BW053

A Maractus Musical! (Japanese: 虹の彼方へ！マラカッチでミュージカル！！ Over the Rainbow! Musical!!) is the 53rd episode of the, and the 710th episode of the Pokémon anime. It first aired in Japan on October 27, 2011 and in the United States on March 17, 2012.

Blurb
En route to the Driftveil Gym, Ash and friends come across a trio of Maractus and their Trainer, Toby, who are rehearsing for their upcoming audition at the Pokémon Musical in Nimbasa City. As part of their rehearsal, they plan to enter the Pokémon Performance Competition, but they’re having some trouble with their grand finale, a move called “Over the Rainbow” that involves one of the Maractus (named Tussy) leaping into the air and landing on the arms of the other two.

Ash observes that the three Maractus aren’t in sync with each other, and suggests a Triple Battle to get the trio back on track. During the battle, Toby tries to pull off Over the Rainbow again, and it fails spectacularly, sending Tussy crashing to the ground. Toby finally figures out that Tussy is afraid of heights, but he’s still determined to make the performance work.

After another failed attempt, Toby gets upset and yells at Tussy, who runs away in embarrassment just as the Pokémon Performance Competition is about to begin. Ash, Toby, and the other two Maractus track down the distraught Tussy—and when they have to fend off a menacing Scolipede, Tussy gets over its fear of heights to leap into battle!

With Tussy’s fear conquered, the trio’s performance goes off without a hitch, and they win the competition! Toby and the Maractus Trio thank Ash and friends for their help and head off to audition in Nimbasa City, as our heroes’ journey toward the Driftveil Gym continues.

Plot
eagerly runs into a town hoping it to be Driftveil City, but unfortunately and  tell him it's not. Nearby Ash sees a Trainer with three performing a performance routine. The Trainer decides it's time to execute their routine called "Over the Rainbow." All three start off by using which mesh together to form a rainbow circle. Two of the Maractus named Marra and Racca leaps into the air and uses. Marra and Racca high-five then join hands in the air and proceed to use while spinning. Finally the Trainer commands the final Maractus, Tussy, who is noticeably smaller than Marra and Racca, to leap and "Cross the Rainbow." Tussy leaps into the air and tries to land on Marra and Racca's arms but it messes up the move and all three Maractus crash into the ground. Ash, Cilan, And Iris run over to help check up on them, luckily they are all okay.

Ash and his friends introduce themselves to him. Toby introduces himself as well as each of his Maractus as the unit "Maractus the Trio." They are practicing their routine in hopes of one day performing in the Pokémon Musical in Nimbasa City. In the meantime he wants to participate in the Pokémon Performance Competition that's held in town in order to gain confidence before they audition for the musical. Toby describes the "Over the Rainbow" performance that they are practicing. What was supposed to happen is after Marra and Racca high-five then join hands, Tussy is to then land on their arms and use causing the Pin Missile and Petal Dance to shine and create a rainbow. Ash, Iris, and Cilan volunteer to help them master the routine.

Toby firsts need some rhythm. As Ash ponders which of his Pokémon can provide good rhythm, pops out of his Poké Ball. Oshawott taps his scalchop making a drum noise, Toby thinks it's perfect. Cilan sends out his. Toby gives Pansage a tambourine. Pansage enthusiastically plays a rhythm on it. Iris recommends that has rhythm too. After a bit of fun dancing, they settle down. Pansage and Pikachu both have tambourines, Axew with maracas, and Oshawott with a castanet. Unfortunately they cannot sync their rhythm and a fight between them unfolds. Toby instead decides to play some music on a boom box. Toby once again executes the same routine as before. Marra and Racca starts off "Over the Rainbow" but once again, when Tussy tries to land on Marra and Racca's arms, it fails the jump and landing and all three Maractus crash to the ground.

Toby knows that Tussy is the one that is messing up the routine, so he wants Tussy to improve its jump. Iris decides to bring out her jumping expert. Emolga shows Tussy how to do a simple jump by jumping from the ground onto Iris' head. Tussy tries to jump onto Toby's head but it doesn't jump high enough and thus they both fall to the ground. Emolga coaches Tussy a little bit more and, once Tussy gets focused, Tussy jumps high into the air and lands perfectly on Toby's head. With the successful jump now mastered, Toby has his three Maractus perform the jump with Marra and Racca on the ground. Tussy does the jump correctly but it cannot keep its balance on their arms. Cilan concludes that they need to sync better. Ash suggests that they have a battle to improve their synchronization. Cilan suggests a Triple Battle.

The battle sets up with Toby and his three Maractus and Ash with. , and. Pikachu starts off with a but all three Maractus dodges. All three Maractus attacks with Round, hitting all three of Ash's Pokémon. Snivy attacks with but the Maractus counters with Pin Missile. Tepig attacks with but Marra and Racca blocks the attack with Petal Dance. Marra and Racca join hands and unleashes Pin Missile just like their routine, but Snivy blocks the attack with. Tussy leaps up into the air and lands perfectly on Marra and Racca's arms, but as it looks down, it begins to panic and all three Maractus fall to the ground. Cilan decides to end the battle.

