The Bicker The Better (Japanese: タッグバトル！サトシＶＳハルカ！？, Hepburn: Tag Battle! Ash VS May!?) is the 32nd episode of Pokémon: Advanced Challenge.
Synopsis[]
The kids are on their way to Fortree City, but May is delaying them. Ash starts to argue with her, and the two kids continue to bicker as they walk. They are interrupted by a couple named Andi and Oscar, who challenge May and Ash to a tag battle.
Ash uses Corphish and May uses Skitty, facing off against the lovebirds' Nidoking and Nidoqueen. Skitty's Assist move continually interferes with Corphish's attacks, so the two Trainers and their Pokémon begin to fight. Ash and May are defeated.
Andi and Oscar encounter Team Rocket next. Jessie and James agree to battle only so they can steal the couple's Pokémon, but are soundly beaten. Jessie and James blame each other for the loss.
The two groups overhear each other fighting, and Jessie decides to team up in a tag battle with May against James and Ash. The battle starts to go in favor of the boys, prompting Jessie to send out another Pokémon. The fight between Skitty, Seviper, Cacnea, Corphish, and Dustox quickly goes out of control, until Meowth realizes that Team Rocket could steal Pikachu.
They grab Pikachu and run, but Ash and May team up to stop the thieves. After using their Pokémon to soundly defeat Team Rocket, Ash and May reconcile.[1]
Episode plot[]
Ash, Max and Brock come out of the Pokémon Center, ready to go to Fortree City. Max sees on his PokéNav that a path through the forest is the fastest way to get there. But Pikachu warns them they forgot someone ... May! So Ash tries to push her out of the Pokémon Center to get as soon as possible to Fortree City but May sees a mirror and Ash falls over. Ash is mad, saying he never looks upon himself in the mirror. May is shocked and thinks Ash should change, to which he gets even more angry. Ash angrily claims he may think about it, but he must be on their way. Even during their walk, Ash and May continue arguing with each other, making Pikachu, Brock, and Max wish their fighting would come to an end already. Two people appear, introducing themselves as Oscar and Andi. They mistake Ash and May to be in love, claiming everyone that is fighting with each other is in love. Thus, Oscar and Andi challenge them to a Tag Battle. Ash and May accept the battle as a practice to the Gym battle and Contest. Andi and Oscar explain the rules and Brock goes with the flirting scheme with Andy, promising he'll be the judge of the battle. Brock continues on, but gets pulled by Max.
Andy sends Nidoqueen and Oscar Nidoking. Ash sends Corphish and May tries to think whom to send. Ash loses patients, but May takes her time and decides to send Skitty to battle. Corphish uses Bubble Beam and Skitty Assist, which is Ember. However, Skitty's and Corphish's attacks come to a spot, negating both attacks. Corphish is angry at Skitty, who uses Ember on Corphish as well. May and Ash continue arguing, since their Pokémon's attacks negated each other. Nidoqueen and Nidoking use Dynamic Punch, hurting them both. Corphish is about to use BubbleBeam, but Skitty uses Blizzard, which accidentally freezes Corphish. Skitty uses Assist again, but it turns out as a String Shot. May panics, since she wanted Ember to be used instead, but Max points out that even Skitty does not know which move will turn out. Skitty uses Assist again, turning to Silver Wind, causing Corphish to turn into an ice statue. Skitty uses Assist once more and it turns to Ember again, defrosting and burning Corphish. Corphish chases Skitty again, making May so angry at Ash for not stopping Corphish, though Ash hits back at her that Skitty did freeze dry Corphish. Nidoqueen and Nidoking use Submission, combining their attacks, which hits Corphish and Skitty, defeating them both.
Oscar and Andi go away and calls them a "happy couple", leaving May and Ash angry, who yell out they are not a couple and aren't happy, either. Meanwhile, Team Rocket is depressed they did not steal anything in quite some time. Jessie states they always dream about being rich, but they have done much and are still poor. Andi and Oscar come to challenge them to a battle, so Jessie plans on stealing Nidoqueen and Nidoking, then give them to the boss. Cacnea uses Needle Arm and Seviper uses Wrap, but Cacnea gets hit by Dynamic Punch. This causes Cacnea to be blown onto Seviper and gets wrapped. Jessie and James started arguing with each other, despite Meowth telling them to focus on the battle. Nidoking and Nidoqueen use Hyper Beam, blasting them off. The heroes were walking, this time May and Ash arguing whose fault it was for losing the last battle. Brock explains to Max this kind of arguing is between a man and a woman since the dawn of time, only for Max to speechlessly say "Whoa". Jessie and James also argue as well for whose fault was for losing the last battle. After Jessie, James, Ash and May walk and argue parallel to each other when the forest clears, Team Rocket and the heroes meet up. Jessie joins with May and James with Ash, declaring that they have a Tag Battle, shocking Ash and May at the same time. Also putting more despair on Brock, Max, Pikachu, and Meowth.
