AG146

Fear Factor Phony (Japanese: エスパーVSゴースト！真夜中の決闘！？  VS Ghost! Midnight Duel!?) is the 146th episode of the, and the 420th episode of the Pokémon anime. The episode was first broadcast in Japan on October 6, 2005 and in the United States on September 8, 2006.

Blurb
On a dark and stormy night, Ash and his friends find a deserted town near an old mine. Inside the mine is a Haunter, who scares our heroes away! Team Rocket sees the commotion and investigates, only to receive a scare that sends Wobbuffet running in fear. Team Rocket then discovers that the Haunter was an illusion created by a team of Ghost Pokémon—but why?

Camped out in an empty house nearby, Ash and his friends hear strange music in the night. The music is coming from Kirlia and its Psychic Pokémon friends, all having a dance party! But Abra sleeps right through it, using its psychic powers to block out the noise. Ash and Max accidentally crash the party and scare away the Pokémon, so they make amends by putting on their own party.

Team Rocket learns that the mine's Ghost Pokémon don't like all this noise, so they offer to help restore peace and quiet to the town. Meanwhile, Wobbuffet catches sight of the graceful Kirlia and immediately falls in love. It joins the party and tries to woo Kirlia, but Team Rocket crashes the event with a giant robot that the Ghost Pokémon helped disguise as a huge Haunter. The robot snatches all the Pokémon, and Wobbuffet defies Jessie to free Kirlia and the other Psychic Pokémon.

Kirlia helps defeat Team Rocket and the Psychic Pokémon and Ghost Pokémon face off! Pikachu tries to shock some sense into them, but it's Brock who figures out the solution. The Psychic Pokémon can party inside Abra's soundproof psychic bubble, and the Ghost Pokémon won't hear a thing! With the town back to normal, our friends can continue on their Battle Frontier journey.

Plot
Having lost their way again, Max looks at his PokéNav for the nearest Pokémon Center. points out that they have to find shelter for the night before an approaching storm catches them. seems to notice something in the distance and suddenly dashes off, so calls out for him to wait.

When the rest of catches up with Pikachu, they discover an abandoned town. becomes frightened when Brock calls it a ghost town, but Max explains the meaning of the term to her. Walking through the city, they arrive at the entrance to an underground mine inside of the city. Brock suggests that the group take refuge in there. From the darkness, two glowing eyes appear and approach the group. A ghost appearing to be a terrifies them and says something in a low voice, making them all run away in fright. Nearby, is sitting on a platform, complaining of empty stomachs and hearing the twerps. says he has, but then notices the twerps running away from the mine shaft in a panic. Interested in what has scared them away, Team Rocket goes inside of the mine shaft as well. They see nothing at first, which Meowth says is due to the nonexistence of ghosts. The same pair of eyes and Haunter-like being appears again. Team Rocket calmly reason that this must indeed be a ghost, and suddenly become horrified when it sticks its tongue out and shrieks at them. Meanwhile, Ash and are taking cover in a nearby building when Ash hears Team Rocket's cry, but no one else does. Max says Ash should check it out, which he does so reluctantly. Everyone is still on edge from the sighting as Ash stands up slowly to look out of a nearby window. Everything seems to be desolate as it begins to rain. Brock says that they should stay in this building for the night, which Max questions out of fear.

Meanwhile, Team Rocket is still in the mine and wake up from fainting at the sight of the ghost. Jessie wants to get moving, but she sees the rain outside. James complains that they have to wait the storm out with a goblin in their midst. Jessie laughs creepily and says that there is nothing to fear since "it's a scientific fact that there are no such things as ghosts or goblins". She reasons that the ghost was merely a hunger-induced hallucination, and the guys agree. They begin to dance and sing about not being afraid of ghosts and start feeling better about the situation. Their revelry is interrupted by another strange sound that emits from deep in the mine shaft. Jessie asks if someone burped, but Meowth uneasily reminds her that they haven't eaten lately. The Haunter appears again and scares them, sending rushing out of the mine by itself. Still in a frightened state, Jessie and James release their in an effort to combat Haunter. Unfortunately, both and  are frightened by the ghost and dash back to their masters. James orders a to stop Cacnea's painful hug, but the attack pass through Haunter with no effect. Seviper uses, but it goes through as well and hits the shaft ceiling. Jessie then throws Meowth in one last effort and manages to hit the electrical box on the ceiling. Meowth is electrified and the shaft’s lights all turn on, which makes the ghost tremble and vanish in a swirling cloud. Jessie and James are surprised at this but then see a group of Ghost Pokémon hiding behind a barrel. Team Rocket are angry at the Pokémon for their illusion and Meowth threatens them with. The Haunter,, two , and two cry out in protest, and Meowth says that they have had a tough break.

