EP080

Friends to the End (Japanese: ポケモンリーグ！さいごのたたかい！ Pokémon League! Final Battle!) is the 80th episode of the Pokémon animated series and the final episode of the Indigo League arc. It was first broadcast in Japan on January 21, 1999, and in the United States on November 27, 1999.
==Blurb==
It's the sixth round match at the Pokémon League Competition, and Ash, Misty and Brock are in the stands cheering for their new friend, Ritchie. When an unfortunate turn of events happens, Ash learns a valuable lesson that he will take with him on the rest of his journey as a Pokémon trainer. Finally, Ash and Ritchie get to march with the athletes for the closing ceremonies of the Competition where they add a Pokémon League Badge to their cherished collection.
==Plot==
 is still upset that he lost his last match in the Indigo Plateau Conference and is curled up in bed, which concerns , , and . comments that he should be happy that he made it as far as he did and enters the bedroom to try to cheer him up. She offers to get him something to eat and then suggests he take a walk, but he refuses. The pair begins to argue about how good a Ash really is, and Professor Oak eventually agrees with Misty, saying that had Ash better, he could have gone further in the competition. This causes Ash and Misty to go back to arguing, prompting to everyone in the room in outrage.
Later, Ritchie's Full Battle commences; both Trainers are equally matched and are eventually down to their last Pokémon. Ritchie's opponent, Assunta, sends out and Ritchie calls on Sparky. As soon as he pops out, Sparky is beaten by Ivysaur, and its retaliatory Thunder Shocks are not very effective. Ivysaur eventually jumps into the air and unleashes a , hurling Sparky to the ground. Just as he gets up, he is hit and defeated by Ivysaur's , giving Assunta the victory. Later, Ash joins Ritchie near a lake. As their play, they talk about their losses. Ritchie says that he would have trained harder if he had known how tough the competition would be. He then comments on how losing is good for s, and Ash realizes how immature he was. He and Ritchie then promise to become Pokémon Masters no matter what.
Suddenly, both Pikachu fall into a hole, as do Ritchie and Ash. appears at the surface, uses a cage at the end of a fishing pole, and pulls both Pikachu out of their hole. The two try to shock them, but James tells them that the bars absorb electricity. They start to make their getaway when Ash and Ritchie rise out of the other hole, clinging to their and , respectively. Ash sends out , who tries to grab the cage with its s. James sends out to spread a cloud of , which Pidgeotto blows back at Team Rocket with as Ritchie sends out Zippo. After Bulbasaur frees Pikachu and Sparky with a flurry, Zippo ignites Weezing's gas with a . As Team Rocket runs around in pain, Ash has Pikachu and Sparky recharge the cage before sending out , who extinguishes Team Rocket with . Team Rocket is sent blasting off again after Pikachu and Sparky toss the electrically-charged cage at the trio.
Later that night, the closing ceremonies begin and the Indigo League competitors march with their main Pokémon into the stadium, waving to the eager crowd. Mr. Goodshow gives each and every one of them a special Pokémon League Badge for competing in the league. The top three Trainers, two males and one female, wave from the stage amid the cheers of the crowd. The commentator then asks the audience to focus on the night skies. As the stadium lights dim, the closing ceremony fireworks display begins. Meanwhile, Team Rocket is digging a tunnel from outside the Indigo Stadium with the hope of stealing the competitors' Pokémon. listens to the ground above and tells Jessie and James to dig up. Unfortunately for them, a fireworks ball falls through. It goes off and Team Rocket is blasted off again with the rest of the fireworks.
The next morning, Ash reminds him of their promise, before Ritchie sets off. After Ash remembers the highlights of the League games, he sees his friends, mother, and Professor Oak. Smiling, he asks Pikachu if he is ready to go back to Pallet Town. After Pikachu affirms it, he runs over to them.
==Major events==
* Ritchie is revealed to own either a or a .
* Ritchie faces Assunta in his sixth round Full Battle and loses, finishing in the Top 8.
