Recently I have been drawn to watching the TV series again, and that's exactly what I started doing. I watched the series as kid but don't recall getting any further than the Sabrina gym battle. It's time to rectify that.

The episodes are extremely easy to find online, plus at around 15 minutes each, they're a breeze to get through.

My journey will be accompanied by my usual brand of snarky commentary. Feel free to chime in, but most of all, enjoy!


01 - Pokemon - I Choose You!

- Pikachu giggling at Ash's misfortunes is fantastic. Smarmy git.
- For years, decades, maybe even centuries, Pikachu has been snubbed for the Charmanders, Squirtles and Bulbasaurs of the world. On this glorious day, at long last there is a fourth trainer from Pallet Town, the bumbling fool known as Ash Ketchum. Pikachu is finally released from his prison. I completely understand why he's twitchy and hates humans.
- Ho-Oh is seen in the first episode?! What the hell? This predates Gen 2 doesn't it? I wonder when this moment gets referenced next.


02 - Pokemon Emergency

- The introduction of Team Rocket, Officer Jenny, Nurse Joy, and the Pokemon Centre.
- Poor Ash is buried hard by every side character in these opening episodes. It's a hard life for a 10 year old. Misty is especially harsh, which is funny considering she's even more incompetent than Ash...
- Misty is a gym leader, yet contributes nothing to the battle against Team Rocket. She throws out a Goldeen who can't battle on land, and immediately returns Goldeen to the Pokeball. What was the point of that? You have a Staryu, use it! Ash has a reason for his mistakes, he's completely new to this game. Misty has no excuse.
- This episode establishes that Pikachu is a Superchu. More powerful than the average Pikachu. In video game terms, he's at least level 20, probably a lot higher.
- There's an icon in the Pokemon Centre of the legendary Pokemon. Articuno, Zapdos, Moltres and...Arcanine?


03 - Ash Catches a Pokemon

- In fact, Ash catches two Pokemon! Caterpie and Pidgeotto are added to his arsenal. That's right, Ash is grabbing an evolved Pokemon just like that.
- There's lot of world-building content. Pokemon must be weakened before they can be captured. Pokemon need to rest after being involved in battle. Team Rocket break the rules by battling with two Pokemon at a time.
- Most importantly, Pokemon have feelings too! It was already clear that Pikachu had a strong personality in the first episode, but we see Caterpie's emotions in full effect as well. This is what really separates the TV show from the games.
- Speaking of which, a full minute is dedicated to Caterpie and Pikachu having a squeaky conversation. Despite the fact that we can't understand anything, this segment is strangely emotional and feels like the most significant thing to happen so far.
- Caterpie is a fucking hero. I want more Caterpie, but in fact this is the last we will see of Caterpie since he evolves into Metapod after defeating Koffing, Ekans and Meowth with String Shot. A move that does not do any damage in the game, but we'll overlook that.


04 - Challenge of the Samurai

- The titular Samurai is a 10 year old Pokemon trainer wielding a samurai sword.
- I know this is a world where children are allowed, nay, encouraged to wield lethal weapons, but even so the sword is a bit jarring.
- Samurai kid buries Ash harder than anyone has done so far. He comes around at the end of the episode although I'm not entirely sure why.
- Samurai kid somehow got his hands on a Pinsir, which makes me question why he's losing to all of these newbie trainers from Pallet Town.
- The Metapod vs Metapod battle is legitimately hilarious.
- I loved Team Rocket's shtick as a kid, but as an adult one recitement of their cute poem is enough. The show is self-aware, even as early as episode 4 Ash is calling them out on their repetitive bullshit.
- Meowth trying hard to overtake Misty as the show's most insufferable character.


05 - Showdown in Pewter City

- The first gym battle episode was a real letdown. The OP Pikachu gets rightfully crushed by Onyx, but "powers up" through a really odd montage, enough so that his electricity actually hurts Geodude and Onix. That's one strong Pikachu. But he still gets literally crushed by Onyx, until the sprinklers activate...
- Ash doesn't win, but Brock gives him the badge anyway, because "honour", "respect", "friendship" ...cliché anime nonsense. Brock also joins the squad to form the almighty Kanto trio.


06 - Clefairy and the Moon Stone

- A nothing episode. I suppose the point is to drown the young audience in cuteness overload by bombarbing them with Clefairys. Ash didn't even catch one!
- Brock caught a Zubat off screen, using it and his Onyx to great effect. Brock is easily the best trainer we've seen so far. Gym leader worthy.
- Misty chooses to battle for the first time, unleashing her Staryu in a river battle where Goldeen would have been perfectly acceptable.

This is one of those shows that I doubt I ever saw episodes in actual sequence, but somehow saw them all. It's always a weird syndication view, almost in a weird Tarantino sliced up order way. Love how Team Rocket is already getting Xpac heat with Emperor . And yeah that's LINKING this thread to the wrestling term one.

I love this thread, Emperor.

The lack of love for the anime thread is disappointing though.

Up to this point, Challenge of the Samurai is easily the best episode. Metapod vs Metapod is awesome, in wrestling terms, it's Rock vs. Austin.

Edit: Also, I'm going to be disappointed, if Emperor doesn't review all 1,234 episodes of the main series.

Aug 20, 2023 19:23:13 GMT Lony said:

I love this thread, Emperor.

The lack of love for the anime thread is disappointing though.

I did internally debate on where to place this thread, but Pokemon is intrinsically connected to video games.

Do you really want me clogging up the anime thread with hundreds of Poke-spam posts? A topic of this magnitude needs its own thread.

07 - The Water Flowers of Cerulean City

- Ash and Brock's encounter with Officer Jenny #2 in Cerulean City is fascinating. The morals of the Pokemon world. Guilty until proven innocent. Evidence of being a Pokemon trainer is enough to clear you of all suspicion. I would have thought that Pokemon trainers are more likely than civilians to be criminals...
- There is a sister epidemic in Kanto. Joys everywhere, Jennys everywhere, and now Misty has three sisters.
- Ash vs Misty was a great battle. The first good battle in the series. They found a good way to write Pikachu out of it, and after the battle one of Misty's sisters correctly pointed out that Pikachu would have wrecked the entire gym by himself.
- I'm learning that getting gym badges is incredibly easy...


08 - The Path to the Pokemon League

- The episode centres around a very strong trainer called AJ who set up his own unofficial gym. 98 wins in a row.
- AJ trains many Pokemon but his Sandshrew is the only one who sees action in the episode.

- You thought Pikachu was OP? AJ's Sandshrew breaks the scale. Let's break down what Sandshrew does.

• Takes out Ash's Pidgeotto and Butterfree faster than Brock Lesnar beat Kofi Kingston.
• Escapes effortlessly from Team Rocket's capture and finds his way back to AJ
• Defeats Team Rocket's Pokemon three-on-one. He finishes them off with Fissure. FISSURE!!!

- Ash has been a pretty annoying character, but I didn't mention this before because Misty and Meowth were even more annoying. Forget about that. Ash storms ahead of them to become the world's biggest cunt. Let's break down what Ash does.

• Bitches, moans and whines after losing to AJ.
• Accuses AJ of cheating (he didn't).
• Berates AJ about how he train his Pokemon throughout the whole episode (tough, but fair).
• Laughs at AJ when Sandshrew gets stolen.
• Tries to steal the rest of AJ's Pokemon.
• Don't take my word for it: Misty and Brock spent the entire episode facepalming and criticising Ash's actions.

- Of course after Team Rocket is defeated Ash and AJ are suddenly totally cool with each other.
- Fuck Ash Ketchum, I want to see the rest of the story told from AJ's point of view. His level 100 Sandshrew could wipe out the Elite Four by himself. He is worthy of our attention.

Looking forward to this.

- Pikachu giggling at Ash's misfortunes is fantastic. Smarmy git.

That was one of my favourite qualities of the early episode. He played the role well and it made their bond feel more earned.

- Ho-Oh is seen in the first episode?! What the hell? This predates Gen 2 doesn't it? I wonder when this moment gets referenced next.

