Pokémon Sun & Moon – Ultra Legends (S22): Episode Guide


Season	Season 22 of the English dub · the third and final season of Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon, covering the last 54 episodes of Japan’s Pocket Monsters Sun & Moon (SM093–SM146)
Series	Sun & Moon series (ポケットモンスターサン&ムーン Pocket Monsters Sun & Moon in Japan, 17 November 2016 – 3 November 2019, 146 episodes), dubbed as Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon
Region	Alola — Melemele, Akala and Treasure Island, Poni Island for the last grand trial, Malie City on Ula’ula Island and the new Manalo Stadium for the first Alola League; with a trip to a ruined parallel Alola, the Ultra Ruin (SM100–SM101), and one back in time to Professor Kukui’s childhood (SM125)
Episodes	54 on TV and on video — SM093–SM146, with nothing banned, skipped or reordered
First episode	Lillier and the Staff! (SM093) · Japan 21 October 2018 · US 23 March 2019 (Canada 2 March 2019)
Last episode	Thank You, Alola! The Journey Continues! (SM146) · Japan 3 November 2019 · US 7 March 2020
Japanese opening theme	Kimi no Bōken (キミの冒険 Your Adventure) – Taiiku Okazaki (SM093–SM145; the finale has no opening)
Japanese ending themes	Jari Bōi Jari Gāru (ジャリボーイ・ジャリガール Twerp, Twerpette) – Taiiku Okazaki (SM093–SM103) · Kokoro no Nōto (心のノート Notebook of the Heart) – Hino City Nanaomidori Elementary School Choir (SM104–SM128) · Type: Wild (タイプ：ワイルド, 2019 version) – Shōko Nakagawa (SM129–SM145)
English opening theme	The Challenge of Life – Dani Marcus and The Sad Truth (SM093–SM145; its instrumental is the English ending theme)
Travelling companions	Ash Ketchum & Pikachu with his Pokémon School classmates Lillie, Kiawe, Lana, Sophocles and Mallow, Rotom Pokédex, and Professors Kukui and Burnet, with whom Ash lives
Z-Crystals won	Steelium Z (Poni Island grand trial, SM109 — Ash’s fourth and last) · Firium Z (from the Totem Trevenant Elder, SM125) · his Electrium Z becomes a Pikashunium Z (SM144)
Other events	Manalo Conference (SM128–SM139): Ash wins and becomes Alola’s first Champion · the Guzzlord attack (SM139–SM140) · exhibition Full Battle against Professor Kukui, the Masked Royal (SM141–SM144)
Related movies	Mewtwo Strikes Back—Evolution (Japan 12 July 2019, between SM129 and SM130 · Netflix 27 February 2020) · The Power of Us (US Blu-ray and DVD 19 March 2019 · Japanese TV premiere 11 July 2019)
Previous season	Season 21: Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon – Ultra Adventures
Following season	Season 23: Pokémon Journeys: The Series

Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon – Ultra Legends key art

Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon – Ultra Legends is the twenty-second season of the English-language Pokémon anime and the third and final season of Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon, set in the Alola region. It covers the last 54 episodes of Japan’s Pocket Monsters Sun & Moon, SM093 to SM146, which TV Tokyo broadcast on Sunday evenings from 21 October 2018 to 3 November 2019 — the anime had moved to its new 6 p.m. Sunday slot two weeks before the season began. In the US, Disney XD and the DisneyNOW app premiered it on Saturday 23 March 2019 with a new episode every day for eight days, then ran it on Saturday mornings, in order and with nothing banned or skipped, to Thank You, Alola! The Journey Continues! on 7 March 2020. It was the last Pokémon season on Disney XD and on traditional US television, and the last dubbed at DuArt Media Services: Pokémon Journeys: The Series went to Netflix.

Ash, with three of his four grand trials behind him, lives with Professors Kukui and Burnet and finishes his school year with Lillie, Kiawe, Lana, Sophocles and Mallow. He meets Hala’s grandson Hau, is thrown into a ruined parallel Alola where the Mythical Zeraora hands Pikachu its first official loss of the series, and welcomes Misty and Brock for the holidays. On Poni Island he loses to the farmer Hapu and — for the last time in Sun & Moon — to Gladion, then beats Hapu, now the island’s kahuna, in his last grand trial to win a Steelium Z. A swarm of Meltan stows away to Melemele and Ash catches one, the first Mythical Pokémon caught by a main character. One by one his classmates gain Z-Crystals and Z-Rings, Lillie inherits her missing father Mohn’s Z-Ring and his inactive Magearna, and Professor Kukui announces Alola’s first Pokémon League, which the Team Skull boss Guzma vows to destroy.

At the new Manalo Stadium 151 Trainers enter a Battle Royal. Meltan, Rowlet, Torracat and Pikachu carry Ash past Faba, Hau and Guzma, Meltan becomes Melmetal on the eve of the final, and Ash’s Lycanroc beats Gladion’s to make him Alola’s first Champion — his first League Conference title (SM139). Three Guzzlord crash the celebrations, Ash’s Poipole returns as Naganadel, the Masked Royal is unmasked as Professor Kukui, and Ash wins their four-episode exhibition Full Battle as Torracat evolves into Incineroar and Pikachu’s 10,000,000 Volt Thunderbolt overcomes Tapu Koko. In the finale Lillie sails away to search for her father, Team Rocket go home to Kanto, and Ash leaves Rowlet, Lycanroc, Incineroar and Melmetal with the Professors and flies home to Pallet Town. Our complete episode guide below has a synopsis, both titles and the air dates for all 54 episodes.

54episodes — SM093 to SM146, with nothing banned or skipped
1stLeague Conference won by Ash, who becomes Alola’s first Champion (SM139)
151Trainers in the Manalo Conference’s opening Battle Royal (SM129)
17episodes in the Alola League arc, SM128 to SM144
4episodes for the exhibition Full Battle against Professor Kukui (SM141–SM144)
8new episodes on eight consecutive days in Disney XD’s premiere week, 23–30 March 2019

Ash has completed three of his four grand trials in the Alola region, and more adventures await as he and his classmates acquire new Z-Crystals, make new Pokémon friends, and learn how to Mantine Surf! In their role as Ultra Guardians, the Pokémon School students take on an important mission to protect Wela Volcano. Ash meets a new rival, Hau, whose Dartrix offers Rowlet quite a challenge. Even Rotom Dex gets an adventure of its own when our heroes visit the set of its favorite TV show! And Professor Kukui’s dream of starting a Pokémon League in Alola just might be getting closer to reality…

— Official description

Quick Answers

How many episodes are in Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon – Ultra Legends?

54 — SM093 to SM146, the last 54 episodes of Japan’s Pocket Monsters Sun & Moon. TV Tokyo broadcast them on Sundays from 21 October 2018 to 3 November 2019, with one blank Sunday (30 December 2018) and no one-hour specials; Disney XD aired all 54 in the same order from 23 March 2019 to 7 March 2020, with nothing banned or skipped; and VIZ Media’s three DVD sets of 18 and Beyond’s two Australian Collections of 27 hold the same 54. English Wikipedia numbers them 1027 to 1080 in its English count — seven behind its Japanese count, 1034 to 1087, because of episodes never dubbed across the franchise, the latest being SM064.

Does Ash win the Alola League?

Yes — the Manalo Conference (SM128–SM139) is Ash’s first League Conference title, after 22 years of trying. He survives a Battle Royal of 151 Trainers (SM129), beats Faba with Meltan in the first round (SM130), Hau with Rowlet’s Feather Dance and Brave Bird in the quarterfinals (SM132–SM133) and Guzma two-on-two in the semifinals, Torracat knocking out Scizor and Pikachu outlasting Golisopod (SM136–SM137). In the three-on-three final against Gladion, Silvally beats the newly evolved Melmetal, Pikachu beats Silvally, Pikachu and Gladion’s Zoroark knock each other out with Breakneck Blitz and Never-Ending Nightmare, and Ash’s Lycanroc answers Counter with Counter to beat Gladion’s (SM138–SM139). Ash becomes Alola’s first Champion — his only earlier League win, the Orange League, was not a Conference — and the news reached CNN and Anime News Network when the episode aired in Japan on 15 September 2019.

Who is the Masked Royal?

Professor Kukui. The Masked Royal, the masked fighter of Alola’s Battle Royal Dome, is to face the winner of the new League in an exhibition match (SM127), and he presents Ash with the Manalo Conference trophy (SM139). When three Guzzlord attack the stadium, his Lucario forces the giant one halfway into its wormhole, and Ash’s returning Naganadel and Pikachu, powered by Ash and the Masked Royal, finish it with a double Gigavolt Havoc whose shock wave tears off the mask, leaving Ash face to face with his teacher (SM140). The exhibition becomes a six-on-six Full Battle refereed by Hala (SM141–SM144): Kukui’s Braviary, Venusaur, Empoleon, Lucario and Incineroar fall one by one, Tapu Koko takes the place of his last Pokémon and powers a Tapunium Z, and Pikachu’s 10,000,000 Volt Thunderbolt beats its Guardian of Alola. The result does not affect Ash’s title.

Which Z-Crystals does Ash win in Ultra Legends?

Two new ones and a transformed third. Pikachu chooses a Steelium Z from Hapu’s chest after his fourth and final grand trial (SM109) and uses Corkscrew Crash for the first time against Guzma (SM115). On a trip through time to Professor Kukui’s childhood, Ash borrows the young Kukui’s Firium Z for his first Inferno Overdrive and is given a Firium Z of his own by the Totem Trevenant Elder (SM125); it powers Torracat’s side of the double Inferno Overdrive against Kukui’s Incineroar (SM143). And in the exhibition’s last round his Electrium Z becomes a Pikashunium Z, unleashing Pikachu’s 10,000,000 Volt Thunderbolt against Tapu Koko (SM144). Pikachu also uses Breakneck Blitz in the League final (SM139).

What happens to Ash’s Pokémon at the end of Sun & Moon?

Naganadel senses an Ultra Wormhole and returns to its own world (SM145). In the finale Ash asks Professors Kukui and Burnet to look after Rowlet, Lycanroc, Incineroar and Melmetal, and Kukui promises to bring them to school sometimes (SM146) — the first time Ash has left a region without bringing home the Pokémon he caught there. Rotom Pokédex, which Ash never caught, takes a job with the Aether Foundation at Aether Paradise, and only Pikachu flies home with Ash to Pallet Town, where his older Pokémon wait at Professor Oak’s lab. Team Rocket leave Mimikyu and Mareanie with Bewear and Stufful, and Mallow’s Shaymin flies off in Sky Forme.

When did Ultra Legends air in the US?

The Pokémon Company International announced the season on 28 February 2019, and Disney XD and the DisneyNOW app premiered it on Saturday 23 March 2019 at 9:00 a.m. EDT with a new episode every day for eight days (SM093–SM100). From Parallel Friendships! (SM101) on 6 April it aired on Saturday mornings, with no new episode on 13 April, 18 May or 25 May 2019, and the finale, SM146, aired on 7 March 2020 — the last Pokémon episode on Disney XD and on US broadcast television; Pokémon Journeys: The Series premiered on Netflix on 12 June 2020. Canada’s Teletoon started the season three weeks before the US, on 2 March 2019, and showed SM093 to SM096 first.

Story Arcs

Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon – Ultra Legends runs for 54 episodes and follows Ash and his classmates from the last weeks of their school year through Poni Island, the first Alola League and the farewells at Melemele’s port and airport. Here is how the season breaks down, with stills from our episode guide below.

Back to school on MelemeleSM093–SM099

The class stages a fantasy play that Jessie hijacks as “Lunala” until Bewear carries Team Rocket away (SM093), and Acerola helps build a haunted house that real Ghost-type Pokémon turn into a dream world (SM094). The Ultra Guardians trace a magnetic disturbance at Wela Volcano to Spark Stone hunters, and Sophocles’ Metang wins an iron-sand duel with an Alolan Golem (SM095); Team Rocket’s undercover stint at Aether Paradise reveals that Bewear is Stufful’s mother (SM096). Ash meets Hala’s grandson Hau, loses to his Dartrix and, with an Everstone and the help of Rowlet’s Toucannon foster flock, teaches Rowlet Seed Bomb to win the rematch (SM097). Rotom is offered a role on Alolan Detective Laki but chooses to stay with Ash (SM098), and the wandering Eevee of the Where Are You Going, Eevee? shorts reaches Melemele, where Lana catches it as Sandy and Popplio learns Surf (SM099).

The Ultra RuinSM100–SM101

A training battle between Pikachu and Tapu Koko, joined by a Shiny Tapu Koko from another dimension, tears open a rift that throws Ash and Pikachu into a ruined parallel Alola devoured by Guzzlord. There they meet Dia, a former Ultra Ranger, and the Mythical Zeraora, which hands Pikachu its first official loss of the Sun & Moon series (SM100). Learning that this Alola was overdeveloped and polluted before Guzzlord reduced it to rubble, Ash fights alongside Dia; the Shiny Tapu Koko restores their Z-Power, Pikachu and Zeraora drive Guzzlord through an Ultra Wormhole with a double Gigavolt Havoc, and Ash returns home to find that almost no time has passed (SM101).

Misty and Brock’s Alolan holidaySM102–SM103

Lana’s pen-friend Misty and Brock arrive for the holidays: the class Mantine Surfs to Treasure Island, and Misty’s Mega Gyarados and a triple Z-Move from Ash, Kiawe and Lana wreck Team Rocket’s Giga Meowthbot 3 (SM102). On Akala Island Brock treats a wild Kangaskhan’s baby with his new Comfey — his first new Pokémon in 538 episodes — falls for the kahuna Olivia, battles her and joins her in a heart-shaped Continental Crush against the Giga Meowthbot 4, and the friends watch fireworks together before Misty and Brock return to Kanto (SM103).

Poni Island & the last grand trialSM104–SM109

Professor Kukui leaves the class on Poni Island for independent research. Poni has no kahuna, and Ash is beaten first by the fiery farmer Hapu’s Golurk (SM104) and then by Gladion’s Lycanroc and its Devastating Drake — his last defeat of the series (SM105). Sophocles’ Charjabug evolves into Vikavolt in Vast Poni Canyon and Lana’s Popplio into Brionne, earning her Ida’s Primarium Z (SM106); Kiawe passes a trial set by Tapu Fini and the ghost of Hapu’s grandfather Sofu and earns a Flyinium Z (SM107). In Tapu Fini’s mist Mallow says goodbye to her late mother, Torracat learns Fire Blast from the spirit of Stoutland, Mallow befriends a Shaymin, Lillie and Gladion conclude that their father must be alive, and Tapu Fini accepts Hapu as kahuna (SM108). After her inauguration Hapu gives Ash his fourth and final grand trial: seawater from a toppled pillar turns her Mudsdale into a pure Water type, Pikachu wins with Gigavolt Havoc and chooses a Steelium Z, and a group of Meltan stows away on the ship home (SM109).

