AG127 : From Brags to Riches
Pokémon the Series: Ruby and Sapphire
AG129 : A Judgment Brawl
Shocks and Bonds
AG128.png
AG128   EP402
決勝トーナメントへ!熱き戦いの日々!
To the Tournament Finals! Every Day a Heated Battle!
First broadcast
Japan May 12, 2005
United States March 18, 2006
English themes
Opening Unbeatable
Ending
Japanese themes
Opening ポケモン シンフォニック メドレー
Ending GLORY DAY 〜輝くその日〜
Credits
Animation Team Ota
Screenplay 米村正二 Shōji Yonemura
Storyboard 井硲清高 Kiyotaka Itani
Assistant director 渡辺正彦 Masahiko Watanabe
Animation director 志村泉 Izumi Shimura
No additional credits are available at this time.

Shocks and Bonds (Japanese: 決勝トーナメントへ!熱き戦いの日々! To the Tournament Finals! Every Day a Heated Battle!) is the 128th episode of Pokémon the Series: Ruby and Sapphire, and the 402nd episode of the Pokémon anime. It was first broadcast in Japan on May 12, 2005, and in the United States on March 18, 2006.

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

Ash, Tyson, and Morrison are all aiming for the top of the Hoenn League, but first they have to qualify for the Victory Tournament stage of the competition. In the third and final double battle qualification round, Ash sends out Glalie and Groyle[sic] against Clark, a conductor with two strong Fire-type Pokémon—Charizard and Quilava. Grovyle and Quilava are knocked out first, and it's an icy hot battle as Charizard and Glalie battle for victory! Thanks to Ash's quick thinking, Glalie bounces back for the win.

Morrison and Tyson advance to the Victory Tournament, too. In fact, the only ones not getting anywhere are Team Rocket. It's hard to steal Pikachu when they're busy selling snacks at the stadium, but honest work has its rewards... a delicious dinner they didn't even have to steal! Meanwhile, the Trainers have a day off to see the sights and do some extra training.

Now the Victory Tournament begins: 32 competitors, one winner! Ash's first opponent is Katie, a strategic Trainer who takes full advantage of type weaknesses and strengths. She starts out with Venomoth, but switches in Golduck to put Ash's Torkoal out of the match. Next up is Pikachu, but Katie counters with Dugtrio and sends Pikachu flying! Glalie knocks out Dugtrio, but is stopped by Misdreavus and its Destiny Bond attack. With Ash down three Pokémon and Katie only down two, will he be able to hang on to this match?

Plot

In the stadium, Ash orders Grovyle and Glalie to battle Clark and his Quilava and Charizard. They attack directly but end up taking damage from Charizard's Heat Wave and Quilava's Flame Wheel. Glalie's Icy Wind does not affect its opponents, but Charizard's Steel Wing doesn't hit its target either. Quilava manages to hit Glalie with Quick Attack, but Ash's Pokémon retaliate with Pound and Headbutt. Grovyle blocks Quilava's Quick Attack, while Charizard's Heat Wave and Glalie's Icy Wind collide and explode. Then, Grovyle uses Pound to knock out Quilava, but Charizard quickly defeats him with Steel Wing. Ash orders Glalie to use Ice Beam on the ground, forming ice pillars that stop Charizard's oncoming Flamethrower. Glalie uses Double Team in the icy labyrinth to avoid damage, but Charizard succeeds in striking Glalie with Steel Wing. This sends it ricocheting from pillar to pillar, which Ash uses to his advantage. Glalie darts around the icy field and knocks out Charizard with a high-speed Headbutt, awarding Ash the victory.

After the battle, Morrison meets up with Ash and both are excited to have won another battle. They leave to see how Tyson is doing. Tyson and his opponent, Johnny, are each down to their last Pokémon. Tyson's using his Sceptile against Johnny's Aggron. Sceptile uses Detect to evade a barrage of Metal Claw attacks, and when its opponent uses Harden, it charges up a Solar Beam that sends Aggron out of the fight, meaning that Tyson has also won his battle.

Ash, Morrison, and Tyson have now advanced to the third stage of the tournament. As they relax in the Pokémon Center cafeteria, Ash and Morrison are initially disappointed to learn that the next day will be a rest day. Nonetheless the pair use the day to their advantage to continue training for the many Ever Grande Conference matches still to come, and competing against each other in several challenges like swimming. May and Tyson use the time to check out Ever Grande City’s food scene with Max in tow while Brock’s heart is aflutter with all of the Nurse Joys and Officer Jennys around.

