PE05

The Rival (Japanese: ザ・ライバル The Rival) is the fifth episode of Pokémon Evolutions. It was first released on the official English Pokémon YouTube channel, Pokémon TV, and the official Japanese Pokémon YouTube channel on December 2, 2021.
==Blurb==
No matter how fast you run, your rivals are always one step ahead, pushing you to better your skills. Eventually, you’ll have to face your rival in your travels… for Barry, that time has come.
==Plot==
Arriving at the , is guided to the top floor to challenge Palmer. Under the weight of facing the , Barry struggles with self-doubt as he and Palmer send out their first Pokémon, and he starts to flashback to pivotal moments in his journey.
At Lake Verity, Barry and are attacked by a pair of wild when they bump into a discarded briefcase. The briefcase falls open, revealing a trio of s. The two friends grab a and a from the selection and send them into the fray, successfully chasing the Starly away. Barry resolves to become a Pokémon Trainer strong enough to challenge his father.
Palmer's releases a powerful , sending Barry's crashing into the wall behind him. As Barry tenses up from the sheer display of strength, Palmer simply smirks from the shadows.
Barry's journey takes him to the Oreburgh Gym, where his Piplup withstands a from Roark's Cranidos and defeats it with . Roark acknowledges his loss, much to Barry and Piplup's delight. As Barry inserts the into his Badge case, he wonders if the Gym Leader might be strong enough to challenge his father before he realizes his thoughts have been drifting, and he heads to the next destination with Piplup.
Continuing the battle, Barry's scores a direct hit on Palmer's with a crushing , prompting Barry to cheer. The intensity of the battle causes Barry's Badge case to slip out from his pocket and fall open, showing his full collection of Badges from the Sinnoh region.
Barry confronts Jupiter and her at Lake Acuity, declaring that he's going to be the Pokémon Champion and asking Jupiter to bring it on. Jupiter has Skuntank deploy a , causing to miss with its , before defeating it with . Mocking Barry for his sentiments and belief that he could ever challenge Team Galactic, Jupiter brings the captured away as Barry stews in his defeat. For the first time in his journey, Barry wonders if he might never become strong enough to face his father.
Back in the present, Palmer's launches its and takes Staraptor out of the fight.
At the Spear Pillar, Lucas confronts , Cyrus, Mars, and Jupiter, the latter two having sent out their and Skuntank respectively. Barry arrives on the scene, and Jupiter mocks him again after recognizing him. The two friends send out their and , with Infernape easily sending Mars's Purugly flying with , while Empoleon successfully withstands Skuntank's and Night Slash before knocking it back with . Defeated, an amused Jupiter acknowledges that Barry has gotten stronger since their last encounter.
In the present, Barry's Empoleon manages to dodge a from Rhyperior before retaliating with , defeating it and winning the match for Barry. Laughing, Palmer congratulates Barry for the great battle, and muses that now Barry has defeated his own father, who will he beat next.
==Major events==
* In a series of flashbacks:
** and start their Pokémon journeys.
** Barry defeats Roark and earns the .
** Barry is defeated by Jupiter at Lake Acuity, allowing Team Galactic to capture .
** Lucas and Barry battle against Team Galactic at the Spear Pillar.
* Barry challenges his father Palmer at the and wins.
==Characters==
===Humans===
* (flashback)
* 
* Roark (flashback)
* Palmer
* Cyrus (flashback)
* Mars (flashback)
* Jupiter (flashback)
* s (flashback)
* Trainers
* Receptionists
===Pokémon===
* ('s; flashback)
* ('s; flashback)
* ('s; flashback)
* ('s; flashback)
* ('s)
* ('s)
* ('s)
* (; flashback)
* (Palmer's)
* (Palmer's)
* (Palmer's)
* (; flashback)
* (Jupiter's; flashback)
* (Trainer's)
* (×2)
* (×2; flashback)
* (flashback)
* (flashback)
==Trivia==
* This short is the first one to air after the release of , and is related to its story.
* The two in this episode wear the hats of and .
===Errors===
===Dub edits===
==In other languages==
05
Category:Episodes written by Benjamin Townsend
Category:Episodes by one-time storyboarders
Category:Episodes by one-time directors
Category:Episodes by multiple assistant directors
Category:Episodes by one-time animation directors
Category:Episodes by multiple animation directors
de:Pokémon: Entwicklungen Folge 5: Der Rivale
es:EVO05
fr:PE05
it:EV05
ja:PE第5話
zh:Pokémon Evolutions 第5集