DP173
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Dealing With a Fierce Double Ditto Drama!
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First broadcast
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English themes
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Japanese themes
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Credits
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Dealing With a Fierce Double Ditto Drama! (Japanese: メタモン・へんしんバトル！本物はドッチ～ニョ！？ Metamon - Transformation Battle! Which One is the Real One!?) is the 173rd episode of the Diamond & Pearl series, and the 639th episode of the Pokémon anime. It first aired in Japan on April 22, 2010 and in the United States on September 11, 2010.
Synopsis
Ash and his friends are training in a clearing near the Valor Lakefront, doing some last minute training (Dawn for the Grand Festival and Ash for his battle against Volkner). Dawn orders Piplup to use Whirlpool while Ash tells Gible to use Draco Meteor. The failed Draco Meteor hits Piplup (again), destroying his Whirlpool and also knocking him out in the process. As a result, Dawn gets angry at Ash and tells him that he should have picked another place to train Gible. Ash apologizes. Meanwhile, Brock places some food on a table to prepare lunch.
Back to the training, Dawn tells the now-recovered Piplup to spin while using BubbleBeam. Dawn compliments Piplup for his beautiful execution but Piplup waves as if saying, “It was nothing”. Piplup is sent to rest while Dawn sends out Togekiss. Togekiss is ordered to use Sky Attack while Piplup takes a nap in the shade of a nearby tree. Unbeknownst to him, the bushes beside him rustle and a pair of circular glowing white eyes appears.
Piplup is shown to have fallen asleep. Brock calls everyone to lunch, which gets the attention of the Pokémon hiding in the bushes. Piplup jumps onto the table laden with food and begins to eat all of the Pokémon food. Brock tries to stop Piplup but to no avail. His shouting attracts the attention of Ash and Dawn. Dawn scolds Piplup and demands it to stop, however, Piplup refuses. The commotion awakes Dawn's Piplup sleeping under the tree and he runs to the group, thus confusing everyone. The Piplup on the table then jumps into Dawn's arms, much to the anger of Dawn's Piplup. He knocks the Piplup in Dawn's arms onto the ground and the two begin to fight. To find out which is the real Piplup, Gible unleashes Draco Meteor, which hits the real Piplup, thus telling the two Piplup apart. While Dawn races to pick up her unconscious Piplup, it is revealed that there are now two Togekiss too. Brock suggests that Dawn use her Poké Ball to call her real Togekiss back. Dawn uses the Poké Ball and the Togekiss on the left is called back in to the ball.
When they turned their head, they now saw two Pikachu. Brock is at lost as to what to do since Ash's Pikachu doesn't like to be called back into its Ball. Ash tells him not to worry because he, unlike Dawn, can tell which Pikachu is the real one. Ash pats the Pikachu on the left, saying that that's his Pikachu, but the Pikachu on the right shocks him. As a result, he then pats the Pikachu on the right but the other Pikachu once more shocks him. The two Pikachu then have a battle by making various Pokémon imitations. However, each Pikachu is able to keep up with the other's imitations and the two soon give up, tired.
Dawn laughs at Ash's failed attempts at differentiating and two Piplup are heard agreeing with her. The Piplup in her arms jumps down and once more, attacks the Piplup on the ground. Ash considers using Gible's Draco Meteor again but, when he turns around, he finds two Gible fighting with one another.
A girl appears out of the woods and asks if Ash and his friends saw her companions. The two Piplup and Gible stop fighting and one of each pair looks at the girl in fright. After being scolded, the two Pokémon transformed back into Ditto, one of which is a shiny. Dawn scans the Ditto in her Pokédex. The group then expresses their wonder over the color of the shiny Ditto. The girl explains that the two Dittos are her companions: Ditto One and Ditto Two. However, they are very mischievous and like to play pranks so they often disappear. On cue, the shiny Ditto transforms into Piplup and the regular Ditto transforms into Pikachu.
The group then introduce themselves. The girl reveals herself as Narissa, Rissa for short. Dawn comments on how cute the nickname sounds and Narissa asks Dawn if she's making fun of her. Narissa explains that her townspeople call her “The Rumbler”, only to get more and more angry when Ash reveals his ignorance of the name. Brock asks her if she is traveling by herself and she replies that she is a “wandering Pokémon Trainer”, whose dream is to be the top Pokémon Master. Ash is excited that they share a common dream but Narissa only makes fun of Ash, calling him a noob, even though she only started her journey a month ago. Brock asks her if she has any badges and she proudly replies that she has none. She explains that she was so powerful that all the Gym Trainers ran off scared before she could challenge them to a gym battle. Dawn thinks she is lying.
Meanwhile, Team Rocket are spying on the group. Jessie fantasizes that she is an actress who can transform into any role as smoothly as Ditto. This causes Meowth to come up with the idea of stealing the two Ditto and giving them to the Boss. Meowth explains that the boss might be hiking in the mountains one day when he chances upon Giratina and Regigigas battling with each other. Of course, the boss would want to try and capture them… only to fail. At this time, the boss could tell the two Ditto to Transform into Giratina and Regigigas respectively. It would feel as if the boss actually caught the two legendary Pokémon, thank the trio, and give them their long sought for promotion. James ruins the celebration by noting that it's only a “quick fix” but the rest of the team hardly cares.
