A Real Cleffa-Hanger

### Written by

Sonic876, Punkasaurus0530, Frogadier55, NegimaLover, TMNTHedgehog5, and DragonSpore18

### Directed by

Sonic876 and NegimaLover

***A Real Cleffa-Hanger*** is the 41st episode of *Josh's Adventures of Pokémon: Advanced Battle*.

## Plot

On the way to the first Battle Frontier facility, the Battle Factory, Ash and his friends stop to have a picnic at the foot of Mt. Moon. Ash notices that Ludicolo is missing, and Brock reveals that he left it at home since his brothers and sisters got along with it. Suddenly, Misty gets a call on her Pokégear from her sister Daisy, who reports that the Cerulean Gym is packed with challengers eager to earn their Badges. Daisy wonders if they can just hand out the Cascade Badges in the meantime, though Misty nixes that idea and orders her sisters to be patient before she get home. With that, the group packs up and prepares to head toward Cerulean City. Before departing, they encounter a wild Cleffa.
Team Rocket suddenly appears and traps the group's Pokémon with a vacuum machine attached to the basket of their Meowth balloon. They eventually succeed, but do not get Pikachu. Jessie sends out her Seviper, who manages to land a Poison Tail on Pikachu before he can use Thunderbolt. Meowth sets the vacuum to full power, but due to Jessie's impatient tampering, the machine reverses the suction and returns all the captured Pokémon back to the twerps. Jessie's continued interference causes the machine to malfunction and explode, blasting Misty, Max, Pikachu, Azurill and Cleffa off a cliff and into a river. May tries to grab Max's hand, but fails.

After climbing out of the river, Misty and Max find that Pikachu is weak from the poison he received from Seviper's Poison Tail. Max worryingly affirms that there isn't a Pokémon Center nearby, though Misty has her Azurill use Refresh, which heals Pikachu. Meanwhile, Ash, May, and Brock are searching for the others with the help of Mudkip's radar, but the search fails. Misty's group also sets out to find Ash's group, and suddenly Cleffa runs off to a Pecha Berry tree. Misty gives one to Pikachu before they all sit down on a large cloth to feast on the Berries. Suddenly, three Beedrill suddenly appear out of the bushes, scaring Misty. She runs off with Max, the cloth full of Berries, and the party's Pokémon in tow. They accidentally run off a cliff and fall into in a forested area. Luckily, they are saved from serious injury when they land on a large patch of thick, soft moss. A storm begins to form, frightening Cleffa, so they wait it out in a nearby cave. Meanwhile, Ash's group is taking shelter under a tree, with Cleffa's friends Clefairy and Clefable standing nearby. After finishing off the Pecha Berries, the Pokémon sleep as Misty and Max have a conversation about older sisters. Misty proposes that they both keep helping their sisters, even when they don't think they need it, and Max heartily agrees. They then see that the storm has cleared and resume their search for Ash and the others. May, Ash and Brock do the same, soon finding fresh footprints from Misty's group and follow them.

As Misty and Max continue their search, Team Rocket attacks again with their vacuum machine. Max is about to be sucked up, but suddenly May appears and grabs his hand in time to rescue him. Ash, Brock, Clefairy and Clefable also run onto the scene and are relieved to see everyone is safe. May and Max call Team Rocket out, so the trio respond with their motto and switch their vacuum machine back on. Azurill quickly uses Bubble, which is sucked into the machine instead and causes it to explode, sending the trio plummeting to the ground. Team Rocket then attack with Seviper and James's Cacnea, but Cleffa, Clefairy, and Clefable call their friends, who appear and begin using Metronome. May's Munchlax escapes from its Poké Ball and begins to wave its arms with the Clefairy. The Cleffa use Splash, causing Team Rocket's Pokémon to bounce up and down. The Clefable use Teeter Dance, causing all of Team Rocket dance as well. Team Rocket aren't by this until Meowth realizes that it was only a distraction so Munchlax and the Clefairy could power up Solar Beam. Jessie and James order Seviper and Cacnea to attack with Poison Tail and Needle Arm, but Pikachu stops them with Thunderbolt. Having been given the time to charge, Munchlax and the Clefairy fire their Solar Beams, sending Team Rocket blasting off.

Afterwards Cleffa, Clefairy, and Clefable march off to Mt. Moon. Misty mentions that since tonight will have a full moon, they are probably going to perform a moon dance. Brock explains to May and Max that the Cleffa evolution family dance around a giant Moon Stone on Mt. Moon. When Max asks if they can go watch, Brock says they likely can, as the Fairy Pokémon now trust them. Ash and friends follow them and watch the Pokémon perform their ritual dance around the Moon Stone, instantly putting a smile on everyone's faces. The following morning, Daisy calls Misty once again, demanding to know where she is. Misty tells her that she will be home shortly, ending the call. Misty has to take the other fork in the road, so she and Azurill leave Ash's group to return to Cerulean City not before wishing Ash and May all the best with the Battle Frontier and Pokémon Contests respectively. She reconfirms with Max that both will continue to help their older sisters.

## Major events

* Brock is revealed to have left his Ludicolo at home with his mother and siblings.
* Clover is revealed to remain outside her Poké Ball for the journey of the Battle Frontier.
* Misty's Azurill is revealed to know Bubble and Refresh.
* May's Munchlax is revealed to know Metronome.
* Misty leaves Ash's group to return to the Cerulean Gym.

## Characters

### Humans

* Ash
* Josh
* Toby
* Misty
* May
* Brock
* Max
* Jessie
* James
* The Sensational Sisters
	+ Daisy
	+ Lily
	+ Violet
* Forrest (flashback)
* Brock's siblings (flashback)
* Lola (flashback)

### Pokémon

Pokémon Trainer's Choice: Luvdisc

* Pikachu (Ash's)
* Meowth (Team Rocket)
* Wobbuffet (Jessie's)
* Chimecho (James's)
* Phanpy (Ash's)
* Swellow (Ash's)
* Grovyle (Ash's)
* Corphish (Ash's)
* Azurill (Misty's)
* Combusken (May's)
* Munchlax (May's)
* Squirtle (May's)
* Forretress (Brock's)
* Ludicolo (Brock's; flashback)
* Mudkip (Brock's)
* Seviper (Jessie's)
* Cacnea (James's)
* Clefairy (multiple)
* Clefable (multiple)
* Cleffa (multiple)
* Beedrill (×3)

## Transcript

*Main article: A Real Cleffa-Hanger/Transcript*
## Trivia

* A new title card sequence was introduced.
* The episode's English dub title is a pun on the phrase "a real cliff-hanger".
* Eric Stuart provided the voice of Pokédex for the first time since *Playing with Fire!*, 137 episodes earlier.
* This episode retroactively includes Cleffa in the Mt. Moon population introduced in *Clefairy and the Moon Stone*.
* Much like *Wish Upon a Star Shape* had revisited the Clefairy group introduced in *Clefairy Tales*, this episode revisited the group of Clefairy and Clefable from *Clefairy and the Moon Stone*.
	+ In the original Japanese version, the music used in *Clefairy and the Moon Stone* was used as background music when the Cleffa, Clefairy, and Clefable dance around the giant Moon Stone.
* This was the last episode to air before M08 debuted in Japanese theaters.
* Excluding flashbacks and fantasies, this would be the final appearance of Misty in the main series until *Alola, Kanto!*, 573 episodes later. As such, Rachael Lillis voices Misty for the last time.