From now on, all of their matches will be Full Battles; six-on-six matches on changing battlefields. The next day, Ash is getting ready to face his newest opponent, a girl named Katie. The battlefield is selected by the computer as a craggy rock battlefield. Ash uses Torkoal while Katie sends out a Venomoth. Torkoal blocks Stun Spore with its Iron Defense, which Venomoth renders unusable with Disable. Torkoal uses Flamethrower, but Katie quickly returns Venomoth and calls out Golduck. Ash orders Torkoal to use Body Slam, but Golduck sends Torkoal flying with a Hydro Pump and then cuts it down with Fury Swipes.

With Torkoal defeated, Ash sends Pikachu into the arena. Katie responds by recalling Golduck and sending out Dugtrio. Pikachu uses a Quick Attack, but Dugtrio Digs to dodge, and then uses Sand Tomb to engulf the ground in an ever-growing sand trap. Sliding down the ominous pit, Pikachu uses Thunderbolt on Dugtrio to no avail. Before being swallowed up, Pikachu attacks with Iron Tail against Dugtrio's Double-Edge, but Pikachu is knocked out. Ash quickly picks up Pikachu and proceeds to send out Glalie. Dugtrio escapes underground, but is forced above by Glalie's powerful Headbutt on the ground. Using this opportunity, Glalie knocks it out with an Ice Beam. Katie sends out Misdreavus, but after taking an Ice Beam and a Headbutt without even attempting to dodge, Misdreavus uses Destiny Bond. Misdreavus faints, but Glalie suddenly glows purple and collapses as well. Ash now has three remaining Pokémon while Katie has four, so the match is set to continue.

Major events

  • Ash, Morrison, and Tyson are revealed to have made it to the third qualifying round.
  • Ash defeats Clark in a Double Battle, advancing to the Victory Tournament.
  • Morrison also defeats his opponent, advancing to the Victory Tournament.
  • Tyson defeats Johnny in a Double Battle, advancing to the Victory Tournament.
  • Tyson is revealed to own a Sceptile and a Donphan.
  • Ash begins his Full Battle against Katie.
For a list of all major events in the anime, please see the history page.

Debuts

Humans

Pokémon debuts

Characters

Humans

Pokémon

 
Pokémon Trainer's Choice

Pokémon Trainer's Choice: Spheal

Trivia

Errors

  • Right after the title screen, Ash and Clark's Pokémon are already on the scoreboard despite not having been sent out yet.
  • In the English dub, Max states that Ash chose the perfect Pokémon to battle Clark, yet both of Clark's Pokémon are Fire-type and therefore strong against Ash's Ice-type Glalie and Grass-type Grovyle.
  • Charizard's wings do not glow white when it prepares to attack Glalie and its Double Team copies with Steel Wing despite doing so in a previous scene.
  • Misdreavus was defeated by Glalie's Headbutt, despite being immune to Normal-type attacks.
  • Grovyle is misspelled as "Groyle" on the Pokemon.com blurb.
  • In the Brazilian dub, Golduck is sometimes referred to as "Goldluck". The same error is repeated in the next episode.
  • On the Australian DigiPack DVD release of season 8, this episode's recap from the episode that follows is played instead of the recap of the previous episode.

Dub edits

  • In the English dub, during the montage of the Trainers' day off from competition, You & Me & Pokémon is used as background music. In the original Japanese version, Pokémon Symphonic Medley is used as the background music.
  • When May and Tyson look for a place to go eat food, May mentions a burrito made out of peanut butter and cactus in the English dub. In the original Japanese version, she recommends a type of spicy bread.

Pokémon Trainer's Choice

  • Question: Trainers, which of these Pokémon has at least two evolutions?
  • Choices: Gulpin, Spheal, Wailmer
  • Answer: OK, Trainers! If you chose Spheal, you were right!

In other languages



AG127 : From Brags to Riches
Pokémon the Series: Ruby and Sapphire
AG129 : A Judgment Brawl
  This episode article is part of Project Anime, a Bulbapedia project that covers all aspects of the Pokémon anime.