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| Season | Pokémon: Battle Frontier (Season 9) · Islands, Ribbons & a broken heart arc (AG159–AG165) |
| Episode | Season 9, episode 17 · English episode 434 · Japanese episode 438 · Bulbapedia code AG162 |
| English title | Spontaneous Combusken! |
| Japanese title | ポケモンコンテスト！ユズリハ大会！！ Pokemon Kontesuto! Yuzuriha Taikai!! — “Pokémon Contest! Yuzuriha Convention!!” |
| First aired (Japan) | 2 February 2006 · TV Tokyo |
| First aired (US) | 4 November 2006 · Cartoon Network |
| Screenplay | Atsuhiro Tomioka |
| Opening / ending (Japan) | Battle Frontier – Akina Takaya · GLORY DAY ~Kagayaku Sono Hi~ (That Shining Day) – GARDEN |
| English opening | Battle Frontier – Jason Appleton |
| Previous episode | Odd Pokémon Out! (AG161) |
| Next episode | Cutting the Ties that Bind! (AG163) |
Plot episodeChrysanthemum RibbonCombusken learns Mega Kick
Spontaneous Combusken! is the 17th episode of Pokémon: Battle Frontier, the ninth season of the Pokémon anime, and the 434th episode of the English dub overall (Japanese episode 438, Bulbapedia code AG162). It first aired in Japan on 2 February 2006 and in the United States on 4 November 2006. It falls within the season’s Islands, Ribbons & a broken heart stretch (EP159–EP165).
The original Cartoon Network title card misspelt “Combusken”; most later releases correct it, but the error remains on the DVD, on Pokémon TV and in some reruns.
Synopsis
On Chrysanthemum Island, Ash keeps working with Sceptile outside the Contest Hall, but the heartbroken Pokémon’s Bullet Seed produces nothing but a puff of smoke. Drew appears and tells Ash he is only making Sceptile more stressed. When May asks Drew about the letter and rose she received in Wisteria Town, he denies sending them and says he is not even competing, having come to the island for a rest. While May trains Munchlax and Combusken, a wild Focus Punch from Munchlax nearly hits a bystander and buries itself in the sand. Then a girl named Brianna runs up, thrilled to meet May, and confesses that she sent the letter; as she offers another rose, Munchlax swallows it whole. She is also a huge fan of Drew, so May takes her to the pool at Drew’s hotel. Drew wishes her luck, and the moment he leaves, shy Brianna announces she will beat May to earn his respect. Jessie, meanwhile, has entered with James’s Mime Jr.
Lilian opens the Appeals Round. Jessie and a grass-skirted Mime Jr. win over the crowd with a hula routine. Munchlax fills the hall with coloured light using Solar Beam, but when it tries Metronome the move picks Rest and it falls asleep on stage; after a moment’s panic May tosses a Pokéblock into the air, and Munchlax wakes, gobbles it in mid-air and lands with a Focus Punch. Brianna’s Surskit freezes the stage with Ice Beam and skates across it, finishing with a dizzying spin. May, Brianna and Jessie all advance, and May’s first battle is against Jessie. Mime Jr. dodges Combusken’s Fire Spin and uses Mimic to copy it, costing May points, then confuses Combusken with Tickle in mid-air. Combusken charges through the copied flames, drawing on their power, and wins with Sky Uppercut.
May reaches the final against Brianna’s Vibrava, whose Screech rattles Combusken. Fire Spin connects, but Dragon Breath blows the flames away and Sand Tomb traps Combusken’s legs. Its feathers start to glow, and Combusken breaks free with a brand-new move, Mega Kick. Vibrava hits back with Dragon Breath and dodges Sky Uppercut behind another Sand Tomb, but Combusken kicks through the sand and drives Vibrava into the ground with a second Mega Kick, knocking it out. May wins the Chrysanthemum Ribbon, her third in Kanto. At sunset on the beach, May and Brianna make friends, and when Drew turns up and wishes Brianna luck she faints from excitement. Drew reminds May she needs two more Ribbons for the Grand Festival and walks off, leaving May watching him go with a faint blush.
Major Events
- Chrysanthemum Ribbon. May’s third Kanto Ribbon
- Brianna, a fan of Drew, sent the rose
- Combusken beats Jessie’s Mime Jr. and learns Mega Kick to beat Brianna’s Vibrava
- Drew returns
- The English title card misspells Combusken
Trivia
- The English title plays on "spontaneous combustion".
- The screenplay is by Atsuhiro Tomioka.
- This is a plot episode: it advances the Kanto storyline.
Changes in the English Dub
- The English title card misspells “Combusken”; fixed in most later releases, but not on the DVD, Pokémon TV and some reruns
- The Pokémon Symphonic Medley after Mega Kick
Part of our Pokémon: Battle Frontier guide. Browse every season of the Pokémon anime.