Ash challenges Narissa to a Pokémon battle, but Narissa mistakes his meaning, thinking that he wants a human battle. Narissa proudly exclaims that she is unbeatable. Brock offers to be the referee and asks what Pokémon Narissa has, to which she reveals she only has her two Ditto. Brock decides that the battle will be a two-on-two battle.
The battle starts and Narissa sends out Ditto Two (the shiny Ditto) while Ash sends out Infernape. Ditto Two then transforms into Infernape. Narissa checks her Pokédex to see what moves Infernape has and finds out that Ash's Infernape knows Flame Wheel and Mach Punch. However, she has no idea what Flame Wheel is. Ash calls for Infernape to use Flame Wheel and Narissa's Ditto uses Flame Wheel too. The two collide and cancel each other out. Dawn explains that Ditto seems to know whatever moves the Pokémon it transformed into. Ash's Infernape uses Mach Punch and Narissa's Ditto uses Mach Punch too. The two hit each other in the face with Mach Punch and, for a brief moment, the two seem to be evenly matched, but then the two break apart and Narissa's Ditto is sent flying back. It's knocked unconscious and returns to its original shiny Ditto form.
Narissa calls Ditto Two back into its Poké Ball and sends out Ditto One. Ash recalls Infernape and sends out Pikachu. Narissa isn't sure what Pokémon her Ditto One should transform into. She sees Dawn's Piplup and tells Ditto One to transform into Piplup. Dawn expresses her concern since Template:Type2s are weak against Template:Type2s. Narissa exclaims that she knows what she's doing. Ash's Pikachu uses Thunderbolt and hits Ditto One straight on. Narissa realizes her mistake and tells Ditto One to transform into Pikachu. After using her Pokédex to determine what moves Ash's Pikachu knows, Narissa tells Ditto One to use Iron Tail, but once more Dawn questions her choice as Template:Type2 moves aren't effective against Electric-types. Ash's Pikachu easily brushes away Ditto's Iron Tail. Ash orders Pikachu to use Quick Attack while Narissa counters with Volt Tackle. Dawn once more tells Narissa that Volt Tackle is a move that will cause recoil damage. The two Pikachu collide and an explosion occurs. Ash's Pikachu lands on its feet with a smooth somersault while Ditto One is thrown back and revealed to be unconscious. As a result, Ash wins the battle two-to-zero.
Narissa is hardly happy about her loss and swears revenge against Ash. Dawn and Brock criticize her because it's not good sportsmanship. Narissa then reveals that her Ditto once transformed into Zapdos during a battle and scared off her opponent (a trainer with a Cubone and Marowak), thus making her Ditto the strongest Pokémon ever. Dawn notes that Narissa didn't actually win the battle but Narissa doesn't care. “A win is a win” after all. Brock, as a result, gets angry and tells Narissa that she needs to study more about her Pokémon if she ever hopes to grow as a trainer. This causes Narissa to fall to her knees and cry as she reveals the truth. She also said that she lied of being "the Rumbler" at home.
Back home, Narissa was as “scared as she could be” and only dressed up as Flint because she had always admired the Elite Four and wanted to look strong. Brock offers to teach her more about Ditto and they start by reviewing her battle with Ash. For example, instead of transforming into Infernape, Ditto Two should have transformed into a Water-type like Piplup. Next up is a lesson on Ash's Pikachu, which knows move types other than its Electric-type to make use of the type-advantage in battles.
Brock and Narissa then have a battle with one another to help Ditto gain more experience. Brock uses his Happiny while both Ditto One and Two transform into Happiny as well. They both use Pound and Brock's Happiny is knocked back. Brock tells Happiny to retaliate with Pound as well and Ditto One and Two are sent flying into the forest. Both Ash and Dawn are surprised at Happiny's strength.
After Ditto One and Two have recovered, the battle resumes, this time with his Sudowoodo against Narissa's two transformed Sudowoodo. The two Ditto use Hammer Arm but Brock's Sudowoodo blocks them and retaliates with its own Hammer Arm. The two Ditto block the attack but are barely hanging in there when a net suddenly falls over them. It's Team Rocket and they have the two Ditto caught in their net. Narissa begs for Team Rocket to return her Ditto but they refused. Ash prepares to attack with Pikachu but before he can make a move, Jessie chooses her Seviper, and tells it to use Haze and escapes. Ash calls out his Staraptor to locate Team Rocket.
Meanwhile, Team Rocket releases the two Ditto from their net and the Ditto immediately transform into Meowth. They could not tell which Meowth is their's. The real Meowth tells Jessie and James to use their brain to determine which one is the real Meowth. The two Ditto then transform into Wobbuffet. James suggests to ship all three Wobbuffet to the boss but Jessie refuses, revealing that she does care for her Wobbuffet.
