SM041

Mounting an Electrifying Charge!

SM041   EP980 ダッシュ！デンヂムシ Dash! Dendimushi

First broadcast Japan September 7, 2017 United States November 25, 2017

English themes Opening Under The Alolan Sun Ending

Japanese themes Opening めざせポケモンマスター -20th Anniversary- Ending ポーズ

Credits Animation Team Kato Screenplay 面出明美 Akemi Omode Storyboard 樋口香里 Kaori Higuchi Assistant director 小柴純弥 Junya Koshiba Animation directors 伊藤典子 Noriko Itō 矢田木瀧 Taki Yatagi 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

Mounting an Electrifying Charge! (Japanese: ダッシュ！デンヂムシ Dash! Dendimushi) is the 41st episode of Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon, and the 980th episode of the Pokémon anime. It first aired in Japan on September 7, 2017 and in the United States on November 25, 2017 as part of a marathon including Alola, Kanto! and I Choose You!.

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

Blurb

Sophocles has wanted to enter a Charjabug race for a long time, and now with Ash and Kiawe on his team, he finally can! The huge event features tough competitors, including the arrogant Red Comet team and a disguised Team Rocket.

Red Comet is favored to win, and it starts out strong! But when it’s time to confront a giant sheet of ice, everyone has problems—except for a quick-thinking Sophocles, who uses his Charjabug’s String Shot move to maintain traction. As Red Comet looks on in horror, the Sophocles Lab team reaches the finish line and becomes the happy winner!

Plot

Kiawe, Ash, and Sophocles are watching an advertisement showing Charjabug racers. Sophocles explains what they do and reveals that he is joining an annual race they set up, but he requires a team of three to enter. Ash and Kiawe promptly agree to enter the race with him. After school, Sophocles shows them a kit for the race and they decide who gets which jobs. Once they have decided, Sophocles places his Charjabug into the Charjabug racer and they go for a test run, but Charjabug isn't able to go fast. Kiawe suggests they do some training, allowing them to bond as a team. They do so as Sophocles continues to make changes to the car, and soon, their times improve.

The day of the race arrives and many teams are taking part in the race, but they soon make rivals with the Red Comet team led by Horacio and their Shiny Charjabug. Both teams vow to win as Team Rocket enter as well with Meowth inside a fake Charjabug racer. The teams gather in the stadium where Anna provides the commentary and explains the rules and introduces the Pokémon who'll be creating obstacles for the teams. The terrains are brought out. Anna explains that a pit stop is available between each terrain as everyone takes their positions. The race begins and everyone heads out, but a crash on the first corner knocks out a few players, which Ash manages to avoid and enter the first terrain, where a Boldore causes disruption by making cliffs appear.

With a bit of cheating, Team Rocket are able to pass through the terrain and take the lead, while Ash and several other teams come to a stop at the cliff. Sophocles comes up with a suggestion for getting over it which Ash does. Other teams follow their lead. Team Rocket and Red Comet reach the first pit stop and change their tires for the next terrain. Ash arrives at the pit stop, and Kiawe quickly changes the tires. After a quick refill of Moomoo Milk, Kiawe provides them with Safety Goggles and they set of over the desert terrain. Meowth launches an attack on Red Comet, only for it to give them a speed increase. Meowth makes another attempt, but he ends up being ejected, resulting in them being disqualified. The terrain has left Red Comet's Charjabug tired but they soon exit followed by Ash and Team Electric Princess.

Outside, Team Rocket are refusing to leave, only for Bewear to come in and take them away. The race continues through city terrain, but Castform changes rain to hail, making the track slippery. Team Electric Princess lose control and are about to crash into Sophocles' Charjabug, but Ash dives between them and gets knocked out. Sophocles and Kiawe rush to Ash's aid, while Red Comet aren't getting enough traction on the ice. The Electric Princess Team apologize for what happened. Sophocles joins Kiawe and Ash and decides to replace Ash as the runner. The Red Comet team isn't going anywhere, causing Sophocles and Charjabug to race past them, having used String Shot on the tires and shoes to get traction.

Sophocles and Charjabug soon cross the line and are declared the winners. Anna interviews them about the victory (with Kiawe taking the opportunity to advertise his Moomoo Milk on television) and then presents them with their shared prize.

Major events

Sophocles with his prizes

• Sophocles's Charjabug is revealed to know String Shot.
• Sophocles, Ash, and Kiawe meet Horacio, Sophocles's rival.
• Sophocles participates in a Charjabug race with Ash and Kiawe and wins.

