SM093: Lillier and the Staff!

is the 1st episode of Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon - Ultra Legends.
==Synopsis==
Today is the sole performance of the Pokémon School play, and everyone’s so excited! Lillie stars as Lillier, a brave adventurer who is charged with restoring Alola’s lost energy using a staff imbued with the power of Legendary Pokémon. But Act Two takes an unexpected turn, as Jessie, in disguise as Jessa Bergère, crashes the performance to steal the spotlight for herself! After some confusion, Rotom Dex writes a magnificent new script on the fly, bringing the crowd (including Ash’s mom) to applause for a job well done!
==Episode plot==
As Team Rocket advertise their Malasada shop, a book flies into Jessie's face. James tells her the donuts have been made, but she makes a dramatic pose, as her hair unfurls. James still offers her donuts, but Jessie is annoyed, as she was performing: she shows the book is a script for a play. She "departs" to this stage as an actress, while the rest of the gang remains disappointed.
Ash's classmates rehearse for the play, and Mallow gives Tsareena a cane to hold. Ash wonders where his script went, and since he lost it, Rotom gives him its own. Ash thanks Rotom, who then asks the group if they are ready since their families are there to watch them. Ash and Mallow wonder if their parents really had the time to watch, so they look outside and see them, causing them to be nervous. Delia Ketchum thanks Lusamine for taking care of her son, but Lusamine exclaims it is actually Ash that helped her and her daughter on occasions. The lights dim and the spotlight falls on Principal Oak as he announces the start of the play. The curtains open and Lillie is seen while Mallow narrates: the Alola region was lost to earth, but a hero rose up. Lillie, posing as the hero Lillier, that approaches Sophocles, who is playing the king Sophosophocles, tasks Lillier with gathering the power of the Legendary Pokémon into the Cane of Alola. Queen Tsareena then gives the cane to Lillier, while being voiced by Mallow. Rotom thinks it's going great and Ash, Mallow, and Lana cosplay as Tapu Koko, Tapu Lele, and Tapu Fini, respectively. Ash asks Lillie if her line is next but is told that she can't go until all the Guardian Deities are in place; Sophocles is having trouble changing into his Tapu Bulu costume. Once done, the four Guardian Deities get into formation.
Lillier asks for their power, but Ash forgets his line after his mom cheers for him. Mallow discreetly reminds him and the group chants the stanzas, summoning the Pokémon of Alola (the heroes' Pokémon) onto the stage, and everyone dances. Lana is pleased with her Popplio's dance, as is Rotom with the performance. Many scenes pass as the king and queen dance while Lillier faces the challenges of the journey before reaching a village where the three elders (Lana, Ash and Mallow) are and give her a gem. Kiawegaleo then emerges from the mountain, praising Lillier. Rotom is pleased, seeing they will soon have the big finale of the play. Team Rocket hide on the ceiling, counting on Jessie to perform so they can go home. Jessie, as Lunala, is amused, as she can finally shine as an actress. Lillier asks Kiawegaleo if she can truly trust him; when Kiawegaleo tries to answer, Jessa Bergere laughs and jumps down onto the opposing mountain, introducing herself. Lillie and Kiawe notice that it isn't part of the script and asks Rotom, who decides to conclude Act I and lower the curtains.
Jessie laughs, as she has the play all to herself. Kiawe asks who the Lunala person is, and Jessie answers by describing herself as a star actress, Jessa Bergere. Mallow asks if Rotom called her, but Rotom denies this; Jessie says the stage called her. She shows Rotom her revised script, which was just her lines, and she says that she's the star of the play, but Ash exclaims others don't have any lines. Lusamine and Delia are amused by the play, and the actors. Backstage, no one knows what to do but, Rotom decides to write a continuation by using his database of over 40,000 stories, but he'll need more actors. The group decides that they can't use Kukui who's in charge of lighting, nor Principal Oak with his gags. Sophocles then notices James, Meowth, and Wobbuffet creeping around and has them be extra actors.
