BW110

← BW109 : New Places... Familiar Faces!

Best Wishes series

BW111 : There's a New Gym Leader in Town! →

The Name's N!

BW110   EP767 トモダチ…その名はＮ！ A Friend...His Name is N!

First broadcast Japan January 24, 2013 United States April 27, 2013

English themes Opening It's Always You and Me Ending

Japanese themes Opening やじるしになって！2013 Ending サクラ・ゴーラウンド

Credits Animation Team Kato Screenplay 米村正二 Shōji Yonemura Storyboard 矢嶋哲生 Tetsuo Yajima Assistant director 矢嶋哲生 Tetsuo Yajima Animation director 志村泉 Izumi Shimura No additional credits are available at this time.

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

The Name's N! (Japanese: トモダチ…その名はＮ！ A Friend...His Name is N!) is the 110th episode of the Best Wishes series, and the 767th episode of the Pokémon anime. It first aired in Japan on January 24, 2013 and in the United States on April 27, 2013.

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

Synopsis

The episode starts with a man investigating the ruins of an abandoned laboratory. Finding an intact terminal, he tries rewiring it and manages to get it to power up, revealing a diagram of a Genesect, but the terminal quickly breaks again and the diagram disappears, leaving the man to wonder what it all means.

Next, Ash, Iris and Cilan are on the ship to Castelia City. Cilan points out the P2 Laboratory up ahead. As they arrive at port, the same man from the lab watches Ash and Pikachu play from the ground. Ash and friends notice him as well, but when they look away and back, he is gone. Team Rocket is also watching the group from a distance, planning their next attempt to capture Pikachu.

As the ship leaves port, Iris points out that there is a battlefield on board, Ash and friends go check it out. Ash asks Iris to battle him so he can get ready for his upcoming gym battle at the Aspertia Gym. Iris accepts and the two get ready for battle. Before they can begin their battle, Pikachu senses someone and Ash and his friends turn to see who it is. They see that it is the same man who was watching them at the port. The man walks up to Pikachu and remarks its cuteness. Ash wonders why he was staring at them before, and then he says he heard a friend's voice. He says he considers all Pokémon to be his friends. He tells Ash he hears Pikachu's voice saying how much it cares about him. He says that he finds it rare that people and Pokémon can form such a strong bond. Cilan remains skeptical to the man's claims that he can literally hear a Pokémon's inner voice. The man concedes that he may have just convinced himself that he can. Cilan thinks it doesn't sit quite right. The man replies that it doesn't really matter and that what matters is that a Pokémon and its trainer come together as one.

Ash and friends introduce themselves to him as he introduces himself as N and is always happy to meet new friends. N asks where they are headed and Ash replies that they are heading to some ancient ruins that have something to do with Reshiram. N is shocked when he hears the Pokémon's and he has a flashback about his previous encounter with Reshiram and its desire to burn down the whole world. Ash asks what's wrong with him, but N replies it's nothing. He says that Reshiram is great but lies that he hasn't met it, but when he does, he would consider himself lucky. Cilan brings up how Ash met Zekrom, and N is shocked by this as well, and would appreciate it if Ash would tell him about it.

Inside, Ash recounts about his and Pikachu's encounter with Zekrom on the first day the two arrived in the Unova region and Ash has a flashback of the experience. N then asks Ash if he has heard about the Legend of the Hero, that when the hero turns darkness to light and his heart becomes one with Pokémon, Zekrom will descend and lend the hero its power. N also says there is a similar legend, but it is Reshiram who will descend and lend the hero its power. When asked why he is so interested in the two Dragon Pokémon, N says it is all part of his goal to unlock the many mysteries surrounding Pokémon like their existence and their feelings.

When N sees that he has gotten a bit carried away, he asks Ash what his dreams are. Ash enthusiastically replies he wants to become a Pokémon Master. This shocks N because he doesn't like Pokémon battles, viewing them as forced fights between friends. He then leaves the group and goes outside.

Before their battle, the group decides to eat first. Outside the dining area, Team Rocket hears the group's plan for a battle and decides to strike when they are distracted.

