JN051

Trials of a Budding Master! (Japanese: カモネギ大いなる試練！ 's Great Trials!) is the 51st episode of Pokémon Journeys: The Series, and the 1,136th episode of the Pokémon animated series. It first aired in Japan on January 15, 2021, in Canada on June 26, 2021, in South Africa on August 17, 2021, in the United Kingdom on September 3, 2021, and in the United States on September 10, 2021.
==Blurb==
Goh continues to grow his Pokémon family by catching a Geodude, while Ash wants to help his Farfetch’d become a Leek Master! Ash also wants to raise his World Coronation Series ranking, so he’s determined to battle as much as possible. When Dozer and Gurdurr challenge Ash and Farfetch’d, Farfetch’d wins using sheer strength. Meanwhile, a mysterious Trainer named Rinto has been watching, and he thinks Farfetch’d is undisciplined. So, Rinto and Gallade challenge Ash and Farfetch’d on the spot! Gallade’s power and finesse prove overwhelming, and Farfetch’d loses. But Ash vows to train hard with Farfetch’d until they meet Rinto again—and until Farfetch’d becomes a Leek Master!
==Plot==
's session with his Pokémon at Cerise Park is interrupted when Goh rushes in, telling Ash that there is a mass outbreak of at the Rock Tunnel. He hopes to himself one so that he can evolve it into a and then a . Ash decides to take along so it can train there.
However, when Ash and Goh arrive at the Rock Tunnel, no Geodude are in sight. Luckily for Goh, when Farfetch'd smashes up a rock with its leek, a pops out, and Goh swiftly catches it. Ash and Goh thank Farfetch'd for its help, but it ignores their gratitude and resumes training by smashing up more rocks. Ash tells Goh that Farfetch'd's goal is to become a Leek Master; a Farfetch'd who's mastered every leek move out there. Ash expresses his support for Farfetch'd's goal, but it simply smacks him aside with its leek.
Just then, Ash's Rotom Phone alerts him that another World Coronation Series participant is nearby. The participant, a burly man with a , approaches Farfetch'd and admires its physical build. Annoyed by being touched like this, Farfetch'd tries to attack him, but its leek is blocked by Gurdurr's girder. Eager to battle Farfetch'd, the man introduces himself as Dozer. A Drone Rotom soon arrives to officiate the . Unsurprisingly, Ash and Dozer choose to use Farfetch'd and Gurdurr, respectively, in the one-on-one match. At Drone Rotom's signal, the battle begins. Farfetch'd starts with , which is easily countered and overpowered by Gurdurr's , sending Farfetch'd flying. Farfetch'd recovers quickly and strikes Gurdurr with another Night Slash before it can fire off a . Gurdurr gets back up and uses Focus Blast again, but Farfetch'd uses to slice through it before proceeding to attack Gurdurr itself. However, each blow gets blocked by Gurdurr's girder, until it dodges a Night Slash and strikes Farfetch'd with , sending it flying into a wall and covering it in a pile of rocks. Unnoticed by Ash, Goh, or Dozer, a with a appears on a cliff above them, observing the battle.
After a few tense moments, Farfetch'd reemerges from the rock pile, with plenty of energy left. Ash has it use , getting it pumped up. Angered by Gurdurr's taunts, Farfetch'd charges ahead without a command from Ash. Gurdurr fires another Focus Blast, but Farfetch'd avoids it before landing a hit on Gurdurr with Night Slash. Both sides are determined to keep their winning streaks going, and have their respective Pokémon power themselves up, Gurdurr with and Farfetch'd with another Focus Energy. Both Pokémon then begin a fierce exchange of Brutal Swings, each attempting to overpower the other. Finally, the girder and the leek clash for one last time, and the two Pokémon challenge each other to a test of strength. Eventually, to Dozer's shock, Farfetch'd's leek manages to break through the steel girder and strike Gurdurr, taking it out of the fight. Drone Rotom makes the official judgment, declaring Ash the winner and increasing his ranking from 415 to 381. Dozer, being a good sport, takes his loss with dignity and admits he and Gurdurr still need more training. As Gurdurr is feeling dismayed about its girder being broken, Dozer takes the broken pieces and promises to make his partner a new girder. He even lets Gurdurr use his pickaxe in the meantime, much to the 's delight.
