JN025

A Festival Reunion! (Japanese: 命爆発バトルフェス！VSメガルカリオ！！ A Exploding With Life! VS Mega Lucario!!) is the 25th episode of Pokémon Journeys: The Series, and the 1,110th episode of the Pokémon animated series. It first aired in Japan on June 21, 2020, in the United Kingdom on November 6, 2020, in Australia on December 3, 2020, and in the United States on December 4, 2020. It was initially intended to air in Japan on May 10, 2020, but was rescheduled to due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
==Blurb==
Ash and Goh arrive in the Kalos region, where Goh wants to catch new Pokémon, while Ash wants to raise his World Coronation Series ranking by competing in the Battle Festival Challenge!
Ash discovers that his friend Korrina, the Gym Leader of Shalour City, is also competing with her partner Lucario. Both Trainers are one win away from ranking up to the Great Class, so they decide to have a battle! Korrina’s Lucario defeats Ash’s Gengar, but when Ash sends out Dragonite, an unusual strategy takes shape. Even through Lucario Mega Evolves, one final attack gives Ash the win—and a spot in the Great Class!
==Plot==
 and Goh arrive in Shalour City in the Kalos region, with Goh aiming to many and Ash participating in a World Coronation Series Battle Festival Challenge. Goh first catches a , while Ash uses against a Trainer named Lob with a . Clawitzer prepares to use , which Pikachu counters with , but it is suppressed by Flash Cannon's energy. From the stands, another Trainer with a observes Ash and wonders what he'll do next. Ash decides to switch to another move and has Pikachu use . He dodges Clawitzer's and defeats the Howitzer Pokémon, marking Ash's third consecutive win at the Battle Festival Challenge and increasing his ranking to 1,022, thus being one victory away from entering the Great Class.
Meanwhile, Goh continues catching multiple , including different of . As he heads to the Battle Festival Challenge stadium, when he notices a Flabébé form he doesn't have yet and runs after it. Meanwhile, Ash and are preparing for their next battle, which will rise them to the Great Class if they win. Suddenly, both Ash and sense an Aura emanating from somewhere nearby, and Riolu leads them to a Lucario, whom Pikachu and Ash quickly recognize as . And sure enough, herself then also shows up, happily greeting Ash. She introduces herself to Ash's Pokémon, especially taking note of Riolu, whom she encourages to grow stronger with Ash. Riolu looks at Korrina's Lucario, its eyes filled with admiration. Korrina tells how she and Ash had an amazing battle once, with Ash being quick to point out that he won. He asks if she's taking part in the Battle Festival Challenge too, which she confirms, although she's not doing so as a Gym Leader, but as a World Coronation Series participant aiming to beat . She reveals that her rank is 1,001, meaning that she's also just one battle away from Great Class. They both agree to battle each other to see which of them gets to advance to the next class, and Ash tells Riolu to watch Lucario's battle closely.
Elsewhere, Goh continues his search for Pokémon to catch. At first, Raboot doesn't sense any Pokémon nearby, but then suddenly uses towards a bush, causing a Lucario to pop out. However, Goh barely has a chance to pull out a before Lucario's Trainer, Gurkinn, appears and compliments Goh's reflexes. Goh apologizes to Gurkinn for mistaking his Lucario for a one and tells him how he's come to Kalos to catch some Pokémon, showing him a list of the ones he's caught so far. Gurkinn is impressed, noting that finding an Orange Flower Flabébé is especially impressive. Goh says that he's only missing a White Flower Flabébé now and asks Gurkinn if he knows the area. Gurkinn confirms this and mentions that his granddaughter is at the Battle Festival Challenge, so he had come to watch. Goh remarks that his friend is there too. As he brings up the fact that they're both from Kanto, Gurkinn remarks that his granddaughter once battled a Kanto Trainer named Ash who had a Pikachu, and Goh immediately points out that Ash is the friend he mentioned.
