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| Season | Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon – Ultra Adventures (Season 21) · Interlude across the islands arc (SM056–SM060) |
| Episode | Season 21, episode 13 · English episode 991 · Japanese episode 996 · Bulbapedia code SM056 |
| English title | Let Sleeping Pokémon Lie! |
| Japanese title | 寝る子は強い、ネッコアラの秘密！ Neru Ko wa Tsuyoi, Nekkoara no Himitsu! — “The Strong Sleeper, Nekkoara’s Secret!” |
| First aired (Japan) | 28 December 2017 · TV Tokyo |
| First aired (US) | 5 May 2018 · Disney XD |
| Screenplay | Shōji Yonemura |
| Opening / ending (Japan) | Arōra!! (Alola!!) – Satoshi (Rica Matsumoto) with Pikachu (Ikue Ōtani) · Pōzu (Pose) – Taiiku Okazaki |
| English opening | Under the Alolan Moon – Haven Paschall and Ben Dixon |
| Who’s That Pokémon? | Munchlax (US) |
| Previous episode | The Professors’ New Adventure! (SM055) |
| Next episode | The Dex Can’t Help It! (SM057) |
Filler / stand-alone episodeKomala’s story
Let Sleeping Pokémon Lie! is the 13th episode of Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon – Ultra Adventures, the twenty-first season of the Pokémon anime, and the 991st episode of the English dub overall (Japanese episode 996, Bulbapedia code SM056). It first aired in Japan on 28 December 2017 and in the United States on 5 May 2018. It falls within the season’s Interlude across the islands stretch (EP56–EP60).
Synopsis
Samson Oak tells how the school’s sleepy bell-ringer Komala came to the Pokémon School, and the class teaches it to sing so that it can finally get the better of a face-doodling Jigglypuff. The morning starts with Litten and Lycanroc training and Ash diving into the sea with Munchlax and a waterproof Rotom to find Professor Burnet, who introduces him to a Pyukumuku that punches him back to the surface. Burnet leaves on a business trip, and at school the students practise battling. Togedemaru chases Snowy, and Ash’s Litten trades Fire Fang with Kiawe’s Marowak until Komala rolls into the middle of the match after falling from the bell tower again. Kukui explains that the leaves Komala eats keep it permanently drowsy, Samson adds that its expressions change with its dreams, and Rotom notes that it has never let go of its log.
Samson remembers finding a log-less Komala rolling along a road in its sleep. It refused the log-shaped fruit he offered and the new log he made, settling on his head instead, until it climbed onto the school bell’s log, rang it, and learned to ring at the right times. Ash then challenges Komala with Litten: Komala dodges Ember and Scratch and knocks Litten out with Wood Hammer, and when Kiawe’s Turtonator steps in, it shrugs off Flamethrower and Dragon Tail and answers with Rapid Spin. Ash’s Rowlet sleeps through every command. Meanwhile, Team Rocket flee Bewear and run into a Jigglypuff with a microphone, which sings them to sleep and draws on their faces. The same Jigglypuff then visits the school, and everyone wakes up with doodled faces except Komala.
A recording on Rotom shows that Komala dodged Jigglypuff’s marker in its sleep. Jigglypuff returns, and even special glasses fail to keep the group awake, so Samson decides that Komala should learn the song and sing back. Lana conducts the Pokémon as they practise for Komala, and Komala picks up the tune—but everyone except Komala falls asleep in the process. When Jigglypuff comes back, the Pokémon sing together, and this time Jigglypuff ends up with the doodles while the humans are spared. Rotom then plays a clip of Jigglypuff and Komala singing together until Jigglypuff falls asleep and Komala draws on its face. Seeing its reflection in a bucket of water, Jigglypuff bursts out laughing, Team Rocket laugh at their own faces before Bewear collects them, and Komala gains a new friend.
Major Events
- Komala. Samson Oak tells how Komala came to the Pokémon School
- Komala uses Wood Hammer and Rapid Spin
- The class teaches Komala to sing back at a face-doodling Jigglypuff
- The narrator returns for the first time since SM044
Trivia
- The English title plays on the saying “let sleeping dogs lie”, for the ever-drowsy Komala.
- The screenplay is by Shōji Yonemura.
- This is a stand-alone episode: it can be skipped without losing the thread of the Alola story.
Part of our Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon – Ultra Adventures guide. Browse every season of the Pokémon anime.