Episode Guide #009 - #016

The School of Hard Knocks
Bulbasaur and the Hidden Village
Charmander - The Stray Pokémon
Here Comes The Squirtle Squad
Mystery At The Lighthouse
Electric Shock Showdown
Battle Aboard The St. Anne
Pokémon Shipwreck

The School of Hard Knocks

Pokémon seen:  

Pikachu, Pidgey, Pidgeotto, Pidgeot, Meowth, Starmie, Weepinbell, Graveler, 
Cubone

Story:  

As the group continue their journey in disharmony, Ash discovers a student 
being worked to his limits to study, and defends him.  
Joe is a student at Pokémon Tech, an expensive school that teaches kids how to 
be highly skilled Pokémon Trainers without travelling the world who receive 
entry to the Pokémon League upon graduation.  
Joe tells the group that Giselle is in charge of the group that was ‘helping 
him study’, and the group aim to see her, for different reasons.  
Misty is enraged when Joe thinks he can beat her Pokémon because of the 
simulator, and her Starmie beats Weepinbell through level advantage.  
Giselle virtually scolds Joe for his failure, and Misty battles her Graveler, 
but this one has a level advantage and wins.  
Ash stands up to Giselle, but is insulted a lot, and then Pikachu faces off 
against Cubone and takes a beating from its bone, before using tricky tactics 
to win.  
Team Rocket appears but is ganged up on by the students, forcing them to run 
away.  
Giselle and Joe make up, and having learned something outside the textbooks, 
they decide to leave the school and begin a real Pokémon Journey.  

My favourite Quote:  

Giselle:  “Pokémon are only as strong as the trainer who raises them.”  

Things I’d like to point out:  

How the heck was Brock keeping a table and chairs among his other possessions 
within his small backpack? I’ve heard of portable and fold-up furniture but 
it’s still farfetched for Brock to be carrying it all, especially since I 
don’t think these are seen again in the series.  

Jessie and James tell of how they got the lowest scores in the school, 
probably before they joined Team Rocket, we learn that James was rich but 
Jessie was quite poor, so even if the entrance exam was free to take, how did 
she intend to be able to afford the admission/tuition fees?  

This is the first time that Brock goes crazy over a girl, but he doesn’t make 
any attempt to ask her out, it’s in the next episode that he does aim to go 
out with a girl, but doesn’t act like a fool while doing so as he soon begins 
to throughout the series.  
To be fair, Brock’s obsession with virtually all females truly begins 
in “Battle Aboard The St. Anne”, since in this one, pretty much all the males 
instantly develop a crush on Giselle.  

Even though she has a level advantage, it’s not wise for Misty to use Water 
attacks on a Grass-type, a physical assault would have been more sensible, but 
luckily, the Weepinbell goes down in one hit.  

Nothing else, except I apologise if my story contradicts some of the points 
raised in the episode, I’ve done my best to adapt to this story, but there may 
still be some small complications to fix.  
Try not to criticise too much on the stories that relate to Pokémon Tech, as 
it’s a big exception to the perfection of my stories, it was just the easiest 
way to explain why the main character knows so much about Pokémon.  

Who’s That Pokémon?:  

Cubone

Cameos in Pokémon Journey:  

Giselle and Joe appear throughout Tetsubo’s side story, but also in Chapter 
11, and in the Pokémon League.  
Giselle battles Tetsubo in a friendly match in the middle of the school 
corridors, she and Joe travel together in the Pokémon Journey storyline.  
Pokémon Tech is referred to a lot, but is visited in Chapter 11 and is the 
setting for where everything happens in “The School Years”.  

Bulbasaur and the Hidden Village

Pokémon seen:  

Pikachu, Oddish, Starmie, Bulbasaur, Butterfree, Meowth, Paras, Weepinbell, 
Caterpie, Rattata, Staryu, Magikarp, Pidgeotto

Story:  

The group are lost again, and while they rest, Ash discovers an Oddish, Misty 
slips in and weakens it, but her Pokéball is repelled by Bulbasaur, whom Ash 
is eager to catch, but it beats Butterfree and escapes with Oddish.  
While crossing the next bridge, Brock takes a fall and is washed away; Ash and 
Misty carry on through a valley with some pitfalls, and then get caught in a 
net.  
Brock soon appears and cuts them loose, and takes them to meet Melanie in the 
hidden village, the girl who saved Brock.  
Melanie takes care of injured and abandoned Pokémon until they are ready to 
leave, and Bulbasaur is the protector of the village.  
Team Rocket attacks, having fallen into all of Melanie’s traps, and use 
balloons, a stadium and a super vacuum, but Ash and Bulbasaur defeat them.  
Bulbasaur agrees to go with Ash, but only if he can beat him, which Pikachu 
does.  