At the stadium's Rock Field, Ash and Korrina prepare for their two-on-two battle. The crowd cheers for their city's own Gym Leader. Both Pikachu and Riolu express willingness to battle, but Ash tells them to watch from the sidelines this time. Just as Korrina asks Riolu to root for her Lucario and Ash says that Riolu is going to be cheering for him, Goh and Gurkinn enter the stadium stands, with Goh being surprised to learn that Ash is facing Gurkinn's granddaughter.
At Drone Rotom's signal, Ash and Korrina call out their respective Pokémon, and . Mienshao begins the battle with , making a direct hit, before switching to . Gengar uses to lift up a boulder in an attempt to block the move, but Mienshao simply leaps over it and scores another hit, before switching out to Lucario. Goh is surprised that Korrina used a move to switch her Pokémon. Lucario uses , which Gengar tries to dodge and counter with , but Lucario either avoids or blocks all the Shadow Balls before attacking Gengar, easily taking it out of the fight, much to Ash's shock. In the sidelines, Riolu's admiration towards Lucario only grows. Gurkinn tells Goh that Korrina's advantage lies in her and her Pokémon fighting as one, but Goh is confident Ash can win.
As Ash recalls Gengar, Korrina recalls Lucario and sends Mienshao back out, while Ash goes with , which Korrina sees as a worthy opponent. The matchup begins with a clash of and , which seem evenly matched. Mienshao follows up with , which Ash counters by having Dragonite use . This strategy not only does its intended job of increasing Dragonite's power and , but also uses Mienshao's Double Slap to make Dragonite spin faster and thus repel Mienshao. Korrina tells Mienshao to use High Jump Kick, which connects, but Dragonite makes a swift counterattack with a powered-up Dragon Claw, taking Mienshao out of the fight and making the battle one-on-one.
Korrina recalls Mienshao and sends out Lucario again. Ash asks Korrina to show off Lucario's true power, and she happily complies, touching her Key Stone and Mega Evolving her partner. Goh, who has previously only read about Mega Evolution, is in awe at witnessing it in person for the first time. Gurkinn tells him that Mega Evolution is a phenomenon first discovered in Kalos, which brings out a Pokémon's hidden strength through the Pokémon's bond with a Trainer. Ash reassures Dragonite and has it use Dragon Dance again. Korrina remarks that playing careful isn't really Ash's style and tells Lucario to use . Dragonite flies up with its increased speed in an attempt to avoid the incoming attack, but the Aura Sphere still heads straight towards it upon being fired. Dragonite's counterattack attempt with comes in too late, and the Aura Sphere hits its mark. Lucario follows the assault by jumping up and pummeling Dragonite with a series of es mid-air, eventually sending it crashing down to the rocky battlefield.
Despite all the damage it has taken, Dragonite is still able to stand up. After a moment of thinking, Ash comes up with a plan and tells Dragonite to use , surrounding Mega Lucario in powerful winds that send small pieces of rock at it. Korrina fights back by having Lucario launch two simultaneous Aura Spheres in opposite directions, dispersing the Hurricane. Both sides then launch their final attacks, Lucario with Power-Up Punch and Dragonite with Dragon Claw. Both attacks connect, and both Pokémon fall, only to shakily stand back up. After a few tense moments, Lucario falls down and reverts to normal, and Drone Rotom rules Ash as the winner of the match. Ash happily congratulates Dragonite, receiving one of its trademark hugs in return. As a result of this victory, Ash's ranking rises to 921, meaning that he's now in the Great Class. Riolu goes up to Korrina and Lucario, and despite her apologizing for looking uncool with their loss, Riolu is still full of admiration towards Lucario.
Later, Gurkinn congratulates Ash for making it to a higher class, Korrina assures that she's not out of the competition yet, and Goh is still amazed at how moving the battle was. Just when Ash asks Goh how things went with him, a floats by, and Goh rushes after it to catch it.
==Major events==
* and Goh visit Kalos, with Goh visiting the region for the first time.
* Goh a , four , a , a , and a .
* battles Lob in a World Coronation Series match and wins, bringing his rank to 1,022.
* Ash meets up with and Gurkinn again, while Goh meets them for the first time.
* Korrina's is revealed to have evolved into .
