Episode Guide #001 - #008 Pokémon I choose you! Pokémon Emergency! Ash Catches A Pokémon Challenge of the Samurai SHOWDOWN IN PEWTER CITY Clefairy And The Moon Stone The Water Flowers Of Cerulean City The Path to the Pokémon League Pokémon I choose you! Pokémon seen: Nidorino, Gengar, Onix, Bulbasaur, Squirtle, Dodrio, Charmander, Pikachu, Pidgey, Rattata, Spearow, Sandshrew, Mankey, Magikarp, Gyarados, Ho-oh Story: Ash Ketchum begins his Pokémon Journey, except he sleeps in, and so, misses out on snatching one of the Starter Pokémon. Professor Oak instead gives him Pikachu, but this one is difficult and is prone to shocking Ash, it won’t even go in its Pokéball. Ash tries to catch a Pokémon on his own, but only succeeds in angering a flock of Spearow, who attack Pikachu, Ash goes out of his way to protect it, and ends up taking the bike of a young girl to do so. When there’s nowhere to run, Ash insists that Pikachu should return to its Pokéball while he fends off the Spearow, but instead, Pikachu uses Thundershock to defeat them, and shows kindness towards Ash at last. Ash sees a rare Pokémon, be cannot identify it as even his Pokédex doesn’t know what it is. My favourite Quote: Oak: “Those rubber gloves your mom packed will come in handy.” Ash (while being shocked by Pikachu): “Why?” Oak: “Rubber blocks electricity!” Ash (still being shocked): “Hooray!!!” Things I’d like to point out: The Gameboy intro that turns 3-D is very nice; this is obviously the Pokémon Red game because there’s a Jigglypuff in the Pokémon Blue intro. For someone who wants to be a Pokémon Master, Ash really hasn’t studied Pokémon at all. I know all the explanations are for the viewer’s benefit, but Ash is constantly making amateur mistakes throughout the series. If the three Starter Pokémon were already taken, why were their Pokéballs still in Oak’s lab? Isn’t everyone curious about the two other trainers, we never even see their faces, only their Pokémon battling when people refer to them, they’ve seemingly done better than Ash, so why is it that later on, Oak reports they didn’t have what it took? And as it turned out, Squirtle was both Ash’s and Gary’s first choice of Pokémon, but Gary got the one Oak was offering. How did Pikachu know how to work the Pokédex? It knew exactly which button to press to get Dexter to explain about Pokéball exceptions. For the only time in the entire series, the “>To Be Continued” lettering is green instead of yellow, and it’s placed more in the centre of the screen compared to any other episode which places it in a corner. Who’s That Pokémon?: Pikachu Cameos in Pokémon Journey: Professor Oak is in Chapter 3, when he helps heal Tetsubo’s Pokémon, as does Mrs Ketchum in the same story. Pokémon Emergency! Pokémon seen: Pikachu, Meowth, Chansey, Koffing, Ekans, Pidgey, Rattata, Goldeen, Caterpie Story: After the Spearow attack, Ash rushes Pikachu to the Pokémon Centre to be healed, with help from Officer Jenny. He thinks about the rare Pokémon he saw, and phones his home and Professor Oak’s place while Pikachu recovers. Misty, the bike owner, storms in and orders Ash to replace her bike, but she goes easy on him after hearing of Pikachu. The Pokémon Centre is attacked by a criminal group called Team Rocket, consisting of Jessie, James and Meowth. They unleash Ekans and Koffing, who wreak havoc in the Centre, Ash, Misty and Nurse Joy make a run for it, and with a little extra help, Pikachu shocks Team Rocket into oblivion. But they decide that Pikachu is rare and worth stealing. Misty joins Ash for now, and they discover a Caterpie in the Viridian Forest. My favourite Quote: Oak: “I admit, when you left, I had my doubts that you could handle your Pikachu, but when my grandson Gary said that you wouldn’t have a single new Pokémon by the time you got to Viridian city, I bet him a million dollars that he’d be wrong!” Ash: “Well, money isn’t everything, right?...” Things I’d like to point out: Hard to believe that Jessie’s and James’s entrance makes them look like serious villains, anyone