AG191

← AG190 : Pace - The Final Frontier!

Pokémon the Series: Ruby and Sapphire

AG192 : Home is Where the Start Is! →

Once More With Reeling!

AG191   EP465 サトシVSハルカ！ラストバトル！！ Satoshi vs. Haruka! Last Battle!!

First broadcast Japan September 7, 2006 United States February 24, 2007

English themes Opening Battle Frontier Ending Pokémon Go!

Japanese themes Opening スパート！ Ending 私、負けない！ ～ハルカのテーマ～

Credits Animation Team Iguchi Screenplay 武上純希 Junki Takegami Storyboard 川田武範 Takenori Kawada Assistant director 渡辺正彦 Masahiko Watanabe Animation director 志村泉 Izumi Shimura Additional credits

Screenshots on Filb.de

Once More With Reeling! (Japanese: サトシVSハルカ！ラストバトル！！ Satoshi vs. Haruka! Last Battle!!) is the 191st episode of Pokémon the Series: Ruby and Sapphire, and the 465th episode of the Pokémon animated series. It was first broadcast in Japan on September 7, 2006 and in the USA on February 24, 2007.

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

Blurb

The kids are at Terracotta Town, where May and Max will catch a boat back home to Hoenn. The town happens to be hosting a festival, complete with its very own Pokémon Contest. Ash figures it's unofficial, so he wants to compete. Both Ash and May sign up, with Ash using Pikachu and Sceptile, and May using her Eevee and Combusken.

Nurse Joy is the MC, doing her best Lillian impersonation. May goes first, impressing the crowd by having Eevee use Dig and Shadow Ball to create a fireworks display. Ash is equally impressive when Pikachu uses Quick Attack, Thunderbolt, and Iron Tail to create electric rings that buzz around the arena. At the end of the first round, May is in first place with Ash a close second, both of them advancing to the finals against each other.

Between rounds, Team Rocket shows up in a parade float, tossing Pokémon food out so they can lure the Trainers' Pokémon into a net. Sceptile frees the Pokémon from the net and Pikachu uses Thunderbolt, but Combusken seems to be ill and can't attack. Just then, it evolves into Blaziken, and uses Blaze Kick to send Team Rocket packing.

The contest resumes, and Ash and May shake hands and start the battle. When Blaziken dodges all of Sceptile's attacks, Ash starts to lose points. He finally connects with Pound, but Blaziken returns with Fire Spin. The two Pokémon begin to lose points at roughly the same rate. Eventually both Pokémon are weakened, and Sceptile's Ability Overgrow kicks in. Blaziken's Ability Blaze also appears, and the two commence their battle. Eventually Blaziken fires Overheat and Sceptile responds with SolarBeam, with the two attacks colliding. The results of this attack will determine the outcome of the match, but no one can see the scoreboard, now obscured by a thick cloud of smoke.

Plot

With Ash's victory at the Battle Pyramid passed, the group arrives at Terracotta Town. Everyone plans to go back home, with May and Max taking a ship to Hoenn, Brock returning to Pewter City, and Ash returning to Pallet Town. As the group checks out the town, May finds a sign for an informal Pokémon Contest. Ash shocks everyone by deciding to enter as well since he does not need a Contest Pass due to the competition not being officially established by the Pokémon Activities Committee.

Ash and May go to the Contest Hall and register. Ash signs Pikachu for the first round and Sceptile for the second. May chooses Eevee for the first round and Combusken for the second. This Contest is special in which only the two highest scoring contestants in the Appeals Round will move to the Battle Round.

The Appeals Round begins with the local Nurse Joy as a judge. May takes the stage first with her Eevee. It uses Dig to form several holes on the battlefield. From underground, Eevee launches Shadow Ball through the holes to create a fireworks display, impressing the crowd. Other Coordinators take the stage, some performing better than the others.

Finally, Ash takes the stage. Even though this is his Contest debut, the crowd cheers him on for being in the top eight of the Ever Grande Conference. Pikachu executes Quick Attack and Thunderbolt to create an electric ring before using Iron Tail to send him bouncing across the field. Pikachu repeats the move to create a group of bouncing electric rings. The Appeals Round ends, and the top two are decided. May takes first place with Ash as the runner-up.

During the break, Ash and May take time to practice. Team Rocket arrives in a giant ship float, attracting the competing Pokémon with food. They capture the Pokémon with a giant net. Ash and his friends confront them, and James launches another net to capture Pikachu. Combusken frees the Pokémon with Mega Kick, and Sceptile catches the net, sending them to safety. Combusken collapses, seeming exhausted, but it evolves into Blaziken. It easily destroys Team Rocket's net and uses Blaze Kick to destroy the float, sending them flying.

The second round pits May's Blaziken against Ash's Sceptile. Max doesn't want either of them to lose. May and Ash shake hands before the Contest Battle begins. It appears that May has the advantage, but the match is fairly even, both Pokémon matching opening executions.

Sceptile opens with Pound, Bullet Seed, and Leaf Blade. Blaziken dodges them all, and Ash loses points. To make up for it, Sceptile chases Blaziken towards the wall, preventing it from dodging Pound. Sceptile fires Bullet Seed, but Blaziken's Fire Spin neutralizes it and hurts Sceptile. Blaziken attacks with Sky Uppercut, but Sceptile dodges, taking May's points. Sceptile's Leaf Blade and Pound attack knock down Blaziken, setting points even at the halfway mark. Sceptile follows up with Bullet Seed and Pound. It tries Leaf Blade, but Blaziken dodges. Blaziken attacks with Sky Uppercut, but Sceptile matches it with Leaf Blade, negating both attacks. Blaziken uses Blaze Kick but Sceptile's Pound matches it as well.

