SM035: Currying Favor and Flavor!

is the 35th episode of , and of .
==Synopsis==
Ash wants to get right to his grand trial with Kahuna Olivia, but she reminds him that he has to pass the preliminary trials first. Today, though, she has another plan in mind: sending the students out to gather ingredients for the famous Akala Curry!
Ash and Mallow team up to look for herbs and berries in the forest, and they run into an unexpected challenge: the Totem Pokémon Lurantis! Ash defeats it, earning a Grass-type Z-Crystal—and when he gets back to Olivia, she reveals that the day’s activities were his preliminary trials in disguise. He passed with flying colors, so the grand trial can proceed!
==Episode plot==
Kukui declares the start of the Grand Trial, where Ash and Olivia face each other. Ash goes to send Litten, but the Poké Ball does not open. He goes to send Rowlet, but nothing happens, either. Ash raises the Poké Ball to find out what's wrong. Suddenly, the Ball enlargens into a Voltorb, who shocks him. Ash wakes up screaming, as it was only a dream. He accidentally bashes his head under Sophocles' bed, as Sophocles and Kiawe wake up as well. Kiawe and Sophocles see how noisy he is to scare them. Pikachu licks Ash, who looks at his Z-Ring, and is motivated to do Olivia's Grand Trial challenge. Inside the Pokémon Center, Kiawe's Turtonator and Marowak glare each other, and the latter bashes its head onto Turtonator, knocking the latter down and gets its head stuck in Turtonator's belly. Kiawe calls both of them back, and the class is visited by Kukui and Olivia. Ash asks of Olivia to do her Grand Trial and obtain the Z-Crystal. Olivia claims it is not the time, and Kukui reminds Ash he has to complete a Trial first.
Ash wishes to do that immediately, but Olivia asks of him not to rush things over. She asks of others to come with her, but gets knocked down by the doors. Olivia states today's lesson is to cook the traditional dish, the Akala Curry. Mallow is motivated by this, since she always wanted to cook that. Ash claims he is a great cook, and reminds Rotom about the sandwich he made, but Rotom states that's not cooking. Sophocles and Lillie are discouraged, since they can't really cook. Kiawe claims he can cook, but denies having cooked the curry. Mallow remembers a rare ingredient is needed for that curry. Olivia confirms this, and Kukui explains one of the tasks is to find that ingredient. Olivia has the group split to find the ingredients: Lillie and Kiawe, Sophocles and Lana, Ash and Mallow - all these groups take three cards to get the ingredients. Ash sees the Miracle Seed, the Revival Herb and the Mago Berry. Mallow realizes the Miracle Seed is that rare item she spoke about. Olivia gives the teams the maps to search for the ingredients, and reminds them they can't cook the curry without any of those ingredients. Before the groups go, Olivia asks Mallow for a second.
Ash and Mallow go to search, and the latter notes the closest item is the Mago Berry at the closest hill. As they go, they see some plants around, mistaking them to be spinach. Rotom corrects them to be Fomantis, which are currently sleeping. Ash goes to approach them, but decides not to wake them up. Ash looks at the tree and yells out that there is the Mago Berry. The Fomantis wake up and attack with Leafage, which makes Ash and Mallow run off. Later, Ash is angry that they would attack them out of sudden. Rotom explains if they are woken up, the Fomantis become angry, too. To avoid the Fomantis, Ash opens his backpack and wakes Rowlet up. He points at the tree, where Rowlet needs to grab the Mago Berry. Rowlet falls asleep, so Ash wakes it up and shows the card. Rowlet disinterestedly flies up to the hill, making Mallow wonder if it understood anything, but Ash assures her Rowlet will do as they said. Before reaching the tree, Rowlet falls asleep. Instead, Pikachu shows they could sneak to the tree, and is followed by Ash, Mallow and Steenee. Suddenly, Ash steps on a branch, but this does not alert the Fomantis.
Advancing on, Ash and Mallow encounter a Parasect from a bush, who emits Spore. Ash, Pikachu, Mallow and Steenee try to hold in, and nearly sneeze. The Fomantis wake up, so Ash, Mallow, Pikachu and Steenee run to the top of the hill. Ash accidentally slips on the ground and bashes his face on the floor, making everyone laugh. The Fomantis wake up, so Ash grabs Rowlet and the Mago Berry, then has Mallow and Steenee run off. The Fomantis emit Leafage, which Rowlet counters with its own Leafage. The Fomantis overwhelm the attack, so Ash, Rowlet and Pikachu run down the hill. The Fomantis emit Solar Beam, and hit Ash and Rowlet. Regardless, the former is glad to have obtained the Mago Berry, and Mallow and him are watched by someone. To continue, Mallow and Ash go to the Stone Mountain for the Revival Herb. They come to the entrance of the cave, and try to see inside. Pikachu goes in there, and points at the herb, which makes Ash and Mallow glad they have the second item. It makes someone else watching them glad as well.