who watches this episode after watching the newer ones are usually amazed by how different they started out. Ash is wrong; he’s not looking at a picture of the Ho-oh he saw, he’s looking at Articuno. And why is there a video phone behind the Arcanine tile? A gag it seems, but no good reason for it. Arcanine shouldn’t even be placed among the Legendary Birds, its classification is the Legendary Pokémon but that doesn’t make it part of the group of strongest Pokémon. Oak knew that Ash was having problems with Pikachu; he really shouldn’t have made the bet with Gary. Jessie must have a problem with her lipstick, in one scene before the attack on the Centre; her lipstick disappears, but reappears when she throws her Pokéball. The voltage from the broken computer must be low as it doesn’t faze Ekans or Koffing, yet anything Pikachu or other Electric Pokémon dish out will usually defeat them. Is the Goldeen that Misty uses one of the Centre’s Pokémon, or her own? Even though Misty tells Ash to go while she distracts Team Rocket, he stays while she uses and recalls the Goldeen. You’re usually supposed to run in this scenario while your ally distracts the opponent, but Ash just stands there while he’s supposed to be escaping. This is the only episode that doesn’t have any “>To Be Continued” lettering or any other, and the screen doesn’t shrink into one corner with a black backdrop either. Who’s That Pokémon?: Koffing Cameos in Pokémon Journey: Plenty of Nurse Joys and Officer Jennys make appearances in Pokémon Journey, but I won’t give them a mention unless that specific town’s Jenny or Joy makes an appearance in the fanfic. Tetsubo meets the Viridian City Nurse Joy when he brings in an abandoned Pidgey to heal. Team Rocket appear in the TV series for the first time this episode, and are in every episode onwards, they also star in Chapters 9 and 10, on Route 4, and in the Cerulean Water Theatre, before deciding that they prefer to be beaten by Ash rather than anyone new. Ash Catches A Pokémon Pokémon seen: Caterpie, Pikachu, Pidgeotto, Meowth, Ekans, Koffing, Metapod, Beedrill Story: After catching Caterpie, Misty makes it clear that she hates Bug-types, and this upsets Caterpie. Ash manages to catch a Pidgeotto, and then Team Rocket appears, Pikachu and Pidgeotto are beaten, but Caterpie makes an impressive comeback and beats the Rockets’ Pokémon before evolving into Metapod. My favourite Quote: Misty: “Pidgeotto is a bird. Caterpie is a worm. Birds Eat Worms Mr Pokémon Master!” Things I’d like to point out: Tradition breaks briefly for the moment as Misty reads the title instead of Ash. The conversation between Caterpie and Pikachu at night: Cute, but otherwise, a big timewaster. I really don’t have to comment on Ash using a Bug-type against a Flying Pokémon, Misty says it best. Jessie’s telling of Ekans to get its dinner while it attacks Pidgeotto is reminiscent of its Pokédex entry which states they eat Pidgey eggs. Misty could have helped Ash when Team Rocket used two Pokémon against him, but instead she stands by as Pidgeotto and Caterpie battle separately and nearly lose, it’s not like looking after Pikachu prevented her from throwing a Pokéball. Although Ash plays by the rules and uses one Pokémon at a time even though Team Rocket uses two, he’s not so sporting throughout the series, sometimes using four Pokémon against Team Rocket’s two. Who’s That Pokémon?: Caterpie Cameos in Pokémon Journey: None, but Tetsubo does go through the Viridian Forest in Chapter 5. Challenge of the Samurai Pokémon seen: Pikachu, Weedle, Pidgeotto, Pinsir, Metapod, Meowth, Beedrill, Kakuna, Charmander, Squirtle, Bulbasaur, Butterfree Story: While trying to catch a Weedle, Ash is interrupted by Samurai, who challenges him to a battle, Pidgeotto falls to Pinsir, while Metapod wins, and a match between Metapod and Metapod doesn’t go far. A swarm of Beedrill attack and Metapod is captured by one of them. The group hide out in a hut for the night, and in the morning, Ash goes after Metapod, but is