AG105

← AG104 : Claydol Big and Tall

Advanced Generation series

AG106 : Beg, Burrow and Steal →

Once in a Mawile

AG105   EP379 恋するクチート! ハスブレロの花道！！ Falling in Love With Kucheat! Hasubrero's Flower Arrangement!!

First broadcast Japan December 2, 2004 United States December 10, 2005

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〜

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

Once in a Mawile (Japanese: 恋するクチート！ハスブレロの花道！！ Falling in Love With Kucheat! Hasubrero's Flower Arrangement!!) is the 105th episode of the Advanced Generation series, and the 379th episode of the Pokémon anime. It was first broadcast in Japan on December 2, 2004, in the UK on November 7, 2005, and in the United States on December 10, 2005.

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

Blurb

Ash and Brock face off for a friendly training battle. Ash pits his Torkoal against Brock's Lombre, which it seems like a mismatch until Torkoal lets loose with Overheat, sending Lombre rocketing across the forest. The kids run after it, where they meet a Mawile that's become quite attracted to Lombre, along with its Trainer Samantha. Brock sees Mawile's crush as a way to get close to Samantha, and begs Lombre to be nice.

Samantha performs ribbon dances with Mawile, so the two of them demonstrate. The entire group starts walking to a nearby town, when Brock spots a bouquet on the road. He goes to grab it, but it's a Team Rocket trap. They grab Mawile, and Lombre doesn't put up much of a fight. It takes Torkoal and Corphish to sort things out, and Corphish develops a crush on Mawile! But Mawile doesn't like Corphish, breaking its heart.

That night, Samantha and Mawile are set to perform for a huge crowd, but the show is interrupted by Team Rocket once again. In a cloud of smoke, they grab a Pokémon—Lombre!

Jessie and James are dismayed to find they made a mistake, though Lombre and Wobbuffet get along well. Leaving Brock behind to manage the crowd (with Corphish's help), the others catch up to the thieves, and Jessie puts up a fight simply because Ash wants Lombre back. Lombre finally puts up a fight, protecting Mawile. After the thieves blast off again, the kids return Lombre to Brock.

During Samantha and Mawile's performance, Lombre wanders over to Samantha's backpack, taking a Water Stone out of it—and evolving into Ludicolo! It jumps on stage and joins the performance, amusing the crowd. The show is a success, but Mawile doesn't like Ludicolo now. A disappointed Brock joins Ludicolo in a happy dance to recover from their heartbreak.

Plot

The episode starts with Ash and his friends eating a meal at a picnic table. There, Ash asks Brock if he wants to have a Pokémon battle to pass the time, and the Pokémon Breeder agrees. Ash chooses his Torkoal while Brock chooses his Lombre, prompting Max to comment on how Brock's Water-type has the advantage against Ash's Fire-type.

The battle starts as May comments on how laid-back Lombre looks. Ash starts off by having Torkoal use Body Slam, which Lombre manages to dodge. Torkoal then tries a Flamethrower attack, but Lombre is able to dodge that as well, even though it does fall backwards in the process. Torkoal attempts to use Body Slam again, but it misses yet again. Now, Lombre goes on the offensive, hitting Torkoal with a Water Gun. The tortoise Pokémon survives the attack and counters with Flamethrower, but it misses. Lombre responds with Razor Leaf, but it's no good as Torkoal withdraws into its shell with Iron Defense to deflect the attack. After the Razor Leaf subsides, Ash has Torkoal use Overheat, which hits Lombre and causes it to go blasting off, Team Rocket-style. The Water Pokémon lands in a nearby forest, where a Mawile and its Trainer are practicing new techniques.

Ash and the others soon catch up to Brock's Pokémon. Brock gets one look at the Mawile's Trainer, Samantha, and instantly begins his heart-eyed routine. Ash looks Mawile up in his Pokédex, and after that the deceiver Pokémon starts getting closer to a vacant-faced Lombre. Samantha reckons that her Pokémon likes Lombre, causing Brock to give his Pokémon a sort of "'atta boy" nudge.

Mawile moves in a bit closer, but Lombre turns its back toward Samantha's Pokémon and walks off to the side! Brock goes over and asks the water Pokémon what it's doing, whispering that if it gets together with Mawile, it will improve his chances of getting with its Trainer, Samantha. Max overhears Brock's plot and promptly scolds the Pokémon Breeder for planning to use his Pokémon like that. Mawile approaches Brock's Lombre again and tries to get closer, but it's rejected again, so the deceiver Pokémon turns around and uses its massive jaws to attack Lombre! Suddenly, May looks over to Samantha's bags and notices a bunch of ribbons, so she asks her what they're for. She responds by saying that her Pokémon and she perform a dance with the ribbons, and so she prepares to demonstrate what she means.

