Episode Guide #049 - #056

Who gets to keep Togepi?
Bulbasaur’s Mysterious Garden
PRINCESS VS. PRINCESS
The Purr-fect Hero
The Case of the K-9 Caper!
Pokémon Paparazzi
The Ultimate Test
The Breeding Center Secret

Who gets to keep Togepi?

Pokémon seen:  

Pikachu, Muk, Tentacruel, Golem, Lapras, Meowth, Pidgeotto, Geodude, Psyduck, 
Staryu, Arbok, Weezing, Togepi, Onix, Bulbasaur

Story:  

At the next town, Ash receives an advanced Pokédex from Oak, and then the 
group ponders what’s inside the egg that Brock has been looking after.  
Team Rocket steals it and hides away in a small shack, where Meowth grows 
attached to the egg and does everything he can to make it hatch.  
Ash, Misty and Brock find Team Rocket and attempt to get the egg back, they 
succeed, right before the egg hatches and reveals it to be a Togepi, Team 
Rocket are defeated afterwards.  
The good guys can’t decide who gets to keep Togepi, and when Team Rocket 
explains Meowth’s time with the egg, a Pokémon tournament is assembled.  
Meowth surprisingly beats Brock, and Ash beats Misty, and the final round has 
a one-hit attack, and Ash comes out on top, but despite his win, and Brock and 
Meowth’s raising of the egg, because Misty was the first thing it saw, Togepi 
would rather be with her.  

My favourite Quote:  

James:  “Don’t forget, we haven’t even succeeded in capturing that one little 
Pikachu from those kids, we have a proud tradition of failure to uphold!”  
Jessie (flying kicking James):  “Then You fail!”  

Things I’d like to point out:  

Did Joy ask every trainer that came in her Pokémon Centre if they were Ash? 
Surely Oak could have described Ash to her; after all, it’s an expensive-
looking letter.  

The note that Oak leaves for Ash is very high-tech, is this supposed to be 
similar to the different mails that can be delivered in the second set of 
Pokémon games?  

Ash’s Muk seems to have been treated of its smell, since Oak only complains 
about it crawling all over him.  

Although they don’t know it, only a Pokémon of the lowest stage would have 
hatched from the egg, meaning that it could have been an Aerodactyl or Lapras, 
but not a Tentacruel or Golem.  
Anyway, why doesn’t Brock just train Geodude a little more, he’d get a Golem 
that way.  

More subtle than usual but James is still dressed like a woman, but at least 
the cross-dressing serves a purpose in concealing him rather than being for 
show.  

Brock wasn’t being too smart, in more ways than one, if he’d held onto his egg 
with both hands, it wouldn’t have been knocked away from him so easily.  

Watch closely when Meowth raises the egg, from the very start Jessie and James 
have taken their gloves off, but they appear on Jessie’s arms one moment and 
are gone the next.  
Team Rocket do this again a scene later, somehow getting their gloves back 
just before the Pokémon Battle.  

How is it that Ash and the others followed a trail of eggs back to Team 
Rocket? They threw all the eggs in their baskets out before they dashed off.  

During the hustle, when Arbok knocks the egg away from Brock, for just 2 
frames his eyes open, although to be fair this may just be an anime thing 
rather than Brock meaning to actually open his eyes as he properly does later 
in “A Crowning Achievement”, it happens so fast and in a fast moving scene it 
may well have been overlooked by many who watched this.  

What sort of catch was Ash trying to do? He practically leapt over the egg.  
Good thing Pikachu was there to make a catch of his own.  

The whole egg hatching process is another trait from the new Pokémon games, 
which doesn’t happen often in the cartoon because the Breeding Centre that 
usually deals with this is different in the cartoon I would think, plus the 
writers would probably have to explain how breeding works, which is something 
even the games didn’t really go into.  

