BW037 : A Fishing Connoisseur in a Fishy Competition!
Pokémon the Series: Black & White
BW039 : Reunion Battles In Nimbasa!
Movie Time! Zorua in "The Legend of the Pokémon Knight"!
BW038.png
BW038   EP695
ゾロア・ザ・ムービー!ポケモンナイトの伝説!!
Zorua The Movie! The Legend of the Pokémon Knight!!
First broadcast
Japan June 30, 2011
United States October 22, 2011
English themes
Opening Black and White
Ending
Japanese themes
Opening ベストウイッシュ!
Ending ポケモン言えるかな?BW
Credits
Animation Team Kato
Screenplay 米村正二 Shōji Yonemura
Storyboard 古賀一臣 Kazuomi Koga
Assistant director 浅田裕二 Yūji Asada
Animation director 岩根雅明 Masaaki Iwane
Additional credits

Movie Time! Zorua in "The Legend of the Pokémon Knight"! (Japanese: ゾロア・ザ・ムービー!ポケモンナイトの伝説!! Zorua The Movie! The Legend of the Pokémon Knight!!) is the 38th episode of Pokémon the Series: Black & White, and the 695th episode of the Pokémon anime. It first aired in Japan on June 30, 2011, and in the United States on October 22, 2011.

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

Continuing their journey to Nimbasa City, our heroes have just seen the trailer for a new movie they all want to see, when the main character for the movie unexpectedly appears! It turns out the character is actually a Zorua, who has been working with a budding young filmmaker named Luke. Because Zorua can look like any person or Pokémon it wants, it has been playing all the roles in Luke’s movie. But this Zorua is a female, and the idea of playing the male characters is not appealing. That’s when our heroes volunteer to take over the rest of the roles, and so the shooting begins!

Ash plays the role of the knight, who vows to save Princess Yuria (played by Zorua and voiced by Iris) from Captain Cilan, and scene after scene gets successfully shot. In the meantime, Team Rocket has their eyes on catching the rare Zorua. During the final scene, Jessie, James, and Meowth appear and whisk Zorua away! Cilan (who is also unsurprisingly a Movie Connoisseur) suggests that Luke keep the camera rolling to record the defeat of Team Rocket. The footage is made part of the exciting movie conclusion—a result of Cilan’s familiarity with improvisational acting.

A cheering movie audience gives a rousing thumbs-up to the final cut. But Mr. Matthews, the movie theater’s manager, suggests the battle scenes could be a bit more exciting. That’s when Luke and our heroes decide to enter the Nimbasa Battle Tournament! So, it’s off Nimbasa City and more excitement for our heroes and their new filmmaking friends Luke and Zorua!

Plot

Ash and his friends are on their way to Nimbasa City and watch a preview for a new Wonder Fighters movie, Wonder Fighters the Movie Part 24: The Mystery of the Wonder Launcher, when they encounter a Zorua masquerading as one of the actors. The Zorua belongs to Luke, a film-maker who dreams of being a movie director with Zorua as the star, and is currently making a film titled The Legend of the Pokémon Knight; he also owns a Golett, who carries the tripod and operates the boom microphone. Luke explains that Zorua has been acting up, becoming stubborn and refusing to play the characters that Luke asks for and ultimately running away from him. Team Rocket watch from the shadows as the gang leave to search for the Zorua, thinking to add it to Team Rocket's organization.

The gang eventually reaches the oldest theater in town, where Luke reveals as the place he and Zorua first met. While working as the assistant projectionist to the manager, Mr. Matthews, Luke would notice the lead actresses of the movies being screened appear seated in the audience. Eventually, he tried to investigate and found Zorua masquerading as the lead actresses. Explaining to Zorua that he made films in addition to watching them, Luke invited Zorua to be the lead actress and they became partners from then on. As Luke finishes his explanation, Mr. Matthews comes out of the theater, informing the group that Zorua had entered the theater.

