AG183

Aipom and Circumstance! File:AipomandtheKing.jpg.png

AG183   エイパムと王様！ Eipam and the King!

First broadcast Japan July 6, 2006 United States December 14, 2006

English themes Opening Battle Frontier Ending

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 小山賢 Masaru Koyama Assistant director 小山賢 Masaru Koyama Animation director 志村泉 Izumi Shimura No additional credits are available at this time.

Screenshots on Filb.de

Aipom and Circumstance! (Japanese: エイパムと王様！ Eipam and the King!) is the 183rd episode of the Advanced Generation series. It was first broadcast in Japan on July 6, 2006 and in the United States on December 14, 2006.

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

Synopsis

Ash and the group have stopped for a lunch break. While everyone is eating, Aipom finds flowers in the field and forms a crown, putting it on its head to get attention. After lunch, Ash asks Pikachu to train, and Pikachu jumps on Ash's shoulder. Aipom gets jealous and pulls Ash down, taking his hat and running away. Ash tries to pursue, but he loses Aipom. However, Brock catches up and they spot a shrine in the distance.

Ash and Brock go to the location and meet Hank, where they find out that the village will pick a new king for a year. The elder reveals the golden crown, announcing that the person that possesses the crown by sundown will become the king. Everyone is welcome to participate, so Brock joins the group. Team Rocket finds out about the crown, wanting to steal it for Giovanni.

The elder opens the gate, and the crowd runs up the pyramid to the crown, leaving Hank and Ash behind. Team Rocket is at the top and tries to take the crown with a mechanical hand, but Aipom beats them to it. Team Rocket grabs Ash’s hat off of Aipom, and Jessie throws it out. It drifts back to Ash. Aipom climbs out of reach, and the people find out that if Aipom holds the crown until sunset, it will become king. The people rush to try and seize Aipom, and it runs back down the pyramid, passing Ash. He tries to convince Aipom to give the crown back, but Aipom is still jealous of Pikachu riding on Ash’s shoulder. It runs away, and Pikachu breaks off from Ash to catch up to Aipom.

The villagers lose Aipom, even though it was hiding in nearby bushes. Aipom tries to wear the crown, but it keeps falling off. Aipom gets angry and forces it on, covering its eyes. Aipom struggles to pull it off. Pikachu catches up and pulls the crown off enough to uncover its eyes. Aipom runs off with Pikachu in pursuit. Ash, Brock, and Hank lose them again, but they overhear the villagers saying that Aipom is at the North Cliff. Ash and Brock don’t know which way is north, but Hank summons his Nosepass to point in the right direction. They run into May and Max, informing them of the situation.

Aipom and Pikachu get trapped at the North Cliff, but Pikachu finds a small cave passageway that allows the duo to escape uncontested. They wind up on another drop off, but they run into Ash and the group. Noticing sunset is imminent, Ash tries to pull the crown off, but it won't budge. Aipom is scared, but Ash assures that if Aipom becomes king, he will stay with Aipom for the year, postponing his Battle Pyramid rematch. It pleases Aipom since it realizes that Ash cares for it.

Suddenly, a robotic Fearow grabs Aipom. Ash grabs Aipom and Pikachu removes it with Thunderbolt. Team Rocket shows up and unleashes a whole flock of robotic Fearow. Ash shields Aipom from the attacks. The Farow scatter high enough away that Pikachu cannot reach them with Thunderbolt. Ash summons Swellow, sending it to attack the robots, even though it is woefully outnumbered. Even though Swellow inflicts plenty of the damage, the robots are too numerous, forcing Ash to recall Swellow.

Hank suggests that Aipom should use Double Team to confuse Team Rocket. Ash decides to go along with it, and Aipom produces dozens of illusionary copies. However, the Fearow flock quickly destroys the illusions and reveals Aipom. One Fearow grabs Aipom, and Ash grabs back, trying to stop it. Hank uses Nosepass and Thunder Wave to disrupt Meowth's control of the Fearow flock, sending them flying erratically. Aipom uses Swift and Pikachu uses Thunderbolt to send Team Rocket flying.

Sunset is imminent, and it appears that Aipom will become king. Aipom is still scared, and Ash convinces everyone to try and remove the crown, but it still won’t budge. Ash gives up, but Hank brings out a Belue Berry. Ash gets Aipom to eat it, and it jumps around with lips puckered since the berry is so sour, pushing on its head. With Aipom already pushing, Hank pulls off the crown. Ash hugs Aipom, and Aipom blushes.

The villagers and the elder arrive, noticing that Hank is holding the crown at sunset. They proclaim him as the new king, with the villagers bowing down to him. Hank is ecstatic, feeling unsure if he should accept. However, May and Brock mention that Hank's contributions prove that he can lead. Hank accepts the crown, and Ash looks forward to the Battle Pyramid rematch.

Characters

Humans

• Ash
• May
• Brock
• Max
• Jessie
• James
• Hank (Seiyū: 古島清孝 Kiyotaka Furushima)
• Zeus (Seiyū: 藤本　譲 Yuzuru Fujimoto)
• Giovanni (fantasy)
• Villagers

Pokémon

• Pikachu (Ash's)
• Meowth (Team Rocket)
• Wobbuffet (Jessie's)
• Mime Jr. (James's)
• Donphan (Ash's)
• Swellow (Ash's)
• Sceptile (Ash's)
• Corphish (Ash's)
• Aipom (Ash's)
• Combusken (May's)
• Munchlax (May's)
• Squirtle (May's)
• Eevee (May's)
• Forretress (Brock's)
• Marshtomp (Brock's)
• Bonsly (Brock's)
• Nosepass (Hank's) (Seiyū: 三宅健太 Kenta Miyake)
• Fearow (robot)

Trivia

• In the Japanese version of the episode, Ash's Aipom was identified as female by May.
• While the term "king" is usually only applied to males, the system shown in this episode applies to both genders as a woman says that she wanted to be king when the crown is stuck on Aipom's head.
• This was the last episode to air before the Japanese theatrical debut of Pokémon Ranger and the Temple of the Sea.

In other languages

• French: Le roi des singeries
• Italian: I dispetti di Aipom
• Latin American Spanish: ¡Las locuras de Aipom!

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