ENGLISH NAME	JAPANESE NAME	POKEMOPOLIS NAME	DODGINESS RATING	ANIMATION	STORY	TEAM ROCKET	MORAL LEARNT
773: Ash and N: A Clash of Ideals!	779: Shiro no Iseki! Satoshi tai Enu!	Ruining the Ruins			The twerps arrive at the White Ruins, Ash and N fall down a hole	Biding their time	Invest in security at archaeological digs!

Today finds the older Professor Juniper (referred to as Professor Juniper throughout the rest of the episode for brevity's sake) and his assistants moving through the underground chambers of the White Ruins. There they find a doorway blocked by, appropriately enough, blocks! They have odd runes on them, and the assistants ask if the Light Stone could be behind it. That's impossible counters Professor Juniper.... unless of course it is! Everybody collapses, even his assistants aren't used to his odd way of speaking.



The twerps are checking out the massive scale of Dragonspiral Tower, Cilan saying it's the oldest in Unova but nobody knows exactly when it was built or who built it. As they peer up at this mystery (which may never be solved, there only being a couple of episodes left in this series!), a bearded man arrives in a jeep and asks if they're friends of Professor Juniper. They admit that this is a slightly complicated question since they know both Professor Junipers, and he laughs that he understands the confusion. He's an assistant to the elder Juniper, and he's come to pick them up. How did Juniper know they were finally in the area? Who knows, but they happily take the lift.

As they leave, they're watched by Team Plasma, who are after the Light Stone. They in turn are watched by Team Rocket, who are after the same thing if it can get them Reshiram. Meowth has an extra incentive, he desperately wants revenge on Team Plasma (or at least Colress) for their attempt to turn him into their slave, and is looking forward to using his Fury Swipes on them. It turns out that it was him who put the transmitter on the Pokémon Control Device - Meowth really did outsmart Colress after all.

In the jeep, the assistant says they may have made a monumental find at the White Ruins but won't elaborate, much to Ash's chagrin. They arrive (at last!) and walk through the ground level of the ruins, taking in the sights. Pokémon are helping the archaeologists, Timburr and Conkeldurr helping humans shift rocks, and Golurks doing the heavy lifting. Ash is delighted at seeing humans and Pokémon working together and says he wishes N could see this. Curiously this causes the assistant to frown suspiciously. In any case, one imagines that N probably wouldn't take quite the same happy reading as Ash does on seeing the Pokémon "forced" to work for the humans.

The assistant leads them through the maze of the interior of the ruins, admitting they haven't excavated the entirety of the ruins yet. They reach the chamber where Juniper is examining the blocks, and when he sees them he roars out to them not to take another step..... is what he would say if there was any danger. Everybody collapses in exasperation, the twerps belatedly recalling that Juniper has a way with words. They join him and thank him for allowing them to come along, and he shows them the blocks-doorway, and he believes that it is blocking entrance to a chamber that has something to do with Reshiram. The twerps are VERY interested, Reshiram is a legendary dragon/fire type which is said to be able to burn through ANYTHING. Juniper believes he may have worked out the hieroglyphics to unlock the door. As they watch, he moves the blocks about thanks to the one empty space in the doorway, and after arranging them in the order he believes correct... something happens! A final block moves into place and the entire doorway glows bright... then disappears. They head down the now open corridor and find themselves in a huge chamber, apparently the interior of a volcanic crater (which makes the security measures rather obsolete, anybody who might have looked through the open crater would have seen it!). Heading down the stairs to the center of the chamber, they find a plinth with a stone ball atop it. "That's the light stone!" gasps Juniper, exciting the twerps till he belatedly adds,"Or it's just a round rock."

So what IS the Light Stone? Iris says that some people believe it is Reshiram in another shape. Juniper rather amateurishly decides to just reach out and grab the stone with his bare hands, and it immediately catches fire and blasts a pillar of flame out of the crater and into the sky.

Meanwhile, N is....



Oh! Dude REALLY loves Pokémon!

Riding along on a Sawsbuck, he spots the pillar of flame and immediately realises/senses that Reshiram is near. Hopping off the Sawsbuck, he thanks it for carrying him this far but says it is too dangerous to continue. The Sawsbuck licks his face happily and leaves him, and off he goes. Meanwhile, Plasma Grunts have observed the pillar of flame too and their leader - Barret - demands that one of his techy-grunts get a reading and establish if it is Reshiram or not.

