EP238

Nice Pryce, Baby! (Japanese: チョウジジム！こおりのたたかい！ Gym! Ice Battle!) is the 238th episode of the Pokémon animated series. It was first broadcast in Japan on February 28, 2002, and in the United States on March 8, 2003.
==Blurb==
Having earned Pryce's respect and permission to face the trainer in a gym battle, Ash makes the unlikely choice of sending out Cyndaquil, a Fire Pokémon, to face his opponent on an Ice battlefield. Fortunately, Ash's strategy pans out as he leads the gym leader to lower his defenses, allowing Ash to take the first victory in a two-on-two match. Next the gym leader sends out his trusty Piloswine, which immediately unleashes a Blizzard attack that completely alters the battlefield, allowing it to make quick work of Ash's defending Pokémon. With one victory each, the round enters sudden death with each trainer playing his oldest, most reliable Pokémon. A seasoned duo, Ash and Pikachu may match the teamwork of the gym leader and his Piloswine, but will this be enough in a slippery ice arena that is second nature to Piloswine, but whereon Pikachu struggles even to stand?
==Plot==
 is excited for his upcoming Gym . He declares that his 's flames will make quick work of Pryce's Pokémon. reminds him that Pryce's Piloswine and will be tough opponents, and Ash realizes there is a big hole in his battle strategy.
Sheila arrives at the Mahogany Gym and is pleasantly surprised to see Pryce grooming his Piloswine. Pryce admits that he has been with his Pokémon all night. Having been reunited with Piloswine only yesterday, Pryce has come to realize that his own ambitions were also frozen in ice for many years. Ash and his friends suddenly arrive at the Gym, and Pryce happily escorts them into the facility. Inside, Ash is surprised to see the glistening ice battlefield. mentions that the field's central pool might be key to winning this match. Meanwhile, plans to steal all of the Pokémon.
Pryce and Ash soon take their positions on the field. Ash prepares to call out his first Pokémon, but Brock halts the match after noticing that there is no referee. Sheila chuckles and reveals her referee uniform before taking her position as the referee for the battle. The two-on-two match begins. Pryce calls out his Dewgong, and it dives into the pool. Ash sends out and orders a , but Dewgong ducks underwater to evade the attack. Dewgong retaliates with an , freezing Cyndaquil in solid ice after it loses its footing. Ash has Cyndaquil turn up the heat, and its breaks free of the ice to dodge an incoming . The unconventional strategy takes Pryce by surprise. He orders another Aurora Beam. Cyndaquil moves out of the way and fires a Flamethrower at it. Dewgong dives underwater once again to escape. Ash spots an opportunity and has Cyndaquil also enter the water. Dewgong approaches with a , though Ash bides his time before hitting Dewgong out of the water with a attack. Cyndaquil follows up with a Flamethrower to knock Dewgong out of the battle. Next, Pryce sends out his trusty .
Meanwhile, Team Rocket prepared to steal the Gym's Ice Pokémon with a net. Jessie pauses for a moment and suggests they keep some of the Pokémon for themselves. James and are a little confused, but Jessie explains that they could establish a global ice cream chain. With the money earned they would be able to finally pay off their dues to the . Meowth springs into action and prepares to net himself some Pokémon. However, he slips on the ice and disturbs a sleeping . Soon enough Team Rocket finds themselves surrounded by the angry Ice Pokémon. The trio is quickly frozen after an is shot their way. 
The focus switches back to the battle, where Piloswine immediately unleashes a attack. The snow cover helps Piloswine disappear into its surroundings and it strikes Cyndaquil out with a . With one victory each, the round enters a sudden deathmatch. Ash selects his most reliable Pokémon, against Pryce's Piloswine. Things start out rough as Piloswine releases a barrage of Blizzard attacks on Pikachu, who struggles to stand up straight on the ice. Ash notices that Piloswine's Blizzard attacks form ice pillars on the battlefield, and so, he commands Pikachu to slide on the ice underneath Piloswine. This confuses Piloswine as well as Pryce. Then, Pikachu slides and ricochets off of the pillars, easily dodging the Blizzards. When Pryce tells Piloswine to use Blizzard on the whole battlefield, Pikachu slides under it and unleashes a powerful . Almost out of energy, Piloswine uses . Ash tells Pikachu to use before it heals, but he's too late. With its newfound energy, Piloswine uses and Take Down.
Pryce tells Ash to throw in the towel, but Ash refuses, so the battle continues on. Ash commands Pikachu to counter Piloswine's Fury Attack with a Quick Attack. Piloswine is hit directly on the nose and slides backward. Pikachu unleashes a massive , which does nothing to it. Piloswine uses Take Down, and Pikachu jumps on its face and uses Thunder. This causes some damage and creates a hole in the field, which causes Piloswine to fall into the water. This time, Pikachu's next Thunderbolt causes more damage because Piloswine is wet. Piloswine shakes it off, leaving Ash and his friends astounded. It retaliates with Fury Attack, but Pikachu doesn't have enough control to dodge. Ash commands a Thunder, which sends Pikachu flying backward. Pikachu looks exhausted, but stands up, ready to keep fighting. In a surprising turn of events, Pryce forfeits, which gives Ash the victory under a Ash isn't pleased at first, saying he didn't actually win. Pryce admits that Ash's strength was impressive and explains he just didn't want his Piloswine to get hurt. With this in mind, Ash gladly accepts the . Pryce once again thanks Ash for helping him to rediscover that being friends with Pokémon is important. Ash and his group wave goodbye and head towards their next destination, Blackthorn City.
==Major events==
* has a Gym battle with Pryce and Pryce forfeits, earning Ash the .
* Ash and head to Blackthorn City for Ash's final Johto Gym battle.
===Debuts===
====Pokémon debuts====
==Characters==
===Humans===
* 
* 
* 
* Jessie
* James
* Pryce
* Sheila
===Pokémon===
Who's That Pokémon?: (US and international), (Japan)
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ()
* (Pryce's; multiple)
* (Pryce's; multiple)
* (Pryce's; multiple)
* (Pryce's; multiple)
* (fantasy)
* (fantasy)
==Trivia==
* The dub title is a reference to "", a song by .
* Music from Pikachu's Rescue Adventure, Mewtwo Strikes Back! and The Power of One is used in this episode.
* When Jessie finds out that Pryce is the Gym Leader, she says that Pryce wasn't right, a reference to the game show .
* When uses while is in the water, says that because of this, Thunderbolt's power is doubled. Although this isn't true, this is similar to the concept of the move introduced in Generation V, which turns the target into a Pokémon by soaking them with water.
* does not recite the or blast off in this episode.
* This marks the only time when has won a Gym battle by his opponent forfeiting.
===Errors===
* 's affects Pryce's Piloswine, although it should not, as Piloswine is a Pokémon. This is an example of animation physics.
** Despite this, Pikachu's does nothing to Piloswine.
===Dub edits===
==In other languages==
238
Category:Episodes written by Atsuhiro Tomioka
Category:Episodes storyboarded by Kazu Yokota
Category:Episodes directed by Hiroaki Shimura
Category:Episodes animated by Yumenosuke Tokuda
Category:Episodes focusing on Ash
Category:Episodes in which Ash gets a Badge
Category:Episodes with Gym battles
Category:Episodes in which an alternately colored Pokémon appears
de:Der Eis-Preis
es:EP240
fr:EP238
it:OA122
ja:無印編第238話
zh:宝可梦 第239集