My only memory and it could be Mandella'd is that they're talking about undiscovered Pokemon and they flash back to that clip among others. That was a cool moment that always stuck with me. New Pokemon could debut at any time on any platform so you had to tune in and keep your eyes peeled.

- There's an icon in the Pokemon Centre of the legendary Pokemon. Articuno, Zapdos, Moltres and...Arcanine?

That's one of those early in development ideas that was abandoned. Arcanine is based on Chinese mythology and is even dubbed the legendary Pokemon. However this was later revised and it just became the alternative version exclusive to Vulpix.

- A nothing episode. I suppose the point is to drown the young audience in cuteness overload by bombarbing them with Clefairys. Ash didn't even catch one!

Isn't this the episode where it turns out Pokemon are actually aliens? Or is it just Clefairy?

There is a sister epidemic in Kanto. Joys everywhere, Jennys everywhere

This and the Metapod battle was the ridiculous sense of humour that kept me coming back.

Episode 8 - The Path to the Pokemon League

I thought I remembered this episode but it turns out I'm conflating it with the other episode I watched on VHS. I'm pretty sure they reference Red and Blue in those games as learning tools for students?

Aug 21, 2023 17:23:00 GMT Big Pete said:

Isn't this the episode where it turns out Pokemon are actually aliens? Or is it just Clefairy?

Just Clefairy to my recollection.

09 - The School of Hard Knocks

- Pokemon Tech, a Pokemon trainer school for snobby rich kids. Graduation guarantees entry to Pokemon League without having to earn badges.

- Most of the episode is the students from Pokemon Tech reciting textbook knowledge of Pokemon, directly referencing concepts from the video game. The female student in particularly is condescending, arrogant, a bully, all the bad things.

- Big Pete , perhaps they reference Red and Blue in this episode, but I didn't catch it myself.

- Her Cubone loses in a battle to Pikachu where this happens:



- Female student is suddenly a kind person and her previous abysmal attitude is forgotten. Ugh. I know it's a kid's show and I am judging this from an adult perspective, but come on. Have some subtlety.


The next three episodes are so similar that I'm going to address them at the same time. Seriously, it's like they wrote a blueprint for one Ash-acquires-a-starter-Pokemon episode, copy-pasted it three times and switched a few things around.

10 - Bulbasaur and the Hidden Village
11 - Charmander - The Stray Pokémon
12 - Here Comes the Squirtle Squad

Ever wondered where Professor Oak gets his endless supply of Bulbasaurs, Charmanders and Squirtles? He heads to Parts Unknown, an unmarked area of the map somewhere around Cerulean City and Vermillion City. Ash, Misty and Brock get lost, and it is this strange world where they find themselves.

Along the way they stumble into many pits, cross many poorly-maintained bridges, fall into water, and encounter Pokemon cruelly abandoned by their trainers. I can imagine the bones of many brave explorers buried beneath the surface of this perilous area. No wonder it's not on the map.

These stories hammer home the distinct personalities of all Pokemon.
- Bulbasaur is a fierce guardian, defending the weakened Pokemon that form part of the Hidden Village, a secluded healing sanctuary ran by Melanie.
- Charmander is a loyal soldier, who is abandoned by his dastardly trainer Damien (perhaps one of the elusive trainers from Pallet Town?) on the promise that he would come back.
- Squirtle is a rebellious youth, also abandoned by his trainer, who menaces the local human communities with a gang of like-minded Squirtles.

GARY WATCH!!! Gary Oak was briefly sighted in Episode 12.

Ash puts himself in harm's way to save these troubled Pokemon from their cruel fates, and thus he wins their trust, and they accompany him on his journey.

The ever present Team Rocket appear in all three episodes, armed with an array of fiendish technological contraptions that would make both Wile E. Coyote and Doctor Robotnik go green with envy. In fact, they had a foolproof plan for catching Pikachu in the Charmander episode, a plan that quite reasonably did not take into account that a Charmander would appear from nowhere and blast them with a flamethrower. A real shame.

The Squirtle Squad episode, is the best of those three episodes, although the Charmander one is pretty sad for a kids show.

Aug 22, 2023 6:54:55 GMT Emperor said:

- Big Pete , perhaps they reference Red and Blue in this episode, but I didn't catch it myself.

So I had a look at it, and it's literally two seconds of footage. The kid pops open a simulation that's similar to Red and Blue to demonstrate how easily he could take down a Starmie to Misty.

Misty's reaction is priceless: What the hell is this?!!

It's crazy how the memory works. Of all the scenes, that was the one that stayed with me for over 20 years.

I don't remember most of these stories from childhood but the tearjerker Charmander episode stuck in mind. As did the Tentacruel episode which is coming up soon.

13 - Mystery at the Lighthouse

- We open with narration describing how Ash has caught six Pokemon and earned two gym badges.
- Brock and Misty spend far too long undermining these accomplishments, saying he didn't catch any Pokemon. Look, I know Ash can be an arrogant shit, but he clearly caught Caterpie and Pidgeotto. Furthermore, earning Pokemon's trust to join you is surely a greater achievement than mugging them and kidnapping them.
- Moving on, Ash "redeems himself" by catching a Krabby, which gets teleported away to the PC Professor Oak's lab.
- Ash is understandably confused by this ultra-advanced conditional teleportation technology. If teleportation exists, why are all these poor children sent out to travel alone in a dangerous world?
- They meet Bill at the Lighthouse and, just like in the video game, he is trapped inside a Pokemon costume.
- Bill talks about a mysterious giant Pokemon that calls to him from the sea. Because the Pokemon world revolves around Ash Ketchum, this unusually Dragonite-shaped Pokemon decides to make an appearance precisely when Ash is there.
- Master Pokemon Researcher Bill has not heard of Dragonite when Lance from the Elite Four, who must surely be one of the most famous trainers in the land, owns at least one Dragonite. I question his credibility.
- This is the same guy who thinks he knows what it's like to be a Kabuto by wearing a Kabuto costume. In that case, I'll buy a T-Rex costume: instant paleontologist!
- Team Rocket attack Dragonite and scare it away. The end.


14 - Electric Shock Showdown

- One of the more memorable Kanto episodes: Pikachu vs Raichu!
- A classic pro-wrestling story: Pikachu gets whooped, displays tremendous fighting spirit, comes back with a new strategy and outmaneouvres his bigger opponent.
- Pikachu the creationist rejects evolution.
- Team Rocket temporarily turn babyface, becoming cheerleaders for Pikachu after witnessing his fighting spirit in the Pokemon Centre recovery zone.
- AJ's Sandshrew would have demolished Raichu without breaking a sweat.


15 - Battle Aboard the St. Anne

- The introduction of Giovanni the unknown leader of Team Rocket, Pokemon trading, Pokemon cloning, Team Rocket grunts, and Magikarp!
- St. Anne is the place to make up Pokemon moves. Starmie - Spinning Tackle! Raticate - Super Fang!
- The most tragic event of the series happens: Ash gets talked into trading away his Butterfree for a Raticate! The moment is treated with the sentimentality it deserves. Fortunately Ash suffers from eternal regret, pleads with the gentleman to reverse the trade, and he kindly obliges.
- What's this about Pokemon cloning? Well, there's a big showdown between the passengers of St. Anne and Team Rocket. During this battle, Ash sends Pikachu into battle and nine other Pikachus appear from nowhere. The same repeats with Charmander and Pidgeotto. Ash issues the same commands to these groups of 10 Pokemon and they all listen to him! That's pretty powerful stuff. However, not even 10 copies of Ash's pokemon can beat AJ's Sandshrew.
- Ash, Misty, Brock, Jesse and James are stuck on the sinking cruise ship. Pokemon's first cliffhanger.


16 - Pokemon Shipwreck

- Meowth is extraordinarily happy about being in a sunk cruise ship.
- Misty's Goldeen finally appears! Goldeen rescues Team Rocket from an untimely demise.
- However James' Magikarp gets MVP of the episode, somehow dragging all three Team Rocket members out of the depths. Worth the expensive price he paid for it.
- Not only that, as the gang float aimlessly on debris, Magikarp evolves after being cruelly rejected by the team and kicked into the sea. Yep, the Pokemon that's impossible to evolve...evolves. Wouldn't have happened if Ash weren't there.

