across the sea for three days to carry them home (SM042–SM043). Jessie is voiced by Michele Knotz, James and Meowth by James Carter Cathcart, and Wobbuffet, from SM003, by Erica Schroeder, after Kayzie Rogers’s retirement.

Teachers, kahunas, guardians & rivals

Professor Kukui, the school’s teacher and a Pokémon researcher, gives Ash a home and a Pokédex (SM002), had been looking after Rockruff until Ash caught it (SM015) and, after the Kanto trip, resolves to bring a Pokémon League to Alola (SM043). Samson Oak, the pun-loving principal and Professor Oak’s cousin, receives the Egg Ash delivers (SM001), which hatches into a Kantonian Vulpix after 14 episodes, the longest wait in the anime (SM014), and his Komala wins the Pancake Race (SM013). Delia Ketchum and Mimey visit for Family Visit Day, where Delia joins the battle against Team Skull with Litten in her arms (SM024), and host a welcome party in Pallet Town (SM042).

Hala, Melemele’s kahuna, made the Z-Ring Tapu Koko took from his workshop and gave to Ash (SM009) and tests him in the grand trial (SM010); Olivia, Akala’s warm-hearted, clumsy and tearful kahuna, takes the class to her island (SM031), makes Lana’s Z-Ring (SM033) and battles Ash with Probopass and a Midday Form Lycanroc (SM036). The guardian Tapu Koko gives Ash his Z-Ring (SM001), challenges him twice (SM002, SM019) and swaps Hala’s Fightinium Z for an Electrium Z (SM010); Tapu Lele, Akala’s guardian, heals Ash on Treasure Island (SM020) and, after battering Rockruff in the night, heals it at the Ruins of Life, where it evolves (SM037).

Gladion, Lillie’s older brother, who left home to train alone, defeats Team Skull with his Midnight Form Lycanroc, saves Lycanroc and Pikachu from Team Rocket with Continental Crush and tells Ash where to find a Rockium Z (SM027); on Akala he calms a Type: Null he calls Silvally (SM037). The Team Skull grunts Tupp, Zipp and Rapp are driven off by Inferno Overdrive (SM001) and Gigavolt Havoc (SM011, SM024) and lose the Darkinium Z to Team Rocket (SM025); their bosses, Guzma and Plumeria, do not appear this season. In Kanto, Brock, now training as a Pokémon Doctor, and Misty, the Cerulean Gym Leader, return for the first time since DP191 and AG134 respectively, both with Key Stones (SM042–SM043). Among the characters of the day are Lana’s twin sisters, Harper and Sarah (SM005), Kiawe’s sister, Mimo (SM011), DJ Leo (SM023), the Pokémon Base star Oluolu (SM028), Ida and Kanoa (SM040) and Sophocles’s rival Horacio (SM041).

Professor Kukui, the Pokémon School’s teacher, with whom Ash lives on Melemele Island

Samson Oak, the school’s pun-loving principal and Professor Oak’s cousin

Voice cast

Character	English voice actor	Japanese voice actor
Ash Ketchum	Sarah Natochenny	Rica Matsumoto
Pikachu	Ikue Ōtani	Ikue Ōtani
Lillie	Laurie Hymes	Kei Shindō
Mallow	Jessica Paquet	Reina Ueda
Lana	Rosie Reyes	Hitomi Kikuchi
Kiawe	Marc Swint	Kaito Ishikawa
Sophocles	Alyson Leigh Rosenfeld	Fumiko Takekuma
Rotom Pokédex	Roger Callagy	Daisuke Namikawa
Professor Kukui	Abe Goldfarb	Keiichi Nakagawa
Samson Oak	Marc Thompson	Unshō Ishizuka
Jessie	Michele Knotz	Megumi Hayashibara
James	James Carter Cathcart	Shin-ichiro Miki
Meowth	James Carter Cathcart	Inuko Inuyama
Wobbuffet	Erica Schroeder (from SM003)	Yūji Ueda
Hala	Ryan Andes	Nobuyuki Hiyama
Olivia	Marisa Kennedy	Miyuki Sawashiro
Gladion	Eddy Lee	Nobuhiko Okamoto
Tupp	Billy Bob Thompson	Takaaki Uchino (SM001–SM011), Tōru Sakurai (from SM024)
Zipp	Jake Paque	Sōshirō Hori
Rapp	Lori Phillips	Madoka Asahina
Narrator	Rodger Parsons	Unshō Ishizuka

Pokémon: Captures, Changes, Encounters & Evolutions

In brief:

Ash starts the season with only Pikachu, having left his other Pokémon at Professor Oak’s laboratory (SM001), and ends it with four: Pikachu, Rowlet, Lycanroc and Litten, plus the Rotom Pokédex. Rowlet, his first Alolan catch, flies into his backpack after rescuing its flock from Team Rocket (SM004); it uses the Normalium Z for its first Breakneck Blitz (SM011) and the Grassium Z for its first Bloom Doom (SM036). Rockruff, the wild Pokémon Professor Kukui had been looking after, learns Rock Throw and is caught at Clawmark Hill (SM015), lands its first Breakneck Blitz against Hiroki’s Mudbray (SM019) and, after biting Rowlet out of the grand trial and a brutal night with Tapu Lele, evolves at sunset into a Dusk Form Lycanroc with green eyes, “a rare phenomenon” (SM037), which masters Continental Crush (SM038) and reveals Accelerock (SM042). Litten, the stray who looked after an old Stoutland, joins Ash after the Stoutland’s death (SM021), masters Fire Fang inside a Palossand (SM022) and wins the Grassium Z with its first Breakneck Blitz (SM035). Pikachu’s Z-Moves are Gigavolt Havoc (SM002) and Breakneck Blitz (SM010).
Lillie’s Egg hatches into an Alolan Vulpix she names Snowy (SM013) and catches the next day (SM014) — the first Ice type caught by a main character since Dawn’s Swinub and the first regional form caught by one; Snowy learns Powder Snow (SM014). Mallow’s Bounsweet evolves into Steenee while its Sweet Scent dazes Meowth, learning Double Slap and Magical Leaf, with a new evolution animation (SM018). Lana’s Popplio learns Aqua Jet (SM033) and Hydro Vortex (SM040); Kiawe’s Turtonator learns Shell Smash, and Kiawe catches an Alolan Marowak, the first Ghost type caught by one of Ash’s friends (SM034); Sophocles catches a Charjabug (SM026), whose String Shot wins the Charjabug race (SM041), and his Togedemaru is confirmed female (SM006).
Team Rocket leave Gourgeist and Inkay at headquarters (SM003). Jessie catches Mimikyu in James’s Luxury Ball (SM004), the first catch in a variant Poké Ball by a main character since EP213, and James catches Mareanie (SM012) after Jessie fails with a Cloyster that swallows her Poké Ball and James with a Carvanha; the wild Bewear is reported to Giovanni as a capture. Samson Oak’s Egg hatches into a Kantonian Vulpix (SM014), Officer Jenny gains a Gumshoos from the Totem’s group (SM009), an Alolan Diglett joins DJ Leo’s band (SM023), and among wild Pokémon a Sandygast evolves into Palossand (SM022), a group of Morelull into Shiinotic (SM029) and a Slowpoke into Slowbro when a Shellder bites its tail (SM031). Ash fails to catch a Grubbin (SM004) and an Alolan Geodude (SM032), and at first decides to leave Litten free (SM007).

New Pokémon captured or hatched

Rowlet#0722 · Ash · flies into his backpack after saving its flock from Team Rocket; his first Alolan catch · SM004
Mimikyu#0778 · Jessie · caught in James’s Luxury Ball; her last catch to date · SM004
Mareanie#0747 · James · a lovestruck wild Mareanie whose hugs poison him · SM012
Vulpix#0037 · Lillie · Snowy, the Alolan Vulpix that hatched from her Egg, enters the Poké Ball by itself · SM014
Rockruff#0744 · Ash · the wild Rockruff Professor Kukui looked after, after it beats Magmar at Clawmark Hill · SM015
Litten#0725 · Ash · after Stoutland’s death and a battle with Pikachu; his last first-partner catch · SM021
Charjabug#0737 · Sophocles · Ash’s farewell present, caught after a battle with Togedemaru · SM026
Marowak#0105 · Kiawe · the Alolan Marowak that stole the Wela Crown; the first Ghost type caught by one of Ash’s friends · SM034

Evolutions

Bounsweet → Steenee#0762 · Mallow · while its Sweet Scent dazes Meowth; learns Double Slap and Magical Leaf · SM018
Sandygast → Palossand#0770 · wild · furious when Rotom stands in for its lost shovel · SM022
Morelull → Shiinotic#0756 · wild · a group of Morelull evolve together at a great tree · SM029
Slowpoke → Slowbro#0080 · wild · when a Shellder bites its tail, on the voyage to Akala · SM031
Rockruff → Lycanroc#0745 · Ash · at sunset at the Ruins of Life, into the rare Dusk Form · SM037

Releases, departures and returns

No Pokémon is released or traded this season. Before the school year starts Ash leaves every Pokémon except Pikachu at Professor Oak’s laboratory (SM001), and in Kanto he visits some of them at the corral — Bulbasaur, Squirtle, Muk, Totodile, Corphish and his thirty Tauros, which send him flying (SM042). Professor Kukui happily hands Rockruff over to its new Trainer (SM015), and the Rowlet Ash had decided to leave with its flock is nudged by Toucannon into his backpack (SM004).

