JN065

Thrash of the Titans! (Japanese: ドラゴンバトル！サトシVSアイリス！！ Dragon Battle! VS Iris!!) is the 65th episode of Pokémon Journeys: The Series, and the 1,150th episode of the Pokémon animated series. It first aired in Japan on May 7, 2021, in Canada on October 2, 2021, in South Africa on November 23, 2021, in the United Kingdom on January 3, 2022, and in the United States on January 21, 2022.
==Blurb==
Ash has heard from Iris in Unova! She is now Unova League Champion and wanted to battle Ash on her way through the Pokémon World Coronation Series.
Gym Leader Drayden agrees to let them battle in the Opelucid Gym—and it’s Dragonite versus Dragonite!
But Iris’s Dragonite seems stronger, so Ash momentarily pulls his Dragonite back, bringing out his Dracovish. Neither Iris nor Drayden has seen a Dracovish before, and Iris’s Dragonite loses! Iris then brings out Haxorus, the evolved form of her partner Axew! The battling is powerful, but Ash’s unique strategy with his Dragonite defeats Haxorus, making him the winner and catapulting him into the Ultra Class!
==Plot==
At Cerise Park, Goh brings a letter for him from Unova. Ash reads it and finds out that it's from , a from the time when he was traveling around Unova and an aspiring Dragon Master. It turns out she's recently entered the World Coronation Series and is challenging Ash to a Great Class battle. Happily accepting the invitation, Ash and Goh immediately board a plane to Unova and travel to Opelucid City.
Upon arrival, Ash and Goh split paths for a short time, so that Goh can make most of the trip and some new Pokémon. He runs to nearby woods and quickly catches himself a and a . As he starts looking around for a to complete the trio, spots something on a tree branch above them. Goh immediately tosses a at it, only for his target to turn out to be Iris, who falls down to the ground. As Goh apologizes to her, Iris realizes she overslept and rushes off. Meanwhile, Ash has arrived at the Opelucid Gym, where he spots an walking around. He wonders if it's Iris's, only for Drayden to appear, greet Ash, and reveal that the Axew is actually his Pokémon. Goh reunites with Ash, and he introduces him to Drayden, who presents himself as the Gym Leader of the Opelucid Gym.
Ash's Rotom Phone alerts him that Iris is ready for their battle, and he rushes into the Gym, followed by Goh and Drayden. At first, the battlefield is dark and empty, but a familiar soon appears to turn on the lights, revealing Iris on top of a statue, from which she welcomes Ash in her new dress. Drayden reveals that Iris is the reigning of Unova, shocking both Ash and Goh. As Iris jumps down to the battlefield, Goh recognizes her from earlier and apologizes for what he did, but she just shrugs it off. Drayden tells Ash and Goh that after Iris's with Ash, she continued her travels to meet and battle s and Pokémon, resulting in her eventually becoming Champion. However, Iris doesn't consider her Champion status a sign of having become a Dragon Master, so she entered the World Coronation Series to grow even stronger. They agree to make their match a battle between Dragon types, and Ash calls out his , who immediately gives Iris one of its trademark hugs. Iris eagerly hugs Dragonite back, but suddenly stops and looks at Dragonite eye to eye. Goh is confused, until Drayden explains that Iris is capable of sensing Dragon Pokémon's feelings. Iris proves this by correctly sensing that Ash's Dragonite is both kind and strong. Meanwhile, Goh has spotted a Drone Rotom hovering above them and points it out to Ash.
Ash and Iris take their positions on the battlefield, and call out their first Pokémon at Drone Rotom's signal. Ash calls forth his Dragonite, while Iris sends out her own . Ash's Dragonite is uneased by the fierce stare from its opponent, but Ash assures it that Iris's Dragonite is nice, despite his looks. Iris starts the battle off with a , which hits Ash's Dragonite before it can counterattack with , sending it flying backward and landing onto Ash. Ash's Dragonite stands back up and attacks with , which Iris's Dragonite counters with . The attacks clash and both Dragonite get pushed back, before Ash's Dragonite uses . Iris calls for an , but Ash is able to counter it by using Hurricane to redirect it upwards, blasting a hole in the Gym's ceiling. Drayden tells them to ignore the damage and keep battling, so Iris orders another Dragon Rush. Ash tries to counter it with Dragon Claw, but is instantly overpowered. Although his Dragonite is still able to stand back up, Ash sees that it's getting overwhelmed, and chooses to recall it.
