JN080

Trial on a Golden Scale! (Japanese: トライアルミッション！ウルガモス黄金の鱗粉！！ Trial Mission! 's Golden Scales!!) is the 80th episode of Pokémon Journeys: The Series, and the 1,165th episode of the Pokémon animated series. It first aired in Japan on September 10, 2021, in Canada on January 15, 2022, in South Africa and the United Kingdom on March 8, 2022, in Australia on May 4, 2022, and in the United States on May 26, 2022.
==Blurb==
Goh has received his first Project Mew trial mission! He is to gather a Volcarona’s golden scales, so after a briefing from Professor Cerise, our heroes are off to the Desert Resort in Unova. Searching an abandoned gold mine, Ash and Goh meet Nito, who is also looking for Volcarona—but his motives are anything but honorable. In fact, Nito is a Pokémon hunter out to catch Pokémon to sell for profit. A battle ensues, and Ash and Goh appear to be trapped until Quillon and Danika appear! Nito is defeated and taken into custody, and Goh passes his first trial mission with flying colors!
==Plot==
At Mount Lanakila in Alola, Quillon and Danika depart after returning the rescued by Goh to its natural habitat. Quillon mentions that the who originally stole it have been located and they're heading their way next. Danika asks if he's curious about the who Ninetales, as he's about to start his first Trial Mission. Quillon feigns disinterest, but Danika can easily tell he is curious.
At the Cerise Laboratory in Kanto, Goh is excited to receive a notification inviting him for his first Project Mew Trial Mission. Of the three options he's given, he chooses the one that requires finding "'s golden scales". He and are confused, since Volcarona's scales shouldn't be gold-colored, but Professor Cerise figures that figuring out that part is a part of their mission. Looking at his Rotom Phone, Goh figures that the best place to start their search would be the Colossus Ruins in Unova region's Desert Resort, the same place where he caught his . They remember the golden room that was in the ruins, and figure that could be where they could find a Volcarona with golden scales.
Ash and Goh arrive at the Colossus Ruins, where they meet the excavation and ask him about Volcarona. However, the leader mentions that the Volcarona sightings stopped a few days ago after Pokémon Hunters had started capturing Pokémon nearby. He does, however, have a Volcarona-related discovery to show to them, and leads them to a mural in the golden room, featuring a Volcarona. The leader translates the ancient text on the mural, describing how Volcarona saved those suffering from the cold when the "mountain's rage" covered the sky. Goh figures that "mountain's rage" could mean a volcanic eruption, which means that Volcarona could perhaps be found in a volcanic area. The excavation leader mentions that past the ruins, there's a town founded during a , which was sealed off after a volcano erupted, and suggests they search from there.
Arriving at the town, Ash and Goh find it to be a dilapidated . They enter an abandoned gold mine and start exploring it. They come across a , which Goh catches after using 's to weaken it. A big horde of Roggenrola then appears and starts attacking them, forcing them to use a minecart to escape. The wild ride on the cart, during which Inteleon narrowly saves them from falling of a cliff, eventually leads them to an elevator, which powers up with . The elevator brings them to a big open space, where they find a man being attacked by a . Goh uses his to quickly defeat Ferrothorn with , and then catches it. The man, Nito, thanks them for saving him and says that he's here to study the local wild Pokémon. Ash and Goh introduce themselves and mention that they're looking for Volcarona. Hearing this, Nito says that he's looking for Volcarona too, and decides to tag along.
Ash, Goh, and Nito move on and arrive at a mine railway station, which connected the mine to the next one over during the gold rush. Ash spots a group of s, which Nito identifies as Eggs of , Volcarona's pre-evolved form. Goh figures since the Eggs are here, Volcarona must be nearby to protect them. Nito then declares that he'll take the Eggs before Volcarona can come back, sending out a and having it use on Ash and Goh, binding them in place. Goh realizes that Nito is actually a Pokémon Hunter, and Nito admits that Volcarona managed to get away from him when he was capturing the local Pokémon earlier, but now he intends to sell these Eggs for a profit. He piles the Eggs onto a wheelbarrow and decides to head further into the tunnels in case there are more more Eggs in there. Before he can do so, however, a pair of Larvesta emerges from the tunnel and starts attacking Nito with fire, with a third attack coming from the depths of the tunnel. Overwhelmed, Nito decides to give up on the Larvesta and makes a run for it. The Sticky Web binding Ash and Goh ends up catching fire and breaking apart, freeing them. Ash retrieves the Eggs and drives Nito off before returning them to the Larvesta, calming them down.
