JN036

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Making Battles in the Sand!

JN036

EP1121

サトシとゴウ、砂地獄から這い上がれ！
Satoshi and Go, Crawl Up From the Sand Hell!

First broadcast

Japan	September 6, 2020
United States	December 4, 2020

English themes

Opening	The Journey Starts Today
Ending

Japanese themes

Opening	１・２・３
Ending	ポケモンしりとり（ミュウ→ザマゼンタVer.）

Credits

Additional credits
Animation	Team Kato
Screenplay	土屋理敬 Michihiro Tsuchiya
Storyboard	齋藤徳明 Noriaki Saitō
Assistant director	田辺慎吾 Shingo Tanabe
Animation directors	新城真 Makoto Shinjō
Animation directors	升谷有希 Yuki Masutani

Making Battles in the Sand! (Japanese: サトシとゴウ、砂地獄から這い上がれ！ Satoshi and Go, Crawl Up From the Sand Hell!) is the 36th episode of Pokémon Journeys: The Series, and the 1,121st episode of the Pokémon anime. It first aired in Japan on September 6, 2020 and in the United States on December 4, 2020.

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

Blurb

Ash is in a slump—after three straight losses, he’s dropped down a class in the World Coronation Series. Meanwhile, a mysterious whirling sandstorm has appeared in Mauville City, drawing people in with a strange singing noise. Ash and Goh investigate—inside, they discover a sprawling desert, and Goh catches a Trapinch and a Vibrava. They also find the source of the singing noise: a powerful Flygon! As Ash gets caught up in his own thoughts, Goh confidently defeats Flygon…and catches it, too! Then, when Goh reveals that his unconventional strategy was inspired by Ash, Ash starts feeling better and vows to train hard again so he can battle Leon!

Plot

Following his defeat at the hands of Bea, Ash and his Pokémon are jogging as a part of their training to win next time. Hearing this, Goh and his Raboot decide to join them. Ash suddenly gets an alert on his Rotom Phone, with his next World Coronation Series opponent standing only feet away. Drone Rotom soars into to oversee the one-on-one match, with Ash calling on Riolu against a male Trainer and his Octillery. Ash notes that Octillery will probably move like Bea's Grapploct and warns Riolu to stay back as much as possible. Riolu starts the battle off with a flurry of Vacuum Waves. Octillery evades the Vacuum Wave barrage before striking back with Psybeam, which manages to confuse Riolu. In its daze, Riolu is unable to escape Octillery's Wrap attack and is struck down by a point-blank Octazooka blast. Ash rushes to aid his Riolu, though the defeat causes his official ranking to drop from 930 to 975.

Ash's disappointment quickly subsides when he receives another battle invitation, this time from a female Trainer with a Tentacruel. Ash again calls out his Riolu, warning it to keep its distance. Riolu starts off strong, evading an oncoming Bubble Beam while firing off several Vacuum Waves. However, Riolu gets too close to its opponent and is battered away by a tentacle. Tentacruel follows on with a Bind before using Poison Sting, leaving Riolu unable to battle. Ash's official ranking drops for the third consecutive time, now down to 1,021, landing Ash back in the Normal Class, much to his disappointment.

Meanwhile, in Mauville City of the Hoenn region, a large sandstorm has appeared out of nowhere. A hauntingly beautiful song from inside the sandstorm seemingly hypnotizes the people, and they walk towards it. Reports of the strange phenomenon soon reach Cerise Laboratory, with Ren, Chrysa, and Professor Cerise left baffled by it. As they consider that the strange song may be the work of an unknown Pokémon, Goh volunteers to help the Professor investigate further. The Professor allows his research fellows to go, though Goh is forced to drag the unusually somber and broken Ash, who is still painfully mulling over his three consecutive losses, out to Hoenn.

Ash and Goh arrive in Mauville to find the city half-buried in sand. With a new Pokémon mystery to uncover, Ash quickly cheers up. Putting on their Go-Goggles, the boys and their Pokémon walk directly into the sandstorm. They brave the vortex winds to reach the eye of the storm where they rush towards the distant cries for help. As three people are dragged into a pit, a Trapinch appears, snapping its jaws. Goh consults his Pokédex, learning that Trapinch digs bowl-shaped pits to trap and hunt prey. Goh decides he will have to catch the Trapinch to save the people. A standard throw fails, but his curveball manages to catch the Trapinch. The three people thank their rescuers before leaving.

Ash and Goh hear the same song again, this time being ambushed by a flying Vibrava. Goh tries to catch it as well, but a simple toss fails. Vibrava retaliates by creating sound waves from its wings, which instantly induce a headache over Goh and the others. Goh tries a curveball throw, which initially misses until Raboot kicks Poké Ball into the right trajectory. The Ball lands and successfully captures the Vibrava.

Goh deduces that the Trapinch line's final evolution must be somewhere nearby, and soon enough a Flygon bursts from the desert sands. Goh instantly concludes that Flygon is the source of the song, which was created by the desert wings hitting Flygon's wings. He believes Flygon must have whipped up the sandstorm so it could build its nest without being disturbed. Goh throws a Poké Ball but quickly realizes that he and Ash will need to battle it first. Goh chooses Sobble to assist, while Ash erroneously selects Pikachu and orders a Thunderbolt attack. Flygon is unaffected by the Electric-type attack, and Goh reminds Ash that Flygon is a part Ground type. Ash switches Pikachu out for Riolu and orders a flurry of Vacuum Waves. Flygon whips up another Sandstorm to defend itself, though Sobble's barrage of Water Guns eventually break through.

