| Battling in the Freezing Raid!
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トライアルミッション！氷結のレイドバトル！！
Trial Mission! A Freezing Raid Battle!!
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First broadcast
| Japan
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March 18, 2022
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| United States
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October 21, 2022
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English themes
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Japanese themes
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Credits
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Battling in the Freezing Raid! (Japanese: トライアルミッション！氷結のレイドバトル！！ Trial Mission! A Freezing Raid Battle!!) is the 102nd episode of Pokémon Journeys: The Series, and the 1,187th episode of the Pokémon anime. It first aired in Japan on March 18, 2022, in Canada on August 13, 2022, in the United Kingdom on September 16, 2022, in Australia on September 30, 2022, and in the United States on October 21, 2022.
Plot
Goh has received information regarding his newest Project Mew Trial Mission, but for the first time, said information has left him in low spirits. The mission this time is to have a Raid Battle against the Legendary Pokémon Articuno. Ash finds the idea exciting, but Goh, who's not that good at teamwork, is displeased with the idea. Ash reminds Goh about the Raid Battle against Golurk he participated in, and manages to restore some of his confidence. Professor Cerise, Ren, and Chrysa advice them to look for Articuno at the Seafoam Islands in southern Kanto, since the islands are connected by a permafrost cave, which seems like a suitable place for Articuno.
Following Professor Cerise's advice, Ash and Goh travel to the Seafoam Islands. While crossing a stone bridge, they're attacked by a Golbat, but Goh deals with it by swiftly catching it. Next, they find themselves in a natural maze, where they run into dead ends, aggressive wild Geodude, and other Project Mew challengers who have exhausted themselves and their Pokémon too much to have a Raid Battle with Articuno. Eventually, Ash and Goh come across a crystalline stone spike, which Grookey hits with its stick, creating a ringing sound. This gives Goh an idea, and he has his Inteleon use its head crest to echolocate the correct path based on the sound, eventually leading them to a cave entrance.
After Goh has recalled his Pokémon, he and Ash enter the cave. Just as they reach a dead end, a Graveler pops out of the ground and starts rolling towards them, but Goh catches it with a Poké Ball before it can reach them. He and Ash then descend down the hole Graveler left behind by using Caterpie's String Shot. At the bottom, they spot Horace, Goh's childhood friend, battling against a wild Cloyster with his Bayleef. Goh calls out his Cinderace and has it attack Cloyster with Pyro Ball, after which Horace allows Goh to catch the Bivalve Pokémon for himself. Horace is introduced to Ash, and it's revealed that Horace is a Project Mew challenger as well. Goh is surprised to learn this, since Horace's target is Celebi. Horace explains that since Mew, like Celebi, is a Psychic-type Pokémon, he's made it a part of his quest to track down every Psychic Pokémon to lead him to Celebi one day, a goal that Ash notes to be similar to Goh's.
Ash, Goh, and Horace make their way deeper into the cave, finding a waterfall flowing down to a basin they can even see. Once again using Caterpie's String Shot, they lower themselves to a lower floor, discovering a huge cavern covered in snow and ice. Unexpectedly, Gary appears behind them, much to Goh's irritation. Gary suspects Articuno being on the other side of the body of water before them, but hasn't crossed it yet, since a Raid Battle requires multiple participants. While Goh is ticked off by Gary's mere presence, he still boards the inflatable boat he deploys, taking everyone to the other side. Almost immediately after they've made land, a wall of ice suddenly shatters, revealing Articuno. A drone sent by Project Mew appears to record the Raid Battle, stating that each participating Trainer is allowed to use three Pokémon. Ash, Goh, Gary, and Horace start out by sending out Sirfetch'd, Darmanitan, Tyranitar, and Indeedee, respectively, but a single Blizzard from Articuno defeats all of them before they can do anything.
Not wasting a moment, the four send out their next Pokémon: Lucario, Cinderace, Umbreon, and Gardevoir. Umbreon successfully uses Confuse Ray on Articuno, but even while confused, it manages to retaliate with Sheer Cold, which takes out Umbreon in one hit. Lucario and Cinderace manage to land a hit with an Aura Sphere and a Pyro Ball just before Articuno's confusion wears off, and its subsequent Ice Shard is blocked by Gardevoir's Reflect. While Gary replaces his fainted Umbreon with Arcanine, the other Pokémon strike Articuno with a combination of Aura Sphere, Pyro Ball, and Moonblast. When Articuno attacks again, Gardevoir casts another Reflect, but Articuno's move, Triple Axel, manages to break through it, although not without being weakened in the process. Gary tells Cinderace and Lucario to grab onto Articuno. Goh is irritated by Gary telling him what to do, but Ash tells him to do it, so he reluctantly repeats Gary's command. However, while Cinderace manages to get onto Articuno's back, Lucario fails to grab a hold of its tail and falls down. Nevertheless, Gary orders Arcanine to use Flamethrower, which scores a direct hit, as do Cinderace's subsequent Blaze Kick and Lucario's Steel Beam. When Cinderace jumps down, Horace has Gardevoir heal it with Heal Pulse.
