Serving Up the Flute Cup! (Japanese: 激闘のホウエン地方! 挑戦バトルフロンティア!!, Hepburn: Gekitou no Hoenn-chihou! Chousen Battle Frontier!!, trans. Fierce Battle of Hoenn! Challenge the Battle Frontier!!) is the 7th episode of Pocket Monsters (2019 series), and Pokémon Journeys: The Series of Pokémon Journeys: The Series.
Synopsis[]
Ash and Goh are off to the Hoenn region to compete in the Battle Frontier Flute Cup, and when they arrive, Goh catches a Taillow! They soon meet Hodge, an imposing Trainer who's confident he'll win the competition—and sure enough, his Mightyena quickly defeats Goh's Scyther and Scorbunny. But it's a different story in the final round, when Ash and Mimey face off against Hodge and his Hariyama. Mimey's calm battling style results in a victory, but when it declines to battle Mightyena, Ash sends in Pikachu—who uses a unique strategy to land the final blow and clinch the grand prize for Ash![1]
Episode plot[]
At the Cerise Laboratory, Professor Cerise, Chloe , and Goh along with his Pokémon are taking yoga lessons from Mimey. Goh and Chloe are struggling to follow the correct movements during the exercise. Goh questions how Mimey can move so flexibly, with Cerise explains that it might be because of the torso of the body. Goh tells Scorbunny to go and play while the others continue their yoga. Mimey leads the others, who fail to do the correct exercises, while it sees Metapod perfectly calm and still which the others are confused by this. However, they are frightened when Scorbunny hits Metapod by accident which causes it to land on a rock. They rush to Metapod as Cerise checks on a rock by mistake while Goh checks the actual Metapod who is relieved that it's alright. Ash and Pikachu came and tell Goh that they are going to the Hoenn Region, which the latter is confused by the former's request.
As the boys arrives in Hoenn, they see an announcement about a battle tournament, the 'Battle Frontier Flute Cup', where a Trainer brings two Pokémon and battles to win a prize of Glass Flutes. Ash has registered him and Goh to compete in tournament. Ash decides to bring Pikachu and Mimey for the competition. Goh is surprised to see Mimey competing and if it can even battle with Mimey answering with a mischievous smile. Ash ask Goh who will he be using in the tournament. Goh states one of his Pokémon will be Scorbunny, while in a flashback, Goh was originally planning to bring Pinsir with him, but it refused to go, forcing him to pick Scyther. Ash is excited to compete and have fun in the tournament. Goh ask Ash if he really loves Pokémon battles with the latter answering that he does and can do anything when he's with his Pokémon. Goh doesn't know about battles yet. Suddenly, a Taillow flies by the boys and Goh and Scorbunny try to catch it. Ash and Pikachu then stumble across a trainer and his Hariyama, who Ash thinks wants to battle him. The guy politely tells Ash he's in the way of the recycling bin which the latter kindly moves out of the way. As the guy tries to recycle away his water bottle, he accidentally falls off of his Hariyama and into the bin. Ash asks the guy if he's okay, to which he awkwardly states he's fine and laughs, which weirds out Ash.
Meanwhile, Goh successfully catches the Taillow and uses it to find some Wurmple. As Goh and Scorbunny follows Taillow, they stumble upon a Mightyena, where Scorbunny pulls some of its fur, which angers it. Ash and the guy introduce themselves to each other with the guy saying that his name is Hodge. Hodge tells Ash that he will be competing in the tournament, along with his Hariyama. Ash questions about his other Pokémon he'll be using, but Hodge wants to keep it a secret until the tournament starts. However their conversation is interrupted when Goh, Scorbunny and Mightyena arrive as Goh was planning to catch the Pokémon. Houji stops the fight and states that the Mightyena belongs to him, accidentally revealing to Ash that it's his second Pokémon. Goh is bummed that Mightyena already belongs to someone, but shows Ash that he caught a Taillow. Hodge calls Goh cute for his sincerity, but the latter thinks he is insulting him. Scorbunny is angered as it walks up and tries to kick Hodge, but gets threatened by Mightyena. Scorbunny decides to kick Ash instead, angering Pikachu who tries to electrocute Scorbunny, but ends up sticking Ash instead. Hodge checks the that the tournament is about to begin and he'll be competing against Goh. Goh and Hodge prepare to battle each other real soon.
