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| Season | Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon (Season 20) · Back on Melemele arc (SM038–SM041) |
| Episode | Season 20, episode 40 · English episode 975 · Japanese episode 980 · Bulbapedia code SM040 |
| English title | Balloons, Brionne, and Belligerence! |
| Japanese title | アシマリ、オシャマリ、いかりのダダリン！ Ashimari, Oshamari, Ikari no Dadarin! — “Ashimari, Osyamari, and the Anch-gry Dadarin!” |
| First aired (Japan) | 31 August 2017 · TV Tokyo |
| First aired (US) | 18 November 2017 · Disney XD |
| Screenplay | Yuka Miyata |
| 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? | Brionne (US) |
| Previous episode | Mallow and the Forest Teacher! (SM039) |
| Next episode | Mounting an Electrifying Charge! (SM041) |
Filler / stand-alone episodePopplio’s Hydro VortexIda and Brionne
Balloons, Brionne, and Belligerence! is the 40th episode of Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon, the twentieth season of the Pokémon anime, and the 975th episode of the English dub overall (Japanese episode 980, Bulbapedia code SM040). It first aired in Japan on 31 August 2017 and in the United States on 18 November 2017. It falls within the season’s Back on Melemele stretch (EP38–EP41).
Synopsis
Lana becomes the apprentice of a performer named Ida and her Brionne, and during a treasure hunt that angers a Dhelmise, Popplio finally masters the Z-Move Hydro Vortex. After Popplio’s failed attempt at Hydro Vortex the day before, Ash and Mallow visit Lana, who suspects it lacks battle experience. On the beach they watch Ida and Brionne perform: Brionne releases coloured balloons, and the pair create a whirlpool with Hydro Vortex that a young man, Kanoa, surfs. Lana asks Ida to take her on as an apprentice so that she can use a Z-Move, and with Kanoa’s encouragement Ida agrees. Kanoa, a treasure hunter, shows them documents about a sunken ship and its lost cargo before leaving to search. Ida’s training begins with strength: Brionne makes a balloon, and Popplio must pop it with a balloon of its own, but every time it is Popplio’s balloon that pops.
By sunset Popplio still cannot pop Brionne’s balloons and is worn out, so Ida ends the session, and Kanoa returns empty-handed. Ida encourages Lana, who thinks it over that night. The next day Popplio’s balloon control improves, and it finally pops Brionne’s balloons just as Kanoa returns with a lead: the treasure is Mystic Water, which strengthens Water-type moves, and he invites Lana, Ida and Popplio to join him. Team Rocket overhear. At sea, Brionne surrounds Kanoa with a large balloon and helps him dive, and he finds the wreck guarded by a Dhelmise. Team Rocket spy from their new Bruxish submarine; when Dhelmise blocks their way, Meowth convinces it that people on the surface sent them, and Dhelmise rises to attack.
When Kanoa and Brionne try again, Dhelmise stops the boat and starts to drag it down, while Jessie sneaks off to grab the treasure. Pikachu’s attack fails, and although Brionne frees the boat, Dhelmise knocks it out as it heads back to the surface. Ida asks Kanoa to get them to the Pokémon Center, but Dhelmise surrounds the boat with Whirlpool, and Team Rocket, sawing through the sunken ship, are caught up in it until Bewear arrives to rescue them. Popplio becomes determined, and Lana decides to use Hydro Vortex to reverse the Whirlpool. Their Z-Move collides with it and sends Dhelmise flying. Kanoa resurfaces with the Mystic Water and places it around Ida’s neck in thanks for all her hard work, and the group say goodbye on the shore, hoping to meet again. Kiawe, Lillie and Sophocles appear only in a training montage.
Major Events
- Hydro Vortex. Lana apprentices herself to Ida and her Brionne
- The treasure hunter Kanoa
- A Dhelmise guards a wreck
- Lana and Popplio’s first Hydro Vortex
- Team Rocket’s Bruxish submarine debuts
Pokémon making their anime debut
Brionne#0729 · SM040
Dhelmise#0781 · SM040
Trivia
- The screenplay is by Yuka Miyata.
- This is a stand-alone episode: it can be skipped without losing the thread of the Alola story.
Changes in the English Dub
- The Hydro Vortex caption is removed
- Pose insert over a montage
Part of our Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon guide. Browse every season of the Pokémon anime.