AG078

Cruisin' for a Losin' (Japanese: ポケモンコンテスト！ルイボス大会！！ Pokémon Contest! Tournament!!) is the 78th episode of Pokémon the Series: Ruby and Sapphire, and the 352nd episode of the Pokémon animated series. It was first broadcast in Japan on May 27, 2004, and in the United States on May 14, 2005. 
==Blurb==
The Rubello Pokémon Contest begins! Savannah is still nervous, but May is overconfident. Both of them do well in the first round performances, and while waiting in the locker room, May brags that once you have at least one ribbon, all the rest come easily. Drew tells her off.
Jessie tries to enter the contest by making her own ribbon, but instead a woman offers to buy the ribbon, giving Jessie the idea to start selling them. She puts James and Meowth to work.
The finalists in the contest are announced: May, Savannah, Drew, and Sunny. Ash tries to offer some advice, but May snaps at him.
Drew's Masquerain takes down Sunny's Girafarig with a three-move combo. The next battle is May's Bulbasaur versus Savannah's Lairon. Bulbasaur gets nervous, and doesn't dodge Lairon's attacks. Bulbasaur takes a bad pounding but May refuses to accept defeat, and the judges yell at her.
May goes outside, and Ash talks with her. The two of them go back inside to watch Savannah face off against Drew. Drew beats Savannah by a lot of points, and wins his fourth ribbon.
Team Rocket is trying to sell the ribbons they made, but no one buys one, and even the woman who bought one before wants to return hers.
Back at the Pokémon Center, Savannah doesn't feel bad about losing, and even May realizes that she can't take her wins for granted.
==Plot==
It's day in Rubello Town, except for Jessie. Despite her attempt to enter with a comically-large fake Ribbon, her dream of entering this Pokémon Contest is quashed. Inside the Contest Hall, and Savannah watch Vivian kick off the festivities. May is as determined as ever to win, and with her victories in and Verdanturf Town she is particularly confident, while Savannah is still suffering from a bad case of nerves. Drew is also waiting backstage, and he smirks as May gives advice to Savannah. Meanwhile, outside, a stranger asks if she can purchase Jessie's fake Ribbon as a decoration for her . Jessie gains a steely glint in her eye and what's worse—an idea.
Back inside the competition center, May and take the stage and open with a technique, followed by . The Mothers for Pokémon cheer May on, and Savannah later complements May for her good work, remarking that she hopes she can do as well herself. Savannah starts off a bit shaky, missing her cue, but she makes up for her mistake quickly. Savannah elects to start with her , which uses a attack to create flaming hoops which it s through. Savannah follows those theatrics with a combination of and , turning the Swift stars red. Sandra informs the boys that the maneuver was her idea. After Savannah yields the stage, May compliments her but remarks that after winning a few Ribbons, winning becomes easy. Drew scoffs at her hubris, and advises her to forget what she's won and concentrate on the future—a remark that May doesn't understand. Before he can explain, Drew is called to take the stage. He starts with his , which bursts from its with a blizzard of . Drew snaps his fingers and Roselia appears, making the MFP go wild, and Savannah remarks backstage that Drew is amazing. May, however, is less impressed. Meanwhile, has started manufacturing bows like Jessie's earlier adornment, apparently having developed a temporary taste for legitimate business. However, Jessie is demanding perfection in the workmanship, which neither James, nor seem able to meet. 
Later, Vivian announces the contestants advancing to the next stage, the Contest Battle rounds, as Drew, May, Sonny and Savannah. May remarks that she was never very worried, and the MFP cheer for both Drew and Savannah. May is paired to face Savannah, while Drew is slated to fight Sonny. May will be using her for the battle, while Savannah selects her . May starts giving Savannah advice for the upcoming match, but she is interrupted by the arrival of the boys and Sandra. suggests that if Savannah needs any help, she should probably ask him, which causes May's temper to flare. Sandra recommends that Savannah needs no advice, and that she should just battle the way she always does. Meanwhile, Ash tries to give May some Bulbasaur-related advice, but May snaps at him. Drew watches the exchange and shrugs. 
Drew and Sonny's battle is first. Sonny sends out his while Drew chooses his new . Girafarig swings for an , but Masquerain avoids the attack and responds with attack. Masquerain follows up with to freeze its own Bubbles, and then adds to the mix. The Hidden Power energy bounces between the spheres of ice before knocking Girafarig out. Drew thus gains a quick victory over Sonny and advances to the finals. That leaves May versus Savannah, and May determined to win. May's Bulbasaur and Savannah's Lairon take the stage, but each Coordinator has an immediate problem—Savannah continues to suffer from stage fright and nerves and May's Bulbasaur is unfamiliar with the big city, and is dazzled by the Contest stage and roaring crowd. Bulbasaur quickly retreats to behind May for cover. In the audience, Brock speculate that's May's angry outbursts backstage upset Bulbasaur. Unfortunately, May is also none too kind in telling Bulbasaur to take the stage, and Bulbasaur reluctantly steps forward to face Lairon.