Inside the volcano, Juniper is surprisingly unharmed and the Light Stone's flames have now dissipated. They head out of the chamber and the interior of the Ruins, and once outside Juniper can examine the stone in the light of the day. He says closer analysis shows that this is NOT the Light Stone..... is something he can't say right now! Everybody collapses before the twerps realise the wording indicates that it COULD be the Light Stone. But while the expert Juniper doesn't want to jump the gun, the Plasma Grunt seems convinced and tells Barret that the energy was definitely from Reshiram. Barret wants to inform Ghetsis immediately, eager to give the good news.

Meanwhile, Juniper is telling Ash the story of Reshiram and the Light Stone. Legend says that when a person appears who is searching deeply for the truth, Reshiram will appear. Reshiram will battle with that person as a test of their strength and heart, and if it finds them worthy it will gift them with the benefit of its thousands of years of wisdom and knowledge, then bear its fangs and attack the hero's enemies. Reshiram will then treat the person with kindness and love like a parent would a child, but though the hero will gain power and riches they will lose the kindness in their hearts.... and the country of the hero will be consumed in flames and Reshiram will depart. That last line is spoken by somebody else, and Ash twists about to find himself facing N making the most dramatic entrance possible - backlit by the sun.

Aldith gets the call that not only is Reshiram present, but N is there as well. She tells him she'll be there soon, and then gets an immediate call from Lord Ghetsis who seemingly knows all. She promises him that this time N will be contained, and he rather dangerously warns her that he had better be. He asks Colress - occupied with reviewing data - what the status of the Control Device is, and Colress (who calls him Mister, not Lord!) assures him that there are no problems whatsoever, and he knows what to do when Reshiram appears.

Ash is rather happy to see N and asks what he's doing there, and N explains that he's been investigating Team Plasma activity when he sensed Reshiram (which seemed sad). Juniper asks who he is and Cilan says it is a long story, before being proven completely wrong when Ash happily and simply explains,"He's N! He's a friend of ours!"

N is rather surprised to learn he is considered a friend, seemingly troubled by it considering what he is planning on doing. He asks Juniper what he intends to do with the Light Stone, and is disappointed but not surprised to hear that he plans to research it. Bowing his head, N says there is nothing more to say and leaps down, scooping up the case the Light Stone in and zipping away. He tells the twerps that he has to do this because long ago he saw Reshiram wipe out Team Plasma and fly away, and he's always wanted to ask Reshiram did it - why burn everything up? Why was it so angry and what does it think of people? He wants to know the truth, what is wrong, and find a way for Pokémon to live in peace and happiness. Ash asks why he doesn't work WITH Juniper then, and N replies that Juniper has already revealed that the Light Stone is nothing more than a scientific curiosity to him. "THAT'S NOT TRUE!" roars Juniper angrily, then adds,"OR MAYBE IT IS!" causing Iris and Cilan to collapse.

N heads away, followed by Ash who chases him through the ruins, N calling back to him to please let it go. Ash insists he wants to talk more about this, but then runs into a weak point on the ground and finds himself buried in up to his waist. Concerned, N turns back and runs to help him, only to fall in to his waist himself. Then the ground crumbles and they both fall in, Ash and Pikachu quickly sliding down the slope. N is barely holding on to the edge by one hand, the other clutching onto the handle of the Light Stone's case. He is conflicted for the briefest of seconds before his own better nature rules out and he drops the case, grabbing Ash with his spare hand instead - shades of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Unfortunately for them, the crumbling ground can't hold their weight much longer and the edge breaks away, and they both tumble down the slope anyway.

Iris immediately wants to follow down after them, but Juniper stops her, reminding her that the underground chambers are a maze and she'd only get lost. She needs to leave this to the pros like him, and sadly she agrees, calling down the hole to Ash to please be safe. He is, far down the bottom of the hole on a large bank of sand, a passed out Ash is woken by a concerned Pikachu. Pleased to see his buddy is safe, he looks about for N and finds he has been exploring their new location. The sand absorbed most of the impact of their fall, but the hole they fell through has become blocked up with rocks and debris, they appear to be trapped down here, the only light coming from the now exposed Light Stone.

On the surface, Juniper, Iris and Cilan hear a disturbance coming from the trees surrounding the White Ruins. What is it? Team Plasma Grunts emerge from the surroundings, Barret warning them not to move. His assistants have been surrounded and Team Plasma have the location locked down, and they mean to leave with the Light Stone. Juniper angrily yells that they don't have it, but it seems that Barret isn't comically late - he's aware that the Light Stone and N fell down the hole, but that just means he knows exactly where what he wants is, and that it isn't going anywhere. A helicopter arrives and Barret tells his second to inform Aldith on what is going on. It seems Plasma has everything covered, but as they work, the assistant that picked the twerps up earlier is still free, moving about carefully amongst the ruins.

