Facing the Grand Design! (Japanese: カラマネロ対マーイーカ！絆は世界を救う！！, Hepburn: Malamar Against Inkay! The Bonds Will Save the World!!) is the 6th episode of Pokémon the Series: XY Kalos Quest.
Synopsis[]
Continuing their journey to Coumarine City, our heroes arrive at a strangely shaped mountain known as Grace Tower. When a Malamar appears out of the woods, our heroes are wary—after all, an evil Malamar once hypnotized them as part of a sinister plot—but this one turns out to be part of a large group of friendly Pokémon living happily together in the forest.
However, the evil Malamar is nearby, and this time it has allies! Thanks to James’s Inkay, the Team Rocket trio are the first to discover it. At the urging of Officer Jenny, who’s been tracking the evil Malamar ever since their previous encounter, Ash and friends join forces with Team Rocket to thwart Malamar’s plot to take over the world!
The battle is fierce, but the three evil Malamar are defeated, mostly thanks to the strong bond between Inkay and James. Unfortunately, the Malamar escape once more, vowing to return and carry out their evil plot...[1]
Episode plot[]
Team Rocket is having lunch. James' Inkay eats a croissant and soon they spot the twerps. The gang has heard of aliens and UFOs at Grace Tower, hence why they're headed there. Clemont warns them usually the reports of aliens are nothing more than illusions, for they have no scientific proof. As the gang thinks of space Pokémon, they are suddenly alarmed when a Malamar wanders across their path. They expect it to try to hypnotize them since the last Malamar they encountered was an evil Pokémon. But surprisingly the Malamar passes them by. The gang uncovers a group of wild Inkay and Malamar amongst other Pokémon and realize that these Malamar are peaceful and friendly, making Ash and his friends realize they were wrong to assume that Malamar as a species are evil Pokémon. Team Rocket spies as well and realize they were wrong too, making Inkay pleased there are others of its kind around.
Suddenly out of nowhere three trucks come barreling through, almost nearly running the gang over. The gang is peeved that someone would be driving so dangerously with so little regard for others. Team Rocket also sees the trucks, but Inkay is shocked and follows them. Though the gang is angry since someone could've gotten hurt, the trucks still drive on while being watched by someone. At the foothold of Grace Tower, Bonnie and Ash yell out to get the space Pokémon's attention. Despite Clemont claiming there are no aliens, they climb the mountain anyway. Team Rocket climbs up the mountain per Inkay's wish. They see the trucks and are shocked as some prisms activate and levitate out of them all of a sudden. As James tries to remember what the prisms are, a Malamar comes out of the truck and they remember it as the same one who hypnotized them from before. Inkay is outraged and starts making a fuss. James tries to quiet it, worried the noise will give them away. Jessie voices her doubts about Inkay, believing it wants to hand them over to Malamar. James is indignant and insists his Inkay would never do that, but Jessie and Meowth point out that since Inkay evolves into Malamar, they believe it could work with them. The noise from their argument gives them away to Malamar. Realizing it's spotted them, the trio descends down the side of the mountain at their quickest pace. Two of Malamar's associates give chase.
Team Rocket trips over and rolls down the path, bumping into the wall and encountering the gang, who suspect they want to steal Pikachu, but Team Rocket shushes them and hides behind a rock, as the two Malamar pass by. They are approached by a familiar woman, Officer Jenny - the same one who once went by 'Madame X'. She advises they call a truce for now and explains that ever since the horrifying incident from the radio observatory, she has been gathering data about Malamar. She found out that Malamar teamed up with two others of its species and have hypnotized a team of scientists to develop a similar system to the one at the observatory. However she doesn't know what they're planning, even if they stated they would end the world. Everyone exits the cave and see a great light created by the objects. Inkay is still furious, thus further arousing Jessie's suspicions. The Malamar come down and Meowth translates they are finishing the final project. The Malamar use Psychic to abscond with Ash, Pikachu, Bonnie, Serena, Jenny, Jessie and Wobbuffet. Inkay sprays sludge on one Malamar, causing it to become berserk and fight with the other. Clemont calls out Bunnelby to dig out a path for him, Meowth, James and Inkay, promising the others they will come back to save them.