Jessie's Seviper uses Poison Tail on Corphish and May's Skitty uses Blizzard on Cacnea. Cacnea uses Pin Missile on Skitty and Corphish Harden. Corphish deflects the attack, while Cacnea and Skitty get hurt by the attacks. Seviper uses Wrap on Cacnea while Skitty uses Assist on Corphish. Cacnea uses Needle Arm and Corphish uses Bubble Beam. Cacnea hits Seviper and Corphish hits Skitty. Seviper goes to bite Corphish, while Corphish uses Crabhammer. Skitty uses DoubleSlap and Cacnea uses Pin Missile. Corphish dodges and attacks Seviper, while Pin Missile hits Skitty. Jessie gets really mad and sends Dustox to use Whirlwind. Cacnea and Corphish are blasted, even if it was against the rules. Jessie states only men care about rules, making Brock wonder what kind of a battle this is, with Wobbuffet coming out. Dustox uses Poison Sting on Cacnea and Seviper Poison Tail on Corphish. Cacnea attacks with Pin Missile while Dustox uses Whirlwind, which deflects the attack on Ash, James, Seviper, Skitty and Corphish. Seviper wraps Corphish, who launches Bubble Beam on Jessie. Jessie runs away and stomps on Skitty's tail, causing Skitty to use Blizzard. Jessie hides behind James, who gets frozen by the attack. Skitty uses Assist, turning into Ember, which burns Jessie and James. Dustox launches Psybeam, Corphish Bubble Beam, Skitty uses Blizzard and Cacnea attacks with Pin Missile, which attacks everyone.
Brock and Jessie's Wobbuffet declare the battle over, claiming Jessie and May were disqualified, but Jessie orders Dustox to use Whirlwind, knocking Brock out. The others are terrified by the battle, but when Meowth sees Pikachu beside him, he plans to take advantage of this chaotic situation. After some further arguing, Jessie and James see Meowth using "body language" to see that they should capture Pikachu. So Jessie and James apologize to each other to try to get the Pikachu. Seviper uses Haze and Cacnea uses Sandstorm, dimming the vision while Meowth takes Pikachu. Pikachu uses Thunder, but the net is electric proof. Skitty uses Assist, using String Shot to slow Team Rocket down. Ash thanks May for the assistance. Seviper uses Poison Tail, but is stopped by Corphish's Bubble Beam, allowing May to thank Ash back for the same thing. Cacnea uses Pin Missile, but Corphish uses Harden and takes the hit. Skitty uses DoubleSlap, hurting Team Rocket's Pokémon. Pikachu is free, so Skitty uses Blizzard, freezing Team Rocket. With Skitty's Tackle and Corphish's Crabhammer, Team Rocket is blasted off.
Ash and May apologize to each other for the way they have been acting, thinking they should've trusted each other more to win the battle against Oscar and Andy. Everyone is happy again, making Max and Brock glad the gender war is over.
Debuts[]
Character[]
Quotes[]
- May: "Incredible, raising your voice to a girl just cause she's looking in the mirror."
Ash: "Talk about nerve, standing around gazing at yourself while your friends are all waiting."
May: "What did you say!?"
Ash: "YOU HEARD ME!"
May: "Wanna know what your problem is!?"
Ash: "I already know!"
- May: "I can't stand you Ash Ketchum!"
Ash: [Sarcastically] "Gee I'm heartbroken!"
- Ash and May: [Angrily] "We're not a couple, and we're not happy either!"
Ash and May to Oscar and Andi.
- Ash: That was the worst battle ever."
May: "Yeah, you were pretty pathetic alright."
Ash: "Excuse me!? You're the one who lost it for us!"
May: "You got something to say!?"
Ash: "I just did!"
May; "Oh yeah!?"
- May: "Men! They're always trying to project their insecurity onto girls."
Ash: "Me insecure? Why don't you try looking in that mirror you seem to love so much?"
- May: "Augh! You're impossible! You make me so mad sometimes I just wanna scream!"
Ash: "Yeah? So knock yourself out!"
May: "No, It's not even worth my breath."
Ash: "Puh-lease."
- "I can't tell you how much I hate men/women!" - Jessie and James
"Me too!" - Ash and May
"What? You too!?" - Jessie and James
"Team Rocket!?" - Ash and May
- Max: "Oh no. Not again."
Brock: "Must be some crazy new trend."
Pikachu: "Pika."
Meowth: "Save us!"
Trivia[]
- Featured Pokémon: Ariados, Blaziken, Onix, Raichu.
- In the beginning of the episode, a classic Pokémon identification can be seen. In this case, it is a Sandshrew.
- This episode wasn't aired in some countries due to the fact that the episode was regarded as a "battle of the sexes".
- The episode's dub title is a pun on the phrase "the bigger the better".
- Instead of voices, Nidoqueen and Nidoking have stock bear roars in this episode.
Mistakes[]
- The Pokémon Trainers Choice states the Onix would be the best choice to battle Ariados. This is true because Rock type attacks are effective on Bug type Pokemon; however, another choice Pokémon, Blaziken, would also be good against Ariados with its Fire-type attacks. Onix is also misspelled as Onyx.
Gallery[]
References[]
- ^ (n.d.) . "The Bicker The Better | 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 | ||