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| Season | Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon (Season 20) · Classmates & the first trials arc (SM005–SM010) |
| Episode | Season 20, episode 9 · English episode 944 · Japanese episode 949 · Bulbapedia code SM009 |
| English title | To Top a Totem! |
| Japanese title | ぬしポケモンはデカグース！ Nushi Pokemon wa Dekagūsu! — “The Leader Pokémon is Dekagoose!” |
| First aired (Japan) | 5 January 2017 · TV Tokyo |
| First aired (US) | 19 May 2017 · Disney XD |
| Screenplay | Aya Matsui |
| 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? | Rattata (Alola Form) (US) |
| Previous episode | Lillie’s Egg-xhilarating Challenge! (SM008) |
| Next episode | Trial and Tribulation! (SM010) |
Plot episodeVerdant Cavern trialNormalium Z
To Top a Totem! is the 9th episode of Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon, the twentieth season of the Pokémon anime, and the 944th episode of the English dub overall (Japanese episode 949, Bulbapedia code SM009). It first aired in Japan on 5 January 2017 and in the United States on 19 May 2017. It falls within the season’s Classmates & the first trials stretch (EP5–EP10).
Premiered at 4:00 p.m. on 19 May 2017, during Disney XD’s week of daily premieres (SM003–SM010, 13–20 May 2017), with a repeat at 7:30 p.m.; Canada had shown it on 13 May.
Synopsis
Ash begins the island challenge by meeting Melemele’s kahuna, Hala, and defeating the Totem Gumshoos of Verdant Cavern to earn a Normalium Z. Remembering the shattered Electrium Z, Ash asks Professor Kukui how to win a rematch with Tapu Koko, and Kukui explains that Z-Crystals are earned through small trials followed by a grand trial against an island kahuna. They set off to visit Hala. On the way, a pack of Alolan Rattata and Raticate raids a field and frightens three Tauros hauling timber, scattering logs across the road. Officer Jenny, in the first appearance of Alola’s Jenny design, closes the road, and Hala and his Hariyama start clearing the logs. Ash cannot lift even one before four police Machamp finish the job. Hala already knows Ash’s name and invites him and Kukui to his home.
Hala shows Ash a room full of Z-Rings and reveals that he made the ring Tapu Koko gave Ash; the guardian took it, something that has never happened before. Before the trial he sets Ash a question: how can the island be rid of the Alolan Rattata and Raticate without battling them? The island challenge, he explains, exists to protect Alola and its people and Pokémon. At school Lillie, Mallow and the others help Ash research, and Rotom shows that Yungoos and Gumshoos were once brought to Alola to chase the pests away. Meanwhile Team Rocket escape from Bewear, are blasted by the Rattata and Raticate, and are carried back by Bewear. When Ash shares his idea, Hala reveals that the question was a test of whether Ash was ready, and leads him to Verdant Cavern: defeat the Totem Gumshoos, then ask for its help.
As Tapu Koko watches unseen, Ash first battles the Totem’s allies, a Yungoos and a Gumshoos. Sand Attack blinds Pikachu and Rowlet, but Ash has Rowlet use Leafage as cover and fly silently behind Yungoos, and Rowlet’s Tackle and Pikachu’s Iron Tail defeat both. Then the Totem Gumshoos appears, three times normal size. Its Frustration overpowers Pikachu, a hurled rock knocks out Rowlet, and Sand Attack deflects Electro Ball. Pikachu turns the sand to its advantage, circling the Totem with a barrage of Quick Attacks and finishing with Thunderbolt, and the Totem finally collapses. As a rare gift, it hands Ash a white Normalium Z and agrees to help. In a supermarket storeroom Kukui and Officer Jenny open the doors, and the Totem’s group charges the pests out. Jenny gains a Gumshoos partner, and Hala declares Ash ready for his grand trial.
Major Events
- Verdant Cavern trial. Ash meets Kahuna Hala, who made the Z-Ring Tapu Koko took
- Pikachu and Rowlet beat the Totem Gumshoos and its allies for a Normalium Z
- The Totem drives the Alolan Rattata and Raticate out
- Officer Jenny’s first Alola design, and she gains a Gumshoos
Pokémon making their anime debut
Gumshoos#0735 · SM009
Trivia
- The screenplay is by Aya Matsui.
- This is a plot episode: it advances the Alola storyline.
Changes in the English Dub
- The English ending shows the Egg from this episode
Part of our Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon guide. Browse every season of the Pokémon anime.