SM104 That's Some Spicy Island Research!

Meltan & the Alola LeagueSM110–SM118

The golfer Kahili rediscovers her love of the game with the class (SM110). The stowaway Meltan run riot on Melemele, eating metal and melting Team Rocket’s base, until Professor Oak confirms a new species and Ash catches the one that befriends Rowlet — the first Mythical Pokémon caught by a main character (SM111–SM112). The girls star in a magical-girl show (SM113), and the Ultra Guardians face the Z-Crystal thief Pheromosa, which Bewear defeats and Ash catches and releases (SM114). Professor Kukui announces Alola’s first Pokémon League, and the Team Skull boss Guzma vows to destroy it, battling Pikachu until his Golisopod retreats with Emergency Exit (SM115). Lillie inherits her father Mohn’s Z-Ring and his inactive Magearna (SM116), and a trip to Malie City ends at the novelty Kantonian Gym, where Rowlet learns Brave Bird and Ash wins a Badge bearing the Leader’s face (SM117–SM118).

Z-Crystals for everyoneSM119–SM127

Sophocles wins the 34th Fini Cup, its Buginium Z and a Z-Ring from Hapu (SM119); Lana’s Brionne evolves into Primarina while she reels in a Kyogre and foils the Pokémon Hunter Hunter D (SM120); and Mallow earns a Grassium Z from Tapu Koko at Oranguru’s forest café, so that all six classmates have Z-Rings (SM121). Matori comes to take Bewear to headquarters and Team Rocket protect their adopted family (SM122); Kiawe’s boot camp helps Sophocles master Savage Spin-Out (SM123); and the Ultra Guardians’ last mission ends with Kartana cutting a falling comet to pieces (SM124). Celebi carries Ash and Torracat back to Professor Kukui’s childhood, where Ash earns his own Firium Z and plants the dream of an Alola League (SM125), while Pikachu, Lycanroc, Rowlet and Meltan search Melemele for him (SM126); then Gladion clears his last grand trial and recruits Mohn’s Zoroark, and Lillie finally performs Subzero Slammer (SM127).

The Manalo ConferenceSM128–SM139

At the new Manalo Stadium (SM128) a Battle Royal of 151 Trainers leaves sixteen: Ash and all five classmates, Hau, Gladion, Guzma, Ilima, Acerola, Mina, Faba, Samson Oak, and Jessie and James as “Jessina” and “Jamesio” (SM129). In the first round Ash’s Meltan beats Faba, Guzma beats Ilima’s Mega Kangaskhan, Hau beats Samson Oak, Lana beats Mallow in a duel of Z-Moves, Sophocles beats Mina, James beats Jessie, Kiawe beats Acerola and Gladion beats Lillie (SM130–SM131). In the quarterfinals Gladion beats James, Rowlet beats Hau’s Decidueye with Feather Dance and Brave Bird, Kiawe’s Charizard beats Sophocles’ Vikavolt and Guzma’s Golisopod crushes Lana’s Primarina (SM132–SM134); in the semifinals Gladion’s Fire-type Silvally beats Kiawe and Ash beats Guzma, whose Team Skull stand by him (SM135–SM137). On the eve of the final Meltan fuses with a crowd of wild Meltan into Melmetal, and Ash’s Lycanroc beats Gladion’s with Counter to make him Alola’s first Champion (SM138–SM139).

Guzzlord & the Masked RoyalSM140–SM144

Three Guzzlord, two of them Shiny, crash the celebrations; the kahunas and the four Tapu, Gladion, Hau and the classmates’ combined Z-Moves and Ash’s Poipole — returning as Naganadel — drive them back, and the double Gigavolt Havoc tears off the Masked Royal’s mask to reveal Professor Kukui (SM140). Their exhibition becomes a six-on-six Full Battle: Kukui’s Braviary, Venusaur, Empoleon, Lucario and Incineroar fall one by one, Torracat evolves into Incineroar as it beats Kukui’s in a double Inferno Overdrive (SM143), and Tapu Koko takes the place of Kukui’s last Pokémon until Pikachu’s 10,000,000 Volt Thunderbolt overcomes its Guardian of Alola (SM141–SM144).

Farewell to AlolaSM145–SM146

Naganadel returns to Ultra Space, the classmates share their holiday plans, Ash finally beats Kiawe in their long-promised battle, and Zoroark’s illusion of Mohn awakens Magearna; Ash decides to go home to Pallet Town and then see the world (SM145). Team Rocket are recalled to Kanto and leave Mimikyu and Mareanie with Bewear, Rotom takes a job with the Aether Foundation, Lillie sails away with Gladion and Lusamine to find their father, and Ash leaves Rowlet, Lycanroc, Incineroar and Melmetal with Professors Kukui and Burnet and flies home as his friends escort the plane; the series ends with Burnet revealed to be expecting a baby (SM146).

SM146 Thank You, Alola! The Journey Continues!

Episode Guide

All 54 episodes of Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon – Ultra Legends are listed below in the official order used by Disney XD, Bulbapedia and the DVDs, which is also the production and Japanese broadcast order. The # column is that season number, and the orange code is the Bulbapedia number used by most fan sites. Every episode has its own page with our full synopsis, both titles, air dates, major events, Pokémon debuts, trivia and dub changes — click the title or the screenshot. US dates are the Disney XD premieres — eight days in a row from 23 to 30 March 2019, then Saturday mornings to 7 March 2020, with no new episode on 13 April, 18 May or 25 May 2019; Japanese dates are TV Tokyo’s Sunday broadcasts, from 21 October 2018 to 3 November 2019, with no episode on 30 December 2018.

Who’s That Pokémon? continues in the English dub, often read by guest characters — Harper and Sarah (SM094), Team Rocket (SM096), Brock and Misty (SM103), Gladion (SM127) and Team Skull’s Grunts (SM135) among them — and each episode page gives its answer. Japan had revived its own Dare da? for Sun & Moon, usually showing a Pokémon central to the episode, while the dub’s answers became random, so the two differ in about half of the season; Japan also framed each episode with its Poké Problem quiz, which was never dubbed. SM145 has the last Poké Problem and the last Dare da? of the series, and SM146 has no Japanese guessing game at all, though the dub keeps its quiz. The dub’s Salandit (SM099) is the first repeated answer of the Sun & Moon dub.

