XY012: To Catch a Pokémon Smuggler!

is the 12th episode of of , and of .
==Synopsis==
On the road to Cyllage City, our heroes are forced to leap out of the way when a roaring truck barrels down on them, with Officer Jenny in close pursuit! When the dust clears, Ash and friends notice a cage that fell off the truck, and a weary Scatterbug that crawls out and collapses. They quickly scoop it up and take it to the nearest Pokémon Center, where Officer Jenny finds them—and tries to arrest Ash for being an accomplice in stealing the Scatterbug!
The misunderstanding is quickly sorted out. Officer Jenny explains that she’s on the trail of Dolan, a Pokémon smuggler who specializes in Scatterbug, Spewpa, and Vivillon. Because Vivillon can have wings of many different colors and patterns based on their native habitat, they’re highly prized by collectors, and Dolan takes full advantage of that!
When the Scatterbug they rescued evolves into Spewpa, Clemont notices something in its fur—it appears to be a transmitter, attached by the smuggler so he can keep track of his “merchandise.” They quickly develop a plan: one of them will wear the transmitter, plus a Spewpa disguise (provided by costume designer Serena) and act as bait, then Clemont will use one of his inventions to track the transmitter to Dolan’s secret hideout. Clemont’s Chespin is the closest to Spewpa’s size, so it gets the job!
Ash, Serena, Clemont, and Bonnie put the disguised Chespin in the cage and leave it for Dolan to find, while they and Officer Jenny hide nearby. And it works! Dolan arrives to claim his lost treasure, and then unwittingly leads our heroes to the cave where he’s keeping all the Pokémon he’s nabbed. He catches our heroes poking around and attacks with his Diggersby! Ash’s Froakie battles back—and then Spewpa leaps into the fray, evolves into a beautiful purple Vivillon, and uses its calming powers to take the fight right out of Dolan! Officer Jenny arrests him, and our heroes free all the captured Spewpa…who then evolve all at once, into Vivillon of many different patterns! They take to the sky in an amazing rainbow of colors, and our heroes’ journey continues!
==Episode plot==
On the road to Cyllage City, Ash hears a strange sound. The heroes stop, only to hear it is just Ash's stomach growling. Suddenly, they leap out of the way when a roaring jeep barrels down on them, with Officer Jenny in close pursuit. The heroes realize the guy is actually a criminal. Jenny chases the criminal, who taunts her and has his Diggersby use Mud Shot to slow her down. As the man goes back on the road with his jeep, a cage falls out. Clemont falls down, being too exhausted, but noticed something. When the dust clears, the heroes notice a cage that fell off the jeep, and a weary Scatterbug that crawls out and collapses. They quickly scoop it up and take it to the nearest Pokémon Center, while Officer Jenny is frustrated she lost the criminal.
The heroes arrive to the Center and have Wigglytuff heal Scatterbug. Joy thinks this Scatterbug is of a different region, due to its pattering. She shows Vivillon, the evolved form of Scatterbug, have different patterns as well. Jenny appears and ties Ash's hand with a rope, thinking he helped the Pokémon Smuggler, Dolan, to capture Scatterbug. The heroes explain they wanted to help her and had Scatterbug transported to the Center, which healed. Jenny apologizes and explains that she's on the trail of Dolan, a Pokémon smuggler who specializes in Scatterbug, Spewpa, and Vivillon. Because Vivillon can have wings of many different colors and patterns based on their native habitat, they’re highly prized by collectors, and Dolan takes full advantage of that. Scatterbug suddenly walks in circles and evolves into a Spewpa. Bonnie wants to know more about evolution.
Ash tries to explain it, but fails. Clemont tells the Pokémon, during the evolution, change their appearance and grow stronger; some may even need some Evolutionary Stones, like Pikachu, who needs to touch the Thunder Stone, to evolve into a Raichu. Clemont notices something in Spewpa's fur—it appears to be a transmitter, attached by the smuggler so he can keep track of his "merchandise". They quickly develop a plan: one of them will wear the transmitter, plus a Spewpa disguise (provided by costume designer Serena) and act as bait. Clemont's eyeglasses shine, as he uses an invention and places the chip in it, which senses where the radio waves are coming from. Since Spewpa is shocked by its recent imprisonment, Ash decides to be the bait. Since he is too big, Serena puts the costume on Dedenne, who is too small. Clemont's Chespin is the closest to Spewpa's size, so it gets the job.
Ash, Serena, Clemont, and Bonnie put the disguised Chespin in the cage and leave it for Dolan to find, while they and Officer Jenny hide nearby. And the plan works — Dolan arrives to claim his lost treasure, despite his remarks Spewpa's voice is strange, then goes back on his jeep. Though the heroes follow him, Clemont's machine begins to malfunction and explodes. Jenny goes to track Dolan down, while Ash sends Fletchling to track the smuggler. Fletchling finds the smuggler and leads the heroes to his den. Ash decides to go in, but is warned Dolan may use the captured Pokémon as hostages. Ash sends Froakie to find out if Dolan is inside the building. Froakie goes atop of it and finds only the captured Spewpa. The heroes go to sneak in, but Serena, Clemont and Bonnie are captured in a net. Dolan appears and points out he knew about the ruse for Chespin's disguise fell off during the ride. Dolan attacks with his Diggersby.
Diggersby uses Mud Shot, but misses. Ash's Froakie uses Bubble, which is blocked by Diggersby's ears. Diggersby digs and hits Froakie, continued with Double Slap. Diggersby uses Hammer Arm, dodging Froakie's Water Pulse and hitting him. Diggersby goes to attack once more, but Spewpa leaps into the fray and tackles Diggersby. Diggersby uses Double Slap, which fails, due to Spewpa's Protect and gets binded by String Shot. Diggersby and Dolan are very angry, while Spewpa walks in circles and evolves into a Vivillon. Bonnie notices how different Vivillon looks from Viola's Vivillon. Dolan is pleased, for he will have more money, disgusting Ash, who does not believe Dolan sees Vivillon as money. Vivillon uses Safeguard to protect itself from Mud Shot, then uses Stun Spore to defeat Diggersby.
Dolan goes to capture Vivillon, but Officer Jenny arrests him. Dolan still goes to attack, but is calmed down by Vivillon's powers. Later, Clemont frees Chespin, while others rescue Spewpa. Vivillon is glad its friends are freed, which all evolve into Vivillon. The heroes gaze as the Vivillon fly off in the sky and bid them farewell.
==Debuts==
===Character===
Dolan
===Pokémon===
*Vivillon (Continental, Icy Snow, Elegant, Sun Patterns, Garden and Savannah)
*Diggersby
==Trivia==
*"Who's That Pokémon?": Scatterbug (US)
*"Pokémon Quiz": Spewpa (JP)
*This episode's plot is similar to Bye Bye Butterfree where a fully-evolved -type Pokémon saves other members of its species from a poacher.
*Similar to Caterpie's Big Dilemma, like Scatterbug, Caterpie fully evolves in just one episode.
*This is the first episode of the Japanese dub of the Pokémon anime to have TV Tokyo's 2014 Nanana (ナナナ) 7 logo which replaces the TV Tokyo's circle 7 logo.
*This episode had repeated mentioning that due to the rarity of Vivillon, they're being commonly smuggled, which may be a reference of ridiculing current players on trading Pokémon commonly.
===Mistakes===
*When Scatterbug closed its eyes, it didn't have its pattern.
==Gallery==
==References==
Category:Episodes focusing on Ash
Category:Episodes focusing on Officer Jenny