DP184

Casting a Paul on Barry! (Japanese: シンオウリーグ三回戦！シンジ対ジュン！！ Sinnoh League Third Round! VS !!) is the 184th episode of the, and the 650th episode of the Pokémon anime. It aired in Japan on July 15, 2010 and in the United States on December 4, 2010.

Blurb
As Ash prepares to battle Conway in the third round of the Sinnoh League tournament at Lily of the Valley Island, Barry is getting ready to battle Paul. In his usual bombastic way, Barry informs Paul that their match will surely decide the top Trainer, while Paul is wary of being overconfident.

The third round is a three-on-three battle, and first up, it’s Barry’s Skarmory against Paul’s Magmortar. Although Barry starts out strong by using Spikes to lay a trap, Magmortar quickly defeats Skarmory, so Barry brings out Hitmonlee. Paul then switches to Ursaring, who is powerful enough to withstand Hitmonlee’s repeated attacks.

Barry has only one Pokémon left, and it’s his beloved Empoleon. Though Empoleon shows great speed and strength, it can’t achieve victory over Paul’s powerful Electivire, and Paul is the victor!

Meanwhile, Team Rocket’s snack shop, thanks to a brainstorm from James, has expanded to sell souvenirs featuring all the Pokémon stars of the third round. The Electivire candy bars are particularly popular!

We leave our heroes pondering Ash’s upcoming battle with Conway, who keeps mysteriously appearing for mere seconds at a time and dropping hints about his “secret strategy”...

Plot
The episode starts with Paul defeating a female Trainer. Then, tells his  to use  on his female opponent's, defeating it. With the second round of battles over, the battling pairs for the third round are shown. Conway will be battling Ash, and will be battling Paul. Outside the stadium, Ash and are looking at the screen. Then, Conway appears out of nowhere again. As Conway says something, walks back and accidentally bumps into Barry. Barry scolds Dawn for making him fall, and Dawn tells him that he should not be running. The two starts to fight, but stops them. Ash asks Barry what he is running for. He replies that he is looking for Paul. He runs off. continues to sell their merchandise but everybody passed by them. takes out the Jessilina toy and a Meowth door figure. But there is nobody listening to them. James asks why no one buys their merchandise. Jessie suggests that the Meowth figurine is not good enough, and Meowth denies that, and says that the Jessilina figurine is not nice. Both of them start to quarrel. They say that they will do their best to sell their merchandise. In the evening, Paul is checking the data of Barry, when he hears Barry's voice. Ash stares at Paul. Barry asks Paul if he is looking up on him, and he replies yes. After Paul leaves, Barry checks on Paul's data. Conway appears suddenly and tells Ash about the and its. Then Conway goes away and Barry and Ash rush out.

The battle of Paul and Barry is about to begin. A rock field will be the battlefield for their battle. Barry and Paul appears on both side of the battlefield. Barry chooses as his first Pokémon and Paul chooses. Dawn checks the data of Skarmory on her Pokédex. Barry starts the battle with. Paul tells Magmortar to use, the strong attack takes out Skarmory immediately. Skarmory is declared out of battle. Barry thanks his Skarmory and returns it to its Poké Ball. He sends out. Empoleon uses on Magmortar, injuring it. Despite knowing that his Pokémon will be injured under the effects of Spikes, Paul calls back Magmortar and sends out. The Spikes from before inflicts a damage on Ursaring. Barry returns Empoleon. He chooses. Paul tells Ursaring to use. Hitmonlee uses. Ursaring uses but Hitmonlee dodges it by jumping on a rock. Ursaring uses and Barry tells Hitmonlee to dodge it all. Then, Hitmonlee uses. Ursaring uses Hammer Arm again and hits Hitmonlee. As Hitmonlee is about to crash onto a rock, Barry tells it to do its best. It jumps up high and uses. It crashes to the ground and hits Ursaring with its other leg. Paul tells it to use. Although Hitmonlee dodges it by jumping behind a rock, the strong impact hits Hitmonlee. Ursaring uses Hammer Arm again, Hitmonlee counters it by using, burning Ursaring. Ursaring activates and uses Hammer Arm to counter Hitmonlee's Blaze Kick. The strong impact causes a smoke that clears soon after. Both Pokémon are seen standing up but Hitmonlee falls later. Hitmonlee is defeated. Outside the stadium, Team Rocket saw the battle outside the stadium on the TV screen. A jokingly flies past them. James reminds them again of their store. Jessie says that nobody wants to buy, but James thought of a great idea. He runs off.

