Hearthome City Tag Battle Competition
The Hearthome City Tag Battle Competition (Japanese: タッグバトル大会 Tag Battle Tournament) is an animated series-exclusive tournament consisting of Tag Battles that is held in a large stadium in Hearthome City, Sinnoh. It is one of the city's biggest attractions, along with its Pokémon Contest and the fashion show promoted by the Poké Chic magazine.
The competition is broadcast on television and hosted by Enta. It was first mentioned in Dawn's Early Night! and it took place from Tag! We're It...! to Smells Like Team Spirit!. Ash and Brock decided to enter the tournament after learning about it from Nando, while Dawn was registered as per Zoey's suggestion following her failed Double Performance in the Hearthome Contest.
The Hearthome City Tag Battle Competition is notable for a number of important events, such as the group's first encounter with Conway and the release of Paul's Chimchar, something which allowed the Chimp Pokémon to join Ash's party. It was referenced in many later episodes as well, including Arriving in Style!, Dawn of a Royal Day!, and Friends, Rivals, Lend Me Your Spirit!.
Competition
The Hearthome City Tag Battle Competition accepted 32 registrations. When registering for the tournament, each Trainer was given an entry card with a number on its front. During the opening ceremony, a computer shuffled all the cards, randomly pairing up two numbers and forming 16 different teams. After that, Trainers started looking for the person holding the card whose number was matched with the number on their card.
With the teams formed, the tournament began with the Tag Battles taking place one at a time. All battles were observed by a referee. The prize is two Soothe Bells, one for each winner.
Known participants
| Trainers | Place |
|---|---|
| Ash and Paul | Winners |
| Dawn and Conway | Runners-up |
| Brock and Holly | Top 4 |
| A Psychic and a Black Belt | Top 8 |
| A Scientist and Ace Trainer | Top 16 |
| Giant and unnamed Trainer | Top 16 |
Pokémon used in competition
Ash
 Pikachu ♂ |
 Turtwig ♂ |
 Staravia |
 Chimchar ♂ |
After Chimchar was released by Paul in Glory Blaze!, he joined Ash's team and was used in the final battle.
Dawn
 Piplup ♂ |
 Pachirisu |
 Buneary |
 Buizel ♂ |
Brock
 Sudowoodo ♂ |
 Croagunk ♂ |
Paul
 Chimchar ♂ |
 Torterra |
 Elekid → Electabuzz |
Conway
 Slowking |
 Aggron |
 Heracross |
Holly
 Wingull |
 Nosepass |
 Farfetch'd |
Giant
 Koffing |
Pokémon used by other Trainers
 Scyther |
 Magmar |
 Yanma |
 Bagon |
 Rhydon |
 Tauros ♂ |
Granbull |
 Hitmonchan ♂ |
Furret |
 Metagross |
 Zangoose |
In other languages
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This article is part of Project Anime, a Bulbapedia project that covers all aspects of Pokémon animation. |
