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| Season | Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon (Season 20) · Classmates & the first trials arc (SM005–SM010) |
| Episode | Season 20, episode 5 · English episode 940 · Japanese episode 945 · Bulbapedia code SM005 |
| English title | Yo, Ho, Ho! Go, Popplio! |
| Japanese title | アシマリ、がんバルーン！ Ashimari, Ganbarūn! — “Ashimari, Give it Your bALLoon!” |
| First aired (Japan) | 1 December 2016 · TV Tokyo |
| First aired (US) | 15 May 2017 · Disney XD |
| Screenplay | Atsuhiro Tomioka |
| Opening / ending (Japan) | Alola!! – Satoshi (Rica Matsumoto) with Pikachu (Ikue Ōtani) · Pōzu (Pose) – Taiiku Okazaki |
| English opening | Under the Alolan Sun – Jannel Candrice and The Sad Truth (featuring Ben Dixon and the Vestigial Horns) |
| Who’s That Pokémon? | Popplio (US) |
| Previous episode | First Catch in Alola, Ketchum-Style! (SM004) |
| Next episode | A Shocking Grocery Run! (SM006) |
Filler / stand-alone episodeLana and Popplio
Yo, Ho, Ho! Go, Popplio! is the 5th episode of Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon, the twentieth season of the Pokémon anime, and the 940th episode of the English dub overall (Japanese episode 945, Bulbapedia code SM005). It first aired in Japan on 1 December 2016 and in the United States on 15 May 2017. It falls within the season’s Classmates & the first trials stretch (EP5–EP10).
Premiered at 12:00 a.m. on 15 May 2017, during Disney XD’s week of daily premieres (SM003–SM010, 13–20 May 2017), with a repeat at 4:00 p.m.; Canada had shown it on 15 April and the UK on 18 April.
Synopsis
Lana takes charge of a fishing lesson about Water-type Pokémon, and her Popplio’s improving balloons save the class’s Ride Pokémon from Team Rocket. On his way to school, Ash watches Lana and Popplio practising balloons on the beach, and in class a sleeping Rowlet tumbles out of his bag. Professor Kukui announces a fishing lesson about bonding with sea Pokémon and puts Lana in charge, while Team Rocket, disguised as tourists, spy on the school and earn a suspicious look from Samson Oak. Lana shows Ash Popplio’s balloon technique and lends him a fishing rod. She remembers how she met Popplio: it was being attacked by Team Skull grunts, she stepped in with her Lapras, and after Nurse Joy treated it, Popplio agreed to be her partner. Its early balloons were tiny and popped at once; Lana dreams of a balloon big enough to keep them underwater together for longer, but today’s attempt floats away and bursts.
Ash learns that Lapras is Lana’s Ride Pokémon, and Team Rocket decide that Ride Pokémon would make an excellent gift for the boss. At Lana’s house Ash meets her lively younger twin sisters, Harper and Sarah, whose rough play annoys Pikachu into zapping everyone. The next morning Lillie arrives in a full protective suit, Kukui hands the class over to Lana, and Lapras and Wailmer carry everyone out to the fishing spot. Lana’s lesson goes well and she reels in one Pokémon after another, though Ash, Mallow and Kiawe have no luck and Sophocles refuses to be distracted. Pikachu hooks a Magikarp with its tail, only for it to slip back into the sea. Then Lillie hooks a Milotic; Ash leaps in to help, the Milotic knocks him into the water, and the line snaps.
During a break on a small island, Team Rocket swoop down in their balloon and net the Ride Pokémon along with several others. Ash orders an attack, but Team Rocket warn that the captives would be hurt, so Pikachu leaps off Rotom to reach the balloon and tears the net open. As the captured Pokémon fall towards the sea, Lana has Popplio blow its biggest balloon yet, cushioning their landing in the water. Jessie sends out Mimikyu, but its attack bounces back into the balloon, and Rowlet’s Leafage pops it, dropping Team Rocket into the arms of Bewear, which runs off with them. Lana checks on every Pokémon, Ash praises Popplio, and Popplio proudly blows a balloon big enough to lift Ash and Pikachu into the air, before it pops and drops them into the sea.
Major Events
- Lana and Popplio. Lana’s fishing lesson
- How Lana met Popplio, rescued from Team Skull grunts
- Her twin sisters Harper and Sarah
- Team Rocket net the Ride Pokémon, and Popplio’s biggest balloon saves them
Trivia
- The screenplay is by Atsuhiro Tomioka.
- This is a stand-alone episode: it can be skipped without losing the thread of the Alola story.
Changes in the English Dub
- A shot in which Togedemaru was coloured like Pikachu is fixed
Part of our Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon guide. Browse every season of the Pokémon anime.