DP184

Casting a Paul on Barry! (Japanese: シンオウリーグ三回戦！シンジ対ジュン！！ Sinnoh League Third Round! VS !!) is the 184th episode of Pokémon the Series: Diamond and Pearl, and the 650th episode of the Pokémon animated series. It aired in Japan on July 15, 2010 and in the United States on December 4, 2010.
==Blurb==
As Ash prepares to battle Conway in the third round of the Sinnoh League tournament at Lily of the Valley Island, Barry is getting ready to battle Paul. In his usual bombastic way, Barry informs Paul that their match will surely decide the top Trainer, while Paul is wary of being overconfident.
The third round is a three-on-three battle, and first up, it’s Barry’s Skarmory against Paul’s Magmortar. Although Barry starts out strong by using Spikes to lay a trap, Magmortar quickly defeats Skarmory, so Barry brings out Hitmonlee. Paul then switches to Ursaring, who is powerful enough to withstand Hitmonlee’s repeated attacks.
Barry has only one Pokémon left, and it’s his beloved Empoleon. Though Empoleon shows great speed and strength, it can’t achieve victory over Paul’s powerful Electivire, and Paul is the victor!
Meanwhile, Team Rocket’s snack shop, thanks to a brainstorm from James, has expanded to sell souvenirs featuring all the Pokémon stars of the third round. The Electivire candy bars are particularly popular!
We leave our heroes pondering Ash’s upcoming battle with Conway, who keeps mysteriously appearing for mere seconds at a time and dropping hints about his “secret strategy”...
==Plot==
As the Lily of the Valley Conference continues, wins his second-round match after uses to defeat his opponent's . With the second round of battles over, the battling pairs for the third round are shown: Conway will be battling Ash, and is up against Paul. Outside the stadium, Ash and are looking up at the screen. Conway appears out of nowhere again and whispers something, causing to walk back in shock and accidentally bump into Barry. Barry scolds Dawn for making him fall, and Dawn tells him that he shouldn't be running. The two start to fight, but stops them. Barry explains that he is looking for Paul, determined to let him know what he is up against. Dawn, who is well aware of Paul's coldness, advises Barry against it, but Barry ignores her and runs off. Meanwhile, attempts to sell their food and toy combo deals to the crowds, however, the passing trade doesn't stop. Jessie is quick to blame the quality of the Meowth figurine, though denies that, and says that the Jessilina figurine is not nice. Both of them start to quarrel, though James suggests they try to learn why they aren't connecting to the customers. Together the trio point to the sky, determined to make their stall a resounding success.
By evening, Barry finally finds Paul, who is busy looking up Barry’s data for their upcoming match. Barry is thrilled by this development and interprets it as Paul feeling threatened by his strength. Barry warns him, however, that the computer data is all outdated as he is always improving. Paul quickly shuts down the computer and orders Barry to reassess his overconfidence, as it is only a third-round battle, before leaving. After Paul leaves, Barry checks out Paul's data but admits it might be outdated. Ash also researches Conway, with the analysis revealing his impulsive nature and multi-skilled battle strategy. As Dawn mentions this makes him rather unpredictable, Conway startles everyone when he makes an appearance. Conway reveals that he has been looking up , a Trainer who has won the previous rounds and all eight of his Gym Badges with only his . Conway goes away as Barry and Ash rush outside to burn off their excitement.
The next day, Paul and Barry's battle begins on a rock field. Barry chooses as his first Pokémon and Paul chooses . Barry starts the battle by having Skarmory spread all over Paul's side of the field, a strategy that will come into play anytime Paul switches Pokémon. Paul scores a one-hit KO with Magmortar's , taking Skarmory out immediately. Barry thanks his Skarmory and returns it to its , before sending out his . Empoleon uses on Magmortar, injuring it. Despite knowing that his Pokémon will be injured under the effects of Spikes, Paul calls back Magmortar and sends out , who immediately suffers damage from Spikes.
