DP077

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Diamond & Pearl series

DP078 : Pruning a Passel of Pals!

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Staging a Heroes' Welcome!

DP077

EP543

みんなライバル！ミクリカップ！！
Everyone's a Rival! Mikuri Cup!!

First broadcast

Japan	May 8, 2008
United States	September 20, 2008

English themes

Opening	We Will Be Heroes
Ending

Japanese themes

Opening	Together
Ending	風のメッセージ (PokaPoka Version)

Credits

Additional credits
Animation	Team Iguchi
Screenplay	冨岡淳広 Atsuhiro Tomioka
Storyboard	日高政光 Masamitsu Hidaka
Assistant director	古賀一臣 Kazuomi Koga
Animation director	田口広一 Kōichi Taguchi

Screenshots on Filb.de

Staging a Heroes' Welcome! (Japanese: みんなライバル！ミクリカップ！！ Everyone's a Rival! Mikuri Cup!!) is the 77th episode of Diamond & Pearl series, and the 543rd episode of the Pokémon anime. It first aired in Japan on May 8, 2008 alongside DP078 as part of a one-hour special, and in the United States on September 20, 2008.

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

Blurb

The day before the Wallace Cup, Zoey shows up at Lake Valor for the competition. She says hi to Dawn and meets May for the first time; while she's there, she also admits to Ash that Coordinators can still learn from regular Trainers, too. Not far away, Jessie is shocked to learn that she won the Solaceon Ribbon all by herself, without the use of any secret plans or cheats. Then it's on to the Wallace Cup and a dramatic entrance from Wallace himself—he'll even be one of the judges in the appeals performance round!

May and her Wartortle take the stage first and put on a great performance. In contrast, Jessie and Wobbuffet's appeals round performance doesn't actually seem to have much appeal for the judges. Then Zoey's new Finneon makes its dazzling Contest debut, which ratchets up the pressure on Dawn. It doesn't help Dawn's nerves when Ash and Buizel have a terrific performance, either; afraid of failing again, she's almost ready to quit before she starts.

Piplup responds to Dawn's anxiety with a well-timed attack that snaps Dawn back into reality. She tries to relax as she heads onstage with Ambipom, and indeed, Ambipom puts on a performance that showcases its best qualities without relying on too much flash. With the first round over, it's up to the judges to decide which Coordinators are moving on the second round. Jessie is in for a disappointment, but Dawn is relieved to know she'll be battling in the second round along with Ash, Zoey, and May!

Plot

With a day before the Wallace Cup, the group venture in Valor Lakefront to take in the excitement. Brock starts flirting with a female vendor when Croagunk jabs him. May laughs at the sight, noting Croagunk has taken over Max's job. Dawn, however, is really nervous now about the competition. Ash finally registers for the Wallace Cup when Zoey appears. Then the rest of the group show up and Dawn introduces May to Zoey. Meanwhile, Jessie, dressed as Jessilina, is also entering, still thinking that James and Meowth helped her win the Solaceon Town Pokémon Contest. James quickly denies having helped her with the Contest, leaving Jessie speechless she won the Solaceon Ribbon all by herself.

The day of the Wallace Cup arrives, and Marian welcomes the crowd and Contest hopefuls. While May is all ready, Dawn is struggling with her hair again. May fixes it up, and Zoey says Dawn was like this during her debut, meaning she is extra nervous. Soon, Marian welcomes Contest Master Wallace to the stage, and he makes his appearance in an impressive way along with his Milotic. Marian informs the audience he will be a special judge and then proceeds to present the other judges: Raoul Contesta from the Pokémon Activities Committee, Mr. Sukizo from the Pokémon Fan Club, and Nurse Joy from the Lake Valor Pokémon Center. Then she explains that the winning Coordinator will receive the Aqua Ribbon, a special Ribbon that is valid to use in any region.

May opens the Performance Stage, presenting her Wartortle to the crowd with a Pink Foamy Seal. Her family are watching from the Petalburg Gym while rivals Drew, Solidad, and Harley also following May on TV from Ecruteak City. May has Wartortle skip across the water field with a Rapid Spin before finishing up with a dazzling Aqua Tail. Later Jessilina takes to the stage with Wobbuffet, who trips over after he emerges from his Poké Ball. Jessie runs right at Wobbuffet and is propelled into the air by his Counter. She lands atop Wobbuffet’s head, however the unique performance leaves the crowd and the judges equally silent. Zoey's turn comes up revealing she has obtained a Finneon. It leaps out of the water for a Silver Wind. Finneon follows up with a Safeguard to showcase its luminescent scales and swims up its own Waterfall attack for a spectacular finish.

Ash's act with Buizel starts off by punching the Ele-Seal effect before transitioning into a speedy Aqua Jet. Buizel uses its inflatable collar to make an abrupt stop and then leaps from the pool using Sonic Boom. Ash finishes things off with a Water Gun aimed at the water field, and the display of power goes over well with the judges. However Paul catches the appeal on TV and is unimpressed to see Ash has entered a Pokémon Contest.

By now, Dawn is extremely nervous that she is not going to make it, but Piplup snaps her out of it with a blast of Bubble Beam. Dawn gathers her thoughts, and narrowly misses calamity after almost dropping her Poké Ball as she steps onto the stage. She sends out Ambipom in a flurry of pink hearts, and showcases her magnificent tails with a twirling Double Hit. Dawn has Ambipom aim Swift and Focus Punch attacks at the water field for a fountain effect. The judges commend Dawn’s performance for its excellent timing and display of cuteness.

