EP268

Tie One On! (Japanese: メガニウムＶＳフシギダネ！くさタイプのいじ！ Meganium VS ! Spirit of the Grass Types!) is the 268th episode of the Pokémon animated series. It first aired in Japan on October 3, 2002, and in the United States on September 19, 2003. 
==Blurb==
As the Johto League Silver Conference gets underway, Ash will take on Jackson from New Bark Town. Ash is looking forward to the match, but perhaps not as much as his Bulbasaur. Bulbasaur is very anxious to take on Jackson's Meganium and the feeling is mutual. Bulbasaur and Meganium are so eager to test their skills that they get into a fight before the battle and get caught by Officer Jenny. Luckily for Ash and Jackson, Gary and Harrison convince Officer Jenny that the Pokémon had really just een practicing. After all, trainers whose Pokémon fight get disqualified! With all of the drama, the battle is sure to be intense. Ash wins round one, but Jackson's Magneton is really strong, and Jackson wins round two. It comes down to Meganium and Bulbasaur in the final round of the match. They're battling for their honor as grass type Pokémon, and neither is willing to lose. The match ends in a draw. Ash has more points altogether, and so he will proceed in the tournament. But is Ash ready for his next opponent—Gary Oak?
==Plot==
During the second match of Group H in the Silver Conference, Macy faces off against Jackson, the group's third competitor. Though Macy is ready, Jackson is more prepared to showboat than , saying hello to and to one of the stadium cameras. The three-on-three match gets well underway, and soon it is down to a winner-takes-all situation with Macy's and Jackson's battling for the victory. Jackson's showboating gets the better of him, as he trips over his cape issuing orders to Poliwhirl, leaving Poliwhirl standing as it takes a . This, combined with a Starmie from an earlier round, seals the match for Macy. As and watches from the stands, notes that Macy saved herself from elimination by winning, which also means that Ash and Macy are tied at the top of Group H. He adds that Ash will only need a tie against Jackson in order to advance, while Jackson must win outright to force a three-way tie. Noting this, Brock also mentions that a second tiebreaker round-robin would be needed should Jackson win outright.
Back at the Athlete's Village, and are rekindling their old friendship outside, as everyone else walks inside the Pokémon Center. Ash suddenly overhears a familiar voice, and he turns to see his next opponent, Jackson talking to Professor Elm. Ash interrupts the conversation, and Elm informs the group that is happy with . As they exchange pleasantries, Jackson explains that Professor Elm had given him , his first partner Pokémon, and that it had only recently evolved into a . Asking why Meganium wasn't entered, Jackson admits that he thought that it would have been better for him to save Meganium for the victory rounds, which, in retrospect, was a mistake.
Back outside, the Bulbasaur and Squirtle see an apple from a tree, which Bulbasaur tries to grab. At the same time, a Meganium, accompanied by an , also see the same apple. The two Pokémon get into a heated tug-of-war over the apple, splitting it in half. As the two Water-types receive their halves, Azumarill throws its piece towards Squirtle, hitting it in the face and knocking away the other half of the apple. As Meganium and Azumarill laugh at Squirtle's misfortunes, Squirtle's short-tempered side rears itself. Putting on its Squirtle Squad glasses, Squirtle prepares to pick a fight with the two, only to be restrained by Bulbasaur. As Bulbasaur tries to apologize, Azumarill slaps it in the face, bringing out Squirtle's anger once again. Bulbasaur easily shakes it off and tries once more to restrain Squirtle. As the two leave, Meganium's vine latches onto Bulbasaur, tripping it, and causing Azumarill and Meganium to laugh once again. Now with the better half of the duo also angered, the four Pokémon begin to fight each other. Inside, the catch-up with Elm ends when everyone hears that a Pokémon brawl is happening outside, with Bulbasaur and Meganium involved. Ash and Jackson figure that their Pokémon are involved, and rush out. Seeing their Pokémon grappling, they try in vain to quell the fighting. Only when appears with does the fighting stop, by way of . As both Ash and Jackson thank Harrison for breaking up the fight, Officer Jenny arrives to see what the commotion was about, and warns that any brawls could get their Pokémon's Trainers disqualified. Harrison covers for Ash and Jackson, saying that the four Pokémon were only practicing against each other, with appearing to back up Harrison's claim. With Officer Jenny gone, Gary and Ash exchange a bit of trash talk, before Gary leaves.