Lana's sisters keep chanting for the continuation. Soon after, Oak announces the time to continue the play. As the curtain unveils, a baseball game is revealed, involving James, Wobbuffet, Meowth and Lillier, but gets interrupted by Lana and Sophocles, dressed as the police, who say there's been a crime, and Detective Rotom is shown to be on the case. Kiawegaleo wishes to bring the truth to light, but his final line gets interrupted again by Jessa Bergere, who wishes to handle the case. This causes an argument between the three, while audience think that the play has taken a crazy turn. Lillier tells them that if nothing is done, Alola will be doomed, requesting someone to shine light back down. Ash, as Ashrozma, states he'll shed the light, but nearly falls down to the floor from the rope. He has Pikachu use Thunderbolt from inside the suit, and screams as the electricity affects him, too. Backstage, Rotom is constantly writing the script while the crew in costume, rushes to and from. Kiawe asks Rotom why the rest of the script is blank and Rotom responds that he's still writing it.
Bewear is then briefly seen as the lights go back on. From behind a screen, the shadow of Pikachu wonders where the hero went, but a Turtonator stops him from continuing. Pikachu knows he can't defeat him and has no choice, Pikachu then moves closer to the light and the shadow grows in size, scaring Turtonator away so Pikachu could continue. Thus, at such size, Turtonator concedes defeat and leaves the stage. Backstage, Rotom tells everyone that they are nearing the climax. A scene with Team Rocket's robot fighting Sophocles' robot, consisted of Charjabug and Turtonator, passes, as well as one where Lana won pool in one shot, surprising James; another with Lillie and Mallow dancing, and Popplio fighting Marowak. Jessie says that she is waiting for this moment, while James asks if it were enough already, as their identities could be unveiled. Jessie refuses to leave before the curtain falls, giving James and Meowth no choice but to indulge her dreams.
Rotom calls her up, while James and Meowth say that she's the best. Suddenly, the Bewear walks in and watches them. Ashozma praises Lillier for overcoming his challenges, so he'll grant her wish. Lillier thanks him and requests from Jessa Bergere her power, who makes a stylish flying entrance. She tells Lillie to raise her cane and she spins in the air with the petals surrounding her, which are thrown by James into a fan while Meowth holds the rope. Meowth is overcome by emotions and lets go of the rope, causing her to fall, until the end of it is caught by Bewear. Jessie ignores thus mistake, and sends Lillier off as she must return to the moon. After Lillier thanks her, Bewear pulls the rope fast and sends Jessie flying out the roof, which amazes the heroes on how she actually flew. Bewear then happily gathers the rest of the team and jumps out as well. As Jessie glides in her costume and remarks about Alola, Bewear grabs her mid-air and takes off. Lillie turns back to the audience and announces that Alola is saved and peace is restored, and the curtains fall.
When they come back, the cast, sans Team Rocket are shown. Lillie and Ash were embarrassed by their mothers' pride, but Rotom announces for them to say goodbye and the play concludes.
Ash is cleaning up after the play and notices Rotom. After asking what he was doing, Rotom tells him that he is trying to come up with the next play. He plans for his next work to be a grand sci-fi epic. Ash really likes the idea but the two then get yelled at to clean up.
==Trivia==
*"Who's That Pokémon?:" Tsareena (JA) Tapu Fini (EN)
*The Poké Problem segment hosted by Sophocles asks who wrote the play's script in today's episode. The correct answer is the red answer, Rotom. The other answers are Samuel Oak (blue), Lillie (green), and Hobbes (yellow).
*The first Where Are You Going, Eevee? tie-in.
*This episode features most of the character roles from other anime medias voiced by Jessie's seiyu, Megumi Hayashibara, where Jessie briefly cosplays as her seiyu's other characters.
*The Japanese post-credit scene features a homage of Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope poster, but without someone being Princess Leia in it, due to likely the death of her original actor Carrie Fisher after the release of Episode IV's side prequel movie Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.
==Gallery==
==References==
Category:Episodes focusing on Lillie