DP077

← DP076 : A Full Course Tag Battle!

Diamond & Pearl series

DP078 : Pruning a Passel of Pals! →

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 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 Additional credits

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 Pruning a Passel of Pals! 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.

Synopsis

Template:Incomplete synopsis Ash and his friends have arrived at the Lake Resort where the Wallace Cup will take place. They reunite with Zoey who has caught a Finneon. Dawn becomes nervous and has trouble keeping her composure. Meanwhile, May decides to enter with Wartortle, and Ash with Buizel...!

Major events

• Ash, Dawn, Zoey, Jessie and May participate in the Wallace Cup.
• May meets Zoey.
• May's Squirtle is revealed to have evolved into a Wartortle during her travels in Johto.
• Ash, Dawn, Zoey, and May make it to the second round while Jessie loses in the appeal round.

Debuts

Pokémon debuts

• May's Wartortle

TV episode debuts

• Finneon

Characters

Humans

• Ash
• Brock
• May
• Dawn
• Jessie
• James
• Paul
• Kenny
• Zoey
• Mr. Sukizo
• Marian
• Contesta
• Nurse Joy
• Wallace
• Max
• Drew
• Harley
• Solidad
• Norman
• Caroline
• Rhonda
• Sinnoh Now Staff
• Kyle
• Pokémon Coordinators
• Wallace's fans

Pokémon

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

Trivia

• Both May and Dawn had most of their rivals appear in the episode either in cameos or throughout the course of the episode: Drew, Solidad, and Harley 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 main rivals not to appear.
• The two children running wearing Lucario and Weavile masks may be a reference to Lucario and the Mystery of Mew.
• Instead of Professor Oak's Pokémon lecture, the end of the episode featured a memorial to Spell of the Unown. This is part of a countdown to Giratina and the Sky Warrior.
• This is the second time in a row that Dawn's Ambipom's Poké Ball almost slips out of her hand in a contest due to her embarrassment.
• This episode marks one of the extremely rare occasions that Jessie actually sends out her Wobbuffet as opposed to it popping out of its Poké Ball.

Errors

• When Croagunk drags Brock away from the woman selling crepes, May's gloves disappear.

In other languages

• Dutch: De Terugkeer Van Een Held!
• German: Der Schmetterling des Meeres
• Polish: Powitajmy bohaterów!
• Italian: La prima prova!
• Latin American Spanish: ¡Bienvenidos todos nuestros heroes!
• Iberian Spanish: ¡Bienvenidos Héroes al Escenario!
• Czech: Vítání hrdinů
• Brazilian Portuguese: Rivalidade a Mil

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← DP076 : A Full Course Tag Battle!

Diamond & Pearl series

DP078 : Pruning a Passel of Pals! →

This episode article is part of Project Anime, a Bulbapedia project that covers all aspects of the Pokémon anime.