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| Season | Pokémon: Battle Frontier (Season 9) · Mulberry, Pewter & the Battle Pyramid arc (AG173–AG179) |
| Episode | Season 9, episode 30 · English episode 447 · Japanese episode 451 · Bulbapedia code AG175 |
| English title | Going for Choke! |
| Japanese title | ハルカVSムサシ！最後のコンテスト！！ Haruka Tai Musashi! Saigo no Kontesuto!! — “Haruka VS Musashi! The Last Contest!!” |
| First aired (Japan) | 4 May 2006 · TV Tokyo |
| First aired (US) | 30 November 2006 · Cartoon Network |
| Screenplay | Atsuhiro Tomioka |
| Opening / ending (Japan) | Supāto! (Spurt!) – Satoshi (Rica Matsumoto) · Watashi, Makenai! ~Haruka no Tēma~ (I Won’t Lose! ~Haruka’s Theme~) – Haruka (KAORI.) |
| English opening | Battle Frontier – Jason Appleton |
| Previous episode | New Plot, Odd Lot! (AG174) |
| Next episode | The Ole’ Berate and Switch! (AG176) |
Plot episodeMulberry Ribbon – Grand Festival qualified
Going for Choke! is the 30th episode of Pokémon: Battle Frontier, the ninth season of the Pokémon anime, and the 447th episode of the English dub overall (Japanese episode 451, Bulbapedia code AG175). It first aired in Japan on 4 May 2006 and in the United States on 30 November 2006. It falls within the season’s Mulberry, Pewter & the Battle Pyramid stretch (EP173–EP179).
Synopsis
Lilian announces the Mulberry Contest Battle pairings, and backstage Jessiebelle confronts May, almost giving away that Harley is helping her while Drew listens from a nearby corridor. Disguised as staff, James and Meowth tell Ash, Max and Brock there is a call from home and lock them in a room whose walls fall away to reveal a steel box hanging from a balloon, which carries them off into the sky. Pikachu’s Thunderbolt just bounces off the metal, but Drew’s Flygon uses Sandstorm to guide the box back to earth, and when the doors give way the boys find Drew recalling his Pokémon. Meanwhile, on stage, Jessie’s borrowed Banette flattens a Noctowl with Thunder, and May’s Squirtle withdraws into its shell and spins to meet a Skarmory’s Steel Wing, then trades Ice Beam and Bubble for Swift and advances on points when time runs out.
Drew leads the boys to warn May, but they fall into a pit and are trapped under a steel grid by James and Meowth until Brock’s Forretress breaks them out with Rapid Spin. Beneath the hall, James is having Mime Jr. and Cacnea dig a tunnel under May when the group catch up. Harley calmly admits that he has been helping Jessie, pointing out that lending her his Pokémon breaks no Contest rules, then glares at Drew and walks off with the Rocket duo. With the interference over, the final pits May’s Squirtle against Jessiebelle and the borrowed Banette, and it is a fierce contest from the start. Thunder costs May points, Ice Beam freezes Banette, its Will-O-Wisp collides with Squirtle’s attacks in a dazzling display, and Frustration hits Squirtle hard.
Squirtle answers with Rapid Spin, flipping Banette off its shell, bounces around the stadium to dodge, and lands a Tackle just as the clock runs out with the scores exactly level. Lilian calls Sudden Death Overtime, a battle with no time limit that ends only when one side’s points reach zero. Both sides lose points as attacks fly, Squirtle’s Bubble meets Will-O-Wisp, and finally May freezes Banette solid and finishes it with Tackle. Raoul Contesta presents her with the Mulberry Ribbon, her fifth, which qualifies her for the Kanto Grand Festival. Harley calls Team Rocket losers and takes back his Pokémon, privately relishing the chance to beat May himself. May holds up her qualification papers, and Drew, who has five Ribbons of his own, tells her he will see her at the Grand Festival at Indigo Plateau.
Major Events
- Mulberry Ribbon. May’s fifth Kanto Ribbon qualifies her for the Grand Festival at Indigo Plateau
- Drew’s Flygon rescues Ash, Max and Brock
- Squirtle beats Jessiebelle’s borrowed Banette in Sudden Death Overtime
- Drew has five Ribbons too
Trivia
- The English title plays on "go for broke".
- The screenplay is by Atsuhiro Tomioka.
- This is a plot episode: it advances the Kanto storyline.
Changes in the English Dub
- Team Rocket’s “sensei” for Harley dropped
- “Dragonite Takes Flight” from the Mewtwo Strikes Back score used in the dub
- A karaoke I Won’t Lose!
Part of our Pokémon: Battle Frontier guide. Browse every season of the Pokémon anime.