DP050

'''Tag! We're It...! (Japanese: 全員参加！タッグバトル！！' All Members Participate! Tag Battle!!'') is the 50th episode of the, and the 516th episode of the Pokémon anime. It first aired in Japan on October 4, 2007 as part of a two-hour special alongside DP049, and in the United States on February 1, 2008.

Blurb
Dawn is still feeling a little blue after her early exit from the Hearthome Pokémon Contest, so her friends convince her to compete in a tag battle tournament along with Ash and Brock. Our heroes head to the opening ceremonies to learn who their randomly chosen tag partners are. Dawn's new partner is Conway, a calculating Trainer with a Slowking. Brock's lovely partner is Holly, who will compete using her Wingull. And Ash's partner is—Paul? Even Paul's Elekid doesn't get along with Pikachu! Ash and Pauls chances of winning the Soothe Bell prize arent looking too great.

Dawn and Conway are up first, battling a team using Koffing and Scyther. Dawn isn't so sure about Conway, but the two of them turn out to be a good pair! Conway has Slowking use defensive moves to cover for Dawn's Piplup, letting Piplup concentrate on offensive moves, and they win their match. Then Brock and Holly have their Sudowoodo and Wingull work together to defeat a Yanma and Bagon whose Trainers are too busy arguing to battle effectively. That doesn't bode well for Ash and Paul, who still aren't getting along.

Ash and Paul are up against opponents using Magmar and Rhydon—not a great type match-up for Pikachu and Paul's Chimchar. When Rhydon uses Surf, Paul orders Chimchar to use Flame Wheel directly into the waves! Its incredibly risky, so Ash tells Pikachu to disrupt the Surf attack instead. That protects Chimchar and knocks out Rhydon, but Paul doesn't appreciate the interference. They manage to win this round, but at the rate they're arguing, they might not last through the next!

Plot
and hand  an entry card for the Hearthome City Tag Battle Competition. Zoey suggested it to give Dawn a confidence boost after not making it into the Battle Stage of the. At the stadium, explains the rules and shows the competitors the prize for winning, a Soothe Bell that  wants to steal. The contestants are shuffled and put into pairs for the competition. The three set off to find their partners. Dawn is the first to find her partner, an odd boy named Conway and his. Next Brock finds his partner, a girl named Holly with a. Of course, she is a beautiful girl who Brock falls for, but she tells him that she is not interested in younger men. Ash is still searching for his partner when a voice calls out "of course you had to be number 15." He turns around to find his partner is none other than Paul standing there with his and.

Dawn and Conway are first to battle with their and Slowking against a  and. Scyther starts things off with a and Koffing attacks with a. Piplup blocks the Razor Wind with a and Slowking blocks the Sludge Bomb with a. Koffing comes back with a that Slowking blocks with. Scyther attacks with an but Piplup comes from above with a  attack that knocks out Scyther. Koffing uses, but it is stopped by Slowking's. Slowking then slams Koffing into the ground knocking it out. The two win with a combination of Conway's defense and Dawn's attack.

Brock and Holly are up next. It's and Wingull against a  and. Wingull uses a attack but is hit by a  from Yanma first. While Wingull is falling, Bagon comes in with a, which is stopped by a from Sudowoodo. The other side is arguing about getting in each other's way. Wingull uses an icy Blizzard. Bagon tries to counter with but is hit by Sudowoodo's  first. Wingull hits Yanma with an and both Bagon and Yanma faint. They win and advance to the next round. Brock starts to flirt with Holly, then catches himself and stops... only for Holly to start flirting with him. Brock is surprised, while is left bemused.

Ash and Paul are the last battle of the first round. Ash sends out and Paul sends out Chimchar, and the opposition sends out a  and. Ash decides to battle his way and starts things off with a towards Magmar however the attack is redirected to Rhydon thanks to its  Ability. Rhydon, who is naturally unharmed, then smashes Pikachu with a attack. Magmar attacks with a, an extremely powerful move that affects everyone on the field. Rhydon is left barely affected thanks to its type-advantage, but the blaze of fire quickly heads toward Pikachu and Chimchar. Ash tells Pikachu to dodge but Paul sends Chimchar straight into the fire. The flame on Chimchar's tail becomes bigger and Chimchar gives a powerful blast of, which has very little effect on Rhydon. Rhydon counters with a direct hit from a. Pikachu comes down from its dodge with an. Now the two opponents are aware that even without electric attacks, Pikachu shouldn't be taken lightly and have Rhydon strike back with a surprise attack while Magmar uses. Paul decides to take it head on with a. Ash tries to convince him that Chimchar could really get hurt but he does not care. As Pikachu panics, Ash suddenly remembers how Zoey used 's Iron Tail to cut through 's during her Double Performance and has Pikachu break through the Surf, which slams into Rhydon. Pikachu then scores a direct-hit with Iron Tail knocking Rhydon out and leaving Magmar alone. Now free to use electric attacks, Pikachu goes straight for Magmar with a but Magmar deflects it with a. While Pikachu and Magmar are fighting, Chimchar comes from beneath with a that knocks out Magmar. Brock tells Dawn that Ash and Paul can't get much further unless they start working as a team.

Major events

 * ,, and enter the Hearthome City Tag Battle Competition and are paired with Paul, Conway, and Holly, respectively.
 * The three teams advance to the second round of the competition.
 * Paul's Chimchar is revealed to have learned.

Humans

 * Conway
 * Holly

Humans

 * Jessie
 * James
 * Paul
 * Conway
 * Holly
 * s
 * Audience
 * Holly
 * s
 * Audience
 * s
 * Audience
 * s
 * Audience

Pokémon

 * (Conway's)
 * (Holly's)
 * (flashback)
 * (flashback)
 * ('s)
 * ('s)
 * ('s)
 * (Trainer's)
 * (Trainer's)
 * (Trainer's)
 * (fantasy)
 * (fantasy)
 * (fantasy)
 * (fantasy)
 * (fantasy)
 * (fantasy)
 * (Trainer's)
 * (Trainer's)
 * (Trainer's)
 * (fantasy)
 * (fantasy)
 * (fantasy)
 * (fantasy)
 * (fantasy)
 * (fantasy)

Trivia

 * This is the first episode of the three-part Hearthome City Tag Battle Competition mini-arc.
 * The ending was omitted in the original broadcast, with the credits moved to the opening instead.
 * Music from Pokémon Heroes and Jirachi: Wish Maker, as well as the instrumental version of Advance Adventure, are used as background music.
 * This episode, along with Glory Blaze! and Smells Like Team Spirit!, aired as a 90-minute special on February 1, 2008, on.
 * The title is a pun of the phrase "Tag. You're It!"
 * 's attack, when directed at, was refracted towards the opponent's 's horn, an example of the  Ability. Interestingly, Pikachu previously fought Blaine's Rhydon and Magmar, during which it aimed for Rhydon's horn to hurt it.
 * doesn't blast off or recite their in this episode.

Errors

 * When the first match-ups are being shown, Paul's picture is shown instead of Conway's.
 * In the English dub, the closed captions referred the and  by their Japanese names, Researcher and Elite Trainer, respectively.

In other languages
Ein Partner zum Abgewöhnen! EP519 DP050 DP050 DP編第50話 精灵宝可梦 钻石＆珍珠 第49集