Ash is back near Pallet, and he and his friends stop by a Pokemon Circus, after failing to catch a wild Mr Mime. The ringmaster, Stella, is trying to find a Mr Mime because her own was pushed too hard by her, and now refuses to fight. She wants the new one to perform so the old one will be jealous and work hard again. Brock, lovestruck, promises to find her a new one. In the end, he dresses up Ash as one, and Stella, with tough training (whip) teaches him Mr Mime's tricks. But the circus night is interrupted by Team Rocket, who steal Mr Mime, thinking it's a real one. o.O; Ash's mother, meanwhile, has been watching the circus and realises that Mr Mime was Ash. She invites Misty and Brock back to her house, thinking that he'll come back soon once Team Rocket realise they've got the wrong Mime.
A Mr Mime - the wild one from the start of the episode - comes into Ash's home, and his mother thinks it is her son. -_-; Then the REAL Ash comes home, having escaped Team Rocket. Ash's mother is now attached to Mr Mime and calls it Mr Mimie. -_-; Meanwhile, Team Rocket has attacked the circus to steal the real Mr Mime, but Stella runs with it, trying to protect it. Ash and Mr Mimie run after to help, and Mr Mimie makes barriers around Team Rocket. The circus Mime, not to be outdone, helps too. After seeing how Stella cares for it, Mr Mime performs with the circus again, while Mr Mimie stays with Ash's mother and does housework.
Mr Mime is not really a favourite of mine... and this episode was tedious... Stella is one of the few female characters-of-the-day that I really didn't care for. She seemed just like all the others only with a coupla unique traits.
62. Holiday Hi-Jynx 6/10
Jessie has set up a trap to capture Santa Claus. When she was 7, she stayed up late to see him come, and to her surprise and horror, a Jynx came down the chimney, stole her favourite doll which was lying broken on the floor, and disappeared again. Now she thinks Santa is a Jynx, and nothing but a thief. Meanwhile, Ash and his friends meet a Jynx who is lost, and learn through its psychic powers that it got seperated from its trainer, Santa Claus. They help it get back home, with a lot of effort and the assistance of Santa's Lapras who was sent to look for the missing Jynx.
Jynx is returned to the North Pole, but then, Team Rocket attacks in their Gyarados sub. They 'kidnap' Santa, tie up the 'twerps' and order all the Jynx to load all the presents on their sub. They're ruining Christmas for everyone... and Jessie says it's revenge for the presents she never got, and for Jynx ruining her Christmas. The situation is explained, and Jessie realises that the real Santa is NOT a Jynx, and that his helper had only gone down the chimney to take her doll and fix it. It couldn't return the doll because Jessie had stopped believing in Santa. Jessie keeps attacking anyway with her teammates, who are sent flying courtesy of Jynx and Lapras... but they still wanted a merry Christmas at the end. *sniffu*
This episode, if anybody cares, was not originally meant to be shown at this time, it was set quite a while ago (as is obvious by Charmander's existance), as is the following ep. I do not know exactly why this is, but I heard it had something to do with the uproar caused by Porygon's seizue-inducement, causing the ep in Japanese to be postponed, and... er, that's the extent of my knowledge. -_-;
Heehee, kid-Jessie had Pokemon toys on her mantlepiece. The death of innocence of kid-Jessie was kind of sad... :( But Jess was cute. The idea of Santa having Jynx and Lapras as his helpers crack me up. But it was nice to see a Lapras, I think they're very cool. ^_^. This episode... I'm not sure what I think of it. Jynx's means of thanking people (kissing them) was hilarious, and I liked the end part, where Team Rocket, all battered, were still hopeful and waiting for Santa...
63. Snow Way Out! 8/10
Ash stubbornly leads everyone up a mountain, sure they're going the right way, but it is snowing hard and soon they have to rest for the night in the freezing cold, although Ash wants to keep going. Meanwhile, Team Rocket are also stranded in the cold, because their hot-air balloon flew off without them. Ash and Pikachu get seperated from the others. With his Pokemon's help, Ash manages to dig a hole in the snow on the side of the cliff and bar up the side, to keep out of the cold and wind.
