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| Season | Pokémon: BW Rival Destinies (Season 15) · Twist Mountain to Icirrus City arc (BW074–BW079) |
| Episode | Season 15, episode 29 · English episode 730 · Japanese episode 735 · Bulbapedia code BW077 |
| English title | Evolution by Fire! |
| Japanese title | 炎のメモリー！ポカブVSエンブオー！！ Honō no Memorī! Pokabu Tai Enbuō!! — “Flaming Memories! Pokabu VS Enbouh!!” |
| First aired (Japan) | 3 May 2012 · TV Tokyo |
| First aired (US) | 1 September 2012 · Cartoon Network |
| Screenplay | Junki Takegami |
| Opening / ending (Japan) | Besuto Uisshu! (Best Wishes!) – Rica Matsumoto · Nanairo Āchi (Seven-colored Arch) – Pokémon BW Choral Gang |
| English opening | Rival Destinies – Alex Nackman & Kathryn Raio |
| Who’s That Pokémon? | Heatmor (US) |
| Previous episode | A Restoration Confrontation! Part 2 (BW076) |
| Next episode | Guarding the Guardian of the Mountain! (BW078) |
Plot episodeTepig evolves into Pignite
Evolution by Fire! is the 29th episode of Pokémon: BW Rival Destinies, the fifteenth season of the Pokémon anime, and the 730th episode of the English dub overall (Japanese episode 735, Bulbapedia code BW077). It first aired in Japan on 3 May 2012 and in the United States on 1 September 2012. It falls within the season’s Twist Mountain to Icirrus City stretch (EP74–EP79).
Synopsis
At Don George’s Battle Club in Astilbe Town, Tepig meets Shamus, the Trainer who abandoned it, and evolves into Pignite to beat him. The group arrives to find Shamus bullying a boy named Kylan after his “Fire Warriors”, Emboar and Heatmor, win a Double Battle, and at dinner Tepig runs happily to its old Trainer, only to be brushed aside.
Shamus claims he tied Tepig up and left it because it was too weak. Cilan stages a mock trial, and when it reaches no verdict Don George proposes a Double Battle; Snivy volunteers to fight beside Tepig. That night Tepig sits alone, remembering being abandoned, until Snivy slaps it with Vine Whip and urges it to fight.
In the battle a dispirited Tepig cannot even dodge, and Shamus boasts that he fakes sadness when abandoning Pokémon. Snivy keeps fighting until she takes a Flare Blitz boosted by Fire Spin to protect Tepig, and Tepig, inspired by its friends, evolves into Pignite. With its new Fire Pledge and a Flame Charge, Pignite defeats both opponents. When Shamus apologises and asks it to rejoin him, Pignite answers with a Flamethrower that leaves him with an afro.
Major Events
- Tepig evolves into Pignite. Don George’s Astilbe Town Battle Club
- Tepig’s former Trainer, Shamus
- Cilan’s mock trial
- Pignite learns Fire Pledge and beats Shamus’s Emboar and Heatmor in a Double Battle with Snivy
- 2.2% in Japan, the lowest rating of the Black & White series
- Shamus’s first appearance in person
- Heatmor’s TV debut
Pokémon making their anime debut
Heatmor#0631 · BW077
Captures and evolutions
Tepig → Pignite#0499 · Ash · against its former Trainer, Shamus
Trivia
- The screenplay is by Junki Takegami.
- This is a plot episode: it advances the Unova storyline.
Part of our Pokémon: BW Rival Destinies guide. Browse every season of the Pokémon anime.