BW031

Ash and Trip's Third Battle! (Japanese: ライバルバトル！バニプッチ、ドッコラー参戦！！ Rival Battle!, Compete in a Battle!!) is the 31st episode of the , and the 688th episode of the Pokémon anime. It first aired in Japan on May 12, 2011, and in the United States on September 3, 2011.

Blurb
On their way to Nimbasa City, our heroes stop for a lunch that Cilan is preparing—a gourmet meal, as usual. But Ash and Iris's roughhousing ruins the lunch, so Cilan asks them to go and play elsewhere while he prepares lunch all over again.

Nearby, Ash's rival Trip is catching a Palpitoad when Ash stumbles in and spoils Trip's efforts. When Trip realizes Iris is from the Village of Dragons and that she's working toward becoming a Dragon Master, Trip challenges her to a battle. But Ash wants to battle Trip instead—this would be their third bout! Trip is reluctant at first, but Iris shames him into agreeing to a three-on-three battle with Ash.

Trip brings out his Servine and Ash starts with his Snivy, much to Trip and Iris's surprise. Their reaction is vindicated when Snivy is soon defeated. Between rounds, Trip tells Ash about the Unova Champion, Alder, who Trip met as a little boy. Alder promised he would stay the Champion so that when Trip grew up, he could challenge Alder.

Anxious to do just that, Trip brings out his Timburr and Ash brings out Oshawott, who has been struggling in battle. We discover the reason Oshawott has been unsuccessful using Aqua Jet: Oshawott keeps its eyes completely closed during the move! But a final Razor Shell from Oshawott evens everything up to one win apiece.

Finally, Trip's calls up Vanillite—an Ice-type Pokémon that scares and freezes Iris a bit—to take on Ash's Tepig. After some truly fierce battling, the match ends up a draw!

Deciding that mimicking Ash's off-the-wall battling style isn't for him, Trip leaves to rethink his plans. Ash and Iris remember they left Cilan making lunch! They rush back and find a distraught Pokémon Connoisseur sadly musing on being stood up for lunch...

Plot
While is on their way to Nimbasa City,  is busy cooking a meal for  and. ,, and are all waiting hungrily. While Cilan cooks the food, Ash and Iris are swinging around on tree vines overhead, causing the trees to shake and have leaves fall into the food. Angered, Cilan throws the leaf out of the pot with his ladle, and accidentally knocks over the food. Ash and Iris apologize for causing the accident, and Iris suggests that they could eat apples instead. Cilan insists that he'll recook the meal instead and that Ash and Iris go play elsewhere until he's finished.

Ash and Iris then walk off while Cilan cooks and argue about whose fault it was. Iris tries to put the blame on Ash, while Ash tries to convince Iris that it was her fault. In their argument, Iris challenges Ash a race to a tree with Oran Berries in it. While racing, Ash accidentally lets go of a vine that he was hanging on and slides down a hill.

Meanwhile, Trip is seen trying to catch a. He freezes it with an attack by his and prepares to catch it. However, Ash stumbles in and accidentally crushes the ice that the Palpitoad had been frozen in. Ash checks his Pokédex to see what it is. Palpitoad then runs off and jumps into a nearby lake, causing Trip to miss his chance to catch it. Ash then realizes that Trip and his Vanillite are next to them. Ash points his Pokédex at the Vanillite, and Trip responds to Ash by explaining how he was in the middle of capturing the Palpitoad. Ash then apologizes and explains that it was an accident. Afterward, Iris jumps from a tree down to Ash and Trip. Iris's Axew then notices Trip's Vanillite, causing Iris to become frightened. Iris explains that she has developed a fear of Pokémon, so Trip recalls the Vanillite to its. Trip begins to walk off when Ash starts questioning Iris about her fear. Trip then walks back and proceeds to take pictures of both Iris and her Axew and then continues to talk about Iris's fear.

The scene then changes back over to Cilan, where he is seen preparing the meal once again with his Pansage. He calls out for Iris and Ash announcing that the meal is ready but is unable to see or hear either of them. Since they are not coming, he decides to continue working on his meal with a Pecha Berry that he has.

Trip continues to criticize Iris and her Axew, but then decides that he would be interested in battling against her. Ash says that he would rather have a battle against Trip rather than Iris, but Trip ignores him and continues to ask Iris. Iris then begins to think about and  and decides, due to their obedience problems, that she does not want to battle. Trip then becomes uninterested and begins to walk off. Iris crosses her arms and explains that denying such a request makes Trip seem like a little kid. This causes Trip to become angry and accept Ash's offer. The two challenge each other to a three-on-three battle, where whoever gets the best two out of three wins is victorious. Trip begins the battle by sending out his. Ash then sends out his and the battle begins.

Cilan is seen once again preparing his meal along a newly baked cake with a Pecha Berry on it and is enjoying the scent of it. His Pansage and return to him and try to explain that they cannot find Ash or Iris anywhere. Cilan begins to worry, but he keeps a positive attitude and continues to work on the meal.

