AG079

← AG078 : Cruisin' for a Losin'

Pokémon the Series: Ruby and Sapphire

AG080 : That's Just Swellow →

Pearls are a Spoink's Best Friend

AG079   EP353 バネブーのさがしもの！？ Baneboo's Lost Object!?

First broadcast Japan June 3, 2004 United States May 21, 2005

English themes Opening This Dream Ending

Japanese themes Opening チャレンジャー!! Ending スマイル ②

Credits Animation Team Ota Screenplay 大橋志吉 Yukiyoshi Ōhashi Storyboard 浅田裕二 Yūji Asada Assistant director 浅田裕二 Yūji Asada Animation director 岩根雅明 Masaaki Iwane Additional credits

Screenshots on Filb.de Dub review thread on BMGf

Pearls are a Spoink's Best Friend (Japanese: バネブーのさがしもの！？ Baneboo's Lost Object!?) is the 79th episode of Pokémon the Series: Ruby and Sapphire, and the 353rd episode of the Pokémon animated series. It was first broadcast in Japan on June 3, 2004, and in the United States on May 21, 2005.

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

Blurb

Team Rocket talks to Giovanni on the video phone, and he yells at them for not making progress, threatening to replace the three of them.

The kids are eating breakfast when Skitty runs off and encounters a Spoink that has lost its pearl. The Spoink shows how it rolled away, so the kids help look around the forest. Spoink keeps mistaking various round objects for its pearl—like an Igglybuff—and putting them on its head.

Just as they find the real pearl, all of them are caught in a Team Rocket trap, but Ash's Corphish helps them get out. Spoink drops its pearl and Meowth catches it. Team Rocket runs off to a nearby carnival.

At the carnival, James runs into the Magikarp salesman, who is now selling Feebas. Drawn by the promise of Feebas evolving into a Milotic, Jessie trades the pearl. But when their new Feebas is swimming, its paint washes off, revealing just a Magikarp.

Ash and friends arrive, and both groups go looking for the salesman. Brock and Max reveal the scam, and then everyone confronts the Magikarp salesman. The kids start to battle Team Rocket, and the salesman slips away in the confusion. Spoink passes out, but Max grabs the pearl and puts it on Spoink's head. Spoink then uses Confuse Ray to send Team Rocket blasting off.

Plot

Team Rocket follow protocol and contact Giovanni, however they have no news to report. Giovanni asks about the progress of the new Secret Base, but the trio admit that it was destroyed. He declares that their Hoenn region mission has been a costly failure and suggests he’ll have to bring in Butch and Cassidy to finish the job instead. Giovanni signs off while Jessie and her teammates are left fuming. Optimistically, the trio declare that it is time for a new beginning.

The next morning, Ash and his friends sit down to enjoy breakfast. Some rustling in the bushes catches Skitty's attention, and a Spoink soon appears. Max realizes something amiss, and after listening to Spoink's Pokédex entry he declares that Spoink is missing the pearl on its head. Ash and the others decide to help the distressed Spoink locate its pearl. Firstly, Spoink escorts the group to where it lost its pearl—down a cliff. With the pearl nowhere close by, Brock calls on Mudkip’s assistance. Though they look hard for it, the Spoink tries to put any round objects it sees on its head, including an Igglybuff, a Voltorb, and an Electrode. When the pearl is found, however, Team Rocket, working with renewed vigor after Giovanni threatened to replace them, attack the group. They use a traditional pitfall trap and introduce themselves as the "new Team Rocket". After snaring the twerps in a net, Ash calls out Corphish to free everyone, but Spoink's pearl ends up in Meowth's hands as they land on the ground. Jessie and James order Seviper and Cacnea to attack. Corphish escapes Seviper's Wrap attack and uses Harden to negate damage from Cacnea's Pin Missile. Then Corphish and Mudkip send Team Rocket flying with a Bubble Beam and Water Gun combo. Ash and the others soon notice the absence of Spoink's pearl and chase after Team Rocket.

After blasting off, Team Rocket comes across a fair, and Ash and company chase Team Rocket onto the fairgrounds, where they initially lose sight of each other. Spoink tries a few more round objects, like a juggler's balls and a fortune teller's crystal ball. Team Rocket, meanwhile, is approached by the same Magikarp salesman who has made James' life a misery in the past and offers to trade "Feebas" for the pearl. Though James is wary of the known swindler, the Magikarp salesman reveals that Feebas evolves into Milotic, the most beautiful of all Pokémon, Jessie becomes dazzled by the possibilities. After hearing the salesman’s spiel, Jessie ignores her teammates concerns and hands over the pearl in exchange for the "Feebas".