Toby figures that Tussy is afraid of heights. He tells him that he can overcome it if he puts a little effort into it. Despite the fact that their performance isn't complete, Toby decides it's time to go to the Performance Competition. Toby tells Ash, Iris, and Cilan that he hopes his town, which is a small town in the middle of wasteland next to a coal mine, will one day watch his performance. As a child he was amazed by a Pokémon performance held their once, and coincidentally, a rainbow was over the performance. However as time had passed and the coal mine was sealed, everyone in town left. Toby eventually left as well. As he traveled across the desert he saw Marra, Racca, and Tussy playing together. At that moment another rainbow shone overhead, and Toby vowed that he would use those three Maractus to perform. He asked if they'd join him and they all agreed.

Toby decides to have one last practice before they start. However, once again, after landing on Marra and Racca's arms, Tussy's fear of heights causes all three to fall to the ground. Toby yells at Tussy to stop messing up as the future success of the "Maractus the Trio" relies upon their next performance. Upset by his failure and Toby's scolding, Tussy runs off. As they try to find Tussy the Pokémon Performance Competition begins. Toby and Ash continue to search for Tussy while Iris and Cilan go to the competition. Toby and Ash finally find Tussy, but Tussy continues to run until it bumps into a. Tussy freezes in fear but Toby runs in front of Tussy to protect it, telling it to run away. Tussy instead jumps onto the Scolipede's head. Ash has Pikachu use on Scolipede's feet. Tussy jumps off of Scolipede before the attack hits and Tussy lands perfectly on Marra and Racca's arms for the first time without falling. Toby apologizes to Scolipede as they run away.

Toby congratulates Tussy on its first successful jump and also apologizes to Tussy for being so hard on it. He realizes that Tussy was doing its best all along and he was wrong to scold it. Back at the Performance Competition, Iris stalls them long enough for Toby to return. Toby enters as the last performer. Marra, Racca, and Tussy starts off the performance with their dance with maracas. Toby decides it's time to perform "Over the Rainbow." Marra, Racca, and Tussy starts off with Round creating a rainbow circle. Marra and Racca then jumps up with Petal Dance and high-five then join hands. They continue by spinning together while using Pin Missile. Tussy still is nervous about doing the performance but Toby tells Tussy that he believes that it can do it just like earlier. Tussy enthusiastically jumps and lands perfectly on Marra and Racca's arms. Tussy uses Sunny Day, completing the performance perfectly by making a rainbow just like Toby had envisioned.

Toby runs on to the stage happy that the performance was finally a success. Afterwards, Toby is announced the winner. Toby announces that, with their performance perfected, he will continue on to Nimbasa City to audition. Toby hopes that he'll be able to make a troupe and one day restore his hometown to its former glory. Ash, Iris, and Cilan wishes him well as he prepares to leave, however Toby's Maractus notice a rainbow in the sky, before they all finally leave to continue their respective journeys.

Major events

 * learns about Triple Battles and has his first official battle of this type.

Humans

 * Toby
 * Chairman
 * s
 * Audience
 * Chairman
 * s
 * Audience

Pokémon
Who's That Pokémon?:
 * (Toby's; ×3, Marra, Racca, and Tussy; debut)
 * (×3)
 * (multiple)
 * (multiple)
 * (multiple)
 * (multiple)
 * (multiple)
 * (multiple)
 * (multiple)
 * (multiple)
 * (multiple)
 * (multiple)
 * (multiple)
 * (multiple)
 * (flashback)
 * (flashback)
 * (flashback)
 * (flashback)
 * (flashback)
 * (flashback)
 * (flashback)
 * (flashback)
 * (multiple; flashback)
 * (multiple; flashback)
 * (multiple)
 * (multiple)
 * (multiple)
 * (flashback)
 * (flashback)
 * (flashback)
 * (flashback)
 * (flashback)
 * (flashback)
 * (flashback)
 * (flashback)
 * (multiple; flashback)
 * (multiple; flashback)

Trivia

 * Professor Oak's Pokémon Live Caster:
 * This is the first episode to feature an official Triple Battle.
 * Although Triple Battles are available in the games since Generation V and Ash said that this was his first one, he still had one against in Chim - Charred!. It is unknown how official and unofficial Triple Battles are told apart in the anime.
 * is used as an insert song.
 * A rearranged instrumental version of Seven-colored Arch is used during Toby's performance in the original version. The actual song didn't debut until Battling the King of the Mines!.
 * A girl who bears a resemblance to from Clamperl of Wisdom has a cameo in this episode watching the opening act of the Pokémon Musical.
 * The Maractus's routine is called "Over the Rainbow" which is a possible reference to

Errors

 * Cilan is missing the pupils in his eyes in one scene.

Dub edits

 * The insert is replaced with a  insert.

In other languages
Ein Maracamba-Musical! EP715 BW053 BW編第53話 精灵宝可梦 超级愿望 第53集