AG170

Second Time's the Charm! (Japanese: バトルタワー！以心伝心バトル！！  Battle Tower! Telepathy Battle!!) is the 170th episode of the, and the 444th episode of the Pokémon anime. It was first broadcast in Japan on March 30, 2006 and in the United States on November 27, 2006.

Blurb
Ash lost his first Battle Tower challenge, but he won't give up. He's out practicing with his team the next day, until Tauros stirs up a Beedrill nest that even Anabel can't calm them down. Both Anabel and Ash end up in the lake, but at least they see the funny side of it all. Below them, Team Rocket tries to burrow their way to Pikachu, but they find Munchlax instead. Undaunted, they bring out a giant Wobbuffet device to assist in their scheme, but all it takes is a Tackle from May's Eevee to puncture that plan.

With Team Rocket out of the way, Ash challenges Anabel again. Both Trainers use the same teams as before, but this time Ash plans to get the best out of his Pokémon. Corphish is confused by Alakazam's Psybeam during their rematch, but Ash recalls it to its Poké Ball to cure the confusion, then sends it back out. Corphish wins the battle, but it's tired out and Anabel's Metagross knocks it out in one hit. Then Ash's Tauros has a head-on battle with Metagross that ends in a double knockout!

Now it's time for one of Anabel's favorite Pokémon, Espeon! Pikachu is fast, but so is Espeon. Things are going well for Anabel until Pikachu's attack accidentally shorts out the lights, startling Espeon. With Espeon rattled, Pikachu finishes the battle and wins Ash the Ability Symbol! Now it's time for the location of the seventh and final challenge, the Battle Pyramid, to be revealed—it's near Pewter City, so there's a homecoming for Brock to look forward to as well!

Plot
At the Pokémon Center, the day after 's defeat at the hands of, Ash decides that he wants to challenge Anabel again, this time without using just brute strength and power. Ash's training regime consists of him running along a dirt path with his, trying to build a friendship with them.

At a nearby tree, the Pokémon send out their individual attacks; uses,  uses , and  uses. Unfortunately for Ash, he had forgotten about the nest of in those trees. The swarm began to chase Ash, Corphish, Pikachu, and Tauros when Ash finally ran into Anabel. He asked if she could calm them down, but Anabel claims that she is unable to do so when they attack in a swarm like that.

When Tauros gets its behind picked at by the Beedrill's attack, he is forced to build more speed, and he slams right into Anabel and Ash, sending them and Ash's Pokémon off into a lake. Fortunately, they were able to get out and proceeded to laugh at each other. Ash decides to clean up Tauros before any kind of battle and Anabel offered to help. During the course, Anabel, Ash, and Corphish began to play around in the river.

Meanwhile, has dug a tunnel underneath the gang, trying to get at Pikachu. Unfortunately for them, was right above them, causing the ground to collapse on top of them. However, they were quickly back on their feet and threw away their plans to capture Pikachu when they saw the food. After being caught stealing their food and accused of being there for Pikachu, they realized that Munchlax had run off with the food. In a rage, they got out their new mecha, a giant.

sent out her to use  on the mecha. Team Rocket, thinking it wouldn't do a thing, laughed at their attempts. However, saw that Eevee's head had poked a hole in the mecha, which was made out of old tires. Team Rocket, again, went blasting off.

After Team Rocket had gone, May let out her, saying that they should all try to give commands to their Pokémon through telepathy. Ash agrees and gets down to Corphish's level, telling Corphish to use with his mind. May, on the other hand, began to tell Combusken to use. Corphish seemed to get nervous and frustrated, as did Combusken. Finally, both Ash and May gave up. Ash asked Anabel how she was able to communicate that way, to which Anabel replied that she didn't quite know how herself. She said that she was always able to use telepathy to talk to Pokémon, grass, flowers, and trees. Anabel tells Ash to try to sense what was in her heart; however, Ash was unable to. Anabel reassured him that it really didn't matter.

Later that day, Ash was ready and raring to battle Anabel the second time. The match started off with and Corphish. The fight began when Corphish used Crabhammer. Anabel fought using her mind right from the start, commanding Alakazam to use. The attacks collided, and neither Pokémon were injured. Ash countered with a, to which Alakazam used. The attacks causing a miniature explosion. Ash wasn't deterred and made Corphish use ; however, Anabel made Alakazam use to throw Corphish backwards.

Corphish, despite being in mid-air was able to use Bubble Beam, which successfully made contact with Alakazam. Anabel wasn't fazed and told Alakazam to use. Without giving an inch, Ash told Corphish to use Crabhammer, which Anabel counterattacked with Focus Punch. However, Corphish dodged the Focus Punch and slammed its Crabhammer attack into Alakazam's jaw.