#	Episode	First aired	In short
1SM093	Lillier and the Staff!勇者リリエルとアローラの杖！	Japan 21 Oct 2018 US 23 Mar 2019	The Pokémon School stages a fantasy play starring Lillie as the hero Lillier, and Jessie hijacks it by swinging onstage as the Legendary… · School play Episode guide →
2SM094	A Haunted House for Everyone!ゴーストポケモン大集合！みんなのお化け屋敷！！	Japan 28 Oct 2018 US 24 Mar 2019	To entertain Lana’s little sisters, the class and their new friend Acerola build a haunted house at the Pokémon School, only for real… · Haunted house Episode guide →
3SM095	Sparking Confusion!ヴェラ火山、ゴローンゴローニャやまおとこ！	Japan 4 Nov 2018 US 25 Mar 2019	The Ultra Guardians investigate a powerful magnetic field at Wela Volcano Park and uncover a band of rock hunters whose digging has driven the Alolan… · Ultra Guardians mission Episode guide →
4SM096	Don’t Ignore the Small Stufful!ロケット団とヌイコグマ！	Japan 11 Nov 2018 US 26 Mar 2019	Team Rocket infiltrate Aether Paradise disguised as staff, but a stray Stufful latches onto Jessie and blows their cover, until Bewear arrives and is… · Bewear is Stufful’s mother Episode guide →
5SM097	No Stone Unturned!匠のフクスロー！！！眠りのモクローzzz	Japan 18 Nov 2018 US 27 Mar 2019	Ash meets Hala’s grandson Hau and his Dartrix, loses their first battle, and returns to the place where he first met Rowlet to learn a new move… · Hau debuts Episode guide →
6SM098	Bright Lights, Big Changes!コンビ解散！？サトシとロトム	Japan 25 Nov 2018 US 28 Mar 2019	Rotom is offered a starring role on Alolan Detective Laki, and Ash struggles with the idea of losing his partner when the show plans to film overseas. · Rotom’s TV offer Episode guide →
7SM099	We Know Where You’re Going, Eevee!イーブイどこいくの？あのコに会いにどこまでも！	Japan 2 Dec 2018 US 29 Mar 2019	The wandering Eevee finally reaches Melemele Island, where Lana and Popplio rescue it from a predatory Alolan Persian and Team Skull, and Lana… · Lana catches Sandy Episode guide →
8SM100	Battling the Beast Within!風を断つ稲妻！その名はゼラオラ！！	Japan 9 Dec 2018 US 30 Mar 2019	A battle with Tapu Koko tears open a rift that throws Ash and Pikachu into a ruined parallel Alola, where they meet a lone former Ultra Ranger named… · Ultra Ruin, part 1 Episode guide →
9SM101	Parallel Friendships!放て！友情のツインスパーキングギガボルト！！	Japan 16 Dec 2018 US 6 Apr 2019	In the ruined world of the Ultra Ruin, Ash and Dia join forces, and Pikachu and Zeraora fire a double Gigavolt Havoc to drive Guzzlord back into… · Ultra Ruin, part 2 Episode guide →
10SM102	Alola, Alola!アローラでアローラ！タケシとカスミ！！	Japan 23 Dec 2018 US 20 Apr 2019	Misty and Brock arrive in Alola as surprise holiday guests, and the class takes them sightseeing and Mantine Surfing to Treasure Island before Team… · Misty and Brock visit Episode guide →
11SM103	Heart of Fire! Heart of Stone!岩をも砕く熱きハート！ライチとタケシ！！	Japan 6 Jan 2019 US 27 Apr 2019	Brock and Misty’s Alolan holiday continues on Akala Island, where Brock treats a wild Kangaskhan’s baby, falls for Olivia and battles her… · Brock’s Comfey Episode guide →
12SM104	That’s Some Spicy Island Research!ポニ島の自由研究！しまキングをさがせ！！	Japan 13 Jan 2019 US 4 May 2019	The class travels to Poni Island for independent research projects, and Ash, hoping to take on the guardian Tapu Fini, is soundly beaten by a fierce… · Poni Island Episode guide →
13SM105	Showdown on Poni Island!ルガルガン決戦！サトシVSグラジオ！！	Japan 20 Jan 2019 US 11 May 2019	Lillie reunites with her brother Gladion on Poni Island, and Ash challenges him to a Lycanroc battle that Gladion wins with the Z-Move Devastating… · Gladion beats Ash Episode guide →
14SM106	Evolving Research!海あり谷あり！ポケモン進化大特訓！！	Japan 27 Jan 2019 US 1 Jun 2019	Sophocles’ Charjabug evolves into Vikavolt in the magnetic depths of Vast Poni Canyon, and Lana’s Popplio evolves into Brionne just in… · Vikavolt and Brionne Episode guide →
15SM107	Run, Heroes, Run!走れカキ！己を超えて！！	Japan 3 Feb 2019 US 8 Jun 2019	When a mysterious old man and Tapu Fini trap Ash and his Pokémon in a bubble, Kiawe must race to Akala Island and back with Tapu Lele’s… · Kiawe’s Flyinium Z Episode guide →
16SM108	Memories in the Mist!カプ・レヒレの霧の中で	Japan 10 Feb 2019 US 15 Jun 2019	Tapu Fini’s mist lets Mallow speak once more with her late mother and Torracat reunite with Stoutland, and Hapu’s courage earns her the… · Mallow befriends Shaymin Episode guide →
17SM109	A Grand Debut!しまクイーン誕生！サトシの大試練！！	Japan 17 Feb 2019 US 22 Jun 2019	Hapu is inaugurated as island kahuna of Poni Island and faces Ash in his final grand trial, where Pikachu defeats her Mudsdale with a… · Fourth grand trial Episode guide →
18SM110	Keeping Your Eyes on the Ball!ポケゴルフでホールインワン！	Japan 24 Feb 2019 US 29 Jun 2019	Struggling professional golfer Kahili rediscovers her love of the game when she teaches Ash’s class to play Pokémon Golf with her… · Pokémon Golf Episode guide →
19SM111	Show Me the Metal!アローラ上陸！タルタルメタルパニック！！	Japan 3 Mar 2019 US 6 Jul 2019	A swarm of mysterious, metal-eating Pokémon that stowed away on the ship from Poni Island causes chaos across Melemele Island, baffling the… · Meltan swarm Episode guide →
20SM112	Got Meltan?新種発見！メルタン、ゲットだぜ！！	Japan 10 Mar 2019 US 13 Jul 2019	Professor Oak identifies the mystery Pokémon as Meltan, a new Steel-type species, and Ash catches the one that befriends his Rowlet. · Ash catches Meltan Episode guide →
21SM113	This Magik Moment!新番組！？小さなコイキングのメロディ	Japan 17 Mar 2019 US 20 Jul 2019	During a visit to the Alola TV studios, Lana, Lillie and Mallow are recruited as stand-in stars of a magical-girl show while a child-actor Magikarp… · Alola TV Episode guide →
22SM114	Beauty is Only Crystal Deep!ビューティー・アンド・ニャース！	Japan 24 Mar 2019 US 27 Jul 2019	An Ultra Beast, Pheromosa, comes to Melemele Island and steals Z-Crystals, including Team Rocket’s, and Meowth falls head over heels for it… · Pheromosa Episode guide →
23SM115	The Dealer of Destruction!破壊の帝王グズマ！	Japan 31 Mar 2019 US 3 Aug 2019	Professor Kukui announces Alola’s first Pokémon League, and Team Skull’s boss Guzma storms the Pokémon School vowing to… · Alola League announced Episode guide →
24SM116	The Secret Princess!リーリエと秘密の機巧姫！	Japan 7 Apr 2019 US 10 Aug 2019	Lillie discovers her missing father Mohn’s secret study, inherits his Z-Ring and finds an inactive Magearna he once bought for her, resolving… · Lillie’s Z-Ring Episode guide →
25SM117	Drawn with the Wind!シェイミ、メルタン、ナギサ！迷子の探検隊！！	Japan 14 Apr 2019 US 17 Aug 2019	On a class trip to Malie City, a sudden gust sends Mallow’s Shaymin, Lana’s Sandy and Ash’s Meltan chasing after a hair ornament,… · Malie City Episode guide →
26SM118	Aiming for the Top Floor!最上階を目指せ！爆音のドラゴンジム！！	Japan 21 Apr 2019 US 24 Aug 2019	At Malie City’s Kantonian Gym, the class clears four floors of ninja-themed tests before Ash and Kiawe face the rock-star Gym Leader Ryuki and… · Kantonian Gym Episode guide →
27SM119	A High-Speed Awakening!超速のクワガノン！マーマネ覚醒！！	Japan 28 Apr 2019 US 31 Aug 2019	Sophocles and his Vikavolt enter the Fini Cup Vikavolt race against his old rival Horacio, and his kindness during the race earns him the Buginium Z… · Fini Cup Episode guide →
28SM120	The One That Didn’t Get Away!スイレン、カイオーガを釣る！？	Japan 5 May 2019 US 7 Sep 2019	On a class fishing trip, Lana hooks a Kyogre and must save it from the Pokémon Hunter Hunter D, and her Brionne evolves into Primarina to… · Brionne evolves into Primarina Episode guide →
29SM121	A Recipe for Success!マオ奮闘！森のポケモンカフェ！！	Japan 12 May 2019 US 14 Sep 2019	Mallow helps Oranguru run its forest café for Pokémon and earns a Grassium Z from Tapu Koko, while Ash and Olivia help out at… · Mallow’s Grassium Z Episode guide →
30SM122	Spying for the Big Guy!監視します！ロケット団アローラのすがた！！	Japan 19 May 2019 US 21 Sep 2019	Matori arrives in Alola with orders from Giovanni to bring Team Rocket’s Pokémon and Bewear back to headquarters, and the trio must… · Matori in Alola Episode guide →
31SM123	A Fiery Training Camp Trick!Ｚワザを極めろ！灼熱のカキ合宿！！	Japan 26 May 2019 US 28 Sep 2019	Kiawe hosts a Z-Move boot camp in the wilds of Akala Island, and a staged battle with a wild Crawdaunt helps Sophocles and Vikavolt master Savage… · Z-Move boot camp Episode guide →
32SM124	Living on the Cutting Edge!斬れ味バツグン！カミツルギ見参！！	Japan 2 Jun 2019 US 5 Oct 2019	A wild Kartana slices its way across Melemele Island, and the Ultra Guardians’ failed attempt to capture it ends with the Ultra Beast cutting a… · Kartana Episode guide →
33SM125	A Timeless Encounter!サトシ、時を超えた出会い！	Japan 9 Jun 2019 US 12 Oct 2019	During a training session, Celebi accidentally carries Ash and Torracat into the past, where they befriend a young Professor Kukui and his Litten and… · Young Kukui Episode guide →
34SM126	Pikachu’s Exciting Adventure!ピカチュウのドキドキ探検隊！	Japan 16 Jun 2019 US 19 Oct 2019	Left behind when Celebi carries Ash into the past, Pikachu, Lycanroc, Rowlet and Meltan set out across Melemele Island on a perilous search for their… · Pokémon-only episode Episode guide →
35SM127	Chasing Memories, Creating Dreams!グラジオとリーリエ！父の幻影を追って！！	Japan 23 Jun 2019 US 26 Oct 2019	Gladion completes his final grand trial and finds his father’s long-lost Zoroark, while Lillie finally masters Subzero Slammer and a flicker of… · Gladion’s Zoroark Episode guide →
36SM128	League Offenders and Defenders!開幕！アローラポケモンリーグ！！	Japan 30 Jun 2019 US 2 Nov 2019	The class arrives at Manalo Stadium for Alola’s first Pokémon League, where Ash reunites with Hau, Team Skull’s Grunts cause… · Manalo Conference begins Episode guide →
37SM129	Battle Royal 151!大乱闘！バトルロイヤル１５１！！	Japan 7 Jul 2019 US 9 Nov 2019	The Manalo Conference opens with a 151-Trainer Battle Royal, and Ash, all five of his classmates and a disguised Jessie and James survive to reach… · Battle Royal 151 Episode guide →
38SM130	Battling Besties!マオとスイレン！友情のゼンリョクバトル！！	Japan 14 Jul 2019 US 16 Nov 2019	The first round of the Manalo Conference begins, with Ash’s Meltan beating Faba, Guzma’s Scizor outwitting Ilima’s Mega Kangaskhan,… · First round Episode guide →
39SM131	The Battlefield of Truth and Love!ムサシVSコジロウ！愛と真実のバトルフィールド！！	Japan 21 Jul 2019 US 23 Nov 2019	The first round concludes as Sophocles beats Mina, James defeats Jessie in their first official battle, Kiawe overcomes Acerola, and Gladion’s… · First round Episode guide →
40SM132	Imitation Is the Sincerest Form of Strategy!ジュナイパーを攻略せよ！	Japan 28 Jul 2019 US 30 Nov 2019	Gladion’s Lycanroc ends James’s League run, and Rowlet learns Feather Dance from its foster family before facing Hau’s Decidueye in… · Quarterfinals Episode guide →
41SM133	Battling on the Wing!鳥上決戦！ブレイブバードVSゴッドバード！！	Japan 4 Aug 2019 US 7 Dec 2019	Rowlet defeats Hau’s Decidueye with Feather Dance and Brave Bird to put Ash into the semifinals, and Kiawe and Sophocles begin their… · Ash beats Hau Episode guide →
42SM134	The Road to the Semifinals!みんなゼンリョク！準決勝への道！！	Japan 11 Aug 2019 US 14 Dec 2019	Kiawe’s Charizard overcomes Sophocles’ Vikavolt with Supersonic Skystrike, and Guzma’s Golisopod mercilessly defeats Lana’s… · Kiawe beats Sophocles Episode guide →
43SM135	The Final Four!準決勝！カキVSグラジオ！！	Japan 18 Aug 2019 US 21 Dec 2019	Kiawe’s little sister Mimo comes to watch his semifinal against Gladion, and Kiawe’s Turtonator learns Focus Blast to defeat… · Semifinals Episode guide →
44SM136	Getting Down to the Ire!燃え上がる炎！ライバルはひとりじゃない！！	Japan 25 Aug 2019 US 28 Dec 2019	Gladion’s Silvally defeats Kiawe’s Turtonator to reach the final, and Ash’s semifinal against Guzma begins with Torracat burning… · Gladion reaches the final Episode guide →
45SM137	The Wisdom Not to Run!無敗の帝王グズマ！	Japan 1 Sep 2019 US 4 Jan 2020	Ash defeats Guzma to reach the Manalo Conference final as Pikachu outlasts Golisopod, and the defeated Guzma learns that Team Skull will stand by him… · Ash beats Guzma Episode guide →
46SM138	Final Rivals!決勝戦！最強ライバル対決！！	Japan 8 Sep 2019 US 11 Jan 2020	On the eve of the final, Ash’s Meltan fuses with a crowd of wild Meltan to become Melmetal, and the three-on-three championship battle against… · Meltan becomes Melmetal Episode guide →
47SM139	Enter the Champion!誕生！アローラの覇者！！	Japan 15 Sep 2019 US 18 Jan 2020	Ash defeats Gladion in a battle of Z-Moves and Lycanroc to win the Manalo Conference and become Alola’s first Champion, but a Guzzlord crashes… · Ash wins the League Episode guide →
48SM140	Z-Move Showdown!アクジキング襲来！Ｚワザ大決戦！！	Japan 22 Sep 2019 US 25 Jan 2020	Three Guzzlord invade Manalo Stadium, and the kahunas, the guardian deities, Ash’s friends and the returning Poipole, now Naganadel, drive them… · Guzzlord attack Episode guide →
49SM141	Exhibition Unmasked!ファイナルバトル！サトシ対ククイ！！	Japan 29 Sep 2019 US 1 Feb 2020	Ash and Professor Kukui begin their exhibition match as a six-on-six Full Battle, with Naganadel rejoining Ash’s team and Torracat facing its… · Exhibition, part 1 Episode guide →
50SM142	A Full Battle Bounty!燃える！みなぎる！！フルバトル！！！	Japan 6 Oct 2019 US 8 Feb 2020	The exhibition battle rages on as Ash and Professor Kukui trade knockouts, Melmetal falls to Incineroar’s Blast Burn, and Naganadel enters an… · Exhibition, part 2 Episode guide →
51SM143	Fiery Surprises!決着！ガオガエンVSニャヒート！！	Japan 13 Oct 2019 US 15 Feb 2020	Naganadel defeats Kukui’s Lucario, and Torracat wins its long-awaited rematch with Incineroar through a double Inferno Overdrive, evolving into… · Torracat evolves into Incineroar Episode guide →
52SM144	From Z to Shining Z!アローラ最強のＺ！カプ・コケコVSピカチュウ！！	Japan 20 Oct 2019 US 22 Feb 2020	Tapu Koko stands in as Professor Kukui’s final Pokémon, and Pikachu’s 10,000,000 Volt Thunderbolt overpowers the guardian’s… · Exhibition, part 4 Episode guide →
53SM145	Dreams of the Sun and Moon!太陽と月と、みんなの夢！	Japan 27 Oct 2019 US 29 Feb 2020	After the League, Naganadel returns to its own world, Ash beats Kiawe in a long-promised battle, Lillie’s Magearna finally awakens, and Ash… · Magearna awakens Episode guide →
54SM146	Thank You, Alola! The Journey Continues!ありがとうアローラ！それぞれの旅立ち！！	Japan 3 Nov 2019 US 7 Mar 2020	The friends say their goodbyes as Lillie sets off with her family to find her father, Team Rocket return to Kanto, and Ash leaves his Alolan… · Sun & Moon finale Episode guide →

Characters & Travelling Companions

Ash lives with Professors Kukui and Burnet and finishes his school year at the Pokémon School. He meets Hau and loses to his Dartrix before Rowlet’s new Seed Bomb wins the rematch (SM097); is swept into the Ultra Ruin, where Dia’s Zeraora hands Pikachu its first official loss of the Sun & Moon series (SM100–SM101); loses to Hapu’s Golurk (SM104) and to Gladion’s Lycanroc — his last defeat of the series (SM105); and completes the island challenge by beating Hapu’s Mudsdale with Pikachu for the Steelium Z (SM109). He catches Meltan (SM112), wins a novelty Badge at the Kantonian Gym (SM118), earns his own Firium Z on a trip back to Professor Kukui’s childhood (SM125) and wins the Manalo Conference to become Alola’s first Champion (SM139), then the exhibition Full Battle against Kukui (SM141–SM144). Deciding to return to Pallet Town and see the world (SM145), he leaves his Alolan Pokémon with the Professors and flies home (SM146). Pikachu masters Corkscrew Crash (SM115), uses Breakneck Blitz in the final (SM139), fires its last Gigavolt Havoc with Naganadel (SM140) and beats Tapu Koko with 10,000,000 Volt Thunderbolt (SM144). Ash is voiced by Sarah Natochenny in English and Rica Matsumoto in Japanese; Ikue Ōtani remains Pikachu.

Lillie wears a new outfit from SM128 that reflects her more confident self; she inherits her father Mohn’s Z-Ring (SM116), looks after his inactive Magearna, masters Subzero Slammer with Snowy (SM127), reaches the League’s last sixteen before losing to her brother (SM131), sees Magearna awaken (SM145) and sails away with Gladion and Lusamine to find Mohn (SM146). Kiawe earns a Flyinium Z from Tapu Fini (SM107), hosts a Z-Move boot camp (SM123), loses the League semifinal to Gladion (SM135–SM136) and his long-promised battle with Ash (SM145), and leaves to train under Olivia. Lana catches the wandering Eevee as Sandy (SM099); her Popplio evolves into Brionne, earning her Ida’s Primarium Z (SM106), and into Primarina while she reels in a Kyogre (SM120); she beats Mallow and loses to Guzma (SM130, SM134) and sails with her father to look for Manaphy. Sophocles sees Charjabug evolve into Vikavolt (SM106), wins the Fini Cup, its Buginium Z and a Z-Ring from Hapu (SM119), masters Savage Spin-Out (SM123), beats Mina and loses to Kiawe (SM131, SM133–SM134) and heads for the Mossdeep Space Center with his cousin Molayne. Mallow says goodbye to her late mother in Tapu Fini’s mist and befriends a Shaymin (SM108), wins a Grassium Z and an old Z-Ring at Oranguru’s café (SM121), performs her first Bloom Doom in the League match she loses to Lana (SM130) and plans to turn Aina’s Kitchen into a restaurant for people and Pokémon; her Shaymin flies off in Sky Forme in the finale. Rotom Pokédex turns down a role on Alolan Detective Laki to stay with Ash (SM098) and ends the series working for the Aether Foundation (SM146).

Professor Kukui announces the Alola League (SM115), is seen as a boy nicknamed “Roarie” with his Litten (SM125), watches Manalo Stadium — his childhood dream — reach completion (SM127) and referees the final; the Guzzlord attack reveals him as the Masked Royal (SM140), and he loses the six-on-six exhibition to Ash (SM141–SM144). Professor Burnet admits that as a fan she should have recognised her own husband (SM141), and the series ends with the couple expecting a baby (SM146) — the anime’s first physical depiction of a pregnancy. In Japanese, Kenyu Horiuchi succeeds the late Unshō Ishizuka as Samson Oak (SM093), the narrator (SM095) and Professor Oak (SM111), and Toru Sakurai voices Kiawe’s Charizard from SM106; in English, Jessica Paquet’s last episode as Mallow is SM146.

Ash with the Manalo Conference trophy after Enter the Champion! (SM139), in which he becomes Alola’s first Champion

Team Rocket

Jessie, James and Meowth still live with Bewear and Stufful, and the season reveals that Bewear is Stufful’s mother when she rescues it from Aether Paradise, where the trio are working undercover and Jessie fails to catch it (SM096) — the dub calls them only “family”. Jessie hijacks the school play as “Lunala” (SM093), the Giga Meowthbot 3 and 4 fall to Misty and Brock’s holiday party (SM102–SM103), the Meltan swarm melts their base (SM111–SM112), Meowth falls for Pheromosa (SM114), Team Skull beat them (SM115) and they sabotage the Fini Cup (SM119). When Matori arrives with Giovanni’s order to bring Bewear to headquarters, they protect their adopted family; Jessie fails to catch Bewear, James fails to catch Grandpa Forest, and James’s Mareanie performs Black Hole Eclipse for the first time (SM122).

As “Jessina” and “Jamesio” — after Sina and Dexio — they survive the Battle Royal (SM129), and James beats Jessie in their first official battle against each other before Gladion’s Lycanroc ends his run (SM131–SM132); between matches they sell doughnuts from their food truck. Their Bewear-shaped mecha rescues Bewear and Stufful during the Guzzlord attack, with their last motto of the Sun & Moon series (SM140). Recalled to Kanto by Giovanni, they release Mimikyu and Mareanie to live with Bewear and Stufful, James leaving the sleeping Mareanie their Z-Power Ring, and Bewear hurls their balloon home (SM146) — the first time Jessie and James have released Pokémon together since AG006. Jessie is voiced by Michele Knotz and James and Meowth by James Carter Cathcart; in Japanese by Megumi Hayashibara, Shin-ichiro Miki and Inuko Inuyama, with Yūji Ueda as Wobbuffet.

