XY043

Origins of Mega Evolution!

XY043   EP842 マスタータワー！メガシンカの歴史！！ Master Tower! The History of Mega Evolution!!

First broadcast Japan September 18, 2014 United States November 8, 2014

English themes Opening Pokémon Theme (Version XY) Ending

Japanese themes Opening メガＶ（メガボルト） Ending ピースマイル！

Credits Animation Team Kato Screenplay 面出明美 Akemi Omode Storyboard 尼野浩正 Hiromasa Amano Assistant director 渡辺正彦 Masahiko Watanabe Animation director 夏目久仁彦 Kunihiko Natsume No additional credits are available at this time.

Screenshots on Filb.de Preview thread on BMGf Closed Original review thread on BMGf Dub review thread on BMGf

Origins of Mega Evolution! (Japanese: マスタータワー！メガシンカの歴史！！ Master Tower! The History of Mega Evolution!!) is the 43rd episode of the XY series, and the 842nd episode of the Pokémon anime. It first aired in Japan on September 18, 2014 and in the United States on November 8, 2014.

Spoiler warning: this article may contain major plot or ending details.

Blurb

Our heroes have arrived in Shalour City, but the Gym is inside the Tower of Mastery, which sits on an island with no apparent way to get there. Korrina comes to meet them and advises patience, which gives Ash some extra time to train! His Pokémon have really picked up on Tierno's rhythmic battle style, but it seems Ash doesn't quite have the dancing skills to pull it off.

Low tide reveals the path to the island, and our heroes cross, eager for a Gym battle—but first, Gurkinn has a history lesson for them. He tells how one of his ancestors discovered Mega Evolution along with his partner, Lucario, and mentions the family's treasured Scroll of Secrets...which catches Team Rocket's attention. The villains try to steal the scroll, but Korrina and her Mega Lucario quickly send them blasting off again!

As thanks, Gurkinn decides to let his granddaughter and our heroes see the Scroll of Secrets. Much to their dismay, the "secrets" turn out to be his own common-sense rules for life, rather than any new information about Mega Evolution. But there's no time for disappointment—it's time for Ash and Korrina's Gym battle!

Plot

The heroes arrive in Shalour City and go the the Pokémon Center to see Nurse Joy, who heals their Pokémon. Ash goes to challenge Korrina, but Clemont worries they are tough opponents, while Serena reminds Ash he has not mastered the dance moves Tierno showed him. Ash believes he will find a strategy and will give his best in defeating Korrina. They come out and see the Gym is supposed to be on an island. However, Ash is frustrated, as there are no bridges to cross to that island. Suddenly, Korrina and Lucario appear, telling Ash his heart will show him the path to power and welcome the heroes to Shalour City. Ash confirms he came to challenge Korrina, who has kept a perfect track. Clemont asks how will they come to the Gym, but Korrina replies they can't, shocking Ash.

Korrina tells one must wait patiently for a fight, as her grandpa taught all these wise lines. Ash wants to battle now, but Clemont replies he could train for the battle instead. Ash sends his Pokémon, so Korrina sees Ash got a Hawlucha and Fletchling evolved. Korrina sees she shouldn't watch them train, but Ash does not mind, as he has nothing to hide in the battle. He goes to practice with his Pokémon the dancing style Tierno showed. Clemont starts the music, causing the Pokémon to dance, even Chespin joins the training. Serena, Clemont and Bonnie see everyone but Ash dances well. Bonnie laughs, though Korrina and Lucario are surprised at this training. Clemont has a glint in the eye and makes a new device to improve Ash's dancing, attaching it to Ash's limbs. Clemont activates the machine, forcing Ash to dance. Clemont speeds it up, causing Ash to be spinned too much. The machine works too much and explodes.

Clemont apologises to Ash, as the machine blew up. Serena offers to teach Ash, as she knows how to dance. Moments later, Ash falls down from exhaustion, but he still does not know how to dance. Clemont tells that everyone has things they are good or bad at. Ash still thanks Clemont and Serena. Korrina tells it is time to cross the island. At the beach, the heroes see the sea retreats, forming a path to the island. After reaching the island, Korrina points out the Gym is inside the Master Tower. Ash goes inside, but Gurkinn appears and goes to tell them a story, which is the rule to anyone that comes to the island. They go inside the tower, though Korrina whispers to Ash her grandpa's stories are long. Gurkinn shows them the statue of Mega Lucario and begins to tell the story.

A man and his Lucario came on this island to search for knowledge. They saw two stones and picked them up. This caused them to react, causing Lucario to evolve into Mega Lucario, which was the first Mega Evolution in the world. The heroes are amazed and see Korrina is already a great Gym Leader, as she knows how to evolve Lucario. Gurkinn disagrees, finding her unworthy of having the secret document, rules that a Gym Leader should have. The heroes would like to see it, but Gurkinn responds only those that proved themselves can see it. Ash gets hungry, so they all agree to have dinner and stay in the tower. Team Rocket overheard the story and plan on stealing the document. They search Gurkinn's room, but Jessie nearly knocked the books and a vase down, but James and Meowth caught those in time. They search in the twerps' room, but found nothing. However, they see that they haven't looked on the statue.

