Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon (series)

Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon, known as in Japan and in South Korea, SM, is the seventh series of Pokémon the Series, which follows the seventh generation of Pokémon. It was revealed by the television network TV Tokyo on September 12, 2016, which released information about this series, like the logo and the new, more "cartoony" art style.
In this series, Ash Ketchum arrives in the Alola region with his Pikachu to continue his quest to become a Pokémon Master. Much like the previous four series, Ash leaves his previous team of Pokémon with Professor Oak except for Pikachu. During his stay in Alola, Ash enrolls in the Pokémon School on Melemele Island, living with new teacher Professor Kukui and studying with new classmates Sophocles, Mallow, Lana, Kiawe, and Lillie. The series focuses on Ash's experiences in Alola with his new friends, as well as his progress in the island challenge to collect Z-Crystals and qualify as a Z-Move user.
The Japanese starting date was on November 17, 2016, and the ending date was on November 3, 2019. The Korean starting date was on December 20, 2016, and the ending date was on January 14, 2020. The U.S. starting date was on March 17, 2017, and the ending date was on March 7, 2020. It was however previewed in the United Kingdom on November 20, 2016, and in the United States on December 5, 2016, as a sneak preview.
==Synopsis==
===Japanese===
===Korean===
==Story Arcs==
==Seasons==
*Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon (Season 20)
*Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon - Ultra Adventures (Season 21)
*Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon - Ultra Legends (Season 22)
==Airing periods==
===South Korea===
In South Korea, the series is split into eight airing periods. They are:
*"SM001"–"SM022"
*"SM023"–"SM032"
*"SM033"–"SM044"
*"SM045"–"SM068"
*"SM069"–"SM090"
*"SM091"–"SM110"
*"SM111"–"SM126"
*"SM127"–"SM146"
==Characters==
===Major===
*Ash
*Lillie
*Kiawe
*Mallow
*Lana
*Sophocles
===Rivals===
*Gladion
*Hau
*Horacio
===Antagonists===
*Team Rocket
**Jessie
**James
**Giovanni
**Matori
**Gozu
*Team Skull
**Tupp
**Rapp
**Zipp
**Plumeria
**Guzma
**Akitoshi
**Viren
===Recurring===
*Professor Kukui
*Professor Burnet
*Samson Oak
*Lusamine
*Faba
*Wicke
*Kahunas
*Misty
*Brock
*Delia Ketchum
*Professor Oak
*Ilima
*Acerola
*Nanu
*Olivia
*Mina
*Hapu
===Key Pokémon===
*Ash's Pikachu
*Ash's Rowlet
*Ash's Lycanroc (Dusk Form)
*Ash's Incineroar
*Ash's Naganadel (released)
*Ash's Melmetal
*Rotom Pokédex
*Lana's Primarina
*Lana's Eevee
*Sophocles' Togedemaru
*Sophocles' Vikavolt
*Kiawe's Charizard
*Kiawe's Turtonator
*Kiawe's Marowak (Alolan)
*Mallow's Tsareena
*Lillie's Vulpix (Alolan)
*Team Rocket's Meowth
*Jessie's Wobbuffet
*Jessie's Mimikyu (released)
*James' Mareanie (released)
*Gladion's Umbreon
*Gladion's Lycanroc (Midnight Form)
*Gladion's Silvally
*Mohn's Zoroark (with Gladion)
*Nebby
*Shaymin
*Magearna
*Solgaleo
*Lunala
*Necrozma
*Tapu Koko
*Tapu Lele
*Tapu Bulu
*Tapu Fini
===Returning gags===
*James gets hurt by an affectionate Pokémon that he owns, this time being the case with Mareanie.
*The returning Jigglypuff draws on the faces of people who fall asleep to its song.
*Team Rocket sometimes blasts off.
===New gags===
*Instead of blasting off, Team Rocket nearly always gets carried away by Bewear.
**Ever since its re-introducing as one of the major cast and its reunion with its mother Bewear, Stufful will appear in front of Team Rocket out of nowhere first, signalling Bewear's incoming presence in a few seconds later.
*The series implements a new art style once again, this time more drastic and resulting in a complete redesign of every pre-existing character.
*The exaggerated expressions (especially the frightened, angry, enthusiastic, or sad faces) of the characters are strong references to JoJo's Bizarre Adventure.
*Every time Jessie is going to eat her malasada, it gets stolen by another Pokémon instead.
*Mallow's Bounsweet, and her evolutions, slap away Rowlet whenever he gets attracted by her Sweet Scent.
*Ash's Litten uses Ember on Ash.
*Olivia tripping over and falling down.
*Lana making observations of Olivia right after she states the term "interesting".
*Lana making a joke regarding several Pokémon.