Ash realizes that Goh was trying to get the loose sand to react to water, which leaves Flygon open to a combo of Water Gun and Vacuum Wave attacks. Flygon switches tactics and dives underground using Dragon Rush to navigate the sand-like water. It eventually strikes Sobble, forcing Goh to recall it before having to contend with an outburst of tears. Ash tries to think of a counter-strategy, but due to his thoughts about three consecutive failures in the World Coronation Series, he can't do it and eventually, Flygon strikes him and Riolu down. Ash's battle spirit is completely broken and he feels powerless to do something, leaving Goh to fight on his own. As Flygon flies back up, Goh orders Raboot to use Double Kick. However, the move misses its mark and Flygon goes into a Dragon Rush yet again. Raboot takes its time to listen to Flygon and it manages to successfully evade Flygon's sneak attacks. Flygon evades two Ember attacks and responds with a Draco Meteor shower. Goh orders Raboot to keep dodging while closing in to attack, a strategy that Ash questions. However, Goh follows through, using the Draco Meteors to help Raboot get leverage before having Raboot use Ember on one of the meteors. The combination proves a success, knocking Flygon to the ground before Goh makes the catch. The sandstorm over Mauville City dissipates as a result. Goh lets out a mighty cheer, thanking Raboot for its amazing effort.

Ash is stunned by Goh's surprising combo technique, to which Goh reveals that he developed it from watching Ash battle. Goh adds that he really wanted to use Ember, a move that he and Raboot worked hard to develop. Inspired by this, Ash vows to continue aiming to battle Champion Leon and realizes his mistake, admitting he tried to only attack from a distance after his loss to Bea's Grapploct. Pikachu and Riolu nestle up to Ash, supporting his rediscovered confidence thanks to Goh's newfound determination.

Major events

Ash loses two World Coronation Series matches in a row, lowering his rank to 975 and then 1,021, landing him back in the Normal Class.
Ash and Goh visit Hoenn again.
Goh catches a Trapinch, a Vibrava, and a Flygon.

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

Debuts

Pokémon debuts

Characters

Humans

Dare da?

Ash
Goh
Professor Cerise
Bea (flashback)
Chrysa
Ren
Chauffeurs
Trainers

Pokémon

Who's That Pokémon?

Who's That Pokémon?: Trapinch

Pikachu (Ash's)
Riolu (Ash's)
Scorbunny (Goh's; flashback)
Raboot (Goh's)
Sobble (Goh's)
Trapinch (Goh's; new)
Vibrava (Goh's; new)
Flygon (Goh's; new)
Rotom (Professor Cerise's; Rotom Phone; ×2)
Grapploct (Bea's; flashback)
Octillery (Trainer's)
Tentacruel (Trainer's)
Growlithe (Trainer's)
Vulpix (Trainer's)
Baltoy (Trainer's)
Azurill (Trainer's)
Poochyena (Trainer's)
Whismur (Trainer's)
Castform (Trainer's; Sunny Form)
Rotom (Drone Rotom)

Trivia

Get Inspired! Let's Solve a Poké Riddle!!: Vibrava
This is the last known episode where Ash loses a World Coronation Series battle.
Raboot kicking a Poké Ball to help Goh catch Vibrava is a reference to Pokémon GO, where the player’s Buddy Pokémon can help the player catch a Pokémon.
Goh's strategy of having Raboot climb Draco Meteor and send a projectile back to Flygon is reminiscent of Ash's strategy against Grant's Tyrunt from Climbing the Walls!.
This episode marks the first appearance of a Baltoy in the anime since Bucking the Treasure Trend!, 474 episodes earlier.
- This also marks the first main series appearance of a Poochyena since An Explosive Operation!, 215 episodes earlier.
An Exeggutor, Ash, Goh, and Pikachu narrate the preview for the next episode.

Errors

In the Brazilian Portuguese dub, Goh says Trapinch is the evolved form of Vibrava.
This episode erroneously used the title of the last episode as the video title in the Hindi dub.

Dub edits

In other languages

Language		Title
Arabic		!داخل.. العاصفة الرملية
Bengali		বালিতে ব্যাটল!
Chinese	Cantonese	小智和小豪、爬出流沙地獄
Chinese	Mandarin	小智和小豪，爬出流沙地獄！
Danish		Kampdrømme og sandkasteller! * Kamp i sandet! *
Dutch		Gevechten in het zand!
Finnish		Hiekan keskeltä uuteen alkuun!
European French		Un combat dans une tempête de sable !
German		Kämpfe Im Sand!
Hebrew		!נלחמים בסופת חול
Hindi		रेत मे जंग! Ret me Jung!* अब किसे पकड़ें? Ab kise Pakde?*
Italian		Lotte nella sabbia!
Polish		Bitwy w burzy piaskowej!
Brazilian Portuguese		Batalhando na areia!
Russian		Битвы в песке!
Latin American Spanish		¡Creando batallas en la arena!
Tamil		மணலில் ஒரு பேட்டில்!
Telugu		ఇసుక పోరాటాలు
Turkish		Kumda Savaş
Ukrainian		Бій у пустелі