At the Battle Frontier Flute Cup, Goh and Hodge begin their match with Ash cheering for both of them to do their best. Goh sends out Scyther while Hodge brings out Mightyena. Goh checks his Rotom phone and sees that Scyther, a Bug-type, has the advantage against the Dark-type Mightyena. As the battle starts, Goh uses Swords Dance to raise Scyther's attack power. However, Mightyena instantly defeats it with Fire Fang, which is super effective against it. Goh apologizes to Scyther about his plan as he recalls it. Goh sends in Scorbunny, who is determined to battle. Goh tries to order Scorbunny to use Double Kick, but gets knocked out by a combination of Snarl and Crunch. Goh is eliminated from the tournament while Houji moves on to next the round. While Goh looks at his defeated Scorbunny, Ash is worried about his friend losing the battle.
At the Pokémon Center, Nurse Joy heals Goh's Pokémon, and he is relieved they are alright. Ash tries to cheer up Goh from his lost, but the latter is frustrated by that and says that catching Pokémon is better than battling. Before Goh leaves, Ash tells him to watch his battles, but he ignores him and continue his goal to catch more Pokémon. Ash is concerned about his friend.
Meanwhile, Ash and Hodge are rapidly advancing through the tournament, winning battle after battle. After Goh returns from catching Hoenn Pokémon, he watches the final match between Ash and Hodge. Hodge sends out Hariyama while Ash sends out Mimey. Goh is surprised that Mimey is battling first and doubt it would actually tries to beat Hariyama. As the battle begins, Hariyama attacks with Force Palm, while Mimey dodges the attack. Hariyama keep repeating the attack, while Mimey continue to dodge them with ease. Goh is amazed by Mimey's movements and realizes it's using its exercises it taught earlier. As Hariyama was begins to wear out, Mimey successfully attacks with Focus Punch, which amazes Goh and the audience by his skills. Hariyama attacks with Arm Thrust which Mimey blocks with Reflect. Hariyama repeats the attack while Mimey continues to defend with Reflect, which traps Hariyama. Mimey then finishes Hariyama with Psychic, leading to its defeat. Ash praises Mimey for its hard work in battle, while the audience cheers for their performance.
Hodge recalls Hariyama and thanks it for battling hard as he sends out Mightyena, Ash prepares to continue to battle with Mimey, but is hocked to see him give up immediately, which annoys Goh and Scorbunny. Ash decides to recall Mimey and send out Pikachu to battle instead. As the battle continues, Mightyena uses Snarl with Pikachu dodging and charging in with Quick Attack. Pikachu then attacks with Iron Tail, and Mightyena retaliates with Crunch. Pikachu attempts to use Thunderbolt, bu t gets hit by Mightyena's Snarl, throwing off his aim as the attack blows a hole in the roof. Goh continues watching their fight as he now realizes what a Pokémon battle truly is. Mightyena charges and hits Pikachu in the air with its Sucker Punch. Ash orders Pikachu to launch a Electroweb upwards and uses the momentum and strike Mightyena with a devastating Iron Tail. Mightyena is defeated as Ash and Pikachu win the tournament. At the ceremony, Ash was awarded the prize and trophy while Houji comes up to him and congratulates him on their battle as they both enjoyed it. However, Hodge falls off his Hariyama which amuses the audience.
As the boys are heading back home, Goh congratulates Ash and Pikachu on their victory and tells Mimey it was amazing in their battle as well. Goh then tells Ash that Pokémon battles are really fun to enjoy with Ash happily agrees. Back at the Cerise Laboratory, Goh shows everyone that he caught three Wurmple from the Hoenn region in hopes that at least of them will evolve into a Silcoon and a Cascoon. Ash tells them that they're starting to evolve with Goh was surprised this. However, Ash was only kidding about that, which earns him a kick from Scorbunny with Chloe stating he deserved that one. While everyone laughs together, Mimey looks at the Glass flute they won.
Debuts[]
Character[]
Pokémon[]
Move[]
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Trivia[]
- "Who's That Pokémon?:" Mightyena
- This is the first time since "The Legend of Dratini", 1,057 episodes ago, when a main character has caught more than one Pokémon of the same species.
- This is the last episode in Japan to air in the 2010s.
Gallery[]
References[]
- ^ (n.d.) . "The Official Pokémon Website | Pokemon.com". From Serving Up the Flute Cup! | Pokémon TV (pokemon.com). Archived from the original on December 9, 2023.