Rivals, kahunas, Team Skull & friends

Gladion, Lillie’s brother, comes to Poni Island hoping Tapu Fini will let him see their father and beats Ash in a Lycanroc duel with Devastating Drake (SM105); clears his last grand trial against Hapu and recruits Mohn’s long-lost Zoroark (SM127); beats Lillie, James and Kiawe with Umbreon, Lycanroc and a Fire-type Silvally; and loses the final to Ash (SM138–SM139), asking for a rematch someday. He helps drive off the Guzzlord (SM140) and leaves with Lillie and their mother (SM146). Mohn, Lillie and Gladion’s father, missing since an accident while researching Ultra Wormholes, appears in flashback (SM105) and in Zoroark’s illusions (SM127, SM145); because he does not appear in Tapu Fini’s mist, Hapu concludes that he must still be alive (SM108). Lusamine shows her children his secret study (SM116) and her Aether Foundation builds the League’s stadium, and Faba enters the League hoping to battle his idol, the Masked Royal, and loses to Meltan (SM130).

Hau, Hala’s grandson, loses to Rowlet’s Seed Bomb (SM097), returns with a Decidueye and a Z-Ring (SM128), beats Samson Oak and loses the quarterfinal to Ash (SM133), and faces Nanu’s grand trial in the finale. Hapu, the farmer granddaughter of the late kahuna Sofu, beats Ash with Golurk (SM104), is chosen by Tapu Fini as Poni Island’s kahuna (SM108), gives Ash his last grand trial (SM109) and Sophocles a Z-Ring (SM119), and judges the League with the other kahunas, Hala, Olivia and Nanu, who with the four Tapu drive back a Guzzlord (SM140). Guzma, boss of Team Skull and once Hala’s apprentice alongside Kukui, declares war on the League (SM115), beats Ilima and Lana and loses the semifinal to Ash (SM137); when he tries to disband Team Skull, Plumeria and the Grunts Tupp, Rapp and Zipp refuse to leave him.

The guests include Dia, a former Ultra Ranger who stayed in the ruined Alola with Zeraora (SM100–SM101); Misty and Brock, Brock receiving a Comfey and falling for Olivia (SM102–SM103); the water-show performer Ida (SM106); Sofu’s ghost (SM107–SM108); the golfer Kahili (SM110); Charlie Charma and the rock-star Gym Leader Ryuki of the Kantonian Gym (SM117–SM118); Sophocles’ rival Horacio (SM106, SM119); Hunter D (SM120); Acerola, Mina and Ilima, League entrants who make their last appearances in SM139; the commentator Caster (SM129–SM144); Kiawe’s sister Mimo (SM135); Mallow’s brother Ulu (SM128, SM146); and Delia, Mr. Mime and Professor Oak, who watch the final in person — Delia and Oak’s first time at one of Ash’s League battles since the Silver Conference (SM138).

Manalo Stadium, the new home of the Alola League, as seen in Battling Besties! (SM130)

Hapu, who beats Ash on Poni Island (SM104), becomes its kahuna and gives him his last grand trial in A Grand Debut! (SM1

Voice cast

Character	English voice actor	Japanese voice actor
Ash Ketchum	Sarah Natochenny	Rica Matsumoto
Pikachu	Ikue Ōtani	Ikue Ōtani
Lillie	Laurie Hymes	Kei Shindō
Kiawe	Marc Swint	Kaito Ishikawa
Lana	Rosie Reyes	Hitomi Kikuchi
Sophocles	Alyson Leigh Rosenfeld	Fumiko Takekuma
Mallow	Jessica Paquet (her last episode is SM146)	Reina Ueda
Rotom Pokédex	Roger Callagy	Daisuke Namikawa (also Kartana, SM124)
Professor Kukui	Abe Goldfarb	Keiichi Nakagawa
Professor Burnet	Melissa Hope	Sachi Kokuryū
Gladion	Eddy Lee	Nobuhiko Okamoto
Hau	Neo Cihi	Jun Fukuyama
Hapu	Brittney Lee Hamilton	Junko Takeuchi
Guzma	Evan Maltby	Yasuyuki Kase
Mohn	Jeremy Levy	Jirō Saitō
Jessie	Michele Knotz	Megumi Hayashibara
James	James Carter Cathcart	Shin-ichiro Miki
Meowth	James Carter Cathcart	Inuko Inuyama
Narrator	Rodger Parsons	Kenyu Horiuchi (from SM095, succeeding Unshō Ishizuka)

Pokémon: Captures, Changes, Encounters & Evolutions

In brief:

Ash’s team grows by one: Meltan, caught on the second throw after it befriends Rowlet (SM112), is the first Mythical Pokémon caught by a main character and Ash’s first Steel type. Rowlet learns Seed Bomb, keeping an Everstone in its body as ammunition (SM097), Brave Bird at the Kantonian Gym (SM118) and Feather Dance from its Toucannon foster family, which also brings it a Decidueye-style cloak (SM132–SM133). Torracat learns Fire Blast from the spirit of its mentor Stoutland (SM108), absorbs Kukui’s Blast Burn into its bell (SM141) and evolves into Incineroar at the moment it defeats Kukui’s Incineroar, then faints (SM143). Meltan fuses with a crowd of wild Meltan to become Melmetal and learns Double Iron Bash (SM138), and Ash’s Dusk Form Lycanroc loses to Gladion’s (SM105) before winning the final with a Counter (SM139). Ash’s Poipole returns from Ultra Space as Naganadel — the first of his Pokémon to evolve off screen after its debut — rejoins his team for the exhibition (SM140–SM141) and goes home before the finale (SM145).
Pikachu loses officially for the first time in the Sun & Moon series to Dia’s Zeraora (SM100) and gains new Z-Moves: Corkscrew Crash with the Steelium Z (SM115), Breakneck Blitz in the final (SM139) and, when Ash’s Electrium Z becomes a Pikashunium Z, 10,000,000 Volt Thunderbolt (SM144). Ash’s other catches are brief: Rotom swats his Poké Balls away when it is offered a TV role (SM098), and he catches Pheromosa in a Beast Ball and releases it at once (SM114). In the finale he leaves Rowlet, Lycanroc, Incineroar and Melmetal with Professors Kukui and Burnet — the first time he has not brought home the Pokémon he caught in a region — while Rotom stays to work at Aether Paradise and Pikachu flies home with him; his older Pokémon remain at Professor Oak’s lab, where Muk is seen in SM111.
Among the classmates, Lana catches the wandering Eevee of Where Are You Going, Eevee? in a Dive Ball and names it Sandy (SM099), and her Popplio learns Surf (SM099), evolves into Brionne (SM106) and then into Primarina (SM120) — the first full on-screen evolution of a main character’s first partner since May’s Combusken. Sophocles’ Charjabug evolves into Vikavolt in Vast Poni Canyon’s magnetic field (SM106), the only on-screen evolution of one of his Pokémon, and learns Signal Beam, Zap Cannon and Wild Charge, while Togedemaru learns Spiky Shield (SM129). Mallow befriends a wild Shaymin that stays with her until the Gracidea season (SM108) and leaves in Sky Forme in the finale, and Mallow and Tsareena perform their first Bloom Doom (SM130). Lillie’s Snowy masters Subzero Slammer (SM127) and shows Hail, Snow Cloak and Aurora Veil (SM131), and Lillie looks after Mohn’s Magearna, found inactive (SM116) and awakened by Zoroark’s illusion of her father (SM145). Kiawe’s Charizard gains the Flyinium Z (SM107) and uses Inferno Overdrive for the first time against Ash (SM145), and his Turtonator learns Focus Blast (SM135).
Team Rocket’s catches all fail — Jessie’s attempts on Stufful (SM096) and Bewear (SM122) and James’s on Grandpa Forest, a Drampa (SM122) — and in the finale Jessie releases Mimikyu and James releases Mareanie to stay with Bewear and Stufful (SM146). Among rivals, Hau’s Dartrix has evolved into Decidueye off screen (SM128) and his Alolan Raichu is revealed (SM129); Gladion recruits Mohn’s Zoroark (SM127) and gives Silvally Rock, Fire and Fighting Memories; and the teams of Hapu (Golurk, Mudsdale), Guzma (Golisopod, Scizor) and Kukui (Braviary, Venusaur, Empoleon, Lucario, Incineroar) are revealed in battle. Brock receives a Comfey from Nurse Joy (SM103) — his first new Pokémon in 538 episodes, and the first new Pokémon for a former companion in the main series — and Misty Mega Evolves her Gyarados (SM102).

New Pokémon captured or hatched

Eevee#0133 · Lana · nicknamed Sandy and caught in a Dive Ball · SM099
Comfey#0764 · Brock · a gift from Nurse Joy, his first new Pokémon in 538 episodes · SM103
Meltan#0808 · Ash · caught on the second throw; the first Mythical Pokémon caught by a main character and Ash’s first Steel type · SM112
Pheromosa#0795 · Ash · caught in a Beast Ball after Bewear defeats it, and released at once · SM114
Zoroark#0571 · Gladion · his father Mohn’s long-lost Zoroark joins him · SM127

Evolutions

Charjabug → Vikavolt#0738 · Sophocles · in Vast Poni Canyon’s magnetic field, rescuing Horacio · SM106
Popplio → Brionne#0729 · Lana · while blowing a giant water balloon for Ida, who gives her a Primarium Z · SM106
Magikarp → Gyarados#0130 · Karpy, a child-actor Magikarp · in the middle of filming at Alola TV · SM113
Charjabug → Vikavolt#0738 · Horacio · off screen, revealed as a Shiny Vikavolt at the Fini Cup · SM119
Brionne → Primarina#0730 · Lana · diving to rescue her from Kyogre · SM120
Dartrix → Decidueye#0724 · Hau · off screen, revealed at Manalo Stadium · SM128
Meltan → Melmetal#0809 · Ash · fusing with a crowd of wild Meltan; learns Double Iron Bash · SM138
Poipole → Naganadel#0804 · Ash · off screen in Ultra Space; returns to fight the Guzzlord · SM140
Torracat → Incineroar#0727 · Ash · at the moment it beats Kukui’s Incineroar, then faints · SM143

Releases, departures and returns

The finale is a season of partings. Ash leaves Rowlet, Lycanroc, Incineroar and Melmetal with Professors Kukui and Burnet, who promise to bring them to school sometimes (SM146) — not a release, but the first time he has left a region without the Pokémon he caught there; Naganadel senses an Ultra Wormhole over the house and returns to its own world (SM145); and Rotom Pokédex, which Ash never caught, takes a job with the Aether Foundation. Earlier, Ash released Pheromosa through an Ultra Wormhole opened by Professor Burnet’s machine as soon as he had caught it (SM114).

Jessie releases Mimikyu and James releases Mareanie to live with Bewear and Stufful, leaving them the trio’s Z-Power Ring before Bewear hurls Team Rocket’s balloon towards Kanto (SM146) — the first time Jessie and James have released Pokémon together since AG006. Mallow’s Shaymin, never caught, changes into Sky Forme and flies off with a flock of its kind after her brother Ulu comes home with a bouquet of Gracidea (SM146). Among wild Pokémon, the Alolan Golem of Wela Volcano lets the Hikers catch it (SM095), Kyogre swims free after Lana lands it (SM120), Kartana cuts a falling comet to pieces and leaves through a new Ultra Wormhole (SM124), and the three Guzzlord are driven back to Ultra Space (SM140).

Teams at the end of the season (SM146)

Trainer	Pokémon	Changes this season
Ash	Pikachu (travels home with him); Rowlet, Lycanroc (Dusk Form), Incineroar and Melmetal (left with Professors Kukui and Burnet)	Caught Meltan (SM112), which became Melmetal (SM138); Torracat evolved into Incineroar (SM143); Poipole returned as Naganadel (SM140) and went home to Ultra Space (SM145); Rotom Pokédex stayed at Aether Paradise (SM146)
Lillie	Snowy (Alolan Vulpix); Magearna in her care	Inherited Mohn’s Z-Ring (SM116); Snowy mastered Subzero Slammer (SM127); Magearna awakened (SM145)
Kiawe	Charizard, Turtonator, Alolan Marowak	Flyinium Z (SM107); Turtonator learned Focus Blast (SM135)
Lana	Primarina, Sandy (Eevee)	Caught Sandy (SM099); Popplio evolved into Brionne (SM106) and Primarina (SM120); Primarium Z (SM106)
Sophocles	Vikavolt, Togedemaru	Charjabug evolved into Vikavolt (SM106); Buginium Z and a Z-Ring (SM119); Togedemaru learned Spiky Shield (SM129)
Mallow	Tsareena	Grassium Z and a Z-Ring (SM121); befriended Shaymin (SM108), which left in Sky Forme (SM146)
Jessie	Wobbuffet	Released Mimikyu (SM146)
James	None	Released Mareanie (SM146)

Rivals’, kahunas’ and other Trainers’ Pokémon this season

Trainer	Pokémon	Episodes
Gladion	Lycanroc (Midnight Form), Silvally (Rock, Fire and Fighting Memories), Umbreon, Zoroark; Dragonium Z, Ghostium Z	SM105, SM127, SM129–SM140
Hau	Dartrix (later Decidueye), Alolan Raichu; Decidium Z	SM097, SM128–SM133, SM140
Hapu	Golurk, Mudsdale; Groundium Z	SM104, SM109, SM127, SM140
Guzma	Golisopod, Scizor	SM115, SM129–SM130, SM134, SM136–SM137
Professor Kukui (the Masked Royal)	Incineroar, Braviary, Venusaur, Empoleon, Lucario; Firium Z, Electrium Z, Tapunium Z; Tapu Koko stands in as his sixth; as a boy, Litten	SM125, SM140–SM144
Kahunas	Hala: Hariyama · Olivia: Lycanroc (Midday Form) · Nanu: Alolan Persian · Hapu: Mudsdale	SM103, SM140
Dia	Zeraora	SM100–SM101
Misty / Brock	Gyarados (Mega Gyarados), Psyduck, Corsola / Sudowoodo, Comfey	SM102–SM103
Ryuki	Zweilous, Druddigon	SM118
Plumeria	Salazzle	SM129
Ilima / Faba / Samson Oak	Eevee, Kangaskhan (Mega Kangaskhan) / Hypno, Alakazam / Alolan Exeggutor	SM129–SM130
Acerola / Mina	Mimikyu (Shiny, “Mimikins”), Shuppet, Gengar (“Rapooh”) / Ribombee	SM094, SM131
Horacio / Ida	Charjabug, later a Shiny Vikavolt / Primarina	SM106, SM119
Kahili	Toucannon (“Touckey”)	SM110

Pokémon making their anime debut this season

With Meltan and Melmetal, Sun & Moon became the first series in which every Pokémon of its own generation appears: by Final Rivals! (SM138) every Generation VII Pokémon, Mythical ones included, had been shown in the main series. The season’s species debuts are led by Ultra Beasts — Guzzlord (SM100), Pheromosa (SM114) and Kartana (SM124) — and by Meltan, glimpsed in Evolving Research! (SM106) before it is named, and Melmetal; Zeraora and Magearna make their TV-episode debuts after starring in movies, and Dartrix, Vikavolt and Golisopod arrive with their Trainers. Alolan Graveler (SM095) completes the anime’s Alolan forms, Sensu Style Oricorio (SM104) its four Oricorio styles, and Gladion’s Silvally shows its Rock and Fighting types for the first time (SM129, SM138). Individual debuts include Lana’s Sandy, Brionne and Primarina, Brock’s Comfey, Mallow’s Shaymin and Ash’s Naganadel and Incineroar, and Living on the Cutting Edge! (SM124) has four Mythical Pokémon, the most of any animated episode.

