XY121

Seeing the Forest for the Trees! (Japanese: 迷いの森・・・進化の夜明け！ The ... The Dawn of Evolution!) is the 121st episode of the, and the 920th episode of the Pokémon anime. It first aired in Japan on May 26, 2016 and in the United States on August 27, 2016.

Blurb
Ash is alone in the forest after losing at the Snowbelle Gym. Serena tracks him down, but they end up in a shouting match, and she runs off after angrily telling Ash to start acting like himself again!

Soon, a snowstorm sets in, and Ash takes shelter in a cave with some frightened Pokémon. He gets into trouble while trying to help a stranded Spewpa—but Greninja shows up just in time, and then shifts effortlessly into Ash-Greninja to rescue Spewpa!

When our heroes reunite, Ash promises not to overdo it again—a promise Greninja soon has to enforce when Ash learns the Kalos League is coming to Lumiose City!

Plot
After losing to Wulfric during the previous episode, is sitting alone in the, thinking about his recent defeat. Nurse Joy reveals to that his  also ran away, though she tells them that its strength was back to normal after its defeat. They don't know where Greninja went, but guesses that it ran off to find Ash. Tired of waiting, Serena decides to find Ash herself. asks her brother if Ash will be back, with responding that there's no need to worry. releases, , and from Ash's belt and asks them to find Ash, as he is worried about him. Meanwhile, is spying on Ash and wondering what is up with the twerp, and figured this will the perfect time to capture Pikachu. Greninja is also thinking about its recent battles and defeats, and wondering what it did wrong. Serena finds Ash in the woods, and ask if the latest gym battle is what was bothering him. She tells him that she understands from her experience from the contests, only for Ash yelling at her that she doesn't know how he felt and wanted to be alone. This gets Serena upset with Ash, and throws snowballs at him, saying that the Ash she knows always tries his best and never gives up. She ran off crying after the argument, as she wanted the real Ash back. This causes Ash to realize what Serena was talking about, and decides to get back into the Pokémon Center. Unfortunately, he rolls off the side of the mountain, getting lost in the process.

Pikachu and Ash's other Pokémon are still searching for their missing owner, and Bonnie is now wondering where Serena vanished off to, though she came back after her brother noticed. Serena was still upset with her scuffle with Ash, with the siblings wondering why she is huffy. Nurse Joy tells the group that a snowstorm is coming through, and they need to get back. Pikachu asks Serena about saving Ash, with Serena reluctantly agrees to help out. So everyone except Clemont decided to go out into the forest to find Ash, with Clemont saying he needs to get his backpack. While searching for Ash, he stayed inside a cave for shelter. But things got worse when Team Rocket showed up to capture Pikachu. Pikachu defended himself by shocking them using, though all it did was giving them a tickle. The trio decided that getting Pikachu isn't really worth it, as his shocks aren't as powerful and wouldn't be too happy. Serena and the group found Pikachu, but they saw that the storm is getting worse and they need to find Ash very soon. Squishy detected a and ran off to find it, with Pikachu following its trail. However, the cell vanished off, though the group found a cave nearby thanks to it. Serena felt regret from scolding Ash earlier, and tells the group that she really admired Ash and didn't want to see him down. Clemont tells that they all admired Ash, and they'll continue looking for him after the storm dies out.

Meanwhile, Ash is resting in a cave when he noticed a, , , , and out in the cold, and tells them that they can come inside, as he is friendly and is warm inside. He gets a instant flashback memory of his younger days, as this reminded him the time he offered some wild Pokémon shelter. Squishy decided to find Ash while the group were sleeping, though Pikachu notices a sound. Just as Ash was relaxing, he noticed a group of sitting on as tree branch out in the cold, and decides to rescue them. Greninja meets up with Squishy and points out where Ash is heading. Ash was just about to rescue the last Spewpa when the branch breaks off, making them both fall off, though were rescued thanks to Greninja. Ash was glad to see it, but it was short lived when the Spewpa fell off. Greninja transforms into Ash-Greninja and was able to rescue the falling Spewpa, thanks to Ash.

