XY121

← XY120 : All Hail the Ice Battlefield!

Pokémon the Series: XY

XY122 : A Real Icebreaker! →

Seeing the Forest for the Trees!

XY121   EP920 迷いの森・・・進化の夜明け！ The Bewildering Woods... The Dawn of Evolution!

First broadcast Japan May 26, 2016 United States August 27, 2016

English themes Opening Stand Tall Ending

Japanese themes Opening XY&Z Ending プニちゃんのうた

Credits Animation Team Kato Screenplay 冨岡淳広 Atsuhiro Tomioka Storyboard 冨安大貴 Daiki Tomiyasu Assistant director 渡辺正彦 Masahiko Watanabe Animation directors 夏目久仁彦 Kunihiko Natsume 直井由紀 Yuki Naoi Additional credits

Screenshots on Filb.de Preview thread on BMGf Closed Original review thread on BMGf Dub review thread on BMGf

Seeing the Forest for the Trees! (Japanese: 迷いの森・・・進化の夜明け！ The Bewildering Woods... The Dawn of Evolution!) is the 121st episode of Pokémon the Series: XY, and the 920th episode of the Pokémon animated series. It first aired in Japan on May 26, 2016 and in the United States on August 27, 2016.

Spoiler warning: this article may contain major plot or ending details.

Blurb

Ash is alone in the forest after losing at the Snowbelle Gym. Serena tracks him down, but they end up in a shouting match, and she runs off after angrily telling Ash to start acting like himself again!

Soon, a snowstorm sets in, and Ash takes shelter in a cave with some frightened Pokémon. He gets into trouble while trying to help a stranded Spewpa—but Greninja shows up just in time, and then shifts effortlessly into Ash-Greninja to rescue Spewpa!

When our heroes reunite, Ash promises not to overdo it again—a promise Greninja soon has to enforce when Ash learns the Kalos League is coming to Lumiose City!

Plot

After losing to Wulfric during the previous episode, Ash is sitting alone in the Winding Woods, thinking about his recent defeat. Nurse Joy reveals to his friends that his Greninja also ran away, though she tells them that its strength was back to normal after its defeat. They don't know where Greninja went, but Serena guesses that it ran off to find Ash. Tired of waiting, Serena decides to find Ash herself. Bonnie asks her brother if Ash will be back, with Clemont responding that there's no need to worry. Pikachu releases Talonflame, Hawlucha, and Noivern from Ash's belt and asks them to find Ash, as he is worried about him. Meanwhile, Team Rocket is spying on Ash and wondering what is up with him, realizing this will be the perfect time to capture Pikachu. Greninja is also thinking about its recent battles and defeats, and wondering what it did wrong. Serena finds Ash in the woods, and tells him that he can talk to her about anything that is bothering him. She tells him that she understands from her experience from the showcases, only for Ash to start yelling at her, claiming that she doesn't know how he feels. Upset with Ash, Serena throws snowballs at him, saying that the Ash she knows always tries his best and never gives up. She runs off crying after the argument, as she wants the real Ash back. This causes Ash to realize what Serena is talking about and decides to return to the Pokémon Center. Unfortunately, he rolls off the side of the mountain, getting lost in the process.

Pikachu and Ash's other Pokémon are still searching for their missing owner, and Bonnie is now wondering where Serena vanished off to. Serena returns, still upset with her scuffle with Ash, with the siblings wondering why she is huffy. Nurse Joy tells the group that a snowstorm is coming through, and they need to get back. Pikachu asks Serena about saving Ash, with Serena reluctantly agreeing to help out. Ash takes shelter in a cave, while Pikachu and the others try to look for him. Pikachu encounters Team Rocket and uses Thunderbolt, though it only electrocutes them. The trio decide that getting Pikachu isn't really worth it, as his shocks aren't as powerful, and Giovanni wouldn't be too happy. Serena and the group find Pikachu, but they see that the storm is getting worse and they need to find Ash very soon. Squishy detects a Zygarde Cell and runs off to find it, with Pikachu following its trail. However, the cell vanishes, but the group finds a cave. Serena regrets scolding Ash earlier and tells the group that she really admires Ash and didn't want to see him down. Clemont tells that they all admire Ash, and they'll continue looking for him after the storm dies out.

Meanwhile, Ash is resting in a cave when he notices an Oddish, Budew, Sentret, Zigzagoon, and Scatterbug out in the cold, and subsequently invites them inside. He gets an instant flashback memory of his younger days, as this reminds him of the time he offered some wild Pokémon shelter. Squishy decides to find Ash while the group is asleep, though Pikachu notices a sound. Ash notices a group of Spewpa sitting on a tree branch out in the cold, and decides to rescue them. Greninja meets up with Squishy and points out where Ash is heading. While Ash is just about to rescue the last Spewpa, the branch breaks off, making them both fall off, though both are rescued by Greninja. However, a gust of wind causes Spewpa to be blown out of Ash's hand. Greninja transforms into Ash-Greninja and rescues it.

Inside the cave, Ash tells Greninja about what happened prior to his Trainer days, similar to what happened earlier. When Ash got lost, he rescued some Pokémon before a rainstorm hit them, and stayed with them inside a tree until the storm ended. This was what inspired him to become a Trainer. Ash apologizes to Greninja about what happened at the gym battle. He realized after spending some time, that a team is not someone who has to do it alone, but together. Ash tells Greninja that they should start their training again, as a team. Once the storm subsides, Ash and the group of Pokémon came out of the cave, with the group of Spewpa evolving into Vivillon, and they fly off into the sky. Later, the duo reunite with Serena and the others. Ash apologizes about leaving and before Serena could do the same towards Ash, he thanks her for snapping some sense into him. Squishy contacts the other Zygarde Cells about Ash and Greninja's combined teamwork. Team Rocket reappears, with the intention of stealing Pikachu, with the latter blasting them off with a Thunderbolt. Surprisingly, they are happy that a full-throttle Thunderbolt blasted them off, as Pikachu is back in full strength.

