A Double Dilemma (Japanese: パパはアイドル！？いつわりのジムリーダー！！, Hepburn: Dad is Idol!? False Gym Leader!) is the 28th episode of Pokémon: Advanced Challenge.
Synopsis[]
The friends arrive in North Petalburg and stop by the Pokémon Center, where May and Max are quickly recognized as the children of Norman. The siblings are swamped by an adoring crowd. Ash and Brock manage to escape and wander off.
Team Rocket arrives in town and they decide to disguise themselves as Norman's family (Norman, Caroline, May, and Max) to conduct an autograph-selling scam.
When Ash mentions that he's planning to take on Norman in the Petalburg Gym, a whole crowd of Norman-devotees challenge Ash to battles. Ash easily beats them all, exhausting his Pokémon (and himself). Word gets around about how good he is, so the crowd with the siblings pressures May to battle Ash in order to teach him a lesson. Her Torchic uses Ember on Ash, and he falls over.
The still-disguised Team Rocket disappears, causing another crowd of people to search them out. The two crowds meet, and begin to argue over which version of May and Max is the real thing. May uses Ember to burn away Team Rocket's costumes, and Pikachu sends their balloon blasting away with Thunderbolt.
The crowd is impressed with the defeat of Team Rocket—by Pikachu. Though Ash is dejected, the kids set off for Petalburg City.[1]
Episode plot[]
The heroes have arrived in Petalburg City at the northern district and decide to go to the Pokémon Center. A woman at the Pokémon Center has delivered some supplies and gives it to Chansey, as the heroes approach Nurse Joy. Nurse Joy identifies May and Max as Norman's children. Brock tries to impress Nurse Joy by claiming he is their big brother, but Max pulls him away. May confirms she and Max have been traveling, but is glad they are back home for a while. The delivery woman, Rose, runs away screaming. The heroes leave the Pokémon Center; Ash finds it amazing Nurse Joy knows about May and Max, who reply it is only because their father is famous. Suddenly, the heroes are surrounded by a crowd of people. The reporter, Dee Dunstan, asks some questions for May and Max. May shows her two ribbons she won and knows it isn't impressive, but the crowd is amazed May won so many ribbons in so little time. Ash goes in to show his badges, but the crowd is not interested.
Team Rocket, who is hungry, is wandering around. Meowth spots a plaque with Norman and Caroline. They remember Norman is the Gym Leader of Petalburg City, who used a powerful Vigoroth. When they look around, they see a lot of Norman fan-club trinkets, giving Jessie a great idea. To take advantage of the situation, Jessie dresses as Norman's wife, James as Norman, Meowth as May and Jessie's Wobbuffet as Max. "Norman's family" soon gathers attention, but a man, named Yaohei, suspects Meowth and Wobbuffet don't look like May and Max. This makes Team Rocket nervous, since their charade could be exposed. However, after examining them, Yaohei's suspicion goes away, but notes "Max" looks blue, suspecting he got a cold. He also thinks May has not grown a bit since the last time he saw her, but "May" states she just shrunk down, while others grew up, which convinces Yaohei. The real May and Max reply they want to be moving, but the crowd wants to see May showing some Coordinator attacks. May sends Beautifly, who spins and uses Silver Wind, dazzling the public.
Two boys come to ask Ash and Brock if they travel with May and Max. When they confirm as Ash mentions he needs to defeat Norman, the boys refuse to believe that he'll beat Norman. The boys states Ash can't just waltz into the Gym and challenge Norman, even if Brock reminds them the rules allow any trainer to challenge any Gym. The boys states Ash and Brock should just leave and Ash should just challenge another Gym. They claim if Ash wants to challenge Norman, they'd have to beat them first, and they won't allow themselves to be defeated. Seeing this is a challenge to a battle, Ash accepts it. The boy sends Golduck, while Ash sends Grovyle. Golduck starts using Focus Punch, but misses and gets hit by Bullet Seed. Golduck uses Hydro Pump, knocking Grovyle down. Golduck uses Scratch, but Grovyle counters the attack with Quick Attack and proceeds to use Leaf Blade.
