DP077

Staging a Heroes' Welcome! (Japanese: みんなライバル！ミクリカップ！！ Everyone's a Rival! Cup!!) is the 77th episode of Pokémon the Series: Diamond and Pearl, and the 543rd episode of the Pokémon animated series. It first aired in Japan on May 8, 2008 alongside DP078 as part of a one-hour special, and in the United States on September 20, 2008.
==Blurb==
The day before the Wallace Cup, Zoey shows up at Lake Valor for the competition. She says hi to Dawn and meets May for the first time; while she's there, she also admits to Ash that Coordinators can still learn from regular Trainers, too. Not far away, Jessie is shocked to learn that she won the Solaceon Ribbon all by herself, without the use of any secret plans or cheats. Then it's on to the Wallace Cup and a dramatic entrance from Wallace himself—he'll even be one of the judges in the appeals performance round!
May and her Wartortle take the stage first and put on a great performance. In contrast, Jessie and Wobbuffet's appeals round performance doesn't actually seem to have much appeal for the judges. Then Zoey's new Finneon makes its dazzling Contest debut, which ratchets up the pressure on Dawn. It doesn't help Dawn's nerves when Ash and Buizel have a terrific performance, either; afraid of failing again, she's almost ready to quit before she starts.
Piplup responds to Dawn's anxiety with a well-timed attack that snaps Dawn back into reality. She tries to relax as she heads onstage with Ambipom, and indeed, Ambipom puts on a performance that showcases its best qualities without relying on too much flash. With the first round over, it's up to the judges to decide which Coordinators are moving on the second round. Jessie is in for a disappointment, but Dawn is relieved to know she'll be battling in the second round along with Ash, Zoey, and May!
==Plot==
With a day before the Wallace Cup, the group venture in Valor Lakefront to take in the excitement. starts flirting with a female vendor when him. laughs at the sight, noting Croagunk has taken over Max's job. , however, is really nervous now about the competition and her appetite is being affected. Ash finally registers for the Wallace Cup when Zoey appears. Zoey is surprised to see Ash entering the Wallace Cup and is further surprised when she learns that Wallace himself recommended it to him, though she quickly relents, as she's come to realize that she needs to learn from both Contests and regular battles if she expects to be Top Coordinator. The rest of show up and Dawn introduces May to Zoey. Meanwhile, Jessie, dressed as Jessilina, is also entering, still thinking that James and helped her win the Solaceon Town Pokémon Contest. James quickly denies having helped her with the Contest, leaving Jessie speechless about having won the all by herself.
The day of the Wallace Cup arrives, and Marian welcomes the crowd and Contest hopefuls. While May is all ready, Dawn is struggling with her hair again. May fixes it up, and Zoey says Dawn was like this during her debut, meaning she is extra nervous. Dawn admits that she worries about whether she can still do a good job or not but receives encouragement from her friends. Soon, Marian welcomes Contest Master Wallace to the stage, and he makes his appearance in an impressive way along with his . Marian informs the audience he will be a special judge and proceeds to present the other judges: Raoul Contesta from the Pokémon Activities Committee, Mr. Sukizo from the Pokémon Fan Club, and Nurse Joy from the Lake Valor Pokémon Center. She explains that the winning will receive the , a special Ribbon that is valid to use in any region.
May opens the Performance Stage, presenting her to the crowd with a Pink Foamy Seal. Her family are watching from the Petalburg Gym while rivals Drew, Solidad, and Harley also following May on TV from Ecruteak City. May has Wartortle skip across the water field with a before finishing up with a dazzling that spreads throughout the entire stadium. The judges, especially Wallace, applaud May's performance and shower Wartortle with praise. Later, Jessilina takes to the stage with , who trips over after he emerges from his , though the audience laughs as they believe it was intentional. Jessie runs right at Wobbuffet and is propelled into the air by his . She lands atop Wobbuffet’s head; however, the unique performance leaves the crowd and the judges equally silent. Zoey's turn comes up revealing she has obtained a . It leaps out of the water for a that reaches across the entire pool. Finneon follows up with a to showcase its luminescent scales and swims up its own attack for a spectacular finish. 
 
Ash's act with starts off by punching the Ele-Seal effect before transitioning into a speedy . Buizel uses its inflatable collar to make an abrupt stop and then leaps from the pool using . Ash finishes things off with a aimed at the water field, kicking up a huge splash of water for a dazzling display. The display of power combined with an exceptional appeal goes over well with the judges. However Paul catches the appeal on TV and is unimpressed to see Ash has entered a Pokémon Contest. 
By now, Dawn is extremely nervous that she will embarrass herself, and gets rather uptight. knows she can do it though and wakes her up with a blast of . After a small stumble, she sends out in a flurry of pink hearts and showcases her magnificent tails with a twirling . Backstage, Zoey compliments Dawn's return to a natural and simplistic appeal, while May is inspired to see how well Ambipom is working with Dawn post-trade and evolution. Dawn has Ambipom aim and attacks at the water field for a fountain effect. The judges commend Dawn’s performance for its excellent timing and display of cuteness. Wallace adds praise for the appeal's combination of exceptional power and technique.
