JN103

The Future is Now, Thanks to Strategy! (Japanese: サトシとシトロン！友情大特訓！！ and ! Great Friendship Training!!) is the 103rd episode of Pokémon Journeys: The Series, and the 1,188th episode of the Pokémon animated series. It first aired in Japan on April 1, 2022 as a one-hour special alongside JN104, in Canada on August 20, 2022, in Australia on October 3, 2022, in South Africa on October 25, 2022, in the United Kingdom on December 17, 2022, and in the United States on February 24, 2023.
==Blurb==
Ash’s next World Coronation Series battle is against Drasna of the Kalos Elite Four! But first, he pays a visit to his old friends Clemont and Bonnie at the Lumiose City Gym, and Goh takes a detour to catch a new Pokémon. At the Gym, Ash’s Sirfetch’d seems to be struggling to master a new move, Meteor Assault, so Clemont performs an analysis to find out what’s holding it back. It turns out some special training with Dracovish is the key! Ash and Clemont have a Double Battle, giving Sirfetch’d a chance to perfect Meteor Assault…and Dracovish learns a new move of its own, too!
==Plot==
 and Goh have arrived at Lumiose City in the Kalos region. They part ways for a while so that Goh can something new, agreeing to meet at the Lumiose Gym, where Ash is due to reunite with his from the time he used to travel around Kalos: and . Along the way, Ash stops to look at a television broadcast featuring him and his opponent for his World Coronation Series the next day: Drasna of the Kalos Elite Four. He swears to defeat her in order to realize his dream of battling . Meanwhile, Goh comes across a while walking through a park and tries to catch it, only for it to deflect his and throw bubbles on his face. Bonnie shows up and explains that the bubbles are called Frubbles, which only Froakie can make. Determined to catch the , Goh challenges it to a battle.
Ash arrives at the Lumiose Gym just in time to see Clemont defeat a challenger with his . He and Ash greet each other and let their Pokémon out so they can do the same. Clemont is surprised to see , which he has never even heard of before, while Ash is surprised to notice that Clemont's is now a . Clemont also pays attention to , which he hasn't seen before either. As Sirfetch'd makes thrusts with its leek, a yellow glow surrounds it and travels down the leek. Dracovish becomes fascinated by it and bites down on the leek, much to Sirfetch'd's irritation. Ash pulls Sirfetch'd free, but it has barely any time to resume its thrusting before Dracovish bites down on the leek again. This time, however, the glow around Sirfetch'd intensifies and sends both it and Dracovish crashing into a wall. Clemont figures that Sirfetch'd is probably on the verge of using a new move.
Goh, meanwhile, has managed to exhaust Froakie enough that, after dodging one more Frubble throw, he finally manages to catch it. He then decides to make his way to the Lumiose Gym, and is surprised when Bonnie says the Gym belongs to her big brother.
At the Lumiose Gym, Clemont has figured out that the move Sirfetch'd is trying to pull off is , its signature move. In order to help Ash master this impressive move in preparation for his battle the next day, Clemont introduces Ash to his newest invention; the Pokémon Motion Capture 1, just as Goh and Bonnie arrive. Goh and Clemont greet each other while Bonnie hands Ash some Lumiose Galettes as a souvenir, before running over to play with Dracovish, finding it cute.
Observing Sirfetch'd via the Pokémon Motion Capture 1, Clemont begins to see where the problem lies. Normally, Meteor Assault involves a channeling energy charged within its body to the tip of its sword and striking the opponent with it. However, with Ash's Sirfetch'd, the center of its body wobbles in between the charging and thrusting steps, causing the gathered energy to fall apart as it reaches the unstablized tip of the sword. If this wobbling could be done away with, Meteor Assault could reach its full potential and exhibit incredible power. Bonnie asks what causes the wobbling, and Clemont theorizes that it's the result of Sirfetch'd carrying far more weight now than it did as a . Dracovish biting down on the leek earlier had stabilized Sirfetch'd's body and allowed it to pull off the move.
Ash takes Clembot's flags and starts with Sirfetch'd to show how to do the thrust the right way. He explains to his Pokémon that when he's battling, he tends to focus just on his opponent and not notice anything else, and if Sirfetch'd can attain the same level of focus, it can wield its sword and shield as if they weren't even there. Suddenly, Dracovish bites down on the leek once again, but instead of letting this disturb it, Sirfetch'd takes advantage of the stability and pulls off a successful Meteor Assault once more. However, the power exhibited by the move is too much for the Pokémon Motion Capture 1 to handle, and it promptly explodes, much like so many of Clemont's other inventions have done in the past. Despite this, everyone is happy for Sirfetch'd's success. Goh compares Dracovish's stabilizing effect on Sirfetch'd to training wheels on a bike: now that the balance has been achieved, aid is no longer necessary. Clemont suggests to Ash that they have a practice battle to test out the results, which Ash happily accepts. Moreover, Ash decides to make it a Double Battle, as he wants to test out Dracovish's speed and durability as well. Clemont accepts this and calls Luxray and Diggersby to join him.
