Summary: Emeraudefest at Saffron City is in full swing, and all Pokemon gather together to celebrate the arrival of their guest of honor, the Sky King Rayquaza! All eyes are on this majestic beast as a battle royale ensues for his enjoyment, but it seems like this event has the effect of attracting people with their own agendas, especially a certain space dragon...
The episode can be watched here
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This episode contains the following tropes:
- Chekhov's Gun:
- At the beginning of the Episode, Mario goes through the Event Match Arena, specifically training against copies of Bowser, Ganondorf, and King Dedede from Event 40. Much later, when Fox asks how Ganondorf was able to copy Bowser's dataframe to fill in the missing gaps for Ridley, Snake then brings up how the Event Match Arena's technology was quietly abandoned, with Ganondorf having stole the machinery from there at some point. Not only was it used to fill in Ridley's dataframe, but it also gave the space dragon Giga Bowser, Lucario, and Link's DNA and unique abilities. Similarly, the cage Bowser was holed up in during Episode 7 was the method as to how Ganondorf scanned and copied Bowser's data, as discovered by Sheik.
- The Needles initially shown in Episode 17 and 18 are actually part of a set of seven, where they are the keys to unlock the entrance to the Creator's Realm. Ganondorf notes that Fox had tasked Laborite and Falco to scatter these items across the world of Brawl so enemy forces wouldn't be able to easily open it.
- Crossover Relatives: Apparently Donkey Kong has a Slaking in his family tree, with the Slaking known as "Norman Kong".
- Even Evil Has Standards: Ganondorf states that he wishes to correct a misconception about his character to Wolf — contrary to his methods, he doesn't like to kill indiscriminately, stating that meaningless death benefits no one. The only people and lives he destroys are those who actively stand in the way of his goals.
- Face–Heel Turn: Wolf already wasn't a good guy to begin with, but once he's captured by Ganondorf, he decides that the Creator's Mission wasn't worth all the hassle, ditching the mercenaries to shack up with Ganondorf's team, which is later officially announced by Dedede at Emeraudefest.
- Large and in Charge:
- Sky King Rayquaza himself, where he is one of the largest trophies in Brawl and the leader of all Pokemon. He's also one of the Tetracardinal trophies alongside Ridley.
- The black-scaled leader of the Moon Stone tribe of Charizards, Madam Opal, who towers over Liz and several other Pokemon.Wario: WHOA! Why is that [Charizard] so huge?!
- Moving The Goal Posts: After President Dedede formally reveals the Tetracardinal trophies, he also adds a new stipulation to the tournament proceedings that the winning team must defeat him or no wishes will be granted, despite being the tournament's prize being advertised as a meeting with the creator. The participants calls out the BS Society on this after fighting for a month.
- Sudden Contest Format Change: President Dedede formally reveals the Tetracardinal trophies, a set of supremely powerful Fighter Trophies, specifically Ridley. He declares that being at the top of the Smash King tournament rankings won't be enough, where they must also defeat Ridley in order to truly meet with The Creator. The winning team of the tournament has only one chance to defeat him, and if they fail, then no wishes will be granted. This goes against how the tournament had been structured, where it had advertised a meeting with the creator as a prize for standing atop the rankings, especially when the tournament had been going on for a month. Rightfully, the participants call out the Brawl Spectator Society for Moving The Goal Posts, but Bowser figures out that this is was done so Ganondorf could secure his chances at meeting with the Creator (as Ridley is under Ganondorf's control).Donkey Kong: You're only telling us this, now?!
Pikachu: What a load of crap! We fight for a month, and the winner isn't even fully guaranteed a wish?!
[...]
Dedede: We are aware how sudden this announcement was. We had originally planned to spring this on ya during the finals, but in order to be a bit fair, we had Ridley personally show up for Char-Char's event to show the world what he's made of. - Suddenly Speaking: Downplayed, where it seems like Rayquaza can only speak in Pokemon tongue, just like Lizardon at the beginning of the series and other Pokemon. However, once Zero Ridley starts making a mess of things during the Battle Royale, the sky dragon chastises Ridley for his recklessness — albeit mentally.
- Unspoken Plan Guarantee: Ganondorf wanted to extract the "bomb" fragment from Wolf's matrix. However, this was based on a theory that had no guarantee of success, requiring him to stab the lupine in the chest with his sword. He didn't explain this plan until after he had stabbed Wolf and the fragment was successfully removed. Wolf notes that he took that chance to try and test his theory before he even learned what Wolf wanted to divulge, with the alternative being very messy if he failed.
- Wham Episode: The episode showcases how powerful Ridley is, his origins, reveals Ridley is comprised of different trophies' DNA , and demonstrating that he can curbstomp Link. Wolf switching over from the Creator's mercenaries side to Team Ganondorf is also a big reveal.
- The Worf Effect: Link enters the Emeraudefest Battle Royale in order to kill time and get a good fight in. Among those who joined is Zero Ridley, where Link is used as a punching bag to establish the space dragon's power and how threatening he is as one of the Tetracardinal trophies. Even when Link uses his Ascent Mode and his Final Smash, he goes from being able to handle Ike, Team Falcon and Hyper Sonic all at once to being utterly curbstomped by Zero Ridley.
