Episode Stats:

Japanese Episode AG 035: "Haruka!  Pokemon KONTESUTO Hatsu Chousen!!"

("Haruka!  The Pokemon Contest's First Challenge!!")

American Episode 307: "Win, Lose or Drew!"
Orchid-Hakase Pokemon Lecture: Nana-Yo no Negai Boshi Jiraachi Special
Pokemon Dare Da?  None (Japanese), Dustox (American)
Japanese Air Date: July 24th, 2003
American Air Date:  May 29th, 2004
Important Characters:  Contesta (Contesta), Sukizoh (Sukizo), Vivian (Vivian), Robert (Robert)

It's time for the Kaina City Pokemon Contest!  After nearly missing the registration deadline, Haruka nervously awaits her big contest debut.  She watches as Shuu wows the judges with his Roselia, gaining him the highest score of the day.  As the contestants keep coming, Haruka begins to doubt herself, but before she knows it it's her time to perform.  After a rocky start, she is able to impress the judges with her Agehanto's Silver Wind attacks.  Soon, the coordinators who are allowed to advance to the secondary competition are announced, and Haruka finds out that she's made it!  However, she soon becomes distressed when she learns that she has to battle Shuu!  The two begin their battle, but Haruka's lack of battle experience costs her the match.  Haruka is upset, but when she witnesses Shuu being beaten by a trainer named Robert, she knows that there will always be someone better.  As the contest ends, Haruka vows to beat Shuu at the next Contest.

---

Thoughts
Well, here it is, Haruka's first Pokemon Contest.  I think we all figured that she would lose (y'know, so she can try harder next time, find out that there is always some one better, bla bla bla) but she did put up a good fight.  I liked the fact that she was so nervous, and seeing Satoshi on the sidelines cheering somebody else on was a nice change of pace.  Contest episodes are going to become as important as Gym Leader battles, and I welcome the change of pace that they'll bring to the series.

The only part that really bothered me was that Musashi-tachi only showed up about a minute after Haruka and the others registered, yet somehow ten minutes passed, making them miss the registration deadline.  A bit unfair to Musashi, if you ask me.  Also, it seemed odd that Robert's Milokaross was deemed to be so beautiful when all it did was sit there and glow.  I know about the way it evolves and all that, but it still seems odd that the animators didn't bother to give it any movement.

Cut--1 second
A second is cut from the very first scene of the episode.

Cut--2 1/2 seconds
In the dubbed version, right after the first commercial break, there's a shot of the Pokemon Contest registration area that only flashes for about a half second in the dub.  In the Japanese version, that shot is three seconds long.

Rocket-Dan
The Rocket-Dan's motto was different in the Japanese version, but it stayed the same in the dub.  Unfortunately, I can't quite make out parts of the Japanese motto, so I can't post a transcription of it here.

Side Note
I noticed that 4Kids left the "Pokémon Contest" signs alone in this episode.  Previously, they had digitally replaced "Contest" with "Competition" for no reason at all, and I thought that they were going to do that for the rest of the series like they're doing with Ash's badge case.  I guess they realized how stupid of an edit it was in the first place and let common sense kick in before they did it so much that they would be forced to do it for the rest of the series.

Either that or their digital paint editors were working on One Piece, because God knows they're going to need all the manpower they can get to make that show suitable for the Fox Box.

Side Note
A lot of people misheard one of Vivian's lines, thinking that she gave May last name.  Here's what she said:

People misheard that last sentence as something like "May Yura" or "May Europe," thinking that one of those were her last names.  As far as we know, she has yet to be given a last name in the dub.

Cut--1 second
A second is cut from the very last shot of the episode.  

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