Episode Guide #073 - #080 All Fired Up! Round One -- Begin! Fire and Ice The Forth Round Rumble A Friend In Deed Friend and Foe Alike Friends to the End Pallet Party Panic All Fired Up! Pokémon seen: Pikachu, Togepi, Hitmonchan, Moltres, Meowth, Victreebel, Squirtle, Pidgey, Weezing, Bulbasaur Story: The group are close to the Pokémon League, and they come across a traditional run with the torch, said to be lit from the flame of Moltres. Ash attempts to be part of it, and succeeds thanks to Charles Goodshow, the president of the Pokémon League Torch Committee. Team Rocket attack and take the torch after Ash tries his hardest to prevent that, but luckily, Goodshow keeps the flame of Moltres with him and another torch can be lit, while Team Rocket’s burns out. At the Indigo Plateau, Gary is back to his usual self, and makes Ash rather nervous about his chances at getting anywhere. Team Rocket light the central torch and attach it to their newest robot, which seems unbeatable and threatens to destroy Ash with the flame. Luckily, Moltres appears and prevents Ash from being hurt, before destroying the robot and flying up to light the central flame again. The opening ceremony resumes, and the Pokémon League begins. My favourite Quote: Ash (to Team Rocket): “Do the three of you have to ruin everything?!” Pikachu (angrily): “Pika pika!” Meowth: “Maybe not every’ting but we try ta do what we can.” Things I’d like to point out: Why’s Ash asking if President Goodshow is Santa Claus, he’s already seen The Santa Claus some time back (“Holiday Hi-Jynx”). Victreebel makes a return appearance, with its new voice that is here to stay (the high pitched screaming) along with the running gag of it usually biting or trying to swallow James, only it makes an exception today and goes for Meowth instead. Team Rocket get burnt up by Moltres’s flame and the burns remain with them during their speech, but when they attack immediately after, the burns have disappeared and they look totally unharmed. The second verse of this series’ theme song (“Pokémon Theme”) is first heard in this episode (with the exception of the Series CD Soundtrack and the remixed version that was heard in the first Pokémon movie); it’s played through in full one more time at the end of the Pokémon League in “Friends to the End”. Doesn’t Gary’s theory sort of count of cheating? Studying the competition would give a trainer a big advantage as if they knew what the opponent was using; they could just pick a Pokémon that’s super effective against that type. Notice all the trainers competing in the League were standing in the arena when the torch went through the stadium, I’ve calculated that 256 or less trainers were competing in an 8 round tournament, but there were close to 400+ trainers seen, unless there were teams of 2 people here and there (which can be done in the second set of games provided they stick with a set amount of Pokémon between them). “A giant mechanical lobster”? The robot looks more like a Metapod with legs. Why doesn’t anyone help Ash, I’m sure someone had a Pokémon that could have broke the robot’s armour, it’s not like any of them were about to face their first League Battle straight after. Surely at least Gary shouldn’t have backed out of a fight this important. Ash is such a reckless fool, Brock urges him to run for it, but then he refuses to run as Team Rocket threaten to ruin everything the League stands for. Now, it’s one thing not to run away from a bully, or maybe a verbal fight, but a huge robot with flame powers while you’re only human? Ash even provokes Team Rocket into firing at him; it’s almost as stupid as what he did in the first movie (coming in between two psychic attacks with the aim of stopping the battle). The Pokémon League torch is clearly basic on the Olympic Torch that burns all the way through the Olympics. Who’s That Pokémon?: Seaking Cameos in Pokémon Journey: President Goodshow makes an appearance in Chapter 51, just as Tetsubo and the gang reach Indigo Plateau, and again in Chapter 59. Round One -- Begin! Pokémon seen: Mr Mime, Pikachu, Togepi, Meowth, Venomoth, Raticate, Pidgeot, Sandslash, Pidgey, Gloom, Krabby, Tentacruel, Seaking, Exeggutor, Kingler, Seadra, Golbat