Before Lucario and Cinderace can attack again, Articuno launches another Blizzard, which pushes through Gardevoir's Light Screen and defeats every Pokémon present, excluding Arcanine. As their final Pokémon, Ash, Goh, and Horace choose Pikachu, Boldore, and Bayleef. Horace and Gary keep reminding Goh that Raid Battles are about teamwork, despite his insistence that he understands that. Gary takes charge of the battle, telling Horace to have Bayleef hold Articuno in place with Vine Whip while the others attack it. The plan works, but Articuno then manages to escape from Bayleef's grasp and prepares to attack again. Gary fears that it might be using Sheer Cold and tells everyone to scatter, but Goh tells everyone to line up behind Boldore in case the move is Blizzard. Unfortunately, Gary's guess about Sheer Cold turns out to be accurate, leading to Pikachu and Arcanine being taken down. Articuno easily shrugs off Bayleef's Energy Ball and defeats it with Blizzard, bringing the battle to an end.
As Articuno flies away, the drone tells the challengers to wait for a call from the HQ. Goh admits that without help, he would've stood no chance. Horace, though, says that Goh taking the front line allowed him to focus on using protection and healing moves, while Gary criticizes Goh for his selfish actions. Just then, each of them receives a call from Quillon, who informs them that they've earned three tokens each. In addition, Gary receives an extra token for his leadership skills, while Horace receives an extra one for his dedication to teamwork. Goh asks if teamwork is necessary for finding Mew, which Quillon responds to by telling him to think about it. Danika enters the conversation, revealing that Quillon used to be selfish and bad at team play too, and yet, he managed to become a Chaser.
Back on the mainland, Horace prepares to part ways with Goh, giving him encouragements and assuring he can make it. Gary, on the other hand, says that giving someone hopes and dreams for something they're not ready yet can lead to the worst possible outcome, specifying that, in his eyes, strictness is an important factor in reaching Mew. Gary's words make Goh start to understand his mentality better, and he addresses him in a respectful tone before parting ways with him and Horace for now.
Major events
- Goh catches a Golbat, a Graveler, and a Cloyster.
- Goh meets Horace again, while Ash meets him for the first time.
- Horace's Chikorita is revealed to have evolved into Bayleef, and he's revealed to own a female Indeedee and a Gardevoir.
- Horace is revealed to be a Project Mew challenger.
- Ash and Goh meet Gary again.
- Gary is revealed to have obtained a Tyranitar.
- Ash, Goh, Gary, and Horace have a Raid Battle against an Articuno.
- Goh, Gary, and Horace clear a Trial Mission, earning Goh three Project Mew tokens, while Gary and Horace earn four each.
- For a list of all major events in the animated series, please see the history page.
Debuts
Pokémon debuts
Characters
Humans
Pokémon
Trivia
- Get Inspired! Let's Solve a Poké Riddle!!: Articuno
- The opening animation is updated to include Goh's Durant.
- The Dare da? segment is replaced with eyecatches of Ash, Goh, and Pikachu for this episode.
- This episode marks the first appearance of a number of Pokémon species in the main series after long absences:
- This episode marks the first appearance of both Gary's Arcanine and Umbreon in the main series since Can't Beat the Heat!, 917 episodes earlier, and The Needs of the Three!, 570 episodes earlier, respectively.
- Gary owning a Tyranitar could be a reference to Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen and Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver, where his game counterpart uses a Tyranitar in his rematches with the player.
- As of this episode, Goh and Cinderace have battled all three Legendary birds. Ash and Pikachu have also done so within this series.
- This is the first time Gary's Umbreon is seen being defeated in battle.
- Articuno's cries in this episode are recycled cries of Lugia from The Power of One.
- Ash, Pikachu, Goh, Clemont, and Bonnie narrate the preview for the next episode.
- A special preview for the next two episodes; JN103 and JN104, was aired after this episode.
Errors
- When Arcanine and Pikachu are defeated by Articuno's Sheer Cold, they both get frozen. However, when they fall to the ground, the ice surrounding them has disappeared.
Dub edits
In other languages
European French
German