They climb up and James puts his hand in the mouth of the statue. It opens and Meowth finds the secret documents. However, this triggers the alarm, causing the heroes, Korrina and Gurkinn to encounter Team Rocket. Korrina and Ash speed up, while James sends Inkay, who uses Psybeam, causing a gap in the floor. Korrina almost falls down, but Ash and Lucario catch her. Inkay uses Psybeam once more, but Pikachu cancels it using Thunderbolt. Team Rocket goes out of the tower to their balloon, but Pikachu pierces the balloon with Iron Tail, preventing their escape and enraging Meowth and James. Jessie sends Pumpkaboo, while Korrina decides to handle the situation herself. Inkay uses Psybeam, which Lucario dodges. Pumpkaboo uses Shadow Ball, but Lucario throws it back using Bone Rush. Team Rocket are very angry, so they all attack in same time. Pumpkaboo uses Shadow Ball, Inkay attempts to use Tackle, and Meowth tries to use Fury Swipes, but Lucario dodges all 3 attacks. Korrina uses the Mega Stone, evolving Lucario into Mega Lucario.

Pumpkaboo uses Shadow Ball, but Mega Lucario throws it away with Bone Rush, causing Team Rocket to blast off. Korrina retrieves the document, while Ash acknowledges Korrina trained Lucario well. Seeing that Korrina saved the document, Gurkinn reads it: one must wake up early, eat and drink moderately, be organized and wash hands when coming from outdoors. Serena questions if the document is really secret, but Gurkinn tells these are facts to become a great Gym Leader, as he wrote them himself. Clemont wonders if there is anything about history or Mega Evolution. Gurkinn responds there is nothing about it, causing everyone to fall down in disappointment.

Next day, Ash faces Korrina, who slides using her roller skates. Ash admits he is excited, but Serena and Clemont worry if he will do well, while Bonnie supports Ash to do his best.

Major events

• Ash and his friends arrive in Shalour City and meet up with Korrina again.
• Ash prepares to start his Gym battle with Korrina.

For a list of all major events in the anime, please see the history page.

Debuts

Pokémon debuts

Characters

Humans

Pokémon Quiz

• Ash
• Serena
• Clemont
• Bonnie
• Jessie
• James
• Nurse Joy
• Korrina
• Gurkinn
• Gurkinn's ancestor (flashback)
• Citizens

Pokémon

Who's That Pokémon?

Who's That Pokémon?: Pumpkaboo (US and international)
Pokémon Quiz: Fletchinder (Japan)

• Pikachu (Ash's)
• Meowth (Team Rocket)
• Wobbuffet (Jessie's)
• Dedenne (Clemont's)
• Froakie (Ash's)
• Fletchinder (Ash's)
• Hawlucha (Ash's)
• Chespin (Clemont's)
• Pumpkaboo (Jessie's)
• Inkay (James's)
• Wigglytuff (Nurse Joy's)
• Lucario (Korrina's; Mega Lucario)
• Lucario (Mega Lucario; flashback)
• Furfrou (no Trim)
• Tepig (toy)

Trivia

• Mairin's Mega Evolution Journal: Mega Swampert
• This is the first time that the Pokémon Quiz segment features a Pokémon that has already been featured. In this case, Fletchinder was featured 22 episodes ago.
• The time between this episode's Japanese version's airing and its dubbed version's airing is only 51 days, breaking the record of the shortest gap between the airing of the Japanese version and the regular dubbed version of an episode, not taking into account the XY series sneak peek event.

Errors

• During the shot of Shalour City at evening, the mountains located behind the city hills are missing.

Dub edits

• The dub's title card segment focuses on Ash instead of Korrina in the Polish dub.

In other languages

Language		Title
Chinese	Cantonese	精練之塔！超進化的歷史!!
	Mandarin	精練之塔！超進化的歷史!!
Danish		Megaudviklingens oprindelse!
Dutch		De oorsprong van mega-evolutie!
Finnish		Megakehityksen alkuperä!
European French		L'origine de la Méga-évolution !
German		Der Ursprung der Mega-Entwicklung!
Greek		Οι Ρίζες της Μέγα Εξέλιξης!
Italian		Le origini della megaevoluzione!
Korean		마스터 타워! 메가진화의 역사!!
Norwegian		Mega-evolusjonens opprinnelse!
Polish		Geneza megaewolucji!
Brazilian Portuguese		Origens da Mega Evolução!
Russian		Корни мега-эволюции
European Spanish		¡Los Orígenes de la Megaevolución!
Swedish		Mega-utvecklingens ursprung!
Thai		มาสเตอร์ทาวเวอร์! ประวัติศาสตร์แห่งการพัฒนาร่างเมก้า!!
Turkish		Mega evrimin kökenleri!
Vietnamese		Tòa tháp chuyên gia! Lịch sử tiến hóa Mega

This episode article is part of Project Anime, a Bulbapedia project that covers all aspects of the Pokémon anime.