Dartrix#0723 · SM097 · debut; Hau’s partner
Eevee#0133 · SM099 · main-series debut of Lana’s Sandy, the Eevee of the Where Are You Going, Eevee? shorts
Guzzlord#0799 · SM100 · debut, in the Ultra Ruin
Zeraora#0807 · SM100 · TV-episode debut; Dia’s partner
Comfey#0764 · SM103 · debut of Brock’s Comfey
Vikavolt#0738 · SM106 · debut; Sophocles’ Charjabug evolves
Meltan#0808 · SM106 · debut, in a cameo before it is named
Brionne#0729 · SM106 · debut of Lana’s Brionne
Shaymin#0492 · SM108 · debut of Mallow’s Shaymin, never caught
Pheromosa#0795 · SM114 · debut; the Z-Crystal thief
Golisopod#0768 · SM115 · debut; Guzma’s partner
Magearna#0801 · SM116 · TV-episode debut; Mohn’s gift to Lillie
Primarina#0730 · SM120 · debut of Lana’s Primarina
Kartana#0798 · SM124 · debut; the Ultra Guardians’ last mission
Melmetal#0809 · SM138 · debut; with it every Generation VII Pokémon has appeared
Naganadel#0804 · SM140 · debut of Ash’s Naganadel
Incineroar#0727 · SM143 · debut of Ash’s Incineroar

Key Events, Island Trials & the Alola League

Events of note

Jessie hijacks the Pokémon School play as “Lunala”; the first Where Are You Going, Eevee? short (SM093 – Lillier and the Staff!)
Bewear is revealed as Stufful’s mother (SM096 – Don’t Ignore the Small Stufful!)
Ash meets Hau; Rowlet learns Seed Bomb (SM097 – No Stone Unturned!)
Rotom turns down a TV role to stay with Ash (SM098 – Bright Lights, Big Changes!)
Lana catches Sandy; Popplio learns Surf (SM099 – We Know Where You’re Going, Eevee!)
Ash and Pikachu reach the Ultra Ruin; Zeraora hands Pikachu its first official Sun & Moon loss (SM100 – Battling the Beast Within!)
A double Gigavolt Havoc drives Guzzlord out of the Ultra Ruin (SM101 – Parallel Friendships!)
Misty and Brock visit Alola; Misty’s Gyarados Mega Evolves (SM102 – Alola, Alola!)
Brock receives a Comfey (SM103 – Heart of Fire! Heart of Stone!)
Hapu beats Ash (SM104 – That’s Some Spicy Island Research!)
Gladion beats Ash — Ash’s last defeat of the series (SM105 – Showdown on Poni Island!)
Charjabug evolves into Vikavolt and Popplio into Brionne; Lana receives a Primarium Z (SM106 – Evolving Research!)
Kiawe earns a Flyinium Z (SM107 – Run, Heroes, Run!)
Mallow befriends Shaymin; Torracat learns Fire Blast; Hapu becomes Poni Island’s kahuna (SM108 – Memories in the Mist!)
Ash completes his island challenge and wins a Steelium Z (SM109 – A Grand Debut!)
Ash catches Meltan (SM112 – Got Meltan?)
Ash catches and releases Pheromosa (SM114 – Beauty is Only Crystal Deep!)
Kukui announces the Alola League; Guzma debuts; Pikachu’s first Corkscrew Crash (SM115 – The Dealer of Destruction!)
Lillie inherits Mohn’s Z-Ring and finds Magearna (SM116 – The Secret Princess!)
Ash wins the Kantonian Gym’s novelty Badge; Rowlet learns Brave Bird (SM118 – Aiming for the Top Floor!)
Sophocles wins the Fini Cup, a Buginium Z and a Z-Ring (SM119 – A High-Speed Awakening!)
Brionne evolves into Primarina (SM120 – The One That Didn’t Get Away!)
Mallow earns a Grassium Z and a Z-Ring (SM121 – A Recipe for Success!)
Matori comes for Bewear; James’s first Black Hole Eclipse (SM122 – Spying for the Big Guy!)
Sophocles masters Savage Spin-Out; Lana’s first Oceanic Operetta (SM123 – A Fiery Training Camp Trick!)
Kartana, the Ultra Guardians’ last mission (SM124 – Living on the Cutting Edge!)
Ash meets the young Kukui and earns a Firium Z (SM125 – A Timeless Encounter!)
Gladion recruits Zoroark; Lillie masters Subzero Slammer (SM127 – Chasing Memories, Creating Dreams!)
The class arrives at Manalo Stadium; Lillie’s new outfit (SM128 – League Offenders and Defenders!)
The Battle Royal decides the last sixteen (SM129 – Battle Royal 151!)
Meltan beats Faba; Mallow’s first Bloom Doom (SM130 – Battling Besties!)
James beats Jessie; Gladion beats Lillie (SM131 – The Battlefield of Truth and Love!)
Rowlet beats Hau’s Decidueye (SM133 – Battling on the Wing!)
Ash beats Guzma to reach the final (SM137 – The Wisdom Not to Run!)
Meltan becomes Melmetal; every Generation VII Pokémon has now appeared (SM138 – Final Rivals!)
Ash beats Gladion and becomes Alola’s first Champion (SM139 – Enter the Champion!)
Poipole returns as Naganadel; the Masked Royal is unmasked as Kukui (SM140 – Z-Move Showdown!)
Torracat evolves into Incineroar (SM143 – Fiery Surprises!)
Pikachu beats Tapu Koko with 10,000,000 Volt Thunderbolt (SM144 – From Z to Shining Z!)
Naganadel goes home; Ash beats Kiawe; Magearna awakens (SM145 – Dreams of the Sun and Moon!)
Ash leaves his Alolan Pokémon with Kukui and Burnet and flies home (SM146 – Thank You, Alola! The Journey Continues!)

Trials, the League & other battles

Sophocles’ Metang v an Alolan Golem, an iron-sand duel (Metang wins) — SM095
Rowlet v Hau’s Dartrix (Hau wins; Rowlet wins the rematch with Bloom Doom) — SM097
Pikachu v Tapu Koko (interrupted); Pikachu v Dia’s Zeraora (Zeraora wins) — SM100
Pikachu and Zeraora v Guzzlord (double Gigavolt Havoc); Ash v Dia, a last friendly battle (unresolved) — SM101
Misty, Ash, Kiawe and Lana v Team Rocket’s Giga Meowthbot 3 (Mega Gyarados’s Hydro Pump wins) — SM102
Brock’s Sudowoodo v Olivia’s Lycanroc (interrupted by Team Rocket) — SM103
Pikachu v Hapu’s Golurk (Hapu wins) — SM104
Ash’s Lycanroc v Gladion’s Lycanroc (Gladion wins with Devastating Drake) — SM105
Ash v Kiawe, Double Battle (interrupted by Tapu Fini); Kiawe’s Charizard v Tapu Lele (Tapu Lele gives up its scales) — SM107
Poni Island grand trial: Pikachu v Hapu’s Mudsdale (Ash wins the Steelium Z) — SM109
Kahili’s Pokémon Golf, ending on the “Tenth Hole of Doom” — SM110
Bewear v Pheromosa (Bewear wins) — SM114
Pikachu v Guzma’s Golisopod (no result: Emergency Exit) — SM115
Kantonian Gym: Kiawe’s Marowak v Ryuki’s Zweilous (Ryuki wins); Rowlet and Meltan v Zweilous and Druddigon, Double Battle (Ash wins) — SM118
34th Fini Cup (Sophocles wins by a nose over Horacio) — SM119
Lana and Primarina v Kyogre, by rod and line — SM120
Vikavolt v a wild Crawdaunt (Vikavolt wins with Savage Spin-Out) — SM123
Torracat v the young Kukui’s Litten (Torracat wins) — SM125
Gladion’s Lycanroc v Hapu’s Golurk (Gladion clears his last grand trial) — SM127
Manalo Conference Battle Royal: 151 Trainers, 16 qualifiers — SM129
First round: Ash (Meltan) beats Faba (Hypno); Guzma (Scizor) beats Ilima (Mega Kangaskhan); Hau (Alolan Raichu) beats Samson Oak (Alolan Exeggutor); Lana (Primarina) beats Mallow (Tsareena) — SM130
First round: Sophocles (Vikavolt) beats Mina (Ribombee); James (Mareanie) beats Jessie (Wobbuffet); Kiawe (Alolan Marowak) beats Acerola (Gengar); Gladion (Umbreon) beats Lillie (Snowy) — SM131
Quarterfinal: Gladion (Lycanroc) beats James (Mareanie) — SM132
Quarterfinal: Ash (Rowlet) beats Hau (Decidueye) — SM132–SM133
Quarterfinal: Kiawe (Charizard) beats Sophocles (Vikavolt) — SM133–SM134
Quarterfinal: Guzma (Golisopod) beats Lana (Primarina) — SM134
Semifinal: Gladion beats Kiawe, two-on-two — SM135–SM136
Semifinal: Ash beats Guzma, two-on-two — SM136–SM137
Final: Ash beats Gladion, three-on-three — SM138–SM139
The kahunas and the Tapu, Gladion, Hau and the classmates, and Ash and the Masked Royal v three Guzzlord — SM140
Exhibition Full Battle: Ash beats Professor Kukui, six-on-six — SM141–SM144
Ash’s Lycanroc v Kiawe’s Charizard (Ash wins) — SM145

Trials & Z-Crystals this season

Z-Crystal	Trial & challenger	Opponent’s Pokémon	Challenger’s Pokémon	Result	Episode
Flyinium Z	Tapu Fini’s trial · Kiawe	Tapu Lele (on Akala Island)	Charizard	Win — with Ash and his Pokémon sealed in a bubble at the Ruins of Hope for battling on sacred ground, Kiawe must bring back Tapu Lele’s scales before a water clock runs dry. Tapu Lele’s Psychic Terrain and Psybeam clip Charizard’s wing, but Aerial Ace forces it into its shell and it gives up its scales; Kiawe reaches the ruins as the clock empties, Tapu Fini restores Charizard and presents the Flyinium Z, and Charizard performs Supersonic Skystrike for the first time. The old man who set the trial with Tapu Fini was the ghost of Hapu’s grandfather, Sofu	SM107
Steelium Z	Poni Island grand trial · Ash v Hapu, the new kahuna	Mudsdale	Pikachu	Win — one-on-one at nightfall on the ancient battlefield of Poni Breaker Coast, uncovered at low tide, with Kiawe refereeing. Mudsdale’s Stamina raises its Defense with every Quick Attack, its Double Kick and Bulldoze topple ancient pillars into the sea, and its Tectonic Rage swallows Pikachu in a fissure; but Ash lures it into using Bulldoze by the water, a collapsing pillar drenches it with seawater that works like Soak, making it a pure Water type, and Electroweb and Gigavolt Havoc win. Ash’s fourth and final grand trial completes his island challenge, and Pikachu chooses the Steelium Z from Hapu’s chest	SM109
Icium Z	Hala’s Z-Ring test · Lillie	— (a demonstration for Hala in Iki Town)	Snowy (Alolan Vulpix)	Not passed, but approved — Lillie fastens her father Mohn’s Z-Ring, a gift from Hala, inserts her Icium Z and performs the pose, but the Z-Power disperses at the last moment; impressed by her determination, Hala lets her use the ring. She and Snowy perform Subzero Slammer at last in Chasing Memories, Creating Dreams! (SM127)	SM116
Buginium Z	34th Fini Cup · Sophocles	The reigning champion De Rosa, Horacio and the other Vikavolt racers	Vikavolt	Win by a nose — when a gust knocks many racers into the sea, String Shot lets Vikavolt cling to a checkpoint and take the lead; in the cave Sophocles’ Vikavolt cuts the other racers free of Team Rocket’s net; everyone sets off again together, and Vikavolt edges past Horacio’s Shiny Vikavolt on the home stretch. The Buginium Z is the prize, and Hapu gives Sophocles a Z-Ring of his own when the racers tell her how he saved them	SM119
Grassium Z	Oranguru’s café trial · Mallow	— (cooking for Tapu Koko)	Tsareena and Shaymin, cheering her on	Win — Mallow helps Oranguru run its forest café for Pokémon customers, then bakes a Fluffy Radish Burger for Tapu Koko, which gives her a Grassium Z; Oranguru adds an old Z-Ring, which Olivia repairs. All six classmates now have Z-Rings, and Mallow and Ash are the first two main characters with the same Z-Crystal type	SM121
Firium Z	The Totem Trevenant Elder · Ash, in the past	— (drying out the Cutiefly in Elder’s canopy)	Torracat	Gift — carried back to Professor Kukui’s childhood by Celebi, Ash borrows the young Kukui’s Firium Z for his first Inferno Overdrive, then helps the sneezing Totem Trevenant, which gives him a Firium Z of his own, as it once did to Kukui. Ash and Kukui use their Firium Z for the double Inferno Overdrive of SM143	SM125

The Kantonian Gym

Malie City’s Kantonian Gym (SM118) is a pagoda-style tourist attraction modelled on the Gyms of Kanto, introduced by the guide Charlie Charma (SM117). Challengers must clear a game on each of four floors — crossing a pond without swimming, a banquet of Malie food, three hits on each target with shuriken and an obstacle course — run by the ninjas Shirataki, Darley and Farley before they reach the Leader, the rock-star Dragon-type specialist Ryuki. Snowy freezes a path across the pond, the banquet keeps Mallow and Sophocles behind, Lillie stays behind to practise her throwing and Meltan’s appetite for the obstacle course stops Lana. Ryuki’s Zweilous, calmed by his air guitar, knocks out Kiawe’s Marowak with Dark Pulse; Rowlet holds its own until Meltan chews the studs off Ryuki’s outfit, and at Ash’s request the match becomes a Double Battle in which Rowlet’s Peck becomes Brave Bird and Brave Bird and Flash Cannon knock out Zweilous and Druddigon. Ryuki’s prize is a novelty Badge bearing his own face, which Meltan has half eaten by the time the ferry reaches Melemele. In the dub the ninjas’ shuriken are painted pink.

