DP052
Smells Like Team Spirit!
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First broadcast
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English themes
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Japanese themes
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Credits
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Smells Like Team Spirit! (Japanese: タッグバトル！ファイナル!! Tag Battle! Final!!) is the 52nd episode of the Diamond & Pearl series, the 518th episode of the Pokémon anime, and the last episode of the English season Pokémon: Diamond and Pearl. It first aired in Japan on October 25, 2007 and in the United States on February 1, 2008.
As the tag battle tournament reaches the semi-finals, which of our heroes will emerge victorious?
Synopsis
The episode starts off with Ash kneeling down to a newly released Chimchar. Impressed by the way Chimchar gives it its all, Ash tries to convince Chimchar to be on his team. Before Chimchar could accept, our heroes were attacked by Bullet Seed and Pin Missile. Chimchar was stolen by Team Rocket, the attackers. After finishing their motto, James told his Carnivine and Cacnea to use Bullet Seed and Pin Missile as they tried to escape. Because Ash was so bent on rescuing Chimchar, Chimchar seemed to be inspired to take action as well, using Flamethrower on Team Rocket's balloon.
Before Chimchar plummeted to the ground, Ash was able to catch it. After complimenting Chimchar's Flamethrower, Ash again asked if Chimchar would like to be on his team. Chimchar happily agreed, so Ash tossed a Poké Ball into the air. Chimchar jumped up, smacked the button, and Ash caught Chimchar.
Later that night, Ash contacted Professor Oak and told him about his new Chimchar. Professor Oak knew about Ash's tag battle, saying that he and his partner would need to work together to win. Dawn happily picked out a phrase in Professor Oak's speech that rhymed. "You do your best and you're sure to beat the rest."
The episode switched to the next morning as the camera hovered over the top of the stadium. It is revealed that Dawn and Conway have already won their match and the next match-ups were about to begin. It was Paul and Ash, versus Brock and Holly. Each sent out their respective Pokémon, Torterra, Staravia, Croagunk, and Farfetch'd.
Once the battle begun, Ash commanded his Staravia to use Aerial Ace, Brock told Croagunk to use Poison Jab, Holly's Farfetch'd used Air Slash and Paul's Torterra used Hyper Beam. All of the attacks were launched, but only Hyper Beam way its through, hitting Ash's Staravia and Holly's Farfetch'd. Farfetch'd was knocked out in an instant.
Croagunk then ran in for a Brick Break. Ash told his Staravia once more to use Aerial Ace, trying to catch Croagunk off-guard. However, Croagunk slid under the immobilized Torterra, causing Staravia to miss and have to stop its attack. Croagunk jumped out from behind Torterra, landing a hit with Brick Break on Torterra's head. Before Croagunk could use Poison Jab, Torterra was able to move again. Croagunk jumped backwards away from its position on Torterra's neck, and onto the tree on its back. Torterra used Leaf Storm, knocking Croagunk out, and giving victory to Ash and Paul.
They were able to take a break before battling Dawn and Conway. In the Pokémon Center, Nurse Joy tells Brock that Holly was so upset about losing that she left to go train. Being upset himself, Brock told Ash to win the match.
Finally, the next battle between Dawn, Conway, Ash, and Paul started. Ash sent out Chimchar, Paul used his Elekid, and Conway and Dawn called out Heracross and Buizel. Ash's first attack was Flamethrower, followed by Elekid using Thunder. Buizel was able to counter attack Chimchar's Flamethrower with Aqua Jet. Aqua Jet tore through Flamethrower and slammed into Chimchar. However, Elekid was still in the air above Buizel and used its Thunder. Conway backed Buizel up by telling Heracross to use Revenge. Heracross got in between the Thunder and Buizel, taking the attack.
Heracross flung Elekid backwards, but Elekid was able to get back on its feet. Ash's Chimchar used Dig. Dawn called for Buizel to use Aqua Jet again. Elekid used Protect, but at the last minute, Buizel headed skywards and Conway told Heracross to use Feint. This took Paul off-guard as Feint was able to break through Protect. Heracross was able to knock Elekid off its feet again. Buizel used Water Gun, hitting Elekid directly. However, Chimchar finally came out of the ground and hit Buizel, ceasing the Water Gun.
