Bulbapedia

BW031

← BW030 : A UFO for Elgyem!
Pokémon the Series: Black & White
BW032 : Facing Fear with Eyes Wide Open! →
Ash and Trip's Third Battle!
BW031.png
BW031   EP688
ライバルバトル！バニプッチ、ドッコラー参戦！！
Rival Battle! Vanipeti, Dokkorer Compete in a Battle!!
First broadcast
Japan May 12, 2011
United States September 3, 2011
English themes
Opening Black and White
Ending
Japanese themes
Opening ベストウイッシュ！
Ending ポケモン言えるかな？ＢＷ
Credits
Animation Team Kato
Screenplay 冨岡淳広 Atsuhiro Tomioka
Storyboard 尼野浩正 Hiromasa Amano
Assistant director 矢嶋哲生 Tetsuo Yajima
Animation director 志村泉 Izumi Shimura
Additional credits

Ash and Trip's Third Battle! (Japanese: ライバルバトル！バニプッチ、ドッコラー参戦！！ Rival Battle! Vanipeti, Dokkorer Compete in a Battle!!) is the 31st episode of Pokémon the Series: Black & White, and the 688th episode of the Pokémon anime. It first aired in Japan on May 12, 2011, and in the United States on September 3, 2011.

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

On their way to Nimbasa City, our heroes stop for a lunch that Cilan is preparing—a gourmet meal, as usual. But Ash and Iris's roughhousing ruins the lunch, so Cilan asks them to go and play elsewhere while he prepares lunch all over again.

Nearby, Ash's rival Trip is catching a Palpitoad when Ash stumbles in and spoils Trip's efforts. When Trip realizes Iris is from the Village of Dragons and that she's working toward becoming a Dragon Master, Trip challenges her to a battle. But Ash wants to battle Trip instead—this would be their third bout! Trip is reluctant at first, but Iris shames him into agreeing to a three-on-three battle with Ash.

Trip brings out his Servine and Ash starts with his Snivy, much to Trip and Iris's surprise. Their reaction is vindicated when Snivy is soon defeated. Between rounds, Trip tells Ash about the Unova Champion, Alder, who Trip met as a little boy. Alder promised he would stay the Champion so that when Trip grew up, he could challenge Alder.

Anxious to do just that, Trip brings out his Timburr and Ash brings out Oshawott, who has been struggling in battle. We discover the reason Oshawott has been unsuccessful using Aqua Jet: Oshawott keeps its eyes completely closed during the move! But a final Razor Shell from Oshawott evens everything up to one win apiece.

Finally, Trip's calls up Vanillite—an Ice-type Pokémon that scares and freezes Iris a bit—to take on Ash's Tepig. After some truly fierce battling, the match ends up a draw!

Deciding that mimicking Ash's off-the-wall battling style isn't for him, Trip leaves to rethink his plans. Ash and Iris remember they left Cilan making lunch! They rush back and find a distraught Pokémon Connoisseur sadly musing on being stood up for lunch...

Plot

While the group is on their way to Nimbasa City, Pikachu, Axew, and Pansage wait for Cilan to finish cooking lunch. However, leaves fall onto the food after Ash and Iris swing around on vines overhead, angering Cilan, who accidentally knocks over the food while trying to clean it. Ash and Iris apologize, and Iris suggests eating apples instead, but Cilan insists on recooking the meal and tells Ash and Iris to go play elsewhere until he is finished.

As the pair walk away, Iris tries to put the blame on Ash, while Ash tries to convince Iris that it was her fault. In their argument, Iris challenges Ash a race to an Oran Berry tree. While racing, Ash accidentally lets go of the vine he was hanging on and slides down a hill. He lands in the middle of Trip’s latest catch attempt, which allows the target, a Palpitoad to flee. Ash then realizes that Trip and his Vanillite are next to them. Ash points his Pokédex at the Vanillite, and Trip responds to Ash by explaining how he was in the middle of capturing the Palpitoad. Ash then apologizes and explains that it was an accident. Afterward, Iris jumps down from a tree, but is terrified to see Trip's Vanillite. Iris explains that she has developed a fear of Ice-type Pokémon, so Trip recalls the Vanillite to its Poké Ball. Trip begins to walk off when Ash starts questioning Iris about her fear. Trip becomes intrigued, and remarks that Iris is the first person he has met from the Village of Dragons, before taking several snapshots of Iris and her Axew. Trip comments on Iris's flawed reason for fearing Ice Pokémon, and mocks her for wanting to become a Dragon Master. Iris is clearly annoyed, but tries to ignore Trip's remarks.

Meanwhile Cilan, has finished preparing the replacement meal. He calls out for Iris and Ash announcing that the meal is ready, but neither respond, so he decides to whip up another dish using a Pecha Berry that he has.

Trip continues to criticize Iris and her Axew, but then decides that he would be interested in battling her. Ash offers to battle instead, but Trip is keen to battle his first Dragon. Iris then begins to think about Excadrill and Emolga and decides, due to their obedience problems, that she does not want to battle. Trip then becomes uninterested and begins to walk off. Ash reissues his challenge, but Trip replies that it would be a waste of his time. After Iris explains that denying such a request makes Trip seem like a little kid, Trip takes up Ash's offer. The two challenge each other to a three-on-three battle, where whoever gets the best two out of three wins is victorious.

