View source for JNS05

{{EpicodePrevNext|
prevcode=JN136 |
prevtitle=This Could be the Start of Something Big! |
nextcode=JN137 |
nexttitle=The Road Most Traveled! |
series=Pokémon Journeys: The Series |
colorscheme=Galar}}
{{EpisodeInfobox|
epcode=JNS05 |
colorscheme=Galar |
title_en=Distant Blue Sky! |
title_ja=ポケットモンスター 遥かなる青い空 |
title_ja_trans=Pocket Monsters: The Distant Blue Sky |
broadcast_jp=December 23, 2022 |
broadcast_us=September 8, 2023 |
en_op=None |
ja_op=None |
ja_ed=None |
olmteam=Team Kato |
scenarion=1 |
scenario=米村正二 |
storyboardn=1 |
storyboard=湯山邦彦 |
directorn=1 |
director=浅田裕二 |
artn=2 |
art=岩根雅明 |
art2=志村泉 |
morecredits=yes |
epstaffpage=specials |
footnotes=* {{filb-eppics|ss|SP5}}
* {{BMGf|295534|Preview thread on BMGf}} ''Closed''
* {{BMGf|295615|Original review thread on BMGf}}
* {{BMGf|298138|Dub review thread on BMGf}}
}}
'''Distant Blue Sky!''' (Japanese: '''ポケットモンスター 遥かなる青い空''' ''Pocket Monsters: The Distant Blue Sky'') is the fifth special episode of ''[[Pokémon Journeys: The Series]]''. It first aired in Japan on December 23, 2022, in Canada on July 29, 2023, and is scheduled to air in South Africa on August 8, 2023, and in the United States on September 8, 2023.
{{spoilers}}
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==Blurb==
Official Blurb from Pokémon.com goes here, with source link-->
<!--Please do not alter the blurb to fix any errors, they are meant to be presented as they are on the official site.-->

==Plot==
{{OBP|Ash Ketchum|M20|Ash}} is swimming in a river, filled with many {{t|Water}} Pokémon, when a {{p|Gyarados}} comes towards him and lifts him out of the water. Ash calls {{AP|Pikachu|Pikachu (M20)}} for help, jumping off Gyarados before Pikachu uses {{m|Thunderbolt}} on the {{pkmn|category|Atrocious Pokémon}}. The young {{pkmn|Trainer}} then throws a {{i|Poké Ball}} at Gyarados, but after a few shakes, Gyarados escapes the attempted {{pkmn2|Caught|capture}} and swims away. Taking the loss well, Ash waves Gyarados goodbye before turning his attention to {{OBP|Len|JNS05}}, another Trainer who had been swimming with him. Once both of them are in their proper clothes, they have a brief {{pkmn|battle}}, which ends with Pikachu defeating Len's {{p|Machamp}} with a Thunderbolt. Ash and Pikachu then make their way to a [[Pokémon Center]], where Ash's mother {{Delia}} contacts them and tells Ash that she's in [[Tonari Town]], where she's going to be meeting [[Ash's father]] the next day. Excited at the thought of seeing his father again after a long time, Ash sets off towards Tonari Town. Behind him, the [[Team Rocket trio]] sheds their latest [[List of Team Rocket's disguises|disguises]] and bolts off after him, once again aiming to steal Pikachu.

After passing through a tunnel under a giant tree, Ash enters a forest teeming with Pokémon. He and Pikachu settle down for the night, but when Ash is woken up by a {{p|Lickitung}} the next morning, he notices that Pikachu is gone. A boy appears and offers to lead Ash to Pikachu, revealing to him that Pikachu was taken away by some weird people in weird clothes. They quickly find Team Rocket in the midst of celebrating their apparent success and seemingly inevitable admin promotion. Ash descends down a cliff to confront the three, who have sealed Pikachu inside an insulated capsule, with the only key to it being in their possession. However, while they routinely perform their {{motto}}, Ash casually takes the key from them and frees Pikachu, who then proceeds to send them blasting off, ending yet another one of their schemes in failure.

Ash thanks the boy, who introduces himself as {{OBP|Sunny|JNS05}}, for his help, and offers to shake his hand. Instead of taking the offered hand, however, Sunny asks what touching Pokémon is like, since he's never experienced it himself, despite loving Pokémon very much. Ash describes the sensation as warming and soft, and offers to find a Pokémon from the forest for Sunny to touch. Unfortunately, each of these attempts ends in failure, until the escape from a horde of {{p|Beedrill}} leads the two boys in the middle of an [[Oran Berry]] orchard next to a house. Inside they see a man painting pictures of the sky, with Sunny pointing out the painting that he considers his favorite. A woman named [[So and Sue|Sue]] appears, while her husband, [[So and Sue|So]], briefly comes out of the house. Ash turns around to address Sunny, only see that he's gone. So tells Ash he can take as as many Oran Berries as he wants, while Sue offers to help Ash to pick some. The gathered Oran Berries are piled in a basket, with Sue also throwing in a couple of breads made from the {{Berries}} in the forest. Ash thanks her and leaves, reuniting with Sunny as soon as the house is out of sight. Sunny apologizes for leaving unexpectedly and says he just chased after a Pokémon he saw. Ash offers him one of the breads he got, but Sunny claims he's already eaten a plentiful breakfast and lets Ash have both. While confused by this, Ash accepts this and sits down to eat with Pikachu.