Later, as Ash and company are deciding on the three entrants to use against Jackson, noting that, in addition to Azumarill and his strong Meganium, he also has a on his team. Misty advises Ash to enter as a Meganium counter and for the advantage over Azumarill. 
The next day, the match begins, with Jackson given the first move. Jackson greets his mother via the cameras before calling on his Azumarill. Ash selects his Pikachu. Azumarill leads off with , while Pikachu evades with . As Pikachu reverses for the attack, Azumarill dodges at the last minute. After exchanging a Thunderbolt and a , Azumarill connects with and follows up with . Pikachu, however, grabs the tail just as it connects and replies with a , knocking Azumarill out.
Next up, Jackson calls out his Shiny Magneton. After exchanging Thunderbolts, Ash attempts a Quick Attack. Though Magneton dodges and uses , holding Pikachu down. Finally, Jackson ends it all with a . Pikachu is hurled right into a wall and is out for the count. Ash sends out Cyndaquil, with Brock remarking that Magneton, as a , will be at a disadvantage. After exchanging a Thunderbolt and a , Cyndaquil manages to use a . The haze of thick smoke obscures Magneton’s view, and Cyndaquil lands a attack on it. Ash orders another Flamethrower, but Jackson has Magneton enter into an evasive . Cyndaquil finds itself surrounded, but before it can act, Magneton lashes it with a Thunder Wave. Jackson calls for a Tri Attack, and Cyndaquil is knocked out.
Now down to his last Pokémon, Ash brings out Bulbasaur. Jackson begins with a Thunderbolt, which Bulbasaur counters with . Magneton evades with Double Team. Bulbasaur avoids the same Thunder Wave and Tri Attack combination that defeated Pikachu and Cyndaquil by using a spinning to mow down the afterimages. The vine soon connects and swats Magneton aside. Nevertheless, Jackson attempts the winning combo again, but Thunder Wave is blocked by a last-minute Razor Leaf, and Vine Whip is used to evade the Tri Attack. Finally, Bulbasaur fires at Magneton, which manages to sap much of its energy. Magneton falls to the ground due to the energy loss from Leech Seed and Ash uses this chance to order Bulbasaur to use Vine Whip to grab and spin Magneton around. This wraps up the match-up, as Magneton is knocked out.
Bulbasaur and Meganium are now battling for the match, and the prior bad blood is still fresh in their minds. Trading off Razor Leafs and Vine Whips, Meganium appears to be more powerful as some of its Razor Leaves hit its opponent and it manages to throw Bulbasaur while locked in the Vine Whip. Narrowly dodging several attempts, Bulbasaur connects on another Razor Leaf. Evading another Meganium Vine Whip with its own Vine Whip, however, allows Meganium to hit Bulbasaur while airborne with a Razor Leaf. However, Bulbasaur manages to evade Meganium's Body Slam and uses another Vine Whip to hook on to Meganium's neck and pelt it with more Razor Leafs. Both slowly get back up and wear each other down by hitting each other in the face with Vine Whips. On the sidelines, Misty wonders why they aren't taking time to evade the attacks, in which Brock explains that the battle may be of pride as well, and thus both are willing to take as much as they are willing to give. As they talk, both Grass types cross counter with their Vine Whip attacks. Getting up one last time, both Pokémon trade off s. The pair emerge standing despite the large explosion. They both smirk at each other before collapsing on the battlefield, forcing the referee to declare a tied result. Despite the draw, both Trainers congratulate each other on a battle well fought, and the rival Grass types also shake vines. With the tie game, Ash officially advances to the victory round from Group H, while Jackson and Macy are both eliminated. Macy, also in the audience, cheers Ash on, believing that he can go all the way. 
