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| Season | Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon (Season 20) · The Akala Island field trip arc (SM031–SM037) |
| Episode | Season 20, episode 36 · English episode 971 · Japanese episode 976 · Bulbapedia code SM036 |
| English title | Trials and Determinations! |
| Japanese title | ライチの大試練！一番ハードなポケモン勝負！！ Raichi no Daishiren! Ichiban Hādo na Pokemon Shōbu!! — “Lychee’s Grand Trial! The Hardest Pokémon Match!!” |
| First aired (Japan) | 3 August 2017 · TV Tokyo |
| First aired (US) | 21 October 2017 · Disney XD |
| Screenplay | Atsuhiro Tomioka |
| 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? | Probopass (US) |
| Previous episode | Currying Favor and Flavor! (SM035) |
| Next episode | Rising from the Ruins! (SM037) |
Plot episodeGrand trial vs OliviaRockium Z
Trials and Determinations! is the 36th episode of Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon, the twentieth season of the Pokémon anime, and the 971st episode of the English dub overall (Japanese episode 976, Bulbapedia code SM036). It first aired in Japan on 3 August 2017 and in the United States on 21 October 2017. It falls within the season’s The Akala Island field trip stretch (EP31–EP37).
Synopsis
Ash wins Olivia’s grand trial in a Double Battle with Rowlet and an unruly Rockruff, earning the Rockium Z. Ash trains with Rowlet for its Grass-type Z-Move, Bloom Doom, but the move fails and Mallow, exasperated, teaches him the proper poses. Rockruff, more energetic than usual, keeps biting Ash during training. Before the trial Olivia prays to Tapu Lele at the Ruins of Life. Ash, Lillie and the others arrive at a forest battlefield ringed by flowers and stone pillars, and when Olivia’s Lycanroc appears, Rockruff barks excitedly, bites Ash again and leaps from his arms. Olivia sends out Probopass, and when Rockruff charges onto the field, she declares a Double Battle. Ash sends Rowlet to join it. Rowlet’s Leafage and Rockruff’s Rock Throw are blown back by Lycanroc’s Rock Slide, and Probopass surrounds the pair with pillars of Stealth Rock, one of which hits Rockruff.
Rowlet grabs Rockruff and flies out, using Leafage on Probopass, but Magnet Bomb knocks them back into the trap. Both are tired, but Ash keeps fighting. Probopass fires Zap Cannon and Lycanroc uses its Mini-Noses as stepping stones for Accelerock; Rockruff knocks a Mini-Nose into the Zap Cannon to protect Rowlet. Olivia surrounds them with Mini-Noses and unleashes her Continental Crush, but Rowlet and Rockruff escape upward unharmed. Probopass charges with Giga Impact while Lycanroc uses Rock Slide; Rowlet’s Leafage shatters the rocks, but Giga Impact slams Rockruff into the cliff. Rockruff bites Lycanroc, and Rowlet turns Probopass’s own Magnet Bomb back on it. Then Ash and Rowlet perform Bloom Doom for the first time, and Probopass’s Giga Impact cannot reach Rowlet in time; Probopass is unable to battle.
Rowlet tries to lift Rockruff into the air to help it, but Rockruff resists and bites Rowlet, knocking out its own partner, and immediately realises its mistake. To cheer it up, Ash strikes the pose Rockruff made when it first learned Rock Throw and says he will battle alongside it. Rockruff’s Rock Throw meets Lycanroc’s Accelerock head on; Rockruff’s Bite misses, Lycanroc answers with Rock Slide, but Rockruff leaps from rock to rock and lands a Rock Throw at point-blank range. Lycanroc falls, and Ash has won. Rockruff faints from exhaustion. Olivia gives Ash the Rockium Z, but Rockruff remains upset, and Olivia and Kukui explain that it will soon evolve and grow more aggressive. As the group leaves, Tapu Lele’s sparkling scales fall over the battlefield, and the guardian briefly appears in the sky.
Major Events
- Akala grand trial. Ash beats Olivia in a Double Battle: Probopass is unable to battle after Rowlet’s first Bloom Doom, and Rockruff bites Rowlet out, then beats Midday Lycanroc with Rock Throw
- The Rockium Z
Trivia
- The English title plays on an echo of DP119’s <em>Trials and Adulations!</em> and SM010’s <em>Trial and Tribulation!</em>.
- The screenplay is by Atsuhiro Tomioka.
- This is a plot episode: it advances the Alola storyline.
Changes in the English Dub
- The Continental Crush and Bloom Doom captions are removed
- The kanji for “grand trial” on the VS screen become “VS”
- Alola!! insert
Part of our Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon guide. Browse every season of the Pokémon anime.