==Episodes==
==Title cards==
==Official site==
*Official Japanese site (Sun & Moon)
==Trivia==
*This is the only series in which:
**Ash does not catch the regional -Type bird Pokémon or a -Type and -Type Pokémon.
**All of Ash's friends own a Pokémon that stays outside its Poké Ball, and have all known each other before meeting Ash.
**Other main characters besides Ash participate in a League Conference.
**Ash loses to Team Rocket Members: Jessie and James in a battle.
**Ash wins the League Conference.
**Ash has a Pokémon evolve off-screen (Naganadel).
**At least one of Ash's Pokémon passes out after evolving (Incineroar).
**Ash leaves his regional team (barring Pikachu, of course) with someone other than Professor Oak.
**Ash battles his rivals' anime counterparts (Gladion and Hau) in a League Conference since .
**Ash catches two of the Starter Pokémon since .
*This is the first series in which:
**The characters' faces are different. This applies to Ash, Pikachu, Misty, Brock, Jessie, James, Nurse Joy, and all humans, except Pokémon whose faces have not changed (except Pikachu, but whose face is original in the movies and ).
**Ash returns to Kanto in the middle of a regional journey.
**None of the English opening songs of the English dub of the Pokémon anime have their own full versions.
**None of the movies take place in the same region or timeline as the series, or introduce any Pokémon from an upcoming generation (also Pokémon Journeys: The Series).
**Ash's outfit doesn't consist of a jacket or hoodie, gloves and long pants.
**Ash doesn't challenge Gyms.
**Ash doesn't have a Gym Leader as a traveling companion.
**Ash's main outfit does not consist of long pants, instead opting for shorts.
**Misty and the recurring Jigglypuff's first in-person appearances since and Brock's first in-person appearance since Pokémon the Series: Diamond and Pearl.
**The first series since the original series in which an episode is banned in the English dub.
**All of Ash's regional team were befriended instead of battled when caught.
**In which a First partner Pokémon owned by one of Ash's companions (Lana) fully evolves before a starter owned by Ash himself in the same region. In this case, Lana's Primarina reaches her final stage before Ash's Incineroar.
**Ash catches a -type Pokémon, a Mythical Pokémon, an Ultra Beast, and a genderless Pokémon.
**Just like the XY final episode message "And to our own Way", the final episode only ends with a different message "...and your dreams!", which is a reference to the final line of Type: Wild instead of "Next Time... A New Beginning!"
*This is the last series:
**To feature Unsho Ishizuka as part of the Japanese voice cast before his passing in August 2018.
**To feature Shinji Miyazaki as composer for the background music.
**To feature the lyric "Pokémon" in the English opening song.
**To feature the text "To Be Continued" to appear at the end of the English episode.
**To feature the people saying "It's (Pokémon's name)!" during identifying each Pokémon in the English dub of the "Who's That Pokémon?" segment.
**To air on a traditional television in the United States.
*This is the first series where some characters (both Pokémon and human) have somewhat passed on, which isn't during a movie.
*This series marks the longest amount of episodes Ash took to catch his sixth regional team member, when his previously released Naganadel (formerly a Poipole) rejoined his team in SM141.
*Poison, Psychic, and Fairy type Z-Moves were not shown in the series.
*Mallow's facial design in the poster of the series is more akin to the character design until the previous series.
==Gallery==
===Posters===
S&M series poster.png|Poster for series
===Renders===
Ash anime Sun and Moon.png|Ash and Pikachu
Rotom Pokédex SM.png|Rotom Pokédex
0803Poipole SM Anime.png|Poipole
0133Eevee SM anime 2.png|Sandy (Where Are You Going, Eevee? EP1-SM099)
0133Eevee Nagisa.png|Sandy (SM099-present)
Lillie anime Sun and Moon.png|Lillie
Kiawe anime Sun and Moon.png|Kiawe
Mallow anime Sun and Moon.png|Mallow
Lana anime Sun and Moon.png|Lana
Sophocles anime Sun and Moon.png|Sophocles
Professor Kukui anime Sun and Moon.png|Professor Kukui
Samson Oak anime.png|Samson Oak
Giovanni anime Sun & Moon.png|Giovanni
Jessie anime Sun and Moon.png|Jessie
James anime Sun and Moon.png|James
Gladion anime Sun and Moon.png|Gladion
Lusamine anime.png|Lusamine
Wicke anime.png|Wicke
Faba anime.png|Faba
Professor Burnet anime Sun and Moon.png|Professor Burnet
Misty anime Sun and Moon.png|Misty
Brock anime Sun and Moon.png|Brock
Kenichi SM.png|Kenichi
Rinka SM.png|Rinka
Akitoshi.png|Okazaki
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