The group finds Zorua standing atop the stage, in the form of the princess in Luke's movie and stubbornly refusing to cooperate with Luke. Cilan, recalling that Zorua was supposed to play every actor in the movie and Luke stating that Zorua was female, guesses that Zorua only wants to play the princess in the movie. Zorua confirms this and Luke accepts Zorua's wishes, but is troubled that he now lacks actors to fill the film's other roles. Ash and his friends volunteer to play the other parts in the movie, and Luke accepts. The gang spends the rest of the day helping Luke out - while Luke rewrites the script, Luke’s Leavanny makes costumes with the help of Ash's Swadloon; Luke's Golett and Ash's Oshawott, alongside Ash and Iris, make the props.

The next day, filming begins on the movie, which tells the story of a Pokémon Knight (Ash) trying to rescue a Princess (Zorua) from an evil pirate (Cilan), with training from a dragon master (Iris); Iris also provides the voice for Zorua's character. During the first scene, Ash initially has trouble with his lines but with encouragement and tips from Cilan and Luke eventually helps pull the first scene off. The next scene takes place in the forest where the dragon master trains the Knight, though Axew initially struggles to dodge Pikachu's attacks. An improvisation is made where Axew counters with Dragon Rage, completing the scene. The group proceeds to film the final scene with Team Rocket secretly listening in.

At a cave opening where the last scene is to take place, Luke informs the gang that he will be keeping the camera filming continuously. Ash asks what to do in the event they mess up, but Cilan suggests ad-libbing: improvisation on the spot. The last scene is completely filmed when Team Rocket makes their appearance, capturing Zorua in an electric beam and take Zorua hostage aboard a plane. Luke sends out Golett who attacks the plane with Shadow Ball, destroying the plane and bringing Team Rocket and Zorua back to earth.

At this point, Cilan calls for Luke to keep filming and pulls off his costume, revealing a different, heroic costume underneath. Still in character, Cilan declares that he was under mind-control of the real villains, and Cilan's Pansage removes the electric bars holding Zorua with Bullet Seed. Iris's Axew attacks Jessie's Woobat before it can pursue Zorua, causing Zorua to fly away and land safely with the help of Ash's Tranquill. James's Yamask attempts to attack Tranquill, but Pikachu intervenes; however, Zorua falls off Tranquill and manages to land unhurt. Meowth confronts Zorua, who infatuates him by transforming into a female Meowth. With Meowth distracted, Zorua uses Night Daze to send Team Rocket packing.

With the camera still rolling, Iris wonders about the film's resolution now that Zorua had transformed out of its lead role. Cilan, continuing to ad lib, reveals that the "princess" was Zorua all along - and Iris, the real princess, had been masquerading as the dragon master as a disguise. The scene cuts to the theater where the completed film is being screened, ending with the Pokémon Knight Ash and freed Cilan swearing allegiance to Princess Iris, who in turn promises to work hard for a better future for all.

The movie is a huge success and the group later congratulates Luke outside the theater. Mr. Matthews also offers his congratulations, though remarks that the battle scenes could have been improved, and informs Luke about a battle tournament in Nimbasa. Mr. Matthews suggests that Luke enter to improve his skill in filming battle sequences, while Ash, Cilan and Iris all express desire to enter as well. The foursome agrees to sign up for the Club Battle tournament, in which they will all compete as rivals.

Major events

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

Debuts

Humans

Pokémon debuts

TV episode debuts

Characters

Humans

Pokémon

 
Who's That Pokémon?

Who's That Pokémon?: Zorua

Trivia

Errors

 
The title card error
  • On the title card, "Pokémon" was misspelled as "Pokemon", without the e-acute (é), in the premiere of this episode. This was fixed in all home video releases and streaming releases.

Dub edits

  • In the original Japanese version, Luke says Golett is his assistant director. In the English dub, he says Golett is just his assistant.
  • In the English dub, when Iris recites her lines on the second take, she says something different than the first time around. In the original Japanese version, she says the exact same lines during the second take.
  • In the English dub, when battling Iris, Ash tells Pikachu to use Thunderbolt. In the original Japanese version, he tells Pikachu to show Iris his heart.
  • In the English dub, the narrator says that Ash and his friends and the movie were a box office success. This is not mentioned in the original Japanese version.

In other languages



BW037 : A Fishing Connoisseur in a Fishy Competition!
Pokémon the Series: Black & White
BW039 : Reunion Battles In Nimbasa!
  This episode article is part of Project Anime, a Bulbapedia project that covers all aspects of the Pokémon anime.