Ash and the group catch up to Team Rocket and the two Ditto walked back to Narissa. Ash is about to send out Pikachu but Narissa offers to battle. James sends out Carnivine and Narissa tells her Ditto to transform into Staraptor to use the Template:Type2 advantage over Carnivine's Template:Type2. Carnivine uses Bullet Seed but the two Ditto dodge it and counters with Aerial Ace. The attacks hit their mark and Carnivine is sent flying back.
Jessie then sends out her Seviper and Ash sends out his Gible to use the Template:Type2 over Template:Type2 advantage. Ditto Two transforms into Gible and use Dig, while Ditto One, still as a Staraptor, uses Quick Attack. Both Carnivine and Seviper are knocked back into Team Rocket. Ash decides to use Thunderbolt against Team Rocket, and the two Ditto transform into Pikachu. They use a triple Thunderbolt, which causes an explosion to occur and Team Rocket is sent blasting off.
Ash and the group bid farewell to Narissa. Narissa seems to have developed a crush on Brock, and hints to Brock. However, Brock notices another girl passing by the forest and immediately professes his love to her. He is then attacked by three Croagunk: his own Croagunk and the two; transformed by Ditto. He is then dragged off by his own Croagunk. Narissa is angry at Brock's "betrayal" and once more, says that Flint is the “only one for her” as she leaves.
The group finally reaches Lake Valor and Dawn prepares herself for the Grand Festival.
Major events
- The gang arrives at Valor Lakefront for the Grand Festival.
- For a list of all major events in the animated series, please see the history page.
Debuts
Pokémon debuts
Characters
Humans
- Ash
- Dawn
- Brock
- Jessie
- James
- Narissa
- Flint (fantasy)
- Giovanni (fantasy)
- Team Rocket Grunts (fantasy; six)
- Unnamed Trainer (flashback)
- Unnamed girl
Pokémon
- Pikachu (Ash's)
- Meowth (Team Rocket)
- Piplup (Dawn's)
- Wobbuffet (Jessie's)
- Staraptor (Ash's)
- Infernape (Ash's)
- Gible (Ash's)
- Togekiss (Dawn's)
- Sudowoodo (Brock's)
- Croagunk (Brock's)
- Happiny (Brock's)
- Seviper (Jessie's)
- Carnivine (James's)
- Ditto (Narissa's; Ditto One)
- Ditto (Narissa's; Ditto Two; shiny)
- Zapdos (flashback)
- Marowak (unnamed Trainer's; flashback)
- Cubone (unnamed Trainer's; flashback)
- Giratina (fantasy)
- Regigigas (fantasy)
Trivia
- Professor Oak's Pokémon lecture: Wobbuffet
- The lecture marks the first animated appearance of a female Wobbuffet, which displays the lipstick that is present on female Wobbuffet in the games.
- This episode explains that Ditto in the anime are able to transform into any Pokémon that is in the immediate area. This differs from the games, where Ditto can only transform into any Pokémon that is currently in battle.
Errors
- During the battle between Ash and Narissa, Ditto would revert to its natural form before transforming into another Pokémon; later in the episode, however, (when changing from Staraptor and Gible to Pikachu), both Ditto made a direct transformation instead.
- There were several errors in the scene where Ditto and Pikachu are imitating other Pokémon, such as
- Narissa refers to both Ditto as Ditto One during her battle with Ash, however, during the battle with Team Rocket, she refers to her shiny Ditto as Ditto Two.
Dub edits
- In the original Japanese, the two Ditto speak human language when they've transformed into Meowth. This was changed in the dub, where Meowth still speaks human but the Ditto say "Meowth".
In other languages
| Language | Title | |
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| Mandarin Chinese | 百變怪・變身對戰！本尊是哪邊咧！？ | |
 Dutch
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Een Dubbel Ditto Drama! | |
 Finnish
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Ditto-Duon tuomaa draamaa! | |
 German
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Das Doppelte Ditto! | |
 Italian
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I due Ditto! | |
 Polish
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Podwójny Ditto Dramat! | |
| Portuguese |  Brazil
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Lidando com uma Fera em Dose Dupla!! |
 Portugal
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Ditto a Dobrar, Azar a Dobrar | |
 European Spanish
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Enfrentamiento con el fiero equipo Ditto | |
 Swedish
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Hamna mitt i ett vilt dubbel-Ditto-drama! | |
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This episode article is part of Project Anime, a Bulbapedia project that covers all aspects of Pokémon animation. |
- Diamond & Pearl series episodes
- Episodes written by Shōji Yonemura
- Episodes storyboarded by Hideaki Ōba
- Episodes directed by Nobutaka Chikahashi
- Episodes animated by Kazue Kinoshita
- Episodes in which a legendary Pokémon appears
- Episodes in which an alternately colored Pokémon appears
- Episodes focusing on Brock
