Strategy Begins at Home! (Japanese:ヒカリVSママ！親子対決！！Hikari VS Mama! Parent-Child Showdown!!) is the 138th episode ofPokémon the Series: Diamond and Pearl, and the 604th episode of thePokémon animated series. It first aired in Japan on August 13, 2009 and in the United States on January 2, 2010.
Spoiler warning: this article may contain major plot or ending details.
Arriving at Dawn’s home in Twinleaf Town, Dawn’s mother Johanna is in the process of planning the town festival’s events along with Izzy and Cara. Unfortunately, those two can’t seem to make up their minds on any part of their work. This is keeping Dawn’s mother very busy, which also seems to be keeping Dawn from the Contest Battle challenge against her mother.
So while Dawn plans her Battle strategy and Ash and Pikachu take a walk to get to know Twinleaf Town better, Johanna, Izzy, and Cara take care of the festival’s details. This finally leads to a two-on-two battle between Dawn and her mom, Johanna! Dawn looks quite impressive at the outset, but Johanna’s Top Coordinator experience shines through as Dawn, Piplup, and Pachirisu are eventually defeated.
Meanwhile, a disguised Team Rocket has been hired to catch as many Goldeen as possible for one of the festival’s events. Although slow to start, they end up catching a great many of the Pokémon but, as usual, they go for more than they bargain for and end up accidentally catching a Gyarados, which sends them blasting off again!
Feeling inspired after Johanna and Dawn’s battle, our heroes happily anticipate the next few day’s events, as they excitedly watch the Twinleaf Festival begin to take shape!
Plot
Ash andhis friends return toTwinleaf Town asDawn andPiplup take the lead, clearly excited to be back home. As they walk,Brock enjoys the quiet atmosphere, reminding Ash ofhis hometown. Ahead, they spot a few people talking about placing some stands, but not making much progress. Dawn calls out their names,Izzy and Cara, meeting up with them. Cara mentions that they are working withJohanna to plan thefestival, but Izzy isn't helping much. Dawn introduces Ash, Brock, and her Piplup.
Dawn leads her friends to her house as Dawn is clearly excited, busting in. Johanna meets her, as well as Ash and Brock, with herGlameow andUmbreon in tow. Johanna greets Piplup as the PenguinPokémon tries to greet Glameow, but gets the cold shoulder. He looks hurt, but tries again with Umbreon and gets the same response, to whichPikachu comforts him. An older girl,Noelle, walks down the stairs with herBellossom and welcomes Dawn's return. She finished setting up the rooms for Ash and Brock, being there to enroll in Johanna'sCoordinator class. Dawn shows her the fourRibbons she has earned, but Brock pulls her aside and makes his usual advances to Noelle. He getsshut down not just byCroagunk, but Bellossom as well withStun Spore, Croagunk dragging him away.
Ash checks out the trophies and pictures on the wall as Dawn fills him in about her mother's career. Dawn decides to challenge her mother to aContest Battle, which she agrees to, but they decide to eat first since the food was freshly prepared. Ash shows impolite excitement at the prospect of being fed and quickly apologizes after Pikachu's pointing out that he's being rude, but Johanna laughs and lets it slide as she asks Noelle to show Ash and Brock their rooms. Meanwhile,Team Rocket sits by a lake,fishing forGoldeen underSayer's terms. Sayer is disappointed that they have not caught any Goldeen, which are needed for a Goldeen catching game at the festival. Team Rocket tells Sayer that they are doing it mainly formoney, since they are broke as usual.
Meanwhile, everyone sits down for lunch at Dawn's home. Johanna compliments Brock on his cooking ability that Dawn told her about. Glameow and Umbreon enjoy Brock'sPokémon food, which pleases her since they are picky eaters. Noelle asks Brock for his recipe, which puts him into a romantic advance before Bellossom and Croagunk stop him. Dawn and Johanna clean the dishes as Ash talks toProfessor Oak over the videophone. Professor Oak gives theTrainer advice about learning from Johanna, whose experience as aTop Coordinator might prove useful to him. Dawn and Johanna join the conversation as Dawn learns that Professor Oak is on his way to attend the festival. Then,Ash's mother bumps Professor Oak out of the frame and joins the conversation as well, telling Johanna to feel free to scold Ash if needed as he's a little rambunctious by nature—and that she's glad he's growing up and becoming more mature every day. Meanwhile, Team Rocket starts reeling in Pokémon, but none of them are Goldeen, so they toss them back.