Ash and his friends are still inside of the building, now sleeping in their sleeping bags. May is the only one awake, still frightened from the run-in with the ghost. Mysterious music starts to come from a nearby room, scaring May even more. She quietly tries to wake Ash from his deep sleep, but it is no use. She then screams to wake everyone up, which they do. They hear the music as well and go to explore the hallway, finding the source behind a door. Ash opens the door and discovers the Psychic Pokémon, , , , , and dancing to music from a. They also see an sleeping with some kind of force field around it. May pushes to get a better vantage point and makes everyone but Brock fall into the room and make their presence known. The Pokémon nearly all dash away, but Abra is still sleeping in its force field. Ash touches the field, but it powerfully knocks his hand back. Brock says that Abra must be using while asleep, and May wonders what the Psychic Pokémon are doing here. Max notices a picture underneath the couch that Abra is sitting on. It is a photograph of the Psychic Pokémon with a group of miners, leading Brock to think that they once inhabited the town and used the Psychic Pokémon in their work. Abra's force field begins to glow with a brilliant, multicolored light. Brock says that Abra may be having a dream and they are all seeing it. The force field then depicts a scene from the past of the miners and their families abandoning the town and their Pokémon. A young Abra runs after the truck that the last group of miners is on and cries out desperately. A young boy on the truck calls out that Abra has to go back, so it starts to whimper and cry as the dream ends. Abra starts to cry while it continues sleeping inside its Safeguard. May figures that the Pokémon must have been cheering themselves up with music after feeling lonesome. Ash suggests that they should give the Psychic Pokémon their own little party, and the others agree. Later that night, the room is decorated and the group calls out to the Pokémon to come inside. All of the Psychic Pokémon return and begin the festivities.

Meanwhile, the Ghost Pokémon tell Team Rocket that they used to live in the mine peacefully before the miners came and turned the area into a boom town. After they left, the Pokémon thought that their troubles were over, but the abandoned Psychic Pokémon kept partying loudly in the mine. When the Ghost Pokémon could not stand it anymore, they formed the figure of a gigantic Haunter to scare the Psychic Pokémon away. Upon hearing their plight, Team Rocket plots to side with the Ghost Pokémon and capture the Psychic Pokémon to use their mining skills to find gold.

The next morning, Wobbuffet is still running scared from the "Haunter". It hears the music coming from the Psychic Pokémon’s party and sees Kirlia dancing on the table and immediately falls in love. It rushes into the building, to the surprise of Ash and company, and presents a flower to Kirlia as a gift. Kirlia accepts the flower appreciatively, making Wobbuffet giddy with happiness. May remarks on the romantic gesture, but suddenly an explosion rocks the building and causes a huge rumbling. All the party-goers but Abra (who is still asleep in its Safeguard bubble) run outside and come face-to-face with the giant Haunter again. Mechanical arms emerge from Haunter's mouth and snatch most of the Psychic Pokémon. The arms retreat to deposit the Pokémon in Haunter's mouth and reemerge to knock Wobbuffet out of the way and snatch Kirlia and Pikachu. Wobbuffet heroically jumps into Haunter's maw by itself to save Kirlia. The Haunter’s face begins to contort in discomfort as Jessie's voice chastises Wobbuffet for sabotaging their plan. The Haunter illusion explodes and reveals Team Rocket's new mecha in the shape of a monster, as well as the Ghost Pokémon who disguised it. Team Rocket recites their ghost-themed motto and Wobbuffet cannot help but do its part at the end. It then escapes the arm's grasp and jumps down to the cell holding all the Psychic Pokémon. Team Rocket say that their mecha is immune to Electric and Psychic attacks and laugh when the twerps demand the release of the Pokémon. Wobbuffet desperately tries to break the cell's bars with its arms, but cannot. It backs up and launches itself using its tail and breaks the bars with its head. Pikachu and the Psychic Pokémon comically run over Wobbuffet's body, but Kirlia stays behind to show its appreciation. Team Rocket is shocked that Jessie's own Wobbuffet released the Pokémon from their prison.