A bit later, Samantha and her Pokémon are ready to perform. The two dance around while waving the ribbons about, creating an elegant dance. Ash and the others watch intently while, unknown to anyone in the group, Team Rocket watches. Meowth decides that they should kidnap the Mawile, saying that its ribbon dance will entertain the Boss (this is accompanied by a scene of chibi-Giovanni giving Mawile a round of applause). James asks if that's it, and Meowth responds by saying that the Pokémon could also use its large jaws to fan the Boss (holding a glass of wine) whenever he gets warm. Finally, Meowth tells the group that the Pokémon's jaws could be used as a sort of lawn chair, enabling Giovanni to leisurely sit while he talks about how great Meowth and the others are. James isn't convinced, but Jessie reminds them they have nothing else to lose, so they decide to go for it.

Now that the ribbon dance is over, Ash and the gang are seen walking with Samantha. On the road, an abandoned bouquet of flowers can be seen, so Brock runs over to pick it up, offering it to Lombre to give to Mawile. Ash and the others catch up with Ash, but when they do the ground begins to rumble. They're standing over one of Team Rocket's pitfall traps! After everyone falls into the hole, Team Rocket appears in their Meowth balloon as they scoop up Samantha's Pokémon. Ash calls on Corphish while Brock calls on Lombre, so Jessie responds by calling on her Seviper. Corphish uses BubbleBeam on Seviper, knocking it back for a moment. James decides to call on his Cacnea to help Jessie out, and, as usual, the cactus Pokémon begins to hug its master.

The battle continues as Seviper wraps its body around Corphish. Lombre steps up and uses Razor Leaf on the snake Pokémon, freeing Corphish from Seviper's grasp. The viper Pokémon responds by using Poison Tail on Lombre while Cacnea uses Pin Missile on Corphish. Both Pokémon are knocked back as Ash decides to call on his Torkoal, who quickly hits Cacnea with one of its attacks. It then uses Flamethrower on Seviper, knocking it back into the Meowth balloon's basket. The jolt from the snake Pokémon jars the balloon, enabling Mawile to escape. Now that Samantha's Pokémon is free, Corphish Crabhammers James's Cacnea onto the balloon. The Pokémon's needles puncture the balloon, sending Team Rocket blasting off again.

With Team Rocket out of the way, Corphish is able to get a good look at Mawile, and it likes what it sees! The Pokémon gets all heart-eyed and offers the Mawile the bouquet of flowers, but Mawile responds by clasping its jaws on Corphish! It then hurls the Pokémon around before tossing it into the distance! Corphish doesn't give up as it runs back to the others to try again. However, it's greeted by the sight of Mawile holding on to Lombre's arm! The heart-broken Corphish begins to bawl, and Brock joins in, telling it that he knows how it feels. Ash's Torkoal joins in all the crying, just because it can.

The group's now in a city, where Samantha and her Mawile are about to go on-stage to perform for an outdoor stadium full of people. In the audience, Ash and the others wait for the start of the show as Corphish gives Lombre the death glare. May comments on how Corphish sees Lombre as its rival in love as the show starts. The spotlight comes on Samantha and Mawile, and the two begin their ribbon dance. Suddenly, the lights go out, and Team Rocket's balloon can be seen arriving on the scene!

Jessie, James, and Meowth, all in theatrical costumes, recite their motto as they botch up their act (Jessie tries twirling a ribbon about, but she ends up wrapping herself with the ribbon instead; likewise, James tries juggling what looks to be bowling pins, but he misses them and they all land on his head). After the motto, Jessie calls her Seviper out and orders it to use Haze on the stage. As everyone coughs from the smoke, Team Rocket emerges from the smoke with Pokémon in tow, laughing victoriously. After Team Rocket escapes, the group notices that Mawile is still there, but Brock's Lombre is missing. They took the wrong Pokémon! Mawile, worried about Lombre, rushes off, with Samantha following. Ash and May tell Brock to stall for time, and go along as well. Brock manages to convince Corphish to stay behind and help.

Elsewhere, we see that Team Rocket has landed their balloon and realized their mistake. Meowth thinks that they can still give Lombre to the Boss, so he imagines the Boss waking up… only to be disturbed by Lombre's odd face. OK, bad idea. Well, the Boss could be going to the pool one day, see Lombre, and... be disturbed at its odd face. After thinking for a while, it's decided that giving Lombre to the Boss would be a bad idea, and Wobbuffet comes out of its Poké Ball to agree. Wobbuffet and Lombre begin to have a conversation, but it seems to be as mindless as the conversation between Wobbuffet and Wynaut in "Camp Pikachu." Meowth reveals that what it ended up being was a bad comedy routine, and Jessie screams that they don't need any more jokes. Meowth adds that the team has enough of those.