- The team gets caught up in a Gyarados Typhoon for another cliffhanger! How bold this show has become.

- AJ's Sandshrew would have whooped that gathering of Gyarados' with both eyes closed.

17 - Island of the Giant Pokemon

- My first thought is: are they parodying "The Island of Doctor Moreau" by H.G. Wells? The Simpsons did it, so it's not Farfetch'd.
- The Pokemon get separated from their trainers. Part of the adventure is chronicled from the view of the Pokemon, who are helpfully subtitled.
- Ekans wisely points out that Pokemon aren't bad, they only do bad things because their Masters are bad. Meowth's mind is blown by this relevation. Meowth does bad things because Meowth is bad. AJ's Sandshrew is god tier because AJ's Sandshrew is god tier.
- Guest appearances from Zapdos, Moltres, Rhydon and...the apparently extinct Kabutops. All of these Pokemon are enormous, as the title says. Why? Who knows. There's also a giant Pikachu.
- This episode is utterly bizarre. If it ends with "it was all a dream", I wouldn't be surprised.
- Turns out there is a rational explanation. The giant Pokemon are robotic, and this is a theme park called Pokemon Land. So, not H.G. Wells, but a Jurassic Park parody.
- Ash, Misty and Brock end up on a beach resort, somehow. A strange end to this strange trilogy.


18 - Tentacool & Tentacruel

- I thought this journey in Bizarro World was over, but nope. We're on an island tourist town called Puerta Vista or something. A Tentacool infestation is killing tourism.
- An unappealing woman who resembles a second rate Crash Bandicoot villain runs the show. She is willing to pay a lot of money to have the Tentacools exterminated. Misty objects. The rest of the population of Bueno Puerto does not. Including a certain Team Rocket.
- Remember the giant Pokemon from the previous episode? Well, a legitimate Tentacruel appears which is three times as big as those robots. Brock instantly remarks what I am thinking "That's impossible!" Ash opens the Pokedex. The Pokedex has no answers. It's huge because it is.
- Of course we get a whole Godzilla-destroying-the-city sequence because Japan. Also a Space Invaders reference.
- Things get even weirder when a Tentacool possesses Meowth and uses its voice to communicate in English. What's going on? In the game Tentacools are the irritating Zubats of the water, here they are omnipotent laser-shooting mind-controlling beasts.
- I'm not kidding about the laser shooting. That happens.
- Tentacruel is pissed because human pollution destroys the oceans, so he's here to destroy the human homes. Fair enough.

- How is Tentacruel defeated? By AJ's Sandshrew, of course, aren't you paying attention?

- Just kidding, AJ's too busy beating the Elite Four. Tentacruel is persuaded to leave by kind words and reason. How lovely.

- The craziest part of this episode is Tentacruel believing Misty when she says humans will stop destroying the Pokemon habitats. Bahahahahahahaha.


Can we get back to normal please?

The Raichu episode single handedly always got him over with me. It was his one moment and I've let it ride for all eternity.

I'm loving Emperor's push for AJ's Sandshrew.

I remember really enjoying this run of episodes. It wasn't that the previous episodes were bad but they were beginning to feel formulaic so to see them change the structure or tell these interesting one-off stories like Dragonite and the lighthouse made the show more alive and stimulating. The three parter especially was appointment viewing and I remember thinking it would have more repercussions than it did.

I completely forgot about that twist in the giant Pokemon episode as well. The way that I remembered it, it was just this island and they happened to eventually get rescued and never speak of it again. As soon as you mentioned it, it immediately unlocked that memory.

The Butterfree trade is also another memory I'm conflating with an upcoming episode that left me a little bummed out.

When you originally started watching the anime, Emp, did you own any of the games?

I owned Pokemon Red and that's the reason I got interested in the TV series.

I'm in it for the Pokemon battles and Ash's quest to glory. Later I'm interested to see how the Generation 2 and beyond Pokemon are presented, that'll all be new to me. Hence these strange filler episodes with super-powered Godzilla Gen 1 Pokemon aren't doing as much for me. Your point about repercussions rings true, perhaps the main reason I don't care is that I know these episodes are truly one-off and we'll never see any of these characters ever again. Not even AJ and Sandshrew, the strongest trainer-mascot duo in all the land.

It's all good, they give me plenty of opportunities to write snarky comments which is half the fun.

19 - The Ghost of Maiden's Peak

- Like the Tentacools in the previous episode, Gastly is much more powerful on TV than on the Game Boy. This Gastly is more like a Boggart from Harry Potter, shapeshifting to the greatest fear of the Pokemon that challenges it. Untouchable. Especially so when it transforms into AJ's Sandshrew.
- I didn't think any Ghost pokemon were encountered prior to Ash's quest to catch a ghost Pokemon to defeat Sabrina. The memories, they do fade...
- The filleriest of filler episodes, but at least it ended with a wholesome twist.


20 - Bye Bye Butterfree

- Hold on, hold on, hold on. A few episodes ago you toy with my emotions by feigning that Ash trades away his precious Butterfree, and now you throw this episode title at me? What the hell, GameFreak? You better have a damn good explanation.
- It's mating season, so the Butterfrees are high in the sky sowing their seeds. The gang retrieves a hot air balloon from nowhere to explore the scene. So do other Pokemon trainers, who casually throw their Butterfree Pokeballs out of their balloons. Where do the pokeballs go after the Butterfrees are released? How do they return to the trainer's hands? One of life's great mysteries.
- Team Rocket scoops all the Butterfrees (but one) in a net. None of the dozens of trainers send their Pokemon to do anything about it, so it's up to Ash's Butterfree.
- An unexpected highlight is Jesse smashing Starmie with a sledgehammer. Who needs Pokemon when good old fashioned weapons will do?
- Ash's Butterfree saves the day, and his love interest falls for him.
- The lovely Butterfree couple are sent across the ocean to do their funky business. Farewell, Butterfree!
- We are treated to a delightful montage. I'm surprised how much feels I feel for Caterpie: Ash's first catch.
- Does this mean Krabby is being promoted to the main roster? Surprise appearance at the Royal Rumble?


21 - Abra and the Psychic Showdown

- The episode I most vividly remember as a child.
- Ash's journey to Saffron City gym features brief appearances from Team Rocket, the warp pads from Pokemon Red, and a mysterious little girl.
- Saffron City gym is an eerily bland and vast building full of grown men training their telekinetic abilities. Between this and the little girl, this episode must be a strong influence for Eleven in Stranger Things. Seriously.
- Abra, who becomes Kadabra, obliterates Pikachu. I'm just noticing that Pikachu is a real punching bag throughout the series. That's how you become extra tough, like AJ's Sandshrew.
- Evolving during battle is some real bullshit. Not against the rules, says Misty. It is against the video game rules!
- On that point, why did Sabrina choose this precise moment to evolve Abra in battle? Because the world revolves around Ash Ketchum, that's why.
- Things get real fucked up after Ash surrenders. The little girl shrinks the team and teleports them into a doll's house. She attempts to crush them by rolling a ball. The team stand there, like that Austin Powers goon being confronted by the steamroller. Fortunately a random stranger who is not related to Sabrina in any way appears and teleports them out.
- The events explain why Saffron City is eerily empty. But you know who wasn't in the dollhouse? AJ.


22 - The Tower of Terror

- Lavender Town's ominous structure is populated by the terrifying trio of Gastly, Haunter and Gengar.
- They are not terrifying, nor malevolent. They are a mischievous family who just want to make themselves laugh by pranking and frightening their visitors.
- After many antics, including Ash and Pikachu temporarily becoming ghosts, Ash wins the treachearous trio over by joining in on their games and laughing with them.
- Haunter follows Ash back to Saffron while Gengar and Gastly giggle at the expense of Team Rocket.
- The plot twist is that Gastly, Haunter and Gengar were Machop, Machoke and Machamp, until AJ's Sandshrew sent them to an early grave in a three-on-one Handicap match, turning them into giggling ghouls.