My favourite Quote:  

Misty (to Ash):  “Listen Genius, if you don’t know where you are or where 
you’re going, that means you’re lost!”  
Brock:  “Chill, chill.”  
Misty (to Ash):  “Alright, but remind me to yell at you some more if we ever 
get to Vermilion City.”  

Things I’d like to point out:  

As more or less confirmed in “The Ninja Poké-Showdown”, Bulbasaur uses 
Whirlwind to blow Butterfree’s Sleep Powder away, but in the games, Bulbasaur, 
Ivysaur and Venusaur can’t learn this attack.  

Brock has strong feelings for Melanie to be thinking about leaving Ash and 
Misty for her, funny how he feels this way yet doesn’t act all goofy or overly 
affectionate towards her.  

This is the first of many blatant colour errors as when Team Rocket are in the 
net, Meowth’s ears change from black to brown.  

Is the huge stadium really necessary to catch ten or so Pokémon?  

In the tornado, Team Rocket’s spinning is irregular, as James only appears 
once close up and once far away compared to the many consistent times the 
others spin between the two.  
Wouldn’t it have been better to dub this as Pidgeotto’s Whirlwind attack 
instead of Gust?  

Pikachu beats Bulbasaur easily with Thunderbolt, Grass Pokémon are resistant 
to Electric attacks so it’s surprising it went down so fast.  

Who’s That Pokémon?:  

Bulbasaur

Cameos in Pokémon Journey:  

Melanie appears in Chapter 9, where she takes care of a new Bulbasaur and a 
new Oddish in Cerulean City, but they both join up with Tetsubo’s and Emily’s 
crew once they show them how much they care.  

Charmander - The Stray Pokémon

Pokémon seen:  

Spearow, Pikachu, Charmander, Meowth

Story:  

Lost again, but Ash is out to capture Pokémon and discovers a stray 
Charmander, but it can’t be captured, and won’t move from its rock because 
it’s waiting for its trainer.  
The group move on and stay at the Pokémon Centre, where they discover a 
trainer called Damian who is bragging about how weak his Charmander was, and 
how he lied so that he could be rid of it.  
Brock nearly starts a fight by standing up for the Charmander, as do Ash and 
Misty, but Damian isn’t interested.  
The group retrieve Charmander, and take it back to be healed, but in the 
morning, it returns to the rock to wait, and the group have to accept that.  
Team Rocket use a powerful-looking machine to... dig a hole, and Ash and his 
friends fall prey to it, Team Rocket outsmarts Pikachu by wearing rubber 
suits, and catch it with a strange bubble.  
Charmander appears, and blasts Team Rocket with a great deal of firepower.  
Damian returns after seeing his Charmander beat Team Rocket, and is happy it 
got so strong without him having to do any work, but it doesn’t believe him, 
and he receives a big shock... and a major burning, Charmander joins the team, 
as one of Ash’s Pokémon.  

My favourite Quote:  

James:  “Don’t worry, Pikachu is safe with us, we won’t lose it like you 
did.”  

Things I’d like to point out:  

Ash completely contradicts himself, he says he should catch all the Pokémon he 
can after stating there’s nothing but Spearow in the area.  
Even if keeping to just catching one of each kind of Pokémon, Ash has never 
caught a Spearow before, so why does he ignore a flock of them unless he’s 
scared of history repeating itself (“Pokémon I choose you!”).  

Ash states he was disappointed that he couldn’t get a Charmander from Oak...  
Liar.  
He was disappointed that he couldn’t get a Pokémon at all, and Charmander was 
Ash’s last choice of starter Pokémon.  

Damian carries many Pokéballs with him, but a Pokémon Trainer is only meant to 
carry 6 Pokéballs at a time.  
In “Mystery At The Lighthouse”, Ash’s seventh Pokémon is forcibly transported 
away because he has more than 6 Pokémon, why is Damian an exception to the 
rule?  

