AG072

The Bicker the Better (Japanese: タッグバトル！サトシVSハルカ！？ Tag Battle! VS !?) is the 72nd episode of the, and the 346th episode of the Pokémon anime. It first aired in Japan on April 15, 2004 and in the United States on April 2, 2005.

Blurb
The kids are on their way to Fortree City, but May is delaying them. Ash starts to argue with her, and the two kids continue to bicker as they walk. They are interrupted by a couple named Andi and Oscar, who challenge May and Ash to a tag battle.

Ash uses Corphish and May uses Skitty, facing off against the lovebirds' Nidoking and Nidoqueen. Skitty's Assist move continually interferes with Corphish's attacks, so the two Trainers and their Pokémon begin to fight. Ash and May are defeated.

Andi and Oscar encounter Team Rocket next. Jessie and James agree to battle only so they can steal the couple's Pokémon, but are soundly beaten. Jessie and James blame each other for the loss.

The two groups overhear each other fighting, and Jessie decides to team up in a tag battle with May against James and Ash. The battle starts to go in favor of the boys, prompting Jessie to send out another Pokémon. The fight between Skitty, Seviper, Cacnea, Corphish, and Dustox quickly goes out of control, until Meowth realizes that Team Rocket could steal Pikachu.

They grab Pikachu and run, but Ash and May team up to stop the thieves. After using their Pokémon to soundly defeat Team Rocket, Ash and May reconcile.

Plot
,, and Max step outside the Pokémon Center, ready to depart to Fortree City. However, warns  that  isn't ready yet. Ash goes back inside, finding her just finishing up packing. He starts getting upset at May for taking so long. It gets taken out on May for being too slow, and pushes her out of the center. She stops in front of a mirror, further irritating Ash. May states that its normal to do so, but Ash doesn't, shocking May. When Ash responds that he isn't a girl, May condescends him, making Ash even more angry. As the group walks, Ash and May rant about each other, setting off a direct argument, while the others watch. The group runs into the couple Oscar and Andi, challenging Ash and May to a tag battle, proclaiming the two a couple. Although both deny the couple connection, Ash and May accept the challenge. Oscar summons while Andi summons. Ash summons. However, May is pondering for her choice irritates Ash. After deciding, she chooses Skitty. Unfortunately, Corphish and Skitty are unable to work together, canceling each other's attacks. Oscar and Andi pull the win when Corphish and Skitty are both hit with from both Nidoking and Nidoqueen. Ash and May are left bickering even more.

Jessie, James, and are sulking about their lack of progress when Oscar and Andi run into them, challenging Jessie and James to the same match as Ash and May. James uses while Jessie uses. Seviper ends up attacking Cacnea, causing Jessie and James to argue, allowing Oscar and Andi to take the win with dual Hyper Beam attacks, sending flying. Ash and May are still fighting about the loss, blaming each other, while Max and Brock watch. Jessie and James are also bickering. The two arguing groups cross paths, and another tag battle ensures. James teams up with Ash while Jessie takes May. Although Ash and May are hesitant to fight, they decide to accept. The teams use the same Pokémon used in the previous tag battles. Corphish and Cacnea work better together than Seviper and Skitty, shifting the battle to James and Ash. Jessie starts to get angry at the thought of losing, so she summons. The boys protest at her breaking the rules, but she doesn't care. The battle quickly grows out of control when attacks start to fly undirected. Brock declares the women disqualified, but it is meaningless. While the battle rages on, Meowth and the others watch from behind cover. Meowth realizes that the chaos could allow them to snatch Pikachu, so he manages to stop Jessie and James from fighting long enough to realize it. They create diversionary attacks with Seviper's Haze and Cacnea's Sandstorm, allowing Meowth to snag Pikachu in a net. Team Rocket tries to run, but May's Skitty uses Assist-turned-String Shot to stop Team Rocket. Corphish protects Skitty from Seviper, rebuilding the trust between Ash and May, allowing them to work together to free Pikachu and send Team Rocket flying as usual. Ash and May apologize to each other, and the fight ends.

Major events

 * and have their first Tag Battle together.

Humans

 * Max
 * Jessie
 * James
 * Oscar and Andi
 * Jessie
 * James
 * Oscar and Andi

Pokémon
Pokémon Trainer's Choice:
 * (Oscar's)
 * (Andi's)
 * (Oscar's)
 * (Andi's)
 * (Oscar's)
 * (Andi's)
 * (Oscar's)
 * (Andi's)
 * (Oscar's)
 * (Andi's)

Trivia

 * Advance Adventure is used as background music.
 * This episode was not aired in some countries due to the fact that the episode was regarded as a "battle of the sexes", which some saw as encouraging sexism.
 * The episode's dub title is a pun on the phrase "the bigger the better".
 * is also legally correct on the Pokémon Trainer's Choice segment, as the  is weak against  moves.
 * Stock animal sounds are used for the cries of and.

Errors

 * As and  walk down the hallway in the Pokémon Center, there is a poster with an upside-down Poké Ball at the bottom of it. After May inspects herself in the mirror, this poster is missing.
 * is misspelled as Onyx in the Pokémon Trainer's Choice segment for this episode.
 * When May checks her Pokédex on Andi's Nidoqueen, she is wearing Ash's gloves.
 * Jessie commands to use  instead of.
 * During Ash and May's argument, May's left hand disappears.
 * says that, according to the rules of Pokémon battles, no Trainer is allowed to use more than one Pokémon in any battle. This is, of course, not true. He may have meant "in any Single Battle", which was the norm back in Generations I and II.
 * When Nidoqueen uses, her lower jaw is colored blue.
 * During the tag battle, Jessie tells to use  on, but instead, Seviper is seen using.
 * After says their, the sound of 's Poké Ball opening can be heard despite Wobbuffet already being outside.
 * When Cacnea, Seviper,, Dustox, and are all attacking each other, Skitty disappears for a few frames.
 * When Ash orders Corphish to dodge Nidoking and Nidoqueen's, the z's under his eyes are missing.
 * When Nidoqueen is called out of the Poké Ball for the first time, she cries, but her mouth doesn't move.

Dub edits

 * There is a two-second shot of Jessie performing an , which involves pulling her eyelid down and sticking out her tongue at the same time. Like in A Ruin with a View and Clefairy And The Moon Stone, this was cut from the dub. This is mainly because it isn't a common gesture outside of Japan. However, other episodes featuring akanbe before and after this had no such edits, for reasons unknown.

Pokémon Trainer's Choice

 * Question: Trainers, which one of these Pokémon is the best choice to battle ?
 * Choices:, ,
 * Answer: Ok, Trainers! If you chose, you were right!

In other languages
Top-Teamwork! EP348 AG072 AG編第72話 精灵宝可梦 超世代 第72集