Everyone in Ash's snow-cave huddles around Charmander's flame, but soon the flame dies out. Ash realises his Pokemon would be warmer in their Pokeballs and calls them all back... even Pikachu. Pikachu refuses, and Ash is worried because he doesn't want him to freeze to death. While trying to convince him, all Ash's other Pokemon escape their balls and huddle around him. They stay in the cave until morning, cold together, but at least not freezing. In the morning, they meet up with Misty and Brock - who, unbelievably, had found a hot spring on that mountain and had spent the night comfortably. -_-;
Team Rocket have spent a sleepless night in an igloo, knowing that if they fall asleep, they might freeze and never wake up. They see their hot air balloon fly past... Ash-tachi have caught it and are leaving...
A lot of the main characters' Pokemon appear in this episode. It was a really sweet ep, and it's nice to see a little more of Jessie's past - she likes snow because as a child, she used to eat snowgasboards - meals made out of snow - because they were poor and had to make do. But kid-Jess loved the snow food, it was one of her few happy childhood memories. That's sad... but did you notice? Jessie's mother (who is actually supposed to be dead as far as I know) had a FLAT CHEST... I think it was dubbed wrong, maybe it was her father.
64. Showdown at the POKé Corral 8/10
Team Rocket Headquarters blows up! Mewtwo is the cause of it, and flies away, escaping Team Rocket HQ. Jessie and James are ordered by the boss, who lies in the smoking rubble, to just do their jobs! Meanwhile, Ash goes to ask Professor Oak where Pokemon League is being held, and meets up with Gary... Oak says those two are the only remaining trainers from Pallet, the other two couldn't cut it. He then shows them their Pokemon, and the two rivals compare training techniques...
Gary rotates his Pokemon to train ALL of them (he has about 200 o.O;;) while Ash only has a few. They fight about issues like friendship with Pokemon. It is obvious Gary cares for his Pokemon, even if he's not real friends with them. While Gary has caught a lot more Pokemon than Ash, according to his Pokedex he has only SEEN 60, while Ash has seen over 100. (But this is semi-inaccurate, as Gary catches Pokemon rather than points his Pokedex at them constantly.)
Oak shows them around his property - it is huge, with areas for ALL the Pokemon he takes care of to stay and feed, etc. Jessie and James appear to steal Pokemon, but Gary and Ash both rush to defend them. Ash's many Tauros end up stampeding through and sending Team Rocket off.
This isn't exactly action-packed, but it's nice to learn a little more about characters, and a good chance to learn more about Pokemon and Oak's Pokemon research. I like any episode with Gary in it. ^_^. If anybody was wondering and didn't know, Ash caught all those Tauros accidentally in an episode about the Safari Zone which, for some reason, was not originally shown in English.
65. The Evolution Solution 8/10
Ash is to start his training for Pokemon League, which will start in about 2 months. He ends up at Sea Foam Island to talk to Professor Westwood, an expert who helped write the Pokedex. Right now, both Professors (Oak and Westwood) are working on solving the mystery of Slowpoke evolving into Slowbro with a Shellder. Westwood has a Slowpoke, which Psyduck befriends, because they are both dopey and understand each other. Meanwhile, Jessie and James have orders to steal Pokemon from Westwood, and catch a Shellder so that they can evolve Slowpoke.
Slowpoke is reluctant to evolve, but Team Rocket eventually manage to get Shellder to bite its tail, and it does evolve. Then, predictably, Psyduck with Slowbro fight back, and sends the villains flying. Westwood, seeing Slowpoke actually evolve before his eyes, considers the mystery solved. I think I missed something. Psyduck and Slowbro say goodbye.
This episode wasn't a great one, but it was SO FUNNY. Professor Westwood cracked me up, it was nice to see Team Rocket get a new Pokemon (but I think a Cloyster is preferable to a Slowbro!), and the way Giovanni cared about Persian was interesting... I cannot see him as a real villain, because he likes Pokemon. Also, I do not see how the discoveries made in this episode were revolutionary; we already KNOW that Shellder turns conical when it latches onto Slowpoke/bro's tail. -_-;
66. The Pi-Kahuna 8/10
Ash and Pikachu, running for Pokemon League training, are met by heavy traffic; lots of wanna-be surfers who have come to challenge a tremendous tidal wave which comes once every 20 years - Humungadunga. A long time ago, a famous surfer called Jan managed to ride the wave and stick a flag into the top of a very tall rock that the wave just met. Ash, stupidly, decides he'll try too, and surfs badly, ending up having his life saved by a man named Victor, who also has a Pikachu. This older, larger Pikachu, called Pooka, can surf and has a mysterious ability, to sense waves in its body.