23 - Haunter vs. Kadabra

- Are you hyped? I sure am. The invicible Kadabra against the only type of Pokemon that can defeat it. Pokemon always delivers on their episode titles...
- ...until now. I have never been more let down in all my life. In a nutshell: Haunter no-shows twice, Pikachu steps up to the plate, Haunter appears, makes Sabrina laugh, Kadabra also laughs, Ash gets a badge, roll credits.
- Honestly, I was legitimately looking forward to seeing how the Ghost vs Psychic showdown plays out on screen, and seeing Haunter use some actual attacks rather than fuck around.



- The main plot is an enormous disappointment but there are some noteworthy events on the sidelines.
- Haunter uses Lick on Misty. Misty is paralysed.



- In a subplot I won't bother to describe, Haunter tries to make Jesse laugh. Jesse tries her hardest not to laugh.



- Misty and Brock get transformed into dolls and have a nice doll conversation with Sabrina's mother, who has apparently lived life as a doll for a very long time. She's not too sad about it.
- This would make for an extremely effective horror movie concept. It's beyond fucked up.
- Ash now has four Pokemon badges but he's only actually defeated one gym leader: Lieutenant Surge. The Pokemon League is a joke. Where's the regulatory body? Where's the impartial officiating of gym battles? How has Sabrina not been arrested on multiple serious criminal charges? OK that last one I can answer: she has limitless psychic powers and can do what she likes. Still, this whole episode reeks of bullshit.
- AJ didn't need to make Sabrina laugh to win. He didn't need any ghost Pokemon. Why? Sandshrew.
- It's not all doom and gloom as this episode contains the best running gag to date: Ash not figuring out that the mystery man is Sabrina's father.

That three-episode arc, where Ash takes on Sabrina is some good shit pal.

Bye Bye Butterfree is another "sad" episode, it definitely hits you in the feels, maybe even more so than the episode where Ash gets Charmander.

Not only was I still watching but Pokemon was absolutely my favourite show during this period was just going from strength to strength.

I completely forgot about the Gastly one off as well. I remember liking it for the same reason I enjoyed the Dragonite episode and it was just an interesting context to put that Pokemon in.

Bye Bye Butterfree is a contender for one of the most bittersweet episodes of any kids show. I'm struggling to think of another contender but I remember being really sombre the morning I watched it. Now I can understand why because after the tease in the SS Anne episode I thought Butterfree was going to be a life-er. That's why I ended up conflating the episodes because it happened so soon. The Butterfree arc was one of the genuine highlights of the show and the one thing that always stuck with me.

There was really little time to mourn as the Sabrina three-parter really raised the stakes of the show. That was appointment viewing and I was really curious to see what the ghosts could possibly do against Kadabra who was easily the strongest Pokemon that had battled. Even as a kid I was underwhelmed when they didn't battle, but I could live with the route they went down. I wonder if they toned down the battling aspect on the show to make it more suitable to kids? Cartoon violence on Team Rocket was one thing, but Ash Undertaling his way to the Pokemon League just made it more acceptable to kids.

By this point, I would have just received my own copy of Pokemon Blue. I certainly think this changed my perspective of the show and how certain areas were portrayed. If it was true to the games, the gang would have spent about 10 episodes banging their heads against the walls in Rock Tunnel. Playing the game kind of reminded me of trying to watch a show after reading the book. There's that curiosity to see how the show-runners bring it to life but more often than not it's usually never done justice.

Granted if there was a Big Pete version of the anime, it would just be me walking around aimlessly slaughtering masses of wild pokemon with bubbles and every now and then stumbling onto a gym. Even Twitch had more sense of direction than I did.

From what I understand, the manga is a more faithful adaptation and takes itself a little more seriously. It's always been one of those things I've been curious to check out, but just haven't made the time for.

24 - Primeape goes Bananas

- Ash calls Professor Oak because he loves being undermined, patronised and told how poorly he's doing compared to his peers.

- Ash is motivated to catch more Pokemon, but he's inexplicably forgotten everything. He tries to throw a Pokeball at a fresh Mankey, which doesn't work, then tries to fight Mankey himself. Only halfway through the episode does he remember that he has to battle them first. Using his Pokemon. AJ would never make so man rookie mistakes.

- We also get the fascinating backstory of Ash's cap.

- Mankey mocking Ash's cap twist gesture is the highlight of the episode.

- The anime cheapens evolution by have it happen all the time, for no reason. It's basically the Trance limit break in Final Fantasy 9. James gives Mankey the boot and Mankey evolves into Primeape. Charmander somehow defeats Primeape and Ash catches it.

- Today I learnt Mankey/Primeape is a combination of a pig and monkey. I always thought it was just a monkey.

- Special shout out to the music. The adaptations of the video game songs are wonderful, a delightful example being the tune at the end of this episode.


25 Pokemon Scent-sensation

- A good moment to talk about a topic I have been avoiding. Puns. The writers of Pokemon love their wordplay. Team Rocket in particular throw out a dozen awful puns per episode. I'm sure it's the main reason they exist. We Brits love our wordplay, but the Pokepuns are real bottom of the barrel, this episode title being a prime example. Let's move on from this Gastly topic.

- Ash's outspoken nature really gets him into trouble this time. He bad mouths perfume which gets you instantly cancelled in Saffron City. Ash is kicked out of the perfume store and banned from the gym (word spreads quickly in perfume land).

- Team Rocket saves the day. They take Ash to Wall Market, acquire a variety of bits and bobs, engage in a squatting competition, all to disguise Ash as a pretty young lady.

- It doesn't take long for Ash's ruse to fall apart. So begins his mission to take down the Elitist Perfume Matriarchy.

- The terrible battle comes down to Pikachu vs Gloom. Ash to Pikachu; "You know you're gonna lose, but you still wanna fight?" Ash has to be one of the all time dumbest characters. Even dumber than Homer Simpson. We're supposed to root for this absolute cretin.

- Team Rocket interferes, Ash, Brock and Misty save the gym from burning down, Ash personally saves Gloom, there's your gym badge. Sigh.


26 - Hypno's Naptime

- No more travelling between city adventures, the episode starts with the gang entering a new city with an intimidating New York appearance. Hop Hop Hop Town, apparently. This enormous city is the setting for a filler episode.

- The theme of the town is terrible police work. For three days there has been an epidemic of missing children and sleepy Pokemon. Obviously a Hypno.

- Officer Jenny's Sleep Wave Detector goes off. That's right, the police force in Hop City has Sleep Wave Detectors, a conveniently ideal gadget for this highly unlikely scenario, and it took three days for it to pick up any waves. Conveniently, it works the exact moment Ash and the gang arrive on the scene.

- They follow the waves and arrive at the Pokemon Mansion, the home of the Pokemon Lovers. The extremely rich folk are struggling to sleep because they work so hard and have such busy city lives. Their solution: evolve a Drowzee and use Hypno to replace medication.

- I get this is a kid's show about creatures with infinite powers, but the writing is still god awful. Barely any thought has been put into this stuff. The blessing in disguise is that it's easy for me to snark away.

- Misty gets hypnotised, starts acting like a Seel, and leads the team to a clearing where all the lost children are also pretending to be Pokemon. I'm not sure which is funnier, the Bulbasaur boy crawling on the ground, or the Magikarp girl splashing in a puddle.

- Definitely the Magikarp girl.

- This scene inspired the most cringe video in the world

- You thought all this was dumb? The best is yet to come. The solution to this problem is to USE DROWZEE'S SLEEP WAVES TO UNHYPNOTIZE THE CHILDREN AND UNSLEEP THE POKEMON.

- Team Rocket steal the funniest moment of the episode away from Magikarp girl. They use a mirror to trick Hypno, but that fails, so they resort to lassos to snag Drowzee and Hypno. James asks why they didn't start with the lassos. Jesse's answer "We have to fill a half hour!" The irony being that the entire mirror segment didn't even last a minute.

