DP050

← DP049 : Dawn's Early Night

Diamond & Pearl series

DP051 : Glory Blaze! →

Tag! We're It...!

DP050   EP516 全員参加！タッグバトル!! All Members Participate! Tag Battle!!

First broadcast Japan October 4, 2007 United States February 1, 2008

English themes Opening Diamond and Pearl Ending

Japanese themes Opening Together Ending 君のそばで 〜ヒカリのテーマ〜(PopUp.Version)

Credits Animation Team Iguchi Screenplay 冨岡淳広 Atsuhiro Tomioka Storyboard 山田浩之 Hiroyuki Yamada Assistant director 山田浩之 Hiroyuki Yamada Animation directors 夏目久仁彦 Kunihiko Natsume 新城真 Makoto Shinjō Additional credits

Screenshots on Filb.de Early reports only credited Kunihiko Natsume as animation director.

Tag! We're It...! (Japanese: 全員参加！タッグバトル!! All Members Participate! Tag Battle!!) is the 50th episode of the Diamond & Pearl series, and the 516th episode of the Pokémon anime. It first aired in Japan on October 4, 2007 as part of a two-hour special alongside Dawn's Early Night, and in the United States on February 1, 2008.

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

Synopsis

The episode starts with Ash and Brock handing Dawn an entry card for the Hearthome City Tag Battle competition. Zoey suggested it to give Dawn a confidence boost after not making it into the second round of the Hearthome contest. At the stadium, the MC explains the rules and shows the competitors the prize for winning, which is a Soothe Bell that Team Rocket wants to steal. The contestants are shuffled and put into partners for the competition. The three set off to find their partners. Dawn is the first to find her partner, an odd boy named Conway and his Slowking. Next Brock finds his partner, a girl named Holly with a Wingull. Of course, she is a beautiful girl which Brock falls for, but she tells him that she is not interested in younger men. Ash is still searching for his partner when a voice calls out "of course you had to be number 15." He turns around to find Paul standing there with his Elekid and Chimchar.

Dawn and Conway are first to battle with their Piplup and Slowking against a Koffing and Scyther. Scyther starts things off with a Razor Wind and Koffing attacks with a Sludge Bomb. Piplup blocks the razor wind with a BubbleBeam and Slowking blocks the Sludge bomb with a Safeguard. Koffing comes back with a Thunderbolt which Slowking blocks with Protect. Scyther attacks with an X-Scissor but Piplup comes from above with a Peck attack that knocks out Scyther. Koffing uses Gyro Ball which is stopped by Slowking's Psychic. Slowking then slams Koffing into the ground knocking it out. The two win with a combination of Conway's defense and Dawn's attack.

Brock and Holly are up next. It's Sudowoodo and Wingull against a Yanma and Bagon. Wingull uses a Blizzard attack but is hit by a Steel Wing from Yanma first. While Wingull is falling, Bagon comes in with a Zen Headbutt which is stopped by a Double-Edge from Sudowoodo. The other side is arguing about getting in each others way. Wingull uses an icy Blizzard. Bagon tries to counter with DragonBreath but is hit by Sudowoodo's Flail first. Wingull hits Yanma with an Aerial Ace and both Bagon and Yanma faint. They win and advance to the next round.

Ash and Paul are the last battle of the first round. Ash sends out Pikachu and Paul sends out Chimchar, and the opposition sends out a Rhydon and Magmar. Ash decides to battle his way and starts things off with a Thunderbolt towards Magmar but Rhydon absorbs it with its Lightning Rod ability. Rhydon then smashes Pikachu with a Megahorn attack. Magmar attacks with a Lava Plume. Ash tells Pikachu to dodge but Paul sends Chimchar straight into the fire. The flame on Chimchar's tail becomes bigger and Chimchar gives a powerful blast of Flamethrower which has very little effect on Rhydon. Rhydon counters with a direct hit from a Hammer Arm. Pikachu comes down from its dodge with an Iron Tail. Rhydon strikes back with a surprise Surf attack while Magmar uses Protect. Paul decides to take it head on with a Flame Wheel. Ash tries to convince him that Chimchar could really get hurt but he doesn't care. Ash remembers what Zoey did in the contest and breaks through the surf with an Iron Tail which slams into Rhydon. Rhydon is knocked out leaving Magmar alone. Pikachu goes straight for Magmar with a Volt Tackle but Magmar deflects it with a Fire Punch. While Pikachu and Magmar are fighting, Chimchar comes from beneath with a Dig that knocks out Magmar. Brock tells Dawn that Ash and Paul can't get much further unless they start working as a team.

