SM129

Battle Royal 151! (Japanese: 大乱闘！バトルロイヤル151！！ The Great Fray! Battle Royal 151!!) is the 129th episode of Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon, and the 1,068th episode of the Pokémon animated series. It first aired in Japan on July 7, 2019 and in the United States on November 9, 2019.
==Blurb==
The Alola Pokémon League is underway, and it promises to be full of action, drama, and surprises! The qualifying round is a Battle Royal competition among 151 different Trainers, and only the top 16 will make it to the next stage! A free-for-all ensues, with our heroes battling against and alongside friendly rivals like Pikala and Hiroki as well as returning foes like Viren’s cronies and Plumeria from Team Skull. When the dizzying action finally winds down, the entire Pokémon School class, Hau, Gladion, and even a disguised Team Rocket are among those left standing! Now, the question is: who will make it all the way to the top?
==Plot==
 and join all of the other Alola League participants on the Manalo Stadium battlefield. Among the contestants are Oluolu, the master fisherman, Mina, Kahili, and Acerola, the last of which surprises the group with her presence. Jessie and James are in disguises, planning to get through the preliminary round by avoiding the s at all costs. The one most favored to win, Ilima, makes his way into the stadium, where he is greeted by his many fans, much to the annoyance of Tupp. Plumeria orders all of the s to not get in the way of Guzma's victory.
 greets the League participants and the crowd and declares the Manalo Conference to be open. Caster takes over, declaring his role as the announcer. He introduces the Manalo Conference's official battle judges, which are all four island kahunas: Olivia, Hala, Hapu, and Nanu. Caster then explains that the 151 contestants will be competing for the title of Alola . They will be whittled down to the Top 16 in a series of Battle Royal-style matches. Soon, the participants get into their starting positions, spanning the entire perimeter of the battlefield. The island kahunas raise their hands and a countdown begins, with all of the s calling out their respective Pokémon partners.
The countdown reaches zero and the preliminary round officially begins, kicking off the Manalo Conference. Hiroki rushes out with his , ordering any challengers to come at him. However, he and Mudbray are immediately struck by a combination attack, making him the first to be knocked out of the competition. lands an on a 's forehead, which causes it to immediately faint. As Ash cheers for his early victory, Kiawe orders him to pay attention to the fast-approaching . Pikachu launches an attack to defeat Poliwrath, also knocking out a nearby in the process. Meanwhile, Kiawe's Turtonator takes a direct from a , before striking it away with a . Lillie joins the scuffle, and has Snowy Salamence with a attack, taking the type out of the fight. Sandy and quickly defeat three opponents, with Lana and Mallow congratulating them. Sophocles has bowl a out the way with . A leaps and grabs Togedemaru, but it is quickly defeated by Togedemaru's newly learned . From a sky-box, Wicke sees defeating a competitor's with his .
As 79 participants remain, Ash and Pikachu face off against an intimidating . As Ash prepares to call out an attack, a swoops in and uses on Gyarados. Pikachu then uses the opportunity to leap onto Gyarados and deliver a direct , knocking both Skarmory and Gyarados out with one hit. Kiawe orders Turtonator to keep an at bay with a Flamethrower, though it continues to spin closer. Kiawe switches tactics and calls for Turtonator to use . The maneuver catches Sandslash off-guard as its claws directly touch Turtonator's spiky shell, setting off the Shell Trap and defeating the . A tense standoff between a and a abruptly ends due to an from Pikala's , Bolt. However, Pikala's victory is short-lived, as Jessie's Mimikyu knocks Bolt out with a . Mimikyu then runs for another Trainer's Pikachu, leaving Jessie and James exhausted as they run after it, Mimikyu's hatred of all Pikachu jeopardizing their plan of getting through the round by not battling.
As 65 participants remain, a swoops towards and his , though they evade its with ease. Gladion throws a Rock Memory to Silvally, into a Pokémon. After Talonflame is quickly taken down by a supereffective , Gladion and Silvally spot Ash and Pikachu sitting on the battlefield. The pair exchange stares before Gladion warns Ash of an incoming attacker, a , while a leaps up behind Silvally. Pikachu leaps into action, using Thunderbolt to defeat the Clawitzer as Silvally lands a on Primeape, taking it down. Gladion tells Ash to not lose in the preliminaries, and Ash offers him the same advice. The two rivals go their separate ways as they rush back into the melee.