- The episode ends with Misty tripping over, sending a Pokeball rolling towards a nearby Psyduck. Psyduck nudges the ball and catches itself. Misty is not amused.

- Despite all my criticism, that was a genuinely fun episode.


27 - Pokemon Fashion Flash

- In an undisclosed location that looks eerily like Hop Hop Hop Town, Brock is eagerly leading the party to a specific location. Where could it be? Ah, a Pokemon Breeding Centre, led by award-winning Pokemon Breeder Suzie.

- Meanwhile, Team Rocket have set up a Pokemon beauty salon. Way ahead of their time considering beauty contests didn't appear in the video games until the third or fourth generation. Meowth discusses the economic implications of spending too much on advertising against expected revenue. A theme that is regrettably not explored further.

- The academic discussions continue with the theme of the episode: inner beauty versus outer beauty. Spoiler alert: inner beauty wins.

- Team Rocket are super effective fashion shop owners. Not only did they have a remarkable amount of screentime, they even wrote a fashion-themed variation of their motto. They could settle down and make a tidy profit if they weren't required to follow a measly Pikachu around for eternity.

- Psyduck makes a valuable contribution to saving the day, unappreciated by his reluctant owner Misty.

- Finally, Suzie gifts her Vulpix to Brock. A great addition to the squad.


28 - The Punchy Pokemon

- Remember when Rey Mysterio wrestled the Big Show and Rey adopted the strategy of trying to win using power moves? No? Stay with me, I have a point here.

- Ash encounters a Hitmonchan strolling around. To defeat this mighty foe, he gives Pikachu a pair of boxing gloves and teaches him how to box. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to work out what happens.

- The episode quickly turns from farcical comedy to a psychological drama. The owner of Hitmonchan has abandoned his daughter to train Pokemon. His daughter was hiding behind a tree. She popped out to beg his father to come home. He callously refuses. Why?

- Deadbeat dad wants to win the P1 Climax, the greatest tournament of Fighting Pokemon in all of Japan. Seriously, it is called the P1. I'm not passing up the opportunity to drown my readers in NJPW references and the most dreadful wordplay.

- Brock identifies this as the perfect opportunity for Ash to use Primeape. Brock volunteers Geodude, who is a fighting Pokemon in spirit if not on paper. On the other hand, Team Rocket have to follow the letter of the Pokemon Handbook, so instead of pretending one of their own Pokemon is Fighting for plot convenience, they need to steal one.

- The P1 Climax opens with a fierce battle between Kenta Machopbashi (I'm sorry) and Will OsPrimeape (I'm so so sorry). Machopbashi gets the upperhand with power moves, throwing OsPrimeape over the top rope, but Ash motivates Will to get back into the match, and he pins Machopbashi for the three count after a devastating Mega Kick.

- Next up, Kota IbusHitmonlee (please forgive me) takes on Geodude Cobb (I'm not even trying anymore). Geodude Cobb is accompanied by his manager...BROCK LESNAR! An anticlimatic match sees Brock throw in the towel after a few seconds of Cobb being pummelled into oblivion. This really puts a dent in Brock's credibility as a Pokemon trainer.

- IbusHitmonlee moves on to face Hiroshi Hitmonchanahashi (admit it, this one is good). The mischievous Meowth Yano (sorry again) makes a surprise appearance, using superglue to fix Hitmonchanahashi to the mat. The run-ins continue as deadbeat dad and his daughter rush the ring to block IbusHitmonlee from delivering a final blow. The referee is nowhere to be seen, typical awful NJPW officiating. Deadbeat dad surrenders, eliminating Hitmonchanahashi from the P1 Climax.

- All that excitement leads to the P1 Climax final: IbusHitmonlee against OsPrimeape. It is revealed that the manager of IbusHitmonlee is the legendary villainous faction Rocket Club. OsPrimeape uses his superior agility to sneak under IbusHitmonlee's kicks and score with some offense. Meowth Yano makes an appearance to support Rocket Club: he has rigged an exploding ring! An unexpected deathmatch, my goodness! All goes according to plan: IbusHitmonlee climbs to the top rope, leaving OsPrimeape vulnerable to the boom, but Yano's exploding ring does not activate! Primeape connects with his finisher, the Seismic Toss Stormbreaker, earning the knockout victory.

- The deadbeat dad offers to train OsPrimeape to become a "true P1 Champion", right after OsPrimeape won the P1 Climax. Ehhhh??? That's the excuse they're giving for Ash to give up a strong Pokemon?

- What happened to the exploding ring? Riki PikaChoshu (last one, I promise!) secured the device. He hands it back to Yano, the device activates and blasts away Rocket Club.

- This is an appropriate time to mention that Pokemon have finishing moves, described as "special attacks". We've seen a few throughout the series, most recently Vulpix's Fire Spin and Machop/Primeape's Seismic Toss.

Surprised some episodes are still banned after all this time.

29 - Sparks Fly For Magnemite

- We are in Gringy City, a city that is mostly abandoned due to being overly-industriased. That doesn't stop there being a Pokemon Centre full of Pokemon in intensive care units - as far as I can tell it exists only to serve the plot of this episode.

- The Power Plant goes down, which wouldn't normally be a big deal in an abandoned city, except oh wait the Pokemon are going to die.

- Ash and co. explore the Power Plant and get assailed by a creepy Magnemite followed by an army of Grimers led by Muk. Ash unleashes his Pokedex three times in the span of a minute.

- The Slimy Syndicate trap the team in the Power Plant's control room along with a couple of scientists. Everyone's like "how do we deal with these angry Pokemon?"

- The scientists use their extreme levels of intelligence to point out that the gang are Pokemon trainers. Apparently they are not intelligent enough to be Pokemon trainers themselves, in a place that is filled with aggressive wild Pokemon.

- The scientists may be dumb, but not as dumb as Ash, Brock and Misty. These so-called Pokemon trainers don't bother to send their own Pokemon into battle. Ash uses his one Pokemon, Pikachu (who is sick and low on energy) to battle the army.

- Fortunately this collection of idiots are saved by a medley of Magnemites and Magnetons who aid Pikachu in unleashing high voltage hell on the Slimy Syndicate.

- The Muk is weakened. I think to myself that Ash should catch that bugger. I could hardly believe my eyes when Ash actually did it! Good to see a sole sensible decision being made, but that doesn't cancel out the pure idiocy of everything else.

- I'm pretty sure Ash doesn't have six Pokemon in his team since he recently gave away Butterfree and Primeape, but nevertheless stinky Muk gets sent to Professor Oak's lab.


30 - Dig Those Diglett!

- I'd take awful puns like Scent-sation over these uninspired episode titles.

- Featuring a lovely appearance from Gary Oak, who steals the show with his fast car, his winning personality, his fan club of beautiful ladies, and his encyclopedia Pokemon knowledge.

- Also featuring Pokemon's most annoying character to date: perpetually shouting red-faced Italian-accented dam builder. He is mad because Digletts are ruining his plans to build a dam.

- Pokemon trainers arrive to take out the Diglett, but the Pokemon refuse to leave their Pokeballs because this is the Diglett's home. The slaves have a choice? No way!

- The trainers leave the scene, not including AJ and his Sandshrew, who was smart enough never to come here in the first place.

- I have accepted that evolution works differently in the anime. That is until Team Rocket explicitly explain how Pokemon need to accrue experience to evolve. This dialogue is immediately followed by Ekans and Koffing evolving because...I don't know. Experience from conversation about evolution, I guess? The writing is even worse than the Sly Cooper series.

- Charbokkah and Weezing immediately get their asses whooped by the army of Diglett and Dugtrio.

- Today I learnt Mankey/Primeape is a combination of a pig and monkey. I always thought it was just a monkey.

TIL as well. In fact I don't even associate Primeape with simians either to me it's just a generic Pokemon.

