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| Season | Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon (Season 20) · Snowy, Rockruff & Steenee arc (SM011–SM018) |
| Episode | Season 20, episode 16 · English episode 951 · Japanese episode 956 · Bulbapedia code SM016 |
| English title | They Might Not Be Giants! |
| Japanese title | 小さな三匹、大きな冒険！ Chiisana Sanbiki, Ōkina Bōken! — “A Small Trio on a Big Adventure!” |
| First aired (Japan) | 2 March 2017 · TV Tokyo |
| First aired (US) | 1 July 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? | Bewear (US) |
| Previous episode | Rocking Clawmark Hill! (SM015) |
| Next episode | Crystal-Clear Sleuthing! (SM017) |
Filler / stand-alone episodeRowlet, Popplio and Litten
They Might Not Be Giants! is the 16th episode of Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon, the twentieth season of the Pokémon anime, and the 951st episode of the English dub overall (Japanese episode 956, Bulbapedia code SM016). It first aired in Japan on 2 March 2017 and in the United States on 1 July 2017. It falls within the season’s Snowy, Rockruff & Steenee stretch (EP11–EP18).
Premiered on Saturday 1 July 2017 as the first of six new episodes (SM016–SM021) in a three-hour Disney XD special.
Synopsis
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. At the beach Lana’s Popplio blows a balloon and climbs inside it, while Ash lets out Rockruff and a sleepy Rowlet drifts past. Bounsweet’s sneeze releases a sweet scent that draws Rowlet in, Bounsweet knocks Rowlet into Popplio, and both end up inside the balloon as a strong wind carries it over town. Lana drags Ash after it, with Mallow, Rotom and Pikachu following. Inside the balloon Rowlet panics, then calms down and resolves to return to its Trainer, but its jumping pops the balloon. Rowlet grabs Popplio’s tail, drops it, then catches it again in its wings, but the pair keep falling until they crash into a satellite dish Team Rocket are installing outside Bewear’s den.
A metal ring that James was holding gets stuck around Rowlet’s neck, pinning its wings. Team Rocket recognise the twerps’ Pokémon and plan to trade them for Pikachu, but Popplio’s Bubble Beam blasts the trio into a bush, and the two little Pokémon escape into the forest, with Meowth and Mareanie in pursuit while Bewear holds back Jessie and James. Popplio trips, and both tumble down a hill. Just as Mareanie attacks, Litten appears, stops it with Ember, scorches Meowth and knocks him out with Fury Swipes. Litten leads Popplio and Rowlet, riding in a new balloon, to its home under a bridge, where Stoutland recognises Rowlet as Ash’s Pokémon and sees that the ring is stopping it from flying. Stoutland orders the reluctant Litten to take them back. Meanwhile, Ash, Mallow and Lana search town without success until Rotom suggests using Rockruff’s keen nose.
Using the scent on Ash’s backpack and Lana’s hands, Rockruff picks up a trail towards the forest, but it loses the scent. That night a net falls on Litten, Popplio and Rowlet, and Rockruff hears their cries and leads Ash’s group to them. On a rooftop Team Rocket have winched the net into a cage, and James demands his ring back. Meowth invites Litten to join Team Rocket, and after an emotional outburst Litten seems to accept, despite the others’ protests. But when Meowth lowers the cage, Litten slashes the net open with Fury Swipes. Popplio surrounds Team Rocket with balloons, Rowlet’s Peck knocks them skyward, and Bubble Beam and Ember burst the balloons, blasting them off, the first true blast-off of the Alola series. Ash removes the ring from Rowlet’s neck and thanks Litten, which leaves without answering his question about Stoutland, while Bewear catches the falling trio.
Major Events
- Rowlet, Popplio and Litten. Rowlet and Popplio are blown away in a balloon
- Litten and Stoutland help them home
- Litten seems to accept Meowth’s invitation to Team Rocket, then slashes the net
- The first blast-off of the series
- The first narration in the middle of an episode
Trivia
- The English title plays on the band They Might Be Giants, for the small trio’s big adventure.
- The screenplay is by Atsuhiro Tomioka.
- This is a stand-alone episode: it can be skipped without losing the thread of the Alola story.
Part of our Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon guide. Browse every season of the Pokémon anime.