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| Season | Pokémon: Advanced Battle (Season 8) · The last Ribbon: Drew, Munchlax & Morrison arc (AG112–AG120) |
| Episode | Season 8, episode 22 · English episode 387 · Japanese episode 390 · Bulbapedia code AG114 |
| English title | Date Expectations |
| Japanese title | ころがれ！恋するドンファン！ Korogare! Koi Suru Donfan! — “Roll! Loving Donfan!” |
| First aired (Japan) | 10 February 2005 · TV Tokyo |
| First aired (US) | 1 April 2006 · Kids’ WB |
| Screenplay | Yukiyoshi Ōhashi |
| Opening / ending (Japan) | Pokémon Symphonic Medley – Pokémon Symphonic Orchestra · GLORY DAY ~Kagayaku Sono Hi~ (That Shining Day) – GARDEN |
| English opening | Unbeatable – David Rolfe |
| Pokémon Trainer’s Choice | Which is not affected by Earthquake? (Sandshrew / Lunatone / Whiscash) → Lunatone |
| Previous episode | Who, What, When, Where, Wynaut? (AG113) |
| Next episode | Mean with Envy (AG115) |
Filler / stand-alone episodeDonphan mating seasonAired out of order in the US
Date Expectations is the 22nd episode of Pokémon: Advanced Battle, the eighth season of the Pokémon anime, and the 387th episode of the English dub overall (Japanese episode 390, Bulbapedia code AG114). It first aired in Japan on 10 February 2005 and in the United States on 1 April 2006. It falls within the season’s The last Ribbon: Drew, Munchlax & Morrison stretch (EP112–EP120).
Held back by Kids’ WB for unknown reasons and aired out of order on 1 April 2006, after the Ever Grande Conference episodes, as a double bill with Mean with Envy; it had premiered in the UK on 30 January 2006.
Synopsis
The boatman Carlos assures the group that Pacifidlog Town is only an hour away, but his engine dies between two islands, so they land on Donto Island while he makes repairs and plan to catch a ferry from the far side. The island turns out to be full of Donphan in mating season, when the males roll around aggressively to impress the females, and the group have to run for it. Brock explains the behaviour, and Ash sends out Corphish and Brock Mudkip, since Water attacks are super effective against the Ground-types. Team Rocket set nets to catch a Donphan for Giovanni, though James warns that the Pokémon are terribly destructive, and Chimecho responds to Jessie’s request for healing with Astonish.
Brock bandages an injured Donphan, which promptly limps off after a Shiny female with a red hide. When the herd charges again, Ash’s Snorunt reveals that it knows Ice Beam, though it has not mastered it, and Ash has it freeze the grassland so that the rolling Donphan slip and slide helplessly; the female simply walks away. Snorunt freezes Team Rocket solid as well, but stampeding Donphan crash into the block and blast them off. A new herd separates the group, and Ash and May reach the port just as the last ferry to Pacifidlog is leaving. May refuses to board without Max, remembering her promise to her mother to look after him, and she cries for a moment before wiping her eyes.
Brock and Max find the injured Donphan, and May feeds the Shiny female and guides the wounded male toward her, and the two roll off together, only for Team Rocket to net them both. May gives the trio a furious scolding, and her whole team goes into action: Beautifly’s String Shot, Bulbasaur’s Razor Leaf, Skitty’s Double Slap and Combusken’s Fire Spin, after which the two Donphan’s Rollout blasts Team Rocket away. By evening everyone is reunited at the harbour, and Carlos, his engine repaired, carries them across to Pacifidlog Town in time for May to enter the Contest. Ash’s thoughts during the episode turn to his own Phanpy, waiting at Professor Oak’s lab, foreshadowing its return to his team later in the season.
Major Events
- Donphan mating season, including a Shiny female
- Snorunt reveals Ice Beam
- May refuses to leave without Max
- Aired out of order in the US, on 1 April 2006
Trivia
- The English title plays on “Dickens’s Great Expectations”.
- The screenplay is by Yukiyoshi Ōhashi.
- This is a stand-alone episode: it can be skipped without losing the thread of the Hoenn story.
Changes in the English Dub
- Brock calls Snorunt male
- Carlos’s dinner offer
- Because the Sky is There as Japanese background music
Part of our Pokémon: Advanced Battle guide. Browse every season of the Pokémon anime.