- The anime cheapens evolution by have it happen all the time, for no reason. It's basically the Trance limit break in Final Fantasy 9. James gives Mankey the boot and Mankey evolves into Primeape. Charmander somehow defeats Primeape and Ash catches it.

Yeah, it seems like it operates on a kids show logic. I do like how some monsters have their own unique evos, like I'm pretty sure Slowpoke evolves after it fishes Shellder with it's tail.

He bad mouths perfume which gets you instantly cancelled in Saffron City

Hang on, isn't Erika the Celadon City Gym leader? What jurisdiction does she have over Saffron? I kid, I barely even remember Erika in the anime.

- This scene inspired the most cringe video in the world

You leave Brizzy out of this!!!

True story, I thought Brizzy for years was former AEW/Impact wrestler Kylie Rae. Wasn't until years later where I came across the video I realised I suffer from a bad case of face blindness!

That Hypno episode sounds great. Instantly remembered the Magikarp girl and the debut of Psyduck!

- Finally, Suzie gifts her Vulpix to Brock. A great addition to the squad.

SPOILERS and this is just my memory but I don't think this is the last we see of Suzie either. Or at least she's involved with Brock's disappearance during the Orange Islands.

I was a fan of the Vulpix addition as well. It gave Brock more personality than just being the womanizer/rock guy of the group. I think giving the partners some additions made sense from a branding POV and gave them more utility than being Ash's cheer squad.

- This is an appropriate time to mention that Pokemon have finishing moves, described as "special attacks". We've seen a few throughout the series, most recently Vulpix's Fire Spin and Machop/Primeape's Seismic Toss.

I like it too, especially for the secondary Pokemon. It's an easy way to teach the viewers new moves, whereas in the games I don't think there were that many exclusive moves. Of course the main cast all have multiple moves which I think is fine since they take up so much screen time, allowing Bulbasaur to use Razor Leaf and Vine Whip just makes him more interesting than usual.

- I have accepted that evolution works differently in the anime. That is until Team Rocket explicitly explain how Pokemon need to accrue experience to evolve. This dialogue is immediately followed by Ekans and Koffing evolving because...I don't know. Experience from conversation about evolution, I guess? The writing is even worse than the Sly Cooper series.

It must operate under Legends Arceus rules (ie there's a little notification that tells you it's ready to evolve and you can click on it and manually activate the evolve feature instead of it automatically cutting to a cutscene).

I'm pretty sure we're near the end of the original run of episodes. Let me see...about five more English episodes and then Pokemon would be taken off the air for months in Japan.

I appreciate the comments, Big Pete! In return here's a big batch of episodes.


31 - The Ninja Poke-Showdown

- Pokemon have listened to my feedback on naing episodes. That's an interesting title. I genuinely don't know which Pokemon they are referring to, and I am keen to find out.

- Repeating a familiar theme, the gang are lost in the forest, cross a precarious bridge, and stumble on a never before encountered location.

- The location is a mansion filled with booby traps: secret doors, invisible walls, a Voltorb under the floorboards. A female ninja abushes Ash, who I first thought was Jesse in disguise. She challenges Ash to a one-on-one contest. Venonat against Bulbasaur.

- Ash reveals all four of Bulbasaur's moves: Tackle, Whirlwind (what?!), Vine Whip and Leech Seed. Razor Leaf was temporarily forgotten for the duration of this battle. Leech Seed is a weak move in the game but it obliterates the Venonat.

- Enter Koga, who is not impressed by his sister's failure. He insists on a two-Pokemon battle. Round one is Pidgeotto vs Venonat. Koga utters the word "experience", causing Venonat to instantly evolve into Venomoth Ash could take the hint and get an instant evolution by saying the magic word, but instead he sends Pidgeotto into battle. Pidgeotto loses straight away to a Stun Spore/Sleep Powder combo.

- Team Rocket appear in Kabuki costumes. Venomoth, Venonat and Charmander team up to face them. James reveals his secret identity as Spiderman by unleashing webs from his hands, stunning all three Pokemon and preventing them from attacking. You can't make this shit up. It makes me wonder why Team Rocket don't do this every time.

- After some shenanigans involving exploding Voltorbs, Team Rocket are disposed via Psyduck. Yes, this is Psyduck's shining moment. Psyduck humiliates himself trying to Tail Whip and Scratch the enemies, before suffering a headache so severe it unleashes some brutal psychic moves. Psyduck is now Misty's hero, a status that lasts until the credits roll in a few minutes.

- To my great surprise, Koga doesn't hand Ash a badge and send him on his way. The battle resumes: Charmander vs Golbat. Charmander knows Ember, Flamethrower and Fire Spin, the latter of which takes out Golbat. Ash receives a Soul Badge, which is half-earned. He didn't exactly defeat two of Koga's Pokemon. Only one.


32 - The Flame Pokemon-athon!

- The team find themselves at the Pokemon Ranch, a place where it is illegal to catch Pokemon. The area is monitored by a Growlithe and a Ponyta. The latter is ridden by a Pokemon breeder called Lara, who has a yeehaw southern American accent.

- The Ranch hosts a regular Pokemon race and, as luck would have it, Ash has arrived just in time. A chap called Dario enters the scene, who boldly claims he will win the race with his Dodrio. Despite not saying anything particularly controversial, he is instantly declared a jerk and the villain of the episode. Dario is now called Yeehaw Gary Oak.

- It turns out Yeehaw Gary is a jerk because he hired Team Rocket to help him win the race. A sneak attack at night injures Lana. Ash earns Ponyta's trust and takes over. I'm making a bold prediction: Ponyta evolves to help Ash win the race.

- The race begins. Participanting teams include Misty/Starmie, Brock/Onyx, Pikachu/Squirtle, Random/Electrode and Random/Rhyhorn. It's Pokemon-meets-Wacky-Races, and boy does it deliver. Hilarious antics all around, my favourite being Electrode gaining a ton of speed by rolling down a steep hill, only to fall into a Team Rocket pitfall and literally explode, taking out a bunch of other teams.

- Ash and Yeehaw Gary speed down the final stretch. Ponyta is still Ponyta so my prediction appears to have failed. Hold on! Dodrio pecks Ponyta, sending the horse falling back. Ponyta gained so much experience from taking that attack that he evolves into Rapidash. Rapidash wins. My obvious prediction came true!

- AJ and Sandshrew are not present because they won the race five times in a row and humbly retired.

- Entertaining episode although I do tire of evolution being used as a crutch.


33 - The Kangaskhan Kid

- Starring: Jungle Boy, the World's Worst Dad, a Rocket Punch performed by Team Rocket using actual rockets, and the usual group of delinquents.

- Said delinquents find themselves in the Safari Zone. I look forward to an episode of Ash throwing pebbles at rare Pokemon. Unfortunately, this does not happen. In the first minute, Ash tries to catch a Pokemon and gets arrested. For trying to catch a Pokemon. In the place that literally exists to catch rare Pokemon.

- Meanwhile, Team Rocket have a grand plan to steal a herd of Kangaskhan, and they would have done so, if it weren't for that meddling Jungle Boy and his boomerang. Jungle Boy is a Mowgli-type character who was raised in the wild by the Kangaskhan. How did he end up there? It's simple. When he was three years old his father dropped him out of a helicopter on a safari trip.

- It took five years for the parents to come looking for their lost child at the place they dropped them. Five years, that's a long time, isn't it? You'd have thought the parents would have looked a little sooner. There's a simple explanation, they are following Rule #1 of Pokemon: The World Revolves Around Ash Ketchum. All important events must happen in the presence of the Almighty Ash. Hence the parents had to wait for Ash to arrive before revealing themselves.

- While that is happening, Team Rocket built an enormous Kangaskhan machine with superb offensive and defensive capabilities, including the aforementioned rocket punch. They really need some better career guidance. At this point I must confess that it is James who came up with the moniker "Jungle Boy". I plagiarised.

- The delinquents fight off Team Rocket, leading to an unexpected ending. Instead of Jungle Boy rejoining his family, his parents don Tarzan suits and become Jungle Mama and Jungle Papa. Even more unexpected is Ash not catching any Pokemon in the place designed to catch any Pokemon. Most surprising of all is no miracle evolutions, but that's only because Kangaskhan can't evolve.


