RS108: Absol-ute Disaster

is the 16th episode of Pokémon: Advanced Battle.
==Synopsis==
Still traveling towards Sootopolis City, Ash and friends arrive in a town where the people hate Absol. They blame Absol for all of the troubles that have in their small town. Ash and friends decide to help a kid An attempted bridge crossing turns into near tragedy, as Pikachu falls to the rapid river below. Ash quickly dives in after Pikachu and emerges to find himself facing the oft-maligned Pokémon, Absol, a Pokémon which is widely said to herald coming catastrophe. The residents of a local village take this maxim even further, however, claiming that Absol are in fact responsible for the catastrophes that seem to accompany their sightings.  Pointing to numerous recent Absol sightings, locals predict a coming catastrophe.  As Ash and friends investigate, they find that the villagers’ worst fears may indeed come true.  Along with one lone young man determined to prove the Absol innocent, our heroes strive to understand what message the Absol are actually bearing to the villagers.Nicky find his missing brother Gordon, who went to solve the mystery of the appearing Absol, as well as try to solve the mystery of the Pokémon themselves.
==Episode plot==
The heroes approach a bridge. Everyone wants to cross it, so Pikachu goes first. However, the river is so powerful it destroys the bridge and Pikachu falls down. Fortunately, Pikachu hangs on a log. Ash goes to save him, but Pikachu swings and lands on his face. As Ash stands up, the heroes see an Absol looking at them. The Pokédex identifies it as a "Disaster Pokémon", leaving the heroes baffled if it was responsible for the destruction the bridge. Just then, some men come to fight it, but Absol jumps away on a near cliff. Max thinks Absol isn't to blame, since they don't know if it actually caused the bridge's destruction. At the village the heroes speak with two people, who state when the Absol came from the mountain, the disaster soon followed the village. They note that was the third bridge that got destroyed. The men believe Absol doesn't foreshadow the disaster, but actually causes it.
Max cannot believe that Absol is responsible for the chaos, through the men think it is. Max claims he never met a Pokémon that would do that, so the men state Max is hopeless in this case. They even hired some Absol hunters, who are Team Rocket in disguise. Team Rocket is angry their meal is foiled, but the heroes greet them, so they shut the door. Team Rocket is glad that the plan to capture Pikachu is better than they anticipated. Meowth thinks if they capture Absol as well, the boss wouldn't be pleased as his day would be ruined by the Absol. Jessie screams, while Meowth thinks Jessie has imagined their new demoted jobs. The man gather to wish good luck to the hunters, who would like to take the heroes with them to "witness how Absol is being captured". A boy, named Nicky, comes to protest, claiming Absol is not to blame. He is soon reminded that his brother Gordon went missing, since he couldn't catch any Absol. Nicky runs away to find Absol and Gordon, feeling something just happened to Gordon. While the heroes follow him, the villagers ask Team Rocket to go as well, but they claim they will catch up with them, being in top shape for climbing.
A moment later, Team Rocket is struggling to climb up. The heroes try to catch up with Nicky, suspecting something might be wrong about this. Ash asks why Gordon ran away, though Nicky clarifies Gordon did not run away. Nicky explained Gordon went to capture Absol and stated he would return, saying he found evidence that Absol aren't causing disasters. From that day, he was never heard of. The heroes believes Nicky that Absol do not cause actual disasters, either. Team Rocket arrives and they position themselves to be looking for Absol. Max feels something is wrong with these hunters, but Nicky ignores them. Soon enough, Team Rocket, who is terrified, appear on a huge boulder and wonder how they got up there. Nicky warns Max the area around is quite slippery. Max notes Nicky knows the area and is told he was also searching for Absol. Max, Nicky and Pikachu come through a pass to a landmark, named Squaretop, which is the largest mountain on the island. Max and Nicky yell for the others to come, though May, Ash and Brock are struggling, since they have less weight.
Brock goes to rest, but when he touches a rock, he feels water coming out of it. They realize that water comes through the rocks, even from the ground. Soon, they spot Absol on the top. Nicky believes Absol is not the one causing trouble and asks for it to come with him to prove the villagers that fact. Suddenly, the boulder where Team Rocket is on starts moving. Absol jumps and goes to them. Pikachu uses Thunderbolt on the ground to scare Absol, who is just standing around. The heroes are not certain if Absol was to attack, but Ash doesn't believe a Pokémon would attack without any reason. Max spots that the water is coming from the rock behind them and soon, the pressure becomes stronger. The water blasts out of the rock and blows Max, Nicky and Pikachu away off a cliff, to a branch. Nicky falls down, but Absol catches him in time. The heroes are astounded Absol just saved Nicky's life. Afterwards, the branch snaps, causing Max and Pikachu to fall down as well. Ash sends Swellow, who catches Max, while a Heracross catches Pikachu, too.