Backstage, Dawn rejoins her friends who all shower her with applause. However, even though the appeal went well, Dawn is still nervous about the results, knowing that she felt confident before only to be disappointed. May reminds Dawn to have faith in herself. Everyone's attention is caught by Marian, who has the results of the first round's evaluation. Ash, May, Zoey and Dawn have all advanced to the Top 16 and the Battle Stage. Jessilina, however, is crushed as her Wallace Cup chances are quashed. Dawn is thrilled by the result, and with a renewed confidence she hopes to win the entire competition.
==Major events==
* , , , Jessilina, and Zoey enter the Wallace Cup.
* May and Zoey meet for the first time.
* May's is revealed to have evolved into a during her travels in Johto and learned .
* Zoey is revealed to have obtained a .
* Ash, Dawn, May, and Zoey make it to the Contest Battles while Jessilina loses in the Performance Stage.
===Debuts===
====Humans====
* 
====Pokémon debuts====
* May's Wartortle
=====TV episode debuts=====
* 
==Characters==
===Humans===
* 
* 
* 
* 
* Max
* Jessie
* James
* Nurse Joy
* Drew
* Harley
* Solidad
* Paul
* Zoey
* 
* Wallace
* Norman
* Caroline
* Johanna
* Marian
* Raoul Contesta
* Mr. Sukizo
* Sinnoh Now staff
** 
* 
* Pokémon Coordinators
* Wallace's fans
===Pokémon===
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ()
* (; flashback)
* ()
* ()
* ()
* (Zoey's)
* (Wallace's)
* ('s)
* ()
* (Coordinator's)
* (Coordinator's)
* (Coordinator's)
* (Coordinator's)
==Trivia==
* I Won't Lose! ~Haruka's Theme~, , and By Your Side ~Hikari's Theme~ are used as insert songs during the performances of , , and , respectively.
* Both May and Dawn had most of their rivals appear in this episode, either in cameos or throughout the course of the episode: Drew, Harley, and Solidad for May; and Zoey and Kenny for Dawn. It should be noted that Ash's rival Paul also had a brief appearance. Nando was the only one of Dawn's or Ash's main rivals at the time not to appear.
* This is the only episode of the Wallace Cup arc in which appears.
* Two girls near the beginning of the episode resemble and from . This is most likely a joke about how their hats, which resemble the one Wallace wears, also resemble the school uniform hats of Cardcaptor Sakura.
* The two men who visited the Mountain Hut Maid Café in Tanks for the Memories! make a brief reappearance in this episode, standing in front of one of the festival stalls on the near the beginning.
* The two children running and wearing and masks may be a reference to Lucario and the Mystery of Mew.
* Instead of Professor Oak's Big Pokémon Encyclopedia, the end of the episode featured a memorial to Spell of the Unown: Entei, called Pikachu the Movie Memorial. This is part of a countdown to Giratina and the Sky Warrior.
* This is the second Pokémon Contest in a row that 's almost slips out of Dawn's hand due to her nervousness.
* This episode marks one of the very rare occasions that Jessie sends out , as opposed to him popping out of his Poké Ball on his own accord.
* Some of the participating s bear striking resemblances to previous characters of the day:
** One resembles Cherry, who appeared in The Psychic Sidekicks!.
** Another resembles Temacu, who appeared in The Heartbreak of Brock.
** Two resemble Oscar and Andi, who appeared in The Bicker the Better.
* In Another One Gabites the Dust!, 37 episodes later, it is revealed that Ursula had lost in the Performance Stage of the Wallace Cup.
* does not blast off or recite their in this episode, though Jessie is briefly launched into the sky as part of her act.
* This episode marks Ash's second and final participation in an official Pokémon Contest.
** This is also the debut of Ash's Contest outfit.
* This episode marks the first time that a first partner Pokémon owned by a main character has evolved off-screen.
* Despite the move having existed since Generation I, this marks the first time that has been used in the , and it is so far the only time Waterfall has been used in the animated series.
===Errors===
* When drags away from the woman selling crepes, May's gloves disappear.
* When and James show their displeasure at Jessie's performance, there is a sound indicating a Pokémon coming out of its Poké Ball, despite already being outside its Ball.
* In the dub, is mistakenly translated as Asa de Prata, which actually means "Silver Wing".
===Dub edits===
* In the scene where Croagunk drags Brock away from a vendor; in the English dub, May mentions that Croagunk is now doing Max's job. In the original Japanese version, she says that Brock hasn't changed at all.
* When Jessie claims that James and Meowth helped her during the Solaceon Town Contest in the English dub, James says, "We didn't do a bloody thing!". On some prints, the line is dubbed to "We didn't do a single thing!" since "bloody" is classified as a vulgar word in some English-speaking countries.
==In other languages==
077
Category:Episodes written by Atsuhiro Tomioka
Category:Episodes storyboarded by Masamitsu Hidaka
Category:Episodes directed by Kazuomi Koga
Category:Episodes animated by Kōichi Taguchi
Category:Episodes focusing on Dawn
Category:Episodes focusing on May
Category:Episodes focusing on Ash
Category:Episodes focusing on Jessie
Category:Episodes focusing on Zoey
Category:Episodes in which a Champion appears
Category:Episodes with Contests
Category:Episodes in which Jessie loses a Contest
de:Der Schmetterling des Meeres
es:EP546
fr:DP077
it:DP077
ja:DP編第77話
zh:宝可梦 钻石＆珍珠 第76集