EP176

Ariados, Amigos (Japanese: アリアドス！にんぽうバトル！！ Ariados! Battle of Ninja Arts!!) is the 176th episode of the Pokémon animated series. It was first broadcast in Japan on December 7, 2000, and in the United States on November 17, 2001.
==Blurb==
Ash, Pikachu and Brock take a break by the lake while Misty heads deeper into the forest with Togepi. As Misty picks the local flora, Togepi wanders over to a very strange looking bush, it appears to have legs...spider legs! Summoned by Misty's shrieks, Ash and Brock discover an Ariados in the bush. Just then, a trainer from Fuschia City appears on the scene. She explains she's training with this Ariados to learn the special art of Pokémon Jujitsu. Accepting an invitation from the trainer, the gang joins her for a day at the Pokémon Jujitsu Academy. Find out what happens as Brock and Pineco blow the lid off a technical class, Ash is critiqued on battle techniques and Misty gets all wrapped up in Pokémon health, beauty and nutrition!
==Plot==
, , and take a break by the lake while heads deeper into the forest with . As Misty picks a flower, Togepi wanders over to a very strange-looking bush, which appears to have spider legs. Summoned by Misty's shrieks, Ash and Brock discover an in the bush. Just then, the Ariados's , the sister of Gym Leader Koga, arrives. She explains that she's with her Ariados to learn Pokémon . Under the guidance of Tōkichi, the sensei of the dojo, who is the true owner of Ariados, she is trying to perfect her skills in Pokémon Jujitsu alongside her . Accepting an invitation from Tōkichi, the group joins Aya for a day at the Pokémon Jujitsu Academy. 
Donning special uniforms, red-colored for technique studies, which Ash chooses, yellow-colored for the technical class, which Brock chooses, and blue-colored for beauty-classes, which Misty is assigned. Initially reluctant to attend a beauty class, she swiftly changes her mind when told that the beauty treatments taught can make her look like a movie star. To her horror, the treatment involves webbing being applied to the face as a moisturizer. Meanwhile, Brock and his impress the class and its teacher with their highly synchronized battle demonstration. In Ash's class, he and Aya have a rematch of their battle at the Fuchsia Gym. Ash uses his against Aya's Venonat, and initially, the battle follows the same pattern as their previous match, with Bulbasaur using to simultaneously trap and drain Venonat's energy. 
However, Venonat shrugs off the Leech Seed and nearly wins the battle with a - combination. Demonstrating Ash and his Pokémon's ingenuity and understanding of each other, Bulbasaur uses its to push itself high into the air, and at Ash's prompting, uses Vine Whip to attack Venonat from the air, winning the match. Meanwhile, observes the battle and decide to steal the many rare Pokémon present at the school. Later, when everyone is going to sleep, Pikachu hears a noise from outside, so Ash goes to investigate and he finds Aya . They contemplate their futures as Trainers until Venonat notices a strange occurrence. They find s of most of the Trainers at the center to be stolen. Moments later, Team Rocket reveals themselves as the thieves. They grab Pikachu and trap him in a metal cage to prevent the effectiveness of his attacks. 
As they take flight in their balloon, Tōkichi utilizes his glider to intercept Team Rocket and sabotage their balloon. He drops the Poké Balls to Ash and below and then falls from the balloon. Exhausted by the pursuit, and Ash's Pikachu still trapped in a metal cage, Tōkichi and Ariados cannot battle Team Rocket, leaving it up to Aya. She worries that she is not prepared to battle Team Rocket, but Tōkichi assures her by saying that no one is ever fully ready for battle. Ordering her Pokémon to use , she makes a gamble that her Venonat will be able to endure. The ploy works, and upon waking up, Venonat uses and , stunning . Ash finally succeeds in removing Pikachu from the cage, and returns to beat Jessie and James's final attack. 
Aya reflects upon her choice to take a chance, and is praised by Tōkichi for her turning "weakness into strength". When Ash and his friends prepare to leave, Tōkichi thanks them for their help, and promises them a place in his academy should they ever return.
==Major events==
* and meet up with again.
* Brock's Pineco is revealed to know .
===Debuts===
====Pokémon debuts====
* 
==Characters==
===Humans===
* 
* 
* 
* Jessie
* James
* 
* Tōkichi
* Students
** 
** Mickey
===Pokémon===
Who's That Pokémon?: (US and international), (Japan)
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ('s)
* (Tōkichi's; debut)
* (Mickey's)
* ('s)
* (Trainer's)
* (Trainer's)
* (Trainers'; ×4)
* (Trainer's)
* (multiple)
* (×5)
==Trivia==
* The English title of this episode is a play on the Spanish phrase "".
* This is the last episode to air in Japan before the earliest release of .
* This episode was banned in , likely due to the overt focus on Japanese culture. 
* What Tōkichi says in this episode in regards to beauty ("Beautiful people are more beautiful...more so than people who are as they are") is similar to a line from Beauty and the Breeder, in which Jessie and James say, "Beautiful Pokémon are more beautiful...more so than people who are as they are".
* Jessie's dance after the , when she mentions a list of Pokémon, could be a reference to the anime series .
===Errors===
* When the episode title is read, the usual Pokémon logo isn't in the top left-hand corner.
* The flower in hair disappears after her and her friends' flashback of meeting .
* When asks Aya if she remembers him, 's horn is colored red like its body.
* When Aya tells to use at the beginning of the episode, the black stripe on her jumpsuit is colored red. This also occurs when she kneels over Venonat when caught by Ariados's web.
* In the scene where and are seen in ninja jumpsuits, Misty is drawn with brown eyes when talking, instead of her usual blue ones.
* When Misty is trying to stay calm while being next to , its body is colored yellow instead of green while one of its legs has its colors reversed.
* Aya's Venonat uses in this episode, despite being unable to learn the move legitimately.
* Pokémon TV displays during the Who's That Pokémon? segment instead of .
EP176 Title Card Error.png|The missing logo
EP176 error 3.png|Ariados's miscolored horn
EP176 error.png|Aya's miscolored jumpsuit
EP176 error 2.png|Spinarak's miscolored body
===Dub edits===
* The original airing of this episode on Hungama TV in started the episode directly from the title card, skipping the part of the episode that comes before it.
==In other languages==
176
Category:Banned episodes
Category:Episodes written by Shinzō Fujita
Category:Episodes storyboarded and directed by Tarō Iwasaki
Category:Episodes storyboarded by Tarō Iwasaki
Category:Episodes directed by Tarō Iwasaki
Category:Episodes animated by Katsumi Hashimoto
de:Pokémon Jiu-Jitsu
es:EP178
fr:EP176
it:OA060
ja:無印編第176話
zh:宝可梦 第177集