Barry opts for the type advantage and switches Empoleon for his . Paul tells Ursaring to use to increase its offense and defense. Hitmonlee uses , which lands a solid hit. Ursaring fires back with , but Hitmonlee dodges it by jumping on a rock. Ursaring uses and Barry tells Hitmonlee to dodge them all. Hitmonlee lands several blows with . Ursaring replies with Hammer Arm again, sending Hitmonlee flying backward. As Hitmonlee is about to crash into a rock, Barry offers his encouragement, and Hitmonlee bounces back with a , scoring another successful hit. Paul calls for a . Although Hitmonlee attempts to dodge it by jumping behind a rock, the impact of the attack on the rock flings Hitmonlee back. Ursaring uses Hammer Arm again, and Hitmonlee counters it by using , ing Ursaring. This, however, triggers Ursaring's Ability, and it uses Hammer Arm to counter Hitmonlee's second Blaze Kick. The strong impact causes an explosion, and after the smoke fades, Hitmonlee collapses in defeat.
Barry is down to his last Pokémon and calls out Empoleon again. Paul tells Ursaring to use Slash while Barry calls for Empoleon to use . Both attacks are evenly matched and both sides take damage. Ursaring uses Focus Blast, but Barry is prepared for this and has Empoleon use to reflect the attack, much to Paul's shock, resulting in Ursaring taking supereffective damage from its own move. Now having the upper hand, Barry feels much more confident, but to his surprise, Paul calls Ursaring back and sends out his newly evolved , who immediately suffers the effect of Spikes. As Dawn looks Electivire up on her Pokédex, Brock remains impressed with Paul's levelheadedness and desire for total victory, while Dawn casts doubt on Barry's ability to overcome Electivire with Empoleon, due to the former's type advantage. Empoleon starts off strong with a and Electivire counters it with . The attacks collide and cause a massive explosion. As the smoke clears, Empoleon is breathing heavily, needing to recharge after using Hyper Beam. Electivire uses and Barry tells Empoleon to dodge it, which it barely manages to do. Paul orders Electivire to continue using Thunder Punch, but Empoleon dodges them all. When Empoleon gets cornered, Electivire uses , striking Empoleon at point-blank range. As Empoleon manages to stand up, Electivire prepares another Thunder Punch. Empoleon fails to dodge the attack this time and a direct hit sends it flying back, smashing through numerous rocks in the process. Empoleon tries to get up, but it is clear it is nearly at the end of its rope. Barry worries for his partner but calms himself and yells for Empoleon to continue doing its best. Empoleon hears the passionate cry and is suddenly surrounded by a blue aura, much to the shock of Barry and Paul. Ash instantly recognizes the aura as Empoleon's Ability having been activated, increasing the strength of its attacks since its stamina is low. With Torrent's boost, Empoleon fires a massive Hydro Cannon, which proves strong enough to tear through the rocky terrain of the field with ease. Ash, Brock, and Dawn are all pleased with this breakthrough, though Paul has Electivire use to shield itself from the attack. Barry is incensed that Paul would use Protect, and since Empoleon has to recharge from the attack, this allows Electivire to attack with Thunder. As Electivire finishes its attack, Empoleon faints while still standing, and Paul is declared the victor with a decisive 3-0 win over Barry.
After spotting a passing , James comes up with an idea to bring customers in – customized merchandise. He later returns to the store, bringing a big sack of things. Jessie and Meowth remove the ropes quickly. They begin to promote their merchandise, which consists of various memorabilia of Paul's and Barry's Pokémon. A crowd appears, wanting to buy their wares. Meanwhile, as Paul is about to leave, Barry calls out to him. Though Barry is sad he lost, he has no regrets and wishes to battle Paul again in the future. Paul states that their battle was great and agrees to Barry's request. Barry is thrilled, admitting he has never been so fired up. He tells Ash that he will cheer for him as he takes on Conway. Conway makes another creepy appearance, warning Ash that his secret strategy will defeat Ash. Ash stares him down, determined that he will be victorious in the third round.
==Major events==
* wins his second round , advancing to the third round.
