DP184 : Casting a Paul on Barry!
Pokémon the Series: Diamond and Pearl
DP186 : Familiarity Breeds Strategy!
Working on a Right Move!
DP185.png
DP185   EP651
恐怖のトリックルーム! サトシ対コウヘイ!!
Trick Room of Terror! Satoshi VS Kōhei!!
First broadcast
Japan July 22, 2010
United States December 11, 2010
English themes
Opening We Will Carry On!
Ending
Japanese themes
Opening 「サイコー・エブリディ!」(BAND VERSION)
Ending 君の胸にLaLaLa
Credits
Animation Team Kato
Screenplay 冨岡淳広 Atsuhiro Tomioka
Storyboard 大庭秀昭 Hideaki Ōba
Assistant director 近橋伸隆 Nobutaka Chikahashi
Animation director 木下和栄 Kazue Kinoshita
No additional credits are available at this time.

Working on a Right Move! (Japanese: 恐怖のトリックルーム! サトシ対コウヘイ!! Trick Room of Terror! Satoshi VS Kōhei!!) is the 185th episode of Pokémon the Series: Diamond and Pearl, and the 651st episode of the Pokémon anime. It aired in Japan on July 22, 2010 and in the United States on December 11, 2010.

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

As Ash prepares to battle Conway in his third-round match, it’s obvious that the two Trainers have very different battle styles—Conway relies on his predictive powers to formulate his battle strategy, while Ash loves an action-packed, head-to-head event!

Ash’s first Pokémon is Noctowl, and Conway has chosen his Shuckle. Using the Power Trick move, Conway switches Shuckle’s Attack and Defense, turning its amazing defensive power into some seriously hard hits. Noctowl proves how strong it is and gets right up after one of these powerful punches, but Ash decides that this is a good time to switch Pokémon, so he brings out his Donphan. Soon after, he then switches Donphan out for Gible, and Gible’s fondness for biting turns out to be quite an advantage. Not only that, but Gible has finally mastered the elusive Draco Meteor, and uses it to defeat Shuckle!

Conway sends out Lickilicky, but not for long. Ash switches out Gible for Noctowl again, who defeats Lickilicky without much effort. Then Conway brings out his Dusknoir, who immediately uses Trick Room to put Ash’s speedy Pokémon at a disadvantage. Dusknoir knocks out Noctowl in a single hit, and Ash puts Donphan back into action, but Dusknoir defeats it as well, leaving Ash with only one Pokémon...

Ash brings out Gible one last time, and after a few well-placed bites, it defeats Conway’s Dusknoir with another powerful Draco Meteor, which gives Ash his third-round victory!

The matchups are then posted for the quarterfinals, and Ash finds out that he’ll be paired up against his rival Paul! So we leave our heroes just as Ash receives his old friend Gliscor from Professor Oak...

Plot

With the third round of the Lily of the Valley Conference approaching, Ash takes the chance to get in some training with his Infernape against Brock's Sudowoodo. Ash tells Infernape to use Flame Wheel while Sudowoodo blocks the attack. Ash orders Infernape to use Flame Wheel again, but this Flame Wheel is larger than usual as Infernape has learned a new move, Flare Blitz! With its new move, Infernape uses Flare Blitz against Sudowoodo, crashing through Sudowoodo’s defense. Barry comes along and is amazed by the Flare Blitz. Although it is powerful, Brock warns Ash not to overuse Flare Blitz as it deals serious recoil damage.

Barry asks if Ash is training for a match against Paul but Ash reminds him that he still needs to beat Conway first. This leads Barry to ask if Ash is going with Infernape, Torterra, and Glalie for the day's match. Dawn, however, isn't too sure if brute force is enough to beat Conway. They all fail to realize though that Conway is hiding behind a tree and he takes mental notes on what Pokémon Ash will be using against him and prepares his strategy.

Before the battle between Ash and Conway starts, a Tangrowth renders a Hippowdon to be unable to battle, thus concluding the fifth match of round three. Meanwhile, Team Rocket is selling snacks in the stadium and see Champion Cynthia. They manage to attract her over, and while she decides on whether to get a sandwich or an ice cream, her presence is able to attract several other customers and thus boosting Team Rocket's business.