When Victor was young, he was an avid surfer, and tried very hard. Jan, after planting the flag and beginning a legend, gave him his own surfboard telling Victor that he could do it too! So Victor tried hard, but 20 years later, failed. Depressed, he stopped surfing until he met Pooka, who encouraged him to try again. They are going to plant the flag this time... Team Rocket appears to steal BOTH Pikachu, but their submarine is rammed by many angry Gyarados who have their egg-laying season now. The two Pikachu, after a little work, are saved and safe.
Then Humungadunga comes, and Victor, riding with Pooka, surfs the terrific wave and plants his own flag at the very top of the rock, leaving his own legend! He then gives his surfboard - the same as Jan gave to him - to a young kid on the beach, telling them that they can do it too...
There was something about this episode I truly liked. I thought Victor was great - cute as a kid, and just plain cool as an adult. Not to mention, I thought Pooka was most cool. ^_^. Tidal wave had a stupid name. I do want to know why Ash seems to think the best training for Pokemon League is done by HIS physical work, not his Pokemon...?
67. Make Room for Gloom 7/10
Ash and his friends visit the Xanadu nursery, and Ash lets Bulbasaur our to have a look. There are lots of lovely plants, and Bulbasaur has a great time until it sniffs a dangerous plant and becomes paralysed. A cute young lady, named Florinda, comes with her assistant Potter and her Pokemon Gloom. Gloom, who has developed a resistance to that plant, heals Bulbasaur, and now the two grass Pokemon get along well. Florinda isn't thinking about that... she's thinking about how she is a bad manager of the nursery, and she can't even get her Gloom to evolve into a Vileplume. Brock consoles her, and then Professor Oak shows up from nowhere.
He says that the reason Gloom wouldn't evolve has nothing to do with Florinda, but that the Leafstone was a fake. The people who sold it to her were Team Rocket, who show up now to steal Pokemon. They use plants to paralyse everyone completely, and then take Pikachu. Florinda is the only one who can move, and Brock encourages her to battle with Gloom. She lacks confidence, but then Gloom Solar Beams and sends the bad guys flying. Florinda then thanks Brock for his help, and he thinks that she is going to ask him out, but she goes with Potter instead. ^_^;;
This was quite a good episode, but I do not like Gloom, and the look on Bulbasaur's face was sickening. Bleah... were those two grass-types in love or something. Hmm. *has mental image of Bulbish or Oddasaur* Was cool that Arbok knows Toxic, eh? Brock was good in this episode, and I really did like Florinda; although it took her long enough to decide to fight, she seemed kind of like a realistic person. I really liked Ash's quote too: "Don't worry Brock, you'll find plenty more girls to reject you!"
68. Lights, Camera, Quack-tion! 10/10
Ash meets Katrina, a Raichu trainer who battles him. They are interrupted by Team Rocket, and are interrupted again when they find out they are right near a movie set. The director of the movie, Spielbunk (hahahah!), is casting a Pokemon love story, with nought but Pokemon as characters, and needs a main male star to play lead against Wigglytuff, a snobbish prima donna. Team Rocket, Katrina, and Team Ash's Pokemon impress the director, and in the end, Psyduck is chosen.
Ash and Katrina's Pokemon play as extras in the movie. Psyduck actually does okay, and Wigglytuff gets along with him; which is surprising, as she gets aggressive at almost everyone else. They act, but are interrupted by Team Rocket; they are angry on behalf of their Pokemon, who failed to get the lead role. They steal all Pokemon, including Wigglytuff, but they didn't want Psyduck. Mistake. Psyduck pulls itself together and uses its powerful moves to save everyone. Spielbunk tapes the entire thing. Afterwards, Psyduck and Wigglytuff say goodbye.
