XY050

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Pathways to Performance Partnering!

XY050

EP849

踊れヤンチャム、魅せろフォッコ！明日へのステップ！！
Dance, Yancham — Captivate, Fokko! The Dance for Tomorrow!!

First broadcast

Japan	November 13, 2014
United States	February 7, 2015

English themes

Opening	Be a Hero
Ending

Japanese themes

Opening	メガＶ（メガボルト）
Ending	ドリドリ

Credits

No additional credits are available at this time.
Animation	Team Kato
Screenplay	大橋志吉 Yukiyoshi Ōhashi
Storyboard	樋口香里 Kaori Higuchi
Assistant director	古賀一臣 Kazuomi Koga
Animation directors	松永香苗 Kanae Matsunaga
Animation directors	玉川明洋 Akihiro Tamagawa

Pathways to Performance Partnering! (Japanese: 踊れヤンチャム、魅せろフォッコ！明日へのステップ！！ Dance, Yancham — Captivate, Fokko! The Dance for Tomorrow!!) is the 50th episode of Pokémon the Series: XY, and the 849th episode of the Pokémon animated series. It first aired in Japan on November 13, 2014 and in the United States on February 7, 2015 as the first episode of the eighteenth season, Pokémon the Series: XY Kalos Quest.

Spoiler warning: this article may contain major plot or ending details.

Blurb

As our heroes head to Coumarine City, a lunchtime squabble between Clemont's Chespin and Serena's Pancham gets out of hand when they bump into a Smoochum and Farfetch'd. Their Trainer, Nini, is planning to enter her first Pokémon Showcase, just like Serena. The two girls decide to show each other their performances and get feedback from Ash, Clemont, and Bonnie as well, but they have an unexpected audience...

Team Rocket is lurking nearby, and Jessie decides she just has to have Nini's Smoochum as her Pokémon Showcase partner. She disguises herself as a choreographer and coaxes all the dancing Pokémon into a small performance space...and then Team Rocket's balloon takes off with them! Chespin and Pancham finally decide to work together and discover they're a pretty good team, sending the villains blasting off again. Nini and Serena say their goodbyes and promise to meet in the Pokémon Showcase as rivals!

Plot

While the group stop for lunch, Serena comes by with Poké Puffs, but with only crumbs left, since Chespin greedily ate them all. Pancham becomes angry and starts fighting with Chespin, which Clemont and Serena try to end. However, the two Pokémon continue fighting, eventually bumping into a passing Trainer named Nini and her Pokémon. Nini is furious at Pancham and Chespin, labelling them as "ill-mannered" Pokémon, and demanding an apology from their Trainers. Nini accepts their apologies and returns her focus to practicing for her Pokémon Showcase debut, which Serena is participating as well.

Nini is thrilled to meet another Pokémon Performer and asks Serena to watch her performance, but Serena replies saying she doesn't know enough to judge someone's performance. Nini brushes off her hesitance, admitting all she has to do is give an opinion, she doesn't need professional judging skills. She starts her performance with her Smoochum using a twirling Powder Snow, showering the field in ice crystals. Nini has her Farfetch'd fly up clear out the Powder Snow before somersaulting back to the ground. Next, Smoochum uses Heart Stamp, and then Farfetch'd uses Fury Cutter to dice the attack into multiple hearts, concluding the performance. The group applaud and Nini asks if there is anything about the performance that could use fixing. Serena suggests she could coordinate her dance a bit more while Ash suggests a flashier Heart Stamp. Nini takes notes before requesting that Serena performs for her. Though Serena is not ready, her friends are also keen to watch. When Serena asks if Fennekin and Pancham are ready, Chespin jumps in and kicks Pancham. Bonnie tries to break up the fight along with Pikachu, when it's revealed Chespin wants to perform too. With a glint in his eye, Clemont unveils his "Only Lonely Dancing Robo-Partner," and powers it on to give Chespin a performance partner. The invention ends up throwing Chespin around, and Bonnie asks Clemont to turn it off, but Clemont fails to find the off button. The invention eventually blows up on everyone.

