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| Season | Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon (Season 20) · The Akala Island field trip arc (SM031–SM037) |
| Episode | Season 20, episode 33 · English episode 968 · Japanese episode 973 · Bulbapedia code SM033 |
| English title | Big Sky, Small Fry! |
| Japanese title | ヨワシ強し、池のぬし！ Yowashi Tsuyoshi, Ike no Nushi! — “Yowashi the Powerhouse, Leader of the Lake!” |
| First aired (Japan) | 6 July 2017 · TV Tokyo |
| First aired (US) | 30 September 2017 · Disney XD |
| Screenplay | Jun’ichi Fujisaku |
| Opening / ending (Japan) | Mezase Pokemon Masutā -20th Anniversary- (Aim to Be a Pokémon Master) – Rica Matsumoto · 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? | Wishiwashi (Solo Form) (US) |
| Previous episode | Treasure Hunt, Akala Style! (SM032) |
| Next episode | A Crowning Moment of Truth! (SM034) |
Plot episodeLana’s trialWaterium Z
Big Sky, Small Fry! is the 33rd episode of Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon, the twentieth season of the Pokémon anime, and the 968th episode of the English dub overall (Japanese episode 973, Bulbapedia code SM033). It first aired in Japan on 6 July 2017 and in the United States on 30 September 2017. It falls within the season’s The Akala Island field trip stretch (EP31–EP37).
Synopsis
With Ash’s help, Lana clears the Brooklet Hill trial by defeating a Totem Wishiwashi, earning a Waterium Z, and receives her new Z-Ring from Olivia. At Brooklet Hill Team Rocket go fishing for a Totem Pokémon on a tip from a “master fisherman”, using their old Ekans and Koffing lures. James hooks a Wishiwashi, which Meowth throws back, and Jessie hooks Bewear, which sends the trio flying. In Paniola Town Ash joins Lana, who wants to fish for the biggest Pokémon she can find, while the others head to Kiawe’s farm. Olivia, falling off a Tauros outside the Pokémon Center, promises to finish Lana’s Z-Ring that day and mentions a big Totem Pokémon living in a lake near Brooklet Hill. At the lake the master fisherman, showing off a fake scar, says they need his permission to fish and agrees on one condition: they must catch a Feebas. Lana reels one in almost at once, and they trade it for the use of a small boat.
Lana finds an injured Wishiwashi in the shallows, bandages it and releases it back into the lake. Ash catches a Magikarp, which slaps him repeatedly before escaping, and then Lana gets an enormous bite. Rotom cannot identify the catch: it is a Wishiwashi in its huge School Form. Meanwhile, at the farm, Mallow and Sophocles enjoy Moomoo Milk cheese and ice cream instead of helping Kiawe, and Lillie feeds Snowy special food. The Totem Wishiwashi drags the boat across the lake until it hits an island; Lana lands safely, but Ash and Pikachu are thrown into the water, Ash climbs onto the island, and Popplio saves Pikachu at Lana’s command. Lana battles alone, but Popplio’s Bubble Beam does little and the frightened Popplio retreats, while the Totem pushes Lana against a rock face.
Popplio overcomes its fear and dives back in, and after several Bubble Beams Lana regains control of the battle. The Totem’s ally, an Alomomola, attacks Popplio and heals the Wishiwashi with Heal Pulse, but Ash distracts it by hooking it with his fishing rod and reeling it in, and Pikachu’s Electro Ball sends it fleeing. Popplio races across the lake with a newly learned Aqua Jet and defeats the Totem, and the school scatters into Solo Form Wishiwashi. The Wishiwashi that Lana bandaged earlier surfaces and presents her with a Waterium Z. That night Olivia gives Lana her finished Z-Ring, and Lana sets the Waterium Z into it, then jokes that she got the crystal from a Gyarados, leaving her classmates facefaulting when she admits it was a joke. It is the last episode before M20’s Japanese release.
Major Events
- Lana’s trial. Lana clears the Brooklet Hill trial: Popplio learns Aqua Jet and beats the Totem Wishiwashi in its School Form
- The Waterium Z
- Olivia gives Lana her Z-Ring
- The last Japanese episode before the twentieth movie
Trivia
- The screenplay is by Jun’ichi Fujisaku.
- This is a plot episode: it advances the Alola storyline.
Changes in the English Dub
- The dub plays an instrumental of Under the Alolan Sun
- The Japanese ending shows Lana with her Z-Ring from this episode
Part of our Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon guide. Browse every season of the Pokémon anime.