Story: Ash registers himself into the League and discovers the four fields he must battle on, and his first opponent is the Astounding Mandy on the Water Field. Team Rocket poses as a TV crew to scope out which Pokémon are worth stealing, but they are insulted by Ash’s opponent Mandy. Misty offers Ash some of her Pokémon to help him out, but he declines and transports Krabby to the team after talking to Oak, but Misty still worries that this isn’t enough. Ash is worried about his first match and appears to mess up in using Krabby, but it forges an impressive comeback and evolves into Kingler, and then defeats the other two of Mandy’s Pokémon. My favourite Quote: (Team Rocket pose as news reporters from the L.C.N and have been interviewing Mandy) Mandy: “That may be but Mandy the Astounding only appears on networks that have viewers. Buh bye...” (walks away) Jessie (rolling up her sleeves and stepping forward): “Well is that so Magic Boy? Come back here and I’ll make your Teeth disappear! I bet a lot of viewers would love to see That!” Things I’d like to point out: Why does Mrs Ketchum yell “Hi!” to the television screen, Ash can’t hear her and I’m sure if the English writers could have replaced it with a one word comment or exclaimed sound instead. Team Rocket aren’t interested in stealing a trainer’s Pokémon because of their appearance, but they once went after Koga’s Venomoth in “The Ninja Poké- Showdown” while they ignore this trainer’s one. Mandy’s tricks aren’t as spectacular as real magicians who actually make doves appear; Mandy probably just released them straight from the Pokéballs he was throwing around. Meowth makes a similar mistake to a trainer in the first Pokémon movie, and calls a flock of Pidgey, Pidgeotto. Brock’s good, the fact that he can identify which town each Officer Jenny comes from. Notice that the same clip of Misty pushing Brock away is used three times in this episode. Brock knows too much, he never met the Viridian City Jenny, no one of the group met the Celadon City Jenny, nor the Saffron City Jenny, or the Vermilion City Jenny (she may have been the one that spoke during the Saint Anne so- called victims’ funeral). Brock’s been doing some research... Brock’s theory on Kingler being weak against air attacks: If he’s talking about Flying attacks, then he’s wrong. Maybe he meant to say aerial attacks in general, since Kingler is a crab and so can’t jump very high, but Ash’s Kingler wins anyway. Hyper Beam shouldn’t have been allowed, advanced trainers will realise that Hyper Beam can only be taught to Pokémon in their highest stages of evolution. Ash’s Krabby evolved in the middle of a match, and therefore can’t have been taught to use it by Oak. Who’s That Pokémon?: Nidoran Male Cameos in Pokémon Journey: These are vague, but the Celadon City Jenny makes an appearance in Chapter 24, the Saffron City Jenny arrests a villain in Chapter 26, and the Vermilion City Jenny stars in Chapter 16. After his failure in this episode, Mandy the Astounding is working on his acts, and his acting, and he is cast in the Cerulean Water Theatre’s new show in Chapter 10. Tetsubo has stage fright during his first League Battle in Chapter 52, but he does have a much scarier rival than Ash’s. Fire and Ice Pokémon seen: Nidorino, Pikachu, Squirtle, Togepi, Meowth, Kingler, Pidgeotto, Bulbasaur, Squirtle, Cloyster, Arcanine Story: We come in to the middle of Ash’s second battle on the Rock Field, and Squirtle wins a small match against Nidorino. Ash leaves the Pokémon Centre business until the last moment and is faced with a huge queue. Ash is invited to another Pokémon Centre, but it’s another Team Rocket trap, but nothing that can’t be solved by Onix. Ash rests his Pokémon in a real Pokémon Centre, and the next day, Ash is on equal scores against Pete Pebbleman in the third round, Kingler beats Cloyster, but is beaten by Arcanine, who appears to miss its mark with Pikachu but is actually melting the Ice Field, but one close range Thunderbolt from Pikachu wins the match. My favourite Quote: (After Team Rocket have revealed themselves to be disguised as Nurse Joy and a second nurse, and after Brock never got excited over Joy like he usually does) Brock: “See Ash, my