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| Season | Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon (Season 20) · Snowy, Rockruff & Steenee arc (SM011–SM018) |
| Episode | Season 20, episode 17 · English episode 952 · Japanese episode 957 · Bulbapedia code SM017 |
| English title | Crystal-Clear Sleuthing! |
| Japanese title | アローラ探偵ロトム！消えたクリスタルの謎！！ Arōra Tantei Rotomu! Kieta Kurisutaru no Nazo!! — “Alola Detective Rotom! The Mystery of the Missing Crystal!!” |
| First aired (Japan) | 9 March 2017 · TV Tokyo |
| First aired (US) | 1 July 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? | Smeargle (US) |
| Previous episode | They Might Not Be Giants! (SM016) |
| Next episode | A Seasoned Search! (SM018) |
Filler / stand-alone episodeDetective Rotom
Crystal-Clear Sleuthing! is the 17th episode of Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon, the twentieth season of the Pokémon anime, and the 952nd episode of the English dub overall (Japanese episode 957, Bulbapedia code SM017). It first aired in Japan on 9 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, the second of six new episodes in a three-hour Disney XD special.
Synopsis
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 is itself. One night Ash, Professor Kukui and Rotom watch the television show Alolan Detective Laki, in which Laki unmasks a doctor who forced Mr. Makani to hide the Princess Tear and swapped in a Sableye doll. Ash falls asleep before the end, and Rotom, wearing a Laki-style wig, places the wig on the desk before bed. The next morning Ash cannot find his Electrium Z anywhere. He imagines Tapu Koko’s anger and Kiawe punishing him with Inferno Overdrive, and Rotom, back in its wig, promises to find the crystal. Rotom and Pikachu interview Professor Kukui in the staff room, who remembers seeing Ash and Kiawe practising Z-Moves the day before, with Ash using the Normalium Z for Rowlet. Perhaps the Electrium Z was dropped in the schoolyard.
Rotom searches from the bell tower with binoculars and combs the grounds with a magnifying glass, while Komala sleeps on and Pikachu digs up an Alolan Diglett. In the principal’s office, Samson Oak explains that an Alola TV cameraman visited the school to take photos for next year’s Pokémon Pancake Race poster and recorded footage of the students, including Ash and Kiawe’s training. Rotom and Pikachu head to the TV station, where a security guard detains Pikachu because it is so cute but lets Rotom in. A cleaner points Rotom to the cameraman, who lets Rotom connect to his camera, and Rotom downloads the footage using its Pokédex functions. Meanwhile, back at school, Ash tries to track the crystal by having Rockruff sniff his Z-Ring, which makes Kiawe suspicious, and Lillie’s attempt to cover for him convinces no one.
Rotom and Pikachu return, and when Ash asks about the Electrium Z in front of Kiawe, Kiawe chases him around the schoolyard until Rotom gathers everyone in the classroom. With great ceremony Rotom names Kiawe as the thief, but the footage shows only the two boys shaking hands and Ash pocketing something. Ash realises he swapped the crystals and left the Electrium Z on his drawers at bedtime. Rotom collapses in shock, and Pikachu pulls the Electrium Z out of the Laki wig: it caught there when Rotom set the wig down. Kiawe chases Rotom instead, and Sophocles remarks that Rotom is on borrowed time. Later at Kukui’s house Rotom makes amends by showing Kiawe an edited video of his Z-Move and offering to film his training. Rotom keeps its new ability to download and record video.
Major Events
- Detective Rotom. Ash’s Electrium Z goes missing
- Rotom plays the TV detective Laki and accuses Kiawe
- The crystal was caught in Rotom’s wig
- Rotom gains a video camera
Trivia
- The screenplay is by Aya Matsui.
- This is a stand-alone episode: it can be skipped without losing the thread of the Alola story.
Changes in the English Dub
- CITV’s broadcast cut Kiawe’s lunge at Ash and slowed Ash’s dash
- A remix of Looker’s theme from the games plays whenever Rotom deduces
Part of our Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon guide. Browse every season of the Pokémon anime.