XY120

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All Hail the Ice Battlefield!

XY120

EP919

エイセツジム戦！氷のバトルフィールド！！
Eisetsu Gym Battle! Battlefield of Ice!!

First broadcast

Japan	May 19, 2016
United States	August 20, 2016

English themes

Opening	Stand Tall
Ending

Japanese themes

Opening	XY&Z
Ending	プニちゃんのうた

Credits

Additional credits
Animation	Team Kato
Screenplay	冨岡淳広 Atsuhiro Tomioka
Storyboard	関野昌弘 Masahiro Sekino
Assistant director	浅田裕二 Yūji Asada
Animation director	岩根雅明 Masaaki Iwane

All Hail the Ice Battlefield! (Japanese: エイセツジム戦！氷のバトルフィールド！！ Eisetsu Gym Battle! Battlefield of Ice!!) is the 120th episode of Pokémon the Series: XY, and the 919th episode of the Pokémon animated series. It first aired in Japan on May 19, 2016 and in the United States on August 20, 2016.

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

Blurb

Our heroes and Sawyer arrive in Snowbelle City, and Ash is fired up to win his final badge at the freezing Gym!

First up is Wulfric’s Abomasnow, whose Ability causes hail to fall on the already-icy battlefield! After Hawlucha fights through it to claim the first victory, Wulfric sends out Avalugg—who slowly recovers from damage when it’s hailing. It’s an icy combo that proves to be very effective, as Avalugg knocks out Hawlucha and Talonflame, and even defeats Greninja after it syncs up with Ash to become “Ash-Greninja” (as Bonnie calls it).

Ash is devastated, and while his Pokémon heal up, he goes off on his own to recover…

Plot

Ash and his friends, along with Sawyer, have arrived at Snowbelle City. Bonnie starts playing in the snow, despite Clemont's warnings that she'll catch a cold. Serena and Sawyer hope Ash will win his eighth Badge. Bonnie also hopes to see Ash-Greninja, the form when Greninja syncs with Ash, which Bonnie gave a new name to. Serena approves of the idea, even if Clemont thinks the name is a description. Before they arrive at the Gym, as Bonnie, Serena and Clemont speed up, Ash wishes to obtain the final badge and battle Sawyer in the Kalos League, as a rematch from the defeat Ash received. Sawyer approves, but are called by Serena to hurry up. Inside the Gym, Ash requests a Gym match. This causes a mechanism to trigger and reveal five Bergmite. The screen warns the heroes and Sawyer the interior is also very cold. The door opens, revealing a man, who congratulates them for managing to come here so far.

Ash requests a match from the Gym Leader, whose name is Wulfric. Bonnie wonders if it is cold to sit on ice. Wulfric laughs, thinking ice also has a warm heart, and the temperature suits him. Wulfric notices Sawyer, whom he battled the other day. Sawyer confirms this and thanks for the battle, which Wulfric claims it was "a heated one". Ash introduces himself and tells he has seven badges. Wulfric understands this is the battle for the final badge, one Ash should enjoy. Ash leaves his coat to Serena, ready to get fired up. At the battlefield, Wulfric claims ice can be hard and fragile, meaning his strategy will change, depending on which Pokémon Ash will send and which moves are used. Ash sends Hawlucha, who nearly slips down on the icy field, while Wulfric sends Abomasnow. Abomasnow's presence starts hail, due to its Snow Warning Ability.

Hawlucha starts off with Flying Press, landing a hit on Abomasnow. Wulfric recognizes Hawlucha has spirit, but Hawlucha takes damage from the hail. Hawlucha uses High Jump Kick, but gets hit by Abomasnow's Ice Shard. Abomasnow charges head-on with Wood Hammer, but Hawlucha evades the attack and knocks it down with Flying Press. Hawlucha uses High Jump Kick, circles around Abomasnow and hits it in the face, defeating it. For his next Pokémon, Wulfric sends Avalugg. Hawlucha dodges Avalugg's Stone Edge and hits it hard with Karate Chop. However, since it is hailing, Avalugg's Ice Body restores some of Avalugg's health. Hawlucha attacks with High Jump Kick, but gets deflected by Gyro Ball. Hawlucha tries to use Flying Press, but gets distracted by hail; Avalugg attacks and defeats Hawlucha with Gyro Ball. Serena is worried about the hail, but believes that Ash and Wulfric are evenly matched now.

Looking at Sawyer, Ash sends Talonflame, who launches Flame Charge on Avalugg, who recovers itself in hail. Avalugg uses Avalanche, dealing a lot of damage on Talonflame. Clemont warns Avalanche's power is doubled when the Pokémon using the move gets attacked. Talonflame manages to fly up and avoid Stone Edge attack. Talonflame hits Avalugg with Flame Charge, but Avalugg uses Avalanche, defeating Talonflame. Ash is frustrated and calls Talonflame back, then sends Greninja. Clemont and Sawyer think the tension in the air around Ash should allow Greninja to transform itself. Greninja charges on and evades Avalugg's Stone Edge and hits it with Cut. Greninja uses Aerial Ace, which gets deflected by Avalugg's Gyro Ball. Greninja fires Water Shuriken, though Wulfric claims it is no use, since Avalugg is spinning. However, Avalugg stops, since its legs got frozen. This allows Greninja to push away Avalugg using Cut. Clemont explains Water Shuriken froze when it hit Avalugg, freezing the legs. Wulfric admits that was a surprise tactic.

