S09

Pokémon: Battle Frontier is the ninth season of the Pokémon anime and the fourth & final season of the English-language dub, consisting of episodes 146-192 of the original Pocket Monsters Advanced Generation series. It follows Ash Ketchum as he continues to collect Symbols from the Kanto while  participates in Pokémon Contests. It began with Fear Factor Phony, which originally aired on September 8, 2006 in the United States, and ended with Home is Where the Start Is!, which originally aired on March 3, 2007.

It originally aired in the United States as part of the 2006-2007 Saturday morning line-up. The English dub underwent many changes at the start of the season. 4Kids Entertainment's licensing rights to the dub expired and in an agreement with they decided not to renew. Meanwhile, (a broadcast network) dropped all anime from its lineup leading to  (a cable network) picking up the series, where it remained until season 19. It began broadcasting on / on October 30, 2008 in the UK, this is the first time this series has been shown on.

It is preceded by Pokémon: Advanced Battle and is succeeded by Pokémon: Diamond and Pearl, the first season of the dub of the, which is based on the Generation IV.

Blurb
''The territory might be familiar, but even Ash and Brock can find more than a few surprises in their home region of Kanto, like a Pokémon Ranger hot on the cases of two Legendary Pokémon! May’s back on the Contest path, blazing a trail to the Kanto Grand Festival, while Ash seeks out the hidden facilities of the Battle Frontier. If finding them wasn’t hard enough, he’s still got battles with the Frontier Brains to deal with—much tougher than any Gym Leader he’s ever faced.''

Important events

 * and meet  Solana, who is searching for an injured . (AG155)
 * Brock enters his first Pokémon Contest at Gardenia Town. (AG167)
 * Ash and company runs into Solana again, as they encounter a wild . (AG171 - AG172)
 * The Kanto Grand Festival takes place at Indigo Plateau. (AG180-AG182)
 * , Drew, Harley, and Solidad get past the preliminary Appeals Round. (AG180)
 * May defeats Harley in the Contest Battles, putting her in the Top 8. Drew and Solidad also make it to the Top 8. (AG181)
 * May defeats Drew in the quarterfinals but loses to Solidad in the semifinals, finishing in the Top 4. (AG182)
 * Solidad wins the Grand Festival, receiving the Ribbon Cup and becoming a Top Coordinator. (AG182)
 * Ash and his friends learn from about Sinnoh, a region located north of Kanto. (AG187)
 * May learns that Drew, Harley, and Solidad plan to enter Pokémon Contests in the Johto region. (AG187)
 * Ash calls for his, , and for his match against . (AG189)
 * Ash is offered a position as a Frontier Brain, but he declines. (AG190)
 * Ash enters his first Pokémon Contest at Terracotta Town. (AG191)
 * Ash and his friends go their separate ways. Brock and Max go back home in Pewter City and Petalburg City, respectively. May plans to compete in Johto Pokémon Contests. Ash returns to Pallet Town. (AG192)
 * Ash meets up with, who came from Sinnoh. The two have a battle, with Ash's Pikachu losing to Gary's Electivire. (AG192)
 * Ash decides to travel to Sinnoh, and leaves, except Pikachu, at Professor Oak's Laboratory. However, quickly follows Ash and rejoins him. (AG192)
 * continues to follow Ash into Sinnoh. (AG192)

Additions
The following Pokémon are obtained:
 * James's Mime Jr. (AG147)
 * Brock's Bonsly (AG156)
 * May's Eevee (AG157)
 * Ash's Aipom (AG182)

Evolutions
The following Pokémon evolve:
 * Brock's →  (AG148)
 * Ash's →  (AG154)
 * Ash's →  (AG161)
 * Brock's →  (while under Forrest's care; between AG133 and AG177)
 * May's →  (AG191)

Other

 * James's Chimecho (left with the caretakers of James's summer home; AG147)
 * Ash's Sceptile (left at Oak's lab; AG192)
 * Ash's Corphish (left at Oak's lab; AG192)
 * Ash's Swellow (left at Oak's lab; AG192)
 * Ash's Donphan (left at Oak's lab; AG192)

Pokémon Contests
May wins Pokémon Contests in these locations:


 * (AG151)
 * Chrysanthemum Island (AG162)
 * Gardenia Town (AG167)
 * Mulberry City (AG175)
 * Terracotta Town (AG192) (tied with )

Battle Frontier
Ash defeats the following Frontier Brains:
 * (AG149)
 * (AG153)
 * (AG158)
 * (AG164)
 * , after one failed attempt. (AG170)
 * , after two failed attempts. (AG190)

Trivia

 * Battle Frontier is the only English season to have its own ending theme, instead of just a shortened or instrumental version of the opening theme.
 * Battle Frontier is the only English season of the Advanced Generation series not to contain the word "Advanced" in its title.
 * Battle Frontier is the first English season to consist of less than 52 episodes.
 * In Flanders (the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium), this season was skipped, and the broadcast of the Diamond & Pearl series started immediately after AG145 with the dub. However, in the Netherlands, Battle Frontier was broadcasted. It was eventually aired in Flanders.
 * This is the first season to air on Cartoon Network in.

In other languages
Staffel 9 Novena temporada Saison 9 Pokémon - Battle Frontier