Though the upgraded Pokédex is said to have a new voice, but it doesn’t appear 
to change significantly until next episode.  
Funny how little it knows about Togepi (only that fact it exists), plus it 
classifies Togepi as an Egg Pokémon, which players of the Johto-based games 
will know this is incorrect, Togepi is a Spike Ball Pokémon according to the 
Pokédex.  

How would a 6 way battle work? If there was more than 1 battle per person 
regardless of wins or losses, there wouldn’t have been time to show them all.  
Good thing Meowth expelled Jessie and James from competing, and brought the 
battlers down to an even 4.  

Bulbasaur uses an unofficial licking attack, since Psyduck isn’t paralysed by 
it, but shouldn’t Ash not be allowed to tickle Psyduck if it’s not an attack 
that’s authorised by the Pokémon League, but if Meowth can get away with using 
buckets of water against Onix, then this tournament really doesn’t apply to 
normal League rules.  

Psyduck clearly returns to its Pokéball by choice, since it teleports inside 
Misty’s closed bag, I think it’s a first that Misty’s not the one to have done 
so herself and surprising that Psyduck took the initiative to quit the 
battle.  

Pikachu doesn’t know what it’s getting itself into when it accepts to help out 
in taking care of Togepi, it’s a real handful in the future and always in the 
middle of trouble.  

Who’s That Pokémon?:  

Aerodactyl

Cameos in Pokémon Journey:  

None.  

Bulbasaur’s Mysterious Garden

Pokémon seen:  

Rhyhorn, Bulbasaur, Pikachu, Togepi, Meowth, Venusaur, Ivysaur

Story:  

The story begins with a Pokémon Battle between Ash and a hiker, and Bulbasaur 
wins but looks wrong afterwards.  
It appears that Bulbasaur is ready to evolve, and at the time that several 
other Bulbasaur evolve in the Mysterious Garden.  
Bulbasaur goes off by itself at night and Pikachu follows, shortly after, 
Bulbasaur is captured by others of its kind.  
Team Rocket appears but blast off earlier than usual and swear revenge on the 
Bulbasaur.  
Ash and the others chase after Bulbasaur and barely make it to the garden as 
the forest seems determined to seal it off from the world during the festival 
of the Pokémon.  
A Venusaur leads the festival, and all of the Bulbasaur evolve, apart from 
Ash’s, who appears to hold off its evolution, and gets in trouble for it.  
Ash defends his Bulbasaur and apologises for his interference, and to his 
Bulbasaur for not thinking of the possibility that it might not have wanted to 
evolve.  
Team Rocket return and suck up the Ivysaur, leaving behind Ash’s and insulting 
it, but Bulbasaur saves the day when it learns Solar Beam and blasts Team 
Rocket, it saves the Ivysaur and Venusaur, and together, all three breeds of 
Pokémon punish Team Rocket, and Bulbasaur is thanked and accepted for what 
he’s done.  
The festival ends and the mysterious garden disappears, and Bulbasaur will 
continue as it is for now.  

My favourite Quote:  

(Team Rocket draw many cutting tools to take out the moving plant-life)  
Jessie:  “Alright garden wall, you ‘axed’ for it!”  
James:  “We’re the toughest team you ever ‘saw’.”  
Meowth:  “Let’s ‘cut’ to the chase!”  

Things I’d like to point out:  

Despite it being a high level Rhyhorn, the hiker’s one sure is small compared 
to the much larger Rhyhorn we’re used to seeing in the future.  

The title itself is an error, since the garden is more likely to either belong 
to Venusaur or the Bulbasaur (the title refers to a single Bulbasaur, most 
likely Ash’s).  

Another impression from Pikachu:  Today it’s Bulbasaur.  

The holding off of an evolution is another game-related subject, but in the 
game, it’s the trainer that can stop an evolution from taking place by bashing 
the B button during an evolution.  

The entire forest makes such a big effort to keep people out during the 
ceremony, but clearly either chooses not to or can’t do anything against those 
who fly into the garden like Team Rocket.  

