XY085

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Mending a Broken Spirit!

XY085

EP884

折れた小枝、折れた心！テールナーの強き思い！！
A Broken Twig and a Broken Heart! Tairenar's Strong Feelings!!

First broadcast

Japan	August 20, 2015
United States	October 17, 2015

English themes

Opening	Be a Hero
Ending

Japanese themes

Opening	ゲッタバンバン
Ending	ガオガオ・オールスター

Credits

No additional credits are available at this time.
Animation	Team Kato
Screenplay	武上純希 Junki Takegami
Storyboard	松田清 Kiyoshi Matsuda
Assistant director	松田清 Kiyoshi Matsuda
Animation director	志村泉 Izumi Shimura

Mending a Broken Spirit! (Japanese: 折れた小枝、折れた心！テールナーの強き思い！！ A Broken Twig and a Broken Heart! Tairenar's Strong Feelings!!) is the 85th episode of Pokémon the Series: XY, and the 884th episode of the Pokémon animated series. It first aired in Japan on August 20, 2015, in Canada on October 10, 2015, and in the United States on October 17, 2015.

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

Blurb

Serena is reworking her Pokémon Showcase routine when a powerful attack from Pancham hits Braixen and breaks its beloved branch! Everyone tries to find Braixen a new branch, but it isn’t interested in a replacement. Team Rocket has been spying as usual, and James dons a disguise and joins our heroes to see if he can help.

Nurse Joy suggests they take the branch to a tree surgeon, Mr. Woodward, for repairs. He first wants Serena and Braixen to demonstrate their bond, and the best way to do that is with a battle. Braixen eventually uses its broken branch to unleash a powerful new move: Fire Blast! This shatters the branch beyond repair but restores Braixen’s confidence, and it finally accepts the new branch Pancham offers. Our heroes are off once more to Anistar City, and the bond between Serena and Braixen is stronger than ever!

Plot

On the road to Anistar City, the group takes a break at a Pokémon Center. Serena decides to use this opportunity to train for the upcoming Pokémon Showcase, discussing an updated version of her performance routine with Braixen and Pancham. Team Rocket is nearby, with Jessie swearing victory over Serena to the doubt of James and Meowth. Serena and her Pokémon begin practicing, but as Pancham uses its Stone Edge, Braixen trips up. The three realize to their shock that while Braixen wasn't injured, her branch was broken in the fall.

Braixen becomes upset and angry at Pancham, who immediately feels guilty about it and runs off to find a replacement. The others, upon learning this, join in to help, collecting a bunch of branches for Braixen. Braixen rejects all of them and runs away into the forest, forcing Serena and Pancham to chase after her. Looking on, Jessie and Meowth find Braixen's attachment to the branch strange, but James quickly empathizes, recalling a childhood memory when his mother threw away his precious bottle cap collection—and with them, the irreplaceable memories he had of each one.

As Braixen continues running, Serena wonders why Braixen refused to accept a replacement branch, when they are stopped by James in disguise. Introducing himself as "Jeeves", James explains that Braixen is associating important memories with the branch, which cannot be simply replaced. This causes Serena to remember when she, Pancham and Braixen swore that Serena would become Kalos Queen with that very branch, and Braixen confirms the sentiment. James suggests that Serena consult Nurse Joy for help. Arriving at the Pokémon Center, Nurse Joy regretfully informs her that fixing Braixen's branch is beyond her medical expertise. However, she recommends that Serena consult Woodward, a local tree surgeon renowned for reattaching the broken horn from a Sawsbuck.

At Woodward's house, James and Serena plead with Woodward to mend Braixen's branch, citing his skill and the Sawsbuck he helped. Woodward declares that he can't, explaining that the only reason Sawsbuck's horn could be fixed was due to Sawsbuck's willpower to heal. Serena retorts that likewise, she and her Pokémon are willing to see Braixen's branch mended. Woodward decides that the only way to test Braixen's will is to have a battle with his Gallade, which Serena accepts. Heading around the back, the battle begins on Woodward's battlefield, with Ash and the others arriving after being directed there by Nurse Joy, and Clemont offers to referee.