Meanwhile, at the concession stand, the trio has also sold out of its new Thunderbolt Badges, thanks to James's knack for collecting. Once again, Team Rocket redouble their efforts into making more money. Back at the Athlete's Village, the preliminary rounds have been decided. Ash discovers that Harrison advanced from his group, as did Gary. What surprises him even more, though, is that his first round match in the Victory Tournament is against none other than Gary.
==Major events==
* Macy defeats Jackson in their preliminary battle.
* Jackson is revealed to own an , a , a , a , and a .
* Macy is revealed to own a .
* is revealed to own a .
* and Jackson's preliminary battle ends in a draw, meaning Ash has advanced to the Victory Tournament.
* and Harrison also advance to the Victory Tournament.
* Ash learns that he will battle Gary in the first round of the Victory Tournament.
===Debuts===
====Humans====
=====Main series and English dub debuts=====
* Jackson
====Pokémon debuts====
=====Main series and English dub debuts=====
* Jackson's Meganium
==Characters==
===Humans===
* 
* 
* 
* Jessie
* James
* Officer Jenny
* 
* Professor Elm
* 
* Jackson
* Macy
===Pokémon===
Who's That Pokémon?: (US and international), (Japan)
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ()
* (Jackson's)
* (Jackson's)
* (Jackson's; )
* (Jackson's; image on scoreboard)
* (Jackson's; image on scoreboard)
* (Jackson's)
* (Macy's)
* (Macy's; image on scoreboard)
* (Macy's; image on scoreboard)
* ('s)
* (×2)
==Trivia==
* This marks the only time when has tied in a Pokémon League Conference .
* Music from Mewtwo Strikes Back is used in the introduction to the episode.
* Although the Who's That Pokémon? segment was random by this point in the dub, the featured was , which did play a significant role in this episode.
* doesn't recite the or blast off in this episode.
===Errors===
* The blurb for this episode formats as grass type.
* The announcer claims Jackson used a , but it was actually a .
* One of the banners in the crowd misspells Pokémon as "Pomémon".
* Jackson's doesn't sparkle when it emerges from its Poké Ball, unlike other Shiny Pokémon in the .
* Prior to launching its final against , Magneton appears as if it is going to be hit with what seems like a coming in from the top of the screen.
* When Magneton is hit by 's , all of its bolts are missing.
* In the English dub, when Jackson's Magneton knocks out Ash's Pikachu with Tri Attack, says that Magneton using limited Pikachu's speed, when in fact, had used it.
* In the dub, Ranger Mason is referred to as a male by Professor Elm, who calls her "Patrulheiro Mason" instead of "Patrulheira Mason".
* In the dub, when Ash's Pikachu loses to Jackson's Magneton, the referee says that both trainers have one Pokémon left each, when they in fact have two.
EP268 error 2.png|The misspelled sign
EP268 error.png|The random Razor Leaf
EP268 error 3.png|Magneton's missing bolts
===Dub edits===
* Two of Jackson's references to and are removed, and replaced with references to his family back home. In a third, the dub refers to them as "Yoshi" and "Dani", indicating that these may have been the intended dub names at the time.
* When shots are shown of Bulbasaur and hitting each other in the face with Vine Whip, two of the shots are cut out.
==In other languages==
268
Category:Episodes written by Shōji Yonemura
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:Pokémon League episodes
Category:Episodes focusing on Ash
Category:Episodes in which an alternately colored Pokémon appears
de:Ein entschiedenes Unentschieden
es:EP270
fr:EP268
it:OA152
ja:無印編第268話
zh:宝可梦 第269集