* The Indigo Plateau Conference ends.
* Ritchie leaves .
* and his friends head back to Pallet Town.
===Debuts===
====Pokémon debuts====
==Characters==
===Humans===
* 
* 
* 
* Jessie
* James
* Ritchie
* 
* 
* Assunta
* Mandi (flashback)
* Jeanette Fisher (flashback)
* Charles Goodshow
* s
* Crowd
===Pokémon===
Who's That Pokémon?: (US and international), (Japan)
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ()
* (; flashback)
* (; flashback)
* (; flashback)
* ()
* (Ritchie's; Zippo)
* (Ritchie's; Sparky)
* (Ritchie's; Happy)
* (Ritchie's or Assunta's)
* (Ritchie's or Assunta's)
* (Assunta's)
* (Assunta's)
* (Assunta's)
* (Mandi's; flashback)
* (Mandi's; flashback)
* (Jeanette's; flashback)
* (Jeanette's flashback)
* ('s; flashback)
* (Trainer's)
* (Trainer's)
* (Trainer's)
* (Trainer's)
* (Trainer's)
* (Trainers'; ×2)
* (Trainer's)
* (Trainer's)
* (Trainer's)
* (Trainer's)
* (Trainer's)
* (Trainer's)
* (Trainer's)
* (Trainer's)
* (Trainer's)
* (Trainer's)
* (Trainer's)
* (flashback)
==Trivia==
* Professor Oak's Pokémon Lecture: Indigo Plateau Conference memories
** Pokémon senryū summary: The battles of the strong are over, it is unbearable.
** is joined by Mr. Goodshow in the lecture.
* This episode concludes the seven-part Indigo Plateau Conference arc.
* The music that plays during the closing ceremony is shown to be actually playing in the stadium, as when the scene changes to temporarily, the music fades but is still heard, muffled, from the stadium.
* The Pokémon League Closing Ceremony is the same as the , with the dying of the flame.
* This is the only to completely take place after has lost the current tournament.
* This is the first time a Full Battle is featured in the .
* This episode's title is formatted as Friends To The End on the DVD menu of Australian DVDs.
* On DVD releases of Pokémon: Indigo League, this episode is considered the season finale. However, on televised airings and Pokémon.com, that title falls to The Breeding Center Secret.
===Errors===
* During the recap of Ash's with Ritchie in the Pokémon League, the narrator says Ash took a chance on when they each only had one Pokémon left, but Ritchie still had two when Ash sent out Charizard.
** Also during the recap, when Ritchie is declared the winner, the scoreboard displays that Ritchie has two Pokémon left, when in actuality, he only has one.
* Right after Team Rocket is blasted off, Ritchie, Ash, and their Pokémon celebrate. While the rest of the Pokémon are standing with their s, and Sparky are reversed.
* The seen during Ritchie and Assunta's match used , even though Tentacool was unable to learn Bubble until Generation V.
* When Ritchie turns to Ash at the lake, the stripes on Sparky's back are missing.
===Dub edits===
* Pikachu's Jukebox: Together Forever
* In the original version, Ritchie apologizes for losing despite how much his friends were cheering him on. In the English dub, he points out that he and Ash have one more thing in common by both losing.
* Ritchie blames his loss on his own inexperience in the original Japanese version, while in the English dub, he places the blame on how tough his competition was.
* The commemorative plates given out to participants is referred to as a "Pokémon League Badge" in the English dub. Ash also references them earlier in the English dub, while in the original Japanese version, he says that he is starving for dinner.
==In other languages==
080
Category:Episodes written by Shinzō Fujita
Category:Episodes storyboarded by Yūji Asada
Category:Episodes directed by Shigeru Ōmachi
Category:Episodes animated by Yūsaku Takeda
Category:Pokémon League episodes
Category:Episodes focusing on Ash
de:Das Versprechen
es:EP082
fr:EP080
it:GA080
ja:無印編第80話
zh:宝可梦 第81集