AG048

ZigZag Zangoose! (Japanese: ザングースVSハブネーク！ライバル対決！！ Zangoose VS ! Rival Confrontation!!) is the 48th episode of Pokémon the Series: Ruby and Sapphire, and the 322nd episode of the Pokémon animated series. It was first broadcast in Japan on October 23, 2003, and in the United States on October 23, 2004.
==Blurb==
Ash and friends are traveling when a Zangoose runs up in front of them. It is followed by its Trainer, their old friend Nicolai. Ash challenges Nicolai to a Pokémon battle.
The battle is being watched by Team Rocket. Jessie sends out her Seviper (to steal Pikachu), but Zangoose senses it and the two Pokémon start to fight. They fall into the river, and Ash sends Corphish to drive Seviper off so they can rescue Zangoose.
While the injured Zangoose is recovering back at their camp, Ash shows Nicolai how to battle Seviper. Team Rocket returns and the battle between Zangoose and Seviper continues. James and Meowth steal Pikachu while Jessie is helping her Seviper.
The friends go to get Pikachu back, but James' Cacnea accidentally sends Pikachu flying. Wobbuffet grabs Pikachu and runs off, trailed by everyone.
Nicolai notices that they can't catch Wobbuffet because it's running in a zig-zag pattern, so he instructs his Zangoose to do the same to avoid Seviper's attacks. Zangoose then uses Crush Claw to win the battle, while Pikachu uses Thunder to send Team Rocket blasting off again.
Nicolai congratulates Zangoose, and Ash and Nicolai continue their battle.
==Plot==
On the way to Fallarbor Town for 's next Pokémon Contest, meets a pair of . When the larger of the two starts talking, they recognize it as their old friend, Nicholai. As they set up a picnic, Nicholai tells them that he went to the Petalburg Gym. May and Max ask Nicholai if he saw their dad and mom. Nicholai explains that after he told Norman and Caroline that he is a friend of May and Max, they invited him for dinner and he accepted his Gym challenge, which he lost. He says that Norman must have worn short shorts during , irritating May and Max. Patting May on the back as she scolds him, Nicholai explains that he wants to get stronger, and challenges him to a battle refereed by . As the battle begins, Nicholai gets into a costume, and sends out Marshtomp. Noting that Nicholai's has evolved since their last meeting, Ash chooses . Nicholai tells Marshtomp to use , but Ash has Treecko dodge it and use . However, Marshtomp follows Treecko while still firing its Water Gun, stopping Treecko's Quick Attack. Then, Marshtomp uses to knock Treecko over. Nicholai tells Marshtomp to use , but Treecko manages to get up and retaliate with before knocking Marshtomp down with .
Meanwhile, watches the battle from behind the bushes, and plot to steal during the battle. Jessie sends out in preparation for an attack. Back on the battlefield, Nicholai takes off his Marshtomp costume and replaces with the Zangoose costume before he sends out his Zangoose, ordering it to use . Zangoose starts the move, only to freeze as it senses something. Nicholai asks what is wrong, but Zangoose just walks away, and disappears into the bushes. A moment later, Team Rocket runs out of the bushes, followed by Zangoose and Seviper, glaring at each other in anger. Ash asks Team Rocket what they are doing there, but after they say the first sentence of their , Zangoose and Seviper interrupt and roar fiercely. Max explains that Zangoose and Seviper are arch enemies. Brock says that they will start to fight and not give up. After each other, they look at each other. Meowth jumps in and tells Seviper to forget about Zangoose and just capture Pikachu together, but he only succeeds in being whacked with Seviper's tail. Meowth is sent rolling down the hill with Team Rocket and falling into the river.
Seviper Zangoose, and Zangoose s Seviper. Nicholai tells Seviper to stop but is knocked over by the two Pokémon. The two Pokémon fall in the river. Flowing down the stream, Seviper uses and Zangoose hits a rock, unconscious. Just as it is about to attack Zangoose again, Ash sends out , it uses to attack Seviper, and carries Zangoose to shore. Zangoose seems to be hurt really badly. Brock explains that he will help to heal it. After mixing the , he passes it to Nicholai. He feeds Zangoose the medicine. Max says that Zangoose will not stop until it gets revenge. As Team Rocket sit near the river, Seviper suddenly jumps out of the river and lands near them. Without thinking, James yells at it and wants Seviper to apologize. Just then, James immediately apologizes as he notices Seviper’s anger. He kneels and pleads for forgiveness and Seviper decides to forgive him. Meowth asks Seviper if he is finding Nicholai’s Zangoose, and he nods. Meowth says that Seviper still wants to battle Zangoose. Jessie chimes in and says that there IS a fierce hatred in the world, just like her hatred towards Cassidy. If she sees Cassidy, she wants to kill her. So Jessie, being sympathetic, decides to take Seviper's side and help find and defeat Zangoose.
