DP078

Pruning a Passel of Pals! (Japanese: 激闘！ それぞれのバトル！！ Fierce Fighting! Respective Battles!!) is the 78th episode of, and the 544th episode of the Pokémon anime. It first aired in Japan on May 8, 2008 alongside DP077 as part of a one-hour special, and in the United States on September 27, 2008.

Blurb
With Dawn and her friends safely past the appeals round of the Wallace Cup, the girls enjoy an opportunity to sit back and chat while Ash, who can't sleep, decides to take a walk near Lake Valor. He gets the shock of his life when he sees a glowing entity above the lake, which just might be a Legendary Pokémon like the ones said to live in Lake Verity and Lake Acuity! But any further investigation will have to wait until the next morning, after the Wallace Cup resumes.

As the battles begin, size proves to be no obstacle for Dawn's Buneary as it uses acrobatic footwork to defeat its opponent Wailmer. This round is off to a great start for Dawn, but Jessie is depressed that she didn't even make it to this stage of the Contest. Fortunately, James and Meowth remind her that she can always pose as a Contest reporter to get back in the spotlight. Dawn clinches a place in the semifinals, and then it's time for Ash and Buizel to battle Kyle the Coordinator and his Lanturn.

Kyle has had plenty of time to study Buizel's moves, an edge which helps him knock Ash out of the competition. With Dawn through and Ash out, that leaves May and Zoey still to compete. They win their matches and advance to the semifinals, so Dawn will definitely have to face either May or Zoey if she wants to win the Aqua Ribbon! But to get to the final round, she'll have to defeat Kyle and his Crawdaunt—is her Piplup up to the task?

Plot
,, and Zoey are seen in their Valor Hotel room sitting on the floor, chatting. and are eating while  and  are staring at May while she is talking about Pokémon Contests. They all hear a crashing noise that comes from Ash's and Brock's room. Ash has fallen on his head from his bed! He was dreaming about being in the middle of a tough battle. Ash decides to go for a walk at Valor Lakefront with.

At the lake, Ash sees a view of the city, with the Contest Hall at the front while enjoying the night breeze. Then he and Pikachu see a small whirlpool - like movement in the water. A projected soul appears in the middle. They stare at it curiously as it dances in the breeze. The projected soul returns to the water.

Ash barges into his room, hurriedly describing the projected soul to. May, Dawn, and Zoey enter the room. Ash describes "the thing" in Lake Valor as he did to Brock. Dawn's Piplup uses Bubble Beam on Ash in order for him to calm down. Then the five start having a conversation about the light at Lake Valor. Then Dawn remembers the projected soul she saw emerge from Lake Verity on her first day as a Trainer. May then says that while she was in Snowpoint City she heard stories about the Legendary Pokémon that lives in Lake Acuity, which is near Snowpoint City. Zoey, being from Snowpoint City herself, confirms this as she heard the same stories when she was young.

The second round of the Wallace Cup begins the next day. Wallace greets the s. Dawn finds out that she will be the first to battle. Zoey, Ash, Brock, and May wish Dawn good luck on her battle.

Dawn sends out Buneary to battle the unnamed Trainer's. Wailmer shoots out a, which causes Buneary to bounce up and down on, causing Dawn to lose points. Buneary then uses the bouncing to perform backward somersaults on the Brine, causing Wailmer's Trainer to lose points. Buneary then uses continuously on Wailmer, and its Trainer loses even more points. Then Wailmer uses, causing Dawn to lose points before Buneary spun. During the spin, Buneary created a spiral of water, and Wailmer's Trainer loses even more points. The gang cheers Dawn on. Then Buneary uses, which hits Wailmer. Then Wailmer uses to counter Dizzy Punch. Buneary dodges the move and races toward Wailmer as the Hidden Power follows her. She Bounces off Wailmer and out of the way, and Hidden Power hits Wailmer instead. Then Wailmer intends a, but Buneary's hits Wailmer, who becomes frozen solid. Finally, the timer reaches 0:00, and Dawn and Buneary wins! Dawn receives some outstanding remarks from the judges. The gang is proud of Dawn. The next few scenes show the gang's attacking the opponent's Pokémon.

Jessie, as Jessilina, is on the sidelines, depressed that she did not make it to the second round. and James try to cheer Jessie up, but they don't do so, however. Jessie is later cheered up when she hears that she could go back to being disguised as a reporter, or her Jessadia disguise. Jessie cries and accepts.

Later, it shows Dawn and and a girl with her  finishing their battle, and Dawn moves on to the semi-finals.