internal Nurse Joy detection system is always one hundred percent accurate.” Things I’d like to point out: In the middle of Ash’s second battle in the tournament, Gary’s cheerleaders are seen in the audience waving their pompoms around, surely Gary wouldn’t want them cheering for anyone other than he (especially not his rival), or do they just really like to cheer regardless of who? Brock specified that only three Pokémon can be chosen for the starting rounds and that a match can be decided before it starts depending on the Pokémon chosen (“Round One -- Begin!”), but in the first battle this episode, Ash has used two Pokémon, and Pikachu thinks it’s about to be chosen but instead, Squirtle is chosen. Surely the trainer should only take in the three Pokémon they plan on using and leave the others behind to show truth to Brock’s theory, or did I misinterpret him or the rules? Though it’s for the sake of a rhyme, Jessie actually refers to Ash by his name. The only other time it’s been done before was when Team Rocket disguised Ash as a girl and Jessie called him Ashley (“Pokémon Scent-sation!”). Looks like ‘Pokémon in Love’ (“Lights, Camera, Quack-tion”) found some success in the end, even though nobody important in entertainment bothered to go to the premiere. That’s some strong cutlery the restaurant has, they only fell off the table, and pierced the ground while remaining upright. Ash, Misty and Pikachu do a Brock impression when they’re dumbfounded by his chasing the Jennys and Joys from around the world. But here’s another question to raise: If all the Jennys and Joys are here, who’s protecting and tending to the towns and cities? The Growlithe and Chansey perhaps? Another point on the episodes in which James dresses like a woman; today he’s wearing female nurse’s outfit, don’t any males work at Pokémon Centres? For the first time, the RPG terminology of Hit Points as seen in the games is mentioned, but only in this episode. Who’s That Pokémon?: Koffing Cameos in Pokémon Journey: None, but the trainer that fought Ash on the Rock Field was an inspiration for Cody’s character design. The Forth Round Rumble Pokémon seen: Golem, Nidoking, Togepi, Pikachu, Meowth, Victreebel, Bulbasaur, Beedrill, Scyther, Growlithe, Bellsprout, Muk Story: After Gary loses in the forth round to a trainer called Melissa, and is out of the competition, Ash is worried a little, but he opts to battle without Brock and Misty to coach him. Team Rocket forges a new scheme, but don’t even get to bother Ash as they are stopped by two Officer Jennys. Ash battles Jeanette’s Beedrill and Scyther with Bulbasaur, who performs remarkably well, and is surprised when she pulls out a Bellsprout, but it’s extremely nimble and it beats Bulbasaur and Pikachu. Oak and Mrs Ketchum arrive to watch Ash, and only put him under more pressure. Ash surprises everyone when Muk is summoned, it takes everything the Bellsprout throws at it with its rubbery and liquid body, and then buries the Grass-type in poison, giving Ash yet another victory. My favourite Quote: Misty (referring to Ash’s opponent Jeanette): “I just hope she doesn’t have any more Pokémon like that Beedrill.” Brock: “Hmmmm, I just hope she doesn’t have a boyfriend.” Misty (growls and then shouts): “Well there’s no way that boyfriend’s gonna be you Mister if that girl beats Ash!” Things I’d like to point out: This is the last we see of Gary’s cheerleaders and even his driver until the Johto League Tournament, either Gary outgrew them for a time or they’re more affected by his recent losses than we thought. I only realised recently but Jeanette comes from Crimson City, a landmark I created for the Pokémon Journey story. Crimson City is a desert town, but I could easily find a place for Jeanette there in the main palace, she seems rich and conceited, and very much admired by fans. One of the men in white robes in Jeanette’s cheering section looks remarkably like James (but with grey hair). When Misty shouts at Brock (see “My favourite Quote”), Togepi also has a frown on its face as if it feels Misty’s anger. That’s really bad for Jeanette, her Scyther technically went down in one hit, it’s even worse when you realise that it was a Grass-type attack, meaning