Episode Guide #177 - #184

The Grass Route
The Apple Corp!
Houndoom’s Special Delivery
A Ghost of a Chance
From Ghost to Ghost
Trouble’s Brewing
All That Glitters!
The Light Fantastic

The Grass Route

Pokémon seen:  

Pikachu, Togepi, Sunflora, Oddish, Bellsprout, Gloom, Skiploom, Chikorita, 
Bellossom, Hoppip, Meowth, Wobbuffet, Victreebel, Tangela, Weepinbell, 
Exeggutor, Vileplume, Paras, Bulbasaur

Story:  

The group close in on Ecruteak City and come across a road full of Grass 
Pokémon, including a Skiploom (nicknamed Skippy) belonging to a boy named 
Ephraim.  
It’s his first Pokémon, and Ephraim soon challenges Ash to a battle with Grass 
Pokémon only.  
Skippy’s tackles are easily repelled but its Double Team is speedy, 
Chikorita’s Razor Leaf eventually catches the real one.  
Leech Seed is knocked away by Vine Whip and Chikorita’s Tackle powers through 
and defeats Ephraim, but Ash is made to feel guilty by his friends for 
overdoing it, the group returns to Ephraim’s home to give Skippy a rest.  
There are plenty of well grown flowers around the house and garden as the 
family own several Grass-types that are in tune with nature.  
The group soon learns of a local tournament in which only Grass Pokémon can 
enter which Ephraim wishes to participate in, Ash is hopeful in competing and 
winning.  
Team Rocket eats a full meal for once but James is short changed, they 
discover the tournament and its prize of a trophy and a collection of Leaf 
Stones, they decide to enter in order to sell the stones.  
Victreebel is unruly as always so Jessie has an idea that’ll get her into the 
tournament as well.  
Ephraim trains Skippy but Ash figures the tournament is below him and 
therefore training is unnecessary.  
The tournament begins the next day and Team Rocket are competing in disguise 
with Victreebel and Meowth dressed up as a Sunflora.  
Ash is extremely confident and has the first match against a Gloom with quick 
and easy success.  
Ephraim faces Mr Samej (James) and Victreebel, Skippy becomes defensive, and 
is forced to dodge several Razor Leaves and Vine Whips.  
It tires, becomes bound in Victreebel’s vine and is thrown, but before Tackle 
can follow it up, Ephraim has it use Leech Seed and Double Team to bind and 
confuse Victreebel and wins, but his enthusiastic parents embarrass him a 
little in front of the crowds.  
Ash now faces Eissej (Jessie) and ‘Sunflora’, Bulbasaur’s Take Down is 
deflected by Scratch, a tricky fake out and then Fury Swipes.  
Everyone thinks it’s impossible for a Sunflora to use such attacks and Razor 
Leaf soon exposes Meowth and then goes on to tear his costume to ribbons.  
Team Rocket recite their motto and make a dash for the stones but Bulbasaur 
sends them flying.  
Ash goes on to beat a Vileplume and Exeggutor, and Ephraim; a Paras and 
Tangela.  
The final match is between Ash and Ephraim, but the win isn’t as guaranteed as 
Ash figured.  
Ephraim’s Double Team is faster and Razor Leaf misses this time, but its Leech 
Seed is deflected by Vine Whip and Skippy is hit.  
A Vine Whip barrage follows and Skippy is beaten around, Ash advises Ephraim 
to quit as he’s feeling guilty for its pain, as this happens though, sparkles 
of light are forming around his Pokémon.  
Ephraim decides to continue fighting and Bulbasaur attempts to tackle, but 
Skippy unleashes a powerful Solarbeam and coupled with Tackle it takes out 
Bulbasaur, Ephraim takes the tournament, and it’s revealed Skippy’s level must 
have risen during the matches.  
Ash takes his loss well as Ephraim claims the prize, and learns a lesson about 
being too confident.  

My favourite Quote:  

Ephraim:  “Wow, you must be a really great Pokémon Trainer Ash.”  
Ash (before chuckling happily):  “Maybe.  I don’t like to say I’m great but 
that’s what people tell me.”  
Misty (with a tired expression):  “Those people mustn’t know him too well...”  

Things I’d like to point out:  

I hate it when people don’t know of a Pokémon they should, and knowing a 
Pokémon they shouldn’t.  
Ash has never seen a Skiploom and I doubt he studies up on Pokémon he hasn’t 
seen.  
Brock on the other hand I don’t mind since he’s a smart intellectual breeder 
and should be in the know-how about all things Pokémon.  

It’s the return of two old costumes, Meowth’s Sunflora disguise from “Grin to 
Win!” and the robes Jessie wore back in “Bad To The Bone”, only James has a 
male version, and it’s mildly humorous that reversing their names was the best 
alias they could think of.  

When going over this recently, I confused Meowth’s ‘fake out’ with a 
legitimate attack ‘Fake Out’ which is used in the third set of games to damage 
and make an opponent flinch, but only if it’s used on the first turn.  
This is just a coincidence, and although Meowth could probably use it what 
with it being a Normal attack, it’s not an official attack seen in this 
episode.  

Who’s That Pokémon?:  

(This Pokémon’s tail has a small brain of its own!)  
Girafarig

Cameos in Pokémon Journey:  

None.  

The Apple Corp!

