AG187

The Unbeatable Lightness of Seeing! (Japanese: ハルカVSシュウ！ライバルよ永遠に！！  VS ! Rivals Forever!!) is the 187th episode of the, and the 461st episode of the Pokémon anime. It was first broadcast in Japan on August 10, 2006 and in the United States on January 27, 2007.

Blurb
Ash is still recovering from his defeat at the Battle Pyramid, while May is also melancholy about her own defeat at the Grand Festival. Professor Oak shows up at the Pokémon Center in Fennel Valley, with a special care package meant to cheer Ash up. It contains a poster with the prints of his Pokémon, a fishing lure from Misty, and food from his mother. There's even a postcard from Gary in Sinnoh, which gets Ash thinking about their rivalry and actually pulls him out of his funk.

May is still in a mood, but Drew visits her and says they should battle. The kids begin to set up, but when they are picking judges to oversee the battle, Team Rocket shows up disguised as the three official Contest judges. The kids are only slightly fooled, but the plot is blown wide open by the appearance of Harley and his Cacturne. He threatens Team Rocket and gets them to sit in the audience instead.

The battle begins, with Professor Oak and Scott as judges, and Nurse Joy as the MC. It's a Double Battle, with May's Combusken and Beautifly versus Drew's Roselia and Butterfree. The two are somewhat evenly matched, until May starts getting hit hard by Drew's awesome combos. He finishes her off with Psybeam combined with SolarBeam. Drew goes to see her after the battle, but she's actually okay with losing, and admits that she got overconfident when it comes to Pokémon Contests. Drew tells her he's going to the Johto region for Pokémon Contests, and Harley jumps in to say he's headed there too. Team Rocket also happens to be nearby, but when Jessie admits she's not going to follow the rest of them to Johto, Harley gets mad and sends the entire team blasting off. With thoughts of Johto on her mind, May encourages Ash, while Professor Oak writes a new poem.

Plot
After losing in the Battle Pyramid against, is feeling down in the dumps as thinks about what he did wrong and what he could do differently as he sits in a hot spring. is also going through a hard time, Ash's recent defeat having reminded her of her own loss in the Grand Festival against Solidad as and  are playing around. Scott and comment about how she isn't taking the loss very well and how she is worried about how her battling style is a lot like Ash's. May decides that she should practice her Contest moves. Skitty uses and Beautifly uses  which both combine to create a blue horizontal snow tornado. Ash and Max say how it has been a long time since they saw Skitty and Beautifly. May tells them that Caroline told her that Beautifly had learned how to use Psychic, so she decided to recall them to her team to spend some time together and train. Ash asks how the practicing is going, and May admits that it isn't going very well. Scott suggests that they practice together by battling each other but Ash and May are unsure whether it is a good idea. arrives and Ash asks him why he is there.

At the Pokémon Center, Professor Oak gives Ash a banner made by and his Pokémon, 's lure, and a box of food from. Several of Professor Oak's fans were admiring him from and taking pictures. Ash was able to recognize everyone's Pokémon prints. tell are impressed that he knows whose prints they are. Professor Oak hands Ash a postcard from from the Sinnoh region. Ash pictures Gary telling him that he shouldn't let a loss get him down, especially after Ash was able to defeat Gary before. Ash decides that he is going to work even harder and won't lose against Brandon again. Professor Oak recites a poem for Ash to help him, while a Nurse Joy runs up to him and asks for his autograph. A goes up to May as she realizes that Drew must be there as well. Nurse Joy goes up to him also and asks for his autograph. Drew asks how May is doing after her recent loss and she says that she is doing okay. Drew suggests that they have a Pokémon battle, since it is better than just being depressed all of the time. Brock says that it would give her mind a much needed rest. arrives dressed as Mr. Sukizo, Mr. Contesta, and Nurse Joy and suggest that they should be the ones to judge. uses to reveal that they are really Team Rocket.

Harley arrives and goes up to Team Rocket and yells at them for going after May when it is Harley who is going to torment her. Team Rocket tries to leave, but Cacturne jumps in front of them with needles out and Harley tells them that it doesn't mean he doesn't want them to stay. He tells Ash and his friends that they will be in the crowd supporting instead, but nobody trusts them and thinks that they are up to something. May asks Professor Oak and Scott to judge, and Nurse Joy to be the announcer. Nurse Joy says she will try to be exactly like Lilian. Nurse Joy asks Harley for his autograph, claiming she is his biggest fan. May's friends comment on how the battle is going to feel like a real Contest Battle.

