| A Double Dilemma
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パパはアイドル!?いつわりのジムリーダー!!
Papa is Idol? False Gym Leader!
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First broadcast
| Japan
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March 18, 2004
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| United States
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March 5, 2005
|
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English themes
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Japanese themes
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Credits
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A Double Dilemma (Japanese: パパはアイドル!?いつわりのジムリーダー!! Papa is Idol? False Gym Leader!) is the 68th episode of the Advanced Generation series, and the 342nd episode of the Pokémon anime. It was first broadcast in Japan on March 18, 2004 and in the United States on March 5, 2005.
Synopsis
Template:Incomplete synopsis
The gang have arrived in North Petalburg, a suburb of the main city, and go straight to the Pokémon center. Once they arrive, Nurse Joy recognizes May and Max. A woman there overhears their conversation and runs off to tell other people. Our heroes leave the Pokémon center, when they see a load of people running towards them. Apparently, Norman is an idol to everyone who lives there, and May and Max are soon mobbed by Norman fans. May shows them her two ribbons, and they cheer her for her talent. Ash tries to impress them with his 4 badges, but they discredit him instead.
Meanwhile, Team Rocket arrives to Petalburg as well, but tired and hungry. James then looks to an advertisement with Norman's and Caroline's faces in it. They don't recognize them at first, but then they realize it's Norman, the Gym Leader and Caroline, the Gym Leader's wife. They look around and see everyone with Norman stuff, and Jessie decides to disguise themselves as Norman's family. Once done, however, everyone rushes to see them but begin doubting Meowth and Wobbuffet are Norman's true children. However, a man claiming to have lived almost all of his life next door to Norman comes and evaluates them to see if they're the real ones. He notices "Max" is blue, and how May hasn't grown, but fails to realize the fake sons, though, and tells everyone who has gathered that there's no doubt they aren't lying.
Back to the gang, May and Max have had enough, and the woman from before,Rose,says that she'd like to see May's contest appeals, and May agrees, sending out Beautifly. She orders a dazzling Silver Wind, and the crowd cheers for her, causing May to develop overconfidence in her skill; and Max tells her about it. As Beautifly continues, some guys come towards Ash and Brock and ask them why were they there. Ash answers he has come to challenge Norman and the boys quickly deny Ash's skill because of their blind faith in Norman, and end up challenging Ash to a battle. They go to a park, and the guy uses Golduck while Ash uses his Grovyle. Golduck performs Focus Punch, but Grovyle dodges and uses Bullet Seed. Golduck uses Hydro Pump and Grovyle receives the attack, leaving Golduck to perform Fury Swipes, but Ash orders Grovyle to use Quick Attack, which successfully connects; afterwards, Grovyle finishes the match with a Leaf Blade.
Back again with Team Rocket, James, dressed up as Norman, sells fake autographs while Jessie sells Norman souvenirs to everyone, who are obsessed with the merchandise. At the same time, Ash has already a Fan club, because tons of trainers keep challenging him and decides to send Corphish. May, on the other hand, is delightfully showing Skitty's abilities of jugglery. As time passes, Ash, Grovyle, Corphish and Torkoal are exhausted after tons of battles, and the trainers keep on coming and provoking Ash, who responds by letting them use all of their Pokémon at once. They send a Zangoose, a Shroomish, an Aron, a Spheal, and an Igglybuff, but are knocked out on the spot by Pikachu's massive Thunder. However, they send more Pokémon, tiring out Ash again. He isn't the only one, however. May is worn out, as well as Skitty, which has been performing a long time. Immediately, the two boys who first challenged Ash come running to tell the people that they've been battling Ash, but he's far too powerful and, at this rate, he'll think he might have a chance against Norman. Rose then has an idea: take May to that trainer so she can beat him, and show her battling skills by the way. Everyone cheers again, and they are forced to do so. Again with Ash, it looks like he has beaten even more pokémon, when he and Pikachu realize that tons of people lifting May and Max are approaching them. May tells Ash she has come to teach a lesson to a rude trainer, and when Ash asks who is him, it turns out to be him! Tired but willing to battle, Ash accepts the challenge, and, upon the cheers from the crowd, May develops overconfidence again.
