This is pure Pokémon comfort food, the kind of special that exists just to let you sit with these characters doing nothing in particular. A lost present, a birthday deadline, a city neither Pikachu nor the audience has ever seen before, stakes that are exactly as heavy as they need to be. It's summer in episode form, all wandering and accident and the assumption that things will somehow work out because they always do when you're with friends.

On an energetic summer day, Pikachu and Pochama are playing in a river when they drift away and find themselves in a big city. As they look around from the rooftops, a jagged-eared Pichu and Muchul collide with a bang, and the pair start squabbling. The Sparkling they meant to give Kireihana has gone missing, and today is her birthday. Nyarth and company are after it as well, so the great search for the Sparkling begins. The special is a lighthearted Pokémon adventure comedy, first screened on ANA flights in August 2009.