Awakening the Sleeping Giant! (Japanese: カビゴンを起こせ!パルファム宮殿でバトルです!!, Hepburn: Wake Up Snorlax! Battle in Parfum Palace!!) is the 18th episode of Pocket Monsters: XY of Pocket Monsters: XY and Pocket Monsters: XYZ, and Pokémon the Series: XY of Pokémon the Series: XY and Pokémon the Series: XYZ.
Synopsis[]
Our heroes make a stop in historic Camphrier Town, where they encounter a big problem: a Snorlax is sleeping soundly in the middle of town, snoring so loudly that the noise is almost unbearable! They learn that every year, at the end of the harvest, Snorlax comes to clear out the roots from the local crops. This arrangement works out well for both sides: Snorlax gets to eat its fill of tasty roots, and the townspeople get their fields plowed in the process. Afterward, they throw a Harvest Festival to thank Snorlax for its help, and the Lord of Shabboneau Castle plays the Poké Flute—the only thing that can wake Snorlax up after a big meal. But this year, he’s refusing to attend, and no one knows why.
Ash and friends go to the castle to ask for Lord Shabboneau’s help. Eventually, he admits that Princess Allie of the nearby Parfum Palace took his Poké Flute and won’t give it back. Our heroes go to the palace in an attempt to retrieve it, but the princess refuses—at least until she notices Pikachu. She challenges Ash to a battle against her and her Furfrou, and suggests that they put the Poké Flute and Pikachu on the line! Ash and the others are appalled at this suggestion, but Princess Allie insists that it’s the only way she’ll consider giving them the flute, and Pikachu is firmly on board, so the battle begins.
The rules say that a battle is supposed to continue until one Pokémon is unable to go on, as usual. But a Thunderbolt from Pikachu messes up Furfrou’s carefully trimmed hairstyle, and Allie immediately calls a halt to send Furfrou to the groomer. Clemont declares Ash the winner, but Allie still refuses to give them the flute! This makes Clemont angry, and he delivers quite a speech telling the princess exactly what he thinks of her. His scolding seems to backfire, because Allie decides that our heroes can have the flute—as long as she gets to keep Clemont!
Ash, Serena, and Bonnie secretly assure Clemont they’ll come back for him, and head back to Camphrier Town with the flute. Lord Shabboneau is just about to start his performance to kick off the Harvest Festival when the flute is suddenly snatched from his hands by Team Rocket! Jessie, James, and Meowth think they can use the flute to control Snorlax. What actually happens is that when Jessie tries to play it, a horrible screeching noise emerges, and Snorlax wakes up in a really bad mood. The cranky Pokémon promptly sends Team Rocket blasting off again.
The Poké Flute lands in Lord Shabboneau’s hands, and his masterful playing quickly calms the giant Pokémon. The Harvest Festival is a huge success, Snorlax is awake and happy and headed home, and our heroes get ready to say their goodbyes. That’s when they suddenly realize they’ve forgotten about Clemont! But thanks to science, Clemont has made his own escape from the princess’s grasp, and their journey continues.[1]
Episode plot[]
The heroes arrive to Camphrier Town. Serena reads "one can taste the ages" in the town. Bonnie wonders what that means, so Clemont explains it's buildings lasting through time. Suddenly, they hear a loud noise, which after a while stops causing the heroes to cover their ears. They ask a woman what that noise was, so she unplugs her ears and shows a sleeping Snorlax in the center of the town, and that the noise they heard was its snoring. The heroes wonder why Snorlax is in a place like this, so the woman explains Snorlax and the town have a symbiotic relationship. Every year, Snorlax comes down from its home in the mountains to eat up all the roots from the town's harvests. And since Snorlax cultivates the fields as it digs up the roots, a good harvest in ensured the the following year. The townspeople then hold a harvest festival to thank Snorlax for its help. At the end of the festival, the lord of Shabboneau Castle plays the PokéFlute as Snorlax finishes up the town's offerings berries. Finally, Snorlax dances all the way back to its home. The town is all set to have the festival, but there is one problem; Snorlax has not been given the cue to wake up, as Lord Shabboneau is refusing to come to the festival for some reason.
Snorlax snores again causing the town to cover their ears, so Clemont's eyeglasses flash, as he presents a newest invention, meant to wake Bonnie up in the mornings and maximizes its volume. However, both the alarm and Snorlax are too loud. The alarm explodes blackening the heroes and messing up their hair, though Snorlax remains asleep. They already hear the people talking about how they cannot sleep and want Nurse Joy or Officer Jenny to intervene. The only thing that can wake up Snorlax is the PokéFlute, but every time someone attempts to speak to Lord Shabbonaeu, he just keeps giving excuses. Ash promises to get the Flute. They arrive at the Castle and Ash yells to get attention. The butler arrives and asks why they are here. Ash replies they came with an urgent message, so the butler lets them in.
They meet with Lord Shabboneau. The heroes ask him to play the flute or at least to borrow it, but just like before, the lord gives excuses as to why he can't play it (i.e. he threw it away, developed a phobia of the flute, is allergic to it, etc.). His butler advises him to be honest with the children, since they came so far from the town. Shabboneau finally explains that the flute was taken away from him: Princess Allie from Parfum Palace came one day, saw the Flute and liked it so much that she took off with it. The lord couldn't protest, since he owed a lot to Allie's father. Ash promises to get the flute back, much to Shabboneau's delight. Team Rocket, who are hiding in a suit of armor, overhear this and plan on using the flute to control an Snorlax army, capture Pikachu and gain the boss' favor.