Also, how come Ash’s Pokéball works on Charmander, unless Damian reset or 
destroyed the Pokéball he used to keep Charmander in?  
If a Pokémon belongs to someone and is set to a Pokéball, capture from another 
Pokéball shouldn’t be possible as seen in future episodes.  

Pokémon aren’t supposed to be used to solve personal fights, apparently it’s 
disrespectful to the Pokémon and the trainers, and I believe this might be the 
one rule that I’ve accidentally broken from time to time in the story, but I’m 
certain that Ash has broken this rule time and time again throughout the 
length of the series.  

What’s with the bubble? It overwhelmed Pikachu, and then absorbed it inside, I 
think everyone will have noticed how scientifically incorrect this is.  

Unless James’s hand was really sore from the burning, he should have held onto 
Pikachu when Team Rocket was running away.  

It’s funny really, Charmander was so loyal to Damian, it stayed on the rock 
during a rainstorm, yet, when it evolves into Charizard, it’s very disloyal 
towards Ash for a long time, even after all the good he’s done, talk about 
being fickle.  

Who’s That Pokémon?:  

Charmander

Cameos in Pokémon Journey:  

None, but Route 24 is where Tetsubo meets Garland in Chapter 12, who later 
gives him his Charmander, Route 24 is also the location of Nugget Bridge, if 
anyone cares.  

Here Comes The Squirtle Squad

Pokémon seen:  

Pikachu, Squirtle, Meowth, Goldeen, Charmander

Story:  

Ash and the group fall into a trap set by the Squirtle Squad, who like playing 
practical jokes and causing trouble.  
Ash tries to catch one, but fails, and Jenny explains that the group of 
Squirtle were abandoned by their trainers, so they became bad.  
Team Rocket are caught by the Squirtle, and try to trick them, but they don’t 
trust humans, so Meowth takes control and manipulates them.  
The Squirtle trouble Ash again; Pikachu falls prey to a Goldeen’s horn and is 
injured, while the other Squirtle capture the group.  
Ash pleads to the Squirtle to let him go into town and get some Super Potion 
for Pikachu, but his friends must stay in the cave.  
Ash eventually reaches the town, but is knocked out when Gary opens the shop 
door in his face and leaves without noticing him.  
Team Rocket robs the store and takes the Flash Powder to scare away the 
Squirtle, Ash wakes up in the morning, and manages to get the Super Potion and 
return to the caves.  
Team Rocket attacks the Squirtle, and Ash saves the leader from being blown 
up, and it returns the favour immediately.  
Ash and the Squirtle leader beat Team Rocket, and the Squirtle group save the 
town from a growing fire, which earns the Squirtle a job as the town’s 
firefighters.  
The Squirtle leader follows the group, and joins Ash’s team of Pokémon.  

My favourite Quote:  

Meowth (kicking James in the face several times):  “Don’t ever raise your 
voice to me again, you bad human! Bad Human, Bad Bad Human!”  

Things I’d like to point out:  

This is the first time Team Rocket mention their boss, let alone the fact that 
there are other members of the team besides themselves.  

Pikachu really should have shocked the water instead of trying to outswim the 
Goldeen.  

Surely the people in the shop shouldn’t be handling all those guns, and Ash 
only asked for some Super Potion.  

As it turns out Super Potion is a spray, not something to be consumed.  

Who’s That Pokémon?:  

Squirtle

Cameos in Pokémon Journey:  

None, but Chad goes up against a similar Squirtle in Vermilion City, twice, in 
Chapters 15 and 16, before he captures it and adds a powerful Water Pokémon to 
his team.  

Mystery At The Lighthouse

Pokémon seen:  

Pikachu, Pidgeotto, Butterfree, Bulbasaur, Charmander, Squirtle, Krabby, 
Meowth, Dragonite

Story:  

Ash is put down by Misty, and aims to prove he can capture a Pokémon on his 
own, he does this literally by using no Pokémon, and catches a Krabby, but the 
Pokéball disappears because Ash now has more than six Pokémon.  
Ash eagerly heads for the lighthouse to call Professor Oak to confirm his 
Krabby’s safety.  
Everyone is surprised to see the Bill, the keeper... is a Kabuto?...  
It’s only a costume, which they help him out of, and he explains some of the 
mysteries of Pokémon, and about a mysterious Pokémon he has been communicating 
with.  
It appears, but Team Rocket gets involved and end up scaring it off.  
Bill pledges to wait for the Pokémon to return, and leaves the group with high 
hopes about the world of Pokémon.  

