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| Season | Pokémon: Battle Frontier (Season 9) · Fennel Valley & the Brave Symbol arc (AG183–AG190) |
| Episode | Season 9, episode 45 · English episode 462 · Japanese episode 466 · Bulbapedia code AG190 |
| English title | Pace – The Final Frontier! |
| Japanese title | 決戦！VSレジアイス！！ Kessen! Tai Rejiaisu!! — “Deciding Match! VS Regice!!” |
| First aired (Japan) | 31 August 2006 · TV Tokyo |
| First aired (US) | 17 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 | Gathering the Gang of Four! (AG189) |
| Next episode | Once More With Reeling! (AG191) |
Plot episodeBrave SymbolBattle Frontier conquered
Pace – The Final Frontier! is the 45th episode of Pokémon: Battle Frontier, the ninth season of the Pokémon anime, and the 462nd episode of the English dub overall (Japanese episode 466, Bulbapedia code AG190). It first aired in Japan on 31 August 2006 and in the United States on 17 February 2007. It falls within the season’s Fennel Valley & the Brave Symbol stretch (EP183–EP190).
Synopsis
Ash sends Bulbasaur in next. Dusclops traps it with Mean Look and hits it with Shadow Punch, and although Razor Leaf lands, Vine Whip misses. Bulbasaur plants Leech Seed to drain its opponent and cuts down Will-O-Wisp with Razor Leaf, but when Ash calls for Solar Beam, Confuse Ray sends the beam into the roof, where it blasts away Team Rocket. Bulbasaur whips itself with Vine Whip in its confusion until Ash calls it back to its senses, and a fully charged Solar Beam finally knocks Dusclops out. Brandon’s next choice is Ninjask, and Ash switches to Squirtle. Rapid Spin repels Aerial Ace, and Water Gun picks out the real Ninjask from its Double Team copies, while Hydro Pump cancels Sandstorm. Ninjask blinds Squirtle with Sand-Attack, but the water from a missed Hydro Pump rains down and washes its eyes clean, and Squirtle knocks Ninjask out with Skull Bash.
Brandon’s Solrock overpowers Hydro Pump with Psywave and stops Skull Bash with Confusion. Squirtle fires Hydro Pump at a wall to launch itself forward with Rapid Spin, but Solrock dodges, Squirtle hits the wall, and a super-effective Solar Beam knocks it out. Bulbasaur returns, and although Confusion turns its Razor Leaf against it and slams it into a wall, Leech Seed drains Solrock until both fire Solar Beams that collide and explode, knocking both Pokémon out. Deep underground, Team Rocket break into the chamber holding Brandon’s Regirock and Registeel, which blast them away with a double Hyper Beam. Each Trainer now has one Pokémon left: Ash sends out Pikachu, and Brandon reveals the Pokémon he found in the ruins, Regice.
Regice shrugs off Thunderbolt and hits back with Blizzard, then freezes the field with Ice Beam to leave it slippery. Pikachu paralyses Regice with Thunderbolt and lands a super-effective Iron Tail, but Regice traps it in pillars of ice and uses Rest to heal and cure the paralysis, then freezes Pikachu solid with Ice Beam. Pikachu breaks out with Thunderbolt, paralysing Regice again, escapes another ice trap with Iron Tail, dodges Ice Beam and charges home with Volt Tackle to knock Regice out. Ash wins the Brave Symbol, completing the Battle Frontier. Scott presents him with a plaque bearing all seven Symbols, enters him into the Hall of Fame and offers him a position as a Frontier Brain, which Ash turns down because he wants to keep travelling; Scott says the offer will stay open. The Battle Pyramid departs, and Ash says goodbye as Bulbasaur returns to Professor Oak’s lab, Squirtle to the Squirtle Squad and Charizard to the Charicific Valley.
Major Events
- Brave Symbol. Bulbasaur beats Dusclops, Squirtle beats Ninjask, Solrock and Bulbasaur fall together, and Pikachu beats Regice
- Ash completes the Battle Frontier and enters its Hall of Fame
- Ash declines a Frontier Brain post
- Bulbasaur, Squirtle and Charizard go home
- Scott’s last appearance
- Regice’s TV-series debut
Pokémon making their anime debut
Regice#0378 · AG190
Trivia
- The English title plays on the Star Trek opening line "Space: the final frontier".
- The screenplay is by Shōji Yonemura.
- This is a plot episode: it advances the Kanto storyline.
Changes in the English Dub
- Three seconds added to the closing To be continued / Next time card
- The narrator calls the rematch Ash’s “last chance”
- Regirock, Registeel and Lock-On are not named
- Brandon calls Ash by name (in Japanese, “boy”)
- Regice and Solrock keep their Japanese voices
- A TV-size Battle Frontier and music from Jirachi: Wish Maker and Lucario and the Mystery of Mew; the vocal is replaced in the dub
Part of our Pokémon: Battle Frontier guide. Browse every season of the Pokémon anime.