In the garden, Brock andHappiny tend to the flowers, getting positive reviews from Johanna and Noelle. Johanna and Dawn decide to have their battle, but Izzy, Cara, and Sayer meet up with Johanna, still trying to work out food booth placement. Although Johanna solves the problem at first, Izzy and Cara continue to vacillate, forcing Johanna to postpone the battle and get more involved.
Ash and Pikachu decide to take a walk while Dawn works on her strategy. With Pikachu at his side on a picture-perfect day, Ash wanders into the forest as he spots a group ofSunflora absorbing sun rays. Pikachu follows aLedyba, stopping as he notes it landing on a large flower. He runs forward and uses his nose to imitate it with a small flower, but the pollen makes him sneeze. He looks at Ash sheepishly when asked if he's okay. As Ash approaches a tree that seems to have something in it, a young boy calls him over. Ash meetsNathaniel as he tells Ash that he plantedHoney on that tree. Nathaniel is excited to see a realPikachu and asks Ash's permission to hug his. When Ash consents, Pikachu doesn't wait for Nathaniel to pick him up and quite happily jumps into his arms, perhaps seeing that the boy has a kind heart. Nuzzling the littleElectric-type, Nathaniel reveals his passion to become a Trainer. They notice aHeracross on the tree. Seeing Nathaniel's excitement and joy, Ash thinks about how he used to be young and always wanted to always spend time with Pokémon, noting that being a Trainer is a great privilege. Nathaniel wants to specialize inBug types as they watch Heracross leave. Ash starts telling him tales of his journey, starting with his ownHeracross loving the sap fromBulbasaur's bulb.
Back at Dawn's house, Dawn plans with Piplup andPachirisu, setting up twocombinations. Pachirisu runs over to theTV as Dawn notices a bunch of clipped newspaper articles, about all of Dawn'sContest wins and theHearthome Collection that Johanna framed. Piplup and Pachirisu are also pleased, dancing with happiness as both of them are also in the pictures. Johanna returns as they get to the battle on the battlefield behind their house. They begin atwo on two with Piplup and Pachirisu against Glameow and Umbreon. Brock shows his romance towards Noelle constantly, but Bellossom and Croagunk keep him in check. Dawn goes first withWhirlpool andDischarge, creating an electrified whirlpool. Johanna's Pokémon useQuick Attack to gracefully dodge, crossing each other's paths and creating an appeal before stopping in front of Johanna and launching a doubleShadow Ball, destroying the Whirlpool and knockingDawn's Pokémon down. Dawn's Pokémon get up as they invoke their first plan. Piplup firesBubble Beam. Though Johanna's Pokémon dodge with a synchronized backflip, the attack creates a wall, masking Pachirisu until the last moment and hitting both with a spinningSuper Fang. Dawn celebrates the successful plan, but Johanna makes her pay for her premature celebration by using a doubleAttract,infatuating both of Dawn's Pokémon before hitting them with a doubleSwift attack,knocking them out. Dawn is somewhat upset but accepts the defeat, comforting her Pokémon. Still, Johanna was still impressed at her strategy andher bond with her Pokémon. It also inspires Ash to take a note from the battle. Glameow and Umbreon look pleased as Johanna hugs her daughter.
Meanwhile, Team Rocket has managed to catch many Goldeen. While they likely have more than enough,Jessie wants to try for one more. She pulls on her rod and an unhappyGyarados out of the water. It sends them blasting off withHyper Beam.
The episode's Englishdub title of this episode is a reference to the phrase "charity begins at home".
This episode was initially given the titleThe Mother of All Battlers!, somewhat similar toanother episode's title, but this was later changed. This title was later used byCartoon Network Video on their list, but the video used the new title.
In the Japanese dub, the first half of the title is narrated by Ash, and the latter half is narrated by bothDawn andher mother.
In the English dub, they narrate the whole title.
Team Rocket doesn't appear in their standard uniforms throughout the Twinleaf Festival arc.
Team Rocket doesn't recite theirmotto in this episode.
