PJ114: Friends, Rivals, Lend Me Your Spirit!

is the 24th episode of , and of .
==Synopsis==
With the Masters Eight Tournament approaching, Ash is training hard when he receives a call from Professor Oak encouraging him to visit all his Pokémon at the lab. So, he and Goh set off to Pallet Town. There, Ash’s current team begins training with his other Pokémon, but when Gengar ends up in the forest, our heroes unexpectedly run into Paul, Ash’s rival from Sinnoh! Although Paul isn’t in the World Coronation Series, he agrees to battle Ash using his Gyarados, Garchomp, and Metagross—all Pokémon used by members of the Masters Eight. Though Paul’s skills are formidable, Ash wins after Gengar unleashes a fiery new move!
==Episode plot==
Ash and his team are hard at work training for the Masters Tournament, when he receives an unexpected phone call from Professor Oak, which gives him the idea to bring his team to meet all of his Pokémon at Oak's lab to get them fired up. The instant he and Goh arrive there, Ash's Pokémon swarm over them in a wave of welcoming friendliness. Ash lets his team out and asks his other Pokémon to help them power up for the big tournament. The Pokémon express their willingness to help by showing off a display of their moves, with Gengar taking a particular interest in Ash's Fire types. When it touches Infernape, it is surrounded by fire and flies off into the distance. When Ash and Goh catch up to it, they also find an Electivire and its Trainer, who's none other than Paul, Ash's rival from his time of traveling in Sinnoh. Professor Oak joins in, along with Ash's Fire Pokémon, and reveals that Paul had turned up here the day before, having come to learn more about Pokémon from a leading expert in Pokémon research.
Gengar heads off to train with the Fire Pokémon, and Ash almost joins in, but Paul tells him to leave it to the Pokémon. Infernape initially stays behind, but Paul tells him to go along as well, which he does. Goh is surprised to see Infernape listening to Paul, until Ash explains that Infernape used to be Paul's Pokémon back as a Chimchar, until he was released by him as a failure and taken in by Ash, who raised him into an Infernape. While Ash's Pokémon train with each other, Ash and Paul sit down to talk, with Paul revealing that he didn't participate in the World Coronation Series, since he isn't "one for festivities." Ash decides to take advantage of the situation and challenges Paul to a battle. Paul accepts, dictating that the battle will be three-on-three, but also telling Ash to only use the Pokémon he intends to use in the Masters Tournament. Ash accepts this condition and goes to get his team, finding Gengar just in time to see it learn a new move in Will-O-Wisp.
All of Ash's Pokémon gather to watch his and Paul's battle. Ash chooses Lucario as his first Pokémon, while Paul leads with Gyarados. Lucario makes the first move with Double Team, surrounding Gyarados with illusionary copies of itself. Gyarados attacks the copies with Ice Fang and Hyper Beam but is forced to recharge after the latter move. Ash tries to exploit this with a close-range Aura Sphere, but Lucario gets caught by Gyarados's tail before it can go off and is struck by an Ice Fang flurry. After freeing itself with Steel Beam, Lucario starts gathering Steel-type energy around its fists, signifying a new move. Recognizing the move, Ash has Lucario attack with Bullet Punch. While Gyarados succeeds in firing a Hyper Beam, Bullet Punch proves to be too much and takes the Atrocious Pokémon out of the battle, giving Ash the first win out of three.
The next pair of battlers is made up of Dragonite and Garchomp. After a clash of a flurry of Dragon Claws, Dragonite is unable to counter a Stone Edge and takes a lot of damage. Garchomp's assault continues with Draco Meteor, which also lands a hit. Ash counters with Dragonite's own Draco Meteor, even having it charge at Garchomp along with the attack, demonstrating Ash's unpredictable improvisational skills. However, Garchomp's counterattack with Dragon Claw overpowers Dragonite and takes it down. Ash gives a name to his new improvised attack, which Paul shoots down as tacky.