Back to the other side, Ash and Nicholai do some Pokédex research for information on Seviper and they decide to try it themselves. Nicholai gets into a Zangoose costume, and Ash gets into a Seviper costume. Then, they start to run at each other, and uses its tail to knock down. Nicholai cries out in pain and Ash realizes Seviper’s strength. gets up. is about to use its tail again, but dodges it. bites . Skitty lets itself out of its Poké Ball, and May runs after it. Zangoose hears Seviper nearby and runs off to battle, even in its weak state. It turns out Jessie and Seviper were using a microphone to amplify Seviper's voice. Zangoose runs into the clearing, with the gang close behind. A battle ensues, and eventually, James and Meowth snatch Pikachu. The group, sans Nicholai, runs off to chase them.
James sends out to slow them down with . James and Meowth say the Team Rocket motto together. Ash begins charging after them, but Cacnea uses sending Ash flying and landing on them, knocking Pikachu's cage out of their hands. Back to the epic battle again, Seviper uses and then Poison Tail, but Zangoose avoids as it begins to tire. Before Seviper can do something, Pikachu's cage falls from the sky and interrupts the battle, with Ash and the rest close behind. Wobbuffet somehow ends up with the cage and everyone begins chasing it. Jessie yells at them to stop. Ash swipes the cage from Wobbuffet's hands. The epic battle resumes, with Zangoose trying out a new strategy. Zangoose eventually wins and knocks out Seviper with a . Team Rocket attempts to get back Pikachu. James sends out Cacnea, hitting them all with its Pin Missile, but a Thunder from Pikachu blasts them off once again. Nicholai congratulates Zangoose on its great battle skills, and agrees to let it rest after that showdown with Seviper. However, Ash and Nicholai never finished their match, so they decide to continue. Nicholai sends out and Ash battles it using Pikachu. The battle rages on with the winner unrevealed.
==Major events==
* and meet up with Nicholai again.
* Nicholai is revealed to have challenged Norman and lost.
* James's Cacnea is revealed to know .
* Jessie's Seviper is revealed to know .
===Debuts===
====Pokémon debuts====
* 
==Characters==
===Humans===
* 
* 
* 
* Max
* Jessie
* James
* Norman (flashback)
* Nicholai
* Cassidy (fantasy)
* Caroline (flashback)
===Pokémon===
Pokémon Trainer's Choice: 
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ()
* (Nicholai's)
* (Nicholai's)
* (Nicholai's; debut)
==Trivia==
* This episode aired in exactly one year after its original Japanese airing.
* This is the first episode to explain 's and 's arch rivalry.
* For the second time after The Stun Spore Detour, Meowth fills in for Jessie during . 
* Once again, and Nicholai's battle is cut off at the end of the episode, leaving the outcome a mystery.
* In the Pokémon Trainer's Choice segment, all three choices are somewhat correct. Dewgong's is effective against 's , 's is effective against Ninjask's , and 's type is actually effective against both of Ninjask's Bug/Flying types, which would make Nosepass the most effective choice.
===Errors===
* The blurb for this episode misspells Nicholai's name as Nicolai.
* When uses her Pokédex on , her hand is colored like Ash's.
* At the beginning of the battle between Nicholai and Jessie, the lower left fang on Nicholai's Zangoose suit briefly disappears.
* When Meowth starts to recite the motto with James, both of them act like it is the first time this has happened; however, this has happened before in The Stun Spore Detour.
* Before is blasted off, disappears.
AG048 error.png|May's skin tone
AG048 error 2.png|The Zangoose suit's missing fang
===Dub edits===
====Pokémon Trainer's Choice====
* Question: Trainers, which one of these Pokémon is the best choice to battle against Ninjask?
* Choices: Torkoal, Dewgong, Nosepass
* Answer: OK, Trainers! If you chose Dewgong, you were right!
==In other languages==
048
Category:Episodes written by Shinzō Fujita
Category:Episodes storyboarded and directed by Yoshito Hata
Category:Episodes storyboarded by Yoshito Hata
Category:Episodes directed by Yoshito Hata
Category:Episodes animated by Kumiko Shishido
Category:Episodes focusing on Jessie
de:Im Zickzack zum Ziel
es:EP324
fr:AG048
it:RZ048
ja:AG編第48話
zh:宝可梦 超世代 第48集