The season’s loss is Litten’s companion, the elderly Stoutland: it teaches Litten Fire Fang, falls ill and is taken to the Pokémon Center, then slips back to their old hideout and is gone by morning (SM021). Its death, confirmed later in the series, is the clearest example of the direct treatment of death that Bulbapedia counts among the series’ changes. After a night in the rain Litten leaves its old haunts to join Ash, and Anela, the stallholder who fed it, tells it that it can visit her any time.

Teams at the end of the season (SM043)

Trainer	Pokémon	Changes this season
Ash	Pikachu, Rowlet, Lycanroc (Dusk Form), Litten; the Rotom Pokédex; the rest at Professor Oak’s laboratory	Caught Rowlet (SM004), Rockruff (SM015) and Litten (SM021); Rockruff evolved into Lycanroc (SM037)
Lillie	Snowy (Alolan Vulpix)	Hatched from the Egg (SM013) and caught (SM014)
Mallow	Steenee	Bounsweet evolved (SM018)
Lana	Popplio; Lapras (Ride Pokémon)	Popplio learned Aqua Jet (SM033) and Hydro Vortex (SM040); Z-Ring and Waterium Z (SM033)
Kiawe	Turtonator, Marowak (Alolan); Charizard (Ride Pokémon)	Caught Marowak (SM034); Turtonator learned Shell Smash (SM034)
Sophocles	Togedemaru, Charjabug	Caught Charjabug (SM026)
Jessie	Wobbuffet, Mimikyu (Gourgeist at headquarters)	Caught Mimikyu (SM004)
James	Mareanie (Inkay at headquarters)	Caught Mareanie (SM012)

Kahunas’, rivals’ and guests’ Pokémon this season

Trainer	Pokémon	Episodes
Professor Kukui	Rockruff (until Ash catches it), Pelipper (lent to Ash as a Ride Pokémon)	SM002–SM015, SM011
Samson Oak	Komala, Vulpix (Kantonian, hatched in SM014)	SM002, SM013, SM014
Hala	Crabrawler, Hariyama	SM009–SM010
Olivia	Lycanroc (Midday Form), Probopass	SM031–SM037
Gladion	Lycanroc (Midnight Form), Umbreon, Type: Null (“Silvally”)	SM027, SM037
Team Skull grunts	Tupp: Salandit · Zipp: Yungoos, Garbodor · Rapp: Zubat	SM001, SM011, SM024, SM025, SM027
Hobbes	Oricorio (Pom-Pom Style)	SM008, SM030
Nina	Raichu (Alolan)	SM013
DJ Leo	Dugtrio (Alolan), Diglett (Alolan)	SM023
Oluolu	Snorlax	SM028
Ida	Brionne	SM040
Horacio	Charjabug (Shiny)	SM041
Brock	Geodude, Crobat, Steelix (Mega Steelix)	SM042–SM043
Misty	Staryu, Psyduck, Gyarados (Mega Gyarados)	SM042–SM043

Pokémon making their anime debut this season

Almost every Pokémon met in Alola is new to the anime. The 43 Generation VII species chipped below make their debuts through the season, from Popplio, Litten, Bewear and Tapu Koko in the first episode to Brionne and Dhelmise in SM040, together with the Alolan forms of Exeggutor (SM001), Persian (SM007), Rattata and Raticate (SM009), Raichu, Muk and Vulpix (SM013), Diglett (SM017), Dugtrio (SM023), Geodude (SM032) and Marowak (SM034), and new forms: Oricorio’s Pom-Pom (SM008) and Baile Styles (SM018), Lycanroc’s Midday and Midnight Forms (SM015) and Ash’s Dusk Form (SM037), Wishiwashi’s Solo (SM022) and School Forms (SM033) and Mimikyu’s Busted Form (SM038). The Rotom Pokédex debuts in SM003. In Kanto, Mew makes its first physical appearance in the main series, flying unseen past the class (SM042), so that all 151 Generation I Pokémon have now appeared. Long-absent species return too: Blissey for the first time since DP133 (SM004), Fire types unseen for hundreds of episodes at the Wela Fire Festival (SM034), and Misty’s Psyduck and Staryu and Jigglypuff in Kanto (SM042–SM043).

Popplio#0728 · SM001 · anime debut; Lana’s
Bounsweet#0761 · SM001 · anime debut; Mallow’s
Togedemaru#0777 · SM001 · anime debut; Sophocles’s
Turtonator#0776 · SM001 · anime debut; Kiawe’s
Litten#0725 · SM001 · anime debut; the stray that later joins Ash
Bewear#0760 · SM001 · anime debut; the wild Bewear that later adopts Team Rocket
Tapu Koko#0785 · SM001 · anime debut; the guardian of Melemele Island
Salandit#0757 · SM001 · anime debut; Tupp’s
Yungoos#0734 · SM001 · anime debut; Team Skull’s
Pyukumuku#0771 · SM001 · anime debut
Bruxish#0779 · SM001 · anime debut
Grubbin#0736 · SM001 · anime debut
Rockruff#0744 · SM002 · anime debut; the wild Rockruff in Professor Kukui’s care
Komala#0775 · SM002 · anime debut; Samson Oak’s
Mimikyu#0778 · SM003 · anime debut, in its Disguised Form; Jessie’s from the next episode
Rowlet#0722 · SM004 · anime debut; Ash’s
Pikipek#0731 · SM004 · anime debut; Rowlet’s flock
Trumbeak#0732 · SM004 · anime debut; Rowlet’s flock
Toucannon#0733 · SM004 · anime debut; Rowlet’s flock
Comfey#0764 · SM004 · anime debut; Nurse Joy’s
Oricorio#0741 · SM008 · anime debut, in its Pom-Pom Style; Hobbes’s
Gumshoos#0735 · SM009 · anime debut; the Totem Gumshoos of Verdant Cavern
Crabrawler#0739 · SM010 · anime debut; Hala’s
Mudbray#0749 · SM011 · anime debut; on Kiawe’s family farm
Mareanie#0747 · SM012 · anime debut; James’s
Lycanroc#0745 · SM015 · anime debut of its Midday and Midnight Forms, at Clawmark Hill
Steenee#0762 · SM018 · anime debut; Mallow’s Bounsweet evolves
Tapu Lele#0786 · SM020 · anime debut; the guardian of Akala Island
Cutiefly#0742 · SM020 · anime debut; on Treasure Island
Ribombee#0743 · SM020 · anime debut; on Treasure Island
Wimpod#0767 · SM020 · anime debut; the Wimpod Ash rescues
Sandygast#0769 · SM022 · anime debut
Palossand#0770 · SM022 · anime debut; the Sandygast evolves
Wishiwashi#0746 · SM022 · anime debut, in its Solo Form
Charjabug#0737 · SM026 · anime debut; Sophocles’s
Morelull#0755 · SM029 · anime debut
Shiinotic#0756 · SM029 · anime debut; the Morelull evolve
Fomantis#0753 · SM035 · anime debut
Lurantis#0754 · SM035 · anime debut; the Totem of Lush Jungle
Type: Null#0772 · SM037 · anime debut; Gladion’s, nicknamed Silvally
Oranguru#0765 · SM039 · anime debut; the forest teacher
Brionne#0729 · SM040 · anime debut; Ida’s
Dhelmise#0781 · SM040 · anime debut
Mew#0151 · SM042 · TV-episode debut: its first physical appearance in the main series

