DP151

The Needs of the Three! (Japanese: アグノム・ユクシー・エムリット！ ,, !) is the 151st episode of the , and the 617th episode of the Pokémon anime. It first aired in Japan, as part of a one-hour special along with DP152 on November 12, 2009, and in the United States on April 3, 2010.

Blurb
Ash, Brock, and Dawn all seem to be having the same dream, in which the three Legendary Pokémon Azelf, Mesprit, and Uxie are calling them and asking them for help. When Pokémon Hunter J arrives at Lake Valor to catch Azelf on Team Galactic's behalf, Gary Oak is there to try and stop them. Unfortunately, Gary is unsuccessful, and Hunter J takes Azelf as a prisoner! Legend says that if one of the three Legendary Pokémon is taken hostage, the other two will appear. True enough-Mesprit and Uxie show up as soon as Azelf is captured. A powerful battle ensues, but Hunter J ultimately manages to capture all three Legendary Pokémon, and then gives the trio to Team Galactic. As Hunter J attempts to leave, Mesprit and Uxie unleash a powerful Future Sight attack, and Hunter J's ship goes down in flames.

Team Galactic now has everything it needs to call forth the Legendary Pokémon Dialga and Palkia. The process causes great pain to Azelf, Mesprit, and Uxie, as well as to Ash, Dawn, and Brock, who seem to be psychically connected to the three Legendary Pokémon. But Ash refuses to allow Team Galactic to continue, and our heroes begin a massive assault against them. The epic battle is just about to begin!

Plot
The episode opens in a dream-like world, as, , and are greeted by the. Suddenly, the dream world darkens as the lake trio runs away from a dark energy. Though Ash and pursue, the energy bands catch up to the lake trio. Ash and his friends suddenly wake up, realizing that they all had the same dream.

The next day at Lake Valor, J's ship appears from its cloaking field and opens its ventral hatch, preparing the Galactic Bomb. and his spot the ship and reports to Professor Rowan over his radio. In Sandgem Town, the Professor confirms through a live feed from his lab and decides to alert Yuzo and Professor Carolina at Lakes Verity and Acuity. Gary tries to stop the ship with, but Saturn's Toxicroak intervenes with a , putting himself between Gary and J. Umbreon attempts to use , but Toxicroak quickly stops Umbreon with an attack before Umbreon can attack. Meanwhile, J sends the order to release the bomb. It descends into the lake's depths and explodes into a brilliant blue light, affecting. At the same time, Ash feels a sharp pain in his head, knowing that Azelf was affected and connects it to their dream. The bomb creates a gap in the lake, revealing an orb of blue light at the lake's bottom. Saturn mentions that the bomb was made from the Veilstone City meteorite and can open a hole in space connecting to where the lake trio live. While Professor Rowan fills Ash and his friends in on the situation at Lake Valor, Yuzo notices activity at Lake Verity, while Carolina notes activity at Lake Acuity. Back at the lake, Gary and Saturn observe the event, as J rides out on her.

Gary tries to intervene again with Electivire's, but a from Toxicroak stops that attempt. The s send out many to aid J as her Salamence fires  at the blue orb. The orb brightens and disappears, revealing the lake guardian Azelf. Surrounded by Golbat, Azelf fires to take down the Golbat, as they try to hit with. Azelf dodges them, but Salamence blocks Azelf. J fires her bracelet at Azelf, and although it tries to block with Extrasensory, both attacks go through each other. While J and Salamence take the hit, Azelf is turned to stone and placed on a capture plate. Almost instantly, Ash feels the pain and they decide to head out. Back at Team Galactic HQ, Cyrus and Charon observe the live events on screen as Cyrus recites the key part of the legend, revealing that if one of the lake trio members fall, the others would appear in short order. As predicted, his scouts at the other lakes reported brief sighting of the other lake guardians. Dawn and Brock both feel the cries of and, and after talking with Rowan, decide to head to Lake Valor. Outside, Cynthia pulls up in a. While Saturn takes the captured Azelf, Uxie, and Mesprit arrive on scene, noticing their fallen comrade and try to free Azelf with Extrasensory attacks, but are forced to dodge 's and 's  attacks. Jupiter and Mars have the Golbat attack. Both proceed to dodge before launching dual attacks. The attacks go into the sky and dissipate, before J uses her bracelet to freeze Mesprit. Uxie fires another Extrasensory attack, cracking J's goggles. While Uxie smirks, J hits Uxie with the bracelet, freezing the final member of the lake trio, completing her mission.