However, the railway station is still on fire following the Larvesta's attacks. Goh calls out Inteleon and to fight the fire, while Ash does the same with , but their moves do little against the blazing inferno. A burning tower almost falls on top of the Eggs, but they're saved by the same flame that came out of the tunnel earlier. The flame's user emerges from the tunnel, revealing itself to be a Larvesta. It then promptly evolves into a golden Volcarona and uses to absorb the flames, putting out the fire. After doing so, Volcarona starts flying above Ash and Goh, scattering golden scales. Goh uses a glass jar to collect some of the scales, happy to have achieved the objective of his Trial Mission.
Ash and Goh make their way out of the mine, but once they arrive at the entrance, they're surprised to see Nito, who had secretly stayed behind to witness the golden Volcarona, and is determined to catch it, revealing that he even called up some henchmen to help him out. They send out their Pokémon and demand the two boys hand over their Pokémon. Just then, however, Danika and Quillon appear to take care of the Hunters. Nito and his henchmen attack, but before their attacks can land, both Danika and Quillon send out an each, with Danika's Urshifu defeating most of the Hunters' Pokémon with and Quillon's Urshifu taking down a with a . Ash and Goh are surprised to see two Urshifu, with Goh also noting how Danika's Urshifu looks different from Quillon's one. His Rotom Phone informs him that Danika's Urshifu is of the .
With the Hunters dealt with, Danika verifies the scales Goh collected as authentic, declaring that he's cleared the mission and sending him his first token. Goh feels sorry for needing to be rescued, but Quillon says they only dealt with the Hunters, and Goh didn't need any help. Professor Amaranth enters the scene as well, saying that they'll make sure the Hunters are brought to Officer Jenny and their Pokémon are eventually back to the wild. Danika encourages Goh to prepare for the next time and not worry about anything, which he happily agrees to.
==Major events==
* Goh's is returned to its home in Alola.
* and Goh visit Unova and meet Danika, Quillon, and Professor Amaranth again.
* Goh a and a .
* Danika is revealed to own a .
* Goh clears his first Project Mew Trial Mission, earning a Project Mew token.
===Debuts===
====Pokémon debuts====
* ()
==Characters==
===Humans===
* 
* Goh
* Professor Cerise
* Chrysa
* Ren
* Professor Amaranth
* Quillon
* Danika
* 
* Nito
* Nito's henchmen
===Pokémon===
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ()
* (formerly ; Alolan form)
* (; new)
* (; new)
* (Professor Cerise's; Rotom Phone)
* (Quillon's)
* (Quillon's; )
* (Danika's)
* (Danika's; )
* (Danika's; Rotom Phone)
* (Professor Amaranth's)
* (Nito's)
* (Nito's)
* (Nito's henchman's)
* (Nito's henchman's)
* (Nito's henchman's)
* (×3)
* (multiple)
* (×2)
* (evolves; )
* (newly evolved; )
==Trivia==
* Get Inspired! Let's Solve a Poké Riddle!!: 
* The Dare da? segment is replaced with eyecatches of , Goh, and for this episode.
* Despite having made its animated series debut in Iris and the Rogue Dragonite!, 416 episodes ago, this is the first time has received a Pokédex entry in the .
* This episode marks the first appearance of a number of Pokémon species in the main series after long absences:
** , who last appeared in its animated series debut in The Club Battle Hearts of Fury: Emolga Versus Sawk!, 467 episodes ago.
** Volcarona, who last appeared in its animated series debut in Guarding the Guardian of the Mountain!, 430 episodes ago.
** , who last appeared in Clemont's Got a Secret!, 357 episodes ago.
* This marks the first time in the animated series a Shiny Pokémon has been seen evolving.
* The preview for this episode that aired following JN079 depicted a normally-colored Larvesta evolving.
* This is the last Pokémon Journeys: The Series episode adapted to the .
* This is the last time Unova is visited in Pokémon Journeys: The Series.
* Chloe, Ash, Gorman, Goh, Bluto, and Pikachu narrate the preview for the next episode.
===Errors===
* In the English dub, the henchman commanding remains silent, even though his mouth is moving.
===Dub edits===
* The Japanese text depicting Desert Resort's name is edited out.
==In other languages==
080
Category:Episodes written by Shōji Yonemura
Category:Episodes storyboarded by Hiromasa Amano
Category:Episodes directed by Junya Koshiba
Category:Episodes animated by Masaya Ōnishi
Category:Episodes animated by Tomohiro Koyama
Category:Episodes animated by Rei Yamazaki
Category:Episodes by multiple animation directors
Category:Episodes in which a Legendary Pokémon appears
Category: Episodes in which an alternately colored Pokémon appears
Category:Project Mew episodes
Category:Episodes in which a main character obtains a new Pokémon
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:Goh und der goldene Flügelstaub!
es:EP1169
fr:LV080
it:EP080
ja:新無印編第80話
zh:宝可梦 旅途 第80集