Now it's Ash's turn to battle, this time with. Ash sends out, and Kyle sends out. Dawn scans Lanturn on her Pokédex. The gang is worried about Buizel, due to Lanturn being part Electric, which is strong against Water types like Buizel. Lanturn starts things off with, but Ash loses points due to not sensing where Lanturn is. Meanwhile, the Coordinators are still worried about Buizel. Buizel launches a into the water, knocking Lanturn high into the air, also including a point loss. However, that gives Lanturn a chance to use from the air. It drastically hits Buizel, making Ash lose a large amount of points. Buizel is now seen to have become paralyzed. Lanturn launches, and loses points. But Ash knows what to do and orders an in order to make an "Ice Aqua Jet". Everyone is amazed at the improvised yet good-looking move, with Dawn the most surprised having tried teaching Buizel the technique herself before she traded him to Ash. The attack strikes Lanturn which makes Kyle lose lots of points! Meanwhile, in another town Paul who was watching the battle loses interest and walks off, remarking how pathetic he considers Ash. Buizel gets hit by and then returns to the stage. Buizel then uses, but fails due to Thunderbolt. The collision creates a shower, catching Ash and Buizel in a short but intense downpour. Just then time runs out, and despite the Ice Aqua Jet Kyle still has more points, eliminating Ash from the competition. He and Buizel are left disappointed and soaking wet.

Jessadia interviews Ash after losing, and Ash responds with "Okay", and "Thanks, but I didn't make it up!". Like earlier, it shows the remaining main characters' Pokémon attacking their opponents' Pokémon. Then Jessadia announces that Zoey and May will move on to the final round. The board is shown with Kyle, Dawn, May, and Zoey, in that order. Marian later compliments Jessadia's announcement and says that she heard that Jessadia was an assistant reporter at the Kanto Grand Festival. She says "thank you" to Jessadia.

Back at the hotel, Ash and the others are sad that he didn't make it to the semi-finals. However, they made some compliments on their "Ice Aqua Jet". Ash says that Contest Battles are tough, but his Buizel was moving in perfect sync and that he'd do better next time. Then Dawn thinks about how tomorrow's semi-final will turn out.

The final day starts with Dawn and Kyle battling. Will Dawn be able to beat Kyle?

Major events

 * encounters near Lake Valor.
 * Ash and compare about their encounters with the.
 * 's is revealed to have evolved into a  during her travels in Johto.
 * perfects the Ice Aqua Jet combination.
 * Ash loses his second match in the Battle Stage to.
 * May,, Zoey, and Kyle advance to the semifinals.

Pokémon debuts

 * May's Venusaur
 * (spirit form only)

Humans

 * Jessie
 * James
 * Nurse Joy
 * Paul
 * Zoey
 * Wallace
 * Marian
 * Raoul Contesta
 * Mr. Sukizo
 * s
 * Wallace's fans
 * Marian
 * Raoul Contesta
 * Mr. Sukizo
 * s
 * Wallace's fans

Pokémon

 * (Zoey's)
 * (Zoey's)
 * ('s)
 * ('s)
 * (Coordinator's)
 * (Coordinator's)
 * (Coordinator's)
 * (Coordinator's)
 * (Coordinator's)
 * (Coordinator's)
 * (Coordinator's)
 * (spirit; debut)
 * (flashback)
 * (Zoey's)
 * ('s)
 * ('s)
 * (Coordinator's)
 * (Coordinator's)
 * (Coordinator's)
 * (Coordinator's)
 * (Coordinator's)
 * (Coordinator's)
 * (Coordinator's)
 * (spirit; debut)
 * (flashback)

Trivia

 * Instead of Professor Oak's Big Pokémon Encyclopedia, the end of the episode featured a memorial to Celebi: The Voice of the Forest called Pikachu the Movie Memorial. This is part of a countdown to Giratina and the Sky Warrior.
 * is used as background music.
 * Wallace and narrate the preview for the next episode.
 * After Ash's encounter with, tells of a story she heard about a mysterious Legendary Pokémon, likely to be , during her pitstop at Snowpoint City.
 * Jessie's Jessadia persona was first used during the Kanto Grand Festival.
 * It is revealed that Snowpoint City is Zoey's hometown.
 * Neither, , Zoey, or Jessie are seen in regular outfits throughout this episode, but Ash is seen.
 * This episode marks one of the extremely rare occasions that a member of Team Rocket refers to one of the main characters by name, but this was only to stay in-character as Jessadia.
 * Team Rocket doesn't blast off or recite their in this episode.

Errors

 * In Dawn's first match, Buneary's Ball Capsule has a Foamy Seal, but then it changes to a Heart Seal when it opens.
 * When Zoey's Finneon emerges from, its tail fins are seen upside down.
 * May's belly button disappears multiple times.
 * In the scene where Paul appears, a has petals the same color as its body and a face the shade of yellow its petals should be.

In other languages
Probe aufs Exempel EP547 DP078 DP078 DP編第78話 精灵宝可梦 钻石＆珍珠 第77集