Ash next sends out his , who instantly chomps down on his head out of affection. Despite Dracovish's unusual appearance, Iris still finds it cute. Drayden notes that he's heard of this newly discovered Galar Pokémon, but this is his first time actually seeing it. Ash manages to redirect Dracovish's attention to the ongoing battle, and it lets go of him and runs into the battlefield as Iris tells Dragonite to use Dragon Rush. Ash has Dracovish use , which successfully stops Dragonite in its tracks. Iris calls for a Thunder Punch, but with his head stuck inside Dracovish's mouth, Dragonite is unable to hear the command. Dragonite is then immediately struck by a powerful from Dracovish, him solid before he is spit out. Drone Rotom inspects Dragonite and declares him unable to battle.
Iris recalls Dragonite and comments on how Ash managed to throw off her pace. She then calls out her trump card, , whom Ash recognizes as the evolved form of the Axew she used to have. Haxorus starts off with , which outspeeds Dracovish's attempted and hits it head-on, followed by a , which causes Dracovish to faint. As Ash recalls his Pokémon, Iris says that her Dragonite warned her of Dracovish's mouth, so she attacked from a distance to be safe from it. Ash calls out his Dragonite, which is still exhausted from its previous battle, while Haxorus is unscathed. Ash has Dragonite power itself up with , before attacking with Dragon Claw. However, Haxorus counterattacks with , blocking Dragon Claw and dealing heavy damage on Dragonite. As a result of using Outrage, Haxorus becomes , but before Dragonite had exploit this opportunity, Haxorus suddenly hits his head on the floor, getting rid of the confusion. Iris reveals that they developed this strategy to avoid the aftereffects of Outrage being used against them.
Ash tries to get his Dragonite pumped up for the battle, but as it lets out a cry of determination, Iris raises her hand and tells it to relax, communicating with it on a spiritual level. She can sense it loves Ash and is very kind, reflecting how her Haxorus was much like that too when he was an Axew. But as they learned new moves, they found battling more and more fun, so she encourages Dragonite to have fun battling too, because that way, Ash will have fun too.
Ash is wondering what Iris and Dragonite just talked about, but Iris just winks and says it's a secret. With Dragonite's battle spirit reinvigorated, the match continues as Dragonite successfully blocks Haxorus's with Dragon Claw. Next, Iris commands Haxorus to use Psycho Cut, but in a surprising maneuver, Ash has Dragonite use Hurricane on itself, forming a barrier that deflects Psycho Cut right back at Haxorus. Iris sees that Dragonite is having fun, and cheers it on, confusing Ash. Iris replies that she wants Dragonite to have fun so that the battle can heat up even more, and Ash gladly agrees to deliver just that. Haxorus uses Dragon Pulse, but the Hurricane barrier wraps the attack around itself, before expanding upwards to reach through the hole in the ceiling and into the sky above, where Dragonite's weather-affecting abilities start forming thick clouds. Drayden is impressed at the magnitude of Dragonite's abilities, and, as the energy from Dragon Pulse begins to coalesce together, realizes that Dragonite has just taken that energy to use a new move. His words are proven correct moments later, as Ash commands Dragonite to use . Iris tries to counterattack with Outrage, but Haxorus is quickly overwhelmed by the onslaught of falling rocks and defeated, giving Ash the victory.
With his victory, Ash's rank rises to 99, officially putting him in the Ultra Class. He and Iris shake hands and promise to battle each other again once she climbs into the Ultra Class as well.
==Major events==
* and Goh visit Unova again.
* Goh a and a .
* Ash reunites with and meets Drayden again, with Goh meeting them for the first time.
* Iris is revealed to have succeeded Alder as the Unova League and entered the World Coronation Series.
* Ash's Dracovish is revealed to know .
* Iris's is revealed to have evolved all the way into a and learned , , and .
* Ash's Dragonite learns .
* Ash battles Iris in a World Coronation Series match and wins, bringing his rank to 99 and advancing him to the Ultra Class.
* Bea is revealed to have advanced to the Ultra Class as well.
* Volkner is revealed to be participating in the World Coronation Series.
