Thinning the Hoard! (Japanese: ハルカＶＳハーリー！ダブルバトルでステージ・オン！！, Hepburn: May VS Harley! Double Battle—Stage!!) is the 36th episode of Pokémon: Battle Frontier.
Synopsis[]
May, Drew, Harley, and Solidad are all competing in the Grand Festival, and it's time for their Pokémon to show off their best moves. Only 16 Coordinators will advance to the next round, so the pressure is on! Although Drew and Absol do a great job, he's not at all happy with Absol's performance. May is shocked to see him angry at his Pokémon, and she's even more hurt when he takes some of his frustration out on her. Drew later calms down, but his tension showed how seriously he's taking his rivalry with May.
The round of 16 sees May sending out Munchlax and Eevee against Harley's Cacturne and a not-so-cuddly Wigglytuff. Munchlax and Eevee team up to knock Cacturne out of the match, but Wigglytuff is an even tougher foe. With its flexible body, it's hard to score a solid hit until May figures out how to get an aerial advantage. Wigglytuff is knocked out and May moves on to the top 4, where she'll be facing off against Drew.
This time May uses Combusken and Squirtle, while Drew uses Flygon and Absol. The battle immediately heats up, and with Solidad still in the competition, the path to Grand Festival victory only gets tougher from here![1]
Episode plot[]
Drew sent his Absol. Absol uses Flash, amazing the people seeing it. Next, Absol uses Water Pulse, making a waterfall. Absol uses Razor Wind, cutting through the water and dazzles the stadium. Jessibella (aka Jessie) comments the performances and wants Drew to comment, but he simply passes by. Next is Harley, who sends his Octillery. Octillery uses Fire Blast and engulfs itself in the flames. Meanwhile, Ash is going for the hat Aipom stole again. Since the Aipom is messing with him, Ash orders Pikachu to use Quick Attack, hitting Aipom. Ash puts his hat back on and Pikachu uses Thunderbolt to attack Aipom. Aipom is knocked out and Ash throws his Poké Ball. However, Aipom sends it right back, hitting Ash in the head and runs away. Still, Ash still knows he will see Aipom once more.
Solidad's Slowbro uses Psychic to move around. Slowbro uses Water Gun and spins around, dazzling the audience. May gives her credit to all these moves and Harley tells her she is fabulous as always. May comes to the stage and Ash to Brock and Max, telling them he needed to catch Aipom to stop causing so much trouble. May sends Munchlax, who uses Solar Beam. After firing the beam, Munchlax uses Focus Punch to emit sparkles from the beam. Solidad tells May thought good, even Harley tells May is a good Coordinator. Later, May is nervous, as the judges will pick 16 Contestants to advance to next round. Ash, Max and Brock say she will advance, as she put a lot of work coming here and performing. Solidad tells she never'd thought of combining Solar Beam and Focus Punch like that. Suddenly, Harley tells Drew is in trouble!
Absol uses Razor Wind and the attack goes near Drew, almost hitting him. Drew is angry, telling Absol it needs more power and to hit him. May comes to stop his plan in time. Drew tells Absol did not use its attack properly. Solidad believes the finishing move Absol made, Razor Wind on Water Pulse, made Drew thinking as if he lost. Drew sends Absol back to its Poké Ball and goes away. May tells Drew Absol did its best, though Drew responds Roselia, Flygon and Masquerain gave more than he hoped for and just doing its best is not getting anywhere like "a wimp like her". May is shocked, thinking how can she be a wimp for only supporting her Pokémon. Later, Solidad tells May's performance must have shocked Drew. Ash and Brock came to Drew to talk to him. Ash tells him he does not know how his rivals trained, but they showed that on the battle field. Drew agrees with him, as he is May's rival.
Next day, the judges decided the 16 Contestants moving to next round. The screen displays Solidad, Drew, Harley, May and 12 other Contestants. The screen also displays the battles - May will have to fight Harley. Harley sees May is calm after Drew's outburst. May responds " they will agree to disagree", so Harley tells he will have to weaken May. So, the battle of Harley and May begins. May sends Munchlax and Eevee, while Harley his Cacturne and Wigglytuff. May and her Pokémon are scared of Wigglytuff's scary face, but do not back down. Also, Aipom comes, though only to watch the Contest. Munchlax uses Focus Punch and Eevee goes to tackle, but Wigglytuff enlarges itself, protecting Cacturne and bouncing Eevee and Munchlax off.
Wigglytuff charges and Cacturne uses Poison Sting, hitting Munchlax and Eevee. Cacturne goes to use Needle Arm, but Eevee uses Shadow Ball and Munchlax Focus Punch, canceling the attack and defeating Cacturne. Still, Wigglytuff is falling, using Body Slam. Though Munchlax and Eevee evaded, Wigglytuff used its ears to throw them away and uses DoubleSlap on both of them. Munchlax fires Solar Beam and Eevee uses Shadow Ball, though they miss to hit Wigglytuff. May hears Wigglytuff is a Balloon Pokémon and orders to combine Solar Beam and Shadow Ball. Due to this, the attacks collide behind Wigglytuff, who lost its balance and falls down. Munchlax hops on Eevee and uses Focus Punch on Wigglytuff, defeating it. May wins the battle, hugging Eevee and Munchlax. Ash, Brock and Max are impressed by May's abilities, even the Aipom cheers for her.
Drew defeated a Coordinator with a Loudred and Medicham using his Masquerain and Roselia. Solidad advances as well, as her Lapras and Slowbro defeated a Girafarig and a Zangoose. May faces Drew in the battle. May sends Squirtle and Combusken, while Drew his Flygon and Absol. Squirtle starts by spinning, so Flygon uses Sandstorm. However, May was counting on it, so Combusken hops on Squirtle. Combusken goes to use Mega Kick on Flygon, but is canceled by Absol's Flash. Absol knocks Combusken with an Iron Tail. May does not give up, so orders Squirtle to use Bubble and Combusken Sky Uppercut.
Trivia[]
- This is the third time May faces Drew in the quarter-finals, first being in Slateport City and second in Hoenn Grand Festival.
- An instrumental version of 私、負けない！～ハルカのテーマ～ I Won't Lose! ~Haruka's Theme~ and Pokémon Symphonic Medley are used as background music.
- This is one of the few episodes (prior to the Best Wishes series) when Team Rocket doesn't blast off or recite their motto in any form.
Mistakes[]
- In the English dub, before May and Drew battle begins, Lilian Meridian say that May and Drew made it to the Top 4 of the Kanto Grand Festival instead of the Top 8.
- In the Latin American Spanish dub, all characters refer to Harley's Wigglytuff as a "Jigglytuff."
- During the first shot of Solidad's Slowbro spinning around during its appeal, the Shellder's eyes are missing. However, they are seen in the next shot.
- When Squirtle uses Rapid Spin it is upside down in the close up shot as it spins towards Flygon and Absol, it is later shown to be right-side-up again when Combusken jumps onto it.
Gallery[]
References[]
- ^ (n.d.) . "Thinning the Hoard! | Pokémon TV (pokemon.com)". From The Official Pokémon Website | Pokemon.com. Archived from the original on January 29, 2024.
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| Pokémon the Series: Ruby and Sapphire | ||