Farfetch'd, despite the battle it just had, is still itching for more, and walks away to continue training further away. As Ash and Goh follow it, the Trainer and his Gallade from before appear. The Trainer explains that he saw the battle they just had and comments that Farfetch'd's battling was rough and unrefined, and it wasn't paying attention to its surroundings, only winning through brute force. The Trainer introduces himself as Rinto and asks Farfetch'd if it wants to battle his Gallade, which the Wild Duck Pokémon accepts. The battle begins with Farfetch'd using Night Slash, but Gallade effortlessly dodges every single swing. Farfetch'd next tries using Brutal Swing, but before the attack can even make contact, Gallade uses , weakening Farfetch'd enough for it to no longer be able to battle. Rinto says that Farfetch'd is still inadequate, and expresses his hopes of battling it again once it has refined itself.
Later, at Cerise Park, Goh is confused to see Ash and holding leeks. Ash explains that he's hoping to get to understand Farfetch'd better by using leeks as part of the training too.
==Major events==
* 's World Coronation Series rank is revealed to have risen to 415.
* Goh a .
* Ash's Farfetch'd is revealed to know and .
* Ash battles Dozer in a World Coronation Series and wins, bringing his rank to 381.
* Ash and Goh meet a named Rinto.
* Ash battles Rinto and loses.
===Debuts===
====Humans====
* Rinto
====Pokémon debuts====
==Characters==
===Humans===
* 
* Goh
* Dozer
* Rinto
* s (flashback)
===Pokémon===
Who's That Pokémon?: 
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ()
* (; Galarian Form)
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ()
* (; new)
* (Professor Cerise's; Rotom Phone; ×2)
* (Dozer's)
* (Rinto's)
* (Drone Rotom)
* (Trainer's; flashback)
* (Trainer's; flashback)
* (Trainer's; flashback)
* (Trainer's; flashback)
* (Trainer's; flashback)
* (Trainer's; flashback)
* (Trainer's; flashback)
* (fantasy)
* (fantasy)
* (fantasy)
==Trivia==
* Get Inspired! Let's Solve a Poké Riddle!!: 
* The English dub was released on the iTunes Store in Australia the day before the episode aired in Canada.
* This episode marks the first appearance of a number of species in the main series after long absences:
** , who last appeared in Pinch Healing!, 674 episodes ago.
** , who last appeared in Dawn's Early Night!, 621 episodes ago.
** , who last appeared in Mending a Broken Spirit!, 252 episodes ago.
* This is the only episode where Ash's Farfetch'd uses .
* Goh, , , and Chloe all narrate the preview for the next episode.
===Errors===
* Gallade defeats Farfetch'd with , but False Swipe cannot normally defeat an opposing Pokémon.
===Dub edits===
* The Japanese text depicting Rock Tunnel's name is edited out.
==In other languages==
051
Category:Episodes written by Atsuhiro Tomioka
Category:Episodes storyboarded and directed by Yūji Asada
Category:Episodes storyboarded by Yūji Asada
Category:Episodes directed by Yūji Asada
Category:Episodes animated by Masaaki Iwane
Category:Episodes animated by Izumi Shimura
Category:Episodes by multiple animation directors
Category:Episodes focusing on Ash
Category:Episodes with World Coronation Series matches
Category:Episodes in which a main character obtains a new Pokémon
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:Der angehende Lauchstangen-Meister!
es:EP1140
fr:LV051
it:EP051
ja:新無印編第51話
zh:宝可梦 旅途 第51集