Beauty is Only Crystal Deep! – Pokémon Season 22, Episode 22

Plot episodePheromosaUltra Guardians mission

Beauty is Only Crystal Deep! is the 22nd episode of Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon – Ultra Legends, the twenty-second season of the Pokémon anime, and the 1048th episode of the English dub overall (Japanese episode 1054, Bulbapedia code SM114). It first aired in Japan on 24 March 2019 and in the United States on 27 July 2019. It falls within the season’s Meltan & the Alola League stretch (EP110–EP118).

Premiered on 27 July 2019; released on Amazon Prime Video on 6 July and Google Play and iTunes on 9 July.

Synopsis · Major Events · Trivia · Dub Changes · All episodes

Synopsis

An Ultra Beast, Pheromosa, comes to Melemele Island and steals Z-Crystals, including Team Rocket’s, and Meowth falls head over heels for it until Bewear knocks it out. Pheromosa arrives through an Ultra Wormhole, easily defeats Hala’s Hariyama and walks off with his Fightinium Z, leaving Rotom with nothing but a blurry photograph. The next day, the Ultra Guardians learn from Lusamine and Professor Burnet that the Ultra Beast has been targeting Trainers who own Z-Crystals, and the Meltan living in the base hand over Beast Balls and a medical kit. At Bewear’s den, Pheromosa takes Team Rocket’s Darkinium Z and Mimikium Z, but Meowth is so captivated by its grace that he nicknames it “Beauty” and lures the Guardians down by flashing a light. When it snatches Ash’s Electrium Z right off his Z-Power Ring, Meowth confesses his love and follows it.

Faba unveils his “Sticky Stuck Soles,” a trap that releases adhesive gel around a Z-Crystal bait, and promptly glues himself to the floor. The Guardians set the trap on a rocky outcrop, but Meowth reaches it first and gets stuck, and Pheromosa uses him as a stepping stone to take every Z-Crystal and run. Kiawe decides that they must face the Ultra Beast directly, but Turtonator, Lycanroc and Brionne are knocked back and three more Z-Crystals vanish. A sneak attack by Snowy, Mallow and Sophocles fails, Jessie’s Mimikyu aims its Shadow Ball at Pikachu instead, Mareanie’s Spike Cannon misses and Wobbuffet’s Counter is overpowered. Meowth frees himself and begs Pheromosa to stop, but it kicks him back into the glue, and he realises that he has been used. Then Stufful appears, and Bewear follows.

Seeing Meowth trapped and Team Rocket cowering, Bewear confronts Pheromosa. The two Fighting-type Pokémon clash, Bewear slams Pheromosa into a cliff, and a crushing uppercut sends it down as the stolen Z-Crystals scatter. Bewear collects Team Rocket’s crystals and her friends and leaves. Rotom urges Ash to act, and he catches Pheromosa in a Beast Ball, though Kiawe points out that Bewear deserves the credit. Burnet opens an Ultra Wormhole with a machine, Ash releases Pheromosa, and it sticks out its tongue before returning to Ultra Space. The Guardians return the stolen Z-Crystals, and Faba, still stuck, escapes by removing his clothes and walking off in his underwear. At the den, the heartbroken Meowth is cheered by Bewear, who stuffs a giant Grepa Berry into his mouth, and by Jessie and James, who remind him that he belongs with them.

Major Events

• Pheromosa. Pheromosa steals Z-Crystals, including Team Rocket’s Darkinium Z and Mimikium Z
• Meowth falls for it
• Bewear defeats it, and Ash catches it in a Beast Ball and releases it
• Faba’s Sticky Stuck Soles
• The X and Y Trainer battle theme
• Debut of Pheromosa

Pokémon making their anime debut

• Pheromosa#0795 · SM114

Captures and evolutions

• Pheromosa#0795 · Ash · caught in a Beast Ball after Bewear defeats it, and released at once

Trivia

• The English title plays on the saying “beauty is only skin deep”, for the beautiful Z-Crystal thief Pheromosa.
• The screenplay is by Akemi Omode.
• This is a plot episode: it advances the Alola storyline.

Changes in the English Dub

• The X and Y Trainer battle theme

Part of our Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon – Ultra Legends guide. Browse every season of the Pokémon anime.