AG189
Gathering the Gang of Four!
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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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Gathering the Gang of Four! (Japanese: 最初のポケモン！最後の戦い!! First Pokémon! Final Battle!!) is the 189th episode of the Advanced Generation series. It was first broadcast in Japan on August 24, 2006 and in the United States on February 10, 2007.
It's time for Ash's second rematch against Brandon, a full 4 vs 4 Pokémon Battle. Calling upon his oldest friends, Pikachu, Bulbasaur, Charizard and Squirtle, Ash trains the four and prepares for the battle. However, the battle appears to be tougher than anticipated...
Synopsis
The last stride of the Battle Frontier is upon Ash, as our heroes are outside of a local Pokémon Center. As our heroes are about to begin their departure, Oak exits from the establishment and hands Ash a Poké Ball. Ash rotates the Poké Ball unleashing the magnificent force of Bulbasaur, his old companion of Kanto. Pikachu rushes over to Bulbasaur and the both reacquaint themselves. The mysterious Squirtle of the devious Squirtle Squad rides in Jenny's motorcycle as the two speed towards Ash. Squirtle, Bulbasaur, and Pikachu reacquaint themselves with the old group. Brock once again falls for Jenny's charm but is broken out of his state of confusion by Max's stiff pull of his ear. After a few seconds, a silhouette resembling Charizard appears in the skies and begins closing in on his location. The grumble of Charizard's call can be heard from the distance. Ash welcomes Charizard with open arms and is welcomed by Charizard's ferocious Flamethrower.
May calls upon her Squirtle and as the Poké Ball explodes open, Ash's Squirtle uses its Water Gun to keep May's Squirtle suspended in the air. After the water recedes, the two begin dancing gently together. Ash's Squirtle towers over May's unusually small turtle Pokémon. As the two play, Brock hands Ash his faithful backpack. Joy gives Ash a parting gift while Ash prepares his Pokémon for the journey to the Battle Pyramid. Charizard reassures Ash that he is ready by greeting him with another Flamethrower. As our group continues down a nearby path, Ash comes across a group of logs blocking the path. Charizard uses his strength to propel the logs into the air as Bulbasaur uses his Razor Leafs to slice the logs into small pieces as each Pokémon catches a small piece. After all of the logs have been successfully cut, everyone places the logs into place forming a box. Squirtle begins spinning at a rapid space creating a wind current as Bulbasaur uses its Vine Whip to capture nearby leaves in the windstream. Pikachu uses its Agility to force the foliage inside of the box structure. After the group finishes, a soft bed of underbrush is formed. Charizard slams down into the box scattering leaves into the atmosphere. Squirtle becomes furious and launches a Water Gun hitting Charizard directly on the forehead. Charizard wakes up from its nap and walks over to confront Squirtle. Bulbasaur and Squirtle prepare to evade Charizard but soon after Bulbasaur decides to attack Charizard with Vine Whip. Charizard evades the attack causing Bulbasaur's attack to crash down on Pikachu.
Pikachu's tail begins growing brightly as he ascends into the air and clashes with Charizard but causes minimal damage. Ash attempts to stop the fight but is met with Charizard's Flamethrower once more. Pikachu begins building electrical energy launching a Thunderbolt shocking Ash, Bulbasaur, Squirtle, and Charizard. The group continues further down the path and soon come to a large tree. Charizard takes to the skies with his wings growing brightly. Charizard descends around the tree cutting the fruit loose. Squirtle uses his Water Gun to keep the fruit ascended into the atmosphere while Pikachu and Bulbasaur use Agility and Vine Whip to rescue the fruit from the fall.
Dusk has fallen upon our hero while Ash prepares a fire for the night. Charizard uses his Flamethrower to light the fire as everyone moves away from his devastating force. The Flamethrower proves to be unsuccessful only heating the nearby rocks. Ash realizes that he forgot to place firewood into the firepit. Charizard uses Ember this time to light the fire gently. Night falls upon our heroes as the fire glistens and sparkles under the night sky. Ash reminds Pikachu of their past experiences in Kanto while he also brings up the same instances with Bulbasaur, Charizard, and Squirtle.
Morning has arrived for our heroes as training preparations continue throughout the day. The day concludes once more with our heroes sitting at a glistening fire once more. Nearby, Team Rocket plan their devious attack to capture Pikachu. After a few seconds, a strange vehicle emerges from the forest while Ash runs to greet the couple. The couple are a pair of ramen dealers who prepare ramen for travelers. An older man greets Ash stating that he needs an electric Pokémon. While Ash is distracted, the old man snatches Pikachu with his companion and escapes into the vehicle. The group speed off and reveal themselves as Team Rocket. The vehicle soon collapses revealing Team Rocket's balloon forged of a form of steel. Ash takes to the skies with Charizard. Bulbasaur attempts to stop the group from escaping with his Razor Leaf but the attack only is deflected from the balloon's outer surface. Charizard launches his Flamethrower but the metal only absorbs the heat. Squirtle uses his Water Gun soon after also proving ineffective. Both Pokémon continue heating and cooling the metal weakening it after every attack. The steel soon begins to crack as Bulbasaur delivers the final blow causing the balloon to crush into the ground. Pikachu, Squirtle, Bulbasaur, and Charizard launch a combination of Water, Grass, Fire, and Electric attacks clashing with Team Rocket for a direct hit and blasting the trio into the sky. As Team Rocket blasts off, Jessie begins devouring a bowl of ramen fighting off James, Meowth, and James's Mime Jr.. Wobbuffet releases himself from the Poké Ball giving his notorious call. The trio disperse into the sky as a blinding light.
