To the Tournament Finals! Every Day a Heated Battle!
Shocks and Bonds (Japanese: 決勝トーナメントへ!熱き戦いの日々! To the Tournament Finals! Every Day a Heated Battle!) is the 128th episode of the Advanced Generation series, and the 402nd episode of the Pokémon anime. It was first broadcast in Japan on May 12, 2005 and in the United States on March 18, 2006.
Ash, Tyson, and Morrison are all aiming for the top of the Hoenn League, but first they have to qualify for the Victory Tournament stage of the competition. In the third and final double battle qualification round, Ash sends out Glalie and Groyle against Clark, a conductor with two strong Fire-type Pokémon—Charizard and Quilava. Grovyle and Quilava are knocked out first, and it's an icy hot battle as Charizard and Glalie battle for victory! Thanks to Ash's quick thinking, Glalie bounces back for the win.
Morrison and Tyson advance to the Victory Tournament, too. In fact, the only ones not getting anywhere are Team Rocket. It's hard to steal Pikachu when they're busy selling snacks at the stadium, but honest work has its rewards... a delicious dinner they didn't even have to steal! Meanwhile, the Trainers have a day off to see the sights and do some extra training.
Now the Victory Tournament begins: 32 competitors, one winner! Ash's first opponent is Katie, a strategic Trainer who takes full advantage of type weaknesses and strengths. She starts out with Venomoth, but switches in Golduck to put Ash's Torkoal out of the match. Next up is Pikachu, but Katie counters with Dugtrio and sends Pikachu flying! Glalie knocks out Dugtrio, but is stopped by Misdreavus and its Destiny Bond attack. With Ash down three Pokémon and Katie only down two, will he be able to hang on to this match?
In the Stadium, Ash's next battle is about to start with a Trainer named Clark who directs his Pokémon like a conductor in a symphony orchestra. He calls out Grovyle and Glalie while his opponent chooses Quilava and Charizard. May thinks that Ash's Pokémon aren't good match-ups, but he knows both of his Pokémon are weak against Fire types and is okay with that.
Ash's Pokémon attack directly, but end up taking damage from Charizard's Heat Wave and Quilava's Flame Wheel. Glalie's Icy Wind does not affect its opponents, but Charizard's move doesn't hit its target either. However, Quilava manages to hit Glalie with a Quick Attack, but Ash's Pokémon pay back with Pound and Headbutt. Grovyle blocks Quilava's Quick Attack, while Charizard's Heat Wave and Glalie's Icy Wind collide and explode. Then, Grovyle knocks out Quilava, but Charizard quickly defeats him with a Steel Wing. Ash orders Glalie to use Ice Beam on the ground, forming some ice pillars that stop Charizard's Flamethrower. Glalie uses Double Team in the icy labyrinth to avoid damage, but Charizard succeeds in striking Glalie with Steel Wing. This sends it ricocheting from pillar to pillar, which Ash uses to advantage. Glalie darts around the icy field and knocks out Charizard with a high-speed Headbutt, awarding Ash the victory.
Morrison then meets up with Ash and both are excited to have won another battle. They leave to see how Tyson is doing. Tyson and his opponent, Johnny, are each down to their last Pokémon. Tyson's using his Sceptile against Johnny's Aggron. Sceptile uses Detect to evade a barrage of Metal Claw attacks, and when its opponent uses Harden, it charges up a Solar Beam that sends Aggron out of the fight, meaning that Tyson has also won his battle.
Ash and his friends have now advanced to the third round of the League. From now on, all of their matches will be full, six-on-six battles. Ash will be the first one to compete the next morning.
The next day, Ash is getting ready to face his newest opponent, a girl named Katie. Ash uses Torkoal while Katie sends out a Venomoth. Torkoal blocks Stun Spore with its Iron Defense, which Venomoth renders unusable with Disable. Torkoal uses Flamethrower, but Katie quickly returns Venomoth and calls out Golduck. Ash orders Torkoal to use Body Slam, but Golduck sends Torkoal flying with a Hydro Pump and then cuts it down with Fury Swipes.
With Torkoal defeated, Ash sends Pikachu into the arena. Katie responds by recalling Golduck and sending out Dugtrio. Pikachu uses a Quick Attack, but Dugtrio Digs to dodge, and then uses Sand Tomb to engulf the ground in an ever-growing sand trap. Sliding down the ominous pit, Pikachu uses Thunderbolt on Dugtrio to no avail. Before being swallowed up, Pikachu attacks with Iron Tail against Dugtrio's Double-Edge, but Pikachu is knocked out. Ash quickly picks up Pikachu and proceeds to send out Glalie. Dugtrio escapes underground, but is forced above by Glalie's powerful Headbutt on the ground. Using this opportunity, Glalie knocks it out with an Ice Beam. Katie sends out Misdreavus, but after taking an Ice Beam and a Headbutt, Misdreavus uses Destiny Bond. Misdreavus faints, but then suddenly Glalie glows purple and collapses as well.
Ash has three remaining Pokémon and Katie has four. The battle is at a stalemate and the episode ends on a cliffhanger.
Ash defeats Clark in a Double Battle, advancing to the Victory Tournament.
Morrison also defeats his opponent, advancing to the Victory Tournament.
Tyson is revealed to own a Sceptile and a Donphan.
Ash begins his Full Battle against Katie.
The title of this episode is a pun of "stocks and bonds".
The announcer mentions that Glalie's finishing Headbutt against Charizard "looks like a critical hit". This marks one of the few times that this game mechanic has been mentioned in the anime.
As of this episode, all forms of the Hoenn starter Pokémon have appeared in the anime.
This is one of the few episodes prior to Best Wishes series in which Team Rocket neither blasts off nor recites their motto in any form.
Right after the title screen, Ash and Clark's Pokémon are already on the scoreboard despite not having been sent out yet.
Max states that Ash chose the perfect Pokémon to battle Clark, yet both of Clark's Pokémon are Fire-type and therefore strong against Ash's Ice-type Glalie and Grass-type Grovyle.
Charizard's wings do not glow white when it prepares to attack Glalie and its Double Team copies with Steel Wing despite doing so in a previous scene.
Misdreavus was defeated by Glalie's Headbutt despite being immune to Normal-type attacks.
Grovyle is misspelled as Groyle on the pokemon.com blurb.
During the montage of the Trainers' day off from competition, You & Me & Pokémon is used as background music.
Question: Trainers, which of these Pokémon has at least two evolutions?
Answer: OK, Trainers! If you chose Spheal, you were right!
Korean 결승전을 향해! 불꽃 튀는 대결!
Spanish Latin America Descargas y nudos!