AG127

← AG126 : Saved by the Beldum

Pokémon the Series: Ruby and Sapphire

AG128 : Shocks and Bonds →

From Brags to Riches

AG127   EP401 開幕！サイユウ大会！！ Opening! Saiyu Tournament!

First broadcast Japan May 5, 2005 United States March 11, 2006

English themes Opening Unbeatable Ending

Japanese themes Opening ポケモン シンフォニック メドレー Ending GLORY DAY 〜輝くその日〜 ②

Credits Animation Team Ota Screenplay 大橋志吉 Yukiyoshi Ōhashi Storyboard 誌村宏明 Hiroaki Shimura Assistant director 大町繁 Shigeru Ōmachi Animation director たけだゆうさく Yūsaku Takeda No additional credits are available at this time.

Screenshots on Filb.de

From Brags to Riches (Japanese: 開幕！サイユウ大会！！ Opening! Saiyu Tournament!!) is the 127th episode of Pokémon the Series: Ruby and Sapphire, and the 401st episode of the Pokémon animated series. It was first broadcast in Japan on May 5, 2005, and in the United States on March 11, 2006.

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

Blurb

The preliminaries are over, and now the Hoenn League Championships begin in earnest! The qualifying round is all double battles, and Ash goes to watch Morrison's match against muscleman Gavin. Morrison's Growlithe and Gligar are up against Marowak and Machamp, and no punches are pulled in this all-out battle! It's not looking good for Morrison until Gligar uses Guillotine to knock Machamp out. But Marowak defeats Growlithe, and Gligar finally wins.

Ash is jogging along after the match, minding his own business, when he falls into another Team Rocket pit trap. But just as they finish their motto, their new boss catches them in the act and shouts at them to get back to work. Team Rocket runs away and Ash wonders what's going on, but not for long—he's up next in the qualifying round!

Ash sends out Torkoal and Corphish. His opponent Dominic sends out Swalot and Tropius, which may grant him an aerial advantage. But Ash's trusty Torkoal gives it all it's got, and takes down Tropius in a double KO. As for Swalot, its resilient body resists Corphish's attacks. Finally Corphish charges in, throws Swalot, and gets up close and personal to deliver a Bubble Beam that knocks its opponent out! Tyson has also won his first match, and now our Trainers move on to round 2!

Plot

While Ash and his friends are waiting for the match-ups for the second round of the Ever Grande Conference, Nurse Joy explains the next round of battles are Double Battles and that three wins are required to advance. She presents the match-ups to the crowd, and Ash learns that his next battle will take place in Stadium C. However, Morrison is thrilled to see that his match will be held earlier.

The group and Tyson watch as Morrison enters Stadium E to face off against Gavin from Ganga Town. He sends out Growlithe and Gligar and Gavin sends out Marowak and Machamp. Morrison orders Growlithe to use Take Down on Marowak, though it responds with a Headbutt knocking Growlithe to the field. Gligar soars in for a Guillotine, though Machamp counters with Karate Chop. Growlithe regains strength and uses Flamethrower, but Marowak's Bone Club blocks it. Gligar is hit by a Dynamic Punch and then a Cross Chop. Machamp is badly struck by Gligar's Steel Wing and Growlithe takes damage from a Bonemerang attack. Marowak charges through an oncoming Flamethrower and slams a Headbutt on Growlithe. Marowak freezes Growlithe's legs with an Ice Beam and strikes it down with a Bone Club.

Gavin orders Vital Throw, but Gligar counters with Guillotine. A weak Machamp is struck several times by Gligar's Steel Wing, before being defeated by another Guillotine. Gavin soon makes some progress after Marowak slams Growlithe out of the match with a Bone Club, making the battle a one-on-one affair now. Gligar's Guillotine and Marowak's Headbutt attacks collide, sending both hurtling towards the ground. During the fall Marowak aims an Ice Beam and freezes one of Gligar's wings who slams into the ground. After struggling from a Bonemerang, Gligar charges in to take Marowak’s Bone Club attack head-on. Even more surprisingly, Gligar uses Iron Tail to win the match, allowing Morrison to advance to the next round.

As Ash prepares for his upcoming match, he and Pikachu are caught off guard when they fall into a pitfall trap. As Team Rocket appear to claim their catch, their employer bursts through the wall and sends them running. Ash makes it to his Stadium C battle against Dominick from Inua Town. Ash chooses Torkoal and Corphish while Dominick sends out Tropius and Swalot. Tropius starts off by flying up in the air and whips a Razor Leaf at Ash. Torkoal and Corphish's defense block the oncoming attack. Tropius's tries a Bullet Seed, which proves futile against Torkoal's Iron Defense. Swalot attacks Corphish with a Sludge Bomb as Tropius uses Gust to send Torkoal flying. Torkoal lands a direct hit on Tropius with a Flamethrower, but its opponent dodges the follow up Overheat, much to Ash’s frustration. Corphish dodges Swalot's Body Slam and replies with a Bubble Beam, which simply slides off Swalot’s expandable body.

