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| Season | Pokémon: Battle Frontier (Season 9) · Islands, Ribbons & a broken heart arc (AG159–AG165) |
| Episode | Season 9, episode 20 · English episode 437 · Japanese episode 441 · Bulbapedia code AG165 |
| English title | King and Queen for a Day! |
| Japanese title | ウソハチキングとマネネクイーン！？ Usohachi Kingu to Manene Kuīn!? — “Usohachi King and Manene Queen!?” |
| First aired (Japan) | 23 February 2006 · TV Tokyo |
| First aired (US) | 11 November 2006 · Cartoon Network |
| Screenplay | Yukiyoshi Ōhashi |
| Opening / ending (Japan) | Battle Frontier – Akina Takaya · GLORY DAY ~Kagayaku Sono Hi~ (That Shining Day) – GARDEN |
| English opening | Battle Frontier – Jason Appleton |
| Previous episode | Ka Boom With a View! (AG164) |
| Next episode | Curbing the Crimson Tide! (AG166) |
Filler / stand-alone episodeBonsly & Mime Jr. on TVPolka O Dolka in the dub
King and Queen for a Day! is the 20th episode of Pokémon: Battle Frontier, the ninth season of the Pokémon anime, and the 437th episode of the English dub overall (Japanese episode 441, Bulbapedia code AG165). It first aired in Japan on 23 February 2006 and in the United States on 11 November 2006. It falls within the season’s Islands, Ribbons & a broken heart stretch (EP159–EP165).
Bulbapedia dates the US premiere to Saturday 11 November 2006; pocketmonsters.net’s calendar lists it on Friday 10 November together with Ka Boom With a View!.
Synopsis
With five Symbols in his case, Ash sails for the Battle Tower near Cremini Town, and Max reminds him that collecting six will reveal the location of the secret seventh facility. On the mainland, Team Rocket, disguised as masseurs, lure the group onto their tables, lock them down and grab Pikachu, Eevee and Bonsly, sealing them behind glass so that Thunderbolt is useless. Sceptile’s Leaf Blade clashes with Dustox’s Psybeam while James decides his Mime Jr. is too cute to fight, until Munchlax wanders out and its Metronome whips up a Sandstorm that blows Team Rocket away. In the confusion, Pikachu, Bonsly, Meowth and Mime Jr. vanish together, ending up dangling from a billboard in their torn cage. They fall right in front of three men in black suits climbing out of a luxury car. Meowth assumes Giovanni has sent agents after him, and a frantic chase through streets, alleys and under a bridge follows, during which Meowth snaps off the car’s Electrike hood ornament.
Hiding in some industrial pipes, the four lose their pursuers and collapse in an alley, hungry and exhausted. Meowth helps a woman carry boxes of Pokémon food, planning to swipe one, but she gives him a box as a reward, and he softens the food with water so Bonsly can drink it through a straw. Meanwhile, Team Rocket find a Bonsly and Mime Jr. hiding under a blanket in an alley, wearing different accessories from their own, and the frightened pair run into Ash’s group chased by screaming fans. They turn out to be the stars of a television romance drama, and the suited men are their talent agents. When the agents catch up with Meowth’s group on a bridge where a film crew is waiting, the director realises they are the wrong Pokémon, but Team Rocket, posing as agents themselves, persuade him that these two will do just as well. Bonsly and Mime Jr. are dressed as the King and Queen.
The real stars are sick, the agents explain to Ash’s group, and the director decides to keep the stand-ins, adding Ash and Brock as extras. Team Rocket, planning to steal everyone’s Pokémon, spoil one take in costume and are thrown off the set, then interrupt the next take with smoke and their motto. Brock orders Bonsly to use Double-Edge on Jessie and Mime Jr. copies it with Mimic; Bonsly adds Fake Tears and Flail, Mime Jr. uses Tickle, and its Teeter Dance soon has the entire crew dancing while the cameraman keeps rolling and the delighted director imagines winning an award. When Jessie loses patience and sends out Seviper, Pikachu dodges Poison Tail and finishes Team Rocket with Iron Tail and Volt Tackle, and the director finally calls cut.
Major Events
- Meowth, Pikachu, Bonsly and Mime Jr. are mistaken for the stars of a TV drama
- Bonsly’s Flail and Mime Jr.’s Teeter Dance
- Next stop the Battle Tower near Cremini Town
- Polka O Dolka used in the English dub for the first time
- The drama’s director is drawn like Kunihiko Yuyama
Trivia
- The English title plays on the game show Queen for a Day.
- The screenplay is by Yukiyoshi Ōhashi.
- This is a stand-alone episode: it can be skipped without losing the thread of the Kanto story.
Changes in the English Dub
- Polka O Dolka used in the English dub for the first time, for Mime Jr.’s Teeter Dance, with Maddie Blaustein’s 4Kids-era vocal for Meowth (the vocals are removed on Pokémon TV’s YouTube uploads)
- The Japanese Battle Frontier as background music
Part of our Pokémon: Battle Frontier guide. Browse every season of the Pokémon anime.