Key Events, Island Trials & Tournaments

Events of note

Ash arrives in Alola and receives a Z-Ring from Tapu Koko; Kiawe’s Inferno Overdrive is the first Z-Move (SM001 – Alola to New Adventure!)
Ash’s first Z-Move shatters his Electrium Z, and he decides to take the island challenge (SM002 – The Guardian’s Challenge!)
Rotom moves into Ash’s Pokédex; Team Rocket arrive and meet Mimikyu and Bewear (SM003 – Loading the Dex!)
Ash catches Rowlet; Jessie catches Mimikyu (SM004 – First Catch in Alola, Ketchum-Style!)
Lillie takes charge of the Egg (SM008 – Lillie’s Egg-xhilarating Challenge!)
Ash beats the Totem Gumshoos for a Normalium Z (SM009 – To Top a Totem!)
Ash wins Hala’s grand trial; Tapu Koko swaps the Fightinium Z for an Electrium Z (SM010 – Trial and Tribulation!)
Ash’s first visit to Akala Island (SM011 – Young Kiawe Had a Farm!)
James catches Mareanie; Team Rocket set up base in Bewear’s den (SM012 – The Sun, the Scare, the Secret Lair!)
Komala wins the Pancake Race; the Egg hatches into Snowy (SM013 – Racing to a Big Event!)
Lillie catches Snowy and becomes a Trainer (SM014 – Getting to Know You!)
Ash catches Rockruff (SM015 – Rocking Clawmark Hill!)
Bounsweet evolves into Steenee (SM018 – A Seasoned Search!)
Ash’s rematch with Tapu Koko ends without a winner (SM019 – A Guardian Rematch!)
Ash meets Tapu Lele on Treasure Island (SM020 – Partner Promises!)
Stoutland passes away; Ash catches Litten (SM021 – One Journey Ends, Another Begins…)
Litten masters Fire Fang (SM022 – A Shivering Shovel Search!)
Delia visits the school (SM024 – Alolan Open House!)
Team Rocket meet Team Skull and win a Darkinium Z (SM025 – A Team-on-Team Tussle!)
Sophocles catches Charjabug (SM026 – So Long, Sophocles!)
Ash meets Gladion (SM027 – A Glaring Rivalry!)
Lillie wins her first battle, with Pikachu (SM030 – The Ol’ Raise and Switch!)
Olivia takes the class to Akala Island (SM031 – The Island Whisperer!)
Lana finds the ore for her Z-Ring (SM032 – Treasure Hunt, Akala Style!)
Lana clears the Brooklet Hill trial for a Waterium Z and receives her Z-Ring (SM033 – Big Sky, Small Fry!)
Kiawe catches an Alolan Marowak (SM034 – A Crowning Moment of Truth!)
Ash clears the Lush Jungle trial for a Grassium Z (SM035 – Currying Favor and Flavor!)
Ash wins Olivia’s grand trial for a Rockium Z (SM036 – Trials and Determinations!)
Rockruff evolves into Dusk Form Lycanroc; Gladion’s Type: Null appears (SM037 – Rising from the Ruins!)
Lycanroc lands Continental Crush; Jessie mends Mimikyu’s disguise (SM038 – Mimikyu Unmasked!)
Mallow makes peace with her father (SM039 – Mallow and the Forest Teacher!)
Lana and Popplio’s first Hydro Vortex (SM040 – Balloons, Brionne, and Belligerence!)
Sophocles, Ash and Kiawe win the Charjabug race (SM041 – Mounting an Electrifying Charge!)
Brock and Misty return; Mew flies past the class (SM042 – Alola, Kanto!)
Pikachu beats Misty’s Mega Gyarados; Kukui plans an Alola League (SM043 – When Regions Collide!)

Trials, grand trials & other battles

Kiawe’s Turtonator and Ash’s Pikachu v Team Skull’s Salandit, Yungoos and Zubat (Inferno Overdrive wins) — SM001
Pikachu v Tapu Koko (Gigavolt Havoc; Tapu Koko flies off) — SM002
Pikachu v Mimikyu and Meowth (interrupted by Bewear) — SM003
Pikachu v a wild Grubbin (Grubbin escapes); Rowlet v Team Rocket’s Mimikyu (Rowlet frees its flock) — SM004
Rowlet v Hobbes’s Oricorio (Oricorio wins) — SM008
Verdant Cavern trial: Pikachu and Rowlet v the Totem Gumshoos and its allies (Ash wins the Normalium Z) — SM009
Melemele grand trial: Ash v Hala, two-on-two (Ash wins) — SM010
Pikachu v Team Skull (Gigavolt Havoc) — SM011
Pikachu and Rowlet v Team Rocket’s Mimikyu and Mareanie (Team Rocket win) — SM012
Rockruff v Magmar at Clawmark Hill (Magmar wins, then Rockruff wins the rematch) — SM015
Rockruff v Hiroki’s Mudbray (Rockruff wins with Breakneck Blitz); Pikachu v Tapu Koko (no winner) — SM019
Litten v Pikachu (a standstill; Litten joins Ash) — SM021
Pikachu, Rockruff and Litten v Team Skull (Gigavolt Havoc) — SM024
Team Rocket v Team Skull and the Totem Raticate (Team Rocket take the Darkinium Z) — SM025
Togedemaru v Charjabug (Sophocles catches it) — SM026
Rockruff v Gladion’s Lycanroc (interrupted by Team Rocket) — SM027
Lillie, with Pikachu, v Hobbes’s Oricorio (Lillie wins) — SM030
Brooklet Hill trial: Lana’s Popplio v the Totem Wishiwashi and Alomomola (Lana wins the Waterium Z) — SM033
Kiawe’s Turtonator v the Alolan Marowak (Marowak wins, then Kiawe wins the rematch) — SM034
Lush Jungle trial: Litten and Rowlet v the Totem Lurantis and Castform (Ash wins the Grassium Z) — SM035
Akala grand trial: Ash v Olivia, Double Battle (Ash wins) — SM036
Rockruff v Tapu Lele (Tapu Lele wins) — SM037
Lycanroc v Jessie’s Mimikyu (Continental Crush wins) — SM038
Oranguru v Team Rocket’s Mareanie and Meowth (Oranguru wins) — SM039
Lana’s Popplio v a Dhelmise (Hydro Vortex wins) — SM040
Cerulean Gym exhibition: Steenee and Popplio v Psyduck, Togedemaru and Snowy v Geodude (both called off); Kiawe v Brock (Brock wins); Ash v Misty (Ash wins) — SM043

Z-Crystals won this season

Z-Crystal	Trial & opponent	Opponent’s Pokémon	Challenger’s Pokémon	Result	Episode
Normalium Z	Verdant Cavern trial (Melemele) · Totem Gumshoos	Totem Gumshoos, with its allies Yungoos and Gumshoos	Pikachu, Rowlet (Ash)	Win — Hala’s challenge was to rid the island of Alolan Rattata and Raticate without battling them. Rowlet’s silent Tackle and Pikachu’s Iron Tail beat the Totem’s allies; the Totem’s Frustration overpowers Pikachu and a hurled rock knocks out Rowlet, but Pikachu circles it with Quick Attacks and finishes it with Thunderbolt. As a rare gift the Totem gives Ash a Normalium Z, then drives the pests out	SM009
Electrium Z	Melemele grand trial (Iki Town) · Kahuna Hala	Crabrawler, Hariyama	Rowlet, Pikachu (Ash)	Win — Rowlet beats Crabrawler with Tackle after a Leafage smokescreen, then falls asleep in mid-air; Pikachu survives Hariyama’s All-Out Pummeling, boosted by Belly Drum, and wins with its first Breakneck Blitz. Hala offers a Fightinium Z, but Tapu Koko swoops in and swaps it for an Electrium Z, replacing the crystal that shattered in SM002	SM010
Waterium Z	Brooklet Hill trial (Akala) · Totem Wishiwashi — Lana’s trial	Totem Wishiwashi (School Form), with its ally Alomomola	Popplio (Lana), helped by Ash and Pikachu	Win for Lana — the Totem drags her boat across the lake, and Alomomola heals it with Heal Pulse until Ash hooks the Alomomola with his fishing rod and Pikachu’s Electro Ball drives it off; Popplio learns Aqua Jet and defeats the Totem. The Wishiwashi Lana had bandaged brings her the Waterium Z, and Olivia gives her a Z-Ring that night	SM033
Grassium Z	Lush Jungle trial (Akala) · Totem Lurantis	Totem Lurantis, with its ally Castform	Litten, Rowlet (Ash)	Win — the trial is disguised as Olivia’s hunt for curry ingredients, with Mallow as guide. Castform’s Sunny Day lets Lurantis fire Solar Blade without charging, and its Water Gun leaves Litten struggling, but Rowlet beats Castform, and Litten defeats the Totem with its first Breakneck Blitz. Lurantis gives Ash a Grassium Z, qualifying him for Olivia’s grand trial	SM035
Rockium Z	Akala grand trial · Kahuna Olivia	Probopass, Lycanroc (Midday Form)	Rowlet, Rockruff (Ash)	Win — a Double Battle Olivia declares when the overexcited Rockruff charges onto the field. Probopass’s Stealth Rock, Magnet Bomb and Zap Cannon and Lycanroc’s Rock Slide and Accelerock wear Ash’s pair down, and Olivia’s Continental Crush misses; Probopass is unable to battle after Rowlet’s first Bloom Doom, but Rockruff bites Rowlet out of the battle, then beats Lycanroc with a Rock Throw at point-blank range. Olivia gives Ash the Rockium Z, the only grand-trial crystal that matches the games’	SM036