Serena facing Woodward

Woodward permits Braixen to make the first move, and Serena orders a Scratch which Gallade promptly dodges. Bonnie is surprised Serena didn't order Flamethrower, and Ash suggests that Braixen might have difficulty executing Fire-type moves without its branch. Seeing Pancham depressed, Ash reassures Pancham and cheers Serena on. Serena orders more Scratch attacks, but Gallade easily avoids them all. Woodward orders a Slash, which Braixen dodges in turn. Just then, Pikachu barely manages to avoid an electric net thrown by Jessie, who makes her and Meowth's presence known. Being beckoned to by an annoyed Jessie, James sheds his disguise and regroups as Team Rocket recites their motto. Furious at the disruption, Serena sends her Pokémon to attack Team Rocket, with Pancham performing its Stone Edge combo with Braixen. Serena finally orders a Flamethrower; putting the broken ends of her branch together, Braixen releases her attack from the broken joint, disintegrating the branch in the process—but to the surprise of everyone present, the flames burst into a Fire Blast, which Ash and Clemont comment on. An additional Thunderbolt from Pikachu sends Team Rocket blasting off, with James begging Woodward to fix Braixen's branch now that it has proved itself, much to the confusion of Jessie and Meowth.

Everyone implores Woodward to mend the fragments of Braixen's branch, but Woodward admits that the branch was already irreparable to begin with. Gently, he explains to Braixen that he asked for the battle in order to teach her an important lesson: holding onto memories and objects from the past is understandable, but being able to let go of them is also vital in becoming stronger. Braixen herself proved this in destroying her old branch and learning Fire Blast in the process. Pancham produces a new branch he found earlier, offering it to Serena and Braixen. Finally understanding, Braixen renews her promise with Serena and Pancham, and Serena ties a ribbon onto the branch to symbolize their oath. Serena and Woodward resume the battle, with Braixen dodging Gallade's Psycho Cut and attacking with Fire Blast, resulting in a direct hit. Gallade falls to his knees, and Woodward declares the battle over, having accomplished what he had set out to do.

Before the group leaves, Woodward reveals that he took the fragments of Braixen's old branch and grafted them onto a new sapling, so the branch would grow into new life and perhaps be useful to someone else. Serena promises to visit the sapling once she's become Kalos Queen and tell the old branch about all their adventures. Just as the group is about to depart, they notice that "Jeeves" has disappeared, still unaware that Jeeves was actually James of Team Rocket.

Major events

Braixen's new stick wand

Serena's Braixen learns Fire Blast.
Serena's Braixen receives a new stick wand, decorated with a ribbon.

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

Debuts

Pokémon debuts

Characters

Humans

Pokémon Quiz

Pokémon

Who's That Pokémon?

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

Trivia

The title card segment focuses on Serena for this episode

In the Japanese version, the title card segment focuses on, and is read by, Serena.
Professor Oak's Pokémon Holo Caster: Vanillite
- Instead of Pokémon Holo Caster, scenes from the eighteenth Pokémon movie were shown.
James displays his interest to his previous bottle caps collection again in this episode.
Ash, Ash's Fletchinder, and Trevor narrate the preview for the next episode.
Serena's Braixen and Pancham remain outside of their Poké Balls throughout the episode.
The ribbon that Serena uses to decorate Braixen's new wand was first shown in Roaring All-Stars.
James's mother does not make an onscreen appearance in this episode, but her voice can be heard when she tells James that she threw his bottle caps collection away. Mako Hyōdō and Eileen Stevens are credited for the role.
Music from Kyurem VS. The Sword of Justice is used in this episode.

Errors

Right before Braixen is hit by Pancham's Stone Edge, she is facing the attack. When she gets hit, she is facing away from it.

Dub edits

The title card segment is read by Ash instead of Serena.

In other languages

Language		Title
Chinese	Cantonese	斷裂的樹枝，挫敗的心！長尾火狐的強烈意念！！
Chinese	Mandarin	斷裂的樹枝、挫敗的心！長尾火狐的強烈意念！！
Danish		Reperation af et knækket sjæl!
Dutch		Het herstellen van een geknakt zelfvertrouwen!
Finnish		Särkynyttä sydäntä korjaamassa!
European French		Une branche trop précieuse !
German		Auch Kampfgeist kann zerbrechen!
Italian		Fiducia ritrovata!
Korean		부러진 가지와 부러진 마음! 테르나의 굳센 의지!!
Norwegian		Fikse et brukket løfte!
Polish		Ocalić złamane nadzieje!
Portuguese	Brazil	Revitalizando um Espírito Enfraquecido!
Portuguese	Portugal	Revitalizar um Espírito Esmorecido!
Russian		Чиним сломленный дух!
Spanish	Latin America	¡Reparando un espíritu roto!
Spanish	Spain	¡Sanando un Espíritu Quebrado!
Swedish		Hur man lagar en bruten vilja!
Thai		กิ่งไม้ที่หัก หัวใจที่แตกสลาย! ความคิดอันยิ่งใหญ่ของเทลน่า!!