hindered by Team Rocket, who are left to deal with a swarm of Beedrill. Ash retrieves Metapod and accepts that its getting captured was his fault; Metapod protects Ash from a Beedrill and evolves into Butterfree, before putting all the Beedrill to sleep. Samurai recognises Ash’s skills as a trainer and they part ways on good terms. My favourite Quote: Ash: “Take back that novice crack!” Samurai: “I do take it back, because not even a novice would abandon his own Pokémon as you did!” Things I’d like to point out: The tradition of the title reading isn’t quite finalised yet, Ash says “And now...” before reading the title itself. The Cowterpie joke: Not at all funny, sorry, but I think everyone will agree, maybe it was a Japanese play on words that came out better than our version. What was Samurai thinking by bringing out a Metapod that could only use Harden, against another Metapod with the same move? And he said Ash was a novice... In the game, only a wild Metapod knows Harden, a trained Caterpie that evolves into Metapod will retain String Shot and Tackle. When Ash is in his sleeping bag at night, the label on it says Satoshi, which is Ash’s name in the Japanese version of the show. This is why Pikachu sometimes refers to him as “Pika Pi” which sounds kind of like Satoshi in its language. Also, Satoshi is the name of the creator of Pokémon; Gary was originally named Shigeru, after the creator of Mario, Zelda, etc. Who’s That Pokémon?: Metapod Cameos in Pokémon Journey: Samurai appears in Chapter 5, where he takes on Tetsubo in a Pokémon Battle with his Pinsir and Butterfree. SHOWDOWN IN PEWTER CITY Pokémon seen: Meowth, Pikachu, Onix, Geodude, Pidgeotto Story: Team Rocket mess up and fall into their own trap, keeping them out of the episode. Ash and Misty reach Pewter City, where they are greeted by Flint, Ash and Misty fight about his upcoming battle with the Gym Leader, and they separate. The Gym Leader is Brock, who specialises in Rock-type Pokémon, he uses Onix, who Pikachu can’t damage with electricity, and Ash is forced to give up. Flint has a talk with Ash, explaining that Brock can’t go on to better things because he must stay at home to raise his brothers and sisters, because his father left home and his mother passed away. Flint then helps Ash to supercharge Pikachu and enhance its Electric attacks. Ash returns to the Gym, and although he messes up with Pidgeotto versus Geodude, Pikachu beats it, but once again loses to Onix despite its new abilities. Brock has Onix back down, but a sprinkler system weakens Onix with water, Ash seizes the chance, but doesn’t have the heart to finish it, and leaves. Brock catches up with Ash and hands him the Boulder Badge, Flint appears and reveals himself to be Brock’s father, and will stay at the Gym while Brock goes out to follow his dreams of becoming a Pokémon Breeder. Brock joins Ash, but it seems that Misty will too, until Ash pays her back. My favourite Quote: Ash: “So why did you help me instead of Brock?” Flint: “You reminded me of myself, you didn’t seem to have a chance.” Things I’d like to point out: From now on, the theme played while the title is read out (usually by Ash) is played during every title sequence from now on. The icons on the Pokémon League poster are types/elements from the Pokémon Trading Card Game. Brock shouldn’t have activated the field to close in while Ash was in it, had he not run fast enough he might have lost a foot. Ash blatantly lies to Brock about forgetting that Flying Pokémon are weak against Rock-types, he never knew it in the first place. In the original storyline, Brock’s mother deserted him, but with the translated version, since Brock’s father had already deserted the family, it was decided to instead have her pass away instead of both parents deserting at least eleven kids. With Geodude and Onix used in the same battle this mimics the game in that these are the same Pokémon Brock uses in the Gym Battle although he doesn’t leave the Gym like he does in the series. It doesn’t matter if