Man, how many love interests does that duck HAVE? o.O; Anyway, it makes more friends than any other Pokemon... Snorlax, Slowbro and now Wigglytuff. I thought Wigglytuff was most cool, very cute, and the voice was good. ^_^. Overall, this episode was very good... Arbok got lots of great scenes (come on, you CAN'T TELL ME that cobra isn't cute!) even if it didn't win. :( Also very amusing, especially the reference to Spielbunk producing "I know what you ate last Tuesday". Hahaha!
69. Go West, Young Meowth 10/10
Ash goes with his mother and friends to Hollywood, where Spielbunk is premiering the movie he made in the previous episode. However, it's not in a glitzy cinema, but rather, a dingy alley. Team Rocket is there also, waiting for the movie to start, and Meowth slips away. This was his old home... he recalls his earlier years. When young, he saw a movie set in Hollywood, where cats ate food... he had been dumped when he was a kitten and was always picked on, never had enough to eat... so he decided to set off for Hollywood.
When it got to Hollywood, he found that the food he craved was not so easy to come by... but a gang of wild Meowth, and their leader, a Persian, took him under their wing and together they swiped food to survive. One day, Meowth found a beautiful girl Meowth, Meowsie, owned by a rich lady. He fell in love with her and spoke to her, but she said she would never consider him... why would she go with him? He can't give her whatever she wants like her owner can, because he's not rich, he's not even a human... Meowth wishes he COULD be a human so he could impress Meowsie.
With a lot of hard effort, Meowth learned to walk and run on his hind legs. He taught himself to read (the first letter he learned was 'r is for rocket'). And, he taught himself to speak. Now, he went back to Meowsie but she still won't consider him; he's no human, now he's worse than before - not only is he just a Meowth, but he's a FREAK Meowth. Meowth feels awful... he ends up joining Team Rocket so that one day he could have enough money to get Meowsie's attention. But it never worked out as he'd wanted...
In the present, Meowth finds the old gang. Persian wants him to rejoin, as his human abilities make him useful. Then Meowth finds that Meowsie is with the gang; she had been dumped by her trainer. Meowth will not join up, and wants to take Meowsie with him, but the other Meowths oppose him. Jessie and James appear to fight off the Meowths, while TR Meowth goes for Persian... they fight, Meowth wins, but Meowsie runs to Persian instead... she will still not go with him, because he is still a freak Meowth, and Persian helped her when she had nobody.
Ash-tachi have just finished seeing the movie; they weren't in it at all. They were also the only ones in the cinema. They get angry at Spielbunk, and then Team Rocket appears on the stage... not for any reason, just to show off a little. They dance off... but Meowth is still sad...
Hahahah, Ash's mother does a Marilyn Monroe. ^_^. This episode was excellent. Team Rocket has been, for the most part, showing poorly lately, and this was a welcome change... a focus on Team Rocket without Ash-tachi's intervention, although the scenes WITH Ash and that were very funny. ^_^. I actually felt quite sorry for Meowth... *sniffu* Meowsie was really cute, too, although it was harsh for Meowth. It was also interesting, how the cat Pokemon - who of course, have real thoughts, real feelings, like humans - were treated just like ordinary cats. Sorry I wrote quite a lot for this summary, more than was necessary, but I liked the episode and it said a lot for Meowth...
70. To Master the Onixpected 7/10
On TV, Ash and Brock watch Bruno, an elite trainer, win a match. They all decide to go off and find Bruno, so Ash can ask him his secrets. In the mountains, there is a giant Onix who is unusually dangerous. Ash-tachi run away as an Onix chases them, and are saved by none other than Bruno himself. Ash begs him to teach them his secrets, and Bruno sets him and Brock tasks to do. But it turns out these tasks are just to help him make dinner (^_^;) and not to better themselves. Disappointed, Ash-tachi walk away.
They see the danger of Team Rocket, who had tried to catch the giant Onix but were in danger of being buried alive in a cave-in. Ash goes to help them, and everyone tries hard to stop the rock Pokemon, but it's too strong. When Ash is about to be crushed, Bruno dives in and saves him. Bruno speaks to the Onix, and learns that it is angry not by nature, it is caused irritation because something spikey was stuck in between its boulders. -_-; Bruno removes the offending Sandslash (hahah) and the Onix agrees to be captured by Bruno. Bruno then tells them that the secret of being a good trainer is understanding and appreciating your Pokemon - and catching strong ones, of course.