Pokémon seen:  

Pikachu, Togepi, Meowth, Pichu, Fearow, Pidgey, Wobbuffet

Story:  

The group come across an apple orchard, and Pikachu is caught in a culpable 
position, a girl named Charmaine accuses it of stealing from her, but a 
comparison of Pikachu’s teeth to the tiny bite marks in an apple proves its 
innocence.  
Charmaine runs the entire orchard by herself which is why she’s so set on 
catching the thief who is stealing apples.  
Team Rocket attempt to navigate the noisemakers to get the apples but a group 
of Pichu set them off and cause Team Rocket to flee before their presence is 
exposed, the Pichu are soon caught by Pikachu who follows them to a larger 
group of Pichu endangered by a Fearow.  
Three of the Pichu shock the Fearow but themselves as well so Pikachu finishes 
things up.  
The group of Pichu return their latest theft to Charmaine but are starving and 
apparently came here in the first place because the growth of wild fruit in 
the local forests is lower than usual.  
Charmaine allows the Pichu to eat but now they’re likely to never leave the 
orchid and complicate things for Charmaine.  
Team Rocket float overhead planning another theft on the apples when Pidgey 
appear to get at the fruit, but the Pichu gang up together and fend them off 
with their electricity.  
This was Ash’s idea but Pikachu also teaches them how to pick the apples 
effectively and therefore help Charmaine with her work and earn their keep.  
Team Rocket appears and openly explains their plans on stealing apples but 
they soon catch Pikachu as well and its Electric attacks are simply used to 
power up a bunch of appliances.  
A bunch of tubes suck up several apples but the Pichu soon retaliate, their 
shock is minimal but they soon overpower themselves, and Team Rocket changes 
the setting on the tubes to blow the Pichu to the ground.  
Ash is stopped from using another Pokémon since the Pichu get up and stand up 
to Team Rocket, by forming a tower to reach and restore Pikachu by connecting 
up and effectively becoming a battery to revive it.  
Pikachu and the Pichu send a huge shock into the absorber and overload it, 
which sends Team Rocket flying.  
Charmaine thanks the Pichu for their help and decides to make them partners 
indefinitely to help and defend the orchard in exchange for all the food they 
want, and the group say their goodbyes.  

My favourite Quote:  

Ash:  “Look guys, the Pichu really love Charmaine and Charmaine really loves 
the Pichu too.”  
Brock (in a jealous tone):  “Lucky Pichu...”  

Things I’d like to point out:  

The title pun of this episode is from “The apple core”.  

Now that the existence of Pichu is out in the open, it makes one minor mistake 
clear, in “Pikachu’s Goodbye” there are tons of Pikachu and even a tiny/baby 
one, but all baby Pikachu should surely be Pichu instead and grow up/evolve 
into Pikachu.  

When the Pichu charge at the apples and begin eating, look closely, only the 
first row of Pichu eat the apples but the others are making the same rising 
head movements though they can’t be eating the apples because they’re behind 
the front row.  

Why are the Pichu let off so easily but the Pidgey get attacked and fought 
off? Just because there’s a lack of wild fruit for the Pichu doesn’t mean to 
say the Pidgey aren’t reeling from the same loss.  
However the Pichu go on to earn their food while the Pidgey are like crows 
attacking a cornfield.  

Ash and the group may have a lot of experience from Team Rocket but they don’t 
seem to learn from it, time after time Pikachu falls into their traps and the 
same goes for electricity not working sometimes (at least Team Rocket learn 
that much from past encounters), Ash has plenty of other Pokémon capable of 
stopping Team Rocket but doesn’t tend to use them (although this is the only 
way to give the Pichu an opportunity to prove themselves as part of the 
storyline).  

The various appliances Team Rocket suddenly obtain makes little sense, for one 
thing some of the bigger/taller objects should be seen in exterior shots of 
the balloon basket (which seems to grow in these interior sequences).  

The amount of apples that fall from the balloon compared to the amount seen 
being sucked up earlier looks as if Charmaine’s suffered a big loss and either 
Team Rocket got a fair few apples or they were obliterated in the explosion.  
Also, how did the Pichu and Pikachu survive their fall? It wasn’t shown in 
favour of Team Rocket’s blasting off.  

Who’s That Pokémon?:  

(This Pokémon is very popular among women!)  
Snubbull

Cameos in Pokémon Journey:  

None, though Pichu themselves will be seen and already have been heard of in 
the series.  

Houndoom’s Special Delivery

Pokémon seen:  

Pikachu, Togepi, Houndoom, Meowth, Wobbuffet, Weezing, Arbok, Chikorita, 
Pinsir, Noctowl, Golbat, Gyarados, Ledyba, Butterfree, Ledian, Bellossom, 
Venusaur, Raikou, Mareep, Victreebel

Story:  