Scyther’s Bug and Flying side should have made it double strong against it. Contrary to what Brock says, Double Team isn’t known for affecting the user’s defence, and Ash did not figure it out, he was too busy just trying to get a hit on Scyther. The fact that the Scyther is only hit once with a Grass attack which it should be immensely strong against being a Bug/Flying-type and goes down because of it just proves that its defence was rubbish to begin with and Double Team just caused it to let its guard down. Jenny doesn’t know her own Pokémon; she calls her Growlithe by the name Arcanine. Did anyone hear a certain male trainer say something rather amusing when the giant Pikachu dolls crash landed? “Free Pikachu! Come on, grab one!” Where does he intend to keep it until the tournament’s over, and isn’t it a little too big to decorate his room with? Twice during the Scyther versus Bulbasaur battle, the zigzag mark under Ash’s right eye disappears. Most people (including Ash) underestimate Bellsprout because it’s a basic unevolved Pokémon, however, they all seem to forget that Bulbasaur is also a basic unevolved Pokémon; we’ve just known it for so long that it feels like a strong Pokémon that isn’t defined by its stage. This may not be an error but when Pikachu gets ready to fight, the background doesn’t look lined up with the foreground (Pikachu), there is light green floor with a white shade above it which Pikachu is standing on, making it look like it’s floating a few inches off the ground. Shortly after Oak arrives, you get a close up of his face, and his eyebrows have changed from black to grey. Jeanette dubs a flying kick from Bellsprout “Flying Mud Kick”, I thought trainers were only allowed to use official attacks, but Jeanette has taught Bellsprout all kinds of fighting techniques. Who’s That Pokémon?: Bellsprout Cameos in Pokémon Journey: None, but the fight between Muk and Bellsprout is referred to in Chapter 3, seeing as Tetsubo watched every match of this year’s League on television (he’d be competing if complications hadn’t arisen at Pokémon Tech). A Friend In Deed Pokémon seen: Pikachu, Togepi, Meowth, Weezing, Drowzee, Slowbro, Magikarp, Bulbasaur, Charmander, Arbok, Pidgeotto, Butterfree Story: Ash makes a new friend in the Pokémon League, a young boy called Ritchie. Team Rocket pose as inspectors and then escape with everyone’s Pokéballs. Ash and Ritchie chase them down and eventually catch up with them the next day having grown closer as friends. They sneak into Team Rocket’s van, but are trapped inside, and must find their Pokémon to escape, and then they take on Team Rocket together and win, but must make a desperate escape to survive the result of the attack on the van. The Pokéballs are returned and all is well, until Ash discovers that his next opponent is Ritchie... My favourite Quote: Ritchie (to his Pikachu, Sparky): “Sparky, confuse Arbok with your Agility!” Sparky (performing Agility): “Chu... Chu... Chu...” Ash (to Pikachu): “Pikachu, give ‘em Agility in stereo!” Pikachu (performing Agility): “Pi... Pi... Pi...” Things I’d like to point out: The title may be a pun or just a part of the phrase “A friend in need is a friend indeed”. Oak’s eyebrows change grey again during the broken elevator scene. Ritchie doesn’t even know Team Rocket in person but he recognises Jessie and James quicker than Ash ever did. Why are Ash and Ritchie the only ones courageous enough to follow Team Rocket? Don’t the other trainers care about what happens to their Pokémon? What self respecting trainer would bring a Magikarp to the competition? Does he want to be beaten badly? Who’s That Pokémon?: Diglett Cameos in Pokémon Journey: None. Friend and Foe Alike Pokémon seen: Pikachu, Togepi, Chansey, Meowth, Squirtle, Bulbasaur, Weezing, Pidgeotto, Butterfree, Charmander, Charizard Story: Ash is worried about his upcoming match, but Ritchie has Ash make a promise that they’ll make it their best battle yet. Team Rocket lure Ash out by imitating Ritchie’s voice on the phone, and plan on keeping Ash from his match unless he gives them Pikachu. Ash escapes Team Rocket’s truck as his match is due to begin, but Team Rocket keep on coming for him, once with the