The Manalo Conference

Professor Kukui announces Alola’s first Pokémon League in The Dealer of Destruction! (SM115) — reviving, the kahunas explain, an old tradition of a summit battle after the island challenge — and Lusamine’s Aether Foundation builds Manalo Stadium on a new island near Aether Paradise. Open to everyone, the Manalo Conference (SM128–SM139) begins with a Battle Royal of 151 Trainers, judged by the four kahunas, which runs until sixteen remain (SM129): Hiroki’s Mudbray is the first out, Ilima’s Eevee eliminates Team Skull’s Grunts and Plumeria’s Salazzle, Jessie’s Mimikyu knocks out Pikala’s Pikachu, Bolt, Turtonator beats Mad Magmar’s Magmortar and Mr. Electric’s Electivire with one Dragon Tail, and Kiawe’s Inferno Overdrive ends the round by knocking out a Metagross. The sixteen are Ash, Kiawe, Lana, Lillie, Mallow and Sophocles, Jessie and James as “Jessina” and “Jamesio”, Mina, Acerola, Ilima, Gladion, Faba, Samson Oak, Guzma and Hau. The first round and quarterfinals are one-on-one, each refereed by a kahuna, the semifinals two-on-two and the final three-on-three, refereed by Kukui, with the Manalo Championship Trophy and an exhibition against the Masked Royal for the new Champion; Caster commentates.

In the first round Ash’s Meltan melts Hypno’s pendulum and beats Faba, who had picked it as Ash’s weakest Pokémon; Guzma’s Scizor lines up Ilima’s Mega Kangaskhan, mother and child, so that the mother hesitates to strike; Hau’s Alolan Raichu beats Samson Oak’s Alolan Exeggutor with Focus Blast; and Lana’s Primarina beats Mallow’s Tsareena with Aqua Jet after Bloom Doom and Oceanic Operetta cancel out (SM130). Sophocles’ Vikavolt beats Mina’s Ribombee with Signal Beam, James’s Mareanie overwhelms Jessie’s Wobbuffet with Spike Cannon in their first official battle, Kiawe’s Alolan Marowak beats Acerola’s Gengar, Rapooh, with Shadow Bone, and Gladion’s Umbreon survives Snowy’s Subzero Slammer to win with Iron Tail (SM131). In the quarterfinals Gladion’s Lycanroc cancels Black Hole Eclipse with Continental Crush and beats James with Stone Edge (SM132); Rowlet escapes Hau’s Sinister Arrow Raid by leaving its cloak behind, absorbs Sky Attack with Feather Dance and beats Decidueye with Brave Bird (SM132–SM133); Kiawe’s Charizard burns through Savage Spin-Out and beats Sophocles’ Vikavolt with Supersonic Skystrike (SM133–SM134); and Guzma’s Golisopod silences Lana’s Primarina with Throat Chop and splits Oceanic Operetta with Liquidation (SM134).

In the semifinals Gladion’s Lycanroc beats Kiawe’s Marowak, Turtonator learns Focus Blast to beat Lycanroc, and Silvally, given a Fire Memory that blunts Inferno Overdrive, beats Turtonator with Crush Claw (SM135–SM136); Torracat burns out Guzma’s Scizor after Golisopod’s Emergency Exit forces it back onto the field, Golisopod beats the poisoned Torracat, and Golisopod survives Pikachu’s Gigavolt Havoc without running away, only to fall when Iron Tail meets Liquidation (SM136–SM137). In the final Gladion’s Silvally, with a Fighting Memory, beats the newly evolved Melmetal; Pikachu beats Silvally with an Iron Tail launched from an Electroweb; a “Lycanroc” using Night Daze turns out to be Mohn’s Zoroark, and Breakneck Blitz and Never-Ending Nightmare knock out both; and Gladion’s Lycanroc, biting its own paw to shake off Outrage’s confusion, falls when Ash’s Lycanroc answers Counter with Counter (SM138–SM139). Ash wins — his best Conference placing and his first Conference title — with Gladion runner-up, Kiawe and Guzma in the top four and Lana, Sophocles, Hau and James in the top eight. Seventeen episodes long counting the arrival and the exhibition, it is the longest Conference to date, the only one in which Ash’s friends, Jessie and James, a villainous team’s leader and a professor all compete, and Ash’s last League Conference.

The Guzzlord attack

That night, as the Masked Royal presents Ash with the trophy, an Ultra Wormhole opens over the stadium and a Guzzlord falls onto the field (SM139). Two more follow, both Shiny, one of them giant, and Lusamine orders an evacuation (SM140). Bewear punches the first Guzzlord over the stadium walls and Team Rocket rescue her and Stufful in their Bewear-shaped mecha; the kahunas trap it with Mudsdale’s Bulldoze and, with the four Tapu holding it down, drive it through its wormhole with Z-Moves led by Hapu’s Tectonic Rage. At the mall Gladion, Hau and all six classmates combine their Z-Moves into a rainbow beam that blasts the Shiny Guzzlord home, and at the docks the Masked Royal’s Lucario forces the giant Guzzlord halfway into its wormhole. Then Ash’s Poipole returns through the sky as Naganadel, the Masked Royal produces an Electrium Z for it, and Pikachu and Naganadel’s double Gigavolt Havoc — Pikachu’s last — drives the Guzzlord back as its shock wave tears off the mask: the Masked Royal is Professor Kukui. With thirteen Z-Moves, SM140 has the most of any episode.

The exhibition: Ash v the Masked Royal

Kukui asks for a six-on-six Full Battle, refereed by Hala with substitutions allowed, so Ash adds Naganadel to make a full team for the first time in Sun & Moon (SM141–SM144). Torracat absorbs Incineroar’s Blast Burn into its bell and is recalled, Lycanroc wounds Incineroar with a rock shard, and Kukui’s Braviary beats Lycanroc with Superpower after a Sky Drop (SM141–SM142). Rowlet beats Braviary with Brave Bird and falls to Venusaur’s Vine Whip; Torracat beats Venusaur with Fire Blast; Melmetal beats Empoleon with Double Iron Bash and falls to Incineroar’s point-blank Blast Burn (SM142); Naganadel beats Lucario with a Dragon Pulse from its other stingers in its first official battle; and in a double Inferno Overdrive Torracat beats Incineroar, evolves into Incineroar and faints (SM143). Tapu Koko then knocks Kukui’s last Poké Ball from his hand and takes its place, beating Naganadel with Dazzling Gleam and Discharge; the Tapu’s scales recharge both Z-Rings, Tapu Koko gives Kukui a Tapunium Z, Ash’s Electrium Z becomes a Pikashunium Z, and Pikachu’s 10,000,000 Volt Thunderbolt breaks through Guardian of Alola (SM144). The first anime battle to last more than three episodes and the first in which a Trainer uses two Z-Moves, it does not affect Ash’s title; Bulbapedia notes that it echoes the Champion battle of Pokémon Sun and Moon.

Movies & Specials Released During the Season

The twenty-second movie, Pokémon: Mewtwo Strikes Back—Evolution, a CGI remake of the first film directed by Kunihiko Yuyama and Motonori Sakakibara, had its world premiere at Anime Expo in Los Angeles on 4 July 2019 and opened in Japanese cinemas on 12 July 2019, between Battle Royal 151! (SM129) and Battling Besties! (SM130); it opened at number two in Japan behind Toy Story 4, the biggest Pokémon opening in five years. Its ending, Kaze to Issho ni, sung by Sachiko Kobayashi and Shōko Nakagawa, shared a CD single (10 July 2019) with Nakagawa’s new Type: Wild, the season’s last Japanese ending from SM129. Advance tickets carried a Mewtwo code for Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Let’s Go, Eevee! from 12 April 2019, and the first three million cinema-goers received an Armored Mewtwo promo card. Netflix, which announced it on 21 January 2020, released it worldwide outside Japan and Korea on Pokémon Day, 27 February 2020 — nine days before the season’s finale aired in the US — and it became Netflix’s most-watched anime title in the US that year. It came out on Blu-ray and DVD in Japan on 18 December 2019 and from VIZ Media in the US on 17 November 2020.

Mewtwo Strikes Back—EvolutionMovie 22 · Japan 12 July 2019 · Netflix 27 February 2020

The Power of UsMovie 21 · US Blu-ray and DVD 19 March 2019 · Japanese TV 11 July 2019

The twenty-first movie, The Power of Us, had opened in Japan on 13 July 2018 and premiered on Disney XD in December 2018, before the season. VIZ released it on Blu-ray and DVD in the US on 19 March 2019, four days before the Disney XD premiere; YTV showed it in Canada on 10 May 2019; TV Tokyo gave it its Japanese TV premiere in a two-hour special on 11 July 2019, with a countdown to the new film; and Netflix added it in the US on 1 January 2020.

Japan’s season also brought Where Are You Going, Eevee?, six wordless shorts after the ending of SM093 to SM098 (see Side Stories), a special on the anime’s Heisei-era history (4 January 2019) and, after the finale, a rundown special (10 November 2019) before Pocket Monsters (2019) began on 17 November with Enter Pikachu!; its teasers had run in SM137 and after SM141, SM142 and SM146. In the US, that series premiered on Netflix as Pokémon Journeys: The Series on 12 June 2020.

Side Stories, Specials & Crossovers

Side-story tie-ins

Where Are You Going, Eevee? Six wordless shorts (イーブイどこいくの？) followed the Japanese ending of SM093 to SM098, from 21 October to 25 November 2018, tracing the journey of a little wild Eevee — “Little Eevee encounters Hungry Houndour”, “Eevee stranded at sea?!”, “Eevee learns how to Mantine Surf!”, “Land ahoy!”, “Eevee makes new friends?” and “Fun in the sun with little Eevee!” — until it reaches Melemele Island and Lana catches it as Sandy in We Know Where You’re Going, Eevee! (SM099). The dub places them before the credits, and the official English Twitter, Facebook and YouTube accounts posted them from 23 March 2019, the day of the US premiere; the fifth never reached YouTube. A clip from the third short in the English opening shows Hau and Dartrix before their debut.
Specials and companion programming. TV Tokyo marked the end of an era with a Friday special on 4 January 2019, ポケットモンスターの平成史 (“The Heisei history of Pocket Monsters: from Tuesday to Thursday, and on to Sunday”), reviewing the anime’s Heisei-era history — A High-Speed Awakening! (SM119) was the last episode of the Heisei period and The One That Didn’t Get Away! (SM120) the first of Reiwa. A two-hour special on Thursday 11 July 2019 gave The Power of Us its TV premiere with a countdown to the new film, a rundown special with Marie Iitoyo followed the finale on 10 November 2019, and the new series began with a live special on 17 November. All year the Sunday-morning show Pokénchi (ポケモンの家あつまる？), with Shōko Nakagawa, Rinka Ōtani, Hyadain and Abareru-kun, ran alongside, and Pokémon Kids TV nursery-rhyme videos began in January 2019.
Meltan’s mysterious arrival. Before it reached the anime, Meltan was introduced through Pokémon GO and Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Let’s Go, Eevee! with two profile videos, “Meltan and the Mystery Box” (8 October 2018) and “The Final Mystery of Meltan” (24 October 2018), the day Melmetal was revealed — months before its cameo in Evolving Research! (SM106) and its capture in Got Meltan? (SM112). An animated trailer for Pokémon Masters followed on 27 June 2019.
Detective Pikachu and Twilight Wings. The live-action Pokémon Detective Pikachu opened in Japan on 3 May 2019 and in the US on 10 May, the week before Disney XD’s two-Saturday break of 18 and 25 May. Announced on 13 December 2019, the Galar web series Pokémon: Twilight Wings released its first episode, “Letter”, on 15 January 2020 and its second, “Training”, on 18 February 2020, both during the US run; the third, “Buddy”, followed on 17 March 2020, after the finale.

Characters from the games, manga and specials

Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Let’s Go, Eevee! came out on 16 November 2018: Don’t Ignore the Small Stufful! (SM096) was the last Japanese episode before them and No Stone Unturned! (SM097) the first after. The games’ Mythical newcomer Meltan, introduced through Pokémon GO and Let’s Go, enters the anime in SM106 and becomes Ash’s in SM112, and advance tickets for the twenty-second movie carried a Mewtwo code for Let’s Go.
Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon remain the current Alola games, and Hapu, Mohn, Guzma and his Golisopod, the Masked Royal of the Battle Royal Dome, Ryuki and Kahili are all characters from the games; Bulbapedia notes that the exhibition against Kukui references the Champion battle of Pokémon Sun and Moon and that Tapu Koko’s part in it may reference the games’ post-Champion battle. Jessie and James’s League aliases, “Jessina” and “Jamesio”, come from the games’ Sina and Dexio.
Towards Sword and Shield. Bright Lights, Big Changes! (SM098) sends Rotom to film overseas in a London-like setting that hints at the Galar region, and Thank You, Alola! The Journey Continues! (SM146) was the last Japanese episode before Pokémon Sword and Shield came out on 15 November 2019; the Galar shorts Twilight Wings began in January 2020.
Nods and homages. Jessie’s costumes in Lillier and the Staff! (SM093) nod to Megumi Hayashibara’s other roles, among them Lina Inverse, Ranma, Rei Ayanami, Faye Valentine and Ai Haibara; the title of Alola, Alola! (SM102) echoes Alola, Kanto! (SM042), and SM103 quotes G Gundam and Yatterman. The golf episode (SM110) recalls Pro Golfer Saru, the Fini Cup (SM119) Initial D and the sound of a Star Wars speeder bike, Kartana (SM124) is a homage to Lupin III’s Goemon, and the Japanese titles of SM111 and SM125 borrow from Full Metal Panic! and the fourth movie. The Japanese title of SM129 opens with 大乱闘, from the Japanese name of Super Smash Bros., and its 151 entrants match the first generation’s Pokédex.

Opening & Ending Themes

Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon – Ultra Legends opens in Japan with Taiiku Okazaki’s Kimi no Bōken (Your Adventure), the fourth and last Sun & Moon opening, which had replaced ЯeaL’s Future Connection two weeks before the season and runs to SM145 through thirteen animation variants as Dia’s Zeraora, Misty and Brock, Meltan, the classmates’ Z-Rings, Melmetal and Incineroar join it; the finale has no opening at all. Three endings follow one another: Okazaki’s Team Rocket-flavoured Twerp, Twerpette to SM103; Notebook of the Heart, sung by the Hino City Nanaomidori Elementary School Choir, from SM104 to SM128; and from SM129 Shōko Nakagawa’s new arrangement of Type: Wild, Rica Matsumoto’s 1998 ending — the only Japanese ending ever re-arranged. In English, Dani Marcus and The Sad Truth’s “The Challenge of Life”, written by Ed Goldfarb, opens SM093 to SM145 and its instrumental closes them; as usual, the Japanese songs were not dubbed. SM146 is the last episode whose background music was primarily composed by Shinji Miyazaki.