The group are about to cross a mountainous region when they see a Houndoom 
running by with a delivery.  
Team Rocket float nearby and suddenly switch from their reverie to suddenly 
living up to their responsibilities and conveniently spotting the group and 
Pikachu, they attack immediately.  
Weezing uses Smokescreen and Arbok attacks only for Pikachu to shock them as 
always, Misty trips in the fog and loses Togepi, who reacts to a confrontation 
with Weezing by teleporting, but it unfortunately ends up high in a tree.  
Pikachu and Chikorita finish off Team Rocket but Togepi’s absence is soon 
discovered.  
Houndoom comes across the stranded Togepi and helps it down, and then feeds 
the hungry Pokémon, and then saves it from a Pinsir; it doesn’t have the heart 
to leave Togepi alone and takes the baby with it.  
While Flying Pokémon are deployed to search, Houndoom’s crossing a river and a 
brief encounter with Gyarados weakens it, and Togepi goes on alone but soon 
needs its help again.  
They end up in a field of Grass and Bug Pokémon, where Houndoom considers 
leaving Togepi since it is happy there, but it rushes to take an accidental 
Sleep Powder assault from a waking Venusaur.  
The group find footprints and deduct another Pokémon took Togepi.  
Houndoom wakes up and ends up taking Togepi further along, while the group now 
crosses the river.  
They reach the grass field and Team Rocket are up in the air again, but they 
gradually fall and get into trouble at the river after bumping into Gyarados.  
Houndoom and Togepi take shelter from the rain and briefly see a legendary 
Pokémon before moving on.  
The group eventually find the latest footprints and catch up to Houndoom at 
its master’s farm, but so do Team Rocket who quickly net Houndoom.  
Chikorita frees it and Pikachu battles Arbok while Houndoom saves Misty and 
Togepi from Victreebel and whose Flamethrower decimates Team Rocket’s latest 
assault.  
The group are led towards their next destination and Togepi has a tearful 
goodbye with Houndoom.  

My favourite Quote:  

Meowth:  “Just t’ink...  We made t’ree cups of tea from only one teabag...”  

Things I’d like to point out:  

I’m sure that the footprints seen by the group are a little inaccurate 
compared to what actually happened earlier.  
Togepi didn’t walk that far before Houndoom carried it and what happened to 
the imprint from when Togepi fell, the Pinsir’s footprints and the many 
footprints from Houndoom leaving and returning to Togepi?  
The group seem to arrive in the same straight path where all this happened so 
how did they miss the other tracks unless they’re really unobservant?  
Noctowl doesn’t feel like it was needed; the footprints are in a fairly easy 
path to follow and should have been clear to see by the group.  

Misty says nothing of the Bug Pokémon here; although they are ones she’s made 
exceptions for in the past like Butterfree, Ledyba and Ledian, on the other 
hand maybe her desperation to find Togepi would overcome it even if there were 
Bug Pokémon she didn’t like.  

Why is the bump of Gyarados’s head a light pink colour as well as red? These 
are the colours usually used when people get oversized bumps on the head, so 
shouldn’t the Gyarados’s bump be remotely blue?  
Also, the bump completely disappears between scenes, so I guess the huge bump 
is only meant to give an idea that it was hurt on the head, but didn’t happen 
in reality.  

The song playing halfway through the episode is “Never Too Far From Home” from 
the “Totally Pokémon” album.  
During which is the first but brief appearance of the Legendary Pokémon 
Raikou.  

The group claim the footprints were washed away by the rain, but the tracks 
leading into the tree are still visible.  
Since they were made during the rain and not after, shouldn’t these ones be 
gone?  

Misty changes her tune quickly, earlier on she made comments about how scary 
she thought Houndoom was, but upon meeting it with her Togepi she completely 
acts against everything she said, she shouldn’t be so quick to judge in the 
future.  
Team Rocket does something similar in that they swiftly break their newfound 
strategy to catch one Pokémon at a time, as soon as they reach the farm that 
strategy goes out the window and they suddenly announce they’re going to catch 
all the Pokémon here.  

Who’s That Pokémon?:  

(When this Pokémon is on land, it sweats to keep its body slimy!)  
Poliwhirl

Cameos in Pokémon Journey:  

None, although Houndoom and even Raikou are to be seen.  

A Ghost of a Chance

Pokémon seen:  

Pikachu, Togepi, Meowth, Wobbuffet, Totodile, Staryu, Noctowl, Gastly, 
Haunter, Gengar, Ho-oh, Arbok, Weezing

Story:  

The group finally arrive at Ecruteak City, as do Team Rocket.  
James spends the group’s money meant for food on a treasure detector sold by a 
street performer Fernando that the group turned down earlier.  
The group enter the apparent Gym but it’s burnt, ruined and full of Ghost 
Pokémon and fiery illusions.  
Noctowl uncovers them but this prompts them to attack, Noctowl defends the 
group and the Gastly retreat, but return with reinforcements.  
The Gym Leader named Morty appears and the ghosts stop and leave on his 
orders, he explains that many trainers come here thinking it the Gym, but it 
was once the original Tin Tower which was burned down many years ago and is 
now home to many Ghost Pokémon.  
Ash notices a plaque that portrays Ho-Oh in the wall and explains that he saw 
one on his first day as a trainer but Morty doesn’t believe him since this 
Pokémon has long disappeared from the world.  
He explains the origin of the Tin Tower, his ancestors and Ho-oh and how it’s 
been left as a sign of the past and how the Tin Tower they saw earlier is a 
copy of the original in the hopes that Ho-oh may return to it.  
Togepi wanders off and the group hastily search for it but Morty soon sends 
Gengar to rally the other ghosts and search so that they don’t have to 
endanger themselves in the unsafe building.  
Team Rocket are following James and his detector when they stumble across 
Togepi and Pikachu and snatch them, but the Ghost Pokémon quickly follow them 
and slow them down with Lick.  
Instead of facing them, Team Rocket are in favour of running away, but Gengar 
defeats their Pokémon, the ghosts free Pikachu and Team Rocket are soon 
defeated by Gengar’s Shadow Ball.  
Ash and Morty decide to battle the next day but if today is anything to go by, 
the Gym Battle will be incredibly tough.  