Suddenly, Ash and the others arrive. Jessie calls on her Dustox while James calls on his Cacnea. Mawile is ordered to use Bite, so the Pokémon uses its massive jaws to clamp down on Cacnea. Dustox is ordered to use Psybeam and Cacnea is ordered to use Pin Missile on Mawile, so Ash steps in and has his Pikachu use Thunder. The attack hits Dustox, knocking the moth Pokémon into Meowth. However, Cacnea's Pin Missile is still coming toward Mawile! At the last minute, Lombre jumps in front of Samantha's Pokémon and shields it from the attack as Mawile looks lovingly at Brock's Pokémon.

After the Pin Missile attack stops, Dustox, having recovered from Pikachu's attack, charges toward Lombre. The water Pokémon is able to dodge its attack, and afterwards Mawile moves from behind Lombre and uses Focus Punch on Dustox. Cacnea aims a Pin Missile at Lombre, but it's able to dodge it, and responds by hitting James's Pokémon with a Water Gun. Dustox uses Gust, so Lombre responds with Razor Leaf, impressing Mawile even further.

Cacnea uses Pin Missile, which Lombre is able to dodge. Mawile then comes up and prepares a massive SolarBeam. The attack is released, sending Team Rocket blasting off. Everyone congratulates each other on a battle well-fought, but they realize that they have to return to relieve Brock and Corphish. Samantha and the others arrive to find Brock all decked out in his "Brock's Paradise" outfit. The Pokémon Breeder is visibly tired from the performance, so he's relieved when Samantha gets back on the stage.

She and her Mawile resume their ribbon dance as everyone else goes backstage. There, Lombre approaches Samantha's bags and starts rummaging through them. Suddenly, he pulls a Water Stone out of her bag! Just then, Lombre begins to glow and evolves into Ludicolo! After it evolves, it quickly jumps onto the stage and joins the performance, happily dancing along.

After the show, Brock apologizes to Samantha for Lombre using her Water Stone. She says that it's OK as Ludicolo gets hearts in its eyes for Mawile, but Mawile doesn't want anything to do with Brock's Pokémon! Samantha's Pokémon then spots a Psyduck in the distance and begins fawning over it, and Samantha guesses that it must be attracted to absent-minded Pokémon. Ludicolo quickly gets over its rejection and starts dancing, firing Bullet Seed into the air as it does so. Brock is happy with his new Pokémon as they begin dancing.

Major events

• Brock's Lombre evolves into Ludicolo and learns Bullet Seed.

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

Debuts

Pokémon debuts

• Brock's Ludicolo

TV episode debuts

• Mawile

Characters

Humans

• Ash
• May
• Brock
• Max
• Jessie
• James
• Giovanni (fantasy)
• Samantha

Pokémon

Pokémon Trainer's Choice

Pokémon Trainer's Choice: Trapinch

• Pikachu (Ash's)
• Meowth (Team Rocket)
• Wobbuffet (Jessie's)
• Corphish (Ash's)
• Torkoal (Ash's)
• Lombre (Brock's; evolves)
• Ludicolo (Brock's; newly evolved)
• Seviper (Jessie's)
• Dustox (Jessie's)
• Cacnea (James's)
• Mawile (Samantha's; debut)
• Psyduck (unknown Trainer's)

Trivia

• Professor Oak's lecture was replaced by a new segment called Pokémon Trivia Quiz.
• Pokémon Symphonic Medley replaces Challenger!! as the opening theme sequence.
• From this episode onwards, the background of the eyecatches, rather than only featuring Groudon and Kyogre, now feature either Rayquaza, Regirock, Regice or Registeel (presumably to commemorate the release of Emerald). This marks the final changes that the eyecatches will go through for this series.
• The title of this episode is a pun on the phrase "Once in a while".
• Starting in this episode, moves such as Corphish's BubbleBeam and Cacnea's Pin Missile are animated with CGI.
• This is the first time one of the main characters' Pokémon is shown to evolve by evolutionary stone.
• This is the third time Brock performs Takeshi's Paradise for the same reason of delaying a crowd. The first two times were in Same Old Song and Dance and Lights, Camerupt, Action!.

Dub edits

• During Meowth's boss fantasy, the color of Giovanni's wine is changed to white, presumably to give it the appearance of milk.

Pokémon Trainer's Choice

• Question: Trainers, what humble Pokémon is the first evolution of Flygon?
• Choices: Altaria, Trapinch, Cacnea
• Answer: OK, Trainers! If you chose Trapinch, you were right!

In other languages

Language		Title
Mandarin Chinese		大嘴娃談戀愛！蓮帽小童的花之路！！
Finnish		Suloinen Mawile
European French		Chagrin d'amour
German		"Was sich liebt, das neckt sich!"
Hebrew		מאוויל מאוהבת Mawile Me'ohevet
Italian		Amore non corrisposto
Brazilian Portuguese		Uma Vez uma Mawile
Spanish	Latin America	Una Mawile enamorada
	Spain	Mawile se Enamora
Swedish		Showtime

← AG104 : Claydol Big and Tall

Advanced Generation series

AG106 : Beg, Burrow and Steal →

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