Alakazam used Psybeam again, confusing Corphish. Luckily for Ash, Corphish was still able to use Crabhammer and use it well. Immediately, Ash returned Corphish, snapping it out of confusion, and threw Corphish right back into battle, where it instantly used Bubble Beam and knocked out Alakazam. Anabel's next Pokémon was her. Corphish used Bubble Beam, but Metagross evaded the attack and slammed into Corphish with a, knocking Corphish out.

Despite the type-disadvantage, Ash sent out his Tauros. Tauros' first attack was Take Down, to which Metagross countered with. Ash then told Tauros to use and Anabel told Metagross to use Meteor Mash. Tauros was able to dodge Meteor Mash and slam his horn into Metagross' underside, sending it flying. However, Metagross used, to which Ash countered with. Anabel told Metagross to just attack them all and Metagross ended up hitting the real Tauros. Tauros didn't take too much damage and ran at Metagross with Horn Attack. Metagross had to just take the attack, being unable to move after Hyper Beam. Finally, Metagross was able to use Meteor Mash, which Tauros used Take Down against. The attacks collided, knocking out both Pokémon.

Anabel's final Pokémon was, and Ash's was Pikachu. May checks Espeon on her Pokédex. Pikachu started off by using, to which Espeon dodged and also used Quick Attack. Pikachu was unable to dodge this, getting hit spot-on. Pikachu countered with Iron Tail and Espeon intercepted with an Iron Tail of its own. Pikachu took on damage, but was able to use. However, Espeon's was too much for the Thunderbolt to take. The following explosion sent Pikachu flying. However, Ash was determined and made Pikachu use Thunderbolt once again. Espeon jumped out of the way of the attack and used Psychic to slam Pikachu into the ceiling. Pikachu recovered quickly and used Quick Attack. Espeon repeated its last attack and sent Pikachu into the ceiling. This time, however, Pikachu was able to compose itself and bounce off the ceiling and onto one of the lights. The proceeding Thunderbolt knocked out the power, making the whole floor go pitch black. Once again, Pikachu used Thunderbolt, landing its first hit on Espeon. Espeon used Zap Cannon, forcing the electricity back. Pikachu dodged the attack and jumped from light to light, avoiding all the Zap Cannons thrown at it.

Espeon was unable to relax, making all mental communication null and void. Again, Espeon was hit with a Thunderbolt. When the lights came back on, Espeon was hit again with Iron Tail. Without wasting any time, Pikachu used. Espeon tried to counterattack with Zap Cannon, but it simply flew off Pikachu. Espeon was hit with Volt Tackle and was ultimately defeated, making Ash the victor and earning him the Ability Symbol.

Ash's next destination, the Battle Pyramid, was right near Pewter City. After shaking Anabel's hand, Ash and friends made their way to the Battle Pyramid for Ash's final Symbol. Anabel blushed, holding onto the hand Ash had shaken.

Major events

 * has a rematch against and wins, winning himself the Ability Symbol.
 * Ash's Tauros is revealed to know.
 * The location of the Battle Pyramid is revealed to be near Pewter City for now.

Humans

 * Max
 * Jessie
 * James
 * Nurse Joy
 * Maron
 * Scott
 * Nurse Joy
 * Maron
 * Scott
 * Scott

Pokémon

 * ('s)
 * ('s)
 * ('s)
 * (multiple)
 * (×5)
 * (multiple)
 * ('s)
 * ('s)
 * ('s)
 * (multiple)
 * (×5)
 * (multiple)
 * (multiple)
 * (×5)
 * (multiple)

Trivia

 * was added to the opening credits.
 * The English title is a play on the phrase "third time's the charm".
 * In the Japanese version, orchestral music plays as, his Pokémon, and Anabel are running from the Beedrill.
 * Just after lands a direct hit on Alakazam with Crabhammer, Ash recalls it to cure its  and then immediately sends it back out, something not possible in the games.
 * keeps its Japanese voice in the English dub of this episode, so it says Eifie, its Japanese name, every time it speaks.
 * Anabel is yet another girl with a crush on Ash. This is founded on Anabel's thoughts as Ash leaves: "Guess you can't sense feelings yet, Ash, or you would have sensed my feelings for you." (Japanese: "You weren't able to read my heart after all, were you, Satoshi?").

Errors

 * For a split-second, when Ash and Anabel are washing, the lines around its eyes are thicker than usual.
 * Anabel says that told her that it had not swam for a while, but it swam the day before when it was helping Anabel and Pikachu.
 * After 's , Max says "Corphish is confused again!" despite it being the first time.
 * Alakazam attempts to hit confused Corphish with using its right hand, but after Corphish counters, Alakazam's left hand glows instead.

In other languages
Alle guten Dinge sind zwei! EP447 AG170 AG170 AG編第170話 精灵宝可梦 超世代 第169集