SM035

Currying Favor and Flavor! (Japanese: カレーなバトル！ラランテスの舞！！ A Beautiful Curry Battle! The Dance of !!) is the 35th episode of the, and the 974th episode of the Pokémon anime. It first aired in Japan on July 27, 2017 and in the United States on October 14, 2017.

Blurb
Ash wants to get right to his grand trial with Kahuna Olivia, but she reminds him that he has to pass the preliminary trials first. Today, though, she has another plan in mind: sending the students out to gather ingredients for the famous Akala Curry!

Ash and Mallow team up to look for herbs and berries in the forest, and they run into an unexpected challenge: the Totem Pokémon Lurantis! Ash defeats it, earning a Grass-type Z-Crystal—and when he gets back to Olivia, she reveals that the day’s activities were his preliminary trials in disguise. He passed with flying colors, so the grand trial can proceed!

Plot
The episode begins with, all geared up for a heated battle against Kahuna Olivia. But to his astonishment every time he throws a Poké Ball, it fails to release the Pokémon residing inside, and drops down ineffectively. Suddenly, a Poké Ball gets enlarged dramatically, and turns into a, moments before it electrocutes Ash.

Ash wakes up panting heavily, drenched in cold sweat; emitting such a loud scream that it wakes his sleeping classmates.

In the breakfast table, Ash declares that he just can't wait for his upcoming grand trial against Olivia. But both and Olivia remind him that he first has to clear the island trial.

Kukui and Olivia inform the students that, as part of their daily curriculum, they will be divided into three teams, provided with maps with some basic information, to fetch all the ingredients that are essential to prepare the island's years-old delicacy: the Akala curry. and are paired, followed by  and, and lastly, Ash and. The three items Ash and Mallow are to collect are Mago Berry, Revival Herb and Miracle Seed. Mallow is excited and states that Miracle Seeds are exceedingly rare. As Ash and Mallow begin to leave, Olivia calls Mallow back and shares some secret with her, unbeknownst to Ash.

First, they decide to collect a Mago Berry. According to the map, the tree can be found at a nearby hilltop, which Ash quickly locates. Mallow and Ash venture up the hill, but when Ash wakes the sleeping group of, the angry Fomantis attack with a combined attack, forcing them to retreat. With the group of Fomantis standing guard between themselves and the Mago Berries, Ash decides to send a half-sleepy for the job, who can fly silently to the summit and collect the berry. But the plan proves to be ineffectual, when it falls asleep midway. Seeing no other alternative, Ash and Mallow carefully tiptoe to the summit, but unfortunately get struck by a 's on the way. By comically holding their breath they manage to prevent an almost unavoidable sneeze. Just as they reach the summit, Ash trips over and falls flat on his face. As everyone laughs, all the Fomantis become enraged and fire Leafage and collectively at them. Ash is sent flying, and crashing downhill, but fortunately, with the Mago Berry clasped tightly in his hand.

The next ingredient is a Revival Herb, that can be found at a nearby rocky mound. Although this task initially appears difficult, Pikachu quickly locates the Revival Herbs using his acute sense of smell. With a little effort, Mallow and Ash squeeze themselves inside the narrow grotto and collect the herbs.

The final ingredient is the rare Miracle seed. The group venture off into a cave with multiple tunnels branching off at every juncture. At one point, Ash falls into a pit made by Alolan Diglett, who quickly attacks and forces the group out of the tunnel. Ash then finds a whisker of an Alolan Diglett which allows to navigate the right way out while avoiding the Alolan Digleet living in the cave.

Once they leave the cave, the group find themselves amidst a paradise of colorful flowers and lush foliage. Ash and Mallow find a hollow tree stump, inside which, a wide variety of berries are stacked. Digging into the pile, Ash finds the Miracle Seed. But their celebration is interrupted when a colossal Pokémon swats them away with. Rotom identifies it as, the Bloom Sickle Pokémon, but its size tells Ash that it is a Totem Pokémon.

Ash summons, and orders an. The move strikes Lurantis, but it charges up a, and viciously retaliates, sending Litten reeling. When Lurantis charges another Solar Blade, Litten interrupts it with. After another Solar Blade misses, Lurantis calls for an ally, and it turns out to be a, that transforms into its Sunny form after using. The bright sunlight allows Lurantis to use Solar Blade without building up power. Castform further helps by incapacitating Litten with a super-effective. Being outmatched and outnumbered, Ash sends out Rowlet. After a heated skirmish, Rowlet's eventually eliminates Castform from the battle.

With Castform's defeat, the effects of Sunny Day also disappear. Taking advantage of the time taken to unleash Solar Blade, Ash has Litten use, which finally knocks out Lurantis. Mallow revives Castform and Lurantis with some extra leaves of the Revival Herbs, and Ash is awarded a Grassium Z by the Totem Pokémon.

Suddenly, Olivia pops out and congratulates all of them with warm embraces. She reveals that, gathering ingredients for the Akala curry was part of the island trial. Ash suspects Mallow's involvement in Olivia's plan, to which she sheepishly gives a nod. They celebrate Ash's victory, nevertheless.

While relishing the palatable dishes of the Akala curry at the dinner table, Ash is informed by Olivia, that he is now eligible for the grand trial. Olivia adds that she is going to be a formidable challenge. Ash excitingly and enthusiastically contemplates his upcoming hurdle, as the sun sinks below the horizon.

Major events



 * Ash's Litten performs for the first time.
 * clears the trial in Lush Jungle, earning a Grassium Z from the  as a reward.
 * Ash becomes qualified to challenge Olivia's grand trial.

Humans

 * Nurse Joy
 * Olivia
 * Nurse Joy
 * Olivia
 * Nurse Joy
 * Olivia
 * Nurse Joy
 * Olivia
 * Olivia

Pokémon
Who's That Pokémon?: (US and international),  (Japan)
 * (Alola Form)
 * ('s; Alola Form; Snowy)
 * (multiple; debut)
 * (Alola Form; ×3)
 * (debut)
 * (dream)
 * (Alola Form)
 * ('s; Alola Form; Snowy)
 * (multiple; debut)
 * (Alola Form; ×3)
 * (debut)
 * (dream)
 * (multiple; debut)
 * (Alola Form; ×3)
 * (debut)
 * (dream)
 * (debut)
 * (dream)
 * (dream)
 * (dream)

Trivia

 * Poké Problem: What is the Pokémon that appears in today's episode?
 * Host:
 * Choices:, , ,
 * Answer: Lurantis
 * , Mallow, and narrate the preview for the next episode.
 * The scene Ash battles Olivia in his dream is recycled of when he faces Hala in Trial and Tribulation!, including the background, Ash's position, and 's movements.
 * In the scene where Ash wakes up, he is seen wearing the same white t-shirt with a head resembling the Pokémon 20th Anniversary logo on it, that was previously seen in So Long, Sophocles!.
 * Ash, Mallow, and read out the Who's That Pokémon? segment in the English dub.
 * refers to a technique in mathematics and computer science, and was named in reference to logician.

Errors

 * When Ash performs his Z-Move pose, he isn't shown wearing his backpack like in the previous shot. This is likely because the animation was taken from previous episodes where Ash does this pose.
 * Additionally, Ash's Z-Ring is shown equipped with the Electrium Z throughout the battle, but it changes into the Normalium Z when Litten uses.

Dub edits

 * The Japanese text depicting 's names are edited out in the dub.

In other languages
Eine geschmackvolle Aufgabe! EP978 SL035 SM035 SM編第35話 精灵宝可梦 太阳＆月亮 第35集