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| Season | Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon – Ultra Legends (Season 22) · The Manalo Conference arc (SM128–SM139) |
| Episode | Season 22, episode 36 · English episode 1062 · Japanese episode 1068 · Bulbapedia code SM128 |
| English title | League Offenders and Defenders! |
| Japanese title | 開幕！アローラポケモンリーグ！！ Kaimaku! Arōra Pokémon Rīgu!! — “The Curtain Rises! The Alola Pokémon League!!” |
| First aired (Japan) | 30 June 2019 · TV Tokyo |
| First aired (US) | 2 November 2019 · Disney XD |
| Screenplay | Akemi Omode |
| Opening / ending (Japan) | Kimi no Bōken (Your Adventure) – Taiiku Okazaki · Kokoro no Nōto (Notebook of the Heart) – Hino City Nanaomidori Elementary School Choir |
| English opening | The Challenge of Life – Dani Marcus and The Sad Truth |
| Who’s That Pokémon? | Decidueye (US) |
| Previous episode | Chasing Memories, Creating Dreams! (SM127) |
| Next episode | Battle Royal 151! (SM129) |
Plot episodeManalo Conference beginsLillie’s new outfit
League Offenders and Defenders! is the 36th episode of Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon – Ultra Legends, the twenty-second season of the Pokémon anime, and the 1062nd episode of the English dub overall (Japanese episode 1068, Bulbapedia code SM128). It first aired in Japan on 30 June 2019 and in the United States on 2 November 2019. It falls within the season’s The Manalo Conference stretch (EP128–EP139).
Synopsis
The class arrives at Manalo Stadium for Alola’s first Pokémon League, where Ash reunites with Hau, Team Skull’s Grunts cause trouble, and the history between Professor Kukui and Guzma comes to light. Lillie surprises her friends on the ferry with a new outfit that reflects her more confident self, and Kukui tells his students that registration closes that evening. Team Rocket sell early-release Manalo doughnuts and plan to win the League while keeping Bewear and Stufful busy in a hot spring they have built. At the stadium, Ash meets Hau and Hala; Hau has cleared his grandfather’s grand trial, shows off his Z-Ring and reveals that his Dartrix has evolved into Decidueye, which wakes Rowlet with a peck. At the Pokémon Center Café, Mallow finds her older brother, Ulu, working at a pop-up shop, and he closes it so that he can watch her battles.
Tupp, Rapp and Zipp decide to wreck the conference to impress Guzma. Officer Jenny chases them away from a vandalised billboard, a Grunt who cuts into Team Rocket’s queue is beaten by James, Meowth and Mareanie, and Gladion and Lycanroc deal with another trio at the docks. Ash and his friends then defeat Tupp’s gang: Turtonator’s Flamethrower blocks Garbodor’s Sludge Bomb, Rowlet’s Seed Bomb stops Salandit, and Decidueye’s Razor Leaf knocks out Zubat. Guzma and Plumeria arrive, and Plumeria scolds the Grunts for acting without orders. Guzma tells Kukui that he has entered the League on his advice and vows to dominate it and end any future Leagues. After he leaves, Hala explains that Kukui and Guzma were once both his apprentices, but Guzma rejected island traditions and sought strength without Z-Rings or Z-Crystals.
Hala admits that he failed to reach Guzma’s heart, and Kukui feels responsible, so Ash and his friends vow to win the League and stop Guzma. That night, Kukui hosts a feast for the competitors on the eve of the conference, and everyone brings out their Pokémon; Gladion, Samson Oak and Ilima are among the entrants, and Guzma and Plumeria sit grudgingly nearby. The list of challengers includes Ash, all five of his classmates, Hau, and a disguised Jessie and James. Kukui then gathers the crowd to watch the Masked Royal explain the rules of the preliminary round on screen. It will be a Battle Royal, a free-for-all in which only the last sixteen Trainers left standing advance to the main tournament, and the episode ends with everyone eager for the first day of the competition.
Major Events
- Manalo Conference, part 1. The class arrives at Manalo Stadium
- Hau’s Dartrix has evolved into Decidueye, and he has a Z-Ring
- Mallow’s brother Ulu
- Kukui and Guzma were both Hala’s apprentices
- Lillie’s new outfit
- The Battle Royal rules
- Aired in Japan exactly three years after XY125
Captures and evolutions
Dartrix → Decidueye#0724 · Hau · off screen, revealed at Manalo Stadium
Trivia
- The screenplay is by Akemi Omode.
- This is a plot episode: it advances the Alola storyline.
Part of our Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon – Ultra Legends guide. Browse every season of the Pokémon anime.