They emerge at the foot of the mountain and Clemont recalls Bunnelby. Inkay is still agitated, so James tries to calm it down, desperately asking Inkay why it's so bothered. Meowth translates for it: Inkay cannot forgive Malamar for controlling them - or rather, for controlling James - the last time they encountered it. Meowth apologizes for doubting Inkay. James and Meowth head back to battle the Malamar, but Clemont stops them and points out that those Malamar are too powerful for the three of them and their current roster. Once he says this, Inkay wanders into the woods. James suspects it has an idea and urges them to follow it.
The Malamar display to their prisoners their goal: Using the system, they want to change the appearance of the world, twisting it to their own design. The forest Pokémon observe the event unfolding at the foot of the mountain. Inkay arrives and Meowth translates that it wants the others to fight back against the Malamar trio. Suddenly a Malamar appears and uses Psychic to physically restrain Inkay, James, Clemont and Meowth and follows up with Hyper Beam on the forest Pokémon. The antagonistic Malamar tries to convince other Malamar to join their project or else everyone will be destroyed. The wild Inkay and Malamar are angry their friends were attacked and rain blows on the antagonist Malamar, who retreats via teleportation. James, Meowth and Clemont rally Malamar, Inkay and some of the other forest Pokémon to interrupt the final project.
At the summit the prisms change color, going from blue to red. Jenny suspects that is the countdown, making Jessie and Wobbuffet panic as she wonders where Meowth and James are. The Malamar trio are attacked, causing one of them to inadvertently release their prisoners from their psychic grip. James, Meowth, Clemont and Inkay arrive with their coalition of the willing in tow. Just when things start to look up, James' Inkay is captured by Malamar, who emits hypnotic waves to subdue it. Jessie is confused and inquires why this is happening as she still suspected that Inkay and Malamar were working together. James yells at her for this, angrily telling her Inkay was always their ally.
Malamar succeeds in bringing Inkay under its control and has it use Psybeam on the group. Eager to snap it out of its trance, James presents Inkay with a croissant, wanting it to remember their bond. Under hypnosis, Inkay tackles James who takes the hit. James feeds Inkay with the croissant in a last-ditch effort to return it to normal. As it eats, Inkay gradually remembers the good times it had with James and the rest of Team Rocket. It returns to normal and tackles Malamar. The evil trio of Malamar band together and use Dark Pulse, but are countered and hit by Pikachu, Inkay and the wild Malamar. Jenny calls out her Manectric, who uses Thunder on the prisms, stopping the countdown and effectively shutting down the final project. The Malamar claim they will escape towards their future. The prisms converge into a giant diamond-shaped pod in which the Malamar make their escape. Everyone returns to the foot of the mountain as the trucks detonate on the summit.
Later, Team Rocket is sad their plan to catch Pikachu failed. The forest Pokémon surround James' Inkay and celebrate it. Seeing Inkay go along with their salutations, James takes this to mean it would rather stay with them than continue its life with him. Inkay comes to James and Meowth translates that Inkay wants to be with him as it makes Inkay happy. James cries, accepting Inkay back and promises to catch Pikachu with Inkay by his side.
Debuts[]
Pokémon[]
- Flabébé (Yellow and Blue Flower)
Trivia[]
- "Pokémon Quiz:" Malamar (JP)
- "Who's that Pokémon?": Bidoof (US)
- James considered in releasing Inkay after seeing it being happy amongst other members of its species in the wild. Ash once considered doing the same with Pikachu all the way back in "Pikachu's Goodbye".
Mistakes[]
- Both good and evil Malamar use Psychic-type moves on members of their own species (including Inkay) despite them all being Dark-type Pokémon. The exception to this error is Hypnosis, which has precedent in the games as being able to affect Dark-types.
- Sometime near the beginning Ash can be heard saying "I wish I met a Pokémon from outer space" which in fact he already has met such Pokémon (e.g. Dialga, Palkia, Deoxys etc.).
Gallery[]
References[]
- ^ (n.d.) . "Facing the Grand Design! | Pokémon TV (pokemon.com)". From The Official Pokémon Website | Pokemon.com. Archived from the original on February 7, 2024.