Was Team Rocket planning on stealing the Venusaur? It wouldn’t have fit 
through the suction pipe, but if they kept sucking in air, it might have 
gotten stuck on the base of the pipe long enough to carry back to 
headquarters, although the Ivysaur might have suffocated this way.  

Bulbasaur’s Solar Beam is the first one seen in the series:  Very impressive.  

If Bulbasaur’s Razor Leaf could cut through the balloon trap, I assume the 
Ivysaur didn’t try themselves from the inside either through lack of trying or 
lack of space to do so without hurting each other.  
But here’s a thought, if the balloon can stretch to contain all the Ivysaur 
and the air it sucked up, isn’t it likely to be made of rubber, and therefore 
immune to Pikachu’s electricity? But obviously, this was meant to be 
Bulbasaur’s moment in the spotlight, so Pikachu had to take a back seat 
without raising questions as to why.  

This plotline remains true to the rule, if a Pokémon remains at a low stage, 
it’ll learn its attacks faster.  
With Solar Beam now in his artillery, Bulbasaur has pretty much learned all 
his attacks, Charmander has also learned all his moves and evolved to the 
final stage (yet is an arrogant Pokémon), and Squirtle learns its final attack 
much later on in “Misty Meets Her Match”.  

Who’s That Pokémon?:  

Ivysaur

Cameos in Pokémon Journey:  

None.  

PRINCESS VS. PRINCESS

Pokémon seen:  

Pikachu, Meowth, Lickitung, Arbok, Bulbasaur, Vulpix, Kingler, Pinsir, Cubone, 
Raticate, Primeape, Weezing, Fearow, Graveler, Tangela, Machoke, Parasect, 
Psyduck

Story:  

It’s Princess Day, a day in which girls rule and men do what they are told to 
do by the females.  
Also, stores have massive discounts if you’re a woman, and males get to carry 
packages.  
Jessie loses gifts for the Boss to a wild Lickitung; she takes revenge by 
catching it and promising to deal with it later.  
Misty and Jessie get into a fight and decide to resolve their differences in a 
contest to win a Pokémon Princess Doll set.  
But the contest doesn’t revolve fully around a beauty contest, but also a 
Pokémon Battle tournament with up to 4 Pokémon per entrant.  
Misty is determined to win the dolls, and borrows Pikachu, Bulbasaur and 
Vulpix, while Jessie takes Weezing and Meowth along for the ride.  
The final match puts Misty and Jessie against each other, and both are as 
determined to win the dolls as they never had such items during childhood.  
Jessie loses it to Pikachu, until she remembers the Lickitung, and forges an 
amazing comeback by paralysing Misty’s team.  
Psyduck appears instead of Staryu and seems immune to the paralysing tongue; 
it gets yet another headache and beats Team Rocket, winning Misty the dolls 
which she sends home to spite her sisters.  

My favourite Quote:  

Jessie:  “Listen up; this is the one day of the year you have to do everything 
I tell you to do.”  
James:  “How’s that different from any other day of the year?”  

Things I’d like to point out:  

I’ve checked around to confirm this, and this is apparently the correct order 
in which this and the following episode should be in relation to the others.  
But it contradicts two things, one is the disappearance of Togepi, so this 
episode must actually take place before “Who gets to keep Togepi?”, the second 
is Jessie’s Lickitung, she catches it in this episode, but there’s a vague 
reference to it in “So near, Yet So Farfetch’d” (several episodes back), in 
which Jessie mentions losing the Pokéball with Lickitung inside.  
It’s just my opinion, but perhaps it should have been claimed that it was 
James’s Weepinbell, which evolves a few episodes later when it gets a proper 
mention (“The Breeding Center Secret”).  

The Princess Day of this episode is based on a Japanese Girl’s Festival.  

The gifts that Lickitung spits out which are supposedly for the Boss are 
clearly women’s dresses, I know that may be all you can generally buy on a day 
like this, but would the Boss appreciate getting those clothes? On second 
thoughts, maybe he likes dressing up like a woman (like a certain other member 
of Team Rocket), but that’s just freaky.  