Next, she returns to her friends backstage and the results are soon announced. Ash, May, Zoey and Dawn all make it into the Top 16 and the Battle Stage. Dawn is thrilled by the result, and with a renewed confidence she hopes to win the entire competition. Jessilina, however, is crushed as her Wallace Cup chances are quashed.

Major events

Ash, Dawn, May, Jessilina, and Zoey enter the Wallace Cup.
May and Zoey meet for the first time.
May's Squirtle is revealed to have evolved into a Wartortle during her travels in Johto and learned Aqua Tail.
Zoey is revealed to have obtained a Finneon.
Ash, Dawn, May, and Zoey make it to the Contest Battles while Jessilina loses in the Performance Stage.

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

Debuts

Characters

Humans

Pokémon

Pikachu (Ash's)
Meowth (Team Rocket)
Piplup (Dawn's)
Wobbuffet (Jessie's)
Mime Jr. (James's)
Buizel (Ash's)
Munchlax (May's)
Squirtle (May's; flashback)
Wartortle (May's)
Ambipom (Dawn's)
Croagunk (Brock's)
Finneon (Zoey's)
Milotic (Wallace's)
Cloyster (Kyle's)
Glameow (Johanna's)
Chatot (Coordinator's)
Vulpix (Coordinator's)
Venomoth (Coordinator's)
Sharpedo (Coordinator's)

Trivia

Sakura and Tomoyo lookalikes

I Won't Lose! ~Haruka's Theme~, Battle Frontier, and By Your Side ~Hikari's Theme~ are used as insert songs during the performances of May, Ash, and Dawn, respectively.
Both May and Dawn had most of their rivals appear in this episode, either in cameos or throughout the course of the episode: Drew, Harley, and Solidad for May; and Zoey and Kenny for Dawn. It should be noted that Ash's rival Paul also had a brief appearance. Nando was the only one of Dawn's or Ash's main rivals not to appear.
This is the only episode of the Wallace Cup arc in which James's Mime Jr. appears.
Two girls near the beginning of the episode resemble Sakura Kinomoto and Tomoyo Daidōji from Cardcaptor Sakura. This is most likely a joke on how their hats resemble the one Wallace wears.
The two boys who visited the Mountain Hut Maid Café in Tanks for the Memories! make a brief reappearance in this episode, standing in front of one of the festival stalls on the near the beginning.
The two children running and wearing Lucario and Weavile masks may be a reference to Lucario and the Mystery of Mew.
Instead of Professor Oak's Big Pokémon Encyclopedia, the end of the episode featured a memorial to Spell of the Unown: Entei, called Pikachu the Movie Memorial. This is part of a countdown to Giratina and the Sky Warrior.
This is the second Pokémon Contest in a row that Ambipom's Poké Ball almost slips out of Dawn's hand due to her nervousness.
This episode marks one of the extremely rare occasions that Jessie actually sends out Wobbuffet, as opposed to him popping out of his Poké Ball on his own accord.
Some of the participating Coordinators bear striking resemblances to previous characters of the day:
- One resembles Cherry, who appeared in The Psychic Sidekicks!.
- Another resembles Temacu, who appeared in The Heartbreak of Brock.
- Two resemble Oscar and Andi, who appeared in The Bicker the Better.
In Another One Gabites the Dust!, 37 episodes later, it is revealed that Ursula had lost in the Performance Stage of the Wallace Cup.
Team Rocket does not blast off or recite their motto in this episode, though Jessie is briefly launched into the sky as part of her act.
This episode marks Ash's second and final participation in an official Pokémon Contest.
- This is also the debut of Ash's Contest Costume.

Errors

When Croagunk drags Brock away from the woman selling crepes, May's gloves disappear.
When Meowth and James show their displeasure at Jessie's performance, there is a sound indicating a Pokémon coming out of its Poké Ball, despite Mime Jr. already being outside its Ball.

Dub edits

When Jessie claims that James and Meowth helped her during the Solaceon Town Contest in the English dub, James says, "We didn't do a bloody thing!". On some prints, the line is dubbed to "We didn't do a single thing!" since "bloody" is classified as a vulgar word in some English-speaking countries.

In other languages

Language		Title
Mandarin Chinese		大家都是勁敵！米可利杯！
Czech		Vítání hrdinů
Danish		En fyrstelig velkomst!
Dutch		De Terugkeer Van Een Held!
Finnish		Sankarien vastaanotto!* Sankareiden vastaanotto!*
European French		Bienvenus au stage des Héros !
German		Der Schmetterling des Meeres
Italian		La prima prova!
Korean		윤진컵에서는 모두모두 라이벌!
Norwegian		Iscenesetter en helts retur
Polish		Powitajmy bohaterów
Portuguese	Brazil	Rivalidade a Mil
Portuguese	Portugal	Os Heróis Sobem ao Palco!
Russian		Герои приглашаются на сцену
Spanish	Latin America	¡Bienvenidos todos nuestros heroes!
Spanish	Spain	¡Bienvenidos Héroes al Escenario!
Swedish		En hjältes mottagande