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| Season | Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon – Ultra Legends (Season 22) · Back to school on Melemele arc (SM093–SM099) |
| Episode | Season 22, episode 3 · English episode 1029 · Japanese episode 1035 · Bulbapedia code SM095 |
| English title | Sparking Confusion! |
| Japanese title | ヴェラ火山、ゴローンゴローニャやまおとこ！ Vera Kazan, Gorōn Gorōnya Yamaotoko! — “Wela Volcano, Golone, Golonya, and the Mountaineers!” |
| First aired (Japan) | 4 November 2018 · TV Tokyo |
| First aired (US) | 25 March 2019 · Disney XD |
| Screenplay | Jun’ichi Fujisaku |
| Opening / ending (Japan) | Kimi no Bōken (Your Adventure) – Taiiku Okazaki · Jari Bōi Jari Gāru (Twerp, Twerpette) – Taiiku Okazaki |
| English opening | The Challenge of Life – Dani Marcus and The Sad Truth |
| Who’s That Pokémon? | Alolan Graveler (US) |
| Previous episode | A Haunted House for Everyone! (SM094) |
| Next episode | Don’t Ignore the Small Stufful! (SM096) |
Filler / stand-alone episodeUltra Guardians missionAlolan Golem
Sparking Confusion! is the 3rd episode of Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon – Ultra Legends, the twenty-second season of the Pokémon anime, and the 1029th episode of the English dub overall (Japanese episode 1035, Bulbapedia code SM095). It first aired in Japan on 4 November 2018 and in the United States on 25 March 2019. It falls within the season’s Back to school on Melemele stretch (EP93–EP99).
Premiered on Monday 25 March 2019, during Disney XD’s premiere week; Teletoon had shown it in Canada on 16 March.
Synopsis
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 Geodude line to the surface. Lusamine summons the team because Wicke has detected strong magnetic readings spreading from the volcano on Akala Island, and the interference is blocking the Aether Foundation’s search for Ultra Aura. The Guardians fly in on their Ride Pokémon, set up sensors and split up: Ash, Kiawe and Sophocles search the mines while Lana, Lillie and Mallow cover the surface. Underground, the boys find wild Alolan Geodude and Graveler eating Spark Stones, rocks hardened in magma and charged with electricity, and Rotom explains that these Rock- and Electric-type Pokémon generate magnetism. Kiawe is puzzled, because the Pokémon normally stay deep underground. A Trainer then sends out a Pinsir to chase the wild Pokémon away while a man with a pickaxe digs up a stash of Spark Stones.
When Kiawe confronts them, the hunters insist that the stones belong to anyone, and Kiawe’s Alolan Marowak knocks out their Pinsir with a single Flare Blitz before the hunters flee deeper into the mines. The Hikers who patrol the volcano explain that the hunters plan to sell the stones as jewellery, which infuriates Kiawe. Sophocles’ Metang smashes through a dead end into a scorching cavern, where the group finds the hunters stunned by a mysterious blast. A swarm of angry Geodude and Graveler arrives behind their leader, a Golem, which flattens Marowak and hurls Geodude at Pikachu and Togedemaru. Metang grapples with the Golem and is punched into the ceiling, but it comes down sporting new iron-sand eyebrows and a moustache. The Golem realises that its own iron-sand features are gone, and the watching Geodude and Graveler switch allegiance to Metang.
For the Geodude line, iron sand is the mark of strength and leadership, so the furious Golem pulls its iron sand back into a mohawk. Metang answers by attracting and repelling the sand between them, showing off one magnificent set of facial hair after another until the Golem collapses from exhaustion. As a gesture of goodwill, Metang restores the Golem’s original features, and Rotom snaps a photograph of the two for its database. The boys rejoin the girls and report to Lusamine that the hunters’ digging drove the Pokémon to the surface and caused the magnetic spike. Lusamine promises regular patrols around Wela Volcano, and the Hikers volunteer for the job. The Golem returns and willingly lets the Hikers catch it, and the episode ends with the Hikers, their Magmar and their new Golem dancing happily in a circle.
Major Events
- Wela Volcano. Spark Stone hunters drive the Alolan Geodude line to the surface
- Sophocles’ Metang wins an iron-sand duel with an Alolan Golem, which then lets the Hikers catch it
- With Alolan Graveler’s debut every Alolan form has appeared
- Graveler’s first Pokédex entry
- The first episode narrated in Japanese by Kenyu Horiuchi
- The first use of music from I Choose You!
Trivia
- The screenplay is by Jun’ichi Fujisaku.
- This is a stand-alone episode: it can be skipped without losing the thread of the Alola story.
Changes in the English Dub
- Music from I Choose You! is used for the first time
Part of our Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon – Ultra Legends guide. Browse every season of the Pokémon anime.