The three-on-three battle between Ash and Conway finally starts and will be taking place on a grass battlefield. Conway chooses Shuckle as his first Pokémon and Dawn takes the chance to scan Shuckle with her Pokédex. Meanwhile, Ash chooses Noctowl, making Conway realize his analysis results may be wrong. Barry is surprised to notice that Ash's Noctowl is a Shiny Pokémon. Conway starts things off by having Shuckle Withdraw into its shell. Ash orders Noctowl to use Sky Attack, while Conway continues to boost Shuckle's defensive stats. Noctowl swoops down to attack, but Shuckle's defense sends Noctowl flying back. Shuckle uses Power Trick to switch its defense for a heightened attack stat. Noctowl approaches with Air Slash and Shuckle counters using Gyro Ball, which is able to break through the Air Slash and knock Noctowl out of the sky. While Noctowl stands up again, Ash recalls it.

Ash sends out Donphan. Shuckle uses Sludge Bomb but Donphan counters with Rollout, rendering Sludge Bomb useless. Conway tells Shuckle to use Gyro Ball again. Gyro Ball hits and causes Donphan to lose control and crash. As a result, Ash recalls Donphan. Brock notes that Donphan's attack is only half as effective if it ever gets deflected and wonders if Ash switched Donphan because of a strategy change.

For his third Pokémon, Ash sends out Gible. Conway notes that Gible had not yet mastered Draco Meteor. Conway has Shuckle use Gyro Ball. Ash uses Gible's habit of biting things to his advantage, and it manages to catch Shuckle in its mouth. To counter, Conway tells Shuckle to use Sludge Bomb in Gible's mouth. Gible is hardly happy about this. With no other choice, Ash tells Gible to spit Shuckle out but Gible has other things in mind as it prepares a Draco Meteor. Shuckle is heaved into the air with a now-mastered Draco Meteor. Shuckle crashes to the ground and is rendered unconscious. Conway recalls Shuckle and thanks it because he now knows which three Pokémon Ash will be using for this battle.

For his second Pokémon, Conway sends out Lickilicky. Ash tells Gible to use Dragon Pulse but Lickilicky uses Lick before Dragon Pulse has the chance to be fired. Gible is treated to a thorough licking while the audience shivers at this disturbing sight. Ash tells Gible to escape by using Dig. Lickilicky counters with Power Whip, which reverberates across the battlefield and throws Gible into the air. Before Conway can call any more attacks, Ash recalls Gible and sends out Noctowl once more. Conway orders Lickilicky to use Power Whip once more but its tongue proves to be too short to reach Noctowl’s altitude. Noctowl uses Air Slash, which hits Lickilicky right in the face. Lickilicky uses Thunderbolt but Noctowl quickly dodges the otherwise super-effective attack. Noctowl uses Extrasensory to lift Lickilicky into the air and throws it down to render it unable to battle.

With only one Pokémon left, Conway sends out his Dusknoir and orders Trick Room. Ash tells Noctowl to use Extrasensory but Dusknoir suddenly appears behind it and throws a Thunder Punch. The attack hits and Noctowl is rendered unable to battle. Ash is confused as to what happened and Conway explains that Trick Rooms allows the slower Pokémon to go first. Because Ash's Noctowl, Donphan, and Gible are all faster than Dusknoir, the latter will always be the first one to attack. Brock notes that although Ash seemed to be having the advantage, it was actually all happening according to Conway's plan. Next, Ash sends out Donphan once more. Ash tells Donphan to use Rollout but Dusknoir strikes first with a powerful Shadow Punch. This leaves Donphan unable to get back up. Ash tries to switch Donphan out, but Dusknoir uses Mean Look to trap Donphan on the battlefield. Dusknoir uses Shadow Punch again and knocks Donphan out.