My favourite Quote:  

Morty:  “Thieves! You should be ashamed of yourself, how can people who are 
Pokémon Trainers steal other trainers’ Pokémon?!”  
James:  “It’s quite easy.”  
Jessie:  “We’re Team Rocket members first and people second!”  
Meowth:  “I ain’t even a people.”  

Things I’d like to point out:  

The fire breather is a type of trainer seen in the second set of games, but 
this is the first time one has been in the series.  
Also, the item he sells and describes is pretty much the Itemfinder you can 
acquire in the games; everything down to the sound effects is the same.  
As a result, James’s hobby in collecting bottlecaps is brought up again.  

The Arcanine statue is posed like certain real life lion (or beast-like 
animal) statues, but what relevance does it have to the Burnt Tower apart from 
being a Fire-type?  

I think James is trying to defend his... masculinity by what he says to 
Fernando.  
Other factors throughout the series (“Holy Matrimony!”) seem to prove this, so 
I guess James is just Very much in touch with his feminine side given the 
number of women’s clothing he’s worn.  

If the flames turned out to be Gastly casting illusions, shouldn’t Totodile’s 
Water attacks have made contact with them (or Totodile itself when dancing in 
the fire)?  

At last it’s confirmed that the Pokémon Ash saw way back in “Pokémon I choose 
you!” was indeed a Ho-oh, not that anyone believes him, at least in doing this 
he makes up for the mistake he made in “Pokémon Emergency!” when he claimed a 
tile of Articuno looked like the legendary Pokémon he’d seen just a few hours 
before.  

The invaders from the Tin Tower’s past could be the beginnings of Team 
Rocket.  

Misty’s promise to be more careful with her Togepi is already broken one 
episode after she said so, as Togepi is again separated from her.  
It’s doubtful this is the last time such a thing will happen and I doubt 
Togepi will ever stop wandering away.  

Again Team Rocket take Togepi with them even though they know the Boss has no 
interest in it, unless they’ve caught onto Togepi’s hidden power.  

How does tying Pikachu to James’s back prevent it from shocking him?  

Gengar’s Lick attack extends its tongue to the level of a Lickitung’s, but 
it’s feasible since Ghost Pokémon seem able to do a lot of manipulation of 
their bodies.  
See Haunter’s past feats in “Haunter Versus Kadabra” as proof of this.  

Maybe it’s just me but Weezing seems to have a lot more emotion than usual, 
usually it’s got a pretty vacant and simple look, but it never seemed to truly 
express its anger like it does in this episode.  
Maybe there’s just been a change in animator lately, not that this is a 
particularly bad thing, Weezing looks cooler when it’s angry.  

Wrap attack shouldn’t have even bound Gengar with it being a Ghost-type, 
unless Noctowl’s Foresight from earlier somehow affected it and the effects 
lasted this long.  
And technically, Shadow Ball shouldn’t have harmed Meowth being a Normal-type, 
but I’ll let it go since the attack affected all around it so that could have 
been what blew Meowth sky-high.  

Despite James yelling how he lost his detector, it winds up in Team Rocket’s 
possession next episode.  

Who’s That Pokémon?:  

(These Pokémon use their whiskers to maintain balance!)  
Raticate

Cameos in Pokémon Journey:  

For one, the title, I used it for Chapter 21 before this episode was aired in 
the UK with its new altered title name, so I don’t think I should have to 
change it.  
Anyway, the Burnt Tower will make an appearance.  

From Ghost to Ghost

Pokémon seen:  

Togepi, Pikachu, Gengar, Gastly, Meowth, Wobbuffet, Noctowl, Cyndaquil, Haunter

Story:  

While at the Pokémon Centre, Ash prepares for the Gym Battle, luckily Joy 
makes it clear that Noctowl is the key to winning.  
Morty is teaching a group of youngsters when Ash arrives, and he gives them 
permission to stay and watch the fight.  
Team Rocket float above and are drawn back to the tower area with the 
possibility of more treasure being detected by James’s device.  
Morty starts out with Gastly and Ash with Noctowl; this appears a bad idea 
since Noctowl is Ash’s sure-fire approach to battling Gengar.  
Hypnosis is dodged and although Foresight makes the enemy susceptible to 
Normal attacks, Noctowl doesn’t get the opportunity to hit it, Hypnosis is 
outdone again and Lick makes Ash decide to recall it.  
Jessie and Meowth are interested in the battle but James reveals the location 
of the apparent treasure.  
Pikachu is up next and uses Quick Attack to hit Gastly, but Thunderbolt is 
dodged and Night Shade is used to completely defeat Pikachu.  
Cyndaquil is next while Team Rocket uncover some genuine treasure and decide 
not to tangle with Pikachu today, but Ghost Pokémon appear as a security 
force.  
Cyndaquil’s Flamethrower is dodged and so is Gastly’s Night Shade, but its 
Lick is used as a platform to deal a Tackle attack.  
Haunter is the next opponent and it’s even faster, its Mean Look not only 
removes Ash’s ability to substitute other Pokémon but briefly shorts out 
Cyndaquil’s flame.  
Swift is used and Haunter’s Hypnosis is countered by Smokescreen, but it picks 
Cyndaquil out of the area and uses Lick, while Ash is powerless to recall it 
until it’s defeated.  
Ash only has Noctowl left, while Team Rocket are trapped in an illusion made 
for the amusement of the Ghost Pokémon.  
Haunter is exposed to Foresight but its hands start attacking, Hypnosis and 
Confuse Ray slam against each other and Noctowl is worse off with a confused 
condition.  
A Tackle crashing into a Night Shade attack cancels out the condition and 
Noctowl shows signs that it has learned Confusion, which becomes pivotal and 
defeats Haunter in one shot.  
Gengar is the final opponent and Confusion is overpowered by Shadow Ball, the 
Gengar disappears and attacks with Night Shade under cover of invisibility.  
Ash has Noctowl send Confusion outwards at a great range and Gengar is 
revealed, and before it can retaliate with Shadow Ball, Noctowl’s Foresight 
and Tackle take it out.  
Morty hands over the Fog Badge and opens up to the possibility that maybe Ash 
did see Ho-oh, and the group move onwards to their next destination, while 
Team Rocket flee from the nightmares of the ghostly visions.  