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

Debuts

Humans

• Horacio
• Yansu
• Dana

Pokémon debuts

• Horacio's Charjabug

Characters

Humans

Dare da?

• Ash
• Lana
• Kiawe
• Lillie
• Sophocles
• Mallow
• Jessie
• James
• Samson Oak
• Anna
• Horacio
• Yansu
• Dana
• Team Electric Princess
• Team Twin Starmie
• Team Science Speed
• Trainers
• Spectators

Pokémon

Who's That Pokémon?

Who's That Pokémon?: Charjabug

• Pikachu (Ash's)
• Meowth (Team Rocket)
• Wobbuffet (Jessie's)
• Rotom (Rotom Pokédex)
• Popplio (Lana's)
• Vulpix (Lillie's; Alolan form; Snowy)
• Togedemaru (Sophocles's)
• Charjabug (Sophocles's)
• Steenee (Mallow's)
• Mareanie (James's)
• Magnezone (Anna's)
• Charjabug (Horacio's; Shiny)
• Charjabug (Team Electric Princess's)
• Charjabug (Team Twin Starmie's)
• Charjabug (Team Science Speed's)
• Charjabug (Trainers'; multiple)
• Petilil (Trainer's)
• Bonsly (Trainer's)
• Rufflet (Trainer's)
• Boldore (Trainer's)
• Sandygast (Trainer's)
• Castform (Trainer's; Normal, Rainy, and Snowy Form)
• Bewear (anime)

Trivia

• Poké Problem: What is my Charjabug's Nature?
  • Host: Sophocles
  • Choices: Calm, Timid, Gentle, Mild
  • Answer: Mild
• The car that Horacio's Shiny Charjabug drives is based on the high-speed flight form of a Shiny Genesect and the Red Zaku II from Gundam, from the horn on top of Charjabug's head and the team that it belongs to, being called "Red Comet".
• The Japanese title of this episode is a reference to the series Dash! Yonkuro. When cheering Charjabug on as it crossed the finish line, the faces that Ash, Sophocles, and Kiawe made reference some of its main characters (Sophocles as Dankuro Toda, Ash as Yonkuro Hinomaru, and Kiawe as Shinkuro Minami).
• The disguises which Jessie and James wear in this episode are a reference to the series Bakusō Kyōdai Let's & Go!!, with Jessie's outfit based on the character of Retsu Seiba, and James's outfit based on Gō Seiba.
• The contraption that Kiawe wears on his body during the montage scene of Ash, Kiawe, and Sophocles preparing for the Charjabug race is a reference to the sports anime Star of the Giants, where the main character wore a similar contraption on his body, in order to straighten out his arms, making him better at playing baseball. Meowth wore a similar device during a flashback in Pulling Out the Pokémon Base Pepper!.
• Pose is used as an insert song during Charjabug's training montage for the race.
• This episode marks the first instance of Natures being mentioned in the anime, despite them being introduced in Generation III.
• Akko Kagari, a character from Little Witch Academia, can be briefly seen in the crowd.^[1]
• Mallow, Ash, Lillie, Kiawe, Lana, and Sophocles narrate the preview for the next episode.

Errors

• When Charjabug first used String Shot, Sophocles was hit despite him standing behind the Battery Pokémon.
• Right when Castform is about to change from its Rainy Form to its Snowy Form, it is colored as its Normal Form.

Dub edits

• The references to Sophocles and Horacio's Charjabug's Natures are removed from the dub.

In other languages

Language		Title
Chinese	Cantonese	飛奔吧！蟲電寶
	Mandarin	飛奔吧！蟲電寶
Czech		Zahájení elektrizujícího útoku!
Danish		Elektrisk bil med stil!
Dutch		Opgewekt, opgeladen en erop af!
Finnish		Virtaa voittoon!
European French		Préparation d’une charge électrique !
German		Ein spannungsgeladenes Rennen!
Hebrew		!מירוץ צ'ארג'אבאג
Italian		Charjabug alla carica!
Korean		돌진! 전지충이
Norwegian		Elektrisk bil med stil!
Polish		Elektryczne turbodoładowanie!
Portuguese	Brazil	Uma corrida eletrizante!
	Portugal	Montar algo eletrizante!
Romanian		O cursă electrizantă!
Russian		Вперёд к электризованной победе!
Spanish	Latin America	¡Una carrera electrificante!
	Spain	¡Una carrera con una carga electrizante!
Swedish		Gasen i Botten, Charjabug!
Thai		วิ่งเลย! เด็นจิมูชิ
Turkish		Elektrikli Hücuma Geçmek

References

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