Pros and Con Artists (ポケモンコンテスト・ハジツゲ大会!!, Pokémon Contest-Hajitsuge Taikai!!?, lit. Pokémon Contest—Hajitsuge Tournament!) is the 50th episode of Pocket Monsters: Advanced Generation and the 10th episode of Pokémon: Advanced Challenge of Pokémon the Series: Ruby and Sapphire.
Synopsis[]
Japanese[]
- Satoshi-tachi wa, tsui ni Hajitsuge Town ni tōchaku shita. Haruka no nidome no chōsen to naru Pokémon Contest ga iyoiyo maku o akeru no da! Satoshi-tachi wa Pokémon Center de, Charem o tsureta Coordinator no Grace ni deau. Grace wa Haruka no tame ni iroiro to advice o shite kureru ga, Haruka ni wa gyaku ni pressure to natte shimau. Nantoka pressure o hanenokeyou to asa hayaku kara Agehunt to renshū o kurikaesu Haruka. Chōdo so no koro, Pokémon Center de wa, Shū ga Satoshi ni battle o mōshikomi, Satoshi to Shū no battle ga hajimarō to shite ita!!
- Satoshi-tachi wa, tsui ni Hajitsuge Taun ni tōchaku shita. Haruka no nidome no chōsen to naru Pokemon Kontesuto ga iyoiyo maku o akeru no da! Satoshi-tachi wa Pokemon Sentā de, Chāremu o tsureta Kōdinētā no Gurēsu ni deau. Gurēsu wa Haruka no tame ni iroiro to adobaisu o shite kureru ga, Haruka ni wa gyaku ni puresshā to natte shimau. Nantoka puresshā o hanenokeyou to asa hayaku kara Agehanto to renshū o kurikaesu Haruka. Chōdo so no koro, Pokemon Sentā de wa, Shū ga Satoshi ni batoru o mōshikomi, Satoshi to Shū no batoru ga hajimarō to shite ita!!
- Satoshi and friends finally arrive in Hajitsuge Town. Haruka's second attempt at a Pokémon Contest is about to begin! At the Pokémon Center, Satoshi's group meets the Coordinator Grace, who is accompanied by her Charem. Grace offers Haruka all kinds of advice, but for Haruka, it only turns into added pressure. Determined to shake off the pressure, Haruka gets up early in the morning and practices again and again with Agehunt. Meanwhile, back at the Pokémon Center, Shū approaches Satoshi and challenges him to a battle, and then the match between Satoshi and Shū is just about to begin!!
English[]
May and friends finally arrive in Fallarbor Town, ready for the next Pokémon Contest. There are already a lot of coordinators there, including one named Grace with a Medicham. Grace already has 3 ribbons, and shows off her Medicham's special combo.
May tries practicing combos with her Beautifly, but gets confused. Drew shows up and taunts her.
Meanwhile, Team Rocket is running a scam to sell fake PokéBlocks.
When Ash tells Drew he's not competing, Drew challenges him to a battle that Drew wins. Drew implies that it takes teamwork between a Trainer and Pokémon to succeed, which May doesn't have. With her confidence shattered, May is easily duped by Team Rocket's scam.
Before May can purchase a fake PokéBlock, Grace steps in and exposes the ruse. Team Rocket leaves in their balloon, stealing all of the Pokémon they can on the way out. Medicham frees all of the Pokémon, and then May and Grace team up to fight off Team Rocket.
May gets her confidence back and enters the contest, standing on stage next to a confident Drew. Her second Pokémon Contest is about to begin.[3]
Episode plot[]
The heroes have arrived to Fallarbor Town. Max already sees the Contest Hall, where May hopes to win her first ribbon. May imagines herself winning the contest, with Brock and Ash supporting her. May sends her Beautifly to look for the building where she and Beautifly will win the Pokémon Contest. The heroes arrive inside the building, where Brock is amazed by the girls inside. May worries about the tough competition, but finds a Coordinator meditating with her Pokémon, a Medicham, who is floating in air. A psychic force affects Max's glasses, Ash's hat, Pikachu and other objects in the room, making them float in air. Medicham stops meditating, so all objects fall down. The owner apologizes for the disturbance, as her Medicham has accidentally unleashed psychic powers. Brock goes to flirt with her, but Max takes him away. May apologizes and says Brock does it when he sees a beautiful girl, but the woman starts laughing after hearing she is beautiful. The woman knocks May away onto Ash.
The woman apologizes for pushing May away and introduces herself as Grace. During the night, Brock has cooked some food, to which Grace happily eats, making Ash, May and Max somewhat startled by her. Brock is quite happy, knowing Grace would happily taste his cooking. Ash wonders if Grace won in any contests, so she shows 3 ribbons. Max sees Grace is also confident in winning the Contest, but May is discouraged and bashes Max, since her confidence shattered. Grace tells May luck, as well as the opponent, could also influence her chances of obtaining a ribbon. Grace also finds it very important to use the power of the Pokémon to full potential during the Contest. May feels nervous and wonders if she should even enter, though Grace laughs at that. Grace promises to show some of Medicham's attacks to ease the nervousness.
