DP136

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Pokémon the Series: Diamond and Pearl

DP137 : Three Sides to Every Story! →

Gateway to Ruin!

DP136   EP602 テンガン山の遺跡！ギンガ団の陰謀！！ Mt. Tengan Ruins! Galaxy-dan Conspiracy!!

First broadcast Japan July 23, 2009 United States December 19, 2009

English themes Opening Battle Cry - (Stand Up!) Ending

Japanese themes Opening ハイタッチ！2009 Ending もえよ　ギザみみピチュー！

Credits Animation Team Iguchi Screenplay 十川誠志 Masashi Sogo Storyboard 日高政光 Masamitsu Hidaka 山本珠代 Tamayo Yamamoto Assistant director 渡辺正彦 Masahiko Watanabe Animation director 石井和彦 Kazuhiko Ishii Additional credits

Screenshots on Filb.de

Gateway to Ruin! (Japanese: テンガン山の遺跡！ギンガ団の陰謀！！ Mt. Tengan Ruins! Galaxy-dan Conspiracy!!) is the 136th episode of Pokémon the Series: Diamond and Pearl, and the 602nd episode of the Pokémon animated series. It first aired in Japan on July 23, 2009 and in the United States on December 19, 2009.

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

Blurb

Traversing Mt. Coronet on their way to Lilypad Town and Dawn’s next Contest, our heroes discover a lost pink Shellos. They soon learn that it lives on the west side of Mt. Coronet, but has mysteriously wound up lost on the east side. Agreeing to take Shellos back home to its herd, our Heroes meet up again with Mr. Looker, who quickly heads out of the Pokémon Center just as they do.

Meanwhile, we discover that Team Galactic is inside Mt. Coronet and up to their evil doings, as usual. At the same time, Team Rocket secretly has their eyes on a mysterious case owned by Team Galactic, which Jessie is convinced contains treasure. But when our heroes accidentally walk into Team Galactic’s operations, they are soon tied up and have to angrily watch while Team Galactic searches for what turns out to be the “Gateway to Spear Pillar”—one part of their evil plot to create their “New World.” Fortunately, a disguised Mr. Looker bursts on the scene and ultimately frees Ash and friends. Team Galactic is able to continue their search, but when they come up empty-handed, a frustrated Team Galactic leaves the scene and Team Rocket is sent blasting off again.

With everyone safe and in one piece, our heroes bid Mr. Looker a fond farewell, return the pink Shellos safely to its herd, and their journey to Lilypad Town continues once more.

Plot

While they are still on their way to Dawn's next Pokémon Contest in Lilypad Town, Ash and his friends encounter a section of Mt. Coronet that is a muggy marshland. Soon, they come across a river with a strong current, as well as blue Shellos. The group are confused, as Zoey's Shellos is colored pink. Dawn looks it up in her Pokédex and finds out that there are two confirmed kinds of Shellos—pink Shellos and blue Shellos. Soon they see a pink Shellos trapped in the river's current. Piplup jumps in to try to rescue it, catching it just before the current takes it away. Then, using a long tree branch, the others pull both Shellos and Piplup to the shore safely. Nurse Joy arrives, relieved to see Shellos safe and thanks the group for saving it. Brock then begins his usual flirting, which is interrupted by Croagunk's Poison Jab. Nurse Joy wonders why a pink Shellos is on the east side of Mt. Coronet, as pink Shellos are only found on the western side of the mountain. Nurse Joy reveals that long ago, when Mt. Coronet was starting to form, the two types of Shellos were separated and soon adapted to their new color and environment. However, there have recently been several western Shellos that have gotten lost on the east side of the mountain, but she is unsure why. Nurse Joy quickly changes the subject and takes it to the Pokémon Center. Fortunately, Shellos is not injured. The group decides to take Shellos back to the western. Nurse Joy suggests to find its home near the marshlands when Looker arrives and is intrigued to see another pink Shellos on the eastern side of Mt. Coronet. Looker quickly announces he is in a hurry and leaves. Although the group is confused, they decide to keep on their task and bring Shellos home.