My favourite Quote:  

James (firing a bazooka at the mysterious Pokémon):  “Do we always have to 
mess up everyone’s plans? Even I think this is rotten!”  

Things I’d like to point out:  

Technically, not all of Ash’s Pokémon simply followed him and joined him 
willingly, he actually did catch some of them, Caterpie, Pidgeotto and 
Bulbasaur were all battled and caught against their will (with the exception 
of Bulbasaur who chose to battle Pikachu after Melanie put thoughts into its 
head about joining Ash).  

Apparently, the white button on the Pokédex can switch Pokémon, but Ash has 
never used it, and always uses a transport system, was there any point to 
explaining the white button other than to fill out an episode?  

The tiles on the front door significantly change between the two shots, a 
Zapdos on the top left doesn’t match the Pokémon that was there before 
(Electabuzz I think), an Arcanine moves up one set of tiles to replace a 
Chansey (I think), an apparent Persian is replaced by the Ditto that was 
below, and a Golbat moves up to where the Arcanine used to be.  
More to the point is that there is a tile of Mewtwo, who is apparently the 
only one of its kind.  
Even if its birth doesn’t occur later (in the first movie) as we assume, its 
existence is meant to be a complete secret.  

How come Ash gets a sticker on the jar with his Krabby but Gary doesn’t? Did 
Gary’s ones run out after he caught 45 Pokémon, or is the Krabby so big that 
it couldn’t be mistaken?  

Ash thinks he only has 7 Pokémon, but the fact that he has Butterfree means 
that officially, he has 9 because of evolutions, at least, that’s how it works 
in the games.  

Bill the Lighthouse Keeper is based... on Bill the Lighthouse Keeper in the 
games.  

From this episode onwards the new voice actor for James permanently voices 
him.  

It’s pretty obvious that a Dragonite is the mysterious Pokémon, but if over 
150 species of Pokémon have been discovered (presumably, all of the Pokémon 
from the first game what with Bill’s diagram) plus Mewtwo and Mew, why can’t 
Bill identify the mysterious Pokémon as a Dragonite?  
It’s just bigger than normal Dragonites and its features were hidden.  

Who’s That Pokémon?:  

Krabby

Cameos in Pokémon Journey:  

Bill makes an appearance in Chapter 13, having got himself into a bigger mess, 
one year after the mysterious Pokémon came to the lighthouse.  
To not break continuity with this episode, Tetsubo describes the mysterious 
Pokémon as a Pokémon that looks similar to a Dragonite, only bigger and with a 
different voice (which is pretty fair to say).  

Electric Shock Showdown

Pokémon seen:  

Pikachu, Chansey, Rattata, Caterpie, Oddish, Sandshrew, Pidgey, Raichu, Meowth

Story:  

The group finally arrives at Vermilion City, but Pikachu needs rest, and so, 
the group stay at the Pokémon Centre.  
Beating the Gym Leader seems daunting after seeing the condition of his other 
challengers, but Ash is confident, while Pikachu is frightened.  
Surge’s Pokémon is Raichu, the evolved form of Pikachu, and it shocks Pikachu 
into utter defeat.  
Pikachu recovers, but it’s upset that it was overpowered, Nurse Joy overhears, 
and offers a Thunder Stone to evolve it, but Pikachu refuses, and wants to 
prove that it can beat Raichu as it is.  
While Pikachu recovers, Brock brings up an important point that Surge 
mentioned; something that could be the key to victory.  
Team Rocket watched the match and are in doubt that Pikachu is worth stealing, 
but after Pikachu’s speech, they offer it their full support.  
Pikachu battles Raichu again, but uses its speed this time, Surge evolved his 
Raichu too fast, and so it didn’t learn the speed attacks it could only learn 
as a Pikachu.  
When everything falls apart, Surge has Raichu shock the arena, but Pikachu 
grounds itself with its tail, and finishes the match soon after, earning Ash 
the Thunder Badge.  

My favourite Quote:  

Brock (referring to Team Rocket’s cheer):  “That was really disturbing.”  
Misty:  “Thanks for your support! Bye Team Rocket!”  
(Team Rocket’s disguises fall apart as they flee)  
Meowth:  “How did they know it was us?”  
Jessie:  “Lucky guess!”  