leftovers of the truck, next with bicycles, but Ash steals one to get ahead. Ritchie requests more time be given to Ash to arrive so that he doesn’t forfeit the round. Ash is caught again by Team Rocket, but he beats them one final time and has Pidgeotto pull their balloon with him on it towards the stadium. Ash makes it just in time, and the match begins: Ritchie’s Butterfree beats Squirtle, but Pikachu makes a comeback and takes it out, but then Ritchie’s Charmander gets the better of him, and Ash takes a huge risk in releasing Charizard, who forces Ritchie to recall his Charmander and call upon his Pikachu. But Charizard isn’t interested in battling such a small Pokémon, and refuses to fight, causing Ash to lose. My favourite Quote: Jessie: “There was something that prevented me from having friends when I was a little girl.” (James chuckles) James: “It must have been your personality.” Jessie: “Uh huh, it must have been my... HUH?!” (Jessie gets mad and hits James hard with her fan) Things I’d like to point out: Brock says that Charmander is a Flame-type, but there’s no such thing in the games, he should have said Fire-type. The same goes for one of the soundtrack songs (“What Kind of Pokémon Are You?”) in which Fire and Flame are listed in a list of different types of Pokémon. Can’t Ash tell the difference between Ritchie and a 2-D puppet? Apparently not. “A funny thing happened on the way to the stadium” is used by comedians (except with something else in place of ‘stadium’), sources say this originally came from a Broadway Musical (the above phrase but with ‘Forum’). It seems that in the fifth match, trainers can carry 6 Pokéballs, but only use 3, seeing as Ash thinks about which of his Pokémon can take on Ritchie’s Charmander having lost 2 already. If only Pikachu battled first, if it took out the Butterfree, Squirtle could have taken on the Charmander, and Bulbasaur against Ritchie’s Pikachu. I don’t blame Ash for what happened, as I’ve had bad starting choices in stadium matches myself, in which the first Pokémon chosen is the wrong type to face the first opponent, and the chance of willing can be ruined because the wrong Pokémon were chosen. Mrs Ketchum claims she couldn’t have been prouder of Ash if he had won. I’m sure she would have been slightly prouder of a winner than a loser, despite what she says. Who’s That Pokémon?: Aerodactyl Cameos in Pokémon Journey: Pikachu and Sparky are referred to by Tetsubo in Chapter 3 after Oak compares Tetsubo’s friendship with his Staryu to Ash and Pikachu. Friends to the End Pokémon seen: Pikachu, Togepi, Charmander, Rhydon, Butterfree, Venomoth, Spearow, Tentacool, Ivysaur, Meowth, Pidgeotto, Bulbasaur, Weezing, Squirtle, Poliwhirl, Oddish, Hitmonlee, Mankey, Poliwag, Venonat, Gloom, Hitmonchan, Parasect, Raticate, Cloyster, Graveler, Tangela Story: Ash is somewhat depressed about his loss, but he makes it to Ritchie’s next match, and although he battles hard, Ritchie loses too. The two meet outside the Pokémon Village and Ash gets over his depression because Ritchie handles his loss much better than he. Team Rocket grab both Pikachu, but Ash and Ritchie escape the trap and beat Team Rocket together. Ash and Ritchie attend the closing ceremony to end their first visit to the Indigo Plateau, while Team Rocket makes one final attempt to steal the Pokémon and fail. Ash and Ritchie have one final talk before they leave the Indigo Plateau, having promised to train as hard as they can. My favourite Quote: Oak: “One can only advance so far relying on strength and intuition, trainers must learn to battle with a deeper understanding of each Pokémon’s natural abilities.” Things I’d like to point out: Why doesn’t Ritchie name all his Pokémon seeing as he’s got to use all six (he only names the three we’re already familiar with). Once again Jessie commands Weezing in battle; I guess it accepts either of the humans it’s most familiar with now. Gary didn’t get his badge for competing seeing as he left the Indigo Plateau several episodes ago. Maybe right, maybe wrong, but I’m sure the locations of the trainers and their Pokémon switch constantly in the closing ceremony for no good reason. They’re marching in a straight line, but they