DP141

Challenging a Towering Figure! (Japanese: タワータイクーン！ その男、 クロツグ！！ Tower Tycoon! That Man, !!) is the 141st episode of the, and the 607th episode of the Pokémon anime. It first aired in Japan on September 3, 2009 and in the United States on January 23, 2010.

Blurb
The last event of the Twinleaf Festival is upon us, and it’s the Festival Battle Challenge! The winner of the event will get the chance to battle none other than Barry’s father—the Sinnoh Battle Frontier Tower Tycoon, Palmer! Ash emerges victorious from the challenge, so he and Palmer begin a one-on-one battle with no Pokémon substitutions allowed on either side. Palmer brings out his gigantic and powerful Rhyperior, and Ash surprises everyone by calling out his Grotle! Although Rhyperior’s power seems overwhelming, Grotle’s tenacity completely impresses Palmer. In the end, Rhyperior’s final Rock Wrecker proves too much for Grotle to handle, and Palmer finishes with the victory.

Ash takes his defeat well and gratefully accepts the Gold Trophy for winning the Festival Battle Challenge. Saying goodbye to Palmer and to Dawn’s mom, our heroes head toward the Sunyshore Gym and Ash’s next Sinnoh Gym challenge. And who should go along with them to challenge the same Gym himself but Palmer’s son—Ash’s rival and friend—Barry!

Plot
As the day comes to a close,, , and walk with  along the path lined with stands. The vendors eagerly talk to him as Ash notices how famous Palmer is. He runs to the center of the road and brings out his for a little demonstration. shows up as Barry informs him who Palmer is. When Ash hears that Palmer was one of the top s in, Ash challenges him to a , but and Barry are both eager to as well. Barry tells them about the upcoming tournament, where the winner will get the opportunity to battle Palmer. Barry also tells them that Palmer is a Frontier Brain for the Sinnoh, leader of the and known as the Tower Tycoon. After Palmer confirms the tournament for the next day, Ash looks forward to it, confident that he will win. At Dawn's house, Dawn cooks with her mother as they talk about how famous Palmer is and how they plan to battle. Brock intends to enter the tournament as well, but when he turns to, he finds admiring a female  on television.

The next day marks the last day of the Twinleaf Festival as Johanna hosts the battle tournament. She brings out and  to kick off the tournament with some sparkle. As she gets the crowd excited, she is prepared to introduce Palmer, but he is nowhere in sight. Instead, he is at 's booth, munching on their food. Ash and his friends seek out Palmer as they find him eating. Palmer doesn't seem to concerned at first, but when Johanna calls out over the loudspeakers, he panics and gives Ash a box of food before running to the field, followed by the rest. The tournament is back on track as Johanna introduces Palmer, who is ready to witness fierce battles and find the person worthy of challenging him, getting the crowd fired up. The battle rules are set as people will duel one-on-one, working up a ladder until a winner is found. The competitive spirit between Ash, Dawn, Brock and Barry gets going as Johanna mentions that the winner will get a gold trophy. The judge is Sayer, who oversees the tournament. Many battles quickly pan on screen as the timeline jumps to the final match, with Ash and Barry going at it. Ultimately, bests  as Ash wins the battle tournament, upsetting both Dawn and Barry.

As the exhibition match gets underway, Johanna introduces Ash to the crowd, getting a good review. Palmer looks forward to battling Ash as he sends out. The 's sheer size surprises Ash as he checks with his Pokédex. Palmer informs Ash that no Trainer has bested his Rhyperior. After analyzing Rhyperior's types, he first believes that will prevail, but based on previous Gym battles, he knows Palmer will be ready for that. Ash decides to summon to the field, as the type advantage is logical and to match up Rhyperior's strength with Grotle's strength and defense. Dawn thought would be better as Barry frowns on Ash underestimating his father. Sayer quickly reconfirms the battle rules as a one-on-one with no substitutions, and as the challenger, Ash goes first.

Grotle immediately fires, as Rhyperior stands firm and takes it without so much as a scratch thanks to. Though Palmer compliments Ash on Grotle's strength, he orders Rhyperior to use. Grotle fires, but Rhyperior dodges quickly, shocking everyone at how fast it moved thanks to Rock Polish. Rhyperior gets close and launches. Grotle stands firm as the attack surrounds and batters Grotle. Rhyperior launches a, harming Grotle even more, but Grotle stands firm. While Jessie and James watch, upsetting who has to work, Ash has Grotle use  to heal since Rhyperior has to rest. It taps into the healing move since the sandstorm has not blocked out the sun from above. Grotle recovers and uses Razor Leaf to neutralize the Sandstorm.

