EP140

Wired for Battle! (Japanese: バトルしようぜ！ハッサムＶＳヘラクロス！！ Let's Battle! VS !!) is the 140th episode of the Pokémon animated series. It was first broadcast in Japan on March 23, 2000, and in the United States on February 24, 2001. 
==Blurb==
When the most promising trainee at a Pokémon dojo abandons battle altogether, opting to gather information for his comprehensive Poké-database instead, it's up to Ash and friends to convince him that battling, and life for that matter, is more than just a matter of probability.
==Plot==
As is discussing their plan to steal , they are interrupted by a man who asks them if they are looking for a . They accept but are defeated easily. Later, and are confronted by the same man and his . When is infuriated at him for letting his Pokémon run loose and attack at will, the man explains that they were trying to do some secret training. He apologizes and introduces himself to Ash as Muramasa. He then introduces Scizor, who he calls Masamune. Muramasa admits that he is impressed by Ash and his Pikachu before inviting the group over to his elite training school.
As they tour around Muramasa's training school, Ash and his friends learn from a student that Muramasa is a talented Trainer and his Scizor is also known as "The Crimson Streak" because of its incredible speed and strength. Ash comments that "The Crimson Streak" is a cool nickname when another Trainer makes an abrupt entrance. Muramasa introduces his top student Shingo, and at his request, Ash challenges Shingo. However, Shingo sits down, opens a laptop, and begins scrolling through a database entry for Ash. He explains that it contains everything he ever needs to know about any Trainer. When an eavesdropping Team Rocket hears this, they decide to steal the laptop.
Shingo finds Ash's entry and says he was lucky to get into the top 16 of the Indigo Plateau Conference, also remarking how his 's disobedience cost him the tournament. Ash argues that he is much better in skill now and insists on battling Shingo to prove himself. Shingo refuses, reasoning that Ash would lose according to his data. Despite Ash's continued insistence, Shingo tells Muramasa to find an opponent that can teach him something he doesn't already know, and leaves. Muramasa later tells Ash and his friends that Shingo hasn't battled in over a year because he believes he can predict any battle outcome with his laptop. He then shares his concern that Shingo has lost his way. Since Shingo needs a battle that would show him that there is more to Pokémon than just facts and figures, Ash declares that he will battle Shingo.
Later, Ash drags Shingo away from his laptop, allowing Team Rocket to move in. plugs a cable into Shingo's laptop so that James can begin downloading the data. However, Jessie grabs the cable and tries to pull in the whole laptop. Just then, they are confronted by Masamune, prompting them to send out their Pokémon. As Shingo grabs his laptop, Team Rocket performs their . Shingo promptly looks the trio on his database and finds that they are not listed. When Team Rocket insults the database, an infuriated Shingo releases his own Scizor, "Blade", which has never been defeated in battle. Shingo sits down with his laptop, with its webcam focused on Team Rocket and their Pokémon so he can record the match. After analyzing Team Rocket's Pokémon as they approach, Shingo has Blade use , which defeats all of Team Rocket's Pokémon in one move and sends them blasting off. When Ash explains to Shingo that there is more to battling than just winning, Shingo agrees to battle him.
Muramasa takes his position as referee and declares that the match will be a one-on-one battle. Shingo chooses Blade and Ash calls on his . Shingo starts with a Quick Attack and Ash tells Heracross to use . Leer doesn't have enough time to work and Heracross is hit. Heracross gets back up, but Shingo tells Blade to use . Blade picks up Heracross by the horn, and at Ash's request, Heracross uses his weight to land safely on his feet. Heracross replies with a , which grazes Blade, much to Shingo's surprise. While Shingo does some research, Heracross then uses , but Blade evades with . Heracross soon finds himself surrounded by Blade and becomes confused. Ash tells Heracross to relax and let Blade approach. Shingo starts to panic as he cannot look at his laptop and the battlefield at the same time. At that moment, Ash tells Heracross to use . Heracross goes berserk, and Blade tries to use Metal Claw, but Heracross is too fast and knocks Blade down.
Blade stands up and Heracross uses Fury Attack again. Shingo promptly gets up and fully concentrates on the battle. He tells Blade to use Quick Attack, while Heracross uses ; both Pokémon miss. Heracross dodges Blade's Metal Claw again, and Blade becomes stuck on Heracross's horn. Blade uses Agility to get away, and dives in for a . Ash tells Heracross to stand his ground. While the powerful attack hits, it proves to be ineffective against Heracross's hard shell. Heracross replies with a Horn Attack, which tosses Blade to the ground and gives Ash the victory. Shingo rushes to Blade's side, and Muramasa is surprised to see that he has abandoned his laptop. Shingo assures Blade that it battled well. Ash thanks Shingo and they agree to battle again in the future.
==Major events==
* Ash's Heracross is revealed to know , , and .
===Debuts===
====Pokémon debuts====
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==Characters==
===Humans===
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* Jessie
* James
* Muramasa
* Shingo
===Pokémon===
Who's That Pokémon?: (US and international), (Japan)
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* (; image)
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* (Muramasa's; Masamune; debut)
* (Shingo's; Blade; debut)
* (Trainer's; image)
* (Trainer's; image)
* (Trainer's; image)
* (Trainer's; image)
* (Trainer's; image)
* (Trainer's; image)
* (Trainer's; image)
* (Trainer's; image)
* (Trainer's; image)
* (Trainer's; image)
* (Trainer's; image)
* (Trainer's; image)
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==Trivia==
* Though most of the episode was animated using s as customary, some shots in and 's were animated digitally.
* This is the first time that Pokémon other than and (who were previously only known to be pure type) appear in the .
* mentions 's encounter with Prima in this episode.
** This also marks the first time the dub refers to Prima as an Elite Four member, as all of the references to her status as one were removed from the dub of the episode in which the aforementioned encounter happened, creating a minor case of inconsistency.
* This episode was partially adapted into the book Tough Enough.
* Shingo mentioning that Blade's deals three times more damage than usual could be a reference to a line from the series, where the character of "Red Comet" Char Aznable mentions that his S-Type Zaku II suit is three times faster than usual.
* This episode was banned in , likely due to the overt focus on Japanese culture.
===Errors===
* Shingo commands his Scizor to finish the match with , but said move cannot cause a Pokémon to faint.
* In the Who's That Pokémon? segment, appears to only have one arm.
* In the English dub, Jessie only calls out and , but and appear as well. In addition, Weezing and Victreebel are James's Pokémon.
===Dub edits===
* Pokémon Karaokémon: All We Wanna Do
* In the original version, Muramasa is Shingo's father, but he is Shingo's teacher in the dub.
* In the ian dub, Shingo's command for Blade to "Finish it up with False Swipe!" was seemingly lost in translation, as he instead orders for it to "Dive and hyper speed!".
* In the first dub, the reference to Prima was removed, with Misty generically mentioning instead "all the great Pokémon Trainers". The reference was kept in the redub, where she is also referred to with her official name from the games, Lorelei.
==In other languages==
140
Category:Banned episodes
Category:Episodes written by Atsuhiro Tomioka
Category:Episodes by one-time storyboarders
Category:Episodes directed by Tarō Iwasaki
Category:Episodes animated by Katsumi Hashimoto
de:Verkabelter Pokémon-Kampf
es:EP142
fr:EP140
it:OA024
ja:無印編第140話
zh:宝可梦 第141集