The heroes arrive to Parfum Palace and Bonnie finds a hole in the bush wall to pass through. The heroes are amazed at the layout of the garden, but are confronted by a Furfrou. Princess Allie appears with her servants, telling Furfrou not to eat trash (referring to the heroes). Ash asks Allie to give back the Flute, but she replies what she takes is her own and that if the citizens are bothered by Snorlax, they can just move away. Ash is displeased, while Allie looks at Pikachu and examines him. She tries to take Pikachu away, but Ash snatches him back in anger. She offers Ash a fortune in exchange for Pikachu, but Ash staunchly refuses. Then Allie has an idea: she challenges Ash to a battle, and bets both the Flute and Pikachu. Ash is shocked but decides to do it, since Pikachu is willing to.
They are on the battle field with Clemont as referee. Pikachu starts with Quick Attack, but Furfrou jumps and hits Pikachu with its paw. Pikachu is hit and looks at Allie, who stares at him. Pikachu uses Iron Tail, but Furfrou counters with Bite. Furfrou then uses Charge Beam, while Pikachu uses Electro Ball. The attacks clash, then Pikachu immediately uses Thunderbolt, hitting Furfrou. Furfrou ends up with a very messed up look and shocking Allie, who orders her servants to take Furfrou away for grooming, therefore giving Ash the win. Ash asks for the Flute, but Allie denies, making Ash and Pikachu furious. Allie reveals that she intended to give up the Flute only if she won, but that is not the case. Ash protests, but Allie mocks him, replying that as a princess she can do whatever she wants. Clemont comes to Allie and firmly tells her that Ash bet Pikachu, his partner, to win the Flute, and should she continue behaving selfish, she won't have any friends. Serena and Bonnie think Clemont is being harsh, but Clemont is just telling Allie the truth, while Allie interprets this as nothing but love and like a prince.
After crying, Allie changes her mind: she will return the Flute, but Clemont has to stay with her. Bonnie and Serena whisper, then confirm she can have Clemont, who is already shocked. Later, a servant hands the heroes the PokéFlute, while Clemont is still nervous, though his friends promise to come back for him after they wake Snorlax up. The heroes bid farewell to "the lovebirds" and head back to Camphrier Town. They return to Lord Shabboneau and give him the Flute to play, but it is stolen by Team Rocket. The Lord tries to explain to them that only he can play the flute, but Jessie refuses to listen and tries to play it herself - badly. Snorlax wakes up, but is agitated by the terrible sound. Jessie tries to control it by playing the Flute, but this angers Snorlax so much it punishes them using Hyper Beam, thwarting Giovanni's fantasy. Ash takes the Flute and gives it to Shabboneau, who plays the flute. The beautiful tune calms down Snorlax, who starts eating the food and bids farewell to the villagers, then sets off to the mountains.
The heroes are happy to have solved the problem, but then realize they forgot about Clemont. Clemont comes back in his underwear, since he managed to escape. Back at Parfum Palace, Allie visits Clemont to tell him the fireworks are starting, but is shocked to see he has been replaced by a robot. She considers Clemont a jerk and attacks the robot, which explodes. The heroes watch these fireworks before they continue on the journey.
Debuts[]
Character[]
- Princess Allie
- Lord Shabboneau
- Lord Shabboneau's butler
Pokémon[]
Move[]
Quotes[]
- Allie - I suppose you can have the Pokéflute back.
- Clemont - Huh?
- Allie - Under one condition.
- Ash - I'm not giving you Pikachu!
- Allie - In exchange for the Pokéflute, I insist you leave this one with me.
- Clemont - (screams in horror) You want me to stay!?
- (Ash, Serena and Bonnie gasp in shock. Serena, thinking of something, taps Bonnie's shoulder and whispers in her ear)
- Bonnie - (whispering) Do you think so?
- Serena - (whispering) Yeah.
- Bonnie - (to Allie as Serena winks at Ash) You can have my brother if you want him.
- Clemont - Bonnie! How could you tell her that?
- Allie - Alright, it's settled.
- Narrator - The Poké-flute has been returned to its rightful owners, and the bond between Snorlax and the townspeople is even stronger, thanks to our heroes Ash, Pikachu, Serena and Bonnie.
- Serena - Ummm, aren't we forgetting something?
- Ash, Bonnie & Narrator - Huh?
- Bonnie - Uwahhhh! Clemont!
- 'I blew it! - Jessie after awakening the Snorlax
Trivia[]
- "Who's That Pokémon?:" Snorlax (US)
- "Pokémon Quiz:" Snorlax (JP)
- Serena breaks the fourth wall when she interrupts the narrator as the episode ends.
- Similar to Wake Up Snorlax!, Ash, Misty and Brock find ways to wake up Snorlax and ask a hippie for the PokéFlute.
- Like Pika and Goliath!, Allie, like Sho, demands Ash's Pikachu if they win the battle.
- In contrast with The Heartbreak of Brock, Allie falling in love with Clemont is similar to Temacu falling in love with Brock.
- Snorlax eating away crop roots to improve the harvest mirrors Ash's Snorlax, who ate away grapes in Snack Attack.
- The Italian dub, a redubbed version based on the American English dub, aired on May 15, 2014, two days before the English dub aired.
- In the English dub, James says "Your Highness doth protest too much, methinks" to Lord Shabboneau, a reference to a famous line from the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare.
Mistakes[]
- When Clemont is explaining Ash and the others what happened, his hair is colored orange instead of blonde.
Gallery[]
References[]
- ^ (n.d.) . "Awakening the Sleeping Giant! | Pokémon TV (pokemon.com)". From The Official Pokémon Website | Pokemon.com. Archived from the original on February 6, 2024.