Ash and his friends race to Lake Valor in Cynthia's SUV. Dawn and Brock also begin to feel sharp pain as Cynthia informs them that Looker is on Mt. Coronet and they need to contact him. Back at the lake, Gary watches helplessly as Team Galactic takes the lake trio. J and Salamence debrief and head back to their ship, preparing to head back to base. Suddenly, the Future Sight attack strikes and knocks out the ship's engines, sending it into the whirlpool. Inside, J and her crew brace as the ship hits the edge of the whirlpool and takes on water, the glass ports breaking and the ship descending into the depths before creating a huge explosion. Team Galactic makes their getaway in their chopper, leaving a frustrated Gary behind.

rides in their balloon towards Mt. Coronet looking for Team Galactic. They spot Looker on the ground and land to meet him. Looker informs them about the situation and tries to keep them quiet, wanting to stop them. Team Rocket decides to help. They notice Team Galactic security and plan to use a mimic disguise to get in.

Meanwhile, Cynthia drives Ash and his friends as Rowan informs Ash that Gary is okay, but Team Galactic got away. Cynthia brings up the and mentions that Team Galactic has everything needed to summon Dialga and Palkia, possibly unlocking powers beyond their comprehension. At the team's headquarters, Charon starts his experiment as the others watch. The Red Chain fragments are put into the stasis cells holding the lake trio, embedding the fragments on their foreheads and removing them from freeze, painfully drawing their power, which sends waves of pain through Ash and his friends. Suddenly, Ash and his friends are ed out of Cynthia's SUV, causing her to stop.

Ash and his friends are suddenly pulled into Team Galactic HQ, stunning everyone. They notice the imprisoned lake trio as Brock's Croagunk comes out, ready to battle its rival Saturn's Toxicroak. Mars and Jupiter summon Purugly and Skuntank, and everyone is ready to fight, but Cyrus calmly calls them out about human emotion hampering human advancement. Ash and his friends notice and find out that he is the leader of Team Galactic. Cyrus openly announces his intentions and plans to create a new world, Ash and his friends are not going to stand for it. Despite being surrounded, Ash and his friends decide to help, and  attacking the stasis cells while Croagunk attacks Toxicroak.

Major events



 * and meet up with Cynthia again.
 * J succeeds in capturing the and hands them over to Team Galactic.
 * J's ship is destroyed by and 's  and crashes into Lake Valor, leaving J's fate unknown.
 * The lake guardians are placed under Cyrus's control, but they manage to Ash,, and  to the Team Galactic HQ before being completely subdued.
 * Ash and his friends learn that Cyrus is the boss of Team Galactic.
 * Cyrus prepares to summon and.

Humans

 * Jessie
 * James
 * J
 * Cyrus
 * Saturn
 * Mars
 * Jupiter
 * Charon
 * s
 * J's henchmen
 * Looker
 * Cynthia
 * Professor Carolina
 * Professor Rowan
 * Gary Oak
 * Yuzo
 * Professor Rowan
 * Gary Oak
 * Yuzo

Pokémon

 * (Jupiter's)
 * (s'; multiple)
 * (multiple)
 * (Jupiter's)
 * (s'; multiple)
 * (multiple)
 * (Jupiter's)
 * (s'; multiple)
 * (multiple)
 * (Jupiter's)
 * (s'; multiple)
 * (multiple)
 * (multiple)
 * (multiple)
 * (multiple)
 * (multiple)

Trivia

 * There is no Professor Oak's Big Pokémon Examination following this episode (due to it being shown immediately before The Battle Finale of Legend!).
 * During the title card sequence in the Japanese version, the title card music from the is played instead of the normal music.
 * Music from Celebi: The Voice of the Forest, The Rise of Darkrai, and Giratina and the Sky Warrior are played during this episode.
 * This is the first time that, , and appear in their physical forms. They previously appeared as projected souls in Following A Maiden's Voyage!, Pruning a Passel of Pals!, and Uncrushing Defeat!, respectively.
 * In the Japanese version, the title card is read by, , and . In the dub, Ash reads the title alone as usual.
 * In this episode, J used a Galactic Bomb on Lake Valor, which is what Saturn did in the games.
 * Despite sharing the same name in both Japanese and English, has two different voice actors for both languages.
 * doesn't blast off or recite their in this episode.

Errors

 * Gary's Umbreon looks much larger than it actually is in one scene.
 * Both and  use  during this episode, a move neither can legally learn.

In other languages
Kampf um das See-Trio EP620 DP151 DP151 DP編第151話 精灵宝可梦 钻石＆珍珠 第149集