Jessie is eager to get the "Feebas" to evolve, so they let their new Pokémon go for a swim in a nearby river. Soon, "Feebas'" color begins to change, but not with the glow of evolution. Rather "Feebas" is revealed to be a painted Magikarp, and the trio are furious that they have been swindled once again. Ash and his friends confront the Rocket trio, and after learning what occurred, they criticize them for trading the pearl for a worthless Magikarp. Both groups head back to the fair to find the crooked salesman. When they find him, he's trying to sell "Feebas" to the passing trade, so Brock has Mudkip use Water Gun to reveal the scheme. When the salesman tries to flee, Ash and company corner him and in the ensuing struggle, the pearl slips out of his bag. Team Rocket arrives only moments later, and a battle ensues, but Spoink is reunited with its pearl and uses its powerful Psychic attacks to blast Team Rocket off. During the commotion, the Magikarp salesman escapes to swindle another day. But, as Ash remarks at the end, at least they found the pearl.

Major events

• Ash and his friends encounter a wandering wild Spoink.
• Jessie buys a Magikarp disguised as a Feebas from the Magikarp salesman, but eventually loses it after the disguise comes off.
• Ash and his friends meet the Magikarp salesman for the first time.
• Ash's Torkoal is revealed to know Body Slam.

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

Debuts

Pokémon debuts

• Spoink (anime)

Characters

Humans

• Ash
• May
• Brock
• Max
• Jessie
• James
• Giovanni
• Magikarp salesman
• Magikarp salesman's wife and children (fantasy)

Pokémon

Pokémon Trainer's Choice

Pokémon Trainer's Choice: Steelix

• Pikachu (Ash's)
• Meowth (Team Rocket)
• Wobbuffet (Jessie's)
• Corphish (Ash's)
• Torkoal (Ash's)
• Skitty (May's)
• Mudkip (Brock's)
• Seviper (Jessie's)
• Dustox (Jessie's)
• Magikarp (Jessie's; new; sold to her and got lost before being captured)
• Cacnea (James's)
• Persian (Giovanni's)
• Spoink (anime; debut)
• Voltorb
• Electrode
• Igglybuff
• Feebas (flashback)
• Spoink (TCG card; Japanese version only)
• Seviper (TCG card; Japanese version only)
• Skitty (TCG card; Japanese version only)
• Lotad (TCG card; Japanese version only)
• Mudkip (TCG card; Japanese version only)

Trivia

• The episode's English dub title is a play on the song Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend.
• This episode is featured on the Volume 7: Psychic copy of Pokémon Elements.
• This is the fifth time the Magikarp salesman has appeared in the anime, and the second time Team Rocket has acquired a Magikarp from him.
• Advance Adventure is used as background music.
• This is the only episode with a boss fantasy to have Giovanni appearing in person as well.

Errors

• In a couple of scenes, Ash's bag is missing.

Dub edits

• James looking up a Spoink TCG card is cut in the dub. Cards seen included Spoink, Seviper, Skitty, Lotad, and Mudkip.
• In the English dub, the computerized voice explaining Feebas and Milotic is an unknown person. In the original Japanese version, the voice is Professor Oak's.

• 

  TCG cards dub cut

Pokémon Trainer's Choice

• Question: Trainers, which one of these Pokémon is the best choice to battle Electabuzz?
• Choices: Steelix, Cacnea, Shiftry
• Answer: OK, Trainers! If you chose Steelix, you were right!

In other languages

Language		Title
Mandarin Chinese		跳跳豬尋找的東西！
Danish		En perle til Spoink
Dutch		Wie de parel past...
Finnish		Spoinkin parhaat ystävät
European French		Spoink, une perle rare
German		Perle, wem Perle gebührt!
Hebrew		'הפנינה של ספויקhapnina shel Spoink
Hindi		Spoink पोकेमोन का बेस्ट फ्रेंड है मोती! Spoink Pokemon ka Best Friend hai Moti! *
Italian		La perla perduta
Korean		피그점프의 진주를 찾아라!
Norwegian		Perler for Spoink!
Portuguese	Brazil	Pérolas são as Melhores Amigas de um Spoink
	Portugal	As Pérolas São as Melhores Amigas de um Spoink
Russian		Споинк потерял жемчужину
Spanish	Latin America	¡Las perlas son las mejores amigas de Spoink!
	Spain	Las perlas son las mejores amigas de Spoink
Swedish		En sån pärla!

← AG078 : Cruisin' for a Losin'

Pokémon the Series: Ruby and Sapphire

AG080 : That's Just Swellow →

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