Brock calls Bruno "Master Bruno" which I think was good, actually... you can see also how Brock would respect someone like Bruno a lot, as he is strong, likes rock Pokemon, and looks not unlike himself! Misty, who wanted no part in the training anyway, ended up bearing the brunt of it... hahahahah. I also wonder how Ash decides when to help Team Rocket and when to let them suffer?
71. The Ancient Puzzle of Pokémopolis 5/10
A genius girl, Eve, is trying to solve a riddle about an ancient city of Pokemon, as she explains to Ash-tachi who met up with her on their way to Pokemon League... Team Rocket stumbles upon Pokemopolis' former location and Arbok finds a sort of ancient Pokeball... which ends up entrapping all of them! Artifacts that Eve has in her caravan go crazy, and the ancient Pokeball entraps a group of diggers. This Pokeball is being controlled somehow... by...
A giant Gengar, from the lost civilisation of Pokemopolis. Ash-tachi try to fight it, but Pidgeotto and Onix end up trapped too (it gets quite crowded inside the 'Pokeball'!). It is sidetracked by an equally huge Alakazam. The two, on equal footing, fight a lot, and cause destruction. Ash is determined to stop them, because the riddle says they will destroy their world... and the nearest town is Pallet, his own! Ash cannot, however, but the riddle says the giants can be soothed...
They recruit Jigglypuff to sing. But, it is too small and cannot be heard by the giant Pokemon. Then, a GIANT Jigglypuff appears, from Pokemopolis, like the other two. All three Pokemon have strange markings. Jigglygiant sings, and puts everyone to sleep. When everyone wakes up, they find all the giants gone. Things are safe, so Ash-tachi continue on their way...
I did not like this episode much at all... but Bigglypuff just cracked me up. And Alazakam with flowers painted all over it, haha! You have not seen/heard hilarious until you've observed an enormous, fierce Jigglypuff singing in a booming voice. Hahaha. Overall, I found this episode a tad confusing, since it seemed things weren't really closed, and I was left wondering "what the heck was that?". ^_^;; Seeing Pidgeotto with Team Rocket, cheering for Ash-tachi and so on, was quite funny. Poor Pidgeotto - when it appeared in the Pokeball, Jessie - who obviously wanted to get out - shook it and said it should have fought better. ^_^; Battle scene was kind of cool, those things that Alakazam shot - whatever they made - were funky.
72. Bad to the Bone 9/10
Almost at Indigo Plateau, Ash meets a trainer who goads him into laying his badges on the line as the wager in a battle. Ash wins, but the man does not have any badges of his own to give! This man, Atoshi, with his Marowak, had been training for months, winning badges, but they were all stolen by Team Rocket and he was hoping to get Ash's... but Ash, despite the fact that it will delay him further, helps Atoshi by finding Team Rocket. However, Marowak has had enough. He had put up with a lot of tough work, but for it all to come to nothing?... he blames Atoshi and walks off.
Ash-tachi confront James and Meowth, but the badges are with Jessie, who has left them. She wants to go solo and be a Pokemon Master. Everyone looks for Jess, who is in disguise and in the middle of trying to steal MORE badges. Meanwhile, Marowak sees a lot of trainers playing happily with their Pokemon, and remembers how strong its friendship with Atoshi is. Atoshi has challenged Jessie, and his Doduo is losing to Arbok badly. Jessie is about to steal his Doduo, but Marowak intercepts the Pokeball, and beats the villains. The two get their badges back and continue to Pokemon League, as do Ash-tachi.
Heheh, James recognises Jessie because of all the disguises they've set up together. It surprised me a little, you know. Jessie was perfectly willing to dump her teammates and be in solitude, a trainer by herself. Did you notice how much is detracted from Team Rocket when Jessie isn't there? When the good guys challenged James and Meowth, they were just sitting there terrified, spineless, and not fighting back as they would have every other time, with Jessie... This was a fabulous episode. Atoshi was cool. And nice to see Marowak, a cool Pokemon, also. ^_^.
The story so far: Ash has gotten all 8 badges and heads back to Pallet to prepare for the League.
61. Mr Mimie Time 4/10
