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BW109 : New Places...Familiar Faces!
Pokémon the Series: Black & White
BW111 : There's a New Gym Leader in Town!
The Name's N!
BW110.png
BW110   EP767
トモダチ…その名はN!
A Friend...His Name is N!
First broadcast
Japan January 24, 2013
United States April 27, 2013
English themes
Opening It's Always You and Me
Ending
Japanese themes
Opening やじるしになって!2013
Ending サクラ・ゴーラウンド
Credits
Animation Team Kato
Screenplay 米村正二 Shōji Yonemura
Storyboard 矢嶋哲生 Tetsuo Yajima
Assistant director 矢嶋哲生 Tetsuo Yajima
Animation director 志村泉 Izumi Shimura
No additional credits are available at this time.

The Name's N! (Japanese: トモダチ…その名はN! A Friend...His Name is N!) is the 110th episode of Pokémon the Series: Black & White, and the 767th episode of the Pokémon anime. It first aired in Japan on January 24, 2013 and in the United States on April 27, 2013.

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Spoiler warning: this article may contain major plot or ending details.
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Blurb

Traveling on a ship, headed for the White Ruins and Professor Juniper’s father, Cedric, our heroes meet an unusual young man known as N. N tells them he considers all Pokémon his friends, and he claims he can hear the inner voices of Pokémon. He’s also quite pleased with the strong bond he senses between Ash and Pikachu.

Ash mentions that they’re on their way to investigate the Legendary Pokémon Reshiram, and when N seems interested, Ash tells him about the time he saw Zekrom. N launches into a passionate description of his goals—to learn the mysteries of why Pokémon exist in this world, to meet Reshiram and Zekrom, and to make Pokémon’s lives better. This sounds good to Ash...but it quickly becomes clear that he and N don’t see entirely eye to eye when N voices his disapproval of Pokémon battles, saying he doesn’t like the idea of forcing friends to fight each other.

Meanwhile, Team Rocket has yet another sinister plot to steal Pikachu for the Boss. They first lure Axew away from our heroes while Ash and Iris are having a practice battle, and Pikachu is not far behind. Soon, both Pokémon are in Team Rocket’s clutches, but with the assistance of N, they are soon freed—though not before an attack from James’s Amoonguss stuns poor Pikachu. Ash isn’t sure what to do, but N has a plan: he brings everyone to the bow of the ship and calls to his friends, and then two wild Alomomola leap out of the water and use Refresh to heal Pikachu!

The ship is docking at Castelia City, where N has to go—but he assures our heroes that they will meet him again. As he leaves, he considers what seeing Zekrom might mean for Ash...a life-changing experience indeed!

Plot

N investigates the ruins of the abandoned P2 Laboratory. Finding an intact terminal, he tries rewiring it and manages to get it to power up, revealing a diagram of an unfamiliar Pokémon. Though the power cuts out again and the diagram soon disappears, leaving N to wonder what exactly was going on at this lab.

Meanwhile, Ash and his friends are aboard a ship bound for Aspertia City. Cilan points out the remains of the P2 Laboratory up ahead. As they arrive at port, the same man from the lab watches Ash and Pikachu play from the ground. Ash and friends notice him as well, but when they look away and back, he is gone. A disguised Team Rocket is also watching the group from a distance, planning their next attempt to capture Pikachu.

As the ship leaves port, Iris points out that there is a battlefield on board, Ash and friends go check it out. Ash asks Iris to battle him so he can get ready for his upcoming Gym battle at the Aspertia Gym, and she accepts. Before they can begin their battle, Pikachu senses someone and Ash and his friends turn to see the same man who was watching them from the port. The man walks up to Pikachu and remarks on his cuteness. Ash wonders why he was staring at them before, and N replies that says he heard a friend's voice. He explains that he considers all Pokémon to be his friends. He tells Ash he hears Pikachu's voice, saying how much he cares about him. He says that he finds it rare that people and Pokémon can form such a strong friendship. Cilan remains skeptical of the man's claims that he can literally hear a Pokémon's inner voice. The man concedes that he may have just convinced himself that he can. Cilan thinks it doesn't sit quite right. The man replies that it doesn't really matter, rather the bond between a Pokémon and its Trainer is the priority.

Ash and friends introduce themselves to the man. N formally introduces himself, admittin he is always happy to meet new friends. N asks where they are headed and Ash replies that they are heading to some ancient ruins that have something to do with Reshiram. N is shocked when he hears the Pokémon's name and he has a flashback about his previous encounter with Reshiram and its desire to burn the whole world. Ash asks what's wrong with him, but N replies it's nothing. He says that Reshiram is great but lies that he hasn't met it, but when he does, he would consider himself lucky. Cilan reveals that Ash met Zekrom, and N is shocked by this as well, and would appreciate it if Ash would tell him about it.

