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| Season | Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon – Ultra Legends (Season 22) · The Manalo Conference arc (SM128–SM139) |
| Episode | Season 22, episode 46 · English episode 1072 · Japanese episode 1078 · Bulbapedia code SM138 |
| English title | Final Rivals! |
| Japanese title | 決勝戦！最強ライバル対決！！ Kesshōsen! Saikyō Raibaru Taiketsu!! — “The Finals! The Strongest Rival Showdown!!” |
| First aired (Japan) | 8 September 2019 · TV Tokyo |
| First aired (US) | 11 January 2020 · Disney XD |
| Screenplay | Jun’ichi Fujisaku |
| Opening / ending (Japan) | Kimi no Bōken (Your Adventure) – Taiiku Okazaki · Taipu: Wairudo (Type: Wild, 2019 version) – Shōko Nakagawa |
| English opening | The Challenge of Life – Dani Marcus and The Sad Truth |
| Who’s That Pokémon? | Melmetal (US) |
| Previous episode | The Wisdom Not to Run! (SM137) |
| Next episode | Enter the Champion! (SM139) |
Plot episodeMeltan becomes MelmetalFinal, part 1
Final Rivals! is the 46th episode of Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon – Ultra Legends, the twenty-second season of the Pokémon anime, and the 1072nd episode of the English dub overall (Japanese episode 1078, Bulbapedia code SM138). It first aired in Japan on 8 September 2019 and in the United States on 11 January 2020. It falls within the season’s The Manalo Conference stretch (EP128–EP139).
Synopsis
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 Gladion begins. Delia, Mr. Mime and Professor Oak arrive by ship, and Oak is eager to meet Ash’s Meltan, which greets him with a Flash Cannon before spinning its nut and calling out with sound waves. Wild Meltan rise from the sea, dance around Ash’s Meltan and fuse with it in a surge of electricity into a single Melmetal. Oak notes that old books describe Melmetal but never mention that it forms from many Meltan, and Kukui names its spinning attack Double Iron Bash. The next day, Kukui referees the final as Caster recaps each Trainer’s route. Team Rocket, hiding beneath their food truck, prepare a new mecha to raid the awards ceremony, while back at the den the Oranguru robot begins to malfunction.
Gladion opens with Silvally, and Ash surprises the crowd with Melmetal. Double Iron Bash lands on its second attempt, and Flash Cannon knocks Silvally to the ground, but Silvally zigzags in with Crush Claw, and Gladion gives it a Fighting Memory. Its Multi-Attack is now super effective, Melmetal’s Flash Cannon misses, and although Melmetal endures an Air Slash and strikes back, Silvally’s Multi-Attack lands first and Melmetal collapses. Ash sends out Pikachu, which survives Air Slash with Quick Attack and uses an Electroweb as a springboard to land a direct Iron Tail, knocking Silvally out. Gladion then sends out Lycanroc, and Ash expects Counter, but the Lycanroc uses Night Daze, a move it cannot learn, and slashes through Electroweb with Shadow Claw.
Pikachu’s Thunderbolt shatters the illusion: the “Lycanroc” is Mohn’s Zoroark, now on Gladion’s team. Thinking of his father and asking him for strength, Gladion orders Zoroark to charge, and Ash and Pikachu brace themselves as the final continues. With each Trainer down to two Pokémon, the battle is perfectly balanced, and Ash’s friends, his mother and Professor Oak watch tensely from the stands while Mr. Mime films every moment. The episode marks the first time since the Silver Conference that Delia and Professor Oak have watched Ash compete in a League in person, and the first time that every Pokémon introduced in a generation has appeared in that generation’s series, Melmetal completing the set. The rivals’ long-awaited final hangs in the balance as the episode closes.
Major Events
- Manalo Conference, part 11. Meltan fuses with a crowd of wild Meltan into Melmetal and learns Double Iron Bash, the first newly discovered move named on screen
- In the final Silvally beats Melmetal, Pikachu beats Silvally and Gladion’s Zoroark is revealed
- Delia and Professor Oak watch Ash compete in a League in person for the first time since the Silver Conference
- Every Generation VII Pokémon has now appeared
Pokémon making their anime debut
Melmetal#0809 · SM138
Captures and evolutions
- Meltan → Melmetal#0809 · Ash · fusing with a crowd of wild Meltan; learns Double Iron Bash
Trivia
- The screenplay is by Jun’ichi Fujisaku.
- 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.