My favourite Quote:  

James:  “Look Meowth, my treasure detector is working again.”  
Meowth:  “It woiked before?”  
James:  “Luckily it was blasted away along with us, and the closer we get to 
Ecruteak the more Treasure it senses!”  
Jessie:  “I wish you’d come to Your senses James, the only thing that 
contraption does is detect junk.”  

Things I’d like to point out:  

The title pun is from the phrase “From coast to coast”.  

The Pokémon recovery jingle is heard again, it’s rare that the sound from the 
games is used in the cartoon.  

The treasure detector is said to have blasted off with Team Rocket though 
James moaned about the loss of it last episode, that and the bottlecaps he 
collected seem to have remained intact too, though I doubt James categorized 
them in the binder within the short time he had last episode.  
Why does Meowth ask the point in James’s collecting of bottlecaps when it was 
explained in full last episode?  
James’s one sentence reply though is a clever way to disregard it and get on 
the episode I have to say.  

Either Confusion’s use is completely different for Gastly than it is for 
Noctowl or the Gastly was taking its sweet time to attack, choosing instead to 
dodge constantly against Noctowl.  

Foresight is thankfully used correctly, primarily to make physical attacks on 
Ghost Pokémon connect, as well as nullifying other Pokémon’s attempts to 
become more evasive.  

I’m not going to go into the fact that Lick is a Ghost attack and shouldn’t 
have hit Noctowl, as I myself have made exceptions in the latest storylines in 
that since Lick uses the tongue to hit enemies but the paralysing aspect of 
the games doesn’t come into play on Normal-types.  

In the games, Night Shade’s power is equal to the level of the Pokémon using 
it, meaning it has a maximum of 100 Hit Points damage, Pikachu’s defeat from 
just one and from a Gastly is very disappointing, and more is expected from 
the Pokémon that has always been by Ash’s side and fought in virtually every 
episode.  

I think there’s been a mix-up, in that the Who’s That Pokémon clue and Pokémon 
are exactly the same as the one used six episodes ago (“Ariados, Amigos”), 
it’s been bad enough that mostly old Pokémon have been reused but now even the 
clues are being reused; it’s hardly a challenge anymore to guess what the 
silhouettes are.  

Swift is a Normal attack and though highly accurate, it shouldn’t have made 
contact with a Ghost Pokémon who wasn’t subject to Foresight first.  

Sorry to keep going off like this but this mistake contradicts a very old 
saying in that only registered attacks should be used in a Pokémon Battle.  
Since Haunter’s picking up of and throwing of Cyndaquil isn’t like any of its 
available attacks, it apparently shouldn’t have been used (according to Ash 
anyway in “The School of Hard Knocks” but since when has he been right about 
anything regarding official battle rules?).  

Night Shade and Shadow Ball shouldn’t have worked at all in damaging Noctowl 
as it is part Normal-type, Ghost-types only become vulnerable to Normal 
attacks because of Foresight, it shouldn’t be the other way around.  

Pikachu takes the cake, it appears just fine one battle after its defeat and 
should just keep quiet and out of Ash’s way seeing as he now only has one 
Pokémon to beat two opponents because of its failure in part.  
If it’s well enough to walk around and cheer then Pikachu should still be 
available to Ash as a battler.  

This is the first time Ash has had an offensive Psychic attack on his side, 
though technically his Butterfree should have learned Confusion before the 
various dust attacks.  

Except for only one Haunter instead of two Morty’s Pokémon are the same in the 
games, but it’s for the best since two of the same Pokémon in a Gym Battle 
would be kind of boring to watch.  

Who’s That Pokémon?:  

(This Pokémon has the ability to copy an opponent’s DNA!)  
Ditto

Cameos in Pokémon Journey:  

Morty and his Ghost Pokémon will indeed make a set of appearances.  