Paul's last Pokémon is Metagross, which Ash meets with Gengar. Metagross uses Agility to match Gengar's speed, before throwing it back with Psychic. Paul berates Ash for thinking he could win the Masters Tournament if he struggles against him and has Metagross attack with Meteor Mash, dealing another big hit. With Infernape's encouragement, Gengar stands back up, knowing the lab Pokémon are supporting it and Ash. Gengar puts its new move into practice and successfully lands a Will-O-Wisp. Metagross strikes with another Meteor Mash, but the burn received from the Will-O-Wisp weakens the attack, allowing Gengar to survive it and strike back with Shadow Ball, defeating its pseudo-legendary opponent and making Ash the overall winner of the battle.
While Ash's Fire types congratulate Gengar and Ash thanks them for their help, Goh points out how he had noticed that Paul's Pokémon were the respective aces of Lance, Cynthia, and Steven Stone, meaning that he must have chosen those Pokémon on purpose. Paul responds to this observation with a simple smile and heads off. Professor Oak reveals that Paul has been asked to become a Gym Leader, which is why he had come to visit the lab to learn more about Pokémon. Feeling confident thanks to this visit, Ash is eager to head to the Masters Tournament right away, but he and Goh are stopped by the appearance of Delia, who had arrived partway through the battle and invites them to stay a night at the Ketchum household before they leave, which they accept.
==Debuts==
===Pokémon===
*Paul's Gyarados
*Paul's Metagross
*Paul's Garchomp
==Trivia==
*Who's That Pokémon?: Oshawott
*Get Inspired! Let's Solve a Poké Riddle!!: Infernape
*The opening animation is updated to include Goh's Regieleki.
*This episode marks the largest gathering of Ash's Pokémon to date:
*This episode features the following flashbacks, which have all been remade to match the style introduced in Pokémon Journeys: The Series:
**Ash and Paul's first battle in "When Pokémon Worlds Collide!"
**Paul releasing Chimchar and Ash later offering him a spot on his team in "Glory Blaze!"
**Ash helping Chimchar overcoming his fear of Zangoose in "Tears For Fears!"
**Ash and Paul's battle in the Lily of the Valley Conference and them ending their rivalry in "Battling a Thaw in Relations!"
*Ash and Paul's battle in this episode follows the same ruleset as their first battle in "When Pokémon Worlds Collide!", being a three-on-three battle where the first one to win two rounds is the winner. Coincidentally, this battle takes place at Professor Oak's Laboratory, while their first battle took place at Professor Rowan's laboratory.
*This is the first time since it became a running gag in "The Right Place and the Right Mime" where Ash does not get hit by any of his Tauros while visiting Professor Oak's Laboratory.
*This is the first episode to show Will-O-Wisp inflicting a burn on its target. It is also the first time that a burned Pokémon is shown to have its Attack power affected by its condition.
*The scene in which Paul meets Gengar is similar to how he first met Ash's Gligar in "Chim - Charred!"
*The way Paul's Gyarados traps Ash's Lucario with its tail is similar to the strategy Paul used with his Drapion and Electivire at several points during their Lily of the Valley Conference battle. Furthermore, the way Gyarados repeatedly attacks Lucario with Ice Fang is similar to how Lance's Gyarados did the same to Leon's Charizard in "Flash of the Titans!".
===Mistakes===
*When Ash's Pokémon swoop past Professor Oak to tackle Ash and Goh, Pikachu is left behind. However, in the next shot, he is seen with Ash, Goh, and the other Pokémon.
*The flashback of the scene with the goodbye of Ash and Paul is redrawn with an error. In "Battling a Thaw in Relations!", Paul had already lowered his hand when he went down the stairs, but in this interpretation his hand is still raised.
==Gallery==
==Notes==
==References==
Category:Episodes focusing on Ash
Category:Episodes focusing on Paul
Category:Episodes featuring a main character's Pokémon learning a new move
Category:Episodes featuring Champions
Category:Episodes featuring Mega Pokémon