The island challenge

Alola has no Gyms or Badges. A Trainer takes the island challenge instead: trials on each island, each ending in a battle with a Totem Pokémon far larger than normal and its allies, then a grand trial against the island’s kahuna, which is the only kind of battle to get a VS screen, the first in SM010. The prizes are Z-Crystals, which, set into a Z-Ring and released with a pose, power a Z-Move that can be used only once per battle and whose type depends on the move, not the user (SM010, SM025). Ash’s first Electrium Z came straight from Tapu Koko with his Z-Ring (SM001) and shattered against the guardian (SM002); he goes on to earn a Normalium Z (SM009), a new Electrium Z (SM010), a Grassium Z (SM035) and a Rockium Z (SM036), and Lana a Waterium Z (SM033), while Kiawe’s Firium Z and Gladion’s Rockium Z were won before the series began. The season’s other Z-Crystals are Hala’s Fightinium Z, the Darkinium Z Team Rocket take from Team Skull (SM025), Oluolu’s Snorlium Z (SM028) and Ida’s Waterium Z (SM040).

The guardians & Gladion

Two battles outside the challenge mark Ash’s progress. Tapu Koko steals his cap, sets up Electric Terrain and waits for a Z-Move; Gigavolt Havoc collides with it in a huge explosion, and the shattered Electrium Z convinces Ash to take the challenge (SM002). After speed training at Sophocles’s house, the rematch in the schoolyard (SM019) sees Gigavolt Havoc drive the guardian back before a blast sends Pikachu over a cliff; Tapu Koko catches Ash and Pikachu and flies off, leaving no winner. Gladion’s Midnight Form Lycanroc sweeps three Team Skull Pokémon with a single Stone Edge and beats a Sailor’s Blastoise; its battle with Rockruff on the beach is cut short when Team Rocket net Lycanroc and Pikachu, and Gladion’s Continental Crush blasts them away (SM027). Akala’s guardian, Tapu Lele, batters Rockruff with Dazzling Gleam under the full moon before healing it with Draining Kiss at the Ruins of Life (SM037).

Exhibition at the Cerulean Gym

On the Kanto field trip the class visits Misty’s Cerulean Gym (SM043), where no Badges are at stake. Misty sets up two-on-one battles: Mallow’s Steenee and Lana’s Popplio against Psyduck, whose headache powers a Confusion that hurls them aside, and Sophocles’s Togedemaru and Lillie’s Snowy against Brock’s Geodude, which shrugs off Zing Zap as a Rock and Ground type and deflects Powder Snow with a defensive Gyro Ball, a trick Brock learned from Ash; Professor Kukui calls off both. With Misty refereeing, Kiawe’s Turtonator blasts Steelix with Shell Trap, but Brock reveals a Key Stone, Mega Evolves Steelix, survives Inferno Overdrive and wins with Stone Edge. On a water field Misty Mega Evolves her Gyarados: Hydro Pump, Rain Dance, Hurricane and Crunch put Pikachu under pressure and an underwater Hurricane swallows its Thunderbolt, but Pikachu bounces out of the vortex with Quick Attack and wins with Gigavolt Havoc. At the airport Brock and Misty give the boys replica Boulder Badges and the girls replica Cascade Badges, Kiawe vows to earn a real one, and Kukui resolves to bring the Pokémon League to Alola.

Races, games & contests

School life brings competitions of its own. Mallow’s welcome party for Ash has a balloon-popping contest won by Togedemaru’s Zing Zap, a race across land and water won by Popplio and a Tauros race Kiawe takes in a photo finish (SM002). The annual Pokémon Pancake Race (SM013) is won by Samson Oak’s Komala by a nose, with Pikachu and Nina’s Alolan Raichu tying for second after the real Bewear smashes Team Rocket’s Bewear-shaped robot. The baseball star Oluolu coaches a Pokémon Base lesson, and the students, with Oluolu and his Snorlax’s Pulverizing Pancake, beat Team Rocket (SM028). On Akala, Olivia’s Stoutland treasure hunt is won by Lana’s Sparkling Stone, worth 500 points (SM032), and the Wela Fire Festival is interrupted when an Alolan Marowak steals the Wela Crown (SM034). Back on Melemele, Sophocles, Ash and Kiawe win a Charjabug race against Horacio’s Team Red Comet after Team Rocket are disqualified (SM041).

Movies & Specials Released During the Season

The twentieth movie, Pokémon the Movie: I Choose You! (劇場版ポケットモンスターキミにきめた！, “Pocket Monsters the Movie: I Choose You!”), had its world premiere at Japan Expo in Paris on 6 July 2017 and opened in Japanese cinemas on Saturday 15 July, between Big Sky, Small Fry! (SM033) and A Crowning Moment of Truth! (SM034); it was number one at the Japanese box office in its opening weekend. A loose reboot of Ash’s first journey set in an alternate timeline, it is the first Pokémon movie released during the broadcast of Sun & Moon, and from SM030 to SM043 its opening song, a 20th-anniversary recording of Aim to Be a Pokémon Master, replaced Alola!! as the TV opening. In the US, Fathom Events and Eleven Arts showed it in cinemas on 5 and 6 November 2017, adding screenings on 11 and 14 November in response to high demand, and Disney XD premiered it on Saturday 25 November in a marathon with SM041 and SM042; it reached Australian and New Zealand cinemas on 11 November and CITV in the UK on 8 December 2017. The English version opens with “Pokémon Theme (Gotta Catch ’Em All)” and closes with “I Choose You”. To promote it, the games offered Pikachu in Ash’s cap with the code PIKACHU20 from 19 September to 30 October 2017, a different cap each week, bundled with a Pikashunium Z.

Pokémon the Movie: I Choose You!Movie 20 · Japan 15 July 2017 · US cinemas 5 November 2017 · Disney XD 25 November 2017

Volcanion and the Mechanical Marvel poster

Volcanion and the Mechanical MarvelMovie 19 · Disney XD 5 December 2016, with the Sun & Moon sneak peek · US DVD 21 March 2017

The nineteenth movie, Volcanion and the Mechanical Marvel, opened the season’s US story. On 17 November 2016, the day Sun & Moon began in Japan, The Pokémon Company International announced that Disney XD would become the anime’s US home, taking the 19 previous seasons and 15 movies, and that the film would premiere there on Monday 5 December 2016 alongside the first two Sun & Moon episodes, “only a preview” of a season due in 2017. Disney XD showed the film again on 13 May 2017, the day SM003 premiered; Canada’s Teletoon paired it with the same sneak peek on 31 December 2016, and CITV in the UK with its own on 19 November 2016. It came out on DVD in Japan on 14 December 2016 and in the US on 21 March 2017.

Side Stories, Specials & Crossovers

Side-story tie-ins

Pokémon Generations. The last of The Pokémon Company International’s 18 game-retelling shorts, The Redemption, went up on YouTube on 23 December 2016, less than three weeks after Disney XD’s Sun & Moon sneak peek; the weekly series had begun on 16 September 2016, during XYZ, and is not part of this season.
Poké Problem. From SM003, Japan replaced Poké TV with Poké Problem (ポケもんだい): a question asked before the opening by a student, a teacher or a recurring character — Samson Oak first, asking which appliance Rotom will enter — and answered after the credits, with an extra scene. First TV Tokyo broadcasts with promotions or in one-hour slots sometimes left it out (SM004, and SM007, whose slot went to a trailer for the twentieth movie), though it was kept off-network and on video on demand. It was never dubbed; the English version has no end segment.
Japanese specials and companion programming. The Sunday variety show Pokémon no Uchi Atsumaru?! (Pokénchi) ran alongside the season, and pocketmonsters.net’s calendars list specials on 1 April 2017, The Exact 20th Anniversary for the Pokémon Anime, twenty years after the anime’s premiere, and 8 July, a Pokémon 2-Hour Special; on 13 July 2017 the Thursday slot carried a pre-premiere special for the twentieth movie. The one-hour premieres of SM001–SM004 ran a keyword quiz with New Nintendo 3DS XL prizes and appearances by the comedian Abareru-kun. No Sun & Moon TV special or Pikachu short has been found inside the season’s run.
Next: Ultra Adventures. In Japan the story resumed two weeks after SM043: A Dream Encounter! (SM044), broadcast on 5 October 2017, introduced Nebby and opens Season 21, Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon – Ultra Adventures, which Disney XD premiered on 24 March 2018 with a new English opening, “Under the Alolan Moon”.

