The Keystone Pops! (Japanese:ミカルゲの要石！Mikaruge's Keystone!) is the 56th episode ofPokémon the Series: Diamond and Pearl, and the 522nd episode of thePokémon animated series. It first aired in Japan on November 29, 2007, as part of a one-hour special alongsideDP057, and in the United States on May 10, 2008.
Spoiler warning: this article may contain major plot or ending details.
Aipom and Buizel are battling in a field when Aipom deflects Buizel's Sonic Boom into an old stone tower, knocking it down. Then the skies darken and a Pokémon emerges from the ruined tower: Spiritomb! Spiritomb flies off, causing havoc wherever it goes—first it wrecks Team Rocket's dinner, then it wrecks an entire village!
One of the villagers is an old lady who knows this damage is the work of Spiritomb. Long, long ago, Spiritomb caused trouble for the villagers until an Aura Guardian and his Pikachu sealed Spiritomb inside a Hallowed Tower made of stone. That sounds an awful lot like the tower our heroes accidentally knocked down! Ash and his friends promise to make things right, they're approached by Team Rocket, who are disguised as psychics. They pretend to help calm Spiritomb down, but then spring a net over Pikachu and Spiritomb.
Spiritomb blasts the net apart and chases down Team Rocket. But Meowth discovers that Spiritomb is really looking for revenge on the Aura Guardian who sealed it in the Tower. Meanwhile, our heroes need to stop Spiritomb, so they lure Team Rocket into a trap and Spiritomb is close behind. But when Team Rocket tells Spiritomb that Ash is a descendant of the Aura Guardian, it turns its wrath on Ash!
With Spiritomb in hot pursuit, Ash runs to the ruins of the Hallowed Tower, yet Spiritomb is too powerful to be sealed away. Pikachu is exhausted, but as clouds gather overhead, Ash gets an idea. Pikachu uses Thunderbolt on the skies, attracting a lightning bolt that fills it with energy. Then Pikachu defeats Spiritomb and the wayward spirit is sealed back into the Hallowed Tower, this time for good!
Plot
After having traded,Ash andDawn decide to get used to their new Pokémon. After a few minutes ofbattling, Ash'sBuizel usesSonic Boom, which is deflected by Dawn'sAipom'sFocus Punch and sent into aHallowed Stone Tower. The tower immediately crumbles into bricks, which begin to glow on their own. The sky turns black and clouds roll in. In the rubble lies anOdd Keystone. Lightning strikes the Keystone and aSpiritomb emerges from it. Spiritomb proceeds to attack the group withShadow Ball andHyper Beam. Ash tries to counter with Buizel'sWater Gun, but the attack goes straight through it. It responds withDark Pulse, knocking Buizel out, before flying away. Soon after, it encountersJessie,James andMeowth and attacks them with Hyper Beam and Dark Pulse. It flies away again, hitting Jessie's head with its Keystone in the process.
The next day, Ash andhis friends arrive in at a nearby village to find it derelict. They hear stories about a scary Pokémon that attacked the village in the night and immediately connect this with Spiritomb. They meet anold woman who tells them the story of a Spiritomb that terrorized the village and how anAura Guardian with aPikachu defeated and sealed away Spiritomb in the Hallowed Stone Tower 500 years ago. The group only realizes that they have destroyed the same tower, and they take the old lady to it, who acts furious seeing it. Ash and friends apologize, promising to make things right.Team Rocket shows up, disguised as psychics. Jessie pretends to tell the secrets of the group’s past lives while James tells them that Meowth, disguised as aSneasel, has the ability to communicate telepathically with other Pokémon. Next, the old woman's grandson appears, informing them of Spiritomb's return. They return to the village where Meowth uses "telepathy" to communicate with Spiritomb. Meowth returns and whispers into James's ear that Spiritomb wants something fromPikachu. Jessie takes Pikachu to Spiritomb and throws a net over them, revealing their identity. After reciting theirmotto, they take off in their balloon.
Spiritomb usesOminous Wind, which destroys Team Rocket's balloon, making them crash to the ground. It lets itself free, to which Jessie sends outSeviper, but it is quickly knocked out by Spiritomb's Hyper Beam. Team Rocket flees with Spiritomb following them. As it catches up with them, it reveals to Meowth it wants revenge on the Aura Guardian for sealing it in the Keystone. Knowing the Guardian lived 500 years ago, they flee again with Spiritomb on their tracks.
As Ash and friends continue to search for Spiritomb, Dawn realizes that Spiritomb gave chase to Team Rocket and makes a plan in order to lure them. They place Pikachu alone, pretending to sleep in a meadow and Team Rocket lands to capture it, falling into a pitfall trap in the process. Ash’s group proceeds to imitate Team Rocket's motto, but are interrupted by an angry Jessie. Spiritomb shows up again, and Team Rocket convinces Spiritomb that Ash is a descendant of the Aura Guardian. It turns its anger on Ash and attacks him with Hyper Beam. Ash dodges and agrees to battle it. Ash runs to the ruins of the Hallowed Tower with Spiritomb in close pursuit. It stops Ash and Pikachu in their tracks by using Dark Pulse. Pikachu replies withQuick Attack, but Spiritomb dodges. Then Pikachu usesThunderbolt hitting Spiritomb which counters with Hyper Beam. They continue running, but Spiritomb stops them again. Pikachu continually uses Thunderbolt, getting more and more tired, while Spiritomb resists each attack and uses Shadow Ball but misses Pikachu and hits Team Rocket, blasting them off again. It initiates aGiga Impact, striking both Ash and Pikachu. Pikachu falls to the ground, exhausted, as dark clouds gather above again. Ash urges Pikachu to stand up and to send a Thunderbolt up towards the sky, and this recharges Pikachu's energy. Pikachu usesVolt Tackle then Thunderbolt, just like in the legend, defeating Spiritomb.
With Spiritomb defeated, the group seals its Keystone away in the Hallowed Tower once more. The old lady states that a new legend has been born thanks to Ash and Pikachu and, hearing Dawn’s stomach rumble, invites them for dinner before they continue on their journey.
Team Rocket's final pose for theirmotto in this episode refers to a Hindi/Chinese myth of world creation: the world is held by four elephants (Phanpy), which stand on a turtle (Torkoal), which in turn stands on a snake that bites its own tail (Arbok).
This is the first episode of the animated series to mentionAura and Ash's proficiency in it, which was a major plot point inLucario and the Mystery of Mew. As a result, the movie is madecanon by this episode.
Buizel andAipom switch places in Ash's andDawn's teams in the opening and ending, respectively, corresponding with their trade inthe previous episode.
Music fromLucario and the Mystery of Mew is used as background music during theold woman's story and the ending scene.
The episode was originally scheduled to premiere in the United States on May 3, 2008, but was pulled due to unknown reasons. As a result, some fans were initially led to believe this episode was being skipped in the dub.
The title for this episode comes from the movie seriesKeystone Kops.
This is one of the rare episodes where a Pokémon displays malicious behaviour independently, rather than following a malicious human's orders or natural behavior, such as defending its territory.
Errors
When Dawn tells Team Rocket that she doesn't care about them today, the old woman magically appears in front of the kids without being there in the prior scenes.
In the same scene, as Brock says "in your ear" and the scene changes to Jessie yelling, Dawn's arm is no longer raised in their pose, while Ash's is still outstretched.