Outside, the battle starts with Iris choosing Excadrill and Ash choosing Boldore. Ash attacks first with Rock Smash, but Excadrill intercepts with Metal Claw and the attacks cancel out. Next, Boldore's Flash Cannon and Excadrill's Focus Blast collide and explode. As the battle goes on, a berry flies through the air and hits Axew who excitedly eats it. Another berry rolls by him, causing him to notice a trail of berries leading away from the field. Not suspecting a thing, Axew follows the trail and gathers the berries. Pikachu eventually notices Axew has wandered off and follows him to bring him back. When Pikachu finds and approaches Axew, he steps on Team Rocket's containment field and becomes trapped. Pikachu tries to use Thunderbolt to escape, but it's no good.

Axew then screams and gets Iris's attention, causing the group to notice the two Pokémon are missing. Running toward Axew's cries, the group finds Team Rocket in the process of abducting Pikachu. They recite their motto before jumping into their balloon and beginning their escape. Not giving up, Ash sends out Snivy and has her use Vine Whip to grab the balloon. James sends out Amoonguss who uses Body Slam on Snivy to get free, but Ash blocks the attack with his body. Jessie then calls out her Frillish and has it use Shadow Ball on Snivy and Axew, but N jumps in front of the attack and shields the two Pokémon.

As the smoke clears, N is shown to be fine. He turns around and tells Team Rocket it is because of people like them that the Pokémon world remains imperfect. Meowth can't hear and tells N to speak up. N is shocked to hear the Pokémon speak like a human. Thanking N, Ash returned Snivy and calls out Unfezant. Frillish tries to drive Unfezant away with BubbleBeam, but she dodges the attack and uses Aerial Ace on Pikachu's containment field, freeing him. Pikachu jumps down toward Ash when Frillish uses Shadow Ball on him. However, Axew uses Dragon Rage to stop the attack. Turning around, Pikachu uses Thunderbolt on the balloon, shocking Team Rocket, but not before Amoonguss's Stun Spore hits and sickens Pikachu. Unfezant then uses Air Cutter to send Team Rocket blasting off.

Ash is concerned for Pikachu because it is very sick from Amoonguss's Stun Spore. N has Ash come with him to the bow of the ship while he stands there with his eyes. Eventually, N senses some Pokémon nearby and asks them for their help. Two Alomomola jump out of the water and use Refresh to heal Pikachu. N then give Pikachu an Oran Berry so Pikachu can recover its strength. Ash thanks N for his assistance.

Just then, a woman's voice on the intercom informs the passengers the ship will be arriving in Castelia City shortly. Before he leaves, N tells Ash that although they have different viewpoints, they can still get along and be friends. Saying farewell, N tells Ash he is sure they will see each other again. As the ship is leaving, N says to himself he knows there must have been a reason Zekrom appeared to Ash and changed his life like Reshiram did for him.

Major events

• Ash and his friends meet N.
• Jessie's Frillish is revealed to know Shadow Ball.

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

Characters

Humans

Dare da?

• Ash
• Iris
• Cilan
• Jessie
• James
• N

Pokémon

Who's That Pokémon?

Who's That Pokémon?: Alomomola

• Pikachu (Ash's)
• Axew (Iris's)
• Meowth (Team Rocket)
• Unfezant (Ash's)
• Snivy (Ash's)
• Boldore (Ash's)
• Excadrill (Iris's)
• Frillish (Jessie's)
• Amoonguss (James's)
• Reshiram (flashback)
• Zekrom (flashback)
• Alomomola (×2)
• Genesect (monitor)

Trivia

• Professor Oak's Pokémon Live Caster: A preview for BW113.
  • During the Live Caster, Professor Oak asked viewers which move Alomomola used in order to heal Pikachu's paralysis. Viewers could call one of three phone numbers to choose between the options: Refresh, Aqua Ring and Heal Pulse.
• The English dub debuts a new version of It's Always You and Me, with footage from Be an Arrow! 2013.
• From this episode onwards, the English dub adds new words to the first lines of Team Rocket's motto. Jessie adds "You know the drill" and James adds "You'll get your fill".

Errors

• When the camera pans away from the group to N on the battlefield of the ship, the black tips on Pikachu's ears are missing.
• After being hit by Amoonguss's Stun Spore, Pikachu was portrayed as being poisoned instead of being paralyzed.
  • Professor Oak also stated Pikachu was poisoned by Stun Spore during the Live Caster.

In other languages

Language		Title
Mandarin Chinese		朋友…他的名字是N！
Italian		Il suo nome è N!

← BW109 : New Places... Familiar Faces!

Best Wishes series

BW111 : There's a New Gym Leader in Town! →

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