Characters from the games, manga and specials

Pokémon Sun and Moon came out on 18 November 2016 in Japan, North America and Australia (23 November in Europe): SM001 and SM002 aired in Japan the evening before, and SM003 was the first episode after the release. The anime follows the games’ Alola closely — the island challenge, trials and Totem Pokémon, the kahunas Hala and Olivia, Z-Crystals and Z-Moves, regional forms, Team Skull, Lillie, Gladion, Professor Kukui and the Rotom Pokédex — and Olivia’s Rockium Z is the only grand-trial crystal that matches the games’. Z-Ring and Z-Crystal sets were lottery prizes during SM004’s broadcast, and Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon followed on 17 November 2017, between the US premieres of SM039 and SM040.
Kanto and the original series. The Kanto field trip (SM042–SM043) is a reunion: Misty, back for the first time since AG134, and Brock, since DP191, are the first former companions to appear in person since BW093; Professor Oak meets his cousin Samson, Delia throws a welcome party, Ash meets the Pokémon he left at the corral, Jigglypuff sings everyone to sleep and draws on their faces, and Team Rocket recite their original motto. Kantonian and Alolan Exeggutor, Geodude, Muk, Dugtrio and Marowak meet at the corral, and Mew’s first physical main-series appearance completes the original 151. Earlier, Samson Oak’s Egg hatches into a Kantonian Vulpix beside Lillie’s Alolan one (SM014).
Pop-culture nods. Rotom’s detective act imitates the TV sleuth of Alolan Detective Laki, with a remix of Looker’s theme from the games (SM017); DJ Leo’s concert has a background modelled on Hokusai’s The Great Wave off Kanagawa, and the wigs at Team Rocket’s stall resemble May’s and Brock’s hair (SM023); the camping trip of SM029 references E.T., SM033 has a Titanic pose, and Horacio’s Team Red Comet races a car modelled on a mobile suit (SM041). Several English titles borrow from songs and shows — “The Lady Is a Tramp”, “Old MacDonald Had a Farm”, The King and I and the band They Might Be Giants (see Dub Edits).

Opening & Ending Themes

Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon opened in Japan with Alola!!, sung by Rica Matsumoto as Satoshi — Ash — with Ikue Ōtani’s Pikachu and written by Tomohisa Sako, for its first 29 episodes. From SM030 the opening became Aim to Be a Pokémon Master -20th Anniversary-, Rica Matsumoto’s new recording of the anime’s very first opening, which promoted the twentieth movie and is the first Japanese opening made up almost entirely of episode clips. Every episode closed with Pose, written, arranged and sung by Taiiku Okazaki, whose animation of Z-Move poses changed six times as Lillie’s Egg hatched, Bounsweet evolved and Rockruff became Lycanroc. In English, “Under the Alolan Sun”, performed by Jannel Candrice and The Sad Truth and written by the dub’s composer, Ed Goldfarb, opened all 43 episodes, and for the first time since Advanced Battle the English ending had its own animation — clips of Pose — instead of text on black. As usual, the Japanese themes were never dubbed.

Opening 20 · Alola!! (アローラ!!) — **Opening 20 · *Alola!!* (アローラ!!)**Satoshi (Rica Matsumoto) with Pikachu (Ikue Ōtani) · SM001–SM029Lyrics and music by Tomohisa Sako, arranged by Saku. Its first animation, used throughout this season, has scenes of Litten, the Grubbin capture, the classmates, Rotom and the Egg that a second version replaced when the song returned for SM044 to SM060 in Season 21, and it gives away Jessie catching Mimikyu, Ash catching Rowlet and Lillie receiving an Egg before the episodes do. It is an insert song in SM015, SM020 and SM036, and an instrumental accompanies Ash’s Family Visit Day speech (SM024). Released digitally on 17 November 2016, the day of the premiere, and on the CD single *Alola!! / Pose* (SME Records) on 12 April 2017.

Opening 21 · Mezase Pokemon Masutā -20th Anniversary- (めざせポケモンマスター -20th Anniversary- Aim to Be a Pokémon Master) — **Opening 21 · *Mezase Pokemon Masutā -20th Anniversary-* (めざせポケモンマスター -20th Anniversary- Aim to Be a Pokémon Master)**Rica Matsumoto · SM030–SM043Lyrics by Shōgo Toda, music by Hirokazu Tanaka, arranged by Saku: a 20th-anniversary recording of the 1997 first opening, which also opens the twentieth movie. Made up almost entirely of episode clips — Ash and his classmates, Gladion, Olivia, Delia, Rotom, Rowlet, Rockruff, Litten, Popplio, Solgaleo and Lunala — it has two variants: from SM038 a shortened Olivia clip makes room for Lycanroc’s Continental Crush. In SM042 and SM043 Misty, Brock and Professor Oak add ad-libs that are not in the on-screen lyrics, and an instrumental version plays when Snowy meets a Ninetales (SM042). Released digitally on 28 June 2017, with a *-20th Anniversary Ballad ver.-* on the CD single.

Ending · Pōzu (ポーズ Pose) — **Ending · *Pōzu* (ポーズ Pose)**Taiiku Okazaki · SM001–SM043Lyrics, music, arrangement and vocals by Taiiku Okazaki; the sequence, storyboarded by Yūji Asada, shows four Z-Move poses before Ash and Pikachu run to join the other students of the Pokémon School. The TV version uses the first verse up to SM023 and the second from SM024, and the animation kept pace with the story: Lillie holds the Egg from SM008, Snowy replaces it from SM013, Steenee replaces Bounsweet from SM018, reworked poses by Lillie, Team Rocket, Mimey and Bewear arrive with the second verse (SM024), Lana wears her Z-Ring from SM033 and Dusk Form Lycanroc replaces Rockruff from SM037. It is an insert song in SM029, SM040 and SM041, and Rotom sings part of it in SM025. It ran until SM060 and was released on the CD single *Alola!! / Pose* on 12 April 2017.

English opening · Under the Alolan Sun — English opening · *Under the Alolan Sun*Jannel Candrice and The Sad Truth · all 43 episodesLyrics and music by Ed Goldfarb, arranged by Goldfarb and Jeff Stuart Saltzman, featuring Ben Dixon and the Vestigial Horns, with guitars by James Harman. The animation was assembled from *Alola!!* and SM002. Its instrumental accompanies the English ending, which for the first time since *Advanced Battle* has its own animation — clips of *Pose* — and is the first not to be a shortened opening; the ending was updated as the Egg, Snowy, Steenee, Dusk Form Lycanroc and Lana’s Z-Ring appeared (SM009, SM013, SM018, SM037), though Netflix uses only the first version. The first credits misspelled “Vestigial”, a slip corrected before SM003 aired on CITV and SM007 in Canada and the US. Instrumentals play in SM007, SM020, SM024 and SM033. Season 21 replaced it with “Under the Alolan Moon”.

Besides the themes, Japan used Meowth’s Ballad, a song from the previous series, as an insert during Litten’s rainy vigil in SM021 — the first song from an earlier series used as an insert since BW109 — and the games’ Pokémon Center music in SM039. The background music borrows from Hoopa and the Clash of Ages (first used in SM001) and Volcanion and the Mechanical Marvel (SM043), Meloetta’s Moonlight Serenade during Litten’s dream (SM007), the Sinnoh Gym Leader theme in Hala’s grand trial (SM010), a remix of Looker’s theme from the games whenever Rotom “deduces” (SM017), the Victory Road music of Black 2 and White 2 before the Tapu Koko rematch (SM019), tracks from X and Y (SM020), Clemont’s invention music (SM023) and the Black & White title-card music in Kiawe’s battle with Brock (SM043); Team Rocket’s new motto is set to a remixed instrumental of their Team Song (SM003), and their original motto returns with XY-era music in Kanto (SM042).

Under the Alolan Sun — Jannel Candrice and The Sad Truth’s English opening, used for all 43 episodes, in The Official Pokémon YouTube channel’s compilation of Alola-era themes, the video Bulbapedia’s page for the song links to. Video: The Official Pokémon YouTube channel.