Opening · Kimi no Bōken (キミの冒険 Your Adventure) — **Opening · *Kimi no Bōken* (キミの冒険 Your Adventure)**Taiiku Okazaki · SM093–SM145Lyrics and music by Taiiku Okazaki, arranged by Yōichirō Nomura; the opening since SM091, it replaced *Future Connection* and gave way to *One, Two, Three* in JN001. Its thirteen animation variants follow the story: Dia’s Zeraora saving Ash from Guzzlord and Sandy’s haircut (SM100–SM101), Misty Mantine-surfing and Brock with Olivia (SM102–SM103), Kukui at the League construction site (SM104–SM106), Brionne and Vikavolt (SM107–SM108), Shaymin (SM109–SM112), Meltan (SM113–SM116), the Z-Rings of Lillie (SM117–SM119), Sophocles (SM120) and Mallow (SM122–SM138), Primarina (SM121), Melmetal (SM139–SM143) and Incineroar (SM144–SM145) — though Lana’s Popplio stays in the beach scene throughout. It is an insert song at Treasure Island (SM102), in SM106, in Mallow and Lana’s League match (SM130) and as Ash, Pikachu and Rotom ride Nebby in the finale (SM146). Digital single 7 October 2018; on CD on the theme-song collection of the twenty-third movie, *Coco*.

Ending · Jari Bōi Jari Gāru (ジャリボーイ・ジャリガール Twerp, Twerpette) — **Ending · *Jari Bōi Jari Gāru* (ジャリボーイ・ジャリガール Twerp, Twerpette)**Taiiku Okazaki · SM093–SM103Lyrics and music by Okazaki, arranged by Satori Shiraishi; the ending since SM061, replaced by *Notebook of the Heart*. Pikachu, Lycanroc, Torracat and Rowlet float on clouds back to Melemele Island, in reworked scenes from SM091 and with Sandy’s new haircut from SM099; Pikachu wears a jack-o’-lantern hat with red eyes for Halloween (SM094) and a Santa hat in SM099. Bulbapedia calls it the only Japanese song in the series never used as an insert song. Digital single 8 February 2018; on Okazaki’s album *OT WORKS*.

Ending · Kokoro no Nōto (心のノート Notebook of the Heart) — **Ending · *Kokoro no Nōto* (心のノート Notebook of the Heart)**Hino City Nanaomidori Elementary School Choir · SM104–SM128Lyrics and music by Taiiku Okazaki, arranged by Akimitsu Homma; storyboarded and directed by Yūji Asada, with Satoshi Nakano as animation director. Its variants follow the classmates’ Pokémon — Popplio and Charjabug (SM104–SM105), Brionne and Vikavolt (SM106–SM107), Shaymin (SM108–SM111), Meltan riding Metang (SM112–SM119) and Primarina (SM120–SM128). A choral score went on sale from 13 January 2019 and the digital single on 25 January 2019; on CD on the *Coco* theme-song collection. Its instrumental is an insert in SM137.

Ending · Taipu: Wairudo (タイプ：ワイルド Type: Wild, 2019 version) — **Ending · *Taipu: Wairudo* (タイプ：ワイルド Type: Wild, 2019 version)**Shōko Nakagawa · SM129–SM145Lyrics by Akihito Toda, music by Hirokazu Tanaka, arranged by Kenichi Maeyamada (Hyadain): a new arrangement of Rica Matsumoto’s 1998 ending, the only Japanese ending ever re-arranged and the last original ending to feature Ash and Team Rocket. Rotom films the friends running, with Meltan (SM129–SM137), Melmetal and a crowd of family, professors, rivals and Team Rocket (SM138–SM142) and Incineroar (SM143–SM145); its intro quotes *Kaze to Issho ni*, the first movie’s Japanese ending. Released with Sachiko Kobayashi and Nakagawa’s *Kaze to Issho ni* for the twenty-second movie (digital 26 June 2019, CD 10 July 2019). An insert song in SM139 — its first since DP188 — SM140 and SM144; the finale’s own page also lists it as SM146’s ending, although the song’s page ends its run at SM145.

English opening · The Challenge of Life — English opening · *The Challenge of Life*Dani Marcus and The Sad Truth · SM093–SM145Lyrics and music by Ed Goldfarb, with additional vocals by James Mosely, Charity Goodin and Ben Dixon and guitars by James Harman; it replaced “Under the Alolan Moon”. The opening footage is cut from the *Future Connection* and *Your Adventure* animation, with a clip from the third *Where Are You Going, Eevee?* short that shows Hau and Dartrix before their debut, and the ending footage comes from *Twerp, Twerpette*, with a second version showing Sandy’s haircut from SM103 (from SM106 on Netflix). Its instrumental is the English ending theme, and an electric-guitar version replaces “Ash-Greninja Appears!” in SM118. The finale has no opening.

The background music reaches back across the franchise. “Ash-Greninja Appears!” accompanies the battle with Guzzlord (SM101), Ryuki’s Gym battle (SM118) and the double Inferno Overdrive (SM143); “Aim to Be a Pokémon Master -20th Anniversary-” plays against Team Rocket at Treasure Island (SM102) and as an instrumental in SM137; ЯeaL’s Future Connection, the previous opening, returns as an insert in SM117, SM120 and SM121; and Team Rocket’s team song plays twice in SM122. Music from I Choose You! is heard for the first time in SM095 and again in SM102, SM103 and SM108, from Volcanion and the Mechanical Marvel in SM145; the X and Y Trainer battle theme scores SM114 and the Kalos Elite Four theme SM143; and a serious version of the “There’s Trouble!” title-card jingle marks SM100, SM101 and SM140. James’s League win over Jessie is accompanied by Mendelssohn’s Wedding March, which the dub shortens to an arranged 20 seconds (SM131).

The Challenge of Life — Dani Marcus and The Sad Truth’s English opening, used for SM093 to SM145. Video: The Official Pokémon YouTube channel.

TV Broadcasts & Original Airing Dates

Japan. From SM091 on 7 October 2018, two weeks before this season, TV Tokyo moved the anime from its Thursday 6:55 p.m. slot to Sundays at 6 p.m. — its first change of airing day since the hiatus after EP038 — so all of Ultra Legends went out on Sunday evenings, from Lillier and the Staff! (SM093) on 21 October 2018 to the series finale (SM146) on 3 November 2019. The only blank Sunday was 30 December 2018, and there were no one-hour specials inside the run. Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Let’s Go, Eevee! came out between SM096 and SM097; a Friday special on the anime’s Heisei history aired on 4 January 2019; SM119 (28 April 2019) was the last episode of the Heisei era and SM120 (5 May) the first of Reiwa; The Power of Us had its TV premiere in a two-hour special on Thursday 11 July, the day before the twenty-second movie opened; and the episode in which Ash wins the League, SM139, aired on 15 September 2019, with the title of SM141 withheld until 21 September to avoid spoiling it. A rundown special followed the finale on 10 November, and Pocket Monsters (2019) began on 17 November, two days after Pokémon Sword and Shield. No ratings have been found for the season. Episodes carrying promotions dropped the Poké Problem, and on its first broadcast SM129’s Dare da? showed Pokémon GO cards instead of a Pokémon.

The US run. The Pokémon Company International announced the season on 28 February 2019, and Disney XD and the DisneyNOW app premiered it on Saturday 23 March 2019 at 9:00 a.m. EDT with “one new episode every day during the premiere week” — SM093 to SM100 from 23 to 30 March. From SM101 on 6 April it aired on Saturday mornings, in code order and with nothing banned or skipped; there was no new episode on 13 April, 18 May or 25 May 2019 (the last two just after Pokémon Detective Pikachu opened in US cinemas on 10 May). When Japan aired Ash’s League win on 15 September 2019, Disney XD had reached SM121, as Anime News Network noted; the win itself aired in the US on 18 January 2020, and Dreams of the Sun and Moon! (SM145) on 29 February became the first anime episode to air on a leap day in Japan or the US. Thank You, Alola! The Journey Continues! (SM146) on 7 March 2020 was the last Pokémon episode on Disney XD and on US broadcast television, and the last season dubbed at DuArt Media Services; Pokémon Journeys: The Series premiered on Netflix on 12 June 2020. No US viewing figures have been found.

Ahead of Disney XD. From SM102 to SM125 Bulbapedia’s episode pages record English releases on Google Play, Amazon Prime Video and iTunes days or weeks before the broadcasts: SM102 appeared on Google Play on 10 April 2019, ten days early, and was pulled from iTunes and re-released; SM103 and SM104 went up the same day, 17 and 24 days early; SM112 reached Google Play on 15 June, 28 days early; SM122 was pulled from Google Play on 13 September and restored on 21 September; and SM125 was pulled on the day it appeared, 8 October. In Canada, Teletoon began the season on 2 March 2019, three weeks before the US, and premiered SM093 to SM096 on four Saturdays in March; in the UK, SM106 and SM107 premiered on 30 and 31 May 2019, ahead of Disney XD, and SM117 and SM137 a day before it; and in Australia, where 9Go! began the season in its Go! Kids block on 1 August 2019, SM121 and SM122 aired on 10 and 11 September 2019, ahead of the US.

Elsewhere. According to Bulbapedia’s Pokémon in Canada page, Teletoon ran the season until 28 March 2020, YTV showed selected episodes on 28 June and 8 November 2019 and a marathon of two episodes with Mewtwo Strikes Back on 10 January 2020, and the final two episodes aired in a YTV marathon on 8 May 2020 with The Power of Us. In the UK the season began on CITV in April 2019; BBC iPlayer added it on 30 January 2023, CBBC premiered it on 13 February 2023, and BBC Two showed it on Saturday mornings from 16 September 2023 to 23 March 2024. Netflix France added half of the season, 27 episodes, as the third season of Pokémon Soleil et Lune (Ultra Légendes) on 4 April 2020.

The numbering. The season’s 54 episodes are numbered 1 to 54 on Disney XD, on the DVDs and on Bulbapedia. English Wikipedia gives them English overall numbers 1027 to 1080 and Japanese overall numbers 1034 to 1087; the seven-episode gap comes from episodes never dubbed across the franchise, the latest being SM064, which is why the clapperboard in SM098 reads “98” in Japanese but “97” in the dub. Bulbapedia’s alternate codes run from EP1032 to EP1085. In Japan the season is simply the third broadcast year of Pocket Monsters Sun & Moon, episodes 93 to 146; there is no Japanese “Ultra Legends” title.

Dub Edits

Changes in the English version

Nothing banned — the end of an era. All 54 episodes aired on Disney XD in production order, dubbed by The Pokémon Company International at DuArt Media Services — its last Pokémon season — with Rodger Parsons narrating and Ed Goldfarb’s music. Dogasu’s Backpack, which compared earlier Sun & Moon episodes, stops at SM089, so the changes below come from the “Dub edits” sections of Bulbapedia’s episode pages.

Content edits. The ninja Gym of Aiming for the Top Floor! (SM118) is softened throughout: its shuriken are painted pink with suction-cup rings and softer sounds, the shuriken that cuts Kiawe’s hair no longer cuts (though a later shot still shows the damage), the shot of Rotom being hit is shortened, and the obstacle course’s wrecking ball turns pink with rubbery sound effects. In SM129 the cracking sound as Ilima’s Eevee hurts its leg is toned down; in SM096 Bewear and Stufful are called only “family”, leaving their relationship as mother and child ambiguous; in SM117 Octillery’s takoyaki become “special breakfast balls”; and in SM112 Lusamine’s line is missing when Clefable shows that the Meltan obey her.

On-screen text. The Japanese captions naming each Z-Move are removed throughout the dub — in SM107, SM109, SM115, SM123, SM125, SM127, SM129 to SM132, SM134, SM136, SM137, SM139, SM140 and SM143 to SM145 — and the “grand trial” kanji on SM109’s VS screen becomes “VS”. In the finale (SM146) the credits run before the title card and the ending credits follow the regular ending theme, and most other dubs drop the closing text “…and your dreams!”.

Music. The dub replaces the insert “Ash-Greninja Appears!” in SM118 with an electric-guitar version of “The Challenge of Life” and plays only an arranged 20 seconds of the Wedding March in SM131; in the finale both Japanese songs, Your Adventure and Type: Wild, give way to instrumental music, and an airport announcement voiced by Lisa Ortiz calls “flight PK2254” to Kanto, with connections to Johto and Unova — PK2254 standing for season 22, episode 54. Ortiz also voices Jessie in her Lina Inverse costume in SM093.

Fixes and slips. The dub corrects several animation errors — two Tsareena and two Marowak in one shot (SM102), Olivia’s mouth moving silently (SM103, where both she and Brock now say “crush on you”), a duplicate Stufful (SM122), the colour of Garchomp’s jaw (SM124) and Incineroar’s stripes (SM141) — but adds slips of its own: a line from Hapu left silent (SM108), only one maid voiced (SM116), captions reading “Mad Magma” and “Magmar” (SM129), Zap Cannon called “Thunder Wave”, corrected for Netflix, and Nanu calling a first-round match a semifinal (SM131), and Ash calling “Night Charge” for Flame Charge (SM143).

Who’s That Pokémon?, Dare da? and Poké Problem. For Sun & Moon Japan revived Dare da?, which normally shows a Pokémon central to the episode, while the dub’s answers became random, so the two differ in about half of the season; the dub has guest characters read the segment, and SM094’s uses the XY theme. Japan’s Poké Problem, a two-part quiz with its question before the cold open and its answer and an extra scene after the credits, was never dubbed. SM145 has the last Poké Problem and the last Dare da?; SM146 has no Japanese guessing game — the first episode since BW060 without Dare da? and since XY078 without any — but the dub keeps its Who’s That Pokémon?, with Solgaleo.

Names and title variants. Satoshi, Rīrie, Kaki, Suiren, Māmane and Mao become Ash, Lillie, Kiawe, Lana, Sophocles and Mallow, Gurajio Gladion and Raichi Olivia, and Lana’s Eevee Nagisa becomes Sandy. Jessie’s stage name Musabarbara becomes “Jessa-Bergère” (SM093, SM113), and the League aliases “Jessina” and “Jamesio”, Acerola’s Gengar “Rapooh”, Kahili’s Toucannon “Touckey”, the young Kukui’s nickname “Roarie” and the Totem Trevenant “Elder” are the dub’s names. TV guides, Pokémon.com, Disney XD, Teletoon, iTunes and Google Play called SM145 “Dreaming of the Sun and Moon!”, where the title card reads “Dreams of the Sun and Moon!”, and TV guides listed SM122 as “Spying for the Guy!”.

