AG179

Slaking Kong! (Japanese: 驚異！巨大ケッキングの山！！ Marvel! Mountain of the Giant !!) is the 179th episode of Pokémon the Series: Ruby and Sapphire, and the 453rd episode of the Pokémon animated series. It was first broadcast in Japan on June 8, 2006 and in the United States on December 7, 2006.
==Blurb==
On the way to the Grand Festival, our heroes are swarmed by a group of Aipom who swipe Ash's hat and May's ribbon case! That's not all—the Aipom also cleaned out an orchard belonging to a farmer, Taylor. He says the local Pokémon have started acting strangely, and it might have something to do with a strange monster recently seen in the mountains. Everyone sets out to investigate and get May's ribbons back.
Up in the mountains, the Aipom have brought their loot as a tribute to the monster, a Mountain King who's represented by none other than Team Rocket. Ash and his friends show up and challenge them, but then the Mountain King appears: a giant Slaking! Team Rocket orders the Pokémon to chase off our heroes in the name of the Mountain King, and everyone splits up to get away. In the commotion, Ash saves the Aipom who took his hat, then runs off and to find his friends.
Ash and his friends regroup and confront Team Rocket, but their giant Slaking grabs May! Ash's Pokémon get her to safety and Combusken's flames burn the Slaking to reveal that it's a giant robot. Aipom shows up with the other Pokémon and help wreck the robot now that Team Rocket's tricks have been revealed. Then it's just a matter of convincing Team Rocket to return May's ribbons and leave the scene—with encouragement from Combusken and Pikachu. Taylor gets his Berries back and Ash gets his hat... as well as a new fan!
==Plot==
 and make their way towards Indigo Plateau for the Kanto Grand Festival. Down the road behind them, a man calls out to a group of running off with his watering can and Berries. Some of the Aipom jump on the group's heads, including one who snatches 's Ribbon case with its tail and that discards the watering can and takes Ash's hat.
They head back to a farmhouse, where the man introduces himself as and treats Ash and his friends to hot beverages. Taylor says that he grows Berries and makes them into Pokéblock to sell. Ash questions the man about the Aipom, who Taylor says are part of a group of Pokémon that live in the mountains and would only eat from his trees when they were hungry. Lately, however, they have been taking all of his produce. He tells a story about a traveler who became lost on the mountain roads and came across a giant monster. Taylor does not know if the monster is involved with the Pokémon taking his Berries, but they all agree to head up to the mountain, uncover the mysteries, and regain their possessions.
Meanwhile, and are performing a small ritual as the five Aipom present their stolen goods. Meowth wears a pair of , making a clacking sound while Wobbuffet has on a red and white . When the large, wooden doors open, the monster's silhouette appears and roars, making the Aipom scatter in fear. Meowth and Wobbuffet are pulled inside and the doors shut. Jessie and James finally reveal themselves examining the goods obtained from the Aipom. James finds May's Ribbon case, which Jessie grabs and excitedly proclaims is her ticket to the Grand Festival. Meowth and James are shocked by her determination, while Wobbuffet simply calls out affirmatively.
The group is headed towards the area of the disturbance as a group of scurry across their path with more Berries. The other mountain , some and , present Berries to the disguised Meowth and Wobbuffet as well. Ash and company observe from a bush and see the Aipom wearing Ash's hat. The doors open again, partially revealing the monster, frightening the mountain Pokémon away. Before the disguised Pokémon escape, May runs out to get inside. Everyone else follows and they barely make it. May questions Meowth about her Ribbon case, but Jessie shows it to her arrogantly. She continues to taunt May, saying that she will use her Ribbons to win the Grand Festival. 
The monster comes forth and reveals itself to be an enormous Slaking. The sight frightens the group as the creature causes tremors by stomping. The wooden doors open again as the mountain Pokémon return to the scene. The giant Slaking roars, which Meowth interprets as a command to get rid of the "Twerps". The Pokémon obey, chase them away, and eventually encircle them on the road. Ash has warn them with a aimed at the ground. Taylor suggests they split up, so he goes down the road with May and Max while Ash, , and Pikachu head in the opposite direction. The Aipom pursue the latter group while the rest go after Taylor, May, and Max. As they flee, Brock releases some Pokémon food to occupy the Aipom. The Aipom with Ash's hat keep chasing them and jumps on Ash's head, knocking him down a hill. As they both tumble and slide, Ash grabs a small tree growing from the side and saves Aipom from the fall. After a few moments, the branch begins to break and they fall again, but are cushioned by a thick bush. Noticing that the Aipom has lost his hat, Ash goes after it, but Aipom beats him to it and places it atop her head once more. Meanwhile, the other group has managed to lose their pursuers by hiding in a bush.