Things I’d like to point out:  

There’s a colour error in the Pokémon Centre as Misty’s suspenders change from 
red to white.  

The Sandshrew in the Pokémon Centre can’t have been at a high level, or else 
it would have beaten Surge’s Raichu with ease, that or Raichu cheated like 
Pikachu has done (beating Ground-types with Electric attacks when it should be 
impossible).  

Pikachu appears to consume an entire apple, even the core.  

It looks like Surge has trained Raichu for a long time, according to Oak’s 
theory anyway, because Pokémon take on the characteristics of their trainers 
if they spend a lot of time with them, and Raichu imitates its master’s poses 
from time to time.  
In the fanfic Tetsubo owns one or so of each type, and although he switches 
once in a while, he usually keeps his Staryu on the party, therefore, it will 
become most like Tetsubo.  

This episode teaches a lesson about evolving Pokémon through Stones, certain 
moves can only be learned in a Pokémon’s early stages, once it’s evolved, the 
opportunity to use those moves are gone (on the other hand, certain moves can 
only be taught by evolving Pokémon early, but this doesn’t occur often).  

At the start of certain battles throughout the series, the announcer states 
the number of Pokémon that can be used, and that there will be no time limit, 
I don’t think there’s ever been an Official Pokémon Battle that was timed.  

Surge is the first Gym Leader not to use the same Pokémon as he does in the 
games as although he does use a Raichu here, he also uses a Voltorb and a 
Pikachu of his own.  
I’m not counting Pokémon Yellow (with only a Raichu present in that game) in 
the equation since it is based on the series.  

Who’s That Pokémon?:  

Raichu

Cameos in Pokémon Journey:  

Surge and his lackeys appear in Chapter 16, during Tetsubo’s two battles, they 
also appear in Emily and Chad’s Gym Battles, while Surge battles Scott on his 
own.  

Battle Aboard The St. Anne

Pokémon seen:  

Pikachu, Meowth, Persian, Oddish, Charmander, Squirtle, Rattata, Raticate, 
Starmie, Butterfree, Magikarp, Pidgey, Staryu, Caterpie, Geodude, Weepinbell, 
Bulbasaur, Pidgeotto

Story:  

Ash, Misty and Brock view the boats, but haven’t the money to ride one, and 
then, two girls give their tickets to them.  
They turn out to be Team Rocket, and the Boss, leader of Team Rocket, is 
confident that his Rockets will make up for the free tickets that were given 
to the trainers, by stealing all of the Pokémon on the boat.  
Ash is attracted to a battle between Raticate and Starmie, and battles the 
winner with Butterfree, but before he can win, the man declares the match and 
draw, and leaves.  
Meanwhile, James gets conned into buying a lousy Magikarp, thinking that he 
can sell its offspring and the offspring after that.  
The man that Ash battled wishes to trade his Raticate for Ash’s Butterfree, he 
soon agrees to do so.  
While James is scolded (and beaten) by Jessie for his stupidity, Ash has 
regrets about trading his Butterfree.  
Many Rockets reveal themselves and start sucking up the trainers’ Pokéballs 
with special vacuum backpacks, but Ash fights back and so do the trainers, 
it’s a huge rumble with ten of each Pokémon working together to beat groups of 
Rockets.  
They succeed, but the battle takes its toll on the boat, and everyone must 
evacuate.  
Meanwhile, Ash goes back on his trade, but loses Butterfree’s Pokéball and 
goes after it despite the danger, while James loses the Magikarp which he 
needs for a refund.  
Ash’s group and Team Rocket are knocked out, and the ship capsizes and 
sinks...  

My favourite Quote:  

James (dressed in a schoolgirl’s outfit as is Jessie and speaking in a female-
like voice):  “Like, wow, don’t I make, like, the coolest girl?”  
(James screams as Jessie hits him on the head with a large mallet, and then 
drags him away)  
Jessie:  “Stop acting like an ignoramus.”  
James:  “Ow...”  

Things I’d like to point out:  

It starts; this is the first of the many times that James disguises himself as 
a woman, and I think he takes a liking to it in this episode.  