TV Broadcasts & Original Airing Dates

Japan. TV Tokyo broadcast Pocket Monsters Sun & Moon on Thursday evenings from 18:55, beginning with a one-hour premiere of SM001 and SM002 on 17 November 2016, the evening before Pokémon Sun and Moon came out; SM003 and SM004 followed as a second one-hour broadcast on 24 November, and both specials ran a keyword quiz with New Nintendo 3DS XL prizes. There was no episode on 29 December 2016, 30 March or 1 June 2017, when other programmes took the slot, or on 16 February 2017; SM020 and SM021 aired together as a one-hour special on 6 April 2017, and on 13 July the slot carried a pre-premiere special for the twentieth movie, which opened two days later. When Regions Collide! (SM043) ended the season on 21 September 2017, and after an empty Thursday SM044 continued the story on 5 October. No ratings have been found for the series.

Disney XD. On 17 November 2016, the day the series began in Japan, The Pokémon Company International announced a multi-year deal that made Disney XD the anime’s new US home, with 19 previous seasons and 15 movies; SM001 was the first episode since AG145 not to premiere on Cartoon Network. The first two episodes aired on Monday 5 December 2016 as a sneak peek alongside the Disney XD premiere of Volcanion and the Mechanical Marvel, in preview versions with a placeholder opening and ending and the original Japanese music; the finished versions replaced them on the Disney XD app and website on 11 February 2017. Announcements in April 2017 promised the season for Friday 12 May at 9 p.m. and then Saturday mornings, but Disney XD’s listings added a premiere week: SM001 and SM002 at 9:00 and 9:30 p.m. on 12 May, then a new episode every day from SM003 on 13 May to SM010 on 20 May.

Saturday mornings. From Young Kiawe Had a Farm! (SM011) on 27 May the season aired on Saturdays at 9:00 a.m., in production order, with three departures from the weekly pattern: SM016 to SM021 premiered together in a three-hour special on 1 July 2017; a DuckTales marathon took the slot on 12 August, so A Glaring Rivalry! (SM027), already on sale on iTunes from 13 August, aired on 19 August; and SM041 and SM042 aired on 25 November in a marathon with the Disney XD premiere of I Choose You!. After a week without a new episode — Pokémon.com wrongly listed the finale for 2 December — When Regions Collide! (SM043) closed the season on 9 December 2017. Nothing was banned, skipped or moved, and no US viewing figures have been found. Sun & Moon is the only series to air on Disney XD and the last to air on traditional US television; Season 21 began there on 24 March 2018.

Elsewhere. Several countries saw the season first. The first two episodes premiered in France on 18 November 2016, a day after Japan, followed by Italy, Germany, Belgium, Spain, the Netherlands and, on 20 December, South Korea; in the UK, CITV showed them with the nineteenth movie on 19 and 20 November 2016. Canada’s Teletoon paired the sneak peek with the movie on 31 December 2016 and ran the season in its original order from 18 March 2017 to 6 January 2018, airing SM003 to SM009 between 1 April and 13 May, ahead of the US; CITV began its regular run on 11 April 2017, with weekday episodes over Easter, aired SM012 a day before Disney XD and cut Kiawe’s lunge at Ash from SM017. Australia’s 9Go! began the series on 17 July 2017, and the Romanian dub returned with this season after an eight-year break. Later, Disney Channel in Australia started the series on 7 January 2019, BBC iPlayer added Season 20 and the twentieth movie on 14 July 2022, CBBC began the season on 25 July 2022, and Stan added it in Australia on 14 September 2025.

The numbering. The 43 episodes are numbered 1 to 43 by Disney XD, the DVDs, Bulbapedia and English Wikipedia, in the same order as in Japan, where they are episodes 1 to 43 of Pocket Monsters Sun & Moon. English Wikipedia’s overall numbers are 936–978 in English — the numbers this site uses — and 942–984 in Japanese; Bulbapedia’s alternate codes run from EP940 to EP982, and Dogasu’s Backpack lists The Pokémon Company International’s English production numbers as 2001 to 2043. Lists written while the season was airing sometimes run on to SM044–SM049, which belong to Season 21.

Dub Edits

Changes in the English version

Nothing banned. All 43 episodes aired on Disney XD in production order, dubbed by The Pokémon Company International at DuArt, with Lisa Ortiz directing the voices for the whole Sun & Moon series, Rodger Parsons narrating and Ed Goldfarb’s music; the series’ one banned episode, SM064, falls in Season 21. The cast changed early: Kayzie Rogers retired after voicing Mimey in SM001, so Erica Schroeder took over Wobbuffet from SM003 and Michele Knotz Mimey from SM024, though SM024’s Who’s That Pokémon? clip still uses Rogers’s voice — by SM003 every main role of the 4Kids era except Pikachu had changed English voice. Dogasu’s Backpack has no comparison pages for Sun & Moon, so the changes below come from the “Dub edits” sections of Bulbapedia’s episode pages.

The sneak peek. The versions of SM001 and SM002 that Disney XD showed on 5 December 2016 had a placeholder opening — the title card flying in on black over the title music — and a placeholder ending set to an arrangement of “The Festival in Iki Town”, kept much of the original Japanese music and dropped SM002’s “To Be Continued”. For the official debut the music was largely replaced, the caption restored and all of Pikachu’s lines in SM001 re-recorded.

Z-Moves and on-screen text. The Japanese captions that name each Z-Move were removed every time one is used — Inferno Overdrive, Gigavolt Havoc, All-Out Pummeling, Breakneck Blitz, Continental Crush, Bloom Doom and Hydro Vortex — as were the Pokémon Base captions for an “Inferno Overdrive Ball”, a “Gigavolt Havoc Swing” and Pulverizing Pancake, and the students’ names (SM028). The kanji for “grand trial” on the VS screens became “VS” (SM010, SM036), and Team Rocket’s new motto lost its Japanese text (SM003).

Cuts. The dub removed Ash’s glittery vomit (SM006), the shot of Meowth floating face down as his spirit returns to his body (SM012) and, in Mimikyu Unmasked!, the shot of Team Rocket’s bodies lying on the ground during Meowth’s flower-field “afterlife” and his soul returning to his body, though the sound effect remains (SM038). In Kanto the drinks held by Professor Kukui, Professor Oak and Samson Oak were recoloured from orange to green (SM042). CITV’s broadcast of SM017 also cut Kiawe’s lunge at Ash and slowed Ash’s dash.

Changed lines. Meowth breaks the fourth wall in English by calling it “a family show” (SM003); a hypnotised member of Team Rocket sings a line of Ray Stevens’s “Everything Is Beautiful” (SM018); Rotom recites the Z-Crystal names that it sings to Pose in Japanese (SM025); Lillie calls Gladion by name rather than “brother” (SM027); Rotom starts the closing narration of SM028 and the narrator finishes it; every reference to the Natures of Sophocles’s and Horacio’s Charjabug — the anime’s first mention of Natures — is removed (SM041); Meowth’s mention of Matori becomes “loser locks” (SM042); and Brock and Misty do not recite their Japanese Gym Leader slogans (SM043). Ed Goldfarb’s score replaces most of the original music, and instrumentals of “Under the Alolan Sun” play in SM007, SM020, SM024 and SM033.

Who’s That Pokémon? and Dare da? The dub keeps Who’s That Pokémon?, and from this season characters from the episode often read it: Ash in SM001 and SM002, Team Rocket in SM003, SM012, SM016 and SM038, Lana and Ash in SM005, Lillie’s butler Hobbes with Ash, Rotom and Lillie in SM008 — the first character outside the main cast to do so — Team Skull’s Tupp and Rapp in SM025, a tearful Sophocles in SM026, the master fisherman in SM033, seven readers including Olivia in SM034, and Ida and Kanoa in SM040. Japan’s own Dare da? shows a different Pokémon in 17 episodes — Pikachu instead of Grubbin (SM001), Tapu Koko instead of Rockruff (SM002), Litten instead of the Alolan Persian (SM007), Team Rocket’s Meowth instead of Bewear (SM016), Snorlax instead of Scyther (SM028) and Steelix instead of Psyduck (SM043), the first Dare da? with a Mega Evolution, among them.

Names and slips. Satoshi becomes Ash, Lilie Lillie, Mao Mallow, Suiren Lana, Kaki Kiawe and Māmane Sophocles; Nariya Ōkido becomes Samson Oak, Raichi (“Lychee”) Olivia and the Skull-dan Team Skull. The English version fixes a shot in which Togedemaru was coloured like Pikachu (SM005), but slips include closed captions reading “God Ball” (SM014), Lillie’s Poké Doll called a “Clefairy Doll” and Potions “lotions” (SM029), a Star Piece called a “Comet Shard” and a Fletchling captioned “Spearow” (SM032), Togedemaru’s mouth moving silently (SM026) and Ash’s Z-Crystal changing in mid-battle (SM035). Title variants include “Ketchum-style!” for SM004, “Is” for SM007, “Egg-Xhilarating” for SM008 and Canada’s comma-less “Go Popplio!” card for SM005; iTunes sold SM015 under SM016’s title and description.

