SM069: Rise and Shine, Starship!

is the 25th episode of Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon - Ultra Adventures.
==Synopsis==
One of Sophocles’s favorite fairy tales is “The Celestial Starship,” which tells of a brilliant star that landed in a bamboo grove and lived there until it returned to its home on the moon. When our heroes learn of an Ultra Beast named Celesteela who’s in a similar situation, they’re amazed—but Sophocles isn’t surprised at all! The Ultra Guardians spring into action to help Celesteela get home, but they have to be careful, as the Ultra Beast is filled with explosive gas. Thankfully, our heroes’ efforts pay off, and Celesteela returns home safely, leaving the bamboo unscathed!
==Episode plot==
Sophocles' parents stargaze the sky, admiring the surroundings of the Bamboo Hill. While her husband makes up a poem about it, Sophocles' mother asks her son to come out and watch the stars. Sophocles replies to his calculations, the moon should look at its finest an hour from now on. Later, Togedemaru wakes Sophocles up, who dazed off. He goes out of his tent, surprised the clouds have covered the sky, since he did not anticipate that. With his parents asleep, Sophocles goes into the woods. He goes with Charjabug and Togedemaru elsewhere, and sits down to watch the moon. It reminds him of an old story of when a green star fell off from the moon to the forest of bamboo. An elderly couple came to investigate, finding a mysterious shining bamboo sprout. The sprout looked like it had a cute face, prompting the old couple to name it "Celeste" and watch over it. However, as Celeste grew bigger, the bamboo trees withered away, upsetting the locals and causing them to revolt against Celeste. The old couple did not want Celeste to get harmed and protected it. Just then, Celeste grew enormous and flew to the moon, looking like a starship. Since then, more bamboo trees grew, providing the locals with lots of food.
Sophocles sees Charjabug and Togedemaru cannot understand the story. He is surprised to see a slope without bamboo trees. Togedemaru is upset, and by accident, rolls down. Sophocles and Charjabug follow her, only to fall down as well. They land on a spot, finding a spike out of the ground. Sophocles and his Pokémon dig, uncovering something large. He believes it is bamboo, but notes it is made of metal. He continues digging, but the clouds cover the moon. Sophocles becomes afraid of the dark, but Togedemaru illuminates the area. Sophocles thanks her until he sees the object in the ground has a face, and wonders if it is the Celestial Starship from his tale. The moonlight shines as the sky clears, causing the object to smile. Meanwhile, Tapu Koko watches this from the bamboo trees. The next day, Sophocles tells this to his friends, who are skeptical, since it is an old fairy tale. Sophocles is annoyed, claiming he did see something large, shaped like bamboo trees. Ash and Lillie are interested, so Sophocles invites everyone to go to the spot and uncover more.
At the site, the heroes are amazed to see the object. Kiawe doesn't see the resemblance to a bamboo shoot, as Rotom states they should dig the entire thing out, which is why Sophocles brought shovels. The girls realize Sophocles invited them to actually dig the thing out, and note how cunning he is. The group and their Pokémon continue digging, but managed to uncover only a bit of the thing. Thus, atop the object, Charjabug calls upon Grubbin from the forest, which help out in digging. The group thanks Grubbin for help once they dig out the entire object, which Sophocles believes to be the Celestial Starship. Rotom does not have any info about this thing, and believes it will be the first one to gather into on this undiscovered Pokémon. Kiawe wonders if it could be an Ultra Beast, so Lillie sees they have to contact her mother. Sophocles does not want that, since they would have to capture it, and it won't be able to return to moon, nor will he be able to study it further. Lillie sees he is right, so Sophocles digs Celeste up a bit more. With the moon in the sky, Celeste smiles, as Sophocles thinks it wants to return to its home on the moon.
At his house, Sophocles analyzes Celeste's information. His parents come to his room to give him supper, and notice how much fun he is having. Suddenly, Sophocles becomes shocked, and the next day, tells his friends Celeste has been buried in the ground for 200 years, based on the dirt layers he collected. Lillie wonders if it just grew out from the ground, which Sophocles thinks to be probable. Suddenly, Komala rings the bell continuously, surprising everyone, as Kukui calls out an emergency for the Ultra Guardians. He tells an Ultra Beast has appeared recently, and opens the entrance to the base. Taking the elevator, everyone changes into their Ultra Guardians outfits. Lusamine greets the group, and warns them about a sighting of an Ultra Beast. She shows a picture of Celeste, which surprises the heroes. Ash sees it is an Ultra Beast, as Burnet sees they know something. Sophocles replies he found Celeste and had it, with his friends, dug out yesterday. Wicke claims in honor of the Celestial Starship tale, they dubbed the Ultra Beast "Celesteela", and Rotom copies their info.