The practice battle begins with Clemont ordering Luxray to target Sirfetch'd with and Diggersby to aim for Dracovish with . Ash prepares the counter by ordering a Meteor Assault and a , but Dracovish once again becomes distracted by Sirfetch'd's leek and tries to bite it instead. However, it ends up being hit by Wild Charge and Dig before it can do so. Following Ash's advice, Sirfetch'd focuses its attention on its opponent and executes a successful Meteor Assault, taking Luxray out with one blow. However, the move's recoil leaves Sirfetch'd unable to move. Dracovish then suddenly becomes surrounded in a blue glow and charges at Diggersby, whose counterattack is quickly overpowered, causing it to faint and bringing the practice battle to an end. Clemont identifies the new move as , and Bonnie figures Dracovish learned it while trying to mimic Meteor Assault. Sirfetch'd then lets Dracovish bite on its leek without getting upset over it, showing that the two have become good friends. As such, Ash decides to use the two in the next day's battle.
Meanwhile, Drasna is having a battle with Wikstrom at his Castle of Chivalry. As their and exchange blows, they both compliment each other's skills. Wikstrom aims for a finishing blow with , but is countered by a . The knight admires the bond between Drasna and her Altaria as she prepares to show Ash the strength of a Kalos Elite Four member.
==Major events==
* and Goh travel to Kalos again.
* Ash's next World Coronation Series is revealed to be against Drasna of the Kalos Elite Four.
* Ash reunites with and , while Goh meets them for the first time.
* Clemont's is revealed to have evolved into and learned .
* Goh a .
* Ash's Sirfetch'd learns .
* Ash's Dracovish learns .
* Ash has a Double Battle against Clemont and wins.
===Debuts===
====Humans====
* Drasna
====Pokémon debuts====
* Goh's Froakie
* Clemont's Diggersby
==Characters==
===Humans===
* 
* 
* 
* Goh
* Diantha (television)
* Wikstrom
* Drasna
* (fantasy)
* Trainers
===Pokémon===
Who's That Pokémon?: 
* ()
* ()
* ()
* (; Gigantamax; Gigantamax on television)
* ()
* ()
* ()
* (; fantasy)
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ()
* (; new)
* (Professor Cerise's; Rotom Phone; ×2)
* (; television)
* (Wikstrom's)
* (Drasna's; television/fantasy)
* (Drasna's; television/fantasy)
* (Drasna's; television/fantasy)
* (Drasna's)
* (Trainer's; male)
* (Trainer's)
* (Trainer's)
* (Trainer's)
* (Trainer's)
* (Trainer's)
* (Trainer's)
* (Trainer's)
* (Trainer's)
* (Trainer's)
===Other===
* Clembot
==Trivia==
* Get Inspired! Let's Solve a Poké Riddle!!: 
* This episode, along with the next one, marks the 25th anniversary of the .
* Shinji Miyazaki’s music from Pokémon the Series: XY is reused as background music in this episode.
* As of this episode, every member of the Kalos Elite Four has appeared in the animated series.
* Despite it having existed since Generation VI, this marks the first time that is used in the animated series.
* This episode marks the first appearances of and in the main series since Till We Compete Again!, 249 episodes earlier.
* This episode marks the first appearance of a in the animated series since Working on a Right Move!, 537 episodes earlier.
** This episode also marks the first appearance of a since its animated series debut in An Undersea Place to Call Home!, 365 episodes earlier.
* The opening animation is updated to include Goh's , , and .
* Like a previous episode, the dub title is a reference to Clemont's invention catchphrase, "The future is now, thanks to science!"
* Unlike previous episodes, Clemont's Dedenne's voice is dubbed in this episode.
* Drasna, , Goh, Ash, and narrate the preview for the next episode.
===Errors===
* When Ash, Pikachu, and attempt to pull Sirfetch'd's leek from 's mouth, Sirfetch'd puts its shield on the ground, though when the three tumble backwards into the wall, Sirfetch'd is holding its shield again.
* When Ash tells Sirfetch'd to start using Clemont's motion capture machine, the two orbs placed on its shield are missing.
* In the ian dub, Lumiose City is referred to as "Luminose City".
JN103 error.png|The missing orbs error
===Dub edits===
* The Japanese text depicting the Kalos region's name is edited out.
==In other languages==
103
Category:Episodes written by Atsuhiro Tomioka
Category:Episodes storyboarded by Noriaki Saitō
Category:Episodes directed by Hiromichi Matano
Category:Episodes animated by Makoto Shinjō
Category:Episodes animated by Yuki Masutani
Category:Episodes by multiple animation directors
Category:Episodes focusing on Ash
Category:Episodes focusing on Clemont
Category:Milestone episodes
Category:Episodes in which a main character obtains a new Pokémon
Category:Episodes in which a main character joins the group
Category:Episodes in which an alternately colored Pokémon appears
Category:Episodes featuring Elite Four members
Category:Episodes in which a main character's Pokémon learns a new move
Category:Episodes which aired in Canada before the United States
Category:Episodes which aired in Australia before the United States
Category:Episodes which aired in South Africa before the United States
Category:Episodes which aired in the United Kingdom before the United States
de:Die richtige Strategie katapultiert uns in die Zukunft!
es:EP1192
fr:LV103
it:EP103
ja:新無印編第103話
zh:宝可梦 旅途 第103集