The next morning, the Kalos League is revealed to be held in Lumiose City. Just as they're about to leave, Greninja offers its Poké Ball to Ash, as a reminder of their friendship. Ash promises that they will reach the Kalos League.

Major events

• Ash and Greninja perfect the Ash-Greninja form.
• Ash and his friends learn that the Kalos League will be held in Lumiose City.

For a list of all major events in the animated series, please see the history page.

Characters

Humans

Pokémon Quiz

• Ash
• Serena
• Clemont
• Bonnie
• Jessie
• James
• Nurse Joy
• Professor Sycamore (flashback)

Pokémon

Who's That Pokémon?

Who's That Pokémon?: Oddish (US and international)
Pokémon Quiz: Scatterbug (Japan)

• Pikachu (Ash's)
• Meowth (Team Rocket)
• Wobbuffet (Jessie's)
• Dedenne (Clemont's)
• Froakie (Ash's; flashback)
• Greninja (Ash's; Ash-Greninja)
• Talonflame (Ash's)
• Hawlucha (Ash's)
• Noivern (Ash's)
• Braixen (Serena's)
• Luxray (Clemont's)
• Gourgeist (Jessie's; Super Size)
• Inkay (James's)
• Sceptile (Sawyer's; flashback)
• Avalugg (Wulfric's; flashback)
• Zygarde (Zygarde Core, and 10% Forme; Squishy)
• Zygarde (Zygarde Core; Z2)
• Zygarde (Zygarde Cell; multiple)
• Fletchling (×5)
• Budew (×2)
• Sentret (×2)
• Snorlax
• Bidoof
• Zigzagoon
• Scatterbug
• Spewpa (×6; evolve)
• Vivillon (×6; newly evolved; Meadow Pattern)
• Oddish (×5; one flashback)
• Butterfree (flashback)
• Caterpie (flashback)
• Rattata (flashback)
• Weedle (flashback)

Trivia

The title card segment focuses on Ash for this episode

• Poké TV: "Pokémon Unbelievable" focusing on Ash's Greninja and its Ash-Greninja form.
• In the Japanese version, no one reads the title card of this episode.
• Ash and Wulfric narrate the preview for the next episode.
• Ash's Greninja remains outside of its Poké Ball for the entire episode.
• A remix of XY&Z and an instrumental version of Team Rocket's Team Song are used as background music in this episode.
• Unlike in their white uniforms, this is the only time that Team Rocket has blasted off in their winter outfits.
• The backpack Ash wore as a child, as seen in the flashbacks, has the same color scheme as the one he used in the original series.
• The sound of a Mega Evolved Pokémon reverting to its regular form is used when Ash-Greninja returns to its normal form.
• This is the first time in the anime where the location of a Pokémon League Conference is revealed before Ash has earned the final Badge required to enter said Conference, as well as the first time where its start-time is not specified beforehand.
• The English dub title is a reference to the saying "can't see the forest for the trees".
• Shots from this episode were remade and used for flashback material for Catching the Aura of Fate!.

Errors

• In the English dub, when Pikachu takes out Ash's Flying-type Pokémon's Poké Balls, Talonflame's voice is mixed together with Noivern's voice.
• The footprints in the snow does not add up to what has happened, and sometimes there no prints at all.
  • After Ash gets up after falling over behind the log, there are no signs of him ever lying there.
• Like in Championing a Research Battle!, when Greninja gets ready to reach its final Ash-Greninja form, the star shape on its leg is cream instead of blue for a split-second.
• When Ash-Greninja is crouched down at the bottom of the mountain, the triangles next to its eyes are dark blue instead of white.
• When Ash reunites with Pikachu, the brim of his hat is colored red instead of white for a moment.
• When Jessie commands Gourgeist to use Dark Pulse on Pikachu, the tips of her third and fourth fingers are cut off when her arm is fully extended.
• When Greninja is talking to Ash in the Pokémon Center, its mouth is fully-closed, but its tongue is still wrapped around its neck.

• 

  The coloring error on Greninja's leg

• 

  Jessie missing the tips of her third and fourth fingers

• 

  Greninja's tongue outside its fully-closed mouth

Dub edits

• The title card is read by Ash.
• An instrumental of Stand Tall is used as background music.

In other languages

Language		Title
Czech		Les plný stromů!
Danish		At se skoven for bare træer!
Dutch		Door de bomen het bos niet meer zien
Finnish		Metsän näkeminen puilta!
European French		Quand les arbres cachent la forêt !
German		Den Wald vor lauter Bäumen sehen!
Italian		Ritrovare la diritta via nella foresta!
Korean		방황의 숲... 진화의 새벽!
Norwegian		Å se skogen for bare trær!
Polish		Zupełnie nowe spojrzenie!
Portuguese	Brazil	Vendo a floresta pelas árvores!
	Portugal	Não confundir a árvore com a floresta!
Russian		Ответы в заснеженном лесу!
Spanish	Latin America	¡Viendo el bosque a través de los árboles!
	Spain	¡Los árboles no te dejan ver el bosque!
Swedish		Hur man ser skogen för alla träd!
Thai		ป่าแห่งความสับสน… รุ่งอรุณแห่งวิวัฒนาการ!
Turkish		Büyük Resmi Görebilmek!

← XY120 : All Hail the Ice Battlefield!

Pokémon the Series: XY

XY122 : A Real Icebreaker! →

This episode article is part of Project Anime, a Bulbapedia project that covers all aspects of Pokémon animation.