EP217

The Perfect Match! (Japanese: サトシＶＳカスミ！うずまきカップさいごのたたかい！！ VS ! The Final Battle in the !!), is the 217th episode of the Pokémon animated series. It was first broadcast in Japan on September 27, 2001, and in the United States on November 2, 2002.
==Blurb==
Ash and Misty each emerge victorious from arduous bouts only to be paired against one another in the next round. As these two square off, Team Rocket plots to steal the tournament's prize using reverse psychology: they leave an anonymous tip with the local police force that the prize is in danger. This tip, Jessie reasons, will lead to heightened security, which will in turn lead to overconfidence and carelessness, effectually making it easier for Jessie and James to sneak in and claim their prize. With Ash already in strong position, Misty accidentally deploys Psyduck to face his Kingler. In a surprise turn, however, Psyduck launches a Confuse attack that wins the match for Misty. Ash takes his place in the stands and cheers for Misty as she begins her next round. Meanwhile Team Rocket watches in shock as—contrary to Jessie's plan—not only is the police presence at the event fortified, but the police show no sign of growing overconfident.
==Plot==
As the Whirl Cup matches continue, Officer Jenny alerts Sea Priestess to a threatening call that the Sea Spirit will be stolen. Maya, however, is unfazed and assures Officer Jenny that the Sea Spirit will be fine as watches from the shadows waiting to snatch the precious item. was keen to keep selling food, but Jessie reveals that she has planned an infallible aerial attack. With her reassurance, James and Meowth are instantly on board.
Meanwhile, and are ready for their two-on-two Whirl Cup match. Misty first calls out and Ash sends out . Ash starts things off by having Totodile use , but Poliwhirl dives underwater to evade it. Poliwhirl makes some swift movement through the water and it leaps high into the air to land a direct attack. Totodile is left dazed, but ducks to avoid Poliwhirl’s attack. Totodile retaliates with a which sends Poliwhirl backward. Poliwhirl isn't finished yet as it kicks off a pillar and then does a high-speed dive towards Totodile. Ash orders a Water Gun, but Poliwhirl evades and Double Slaps its opponent to claim the round.
Ash recalls his fainted Totodile and sends out . Misty commands Poliwhirl to unleash another Bubble, but Kingler blocks it with its claw before dishing out a attack. Its claw strikes the water, and an energy sphere is sent across the arena causing whirlpools to form. The energy hits Poliwhirl, sending it tossing into the whirlpools. Kingler then uses another Crabhammer attack, knocking Poliwhirl out.
After recalling Poliwhirl, Misty then tries to call out but instead, comes out and immediately embarrasses itself and Misty by falling into the water. It nearly drowns before pulling itself onto the platform. Ash, happy about his sudden good fortune, tells Kingler to go up for a attack. Misty tries to command Psyduck, but it's too scared to do anything as Kingler speeds towards it before clamping onto its head. Misty tells Psyduck to try and shake itself loose, but as Psyduck is panicking and flails about helplessly, Misty realizes that a headache is brewing. When Psyduck’s eyes begin to glow with energy, Ash realizes that he's made a serious tactical error and tells Kingler to throw Psyduck away. Using this to her advantage, however, Misty tells Psyduck to use . Psyduck summons a surge of psychic energy that sends Kingler crashing right into Ash, knocking them both out and allowing Misty to win the match and claim her first-ever victory against Ash.
Later that evening, Ash contacts to update him on his status in the tournament and also check on . Oak is instantly knocked out of the way by Bayleef as she pleads to return. Ash quickly sends off Kingler to the Professor, and when Bayleef returns, she is overwhelmingly happy to be with Ash again. A approaches Ash and , and instantly recognizes her from her clean sweep victory in the day’s sixth match. She introduces herself as Trinity and informs Misty that she’ll be her opponent in the third round. The pair exchange handshakes and wish each other luck for the next round.
The day of the third-round matches begins, where the top 16 will be whittled to the top 8 competitors. Misty calls out her Poliwhirl, and she is frightened when Trinity calls out her . Misty tells Poliwhirl to use Bubble, but Gyarados quickly charges up a that blasts the Bubble attack and Poliwhirl out of the match. Misty remains confident and orders Corsola onto the field. At Trinity's command Gyarados uses , but Misty has Corsola sends it back with . Gyarados fires a Hyper Beam to send the torrent of water towards Corsola. Though Corsola dives down and the beam blows up behind it. Waiting a while, Misty finishes Gyarados off with . Trinity then sends out her . Trinity has Chinchou aim its at the sky. The electricity mixes with the clouds before firing down on Corsola. Corsola manages to defend itself with a Mirror Coat and sends the attack back at Chinchou. Chinchou, however, appears unfazed, while Corsola is showings signs of exhaustion. Chinchou follows up with a , but Corsola dives underwater to avoid it. Chinchou dips its antennae into the water to use Confuse Ray again, and this time Corsola gets . With Corsola acting delirious, Chinchou finishes it off with a Water Gun. Misty is defeated, and Trinity moves on to the top 8. That evening, Trinity meets with Ash and his friends at the Center. Misty congratulates her and wishes her good luck for the next round.