Inside, Ash recounts about his and Pikachu's encounter with Zekrom on the first day the two arrived in the Unova region and Ash has a flashback of the experience. N asks Ash if he has heard about the Legend of the Hero, that when the hero turns darkness to light and his heart becomes one with Pokémon, Zekrom will descend and lend the hero its power. N also says there is a similar legend, but it is Reshiram who will descend and lend the hero its power. When asked why he is so interested in the two Dragon Pokémon, N says it is all part of his goal to unlock the many mysteries surrounding Pokémon like their existence and their feelings. When N sees that he has gotten a bit carried away, he asks Ash what his dreams are. Ash enthusiastically replies he wants to become a Pokémon Master. This shocks N because he doesn't like Pokémon battles, viewing them as forced fights between friends before leaving the group and goes outside.

Before their battle, the group decides to eat first while Team Rocket decides to strike when they are distracted. Outside, the battle starts with Iris choosing Excadrill and Ash choosing Boldore. Ash attacks first with Rock Smash, but Excadrill intercepts with Metal Claw and the attacks cancel out. Next, Boldore's Flash Cannon and Excadrill's Focus Blast collide and explode. As the battle goes on, Axew innocently wanders off after noticing a trail of berries leading away from the field. Pikachu eventually notices Axew has wandered off and follows to bring him back. When Pikachu finds and approaches Axew, he steps on Team Rocket's containment field and becomes trapped. Pikachu tries to use Thunderbolt to escape, but it's no good.

Axew screams and gets Iris's attention, causing the group to notice the two Pokémon are missing. Running toward Axew's cries, the group finds Team Rocket in the process of abducting Pikachu. The trio recites their motto before jumping into their balloon and beginning their escape. Not giving up, Ash sends out Snivy and has her use Vine Whip to grab the balloon. James sends out Amoonguss who uses Body Slam on Snivy to get free, but Ash blocks the attack with his body. Jessie calls out her Frillish and has her use Shadow Ball on Snivy and Axew, but N jumps in front of the attack and shields the two Pokémon. As the smoke clears, N is shown to be fine. He turns around and tells Team Rocket it is because of people like them that the Pokémon world remains imperfect. Meowth can't hear and tells N to speak up. N is shocked to hear the Pokémon speak like a human. Thanking N, Ash recalls Snivy and calls out Unfezant. Frillish tries to drive Unfezant away with Bubble Beam, but she dodges the attack and uses Aerial Ace on Pikachu's containment field, freeing him. Pikachu jumps down toward Ash when Frillish uses Shadow Ball on him. However, Axew uses Dragon Rage to stop the attack. Turning around, Pikachu uses Thunderbolt on the balloon, shocking Team Rocket, but not before Amoonguss's Stun Spore hits and sickens Pikachu. Then, Unfezant uses Air Cutter to send Team Rocket blasting off.

Ash is concerned for Pikachu because he is very sick from Amoonguss's Stun Spore. N has Ash come with him to the bow of the ship while he stands there with his eyes. Eventually, N senses some Pokémon nearby and asks them for their help. Two Alomomola jump out of the water and use Refresh to heal Pikachu and N gives Pikachu an Oran Berry so Pikachu can recover his strength. Ash thanks N for his assistance.

Just then, a woman's voice on the intercom informs the passengers that the ship will be arriving in Castelia City shortly. Before he leaves, N tells Ash that although they have different viewpoints, they can still get along and be friends. Saying farewell, N tells Ash he is sure they will see each other again. As the ship is leaving, N says to himself he knows there must have been a reason Zekrom appeared to Ash and changed his life like Reshiram did for him.

Major events

For a list of all major events in the anime, please see the history page.

Debuts

Pokémon debuts

Characters

Humans

 
Dare da?

Pokémon

 
Who's That Pokémon?

Who's That Pokémon?: Alomomola

Trivia

Errors

  • When the camera pans away from the group to N on the battlefield of the ship, the black tips on Pikachu's ears are missing.
  • After being hit by Amoonguss's Stun Spore, Pikachu is portrayed as being poisoned instead of being paralyzed.
    • Professor Oak also states that Pikachu was poisoned by Stun Spore during the Live Caster.

Dub edits

In other languages



BW109 : New Places...Familiar Faces!
Pokémon the Series: Black & White
BW111 : There's a New Gym Leader in Town!
  This episode article is part of Project Anime, a Bulbapedia project that covers all aspects of the Pokémon anime.