JN122

It's… Champion Time! (Japanese: セミファイナルⅠ　「圧勝」 The Semifinals I: "Overwhelming Victory") is the 122nd episode of Pokémon Journeys: The Series, and the 1,207th episode of the Pokémon animated series. It first aired in Japan on August 26, 2022, in Canada on January 28, 2023, in South Africa on February 21, 2023, in the United Kingdom on April 4, 2023, in Australia on April 26, 2023, and in the United States on June 23, 2023.
==Blurb==
The semifinals of the Masters Eight Tournament are about to begin, with Galar Champion Leon set to battle Kalos Champion Diantha. Nearby, Ash and his Pokémon are training hard when they bump into their upcoming opponent—Cynthia! They’re soon joined by a young brother and sister with lots of enthusiasm for Pokémon, but when the sister wanders off on her own, our heroes are determined to help. After finding her, everyone returns to the stadium to see that Leon is already far ahead of Diantha, having eliminated several of her Pokémon. Leon goes on to win, claiming a spot in the finals. Next up: Ash versus Cynthia!
==Plot==
A new day dawns in Wyndon as wakes up at the hotel to find Goh having stayed up all night to study the data that Project Mew had sent for him so he can be ready for the next mission as soon as it happens. Ash decides to do some last-minute with his team before the Masters Eight Tournament semifinals begin, but as soon as he calls for everyone to stop and compliments them, tackles him in a very affectionate hug, causing both of them to slide through some bushes and end up right next to and her , who are also doing some last-minute preparations. As Goh and the rest of Ash's Pokémon join them, Cynthia demonstrates her usual pre- routine by having Garchomp fly around for a bit, giving her a back massage, and then having her fly around some more, with her going even faster now.
The group is approached by a young boy who introduces himself as Vic, along with his little sister Toria. Both of them are huge fans of Ash, Cynthia, and , with Vic declaring that he wants to be able to use a move like Ash's Pikachu's , choose as his first partner Pokémon, and evolve it into a that can Gigantamax, just like Leon's Rillaboom. When Vic asks what Cynthia's first Pokémon was, Ash realizes he's never asked about it. Cynthia responds that Garchomp was her first partner, raised from a that she hatched from an as a child. This reminds Ash of how his also hatched from an Egg. Said Egg was very mysterious, as it refused to hatch and went from region to region, until Ash finally felt the Egg's Aura calling out to him, and it had hatched with him. Cynthia reveals that she had also heard of this mysterious Egg and figures it must've been fate for it to have wound up with Ash.
Vic thanks Ash and Cynthia of their stories and calls out to Toria, but before they can leave together, she gets distracted by a floating by and excitedly runs after it, forcing Vic to follow. Ash, Goh, and Cynthia head for Wyndon Stadium to watch the first semifinals match. No sooner have they arrived in front of the stadium and seen Leon entering the field on a giant screen, however, that they hear Vic nearby, having lost the sight of Toria. The group agrees to help find her and follows Vic just as the first semifinals match gets underway.
The group ends up finding Toria by following the sound of a Gossifleur singing, finding her watching said Gossifleur from a bush. The Gossifleur ends up evolving into an and flying away to scatter its seeds around Galar. Vic and Toria wave good-bye to it, before Vic suddenly remembers Leon's battle. The group rushes back to the stadium, where they're greeted by the shocking revelation that Diantha has already lost four Pokémon, while Leon has only lost one. Diantha's fifth Pokémon, , lands a on Leon's Rillaboom, engulfing it in a giant fireball just as the group enters the stands. To Diantha's shock, Rillaboom manages to repel the flames by beating its drum before using , defeating Goodra and leaving Diantha with just one Pokémon against Leon's five. While Ash muses how he's never seen Diantha being backed into a corner like this, Diantha sends out as her final Pokémon. In the stands, gives a recap of the battle so far for the viewers of their broadcast, revealing that Rillaboom alone has taken down four of Diantha's Pokémon. While James and remain cheerful, Jessie stopped caring about the battle the instant Diantha's was defeated.