With one minute left, the points are identical, but both Pokémon are exhausted. Sceptile activates Overgrow, and Blaziken matches with Blaze. Neither Pokémon can gain an advantage, with moves evenly matched. Sceptile's Leaf Blade and Pound match Blaziken's Sky Uppercut and Blaze Kick. Ash and May lose points fairly evenly. With ten seconds left, Sceptile unleashes Solar Beam while Blaziken fires Overheat. The attack creates a big explosion that covers the scoreboard just as the time runs out, leaving everyone in anticipation for the final results.

Major events

May's newly evolved Blaziken

• Ash and his friends arrive in Terracotta Town.
• Ash and May learn about the unofficial Terracotta Contest and decide to enter, with Ash competing in a Pokémon Contest for the first time.
• Ash and May both pass the Appeals Round and enter the final round.
• May's Combusken evolves into Blaziken, learns Blaze Kick, and is revealed to have Blaze as its Ability.

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

Debuts

Pokémon debuts

• May's Blaziken

Characters

Humans

• Ash
• May
• Brock
• Max
• Jessie
• James
• Nurse Joy
• Coordinators
• Contest announcer
• Audience

Pokémon

• Pikachu (Ash's)
• Meowth (Team Rocket)
• Wobbuffet (Jessie's)
• Mime Jr. (James's)
• Sceptile (Ash's)
• Combusken (May's; evolves)
• Blaziken (May's; newly evolved)
• Eevee (May's)
• Charmeleon (Coordinator's)
• Weedle (×2 Coordinator's)
• Pidgey (Coordinator's)
• Rattata (Coordinator's)
• Spearow (Coordinator's)
• Sandshrew (Coordinator's)
• Nidoran♀ (Coordinator's)
• Jigglypuff (×2; Coordinator's)
• Clefairy (Coordinator's)
• Zubat (Coordinator's)
• Oddish (Coordinator's)
• Gloom (Coordinator's)
• Paras (Coordinator's)
• Venonat (×2; Coordinator's)
• Growlithe (Coordinator's)
• Poliwag (Coordinator's)
• Abra (Coordinator's)
• Tentacool (Coordinator's)
• Doduo (Coordinator's)
• Seel (Coordinator's)
• Magikarp (Coordinator's)
• Noctowl (Coordinator's)
• Hoppip (Coordinator's)
• Wooper (Coordinator's)
• Octillery (Coordinator's)

Trivia

Recolored version of the logo

• An alternate cut of I Won't Lose! ~Haruka's Theme~ is used as background music during May's Appeal.
• An alternate cut of Spurt! is used as background music during Ash's Appeal.
• 4Kids background music is used in this episode.
• Pokémon Symphonic Medley is used as background music during the battle between Ash and May.
• May's Combusken and Blaziken are both listed in the credits separately, as they have different voice actors.
• This episode marks the first time that a Fire-type first partner Pokémon:
  • Owned by a main character other than Ash has fully evolved.
  • Evolves outside its native region.
  • Has received a confirmed Ability.
• This episode marks the first time that a first partner Pokémon owned by a main character other than Ash has evolved in two different regions.
• This episode marks the final time that one of May's Pokémon evolves onscreen.
• This episode marks the first and only time one of May's Pokémon has its Ability activated.
• The flag on the Team Rocket mecha depicts a variant of the Flag of Japan and Mount Fuji.
• The Terracotta Contest was promoted using a recolored version of the international Pokémon logo (that shows the word "Pokémon" in red letters bordered in a yellow outline, while the actual logo has yellow letters that are bordered in blue).
• The episode's English dub title is a pun on the saying "once more with feeling".
• Two green-eyed Jigglypuff are visible.
  • One of these may be a consistency error.
• This is the only time where Pikachu has participated in a Pokémon Contest.
• This is the last time to date where Max encounters Team Rocket.
• As of this episode:
  • A first partner Pokémon of every type has evolved outside its native region at least once.
  • Water is the only first partner Pokémon type to not have a Pokémon with a confirmed Ability in the anime.
    • Also, Water is the only first partner Pokémon type to have not evolved in two different regions.

Errors

The coloring error

• In one scene, as the camera looks down on the Team Rocket float and the various Pokémon come running up to them, the dorsal fin on their Magikarp net launcher is red.
• As Team Rocket hauls in the nets, the nets are opaque, though this is likely an animation simplifier.
• In one scene towards the end, when Blaziken uses Overheat, its eyes are red instead of blue. However, this may have been intentional.
• The announcer incorrectly states that Overgrow increases the power of all attacks and implies the same for Blaze.
• At the end of the episode, in the last panel, Sceptile and Blaziken are nowhere to be seen.
• In the Finnish dub, when May orders Eevee to use Shadow Ball, she mistakenly has Nurse Joy's voice.

Dub edits

• "Dance of the Bellossom" is used as background music during the Appeals round.

In other languages

Language		Title
Mandarin Chinese		小智對抗小遙！最後的戰鬥！！
Danish		Små giganters sammenstød!
Dutch		Nog één Keer met Gejoel
Finnish		Täydeltä laidalta
European French		Coordinateur surprise
German		Wer nichts hat, kann auch nichts verlieren!
Hebrew		עוד פעם אחת
Hindi		एक आखरी मुकाबला Ek aakhri muqabla*
Italian		Una partenza da rimandare
Korean		지우VS봄이 마지막 배틀!
Norwegian		En følsom seier!
Brazilian Portuguese		Mais Uma Vez Cambaleando
Russian		Неожиданная битва
Spanish	Latin America	Una vez más en suspenso.
	Spain	Un Día más de Emociones
Swedish		Vem har vunnit?!

← AG190 : Pace - The Final Frontier!

Pokémon the Series: Ruby and Sapphire

AG192 : Home is Where the Start Is! →

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