AG162

Spontaneous Combusken! (Japanese: ポケモンコンテスト！ユズリハ大会！！ Pokémon Contest! Convention!!) is the 162nd episode of the, and the 436th episode of the Pokémon anime. It was first broadcast in Japan on February 2, 2006 and in the United States on November 4, 2006.

Blurb
May is about to enter her next Contest on Chrysanthemum Island. Drew is there too, but not only is he not competing, he didn't send her the mysterious note she received in Wisteria Town. During a practice battle between Munchlax and Combusken, May meets Brianna, the real sender of the note. Though she rooted for May in Wisteria Town, she's really a huge Drew fan. May introduces her to Drew, which only makes Brianna determined to beat May and earn Drew's respect.

The Contest begins! Jessie teams up with James' Mime Jr. to perform a hula dance, May and Munchlax take the stage with a risky use of Metronome, and Brianna and her Surskit puts on an amazing ice show. All three will move on, but before the second round starts, Brianna wants to know if May likes Drew! Well, May's not so sure about that. Jessie battles May in the second round, and James is horrified to watch Combusken defeat Mime Jr. with a mighty Sky Uppercut.

Now it's Brianna and May in the final round, and Brianna's brought her Vibrava. Vibrava comes on strong, using Sand Tomb to trap Combusken. All looks lost but Combusken learns Mega Kick, just in time to free itself and then knock Vibrava out! Afterward, as Brianna congratulates May, Drew compliments Brianna and sends her into a swoon. May is sure to see Drew and his smooth moves again, but first, it's on to the Battle Palace!

Plot
A new challenge and a new adventure begins our story as everyone makes preparations for the upcoming Chrysanthemum Island Pokémon Contest. Outside the Contest Hall, the registered s are preparing their prized while  tries to hone 's skills while they still seem to be short of perfect. Ash directs Sceptile to use a attack but only manages to create a small plume of white smoke, leaving Sceptile with a surprised look on his face. Ash tries to cheer Sceptile up giving him inspirational words of courage. notices Drew as he walks up to.

Meanwhile, is by the beach with Jessie dressed in her usual Contest attire and also plans to use  in the upcoming Contest. In the distance, May begins to work on and 's skills. Munchlax quickly lunges towards Combusken with a, but misses and continues on to nearly hit a bystander and crash into the soft sand. As everyone tries to remove Munchlax from the sand, May goes to apologize for its actions. The young girl then tries to hand May a solitary rose, Munchlax jumps forward and snatches it from her hand, devouring it in one bite. May and the girl, named Brianna, walk down a corridor to come across the pool area. Brianna quickly notices Drew and begins to blush as May tries to introduce the two. After a few quick words, the two shake hands and Drew wishes her luck in the Contest. When Drew is finally out of sight, Brianna displays her affection for Drew. After a few short seconds, her attitude turns from lovestruck meekness to fiery determination as she tells May that she wants Drew's respect and the quickest way she'll get it is by beating May in this Contest.

The spotlight shines on Lilian as she begins announcing the Contest. The Appeals Round begins and the first contestant is Jessie with her magnificent Mime Jr. dressed in an attire. When Mime Jr. is sent out from its Poké Ball, it rotates on its upper head while Jessie performs a small hula dance. The crowd roars for Jessie's performance. Our next contestant on the stage is May and her Munchlax. May quickly directs Munchlax to unleash its, filling the stadium with a magnificent blend of lights and colors. Munchlax's next move is, so it begins moving its hands in synchronization. However, the move backfires and Munchlax is put to sleep, having used the move. After a few moments of hesitation, May throws a Pokéblock into the air. Munchlax instantly awakens and devours the Pokéblock in mid-air while rotating. On its descent, Munchlax comes down with a, gracefully landing on the stadium platform.

The third contestant is Brianna, with her. Surskit uses on the stage, turning it to ice that it can skate across. Surskit gracefully pirouettes like an ice skater and finishes the performance with a high-velocity spin. The crowd cheers for Surskit's performance as the Contest Judges give approval of Brianna's performance.

The other contestants include, , , and. With the first round of competition ending, the contestants patiently wait for the list of those who have advanced to the Contest Battles. The results are revealed and among the contestants are May, Brianna, and Jessie. May and Brianna display their happiness for advancement. The match-ups are then announced, with May to face Jessie in the first round of the tournament.

