AG079

Pearls are a Spoink's Best Friend (Japanese: バネブーのさがしもの！？ 's Lost Object!?) is the 79th episode of Pokémon the Series: Ruby and Sapphire, and the 353rd episode of the Pokémon animated series. It was first broadcast in Japan on June 3, 2004, and in the United States on May 21, 2005.
==Blurb==
Team Rocket talks to Giovanni on the video phone, and he yells at them for not making progress, threatening to replace the three of them.
The kids are eating breakfast when Skitty runs off and encounters a Spoink that has lost its pearl. The Spoink shows how it rolled away, so the kids help look around the forest. Spoink keeps mistaking various round objects for its pearl—like an Igglybuff—and putting them on its head.
Just as they find the real pearl, all of them are caught in a Team Rocket trap, but Ash's Corphish helps them get out. Spoink drops its pearl and Meowth catches it. Team Rocket runs off to a nearby carnival.
At the carnival, James runs into the Magikarp salesman, who is now selling Feebas. Drawn by the promise of Feebas evolving into a Milotic, Jessie trades the pearl. But when their new Feebas is swimming, its paint washes off, revealing just a Magikarp.
Ash and friends arrive, and both groups go looking for the salesman. Brock and Max reveal the scam, and then everyone confronts the Magikarp salesman. The kids start to battle Team Rocket, and the salesman slips away in the confusion. Spoink passes out, but Max grabs the pearl and puts it on Spoink's head. Spoink then uses Confuse Ray to send Team Rocket blasting off.
==Plot==
 follow protocol and contact , however they have no news to report. Giovanni asks about the progress of the new Secret Base, but the trio admit that it was destroyed. He declares that their Hoenn region mission has been a costly failure and suggests he’ll have to bring in Butch and Cassidy to finish the job instead. Giovanni signs off while Jessie and her teammates are left fuming. Optimistically, the trio declare that it is time for a new beginning.
The next morning, and sit down to enjoy breakfast. Some rustling in the bushes catches 's attention, and a soon appears. Max realizes something amiss, and after listening to Spoink's Pokédex entry he declares that Spoink is missing the pearl on its head. Ash and the others decide to help the distressed Spoink locate its pearl. Firstly, Spoink escorts the group to where it lost its pearl—down a cliff. With the pearl nowhere close by, calls on ’s assistance. Though they look hard for it, the Spoink tries to put any round objects it sees on its head, including an , a , and an . When the pearl is found, however, Team Rocket, working with renewed vigor after Giovanni threatened to replace them, attack the group. They use a traditional pitfall trap and introduce themselves as the "new Team Rocket". After snaring the twerps in a net, Ash calls out to free everyone, but Spoink's pearl ends up in 's hands as they land on the ground. Jessie and James order and to attack. Corphish escapes Seviper's attack and uses to negate damage from Cacnea's . Then Corphish and Mudkip send Team Rocket flying with a and combo. Ash and the others soon notice the absence of Spoink's pearl and chase after Team Rocket.
After blasting off, Team Rocket comes across a fair, and Ash and company chase Team Rocket onto the fairgrounds, where they initially lose sight of each other. Spoink tries a few more round objects, like a juggler's balls and a fortune teller's crystal ball. Team Rocket, meanwhile, is approached by the same Magikarp salesman who has made James' life a misery in the past and offers to trade "" for the pearl. Though James is wary of the known swindler, the Magikarp salesman reveals that Feebas evolves into , the most beautiful of all Pokémon, Jessie becomes dazzled by the possibilities. After hearing the salesman’s spiel, Jessie ignores her teammates concerns and hands over the pearl in exchange for the "Feebas".
Jessie is eager to get the "Feebas" to evolve, so they let their new Pokémon go for a swim in a nearby river. Soon, "Feebas'" color begins to change, but not with the glow of evolution. Rather "Feebas" is revealed to be a painted Magikarp, and the trio are furious that they have been swindled once again. Ash and his friends confront the Rocket trio, and after learning what occurred, they criticize them for trading the pearl for a worthless Magikarp. Both groups head back to the fair to find the crooked salesman. When they find him, he's trying to sell "Feebas" to the passing trade, so Brock has Mudkip use Water Gun to reveal the scheme. When the salesman tries to flee, Ash and company corner him and in the ensuing struggle, the pearl slips out of his bag. Team Rocket arrives only moments later, and a battle ensues, but Spoink is reunited with its pearl and uses its powerful attacks to blast Team Rocket off. During the commotion, the Magikarp salesman escapes to swindle another day. But, as Ash remarks at the end, at least they found the pearl.
==Major events==
* and encounter a wandering .
* Jessie buys a disguised as a from the Magikarp salesman, but eventually loses it after the disguise comes off.
* Ash and his friends meet the Magikarp salesman for the first time.
* Ash's Torkoal is revealed to know .
===Debuts===
====Pokémon debuts====
* ()
==Characters==
===Humans===
* 
* 
* 
* Max
* Jessie
* James
* 
* Magikarp salesman
* Magikarp salesman's wife and children (fantasy)
===Pokémon===
Pokémon Trainer's Choice: 
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ()
* (; new; sold to her and got lost before being captured)
* ()
* ()
* (; debut)
* 
* 
* 
* (flashback)
* ( card; Japanese version only)
* ( card; Japanese version only)
* ( card; Japanese version only)
* ( card; Japanese version only)
* ( card; Japanese version only)
==Trivia==
* The episode's English dub title is a play on the song .
* This episode is featured on the Volume 7: Psychic copy of Pokémon Elements.
* This is the fifth time the Magikarp salesman has appeared in , and the second time has acquired a from him.
* Advance Adventure is used as background music.
* This is the only episode with a boss fantasy to have appearing in person as well.
===Errors===
* In a couple of scenes, 's bag is missing.
===Dub edits===
* James looking up a card is cut in the dub. Cards seen included Spoink, , , , and .
* In the English dub, the computerized voice explaining and is an unknown person. In the original Japanese version, the voice is 's. 
TCG cards anime.png| cards dub cut
====Pokémon Trainer's Choice====
*Question: Trainers, which one of these Pokémon is the best choice to battle ?
*Choices: , , 
*Answer: OK, Trainers! If you chose Steelix, you were right!
==In other languages==
079
Category:Episodes written by Yukiyoshi Ōhashi
Category:Episodes storyboarded and directed by Yūji Asada
Category:Episodes storyboarded by Yūji Asada
Category:Episodes directed by Yūji Asada
Category:Episodes animated by Masaaki Iwane
Category:Episodes in which a main character obtains a new Pokémon
Category:Episodes in which a main character releases or gives away a Pokémon
de:Perle, wem Perle gebührt!
es:EP355
fr:AG079
it:RZ079
ja:AG編第79話
zh:宝可梦 超世代 第79集