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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 6 · English episode 1032 · Japanese episode 1038 · Bulbapedia code SM098 |
| English title | Bright Lights, Big Changes! |
| Japanese title | コンビ解散！？サトシとロトム Konbi Kaisan!? Satoshi to Rotomu — “Splitting Up the Combination!? Satoshi and Rotom” |
| First aired (Japan) | 25 November 2018 · TV Tokyo |
| First aired (US) | 28 March 2019 · Disney XD |
| Screenplay | Akemi Omode |
| 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? | Chatot (US) |
| Previous episode | No Stone Unturned! (SM097) |
| Next episode | We Know Where You’re Going, Eevee! (SM099) |
Filler / stand-alone episodeRotom’s TV offer
Bright Lights, Big Changes! is the 6th episode of Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon – Ultra Legends, the twenty-second season of the Pokémon anime, and the 1032nd episode of the English dub overall (Japanese episode 1038, Bulbapedia code SM098). It first aired in Japan on 25 November 2018 and in the United States on 28 March 2019. It falls within the season’s Back to school on Melemele stretch (EP93–EP99).
Premiered on Thursday 28 March 2019, during Disney XD’s premiere week.
Synopsis
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. On the set of the hit detective series, Rotom, wearing a blond Laki wig, interrupts a take to correct a line, and a staffer confirms that it is right. Laki tests Rotom with trivia about the show and Rotom answers every question correctly. Producer George Charino needs a fresh character for the fifth season and offers Rotom the part of Laki’s new partner, which Laki and his Smeargle approve and Rotom happily accepts. At school, Rotom will not stop impersonating Laki and then mimics Ash, Kiawe and Mallow, until Sophocles points out that a first-rate actor brings their own understanding to a role. During a rehearsal, Ash goes off-script and challenges Kiawe to a battle, while everyone praises Rotom for staying in character.
Then George announces that the next season will be filmed overseas, probably for about half a year. Rotom is thrilled, but Ash is stunned, and Rotom reminds him that he never actually caught it. Ash throws two Poké Balls in frustration, Rotom swats them away, and Ash storms off. The next day he sulks through Professor Kukui’s lesson on feathers. That afternoon Lillie takes him to the beach and tells him that she felt the same way whenever her mother was away working. Ash thinks back over everything he and Rotom have done in Alola and accepts that Rotom is free to choose, and Lillie reminds him that Rotom stayed by its own choice and that they make a great team. Meanwhile, at Laki’s apartment, Rotom finds a poster from a play Laki performed before he was famous, and Laki explains that he nearly quit before achieving his dream.
When Laki asks about Rotom’s own dream, it has no answer, and that night Ash lies awake thinking about his friend. The next day Ash visits the filming location, where Laki reveals that Rotom is hiding behind his chair. Ash apologises for shouting and promises to support Rotom whatever it decides. Rotom replies that it will turn down the role: its dream is to become the best Pokédex in the world, and the best way to meet rare Pokémon is to stay with Ash. Laki and Smeargle admire the reunited partners. That night Ash, Pikachu, Rotom and Professor Kukui watch the latest episode of the show, in which a Chatot has taken Rotom’s place as Laki’s companion and the story ends with Laki returning to Alola. Rotom explains that George decided to make the overseas shoot a one-episode feature.
Major Events
- Rotom’s big break. Rotom is offered a role on Alolan Detective Laki
- Ash fails to catch Rotom, which turns the role down to stay with him
- An overseas, London-like location hints at Galar
- The clapperboard reads 98 in Japanese but 97 in the dub, because SM064 was never dubbed
- Debut of George Charino
Trivia
- The English title plays on the phrase “bright lights, big city”, for Rotom’s offer of television stardom.
- The screenplay is by Akemi Omode.
- This is a stand-alone episode: it can be skipped without losing the thread of the Alola story.
Part of our Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon – Ultra Legends guide. Browse every season of the Pokémon anime.