Partner Promises! – Pokémon Sun & Moon Episode 20 (SM020)


Season	Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon (Season 20) · A guardian rematch & Litten arc (SM019–SM022)
Episode	Season 20, episode 20 · English episode 955 · Japanese episode 960 · Bulbapedia code SM020
English title	Partner Promises!
Japanese title	サトシとピカチュウ、二人の約束 Satoshi to Pikachū, Futari no Yakusoku — “Satoshi and Pikachu, the Promise between Them”
First aired (Japan)	6 April 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?	Exeggutor (Alola Form) (US)
Previous episode	A Guardian Rematch! (SM019)
Next episode	One Journey Ends, Another Begins… (SM021)

Filler / stand-alone episodeTreasure IslandTapu Lele debuts

Partner Promises! is the 20th episode of Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon, the twentieth season of the Pokémon anime, and the 955th episode of the English dub overall (Japanese episode 960, Bulbapedia code SM020). It first aired in Japan on 6 April 2017 and in the United States on 1 July 2017. It falls within the season’s A guardian rematch & Litten stretch (EP19–EP22).

Premiered on Saturday 1 July 2017, the fifth of six new episodes in a three-hour Disney XD special.

Synopsis

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 heals Ash’s scratches. Ash reluctantly tags along with Lana, Lillie and Mallow on a shopping trip to Melemele’s largest mall, while Sophocles and Kiawe leave early and Rotom goes home to watch Laki. Ash buys some Poké Beans, choosing a Pikachu-coloured one, while Lillie shops for scarves and bandanas for Snowy. At Alola Sunrise, a shop selling accessories made from natural materials, the manager points out Treasure Island, home to many wild Pokémon, and lends Ash her kayak. Ash and Pikachu paddle across and find a group of Crabrawler boxing, but when they ask to join in, the Crabrawler run away. A Cutiefly lands on Pikachu’s nose and makes it sneeze, and following the Cutiefly, they find a meadow full of Cutiefly, Ribombee, Butterfree and Comfey, one of which places a lei around Ash’s neck.

Ash and Pikachu copy the movements of a group of Alolan Exeggutor and join them for a swim at a spring. Resting on a log, Ash shares his Poké Beans with Pikachu, talks about his dream of becoming a Pokémon Master, and falls asleep. He wakes to find himself surrounded by Wimpod, one of which bites his foot while two others make off with his bag of Poké Beans; Pikachu wins the bag back before the Wimpod dive into the sea. At sunset the pair hear a cry and discover a Wimpod trapped deep in a crevasse in the rocks, too narrow for Pikachu to squeeze through. Ash tries again and again to climb the cliff to reach it, but keeps slipping, until Pikachu persuades one of the Alolan Exeggutor to lift them both to the top.

Ash climbs down into the crevasse, but the frightened Wimpod is blocked by a large rock that Ash cannot move, so Pikachu smashes it with Iron Tail. The Wimpod thanks Ash and scurries back to its friends. As Ash and Pikachu watch, a mysterious Pokémon glides overhead and scatters glowing scales that heal Ash’s scratches. Back home, Professor Kukui identifies it as Tapu Lele, the guardian deity of Akala Island, and says that meeting one is very rare, while Rotom explains the healing power of its scales. Ash says he would like to see Tapu Lele again. The Japanese version uses Alola!! as an insert song, and the dub keeps Ash repeating the Exeggutor’s Japanese name; Ash reads the Who’s That Pokémon? segment.