AG187

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The Unbeatable Lightness of Seeing (Japanese: ハルカVSシュウ！ライバルよ永遠に Haruka VS Shū! Rivals Forever!!) is the 187th episode of the Advanced Generation series. It was first broadcast in Japan on August 10, 2006 and in the United States on January 27, 2007.

Spoiler warning: this article may contain major plot or ending details.

Synopsis

Ash and May are depressed after their battles with Brandon and Solidad, and start to think about it. At the Pokémon Center, Ash is surprised by Professor Oak's unexpected visit, and is almost immediately cheered up after Professor Oak gives him presents from his family and friends. Later, they catch up with Drew. He challenges May to a battle after seeing her down, because of her Grand Festival loss with Solidad. They were soon interrupted by Harley, though. Who will win the battle? Meanwhile, Ash learns about the land of Sinnoh from Gary and Professor Oak.

Major events

• Ash receives a postcard from Gary telling him of Sinnoh.
• Ash receives Misty's special lure.
• May's Beautifly returns from Petalburg City and learns Psychic.
• May's Skitty returns from Petalburg City.
• May's Beautifly and Combusken are defeated by Drew's Roselia and Butterfree.
• Drew and Harley announce that they will be traveling to Johto to participate in Pokémon Contests there.

Debuts

Characters

Humans

• Ash
• May
• Brock
• Max
• Jessie
• James
• Drew
• Harley
• Professor Oak
• Gary Oak (flashback)
• Scott
• Nurse Joy
• Pokémon trainers
• Audience
  • Boy (Seiyū: 林原めぐみ Megumi Hayashibara*)

* No official credit was given for this character.

Pokémon

• Pikachu (Ash's)
• Meowth (Team Rocket)
• Wobbuffet (Jessie's)
• Combusken (May's)
• Beautifly (May's)
• Skitty (May's)
• Roselia (Drew's)
• Butterfree (Drew's)
• Cacturne (Harley's)
• Bellsprout
• Ampharos
• Smeargle
• Tyranitar

Trivia

• This is the first episode in the main series to mention Gary since his rivalry with Ash was resolved in Gotta Catch Ya Later.
• An instrumental version of Advance Adventure, background music from Lucario and the Mystery of Mew, an instrumental version of 小さきもの A Small Thing are used as background music.
• The next episode preview is narrated by Brock.
• This episode's dub title may be a reference to the book The Unbearable Lightness of Being.

Errors

• Professor Oak's eyebrows, which are actually brown/black, are painted gray in a few scenes.
• The color of Harley's hair when he first appears in the episode is duller than normal.
• In the sunset scene at the end, the right side of Ash's hair was white against Professor Oak's jacket.

Dub edits

In other languages

• French: Remise en question
• Italian: Addio amarezza
• Latin American Spanish: ¡La inderrotable levedad del ver!
• Iberian Spanish: La Imbatible Falta de Visión

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This episode article is part of Project Anime, a Bulbapedia project that covers all aspects of the Pokémon anime.