Trouble’s Brewing

Pokémon seen:  

Pikachu, Togepi, Eevee, Arbok, Flareon, Umbreon, Vaporeon, Jolteon, Poliwhirl, 
Totodile, Weezing, Victreebel, Chikorita, Staryu

Story:  

The group rest and are about to consider their next destination when they 
decide instead to check out an old fashioned tea ceremony.  
An Eevee wanders by which belongs to a girl named Sakura, and whose sisters 
run the ceremony.  
There, Brock subsequently falls in love with four different girls (Simomo, 
Tamao, Komei and Satsuki), all turn out to be Sakura’s sisters.  
Because of this and Sakura’s general treatment, Misty can relate and the two 
look to become friends.  
Meanwhile Team Rocket attend a tea ceremony and cause such a scene that the 
sisters and the group come running.  
All the sisters own an evolved Eevee and bring them out; but Sakura’s Eevee 
falls short in battle and is defeated by Arbok.  
Ash and Misty jump in and fight Weezing with their Water Pokémon and defeat 
Team Rocket.  
Misty and Sakura chat by a stream when Sakura suddenly asks if she can join 
Misty and travel around with her, Brock and Ash.  
It’s okay with her and the others but Sakura has yet to ask her sisters after 
her dance recital.  
They decide that if they can be beaten in a three-on-three Pokémon Battle by 
Ash, Misty and Brock, they will allow Sakura to travel with them.  
Simomo uses Vaporeon and Misty jumps in with Poliwhirl, tackles repel each 
other and Poliwhirl gets around a Sand Attack to deal a Doubleslap assault but 
is beaten hard by Quick Attack.  
The battle is finished with Aurora Beam, and Ash takes over with his Pikachu 
against Satsuki’s Jolteon, but once again Team Rocket interrupts.  
They arrive with a box that has different compartments to capture the sisters’ 
Pokémon in with a resistance to their elements and powers.  
Sakura battles Victreebel but her Eevee is easily repelled by Victreebel, tied 
up and tossed in its ‘cell’.  
Ash brings Chikorita out to deal with Victreebel and Misty’s Staryu against 
Arbok, and as a result, James ends up in Umbreon’s box, Arbok in the shock-
proof box and Jessie and Victreebel both in the fire resistant box, and Meowth 
willingly jumps into Vaporeon’s box to hide away from the good guys.  
Umbreon breaks out Eevee and the Water Pokémon decimate the balloon and boxes 
along with the Rockets.  
Sakura realises how much better everyone else is compared to her before the 
battle is resumed.  
Pikachu dodges a Thundershock and its Thunderbolt is repelled by Thunder Wave, 
Pikachu gets the first hit with Tackle, and Thunder does the rest.  
Before the last battle, Sakura steps in and decides that she’s not ready to go 
with the others, and that she has to become a better trainer before she goes 
on a journey since she has to have faith in her own abilities before she can 
make it as a trainer.  
The group decide to go to Olivine City first in favour of Mahogany Town; they 
say their goodbyes to Sakura and continue their journey.  

My favourite Quote:  

Brock (referring to four of the Kimono Sisters):  “Ash this is terrible, I 
want all of them and they all want me.  Am I right?”  
Ash:  “You’re half right.”  

Things I’d like to point out:  

Instead of pulling Brock’s ear, Misty drags him by the nose; I guess falling 
in love with four girls (in less than two minutes) annoyed her more than 
usual.  

I know it’s a gag and all but how does Brock turn his body without shuffling 
or moving his body around?  

For once Brock gets complimented on his ability to complement girls, but by 
the youngest sister Sakura whom he didn’t make a move on, the other sisters 
though seem a little annoyed at how Brock hit on all of them.  

The five sisters are clearly based on the Kimono Sisters in the Gold and 
Silver games, who each own a differently evolved Eevee in Ecruteak City.  

I told you this would happen eventually, if you give a specialised Pokéball to 
a Pokémon it has to be used EVERY time.  
Totodile is called but an old Ash throwing a default Pokéball clip is used as 
he does so, Totodile was caught in a Lure Ball and nothing can change that 
fact.  

Did we miss a few frames or is it lazy animation? The double Water Gun blast 
hits Weezing but immediately in the next shot Team Rocket are also being 
jetted skyward.  

Why does Brock openly admit he might not look particularly trustworthy? It’s 
not the best thing to say when he’s supposed to be convincing the sisters that 
Sakura will be okay and safe with him and the others.  

Just an observation in that the sisters’ Pokémon have some of the special 
Pokéballs that Kurt is known to make; Vaporeon is in a Lure Ball, Umbreon in a 
Fast Ball and Jolteon has what I assume is a Moon Ball (judging by the design 
of it compared to the other special Pokéballs seen in “Going Apricorn!”).  

For the first time since “The Fire-ing Squad!” Wobbuffet makes no visual 
appearances in the episode.  
However, its voice is heard during the Team Rocket blast off which has 
occurred in the past even if Wobbuffet was nowhere to be seen at the time.  

Komei gets left out a lot this episode, not only does she not get to 
participate against Team Rocket what-so-ever, but she isn’t called for in the 
following battle in favour of Umbreon who also got to help save Eevee.  
Maybe Komei and her Flareon are the group’s weak link.  

Who’s That Pokémon?:  

(This Pokémon’s leaves are able to check the temperature!)  
Chikorita

Cameos in Pokémon Journey:  

None, but a future possibility.  

All That Glitters!