Ash changes up his tactics, Tropius defends against Torkoal's and Corphish's combined attacks. Tropius begins charging up for a Solar Beam attack, so Corphish and Torkoal lashes it with a Crabhammer and Flamethrower respectively. As Tropius finally launches its Solar Beam, Torkoal counters with another Overheat. The two attacks collide, resulting in a large explosion that knocks Tropius and Torkoal both out. Dominic is unfazed and has Swalot's use two Shock Wave attacks to injure Corphish. Corphish is hit by a Body Slam, which it soon escapes with a Crabhammer but gets struck down by a barrage of Shadow Balls. Ash has Corphish rush towards its opponent, using its claw to block the oncoming Shock Wave attack. Corphish eventaully gets close enough and grabs a hold of Swalot by the whiskers before tossing it onto the battlefield. Seeing this as a good attack, Ash has Corphish to aim a Bubble Beam in Swalot's mouth. A minor explosion occurs from the internal pressure and Swalot faints. Ash wins and qualifies to the next round.

Jessie, James, and Meowth are tired of working, but their work soon pays off when their employer walks in and praises them for their hard work with food. As the pair stuff their faces, the trio agrees to work the stands tomorrow. Later, Ash and Morrison get into a heated argument over whose match was better. Max interrupts, and using his PokéNav he reveals that Tyson also won his battle. Ash and Morrison are equally thrilled by the news and set their sights on winning their next matches.

Major events

• Morrison defeats Gavin in a Double Battle, advancing to the next round.
• Ash defeats Dominick in a Double Battle, advancing to the next round.
• Tyson also wins his Double Battle, advancing to the next round.

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

Debuts

Humans

• Team Rocket's employer

Pokémon debuts

TV episode debuts

• Tropius

Characters

Humans

• Ash
• May
• Brock
• Max
• Jessie
• James
• Nurse Joy
• Morrison
• Tyson
• Gavin
• Dominick
• Team Rocket's employer
• Crowd

Pokémon

Pokémon Trainer's Choice

Pokémon Trainer's Choice: Entei

• Pikachu (Ash's)
• Meowth (Team Rocket)
• Wobbuffet (Jessie's)
• Chimecho (James's)
• Corphish (Ash's)
• Torkoal (Ash's)
• Growlithe (Morrison's)
• Gligar (Morrison's)
• Machamp (Gavin's)
• Marowak (Gavin's)
• Swalot (Dominick's)
• Tropius (Dominick's)

Trivia

• Advance Adventure is used as background music.
• The episode's English dub title is a pun of the phrase "rags to riches".
• This is the last episode where Team Rocket recites their original motto before switching to the Battle Frontier motto.
• Despite Guillotine having existed in the games since Generation I, this is the first time it is used in the anime.

Errors

Swalot's missing whiskers

• In the Japanese version, the announcer says that Gligar's Guillotine (the one that defeated Machamp) was a critical hit, despite the fact that it is impossible for Guillotine (or any one-hit knockout move) to be a critical hit. This is corrected in the English dub.
• When Machamp is hit by Gligar's Guillotine the first time, it is still standing. In the games, it wouldn't be able to battle anymore, as Guillotine is a one-hit knockout move. However, it may be because Gligar's pincer is closed when it hits Machamp with the attack.
• When Marowak defeats Growlithe, it disappears when Morrison appears in the split-screen.
• Gligar takes damage from Marowak's Bonemerang and Bone Club, despite being a Flying type.
• Right before the explosion caused by Corphish firing Bubble Beam into Swalot's mouth occurs, Swalot's whiskers disappear.
• In the Brazilian Portuguese dub, Harden's English name is kept, even though it had been referred to as Endurecer or some variation of it before in the same series.

Dub edits

• The melonpan that May and Tyson are eating by the start of Morrison's match are called cheeseburgers.
• In the original Japanese version, when Gavin and Dominick are introduced, cheerleaders can be heard chanting in the background. Said chanting is removed in the English dub.
• In the English dub, Marowak's Japanese voice is used in place of Gligar's in certain parts of the episode.
• In the original Japanese version, after Corphish's Bubble Beam fails to affect Swalot, Ash decides to have Corphish and Torkoal gang up on Tropius instead. In the English dub, he instead decides to "try a combined attack", meaning that Corphish and Torkoal just attack Tropius on their own accord.

Pokémon Trainer's Choice

• Question: Trainers, which of these Pokémon would be considered legendary?
• Choices: Salamence, Entei, Milotic
• Answer: OK, Trainers! If you chose Entei, you were right!

In other languages

Language		Title
Mandarin Chinese		開幕！彩幽大會！！
Danish		En drabelig dobbeltdyst
Dutch		Van woorden naar daden
Finnish		Rääsyistä rikkauksiin
French		Morrison le vantard
German		Bereiter als bereit!
Hebrew		הסיבוב הראשון
Hindi		Hoenn लीग चैंपियनशिप Hoenn League Championship*
Italian		Le qualificazioni
Korean		개막! 그랜드 대회!
Norwegian		Fra skryt til rikdom
Portuguese	Brazil	Da Vaidade à Riqueza
	Portugal	Dos Vaidosos para os Ricos
Russian		Из грязи в князи
Spanish	Latin America	Fanfarrones y victoriosos
	Spain	Presumiendo y ganando
Swedish		Från snack till handling!

← AG126 : Saved by the Beldum

Pokémon the Series: Ruby and Sapphire

AG128 : Shocks and Bonds →

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