Raticate uses Super Fang to finish off Starmie, but in the games, Super Fang 
only deals damage equal to half the opponent’s current health, Hyper Fang 
probably would have been a better choice, and Super Fang instead used against 
Ash’s Butterfree.  

Whirlwind isn’t a very indoor friendly attack; surely it would have caused 
some havoc had the gentleman not quit the battle.  

This looked to be a one-off at first, but now this episode marks the first of 
a chain of appearances from the Magikarp Salesman, who I suspect is loosely 
based on a guy who tries to sell an expensive Magikarp in the games.  

Again there is proof in normal animals existing in the Pokémon world as we see 
a lobster among the ship’s food, that and Ash is eating some kind of meat-
based drumstick.  
It’s never explained if real animals exist (and get turned into food) or if 
it’s Pokémon people are eating when they refer to hamburgers and such (with 
the exception of Farfetch’d in “So near, Yet So Farfetch’d”.  
I won’t bring this up every time hamburgers or other meat-related foods are 
mentioned unless there’s something new in this subject to point out.  

It starts; Brock fully begins his obsessive and very open ways of asking out 
girls/telling girls how he feels about them.  
It’s funny how he’s never hit on any of the Nurse Joys/Officer Jennys before 
this character trait took effect considering the Jennys and Joys look alike.  
Maybe Brock just hit puberty in this episode, though that’s a doubtful 
theory.  

When the Pikachu team up, a scene from “Pokémon Emergency!” is reused, but it 
doesn’t make sense since the ship shouldn’t look like the Pokémon Centre and I 
counted 18 Pikachu leaping out, only 9 Pikachu join Ash’s to form a triangle 
and attack together.  

Team Rocket should have sucked up any Pokéball that was to unleash the Pokémon 
inside, it’s certainly a better idea than ignoring the Pokémon until they 
attack them.  

How come Meowth screams during one of the Pokémon team-up attacks but not the 
rest of the trio, James could easily be moaning after the battle because of 
his money loss and not the Rockets’ failure but Jessie is the one voicing 
complaints who is suddenly without all the Pokéballs she was seen sucking up.  

Ash either has a bad memory or someone in the production crew messed up and 
the memory of Metapod’s evolution has a different sound than the one that was 
heard in “Challenge of the Samurai”.  

When the Rockets are blasted sky high, I don’t believe we see the Pokéballs 
they stole coming out, does that mean they kept them, or did the artists and 
writers forget to mention that the trainers got all their Pokéballs back.  

The ship is claimed to be unsinkable, like the Titanic, and suffers more or 
less the same fate, at least there are enough lifeboats and the reason people 
were left behind was because they were chasing Pokéballs when they should have 
been evacuating.  

When the captain assumes that everyone got off safely because no one said they 
failed to get off the boat, it may seem funny, but that really isn’t the way 
to do his job.  
And as for telling the passengers to remain calm while he leaves the sinking 
ship without telling them of the danger? He’s very incompetent and should be 
fired.  

Who’s That Pokémon?:  

Raticate

Cameos in Pokémon Journey:  

None, but Chad goes on a similar trip in his side story “Cruisin’ for a 
Bruisin’”, and two Rockets from the squad in this episode lead the attack:  
Ben and Becky, now demoted to cleaning duties and trying to win their old jobs 
back.  

Pokémon Shipwreck

Pokémon seen:  

Pikachu, Meowth, Ekans, Goldeen, Koffing, Bulbasaur, Charmander, Squirtle, 
Geodude, Onix, Starmie, Magikarp, Pidgeotto, Gyarados, Staryu

Story:  

The discovery of Ash, Misty, Brock, Jessie and James not getting off the ship 
has brought about a funeral in memory of them.  
Ash awakens to discover their fate in the sunken ship now dangerously 
unbalanced on a spire above a deep underwater chasm.  
Jessie and James dream they’re on a tropical beach, and awaken to a hot 
stove... which almost burns them alive, Meowth informs them of the situation 
and Jessie carelessly has Ekans melt a hole in the floor to escape through, 
which floods the entire area with water.  
Ash and the group aim to dive down to the deck, but Goldeen finds that way is 
blocked, and saves Team Rocket from drowning.  
The two groups are forced to work together in order to escape, using their 
Pokémon to navigate the damaged rooms.  
Charmander burns a hole in the hull, and Water Pokémon are to be used to 
escape.  
Misty doesn’t account for Team Rocket, and James is left with Magikarp to get 
them out, but it can barely splash, let alone swim.  
The ship sinks to the bottom of the sea, and Ash and his friends are stranded 
on a raft, Pidgeotto is sent out to scout, and discovers Team Rocket who have 
miraculously survived with the apparent aid of Magikarp, though their being 
alive isn’t immediately discovered.  
The group is starving, and contemplate eating Magikarp, but they can’t because 
it has no meat on it; only scales and bones.  
That’s the last straw for James, and he kicks Magikarp into the water, 
claiming he does not want to be its master.  
The worst possible timing occurs, as Magikarp evolves into Gyarados, and 
attacks.  
Everyone tries to outswim it but four more Gyarados are called, and all use 
Dragon Rage to destroy the raft, and send the group spiralling into a huge 
tornado...  