Trinity calls out her to go up against her opponent's in the finals of the Whirl Cup. Just before the battle begins, however, Team Rocket shows up in . Jessie uses a fishing rod to snag the Sea Spirit staff but comes in and uses a to snap the line. Officer Jenny realizes the Team Rocket trio was behind the recent threat. The announcer brings everyone’s attention to the odd balloon in the sky, pausing the Whirl Cup momentarily. It's now a no-win situation for them, Ash and Misty send out Totodile and Poliwhirl, while Trinity's Golduck and her competitor’s Feraligatr all launch a combined Water Gun at the trio. Pikachu then finishes them off with . Maya is grateful for the Trainers’ efforts, and Misty stops Brock from flirting with the Sea Priestess. Misty calls out to Trinity to wish her luck, and the competition match resumes.
By evening, the six days of competition have drawn to a close and the award ceremony begins. Trinity's unnamed opponent is gifted the Mystic Water pendant, with Trinity winning second place. Maya once again raises her staff up towards the setting sun and it starts to glow. The next day, Trinity, Ash, and his friends watch the Colosseum once again flood as they reminisce about the good times they had competing in the Whirl Cup.
==Major events==
* defeats in the second round and advances to the third round.
* Ash sends back to Professor Oak's Laboratory and returns to his team.
* Misty is defeated by Trinity in the third round.
* Trinity is defeated by an unknown Trainer in the final round of the Whirl Cup.
===Debuts===
====Pokémon debuts====
==Characters==
===Humans===
* 
* 
* 
* Jessie
* James
* 
* Officer Jenny
* 
* Trinity
* Whirl Cup winner
===Pokémon===
Who's That Pokémon?: (US and international), (Japan)
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ()
* (Trinity's)
* (Trinity's)
* (Trinity's)
* (Whirl Cup winner's)
==Trivia==
* This episode concludes the three-part Whirl Cup arc.
* The scoreboard's appearance suggests that the Whirl Cup may have rounds that permit the use of up to three Pokémon. Had reached such a round, he would have had to either call up his or borrow one of 's Pokémon to fill in his roster with legal Pokémon, neither of which would likely have been possible.
* Misty's victory over Ash marks the first time that she has ever defeated him in a battle.
* describes as "a attack". This marks the first mention of the Normal type in the .
* James breaks the fourth wall in this episode by addressing the audience.
* lets the officials know that someone will steal the Sea Spirit Sapphire, presumably a throwback to Spinarak Attack, where they tried to mimic the Black Arachnid.
* This episode marks the last time to date when Ash has used in an onscreen battle.
* Music from Mewtwo Strikes Back is used in this episode.
===Errors===
* The Pokémon.com blurb for this episode erroneously refers to 's as Confuse attack.
* When Jessie's Wobbuffet comes out of his for the first time, he doesn't say his name correctly.
* The announcer says that the winner of the third-round match between Misty and Trinity would advance to the semifinals, but the fourth round of a 64-member tournament would be the quarterfinals (64→32→16→8).
** In the Japanese version, even though the announcer states that sixteen people advanced to the third round, he still refers to this round as the quarterfinals.
* In the English dub:
** 's is called during Ash's with Misty.
** Brock says that can only respond to attacks, even though it can respond attacks of all types. This is most likely to simplify the workings of Mirror Coat, as the qualities of physical/special were not touched upon in detail in the animated series. In Generation II, all Water attacks were special, and thus would be deflected by Mirror Coat, while 's Hyper Beam was a Normal type and physical, and thus would not be affected. This is further shown when Corsola deflects later in the episode, another attack that was special at the time.
===Dub edits===
==In other languages==
217
Category:Episodes written by Atsuhiro Tomioka
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:Episodes focusing on Misty
Category:Episodes focusing on Ash
de:Gute Freunde – heiße Rivalen!
es:EP219
fr:EP217
it:OA101
ja:無印編第217話
zh:宝可梦 第218集