PJ122: It's… Champion Time!

is the 32nd episode of , and of .
==Synopsis==
The semifinals of the Masters Eight Tournament are about to begin, with Galar Champion Leon set to battle Kalos Champion Diantha. Nearby, Ash and his Pokémon are training hard when they bump into their upcoming opponent—Cynthia! They’re soon joined by a young brother and sister with lots of enthusiasm for Pokémon, but when the sister wanders off on her own, our heroes are determined to help. After finding her, everyone returns to the stadium to see that Leon is already far ahead of Diantha, having eliminated several of her Pokémon. Leon goes on to win, claiming a spot in the finals. Next up: Ash versus Cynthia!
==Episode plot==
Ash wakes up to find Goh, who's been excited the past night over new photos sent from Project Mew. Preparing for his match against Cynthia, Ash trains with his Pokémon team as they're all fired up waiting to participate in the match. After finishing up the session, Dragonite crash-hugs him, causing them to slide over to Cynthia and her Garchomp.
Ash and Goh apologize for disturbing her, but Cynthia states that she doesn't mind. She then tells Garchomp to fly, leaving Ash, Goh and their Pokémon stunned by her speed. As Garchomp lands, Cynthia resumes massaging her, stating that it's part of her pre-match warm-up meant to improve her combat capabilities. After finishing the massage, she orders her to take to the air once more, who proceeds to move even faster than before, surprising them even more.
Just then, a girl named Toria runs in, excited with all the Pokémon she's seeing. Her brother soon comes out and introduces himself as Vic. Vic tells them that he's cheering for Leon, but he was impressed by Pikachu's 10,000,000 Volt Thunderbolt Z-Move and wants to use it too. Goh tells him that only Ash's Pikachu can do it and that they've been partners for a very long time, so Vic decides to have a Grookey as his partner and wants to evolve it into Rillaboom much like Leon's.
Vic is encouraged by the others before he asks Cynthia who her first Pokémon was, who tells her that it was her Garchomp. She had been with her since she was an egg, having been with her since. Ash then recalls about how his Lucario had also started out as an egg. Ash is glad to have connected with Lucario, as he could feel his aura resonating with him such as his match against Raihan. As Vic calls Toria over, a wild Gossifleur passes by, getting her attention before the group leaves to watch today's match, consisting of Leon facing Diantha.
As they head to the stadium, they soon spot Vic looking around worriedly, who hadn't been able to find Toria. They help search for her before Cynthia hears the Gossifleur's singing and manage to locate it, finding Toria in the process. As they watch Gossifleur sing, it evolves into Eldegoss, who proceeds to spread its cotton spores and fly away. As the two children wave goodbye to the Eldegoss, Vic then remembers about Leon's match and the group rushes back to the stadium.
By the time they arrive, Ash and Cynthia are shocked to see the results; Leon has only lost his Dragapult, while Diantha has already lost her Hawlucha, Tyrantrum, Aurorus and Gourgeist. When they reach the field itself, they witness Leon's Rillaboom facing off against Diantha's Goodra, who unleashes a powerful Fire Blast on it; however, Rillaboom surprisingly endures the super-effective move, much to Diantha's shock, before it uses Acrobatics on Goodra, knocking it out. 
The two children cheer on Leon (along with Hop), while Ash remarks that he's never seen Diantha overpowered before. Diantha then calls out her ace, Gardevoir. Meanwhile, Team Rocket has been busy livestreaming the match, with Meowth reviewing the battle; Dragapult defeated Hawlucha before being defeated by Tyrantrum, before Rillaboom defeated Diantha's four Pokémon. He asks Jessie about her feelings, but Jessie is depressed since Gourgeist had been defeated.
Gardevoir uses Shadow Ball, which Rillaboom counters by using Knock Off. Leon orders Acrobatics, but Gardevoir uses Psychic to slam Rillaboom to the ground, knocking it out. Leon then calls out his Charizard and proceeds to Gigantamax it, while Diantha uses Mega Evolution. Gardevoir uses Thunderbolt on Charizard, who endures the super-effective attack before using G-Max Wildfire. As the attack engulfs Gardevoir in flames, it uses Psychic to manipulate the attack back to Charizard. Charizard uses Max Airstream to push the attack back before using another G-Max Wildfire, which powers through the psychic fire attack and engulfs Gardevoir in flames, knocking it out. With Diantha's last Pokémon fainted, Leon is declared the winner and advances on to the finals.
Vic is delighted by the match and can't wait to get his partner, so he asks Ash and Cynthia if he could battle them when he does. Toria also wants to join in, so Ash agrees. Back on the arena, Diantha thanks Gardevoir for its performance before calling it back into its Poké Ball. She then walks up to Leon and thanks him for the match, who likewise returns the remark and shakes hands with her. Cynthia looks at Ash and Pikachu, who are waiting to begin their match against her.
==Debuts==
===Pokémon===
*Diantha's Goodra
*Diantha's Hawlucha
*Diantha's Tyrantrum
==Trivia==
*"After the story": 
*This marks the first time that Diantha has been defeated in an official battle, breaking her winning streak.
*Ash's Lucario is confirmed to be male in this episode, due to referring as a "he" by Cynthia.
*During the match summary by Meowth, Dragapult is seen being struck by Hyper Beam, even though the move would have no effect on it due to being a -type.
==Gallery==
==References==
Category:Episodes featuring Champions