Episode titles explained

Many of this season’s English titles play on familiar phrases, films and slogans:

Don’t Ignore the Small Stufful! — the saying “don’t sweat the small stuff”, for the little Stufful that clings to Jessie
No Stone Unturned! — the idiom “leave no stone unturned”, for the Everstone that Rowlet learns to fire as Seed Bomb
Bright Lights, Big Changes! — the phrase “bright lights, big city”, for Rotom’s offer of television stardom
Battling the Beast Within! — the 1982 film The Beast Within, for Guzzlord and the Ultra Ruin
That’s Some Spicy Island Research! — an Alka-Seltzer advertising catchphrase, for Poni Island’s famously spicy radishes
Run, Heroes, Run! — “Run, Forrest, Run!”; the Japanese title, “Run Kaki!”, echoes Osamu Dazai’s story Run, Melos! (1940)
Show Me the Metal! — “Show me the money!” from the film Jerry Maguire, for the metal-eating Meltan
Got Meltan? — the “Got Milk?” advertising slogan, as Ash catches Meltan
This Magik Moment! — the song “This Magic Moment”, for Karpy the Magikarp’s big scene
Beauty is Only Crystal Deep! — the saying “beauty is only skin deep”, for the beautiful Z-Crystal thief Pheromosa
Drawn with the Wind! — the film Gone with the Wind, as a gust sweeps Mallow’s hair ornament across Malie City
The One That Didn’t Get Away! — the phrase “the one that got away”, for Lana’s Kyogre
Living on the Cutting Edge! — the phrase “living on the edge”, for the blade-like Kartana
Imitation Is the Sincerest Form of Strategy! — the saying “imitation is the sincerest form of flattery”, as Rowlet copies Toucannon’s Feather Dance
Getting Down to the Ire! — the phrase “down to the wire”, for two closely fought semifinals
Enter the Champion! — the film Enter the Dragon, as Ash becomes Alola’s first Champion
From Z to Shining Z! — the phrase “from sea to shining sea”, for the clash of Z-Moves that ends the exhibition

DVD & Blu-ray / Streaming

Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon – Ultra Legends came out in North America from VIZ Media, distributed by Warner Home Video, as three two-disc sets of 18 episodes in 2020 and 2021 and a six-disc Complete Collection in 2025, with creditless opening and ending sequences as the only extras; Australia and New Zealand got two four-disc Collections of 27 episodes from Beyond Home Entertainment and an eight-disc DigiPack, Beyond’s last Pokémon DVDs. Every release keeps the 54 episodes in code order. No UK DVD release of the season has been found.

North America (Region 1)

Release	Date	Contents
Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon – Ultra Legends – The Last Grand Trial (VIZ Media, 2 discs)	8 September 2020	18 episodes: SM093–SM101; SM102–SM110
The Alola League Begins! (2 discs)	12 January 2021	18 episodes: SM111–SM119; SM120–SM128
The First Alola League Champion (2 discs)	4 May 2021	18 episodes: SM129–SM137; SM138–SM146
The Complete Collection (6 discs)	27 May 2025	All 54 episodes (the cover reads “The Complete Season”)
The Power of Us (Blu-ray and DVD)	19 March 2019	The twenty-first movie, four days before the season’s Disney XD premiere
Mewtwo Strikes Back—Evolution (Blu-ray and DVD)	17 November 2020	The twenty-second movie, after its Netflix release of 27 February 2020

Australia & New Zealand (Region 4)

Release	Date	Notes
Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon – Ultra Legends – Collection 1 (4 discs, BHE8317)	4 December 2019 (New Zealand 11 December 2019)	27 episodes on discs 22.1 “Toucannon” (SM093–SM099), 22.2 “Zeraora” (SM100–SM106), 22.3 “Meltan” (SM107–SM113) and 22.4 “Charjabug” (SM114–SM119)
Collection 2 (4 discs, BHE8331)	1 April 2020 (New Zealand 13 May 2020)	27 episodes on discs 22.5 “Oranguru” (SM120–SM126), 22.6 “Magearna” (SM127–SM133), 22.7 “Golisopod” (SM134–SM140) and 22.8 “Mareanie” (SM141–SM146)
Pokémon Season 22 DigiPack (8 discs, BHE8350)	1 April 2020 (New Zealand 13 May 2020)	All 54 episodes on discs 22.1–22.8 — the last Pokémon DVD Beyond released in Australia before leaving physical media in August 2020

Japan

In Japan the episodes went out on DVD volumes of Pocket Monsters Sun & Moon released during and after the season — from Vol. 23 on 24 October 2018 to Vols. 41–42 on 25 March 2020, according to pocketmonsters.net — but which episodes each volume holds has not been confirmed. The Power of Us came out on Blu-ray and DVD on 19 December 2018 and Mewtwo Strikes Back—Evolution on 18 December 2019.

Streaming

DisneyNOW streamed the episodes alongside their Disney XD premieres, and Google Play, Amazon Prime Video and iTunes sold them by the episode, often weeks before the broadcast. Netflix carried the three Sun & Moon seasons in the US, adding them between 2018 and 2020, until 1 April 2022; its release corrected SM131’s dub error and uses the second version of the English ending from SM106. Netflix France added 27 episodes as Ultra Légendes on 4 April 2020, and in the UK BBC iPlayer has carried the season since 30 January 2023. Check your local service, as availability changes often.

Covers

The Alola League Begins! (Region 1, 2021)

Where to Watch & Buy

Availability changes constantly, so treat this as a snapshot (October 2026) and check your local service. Links will be added here once we have settled on referral partners.

DVD – North AmericaThe Complete Collection (VIZ Media, 6 discs, 2025) has all 54 episodes; the three two-disc sets of 2020–2021 hold 18 each.
DVD – Australia & New ZealandThe Season 22 DigiPack (Beyond Home Entertainment, 2020) has all 54 episodes on eight discs.
BBC iPlayer (UK)Has carried the season since 30 January 2023.
Digital purchaseThe episodes have been sold on Google Play, Amazon Prime Video and iTunes since 2019; check current availability in your region.
NetflixCarried the Sun & Moon seasons in the US until 1 April 2022, and Netflix France added 27 episodes of Ultra Légendes in April 2020; availability varies by region.

Trading Cards Released During the Season

Seven English expansions bracket the Disney XD run, from Team Up, released seven weeks before the premiere, to Sword & Shield, which arrived a month before the finale:

Team Up — 1 February 2019 — seven weeks before the US premiere; with a Zeraora card (52) tied to the twenty-first movie
Detective Pikachu — late March 2019 — a special set for the live-action film, released during Disney XD’s premiere week
Unbroken Bonds — 3 May 2019 — the day before That’s Some Spicy Island Research! (SM104) aired, with 234 cards: Pheromosa & Buzzwole-GX, Kartana, Reshiram & Charizard-GX, Torracat, Incineroar, Vikavolt, Zeraora and Melmetal
Unified Minds — 2 August 2019 — between Beauty is Only Crystal Deep! (SM114) and The Dealer of Destruction! (SM115), with 258 cards from Japan’s Miracle Twin: Rowlet & Alolan Exeggutor-GX, Golisopod, Alolan Raichu, Mewtwo & Mew-GX and Silvally
Hidden Fates — 23 August 2019 — between Drawn with the Wind! (SM117) and Aiming for the Top Floor! (SM118), with 68 cards and a 94-card Shiny Vault from GX Ultra Shiny: Mewtwo-GX, Mew, Moltres & Zapdos & Articuno-GX and a Shiny Rowlet
Cosmic Eclipse — 1 November 2019 — between Chasing Memories, Creating Dreams! (SM127) and League Offenders and Defenders! (SM128), with 271 cards from Alter Genesis: Rowlet, Decidueye and Naganadel & Guzzlord-GX
Sword & Shield — 7 February 2020 — between Exhibition Unmasked! (SM141) and A Full Battle Bounty! (SM142), the base set of the Sword & Shield series

The English sets drew on Japanese expansions released months earlier: Unbroken Bonds on Double Blaze, Full Metal Wall and Night Unison, Unified Minds on Miracle Twin, Hidden Fates on GX Ultra Shiny and Cosmic Eclipse on Alter Genesis, while Tag All Stars collected reprints. In Japan a jumbo Mewtwo & Mew-GX card bearing the twenty-second movie’s logo came out on 5 July 2019.

Our TCG section has a full card list, print variations and the most valuable cards for every one of them.

Cards with a link to the season

Three cards from those sets follow the season’s big moments:

Firsts & Lasts

First League Conference won by Ash, and the first Alola Champion: Enter the Champion! (SM139).
First Mythical Pokémon caught by a main character, and Ash’s first Steel type: Meltan (SM112).
First time every Pokémon of a generation appears within its own series, and the first newly discovered move named in the anime, Double Iron Bash (SM138).
First Pokémon to faint right after evolving: Ash’s Incineroar (SM143).
First anime battle to last more than three episodes, and the first in which one Trainer uses two Z-Moves: Ash v Kukui (SM141–SM144).
First new Pokémon for a former companion in the main series: Brock’s Comfey (SM103).
First official battle between Jessie and James, and the anime’s first use of Thief (SM131).
First episode in which the narrator translates the Pokémon’s speech: Pikachu’s Exciting Adventure! (SM126).
First of Ash’s Pokémon to evolve off screen after its debut: Naganadel (SM140).
First wild Pokémon used in a League, in the Battle Royal (SM129), and the anime’s first U-turn (SM136) and Sky Drop (SM142).
First anime episode to air on a leap day in Japan or the US: Dreams of the Sun and Moon! (SM145, 29 February 2020).
First time Ash leaves a region without bringing home the Pokémon he caught there, and the anime’s first physical depiction of a pregnancy (SM146).
Last defeat of Ash’s Sun & Moon journey (SM105), last Team Rocket motto of the Sun & Moon series (SM140), and the last Poké Problem and Dare da? (SM145).
Last Pokémon season on Disney XD and on traditional US television, and the last dubbed at DuArt (SM146, 7 March 2020).

Trivia & Facts

Ash finally wins. On 15 September 2019 in Japan, Ash’s Lycanroc beat Gladion’s to win the Manalo Conference (SM139) — his first League Conference title after 22 years, his only earlier League win, the Orange League, not being a Conference — and the news made CNN and Anime News Network; a year later fans began marking “National Ash Ketchum Day”.

Ash’s Dusk Form Lycanroc against Gladion’s Midnight Form Lycanroc in the Manalo Conference final, Enter the Champion! (SM139). Screenshot: Pokémon anime, SM139 “Enter the Champion!” · via Bulbapedia
A Mythical and an Ultra Beast in a League. This is the only season in which Ash uses a Mythical Pokémon (Melmetal) or an Ultra Beast (Naganadel) in a Pokémon League.
The end of US television. Ultra Legends was the last Pokémon season on Disney XD and on traditional US television, and the last dubbed at DuArt; Journeys moved to Netflix.
The longest League. Counting the arrival and the exhibition, the Manalo Conference runs for 17 episodes (SM128–SM144); its 151 entrants nod to the first generation, and Jessie and James, as “Jessina” and “Jamesio”, fight their first official battle against each other (SM131).
A four-episode battle. The exhibition against Kukui (SM141–SM144) is the first anime battle to take more than three episodes and the first in which one Trainer uses two Z-Moves in a battle, the Tapu recharging the Z-Rings.
Evolve and faint. Torracat becomes Incineroar at the instant it beats Kukui’s Incineroar, then faints — the first Pokémon to faint right after evolving, and Ash’s first evolution in a League battle since EP075 (SM143).
Meltan’s whole story. Meltan stow away in SM109, swarm Melemele in SM111 and become Ash’s in SM112, and in SM138 many Meltan fuse into Melmetal, whose Double Iron Bash is the first newly discovered move named in the anime.
A complete generation. By SM138 every Generation VII Pokémon and every Generation VII Mythical had appeared — the first time a whole generation appears within its own series.
New Japanese voices. After Unshō Ishizuka’s death in August 2018, Kenyu Horiuchi took over Samson Oak (SM093), the narrator (SM095) and Professor Oak (SM111), and Toru Sakurai took over Kiawe’s Charizard (SM106).
Two imperial eras. SM119 was the last episode of the Heisei period and SM120 the first of Reiwa.
One human. Pikachu’s Exciting Adventure! (SM126) has only one human character, Ash — the fewest of any episode — and is the first in which the narrator translates the Pokémon’s speech.
Leaving the team behind. SM146 is the first time Ash leaves a region without bringing home the Pokémon he caught there, and Burnet’s pregnancy is the anime’s first physical depiction of one.

Friends and Pokémon chase Ash’s plane out of Alola in Thank You, Alola! The Journey Continues! (SM146) — his Alolan team stays behind. Screenshot: Pokémon anime, SM146 “Thank You, Alola! The Journey Continues!” · via Bulbapedia
Last loss, first loss. Ash’s last defeat of the Sun & Moon series comes against Gladion in SM105, and Pikachu’s first official defeat of the series against Dia’s Zeraora in SM100.
Brock’s new Pokémon. Misty and Brock’s holiday gives Brock his Comfey (SM103), his first new Pokémon in 538 episodes and the first new Pokémon for a former companion in the main series.
Everyone gets a Z-Ring. Lillie (SM116), Sophocles (SM119) and Mallow (SM121) join Ash, Kiawe and Lana; by SM130 every classmate has used a Z-Move, and SM140 has 13 Z-Moves, the most in one episode.
Last of the segments. SM145 has the final Poké Problem and the final Japanese Dare da?; SM146 drops both the opening and the guessing game in Japan and has the longest credits of any episode, about two and a half minutes.
Premiere week and leap day. Disney XD launched the season with eight new episodes on eight consecutive days, 23–30 March 2019, three weeks after Teletoon had started it in Canada, and SM145 (29 February 2020) was the first anime episode to air on a leap day in Japan or the US.
Flight PK2254. The airport announcement added to the dub of the finale calls Ash’s “flight PK2254” — season 22, episode 54.
Games and cards. Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Let’s Go, Eevee! launched between SM096 and SM097 in Japan and Sword and Shield after SM146, and the English trading card sets of the US run — Unbroken Bonds, Unified Minds, Hidden Fates and Cosmic Eclipse among them — carried Melmetal, Golisopod, Zeraora, Kartana and Naganadel & Guzzlord-GX; see our TCG section.

Reception

Ratings. No Japanese or US viewing figures have been found for the season. In cinemas, the twenty-second movie opened at number two in Japan behind Toy Story 4, the biggest Pokémon opening in five years, and in 2020 it became Netflix’s most-watched anime title in the US.

Ash’s win. The Manalo Conference final made news beyond the fandom. CNN reported on 15 September 2019 that fans were “disbelieving” or “proud”, and Anime News Network’s “22 Years ’Til Victory: Pokémon’s Ash Finally Wins Big” (Lynzee Loveridge, 16 September 2019) gathered coverage from CNN and ESPN, congratulations from the Vegas Golden Knights and from Veronica Taylor, Ash’s original English voice, and fan tweets such as “He’s lost every Pokémon League to teach children it’s ok to lose”. Nintendo Life (“Pokémon loser Ash Ketchum’s lifelong dream has finally come true”), TheWrap, TheSixthAxis and Vooks covered it too, and a year later fans began marking “National Ash Ketchum Day”.

Fan scores and reviews. MyAnimeList has no separate entry for the season; its Pokemon Sun & Moon entry, covering all 146 Japanese episodes, stood at 7.04 with some 134,000 members. IMDb’s episode ratings could not be checked for this page, no reviews of the VIZ or Beyond DVDs have been found, Dogasu’s Backpack has no pages on these episodes, and the season won no known awards.

Continue the journey with Season 23: Pokémon Journeys: The Series, go back to Season 21: Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon – Ultra Adventures, or browse every season of the Pokémon anime.