Pokémon seen:  

Pikachu, Togepi, Murkrow, Noctowl, Golbat, Meowth, Wobbuffet, Bulbasaur, Pineco

Story:  

The group rest in a forest for some food while Ash polishes off his badges, 
but a group of suspicious Pokémon have their eyes on them.  
Soon enough they reveal themselves to be a group of Murkrow who seem innocent 
enough, but at the first opportunity they steal Ash’s badges.  
Noctowl is sent after them but is overpowered and the Murkrow escape.  
With Golbat’s help they find the trio and are seen enjoying playing with them 
because they’re so shiny, but they refuse to give the badges back, and defeat 
Golbat in the same manner as before.  
Pikachu shocks the three but before the group can catch up, Pikachu is caught 
in a surprise attack by Team Rocket.  
The Murkrow appear on their balloon to grab at their shiny belongings but soon 
pop the balloon.  
James is outraged when his bottlecaps turn up missing, during all of this 
Pikachu is freed and Ash is able to retrieve two out of three of the stolen 
badges and chases after the Murkrow with James close behind.  
James attempts to net them at their nest but is outsmarted so that the team 
goes flying.  
Ash thinks of his past Gym Battles before telling the group he’ll beat the 
Murkrow team with the teamwork of him and his Pokémon.  
The sneaking up and taking the badge plan falls flat on its face so Ash and 
Misty next attract the Murkrow with shiny objects while Brock has Pineco lower 
itself down to the nest.  
Togepi accidentally gets stuck which blows the group’s cover before Pineco is 
done, the badge is taken back and Pineco explodes to no avail.  
Noctowl is called back out and relied solely upon to come up with a strategy, 
it stands completely still between the Murkrow so that they let their guard 
down, when one Murkrow shines light off the badge into Noctowl, it strikes and 
prepares to fly away but all the birds are thrown off course by Team Rocket’s 
latest machine.  
Team Rocket’s Murkrow robot retrieves all the shiny objects, including Ash’s 
badge, but regardless Ash saves the Murkrow by catching them in his grasp.  
Team Rocket soon attack the Murkrow, Noctowl saves them from being hurt but 
Pikachu is captured; Noctowl then takes the lead with the Murkrow helping 
out.  
They dodge around the giant fans and Team Rocket continue to alter direction 
to stop them, but this causes a leg joint to jam which gives the Murkrow and 
Noctowl the chance to save Pikachu, who delivers the finishing blow.  
The objects are scattered and the Fog Badge is returned, while the Murkrow 
have no quarrel with the group and might someday change their tricky ways, the 
group departs soon after.  

My favourite Quote:  

Ash (to Team Rocket):  “Give me Pikachu!”  
Jessie:  “I’m sorry, that selection is unavailable!”  

Things I’d like to point out:  

The Murkrow’s love of shiny objects is like that of real crows and ravens.  

The three Murkrow performing a fast attack in unison is wrongly dubbed as 
Double Team, it looked more like a Wing Attack or Faint Attack.  
If it was a real Double Team attack, Noctowl’s Foresight should have been used 
to neutralise it.  

How do the Murkrow carry James’s bottlecaps away, they were clearly laughing 
at James with their beaks open during their escape, it’s possible they dropped 
the Fog Badge in their nest before this so this is an error in regards to the 
caps (unless the Murkrow tucked them under their wings or swallowed them to 
regurgitate them later).  

The reminiscence scene has so many errors, for one Ash calls Pidgeot 
Pidgeotto, (a repeated mistake for the series), but worse is that fact that 
his Pidgeot hasn’t helped him lately.  
It’s one thing to let a mix-up like that occur but what does Bugsy’s Scyther 
have to do with anything?!  
Ash mentions it (and Falkner’s Pidgeot) between Charizard and Cyndaquil as if 
they’re a part of his team!  
The writers had a real off-day as they’re blatantly just naming Pokémon they 
see (except Miltank and Gengar) in the flashbacks regardless of who they 
belong to.  

Ash is a complete idiot!... but what else is new?  
When you’re trying to steal from three Pokémon, yelling out “I got it!” is the 
last thing you’d do, he could have at least held onto the badge like it meant 
his life but Ash feebly lets go when he trips over Pikachu and Bulbasaur who 
should have been fending off the Murkrow.  

Why does Jessie refer to the Murkrow robot as Mark 5? Were there 4 others, and 
if so, who made them?  
It’s doubtful Team Rocket did since they aren’t completely familiar with 
Murkrow until today.  

When the vacuum sucks up the metal, it’s badly animated, as the objects look 
as if they’re flying under the vacuum, not inside it.  

Why does Meowth complain at James that the retrieval of the bottlecaps aren’t 
their priority? When the vacuum appears and aims solely for the objects, 
Meowth clearly laughs as if to either signify his delight at getting the 
objects, or having activated the vacuum himself.  
If James had been made out to be the one who activated it (and possibly 
installed the vacuum extra himself) there would be no problems.  

Why does the narrator speak as if helping to defeat Team Rocket and retrieve 
Ash’s Gym Badges (that they stole in the first place) validates the fact that 
the Murkrow were responsible for Ash losing them?  

Who’s That Pokémon?:  

(This Pokémon’s dance is a ritual to summon the sun!)  
Bellossom

Cameos in Pokémon Journey:  

None.  