Buizel countered with Aqua Jet, again hitting Chimchar. Chimchar quickly recovered and used Flamethrower on Heracross, but Buizel jumped in front of Heracross and used Water Gun. The attacks collided causing an explosion. Elekid jumped through the smoke and used ThunderPunch and Heracross countered with Mega Horn. Another explosion was created, sending Elekid flying backwards. Suddenly, Elekid started to evolve into Electabuzz. The newly evolved Electabuzz then began to charge up its Thunder.
Conway then told Heracross to use Mega Horn and Dawn's Buizel used Water Gun. Ash told Chimchar to dodge the Water Gun and to use Flamethrower. Chimchar jumped out of the way of the Water Gun and used Flamethrower on Heracross. Paul's Electabuzz then used Thunder on Buizel. When Buizel and Heracross collided, the fire and the electricity collided as well, causing an explosion.
Just when it seemed like the battle was over, Buizel and Heracross were seen still standing once the smoke cleared. Buizel gave his opponent's a smirk before falling to the ground. Both Heracross and Buizel were knocked out. After congratulating Chimchar, Paul said that they couldn't have won without Electabuzz. Surprisingly, Ash didn't care what Paul thought, and still thought Chimchar did its best.
The episode switches to Enta giving Ash and Paul their Soothe Bells. Everyone clapped for Ash and Paul.
The episode again switches to Dawn, Brock, Ash, Chimchar, Pikachu, and Piplup talking about the battle that happened. Although Dawn was discouraged about losing, she promised to win the next contest they were all in. Suddenly, Paul came by, tossing the Soothe Bell at Ash, saying that he didn't need it. Conway then suggested to the gang to head for Veilstone City to fight at the Veilstone Gym. The gang agreed that it was a good idea for Ash to get his next Gym Badge.
Major events
- Chimchar joins Ash's team.
- Paul's Elekid evolves into an Electabuzz.
- Ash with his Staravia, and Paul with his Torterra, face Brock with his Croagunk, and Holly with her Farfetch'd. Ash and Paul win, and advance to the finals.
- Dawn with her Buizel, and Conway with his Heracross, face Ash with his Chimchar, and Paul with his Elekid, in the finals.
- Ash and Paul win the tournament.
- Paul gives his prize Soothe Bell to Ash.
Debuts
Characters
Humans
Pokémon
- Pikachu (Ash's)
- Meowth (Team Rocket)
- Wobbuffet (Jessie's)
- Mime Jr. (James's)
- Staravia (Ash's)
- Turtwig (Ash's)
- Chimchar (Ash's, formerly Paul's)
- Piplup (Dawn's)
- Buneary (Dawn's)
- Buizel (Dawn's)
- Croagunk (Brock's)
- Cacnea (James's)
- Carnivine (James's)
- Elekid (Paul's; evolves)
- Electabuzz (Paul's; newly evolved)
- Torterra (Paul's)
- Farfetch'd (Holly's)
- Heracross (Conway's)
- Slowking (Conway's)
Trivia
- Music from Pokémon 4Ever is used as background music.
- Professor Oak's Pokémon lecture: Stunky
- Pokémon senryū: スカンプー すかんあいてに におにプー Sukanpū, sukan aite ni, nio ni pū
- This episode's dub title is a reference to the song, Smells Like Teen Spirit by the band, Nirvana. The name of this song, coincidentally, is often mistaken as Smells Like Team Spirit.
- This episode, along with Tag! We're It! and Glory Blaze was aired as a 90 minute special on February 1st on Cartoon Network.
- All of Ash's, Dawn's and Brock's Pokémon were shown over the past three episodes apart from Happiny.
- This is the last episode where TPCi's voice actors dub at TAJ. Beginning with the following episode, DuArt was used as the studio to record and distribute the anime.
Errors
Dub edits
In other languages
- Italian: La finale di Cuoripoli & Vittoria sudata
- Iberian Spanish: ¡Sintiendo el Espíritu de Equipo!
- Dutch: Dubbele gevecht finale!
- Latin American Spanish: ¡Espíritu de compañerismo!
- Brazilian Portuguese: Tem Jeito de Espírito de Equipe!
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This episode article is part of Project Anime, a Bulbapedia project that covers all aspects of the Pokémon anime. |