keep switching locations with other trainers between shots. The winners of the Pokémon League are: In third, a young boy with spiky hair, a young lady in second (possibly Asunta), and in first, a man with spiky hair. Who’s That Pokémon?: Fearow Cameos in Pokémon Journey: A vague one, the man who wins this year’s Pokémon League is seen on TV by Abby in “Memories Lost” and gives her the idea of competing for fame to locate her parents. Pallet Party Panic Pokémon seen: Voltorb, Butterfree, Bellsprout, Diglett, Poliwag, Oddish, Mankey, Togepi, Pikachu, Onix, Zubat, Geodude, Vulpix, Psyduck, Staryu, Goldeen, Pidgeotto, Bulbasaur, Squirtle, Meowth, Arbok, Charizard, Pidgey, Spearow, Fearow, Mr Mime, Pidgeot Story: Ash is back in Pallet Town, and a party is held for Ash’s doing so well, but Team Rocket use super spicy food as a distraction to steal Pikachu, but their escape is hindered by Pidgeotto and eventually stopped by Charizard, and the Rockets take a fall into the forest. Ash agrees to do a favour for Oak, and retrieve a mysterious Pokéball from Professor Ivy on Valencia Island. On the way there, Ash encounters a Fearow, evolved from the Spearow that led the chase against him on the first day of his Pokémon Journey. He discovers that the Spearow and Fearow don’t get on with the Pidgey and Pidgeotto, and decides to fight the Fearow to help out the losing side. Ash’s Pidgeotto battles Fearow but loses, and then evolves into Pidgeot and beats the Fearow silly, forcing it and the Spearow to flee. Ash decides to leave Pidgeot here to protect the other birds in case the Fearow and Spearow return, and then continues the journey to the Orange Archipelago. My favourite Quote: Brock: “Ash must be really proud.” Misty: “I think he’s grown up a lot since being in the Pokémon League, don’t you? Huh? Where’s Ash?...” Ash (running for food): “Let’s eat fast so we can eat again!” Pikachu: “Pi Pikachu!” (Misty groans) Things I’d like to point out: Misty and Brock may have brought out all their Pokémon, but Misty only threw out one Pokéball and Brock only threw out two (old clips of Pokéball throwing, you see). A recent thought because Ash doesn’t let Charizard out to eat and enjoy himself, how has Charizard managed to survive all this time, seeing as Ash has probably not even let it out of its Pokéball lately? Team Rocket use small bombs which somehow don’t hurt anyone, but in the English translation they are dubbed as Blasters, obviously because anything regarding bombs is a touchy subject on TV. Ash deserved to fry, what he said to Charizard was incredibly rude, he just assumed Charizard listened to what he said and would continue to obey him, but Charizard only attacked Team Rocket as revenge for blowing up its food (but he decided to save Pikachu in the process). Oak blatantly refers to Professor Ivy as a ‘he’ when we clearly see in two episodes that Ivy is a ‘she’, how can he call Ivy a friend if he doesn’t even know her correct gender? This cannot be more than a script error since Misty correctly refers to Ivy as a female during the conversation. Oak’s eyebrows turn grey once again during the send off at Pallet Town. Despite the Fearow hating Ash’s guts and trying to kill him, Ash still attempts to capture it (but fails), what bugs me more though is the fact that the overused ‘Ash throwing a Pokéball’ clip is used even though he’s sitting on Pidgeot’s back. Ash lies to Pidgeot, he promises to come back as soon as soon as he got the GS Ball, but instead he goes around the Orange Islands. He later returns to Pallet Town, but then heads to the Johto League, he returns home much later on, and then goes straight to the Hoenn region, not only forgetting about Pidgeot, but pretty much replacing it with each new region’s basic bird Pokémon. He should have just said that Pidgeot should stay, protect the other birds, remain here for good, and therefore be honest to his Pokémon. Who’s That Pokémon?: Pidgeot Cameos in Pokémon Journey: None, but Tetsubo’s Pidgeotto evolves in a similar situation, to take on a very powerful trained Fearow on the Birdwatcher Path in Chapter 34. Episodes #065 - #072 Episodes #081 - #088 Back to the Episode Guide Movie and Mini-movie Guide Back to the Pokézone