Ash checks the status of his Pokémon and notices the expression on Charizard's face. Charizard has noticed a nearby human within the vicinity. The underbrush moves gently as Ash welcomes Brandon with exuberance. Brandon extends an invitation for a Frontier Battle. Morning arrives upon our hero as the two head towards the Pokémon Center. As our heroes are seated inside of the center, Scott introduces himself as the Frontier Owner. Any participant that can successfully complete the Battle Frontier become a Frontier Brain candidate. The Battle Pyramid's ceiling opens as our hero Ash and Brandon prepare for a grueling battle. Brandon calls upon his devious Dusclops while Ash selects Charizard as his opponent. Charizard doesn't hesitate to being the battle with his Flamethrower as Dusclops counterattacks with Will-O-Wisp with both attacks clashing and dispersing into the atmosphere. Charizard charges and uses Steel Wing as Dusclops uses Shadow Punch making for a direct hit. Charizard recovers and strikes down with DragonBreath. After Dusclops manages to recover, he counterattacks with Mean Look. Charizard charges his wings again and descends towards Dusclops for another Steel Wing attack. Dusclops uses another Mean Look to confuse Charizard. Ash attempts to recall Charizard back into his Poké Ball but proves unsuccessful. Dusclops strikes Charizard with another Shadow Punch as he continues to attempt to recover. Dusclops strikes down with another Will-O-Wisp for a direct hit. Ash attempts to remind Charizard of his past battles while he tries to grasp consciousness once more. Charizard recovers from the Mean Look and launches another DragonBreath attack for a direct hit. Dusclops launches another Will-O-Wisp attack knocking Charizard backwards. Charizard blazes forward with another Steel Wing attack and rotates around to attempt to complete a Seismic Toss. As Charizard prepares to finish the attack, Dusclops's body disappears from Charizard's grasp. Dusclops takes advantage of his foe and uses another Shadow Punch knocking Charizard unconscious. Ash's most devastating Pokémon now defeated, will he ever overcome the invincible Brandon or have his dreams crushed in an instance?
Major events
- Ash's Bulbasaur returns from Professor Oak's lab.
- Ash's Charizard returns from the Charicific Valley.
- Ash's Squirtle returns from the Squirtle Squad.
- Ash's Charizard learned Steel Wing.
- Ash meets Brandon in the forest, and he is allowed another rematch.
- Scott explains that those who successfully defeat the Battle Frontier become Frontier Brain candidates.
- Brandon's Dusclops defeats Ash's Charizard.
Debuts
Characters
Humans
- Ash
- Misty (flashback)
- May
- Brock
- Max
- Jessie
- James
- Professor Oak
- Officer Jenny
- Nurse Joy
- Scott
- Brandon
- Samuel
- Pokémon trainers
Pokémon
- Pikachu (Ash's)
- Meowth (Team Rocket)
- Wobbuffet (Jessie's)
- Mime Jr. (James's)
- Bulbasaur (Ash's)
- Charmander (Ash's, flashback)
- Charmeleon (Ash's, flashback)
- Charizard (Ash's)
- Squirtle (Ash's)
- Squirtle (May's)
- Dusclops (Brandon's)
- Chansey (Joy's)
- Squirtle (Squirtle Squad)
- Rattata (flashback)
- Spearow (flashback)
- Nidoran♀ (flashback)
- Oddish (flashback)
- Articuno (flashback)
- Blaziken (flashback)
Trivia
- The ballad version of Battle Frontier is used as background music during the flashback scene.
- Music from Lucario and the Mystery of Mew and an instrumental version of Advance Adventure from Jirachi: Wish Maker are used as background music.
- This is Emily Williams's first time playing Officer Jenny
- Brandon's Dusclops appears to be colored a darker shade than other Dusclops, but is not considered an alternate coloration.
Errors
- In the flashback picture of Charizard battling Articuno, Ash is shown wearing his original series outfit, while he has been wearing his Advanced Generation series outfit since EP273.
- Ash says that Pikachu used to hate being inside his Poké Ball, whereas in fact Pikachu has never liked being inside his Poké Ball.
- Ash referred to Pikachu, Squirtle, Charizard, and Bulbasaur as his first Pokémon, when in reality, he caught Butterfree and Pidgeot before the latter three.
Dub edits
In other languages
- French: Le gang des quatre
- Italian: La banda al completo
- Latin American Spanish: ¡Reuniendo a la pandilla de cuatro!
- Iberian Spanish: La Pandilla se Reúne
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This episode article is part of Project Anime, a Bulbapedia project that covers all aspects of Pokémon animation. |
