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| Season | Pokémon: Johto League Champions (Season 4) · Goldenrod City & the Plain Badge arc (EP158–EP160) |
| Episode | Season 4, episode 2 · English episode 159 · Japanese episode 161 · Bulbapedia code EP159 |
| English title | A Dairy Tale Ending |
| Japanese title | ミルタンク! リベンジバトル!! Mirutanku! Ribenji Batoru!! — “Miltank! Revenge Battle!!” |
| First aired (Japan) | 10 August 2000 · TV Tokyo |
| First aired (US) | 18 August 2001 · Kids’ WB |
| Screenplay | Shinzō Fujita |
| Opening / ending (Japan) | OK! – Rica Matsumoto · Takeshi no Paradaisu (Takeshi’s Paradise) – Yūji Ueda |
| English opening | Born to Be a Winner – David Rolfe |
| Who’s That Pokémon? | Snorlax (US) · Miltank (Japan) |
| Previous episode | A Goldenrod Opportunity (EP158) |
| Next episode | Air Time (EP160) |
Plot episodePlain Badge
A Dairy Tale Ending is the 2nd episode of Pokémon: Johto League Champions, the fourth season of the Pokémon anime, and the 159th episode of the English dub overall (Japanese episode 161, Bulbapedia code EP159). It first aired in Japan on 10 August 2000 and in the United States on 18 August 2001. It falls within the season’s Goldenrod City & the Plain Badge stretch (EP158–EP160).
Synopsis
Ash earns the Plain Badge after an unofficial rematch in which Pikachu finally topples Whitney’s Miltank. Dejected after his loss, Ash briefly considers heading home to Pallet Town, but Nurse Joy reminds him that Trainers need recovery time just as their Pokémon do. The next morning Whitney invites the gang to her Uncle Milton’s dairy farm, where they groom the herd (Ash is kicked into a fence for grabbing a tail) and admire the milking machines.
Team Rocket, fresh from their handcar ride to Saffron, raid the farm pantry and are sent packing by Miltank’s Rollout. They return in a giant rolling barrel with grabbing arms, snatching Miltank and Pikachu, but Cyndaquil’s Tackle and trenches dug by Totodile’s Water Gun send the barrel bouncing until James breaks the controls and Pikachu’s Thunder Shock blows it apart.
Those trenches inspire Ash’s strategy for the rematch on the hillside. Cyndaquil falls quickly to Rollout and Totodile is shaken off and knocked out, but Pikachu’s Agility sends Miltank tumbling into the ditches; lying flat in one, Pikachu flips the rolling cow into the air and finishes her with Thunderbolt. Whitney and Milton insist that a fair win over a Leader’s strongest Pokémon counts, and Ash accepts his third Johto Badge.
Major Events
- Plain Badge, won in an unofficial rematch at Milton’s dairy farm
- First Gym battle in which Ash may use more Pokémon than the Leader
Trivia
- The English title plays on a fairy-tale ending.
- The screenplay is by Shinzō Fujita.
- This is a plot episode: it advances the Johto storyline.
- The Who’s That Pokémon? segment features Miltank in Japan, where it almost always matched the episode, but Snorlax in the US, where 4Kids picked the Pokémon at random.
Part of our Pokémon: Johto League Champions guide. Browse every season of the Pokémon anime.