Meowth then directs the Ghost Pokémon to attack, and they launch a combined at the fleeing Pokémon. Kirlia springs into the air and blocks the Shadow Ball using a blue, iridescent ball of energy that Max identifies as. Reflect sends Shadow Ball rushing back at Team Rocket's mecha, destroying it and blasting Team Rocket away. As it blasts away along with them, Wobbuffet panics because it has been separated from Kirlia, who notices the wilted flower that Wobbuffet handed her. However, the Ghost and Psychic Pokémon are about to fight. Ash tells Pikachu to use, hitting the ground between the two feuding groups to stop them. The Pokémon are stunned, but do not listen to Ash’s pleas of peace. Brock notices Abra sleeping in its soundproof Safeguard and formulates a plan.

Later, the Psychic Pokémon are partying again with loud music coming from the phonograph, but it cannot be heard outside of the much larger Safeguard bubble Abra has created. May commends Brock for his idea, and the Ghost Pokémon are in agreement. With both groups satisfied, the travelers leave the town, ready to take on the Battle Arena.

Humans

 * Max
 * Jessie
 * James
 * Miners (flashback)
 * Boy (flashback)
 * James
 * Miners (flashback)
 * Boy (flashback)

Pokémon

 * (×2)
 * (×2)
 * (×2)
 * (×2)
 * (×2)
 * (×2)
 * (×2)
 * (×2)
 * (×2)
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 * (×2)
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 * (×2)

Trivia

 * This is the season premiere of Pokémon: Battle Frontier.
 * This episode features the debut of the voice actors for the version of the English dub, including Matthew Mitler, who previously voiced characters before quitting after season three.
 * This is the first episode in which Sarah Natochenny provides the voice of ; Michele Knotz voices, Jessie, and James's Chimecho and ; Jamie Peacock voices Max; Bill Rogers voices and Jessie's Seviper; and Billy Beach voices James and.
 * This episode uses an instrumental of the dance sequence from Pikachu's Rescue Adventure.
 * This was the first episode to air on, which was in a prime-time slot following the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Team Go-Getters out of the Gate! special.
 * This is the first episode in which there is no eyecatch in the English dub.
 * Ken Gates returns to the role as the narrator from this episode onward, but he is now credited under his real name, Rodger Parsons.
 * Stock footage of certain 4Kids voice actors were used (Maddie Blaustein for, , and ; Ed Paul for ; and Eric Stuart for and ).
 * James says "Those Psychic Pokémon just wanna rock and roll all night and party every day!" as a reference to the song "", the chorus of which is "I wanna rock and roll all night, and party every day!"
 * The title card music for the English dub has changed from the ones used in all previous seasons. In the Japanese version, this music was used throughout the.
 * This is the last episode in which Chimecho recites its name in the end of 's.
 * This is the first time that is actually seen being offensive.
 * In the games, both Wobbuffet and are in the  Egg Group, meaning that they are able to breed.
 * In Meowth's explanation of what happened between the Ghost and Psychic Pokémon, 's eyes are seen open, something that is rarely seen.
 * When Ash and first enter the tunnel and encounter the Haunter illusion, it can be heard saying its Japanese name, 'Ghost'. This is possibly a dubbing error.
 * In this episode, is shown to have the capability to be soundproof inside.
 * The Japanese title is an allusion to the Japanese title of EP024, Ghost VS Esper!.
 * This episode marks the most recent anime appearance of . This may be due to the incident involving 's lawsuit.
 * The two paragraphs of text introducing the series in the OP animation have been restored.
 * This is the first time in the original Japanese version that is made for the episode. The dub started it back in A Goldenrod Opportunity, 262 episodes earlier.
 * The structure of the Japanese broadcast changes:
 * In Japan, this episode was included as a bonus feature on the DVD release of Pikachu's Ghost Carnival.
 * Starting from this episode, the Nordic (,, , and ) dubs leave the names of Pokémon moves untranslated.

Errors

 * When James's Cacnea was first sent out, its mouth was the darker shade of green found on its body.
 * When the Ghost Pokémon are showing their gratitude at the end of the episode, Gastly and 's lips move, but they don't say anything.

In other languages
Duell in der Geisterstadt EP423 AG146 AG編第146話 精灵宝可梦 超世代 第145集