With 47 competitors left standing, Kiawe goes up against Mad Magmar and Mr. Electric as Viren, sitting in the stands nearby, orders his minions to teach him a lesson. Turtonator starts off with a Flamethrower, though the attack fails to do any damage to . Mr. Electric orders his to use . Turtonator, however, uses and easily avoids the attack with his now-boosted , before defeating both Magmortar and Electivire with a single swing of his Dragon Tail. Viren is in shock as Olivia officially declares the pair unable to continue.
With 34 Trainers now remaining, the crowd's attention turns to Ilima, who has his unleash an overwhelming attack, which defeats all of the Team Skull Grunts with one hit. Ilima is then immediately faced by Plumeria, who tells her to use . Ilima has Eevee use to leap over the attack and to Salazzle's position. Salazzle lashes Eevee with and follows up with . While Eevee manages to evade much of the Dragon Pulse, one of its back legs is injured in the process. Despite this, Eevee performs another Quick Attack to get away from another Dragon Pulse. With enough distance, Ilima has Eevee use , striking Salazzle out of the competition. Plumeria, however, is not disappointed by her effort, admitting that she already did what she came to do. Eevee limps over to Ilima, its condition instantly concerning him.
Later, Kukui watches from the grandstand as Guzma easily defeats a with his , concerned that the Team Skull Boss's clearance of the preliminaries may jeopardize the Alola League's future. With 17 contestants remaining, only one more Trainer has to be eliminated before the preliminary round can mark its end. Jessie's Mimikyu confronts Ash's Pikachu, who uses Electroweb to block its oncoming Shadow Ball, leading to an explosion. James yells at Jessie to abandon the battle so they can both get into the next round. At that moment, Kiawe's Turtonator defeats another Trainer's with an , making that number of remaining Trainers 16 and thus concluding the preliminary round. Mimikyu, however, doesn't care and continues to attack, forcing Jessie to recall it back into its Luxury Ball. Jessie runs over to James, relieved to have just qualified for the next round. All of the qualifying participants are soon revealed, including Ash, all of his classmates, Jessie, James, Mina, Acerola, Ilima, Gladion, Faba, Samson Oak, Guzma, and Hau.
Overnight, the group stops off at the League Pokémon Center to have their Pokémon healed up from the day's intense matches by the gathered Nurse Joys of Alola. Ilima urges his injured Eevee to take it easy, though it seems disappointed that it still needs to recover. Shortly after, Caster appears on the Pokémon Center television screen to announce the next round's pairings. Ash and Faba are revealed to be the first pair, making Ash happy to be the first one to battle, while Faba starts thinking about plans to use against Ash. The next pair is revealed to be Ilima versus Guzma, to which the Team Skull Boss responds with a satisfied smirk. The third match is Hau versus Samson Oak, and Hau is determined to win. The fourth battle is revealed to take place between Mallow and Lana, surprising the two childhood friends. As Sophocles learns that he'll be facing Mina in the fifth battle, he gets all nervous. In their van, Jessie and James follow the announcement as well and are shocked to see themselves in the sixth pair, meaning that only one of them has the chance of advancing past the first round. The seventh battle is revealed to be between Kiawe and Acerola, making Kiawe express his usual fiery confidence. And finally, the eighth battle is revealed to take place between Lillie and Gladion, making Lillie surprised that she's going to face her big brother. With all the match-ups revealed, Ash calls for everyone to give it their all, and his classmates respond back with a resounding cheer.
==Major events==
* The Manalo Conference begins.
* Sophocles's Togedemaru is revealed to have learned .
* Plumeria is revealed to own a .
* Guzma is revealed to own a .
* , , Jessie, James, , Hau, , Ilima, Acerola, Mina, Guzma, and Samson Oak make it through the Battle Royal preliminary round.
* Hau is revealed to own an .