Why does Jessie buy so much clothing, when it’s not too likely that she’ll 
wear it because she usually wears her Team Rocket outfit apart from rare 
occasions, and when disguising herself.  

“I don’t think I’m tough enough to be a woman.” says James, though given his 
choice of clothing throughout the series he doesn’t seem to mind/likes 
dressing up like one.  

Once again, Ash stares at Misty in awe when she’s out of her usual outfit, she 
should learn from this if she wants Ash to truly notice her.  

It’s the third time that the pep squad uniforms are out (see “Electric Shock 
Showdown” and “The Problem with Paras”), but they don’t grant success for the 
one being cheered, I guess the tradition was broken since Jessie wasn’t part 
of the cheering squad today.  

Why does Ash tell Misty to use Her Bulbasaur when it rightfully belongs to 
him? Unless Ash said it so that Misty wasn’t disqualified for using someone 
else’s Pokémon.  

It’s apparent that between the beginning of the tournament and the finals, 
Misty has either changed her mind in selecting Starmie to Staryu, mixed up the 
two or made a mistake.  
I blame the translated scripts as I suspect someone gets confused with the 
similarly named Pokémon, regardless of Psyduck as usual taking Staryu’s place, 
why else would Misty use a pre-evolution of her first choice of Pokémon in a 
tournament she desperately wanted to win?  

Psyduck is slow at registering pain, we know that, but why does that make it 
resistant to Lick attack, it would make sense if it was a Normal-type, which 
Ghost attacks like Lick are useless against, but Psyduck is a Water-type.  

This episode (shown out of sync) debuts the “Pikachu’s Jukebox” song clips 
which replace the “PokéRAP” section after the episodes.  
“Holiday Hi-Jynx”, “Snow Way Out!” and “The Purr-fect Hero” have this addition 
(though they were meant to be shown earlier than they were) and from “Riddle 
Me This” onwards.  
The songs are all on the series soundtrack usually in the following 
order:  “My Best Friends”, “Double Trouble (Team Rocket)”, “What Kind of 
Pokémon Are You?”, “Together Forever”, “2B A Master” and “Viridian City”.  

Who’s That Pokémon?:  

Butterfree

Cameos in Pokémon Journey:  

None.  

The Purr-fect Hero

Pokémon seen:  

Pikachu, Togepi, Meowth, Pidgeotto, Squirtle, Bulbasaur, Staryu, Starmie, 
Horsea, Goldeen, Psyduck, Geodude, Vulpix, Zubat, Onix, Beedrill, Weezing, 
Arbok

Story:  

It’s Kid’s Day, and Brock gets the others talked into entertaining a group of 
schoolchildren with their Pokémon.  
A boy named Timmy only wants to play with a Meowth, because one saved him from 
a Beedrill.  
Team Rocket pose as magicians and attempt to snatch Pikachu, but wind up 
catching Timmy instead.  
Meowth pretends to be the heroic Meowth, and so, can’t say a word, but he 
leads Timmy to believe he’s the one.  
Meowth can’t keep up the act and runs away with Timmy following.  
Ash and the others come to his rescue, but in the resulting Pokémon Battle, a 
boulder threatens to crush Ash and Timmy, but the real heroic Meowth appears 
and splits the boulder in half, while Team Rocket are forced to retreat.  
Timmy aspires to become a great trainer like Ash when he grows up, and to 
enter the Pokémon League with his new Meowth.  

My favourite Quote:  

James:  “Team Rocket may be rotten cheaters, but we’re not in the business of 
destroying children’s dreams...  At least not yet!”  

Things I’d like to point out:  

The obvious title pun takes the word ‘perfect’ and uses the extremely overused 
pun relating to a well known cat trait.  

This story may or may not have been shown out of sync, but we do know it takes 
place after “Who gets to keep Togepi?” and “PRINCESS VS. PRINCESS” since 
Togepi is present and the guys refer to Princess Day.  