34 - The Bridge Bike Gang

- The gang encounter a bridge. A 10-mile long bridge that is not crossable by foot, but there is another option: the bicycle, a sacred item in the Pokemon world. Misty reminds Ash that he destroyed her bicycle in the first episode. This is the reason Misty started following Ash around in the first place. Nice callback.

- Conveniently, Nurse Joy has a sidequest available, and she is willing to provide bicycles for the gang to deliver a package to Sunnytown and its poorly-stocked Pokemon Centre. Cue a nice cycling scene, with the cycling music from the video game in the background.

- The Bicycle Gang challenges Ash to a battle. Their trainer throws out a Golem. A GOLEM?!!? What the hell! Ash smartly chooses Bulbasaur, but Golem no-sells Vine Whip despite the double weaknesses. Golem no-sells Charmander's fire attacks until it gets too hot and loses control. Golem, return!

- Another trainer steps in and throws out a Cloyster. Misty steps up to the plate. Psyduck volunteers itself and becomes the laughing stock of the arena with an amusing demonstration of the Tail Whip and Scratch attacks.

- The battle is rudely interrupted by, you guessed it, Team Rocket. A brief flashback shows that Jesse and James were the original cool bikers, so they are adored by the gang. Before they manage to dogpile the crew, the police show up and scatter the villains.

- The Bicycle Gang learn about Ash's Pokemon-healing mission and turn babyface to escort the team. They reach Sunnytown, all is well.


35 - Ditto's Mysterious Mansion

- Ash and friends take shelter in a mysterious mansion, where they encounter an odd-looking Pikachu.



- Ash tries to catch Ditto, but is interrupted by a female (Duplica) dressed up as Ash. Her costume is deliberate, which doesn't make a whole lot of sense. She had to anticipate Ash arriving and get an appropriate costume, including his rare exclusive cap. Sounds absurd, but it's logical if we consider rule #1 of Pokemon: The World Revolves Around Ash Ketchum.

- Duplica and Ash have a battle. Ditto defeats Bulbasaur with its own moves. Duplica reveals her stash of costumes, which also happens to have Misty's exact clothes. This is beyond creepy. On the other hand, if you're born with a name like Duplica, do you really have a choice in life?

- Team Rocket steal Ditto and discover his one weakness: he can't transform his face. Team Rocket are not impressed. Their intimidation does what Duplica's kindness never achieved: force Ditto to transform its face. Ditto is now a perfect copycat!

- Cue the arrival of Ash, Brock, Misty and Duplica dressed in Team Rocket costumes and imitating their rhyme. Ash: "now I know why they like saying all that dumb stuff so much. It's fun!" Bahahaha.

- Team Rocket try to escape on a balloon but Ditto transforms into a cannon and fires Pikachu at the balloon to stop them. Yep. That happened. Despite that, Team Rocket are the heroes of the episode because they succeeded in training Ditto to transform its face.


36 - Pikachu's Goodbye

- You can pull that shit with a disposable Pokemon like Butterfree, but you ain't convincing me that Pikachu, the eternal mascot of the franchise, is leaving.

- The group encounter a family of wild Pikachu. Pikachu tries to befriend them, and succeeds, until Ash scares them away. One of the wild Pikachu falls into the river and is helplessly carried down the current, which is odd because Electric types are strong against Water. The other Pikachu (including Ash's) club together to save the day.

- The events of the episode lead Ash to decide that this is the best place for Pikachu, and makes the difficult choice to leave him there. Pikachu wants to go with Ash, but Ash's stubbornness holds firm. Cue a two minute tearjerker montage of Ash and Pikachu's finest moments. Nice try, but I don't believe it for a second. Pikachu is here to stay.

- Montage over, Pikachu returns to Ash, the wild Pikachu say goodbye, all is well.

- Breaking the Guinness world record for most times "Pika" was said in a single episode of television. 789 times. I counted.

- What was the point of this episode? One: establish Ash is the ultimate selfess Pokemon trainer. Nothing new, Ash does that kinda thing every episode, but this particular act raised the bar. Two: sell all the merchandise by overloading the young audience with Pikachu cuteness. One Pikachu per episode ain't enough, we need a full episode of an army of Pikachus, plus a sad Pikachu montage, and a scene of all the Pikachu singing a Pikasong at night. I see right through your soulless Pikagreed.


37 - The Battling Eevee Brothers

- Ash and friends find a lost Eevee and take it back to the nearby Stone Town, at the foot of Evolution Mountain. They waltz right into a mansion garden party. No security, no guest list, nothing.

- The mansion is a place where trainers gather to evolve Pokemon with evolution stones. The titular Eevee Brothers live here. One for each of Eevee's three evolutions. That's right, three. There aren't any more. The Pokedex said so!

- The brothers dyed their hair to match the colour of their particular Eeveelution. I wonder if they dyed their hair at a young age, with the dream of finding an Eevee and evolving it to the Pokemon of their favourite colour? Or did they only dye their hair after evolving their Eevees? I ask the deep questions, that's why y'all are reading my commentary.

- The brothers are fanatical about evolution because they come from the video game, where evolution is king. They are trying to force their little brother to evolve his Eevee.

- Team Rocket swoop in and steal everything in extraordinarily efficient fashion. Pokemon, evolution stones, even the food. Curiously, they leave Psyduck. Team Rocket drive off in a car while leaving the empty balloon in the air as a decoy. Genius!

- Unfortunately for Team Rocket, Misty's Horsea foils their plan by leaving a trail of ink. Ash's Pidgeotto follows it to locate Team Rocket. A long battle takes place, Mikey's Eevee delivers the final blow, all is well.


38 - Wake Up Snorlax!

- Alternative title: "Wake the fuck up, you fat lazy oaf."

- Guest starring a Pokemon that hadn't been invented yet: Piloswine. How'd they pull that off?

- Piloswine possesses a Pokeflute, which is pretty handy considering it's the only way to get the Snorlax to move. What Snorlax, you say? The Snorlax that is going to appear later. Keep up.

- The nearby town has no food! The river stopped running two weeks ago! Two whole weeks and nobody bothered to investigate upstream. Not until Ash, Brock and Misty arrived. You remember Rule #1 of Pokemon, right?

- The gang encounters some thorns. Unfortunately none of the Pokemon know the HM Cut. Too bad! Oh, but Bulbasaur's Razor Leaf does the trick. That would have been handy in the video game.

- Beyond the thorns we discover that the blockage is caused by Snorlax. Shocker. Brock comes up with a clever idea to catch Snorlax. Ash throws a Pokeball which bounces off Snorlax's flesh. Try throwing it at its head instead of its belly? No? Well they gave up at one attempt.

- It is revealed that Piloswine is the highly irresponsible owner of Snorlax. He plays his flute, Snorlax wakes up, the river flows, all is well.

Oct 12, 2023 22:49:22 GMT Emperor said:

31 - The Ninja Poke-Showdown

We're not even half-way through the Indigo League and Ash already has six badges. Going to be curious to see how long they drag out the Cinnabar Island and the big Viridian City encounter which was the big twist of the R/B games.

It's odd that they introduce Venomoth as Koga's signature monster only to switch it out for Golbat. I guess they wanted a 2-1 and since the anime is largely about introducing and expanding upon the monsters (got to sell those plushies, figurines, trading cards etc.) it cuts them some slack.

Oct 12, 2023 22:49:22 GMT Emperor said:

- Ash and Yeehaw Gary speed down the final stretch. Ponyta is still Ponyta so my prediction appears to have failed. Hold on! Dodrio pecks Ponyta, sending the horse falling back. Ponyta gained so much experience from taking that attack that he evolves into Rapidash. Rapidash wins. My obvious prediction came true!

Clairvoyant! I vaguely remember this episode because Ponyta was popular with the girls but completely forgot about the other trainers in the mix. Good ep that played to the series strengths.

