Recap / Pokémon S11E9 "Team Shocker!"

• Heroic BSoD / My God, What Have I Done?: After losing the appeals round for the second time in a row, Dawn's self-confidence is seriously damaged, which is not unnoticed by Ash. Dawn also won't get out of bed while her friends wait for her at the Pokémon Center until Zoey arrives and gets her up. Through Zoey's help and advice, Dawn decides to take some time off from Contests.
• Put on a Bus: As of this episode, Kenny won't make another full, on-screen appearance for another 61 episodes.
• Spectacular Spinning: The main concept of Rainbow Swift: Ambipom spins with her hands while creating stars above her, then spinning on her back and making them collide to create a rainbow shape. Sadly, the finishing part makes Ambipom invisible for a bit, but it only lasts a few seconds.
  • Ever more ironically, the Pokemon TV blurb states "The Solaceon Contest is about to start, and Dawn is eager to show off her Ambipom's spectacular Swift move.".
• Team Rocket Wins: Jessie and Dustox won the Solaceon Town Pokémon Contest!
• 10-Minute Retirement: Taking Zoey's advice to heart, Dawn decides to take a small break from Pokemon Contests to refresh herself and rethink her approach.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: A kind yet strict one from Zoey. Zoey has Dawn battle her using the same strategy she used during the appeals round, and then matter-of-factly tells her that she completely missed the point of the appeals by pointing out her flashy moves hid Ambipom out of sight; the judges don't care about the moves themselves, but rather how the Pokemon use them to look better through it. She then has her Glameow effortlessly tear apart the display and defeats Ambipom to prove her point.
• Throw the Dog a Bone: After two regions of failures, Jessie finally won a contest ribbon.
• Took a Level in Badass: This episode cements Jessie finally being a competent Coordinator from the Advanced Generation series by winning her first official contest (this is technically her second time winning it but the first time she won wasn't at an official contest).
• Unsportsmanlike Gloating: Jessie rubs her win in Dawn's face.
• You Were Trying Too Hard: While helping Dawn cheer up after her second appeal round loss in a row, Zoey tells her that the reason she decided to take a pass on the Solaceon Contest is that she's taking time to recharge from her loss at the Hearthome contest, so she wouldn't lose focus on what's truly important in Contests. This implies that at least half, if not more, of the reason Dawn lost in the Soleceon Appeal Round is because she was too determined to make up for her first appeal round loss in Hearthome City instead of taking some much needed R & R, which causes her to overlook a glaring flaw in her performance. When it comes to a dream, you have to be willing to pace yourself if you want to succeed in the long run.