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| Season | Pokémon: Battle Frontier (Season 9) · Fennel Valley & the Brave Symbol arc (AG183–AG190) |
| Episode | Season 9, episode 40 · English episode 457 · Japanese episode 461 · Bulbapedia code AG185 |
| English title | Duels of the Jungle! |
| Japanese title | 襲撃！はぐれマニューラ！！ Shūgeki! Hagure Manyūra!! — “Attack! The Stray Manyula!!” |
| First aired (Japan) | 27 July 2006 · TV Tokyo |
| First aired (US) | 13 January 2007 · Cartoon Network |
| Screenplay | Masashi Sogo |
| 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 | Strategy Tomorrow – Comedy Tonight! (AG184) |
| Next episode | Overjoyed! (AG186) |
Filler / stand-alone episodeWeavile debutsFirst gender difference
Duels of the Jungle! is the 40th episode of Pokémon: Battle Frontier, the ninth season of the Pokémon anime, and the 457th episode of the English dub overall (Japanese episode 461, Bulbapedia code AG185). It first aired in Japan on 27 July 2006 and in the United States on 13 January 2007. It falls within the season’s Fennel Valley & the Brave Symbol stretch (EP183–EP190).
Synopsis
During a rest in a forest clearing on the way to Fennel Valley, Aipom wanders off after some flowers and runs into a wild Weavile with a scar on its face. It challenges her with a Shadow Ball, and when the others arrive and Ash asks whether it wants a battle, it answers with another. Weavile dodges Pikachu’s Thunderbolt and catches it in a counterattack, evades Aipom’s Swift even when combined with Double Team, and knocks Aipom out with Shadow Ball before walking away. Jessie is determined to add such a strong Pokémon to her team, despite James’s warnings. A member of the Wilderness Guard Corps named Kerrigan invites the group to his cabin so Aipom can recover, and explains that the Weavile is a stray that once belonged to a group of Weavile and Sneasel but now goes around picking fights with Trainers.
Kerrigan and the group search the forest, and Pikachu tracks the stray by scent. They find it gazing at its reflection in a river, where Meowth, disguised as a Weavile, has already tried to shake its hand and been sent packing. When Pikachu talks with it, the stray refuses to explain itself, and when Jessie’s shouting gives Team Rocket away, it blasts them with Shadow Ball, after which Jessie throws herself at its feet in admiration. Then a female Sneasel runs up, overjoyed to see the stray. She explains that a rogue Weavile defeated the stray in a fight for leadership of the group, leaving the scar, and that the stray has been battling Trainers ever since to toughen itself up. Sneasel herself fled because the new leader bullied everyone.
The rogue Weavile arrives with three followers. Sneasel hides behind the stray, Jessie tries to claim it for herself and is blasted off again, and Pikachu holds off the three followers while the two Weavile duel along the riverbank. Their Shadow Balls send up sheets of water, and when the rogue leaps through the spray to slash at the stray’s face, the stray blocks with its claws and knocks it into the river. The rogue tries a Shadow Ball as a distraction for another slash, but the stray sees through it, dodges, grabs the rogue and throws it to the bank. Standing over its fallen opponent with claws raised, the stray chooses to spare it, regaining its leadership, and Sneasel helps the two make peace. The stray thanks Ash and leaves with its group, and once Aipom has recovered, she leads the way toward the Battle Pyramid.
Major Events
- A scarred stray Weavile wins back the leadership of its pack
- Kerrigan of the Wilderness Guard Corps
- Jessie admires Weavile
- The anime’s first gender difference, a female Sneasel
- Weavile’s TV-series debut
Pokémon making their anime debut
Weavile#0461 · AG185
Trivia
- The screenplay is by Masashi Sogo.
- This is a stand-alone episode: it can be skipped without losing the thread of the Kanto story.
Changes in the English Dub
- Sneasel’s gender is not stated
- Jessie’s “Manyula-sama” becomes “sir”
- “A Small Thing” from Jirachi: Wish Maker
Part of our Pokémon: Battle Frontier guide. Browse every season of the Pokémon anime.