Kid’s Day is an existing Japanese holiday and may have been delayed due to it 
not being an American holiday.  

AGAIN with the ladies clothing! James dresses up as a female magician’s 
assistant, while Jessie takes the role of the magician...  Why?!  
Also, there’s a slight error in that James starts out wearing lipstick but it 
suddenly disappears long before the magic show begins.  

This is petty, but doesn’t Meowth’s fantasy superhero logo look a lot like the 
McDonalds logo?  

Can’t Team Rocket make up their mind? Sometimes they want Meowth to go along 
with the act, and then they’re relieved it’s over, then they stop Meowth from 
talking during the motto, and then Meowth admits the kids would have driven 
him nuts.  

Who’s That Pokémon?:  

Wartortle

Cameos in Pokémon Journey:  

None.  

The Case of the K-9 Caper!

Pokémon seen:  

Pikachu, Togepi, Jigglypuff, Growlithe, Meowth, Dodrio

Story:  

Ash and friends come across a training exercise for Growlithe used by the 
police, Ash thinks that Pikachu should be trained in the same way, and 
competes and trains with Officer Jenny.  
Team Rocket appears, and confuse the Growlithe by nullifying their sense of 
smell, and changing everyone’s voices but theirs.  
They then use a strange device to imitate Jenny, and turn the Growlithe on Ash 
and the group.  
The same trick is attempted on Pikachu, but it isn’t fooled, and the Growlithe 
see things clearly soon after and chase Team Rocket out.  
Ash realises that he likes Pikachu just the way it is, and the three continue 
their journey.  

My favourite Quote:  

Brock (using the megaphone to speak in Jenny’s voice):  “I’d like Brock to 
know what’s in my heart.”  
Jenny:  “Huh?”  
Brock (using the megaphone to speak in Jenny’s voice):  “Brock’s so good 
looking, and he’s so talented, I just love him so much, Brock is the 
coolest!”  
Misty:  “You are... pathetic!”  

Things I’d like to point out:  

Another gun is taken as seriously as a real one, and given Pikachu’s fear of 
it they appear able to do lethal damage to certain Pokémon.  

This is a fine example of Ash needlessly using the Pokédex on Pokémon he’s 
already seen, considering Ash has seen two Growlithe prior to this episode 
(Lara’s and James’s).  
At least he didn’t stupidly state “What’s that Pokémon?” as he is known to do 
with Pokémon he’s already seen before.  

When Meowth’s voice goes squeaky and he comments on how he sounds like one of 
the Chipmunks, he’s most likely referring to the show that had a trio of 
singing chipmunks.  

What is up with those Growlithe? Just because Team Rocket sounds like Jenny, 
and she doesn’t sound like herself, and their sense of smell is nullified, 
they follow Team Rocket’s orders, don’t these Pokémon use their eyes? At least 
Pikachu isn’t fooled.  

This has got to be one of the worse female outfits James wears; he must enjoy 
it as I’m sure Team Rocket could have stolen a male police uniform instead.  

Why did Ash’s voice come out of Jessie’s mouth before she used the voice 
changing megaphone?  

How come Jessie has a rare cap like Ash when she dresses like him? Ash may 
have sent in a million postcards to win it, but it looks like several other 
people did too.  

When Jigglypuff sings, why doesn’t anyone fall asleep? If it’s because it 
shortened the song, then why doesn’t Jigglypuff sing its song that short in 
the future instead of doing the full version and then getting angry about its 
sleeping audiences?  

On the point of the voice changing megaphone, why are these things available 
in the Pokémon world? They match certain people’s voices exactly, including 
the universal policewoman Jenny.  
If you could sound like her, it could be used for many evil deeds.  

Jigglypuff is seen eying the megaphone, but there’s no further mention of it 
in the future.  

Who’s That Pokémon?:  

Growlithe

Cameos in Pokémon Journey:  

None.  