Episode titles explained

Several of this season’s English titles play on songs, shows and familiar phrases:

First Catch in Alola, Ketchum-Style! — Ash’s surname and “catch ’em”, for his first Alolan catch
Lillie’s Egg-xhilarating Challenge! — “exhilarating”, for the Egg Lillie takes home
That’s Why the Litten is a Scamp! — the song “The Lady Is a Tramp”, for the stray Litten
Young Kiawe Had a Farm! — the nursery song “Old MacDonald Had a Farm”, for Kiawe’s family farm
Getting to Know You! — the song “Getting to Know You” from The King and I, as Lillie and Snowy get acquainted
They Might Not Be Giants! — the band They Might Be Giants, for the small trio’s big adventure
A Crowning Moment of Truth! — an echo of XY067’s The Moment of Lumiose Truth!, for the stolen Wela Crown
Currying Favor and Flavor! — the phrase “currying favour”, for a trial disguised as a hunt for curry ingredients
Trials and Determinations! — an echo of DP119’s Trials and Adulations! and SM010’s Trial and Tribulation!

DVD & Blu-ray / Streaming

Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon came out in North America from VIZ Media, distributed by Warner Home Video, as a single six-disc Complete Collection in 2018 — with no separate sets, unlike the two seasons before it — and in Australia and New Zealand from Beyond Home Entertainment as two Collections and a six-disc DigiPack. Every release holds all 43 episodes in broadcast order. No UK DVD release of the season has been found.

North America (Region 1)

Release	Date	Contents
Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon – The Complete Collection (VIZ Media, 6 discs)	6 November 2018	All 43 episodes: Disc 1 SM001–SM008; 2 SM009–SM015; 3 SM016–SM022; 4 SM023–SM029; 5 SM030–SM036; 6 SM037–SM043 — with the clean opening and ending as extras and optional English closed captions; list price $49.99 (US) / $57.99 (Canada). Announced by VIZ on 30 October 2018; English Wikipedia gives 21 May 2019
Volcanion and the Mechanical Marvel (DVD)	21 March 2017	The nineteenth movie, premiered on Disney XD with the season’s sneak peek on 5 December 2016
Pokémon the Movie: I Choose You! (DVD)	13 February 2018	The twentieth movie, two months after the season ended on Disney XD

Australia & New Zealand (Region 4)

Release	Date	Notes
Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon – Collection 1 (3 discs, BHE7788)	6 December 2017 (New Zealand 13 December 2017)	22 episodes: SM001–SM008; SM009–SM015; SM016–SM022 — released three days before the US finale; some retailers used an alternate cover
Collection 2 (3 discs, BHE7789)	7 February 2018 (New Zealand 21 February 2018)	21 episodes: SM023–SM043; a pre-release cover showed Turtonator
Pokémon Season 20 DigiPack (6 discs, BHE7790)	2 May 2018 (New Zealand 16 May 2018)	All 43 episodes on discs 20.1–20.6, themed on Pikachu and Sylveon, the three Alolan first partners, Meowth and Wobbuffet, Pikachu, Rotom and Mimikyu; promoted as the “Complete Collection”
Pokémon the Movie: I Choose You!	6 December 2017	The twentieth movie on DVD (date from pocketmonsters.net)
Multi-season sets	—	The season is also in the Seasons 1–20 Ultra Collection and the Seasons 1–21 Mega Collection

Japan

In Japan the episodes went out on DVD volumes of Pocket Monsters Sun & Moon, according to pocketmonsters.net: Vols. 1–2 on 24 May 2017, 3 on 21 June, 4–5 on 26 July, 6 on 23 August, 7–8 on 27 September, 9 on 25 October and 10 on 22 November 2017; the contents of each volume have not been confirmed. The twentieth movie followed on DVD and Blu-ray in four editions on 20 December 2017, and the nineteenth had come out on 14 December 2016.

Streaming

Disney XD’s app and website carried the season in the US, swapping the sneak-peek versions of SM001 and SM002 for the final ones on 11 February 2017, and iTunes sold episodes during the run, sometimes ahead of television — SM027 on 13 August and SM037 on 22 October 2017, six days before their broadcasts. Netflix added all 43 episodes on 4 April 2018, and the three Sun & Moon seasons left Netflix in the US on 1 April 2022; Netflix uses only the first version of the English ending. In the UK, BBC iPlayer added Season 20 and the twentieth movie on 14 July 2022, and in Australia Stan added the season on 14 September 2025. Check your local service, as availability changes often.

Covers

Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon – The Complete Collection (Region 1, 2018)

Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon Collection 1 (Region 4, 2017)

Where to Watch & Buy

Availability changes constantly, so treat this as a snapshot (October 2026) and check your local service. Links will be added here once we have settled on referral partners.

BBC iPlayer (UK)Added Season 20 and Pokémon the Movie: I Choose You! on 14 July 2022, alongside CBBC’s broadcasts.
Stan (Australia)Added the season on 14 September 2025.
NetflixCarried all 43 episodes from 4 April 2018; the Sun & Moon seasons left Netflix in the US on 1 April 2022, so check your region.
DVD – North AmericaPokémon the Series: Sun & Moon – The Complete Collection (VIZ Media, 6 discs, 2018) has all 43 episodes in one case.
DVD – Australia & New ZealandThe Season 20 DigiPack (Beyond Home Entertainment, 2018), the two Collections and multi-season box sets.
Digital purchaseEpisodes were sold on iTunes during the US run; check current availability in your region.

Trading Cards Released During the Season

Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon aired alongside the first Sun & Moon expansions of the trading card game, which brought Pokémon-GX and Alola’s Pokémon, Trainers and kahunas to the cards; five came out between the sneak peek and the US finale:

Sun & Moon — 3 February 2017 — between the sneak peek and the regular run, with 163 cards from Japan’s Collection Sun and Collection Moon: Rowlet, Litten and Popplio and their evolutions, Decidueye-GX, Incineroar-GX and Primarina-GX, Grubbin, Bounsweet, Steenee, Togedemaru, Charjabug, Alolan forms, Gumshoos-GX, Solgaleo-GX and Lunala-GX, and the Trainers Lillie, Professor Kukui, Rotom Dex and Team Skull Grunt
Guardians Rising — 5 May 2017 — a week before the Disney XD premiere, with 169 cards from Islands Await You and Alolan Moonlight: Tapu Koko-GX and Tapu Lele-GX, Alolan Vulpix and Alolan Ninetales-GX, Turtonator and Turtonator-GX, Mimikyu, Mareanie and Toxapex-GX, Wishiwashi-GX, Dhelmise, Rockruff and Lycanroc-GX, Bewear, Komala and the Trainer Hala
Burning Shadows — 4 August 2017 — between A Team-on-Team Tussle! (SM025) and So Long, Sophocles! (SM026), with 169 cards from To Have Seen the Battle Rainbow and Darkness that Consumes Light: Turtonator, Alolan Vulpix and Alolan Ninetales, Togedemaru, Sandygast and Palossand, Lycanroc, Bewear, Necrozma-GX and Marshadow-GX, and the Trainers Kiawe, Olivia, Guzma, Plumeria and Rotom Dex Poké Finder Mode
Shining Legends — 6 October 2017 — between Big Sky, Small Fry! (SM033) and A Crowning Moment of Truth! (SM034), with 78 cards from Japan’s Shining Legends, released on the day the twentieth movie opened: Litten, Pikachu, Raichu-GX, Marshadow and the Trainers Hau, Lillie and Sophocles
Crimson Invasion — 3 November 2017 — between Rising from the Ruins! (SM037) and Mimikyu Unmasked! (SM038), with 124 cards from Awakened Heroes and Ultradimensional Beasts: Alolan Marowak, Alolan Raichu, Alolan Geodude, Oranguru, Bewear, Type: Null and the Trainers Gladion and Lusamine

In Japan the cards came out months earlier: Sun & Moon is the English version of Collection Sun and Collection Moon (9 December 2016), Guardians Rising of Islands Await You and Alolan Moonlight (17 March 2017), Burning Shadows of To Have Seen the Battle Rainbow and Darkness that Consumes Light (16 June 2017), Shining Legends of the Japanese set of the same name (15 July 2017) and Crimson Invasion of Awakened Heroes and Ultradimensional Beasts (15 September 2017). Japan also had an Iwanko’s Full Power Deck (15 December 2016), a Satoshi VS Rocket-dan set was revealed on 16 March 2017, and a card of Pikachu in its movie cap was given out at screenings of the twentieth movie.

