 |
|
| Season | Pokémon: Diamond and Pearl (Season 10) · Hearthome City: the Contest & the Tag Battle arc (DP048–DP052) |
| Episode | Season 10, episode 49 · English episode 513 · Japanese episode 517 · Bulbapedia code DP050 |
| English title | Tag! We’re It…! |
| Japanese title | 全員参加！タッグバトル！！ Zen’in Sanka! Taggu Batoru!! — “All Members Participate! Tag Battle!!” |
| First aired (Japan) | 4 October 2007 · TV Tokyo |
| First aired (US) | 1 February 2008 · Cartoon Network |
| Screenplay | Atsuhiro Tomioka |
| Opening / ending (Japan) | Together – Fumie Akiyoshi · Kimi no Soba de ~Hikari no Tēma~ (By Your Side ~Hikari’s Theme~), Pop-Up Version – Grin (omitted on the original broadcast; the credits ran over the opening) |
| English opening | Diamond and Pearl – Chris “Breeze” Barczynski |
| Previous episode | Dawn’s Early Night! (DP049) |
| Next episode | Glory Blaze! (DP051) |
Plot episodeTag Battle Competition beginsAsh teams up with Paul
Tag! We’re It…! is the 49th episode of Pokémon: Diamond and Pearl, the tenth season of the Pokémon anime, and the 513th episode of the English dub overall (Japanese episode 517, Bulbapedia code DP050). It first aired in Japan on 4 October 2007 and in the United States on 1 February 2008. It falls within the season’s Hearthome City: the Contest & the Tag Battle stretch (EP48–EP52).
The first part of a 90-minute special on Friday 1 February 2008 that premiered DP050–DP052 and ended the season.
Synopsis
To lift Dawn’s spirits after the Hearthome Contest, Ash and Brock hand her an entry card for the Hearthome City Tag Battle Competition, an idea suggested by Zoey. At the stadium, the announcer Enta explains the rules and unveils the prize, a Soothe Bell, which Team Rocket immediately decide to steal. Partners are drawn at random and must find each other: Dawn is paired with Conway, an odd boy with a Slowking; Brock with Holly, a beautiful Trainer with a Wingull, who tells him she is not interested in younger men; and Ash, to his dismay, with Paul, who stands beside his Elekid and tells Ash to stay out of his way. Ash retorts that a Tag Battle means working together, a point Paul plainly does not accept.
Dawn and Conway battle first against a Koffing and a Scyther, and Conway irritates Dawn by telling her to attack and leave the defence and strategy to him. Piplup’s Bubble Beam deflects Razor Wind, Slowking’s Safeguard and Protect block Sludge Bomb and Thunderbolt, and Piplup drops from above to knock Scyther out with a single Peck before Slowking’s Psychic slams Koffing into the ground, turning Dawn’s annoyance into respect. Afterwards Ash watches Paul train Chimchar, which has learned Flamethrower, and Brock works out why Paul entered: he wants to face Fire types so that Chimchar can absorb their flames and power up its own attacks. Brock and Holly then beat a Yanma and a Bagon with Wingull’s Blizzard and Aerial Ace and Sudowoodo’s Double-Edge and Flail, and Holly unexpectedly flirts back at Brock.
The final match of the round puts Ash and Paul against a Rhydon and a Magmar. Pikachu’s Thunderbolt at Magmar is drawn into Rhydon’s horn by its Lightning Rod Ability, and Rhydon strikes back with Megahorn. When Magmar’s Lava Plume floods the field with fire, Paul has Chimchar leap into the flames to power up a Flamethrower, and Pikachu, unable to use its Electric attacks, rocks Rhydon with Iron Tail. Rhydon then unleashes Surf, and Paul orders Chimchar to meet the wave with Flame Wheel, but Ash, remembering how Zoey’s Glameow sliced through Water Pulse, has Pikachu cut through the Surf with Iron Tail and knock Rhydon out with a second one. Pikachu’s Volt Tackle draws out Magmar’s Fire Punch, leaving it open to Chimchar’s Dig. They advance, but Dawn and Brock know the pair will not last without real teamwork.
Major Events
- Tag Battle Competition, part 1. Random pairings: Dawn with Conway, Brock with Holly, Ash with Paul
- All three teams advance
- Chimchar uses Flamethrower
- Conway, Holly and the announcer Enta debut
- No ending in Japan
Trivia
- The English title plays on "Tag, you’re it!", for a Tag Battle.
- The screenplay is by Atsuhiro Tomioka.
- This is a plot episode: it advances the Sinnoh storyline.
Changes in the English Dub
- No ending on the original broadcast; the credits moved into the opening
- Advance Adventure as background music
Part of our Pokémon: Diamond and Pearl guide. Browse every season of the Pokémon anime.