After the rescue, Ash stayed in the cave with Greninja and the other Pokémon and told Greninja about what happened prior to his days, similar to what happened earlier. When Ash got lost, he rescued some Pokémon before a rainstorm hit them, and stayed with them inside a tree until the storm ended. This was what inspired him to become trainer. Ash apologized to Greninja about what happened at the gym battle. He realized after spending some time, that a team is not someone who has to do it alone, but together. Ash tells Greninja that they should start their training again, as a team. Once the storm died down later, Ash and the group of Pokémon came out of the cave, with the group of Spewpa evolving into, and they flew off into the sky. The duo later found Serena and the others, and rejoined afterwards. Ash apologizes about leaving and before Serena could do the same towards Ash, he thanked her for snapping some sense into him. Squishy was happy, and contacts the other Zygarde Cells about Ash and Greninja's combined teamwork. But that gets interrupted with Team Rocket trying to get Pikachu, though that was stopped thanks to him and Greninja. Surprisingly, they were happy that a full throttle Thunderbolt blasted them off, as Pikachu is back in full strength.

The next morning, the group found out that the Kalos League will be held in Lumiose City. Just as they're about to leave, Greninja offers its Poké Ball to Ash, as a reminder of their friendship. Ash promised that they'll do better at the rematch. They're now excited to their eighth badge!

Major events

 * and perfect the Ash-Greninja form.
 * Ash and learn that the Kalos League will be held in Lumiose City.

Humans

 * Jessie
 * James
 * Nurse Joy
 * Professor Sycamore (flashback)
 * Jessie
 * James
 * Nurse Joy
 * Professor Sycamore (flashback)

Pokémon
Who's That Pokémon?: (US and international) Pokémon Quiz: (Japan)
 * (flashback)
 * (Ash-Greninja)
 * (flashback)
 * (Wulfric's; flashback)
 * (Squishy)
 * (Z2)
 * (multiple)
 * (×5)
 * (×2)
 * (×2)
 * (×6; evolve)
 * (×6; newly evolved; )
 * (×5; one flashback)
 * (flashback)
 * (flashback)
 * (flashback)
 * (flashback)
 * (multiple)
 * (×5)
 * (×2)
 * (×2)
 * (×6; evolve)
 * (×6; newly evolved; )
 * (×5; one flashback)
 * (flashback)
 * (flashback)
 * (flashback)
 * (flashback)
 * (flashback)
 * (flashback)
 * (flashback)
 * (flashback)

Trivia

 * Poké TV: "Pokémon Unbelievable" focusing on Ash's Greninja and its Ash-Greninja form.
 * In the Japanese version, no one reads the title card of this episode.
 * and Wulfric narrate the preview for the next episode.
 * Ash's Greninja remains outside of its Poké Ball for the entire episode.
 * A remix of is used as background music in this episode.
 * An instrumental version of Team Rocket's Team Song is also used in this episode.
 * Unlike in their white uniforms, this is the only time that the trio has blasted off in their winter outfits.
 * The backpack Ash wore as a child, as seen in the flashbacks, has the same color scheme as the one he used in the.
 * The sound of a Mega Evolved Pokémon reverting to its regular form is used when Ash-Greninja returns to its normal form.
 * This episode's dub title is a reference to the saying "can't see the forest for the trees".

Errors

 * In the dub, when Pikachu takes out Ash's Poké Balls, 's voice is mixed together with 's voice.
 * The footprints in the snow does not add up to what has happened, and sometimes there no prints at all.
 * After Ash gets up after falling over behind the log, there are no signs of him ever lying there.
 * Like in Championing a Research Battle! when gets ready to reach its final Ash-Greninja form, the star shape on its leg is cream instead of blue for a split second.
 * When Ash-Greninja is crouched down at the bottom of the mountain, the triangles next to its eyes are dark blue instead of white.
 * When Ash reunites with, the brim of his hat is colored red instead of white for a moment.
 * When Jessie commands Gourgeist to use on Pikachu, the tips of her third and fourth fingers are cut off when her arm is fully extended.

Dub edits

 * The title card is read by Ash in the dub.
 * An instrumental of Stand Tall is used as background music.

In other languages
Den Wald vor lauter Bäumen sehen! EP924 XY121 XY120 XY編第121話 精灵宝可梦 XY 第120集