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This article is about an episode of the Pokémon animated series that has not been dubbed into English. As such, its coverage may contain romanized Japanese names, rather than dub names.
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| JN137
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はじまりのかぜ！むげんのみち！！
Winds of Beginning! The Endless Road!!
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First broadcast
| Japan
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January 13, 2023
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| United States
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English themes
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Japanese themes
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Credits
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(Japanese: はじまりのかぜ！むげんのみち！！ Winds of Beginning! The Endless Road!!) is the first episode of Pocket Monsters: Aim to Be a Pokémon Master, the 137th episode of Pokémon Journeys: The Series, and the 1,222nd episode of the Pokémon anime. It first aired in Japan on January 13, 2023.
Plot
Ash and Pikachu resume their travels, going where the wind blows with no clear destination. When they reach a crossroads, Ash tosses a twig into the air to decide which way to go, but then turns to take the other road instead. Mildly irritated, Pikachu zaps Ash's hat off his head a couple times, while Ash keeps moving ahead until Pikachu catches up with him. With the playful bickering over, they cross a shallow river, but Ash slips on a rock and falls in, with a trio of Magikarp biting down on his rear. After laughing his fill, Pikachu zaps the Magikarp and Ash with Thunderbolt, driving the Fish Pokémon away. Next, Ash tries out swinging on vines, but when he sees a Kakuna, he gets distracted and hits a tree. The impact causes the Kakuna to fall down and Ash saves it. The next instant, however, it suddenly evolves into a Beedrill. After a few tense moments, Beedrill flies away without attacking him, much to Ash's relief.
Back in Pallet Town, Professor Oak pays a visit to the Ketchum residence to greet Delia and ask her how Ash is doing. Delia says she hasn't heard of him since he left. Ash's choice to travel without a set goal reminds Professor Oak of his own youth, though Delia does mention that Ash wishes to make new friends, inspiring Professor Oak to recite a senryū about the subject.
Taking a break from walking, Ash and Pikachu rest under a tree while pointing out the wild Pokémon that appear near them. However, when Meowth suddenly appears, he does a double-take. The next moment, Jessie and James appear as well and seize Pikachu in a net before reciting their motto. Pikachu's attempts to break free by using Thunderbolt or Iron Tail fail, with the Team Rocket trio boasting that they've made their net completely Pikachu-proof. Confident of their victory, they turn around to leave, but Ash calls out Noivern and has him use Boomburst. Though Wobbuffet uses Mirror Coat to send the attack back, Ash quickly blocks it with Donphan's Rollout. The tables having turned on them, the Rocket trio tries to run, but are unable escape from Sceptile, whose Leaf Blade cuts the net open, allowing Pikachu to blast them off as usual.
While the trio is lamenting their failure to prepare for the twerp's other Pokémon, they end up colliding with an invisible Pokémon mid-air, sending them flying into the distance and causing the Pokémon to crash down into a nearby lake. Hearing the sound of the crash-landing, Ash rushes to the site. When the invisible Pokémon's wing turns visible before his eyes, he immediately recognizes the Pokémon as a Latias and swims to her to save her. Though distrustful towards Ash, Latias is too weak to fight back, allowing Ash and Buizel to bring her to land, where Ash sees the full extent of her bruises and injuries, in particular on one of her wings, which he treats with a Potion and bandages before setting up a campsite. At night, Team Rocket stumbles upon the campsite and spots Latias. Their Rotom Phone informs them that Latias is a Legendary Pokémon, making them excited and determined to capture it. Meanwhile, Ash spots that the bandage around Latias's wing has loosened, so he takes it off, applies some more Potion on the wound, and ties another, tighter bandage around it.
The next morning, Latias wakes up, waking up Ash as well as she takes off. She starts angrily ripping off the bandage, despite Ash trying to protest that she has not fully recovered yet. Ash tries to assure Latias that he's trying to help her, but suddenly, a giant vacuum appears and sucks Latias in. Ash jumps after her and is sucked in as well as the vacuum is revealed to be connected to Team Rocket's Meowth balloon. Latias and Ash are both dropped into a glass tank underneath the balloon, which is then filled with cold air to weaken the Dragon type. Though capturing Ash was not a part of Team Rocket's plan, they decide to keep him as a hostage to keep his Pokémon from attacking them. Trying to think of a way to escape, Ash comes up with an idea, and Pikachu sends a Thunderbolt at him. The Electric attack succeeds in shattering the tank, causing Ash and Latias to fall, with Ash urging Latias to take his hands. Seeing what lengths Ash is willing to go to save her, Latias finally trusts him and saves him from the fall.
Once the Rocket trio has been dispatched by Noivern's Boomburst, Latias brings Ash back down to the ground. He thanks her for saving him and she flies up, looking him with a sad expression before turning invisible and disappearing. Looking after her, Ash wonders if he'll ever see her again. As he and Pikachu resume their journey, Latias observes him from the sky.
Major events
Ash's party in this episode
- Ash is revealed to have begun rotating his team.
- For a list of all major events in the animated series, please see the history page.
Debuts
Pokémon debuts
Main series debuts
Characters
Humans
Pokémon
Who's That Pokémon?: Noivern
Trivia
- Team Rocket Expedition which stands by the evils of love and truth: Koraidon
- One, Two, Three is replaced by Aim to Be a Pokémon Master -with my friends- as the Japanese opening theme.
- This episode marks the first time that Ash has brought Pokémon from Professor Oak's Laboratory back to his active party since Pokémon the Series: Diamond and Pearl (more specifically, The Semi-Final Frontier!, 567 episodes ago).
- As of this episode, every Generation III Pokémon has appeared in the main series.
- The scene where Professor Oak rides his bike to Ash's house while Delia and Mimey are cleaning resembles a similar looking scene in The Power of One.
- The background music played during Team Rocket's motto changes to the song that was heard during the episode previews they hosted during the Masters Tournament arc.
- This marks the first time the motto music has contained lyrics.
- Despite Latias having made her TV episode debut in DPS02, almost 12 years earlier, this is the first time she has received a Pokédex entry in the anime.
- This episode marks the first physical appearance of a Sawsbuck in the anime since Genesect and the Legend Awakened, almost 10 years prior.
- Ash, Pikachu, and Misty narrate the preview for the next episode.
Errors
Dub edits
In other languages