Pokémon Paparazzi

Pokémon seen:  

Togepi, Pikachu, Squirtle, Pidgeotto, Bulbasaur, Goldeen, Psyduck, Staryu, 
Starmie, Horsea, Geodude, Zubat, Vulpix, Onix, Meowth

Story:  

While relaxing in a park, Ash spots a stranger with a camera, trying to get a 
picture of Pikachu.  
His name is Snap and he’s a top photographer, and he’s desperate to photograph 
Pikachu.  
Team Rocket hired him but misinterpreted his advert, and thought he’d capture 
Pikachu for them.  
Ash and Snap get into a little bit of conflict and they leave, with Snap 
continuing to follow them and attempt to snap Pikachu.  
Team Rocket dig a hole to insure their success, and Ash and the others fall 
prey to it, but they discover that Snap is a photographer, right before the 
pit collapses and Ash falls towards a waterfall.  
Snap sacrifices his camera to save Ash, and together they outsmart Team Rocket 
and leave together on good terms.  

My favourite Quote:  

(Jessie and James are dressed as old people and are fighting over the last 
piece of food)  
Jessie:  “Let me have it!”  
James:  “I need protein!”  
(James loses and groans while Jessie eats the last piece)  
James:  “You’re not acting like a nice old lady!”  

Things I’d like to point out:  

Obvious really, that Snap is based on Todd, the character you play in “Pokémon 
Snap” who takes pictures of Pokémon.  

Snap was secretly in Grandpa Canyon when Aerodactyl burst out of the ruins, 
but some things don’t quite add up, Jigglypuff pretty much put everyone to 
sleep, so Snap must have either left abruptly, or fell asleep but wasn’t 
noticed, and surely the truth about Aerodactyl must have been discovered, as 
Jenny’s transparent lie should have been too.  

If Team Rocket was under the impression that Snap was a Pokémon thief, why did 
they need the disguise? To hide the fact that Team Rocket, a group with those 
who should be competent at stealing Pokémon needed his help?  

Just before Meowth speaks as the latest trap is concealed, James is 
singing “Patty cake, patty cake, it’s our trap.” despite the fact his lips are 
clearly not moving.  

I’m surprised Meowth complains at James for accidentally wearing the female 
outfit and Jessie the male, seeing as this is usually the way Team Rocket 
dresses for some reason.  

It was useless for Ash to fight the current of the water; he should have swum 
at an angle rather than a straight line to grab hold of solid ground.  

Who’s That Pokémon?:  

Geodude

Cameos in Pokémon Journey:  

None.  

The Ultimate Test

Pokémon seen:  

Pikachu, Togepi, Meowth, Oddish, Weedle, Squirtle, Charmander, Graveler, 
Charizard, Ivysaur, Flareon, Weezing, Jolteon, Arbok, Vaporeon

Story:  

Ash hasn’t had a Gym Battle in a while, and he decides to be admitted to the 
Pokémon League Admissions Exam, where trainers are tested on written and 
practical skill exams to gain immediate access to the Pokémon League.  
Jessie and James enter with disguises, but Jessie storms out and James is 
expelled soon after.  
Ash doesn’t fare well in written exams but does a little better in the 
practical exams, even though he ends up with the same Pokémon that Team Rocket 
uses to battle the teacher.  
Team Rocket attack with the rental Pokémon, but they quickly turn on them and 
defeat them.  
Ash decides that he prefers travelling around and collecting Gym Badges.  

My favourite Quote:  

Misty:  “I guess Ash is a pretty good battler after all!”  
Brock:  “Even Team Rocket could win if they fought like that.”  
James:  “Hurry! Take notes! Take notes!”  

Things I’d like to point out:  

Pikachu is suddenly comfortable enough to have Snap take pictures of it, 
considering it hid behind Ash virtually every time last episode.  

Jessie claims she’s 17 on her admission paper, unless she just wrote and said 
that to divert attention away from her when she said she wanted to be number 7 
in front of Ash.  

