S09

Template:EpisodePrevNext Pokémon: Battle Frontier is the ninth season of the Pokémon anime and the final season of the Advanced Generation English-language dub. It is comprised of episodes 146-191 of the original Pocket Monsters Advanced Generation series. It follows Ash Ketchum as he continues to collect symbols from the Kanto Battle Frontier while May participates in Pokémon contests. It began with Fear Factor Phony, which originally aired on September 8, 2006 in the United States, and ended with Home is Where the Start Is, which originally aired on March 3, 2007.

The dub underwent many changes at the start of the season. 4Kids Entertainment's licensing rights to the dub expired and in an agreement with Pokémon USA they decided not to renew, resulting in a recasting controversy among some fans. Meanwhile, Kids' WB! (a broadcast network) dropped all anime from its lineup leading to Cartoon Network (a cable network) picking up the series.

It is preceded by Pokémon: Advanced Battle and is succeeded by Pokémon: Diamond & Pearl which starts the saga based on the Diamond and Pearl games. It should be noted that the concept of seasons does not exist in Japan. An invention of the American animation and television industry, a season is the only way to differentiate one story arc, such as Advanced Battle, from any other in the Pocket Monsters Advanced Generation series. Unlike in Japan, where episodes are aired almost every week of the year, and the only differentiation is that between series, in America episodes are aired in usually 52-episode blocks, or "seasons," for several months before taking a break of several months to allow production on the next batch of episodes to begin.

See the list of Advanced Generation episodes for a list of Pokémon: Battle Frontier episodes.

Important events

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

• May participates in the Kanto Grand Festival located at the Indigo Plateau. She ends up in the top four after defeating Harley and Drew, and then losing to Solidad.
• Ash and his friends learn about Sinnoh, a region located north of Kanto.
• Ash completes the Battle Frontier with his victory at the Battle Pyramid. He is offered a position as a Frontier Brain, but he declines.
• May decides to compete in Pokémon contests in the Johto region after leaving Kanto.
• The group parts ways. Ash returns to Pallet Town and meets up with Gary, who came from Sinnoh. Ash and Gary battle, with Ash's Pikachu losing to Gary's Electivire.
• Ash decides to follow Gary back into Sinnoh, and leaves all his Pokémon, except Pikachu, at Professor Oak's ranch. However, Aipom quickly follows Ash and rejoins him.
• Team Rocket continues to follow Ash into Sinnoh.
• Brock travels home to Pewter City.

Party changes

Additions

The following Pokémon are obtained:

• James's Mime Jr. (AG147)
• Brock's Bonsly (AG156)
• May's Eevee (AG157)
• Ash's Aipom (AG181)

Evolutions

The following Pokémon evolve:

• Brock's Mudkip → Marshtomp
• Ash's Phanpy → Donphan
• Ash's Grovyle → Sceptile
• Brock's Onix → Steelix (while under Forrest's care; debut in AG176)
• May's Combusken → Blaziken

Releases

• None

Other

• James's Chimecho (left with the caretakers of James's summer home, AG147)
• Ash's Sceptile (left at Oak's lab AG191)
• Ash's Corphish (left at Oak's lab AG191)
• Ash's Swellow (left at Oak's lab AG191)
• Ash's Donphan (left at Oak's lab AG191)

Pokémon contests

May wins Pokémon contests in these locations:

• Silver Town
• Chrysanthemum Island
• Gardenia Town
• Mulberry Town

Battle Frontier

Ash defeats the following Frontier Brains:

• Greta
• Tucker
• Lucy
• Spenser
• Anabel
• Brandon

In other languages

• Latin American Spanish: Pokémon: Batalla de la Frontera

Trivia

This is the only filler season that features an area of the Pokemon world that debuted in the games.

Template:EpisodePrevNext