Nicky identifies the Heracross to be Gordon's, who arrives as well. Nicky hugs his brother, while Ash is grateful for saving his Pikachu. Gordon begins to tell his tale - he saw the Absol and sent Heracross, who attacked it. Absol dodged, but landed on edge and fell down, but Gordon saved it by swinging on a rope. Absol looked at Gordon and departed away. Gordon learned that Absol are definitively not guilty of the destruction that followed the village and Absol do not come to humans, and, most importantly, they aren't aggressive. He states the only time Absol goes to the villages if something is really important to foreshadow. Brock sees the water again coming from the rock. He asks Gordon if he took a look at the river. Gordon tells him that the river is much faster and higher than before. Brock concludes that the water inside the rocks has spread out, and the pressure inside the rocks will make the water go out, flooding the village, since it blew away Max and Nicky earlier.
They realize that Absol wanted to warn them of the disaster. Nicky believes Absol wants to repay Gordon for saving its life. They hear the Absol hunters yelling for help. They go to help, but the water starts breaking out from the water, so they cannot help. They notice the Absol appeared, however, who uses Hyper Beam to block the water. The attack is not strong enough, so Gordon sends Heracross who uses Hidden Power to push the boulder. To help them out, Ash sends Corphish, Torkoal and Grovyle, who use Bubble Beam, Flamethrower and Bullet Seed. May sends her Pokémon as well, having Skitty use Blizzard, Beautifly use Silver Wind, Combusken use Fire Spin and Bulbasaur use Petal Dance. Brock sends his as well: Ludicolo attacks with Bullet Seed and Mudkip with Water Gun. Pikachu uses Thunderbolt as well. The boulder is not moving, though Absol goes closer to use the Hyper Beam. The boulder is pushed and the water is diverted into two streams, one of which soaks Team Rocket.
Gordon thanks Absol for the help, seeing it did a good thing today. Team Rocket appears without their disguises. Team Rocket goes to capture Pikachu, but Absol attacks them using Razor Wind, blasting them off. The villagers apologize to Nicky the rudeness, who thanks Max for he was the first to believe him. Gordon thanks the others, as the village would be flooded without them. May spots Absol again and also thank it. Absol goes away and everyone waves goodbye to it.
==Debuts==
===Character===
*Nicky
*Gordon
===Pokémon===
*Absol
==Quotes==
:"So, who's the new guy down there?" - Jessie
:"An Absol hunter, I hope." - James
:"Absol-utely!" - Meowth
:"Now, we know Absol make good things happen and not disasters." - May
:"You bet!" - Max
:"[British accent] Someone say disaster?" - Jessie
:"[British accent] That's why we're here." - James
:"[British accent] Expert Absol hunters." - Meowth
:"[gasp]" - Ash, May, Max, and Brock
:"It's Team Rocket!" - Brock
:"Huh? Oh? Cheap rental costumes!" - Jessie, James, and Meowth
:" [British accent] Yes, Absol are SO disasters!" - Jessie, James, and Meowth
==Trivia==
*The eyecatch/next episode preview was changed again to feature a Regirock's theme.
*The title is a pun on the phrase "absolute disaster".
*Music from Mewtwo Strikes Back was used once again, similar to previous episode.
*Ash recognizes Absol during the episode because he encountered one during Jirachi: Wish Maker.
*This was the last AG episode when Maki Production serves as a Telop, formerly Telop List Work, and originally Title List Work, and this was the last episode to feature the Japanese credit term テロップ text to appear during the ending credits, formerly, テロップリスワーク text, and originally, タイトルリスワーク text due to the Japanese credit term テロップ text will be folded into two Japanese credit terms, text, and text starting with "RS109: Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snorunt!".
===Mistakes===
*Nicky says that Square Top is the highest mountain on the island. However, when it's on screen, the mountains in the background must be higher according to the rules of perspective.
==Gallery==
==References==