| Talking a Good Game! |
タワータイクーン、リラ登場！！
Enter the Tower Tycoon, Lila!! |
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First broadcast | Japan | March 23, 2006 |
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| United States | November 25, 2006 |
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English themes |
Japanese themes |
Credits |
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Talking a Good Game! (Japanese:タワータイクーン、リラ登場！！Enter theTower Tycoon,Lila!!) is the 169th episode ofPokémon the Series: Ruby and Sapphire, and the 443rd episode of thePokémon animated series. It first aired in Japan on March 23, 2006, and in the United States on November 25, 2006.
Blurb
As Ash eagerly heads for the Battle Tower and his sixth challenge, he accidentally stirs up a horde of Beedrill who chase him down! Fortunately, he's saved by a stranger who calms down the Beedrill and an upset Gyarados nearby. Just then, Team Rocket makes another Pikachu snatch attempt, but they're stopped by Pikachu and the stranger's Alakazam. Ash's friends catch up to him and everyone is invited back to their new friend's house to dry off.
Their new friend is named Anabel, but Ash doesn't stick around long—he has a Battle Tower to get to! Once he gets to the Battle Tower, he discovers that Anabel is in fact the Salon Maiden of the Battle Tower! Ash sends out Corphish against Anabel's Alakazam, but Anabel's uncanny ability to mentally communicate with Pokémon means Ash doesn't even known what commands she's going to give. It doesn't take long for Alazakam to knock out Corphish, so Ash brings out his Tauros, which he had sent over just for this battle. But brute strength won't win the day—Alakazam knocks it out too!
Now it's up to Pikachu, but it's confused by Alakazam's Psybeam. To keep Pikachu from hurting itself, Ash throws himself in front of its Volt Tackle, which snaps Pikachu out of its confusion. Pikachu goes on to defeat Alakazam, but Anabel has another heavy hitter lined up: Metagross! Though Pikachu does its best, Metagross has powerful attacks and its Hyper Beam finally knocks Pikachu out. With his Battle Tower challenge ending in defeat, what is Ash going to do now?
Plot
Running alongsidePikachu,Ash heads towards theBattle Tower for his sixth FrontierSymbol. Pikachu comes to a stop as aBeedrill starts to attack him and Ash. As the Beedrill closes in on Ash,Anabel appears to stop Beedrill from attacking them. She explains that the Beedrill is simply protecting its offspring. Ash introduces himself to Anabel, but suddenly aGyarados bursts out of the nearby body of water. Gyarados begins to attack, but Anabel goes to calm it. She removes a twig lodged in its side, successfully quelling theAtrocious Pokémon. Gyarados cries in pleasure and heads off in the opposite direction. Meanwhile, asTeam Rocket is spying on Ash,James andMeowth both notice how Anabel cares for Pokémon, butJessie is quick to remind the team of their true objective: to capture Pikachu.
Anabel and Ash sit on the shore, and Pikachu introduces himself to Anabel. A net explodes from the distance, hoisting Anabel and Pikachu into the air. Making an unusually early introduction, Team Rocket begin theirmotto. With Team Rocket as confident as ever, it appears their plan may actually prove successful. Before they can get away, Ash summonsCorphish to useBubble Beam to break the net, releasing Anabel and Pikachu. He dives into the water and swims toward Pikachu. Team Rocket land theirballoon and move in for a ground attack. Jessie calls on herSeviper to attack withPoison Tail, striking Ash on his back.May,Max, andBrock appear and run onto the scene. James releasesCacnea to fight as well, but it briefly ignores thebattle and gives its Trainer a prickly hug. Anabel takes advantage of this and releases herAlakazam. Cacnea firesPin Missile at Ash and Anabel, but Alakazam diverts the attack's course withPsychic, making the Pin Missiles land all around Team Rocket. Alakazam lifts Ash and Anabel out of the water and onto land with its psychic power. Team Rocket moves to attack, but Alakazam usesPsybeam, which hits both Cacnea and Seviper and makes them attack each other in a state ofconfusion. Ash finishes Team Rocket off with Pikachu'sThunderbolt, sending them blasting off. Anabel thanks him for his assistance in the battle.
At Anabel's house, the friends freshen up from the battle. Anabel, May, Max, and Brock finally give their proper introductions to one another. Now sitting at a table, the group enjoys refreshments prepared by Anabel. She notices Ash's strong bond with his Pokémon when he shielded Pikachu from Seviper's Poison Tail. Ash is quick to interrupt her and suddenly runs off, saying that he is in search of theFrontier Brain of the Battle Tower, and his friends follow his rash exit. Everyone is gone before Anabel can tell them that she is actually the Frontier Brain.
