The final installment of Pokémon Journeys: The Series
is coming March 5 to Netflix, offering answers to all the biggest questions
about Ash and Goh’s adventures. Will Ash battle and defeat Leon? Will Goh ever
catch the elusive Mew?
But before you dive in, a lot happened in Parts 1 through 3.
In the first 36 episodes, Ash and Goh bonded over their shared passion for
Pokémon and became research assistants at the Cerise Laboratory in Vermilion
City. Their exciting new role takes them across the Pokémon world, studying,
battling, training, and helping Pokémon in distress.
Together, Ash and Goh battle Team Rocket, compete in the
Iceberg Race in Sinnoh, learn the mysteries of Dragon Dance on Dragon Island,
and immerse themselves in the excitement of the World Coronation Series. Catch
up on everything that’s happened here before enjoying Part 4 of Pokémon
Journeys: The Series.
Ash and Pikachu have a seemingly perfect Pokémon-Trainer
relationship, but even the best team experiences conflict. That conflict comes
in the form of jealousy when Ash begins spending a lot of time training a new
Pokémon. Earlier in the season, Ash accepted responsibility for a Pokémon Egg
that hatched into a Riolu who loves to battle (“Caring for a Mystery!”). When
Ash begins spending all his time training with Riolu, Pikachu becomes
understandably jealous and runs away to Pallet Town (“Betrayed, Bothered, and
Beleaguered!”). Fortunately, Mimey races to the rescue, helping Pikachu arrive
at its destination and offering Ash and Pikachu an opportunity to reunite.
Ash and Pikachu are far from the only Pokémon-Trainer team
to experience conflict this season. While celebrating the collaboration and
affection between Pokémon and humans, this season offers a reminder
that, like all relationships, Pokémon-Trainer bonds take work to develop and
maintain. Goh and Scorbunny are perhaps the greatest example of this. When
Scorbunny has a difficult time learning a Fire-type move, Goh dismisses his
partner’s frustration, leading to a rift between the two (“Kicking It from Here
into Tomorrow!”). Even when Goh finds a way to help Scorbunny use Ember,
causing Scorbunny to evolve into Raboot and seemingly solving the problem, the
pair can’t seem to find their rhythm.
Frustrated by his inability to make Raboot happy, Goh
decides to leave Raboot behind with a new pack of Pokémon friends, but Raboot
refuses to be abandoned. The pair reunite on the train, and Goh recognizes
that, even when they don’t get along, he and Raboot are partners for life
(“Goodbye, Friend!”).
Chloe might not consider herself a Pokémon Trainer, but her
close relationship with Yamper sometimes causes jealousy as well. When a
wounded Pidove arrives at her house, Yamper gets jealous at the amount of attention
the Pokémon receives from Chloe (“There’s a New Kid in Town!”). Chloe’s
frustration with Yamper’s feelings prompts her family to remind her that she
was jealous of Yamper as a young child. Despite their rocky start, Chloe is now
Yamper’s favorite person. In fact, she’s the only person Yamper will accept
battle commands from when a Gengar attacks (“A Chilling Curse!”).
Ash, Goh, and Chloe’s relationships with their Pokémon are
undoubtedly strong, but will the events of Part 4 test these bonds even further?
There’s no end to the mayhem Team Rocket cause with their
elaborate plots to steal Pokémon—especially Pikachu. But Pokémon Journeys:
The Series sometimes reveals a softer side to the villains. When a Ditto who
works as a professional actor runs away from its movie set, Team Rocket
stumbles across the Pokémon (“A Talent for Imitation!”). Being villains, the
trio initially plot to use Ditto’s transformative skills to steal Pokémon.
However, Team Rocket soon realize that this Ditto has lost its confidence and
is unable to convincingly transform.
As a fellow actress, Jessie decides to help Ditto reclaim
its confidence. She teaches the Transform Pokémon some techniques to help
overcome its mental barriers. With time, the Ditto is once again able to
transform into other Pokémon. But rather than keep the Ditto for their
nefarious schemes, Team Rocket allow the Ditto to return to its movie set,
where it blows away the entire team with its performance.
Later, Team Rocket find themselves on vacation when Matori
wants them out of the way for a big Pokémon heist (“A Little Rocket R &
R!”). They choose to relax at the Resort Area in Sinnoh, which just happens to
be Matori’s chosen site for the heist. As Matori and her team of grunts descend
on the Resort Area to steal tourists’ Pokémon, Team Rocket make the unlikely
decision to team up with Ash and Goh to save the Pokémon. Of course, Team
Rocket’s motives may be colored by their desire to punish Matori for excluding
them from the heist, but a good deed’s a good deed.
Disguised as tourists and unrecognized by Ash and Goh,
Jessie and James lead a Pokémon rescue mission. And when the grunts have been
defeated and the Pokémon returned to their Trainers, and Ash thanks Team Rocket,
Jessie brushes it off, saying, “Well, it’s what any hero would have done.”
Whether Team Rocket’s good deeds will continue in Part 4 is
difficult to say, but one thing’s for sure: whatever they do, it will be
entertaining.
It’s no surprise that Ash’s major plot arc throughout Pokémon
Journeys: The Series centers around his efforts to become the best Pokémon
Trainer in the world. In this season, that means climbing to the top of the
World Coronation Series rankings. Ultimately, Ash wants to battle Leon, the
reigning Monarch of the World Coronation Series.
In classic Ash fashion, he kicks off the effort with confidence,
challenging and defeating the acting Vermilion Gym Leader, Visquez
(“Destination: Coronation!”). Initially, Ash can’t seem to lose, defeating
Oliver (“Dreams Are Made of These!”), Hayden (“Caring for a Mystery!”), and
Korrina (“A Festival Reunion!”), and rising through the ranks to the Great
Class. However, when Ash finds himself facing off against Bea, the Fighting-type
Gym Leader of the Galar region, her Hawlucha and Grapploct easily defeat Ash’s
Farfetch’d and Riolu, handing Ash his first World Coronation Series defeat.
Ash’s downward spiral continues with two more losses in a
row, knocking him back down to the Normal Class. When Goh and Ash find
themselves facing off against a wild Flygon, Ash’s new lack of confidence makes
him unable to make a decision in battle (“Making Battles in the Sand!”). But
Goh calmly takes on the Flygon, defeating it using unorthodox battle strategies
that he learned from watching Ash battle. Goh’s success reminds Ash that battling
is supposed to be fun. With that reminder, Ash is ready to resume his climb to
the top of the World Coronation Series rankings. But will it be enough?
This is just a taste of the friendships, adventures, and
challenges in Pokémon Journeys: The Series! Don’t miss the latest, and
final, collection of Pokémon Journeys:
The Series episodes on Netflix starting
Friday, March 5.
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