Diantha has Gardevoir attack with . While Rillaboom manages to avoid the attack, its is, in turn, dodged by Gardevoir, who follows up with to lift Rillaboom into the air and then slam it back down, finally taking the out of action. Leon responds to this knockout by sending out . Seeing Leon's ace has entered the battle, Diantha immediately Mega Evolves Gardevoir, while Leon Gigantamaxes Charizard. Gardevoir attacks with a powerful , which actually causes the giant Pokémon to stumble backwards. Leon launches his own attack in the form of Charizard's signature , which engulfs Mega Gardevoir in a flaming vortex. In a maneuver that catches Leon off-guard, Gardevoir uses Psychic to redirect Charizard's G-Max Move right back at it, forcing him to use to counter it. Fueled by Diantha's unrelenting desire to never give up, Mega Gardevoir keeps pushing, causing G-Max Wildfire, Max Airstream, and Psychic to fuse together into a single devastating move. However, before it can make contact, Leon orders another G-Max Wildfire, which busts through the combination attack and strikes Gardevoir head-on. When the flames die down, Gardevoir collapses and is judged unable to battle, meaning that Leon has won and will be advancing to the finals.
In the stands, the group is excited by the battle they just witnessed, with Vic and Toria asking Ash and Cynthia to have a cool battle like this one with them once they become Pokémon Trainers, which they happily accept. After watching Leon and Diantha shake hands, Cynthia turns to look at Ash and Pikachu, whose faces are filled with determination as they prepare themselves to face Cynthia in their own semifinals match.
==Major events==
* Goh meets again.
* Diantha is revealed to own a , a , and a .
* defeats Diantha in their semifinals Full Battle, advancing to the finals.
===Debuts===
====Pokémon debuts====
==Characters==
===Humans===
* 
* Goh
* Jessie
* James
* 
* Diantha
* 
* Hop
* Dan
* Vic
* Toria
* Announcer
* Crowd
===Pokémon===
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ()
* (; )
* (; flashback)
* ()
* (Professor Cerise's; Rotom Phone; ×2)
* (; Mega Gardevoir)
* (Diantha's; flashback)
* (Diantha's; flashback)
* (Diantha's)
* (Diantha's; flashback)
* (Diantha's; flashback)
* (; Gigantamax)
* ('s; flashback)
* ('s)
* (Dan's)
* (Team Rocket's; Rotom Phone)
* (Trainer's; multiple)
* (Trainers'; ×2)
* (Trainer's; multiple)
* (Trainer's; multiple)
* (Trainer's)
* (Trainers'; ×2)
* (Trainer's)
* (Trainer's)
* (Trainer's)
* (Trainer's)
* (Trainer's; male)
* (Trainer's)
* (Trainer's)
* (Trainer's)
* (Trainer's)
* (Trainer's)
* (Trainer's)
* (Trainer's; Galarian Form)
* (Trainer's; Alolan form)
* (Trainer's)
* (×4; one evolves)
* (newly evolved)
==Trivia==
* Get Inspired! Let's Solve a Poké Riddle!!: 
* This episode marks the first appearance of a in the since the 's debut in The Tiny Caretaker!, 321 episodes earlier.
* As of this episode, all members of the current Masters Eight have been revealed to own a pseudo-legendary Pokémon.
* This episode marks the first time that Diantha is defeated in an onscreen battle.
* This is the only Masters Eight Tournament battle to not be shown in its entirety.
* James's Morpeko is seen eating a Lumiose Galette during the battle, referencing Diantha's home region of Kalos.
* Shinji Miyazaki's music from Kyurem VS. The Sword of Justice is reused as background music in this episode.
* The Dare da? segment is replaced with eyecatches of Ash, Goh, and for this episode.
* James, , Jessie, and narrate the preview for the next episode.
===Errors===
* Diantha's Tyrantrum uses on 's . As a move, it should not affect Dragapult, who is a Pokémon.
===Dub edits===
==In other languages==
122
Category:Episodes written by Atsuhiro Tomioka
Category:Episodes storyboarded by Hiromasa Amano
Category:Episodes directed by Yasuhiro Noda
Category:Episodes animated by Rei Yamazaki
Category:Episodes animated by Masaya Ōnishi
Category:Episodes animated by Yoshitaka Yanagihara
Category:Episodes animated by Toshiko Nakaya
Category:Episodes by multiple animation directors
Category:Episodes in which a Champion appears
Category:Episodes with World Coronation Series matches
Category:Episodes in which an alternately colored Pokémon appears
Category:Episodes which aired in Canada 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
Category:Episodes which aired in Australia before the United States
de:Es ist Champ-Time!
es:EP1211
fr:LV122
it:EP122
ja:新無印編第122話
zh:宝可梦 旅途 第120集