Down under the ground, N tells Ash that he has been pondering things lately - primarily why Anthea and Concordia reject people the way they do... and why do Pokémon love Ash the way they do? Ash is confused by the latter, and N explains that during his travels he has seen the various different ways people and Pokémon interact - from those who treat Pokémon like members of their families, those who work alongside them as equals, and those who abandon and mistreat them. But while he has dived headlong into the world he was once kept apart from, Anthea and Concordia refused to open up to the outside world and kept themselves locked away. He doesn't elaborate on the second part of his statement though, about the unusual depth of love that Pokémon seem to have for the frequent Chosen One/Child of Destiny. N picks up Pikachu and beams at him, then returns him to Ash's shoulder and explains that he wants to know why Pokémon exist in their world in the first place - what is their purpose? What do they want from humans? Is there a place in the world where people and Pokémon live in perfect harmony? He says that Juniper saying he wanted to use the Light Stone for research shows that people still think of Pokémon as tools to be used for their own purposes.

"Ahhh come on!" counters Ash, and lays out a very effective argument against N's pessimistic approach to the world. He doesn't know anything about this whole making Pokémon servants/slaves stuff, all he knows that Pokémon are his buddies and he likes hanging out with them. That's what all his "I want to be the greatest Pokémon Master there ever was!" shtick has always been about - he thinks of Pokémon as his friends, and he wants to make as many friends as he can. He says whenever he's been happy or sad or mad, Pokémon have been there to help him - if they learn as much as they can about Pokémon, they'll be better friends. So if Reshiram can appear from the Light Stone, he wants to become friends with it too! N is surprised but pleased, maybe because he knows that making friends with the Pokémon that frequently burns everybody and everything to death is a hell of a thing.

Aldith arrives in her skin tight pants as Barret gets word that some of the Plasma Grunts are having trouble dealing with the Golurks. Aldith orders a team assembled to capture N and recover the Light Stone.... at which point Juniper's Assistant returns to the scene and threatens to crush in Aldith's trachea with a pipe! Holy fuck!

Complaining that he hadn't intended to reveal himself until Ghetsis arrived, but she has forced his hand. Slamming her against a wall and warning Barret not to make a move, he pulls off the mask/beard on his face to reveal... Looker! Iris and Cilan are shocked, saying it was an amazing disguise. Of course, being twerps, Looker probably could have just put a fake mole on his cheek and gotten away with it. Behind Barrett, two Golurk smash their way through to Juniper, ready to defend him and Looker. Things aren't looking so good for Team Plasma, but Aldith seems more amused than anything else and says he'll never take down an entire unit by himself. Revealing his International Police Badge, he says that reinforcements aren't far away - unfortunately for him they're closer for Team Plasma, as Colress appears on a cliff overlooking the dig site, pushing the Pokémon Control Device ahead of him. The device is now perfected, and a quick flash of the beam hits the Golurks and puts them immediately under Colress' control.

The massively powerful Pokémon begin attacking, while also using their telekinesis to lift Barret and Aldith to safety alongside Colress. Looker reluctantly declares they'll have to fight back against the Golurk, and Cilan and Iris bring out Crustle and Dragonite to fight the Golurks. Crustle uses Rock Slide to smash and bury one Golurk, and Dragonite uses Flamethrower to little effect on the disturbingly crawling Golurk chasing him. Meanwhile, Aldith uses her now superior position on higher ground to have Liepards blast down attacks like an artillery barrage on the twerps' position.

From similarly high ground, Team Rocket are watching as purely onlookers. Admiring the destruction, Jesse and James take their cues from Meowth who is planning their operation in this case. The plan is to wait for Team Plasma to get their hands on the Light Stone and then strike, and in the meantime they plan to just enjoy the fireworks - let Team Plasma do the heavy lifting!

The buried Golurk smashes its way clear and blasts attacks wildly all around. Dragonite grabs Crustle and takes to the air to try and get clear, but the wild attacks are impossible to predict and they're hit a glancing blow. The two Pokémon begin to fall towards certain death, while deep underground N hears the noise and senses "friends" crying out in pain, and predicts that Team Plasma are behind it. Ash knows their course of action is clear, they have to help, and the two "Chosen Ones" set out to find another exit to the chamber.

So the stage is set, Team Plasma are making their move, Team Rocket are waiting to make theirs, and Ash and N - who have clashed less in their ideals than the title suggested - are trying to find a way to get involved. Who will get their hands on the Light Stone, will Reshiram appear, and what happens when it does? These questions will be answered next week, because this episode is....

Previous Episode Next Episode Episode List