The stage is set with May and her Combusken facing off against Jessie and her Mime Jr. Combusken begins the battle with a, but Mime Jr. easily dodges and uses , sending an identical Fire Spin to Combusken. The tricky move deducts more points than usual from May's score. Combusken recomposes itself and rushes toward Mime Jr with, and they both clash. Mime Jr. maneuvers itself in mid-air to begin "" Combusken, reducing a substantial amount of points from May. Mime Jr. follows up with another Mimicked Fire Spin, but as the flames engulf Combusken, it recovers and gains power. Combusken leaps through the ongoing Fire Spin and strikes Mime Jr. with a. Mime Jr. crashes to the ground defeated and May is declared the winner.

May and Brianna continue winning in the battle round until they find themselves against one another in the finals. The crowd cheers as the final battle is started. May calls upon her Combusken while Brianna releases her. As Combusken moves in for the attack, Vibrava uses its attack, causing Combusken to cover its ears. As Vibrava continues with its Screech attack, Combusken launches a Fire spin for a direct hit. Vibrava retaliates with its attack, nullifying the Fire Spin. Vibrava then uses its attack to entrap Combusken's legs in a mound of sand. Combusken struggles, but is unable to remove itself from the tomb. Suddenly, Combusken's feathers begin to glow a faint blue. After a moment, Combusken bursts from the Sand Tomb using its new move,. Vibrava doesn't let up, unleashing another Dragon Breath attack and hitting Combusken for great damage, reducing May's points further.

Combusken ascends into the air for a, but misses its target as Vibrava goes for another Sand Tomb attack. Combusken disperses the sand once more and descends down with a hard on Vibrava. The two Pokémon crash into the ground, and Vibrava is declared unable to battle. With this victory over Brianna, May and Combusken have won the Chrysanthemum Contest. Ash shows a bit of relief as Mr. Contesta presents May with the Chrysanthemum Ribbon. Lilian concludes the competition with her usual phrase, "See you next time." As the sun is setting, May and Brianna reflect upon their Contest performances. May's friends join them on the beach, including Drew, who causes Brianna to blush and hide behind May. Drew acknowledges both of their good efforts and wishes Brianna luck, but she suddenly faints. Drew reminds May that she only has two Ribbons left until the Grand Festival. As he walks off into the distance, May watches him and begins to blush.

As night falls, Jessie and Mime Jr. sit by the shoreside. James,, and worry about Jessie. The night concludes with Team Rocket left in despair and our heroine May in possession of one more Ribbon.

Major events

 * and arrive in Chrysanthemum Island and meet up with Drew again.
 * It is revealed that May's invitation was sent by Brianna rather than Drew.
 * James's Mime Jr. is revealed to know and.
 * May's Combusken learns.
 * May enters the Chrysanthemum and wins, earning her third Kanto Ribbon.

Humans

 * Brianna

Humans

 * Max
 * Jessie
 * James
 * Drew
 * Brianna
 * Lilian Meridian
 * Raoul Contesta
 * Mr. Sukizo
 * Nurse Joy
 * s
 * s
 * Audience
 * s
 * s
 * Audience

Pokémon

 * (Brianna's)
 * (Brianna's)
 * (Coordinator's)
 * (Coordinator's)
 * (Coordinator's)
 * (Coordinator's)
 * (Coordinator's)
 * (Coordinator's)
 * (Coordinator's)
 * (Trainer's)
 * (Trainer's)
 * (Trainer's)
 * (Coordinator's)
 * (Coordinator's)
 * (Coordinator's)
 * (Coordinator's)
 * (Coordinator's)
 * (Trainer's)
 * (Trainer's)
 * (Trainer's)

Trivia

 * Ash's Sceptile was added to the credits.
 * The English and Spanish titles refer to, which is a sudden ignition or explosion.
 * In the Japanese version of this episode, Drew's Roselia's voice was supplied by a different, uncredited voice actor due to the absence of its regular actress, Ikue Ohtani, because it didn't have as much stock audio as Ash's Pikachu.
 * Sarah Natochenny becomes the English voice actress for Drew's Roselia as of this episode, as it is its first appearance since the voice acting switch.
 * neither blasts off nor recites their in this episode.

Errors

 * was misspelled as Combuskin on the dub's title card. This was later corrected, though the error remained on the DVD version, foreign language dubs and when it re-aired several other times.
 * After beats Jessie in the battle round, Lilian says, "...and May moves on to the final round!" May actually had to defeat one more opponent before moving on to the final round against Brianna.
 * After Combusken uses on,  mentions that  moves wouldn't be strong against  Pokémon. This is a mistake because Vibrava resists Fire due to its other type, Dragon. The Ground type itself does not resist Fire-type moves.

In other languages
Wenn zwei sich streiten, ...haut der Dritte ab! EP439 AG162 AG編第162話 精灵宝可梦 超世代 第161集