AG091

Lessons in Lilycove (Japanese: ポケモンコンテスト！ミナモ大会！！ Pokémon Contest! Tournament!!) is the 91st episode of Pokémon the Series: Ruby and Sapphire, and the 365th episode of the Pokémon animated series. It first aired in Japan on August 26, 2004, and in the United States on September 10, 2005.
==Blurb==
Combusken's Fire Spin is spiraling out of control in the Lilycove Contest Hall. Combusken protects May, who takes control by having the Fire- and Fighting-type unleash a fireball and perform Sky Uppercut. The performance earns May a decent, but lowered score for losing control in the first place.
Meanwhile, Ash is keeping an eye on the contest from outside while he continues to teach his Swellow Aerial Ace.
Kelly puts on a great performance with Grumpig, using Psychic to catch thrown PokéBlocks. A disguised Jessie is up next with Chimecho, who she hurts and forces to use Astonish—an unusual move that actually earns her a perfect score!
In the next round, May faces off against Jessie, and the battle is pretty much even, until Chimecho misses with Double-Edge, letting Combusken hit it with Sky Uppercut. Team Rocket retaliates with yet another one of their attacks, but Swellow drives them off with its new Aerial Ace attack.
May and Kelly face off in the final round, May taking a beating until she comes up with an idea to use Fire Spin on the ceiling, which rains down on the whole room so Grumpig can't possibly escape. May claims victory, winning her third ribbon.
==Plot==
's performance at Pokémon Contest gets off to a chaotic start when goes out of control. Luckily, Combusken blocks the oncoming inferno and uses to create a dazzling display of embers. May orders a follow up Fire Spin to gather up the embers into a fireball before smacking it with a , bringing another rain of fire down. The crowd goes wild, and the judges commend May's unintentional, yet well delivered Appeal with a cumulative score of 23.6. May heads backstage where praises her efforts, though Jessie, disguised as “ Jessafina” sees that the low score is sure to stop May advancing into the next round.
's takes to the stage, calling on her to show the crowd its springy tail. She follow up with a "Pokéblock party", and has Grumpig uses its to juggle Pokéblocks. The audience gets really involved with Grumpig's performance and it finishes by eating all of the Pokéblocks. The judges award Grumpig a combined score of 27.7, which will be hard to beat. Next in the Contest are Jessafina and . The two soothe the audience with melodic tones , but their finish is clouded by Jessafina trying to make Chimecho's voice more dynamic. She tugs on its tail, and Chimecho lets out ear-splitting sounds of its instead. Surprisingly the judges award Jessie and Chimecho a perfect score of 30. Raoul Contesta explains that Jessafina's daring performance was unexpected, a hallmark attribute of any good Coordinator. admits that Jessafina and Chimecho may be a perfect pair, but James scolds him for that remark.
With the conclusion of the Appeals Round, the eight Coordinators moving on to the Contest Battles are revealed, including Jessafina, Kelly and May. After defeating their opponents in the first match of the Battle Round, May and Jessafina face each other in the semi-finals, with Combusken versus Chimecho. Combusken lashes Chimecho with a , and Chimecho retaliates by ping itself around its opponent's neck. James watches in horror as Combusken Pecks at Chimecho to free itself before engulfing it in a Fire Spin. Jessafina orders a attack, though Combusken counters with a Sky Uppercut, and this completely knocks out Jessie and Chimecho.
Meanwhile, and continue to master outside the Contest Hall. Under Vladimir's watch Swellow manages to finally master the attack's accuracy and timing, performing a textbook perfect version of Aerial Ace on a target. is walking home following Jessie's defeat in the contest, and the former is mad at James because Chimecho's Double-Edge missed. Meanwhile, on one attempt, Swellow misses the target and crashes into Team Rocket, sending the trio blasting off.
It comes down to May versus Kelly in the finals. Grumpig tries an , but Combusken catches it in its claws, costing Kelly some of her points. The issues a Fire Spin counterattack, but is foiled by a Psychic, and Grumpig sends it back as a fire dragon. Combusken smashes it with Sky Uppercut, but then gets caught in a psychokinetic trap and is rendered helpless. Kelly declares that she is going to finish May off, and Grumpig s towards its opponent. With quick thinking on May's part, Combusken aims a Fire Spin at the ceiling, causing it to rain fire and damage Grumpig. They fall together as the Psychic attack fails, but Combusken saves them both by using Fire Spin to halt their descent. The five minutes are up, and with the most points remaining, May is declares the winner. The Judges also affirm the ruling, adding that May’s efforts to help her opponent make her a noble contestant. May proudly holds her new bubble-patterned Lilycove Ribbon. Kelly promises that she'll be even stronger the next time they meet. May is up for the challenge, replying that she'll be using her custom Pokéblock.
==Major events==
* James's Chimecho is revealed to know and uses for the first time.
* Ash's Swellow learns .
* wins the , earning her third Ribbon.
===Debuts===
====Pokémon debuts====
==Characters==
===Humans===
* 
* 
* 
* Max
* Jessie
* James
* Nurse Joy
* Vivian Meridian
* Raoul Contesta
* Mr. Sukizo
* 
* Vladimir
===Pokémon===
Pokémon Trainer's Choice: 
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ('s)
* (Coordinator's)
* (Coordinator's)
* (Coordinator's)
* (Coordinator's)
* (Coordinator's)
==Trivia==
* The Japanese character names Haruka and Kanata are a pun based on はるか彼方 — that faraway place — a line from Advance Adventure.
* Advance Adventure is used as background music.
* This episode marks the second time a 's attack is sent back by a attack in the form of a dragon. The first time it was done was in Abra and the Psychic Showdown, where deflected 's .
* This is one of the rare instances where Mr. Sukizo says something that doesn't incorporate "remarkable". When James's Chimecho is using , he says, "I love you guys."
* does not recite their in this episode.
* This episode marks the first time that a Hoenn Pokémon is featured in Professor Oak's Pokémon Lecture, specifically .
===Errors===
* When showing the time left after 's uses Psychic on , the point bar is at full capacity for both Trainers. This happens again when the timer runs out.
* After Combusken saves , Grumpig's eyes are purple. However, this is possibly meant to show that it was in shock after the situation.
* In the English dub:
** During the Pokémon Trainer's Choice segment, 's name is incorrectly written as "Flaafy".
** When Combusken uses on Chimecho, Vivian can be heard saying "mire spin" instead of Fire Spin.
===Dub edits===
* The English dub implies that Contests are held only once a year, something that isn't mentioned in the original Japanese version.
====Pokémon Trainer's Choice====
* Question: Trainers, which one of these Pokémon is the best choice to battle Flaaffy?
* Choices: , , 
* Answer: OK, Trainers! If you chose Swinub, you were right!
==In other languages==
091
Category:Episodes written by Atsuhiro Tomioka
Category:Episodes storyboarded by Yoshitaka Fujimoto
Category:Episodes directed by Norihiko Nagahama
Category:Episodes animated by Toshihito Hirooka
Category:Episodes focusing on May
Category:Episodes focusing on Jessie
Category:Episodes in which May gets a Ribbon
Category:Episodes in which Jessie loses a Contest
Category:Episodes in which a main character's Pokémon learns a new move
Category:Episodes with Contests
de:Übung macht den Meister!
es:EP367
fr:AG091
ja:AG編第91話
zh:宝可梦 超世代 第91集