AG020

Brave the Wave (Japanese: ムロジム！波乗りジムリーダー・トウキ登場！  Gym! Enter the Surfing Gym Leader!) is the 20th episode of the, and the 294th episode of the Pokémon anime. It was first broadcast in Japan on April 10, 2003 and in the United States on February 7, 2004.

Blurb
Ash charges out in the early morning, ready to challenge the Dewford Gym. He's followed by Max, May, and Brock who are all still wiping the sleep out of their eyes. Upon arriving at the door to the Gym, Ash is bowled over by a group of energetic surfers charging out of the door. The surfers are followed by a man who apologizes for the commotion and turns out to be none other than Brawly, the Dewford Gym Leader. Ash instantly asks for a match, but Brawly has plans to go surfing. Ash is irritated that Brawly won't accept the challenge, but he, May, Max, and Brock end up following Brawly and his surfer friends to the beach—much to his dismay. At the beach, Team Rocket is happily running a snack stand and they modify their motto to suit the service industry atmosphere. Of course, they see Ash and his friends arriving at the beach and begin devising a plot to steal Pikachu; although James is content to continue selling their frosty beverages. Brawly and his Makuhita begin surfing the waves.

On shore, Pikachu is caught by Team Rocket. They try to get away in a motor boat, but they are tailed by Makuhita on its surfboard. Makuhita rams into the boat, sending Pikachu flying into the water. Ash has Pikachu do a Thunderbolt attack to send Team Rocket blasting off again. Brawly then agrees to a 2-on-2 match with Ash. Ash uses his Taillow against Brawly's Machop. Brawly's Machop knocks out Taillow with a Karate Chop. Next Ash sends out Treecko, which knocks out Machop. Brawly then releases Makuhita against the already tiring Treecko. Just when it seems like Treecko won't give up, Makuhita evolves into Hariyama and finishes off Treecko. Ash takes Treecko to the Pokémon Center to rest up and regrets the fact that he put Treecko through such a tough fight. The episode ends with Ash deciding to stay on the island to train some more. 

Plot
and walk out of the Pokémon Center, ready to challenge the Dewford Gym. and Max are talking about Ash wanting to earn his second Badge fast. then walks out but is holding her pillow, causing her to blush.

They all have gotten to the Gym, seeing that the Gym says "brave the wave" Max thinks they are confident. Brock wonders if the Leader looks like Chuck from the Cianwood Gym. Ash says that it doesn’t matter, they can still win. He walks up to knock on the door, when a lot of girls come running out, knocking Ash over. A man follows them out and says that Ash should probably not take a nap there. Brock immediately begins to flirt with all the girls. The man wonders what Ash wants and Ash says that he is looking to challenge the Gym Leader. The man reveals that the Gym Leader is him and that his name is Brawly. Ash gets mad that Brawly will not battle him today, as he is going surfing. Ash wonders what kind of a Gym Leader he is but May and Brock tell him to relax and both head for the beach with Ash and Max grudgingly following them.

Many people are out surfing on the ocean already. Two people walk into a café, and find three people that recite a motto about food, creeping them out. says that the twerps have come and Jessie and James become excited, wanting to catch Pikachu.

The gang is standing on the beach when May says that she wants to go swimming. Without a break, she begins to take off her clothes, revealing a swimsuit underneath. Brock begins to call out to the girls when May sees Brawly. He sends out a who goes surfing with him. Ash looks Makuhita up on his Pokédex. Ash gets mad that the guy won’t battle him to surf and says that he is going to challenge him right now.

Brawly and Makuhita are working on their surfing when Ash calls out to them, wanting a battle. Brawly admires his determination as Ash appears next to them, in the ocean. Brawly, Ash and Makuhita get washed up onto the shore, with Ash still begging for a battle.

then send a net out over Pikachu, capturing him. Pikachu attempts to shock them, but the net is electric proof. Brawly wonders who they are, and Team Rocket runs off. Brawly orders Makuhita to help Pikachu and he runs out into the ocean, hitting them and freeing Pikachu. Pikachu uses on them and they blast off.

Brawly finally agrees to battle Ash, much to his happiness. Ash is pumped as they are standing in the Gym. May wonders what his strategy is, but Max and Brock don’t think he has one. They warn Ash, but he says with he can win against a surfer dude.