Barry chooses his Empoleon again. Paul tells Ursaring to use and Empoleon uses. Both Pokémon are injured. Ursaring uses Focus Blast and Empoleon uses to reflect the attack. The Focus Blast is sent back to Ursaring, injuring it. Paul calls Ursaring back, and sends out. The hit Electivire. Dawn checks on her Pokédex. Ash comments that Paul's Electabuzz evolved and Dawn comments that Barry is about to lose. Empoleon uses and Electivire counters it with. The attacks collide and causes a huge smoke. The smoke clears and shows Empoleon breathing heavily, needing to recharge after using Hyper Beam. Electivire uses and Barry tells Empoleon to dodge it. Paul tells Electivire to continue using Thunder Punch, but Empoleon dodges them all. When Empoleon gets cornered, Electivire uses and Empoleon is hit at a point-blank range. Empoleon manages to stand up. Electivire uses Thunder Punch. Empoleon fails to dodge it, and is launched back many feet, smashing rocks in the process. Empoleon tries to get up. Barry yells it to continue doing its best, Empoleon hears it and its Ability is activated. Empoleon uses. Its Ability powers up its, which is strong enough to destroy the rocky terrain of the field. Ash, Brock and Dawn are all pleased with this break though, though Paul just orders Electivire to use. Hydro Cannon hits the protective shielding and Electivire is unaffected by Empoleon's last resort. Empoleon has to recharge from the attack. Electivire finishes it the battle off with. Empoleon stands still, taking the damage of the Thunder. Barry yells out to Empoleon. Paul is declared the winner. Barry thanks his Empoleon for the great battle.

James rushes back to the store, bringing a big sack of things. Jessie and Meowth remove the ropes quickly. They began to promote their merchandise, which consists of many figurines of Paul's and Barry's Pokémon. A crowd appears, wanting to buy their merchandise. Team Rocket is thrilled.

As Paul is about to leave, Barry calls out to him. He asks Paul if they can battle again. Paul replies affirmatively. Barry is happy. Barry tells Ash that he will cheer for him in his battle against Conway. His friends will cheer for him too. Conway suddenly appears. Conway says that he will win but Ash denies. The episode ends with a scene of Ash and Conway staring each other down.

Major events

 * , Paul,, Conway, and make it through the second round of the Lily of the Valley Conference.
 * Ash and Paul are selected to Conway and Barry, respectively, in the third round of the tournament.
 * Paul's is revealed to have evolved into an.
 * Barry is revealed to own a and a.
 * Paul defeats Barry and advances to the of the tournament.

Pokémon debuts

 * Paul's Electivire

Humans

 * Jessie
 * James
 * Paul
 * Conway
 * Referee
 * Audience
 * Conway
 * Referee
 * Audience
 * Referee
 * Audience

Pokémon

 * (photo)
 * (photo)
 * (photo)
 * ('s)
 * ('s)
 * ('s)
 * ('s)
 * (photo)
 * ('s)
 * ('s)
 * ('s)
 * ('s)
 * ('s)
 * ('s)
 * ('s)
 * ('s)

Trivia

 * There is no Professor Oak's Big Pokémon Examination following this episode.
 * This episode was the first to air in Japan after the theatrical release of Zoroark: Master of Illusions.
 * This episode marks the first time that the Ability is shown in the.
 * As of this episode, all three -exclusive Abilities have been seen in the anime.
 * This is the first time that has been revealed to have a Pokémon that his  does.
 * When Barry's used  in this episode, it has the same effect as in the games (causing damage only to Pokémon switching into battle), as opposed to previous episodes when Spikes would instead causing damage directly against the opposing Pokémon.
 * When was selling their merchandise, they had a doll of Jessilina with a lollipop, which she had been seen with in the ending theme Message of the Wind.
 * This episode marks the first time when the move is used by another species of Pokémon than.
 * At one point, a flies by  after he said that "it's a party at the stadium while out here you can hear paint dry." This is a reference to a common trope in Japanese media, where a crow flies by a character after the character says something extremely obvious or extremely stupid.
 * The episode's name may be a pun on "casting a pall on Barry".

Errors

 * Barry says that Paul's information on the computer is outdated, although there is an image of his recently evolved on the screen.
 * Barry says that 's will affect Paul's substituted Pokémon no matter which one he chooses. However, this is incorrect, as Flying types and Pokémon with  are immune to Spikes.
 * When uses  against, the move is shown destroying rocks in its path. However, when  and  were battling, there weren't any rocks in their path.

In other languages
Barrys großer Kampf! EP653 DP184 DP編第184話 精灵宝可梦 钻石＆珍珠 第182集