DP138
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Strategy Begins at Home!
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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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Strategy Begins at Home! (Japanese: ヒカリVSママ！親子対決！！ Hikari VS Mama! Parent-Child Showdown!!) is the 138th episode of the Diamond & Pearl series, and the 604th episode of the Pokémon anime. It first aired in Japan on August 13, 2009 and in the United States on January 2, 2010.
Synopsis
Ash and his friends make it back to Twinleaf Town as Dawn and Piplup take the lead, clearly excited to be back home. As they walk, Brock enjoys the quiet atmosphere, reminding Ash of his hometown. Ahead, they spot a few people talking about placing some stands, but not making much progress. Dawn calls out their names, Izzy and Cara, meeting up with them. Cara mentions that are working with Johanna to plan the festival, but Izzy isn't helping much. Dawn introduces Ash, Brock and her Piplup.
Dawn leads her friends to her house as Dawn is clearly excited, busting in. Johanna meets her, as well as Ash and Brock, with her Glameow and Umbreon in tow. Johanna meets Piplup as the Penguin Pokémon tries to meet Glameow, but it gets a cold shoulder, the same with Umbreon. A girl, Noelle, walks down the stairs with her Bellossom. She finished setting up the rooms for Ash and Brock, being there to enroll in Johanna's Coordinator class. Dawn shows her the four ribbons she has earned, but Brock pulls her aside and makes his usual advances to Noelle. He gets shut down not just by Croagunk, but Bellossom as well with Stun Spore, Croagunk dragging him away.
Ash checks out the trophies and pictures on the wall as Dawn fills him in about her mother's career. Dawn then decides to challenge her mother to a Contest battle, which she agrees to, but they decide to eat first since the food was freshly prepared. Ash shows some informal excitement, but Johanna lets it slide as she asks Noelle to show Ash and Brock their rooms. Meanwhile, Team Rocket sits by a lake, fishing for Goldeen under Sayer's term. Sayer is disappointed that they have not caught any Goldeen, which is needed for a festival activity. Team Rocket reveals they that are doing it mainly for money since they are broke.
Meanwhile, everyone sits down for lunch at Dawn's home. Johanna compliments Brock on his cooking ability that Dawn told her about. Glameow and Umbreon enjoy Brock's Pokémon food, which pleases her since they are picky eaters. Noelle asks Brock for his recipe, which puts him into a romantic advance before Bellossom and Croagunk stop him. Dawn and Johanna clean the dishes as Ash talks to Professor Oak over the videophone, giving the Trainer advice about learning from Johanna. Dawn and Johanna join the conversation as they learn that Professor Oak is on his way to attend the festival. Then, Ash's mother joins the conversation as her and Johanna. Delia even pokes fun at Ash a little bit. Meanwhile, Team Rocket starts reeling in Pokémon, but not the right ones, forced to toss them back.
In the garden, Brock and Happiny tend to the flowers, getting positive reviews from Johanna and Noelle. Johanna and Dawn decide to have their battle, but Izzy, Cara and Sayer meet up with Johanna, still trying to work out food booth placement. Although Johanna solves the problem at first, Izzy and Cara continue to vacillate, forcing Johanna to postpone the battle and get more involved.
Ash and Pikachu decide to take a walk while Dawn works on her strategy. Ash wanders into the forest as he spots a group of Sunflora absorbing rays. Pikachu follows a Ledyba, stumbling on a flower and sneezing. As Ash approaches a tree, a young boy calls him over. Ash meets Nathaniel as he tells Ash that he planted Honey on that tree. Ash lets him hug Pikachu as he reveals his passion to become a Trainer. They notice a Heracross on the tree. Seeing Nathaniel, Ash thinks about how he used to be young and always wanted to always spend time with Pokémon, noting that being a Trainer is a great privilege. Nathaniel wants to specialize in Bug-types as they watch Heracross leave. Ash starts telling him tales of his journey, starting with his Heracross and Bulbasaur.