===Debuts===
====Pokémon debuts====
* Goh's Panpour
* Iris's Haxorus
=====Main series and English dub debuts=====
* Iris's Gible (fantasy)
==Characters==
===Humans===
* 
* 
* (flashback)
* Goh
* Clair (fantasy)
* Volkner (fantasy; silhouette)
* Drayden
* Bea (fantasy; silhouette)
===Pokémon===
Who's That Pokémon?: 
* ()
* (; flashback/fantasy)
* (; fantasy)
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ()
* (; flashback)
* ()
* ()
* (; fantasy)
* (; flashback)
* ()
* ()
* (; new)
* (; new)
* (Volkner's; fantasy; silhouette)
* (Drayden's; flashback)
* (Drayden's)
* (Bea's; fantasy; silhouette)
* (Professor Cerise's; Rotom Phone; ×2)
* (Drone Rotom)
* (fantasy)
==Trivia==
* Get Inspired! Let's Solve a Poké Riddle!!: 
* This marks the first time:
** has defeated a regional in . 
** Iris's Haxorus has been seen using since learning it in Club Battle Finale: A Hero's Outcome!, 451 episodes earlier.
** Haxorus's has been shown.
* This episode marks the first physical appearance of in the main series since Best Wishes Until We Meet Again!, 352 episodes earlier.
* This episode marks the first appearance of a number of Pokémon species in the main series after long absences:
** , who last appeared in Team Plasma's Pokémon Manipulation!, 376 episodes ago.
** , who last appeared in a fantasy in The Dream Continues!, 351 episodes ago.
** , who last appeared in A Blustery Santalune Gym Battle!, 346 episodes ago.
** , who last appeared in The First Day of the Rest of Your Life!, 213 episodes ago.
** , who last appeared in Till We Compete Again!, 211 episodes ago.
*** This is also the first appearance of a Goodra in the other than the .
* This episode marks the only time that a main character has defeated a Pokémon Champion offscreen.
* Music from Kyurem VS. The Sword of Justice is used in this episode.
* Goh's first encounter with Iris is similar to Ash's first encounter with her in Enter Iris and Axew!, where he mistakes her as a Pokémon and throws a Poké Ball at her.
* Iris's speech before the match is similar to her pre-battle dialogue in .
* The way Ash's Dragonite learns is a possible reference to , where Iris can teach this same move to a Pokémon with a high level of friendship.
* Haxorus's method of snapping out of is similar to the method used by Gladion's Lycanroc in Enter the Champion!.
* Ash's tactic of deflecting and by having his Dragonite use on itself is similar to his Counter Shield tactic from Pokémon the Series: Diamond and Pearl.
* In the English dub, Eileen Stevens briefly returns to the animated series following her departure after Acting True to Form!, reprising her role as the voice of Iris for the last time.
* As of this episode, Goh has caught at least one Pokémon in every region.
* The episode's English dub title is similar to that of a previous episode.
* Ash, Goh, Goh's , a researcher, and narrate the preview for the next episode.
===Errors===
* When Iris's Dragonite and Ash's Dracovish are charging at each other, Iris is missing.
* In some scenes, the Poké Ball design in the middle of the battlefield is missing.
* The episode blurb in the iTunes Store in Australia states that Iris's Haxorus is the evolved form of . While technically correct, a more accurate term would've been "the final evolved form of Axew".
===Dub edits===
* The Japanese text depicting Opelucid City's name is edited out.
==In other languages==
065
Category:Episodes written by Atsuhiro Tomioka
Category:Episodes storyboarded by Noriaki Saitō
Category:Episodes directed by Hiroaki Takagi
Category:Episodes animated by Maiko Katsuki
Category:Episodes animated by Chiaki Kurakazu
Category:Episodes by multiple animation directors
Category:Episodes with World Coronation Series matches
Category:Episodes focusing on Ash
Category:Episodes focusing on Iris
Category:Episodes focusing on Axew
Category:Episodes in which a main character obtains a new Pokémon
Category:Episodes in which a Champion appears
Category:Episodes in which a main character's Pokémon learns a new move
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
de:Kampf der Drachen-Pokémon!
es:EP1154
fr:LV065
it:EP065
ja:新無印編第65話
zh:宝可梦 旅途 第65集