* Paul, , Conway, and are revealed to have also advanced to the third round.
* Ash and Paul are selected to battle Conway and Barry, respectively, in the third round.
* Paul's is revealed to have evolved into an .
* The mysterious is revealed to be called Tobias.
* Barry is revealed to own a and a .
* Paul defeats Barry and advances to the .
===Debuts===
====Pokémon debuts====
* Paul's Electivire
==Characters==
===Humans===
* 
* 
* 
* Jessie
* James
* Paul
* 
* Conway
* 
* Referee
* Audience
===Pokémon===
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ()
* (; photo)
* (; photo)
* (; photo)
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ('s)
* ('s)
* ('s)
* ('s)
* 
==Trivia==
* There is no Professor Oak's Big Pokémon Examination following this episode.
* This episode was the first to air in Japan after the theatrical release of M13.
* This episode marks the first time that the Ability is shown in the .
** Also, as of this episode, all three first partner Pokémon-exclusive Abilities have been seen in the animated series.
** In addition, this is the only episode to date to feature Torrent.
* This is the first time that has been revealed to have a Pokémon that his does not have.
* When Barry's used in this episode, it has the same effect as in the games (causing damage only to Pokémon switching into battle), as opposed to previous episodes when Spikes would instead causing damage directly against the opposing Pokémon.
* When is selling their merchandise, they have a doll of Jessilina with a lollipop, which she had been seen with in the ending theme Message of the Wind.
* This episode marks the first time when the move is used by another species of Pokémon than .
* At one point, a flies by after he said that "it's a party at the stadium while out here you can hear paint dry." This is a reference to a common trope in Japanese media, where a crow flies by a character after the character says something very obvious or stupid.
* This episode marks the last time to date in which Ash has used in an onscreen battle.
* The episode's English dub title may be a pun on "casting a pall on Barry".
===Errors===
* Barry says that 's Spikes will affect Paul's substituted Pokémon no matter which one he chooses. This is incorrect, as s and Pokémon with are immune to the effects of Spikes.
* 's Pokédex refers to as the evolved form of , although he is actually an evolved form of Tyrogue, since Tyrogue can also evolve into or .
* After Empoleon activates Torrent, Barry incorrectly refers to Hydro Cannon as .
* When uses against , the move is shown destroying rocks in its path. However, when Hitmonlee and were battling, there weren't any rocks in their path.
* In the ian dub, when deals the blow that pushes Empoleon into activating Torrent, Paul refers to as Raio do Trovão instead of Soco do Trovão.
===Dub edits===
* In the English dub, Barry says that he and Paul are the top two contenders in the tournament and are going head to head. In the Japanese version, Barry says that the battle between them will be bigger than the theory.
* In the Japanese version, one of the new items Team Rocket is selling is a . In the English dub, it is called a Meowth doll. 
* In the English dub, Barry says that the information about Paul on the computer is outdated. In the Japanese version, he says past data is the past, and that no matter how much he studies Paul's old battles, it won't help if Paul uses new Pokémon.
* In the English dub, the Pokédex says that Skarmory can fly at speeds over 100 mph. In the Japanese version, it can fly over 300 km per hour, which is around 186 mph.
* In the English dub, when talking about , says that status conditions like or can activate the ability. In the Japanese version, he says and Poison.
* In the English dub, near the end of the episode, Team Rocket sells wooden figurines, bars, and inner tubes. In the Japanese version, the Electivire merchandise is Okoshi or rice cakes.
==In other languages==
184
Category:Episodes written by Shōji Yonemura
Category:Episodes storyboarded by Takaomi Kanasaki
Category:Episodes directed by Hideaki Ōba
Category:Episodes animated by Izumi Shimura
Category:Pokémon League episodes
Category:Episodes focusing on Paul
Category:Episodes focusing on Barry
Category:Episodes in which a Mythical Pokémon appears
de:Barrys großer Kampf!
es:EP653
fr:DP184
it:DP184
ja:DP編第184話
zh:宝可梦 钻石＆珍珠 第182集