Back at Dawn's house, Dawn plans with Piplup and Pachirisu, setting up two combinations. Pachirisu runs over to the tv as Dawn notices a bunch of clipped newspaper articles about all of Dawn's Contests and the Hearthome Collection that Johanna framed. Johanna returns as they get to the battle, two on two with Piplup and Pachirisu against Glameow and Umbreon. Brock shows his romance towards Noelle constantly, but Bellossom and Croagunk keep him in check. Dawn goes first with Whirlpool and Discharge, creating the electrified whrilpool. Johanna's Pokémon use Quick Attack to gracefully dodge, crossing each other's paths and creating an appeal before stopping and launching a double Shadow Ball, destroying the Whrilpool and knocking Dawn's Pokémon down. Dawn's Pokémon get up as they invoke their first plan. Piplup fires BubbleBeam. Though Johanna's Pokémon dodge, the attack creates a wall, masking Pachirisu until the last moment, hitting both with a spinning Super Fang. Dawn celebrates the successful plan, but Johanna makes her pay for her premature celebration by using a double Attract, infatuating both of Dawn's Pokémon before hitting them with a double Swift Attack, knocking them out. Dawn is somewhat upset but accepts the defeat, comforting her Pokémon. Still, Johanna was still impressed at her strategy and her bond with her Pokémon. It also inspires Ash to take a note from the battle. Meanwhile, Team Rocket has managed to catch many Goldeen. They keep going for more as Jessie pulls a Gyarados out of the water, sending them blasting off with a Hyper Beam strike.
Major events
- Ash and friends make it to Twinleaf Town. Ash and Brock also meet Dawn's mother, Johanna, for the first time in person.
- The gang learn that Professor Oak will be visiting Twinleaf Town to give a lecture during the Festival.
- Dawn and Johanna have a battle, with Johanna winning.
Debuts
Pokémon debuts
Characters
Humans
- Ash
- Dawn
- Brock
- Jessie
- James
- Johanna
- Noelle
- Professor Oak
- Delia
- Sayer
- Izzy
- Cara
- Nathaniel
- Rapidash's Trainer (flashback)
Pokémon
- Pikachu (Ash's)
- Meowth (Team Rocket)
- Piplup (Dawn's)
- Pachirisu (Dawn's)
- Croagunk (Brock's)
- Happiny (Brock's)
- Glameow (Johanna's)
- Umbreon (Johanna's)
- Bellossom (Noelle's)
- Feebas
- Barboach
- Whiscash
- Crawdaunt
- Finneon
- Remoraid
- Goldeen (multiple)
- Gyarados
- Sunflora (multiple)
- Ledyba
- Heracross
- Rapidash (flashback)
Trivia
- This is the first episode of the four-part Twinleaf Festival arc.
- The flowers in Johanna's garden look strikingly similar to Gracideas.
- In Ash's flashback, he was wearing the same outfit as seen in a photo in Spell of the Unown.
- Daisuke Sakaguchi is credited for voicing Brock's Sudowoodo, even though Sudowoodo didn't appear in this episode.
- This is the first English episode of the 2010s.
- The English title of this episode is a reference to the phrase, "charity begins at home".
- This episode was initially given the title The Mother of All Battlers!, somewhat similar to another episode's title, but this was later changed. This title was later used by Cartoon Network Video on their list, but the video used the new title.
- The English title of the episode was narrated by both Dawn and her mother for the first time.
Errors
- Dawn's ribbons are far smaller than normal when she shows them off during this episode.
- The Rapidash shown in this episode is much smaller than other Rapidash shown in the anime. Its size was closer to that of a Ponyta, its pre-evolution.
- When Croagunk used Poison Jab on Brock its Japanese voice can be heard.
Dub edits
In other languages
- Italian: La strategia comincia a casa!
- German: Eine Hausgemachte Strategie!
{{EpicodePrevNext| prevcode=DP137 | prevtitle=Three Sides to Every Story! | nextcode=DP139 | nexttitle=A Faux Oak Finish! | series=Diamond & Pearl series |
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This episode article is part of Project Anime, a Bulbapedia project that covers all aspects of the Pokémon anime. |