Outside, Grace sends Medicham, who uses Ice Punch with Psychic, spreading the glitter around. May is thrilled, seeing this combination. The next day, May practices with Beautifly, who uses Silver Wind combined with Tackle. However, May corrects herself and orders to use Gust, but then orders String Shot. Beautifly uses Gust and String Shot, with the latter move causing Beautifly to be entangled. Drew appears, commenting how May's combinations are failing. Drew throws a rose at May, claiming he came here to see Beautifly. Drew asks her if she won any ribbons, but May becomes nervous, as she has none. May asks him how many did he got, so he shows her his case, containing three ribbons. Drew tells Coordinators with no ribbons will have a tough time and leaves, making May angry at him.
Jessie and James, disguised, ask a man who is passing by whether he wants to win Contests. They offer him a secret product, encouraging the man to about the secret product. The man appears before Meowth (who is disguised as an old man), who gives the man advice on winning the contests. Meowth claims the judge tests cuteness, cleverness, courage, classiness and confidence. Meowth also shares the secret that the judges also test two secret skills, coolness and "charismagnetism". Jessie and James appear before Meowth, disguising themselves as customers. The man is shown gold and silver Pokéblocks, which could improve the two secret skills. Meowth throws a gold Pokéblock to Wobbuffet, then distracts the man for a while. When they turn around, Meowth and the man see Wobbuffet, who became cooler. The man is convinced and happy, so he pays them the Pokéblocks. Jessie and James are happy that the plan worked, painting ordinary Pokéblocks to gold and silver colors. This pleases Team Rocket, who think they'll be rolling in cash once they sell these fake Pokéblocks to other Coordinators.
Ash asks Max where May is and is told she is out for training, surprising Ash how early May went out. Brock, however, is flirting with girls he crosses upon. Ash, Brock and Max see Drew, who recognizes them as May's friends. Drew admits he came here to win some ribbons to enter the Grand Festival. Drew wonders if they are here to participate as well, but Ash replies they came to cheer for May. Drew claims they are just afraid of losing, making Ash upset, who starts yelling. Drew taunts Ash into a battle, who is surprised Drew is challenging him. Drew points out he is also a great fighter, so Ash accepts the challenge. Later, Ash's Taillow attacks Drew's Roselia using Quick Attack. Roselia uses Magical Leaf, but Taillow dodges the attack. Roselia uses Petal Dance, but Taillow evades the attack. Ash recalls how Drew specifically asked to battle Taillow, since he was confident that he'd win against Ash's other Pokémon.
Taillow uses Peck, but Roselia uses Stun Spore, so Taillow's attack is cancelled. May witnesses Taillow being attacked by Roselia, and is surprised to see Drew battling Ash. May comes and sees Roselia uses Solar Beam, defeating Taillow. Ash is frustrated and calls Taillow back, while May is shocked Ash lost. Drew explains why Ash lost: both the trainer and the Pokémon have to be on the same wavelength; Ash's Taillow was confused as its trainer was, but the main part was to have teamwork. During the night, May remembers what Grace and Drew told her and sighs. Next day, Team Rocket sells the fake Pokéblocks, as the customers are convinced to buy them. May comes to the stand, startling Meowth to see the twerp is here. May thinks if she were to give Beautifly the Pokéblock, she might even win the Contest.
Grace appears, demanding to know from which berries are the Pokéblocks made of. She exposes the Team Rocket, as the Pokéblocks have no apparent origin and tells May a true Coordinator would mix their own Pokéblocks. May sees she is right, as this is not the way she wants to win. Grace starts laughing, amused how everyone fell for the scam. Team Rocket opens the balloon and flies off, then steal the people's Pokémon, including Medicham and Beautifly. Medicham uses Psychic, freeing itself and other Pokémon. Beautifly uses String Shot, holding the balloon. James sends Cacnea, who uses Pin Missile, freeing the balloon. Seviper is sent out and uses Poison Tail, but Medicham uses Hi Jump Kick, knocking Seviper out. Cacnea uses Pin Missile, but Beautifly uses Tackle. Medicham uses Ice Punch, blowing Seviper and Cacnea away, as well as blasting Team Rocket away.
Grace praises May, though May believes Grace did all the work. Grace laughs and claims May should give herself some credit. Later on, the Contest is about to start; the Coordinators are in place, among which May, Drew and Grace are seen. Despite standing next to Drew, May does not mind him.
Debuts[]
Character[]
Pokémon[]
Trivia[]
- "Ohkido-hakase no Pokémon Kōza": Mantine
- Senryū: 「マンタイン うずしおつくって めがまわる」
- This is a viewer-submitted senryū by つじ ともひろ (Tomohiro Tsuji) from Fukuoka Prefecture.
- Senryū: 「マンタイン うずしおつくって めがまわる」
- "Pokémon Trainer's Choice":
- This is one of the rare episodes that Cacnea does not hug James after coming out of its Poké Ball.
- This is the first time where Ash battles a rival of one of his traveling companions, in this case Drew (who is May's rival).
- This episode's English dub title is a reference to the phrase "pros and cons".
Notes[]
References[]
- ^ (n.d.) . "Pocket Monsters: Advanced Generation | Amazon Prime Video | Amazon.co.jp". From Pocket Monsters: Advanced Generation | Amazon.co.jp. Archived from the original on December 22, 2025.
- ^ (n.d.) . "Broadcast list | TV Tokyo (tv-tokyo.co.jp)". From ポケットモンスター ADVANCED GENERATION | TV Tokyo. Archived from the original on December 22, 2025.
- ^ (n.d.) . "Pros and Con Artists | Pokémon TV (pokemon.com)". From The Official Pokémon Website | Pokemon.com. Archived from the original on January 27, 2024.
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| Pokémon the Series: Ruby and Sapphire | ||