My favourite Quote:  

(Jessie and James are sunbathing on a beach)  
Jessie:  “There’s nothing like a tropical vacation...”  
James:  “The blue sea...”  
Jessie:  “The white sand...”  
James:  “And the blazing sun above...”  
Jessie:  “Ah the sun...”  
James:  “Yes, that blazing sun...  Fiery and burning...  And burning...  
Burning...  BURNING!!!”  
(Reality kicks in; the beach was all a dream)  
Jessie:  “Something’s really burning!”  
Meowth:  “You picked a bad place for a nap!”  
(Jessie and James are directly underneath an upside-down cooker with flames 
shooting out, and their hair is set on fire)  

Things I’d like to point out:  

Isn’t it traditional for dead victims to have their second name read out as 
well as the first, Ash, Misty, Brock, Jessie and James are pretty normal names 
and there could have been people in the general Vermillion area who know or 
are related to people with the same name.  
Also, at the end of this three part storyline, does anyone get the message to 
the Officer that led the funeral about the five survivors, and does this Jenny 
even know that Jessie and James are members of Team Rocket? She might not have 
mentioned them or given them a funeral otherwise.  

More fish are seen in the ocean which either proves that normal animals exist 
in the Pokémon world, or that the writers/animators/directors mistakenly had 
them drawn into this and other episodes.  

When Team Rocket survive their first drowning, their theme is played but it’s 
a very weak representation to suit their appearance.  

Ash gives orders to Ekans, Koffing and Geodude as well as his own Pokémon to 
move to the other side of the ship; there are several errors here.  
The three former Pokémon don’t belong to him and shouldn’t have listened, at 
least not Team Rocket’s Pokémon (unless they were just going with common sense 
or survival instincts), another error is that Koffing floats and shouldn’t 
weigh down the ship at all, finally and probably the biggest error is that 
Geodude bounces across the floor when it’s quite capable of floating in the 
air (somehow).  

How come Geodude makes a significant difference to the balance of the ship but 
nothing happens when the much larger Onix is let out of its Pokéball?  

James calls Jessie by her full name for the only time in the series:  
Jessica.  

Team Rocket has a dramatic moment which shows Jessie and James’s compassion 
for each other, but it’s cut short by the short time they have left to 
escape.  

If I didn’t know better, I’d say that Misty doesn’t care much for Team Rocket; 
she didn’t know that James had a Magikarp, she used her Goldeen on herself, 
and gave Brock her Starmie, while Ash was spoken for, but she didn’t think to 
lend Team Rocket her Staryu.  
How dare she scold Pikachu for shocking Meowth during the handshake, she’s 
much worse.  

The way Pikachu clicks its fingers means it’s cursing something, most likely 
because Team Rocket survived; the sadistic little Pokémon...  

Why didn’t James just recall Gyarados into its Pokéball before it attacked 
everyone, surely he could have dealt with it later instead of running away 
from it.  

Despite what Misty says, Dragon Rage is not a Gyarados’s ultimate attack, 
Hyper Beam is, and it does a lot more damage in the game than a measly set 40 
Hit Points.  
Saying that Misty is a Water Pokémon expert is really bending the truth, as 
you’ll notice throughout the series.  

During the tornado scene, among the many screams you can hear the voice of 
Meowth from the Japanese show.  

Who’s That Pokémon?:  

Magikarp

Cameos in Pokémon Journey:  

None, but some of the Gyarados here are the same that attack Tetsubo’s crew in 
Chapter 46.  

Episodes #001 - #008
Episodes #017 - #024
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