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| Season | Pokémon DP: Battle Dimension (Season 11) · Pastoria & the Fen Badge arc (DP080–DP085) |
| Episode | Season 11, episode 31 · English episode 546 · Japanese episode 550 · Bulbapedia code DP083 |
| English title | A Crasher Course in Power! |
| Japanese title | ノモセジム！ＶＳマキシマム仮面！！ Nomose Jimu! Tai Makishimamu Kamen!! — “Nomose Gym! VS Maximum Mask!!” |
| First aired (Japan) | 19 June 2008 · TV Tokyo |
| First aired (US) | 22 November 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 | Cream of the Croagunk Crop! (DP082) |
| Next episode | Hungry for the Good Life! (DP084) |
Plot episodeFen Badge
A Crasher Course in Power! is the 31st episode of Pokémon DP: Battle Dimension, the eleventh season of the Pokémon anime, and the 546th episode of the English dub overall (Japanese episode 550, Bulbapedia code DP083). It first aired in Japan on 19 June 2008 and in the United States on 22 November 2008. It falls within the season’s Pastoria & the Fen Badge stretch (EP80–EP85).
Synopsis
In the Great Marsh, James and Carnivine pull a reluctant Meowth face-first into the mud. Outside the Pokémon Center, Buizel trains furiously, still troubled by its draw with Maylene’s Lucario, so Ash agrees to a practice match with Dawn. Piplup’s Whirlpool meets Pikachu’s Iron Tail, but a stray Thunderbolt hits Buizel, which angrily picks a fight with Pikachu; Turtwig steps in to separate them, pushes too hard and knocks Buizel onto its back, and when Buizel fires SonicBoom at Turtwig, Ash takes the hit himself. Crasher Wake, who has come to check on the group after the festival, sees everything and sends out his Floatzel, which Ash’s Pokédex identifies as Buizel’s evolved form. At the Gym, the battle opens with Wake’s Gyarados against Pikachu. Thunderbolt barely fazes Gyarados, which answers with Dragon Rage, but Pikachu vaults high overhead on an Iron Tail and wins the round with a Volt Tackle to the face.
Wake’s second Pokémon is Quagsire. Ash switches to Turtwig, but its Energy Ball misses as Quagsire slips under the water, and while Turtwig hops across the floating panels, Quagsire tracks the ripples and hits it with Mud Bomb. Ash recalls Turtwig and sends in Buizel; SonicBoom has no effect, but when Quagsire charges an Ice Beam, Buizel turns it into the Ice Aqua Jet from the Wallace Cup and knocks Quagsire out. Then comes Floatzel. It inflates its flotation sac to deflect Aqua Jet, blocks Water Pulse and Water Gun with its fins, knocks Buizel into the water with Razor Wind and powers up with Bulk Up before chasing it through the pool. Buizel stops dead, lets Floatzel overshoot and hits its exposed back with Aqua Jet, then pins it against the ceiling with a Water Pulse geyser, but Floatzel breaks free with Ice Fang and turns a Water Pulse back on Buizel, leaving it confused.
With Buizel unable to aim, Ash swaps in Pikachu. Pikachu’s Thunderbolt clashes with Floatzel’s Whirlpool, and the electrified spray snaps Buizel out of its confusion, though Floatzel stops Volt Tackle with Razor Wind and freezes part of Pikachu’s back with Ice Fang. Pikachu and Buizel high-five as they switch again, Buizel breaking the ice off its teammate with Water Gun. Buizel’s Aqua Jet clashes with Ice Fang, and when Floatzel’s Razor Wind raises a cloud of smoke, Buizel vanishes, then bursts from the water to hit Floatzel point-blank with Water Pulse. Floatzel cannot continue and Ash wins, receiving the Fen Badge from Crasher Wake as Buizel and Pikachu finally make up. That night Team Rocket sleep in the marsh, where Wobbuffet smears mud over Jessie’s eyes; they never recite their motto or blast off, and none of Ash’s Pokémon faint, making it his only Sinnoh Gym battle without a knockout on his side.
Major Events
- Fen Badge. Pikachu beats Gyarados
- Buizel’s Ice Aqua Jet beats Quagsire
- Buizel and Pikachu take turns against Floatzel and Buizel’s point-blank Water Pulse wins
- None of Ash’s Pokémon faints
- Team Rocket never recite their motto or blast off
Trivia
- The English title plays on “a crash course”, for Crasher Wake.
- The screenplay is by Atsuhiro Tomioka.
- This is a plot episode: it advances the Sinnoh storyline.
Changes in the English Dub
- Piplup says “Pochama”, its Japanese name, and Mud Bomb is called “Sludge Bomb”
Part of our Pokémon DP: Battle Dimension guide. Browse every season of the Pokémon anime.