XY122

A Real Icebreaker! (Japanese: サトシゲッコウガVSメガユキノオー！発動巨大水手裏剣！！  VS Mega ! Unleash the Giant Water Shuriken!!) is the 122nd episode of the, and the 921st episode of the Pokémon anime. It first aired in Japan on June 2, 2016 and in the United States on September 3, 2016.

Blurb
After a breakthrough, Ash is back at the Snowbelle City Gym for a rematch with Wulfric—and this time, things are quite different! Wulfric challenges Ash to show him a fiery battle, and Ash certainly delivers, as his Pikachu and Talonflame take down the Gym Leader’s Bergmite and Avalugg before the exciting final face-off.

It’s Greninja versus Abomasnow…and then it’s Ash-Greninja versus Mega Abomasnow, as Wulfric reveals an unexpected Key Stone! Even in the face of such a challenge, Ash-Greninja rises to the occasion, and Ash wins his final Gym badge and qualifies for the Kalos League!

Plot
returns to the Snowbelle Gym for a rematch. Inside the Gym, calls to Ash in a worried voice, but Ash responds by convincing her and the others that he will definitely win this time. Inside the Gym, Wulfric is eager to battle Ash for a rematch, only to be stopped by the apprentice because he had not explained the rules yet. Wulfric convinces his apprentice that it's okay, as Ash had a battle earlier and would know the rules.

After the apprentice begins the battle, Wulfric sends out as his first Pokémon. At first Ash becomes a little confused over Wulfric's choice, but quickly sends as his first Pokémon. The fight starts with Pikachu using which is easily dodged by Bergmite by skating on the ice battlefield, as Ash expected. Bergmite responds with, which Pikachu manages to dodge, but the cold air created by the wind numbs his lower body. Ash calls out for a, but Pikachu's speed gets reduced because of effect of Icy Wind and is easily dodged. Pikachu instead retaliates with, which scores a direct hit. Wulfric is surprised to see that Pikachu is still able to keep up with Bergmite's speed and calls out his secret move,, which encases Bergmite in a crystal of ice and raises its attack stat. Bergmite then uses. Though Pikachu tries to dodge, Bergmite scores a direct hit. Suddenly, Ash is struck with inspiration, and tells Pikachu to run around the battlefield, which warms him back up and melts the ice on his lower body. Wulfric tries to stop Pikachu by calling out Rapid Spin, which is countered by Pikachu's Quick Attack, followed by an which knocks out Bergmite.

Wulfric sends out as his second Pokémon. Pikachu starts by scoring a direct hit with Thunderbolt, only to be stopped by Avalugg's counterattack. Pikachu starts skating on ice to dodge any further attacks, but is followed by Avalugg's. Pikachu uses Iron Tail to create a hole on the battlefield to trap Avalugg's Gyro Ball. The trap works, but Wulfric and Avalugg counter with. Even though Pikachu tries to destroy the rock spires, he is finally hit and is knocked out of the battle.

Ash sends out as his second Pokémon. Before the battle continues, Wulfric notices a newfound spark in Talonflame's eyes. Ash and Talonflame start with, landing a direct hit. Avalugg retaliates with Stone Edge, which chases down Talonflame and causes it to crash into the super-effective move. Talonflame responds with a direct hit from, digging into Avalugg's flat top as it strikes. Avalugg attacks with Avalanche, which sends Talonflame into a free fall, but Talonflame recovers and counters with Flame Charge. The intense fire and smoke from Flame Charge briefly engulfs Avalugg, and as it disperses, Avalugg is shown to be knocked out.

Wulfric sends out as his last Pokémon. Like last time, Abomasnow summons a hailstorm due to its Ability, which begins eating at Talonflame's stamina. Talonflame tries to open the battle with Steel Wing, but is intercepted by Abomasnow's instead. It retaliates with Flame Charge, but Abomasnow's chase down Talonflame and stop it again. Abomasnow finishes Talonflame with another Wood Hammer, knocking Talonflame out.

Ash sends out as his last Pokémon against Abomasnow. Greninja opens with two successive s followed by two s. After that, it successfully stops Abomasnow's with. Coming back to its side of the arena, Greninja flinches from the pain cause from the hail. Abomasnow tries to strike with Wood Hammer, but is stopped when Greninja freezes itself in ice. Breaking out of the icy shield, Ash and Greninja decide to activate Ash-Greninja form and gain the upper hand. Wulfric immediately notices the differences in Greninja and its trainer, to which Ash proclaims they've become even stronger.

Ash-Greninja launches back into battle with a series of Aerial Ace attacks. Abomasnow tries to fight back with Wood Hammer, but is stopped by Ash-Greninja's Cut, which has now manifested itself a pair of knives formed with water, similar to Water Shuriken. Ash-Greninja then follows up with a giant Water Shuriken. Impressed and backed into a corner, Wulfric reveals a Key Stone embedded in his locket, and Mega Evolves his Abomasnow.