After cleaning himself in a nearby river, Ash tells the now-friendly Aipom that she cannot trust Team Rocket. Brock and Pikachu come running from the distance and join him in returning to the wooden wall. Heeding Ash's advice and still wearing his hat, Aipom rejoins her comrades as they eat Brock's food. Aipom begins to talk as the other mountain Pokémon show up. The gigantic Slaking finishes devouring the food and lifts Team Rocket on top of its shoulder to begin their trek toward the Indigo Plateau. Taylor, May, and Max climb over the wall using ropes and confront Team Rocket, whereupon Jessie taunts May again with her Ribbons. Slaking begins moving forward defiantly, so May calls upon to stop it with . Slaking merely blows a gust of wind to dissipate the flames, tears down the wooden wall, and continues down the path. The other group arrives and Pikachu blasts a Thunderbolt at Slaking's feet, prompting Team Rocket to perform their . Slaking extends its hand, grabs May, and begins climbing a nearby tower of rock. Ash releases to save May. Slaking reaches the top and swats at Swellow, but managing to drop May in the process. Thinking quickly, Ash calls upon to catch May just in time. Swellow knocks Slaking and Team Rocket off of the tower with .
May gets her revenge by directing Combusken to attack with Fire Spin. Brock releases his to douse Slaking off with . The giant Slaking is revealed to be a constructed of metal, now with Team Rocket inside. The Slaking mecha begins banging its chest as the Mankey, Vigoroth, Slaking, and Aipom return and attack with thrown rocks, tossed large stones, banging fists, and es, respectively. After a few moments, the Pokémon flee from the mecha as its joints explode, releasing the stolen food and ejecting its occupants. Jessie shows May her Ribbon case once more in arrogance and calls upon to attack with . Combusken hits first with , however. Seviper is told to Bite again, but Combusken dodges and strikes with . Seviper plows into Jessie, who lets go of the Ribbon case to be caught by May, who is relieved to have it back. With Meowth's urging, James releases and gets another spiny hug before directing it to use . Pikachu ends the confrontation with a powerful , sending Cacnea off with such force that it takes Team Rocket along with it into the sky.
The group continues heading for the Grand Festival after the Pokémon and Taylor wish them well. Ash continues down the path without his hat, but notices it atop a rock structure along with a pink flower and an apple. He remarks on Aipom being a cool Pokémon after all and sets off again on the road. In a nearby tree, Aipom spies on Ash and smiles.
==Major events==
* befriends an who starts following .
===Debuts===
====Pokémon debuts====
* Ash's Aipom
==Characters==
===Humans===
* 
* 
* 
* Max
* Jessie
* James
* 
* Traveler 
===Pokémon===
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ()
* (; multiple)
* (multiple)
* (multiple)
* (multiple)
==Trivia==
* is added to the opening animation in the Japanese version.
* During 's initial appearance, Meowth makes a reference to , a children's game.
* In the Japanese version, instrumental versions of Spurt! and Pokémon Symphonic Medley are used as background music.
* 4Kids background music is used in this episode.
* The episode's English dub title is a reference to and was suggested by Bill Rogers.https://newbrock.livejournal.com/3770.html The giant , a wall with a gate through which offerings to it are made, its capture of , and attacking it for doing so are a parody of the events of the various versions of the film. The fact that the Slaking is actually a robot may also be a reference to , a robotic double of Kong introduced in and featured in .
* does not react to Aipom stealing like he did with .
** It should be noted that it wasn't .
===Errors===
* May's Ribbons are shown to be much smaller whilst in her case, while they are normally sized when held by Jessie.
* The hill that Ash and Aipom fall down is initially shown to be a vertical cliff, but becomes a 45-degree decline when they fall.
* The Slaking are shown to be only one foot taller than the initially in the episode, but at the end they are shown to be two feet taller.
===Dub edits===
==In other languages==
==References==
179
Category:Episodes written by Shinzō Fujita
Category:Episodes storyboarded by Yoshito Hata
Category:Episodes directed by Masahiko Watanabe
Category:Episodes animated by Izumi Shimura
Category:Episodes focusing on Team Rocket
de:Monster mit Appetit
es:EP456
fr:AG179
it:RZ179
ja:AG編第179話
zh:宝可梦 超世代 第178集