PJ045: Sword and Shield: The Legends Awaken!

is the 45th episode of , and of .
==Synopsis==
Chairman Rose is determined to use the destructive Legendary Pokémon Eternatus to produce unlimited energy, and Ash and Goh are battling hard to stop that from happening! Although Rose seems to have the upper hand, Ash’s Riolu suddenly evolves into Lucario and defeats Rose’s Pokémon! Elsewhere, Goh and Raboot battle Rose’s secretary Oleana. Things seem bleak for Goh…until Raboot evolves into Cinderace! Rejoining forces, our heroes realize the sword and shield from Galar’s hero legend are actually Zacian and Zamazenta—who appear just in time to help defeat Eternatus again! Goh catches Eternatus, and after adding it to his Pokédex, he leaves its Poké Ball with Professor Magnolia for safekeeping.
==Episode plot==
Eternatus, now freed, begins swirling around at Hammerlocke Stadium as the reports for Dynamaxing Pokémon multiply. Leon flies up to where Eternatus is on his Charizard, preparing to battle it. Meanwhile, Meowth catches up to Team Rocket, where they finally manage to bring Meowth to his senses when Jessie mentions their boss. Meowth then climbs to the top where Eternatus is with Team Rocket in tow; Leon then prepares to Gigantamax his Charizard to battle. Meowth prepares to use G-Max Gold Rush on Eternatus; however, he shrinks back to his normal form before he can execute it. Leon also realizes something is wrong when he cannot Gigantamax his Charizard. Eternatus then uses Eternabeam on Team Rocket, blasting them off.
Ash gets ready to have his double battle against Chairman Rose while Goh stats his battle against Oleana. Through Pikachu and Riolu's teamwork, they were able to make Chairman Rose's Pokémon hit each other with their own attacks. Goh is thinking how he can defeat Oleana but sees that Raboot wants to keep using Ember for the battle, which he understood. During Leon's battle with Etenatus, the field starts to shake as it caused Pikachu to lose his balance and became open for an attack from Chairman Rose and gets sent flying to Ash. Chairman Rose prepares to take out both Ash and Pikachu but Riolu jumps in to save its friends. Ash gets worried for Riolu but its starts to evolve. Goh is thinking how to use Raboot's Ember but realized that he can use his surrounding to make that happen. Seeing this, Goh tells Raboot to use Ember all around, which it does. However, after firing multiple Ember attacks, Raboot starts to evolve.
After Riolu evolved into Lucario, Ash has his newly evolved Pokémon use Vacuum Wave but it uses its aura to tell him that it learned Aura Sphere, which he uses it instead. Lucario was able to land two Aura Sphere against Chairman Rose's Pokémon and defeats them then they go catch up with Leon. Chairman Rose checks on his Pokémon to see if they're okay. After Raboot evolved into Cinderace, Goh checks his Pokédex as he realized that it learned a move and tells it to use Pyro Ball. Through its new move, Cinderace defeats Oleana and Goh gives a high-five to its best friends. Realizing that they're doing their routine like they did when it was a Scorbunny, Goh is happy and Cinderace gives its best friend a hug then head out to catch up to Ash. Meanwhile, Raihan successfully defeats Oleana's subordinates.
Once they reunite, Ash and Goh see their newly evolved Pokémon and congratulated each other. However, they see that Leon is struggling as they join him in order to put an end to the Darkest Day. During the fight, Eternatus transform into its Eternamax form before the sword and the shield the boys are holding start to glow. Then, Zacian and Zamazenta appear as they claim the sword and shield as they transform into their forms in order to stop Eternatus. Through everyone's help, Eternatus is weakened and Goh uses a Poké Ball to catch it, which succeeded. Leon thanks Ash and Goh for their help but they tell them that they should thank the two Legendary Pokémon for their assistants. With the threat over, Zacian and Zamazenta leave but left the rusted sword and shield behind.
Through those events, Sonia has been promoted to a Pokémon Professor as she tells Professor Magnolia that Leon is looking for Chairman Rose and Oleana as they have gone into hiding for their actions. Also, Eternatus has been sealed away so it wouldn't cause any more problems as Sonia and Professor Magnolia agree to keep an eye on it. Meanwhile, Ash and Goh return the two rusted items then thanked the two Legendary Pokémon for their help. Ash asks Zacian for a battle someday while Goh tells Zamazenta that he's gonna catch it one day then return to Kanto. However, little did they know, Zacian and Zamazenta's spirits appeared as they not only hope to see Ash and Goh again someday but also will be waiting for that day.
==Debuts==
===Pokémon===
*Ash's Lucario
*Galarian Yamask
*Cinderace (Goh's)
*Zacian (Crowned Sword)
*Zamazenta (Crowned Shield)
*Eternamax Eternatus
===Move===
*Pyro Ball
*Eternabeam
*Breaking Swipe
*Behemoth Bash
*Behemoth Blade
*G-Max Gold Rush
==Trivia==
*"After the story": 
*This episode marks the end of the Sword & Shield arc.
*This episode marks the first time that:
**One of Ash's Pokémon evolves outside of the region it was obtained in since Ash's Quilava in "An Old Family Blend!".
**A main character's starter Pokémon in a current generation fully evolves before all the starters were introduced.
**A main character catches a Legendary Pokémon, although they don't technically keep it.
**Meowth uses a new move since "The Path to the Pokémon League".
*This episode marks Tatsuhisa Suzuki's last involvement with the series, due to a controversy regarding of his affair on August 6, 2021. This results Raihan's voice actor being recasted as of PJ082.
==Gallery==
==References==
Category:Episodes featuring Legendary Pokémon
Category:Episodes featuring Champions
Category:Episodes featuring a main character's Pokémon evolving
Category:Episodes featuring a main character's Pokémon learning a new move
Category:Episodes in which a main character obtains a new Pokémon
Category:Episodes in which a main character releases or gives away a Pokémon
Category:Episodes featuring Dynamax Pokémon