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| Season | Pokémon DP: Galactic Battles (Season 12) · The snowbound road north arc (DP118–DP125) |
| Episode | Season 12, episode 17 · English episode 584 · Japanese episode 589 · Bulbapedia code DP122 |
| English title | Stopped in the Name of Love! |
| Japanese title | 進化！その時ポッチャマは！？ Shinka! Sono Toki Potchama wa!? — “Evolution! This Time for Pochama!?” |
| First aired (Japan) | 2 April 2009 · TV Tokyo |
| First aired (US) | 29 August 2009 · Cartoon Network |
| Screenplay | Shinzō Fujita |
| Opening / ending (Japan) | Hai Tatchi! (High Touch!) – Satoshi (Rica Matsumoto) & Hikari (Megumi Toyoguchi) · Moeyo Gizamimi Pichū! (Get Fired Up, Spiky-eared Pichu!) – Shōko Nakagawa |
| English opening | Battle Cry – (Stand Up!), Version 2 – Erin Bowman |
| Previous episode | The Lonely Snover! (DP121) |
| Next episode | Old Rivals, New Tricks! (DP123) |
Plot episodePiplup refuses to evolveEverstone
Stopped in the Name of Love! is the 17th episode of Pokémon DP: Galactic Battles, the twelfth season of the Pokémon anime, and the 584th episode of the English dub overall (Japanese episode 589, Bulbapedia code DP122). It first aired in Japan on 2 April 2009 and in the United States on 29 August 2009. It falls within the season’s The snowbound road north stretch (EP118–EP125).
First expected on 5 September 2009, alongside the next episode, it was moved forward to 29 August 2009 — still in order.
Synopsis
Dawn’s Piplup begins to evolve into Prinplup but stops itself, and after a misunderstanding with Dawn it is given an Everstone so it can stay as it is. In Sandalstraw Town, Dawn, who needs one more Ribbon for the Grand Festival, meets Barry and Kenny; Barry is entering a Pokémon Ping Pong Tournament and Kenny the coming Contest.
Piplup glows and starts evolving, but halts the process and collapses. When the group talk excitedly about Prinplup’s potential, Piplup feels ignored; that night it stops another evolution with Bide and runs away, and Dawn follows it into the forest, where it collapses again under a waterfall and storms off.
Caught in a web, Piplup saves Dawn from the same Ariados that attacked them when they first met. Team Rocket’s mecha then captures Piplup, Kenny’s Prinplup and Barry’s Empoleon, but Piplup and Dawn work together and Whirlpool wrecks the machine. Dawn apologises and tells Piplup it can stay a Piplup forever, and Nurse Joy gives her an Everstone.
Major Events
- Piplup refuses to evolve. Piplup stops its evolution into Prinplup with Bide
- Barry and Kenny arrive in Sandalstraw Town
- The Ping Pong Tournament and the Sandalstraw Contest are announced
- Nurse Joy gives Dawn an Everstone
Trivia
- The English title plays on the Supremes’ “Stop! In the Name of Love”, for a Piplup that halts its own evolution.
- The screenplay is by Shinzō Fujita.
- This is a plot episode: it advances the Sinnoh storyline.
Part of our Pokémon DP: Galactic Battles guide. Browse every season of the Pokémon anime.