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| Season | Pokémon: Battle Frontier (Season 9) · Fennel Valley & the Brave Symbol arc (AG183–AG190) |
| Episode | Season 9, episode 44 · English episode 461 · Japanese episode 465 · Bulbapedia code AG189 |
| English title | Gathering the Gang of Four! |
| Japanese title | 最初のポケモン！最後の戦い！！ Saisho no Pokemon! Saigo no Tatakai!! — “First Pokémon! Final Battle!!” |
| First aired (Japan) | 24 August 2006 · TV Tokyo |
| First aired (US) | 10 February 2007 · Cartoon Network |
| Screenplay | Shōji Yonemura |
| 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 | Pinch Healing! (AG188) |
| Next episode | Pace – The Final Frontier! (AG190) |
Plot episodeBulbasaur, Squirtle & Charizard returnScott owns the Frontier
Gathering the Gang of Four! is the 44th episode of Pokémon: Battle Frontier, the ninth season of the Pokémon anime, and the 461st episode of the English dub overall (Japanese episode 465, Bulbapedia code AG189). It first aired in Japan on 24 August 2006 and in the United States on 10 February 2007. It falls within the season’s Fennel Valley & the Brave Symbol stretch (EP183–EP190).
Synopsis
Outside the Fennel Valley Pokémon Center, Ash prepares for the final stretch of the Battle Frontier with some very old friends. Professor Oak hands him a Poké Ball containing Bulbasaur, sent over by Tracey, and Pikachu greets its old partner happily. Squirtle arrives riding on Officer Jenny’s motorcycle, distracting Brock until Max hauls him back, and Charizard swoops down from the sky and greets Ash in its usual way, with a Flamethrower to the face. May’s Squirtle floats and dances with its namesake, Nurse Joy gives Ash a batch of homemade biscuits, and Ash sets off into the mountains with his original team to train for the rematch with Brandon. On the trail, the Pokémon clear fallen logs, Charizard tossing them while Bulbasaur slices them with Razor Leaf, and build a leafy bed with Rapid Spin, Vine Whip and Quick Attack, only for Charizard to flop down on it and start a squabble that ends with Pikachu shocking everyone, Ash included.
Charizard cuts fruit from a tall tree with Steel Wing for the others to catch, and at dusk, when its Flamethrower merely heats the rocks because Ash forgot the firewood, it lights the fire with a gentler flame. That night Ash remembers their adventures in Kanto. Training continues the next day until another fight breaks out at a lake and Pikachu shocks them all again. That evening a ramen cart pulls up, and while Ash is distracted the “customers”, Team Rocket in disguise, snatch Pikachu and escape as the cart transforms into a steel balloon. Charizard carries Ash into the sky, but Razor Leaf bounces off and the metal absorbs Flamethrower, until alternating Flamethrower and Squirtle’s Water Gun weakens the steel enough for Bulbasaur to break through. A combined Electric, Water, Grass and Fire attack blasts the trio away.
Brandon steps out of the bushes and tells Ash it is time for their battle. The next morning at the Pokémon Center, Scott reveals that he is the owner of the Battle Frontier and explains that whoever conquers it enters the Hall of Fame and becomes a candidate to be a Frontier Brain. At the Battle Pyramid, the ceiling opens for a four-on-four match. Brandon leads with Dusclops, and Ash chooses Charizard. Mean Look stops Ash from recalling Charizard, and Confuse Ray leaves it reeling. Charizard shakes off the confusion and lands several blows, but Dusclops keeps up the pressure with Shadow Punch and Will-O-Wisp, and when Charizard tries Seismic Toss, Ash realises too late that Ghost types are immune to Fighting moves. A final Shadow Punch knocks Charizard out, and Ash’s hopes of completing the Frontier suddenly look shaky.
Major Events
- Battle Pyramid rematch, part 1. Bulbasaur, Squirtle and Charizard return
- Training in the mountains
- Scott reveals that he owns the Battle Frontier
- The four-on-four battle begins and Brandon’s Dusclops beats Charizard
Trivia
- The English title plays on the reunion of Ash’s original four Pokémon.
- The screenplay is by Shōji Yonemura.
- This is a plot episode: it advances the Kanto storyline.
Changes in the English Dub
- Team Rocket complain that they have waited “nine seasons”
- Max adds a line to Professor Oak’s senryū
- Music from Pokémon Heroes, Destiny Deoxys and Lucario and the Mystery of Mew, a ballad Battle Frontier and an instrumental Advance Adventure
Part of our Pokémon: Battle Frontier guide. Browse every season of the Pokémon anime.