Pikachu was all charged up, or if a Ground Pokémon was weakened by water, Electric attacks don’t work on Ground-types, full stop. Maybe it was just the water that defeated Onix, but if that’s so then Ash doesn’t deserve Brock’s badge, and as the leader of the Rock Gym, Brock should have considered placing extinguishers rather than sprinklers that would only hurt his Pokémon. Throughout the entire episode, only a maximum of nine brothers/sisters of Brock are seen at any one time. Who’s That Pokémon?: Onix Cameos in Pokémon Journey: Flint becomes the Pewter City Gym Leader, and takes on Tetsubo in Chapter 6; he also battles Emily, Chad, Abby and Scott. Clefairy And The Moon Stone Pokémon seen: Pikachu, Zubat, Paras, Sandshrew, Clefairy, Meowth, Koffing, Ekans, Butterfree, Staryu, Onix, Pidgeotto, Clefable Story: Ash, Misty and Brock reach Mount Moon, and save a scientist called Seymour from a flock of Zubat. Someone has strung up lights in the dark caves and upset the Pokémon, and the group also discover a Clefairy and follow it. The evil-doers turn out to be Team Rocket, searching for the Moon Stone. While Ash and Brock beat Jessie and James, Misty defeats Meowth by revealing her Pokémon and beating him with it. Ash and the others discover that all of the Clefairy pray to the Moon Stone, but Team Rocket appears again and steals it, Onix stops them, and they are defeated by the Clefairys’ Metronome attack. Small Moon Stones fall from above and evolve any Clefairy they touch. Seymour decides to live with the Clefairy, and Ash and his group are on the verge of entering Cerulean City. My favourite Quote: Seymour: “Meowth, I’m sure we can be reasonable about this.” Meowth: “No, we can’t!” Things I’d like to point out: A mistake on Brock’s part: In the game Double Team makes the Pokémon more evasive, in the series it makes copies of the Pokémon to confuse the opponent. Surely Wing Attack would have been a more appropriate name for the flapping of Zubat’s wings. Koffing’s double K.O with Onix: James ordered it to counter-attack it, if it countered Onix through normal methods then that’s fine, but unrealistic, if it used the move Counter, type advantage would have given it the power it needed to beat Onix, only Koffing can’t learn that attack. When everyone is swaying with the Clefairy, Meowth speaks without moving his mouth; in a lot of episodes throughout the series, Pokémon including Pikachu will speak without even opening their mouths sometimes. There must be more Moon Stones around the world considering Jigglypuffs, Nidorinas and Nidorinos need it to evolve just as the Clefairy do. Who’s That Pokémon?: Clefairy Cameos in Pokémon Journey: None, but Tetsubo and Emily travel through Mount Moon and find some small remaining Moon Stones from the incident that happens in this episode. The Water Flowers Of Cerulean City Pokémon seen: Pikachu, Meowth, Goldeen, Seel, Butterfree, Staryu, Pidgeotto, Starmie Story: Ash and Brock head for Cerulean City, but Misty is reluctant to go, meanwhile, Team Rocket break into a store and steal many strange items. Ash goes it alone to the Gym, but finds a water theatre housing the Cerulean Sisters, they are in fact the Gym Leaders, but they don’t feel like battling, and offer Ash the Cascade Badge for free. Misty intervenes and reveals that she’s one of the sisters, and therefore, will battle Ash for the badge. Staryu beats Butterfree, but Pidgeotto beats Starmie, and before the match can be decided, Team Rocket attack, having converted the stolen items into a machine that can suck up all the water in the Gym. Pikachu defeats them, and the sisters award Ash the badge for saving the day. My favourite Quote: Jenny: “If you know my sister-in-law, that means you probably have some dealings with the police in Viridian.” Ash: “Well... I-” Jenny: “Now maybe you just stopped to ask her for directions, or maybe you found a wallet on the street and turned it in to her, OR MAYBE YOU’RE A BURGLAR WHO BROKE OUT OF JAIL!!!” Things I’d like to point out: Brock actually asks