Next, Serena starts off her showcase with Fennekin using Flamethrower as Pancham dangerously spins through it. Ash and friends aren't the only ones watching, as Team Rocket is off in the distance. Jessie remarks that she will be the only one crowned as the Kalos Queen, and spies on Nini’s Smoochum, who she decides to steal to win the showcase. James asks why Jessie isn't planning to steal Pikachu, Jessie says she is willing to do that after stealing Smoochum. Meanwhile, Serena's act continues, and Fennekin uses Flamethrower once again around Pancham’s Dark Pulse attack for a fireworks finish. Everyone applauds for Serena, before giving their critique. Nini says Pancham's acrobatics didn't fit with the performance—it didn't match Fennekin's part of the performance, and Clemont agrees. Smoochum has fallen in love with Pancham, however he tries to avoid her. Nini finds the pair adorable, and suggests they dance together. The dancing goes well, with Pancham and Smoochum managing to find their rhythm, so much so that Nini asks if Serena wants to trade Pancham for one of her Pokémon. However, Serena says she is unwilling to trade Pancham as it is the first Pokémon she caught and it will be her performance partner. Nini accepts the decision, while Farfetch'd is greatly relieved, though Chespin is annoyed that Pancham will continue to be with the group.

Team Rocket arrive, disguised, and James introduces Jessie as La Grande Dame Brûlée, cream of the choreographer crop. Nini asks if they can help them, but James says La Grande Dame Brûlée is "anything but cheap", but Jessie says they will help for free. Jessie starts off with movement coordination, and has the Pokémon practice moving their legs before moving onto their hips. Jessie and James then inflate a balloon and have the Pokémon go inside there, remarking that their movements will be more economical in a small space. Rather than adjust their movements, Jessie just uses the balloon to steal the Pokémon. Serena mentions she thought they were having a lesson, then La Grande Dame Brûlée reveals herself to be Jessie in disguise. Team Rocket performs their motto before taking off with the stolen Pokémon in their balloon. Nini and the others demand the Pokémon be returned, though Meowth throws a smoke bomb at them, allowing Team Rocket to make a clean getaway. Ash sends out Fletchinder to track Team Rocket's balloon.

Inside the balloon trap, Chespin resumes his rivalry with Pancham, and a fight erupts amongst the Pokémon. The balloon rocks violently before breaking away from Team Rocket’s latch, and ends up in a forest. When the balloon opens, Chespin and Pancham start fighting again, but James's Inkay finds the Pokémon. Chespin and Pancham stand in front of the other Pokémon to defend them, still fighting. James tells Inkay to use Psybeam, knocking Smoochum and Farfetch'd down. Jessie has Pumpkaboo use Shadow Ball on Fennekin. Everyone but Chespin and Pancham are down, the unruly rivals recall their Trainers words from earlier and decide to team up and defeat Team Rocket together. As Jessie calls for a Dark Pulse, as Chespin and Pancham make a last-second dodge. Pumpkaboo gets hit with attacks, so James gets Inkay to use Tackle, though Chespin rams himself into it. Inkay tries another Psybeam, though Pancham counters with Dark Pulse to defend Chespin. Pumpkaboo uses Leech Seed, and Chespin's Vine Whip counterattacks it. Ash and friends soon arrive on the scene, and everyone reclaims their Pokémon. Jessie is frustrated by this and orders a barrage of Shadow Balls on the twerps. Pancham and Chespin rush ahead, dodging the attacks before launching their own. Pancham tosses Chespin towards Pumpkaboo, with Chespin using Vine Whip to swing its opponent into an oncoming Dark Pulse. Serena and Clemont are thrilled to see the two Pokémon are finally getting along, and have them use a Dark Pulse-Pin Missile combo to defeat Inkay and Pumpkaboo. After Pancham and Chespin play their part, Ash tells Pikachu to use Thunderbolt sending Team Rocket blasting off. Once that is over, Pancham and Chespin continue fighting, which, from Ash's point of view, proves they're great friends.

At evening, Nini prepares to leave, remarking that she looks forward to seeing Serena at a future Showcase. Serena remarks that they are rivals now, before she and the others wave Nini off.