Major events

• Dawn is entry number 28 (given by Ash) and is partnered with the 9th entrant, Conway and his Slowking.
• Brock is entry number 16 and is partnered with the 21st entrant, Holly and her Wingull.
• Ash is entry number 15 and is partnered with the 5th entrant, Paul and his Chimchar.
• Ash, Paul, Dawn, Conway, Brock, and Holly advance to the next rounds.

Debuts

• Conway
• Holly

Characters

Humans

• Ash
• Brock
• Dawn
• Jessie
• James
• Paul
• Conway
• Holly
• Enta
• Researcher (Seiyū: 仁科洋平 Yōhei Nishina)
• Elite Trainer (Seiyū: 逢坂　力 Chikara Ōsaka)
• Giant (Seiyū: 堂坂晃三 Kōzō Dōzaka)
• Trainer 1 (Seiyū: 阪口大助 Daisuke Sakaguchi*)
• Trainer 2 (Seiyū: 川上とも子 Tomoko Kawakami*)
• Audience

* No official credit was given for this character.

Pokémon

• Pikachu (Ash's)
• Meowth (Team Rocket)
• Wobbuffet (Jessie's)
• Mime Jr. (James's)
• Piplup (Dawn's)
• Sudowoodo (Brock's)
• Croagunk (Brock's)
• Chimchar (Paul's)
• Elekid (Paul's)
• Slowking (Conway's)
• Wingull (Holly's; Seiyū: 西村ちなみ Chinami Nishimura)
• Koffing (A Block male Trainer's)
• Scyther (A Block female Trainer's)
• Yanma (E Block Trainer's)
• Bagon (E Block Trainer's)
• Rhydon (H Block Trainer's)
• Magmar (H Block Trainer's)
• In James's fantasy:
  • Cranidos
  • Mothim
  • Drifloon
  • Gastly
  • Glameow
  • Shieldon

Trivia

• This is part one of a three episode arc.
• This episode features the following pairings:

Ash and Paul with Pikachu and Chimchar

Dawn and Conway with Piplup and Slowking

Brock and Holly with Sudowoodo and Wingull

• The ending was omitted in the original broadcast, with the credits moved to the opening instead.
• Music from Pokémon Heroes and Jirachi: Wish Maker, and the instrumental version of Advance Adventure are used as background music.
• Dawn's partner, Conway, seems to have Template:S on her.
• Conway appears to be based off of the Super Nerd Trainer class.
• Other than Pokémon League Conferences, this is the second time Ash and a rival participated in the same competition. The first time this happened was when Ash and Gary took part in an extreme Pokémon race where Ash won a Pokémon egg (Phanpy). This time, Ash and Paul take part and were teamed up together.
• This episode, along with Glory Blaze! and Smells Like Team Spirit! aired as a 90 minute special on February 1st, 2008 on Cartoon Network.
• In this episode, Paul uses the opponent's Magmar to try and expose Chimchar's full power. He was later shown to have a Magmar of his own. Many see the Magmar as Chimchar's replacement.
• The title is a pun of the phrase, Tag. You're It!
• Pikachu's Thunderbolt attack, when directed at Magmar, was refracted towards the opponent's Rhydon's horn, an example of the Lightningrod ability. Interestingly, Pikachu previously fought Blaine's Rhydon and Magmar, aiming for Rhydon's horn to hurt it.
• The Trainer with the Magmar bares a resemblance to Thomas from Digimon Data Squad in his second outfit.

In other languages

• Brazilian Portuguese: Batalha em Dupla! Aqui Vamos Nós!
• Finnish: Tiimityötä
• German: Ein Partner zum Abgewöhnen!
• Italian: Il torneo di doppi incontri & Spirito di squadra
• Iberian Spanish: ¡Combate Corazón, alla vamos!
• Latin American Spanish: ¡La gran batalla dúo!
• Dutch: Dubbel gevecht, Dubbele Ziel!
• Czech: Párový turnaj
  • Note: Párový turnaj literately means Pairing Tournament, but párový zápas (pairing battle) is Czech dub term for Tag Battle
• Polish: Dwuwalka – wchodzę w to!

← DP049 : Dawn's Early Night

Diamond & Pearl series

DP051 : Glory Blaze! →

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