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| Season | Pokémon: BW Rival Destinies (Season 15) · Nimbasa City & the Champion arc (BW049–BW052) |
| Episode | Season 15, episode 4 · English episode 705 · Japanese episode 710 · Bulbapedia code BW052 |
| English title | Ash Versus the Champion! |
| Japanese title | サトシVSチャンピオン・アデク！ Satoshi Tai Chanpion Adeku! — “Satoshi VS Champion Adeku!” |
| First aired (Japan) | 13 October 2011 · TV Tokyo |
| First aired (US) | 10 March 2012 · Cartoon Network |
| Screenplay | Shōji Yonemura |
| Opening / ending (Japan) | Besuto Uisshu! (Best Wishes!) – Rica Matsumoto · Pokémon Ieru kana? BW (Can You Name All the Pokémon? BW) – Takeshi Tsuruno |
| English opening | Rival Destinies – Alex Nackman & Kathryn Raio |
| Who’s That Pokémon? | Gigalith (US) |
| Previous episode | Lost at the Stamp Rally! (BW051) |
| Next episode | A Maractus Musical! (BW053) |
Plot episodeAsh meets AlderFirst battle with a Champion
Ash Versus the Champion! is the 4th episode of Pokémon: BW Rival Destinies, the fifteenth season of the Pokémon anime, and the 705th episode of the English dub overall (Japanese episode 710, Bulbapedia code BW052). It first aired in Japan on 13 October 2011 and in the United States on 10 March 2012. It falls within the season’s Nimbasa City & the Champion stretch (EP49–EP52).
Synopsis
At Performers Square Ash meets Unova’s Champion, Alder, but their battle ends with no winner when the Champion falls asleep. Trip, now holding five Badges, has also come to see Alder, a carefree man who flirts his way out of Officer Jenny’s handcuffs. Alder’s Bouffalant absorbs Pikachu’s Thunderbolt in its afro without any orders until it finds its Trainer dozing; furious, it rams Alder into a tree, and Trip leaves in disgust.
Over lunch at the Pokémon Center, Alder asks Ash, Iris and Cilan what they hope to achieve and what they will do afterwards. Each answers that strength is the key, which Alder doubts. Nurse Joy then reports a wild Gigalith rampaging through the square.
Alder sees that the Gigalith is in pain, catches its charge, flips it over and pulls a nail from its foot, spraying the wound with a Super Potion. When Officer Jenny wants to arrest it, the calmed Gigalith shields her from a falling pillar, and she lets it go. Alder tells Ash that the friendship between people and Pokémon matters most, and the group sets off inspired.
Major Events
- Ash meets Alder. Performers Square
- Trip has five Badges
- Pikachu against Alder’s Bouffalant ends with no result when Alder falls asleep — Ash’s first battle with a Champion
- Alder calms a wild Gigalith and teaches that friendship between people and Pokémon matters most
- Alder’s first appearance in person
- Gigalith’s TV debut
Pokémon making their anime debut
Gigalith#0526 · BW052
Trivia
- The screenplay is by Shōji Yonemura.
- This is a plot episode: it advances the Unova storyline.
Changes in the English Dub
- Music from Zoroark: Master of Illusions
- The Japanese ending switches to the second half of Can You Name All the Pokémon? BW, with altered animation
Part of our Pokémon: BW Rival Destinies guide. Browse every season of the Pokémon anime.