Mallow and Ash head into the tunnels for the Miracle Seed. Inside, they find a fork in the path, and Rotom counts half a chance for each path to find the seed. The two choose a road to continue, but find another fork. Still, Ash continues, and Mallow notes his confidence. Ash admits that he can't stay in once place for too long. Mallow tries to warn him, but Ash accidentally falls into a hole. A Diglett appears and attacks Ash, who gets pulled out by Mallow. Ash apologizes, but he and others run off from more angry Diglett. Back at the fork, Rotom explains that was the Diglett nest. Ash finds an item on the ground, which Rotom identifies to be Diglett's whisker. Ash sends Rockruff and has it smell the whisker. Rockruff points at the path where the Diglett are, so Ash chooses the opposite path, where there aren't any Diglett. Continuing on, the group finds a hole in the ceiling. They come out, and see a lush jungle surrounding them, but are observed by something. The group searches around, and Pikachu finds a hoard of fruits. As Pikachu eats one, Ash finds the Miracle Seed, making him and Mallow pleased they found all of the ingredients. Out of sudden, a giant pink Pokémon jumps to them.
Rotom explains that is a Lurantis, and shows that one is much bigger than an ordinary one. Ash suspects it is a totem variant. Lurantis enhances herself with an aura, and fires Petal Blizzard. Ash takes on her challenge, and sends Litten. Litten uses Ember, making a direct attack on Totem Lurantis. Lurantis, however, starts charging, as Rotom explains it is likely using Solar Beam. Litten uses Fire Fang, burning Fomantis, who bashes it away. Lurantis summons a beam of light, shaped like a sword, and attacks Litten, who dodges the attack. Mallow is astounded by Fomantis' strength, who summons a Castform, her ally. Due to intense sunlight, Castform changes into Sunny form. Lurantis repeats her attack. Litten goes to attack, but Lurantis has already charged herself and strikes at Litten, who dodges the attack. Ash and Rotom are nevertheless surprised how Lurantis does not need time to charge herself. However, Castform uses Water Gun and soaks Litten. Ash opens the backpack to send Rowlet. Since it is still asleep, Ash yells at it to wake up. Ash's Rowlet uses Tackle and Litten fires Ember, making two hits on Lurantis. Despite this, Lurantis renews herself with photosynthesis.
Castform tackles Rowlet, while Lurantis makes another attack on Litten. Mallow fears they'll lose. Ash focuses his attention on Castform, having Rowlet pick up Litten in the air, as they use Tackle and Scratch. The two attacks blow Castform away, while Lurantis uses Petal Blizzard. Litten gets wounded, and Rotom sees it has very little energy left. Castform uses Water Gun, which Litten evades. Castform repeats its attack, so Rowlet steps in front of Litten to take the attack instead. Rowlet shakes the water off, and tackles Castform, defeating it, causing the sunlight to become weaker. Since Lurantis needs time to recharge, Ash uses the Z-Ring to pass on the power to Litten. Litten uses the Z-Move Breakneck Blitz on Lurantis, knocking down and defeating her. Ash is amazed, as they won the Trial. Mallow gives some Revival Herb to Castform and Litten eats some, which makes them displeased about the terrible aftertaste. Lurantis eats as well, and gives Ash the Z-Crystal, Grassium-Z. Ash thanks Lurantis, and makes the victory pose. He realizes Lurantis was the Totem Pokémon; Olivia, from a bush, confirms this, startling Ash she is here, too.
Olivia hugs Ash for the victory, and hugs Castform and Lurantis, seeing they were amazing as well. She hugs Rowlet and Litten, even kissing the two. Olivia tells finding the ingredients was the challenge meant for Ash. Ash explains Mallow helped him too, and realizes she had something in this, too, and Mallow apologizes. Regardless, Olivia is glad to have seen Ash's prowess. Olivia accepts his Grand Trial challenge, which pleases Ash, and Rotom takes picture of the group. At the Pokémon Center, the Akala Curry is prepared, and everyone eats it. Ash is burnt by the spiciness, while others congratulate him for passing the Trial. Ash thanks them, and Olivia swears to give her best at the Grand Trial. Ash expected this, and asks of his Pokémon to do their best as well.
==Debuts==
===Pokémon===
*Lurantis (Totem)
*Fomantis
===Move===
Solar Blade
===Item===
*Revival Herb
*Miracle Seed
*Magost Berry
==Trivia==
*"Who's that Pokémon?:" Lurantis (JA), Fomantis (EN)
*The Poké Problem segment for this episode is hosted by Mallow, who asks which Totem Pokémon appears in this episode. The answers are Wishiwashi (blue), Tapu Lele (red), Lurantis (green), and Gumshoos (yellow). The correct answer is Lurantis.
**This segment was not shown during the first airing of the episode.
**The answers for Wishiwashi and Gumshoos are Totem Pokémon that have already appeared in previous episodes.
===Mistakes===
*During the dream section of Ash versus Olivia, her pupils are colored black instead of white.
*When Litten was using Breakneck Blitz, the Z-Crystal on Ash's Z-Ring was the Electrium Z instead of Normalium Z.
==Gallery==
==References==
Category:Episodes focusing on Ash
Category:Episodes focusing on Mallow
Category:Episodes in which a main character obtains a Z-Crystal
Category:Episodes featuring a main character's Pokémon learning a new move
Category:Episodes featuring Totem Pokémon
Category:Episodes featuring Island Kahunas
Category:Episodes featuring Island Trials
Category:Episodes featuring Elite Four members