Meanwhile, inside of Mt. Coronet, a squad of Team Galactic Grunts—led by Saturn and Charon—are searching the mountain for more clues to the Spear Pillar. The limited data they collected from Iron Island suggested that it was on Mt. Coronet and all the team has to do is find its gateway. Saturn grows impatient, though Charon suggests he relax, as they will succeed in finding it. They are unaware that Team Rocket is spying on them, or that they are plotting to steal a briefcase they have.

Meanwhile, Piplup is leading the way back to Shellos' home. They notice several caves. Piplup and Shellos peek into one and despite Dawn's warning, everyone falls down into it. Realizing it is too high to climb out of, Ash and the others realize they’ll have to navigate the caves to get out. With Shellos now leading the way, the group spots footprints and light up ahead. Unfortunately, they only find Team Galactic. Saturn becomes annoyed at the children getting in their way yet again. Without any warning, Ash and his friends are surrounded by Galactic Grunts, still under the watchful eye of Looker and Team Rocket. Team Galactic ties up Ash and his friends up, so they don’t get in their way until their mission is complete. Brock wondered what they were planning this time, as Charon is amazed to finally meet the "famous children" in person. Saturn, still getting impatient, orders Charon to ignore them and return to work.

Then, Shellos begins to cry, which irritates Charon who orders it to keep quiet. A Grunt with his face obscured, none other than Looker in disguise, volunteers and yells meanly at Shellos so that Team Galactic could hear. However, he whispers to the group about Team Galactic’s scheme. Charon and Saturn immediately ask who he is and the Grunt comes towards him, with Saturn suspicious of him. The Grunt informs them that he was sent from headquarters to help the expedition. Charon is confused as to why that is, since they already have enough manpower for the job. The Grunt reveals he came in a hurry and only knew about ruins in the expedition. Charon decides to bring him up to speed, revealing their mission is to find the gateway to the Spear Pillar hidden somewhere on Mt. Coronet. The Grunt with the case opens it, revealing the Spear Key to all, as Charon continues to explain that it is the key to opening the gateway. Ash and friends are amazed and realize that soon Shellos got lost on the wrong side of the mountain because of Team Galactic’s excavations. Saturn reminds Charon to be careful with the key, since their leader entrusted them with it. Charon said he doesn't really care about Team Galactic's intentions, so long as he does his part.

Charon orders the Grunt get to work immediately. Unexpedly, the Grunt leaps backwards, freeing Ash and the others, and reveals his true identity as Looker of the International Police. Team Rocket were also shocked that the man that delivered them lunchboxes some time ago was with the International Police. Saturn mentions that he received reports of a suspected spy in their ranks and deduces that Looker was the spy. Then, Shellos runs off again, the group following. Saturn orders the Grunts to capture Looker. With Spear Key now unguarded, Team Rocket takes the opportunity to steal it. Jessie sends out Seviper to use Haze, and under the cover of smoke they grab the Key. Charon orders them to identify themselves. Team Rocket begins their motto before Charon interrupts them, ordering the Key back. The trio are soon surrounded by Team Galactic's Golbat arsenal.

Shellos soon finds itself at a dead end and cries. Though Ash and the group calm it down, assuring it that they would return Shellos to its home. Meanwhile, Looker manages to defend himself against the Grunts. One of the Grunts finally detects a signal, and Charon’s device confirms that there is a large space behind the rock wall. Saturn is relieved that the search might soon be over and sends out his Toxicroak to use Rock Smash to destroy the rocks. After a few jabs, some old ruins are revealed. Although Saturn is a bit skeptical, he takes the Spear Key back from Team Rocket and Toxicroak uses Dark Pulse to send Team Rocket blasting off. A Grunt opens the case to reveal the Spear Key inside, however nothing happens. Charon is only able to deduce that these ruins are not the gateway to the Spear Pillar. Saturn becomes irritated and, seeing there was no need to be there any longer, orders a retreat. Pikachu and Piplup attempt to stop them by using Thunderbolt and Bubble Beam, respectively, but the Golbat use Protect and Team Galactic's escape was successful. Then, the place begins to flood due to Toxicroak's Rock Smash. Looker takes out an inflatable raft, allowing him and group to narrowly escape. Already in the air, Team Galactic begins to pinpoint the next location of the Spear Pillar on Mt. Coronet. Charon chuckles on how simple it was as Saturn gives him an irritated look.

