AG128

Shocks and Bonds (Japanese: 決勝トーナメントへ！熱き戦いの日々！ To the Tournament Finals! Every Day a Heated Battle!) is the 128th episode of the, and the 402nd episode of the Pokémon anime. It was first broadcast in Japan on May 12, 2005 and in the United States on March 18, 2006.

Blurb
Ash, Tyson, and Morrison are all aiming for the top of the Hoenn League, but first they have to qualify for the Victory Tournament stage of the competition. In the third and final double battle qualification round, Ash sends out Glalie and Groyle against Clark, a conductor with two strong Fire-type Pokémon—Charizard and Quilava. Grovyle and Quilava are knocked out first, and it's an icy hot battle as Charizard and Glalie battle for victory! Thanks to Ash's quick thinking, Glalie bounces back for the win.

Morrison and Tyson advance to the Victory Tournament, too. In fact, the only ones not getting anywhere are Team Rocket. It's hard to steal Pikachu when they're busy selling snacks at the stadium, but honest work has its rewards... a delicious dinner they didn't even have to steal! Meanwhile, the Trainers have a day off to see the sights and do some extra training.

Now the Victory Tournament begins: 32 competitors, one winner! Ash's first opponent is Katie, a strategic Trainer who takes full advantage of type weaknesses and strengths. She starts out with Venomoth, but switches in Golduck to put Ash's Torkoal out of the match. Next up is Pikachu, but Katie counters with Dugtrio and sends Pikachu flying! Glalie knocks out Dugtrio, but is stopped by Misdreavus and its Destiny Bond attack. With Ash down three Pokémon and Katie only down two, will he be able to hang on to this match?

Plot
In the Stadium, 's next battle is about to start with a Trainer named Clark who directs his Pokémon like a conductor in a symphony orchestra. He calls out and  while his opponent chooses  and. thinks that Ash's Pokémon aren't good match-ups, but he knows both of his Pokémon are weak against Fire types and is okay with that.

Ash's Pokémon attack directly, but end up taking damage from Charizard's and Quilava's. Glalie's does not affect its opponents, but Charizard's move doesn't hit its target either. However, Quilava manages to hit Glalie with a, but Ash's Pokémon pay back with and. Grovyle blocks Quilava's Quick Attack, while Charizard's Heat Wave and Glalie's Icy Wind collide and explode. Then, Grovyle knocks out Quilava, but Charizard quickly defeats him with a. Ash orders Glalie to use on the ground, forming some ice pillars that stop Charizard's. Glalie uses in the icy labyrinth to avoid damage, but Charizard succeeds in striking Glalie with Steel Wing. This sends it ricocheting from pillar to pillar, which Ash uses to advantage. Glalie darts around the icy field and knocks out Charizard with a high-speed Headbutt, awarding Ash the victory.

Morrison then meets up with Ash and both are excited to have won another battle. They leave to see how is doing. Tyson and his opponent, Johnny, are each down to their last Pokémon. Tyson's using his against Johnny's. Sceptile uses to evade a barrage of  attacks, and when its opponent uses, it charges up a  that sends Aggron out of the fight, meaning that Tyson has also won his battle.

Ash and his friends have now advanced to the third round of the League. From now on, all of their matches will be full, six-on-six battles. Ash will be the first one to compete the next morning.

The next day, Ash is getting ready to face his newest opponent, a girl named. Ash uses while Katie sends out a. Torkoal blocks with its, which Venomoth renders unusable with. Torkoal uses Flamethrower, but Katie quickly returns Venomoth and calls out. Ash orders Torkoal to use, but Golduck sends Torkoal flying with a and then cuts it down with.

With Torkoal defeated, Ash sends into the arena. Katie responds by recalling Golduck and sending out. Pikachu uses a, but Dugtrio s to dodge, and then uses to engulf the ground in an ever-growing sand trap. Sliding down the ominous pit, Pikachu uses on Dugtrio to no avail. Before being swallowed up, Pikachu attacks with against Dugtrio's, but Pikachu is knocked out. Ash quickly picks up Pikachu and proceeds to send out Glalie. Dugtrio escapes underground, but is forced above by Glalie's powerful Headbutt on the ground. Using this opportunity, Glalie knocks it out with an Ice Beam. Katie sends out Misdreavus, but after taking an Ice Beam and a Headbutt, Misdreavus uses. Misdreavus faints, but then suddenly Glalie glows purple and collapses as well.

Ash has three remaining Pokémon and Katie has four. The battle is at a stalemate and the episode ends on a cliffhanger.

Major events

 * defeats Clark in a Double Battle, advancing to the Victory Tournament.
 * Morrison also defeats his opponent, advancing to the Victory Tournament.
 * defeats Johnny in a Double Battle, advancing to the Victory Tournament
 * Tyson is revealed to own a and a.
 * Ash begins his Full Battle against.

Humans

 * Max
 * Jessie
 * James
 * Morrison
 * Nurse Joy
 * Officer Jenny
 * Clark
 * Johnny
 * Dominick (flashback)
 * Referee
 * Spectators
 * Team Rocket's employer
 * Clark
 * Johnny
 * Dominick (flashback)
 * Referee
 * Spectators
 * Team Rocket's employer
 * Referee
 * Spectators
 * Team Rocket's employer

Pokémon
Pokémon Trainer's Choice:


 * ('s; Mimey)
 * (Morrison's)
 * (Morrison's)
 * (Morrison's)
 * (Morrison's)
 * (Morrison's)
 * ('s; debut)
 * (Clark's)
 * (Clark's)
 * (Johnny's)
 * ('s)
 * ('s)
 * ('s)
 * ('s)
 * ('s; flashback)
 * ('s; flashback)
 * (Vivica's; flashback)
 * ('s; flashback)
 * ('s; flashback)
 * ('s; flashback)
 * (Gavin's; flashback)
 * ('s; flashback)
 * ('s; flashback)
 * ('s; flashback)
 * ('s; flashback)
 * ('s; flashback)
 * (Dominick's; flashback)
 * (Dominick's; flashback)
 * (flashback)
 * ('s; flashback)
 * (Gavin's; flashback)
 * ('s; flashback)
 * ('s; flashback)
 * ('s; flashback)
 * ('s; flashback)
 * ('s; flashback)
 * (Dominick's; flashback)
 * (Dominick's; flashback)
 * (flashback)

Trivia

 * The title of this episode is a pun of "s and ".
 * The announcer mentions that 's finishing against  "looks like a critical hit". This marks one of the few times that this game mechanic has been mentioned in the.
 * As of this episode, all forms of the Hoenn starter Pokémon have appeared in the anime.
 * This is one of the few episodes prior to in which  neither blasts off nor recites their  in any form.

Errors

 * Right after the title screen, and Clark's Pokémon are already on the scoreboard despite not having been sent out yet.
 * Max states that Ash chose the perfect Pokémon to battle Clark, yet both of Clark's Pokémon are and therefore strong against Ash's   and.
 * 's wings do not glow white when it prepares to attack Glalie and its copies with  despite doing so in a previous scene.
 * was defeated by Glalie's despite being immune to  attacks.
 * is misspelled as Groyle on the pokemon.com blurb.

Dub edits

 * During the montage of the s' day off from competition, You & Me & Pokémon is used as background music.

Pokémon Trainer's Choice

 * Question: Trainers, which of these Pokémon has at least two evolutions?
 * Choices:, ,
 * Answer: OK, Trainers! If you chose Spheal, you were right!

In other languages
Die Attacken-Sonate EP405 AG128 AG128 AG編第128話 精灵宝可梦 超世代 第127集