Why is the numbering system so random? Ash got number 7 but James got number 
546, and Jessie 634.  

There’s some slight colour errors with some of the background characters, one 
wears a blue Caterpie hat which seemingly changes to green along with some of 
the other colour of clothing (unless Caterpie hats are just popular and 
there’s two people that happen to be wearing them), and there’s a green Weedle 
that Snap is taking pictures of.  

Can’t Jessie and James, the ones that wear disguises on a regular basis 
recognise each other?  
It’s almost as bad as Ash and the others not seeing though the disguises when 
their hair is showing.  

As shown by the images, Jessie is definitely not an expert florist, costume 
designer or beautician, she’s probably not an expert in everything else she 
lists due to her personality, either she thinks way to highly of herself or is 
a complete liar.  

The Caterpie picture has a gap in it that’s coloured purple like the 
background instead of black (or at least a dark colour that isn’t 
transparent).  

The written exam has some flaws, when the teacher talks about Poliwag evolving 
into Poliwhirl; the picture shows Poliwag and Poliwrath, therefore not 
providing proof that the spiral changes direction upon evolution (however his 
claim is still true).  
Don’t even mention the ‘Jigglypuff viewed from above’ thing.  

During the exam with pictures, Jessie’s eyes change from blue to green, and no 
she’s not wearing contact lenses to better disguise herself since her eyes 
were blue a moment ago.  

The practical exam is very much like the Challenge Cup in the second Pokémon 
Stadium game, in which a random team of Pokémon is given to the trainer to 
use, only, in this test, there’s only 3 Pokémon rather than 6, you have to 
battle with what you have and you can’t even see which Pokémon you have before 
the match.  

Once again, the cartoon makes an error; the teacher says that Electric attacks 
don’t work on Rock Pokémon, IT’S GROUND POKÉMON! Not Rock-types that are 
immune to electricity, Graveler was protected because it’s part Rock and part 
Ground.  
When are the writers going to get this right?!  

This contradicts a future episode (“Go West Young Meowth”), the Meowth Ash 
uses is a trained one, yet it stands like Meowth, who went through a lot in 
order to stand and walk like people.  

Ash accuses Team Rocket of interfering with his test, except he’d already lost 
the test when they attacked, when a Pokémon is frozen, it’s almost certain to 
lose since it takes a while to unfreeze without a Fire attack.  

Why did Ash and the others try to leave without Snap, he’s with them next 
episode so they can’t have said their goodbyes to him.  
Also, whatever happens to the other Meowth, we can assume Team Rocket’s Meowth 
found his way back to them, but did the trained Pokémon find its way back to 
the exam building? I doubt Team Rocket would make any effort to deliver it 
back themselves.  

Who’s That Pokémon?:  

Vulpix

Cameos in Pokémon Journey:  

Small, but the Nurse Joy that participates in the exams comes from Fuchsia 
City, and is the first of the family that Tetsubo meets.  
The Admissions Exam was originally going to be used in Pokémon Journey for the 
fact I loved this episode and class it as one of my favourites, but wasn't, 
there's only a brief reference that the former Junior Rockets passed the exam 
to get into the Pokémon League.  

The Breeding Center Secret

Pokémon seen:  

Pikachu, Togepi, Bulbasaur, Voltorb, Spearow, Metapod, Cubone, Sandshrew, 
Rattata, Staryu, Caterpie, Weepinbell, Bellsprout, Paras, Oddish, Nidoran 
Male, Mankey, Charmander, Psyduck, Squirtle, Pidgeotto, Onix, Geodude, Zubat, 
Vulpix, Goldeen, Starmie, Horsea, Nidorino, Poliwag, Persian, Poliwrath, 
Meowth, Raticate, Victreebel

Story:  