The Light Fantastic

Pokémon seen:  

Pikachu, Togepi, Meowth, Magikarp, Remoraid, Butterfree, Raticate, Arbok, 
Venusaur

Story:  

The group head through a hot landscape and run out of water, Team Rocket have 
also done the same (but Jessie is short changed having got none recently).  
The exhausted group see a strange colourful aurora in the sky over Remoraid 
Mountain, and head towards the Pokémon Centre to inquire about the lights.  
They come across the ruins of an old ancient village where Nurse Joy appears 
to explain things, including how Remoraid used to live here alongside an old 
civilisation but after they exhausted their trees, the rivers and lakes dried 
up, the lack of shade caused the land to turn to dust and their food supply to 
deplete as a result so they had to leave.  
Joy was told that flowers were growing here and came immediately; she escorts 
the group back for water.  
Team Rocket dress up as archaeologists in order to get some water from the 
Centre without being chased out.  
The water is retrieved from under the Centre due to it mysteriously flowing 
down the dried up river every 12 years.  
An artist called Mr Gango introduces himself, he comes by every 12 years to 
view the rainbow lights and wishes to portray it on canvas, twice he didn’t 
have enough colours but now he has a huge set to sketch the lights.  
The group helps to pinpoint the location of the lights; it’s directly over 
Remoraid Lake.  
Team Rocket enter in disguise to get the water when the lights return, Gango 
attempts to sketch them before they disappear but fails this time because he 
had too many colours to choose from.  
Joy suggests Gango and the others head to the lake to find the source, and 
Team Rocket tag along.  
As the group gets closer, the landscape is greener, when they arrive they find 
a tower of ice, Team Rocket confirm it is ice and not valuable crystal and 
immediately resort to stealing Pikachu to make up for it.  
Gango intervenes in the following battle and uses a Venusaur to battle Arbok, 
it braces Arbok’s Tackle and Pikachu is knocked free from the Rocket’s hold.  
Solarbeam is used before they can reinforce their Pokémon number and they are 
defeated.  
As daylight appears, jets of water shoot up, originating from the Remoraid, 
when the water hits the ice tower and others follow with Ice Beam to create 
the ice pillar.  
Misty attempts to capture a rare Remoraid but a group cluster together since a 
Pokéball can’t capture more than one Pokémon, but Team Rocket get around that 
by using a huge net.  
The Remoraid outsmart Team Rocket though by propelling themselves upwards with 
water to slam into the balloon, freeing themselves and doing away with the 
Rockets in the same move.  
The lights shine again, and occur due to the water vapour rising from the 
melting ice refracting the sun’s rays, the mystery of the rushing water in the 
lake is also revealed, due to the Remoraid having remained here and the after 
effects of what they do to the ice pillar.  
Gango isn’t down about not getting his sketch, as the experience he’s had 
means so much more to him.  
The group’s journey continues where more wonders and mysteries will surely 
come to pass.  

My favourite Quote:  

Meowth (referring to a piece of ice he’s just licked):  “Hey! That thing 
could’ve been poison!”  
Jessie:  “Well if it were, we wanted you to be the first to know!”  
Meowth:  “That’s considerate.”  

Things I’d like to point out:  

Gango’s name is likely based on the famous artist Vincent Van Gogh.  

Misty points out that Gango’s 251 crayons is equal to one for every kind of 
Pokémon, at least those facts are currently correct for the number of known 
Pokémon at the time, although since certain legendary Pokémon aren’t well 
known or even known to exist at all (until a while ago, Mewtwo shouldn’t have 
even existed), is this consistent with the storyline of the cartoon rather 
than just the game’s number of Pokémon?  

It’s not worth thinking for one moment that Remoraid should be the hardest 
Pokémon to catch just because these particular ones are rare to see and later 
discovered to work as a group to protect each other.  
How many people in the Pokémon World have caught Legendary Pokémon (aside from 
Lawrence in the second movie who used unfair means)? I rest my case.  
Besides, we later see a whole group of Remoraid who were caught and raised by 
a family in the Whirl Islands (“Octillery The Outcast”).  

Gango’s set of colours probably consists of the names of virtually every town 
in Kanto and Johto what with them being named after colours.  
Cerulean City is of course Misty’s home, and in Pokémon Journey, Aquamarine 
Town was created to be based in Kanto to replace the current closure of the 
Cerulean Gym in the fanfic.  

It’s as dry as a Dratini? Surely that must be wrong as the rare sights of 
Dratinis in the cartoon are always in water, and since that means they’re not 
dry and yet this place is, James’s statement doesn’t really make any sense.  

The latest modification to the motto has James telling everyone his and 
Jessie’s name, only for them to say them again as per usual, which is a little 
pointless for the sake of a rhyme.  

Team Rocket should have been able to bring out more Pokémon before Venusaur 
finished charging its Solarbeam, due to the plain fact that it was night and 
therefore gathering sunlight should have taken longer if not been impossible 
to do.  

If Misty truly thought catching Remoraid was a once in a lifetime opportunity, 
she should have gone full out (considering she didn’t battle any of them 
first) and used her Lure Ball instead of a weak and basic Pokéball.  

Team Rocket do an impossible feat, within two minutes of being blasted off, 
they return to the lake with their balloon and a net to catch the Remoraid, on 
the off-chance they landed right at their balloon (wherever it was parked) and 
the wind was blowing the right way then possibly, but in all other cases this 
event just wasn’t thought through completely.  

Again Wobbuffet is heard in the blast off but not seen in the course of the 
episode.  

The rare appearance of Remoraid is similar to the games, in that swarms of 
Remoraid, Yanma, Marill, Dunsparce, Snubbull and Qwilfish only become common 
to catch at rare times, although it’s nothing compared to these Remoraid only 
making themselves known every 12 years.  

Who’s That Pokémon?:  

(This Pokémon comes to a complete stop when the sun sets!)  
Sunflora

Cameos in Pokémon Journey:  

None.  

Episodes #169 - #176
Episodes #185 - #192
Back to the Episode Guide
Movie and Mini-movie Guide
Back to the Pokézone