Our TCG section has a full card list, print variations and the most valuable cards for every one of them.

Cards with a link to the season

Three cards from those sets follow the season’s guardian, villains and classmates:

Firsts & Lasts

First season on Disney XD in the US, and SM001 the first episode since AG145 not to premiere on Cartoon Network.
First series with no Gym challenge: in Alola Ash takes the island challenge, with trials, grand trials and Z-Crystals.
First Z-Move in the anime: Kiawe and Turtonator’s Inferno Overdrive (SM001); Ash’s first, Gigavolt Havoc (SM002).
First region premiere without Team Rocket since EP002 — the trio take until SM003 to appear.
First regional-form Pokémon caught by a main character, and the first Ice type since Dawn’s Swinub: Lillie’s Snowy (SM014).
First Dusk Form Lycanroc in the anime: Ash’s, evolved at the Ruins of Life (SM037).
First Ghost type caught by one of Ash’s friends: Kiawe’s Alolan Marowak (SM034).
First Shiny Pokémon of the Sun & Moon series, Horacio’s Charjabug, and the anime’s first mention of Natures (SM041).
First Pokémon shown kept in an Ultra Ball (Gladion’s, SM027) and a Premier Ball (Type: Null, SM037).
First physical main-series appearance of Mew, completing all 151 Generation I Pokémon, and the first in-person appearance of former companions since BW093: Brock and Misty (SM042).
First time a main character uses Mega Evolution in Pokémon the Series, according to Bulbapedia: Brock’s Mega Steelix (SM043).
First English ending with its own animation since Advanced Battle, and the first not to be a shortened opening.
First character outside the main cast to read Who’s That Pokémon?: Hobbes (SM008).
Last catch to date for Jessie (Mimikyu, SM004); last Grass-type catch (Rowlet, SM004) and last first-partner and Fire-type catch (Litten, SM021) for Ash; last role for Kayzie Rogers (Mimey, SM001).

Trivia & Facts

A new network. Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon is the first dubbed season on Disney XD, whose deal was announced on 17 November 2016, the day the series began in Japan; SM001 was the first episode since AG145 not to premiere on Cartoon Network, and Sun & Moon is the only series to air on Disney XD and the last to air on traditional US television.
Previewed five months early. The first two episodes aired on Disney XD on 5 December 2016, with the nineteenth movie, in preview form; the season proper began on 12 May 2017 with a week of daily episodes, and six episodes premiered in one three-hour block on 1 July 2017.
School instead of Gyms. Ash does not travel: he lives with Professor Kukui, attends the Pokémon School and takes the island challenge — no Badges, but two trials, two grand trials and four Z-Crystals.
A new look. The series brought a softer, hand-drawn style with longer faces, no 3D battle effects and Pokémon with visible fur, animated at 24 frames per second for the first time since Ruby and Sapphire (SM001).
Team Rocket’s slow arrival. For the first time since EP002 the trio miss a region’s first episode, taking until SM003 to appear, and in Alola they live with a Bewear that carries them home after every defeat.
Voice changes. Kayzie Rogers retired after voicing Mimey in SM001, making this her final season; Erica Schroeder took over Wobbuffet (SM003) and Michele Knotz Mimey (SM024), and Lisa Ortiz directs the dub of the whole Sun & Moon series.
Litten and Stoutland. Litten’s story with the elderly Stoutland ends in SM021 with Stoutland’s death, confirmed later in the series, and Japan played Meowth’s Ballad over Litten’s vigil; the episode inspired Sarah Natochenny and Lisa Ortiz to found Voices for Fosters. Litten was Ash’s last first-partner and last Fire-type catch.
A rare evolution. Ash’s Rockruff becomes the anime’s first Dusk Form Lycanroc (SM037) — Rotom has no data on it — and the Japanese ending was updated to show it.

Rockruff watches the sunset turn green between Olivia’s Midday Form Lycanroc and Gladion’s Midnight Form Lycanroc in Rising from the Ruins! (SM037) — the rare green flash that triggers its evolution into Dusk Form. Screenshot: Pokémon anime, SM037 “Rising from the Ruins!” · via Bulbapedia
Lillie’s courage. The season follows a girl who cannot touch Pokémon from the Egg (SM008) to Snowy (SM013–SM014), Ash’s Pikachu and her first battle (SM030) and a Stoutland ride (SM032); Samson Oak’s Egg, meanwhile, took 14 episodes to hatch, the longest in the anime.
Tapu Koko’s gift and swap. Ash’s Z-Ring was made by Hala and taken from his workshop by Tapu Koko (SM009), and after the grand trial the guardian swapped Hala’s Fightinium Z for an Electrium Z (SM010).
Opening swapped for the movie. From SM030 to SM043 the Japanese opening was a 20th-anniversary Aim to Be a Pokémon Master promoting the twentieth movie, the first Japanese opening made up almost entirely of episode clips; in SM042 and SM043 Misty, Brock and Professor Oak ad-lib over it.
Old friends. SM042 brings back Misty, in her first main-series appearance since AG134, 573 episodes earlier, and Brock, absent since DP191, 324 episodes earlier — the first former companions to appear in person since BW093 — and shows Mew’s first physical main-series appearance, so all 151 Generation I Pokémon have now appeared.

Misty and Brock reunite with Ash and Pikachu in Alola, Kanto! (SM042) — both redesigned for the Sun & Moon art style, in their first in-person appearances since the Advanced Generation and Diamond & Pearl series. Screenshot: Pokémon anime, SM042 “Alola, Kanto!” · via Bulbapedia
Z-Move v Mega Evolution. SM043 is the only episode in which Brock Mega Evolves, which Bulbapedia calls the first time a main character uses Mega Evolution in Pokémon the Series; Ash’s Gigavolt Havoc beats Misty’s Mega Gyarados, and Professor Kukui decides to create an Alola League.
Firsts in the margins. Horacio’s Charjabug is the first Shiny Pokémon of the series and SM041 the anime’s first episode to mention Natures, removed in the dub; Gladion’s Pokémon are the first shown kept in an Ultra Ball (SM027) and, with Type: Null, a Premier Ball (SM037).
Two quizzes. Poké Problem replaced Poké TV in Japan from SM003, and the Japanese Dare da? answer differs from the US Who’s That Pokémon? in 17 of the 43 episodes; in the dub, episode characters read the segment, Hobbes in SM008 being the first outside the main cast.
Game timing. SM001 and SM002 were the last episodes before Pokémon Sun and Moon came out on 18 November 2016 and SM003 the first after; Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon arrived on 17 November 2017, between the US premieres of SM039 and SM040.
Behind Japan. The US season premiered 25 weeks after Japan’s and ended 11 weeks after Japan’s finale; Canada (from 18 March 2017) and the UK (from 11 April 2017) began their regular runs before the US.
Games and cards. The trading card expansions released from the sneak peek to the US finale were Sun & Moon, Guardians Rising, Burning Shadows, Shining Legends and Crimson Invasion, with cards for Tapu Koko, Mimikyu, Kiawe, Olivia, Gladion and Sophocles among them — see our TCG section.

Reception

Ratings. No viewing figures have been found for the season, either for TV Tokyo’s Thursday broadcasts — Japanese Wikipedia gives no ratings for the series — or for the Disney XD premieres. The twentieth movie, released during the run, opened at number one at the Japanese box office (pocketmonsters.net, 18 July 2017), and its US screenings drew enough demand for Eleven Arts to add two more dates in November 2017.

Fan scores. MyAnimeList, which has no separate entry for this season, scores the whole Japanese Pokemon Sun & Moon run of 146 episodes at 7.04, with about 134,000 members, as of October 2026. IMDb’s episode ratings could not be checked for this page.

Commentary. The new look divided Japanese fans when the first preview appeared in September 2016: traditionalists called the new Satoshi “dorky and childish-looking”, while defenders felt the softer style suited the tropical setting, and SoraNews24 compared its squash-and-stretch animation to the work of Mamoru Hosoda and Studio Ghibli. Bulbapedia singles out the series’ direct handling of death in Stoutland’s story (SM021), an episode that moved Sarah Natochenny and Lisa Ortiz to found Voices for Fosters. No named reviews of the episodes or the DVDs have been found, Dogasu’s Backpack has no Sun & Moon comparison pages, and the season won no known awards.

Continue the journey with Season 21: Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon – Ultra Adventures, go back to Season 19: Pokémon the Series: XYZ, or browse every season of the Pokémon anime.