Ash arrives at the Battle Tower and says to the assistant that he wishes to challenge the Frontier Brain. As Ash is guided onto the battlefield, the assistant introduces theSalon Maiden, Anabel, much to the surprise of Ash and company. The referee states that the three-on-three battle is officially underway. Anabel calls upon her Alakazam, while Ash sends Corphish out. Corphish begins the battle with aCrabhammer but is enveloped by Alakazam's psychic power and thrust backward. While he is suspended in the air, Corphish fights back with Bubble Beam, but Alakazam negates the move with Psybeam. Both Anabel and Alakazam are in sync as she has the ability to telepathically command attacks to Alakazam without having to speak. As a thick plume of smoke covers the battlefield, Alakazam lunges toward Corphish and strikes with aFocus Punch. Corphish is thrown backward by the powerful attack. Ash realizes that he will have to battle Anabel without knowing her strategy. Corphish goes for a Crabhammer attack, but it is easily avoided and countered with another Focus Punch. Alakazam takes advantage of the battle by ascending into the air and striking with a final Psybeam that renders Corphishunable to battle.
Recalling Corphish, Ash releasesTauros from hisPoké Ball next. Tauros begins the attack, stampeding toward Alakazam's position. Alakazam is quick to interrupt the attack by lifting Tauros into the air with its psychic power and then dropping it back down. Tauros gets back up and charges again. Alakazam charges as well, dodges to the side, and then sends Tauros skyward with a Focus Punch. Alakazam finishes the airborne Pokémon off with Psybeam.
As Ash selects Pikachu to be his last chance in the battle,Scott arrives to join May, Max and Brock in the stands to watch the match unfold. Pikachu lands the first blow in this match-up withThunderbolt. As Alakazam takes ongoing damage from Thunderbolt, Anabel telepathically tells it to useRecover. Ash knows that he must pile on the damage before Alakazam fully regains health. He has Pikachu move in and useIron Tail, which Alakazam matches with Focus Punch. Right after the clash, Pikachu uses Thunderbolt, but is countered yet again by Alakazam's Psybeam, which hits its mark and causes confusion. Pikachu tries to useVolt Tackle, only to begin charging right at a wall. Ash dives into Pikachu's path, cushioning his best friend's impact with the wall. Pikachu appears to have come out of his confusion as Anabel and the audience commend Ash's deed. Ash calls for a Thunderbolt attack, which Alakazam counters yet again with Psybeam. Both Pokémon maximize the power of their attacks, and Pikachu's Thunderbolt manages to overcome Psybeam in the end, resulting in an explosion that knocks out Alakazam. Anabel congratulates Ash on his first victory and then calls upon herMetagross.
As Pikachu moves in with another Thunderbolt attack, Metagross usesPsychic to redirect the attack back at Pikachu, who crashes to the ground. Pikachu gets back up and launches forward with aQuick Attack that makes contact with Metagross. Unfazed, Metagross strikes Pikachu withMeteor Mash, a powerful blow that shocks Ash's friends. Pikachu manages to get back up and start using Volt Tackle, but Metagross usesHyper Beam before he can even get to speed. The beam lands a direct hit, and Pikachu is defeated in a flash of white light. The referee declares Pikachu unable to battle ending Ash's Battle Tower match, and awards the victory to Salon Maiden Anabel.
Major events
- For a list of all major events inPokémon the Series: Ruby and Sapphire, please see thetimeline page.
Debuts
Humans
Pokémon debuts
Characters
Humans
Pokémon
Trivia
Errors
- In the original version, at the end, the narrator says 六つ目のバッジsixthBadge, which is incorrect — these areFrontier Symbols. This error is not present in the Englishdub.
- During a closeup shot of Gyarados, its lips are pink.
- WhenAnabel handsPikachu to Ash, Ash's right glove is missing.
- Shortly after, the tip onMeowth's tail is missing.
- Corphish's claw doesn't glow the first time it usesCrabhammer.
- When Team Rocket gets out of theirhot air balloon, the sound effect can be heard earlier.
- When Ash andhis friends are at the entrance to theBattle Tower,Brock's sleeves are given an orange lining.
- Throughout its battle againstAlakazam,Corphish's mouth barely moves when it cries.
- Ash can be seen sending out hisTauros in aregular Poké Ball, despite having been caught in aSafari Ball. However, this is consistent with other appearances of Tauros.
- In the English dub, when Ash andTeam Rocket battle,James tellsCacnea to use Pin Missiles, notPin Missile.
Dub edits
- In the English dub,Max says thatProfessor Oak sent Ash his Tauros the other day. In the original Japanese version, Max specifies that Tauros was sent to Ash yesterday.
- In theHindi dub of the episode, Anabel's gender is already confirmed to be a female before she reveals it, as she addresses herself using female pronouns. This is due to the fact that there are no Hindi pronouns for "them".
In other languages
Gyarados's lip error
Brock's miscolored sleeves
Tauros's Poké Ball
