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| Season | Pokémon: Diamond and Pearl (Season 10) · Pachirisu, Hunter J & the road to Floaroma arc (DP019–DP024) |
| Episode | Season 10, episode 22 · English episode 486 · Japanese episode 489 · Bulbapedia code DP022 |
| English title | Borrowing on Bad Faith! |
| Japanese title | パチリスＶＳエイパム！コンテストバトル！！ Pachirisu Tai Eipamu! Kontesuto Batoru!! — “Pachirisu VS Eipam! Contest Battle!!” |
| First aired (Japan) | 8 March 2007 · TV Tokyo |
| First aired (US) | 11 July 2007 · Cartoon Network |
| Screenplay | Junki Takegami |
| Opening / ending (Japan) | Together – Fumie Akiyoshi (skipped on the original broadcast of the tenth-anniversary special) · Kimi no Soba de ~Hikari no Tēma~ (By Your Side ~Hikari’s Theme~) – Grin |
| English opening | Diamond and Pearl – Chris “Breeze” Barczynski |
| Previous episode | Ya See We Want An Evolution! (DP021) |
| Next episode | Faced with Steelix Determination! (DP023) |
Filler / stand-alone episodeJessie wins a ContestAsh’s Aipom on loan
Borrowing on Bad Faith! is the 22nd episode of Pokémon: Diamond and Pearl, the tenth season of the Pokémon anime, and the 486th episode of the English dub overall (Japanese episode 489, Bulbapedia code DP022). It first aired in Japan on 8 March 2007 and in the United States on 11 July 2007. It falls within the season’s Pachirisu, Hunter J & the road to Floaroma stretch (EP19–EP24).
Synopsis
While Ash trains for his next Gym battle, Pikachu works on Volt Tackle, and a jealous Aipom, feeling ignored, snatches Ash’s cap and scampers off into the trees. Meanwhile, Dawn learns of a small, unofficial Contest that has not been sanctioned by the Pokémon Activities Committee and decides to enter with Pachirisu for experience. Jessie hears about it too, and the prize, a year’s supply of fresh fruit, is all the motivation she needs; when James refuses to lend her Carnivine, she sets out to find a Pokémon of her own. Following cries for help, she finds Aipom stranded on a tiny ledge on a steep cliff and bravely crosses a log to rescue it, only for both of them to end up stuck on the same rock until they slide down the slope like snowboarders and sail through the air, Aipom landing gracefully and Jessie face-first.
When Ash and the others arrive, Jessie learns the Aipom is Ash’s and asks to borrow it for the Contest. Ash is sure Aipom will refuse, but it eagerly wants to go, so he reluctantly agrees and then spends the afternoon spying on Jessie’s training sessions, where Aipom catches falling fruit with Focus Punch and Double Team and shows off its Swift. With Nurse Joy and the village chief as judges, Dawn opens the Appeals with Pachirisu, which freezes in stage fright before landing a Sweet Kiss and forming flowers out of Spark, although its finishing Discharge zaps the audience. Jessie goes last: Aipom smashes its Swift stars into glittering dust with Focus Punch, dances with Double Team and spins Swift into a cyclone, then hugs Jessie, while Ash imagines it leaving him for good.
In the Battle Stage, Dawn’s Pachirisu faces Jessie’s Aipom. Aipom dodges Spark with a ring of Double Team copies and spins through the air like a flying disc, counters Discharge with a fireworks display of Swift and knocks Pachirisu out with Focus Punch, winning Jessie the first Contest she has ever won under her own name. Team Rocket then swoop in by balloon and net the fruit, forgetting it was Jessie’s prize anyway. Aipom leaps after the balloon, and Ash’s worst fear seems to come true, until Pikachu points out that Aipom is simply eating bananas and dropping the peels. Ash slips on one but catches Aipom when it breaks free of Meowth’s mechanical arm with Focus Punch, and its Swift destroys the balloon and sends the trio flying. Ash scolds his mischievous Pokémon but keeps it, insisting it prefers Gyms even as Dawn says it loves Contests, and Aipom promptly steals his cap again.
Major Events
- Jessie, entering as herself with Ash’s borrowed Aipom, beats Dawn’s Pachirisu: her first Contest win
- Aired in Japan in a one-hour tenth-anniversary special, without the opening
Trivia
- The English title plays on "in bad faith", for Jessie’s borrowed Aipom.
- The screenplay is by Junki Takegami.
- This is a stand-alone episode: it can be skipped without losing the thread of the Sinnoh story.
Changes in the English Dub
- Bananas are called “fruits”
- The By Your Side instrumental kept: the first Japanese background music kept in the English dub
- Bellossom’s Song added in the dub
- The opening skipped in the original Japanese broadcast
Part of our Pokémon: Diamond and Pearl guide. Browse every season of the Pokémon anime.