"May" advertises her autographs and "Caroline" sells badges with her and Norman's face on it. Golduck is defeated, but more boys come to challenge Ash. Regardless, Ash sends Corphish to battle. May's Skitty performs, using Double Slap to juggle the balls, but Max advises her not to overdo it. The boys are getting relentless, but Ash and all his Pokémon are worn out from those battles. Ash says he can take all at once, so the boys send all their Pokémon to battle. Pikachu uses Thunder, defeating all their Pokémon. The other boys send more Pokémon, which startles Pikachu and Ash as the boys persistence never ends. May is getting really tired but the fans want more from her. The boys who battled Ash come to say he came to challenge Norman and admit he is quite good. Rose believes May should battle him to teach him a lesson. May is startled, but the crowd likes that idea. As Ash and Pikachu are exhausted from the battles, May and Max are carried near Ash to teach him a lesson he'll never forget: he's not allowed to battle the Petalburg gym leader Norman. Despite being exhausted, Ash accepts the challenge. May does as well but Max thinks they shouldn't be given so much attention.
"Norman's family" disappeared, which surprised the people, who were buying their merchandise. Team Rocket is running away with the profit, but once they have been spotted, they run off in a direction, though their fans follow them. May brings Torchic to battle. Ash chooses Pikachu, but he collapsed on the ground. Since nearly all his Pokémon are tired, Ash brings out his last Pokémon, Taillow. Taillow starts off with Peck, hitting Torchic. Ash is glad he made the first attack, but is getting booed from the crowd. Taillow uses Wing Attack, damaging Torchic, but the crowd demoralizes Ash's morale. Torchic retaliates using Ember, which hits Ash and Pikachu. May is psyched she is winning, so Torchic repeats the attack. Ember becomes more powerful, but this time it burns Ash. Rose announces May won, despite Taillow still able to fight. May and Torchic are glad they won, even if Max states this was not a justified fight.
A man reports he saw May and Max by the fountain few moments ago, so Rose realizes they are imposters. The crowd is certain May and Max will teach them a lesson and carry both of them there. "Norman's family" and the real May and Max face each other. May and Max see "Norman" and "Caroline" are not their parents and see their counterparts do not look anything like them. This causes Rose and Yaohei to argue with each other. Ash and Brock arrives, wondering what's going on. May is annoyed and orders Torchic use Ember, burning "Norman's family", revealing the imposters to be Team Rocket. Jessie sends Seviper and James Cacnea, the latter holding James by his shoulders. Cacnea attacks with Pin Missile to damage Torchic, but is cancelled by Pikachu's Thunderbolt. Seviper uses Haze and takes Pikachu, per Jessie's order. When the smoke clears, Team Rocket go up in their balloon, but Seviper accidentally grabbed May's Torchic. Pikachu climbs up a tree and by using Quick Attack, he attacks Team Rocket. They drop Torchic, who is caught by May and the money bags, which Rose and Yaohei catch. Pikachu falls down and uses Thunderbolt to blow Team Rocket. Team Rocket is satisfied, however, since they were tired of pretending to be winners.
The people compliment them, putting Ash down (because of their belief that Ash still can't battle Norman) but thanking Pikachu for taking on Team Rocket, causing Ash to fall over. Pikachu is flattered by the fans. As the heroes depart off, the crowd bids farewell to May and Max. May and Max do not know why the crowd is interested in Norman so much, wondering if Norman even knows about this. Ash is not concerned, since he wants to win the fifth badge despite his popularity issues.
Debuts[]
Character[]
Trivia[]
- Featured Pokémon: Corphish, Minun, Marowak, Nincada.
- In the beginning of the episode, a classic Pokémon identification can be seen. In this case, it is a Psyduck.
Dub differences[]
- When Ash's Badge Case is seen in the original, there is a Poké Ball design on it. In the dub, it is painted over with a red line.
Gallery[]
References[]
- ^ (n.d.) . "A Double Dilemma | Pokémon TV (pokemon.com)". From The Official Pokémon Website | Pokemon.com. Archived from the original on January 27, 2024.
| Pokémon: Advanced Challenge episodes | ||
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| Pokémon the Series: Ruby and Sapphire | ||