Seeing how well Ash understands Pikachu, Sunny asks Ash's help with something and leads him to a pack of {{p|Mankey}}, one of whom is wearing a cap that Sunny acknowledges as his favorite hat. Ash recalls how his {{AP|hat}} was also once stolen by a {{AP|Mankey|Primeape}} and agrees to help, but refrains from using Pikachu in order to avoid damaging the hat with his {{t|Electric}} attacks. Instead, he confronts the Mankey and tells them to return the hat. The Mankey refuse, forcing Ash to chase the one wearing the cap, until it ends up accidentally running onto an {{p|Onix}}. Ash saves Mankey from falling off from Onix and retrieves the hat. Mankey is upset from losing the hat it liked, so Ash gives it his own hat as compensation. He tries to return Sunny's hat, but Sunny keeps moving ahead every time he approaches him, eventually leading him back to So and Sue's house. Seeing Sunny's hat in his hands, they ask where he found it. When Ash explains that Sunny asked him to retrieve it, So accuses him of lying, while Sue breaks down in tears.

Inside the house, Ash learns that Sunny is actually So and Sue's son, who got very sick a year earlier and died as a result, explaining why he had refused to shake Ash's hand or eat anything. He had loved to play with the forest Pokémon every day and dreamed of becoming a Pokémon Trainer once he grew up. Ever since losing him, So has only been able to paint the skies that his son loved to watch. Ash points out the painting that Sunny had named as his favorite, which Sue reveals to be from one of the rare times when the entire family had been together at the same time. Losing Sunny had taught her that the comforts of life that she had taken for granted will not be around forever, so now she always remembers to thank each of them for being there. Once Ash leaves the house, So decides to start painting more than just skies now, wanting to also immortalize the forests and the Pokémon that Sunny had loved.

While making his way through the forest, Ash encounters Sunny once more. Remembering that Sunny never got to touch a Pokémon, he offers him a chance to touch Pikachu. Sunny tries to do so, but his [[Ghosts in the Pokémon world|ghostly]] hand just phases through Pikachu. Ash knows what to do, so he embraces Sunny and has him bring his hand on top of his, using his [[Aura]] to transfer the sensation of touching Pikachu into Sunny, who finds the experience just as comforting as Ash had described. When Ash opens his eyes again, Sunny has disappeared. Leaving the forest through another tunnel under a big tree, Ash sees a sky that looks exactly like Sunny's favorite sky. Remembering Sue's words, he takes a moment to thank Pikachu for being there.

Arriving in Tonari Town at dusk, Ash is disappointed to learn from Delia that his father has already left due to an emergency, although he did leave him a present in the form of a new hat. Delia then makes Ash some {{wp|croquette}}s to satisfy his hunger, even offering some to a disguised and starving Team Rocket in the next table over. While eating, Ash finds himself crying, though he's not sure why he's feeling sad.

The next day, Ash prepares to head out once more, [[M20|having heard]] that an {{p|Entei}} has been spotted nearby, and everyone is trying to find and catch it. Delia manages to feed him a mouthful of toast before he runs off, pursued by Team Rocket, who take a moment to thank Delia for the croquettes before resuming their endless pursuit. Dashing through the woods, Ash enters a wide open field, continuing his journey under the distant blue sky.

==Major events==
<!-- This is not for summarizing everything that happens in this episode. Only events pertaining to the series as a whole, such as catching and releasing Pokémon and obtaining Badges, go here. -->
[[File:Ash M20 new cap.png|thumb|220px|Ash wearing his new hat]]
* {{OBP|Ash Ketchum|M20|Ash}} tries and fails to {{pkmn2|caught|catch}} a {{p|Gyarados}}.
* Ash receives a new {{AP|hat}} left for him by [[Ash's father|his father]].

===Debuts===
====Pokémon debuts====

==Characters==
===Humans===
* {{OBP|Ash Ketchum|M20|Ash}}
* [[Jessie]]
* [[James]]
* [[Nurse Joy]]
* {{Delia}}
* {{OBP|Len|JNS05}}
* {{OBP|Sunny|JNS05}} (ghost/flashback/photo)
* [[So and Sue]]
* Trainers