After safely moving out, Looker points out that they are already on the western side of the mountain. He leaves to return to headquarters while the gang continues onto Shellos' home. As Shellos becomes reunited with its herd, Brock notices the mud water from the flash flood clogged up the tunnels Team Galactic made, meaning the Shellos will never wind up on the wrong side of the mountain again. The group says goodbye to Shellos as they continue their way towards Lilypad Town.

Major events

• Ash and his friends meet Looker again, and they, along with Team Rocket, discover that he is a member of the International Police.
• Ash and his friends encounter Team Galactic again and meet Commander Charon for the first time.

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

Debuts

Pokémon debuts

TV episode debuts

• Shellos (East Sea)

Characters

Humans

• Ash
• Dawn
• Brock
• Jessie
• James
• Nurse Joy
• Saturn
• Charon
• Mars (flashback)
• Zoey (flashback)
• Looker
• Team Galactic Grunts

Pokémon

• Pikachu (Ash's)
• Meowth (Team Rocket)
• Piplup (Dawn's)
• Wobbuffet (Jessie's)
• Croagunk (Brock's)
• Seviper (Jessie's)
• Shellos (Zoey's; flashback)
• Toxicroak (Saturn's)
• Golbat (Team Galactic Grunts'; multiple)
• Shellos (East and West Sea; multiple)

Trivia

• This episode, which features Team Galactic, also marks the 100th episode since they made their debut.
• Brock narrates the preview of the next episode.
• Music from Lucario and the Mystery of Mew and Pokémon Ranger and the Temple of the Sea are used in this episode.
• The episode's Finnish dub title is a reference to Open Sesame, a magical phrase in the story of "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves" in One Thousand and One Nights.
• This is one of the few episodes to retain all of its Japanese background music and use no dub created music, with the exception of the title screen music.
• This episode was the first to air in Japan after the theatrical release of M12.
• For the English dub, this is the final episode to use a 3:2 aspect ratio for the episode's pre-credits opening (high-definition feed only).

Errors

• At the beginning of the episode, Dawn's skirt turns completely pink.
• There are a few scenes where Ash's jacket is longer than it should be.
• In one scene, a part of Dawn's vest is colored the same as her skin.
• At the end of the episode, during the "To Be Continued..." scene, Piplup's feet are blue.

• 

  Jacket error

• 

  Piplup's blue feet

In other languages

Language		Title
Mandarin Chinese		天冠山的遺跡！銀河隊的陰謀！！
Czech		Brána k ruinám
Danish		Porten til undergangen!
Dutch		De toeganspoort tot chaos!
Finnish		Seesam aukene!
European French		L'opération secrète !
German		Das Labyrinth im Kraterberg
Italian		La porta della rovina!
Korean		천관산의 유적 갤럭시단의 음모
Norwegian		Inngang til ruin!
Polish		Brama do ruin
Portuguese	Brazil	Portal para a ruína!
	Portugal	Um Portal Para a Ruína!
Romanian		Poarta Către Ruine
Russian		Проход к руинам!
Spanish	Latin America	Portal a las ruinas
	Spain	¡Portal a las Ruinas!
Swedish		Porten till undergång!

← DP135 : Beating the Bustle and Hustle!

Pokémon the Series: Diamond and Pearl

DP137 : Three Sides to Every Story! →

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