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| Season | Pokémon: Battle Frontier (Season 9) · New voices, new Symbols: the Arena & the Dome arc (AG146–AG153) |
| Episode | Season 9, episode 8 · English episode 425 · Japanese episode 429 · Bulbapedia code AG153 |
| English title | Tactics Theatrics!! |
| Japanese title | バトルドーム！炎と水のフュージョン！！ Batoru Dōmu! Honō to Mizu no Fyūjon!! — “Battle Dome! Fusion of Fire and Water!!” |
| First aired (Japan) | 24 November 2005 · TV Tokyo |
| First aired (US) | 30 September 2006 · Cartoon Network |
| Screenplay | Atsuhiro Tomioka |
| Opening / ending (Japan) | Battle Frontier – Akina Takaya · GLORY DAY ~Kagayaku Sono Hi~ (That Shining Day) – GARDEN |
| English opening | Battle Frontier – Jason Appleton |
| Previous episode | On Olden Pond (AG152) |
| Next episode | Reversing the Charges (AG154) |
Plot episodeTactics SymbolDouble Battle
Tactics Theatrics!! is the 8th episode of Pokémon: Battle Frontier, the ninth season of the Pokémon anime, and the 425th episode of the English dub overall (Japanese episode 429, Bulbapedia code AG153). It first aired in Japan on 24 November 2005 and in the United States on 30 September 2006. It falls within the season’s New voices, new Symbols: the Arena & the Dome stretch (EP146–EP153).
Synopsis
The moment Ash arrives at the Battle Dome he is mobbed by reporters and staff, and Scott steers him into a press conference to answer questions about his upcoming match. Elsewhere in the building, Team Rocket have landed jobs grooming the facility’s star, Dome Ace Tucker, before switching to selling snacks at the concession stands. Ash is led to a raised platform above the arena, the lights go down, and a giant screen replays his career from Pallet Town through the Orange Islands, Indigo, Johto and Hoenn Leagues. Smoke billows, coloured spotlights sweep the crowd and Tucker makes a theatrical entrance onto the opposite platform as the audience goes wild; watching his showmanship, May and Max are reminded of their father, Norman. The battle is a two-on-two Double Battle, and Tucker’s Arcanine and Swampert emerge in bursts of fire and water. Ash answers with Swellow and Corphish.
Tucker’s partners cover each other perfectly. When Swellow opens with Quick Attack, Arcanine leaps up to intercept it, and when Corphish fires Bubble Beam, Swampert’s Protect shields its teammate, as Brock points out. Corphish’s Vise Grip misses Arcanine and Swampert’s Mud Shot slams it into a wall instead, while Scott explains that Tucker is famous for his clever tactics. The exchanges grow fiercer: Crabhammer meets Dynamic Punch in a flash of light, Swellow dodges Flamethrower with Double Team only to be hit by Fire Blast, and May remarks that the battle looks like a Contest. Swampert gathers moisture from the air with Water Pulse, and when one blast strikes the field it forms a structure of water and ice into which Arcanine fires Fire Blast, creating the fusion of fire and water that Tucker planned all along.
Swellow and Corphish are knocked to the ground, but they get back up. Corphish’s Bubble Beam deflects both Flamethrower and Water Gun, and a well-timed Quick Attack sends Arcanine flying into its own partner as Swampert throws a Dynamic Punch. Smoke and fog soon fill the arena, and Bubble Beam blocks another Fire Blast. Tucker’s Pokémon attack blindly where they think their opponents are, but Swellow swoops up from below and Corphish’s Crabhammer and Swellow’s Aerial Ace hit both of them at once, knocking out Arcanine and Swampert together. The crowd erupts, and Tucker congratulates Ash on a superb battle and calls himself a top tactician as he leaves. Only then does Ash realise he has forgotten the Tactics Symbol; Tucker points to his hat, where the Symbol is waiting, and Ash proudly holds up his third Frontier prize.
Major Events
- Tactics Symbol. Dome Ace Tucker debuts
- A press conference and a showbiz arena
- Swellow and Corphish beat Arcanine and Swampert in a Double Battle despite Tucker’s fusion of fire and water
- The Symbol is on Tucker’s hat
Trivia
- The screenplay is by Atsuhiro Tomioka.
- This is a plot episode: it advances the Kanto storyline.
Changes in the English Dub
- The Japanese Battle Frontier and music from Mewtwo Strikes Back as background music
Part of our Pokémon: Battle Frontier guide. Browse every season of the Pokémon anime.