===Pokémon===
* {{p|Pikachu}} ({{OP|Ash|Pikachu (M20)}})
* {{p|Meowth}} ({{TRM}})
* {{p|Wobbuffet}} ({{OP|Jessie|Wobbuffet}})
* {{p|Chansey}} ({{OP|Nurse Joy|Chansey}})
* {{p|Machamp}} ({{OBP|Len|JNS05}}'s)
* {{p|Blastoise}} (Trainer's)
* {{p|Poliwag}} (×5)
* {{p|Goldeen}}
* {{p|Seaking}}
* {{p|Gyarados}}
* {{p|Caterpie}}
* {{p|Butterfree}} (multiple)
* {{p|Beedrill}} (multiple)
* {{p|Spearow}} (multiple)
* {{p|Pikachu}} (multiple)
* {{p|Raichu}}
* {{p|Vileplume}} (multiple)
* {{p|Paras}}
* {{p|Diglett}}
* {{p|Bellsprout}} (multiple)
* {{p|Weepinbell}}
* {{p|Victreebel}}
* {{p|Doduo}} (multiple)
* {{p|Dodrio}}
* {{p|Nidoran♀}}
* {{p|Nidoran♂}}
* {{p|Mankey}} (×4)
* {{p|Onix}}

==Trivia==
* This special appears to take place in the alternate continuity from ''[[M20|I Choose You!]]'', ''[[M21|The Power of Us]]'', and ''[[M23|Secrets of the Jungle]]''.
* This is one of the few episodes storyboarded by the original executive director [[Kunihiko Yuyama]].
* [[Shinji Miyazaki]]'s music from ''[[Pokémon the Series: Ruby and Sapphire]]'', ''[[Pokémon the Series: Black & White]]'', ''[[Pokémon the Series: XY]]'', and ''[[Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon]]'' is reused as background music in this special.
* A {{p|Mankey}} stealing a hat from {{OBP|Sunny|JNS05}} and {{OBP|Ash Ketchum|M20|Ash}} is a reference to {{Ash}} getting his hat stolen from a {{AP|Mankey|Primeape}} in ''[[EP025|Primeape Goes Bananas]]''.
** Ash also mentions this event with Mankey during the episode, which means that part of the events in said episode also happened in this timeline.
** Ash receives a new {{AP|hat}} from {{Delia}} at the end of this special, which is the same Pokémon League Expo hat that Ash wore in the [[original series]].
* This is the fourth time that [[Ash's father]] has been mentioned in the {{pkmn|anime}}.
* [[Unshō Ishizuka]] was added into the credits for this episode, with archived audio of his voice being used for the [[narrator]].
* [[Jessie's Wobbuffet]] is the only Pokémon introduced after [[Generation I]] to be featured in this special.
* This is the last episode where [[Carter Cathcart]] is the script adapter and a voice actor for the English [[dub]], as he opted to retire from the anime following his diagnosis of cancer.
* In the English dub, this episode was aired between ''[[JN147|The Rainbow and the Pokémon Master!]]'' and [[HZ001]].
* This is the season finale of [[S25|Pokémon Ultimate Journeys: The Series]].
** Similarly, the [[XYS05|season finale]] of [[S19|Pokémon the Series: XYZ]] was also a special episode. However, this is the first special episode included as part of a dub [[season]] to not be counted by the official websites, rental DVD releases, or video-on-demand streaming services as an episode of the main series in the original Japanese version.
** It is also counted as the 12th and final episode of ''Pokémon: To Be a Pokémon Master'' in the dub, even though it was released separately from the aforementioned story arc in the original Japanese version.

===Errors===
* The English dub's closing captions incorrectly identify {{p|Goldeen}}'s [[cry]] as "good evening" instead of "Goldeen".
* The English dub credits [[With You]] as the opening theme, even though the episode has no opening or closing themes.

===Dub edits===
* Delia refers to [[Tonari Town]] as "the town next to the one [[Ash Ketchum (M20)|you're]] in now", not revealing a dub name for the location.

==In other languages==
{{Epilang|color=D5598C|bordercolor=00A1E9
|zh_cmn={{tt|寶可夢 旅途 遙遠晴空|Pokémon Journeys: The Distant Blue Sky}}
|ko={{tt|포켓몬스터W: 아득히 먼 푸른 하늘|Pocket Monsters W: The Distant Blue Sky}}
|th={{tt|โปเกมอน เจอร์นีย์ ท้องฟ้าสีครามอันแสนไกล|Pokémon Journeys: The Distant Blue Sky}}
|id={{tt|Langit biru jauh di sana|The Distant Blue Sky}}
|vn={{tt|Bầu Trời Xa Xôi|The Distant Sky}}
}}
{{-}}
{{EpicodePrevNext|
prevcode=JN136 |
prevtitle=This Could be the Start of Something Big! |
nextcode=JN137 |
nexttitle=The Road Most Traveled! |
series=Pokémon Journeys: The Series |
colorscheme=Galar}}
{{Project Anime notice}}

[[Category:Pokémon Journeys: The Series episodes|S05]]
[[Category:Episodes written by Shōji Yonemura]]
[[Category:Episodes storyboarded by Kunihiko Yuyama]]
[[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 focusing on Pikachu]]
[[Category:Episodes which aired in Canada before the United States]]
[[Category:Episodes which aired in South Africa before the United States]]

[[de:Pocket Monsters Harukanaru Aoi Sora]]
[[es:EE20]]
[[fr:Épisode spécial LV 5]]
[[ja:ポケットモンスター 遥かなる青い空]]
[[zh:宝可梦 旅途 特别篇 第5集]]