Officer Jenny out in a normal sensible way, you’d never guess he could from his future behaviour of invading girls’ personal spaces, expressing how beautiful he thinks they are and confessing his love and affection for them. Brock refers to the Cerulean City Gym Leader as a ‘he’, either he’s lying to Ash, or he doesn’t know the Gym Leader at all, that or the Cerulean Sisters took over from a male Gym Leader. Unless they’re fake, the fish in the Cerulean Gym apparently prove that despite all the Pokémon, there are ‘real’ animals in the world. Hats off to whoever beat the Water Pokémon with Charmander, but then again, the Pokémon owned by the sisters aren’t at their final stages of evolution at this point. But when the sisters claim they only have Goldeen as a result, they seem to be forgetting about Seel. Misty also uses the same Pokémon in a Gym Battle as she does in the games though she too doesn’t leave the Gym nor are her sisters existent in the games. Pikachu’s pretty reluctant to battle Misty in this important battle, but not later on in “The Totodile Duel” (even though then it’s the opponent that makes Pikachu refuse to fight, not Misty), and they say friendship grows over time... James decides to hold a blue rose instead of a red one. Why is Violet complaining about her hair? If she’s worried about it getting wet, then why is she a synchronised swimmer and not wearing a bathing cap? Who’s That Pokémon?: Seel Cameos in Pokémon Journey: The Cerulean Sisters appear in Chapter 10, when Tetsubo and the group visit the Gym expecting a battle. The Path to the Pokémon League Pokémon seen: Pikachu, Pidgeotto, Rattata, Sandshrew, Butterfree, Meowth, Beedrill, Ekans, Koffing Story: After hearing of a trainer named A.J, Ash is looking to battle him. A.J has built his own Gym but it’s not licensed by the Pokémon League, and A.J has won 98 battles (88 more than Ash). They soon battle, with Pidgeotto and Butterfree facing Sandshrew, but the Sandshrew is tough and Ash loses horribly. The group discover that A.J’s methods of training are a little harsh, while Team Rocket tries to swipe Pikachu but end up with Sandshrew instead. Sandshrew escapes and returns to A.J, proving that he does care for his Pokémon and vice versa. Team Rocket appear to save Meowth, and battle A.J with all their Pokémon, yet, Sandshrew comes out on top. A.J leaves his Gym after his 100th win, in order to start collecting badges, he and Ash part ways. My favourite Quote: Ash: “Why are you so tough on Sandshrew?” A.J: “Ah have ta be tough, but Ah ask no more of Sandshrew than Ah do of mahself: The very best.” Things I’d like to point out: Misty points out that Electric attacks are no good against Ground-types, yet, in later episodes, Pikachu blatantly breaks this rule and beats some Ground and Rock/Ground Pokémon with Electric attacks, which would never be allowed in the games. Ash moans that because Flying Pokémon always have the advantage over Ground- types, he should have won, but Sandshrew didn’t damage Ash’s Pokémon with Ground-type moves, it used Normal attacks. He should be blaming his loss on the Sandshrew’s speed and abilities, not on type advantage, Flying attacks don’t especially do much against Ground-types, Flying Pokémon are invincible to Ground attacks, but they certainly don’t have the physical advantage. Urging Pikachu to fight Sandshrew after Pidgeotto and Butterfree failed is not a good idea, Pikachu would probably have done worse against Sandshrew. Koffing shouldn’t have been affected by Fissure unless one of the upturned rocks bounced it down the chasm. For future reference in this guide and the stories, I consider one type of Pokémon to be strong against another when its specialty type is super effective against the opponent, and weak when its opponent can deal a super effective hit against it with its specialty type (I hope that made sense). Who’s That Pokémon?: Sandshrew Cameos in Pokémon Journey: None. Episodes #009 - #016 Back to the Episode Guide Movie and Mini-movie Guide Back to the Pokézone