Trip begins to criticize Ash's choice of starting off with Snivy against his Servine and explains that Ash will never be a Pokémon Champion with strategies such as his. Ash assures that he is confident with his plan and that his Snivy is capable of defeating Trip's Servine once again. The battle begins with Trip's Servine using where Ash counters it by having his Snivy use. The two attacks collide and Trip immediately orders his Servine to use. Ash orders his Snivy to dodge and then use. Trip counters the hearts of the Attract attack by once again using Leaf Tornado, causing all of the hearts of the attack to vanish and render the Attract attack useless. Trip explains that he won't fall for the same strategy again and that he learned from his mistake last time. He then orders his Servine to once again use Cut. Ash orders his Snivy to Leaf Blade. However, Servine's Cut overpowers Snivy and causes Snivy to faint. This leaves Trip with one win.

Trip comments on how Ash has not improved since the last time they battled. He then explains how the battle they are doing is pointless and will not help him gain the experience he needs to battle Alder. Ash asks who Alder is, and Iris begins to explain that he is the Champion of the Unova League. Trip explains that he met Alder when he was younger and begins to remember a promise he made to Alder in the past. Trip then has a flashback and recalls seeing Alder at a festival. In the flashback, Trip says that he wants to battle Alder and become the Champion, and he kept the promise ever since. He then snaps out of his flashback and he resumes battling.

Trip and Ash move onto round two of the battle, where Trip sends out a. Ash pulls out his Pokédex and scans Timburr before sending out his. Oshawott then becomes scared when Timburr swings its lumber and tries to get Ash's Pikachu to battle instead. Ash explains to Oshawott that he thinks that he is very capable of winning the battle. Oshawott then becomes confident and ready to battle. Ash orders his Oshawott to use and Trip orders his Timburr to use Strength to deflect the attack away. Ash's Oshawott then misses with Aqua Jet and Iris makes a remark about it. Trip asks if Ash is playing around because it's hard to tell. Ash states he is not and orders his Oshawott to try Aqua Jet again, but Oshawott still continues to miss and Trip takes pictures of it with his camera. Trip then shows Ash and Iris the pictures that he took and explains that Oshawott was using the attack with its eyes closed, which explains why it can't aim properly. Trip makes fun of Oshawott as "a Water Pokémon who can't open its eyes underwater". Ash and Trip then decide to continue their battle but without Oshawott using Aqua Jet.

Ash orders his Oshawott to use and Trip orders his Timburr to use, causing Oshawott to be knocked off his balance and miss. Ash then orders Oshawott to use and Trip orders his Timburr to knock the blast out of the way with. Trip then orders his Timburr to use and Ash orders his Oshawott to use Razor Shell. Oshawott's Razor Shell remains stronger and causes Timburr to be knocked into its own timber and faint. Ash and Trip are now tied for the battle.

Ash sends out his and Trip sends out his Vanillite. Iris is still scared of it and cowers away. Trip begins to explain that his Vanillite may still be capable of winning. He then orders his Vanillite to use and Ash orders his Tepig to use. Ash's Tepig manages to break through the Ice Beam and hit Vanillite. Both Pokémon begin to show signs of fatigue at this point. Trip orders Vanillite to use and it lands a hit on Tepig. Ash orders Tepig to use and it hits Vanillite. Again, both Pokémon are tiring out from their attacks on each other. Trip then orders Vanillite to use and Ash orders his Tepig to use Flame Charge. In the middle of Tepig's attack, Trip orders Vanillite to use and Tepig collides into Vanillite. Afterwards, both Tepig and Vanillite finally faint from the multitude of attacks, causing the match to end in a draw. Ash tells his Tepig that he put up a good match and returns it to its Poké Ball.

Ash then congratulates Trip and says that he looks forward to another match in the future. Ash tells Iris that he'll defeat Trip one day and become a Pokémon Champion. Ash and Iris then remember that they have to return to Cilan, and run back.

Major events

 * and meet up with Trip again.
 * Ash challenges Trip to a three-on-three battle, which ends in a tie.
 * Ash learns about Alder, the Unova League.
 * Ash learns that cannot aim on target when using  due to a fear of opening his eyes underwater.
 * Trip is revealed to have obtained a and a.

Humans

 * Alder

Humans

 * Trip
 * Alder (flashback)
 * Citizens (flashback)
 * Trip
 * Alder (flashback)
 * Citizens (flashback)

Pokémon
Who's That Pokémon?:
 * (fantasy)
 * (fantasy)
 * (Trip's; debut)
 * (Trip's; debut)
 * (Alder's; flashback; debut)
 * (Trainer's; flashback)
 * (debut)
 * (Trip's; debut)
 * (Trip's; debut)
 * (Alder's; flashback; debut)
 * (Trainer's; flashback)
 * (debut)
 * (Alder's; flashback; debut)
 * (Trainer's; flashback)
 * (debut)

Trivia

 * Professor Oak's Pokémon Live Caster:
 * 's fear of Pokémon is revealed in this episode.

Errors

 * 's is mistakenly called  in the dub. This is most likely because Low Sweep is called ローキック Low Kick in Japanese.
 * The dub of this episode mistakenly uses the English title card.

In other languages
Ein Kampf mit Erkenntnissen! EP694 BW031 BW編第31話 精灵宝可梦 超级愿望 第31集