Ash urges Greninja to grow stronger, and Greninja syncs its mind with Ash, transforming itself. Bonnie is glad to see Ash-Greninja, but Sawyer notes he saw this form before, being enveloped in water. Ash-Greninja uses Aerial Ace, badly damaging Avalugg. Avalugg retaliates with Avalanche, hitting Ash-Greninja, a pain Ash senses as well. Sawyer is surprised, while Clemont explains Ash and Greninja are one and both will take damage. Ash's deep desire is to win this match, while Ash-Greninja looks at its Trainer. Ash-Greninja uses Cut and slices through Avalugg's Stone Edge, then damages Avalugg. Avalugg repeats its attack, which wounds Ash-Greninja, a pain Ash feels as well. Ash-Greninja uses Aerial Ace, attacking Avalugg and pushing it away. Wulfric comments how Greninja has this power, but has Avalugg use Avalanche, pushing Ash-Greninja away. Ash continues feeling the pain and has Ash-Greninja use Cut. Avalugg uses Ice Fang, freezing Ash-Greninja and slamming it away with Gyro Ball. With Ash-Greninja defeated, Ash faints, causing Wulfric to win the battle.

Ash wakes up, seeing he lost the battle. Wulfric points out water can adapt to its environment without changing its essence, something Wulfric can't exactly do. Wulfric points out a Trainer can only go so far unless they have deep trust in their Pokémon. Wulfric tells Ash that this is something he and Greninja failed to do, and until he learns how, he can't let him have the gym badge. Later on, in the Pokémon Center, Nurse Joy checks up on Greninja and reports Greninja took a lot of physical and mental damage, but will heal it back to normal. During the night, Sawyer decides to go and train for the Kalos League. Sawyer bids farewell to the heroes and promises to battle Ash at the League. While walking, Sawyer believes in Ash's victory, whom he admires, and promises to wait for his arrival. Ash visits Greninja and apologizes, thinking if he were calmer during the battle, he'd manage to draw out Greninja's power. Ash puts on his jacket and tells his friends he wishes to be alone for a minute, even if it is during the night. The next day, Bonnie visits Clemont and Serena, who have been expecting Ash, who has not returned yet. Serena worries, though Clemont thinks Ash will come back during lunchtime. Ash, however, is sitting in the forest, thinking about his recent defeat.

Major events

Ash and his friends arrive in Snowbelle City and meet Wulfric, the Gym Leader of the Snowbelle Gym.
Ash has a Gym battle with Wulfric and loses.
Sawyer leaves the group.
Dejected by his loss to Wulfric, Ash goes off by himself into the Winding Woods.

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

Debuts

Humans

Wulfric

Pokémon debuts

Characters

Humans

Pokémon Quiz

Pokémon

Who's That Pokémon?

Who's That Pokémon?: Bergmite (US and international)
Pokémon Quiz: Avalugg (Japan)

Trivia

The title card segment focuses on Ash for this episode

Poké TV: "Pokémon 24 Hours!" focusing on Wulfric.
Bonnie coins the term "Ash-Greninja" in this episode.
This is the first time since Volcanic Panic in Kanto that Ash has lost a second Gym battle in the same region, 860 episodes earlier.
- This also marks the first time Ash has lost a Gym battle against the final Gym Leader.
The preview of the next episode has no background music playing, no one narrates it, and there is no catchphrase at the end, only Ash quietly mentioning the series name and episode title.
This is the first time that Pikachu does not participate in a region's final Gym battle.
- Pikachu does participate in the rematch, though.
This is the only Gym battle of Pokémon the Series: XY to not be preceded by a VS screen.
- The rematch does feature one, though.
This episode features the first time Avalanche, a move that was introduced two generations earlier, is used in the anime.
Music from Genesect and the Legend Awakened is used in this episode.

Errors

Like in Rivals: Today and Tomorrow! and A Meeting of Two Journeys! for Greninja and An Electrifying Rage! for Noivern, when Ash holds up Hawlucha's Poké Ball, the white center and black band around the white button is much larger than normal.
After Hawlucha gets sent out to battle and starts to trip on the icy battlefield, the black sclera in Hawlucha's eyes is colored the same as the yellow sclera that is usually next to the black sclera, and Hawlucha's mouth is missing.
On three different occasions during the battle, Bonnie's ponytail disappears.
When Nurse Joy enters the room and the group stands up, Ash is shown not wearing his hat, but when Nurse Joy explains about the damage Greninja took during the battle, Ash is wearing his hat now. In the closeup shot of the devastated Ash, however, he is no longer wearing his hat.

The Poké Ball error
The coloring error in Hawlucha's sclera
Bonnie missing her ponytail

Dub edits

In other languages

Language		Title
Czech		Smršť na ledovém zápasišti!
Danish		Hagl over Is-Kamppladsen!
Dutch		Het hagelt op het IJs-strijdveld!
Finnish		Myrsky jääottelukentällä!
European French		Une zone de combat glaciaire !
German		Es hagelt in der Eis-Arena!
Hindi		ऑल हेल द आइस बैटलफील्ड! All Hail the Ice Battlefield!
Italian		Doccia fredda sul campolotta ghiacciato!
Korean		이설체육관 시합! 얼음 배틀필드!!
Norwegian		Det hagler over Is-kamparenaen!
Polish		Czarne chmury nad polem walki!
Portuguese	Brazil	Chegamos ao campo de gelo!
Portuguese	Portugal	Bem-vindos ao recinto do combate de gelo!
Russian		Все на ледяное поле боя!
Spanish	Latin America	¡Un campo de batalla helado!
Spanish	Spain	¡Gran granizada sobre el campo de batalla helado!
Swedish		Det haglar över is-stridsfältet!
Thai		ศึกเอย์เซ็ทสึยิม! สมรภูมิแห่งน้ำแข็ง!!
Turkish		Buz Sahasına Selamlar Olsun!