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| Season | Pokémon: Battle Frontier (Season 9) · Mulberry, Pewter & the Battle Pyramid arc (AG173–AG179) |
| Episode | Season 9, episode 31 · English episode 448 · Japanese episode 452 · Bulbapedia code AG176 |
| English title | The Ole’ Berate and Switch! |
| Japanese title | ロケット団解散！？それぞれの道！ Roketto-dan Kaisan!? Sorezore no Michi! — “Rocket-dan Dissolution!? Respective Roads!” |
| First aired (Japan) | 11 May 2006 · TV Tokyo |
| First aired (US) | 4 December 2006 · Cartoon Network |
| Screenplay | Yukiyoshi Ōhashi |
| 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 | Going for Choke! (AG175) |
| Next episode | Grating Spaces! (AG177) |
Filler / stand-alone episodeTeam Rocket split upButch & Cassidy
The Ole’ Berate and Switch! is the 31st episode of Pokémon: Battle Frontier, the ninth season of the Pokémon anime, and the 448th episode of the English dub overall (Japanese episode 452, Bulbapedia code AG176). It first aired in Japan on 11 May 2006 and in the United States on 4 December 2006. It falls within the season’s Mulberry, Pewter & the Battle Pyramid stretch (EP173–EP179).
pocketmonsters.net’s calendar places AG176–AG183 one day later each (5–8 and 12–15 December 2006); our dates follow Bulbapedia and Dogasu’s Backpack.
Synopsis
Team Rocket finally catch Pikachu, only for it to pick the lock on its cage and blast them away with Thunderbolt. Blaming one another, Jessie, James and Meowth decide to go their separate ways. On the road to Pewter City, Ash’s group stop in Sable City, where a one-day Pokémon tournament is being held, and Ash enters to prepare for the Battle Pyramid. The tournament, however, is a front for Butch and Cassidy: Butch recruits the Trainers while Cassidy poses as Nurse Joy, and although Brock is oddly unmoved by her, he and May still hand over their Poké Balls for “safekeeping”. In his first match, Ash’s Corphish withstands Guillotine and Seismic Toss from Howie’s Pinsir before winning with Harden and Crabhammer. Outside, Jessie and James each decide to steal Pokémon on their own, while Meowth wants no part of it.
Jessie and James pass each other in disgust and end up on opposite teams, James joining Cassidy’s side of the scheme and Jessie recruiting a confused Butch for a takeover of her own. Meowth, wandering alone, finds a bag of biscuits and remembers how the three of them always shared their food. Back in the arena, Ash and Corphish win their second match too, beating Oriba’s Marowak in a back-and-forth battle in which Bonemerang at first blocks Corphish’s Crabhammer. Meanwhile, Max chases after Munchlax and catches James and Cassidy hiding the stolen Poké Balls. He rallies the Trainers to confront them, their joint motto falls apart when Cassidy flubs the last line, and Cassidy’s Houndour hits Corphish with Flamethrower, sending it crashing into boxes and spilling Poké Balls across the arena.
The tournament officials throw off their disguises to reveal themselves as Team Rocket grunts, but the Trainers refuse to give up their Pokémon. Swellow chases down Jessie and Butch as they try to escape with a box of Poké Balls, and after Ash calls Butch “Paunch”, Pikachu’s Thunderbolt blasts the pair and Butch’s Raticate away. Meowth, Jessie and James then grab for the same Poké Ball and start arguing until Meowth shows them the biscuit, reminding them of their friendship, before a Trainer’s Rhydon blasts them off. Butch and Cassidy try to flee but drop into holes dug by the reunited trio, who appear overhead in their balloon. Pikachu sends the rival duo flying, and Corphish’s Bubble Beam blasts the original trio off once more. The Trainers recover their Pokémon, and that night by a campfire Team Rocket try to share the biscuit, only for Jessie to take the biggest piece and start the arguing all over again.
Major Events
- The trio go their separate ways and join Butch and Cassidy’s fake Sable City tournament
- Corphish beats Howie’s Pinsir and Oriba’s Marowak
- May and Max meet Butch and Cassidy for the first time
- Ikue Ōtani returns from maternity leave
Trivia
- The English title plays on the old "bait and switch".
- The screenplay is by Yukiyoshi Ōhashi.
- This is a stand-alone episode: it can be skipped without losing the thread of the Kanto story.
Changes in the English Dub
- Team Rocket are called “Team Nitwit”
- Butch and Cassidy flub their joint motto (in Japanese the two teams recite different mottos and argue)
- Max seems to know Butch and Cassidy already
- The Pokémon Symphonic Medley, “Meowth’s Song” and “Face Forward Team Rocket!”
Part of our Pokémon: Battle Frontier guide. Browse every season of the Pokémon anime.