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| Season | Pokémon: Battle Frontier (Season 9) · Toward Fuchsia: Donphan, Celebi, Bonsly & Eevee arc (AG154–AG158) |
| Episode | Season 9, episode 13 · English episode 430 · Japanese episode 434 · Bulbapedia code AG158 |
| English title | Queen of the Serpentine! |
| Japanese title | 熱闘バトルチューブ！VSチューブクイーン・アザミ！！ Nettō Batoru Chūbu! Tai Chūbu Kuīn Azami!! — “Fierce Fighting at the Battle Tube! VS Tube Queen Azami!!” |
| First aired (Japan) | 5 January 2006 · TV Tokyo |
| First aired (US) | 21 October 2006 · Cartoon Network |
| Screenplay | Shōji Yonemura |
| Opening / ending (Japan) | Battle Frontier – Akina Takaya · GLORY DAY ~Kagayaku Sono Hi~ (That Shining Day) – GARDEN |
| English opening | Battle Frontier – Jason Appleton |
| Previous episode | Time Warp Heals All Wounds (AG157) |
| Next episode | Off the Unbeaten Path (AG159) |
Plot episodeLuck SymbolLucy debuts
Queen of the Serpentine! is the 13th episode of Pokémon: Battle Frontier, the ninth season of the Pokémon anime, and the 430th episode of the English dub overall (Japanese episode 434, Bulbapedia code AG158). It first aired in Japan on 5 January 2006 and in the United States on 21 October 2006. It falls within the season’s Toward Fuchsia: Donphan, Celebi, Bonsly & Eevee stretch (EP154–EP158).
Synopsis
Leaving the Pokémon Center, Brock suddenly bursts into tears because it is Bonsly’s feeding time, and Max explains that May has taken Eevee to see the ocean, so Ash and Pikachu head to the Battle Pike alone. There, attendants who are really James and Meowth introduce him to “Pike Queen Lucy”, who is actually Jessie in disguise and nearly calls him a twerp. Before the match, James produces a box he calls the Pikachu Power Purifier and asks Ash to put Pikachu inside. Meanwhile May, Max and Brock run into a girl named Barbara and two friends who have come to greet Ash on Lucy’s behalf, and Scott arrives to settle an argument. The real Lucy then appears on a Seviper-patterned whirligig, apologises for Barbara’s rudeness, and is left flustered when Brock drops to one knee and proposes.
As soon as Pikachu is sealed in the box, a net drops on Ash, the fake facility’s walls fall away to reveal the real Battle Pike, and Team Rocket float off in their balloon with the box, which Pikachu’s Thunderbolt cannot break. Lucy throws a rose-shaped dart that punctures the balloon, the box falls open and Pikachu escapes, and Scott confirms that this Lucy is the genuine Frontier Brain. Jessie sends out her Seviper, but Lucy’s own Seviper overpowers it and finishes Team Rocket with Flamethrower. The Battle Pike is closed that day, Brock points out, but Lucy agrees to battle anyway because Ash and his friends are now good friends. Inside the arena, the two-on-two match opens with Donphan against Lucy’s Seviper; Donphan resists Poison-type attacks and uses Defense Curl to double the power of its Rollout.
Seviper dodges and strikes back with Poison Tail, and with her eyes closed Lucy calls the perfect moment for Flamethrower. When Donphan charges a Hyper Beam, Seviper hides in a smoke screen and redirects its flames, turning Donphan into a rolling fireball, but Donphan launches itself off a rock and crashes down to knock Seviper out. Lucy’s second Pokémon, Milotic, flattens Donphan with a single Hydro Pump and overwhelms Pikachu with its attacks until Ash has Pikachu turn Milotic’s own Twister to its advantage, ramming through with Volt Tackle. The explosion knocks Milotic out, and Lucy presents Ash with the Luck Symbol. Scott tells him the next stop is the Battle Palace, which Max finds on Metallica Island near the Seafoam Islands. Brock invites Lucy to join the journey and is dragged away again, and that evening Lucy returns home to her Pokémon, telling them she met someone whose eyes reminded her of theirs.
Major Events
- Luck Symbol. Team Rocket’s fake Battle Pike
- Pike Queen Lucy and Barbara debut
- Donphan beats Seviper
- Milotic beats Donphan
- Pikachu’s Volt Tackle beats Milotic
- Next stop the Battle Palace on Metallica Island
Trivia
- The English title plays on the Pike Queen and her serpentine Seviper.
- The screenplay is by Shōji Yonemura.
- This is a plot episode: it advances the Kanto storyline.
Changes in the English Dub
- Barbara is implied to be Lucy’s sister (she calls her onee-san in Japanese)
- The English title is shown twice
- “Seafoam Island” in the singular
- An instrumental L·O·V·E·L·Y and the Pokémon Symphonic Medley
Part of our Pokémon: Battle Frontier guide. Browse every season of the Pokémon anime.