AG066

Exploud and Clear! (Japanese: 一触即発！バクオングVSジュプトル！！ Critical Situation! VS !!) is the 66th episode of the, and the 340th episode of the Pokémon anime. It first aired in Japan on March 4, 2004 and in the United States on February 19, 2005.

Blurb
Ash and friends are eating lunch in the woods when they notice that Treecko has wandered off. After failing to convince the Grass-type to come down from a tree, lunch is disrupted by a rampaging Loudred. Its Trainer, Guy finally catches up with his Pokémon and makes it stop.

Ash and Guy decide that both troublesome Pokémon need exercise, so they battle. While battling, both Pokémon evolve at the same time, into Exploud and Grovyle. The battle continues, but Exploud won't listen to Guy. It hits Grovyle hard and runs off.

Grovyle catches up with Exploud at a waterfall, and the two begin to battle again. Exploud still won't listen to Guy. Team Rocket interrupts, trying to capture Exploud, but Guy protects his Pokémon. Pikachu and Exploud send Team Rocket blasting off.

Guy and Exploud reconcile, and Ash and Guy decide to finish the battle.

Plot
The gang is nearing Petalburg City and is excited about his upcoming Gym battle with Norman. During a picnic, Max points out that is secluding himself up in a tree and appears to be in an unhappy mood. Ash climbs up the tree and tries to cheer Treecko up, but it doesn't work. then runs up the tree and knocks Ash away, also attempting to cheer Treecko up, but it again doesn't work. After this, the gang begins hearing a rampaging across the picnic area that is revealed to be a. Loudred destroys the gang's picnic site and continues dashing along toward its,. Guy attempts to calm Loudred down but can't seem to, until he jumps on it and makes it fall asleep. Next, Guy introduces himself to the gang and reveals that he is on a journey to enter the Hoenn League, and Ash says that he is on his journey for the same reason. Guy says that not very long ago, Loudred has grown to be a troublemaker that sometimes has trouble listening to his commands. Ash compares this to Treecko's current behavior, and suggests a battle between Treecko and Loudred.

Treecko commences the battle with a that appears to do no damage, and Loudred counterattacks with a  that traps Treecko, but he manages to break free by using. After this, Loudred responds with a that knocks Treecko back, and follows up with. Treecko dodges and sends Loudred flying into a tree with a powerful attack. After this, both Pokémon glare at each other, and start to evolve at the same time. As everyone seems to be awed and surprised that Treecko and Loudred simultaneously evolved, Ash's newly evolved Grovyle reveals that he has learned. The battle continues and Grovyle charges in with another Leaf Blade, when Guy commands his newly evolved Exploud to dodge. But instead of dodging, Exploud sends Grovyle flying back with its newly learned attack. After this, Exploud begins rampaging once again and Grovyle tries to stop it with Bullet Seed, but it does nothing. Grovyle then uses Quick Attack, but Exploud hits him away and continues charging, and the gang then goes after Exploud. Next, is shown near a cliff, starving and exhausted. Jessie, James and all run to the foot of the cliff and see Guy's Exploud drinking from a waterfall, and realize that it is the evolved form of Loudred, a Pokémon with which they have had many troubles in the past. Just as Jessie and James are about to walk away, Meowth stops them and fantasizes about how giving Exploud to will be beneficial for them.

The gang and Guy start calling Exploud's name but get no response, when Guy explains to the group that Exploud was his very first Pokémon and he caught it as a. He says that Whismur used to be a tame Pokémon, but it became much wilder when it evolved into Loudred. However, not long after, Loudred became quite disobedient and dangerous to be around. Next, Exploud falls asleep in front of the waterfall and Team Rocket successfully captures it. But not long after, Exploud breaks free and blasts Team Rocket off, releasing a loud cry in the process. Grovyle hears this cry and proceeds toward it. Grovyle makes it to the waterfall and stares Exploud down for a while, until they resume their previous battle as the sun comes out. Grovyle charges in, and Exploud uses Stomp. Grovyle dodges and uses Pound, only to provoke Exploud to strike back with Hyper Voice. After taking the hit, Grovyle lands a direct hit with Bullet Seed that knocks Exploud down. The rest of the gang then arrives at the waterfall and the real battle begins. Ash commands Grovyle to use Leaf Blade while Guy commands Exploud to dodge. But instead of dodging, Exploud takes the hit head on, when Grovyle goes in for another Leaf Blade and Guy again commands Exploud to dodge. Exploud once again ignores Guy's command and stops Grovyle's attack, while Grovyle breaks free using Pound. After Guy scolds Exploud to listen to his commands, it walks away just as Team Rocket prepares for another ambush.

Just as Guy notices Team Rocket in the bushes, James fires five heat-seeking corks at Exploud, but Guy pushes it out of the way just in time. As the corks return toward Exploud, uses  to destroy them. Subsequently, Team Rocket once again gets blasted off by Pikachu's and Exploud's Hyper Voice. Feeling touched that Guy saved its life, Exploud helps him up and it explains that it wants to continue training with him, making the two hug each other. After this, Grovyle and Exploud continue their long-awaited battle.

Major events

 * 's evolves into  and learns.

Pokémon debuts

 * Ash's Grovyle

Humans

 * Max
 * Jessie
 * James
 * (fantasy)
 * Jessie
 * James
 * (fantasy)

Pokémon
Pokémon Trainer's Choice:
 * (evolves)
 * (newly evolved)
 * ('s; flashback)
 * ('s; evolves)
 * ('s; newly evolved; debut)
 * (anime; flashback)
 * ('s; flashback)
 * ('s; evolves)
 * ('s; newly evolved; debut)
 * (anime; flashback)
 * ('s; flashback)
 * ('s; evolves)
 * ('s; newly evolved; debut)
 * (anime; flashback)
 * ('s; flashback)
 * ('s; evolves)
 * ('s; newly evolved; debut)
 * (anime; flashback)

Trivia

 * The English dub title is based on the phrase "loud and clear".
 * While was trying to catch, James says, "Normally I say gotta catch 'em all but I think I'll pass on this one." He is referring to the original catchphrase of Pokémon, which had mostly been dropped from the franchise by this point.
 * remains outside of its Poké Ball for the entire episode.

Errors

 * When Exploud was drinking the water from the waterfall, it was saying Loudred instead of Exploud.

Dub edits

 * The crosshairs in Team Rocket's bazooka are removed for the airing. This was left unaltered for the  airing, the DVDs, streaming releases and the foreign dubs.
 * During the Boss fantasy scene, the glass that is holding is slightly altered so it does not resemble a wine glass. The color of the glass's contents is also changed to be waterlike in appearance.

Pokémon Trainer's Choice

 * Question: Trainers, which one of these Pokémon is the best choice to battle ?
 * Choices:, ,
 * Answer: OK, Trainers! If you chose, you were right!

In other languages
Rums! Da kommt ein Krawumms! EP342 AG066 AG066 AG編第66話 精灵宝可梦 超世代 第66集