Rhyperior recovers and charges with. Grotle primes Energy Ball, waiting for Rhyperior to get closer. However, when Rhyperior closes in too quickly, he hits Energy Ball with Megahorn, and Grotle is forced to swallow it. The results shock everyone as Grotle taps into a large amount of power, a green aura radiating up into the air from the bushes on its back. Dawn takes note of it, thinking it would look good in a Pokémon Contest. The green aura dissipates, but Grotle's bushes continue to glow, with energy moving through them. Though as shocked as anyone else, Palmer has Rhyperior launch Rock Wrecker as Grotle rears up and slams its claws into the ground, creating a mountain on the field from underneath Rhyperior. Grotle continues and charges forward, ascending the rock formation and dodging the attack before ramming into Rhyperior and steadily driving it back with brute strength, impressing Barry and Palmer. However, Rhyperior uses its tail to stop Grotle's charge before landing a Rock Wrecker at point-blank range, creating a huge explosion and destroying the field mountain. As the smoke clears, Rhyperior is clearly exhausted, but Grotle lies at its feet, knocked out. Though somewhat disappointed with the loss, Ash takes it in stride as he compliments Grotle. Palmer presents the trophy to Ash for winning the tournament.

Later on, Barry talks to Ash about how he experienced battling Palmer, his strength apparent as Dawn sympathizes, reflecting on her battle with her mother. The thought of Pokémon brings Ash to reflect on how he lost to Paul and how he is able to raise strong Pokémon. The music starts as Barry quickly chows down to rush and sing the last song. Dawn remembers what she saw during the battle and plans to incorporate it into her next Contest Battle. Palmer walks over and suggests to Ash to go and challenge the Sunyshore Gym, hinting that Ash might shock the Gym Leader. Ash asks him to clarify why he would say that, but Palmer implies that when Ash gets to Sunyshore Gym, he will understand. The next day, Ash and his friends set off from Dawn's house, bidding Johanna farewell as they head to Dawn's next Contest. Barry races past the group as he plans to get to Sunyshore City first.

Major events

 * learns of the in Sinnoh and also learns of 's  status.
 * Ash,, , and all enter the Festival Battle Challenge to battle Palmer.
 * Ash wins the tournament but loses to Palmer.
 * Ash discovers that his can receive a temporary power-up if it swallows an.
 * Ash learns of a Gym in Sunyshore City and decides to head there after the Lilypad Town Pokémon Contest.
 * The Twinleaf Festival ends, and the group leaves Twinleaf Town.

Humans

 * Jessie
 * James
 * Paul (flashback)
 * Johanna
 * Sayer
 * Izzy
 * Cara
 * s
 * Johanna
 * Sayer
 * Izzy
 * Cara
 * s

Pokémon

 * (flashback)
 * (flashback)
 * (flashback)
 * (flashback)
 * (flashback)
 * (flashback)
 * (flashback)
 * ('s)
 * ('s)
 * (Johanna's)
 * (Trainer's)
 * (Trainer's)
 * (Trainer's)
 * (Trainer's)
 * (Trainer's)
 * (Trainer's)
 * (Trainer's)
 * (on television)
 * (Johanna's)
 * (Trainer's)
 * (Trainer's)
 * (Trainer's)
 * (Trainer's)
 * (Trainer's)
 * (Trainer's)
 * (Trainer's)
 * (on television)
 * (Trainer's)
 * (on television)

Trivia

 * Professor Oak's Big Pokémon Examination:
 * is used as background music in the Japanese version.
 * On the last night of the Twinleaf Festival, sings Pokémon Ondo.
 * However, in the English dub, Barry sings a different song.
 * The Danish, Dutch, German, and Norwegian, and Russian dubs used an instrumental version.
 * At the end of the Dutch, German, and Russian versions, Barry's English singing voice can be heard.
 * At the end of the episode, when Sayer tells that they made enough money to buy a rocket if they wanted, he foreshadows the events of the the next episode, in which they actually buy a rocket.
 * Team Rocket narrates the preview for the next episode.
 * Team Rocket does not blast off or recite their in this episode.

In other languages
Ein legendäres Duell EP610 DP141 DP編第141話 精灵宝可梦 钻石＆珍珠 第139集