About Team Rocket, they've disappeared from Norman's fans and run with all the money they've won. However, Norman's fans have found them, and Team Rocket has to escape from them. Meanwhile, the battle is about the begin. May thinks Skitty and Beautifly are very tired, so she sends out Torchic. Ash tries to call Pikachu, but the pokémon collapses from exhaustion. Ash sends Taillow instead and the battle begins. Ash orders a Peck and it hits successfully Torchic, but the crowd begins booing Ash. He tries to ignore them and tells Taillow to use Wing Attack, which scores a clean hit. The crowd starts booing again, and Ash can't stand it, leaving himself wide open for an Ember attack. May gets happy and orders Torchic to keep going with Ember, and, as a result, a massive flame hits Ash, burning him. Rose declares Ash unable to battle, and thus, May is the winner. In that moment, a guy comes saying that Norman is giving autographs for money and that his sons are there, but is shocked that May and Max are there, so everyone realizes there are impostors in the city, and the crowd goes off to search them, lifting May and Max again.
Finally, Team Rocket is cornered by the fans following them and the other fans that were with the real May and Max. They begin looking at Wobbuffet and Meowth and Rose and her husband (the guy who claimed to have lived almost all his life next door to Norman) begin discussing who are the real ones. Ash and Brock appear on the scene, and ask what's going on. May tells them that Wobbuffet and Meowth (disguised, of course) claim to be them, and Team Rocket reaffirms that May and Max are the fake ones. Upon hearing this, May orders Torchic to use Ember and the attack blows up Team Rocket's disguise. They send Cacnea and Seviper. Cacnea uses Pin Missile, but Pikachu counters it with Thunderbolt. Seviper uses Haze, which gives Team Rocket enought time to escape and grab Pikachu. However, they grabbed Torchic instead! Pikachu climbs up a tree and Ash orders him to use Quick Attack, freeing Torchic and the stolen money. Ash then orders Pikachu to use Thunderbolt, and Team Rocket is blasted off again. Rose and a reporter compliment Ash (apparently) and he tells them it was nothing, but it turns out they were complimenting Pikachu instead. The episode finishes with the gang bidding farewell to the city and Ash thrilled by his next Gym battle against Norman.
Major events
Debuts
Characters
Humans
Pokémon
North Petalburg's Pokémon seen:
Trivia
- The character of Dee Dunstan is believed to be named after voice director/actor Darren Dunstan.
- The Italian dub title is a pun on the phrase Vera figlia d'arte, similar to the saying Like father like son in English. As May is called Vera in Italian, this title can mean The true daughter who followed in her father's footstep or May followed in her father's footsteps
- Dee Dunstan calling Ash a novice might be a reference to Challenge of the Samurai.
- Very interestingly, despite that they boo at Ash when winning legitimately, and even showing hatred against him, it was Ash that supported and even trained her throughout her adventure, in fact, May would not be as good as she was if Ash hadn't help, a fact that would be known to her fans.
Pokémon Trainer's Choice
- Question: Trainers, which one of these Pokémon is the best choice to battle Corphish?
- Choices: Minun, Marowak, Nincada
- Answer: Ok, Trainers! If you chose Minun, you were right!
Errors
Dub edits
When Ash's badge case is seen in the original, there is a Poké Ball design on it. In the dub, that was painted over to be just a horizontal line.
In other languages
- Finnish: Kaksoisolennot
- French: L'imposture
- German: Norman-Mania
- Hebrew: באור הזרקורים be'or hazarkorim
- Italian: Vera figlia d'arte
- Portuguese:
- Brazilian Portuguese: Um Dilema Duplo
- European Portuguese: Duplo Dilema
- Spanish:
- Iberian Spanish: Un problema de dobles
- Latin American Spanish: ¡Un dilema doble!
