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| Season | Pokémon: Battle Frontier (Season 9) · Toward Fuchsia: Donphan, Celebi, Bonsly & Eevee arc (AG154–AG158) |
| Episode | Season 9, episode 9 · English episode 426 · Japanese episode 430 · Bulbapedia code AG154 |
| English title | Reversing the Charges |
| Japanese title | ドッキリ！ビックリ！エレキッド！！ Dokkiri! Bikkuri! Erekiddo!! — “Startling! Frightening! Elekid!!” |
| First aired (Japan) | 1 December 2005 · TV Tokyo |
| First aired (US) | 7 October 2006 · Cartoon Network |
| Screenplay | Yukiyoshi Ōhashi |
| Opening / ending (Japan) | Battle Frontier – Akina Takaya · GLORY DAY ~Kagayaku Sono Hi~ (That Shining Day) – GARDEN |
| English opening | Battle Frontier – Jason Appleton |
| Previous episode | Tactics Theatrics!! (AG153) |
| Next episode | The Green Guardian (AG155) |
Plot episodePhanpy evolves into Donphan
Reversing the Charges is the 9th episode of Pokémon: Battle Frontier, the ninth season of the Pokémon anime, and the 426th episode of the English dub overall (Japanese episode 430, Bulbapedia code AG154). It first aired in Japan on 1 December 2005 and in the United States on 7 October 2006. It falls within the season’s Toward Fuchsia: Donphan, Celebi, Bonsly & Eevee stretch (EP154–EP158).
Synopsis
Ash adds his third Symbol to his case, and Max’s PokéNav shows that the next facility is the Battle Pike near Fuchsia City. May polishes her Egg while Phanpy watches, then packs it into its case and the group set off. A violent thunderstorm is raging over the nearby mountains, and on the way they find injured wild Pokémon and a wild Elekid battering an Exeggutor, spinning its arms to build up power before shocking it unconscious. When Ash tries to step in, Elekid turns its Thunder on Pikachu. Iron Tail misses, Volt Tackle fizzles, and Phanpy blocks a Thunder Punch with Rollout, which only enrages Elekid further until electricity sprays in every direction. May drops her Egg as she ducks, the case ends up wedged between Elekid’s horns, and when the smoke clears Elekid has vanished with it.
Team Rocket learn about the rampaging Elekid from a wounded Scyther, and Jessie decides it sounds like her kind of Pokémon, until Elekid appears, shakes off the Egg case and blasts them away, sending Mime Jr. flying off in a different direction. While Ash’s group search for the Egg, Max finds the injured Mime Jr. and Brock nurses it back to health; it soon starts mimicking everyone and takes a shine to Phanpy. James, meanwhile, is frantic about his missing Pokémon while his partners joke about keeping the Egg they have found. Elekid attacks the heroes again, and blasts Team Rocket off a second time. Brock remembers that Pikachu once turned aggressive after being overloaded with electricity and suggests that Elekid is suffering the same problem, so Pikachu bravely lets itself be struck by lightning to charge up enough power to help.
Team Rocket return in a Golem-shaped mecha, and the two sides realise that James has May’s Egg while May has Mime Jr., so they swap. The trio then attack with a net, but Phanpy uses Defense Curl to bat away three bombs, and Ash has Pikachu combine its Thunder with Elekid’s electricity. The mecha absorbs the power until its gauge overloads, the surplus energy shoots back up into the storm cloud, and Elekid finally calms down. When the mecha reboots and punches Phanpy away, Ash’s Pokémon begins to glow and evolves into Donphan. It knocks the machine over with Rollout and finishes it with a brand-new Hyper Beam, sending Team Rocket blasting off for the third time that day. Elekid returns to the wild, and the friends continue toward the Battle Pike.
Major Events
- Ash’s Phanpy evolves into Donphan. An overcharged wild Elekid takes May’s Egg
- Brock nurses the lost Mime Jr.
- Egg and Mime Jr. swapped back
- Donphan learns Hyper Beam
- Next stop the Battle Pike near Fuchsia City
- The last time Pikachu uses Thunder
Captures and evolutions
Phanpy → Donphan#0232 · Ash · fighting Team Rocket’s mecha
Trivia
- The English title plays on a reverse-charge call, for an overcharged Elekid.
- The screenplay is by Yukiyoshi Ōhashi.
- This is a plot episode: it advances the Kanto storyline.
Changes in the English Dub
- James calls Mime Jr. “Mimey” once
- The Japanese Battle Frontier as background music
Part of our Pokémon: Battle Frontier guide. Browse every season of the Pokémon anime.