Major events

Ash and his friends meet Nini, a Pokémon Performer.

For a list of all major events in the animated series, please see the history page.

Debuts

Humans

Nini

Pokémon debuts

Characters

Humans

Pokémon Quiz

Pokémon

Who's That Pokémon?

Who's That Pokémon?: Smoochum (US and international)
Pokémon Quiz: Smoochum (Japan)

Trivia

The title card segment focuses on Serena for this episode

Serena reads the title card of this episode.
- This is the first time in Pokémon the Series: XY that someone else than Ash reading the title card has been kept in the English dub.
This is the last episode to air in Japan before the release of Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire.
This is the season premiere of Pokémon the Series: XY Kalos Quest.
Instead of Professor Oak's Pokémon Holo Caster or Mairin's Mega Evolution Journal, Steven appears to talk about Mega Latias and Mega Latios.
- The mother and daughter from Lucario and the Mystery of Mew make a cameo appearance during this segment. This marks their first appearance outside of a movie.
This episode marks the first appearance of a Smoochum in the anime since Normajean's appeared in The Brockster Is In!, 193 episodes earlier.
Yūji Ueda is credited for Wobbuffet for this episode, even though Wobbuffet does not appear in this episode.
Jessie's disguise outfit resembles the 1980s actress Grace Jones, due to her hair.

Errors

In one scene, Luxio's pupils are white instead of yellow.
In some scenes, Nini's gloves are missing.
When Serena goes to fetch the Poké Puffs, she isn't wearing her hat, but when she comes back, she is. It should be noted that she may have put her hat on when she retrieved the basket of Poke Puffs.

Luxio's eyes error
Nini's missing glove

Dub edits

This episode was skipped in Portugal. The channel that airs Pokémon in Portugal, Biggs, said in an email that they didn't skip any episode, When Light and Dark Collide! is the first episode of Pokémon the Series: XY Kalos Quest and that it continues right after Bonnie for the Defense!, the last episode aired in the channel.^[1]
- However, they later acknowledged their mistake and the episode aired during reruns.
In some international dubs (e.g. the Polish dub), the title card of this episode is read by Ash instead of Serena.

In other languages

Language		Title
Chinese	Cantonese	起舞吧，頑皮熊貓！驚艷全場吧，火狐狸！前往明天的舞步！！ * 起舞啦，頑皮熊貓！驚艷全場啦，火狐狸！前往明日的舞步！！ * 頑皮熊貓和哈力馬龍的爭執！ * 跳吧，顽皮熊猫！惊艳全场吧，火狐狸！前往明日的舞步！！ *
Chinese	Mandarin	跳吧，頑皮熊貓！驚艷全場吧，火狐狸！前往明日的舞步！！
Danish		Passage til et Pokémon-partnerskab!
Dutch		De weg naar demonstraties door dik en dun!
Finnish		Polkuja esityskumppanuuteen!
European French		Une collaboration fructueuse !
German		Vorführungspartner gesucht!
Greek		Τρόποι για να Καταφέρεις να Συνεργαστείς!
Hebrew		!הדרך להופעה משותפת
Italian		Alla ricerca del partner perfetto!
Korean		춤추는 판짱과 매력적인 푸호꼬! 내일을 향한 스텝!!
Norwegian		En sjanse til å samarbeide!
Polish		Sposoby na zacieśnienie współpracy!
Portuguese	Brazil	Caminhos Para a Parceria de Apresentação!
Portuguese	Portugal	Caminhos para uma Prova em Parceria!
Russian		Дорога к исполнительскому партнёрству!
Spanish	Latin America	¡El camino a la presentación en pareja!
Spanish	Spain	¡De camino a una actuación en equipo!
Swedish		Vägen mot att bli partners inom scenframträdande!
Thai		ยันชัมผู้เต้นรำ ฟ็อกโกะผู้น่าหลงใหล! จังหวะการเต้นสู่วันพรุ่งนี้!!
Turkish		Performans Ortaklığına Katılan Yollar!
Vietnamese		Yancham hãy nhảy lên, hãy quyến rũ lên Fokko! Bước tiến cho ngày mai!