Recaps

Tetsuya caught an undiscovered Ursaring evolution, helped Pidgeot undergo a Sacred Fire transformation, and earned Morty’s Phantom Badge. He stopped Team Rocket’s attack on Articuno, helped Karrablast evolve into Escavalier, and joined Brock on a trip to meet a village’s weather-predicting Xatu.

• Tetsuya found and caught the Unknown Pokemon and a Teddiursa, then Professor Oak identified the Unknown Pokemon as an evolved form of Ursaring.
• Tetsuya took Blaziken into Burned Tower, where Pidgeot touched Ho-Oh’s Sacred Fire and emerged transformed with Champion potential and a newly learned Sacred Fire.
• Tetsuya defeated Morty in a three-on-three Gym Battle and received the Phantom Badge for Alolan Vulpix.
• Tetsuya met Suicune, Entei, and Raikou, then passed Chen’s test and learned Team Rocket was targeting Articuno on Mount Shirogane.
• Tetsuya defeated Team Rocket’s squad, destroyed its Flame Domain machine, and learned from Articuno that it planned to raise a successor and wanted humans kept away from the mountain for five years.
• Tetsuya used a Trade Evolution device to evolve Karrablast into Escavalier, while Alder took the newly evolved Accelgor for a walk.
• Tetsuya met Ninetales at the ruined Mt. Mortar estate, brought Brock to it, and handed Ninetales’s Old-style Poké Ball to Brock after they agreed to travel together.
• Tetsuya and Brock changed course for a canyon village, where they found villagers gathered to hear Xatu’s weather prediction.

Tetsuya and Brock investigated the hostile Pokémon in Underground Cave, where Blaziken defeated an unknown Pokémon later identified as Urshifu, and Tetsuya caught Piplup. After earning the Ice Badge and reaching Arena Park, Tetsuya watched Brock’s Magikarp win before Piplup began to evolve in its first battle against Ryuji.

• The Shrine Maiden told Tetsuya and Brock that Xatu had foretold a flood expected in seven or eight years, then Xatu described their uncertain futures as they departed.
• Tetsuya and Brock explored Underground Cave, found a passage to an underground waterfall, and Tetsuya caught Piplup after it stole their soup.
• As attacks from increasingly powerful Pokémon grew more frequent, Tetsuya and Brock battled their way deeper into the cave and encountered a powerful unknown bear Pokémon.
• Blaziken defeated the unknown Pokémon, and Professor Oak later identified it as Urshifu, which Tetsuya arranged to send to Oak’s lab.
• At Nobuhiko’s waterfall, Piplup found a Dragon Scale and Dragon Fang, and Brock and Tetsuya connected the items to Blackthorn City’s Ascension Ceremony.
• Tetsuya defeated Pryce’s Snorunt, Sneasel, and Dewgong with Piplup, Alolan Vulpix, and Escavalier, earning the Ice Badge.
• Tetsuya and Brock reached Arena Park, where Brock’s Magikarp defeated Koume’s Feebas with Hydro Pump.
• Tetsuya prepared to battle Ryuji’s Chinchou with Piplup, and white light appeared around Piplup as it began to evolve.

Tetsuya strengthened Ampharos, earned the Ascension Badge, and advanced through the Dragon trials to reach the Dragon’s Den. There, he encountered Duraludon and followed it to the Garchomp clan, where a powerful Garchomp answered their arrival.

• Tetsuya helped Ampharos undergo a painful transformation by the lake, raising its level and potential, then battled Cynthia and suffered a six-to-zero defeat.
• Tetsuya challenged Hammond and revealed Blaziken’s Elite Four-level strength, then traveled with Brock to Blackthorn Gym and defeated Clair to earn the Ascension Badge.
• The Dragon Elder questioned Tetsuya and Brock, then Tetsuya defeated Reiji’s Froslass and prepared for Blackthorn City’s Ascension Ceremony.
• Tetsuya passed the Water, Flygon, and Altaria trials, completing his three marks before joining the remaining trainers for the next stage.
• Tetsuya defeated Aoki Qiancheng in the tournament and advanced with nine other trainers into Dragon’s Den.
• Tetsuya searched deeper into Dragon’s Den, found Duraludon, and defeated it after it attacked his group.
• Duraludon told Tetsuya that the Garchomp clan had driven it from its territory, so Tetsuya agreed to help it seek revenge.
• Tetsuya offered a Garchomp a Dragon Scale for an introduction to the clan, and it led him to a gathering of Gible, Gabite, and Garchomp before a much larger Garchomp rose from the sand.

Tetsuya acquired a Champion-potential Gible and a Dreepy after helping the Dragon Clan stop poachers, then settled a dispute between a research institute and Lugia over Little Lugia. After preparing for the Whirl Cup, he entered its preliminary battles with Prinplup and faced the Fishing Uncle in their fifth match.

• Tetsuya gained a Champion-potential Gible egg from the Garchomp clan, then rushed to the Dragon Holy Land when a Dragon Roar signaled trouble.
• Tetsuya and his Pokémon fought the Gore Poaching Group as an enraged Dragonite attacked, and the Dragon Elder calmed the guardian after it defeated the poachers.
• Tetsuya helped Gigalith repair the Dragon Holy Land’s damaged stone and met Dreepy, Drakloak, and Dragapult before traveling to the Dragon Archipelago.
• Tetsuya defeated the Dragapult leader with Pidgeot and earned the right to take a Dreepy, then spent heavily on supplies while waiting for Gible’s egg to hatch.
• After Gible hatched, Tetsuya helped repel Ocean Pokémon attacking Narumi’s research institute and learned that Slowking opposed the project because of Little Lugia.
• Tetsuya persuaded Lugia to let Little Lugia play near the Whirl Islands, and Little Lugia gave Prinplup Ocean’s Blessing before Tetsuya returned to prepare for the Whirl Cup.
• Tetsuya agreed to let Urshifu have offspring, visited Big Pidgey Island, and reached the Whirl Cup preliminary venue with Prinplup.
• Prinplup won four preliminary battles, and Tetsuya’s fifth opponent, the Fishing Uncle, began with Octillery’s Octazooka before ordering Bullet Seed.