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| Season | Pokémon DP: Battle Dimension (Season 11) · Lake Valor & the Wallace Cup arc (DP073–DP079) |
| Episode | Season 11, episode 27 · English episode 542 · Japanese episode 546 · Bulbapedia code DP079 |
| English title | Strategy With a Smile! |
| Japanese title | 決戦！ヒカリ対ハルカ！！ Kessen! Hikari Tai Haruka!! — “Decisive Match! Hikari VS Haruka!!” |
| First aired (Japan) | 15 May 2008 · TV Tokyo |
| First aired (US) | 11 October 2008 · Cartoon Network |
| Screenplay | Atsuhiro Tomioka |
| Opening / ending (Japan) | Together2008 – Fumie Akiyoshi · Kaze no Messēji (Message of the Wind), PokaPoka-VERSION. – Mai Mizuhashi |
| English opening | We Will Be Heroes – Kirsten Price |
| Previous episode | Pruning a Passel of Pals! (DP078) |
| Next episode | The Thief That Keeps on Thieving! (DP080) |
Plot episodeAqua Ribbon – Dawn wins the Wallace CupMay’s farewell
Strategy With a Smile! is the 27th episode of Pokémon DP: Battle Dimension, the eleventh season of the Pokémon anime, and the 542nd episode of the English dub overall (Japanese episode 546, Bulbapedia code DP079). It first aired in Japan on 15 May 2008 and in the United States on 11 October 2008. It falls within the season’s Lake Valor & the Wallace Cup stretch (EP73–EP79).
There was no new episode on 4 October 2008, so the Wallace Cup final premiered on 11 October, two weeks after Pruning a Passel of Pals!.
Synopsis
The first semi-final pits Dawn’s Piplup against Kyle’s Crawdaunt over the water. Piplup’s Whirlpool catches Crawdaunt off guard and costs Kyle points, though Crawdaunt’s Surf knocks Piplup back. When Crawdaunt fires Dark Pulse, Piplup spins between the beams to dodge, and Dawn then orders Bide. Suspecting a trick, Kyle attacks with Crabhammer, and Piplup unleashes the stored energy straight back at Crawdaunt, dealing heavy damage. When time expires Dawn is through to the final, and Jessie, still posing as a television host, interviews her and hogs the spotlight. In the second semi-final, May’s Beautifly faces Zoey’s Glameow. Silver Wind hits hard and Glameow dodges Psychic to swipe with Shadow Claw, and then Zoey has Glameow strike the water to surround Beautifly and sends a Shock Wave racing across it, which Beautifly shrugs off.
Glameow charges through the rising water with Iron Tail, but May blows the wall of water aside with Silver Wind and attacks from behind it. Psychic knocks Glameow back, Beautifly glows with Morning Sun, and Aerial Ace meets Shadow Claw in an explosion. When time runs out May wins, setting up the final that both girls have been hoping for. May sends out her Glaceon, in its first Contest battle since evolving, against Dawn’s Piplup. Glaceon’s Secret Power briefly paralyses Piplup after a Bubble Beam, and when Piplup’s Whirlpool comes at it, Glaceon reflects it with Mirror Coat. Piplup recovers and lands Bubble Beam, spins away from Shadow Ball and turns a Secret Power hit into a mid-air pose. May has Glaceon bat a Shadow Ball with its tail, but Piplup’s Bubble Beam breaks through, and Piplup rides its own Whirlpool to avoid Ice Shard.
Shadow Ball bursts the Whirlpool in a spray of water, Peck clashes with Shadow Ball, Ice Shard lands on Piplup, and a final Whirlpool meets Mirror Coat, hitting both Pokémon. As time runs out the scores are almost level, and Dawn wins the Wallace Cup by half a point. May congratulates her and comforts Glaceon, and Piplup leaps into Dawn’s arms. Wallace presents Dawn with the Aqua Ribbon, her first Ribbon in 52 episodes, as Milotic celebrates with a fountain of Hydro Pump. Zoey and May go their separate ways, May heading back to Johto, and the group see her off before setting out for Pastoria City and Ash’s next Gym battle. The episode closes the five-part Wallace Cup arc and is May’s last speaking role in the anime; her Japanese voice actress, KAORI., later stepped away from the role because of a vocal disorder, and May would not appear in person again until Pokémon Journeys.
Major Events
- Dawn wins the Wallace Cup. Piplup beats Kyle’s Crawdaunt with Bide
- May’s Beautifly beats Zoey’s Glameow
- Piplup beats May’s Glaceon by half a point for the Aqua Ribbon
- May leaves for Johto in her last speaking role
- New Japanese opening Together2008
Trivia
- The English title plays on “service with a smile”.
- The screenplay is by Atsuhiro Tomioka.
- This is a plot episode: it advances the Sinnoh storyline.
Changes in the English Dub
- Zoey calls May “he” in the first broadcast, corrected later
- The title card is read by Dawn and May in English (by Ash, Dawn and May in Japanese)
- New Japanese opening Together2008
- The Pokémon Symphonic Medley
Part of our Pokémon DP: Battle Dimension guide. Browse every season of the Pokémon anime.