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| Season | Pokémon: Johto League Champions (Season 4) · Wobbuffet Village to the gates of Ecruteak arc (EP173–EP180) |
| Episode | Season 4, episode 19 · English episode 176 · Japanese episode 178 · Bulbapedia code EP176 |
| English title | Ariados, Amigos |
| Japanese title | アリアドス! にんぽうバトル!! Ariadosu! Ninpō Batoru!! — “Ariados! Battle of Ninja Arts!!” |
| First aired (Japan) | 7 December 2000 · TV Tokyo |
| First aired (US) | 17 November 2001 · Kids’ WB |
| Screenplay | Shinzō Fujita |
| Opening / ending (Japan) | OK! – Rica Matsumoto · Boku no Best Friend e (To My Best Friend) – Hiromi Iwasaki |
| English opening | Born to Be a Winner – David Rolfe |
| Who’s That Pokémon? | Jigglypuff (US) · Ariados (Japan) |
| Previous episode | The Trouble with Snubbull (EP175) |
| Next episode | Wings ‘N’ Things (EP177) |
Filler / stand-alone episodeAya returnsAriados debut
Ariados, Amigos is the 19th episode of Pokémon: Johto League Champions, the fourth season of the Pokémon anime, and the 176th episode of the English dub overall (Japanese episode 178, Bulbapedia code EP176). It first aired in Japan on 7 December 2000 and in the United States on 17 November 2001. It falls within the season’s Wobbuffet Village to the gates of Ecruteak stretch (EP173–EP180).
Synopsis
Ash meets Koga’s sister Aya again at a Pokémon Jujitsu Academy, where she learns to turn her Venonat’s weakness into strength. Misty’s scream at a spider-legged bush reveals an Ariados belonging to Tōkichi, the academy’s sensei, who is training Aya. He invites the gang to spend a day in his classes: Ash in red for battle technique, Brock in yellow for technical skills and Misty in blue for beauty, which turns out to involve Spinarak-silk face masks.
Ash’s class brings a rematch of his Fuchsia Gym bout. Bulbasaur traps Venonat with Leech Seed, Venonat shakes it off and nearly wins with Supersonic and Tackle, and Bulbasaur launches itself skyward on its vines to strike from above and take the match. Team Rocket, watching, decide the academy’s rare Pokémon are worth stealing.
That night most of the students’ Poké Balls vanish and Pikachu is locked in an insulated cage aboard the trio’s balloon. Tōkichi sabotages it from a glider, dropping the Poké Balls to safety before he falls, leaving himself and Ariados too spent to fight. Aya must step up: gambling on Rest, she lets Venonat sleep through the onslaught, then wakes it to Tackle and paralyse Arbok with Stun Spore. Ash frees Pikachu to finish Team Rocket off, and Tōkichi offers the gang a place at his school.
Major Events
- Ariados debut
- Aya returns at Tōkichi’s Pokémon Jujitsu Academy
- Pineco reveals Spikes
- Banned in South Korea
- Last Japanese episode before Pokémon Crystal
Pokémon making their anime debut
Ariados#0168 · EP176
Trivia
- The English title plays on "adiós, amigos".
- The screenplay is by Shinzō Fujita.
- This is a stand-alone episode: it can be skipped without losing the thread of the Johto story.
- The Who’s That Pokémon? segment features Ariados in Japan, where it almost always matched the episode, but Jigglypuff in the US, where 4Kids picked the Pokémon at random.
Part of our Pokémon: Johto League Champions guide. Browse every season of the Pokémon anime.