With the battle joined in earnest, Savannah orders Lairon to use . May calls for Bulbasaur to dodge, but the bright lights and unfamiliar stage fills her with fear, which is compounded by May's anger. Bulbasaur therefore takes the attack head on. May orders a counterattack with , which Bulbasaur supplies, but Lairon counters with a surprise and , which traces the Vine Whip and shocks Bulbasaur. Sandra reveals, at this point, that she was also the architect of the Shock Wave combo and that because of Vine Whip's direct contact, Lairon paralyzed Bulbasaur. Savannah orders a coup de grace with , which makes contact and causes the Contest Judges to call the battle against Bulbasaur. May declares that she's not done, but the judges rebuke her harshly, declaring that she has disregarded the well-being of her Bulbasaur. Savannah continues onto the finals, while May ventures outside to tend to Bulbasaur. 
She apologizes to her Pokémon for losing sight of what was important, and Bulbasaur easily forgives her. Ash and approach her, inviting May inside to watch the final round. Ash assures May that everyone gets carried away with wanting to win sometimes, and that the most important fact of battling, Contest or Gym, is that and must be in sync to succeed. Meanwhile, Drew and Savannah are fighting fiercely. In the final seconds of the match, Drew scores an unavenged hit with Hidden Power, and time expires before Savannah can counter with a Shock Wave. The victory goes to Drew who courteously shakes hands with his opponent after the battle. The brief brush with Drew only makes the other MFP members jealous. Having now earned his fourth Ribbon, Drew is one Contest win away from qualifying for the Grand Festival. Elsewhere, Team Rocket is having trouble selling their carefully crafted Ribbons, and in the greatest irony, the stranger who purchase one earlier asks if she can return hers.
Overnight, Ash, , Savannah, and Sandra return to the Pokémon Center cafeteria to enjoy a meal together. Savannah declares that though she wanted the Contest Ribbon today, she didn't want it so badly that she took her existing Ribbon for granted. May realizes that she did exactly that—take her other Ribbons for granted in her pursuit of yet another, and vows she never will do so again.
==Major events==
* and Drew enter the R1 Rubello Town Pokémon Contest.
* May's Beautifly is revealed to know .
* Drew wins the Rubello Contest and earns his fourth Ribbon.
===Debuts===
====Pokémon debuts====
==Characters==
===Humans===
* 
* 
* 
* Max
* Jessie
* James
* Nurse Joy
* Drew
* Vivian Meridian
* Raoul Contesta
* Mr. Sukizo
* Savannah
* Sandra
* Sonny
* Mothers for Pokémon members
* s
* Audience
===Pokémon===
Pokémon Trainer's Choice: 
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ()
* (Drew's)
* (Savannah's)
* (Savannah's)
* (Sonny's)
* (Coordinator's)
* (Coordinator's)
* (Coordinator's)
==Trivia==
* Music from Mewtwo Strikes Back and some music from The Power of One was used in this episode.
* The episode's English dub title is based on the phrase "cruising for a bruising".
* In the audience watching the , a character resembling an older-looking Max can be seen.
* In this episode, doesn't blast off or recite their .
===Errors===
* The Pokémon Trainer's Choice segment states that would be the best choice to battle . It would actually be the worst choice because Ludicolo's attacks would be four times more effective on Camerupt as it is a -type. Ground-type attacks are not very effective against Ludicolo and Fire-type attacks are normally effective. Both and would be normally effective on Ludicolo.
===Dub edits===
* In the English dub, thinks that the contact made with and is why was able to , with Savannah confirming the reason. In the original Japanese version, Brock thinks that it is like how works, with Savannah confirming it.
====Pokémon Trainer's Choice====
* Question: Trainers, which of these Pokémon is the best choice to battle Ludicolo?
* Choices: Mightyena, Camerupt, Duskull
* Answer: OK, Trainers! If you chose Camerupt, you were right!
==In other languages==
078
Category:Episodes written by Atsuhiro Tomioka
Category:Episodes storyboarded and directed by Yoshito Hata
Category:Episodes storyboarded by Yoshito Hata
Category:Episodes directed by Yoshito Hata
Category:Episodes animated by Kumiko Shishido
Category:Episodes with Contests
Category:Episodes focusing on May
Category:Episodes in which May loses a Contest
de:Verlieren geht über studieren!
es:EP354
fr:AG078
ja:AG編第78話
zh:宝可梦 超世代 第78集