Ash sends out Taillow as his first Pokémon, and Brawly counters with. Ash tells Taillow to use, hitting Machop. Ash has Taillow use more Wing Attack, all of them hitting Machop. Ash wonders how Machop can still look so strong after getting hit so many times. Brock says that Machop is absorbing the blows so Ash has Taillow use. Brawly finally orders a move,, hitting Taillow square on and knocking it out. Brock realizes that surfing must have given advantage to Brawly’s Pokémon and tells Ash to stop using power attacks. Ash says that if they keep using power attacks then Brawly’s Pokémon will wear down eventually and says that he is sticking with his strategy.

Ash then sends out. He tells Treecko to use continuously. Then he changes to Quick Attack when Machop gets tired but it misses. Ash orders Pound one more time, and it hits, knocking Machop out. Brawly says that this battle is getting interesting and May and Max think he is going to win. Brock says that he thinks Machop only fainted because it was tired from battling Taillow, and now Treecko is tired. Brawly sends out Makuhita and Ash has Treecko use Pound over and over. Makuhita dodges them all and Treecko begins to get tired. Ash then has Treecko use Quick Attack and Makuhita counters with, slamming Treecko to the ground. He then has Makuhita use and everybody thinks Treecko is done when it gets back up, barely. Ash then orders Pound again and Makuhita counters with. Treecko barely gets back up when Makuhita evolves into. Brock tells Ash to give up and Brawly agrees, but Ash won’t give up. Ash has Treecko use Pound again, but Hariyama blocks it and uses, slamming Treecko into the wall and knocking it out. Brawly tells Ash to get Treecko to a Pokémon Center.

Nurse Joy is helping Treecko and Ash asks if it will be okay. Nurse Joy says that physically is it fine, but forcing a Pokémon to battle that hard she did not like. She tells Ash that it needs rest and his friends agree. Ash gets mad at them saying that they were so close to winning but they lost to a leader who would rather be surfing then training. Brock tells him to knock it off but Ash told him to shut up and runs out of the room.

Ash and Pikachu are walking along the beach in the sunset. Ash says that he should never have done that to Treecko. They see Brawly out surfing with Hariyama, helping it get used to its new form. He tells Hariyama that if Ash had battled with a level head, things might have been different so they need to keep training. Ash them walks up to Brawly and tells him that Treecko will be fine. Ash then apologizes for thinking surfing was worthless. Brawly tells him that playing in nature becomes training. Ash then apologizes to his friends and Ash says that he wants to stay on the island and train for his rematch.

Major events

 * and meet Brawly, the  Gym Leader.
 * Ash's Taillow is revealed to know.
 * Brawly's evolves into a.
 * Ash loses his Gym with Brawly.
 * Ash and his friends decide to stay on Dewford Island while Ash trains for a rematch with Brawly.

Humans

 * Brawly

Humans

 * Max
 * Jessie
 * James
 * Nurse Joy
 * Brawly
 * Chuck (flashback)
 * Nurse Joy
 * Brawly
 * Chuck (flashback)

Pokémon
Who's That Pokémon?:
 * (, evolves; debut)
 * (, newly evolved; debut)
 * (Brawly's)
 * (, evolves; debut)
 * (, newly evolved; debut)
 * (Brawly's)
 * (, newly evolved; debut)
 * (Brawly's)

Trivia

 * This is the last dub episode until Fear Factor Phony to feature Ken Gates as the narrator.
 * This is one of the few times where lashes out at one of . When  tries to give him advice about what he should have done, he yells "Shut up!" at him before storming out of the room.
 * In this episode, uses a  of their motto.

Errors

 * Brawly says that managed to defeat Ash's Taillow and, although Hariyama only defeated Treecko. Brawly's  is the one who defeated Taillow.

Dub edits

 * Text is added to the sign outside Brawly's Gym. It reads "Fight the Big Wave".
 * This video edit is not present in some countries that air the English dub nor in some foreign dubs at all, making the dialogue incongruous with the video.

In other languages
König der Wellen EP296 AG020 AG020 AG編第20話 精灵宝可梦 超世代 第20集