Trip calls out his Servine, but mocks Ash for choosing his Snivy for the round. Ash stands by his choice and says Snivy is capable of defeating Trip's Servine once again. The battle begins with Trip's Servine using Leaf Tornado where Ash counters it by having his Snivy use Leaf Storm. The two attacks collide and Trip immediately orders his Servine to use Cut. Ash orders his Snivy to dodge and then use Attract. Trip counters the hearts of the Attract by once again using Leaf Tornado, rendering it useless. He reminds Ash that he won’t fall for the same trick twice. Trip then orders his Servine to use Cut, which overpowers Snivy's Leaf Blade and defeats her.

Trip claims Ash has not improved since the last time they battled. He remarks that he needs the experience to battle the Unova League Champion. Trip and Iris are left dumbfounded when Ash asks who the Champion is. Trip admits that he met the Champion, Alder, at a festival when he was young. He got the chance to feed his Bouffalant and even promised to battle Alder one day to succeed him as Champion. Trip reminds himself of his true aim, with the Unova League just a stepping stone to the Champions League.

Moving onto round two of the battle, Trip sends out a Timburr. Ash pulls out his Pokédex and scans Timburr before sending out his Oshawott. Oshawott then becomes scared when Timburr swings its lumber and tries to get Ash's Pikachu to battle instead. Ash assures Oshawott that he is very capable of winning, so Oshawott takes to the field. Ash orders his Oshawott to use Aqua Jet and Trip orders his Timburr to use Strength to deflect the attack away. As Oshawott's Aqua Jet goes haywire, Trip asks if Ash is playing around before taking several shots of the wayward attack. Trip then shows Ash and Iris the pictures that he took and explains that Oshawott was using the attack with his eyes closed, which explains why he can't aim properly. Trip makes fun of Oshawott for being a Water Pokémon who can't open its eyes underwater. Ash and Trip then decide to continue their battle but without Oshawott using Aqua Jet. Oshawott leads off with a Razor Shell, though Timburr uses Low Sweep to knock Oshawott off balance. Ash then orders Oshawott to use Water Gun and Trip orders his Timburr to knock the blast out of the way with Strength. Trip then orders his Timburr to use Dynamic Punch and Ash orders his Oshawott to use Razor Shell. Oshawott's Razor Shell remains stronger, which knocks Timburr into its own timber and faint. Ash and Trip are now tied for the battle.

Ash sends out his Tepig and Trip sends out his Vanillite, with the Ice Pokémon's appearance causing Iris to cower in fear. Trip confidently orders his Vanillite to use Ice Beam, though Tepig Flame Charges through and it gets a hit on its opponent. Vanillite strikes back with Icicle Spear, while Tepig lashes it with an Ember attack. Trip then orders Vanillite to use Ice Shard and Ash orders his Tepig to use Flame Charge. In the middle of Tepig's attack, Trip has Vanillite switch to using Blizzard and Tepig collides into Vanillite. Afterwards, both Tepig and Vanillite finally faint from the multitude of attacks, causing the match to end in a draw. Ash promises that he will win next time as Trip continues on his journey. Ash and Iris then remember that they have to return to Cilan, so they run back. With a table full of food, Cilan is exhausted from all the cooking and still waiting for his friends to return.

Major events

  • Ash and Iris meet up with Trip again.
  • Trip is revealed to have obtained a Vanillite and a Timburr and won two more Badges.
  • Trip tries to catch a Palpitoad, but fails when Ash accidentally interrupts the encounter.
  • Ash learns about Alder, the Unova League Champion.
  • Ash learns that Oshawott cannot aim on target when using Aqua Jet due to a fear of opening his eyes underwater.
  • Ash challenges Trip to a three-on-three battle, which ends in a tie.
For a list of all major events in the anime, please see the history page.

Debuts

Humans

Pokémon debuts

Characters

Humans

Pokémon

 
Who's That Pokémon?

Who's That Pokémon?: Vanillite

Trivia

Errors

  • In the English dub:
    • Timburr's Low Sweep is mistakenly called Low Kick. This is most likely because Low Sweep is called ローキック Low Kick in Japanese.
    • Vanillite's name in the Who's That Pokémon? segment is misspelled as Vanilite in digital releases, including the versions on Amazon and Pokémon TV. The original airing spelled Vanillite correctly.
  • The Finnish dub mistakenly uses the English title card.
  • In the Polish dub, Ash's Snivy is incorrectly referred to as a male.
  • In the Hindi MarvelHQ dub, Trip mistakenly refers to Ash's Snivy as Servine.

Dub edits

In other languages



← BW030 : A UFO for Elgyem!
Pokémon the Series: Black & White
BW032 : Facing Fear with Eyes Wide Open! →
  This episode article is part of Project Anime, a Bulbapedia project that covers all aspects of the Pokémon anime.
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