The guys are resting in a town when they discover a new Breeding Centre that 
raises Pokémon, Misty tests if it works by leaving Psyduck there.  
She regrets it when they discover a chef’s offer to cook for free when 
trainers bring a Psyduck to his restaurant.  
Misty and the others hurry back, but the Centre is closed, so they sneak in 
the back way and discover the Centre’s true purpose.  
Butch and Cassidy are members of Team Rocket; they’ve crammed the Pokémon into 
cages, taken short cuts, and are selecting Pokémon to give to the Boss.  
Jessie and James weren’t meant to know of this scheme as they’d probably mess 
it up, but they break in, not knowing of the alternative Rocket’s scheme.  
Ash, Brock, Snap and Team Rocket are caught, and turned into the police by 
Butch and Cassidy, but Misty and Pikachu retrieve Snap’s camera, and bring 
proof of the Rocket’s doing.  
The two are arrested, the good guys leave town, and Snap departs from the 
group to photograph Pokémon in the mountains.  

My favourite Quote:  

Butch and Cassidy:  “We believe in Love Power, that’s because we love power.”  

Things I’d like to point out:  

Brock seems attracted to Cassidy before he discovers her true identity, after 
that, he doesn’t seem interested at all.  
Nice to know that despite not being too picky with the ladies, he has morals 
and doesn’t like female criminals.  

Snap claims the chef’s picture of Psyduck looks like one that he took, but 
he’s previously said he doesn’t like the Pokémon to be posed, if Psyduck 
relaxing on a cushion with a foot in the air isn’t posed, I don’t know what 
is.  

The real Breeding Centres actually raise the Pokémon, this one seems to cut 
corners, I reckon James’s Victreebel was only evolved from a Leaf Stone and 
then left that way, explaining why it’s now prone to biting him.  
However, in the original translation, James simply decided to steal the 
Victreebel, another valid reason it bites/swallows him all the time.  

Misty gets fickle again, she badmouths Psyduck, but doesn’t accept Ash’s 
proposal to take it off her hands.  

Before the advert break, Butch is on the verge of opening the door and 
spotting the group, but when we return, the guys have disappeared and found 
the time to put Pikachu inside a cage to fool him, which Pikachu somehow walks 
out of without any assistance.  

Meowth’s statement suggests that they stole the Team Rocket motto from Butch 
and Cassidy, that or they stole it from someone else, but if the latter were 
the case then Butch and Cassidy would have stolen the motto as well so it’s 
more likely the former statement that applies.  
Butch and Cassidy also have customized Rocket uniforms; I wonder who stole the 
idea/design from who.  

When Misty gives the photos to Officer Jenny, the picture of an Exeggcute is 
inaccurate, we can clearly see the conveyer belt in the picture, but the only 
cage put on the belt during the group’s visit was the Sandshrew, when Snap 
photographed the belt, there was nothing on it.  

If Butch had just destroyed the camera, Misty wouldn’t have had proof that he 
and Cassidy were involved in shady doings.  
On the other hand, Cassidy should have remembered Misty’s face, so both 
villains are incompetent.  

If you didn’t notice before, this episode makes things clear, Butch and 
Cassidy’s name comes from the famous Butch Cassidy, while the usual Team 
Rocket’s name is taken from Jesse James, unfortunately I couldn’t continue 
this running theme when creating my original Rockets.  

It’s highly unlikely that Team Rocket can dig a tunnel as fast as Ash’s group 
can walk the distance, considering they’re barely digging quickly at all.  

This is the last episode in the series to include the “PokéRAP” section, but 
it stops on the second rap out of five.  
Had “Beauty and the Beach”, “The Legend of Dratini” and “Electric Soldier 
Porygon” aired it would have been able to end on the fifth and final “PokéRAP” 
to properly close this segment.  

Who’s That Pokémon?:  

Psyduck

Cameos in Pokémon Journey:  

Butch and Cassidy make their first appearance in the TV show, as for Pokémon 
Journey, it’s in Chapter 6, with a follow up in Chapter 35.  

Episodes #041 - #048
Episodes #057 - #064
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