Ash-Greninja attacks with another Water Suriken, but Mega Abomasnow's freezes and shatters it. Mega Abomasnow follows up with Ice Shard, which strikes Ash-Greninja. Ash and Ash-Greninja combine and Aerial Ace, attacking Mega Abomasnow in droves, but Mega Abomasnow knocks the clones away with Wood Hammer and strikes Ash-Greninja. starts to get upper hand in battle. Mega Abomasnow launches another series of Ice Shards, but Ash-Greninja strikes them down with its enhanced Cut. As Ash-Greninja approaches, Mega Abomasnow counters with Ice Punch, freezing Ash-Greninja's water knives. Just as Mega Abomasnow attempted to finish the battle with an extremely powerful Wood Hammer, Ash made Ash-Greninja use frozen water knives to skate on the icy battlefield, greatly enhancing its mobility, and allowing it to dodge Wood Hammer and Ice Shard. Ash-Greninja distracts Wulfric with a giant Water Shuriken aimed at Mega Abomasnow's feet, allowing Ash-Greninja to finish the fight with another series of Aerial Aces. Ash-Greninja reverts to normal, and Ash and his friends let out a cheer.

Ash calls out all his Pokémon to celebrate his hard-earned victory, as Serena,, and come down to congratulate him. Wulfric proudly presents Ash with the, allowing him to enter the Kalos League. At nighttime, outside the Pokemon Center, Ash vows to train hard to win the Kalos League with his Pokémon.

Major events



 * has a rematch against Wulfric and wins, earning the and thus qualifying for the Kalos League.
 * Ash and prepare to head back to Lumiose City in order to participate in the Lumiose Conference.

Humans

 * Wulfric
 * Apprentice
 * Wulfric
 * Apprentice
 * Wulfric
 * Apprentice

Pokémon
Who's That Pokémon?: (US and international) Pokémon Quiz: Ash's Greninja (Ash-Greninja) (Japan)
 * (Ash-Greninja)
 * (Wulfric's; )
 * (Wulfric's)
 * (Wulfric's)
 * (Squishy)
 * (Wulfric's; )
 * (Wulfric's)
 * (Wulfric's)
 * (Squishy)
 * (Squishy)

Trivia

 * Poké TV: "Poké Love TV" Focusing on.
 * This episode is the first time since Just One of the Geysers where uses a different line-up of Pokémon in a rematch against a Gym Leader. In this case, he substitutes his  for.
 * The tactic used by Ash where uses the frozen Cut "knives" as ice skates to maneuver around the field and avoid  is similar to the move used by Ash's Chimchar in Sliding Into Seventh!, during Ash's Snowpoint Gym battle with Candice, where it used an ice shard to skate around the field.
 * Similarly, both instances were used against an Abomasnow, and both times were used to avoid Ice Shard and.
 * A remix of is used as an insert song in this episode when Greninja transforms into Ash-Greninja.
 * An instrumental version of XY&Z is used during the battle between Ash-Greninja and.
 * Clemont's Dedenne, Ash,, and narrate the preview for the next episode.
 * At the end of the preview, Ash and Bonnie say the catchphrase "Everyone, keep Pokémon!", with Bonnie saying the "keep" part and Ash saying the rest, instead of Ash saying his "Everyone, get Pokémon!" phrase.
 * Despite it having existed since Generation I, this episode marks the anime debut of.
 * When Greninja is first brought into the battle, its pose matches its battle pose from the games.
 * This is the final episode of the in which the Team Rocket trio doesn't appear.

Errors

 * is missing her ponytail on multiple occasions.
 * Once when Ash and arrive at the gym as the doors open.
 * In the same shot, the space between and 's head is colored the same as Pikachu, making it seem as if his head were larger.
 * As Ash and his friends walk into the Gym, and also when Wulfric speaks to Ash before the battle starts.
 * After Ash's Greninja transforms into Ash-Greninja.
 * Throughout the episode, Clemont's Dedenne appears to be much larger than usual.
 * When Ash-Greninja is about to hit Abomasnow with Aerial Ace, the tip of its giant shuriken is cream instead of light blue.
 * At the same point, the stripes on Ash-Greninja's head have their colours reversed.
 * When Greninja uses Cut and Abomasnow uses Wood Hammer, the giant water shuriken is missing when Greninja does a backflip.
 * The giant shuriken is missing again when Ash-Greninja is in the air after Mega Abomasnow destroys Water Shuriken. However, this may have been because it just used Water Shuriken and it takes some time to regenerate.
 * When Greninja begins to use Cut against Mega Abomasnow's the triangle near its right eye is blue instead of white.
 * This happens again for a split second, before Greninja lands to the floor after Greninja's Cut gets frozen by Ice Punch.
 * After Greninja dodges Mega Abomasnow's Wood Hammer and is in the air, the bottom part of its hair is gray instead of black.
 * At the same point, Ash-Greninja's eyelid is blue, like it is as a normal Greninja, instead of black.
 * As Greninja uses at the end of the battle, there is one moment where the white bump on Greninja's right arm is cream.
 * There are also several frames where they are blue rather than white.
 * In the Dutch dub, after Abomasnow beats Talonflame, the referee says Abomaflame is the winner, instead of Abomasnow, mixing up the names of the two Pokémon.
 * On the Pokémon TV, this episode was erroneously given its  name.

Dub edits

 * is replaced with an instrumental version of Stand Tall.

In other languages
Ein echter Eisbrecher! EP925 XY122 XY121 XY編第122話 精灵宝可梦 XY 第121集