A Shivering Shovel Search! – Pokémon Sun & Moon Episode 22


Season	Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon (Season 20) · A guardian rematch & Litten arc (SM019–SM022)
Episode	Season 20, episode 22 · English episode 957 · Japanese episode 962 · Bulbapedia code SM022
English title	A Shivering Shovel Search!
Japanese title	スコップに要注意！！！ Sukoppu ni Yōchūi!!! — “Beware of Shovels!!!”
First aired (Japan)	13 April 2017 · TV Tokyo
First aired (US)	8 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?	Sandygast (US)
Previous episode	One Journey Ends, Another Begins… (SM021)
Next episode	Getting the Band Back Together! (SM023)

Filler / stand-alone episodeLitten masters Fire FangPalossand

A Shivering Shovel Search! is the 22nd episode of Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon, the twentieth season of the Pokémon anime, and the 957th episode of the English dub overall (Japanese episode 962, Bulbapedia code SM022). It first aired in Japan on 13 April 2017 and in the United States on 8 July 2017. It falls within the season’s A guardian rematch & Litten stretch (EP19–EP22).

Synopsis

When Rockruff knocks a Sandygast’s shovel into the sea, the angry Pokémon evolves into Palossand and swallows Ash and Litten, and the class must find the shovel before their energy is drained. On the beach Kiawe and Turtonator help Ash train Litten to master Fire Fang, without success. Pikachu and Rockruff find a shovel stuck in the sand, and Kiawe warns them that it belongs to a Sandygast. Litten breathes in to power up, then trips on a can mid-attack. The Sandygast rises from the sand, furious, and when Rockruff uses Rock Throw, the shovel flies into the sea and the Sandygast grows angrier still. Kiawe prepares to dive for it, but Rotom suggests a substitute, so Ash places Rotom on the Sandygast’s head in place of the shovel. The Sandygast becomes furious and evolves into Palossand, with Rotom stuck fast on top.

Kiawe orders everyone back, but Ash stays close, worried about Rotom, and Palossand collapses over him and rises again with Ash trapped inside its body. Ash stops Pikachu from using Thunderbolt and climbs the inner wall to a window, urging his friends to find the shovel fast. Lana, Mallow, Lillie and Sophocles arrive. Rockruff attacks, Palossand tries to swallow it, and Litten kicks Rockruff clear and is swallowed instead. Inside, Ash, Litten and Rotom begin to glow green, and Lillie realises that Palossand is absorbing their energy to keep its size. Lana’s Popplio attacks, but Water Compaction only heals Palossand and hardens its sand. Lana proposes a search of the sea floor, with Popplio carrying the shovel in a balloon so no one touches it, and Pikachu joins the dive in a balloon of its own.

On shore, Snowy’s Powder Snow is too weak to freeze Palossand alone until Mallow fans it with a large leaf and Lana and Sophocles help, while Charizard, Turtonator, Rockruff and Rowlet attack and Steenee and Togedemaru keep Palossand busy. At last Palossand freezes. Underwater, Pikachu finds the shovel, though several wild Pokémon get stuck in the balloons. Inside Palossand, Litten finally lands Fire Fang, smashing through the icy window, and Ash and Litten climb onto Palossand’s head, where Litten’s Ember melts the ice around Rotom just as Palossand breaks free. Pikachu and Popplio surface with the shovel in a balloon, which pops over Palossand’s head and drops the shovel into place. The happy Palossand sinks back into the sand. That night Ash reports that Litten has mastered Fire Fang, just as Palossand appears outside and hugs Kukui’s house.