Ursula

Ursula (Japanese: ウララ Urara) is a recurring character who appeared in the Pokémon anime. She is a Pokémon Coordinator and a rival of both and Jessilina.

History
Ursula first appeared in Another One Gabites the Dust!, where it was revealed that she was one of the Wallace Cup competitors who were eliminated in the first round. When she recognized, she said it was an accident Dawn won the and she was looking forward to seeing Dawn's graceful moves at the Chocovine Town Pokémon Contest. Later, she was seen using her Sandy Cloak to perform a routine that ensured her progression to the second stage, where she used her.

During the Contest Battles, Ursula was paired up against Jessilina in the semifinals. At one point, Ursula's Gabite and Jessilina's seemed to be evenly matched, but when time ran out, Marian announced that the  advancing to the final round was Ursula. In the finals, Ursula posed a threat to Dawn as her Gabite had the upper hand for most of the battle against Dawn's Pachirisu. However, she found herself in trouble when Dawn fought back by commanding Pachirisu to block Gabite's attacks in unique ways, which ended up reducing Ursula's points considerably just as the clock was running down. As a result, she lost the battle, thinking that only the five-minute time limit prevented her from pulling off a win.

Her next appearance was in Yes in Dee Dee, It's Dawn!, where she was shown practicing with her and  for the Daybreak Town Pokémon Contest. After telling Dawn she also had won four Contest Ribbons, she introduced the two Cheering Pokémon she had trained specifically for a Double Performance, causing Dawn to panic and make some rude remarks. When Dawn apologized, Ursula decided to show her the results of their. However, the static electricity produced by Plusle and Minun made Dawn's hair sparkle like a diamond, which ultimately led her to faint.

Ursula was then seen overhearing the talk about the origin of Dawn's nickname, Dee Dee, and laughing to herself. At the start of the Daybreak Contest, she taunted Dawn with this story. Later on, she used Gabite and to deliver a performance that received positive reviews from the Contest Judges and secured her a place in the second round. In Playing the Performance Encore!, Ursula faced off against Jessilina in the first match of the Battle Stage. Using her Plusle and Minun, she was able to defeat Jessilina's and. After that, she won one more battle to reach the finals.

When Ursula found out that Dawn was her next opponent, she commented on how boring it would be to battle her in the final round and taunted her once again, calling her by her nickname and saying she didn't stand a chance against Plusle and Minun. During the battle, she had the two  using  multiple times, eventually making Dawn's hair stand on end and sparkle. Ursula was pleased to see Diamond Dandruff in person, but her mood suddenly changed when Dawn managed to get rid of and perfect the Flame Ice combo, lowering Ursula's points in the process. Ursula tried to fight back, but time ran out and Dawn was declared the winner.

Ursula appeared again in Last Call — First Round!, where she attended the Coordinator Meet and Greet for the Sinnoh Grand Festival. There, she approached Dawn and said she was counting on her to look good that day. Later, she was seen performing on the Blue Stage with her two. As part of her performance, she threw a Water Stone and a Fire Stone at each, causing them to evolve into and. Ursula's unique appeal easily placed her among the 32 Coordinators advancing to the Contest Battles, and in Opposites Interact!, she discovered she had been matched up against Dawn yet again.

Using her Gabite and Flareon against Dawn's Pachirisu and, Ursula proved to be a very tough opponent as she was able to take away nearly all of Dawn's points by delivering one successful attack after another and displaying some fierce combinations. However, her overconfidence ended up providing an opening for Dawn to use her newest custom-made move, Ice Chandelier, which knocked out Gabite and Flareon at once and prompted the judges to rule for Ursula's Pokémon, thereby eliminating Ursula from the Grand Festival. She made a brief appearance in A Grand Fight for Winning!, watching Dawn and Zoey compete in the finals.

Ursula made a cameo appearance in the ending credits of Zoroark: Master of Illusions.

Character
Like, Ursula has been eliminated several times in the Performance Stage. For this reason, she started working hard so that she could become a better. Prior to meeting Dawn, she had won three Ribbons, the same that Dawn had at that time. Believing Dawn's win in the Wallace Cup to be a fluke, and due to the fact that the two were simultaneously going for their fourth Ribbon, she developed an unfriendly rivalry with her.

Ursula has the tendency of being too sure of herself, as evidenced in most of her battles. Despite her arrogance, she is shown to care for her Pokémon and treat them well. Whenever she loses a battle, she makes excuses to diminish her faults. She may also take offense to small things, as seen in her debut episode when Dawn's Pachirisu refused one of her Poffins.

Her overall battling style is about incapacitating her opponent's Pokémon to prevent them from retaliating, showing off their appeal or escaping her consecutive attacks. When giving commands to her Pokémon, she usually makes signs with her arms crossed. This trait was noticed by Jessilina, who became inspired to make something similar during her performances.

In rotation
This listing is of Ursula's known Pokémon that may or may not be on hand:

Sinnoh Ribbons
This listing is of the Ribbons Ursula has obtained in the Sinnoh region:
 * Three unknown Ribbons (prior to Another One Gabites the Dust!)
 * Unknown Ribbon (prior to Yes in Dee Dee, It's Dawn!)
 * Unknown Ribbon (prior to Last Call — First Round!)

Grand Festival ranking
Ursula has competed in the following Grand Festivals:
 * Sinnoh Grand Festival - Top 32 (Opposites Interact!)

Other achievements
Ursula has competed in the following Pokémon Contests:
 * Wallace Cup - Appeal Round (revealed in Another One Gabites the Dust!)
 * Contest - Runner-up (Another One Gabites the Dust!)
 * Contest - Runner-up (Playing the Performance Encore!)

Trivia

 * Both Ursula's English and Japanese voice actresses share the Japanese names of two notable Sinnoh region Top Coordinators: Ayako and Melissa.
 * Ursula has never won a Ribbon on-screen.

Related articles

 * Images on the Bulbagarden Archives

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