* Goh witnesses Mega Evolution for the first time.
* Ash's Dragonite is revealed to know .
* Ash has a rematch with Korrina in a World Coronation Series and wins, bringing his rank to 921 and rising him to the Great Class.
* Goh attempts to catch a fifth , but whether he succeeds or not is left unclear until later.
===Debuts===
====Pokémon debuts====
* ()
==Characters==
===Humans===
* 
* Goh
* 
* Gurkinn
* Lob
* s
* Crowd
* Announcer
===Pokémon===
Who's That Pokémon?: 
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ()
* (; new)
* (; ×4; ; new)
* (; new)
* (; new)
* (; new)
* (Professor Cerise's; Rotom Phone)
* (; Mega Lucario)
* ('s)
* (Gurkinn's)
* (Lob's)
* (Trainer's)
* (Trainer's)
* (Trainer's)
* (Trainer's)
* (Trainer's)
* (Trainer's)
* (Trainer's)
* (Trainer's)
* (Trainer's)
* (Trainer's)
* (Trainer's)
* (Trainer's)
* (Trainer's)
* (Trainer's)
* (Trainer's)
* (Trainer's)
* (Trainer's)
* (Trainer's; )
* (Drone Rotom)
* (later ; )
* (×4)
==Trivia==
* Get Inspired! Let's Solve a Poké Riddle!!: 
* This episode was originally scheduled to air on May 10, 2020. However, the episode was postponed when the suspended production on April 19, 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
** Due to this postponement, this was the first episode to air after The Isle of Armor was released for Pokémon Sword and Shield.
* As of this episode, all five different colors of have appeared in the animated series.
* This episode marks the first physical appearance of in the animated series since Forming a More Perfect Union!, 175 episodes earlier.
* This episode marks the first time that a main character other than has obtained a Pokémon since caught his in A Home for Dwebble!, 442 episodes earlier.
* Music composed by Shinji Miyazaki is used as Korrina Mega Evolves her .
* This episode marks the first appearance of a number of Pokémon species in the main series after long absences:
** , who last appeared in Ash and N: A Clash of Ideals!, 333 episodes ago.
** , who last appeared in Unlocking Some Respect!, 200 episodes ago.
** , who last appeared in Seeing the Forest for the Trees!, 190 episodes ago.
** , who last appeared in Forming a More Perfect Union!, 175 episodes ago.
** , who last appeared in Battling with a Clean Slate!, 174 episodes ago.
** , who last appeared in Till We Compete Again!, 171 episodes ago.
* An announcer, Kasukarp, , and narrate the preview for the next episode.
** During the preview, both parts of the next episode's Japanese title are read simultaneously.
* This is the first episode where Ash has a rematch against a Gym Leader in the World Coronation Series.
===Errors===
* During the episode, Goh his before his . However, when he shows his Pokédex to Gurkinn, the capture order of these Pokémon is reversed.
===Dub edits===
* The kanji 命爆発 (Life Explosion) that appear during Korrina's poses before she Mega Evolves her Lucario are removed in the dub.
==In other languages==
025
Category:Episodes written by Atsuhiro Tomioka
Category:Episodes storyboarded by Hiromasa Amano
Category:Episodes directed by Naoki Murata
Category:Episodes animated by Akihiko Oka
Category:Episodes animated by Yū Takahashi
Category:Episodes animated by Akira Takeuchi
Category:Episodes animated by Yoshitaka Yanagihara
Category:Episodes animated by Masaya Ōnishi
Category:Episodes by one-time animation directors
Category:Episodes by multiple animation directors
Category:Episodes focusing on Ash
Category:Episodes in which a main character obtains a new Pokémon
Category:Episodes with World Coronation Series matches
Category:Episodes which aired in the United Kingdom before the United States
Category:Episodes which aired in Australia before the United States
Category:Episodes in which an alternately colored Pokémon appears
de:Ein Wiedersehen beim Festival!
es:EP1114
fr:LV025
it:EP025
ja:新無印編第25話
zh:宝可梦 旅途 第25集