Oct 12, 2023 22:49:22 GMT Emperor said:

- The delinquents fight off Team Rocket, leading to an unexpected ending. Instead of Jungle Boy rejoining his family, his parents don Tarzan suits and become Jungle Mama and Jungle Papa. Even more unexpected is Ash not catching any Pokemon in the place designed to catch any Pokemon. Most surprising of all is no miracle evolutions, but that's only because Kangaskhan can't evolve.

I had no memory of this episode before the Jungle Mama and Jungle Papa line and that unlocked my memory. I also didn't realise they had another Safari Zone episode. The one that I'm familiar with was banned because the Warden is constantly holding everyone at gun-point and it was deemed inappropriate for US audiences. It actually plays into the Pokemon League as the episode is centered around Tauros and Ash captures a whole herd. Ash achieved greatness and they denied him of that honour in the west.

Oct 12, 2023 22:49:22 GMT Emperor said:

- The Bicycle Gang learn about Ash's Pokemon-healing mission and turn babyface to escort the team. They reach Sunnytown, all is well.

I no sold this, but I like how they expanded the region and invented these fictional towns. I wish they adhered to the naming conventions of the games which were all based on colours, alloys etc. Otherwise it just makes the region seemed bigger and encourages kids to use their imagination for the world and while they played those 8-bit games.

Otherwise this whole episode sounded like filler.

Oct 12, 2023 22:49:22 GMT Emperor said:

35 - Ditto's Mysterious Mansion

2 birds 1 stone in terms of introducing a memorable trainer and featuring a new Pokemon. I'm pretty sure Duplica is one and done as well, which is a shame but since the show was geared towards younger kids I guess they wanted to keep the list of recurring characters to a minimum.

Oct 12, 2023 22:49:22 GMT Emperor said:

36 - Pikachu's Goodbye

- You can pull that shit with a disposable Pokemon like Butterfree, but you ain't convincing me that Pikachu, the eternal mascot of the franchise, is leaving.

I remember this episode still bummed me out when it aired. What can I say? I was an easily manipulated kid, so if you play a montage to sad emotional music I'm gone.

This was actually the first episode of season two. Originally the Porygon episode was supposed to follow Duplica but it caused a huge stir and almost ruined whatever chance Pokemon had of coming to the west after it's strobe lights affected thousands of kids in Japan. As a result, Porygon has never been featured in another episode (it has been referenced or used in the background AFAIK) and the show took a four month hiatus. This actually messes with the continuity as the episode that followed Porygon's was a Christmas themed episode about Jynx. However since they had that hiatus, they had to pull that episode and insert it later into the season.

Pikachu's Goodbye wasn't originally planned, so the theory is that they made the episode to reference the events and just how quickly the adventure almost came to an end.

In the episode, it was actually Pikachu who triggered the strobe effect as it produced an electric shock that caused these rockets to explode.

Definitely one of the more memorable episodes if only because it made me feel something but even on immediate reflection, I didn't get the point of it until I came across one of those behind the scenes type video on the anime.

37 - The Battling Eevee Brothers

Apparantly when Pokemon returned post-Porygon, this was a double feature alongside Pikachu's Goodbye I guess to lift everyone's spirits. I hadn't actually thought about this episode until Pokemon Go had a mechanic where you could manipulate one Eevee evolution if you named it after the Jolteon, Umbreon and Flareon from this episode. Always thought that was a really cool Easter Egg. I wonder when this episode was planned because later in 1998 Eevee would be elevated to the main cast in the game where it would become your rivals Pokemon in Yellow (which served as the inspiration for Let's Go). I think Eevee eventually joins Gary's party as well.

38 - Wake Up Snorlax!

Kind of interesting how back to front the anime is to the games. Snorlax is one of the big obstacles you have to get across in order to access Koga. Otherwise it's actually pretty faithful to the games where you have to interact with an old man and get the Pokeflute to wake the creature up. I also think it's a no-brainer to feature Snorlax on the show, easily one of the most memorable monsters in that original line.

My memory definitely doesn't line up because I recall Ash catching Snorlax. It must have happened later in the series.

Only a couple of episodes to go and you'll be all caught up with the original first season of the 4Kids run. Also looking ahead, we're about to get up to one of the first episodes I've watched in recent years (it was the one episode I missed originally and was actually a really eventful episode). 

You're also nearly half-way through the series, does the show feel like it's dragging?

Oct 13, 2023 8:40:02 GMT Big Pete said:

I also didn't realise they had another Safari Zone episode. The one that I'm familiar with was banned because the Warden is constantly holding everyone at gun-point and it was deemed inappropriate for US audiences. It actually plays into the Pokemon League as the episode is centered around Tauros and Ash captures a whole herd. Ash achieved greatness and they denied him of that honour in the west.

That's fascinating, where do you get this information?

Oct 13, 2023 8:40:02 GMT Big Pete said:

Originally the Porygon episode was supposed to follow Duplica but it caused a huge stir and almost ruined whatever chance Pokemon had of coming to the west after it's strobe lights affected thousands of kids in Japan. As a result, Porygon has never been featured in another episode (it has been referenced or used in the background AFAIK) and the show took a four month hiatus. This actually messes with the continuity as the episode that followed Porygon's was a Christmas themed episode about Jynx. However since they had that hiatus, they had to pull that episode and insert it later into the season.

I did hear about the Porygon strobe light story. Is there any way to watch these hidden episodes online?

Oct 13, 2023 8:40:02 GMT Big Pete said:

I hadn't actually thought about this episode until Pokemon Go had a mechanic where you could manipulate one Eevee evolution if you named it after the Jolteon, Umbreon and Flareon from this episode.

I didn't know the Pokemon Go mechanic came from this episode, that's a neat easter egg.

Oct 13, 2023 8:40:02 GMT Big Pete said:

You're also nearly half-way through the series, does the show feel like it's dragging?

I'm watching from Pokemon.com which has 52 episodes in Season 1: Indigo League.  By this metric I'm almost three quarters through, which works well with Ash having six out of eight badges. I'm not sure how you're counting episodes but it's clearly different from what I'm doing.

Overall the show is compelling. The running gags of Team Rocket and Psyduck are getting tiring but they rarely take up much airtime so it's fine. What I'm most looking forward to are the new Pokemon generations. I know Generation 1 like the back of my hand so there's not much novelty.

Oct 13, 2023 10:54:59 GMT Emperor said:

That's fascinating, where do you get this information?

Bulbapedia has articles on Banned Episodes. However I got all this info during the geocities/angelfire days, most likely from Pojo.com.

I did hear about the Porygon strobe light story. Is there any way to watch these hidden episodes online?

The Internet Archive has it.

link

The strobe effect happens around 19:04 - 19:10 so anyone who clicks this link out of curiosity, just be careful. Even as somebody who doesn't suffer from epilepsy I find it nauseating to sit through.

I've never seen any of the banned episodes. They're all easily available online, a simple google search will take you directly to streaming pages and your computer won't even get a virus. Still, I tried watching the Warden episode on Internet Archive and it was fandub, so keep your eyes peeled.

I'm not sure how you're counting episodes but it's clearly different from what I'm doing.

The website is basing it off the home video release which cuts off at 52 episodes because of disc capacity. Season 2 covers the rest of the Indigo and the entire Orange Islands. Interestingly, the Orange Islands were aired out of order in the US which kind of shows you how fatigued the series was by that point.

I'm curious about Johto as well. By that point Pokemania had well and truly died down. I hung on for about as long as I could but a few episodes into Johto and I was into other hobbies.

It's apparent from the beginning that Pikachu is exceptionally strong. Team Rocket recognise this immediately. Professor Oak casually handing out Level 100 Pikachus to the latecomer. He must have thought Ash needed all the help he can get.

On the other hand, this level 100 Pikachu gets slapped around remarkably often by Pokemon who should be a lot weaker. Essentially, Pikachu is invincible when the plot demands it, and pitifully weak when the plot demands it. That's Pokemon writing for ya.

That's just babyfacing 101 really. Gotta get HEAT.