EP080
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Friends to the End
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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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Friends to the End (Japanese: ポケモンリーグ！さいごのたたかい！ Pokémon League! Final Battle!) is the 80th episode of the Pokémon anime. It was first broadcast in Japan on January 21, 1999 and in the United States on November 27, 1999.
Synopsis
Ash is still upset that he lost his last match. He's been lying in his bed ever since, and his friends, mother, and Professor Oak are getting worried. Misty comments that he should be happy that he made it as far as he did and goes in to try to cheer him up. She offers to get him something to eat or take a walk, but he refuses. She tells him that she's only trying to help. They start to argue about how good a Trainer Ash really is when Professor Oak comes in. He tells Ash that he should have trained Charizard better. Misty and Ash start to argue again and Pikachu, fed up with it all, ThunderShocks everyone in the room.
Ritchie's next battle is about to begin. He sits in a locker room and talks to his Pokémon. The door opens and in walk Ash, Misty, and Brock. They wish him luck and the battle begins. Brief battles are shown where Charmander battles against Rhydon, Butterfree against Venomoth and a Spearow against a Tentacool.
Both Trainers are fairly equally matched and they are soon both down to their last Pokémon. Ritchie's opponent, Assunta, sends out Ivysaur and Ritchie sends out Sparky. As soon as he pops out, Sparky gets a beating by Ivysaur. None of his ThunderShocks are connecting. Ivysaur jumps into the air and unleashes a SolarBeam, hurling Sparky to the ground. Just as he gets up, he is hit by Ivysaur's Tackle. He struggles to get up again, but it is no use. Assunta wins. Ritchie runs up to his Pikachu and makes sure he's OK. In the stands, Ash and his friends are disappointed.
Later, Ash joins Ritchie near a lake. As their Pikachu play, they talk about their losses. Ritchie says that he would've trained harder if he'd known how tough the competition would be. He then comments on how losing is good for Trainers, and Ash realizes how much of a baby he was. He and Ritchie promise to become Pokémon Masters no matter what.
Suddenly, both Pikachu fall into a hole. Ritchie and Ash run over to see what happened, and they too fall into a hole. Team Rocket appear at the surface and laugh at them. Ash tries to climb up the side, but slips down. When he lands, the bottom falls out and he and Ritchie plummet another few feet. Team Rocket use a cage at the end of a fishing pole and pull both of their Pikachu out of the hole. They try to shock them, but James tells them that the bars absorb electricity. They start to make their getaway when Ash and Ritchie rise out of the other hole, clinging to their Pidgeotto and Butterfree respectively.
Ash sends out Bulbasaur, who tries to grab the cage with his vines. James sends Weezing for a Smog attack. Pidgeotto blows the gas back at Team Rocket with Gust and Ritchie sends out Zippo. After Bulbasaur frees Pikachu and Sparky with a Razor Leaf, Zippo ignites the gas with a Flamethrower. As Team Rocket run around in pain, Ash has Pikachu and Sparky recharge the cage, he sends out Squirtle who extinguishes Team Rocket with Water Gun. Then Ash tosses the cage into their hands where it explodes, blasting Team Rocket into the air.
As the sun sets, Ash and Ritchie congratulate each other. Brock and Misty run up and invite him and Ritchie to dinner, after which they'll go to the closing ceremonies. Later that night, the closing ceremonies begin. Everyone marches back in, waving. Mr. Goodshow gives each and every one of them the special badge. As this is going on, however, Team Rocket is digging a hole outside. They aim to dig under the field and steal the Pokémon.
Back inside, the top three Trainers (who are shadowed) wave from the stage amid the cheers of the crowd. Team Rocket continues to dig as fireworks go off in the sky. Meowth listens at the ground above and tells Jessie and James to dig up. Unfortunately for them, a huge bomb falls through. It goes off and Team Rocket is blasted off again.
The next morning, all is quiet. Ash and Ritchie sit in the stands talking. Their Pikachu come running up to them and are warmly greeted. After Ash reminds him of their promise, Ritchie sets off. Ash remembers the highlights of the League games, all from when he saw Moltres at the opening ceremonies to when he lost to Ritchie. He gazes at the sky then he looks over and sees his friends, mom, and Professor Oak. Smiling he asks Pikachu if he's ready to go back to Pallet Town. He runs over to his friends. His first adventure has now ended, but his next one is just about to begin.
Major events
- Ritchie loses in the quarter finals.
- Ritchie leaves the group.
Debuts
Characters
Humans
- Ash
- Misty
- Brock
- Jessie
- James
- Ritchie
- Delia
- Professor Oak
- Assunta
- Mandi (flashback)
- Pete Pebbleman (flashback)
- Jeanette Fisher (flashback)
- Mr. Goodshow
Pokémon
Who’s That Pokémon?: Fearow (U.S. and international), Onisuzume (Japan)
- Pikachu (Ash's)
- Meowth (Team Rocket)
- Togepi (Misty's)
- Pidgeotto (Ash's)
- Bulbasaur (Ash's; flashback)
- Charizard (Ash's; flashback)
- Squirtle (Ash's)
- Krabby (Ash's; flashback)
- Kingler (Ash's; flashback)
- Muk (Ash's; flashback)
- Weezing (James's)
- Charmander (Ritchie's; nicknamed "Zippo")
- Pikachu (Ritchie's; nicknamed "Sparky")
- Butterfree (Ritchie's; nicknamed "Happy")
- Ivysaur (Assunta's)
- Rhydon (Assunta's)
- Venomoth (Assunta's)
- Exeggutor (Mandi's; flashback)
- Golbat (Mandi's; flashback)
- Beedrill (Jeanette's; flashback)
- Nidorino (unnamed Trainer's; flashback)
- Cloyster (Pete Pebbleman's; flashback)
- Moltres (flashback)
Pokémon seen at the Pokémon League:
Trivia
Errors
- During the recap of the previous episode, the narrator states, in the English dub, that Ash sent out Charizard when he and Ritchie only had one Pokémon left. This is not entirely true, as when Ash sent out Charizard, Ritchie still had two available.
Dub edits
In other languages
- French: Amis malgré tout
- German: Das Versprechen!
- Italian: Amici per sempre
- Latin American Spanish: ¡Amigos hasta el fin!
- Iberian Spanish: Amigos hasta el final
- Korean: 포켓몬 리그 최후의 승자
- Brazilian Portuguese: Amigos até o Fim
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This episode article is part of Project Anime, a Bulbapedia project that covers all aspects of Pokémon animation. |