With two down, Ash has no choice but to send out Gible again. Trick Room, however, is still in effect. Conway is aware of Gible mastering Draco Meteor now, but claims it won't work this time. Ash tells Gible to use Dig but Dusknoir's Shadow Punch is able to hit before Gible can escape. As a result, Gible is hurdled into the ground. Gible aligns itself under Dusknoir while in the ground and shoots straight up. Dusknoir is ordered to use Shadow Punch once more and reappears behind Gible. Ash tells Gible to turn around and bite the Shadow Punch. Gible bites Dusknoir's hand and, as Conway remarks in absolute surprise and shock, eats Shadow Punch. Dusknoir tries to shake Gible off but Gible uses Draco Meteor to shoot Dusknoir into the sky. Dusknoir lands but is still able to battle. Ash tells Gible to use Dragon Pulse but Dusknoir's Shadow Punch strikes first again. Gible, however, hangs strong and releases its Dragon Pulse, which hits Dusknoir straight in the face and knocks Dusknoir out. With all three of his Pokémon unable to battle, Conway loses the battle and Ash is now able to advance to the next round. While Ash and his friends cheer, Conway notes that this was the least calculated battle he ever had but at least he gained a new method of battling.

The board randomizes the next set of battles for the Top 8 contestants and Ash is revealed to be facing Paul next. Tobias has also made it to the quarterfinals.

Afterwards, Ash's winning trio are rewarded with some Pokémon food for the efforts. Paul arrives on the scene. Pikachu and Paul's Electivire issue a challenge with each other while Cynthia watches them from the balconies, as she looks forward to the battle between the two long-time rivals. Later, Ash contacts Professor Oak, who has just transferred Buizel across to Ash. Just then, Dawn calls Ash outside of the Pokémon Center, telling him that his last Pokémon has arrived - a shadow appears across the moon as Ash's Gliscor makes its return.

Major events

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

Debuts

Pokémon debuts

Characters

Humans

Pokémon

Trivia

 
Noctowl emerging from its Poké Ball

Errors

  • In the scene right before Ash commands Infernape to use Flame Wheel, Glalie's mouth is deformed and the black part of its bottom lip is missing.
  • After Ash sends out Donphan the second time, its ears are light-gray instead of the usual darker-gray.
  • When the referee declares Donphan unable to battle, his shirt collar is yellow instead of black.
  • When Dusknoir hits the ground as it is defeated, the colors of its iris and pupil are swapped.
  • When Ash is speaking to Professor Oak at the end of the episode, Oak asks Ash if he is waiting for his third Pokémon, but his upcoming battle with Paul is a full six-on-six battle.
  • In the Polish dub, after using Trick Room, Dawn states that Gible looks like it is in a cage, despite Noctowl being on the battlefield.

Dub edits

  • Aim to Be a Pokémon Master 2001 was replaced with This is the Moment, the same song that played during Dawn and Zoey's match during the Sinnoh Grand Festival in A Grand Fight for Winning!.
  • In the Hindi dub, instead of uttering the move's name, Extrasensory, Ash just commands Noctowl to "lift up and slam" Lickilicky onto the ground.
  • In the original Japanese version, Brock says Infernape forgot Flame Wheel in order to learn Flare Blitz. In the English dub, he says Infernape used Flare Blitz instead of Flame Wheel, without saying anything about Infernape forgetting Flame Wheel.
  • In the original Japanese version, Cynthia decides between getting sandwiches, ice cream, and onigiri. In the English dub, she only mentions sandwiches and ice cream.
  • In the English dub, the Coin Toss Poketch app is used to determine who brings out their Pokémon first. In the original Japanese version, they just use a coin or object for the coin toss.
  • In the English dub, Barry says Noctowl is a Shiny Pokémon. In the original Japanese version, he only says it is a different color.
  • In the English dub, Conway thinks Gible has now mastered Draco Meteor since Ash chose it. In the original Japanese version, he thinks Gible hasn't mastered Draco Meteor and that the battle will therefore be easy.

In other languages



DP184 : Casting a Paul on Barry!
Pokémon the Series: Diamond and Pearl
DP186 : Familiarity Breeds Strategy!
  This episode article is part of Project Anime, a Bulbapedia project that covers all aspects of the Pokémon anime.