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| Season | Pokémon: Battle Frontier (Season 9) · Commerce City, Gardenia & the Battle Tower arc (AG166–AG170) |
| Episode | Season 9, episode 22 · English episode 439 · Japanese episode 443 · Bulbapedia code AG167 |
| English title | What I Did for Love! |
| Japanese title | 大一番！ハルカVSタケシ！！ Ōichiban! Haruka Tai Takeshi!! — “Decisive Game! Haruka VS Takeshi!!” |
| First aired (Japan) | 9 March 2006 · TV Tokyo |
| First aired (US) | 18 November 2006 · Cartoon Network |
| Screenplay | Atsuhiro Tomioka |
| Opening / ending (Japan) | Supāto! (Spurt!) – Satoshi (Rica Matsumoto) · GLORY DAY ~Kagayaku Sono Hi~ (That Shining Day) – GARDEN |
| English opening | Battle Frontier – Jason Appleton |
| Previous episode | Curbing the Crimson Tide! (AG166) |
| Next episode | Three Jynx and a Baby! (AG168) |
Plot episodeGardenia RibbonBrock’s first Contest
What I Did for Love! is the 22nd episode of Pokémon: Battle Frontier, the ninth season of the Pokémon anime, and the 439th episode of the English dub overall (Japanese episode 443, Bulbapedia code AG167). It first aired in Japan on 9 March 2006 and in the United States on 18 November 2006. It falls within the season’s Commerce City, Gardenia & the Battle Tower stretch (EP166–EP170).
Synopsis
May is training Eevee for the Gardenia Town Contest when it bursts out of the ground and knocks over a girl named Mollie, who has come to register with her Raticate; Eevee keeps popping up under people’s feet, and Max realises it has learned Dig. Brock meets Yuma, a Pokémon Breeder who admires his Bonsly and can tell from his Pokémon’s condition and food that he is a breeder too. Yuma, a former Coordinator who once won the Grand Festival and now mentors beginners, is surprised he has never entered a Contest, so Brock rushes off and comes back with a Contest Pass of his own. Team Rocket, meanwhile, are selling counterfeit Ribbons made from James’s bottle caps, because Jessie sold her entire wardrobe to pay for their mechas and needs money for new costumes.
In the Appeals Round, Mollie’s Raticate grinds a log to dust with Hyper Fang, and May’s Squirtle combines Rapid Spin, Bubble and Ice Beam to build a frozen pyramid. Brock makes his Contest debut with Bonsly and is soon distracted by Nurse Joy until Lilian drags him back, but he recovers by having Bonsly catch baseballs and juggle them with Flail, earning a strong score. May watches her friend’s performance with growing nerves, realising he could be a serious rival. May, Brock and Mollie all advance to the battle rounds, and Yuma, impressed by what she has seen, asks Brock to become her apprentice. In the first battle, Mollie’s Absol misses with Razor Wind, slips on Marshtomp’s Mud Shot as it charges with Quick Attack, and is knocked out by Water Gun.
The final is May against Brock, Eevee against Marshtomp, their only battle against each other. Marshtomp blocks Shadow Ball with Protect, senses Eevee digging underground with its fins and blasts it out with Water Gun, and keeps tackling it every time it surfaces until it floods the field with mud so that Dig is useless. With a minute left, May’s points are falling fast, but Eevee leaps onto a mound, runs along a Water Gun stream to tackle Marshtomp, and keeps landing hits as it hops between mounds. Time runs out in the middle of a final exchange, and May wins on points to claim the Gardenia Ribbon, her fourth, leaving her one short of the Grand Festival. Brock’s consolation prize evaporates when Yuma decides he is already too skilled to need her and takes Mollie as her student instead, while Team Rocket at least earn enough money for Jessie’s new costumes.
Major Events
- Gardenia Ribbon. May’s fourth Kanto Ribbon
- Brock’s first Contest, with a Kanto Contest Pass of his own
- Yuma and Mollie debut
- Eevee learns Dig
- May’s Eevee beats Brock’s Marshtomp on points in the final, their only battle
Trivia
- The English title plays on the song from A Chorus Line.
- The screenplay is by Atsuhiro Tomioka.
- This is a plot episode: it advances the Kanto storyline.
Changes in the English Dub
- I Won’t Lose! as an insert song again
Part of our Pokémon: Battle Frontier guide. Browse every season of the Pokémon anime.