Wicke believes Celesteela came out from an Ultra Wormhole, which naturally appeared above Melemele Island about 200 years ago. Burnet then states that Celesteela has been absorbing ground nutrients, and creating a high pressure gas, hence why the land around it was desolate. Burnet then warns that once Celesteela has stored up enough gas, it will take flight, but also burn down the land underneath itself in the process. They don't know if that is really what will happen, but they don't want to take any chances. Lusamine notes that Sophocles has a special connection towards Celesteela. He simply admits he just likes the story of Celeste, and wanted to let it fly back towards the moon. Burnet reminds they just have to catch Celesteela in a Beast Ball, then they can transport it to a safe location, so it can take off without causing any destruction. With everything settled, Lusamine dispatches the group, who board onto their Ride Pokémon and fly away. They land near Team Rocket, who see them before Meowth found a large fruit of a bamboo tree. Team Rocket are annoyed by their new outfits and Ride Pokémon, but wonder about the large thing in the ground.
Ash throws a Beast Ball, but fails to catch Celesteela. Kiawe attempts to do the same, but fails. Sophocles believes Celesteela is rooted down too deeply in the ground. He scans Celesteela, and confirms Burnet's words that it has lots of flammable gas stored-up, and could launch it out like a rocket at any moment. Team Rocket hears this, and think this Pokémon would be a valuable asset to them. The Ultra Guardians notice Celesteela's gas is starting to ignite. Sophocles is uncertain what to do, or else the bamboo fields will be burnt down. Sophocles realizes they could build an insulated wall around Celesteela to minimize its rocket's blast radius. Kiawe reminds they don't have the time to build that, but Lillie has an idea. Just then, Team Rocket appears in a giant machine, intending to take Celesteela as the Rocket Pokémon, which may earned their usefulness on it to be the "True" Team Rocket. Pikachu uses Iron Tail, deflecting the machine away. Sophocles braces Celesteela to cool down before they build their wall. The girls aim to build that wall, while Kiawe and Ash face Team Rocket.
Marowak uses Bonemerang and Pikachu fires Electro Ball, pushing Team Rocket's machine away. Meowth has the machine fire its arm away in counterattack. As the moon shines in the sky, Celesteela begins to smile, and comes out of the ground, ready to launch. Mallow has Poké Ride Flygon use Rock Slide around Celesteela, and with Popplio's Bubble Beam combined with Snowy's Powder Snow create the wall, powered up with Poké Ride Altaria and Dragonair's Ice Beam. The heroes fly off, so Team Rocket attempts to crush the wall. However, Celesteela flies up, causing the robotic arm to miss its target. Bewear comes on the robo arm and snatches Team Rocket away. The heroes watch as Celesteela flies up, and the flammable gas is contained by the rock wall the girls made. Burnet and Wicke are amazed, but Lusamine is still pleased by the progress, since the Ultra Guardians protected Alola in their own way. The heroes bid farewell to Celesteela, who smiles before flying towards the moon. Tapu Koko, however, continues watching.
At night, Sophocles and Togedemaru watch the moon, and wonder if Celesteela made its way towards its home. Togedemaru jumps to see that, but Sophocles catches it, and reminds her that she is not the Launch Pokémon.
==Trivia==
*"Who's that Pokémon?:" Celesteela (JA and EN)
*The story of the Celestial Starship is very loosely based on the Japanese folktale, The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter. Celesteela is also based off the tale's eponymous character, Kaguya-hime as well.
*The Poké Problem segment hosted by Sophocles asks where the Ultra Beast that appears in today's episode was located. The correct answer is the green one, the bamboo forest. The other answers are the ocean floor (blue), The flower field (red), and the town (yellow).
**This segment was not shown in the original broadcast of the episode. In its place, the new trailer for the 21st movie was shown alongside a Zeraora event.
*The title is a reference to the saying "rise and shine".
==Gallery==
==References==
Category:Episodes featuring Ultra Beasts
Category:Episodes focusing on Sophocles
Category:Episodes featuring Tapu Guardians
Category:Episodes featuring Legendary Pokémon
Category:Episodes featuring the Ultra Guardians