* The match-ups of the first round are revealed to be:
** Ash versus Faba
** Ilima versus Guzma
** Hau versus Samson Oak
** versus 
** versus Mina
** Jessie versus James
** versus Acerola
** versus Gladion
===Debuts===
====Humans====
* Caster
====Pokémon debuts====
==Characters==
===Humans===
* 
* 
* 
* 
* 
* 
* Jessie
* James
* Nurse Joys (×4)
* 
* Samson Oak
* 
* Hala
* Olivia
* Nanu
* Hapu
* 
* Wicke
* 
* 
* Ilima
* Acerola
* Mina
* Kahili
* Hau
* Guzma
* Plumeria
* s
** Tupp
** Rapp
** Zipp
* Viren
* Mad Magmar
* Mr. Electric
* Oluolu
* DJ Leo
* Hiroki
* Pikala
* Caster
* Master fisherman
* Ilima Girls
* s
* Crowd
===Pokémon===
Who's That Pokémon?: (US and international), (Japan)
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ('s; Sandy)
* ()
* ('s; Alolan form; Snowy)
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ()
* (Samson Oak's)
* ()
* ('s)
* (Mr. Electric's)
* (Mad Magmar's)
* (Ilima's)
* (Acerola's; ; Mimikins)
* (Acerola's)
* (Mina's)
* (Hau's; Alolan form)
* (Guzma's)
* (Plumeria's)
* (Tupp's)
* (Zipp's)
* (Rapp's)
* ('s)
* ('s)
* ('s; Alolan form)
* ('s)
* (Oluolu's)
* (DJ Leo's; Alolan form; Jessica, Ashley, and Michael)
* (Hiroki's)
* (Pikala's; Bolt)
* (Trainer's)
* (Trainer's)
* (Trainer's)
* (Trainer's)
* (Trainer's)
* (Trainers'; ×2)
* (Trainer's)
* (Trainer's)
* (Trainer's)
* (Trainer's)
* (Trainer's; Alolan form)
* (Trainer's; Alolan form)
* (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)
* (Trainer's)
* (Trainer's)
* (Trainer's)
* (Trainer's; Alolan form)
* (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)
* (Trainer's)
* (anime)
==Trivia==
* Poké Problem: Who is the favorite to win the Alola League in today's episode?
** Host: James
** Choices: Ilima, Jessie, , 
** Answer: Ilima
* In the original Japanese version, the narrator reads out the title card for this episode.
* The episode's Japanese title may be a reference to the Japanese title of the Super Smash Bros. series.
* Type: Wild replaces Notebook of the Heart as the ending theme.
* This episode marks the first appearance of a in the since its cameo in Bucking The Treasure Trend!, 421 episodes earlier.
** This episode also marks the first appearance of a in the animated series since its cameo in Zoroark: Master of Illusions, almost nine years earlier.
* This episode marks the final appearance of Viren.
* This episode marks the only time Sophocles's Togedemaru has used a move other than .
* The number of Trainers taking part in the competition is a reference to number of Pokémon introduced in Generation I.
* Jessie and James's disguises and fake identities reference Sina and Dexio from the Alola-based Generation VII .
** James's disguise shirt has a silhouette on it, likely a reference to the he owned during Pokémon the Series: Ruby and Sapphire.
* This episode shows that a Pokémon can use a move while still inside its Poké Ball, as Jessie's Mimikyu is still using despite Jessie recalling it into its Luxury Ball.
* This episode marks the first time a wild Pokémon is used during a Pokémon League .
* In the first airing of the Dare da? segment, Pokémon GO cards are shown instead of Pokémon.
* This was the last episode to air before M22 debuted in Japanese theaters.
* Ulu, , and narrate the preview for the next episode.
===Errors===
* Before uses , its normally orange tail is miscolored gray.
* In the English dub:
** Like in A Young Royal Flame Ignites!: Mad Magmar is incorrectly referred to as "Mad Magma".
** The closed captions incorrectly refer to as .
** When Plumeria warns Guzma about Ilima being a strong , the have Guzma say "Really..." when he's actually being silent.
* In the dub, is incorrectly referred to as a male.
===Dub edits===
* The cracking sound when Ilima's hurts its leg is toned down in the dub.
* The Japanese text depicting 's name is edited out in the dub.
==In other languages==
129
Category:Pokémon League episodes
Category:Episodes written by Jun'ichi Fujisaku
Category:Episodes storyboarded by Noriaki Saitō
Category:Episodes directed by Yoshitaka Makino
Category:Episodes animated by Makoto Shinjō
Category:Episodes in which a Mythical Pokémon appears
Category:Episodes in which an alternately colored Pokémon appears
de:Battle Royal 151!
es:EP1072
fr:SL129
it:SL129
ja:SM編第129話
zh:宝可梦 太阳＆月亮 第129集