Beauty and the Breeder (Japanese: さよならロコン！ポケモンビューティーコンテスト！！Goodbye Rokon! Pokémon Beauty Contest!!) is the 169th episode of the Pokémon anime. It was first broadcast in Japan on October 19, 2000 and in the United States on October 6, 2001.
Spoiler warning: this article may contain major plot or ending details.
Template:Incomplete synopsis
Brock convinces Ash and Misty to go out of their way to meet Suzy, who is taking part in a Pokémon Contest. There they meet her close friend and rival, Zane, who has differing opinions on what makes a Pokémon beautiful. Suzy believes that a Pokémon's beauty comes from the inside while Zane believes it is their outer appearance that matters. Brock and Suzy enter the Pokémon contest together with Vulpix while Zane enters with his Ninetales.
Team Rocket crashes the Pokémon contest by posing as a pair of cutting edge Pokémon stylists. They kidnap the first entry and take his place in the contest with an extravagant display of groomed and painted Pokémon while reciting a variation of their motto. The crowd eats it up until an Officer Jenny is brought to the stage by the real first entrant. She throws them out because James runs his mouth. The contest continues as normal until Meowth tries his idea.
Major events
Brock and Suzy enter the Breeder convention, but it is not revealed whether they win or lose.
Note: The camera scrolling of the camera shows that more were entered and only parts of the Pokémon are shown in some cases. Multiple members of the same species were also seen to be entered in some cases. (As Team Rocket were entry 259 and there were only 251 known Pokémon at this time, there had to be duplicates.)
Trivia
Tracey look-alike?
Brock states that he always knew Vulpix wasn't his and that he would have to return it one day, this episode being the moment.
This episode is featured on the Crash of the Dairy volume of the High Voltage Collection series, a series of select Johto League Champions episodes on VHS.
There sems to be a Tracey look-alike during Team Rocket's second takeover.
Brock and Suzy's Vulpix is entry number 37 in the contest just as Vulpix is number 37 in the National Pokédex.
Errors
The Pokémon Team Rocket steal are not dressed up, despite all the Pokémon entered (besides Vulpix and Ninetales) being stylised for the contest.
Near the end of the episode, one contestant's Charizard has a orange belly.
When Zane tells Brock he was jealous when he met Suzy, he refers to Suzy as a "he".