May brings out and Beautifly, while Drew brings out  and Roselia. May's friends comment on how Beautifly and Combusken have not been seen together on the stage before. Combusken uses and Beautifly uses Psychic to create a fire version of the Blizzard and Psychic combo that Skitty and Beautifly did before. It looked like a horizontal flame tornado. Roselia used to break up the flames, and Beautifly used Psychic to send those flames again towards the opponents. Roselia uses to break it up into fiery leaves. Combusken goes after the opponent to attack, but Butterfree uses to send the flaming leaves right at Combusken and Beautifly. The judges comment on how May's combinations were good, but Drew's were a lot better. May tells Beautifly and Combusken to focus their energy on Butterfree. Butterfree uses while Combusken dodges and uses  which hits its mark. Roselia uses Petal Dance while Beautifly uses, but the petals turn white and are sent right at Combusken and Beautifly. Team Rocket and Harley make a comment about being glad they are in the crowd and not on stage. Combusken uses at maximum power, but Butterfree uses  to completely block the attack. Roselia uses and Butterfree uses Psybeam to land a critical hit on Combusken and Beautifly to knock them out. Drew wins the battle. May compliments Combusken and Beautifly on their hard work.

Later on, May tells Drew that she felt like she was getting overconfident and that's why she has lost. She tells Drew that she has thought about what he said about finding her own style, and that she was going to figure out her own style that is different from everyone else. May asks Drew where he is planning on going next, and he says that he is going to the Johto region to enter more Contests. May is very surprised to hear this. Harley walks up to them and exclaims that he is also going to the Johto region. He says to them that it was very suspicious seeing them alone, indicating that he thinks there is a love connection going on. Harley asks Jessie if she is going to Johto as well, but she says that Team Rocket is more important and is busy work so she declines the offer. Harley says she should brush up on her skills so that she doesn't stay a loser, but Jessie says that she'd rather stay in her rut and tries to grab a. Harley brings out Cacturne to use Bullet Seed to send Team Rocket blasting off, while Jessie is still trying to grab a Poké Ball. Jessie exclaims that she is going to scare Harley, but James and say to her sarcastically that she is really going to make him scared now.

Before leaving to head for the Johto region, Harley suggests to May that she should go to the Johto region as well, but May says that she will pass on that. Harley runs away quickly to head towards the Johto region. May's friends arrive and say they saw an explosion, and are wondering if May was okay. May tells them that Harley just sent Team Rocket away. Drew tells May that he expects that the next time they meet that he wants to see her new style. Drew waves good-bye as he heads to the Johto region and May thanks him for all of his help. May's friends ask May where Drew was headed to and she tells them that he's headed to the Johto region which brings back good memories for Ash. Brock suggests that Drew and Harley were destined to help May overcome her problems, and May says that she is not confused anymore. She says that she and Ash are on a new path, finding their own styles, especially for Ash to win at the Battle Pyramid. Professor Oak finishes the episode off with a poem to sum up the paths they are taking.

Major events

 * receives a postcard informing him of the Sinnoh region from, and a fishing lure from.
 * May's Beautifly and return from Petalburg City.
 * Beautifly is revealed to have learned.
 * Drew is revealed to own a.
 * has a practice Contest Battle against Drew and loses.
 * Drew and Harley announce that they, along with Solidad, are heading to Johto to participate in Pokémon Contests there.

Humans

 * Max
 * Jessie
 * James
 * Drew
 * Harley
 * Gary Oak (fantasy)
 * Scott
 * Nurse Joy
 * s
 * Audience
 * Scott
 * Nurse Joy
 * s
 * Audience

Pokémon

 * (Drew's)
 * (Drew's; photo)
 * (Drew's; photo)
 * (Drew's; photo)
 * (Harley's; photo)
 * (Drew's)
 * (Drew's; photo)
 * (Drew's; photo)
 * (Drew's; photo)
 * (Harley's; photo)
 * (Drew's; photo)
 * (Harley's; photo)
 * (Harley's; photo)

Trivia

 * This episode's dub title is a reference to the book  by.
 * This is the first episode in the main series to mention since his rivalry with  was resolved in Gotta Catch Ya Later!.
 * This episode marks the first mention of Sinnoh in the anime.
 * An instrumental version of 小さきもの A Small Thing is used as background music.
 * This is the first episode to use music from Lucario and the Mystery of Mew, but this is replaced in the dub.
 * Due to being sent to 's lab in the previous episode, this is the first episode in which Ash's Aipom does not appear since her introduction.
 * Team Rocket doesn't recite their in this episode.
 * This episode marks the final appearances of Drew and Harley as recurring characters in the show, though later they both had a brief cameo appearance watching the Wallace Cup with Solidad.
 * The next episode preview is narrated by.
 * This episode received the lowest ratings in the at 4.0, and until Evolution by Fire! in the, it was also the lowest-rated episode in the anime overall.

Errors

 * Professor Oak's eyebrows are gray instead of black in a few scenes.
 * The color of Harley's hair when he first appears is duller than normal.
 * In the sunset scene at the end, the right side of Ash's hair was white against Professor Oak's jacket.

Dub edits

 * Drew originally tells Butterfree to use, then . In the dub, Drew only says to use Gust.