EP006

Clefairy and the Moon Stone File:ClefairyandtheMoonStone.gif.png

EP006   ピッピとつきのいし Pippi and the Moon Stone

First broadcast Japan May 6, 1997 United States September 15, 1998

English themes Opening Pokémon Theme Ending

Japanese themes Opening めざせポケモンマスター Ending ひゃくごじゅういち

Credits Animation Team Ota Screenplay 冨岡淳広 Atsuhiro Tomioka Storyboard 鈴木敏明 Toshiaki Suzuki Assistant director 浅田裕二 Yūji Asada Animation director 尾鷲英俊 Hidetoshi Otaka No additional credits are available at this time.

Clefairy and the Moon Stone (Japanese: ピッピとつきのいし Pippi and the Moon Stone) was first broadcast in Japan on May 6, 1997, and in USA on September 15, 1998.

In this episode, Ash, Misty, and Brock arrive at Mt. Moon to find Team Rocket damaging the local wildlife.

Spoiler warning: this article may contain major plot or ending details.

Synopsis

Ash, Misty and Brock are hiking towards Mt. Moon. A meteor called "The Moon Stone" crashed into the mountain in prehistoric times. Near the foot of the mountain, they encounter a man being attacked by a flock of Zubat. Dexter reports that Zubat live in caves and hate to fly outside in daylight.

Misty reminds Ash that the man needs help, and Ash orders Pikachu to fire a ThunderShock. The Zubat fly away, and the man, wearing a lab coat, squeezes Ash and thanks him profusely. He introduces himself as Seymour the Scientist. He is upset because someone has strung lights inside the nearby cave, disrupting the Pokémon who live inside - not just the Zubat, but the Paras and Sandshrew as well.

Seymour believes the attackers are after the Moon Stone. He says it's a massive boulder, believed to be older than a million years old, and hidden deep in the caves under the mountain. Fragments of the Stone can increase Pokémon's power. Seymour theorizes this is because both the Pokémon came from outer space, and the Moon Stone was their spacecraft - which means the Stone belongs to the Pokémon, and the humans must leave it alone.

A Clefairy bounces past, carrying something. Seymour stops Ash from trying to catch it. The Clefairy is trapped by Meowth, who is in turn challenged by Ash. Brock and Ash agree that they have to stop Team Rocket, before they make any more trouble - which immediately leads to James and Jessie reciting their intro verse.

Teak Rocket freely admits to putting up the lights; Meowth even says they want a Moon Stone so they can power up their Pokémon. Ash and Brock challenge Jessie and James. Jessie summons Ekans, while Ash calls Butterfree. James calls on Koffing, and Brock uses Zubat, which he says he captured just before they entered the cave.

James orders Koffing to generate a Smog attack. Ash counters with Butterfree's Whirlwind, and Brock asks Zubat to use Double Team; the two Pokémon turn the Smog back on Team Rocket, to their surprise.

Misty and Seymour make a run for it as Ekans attacks Butterfree and Koffing slams Zubat. Brock tells Zubat to "go Supersonic!" The high-pitched signal confuses Koffing and Ekans, and they attack each other. Ash asks Butterfree for another Whirlwind, hoping to "blow them all the way out of the cave!" Team Rocket flies away again, but Brock and Ash suddenly realize they've lost track of Meowth.

Misty and Seymour have been following the Clefairy, which makes its way out of the cave. They follow it up the mountain, where Meowth is waiting for them. He demands the Moon Stone. Misty summons her Staryu by dropping its Poké Ball in the river. She orders a Swift attack, followed immediately by a Water Gun. The water stream hits Meowth in the face; he rapidly fills up with water, then flies away like a balloon as the water is expelled from his mouth.

Brock feeds all the Pokémon on his special, secret recipe Pokémon food. Seymour tastes it and deems it "not bad;" Ash follows suit and finds it awful! Meanwhile, Clefairy and Pikachu are having a conversation on a nearby rock. They hop away, followed by the rest of the group.

They arrive at another cave, where they find the core of the Moon Stone. Clefairy adds its stone to the ring at the base of the core, completing the circuit. All the small stones, then the large core, begin to glow blue in the moonlight. Dozens of Clefairy approach and begin to dance around the Moon Stone. Misty, Ash and Brock play "charades" with Pikachu to learn that the Clefairy are praying to the Stone. Seymour concludes that humans are supposed to ride the Stone back out to the stars, but his rapture is interrupted by the return of Team Rocket.

Seymour attacks Team Rocket to keep them from the Stone, by Meowth trips him and takes him out of the action because his glasses fall off. Ash attacks with Pikachu, while Brock summons Onix; as usual, Jessie and James call on Ekans and Koffing again. Jessie orders a Dig attack, and James orders up a Smokescreen. Ash then summons Pidgeotto and orders it to Whirlwind the smoke away. When the smoke clears, Team Rocket is gone, and the Moon Stone with them.

Brock orders Onix to Dig and follow them underground, while the humans and other Pokémon run through the caves. One of the Clefairy brings Seymour his glasses.

Team Rocket is sliding downhill with the Stone on a sledge. Onix appears suddenly, upsetting the sledge. Onix attempts to Tackle Team Rocket, but Koffing counters, and both Pokémon fall, stunned. Seymour and the Clefairy appear from Onix's tunnel. The Clefairy use a Metronome attack to hypnotize the humans, then what appears to be a Hyper Beam sends Team Rocket flying off once more.

Chips of the Moon Stone drift down from the sky; as they land on the Clefairy, they evolve into Clefable. Seymour stays with the Clefairy and Clefable, hoping to someday visit outer space with them.

Ash, Misty and Brock move on toward Cerulean City. Gary has left a graffito on the sign saying, "Gary was here! Ash is a loser!" Ash takes off down the road at a run as the episode ends.

Major events

• Brock catches a Zubat.
• Misty's Staryu is seen for the first time.

Debuts

• Clefairy
• Clefable
• Zubat (Brock's)
• Staryu (Misty's)

Characters

Humans

• Ash Ketchum
• Misty
• Brock
• Jessie
• James
• Seymour

Pokémon

Who's That Pokémon?: Clefairy

• Pikachu (Ash's)
• Meowth (Team Rocket)
• Butterfree (Ash's)
• Pidgeotto (Ash's)
• Staryu (Misty's; debut)
• Onix (Brock's)
• Zubat (Brock's; new, debut)
• Ekans (Jessie's)
• Koffing (James's)
• Sandshrew
• Clefairy (debut)
• Clefable (debut)
• Zubat (debut)
• Paras (debut)

Trivia

• This is the first anime episode to feature stone-induced evolutions.

Errors

James's Koffing uses Counter in this episode, even though Koffing aren't able to learn this move in the games.

Dub edits

• Seymour talks about romance in the Japanese version, while he recites poetry in the English version.
• Seymour's two main virtues are changed from Love and Courage (original) to Knowledge and Research (dub). When he announces the virtues, the Japanese version has them written in the background. 4Kids erases all of the kanji from the English version.
• "Cerulean City" is translated on the sign directing towards it. Gary's message changes from "Shigeru is the best! Satoshi is an idiot!" to "Gary was here! Ash is a loser!".
• Ash makes a reference to the Macarena when Pikachu uses charades to speak to him.

In other languages

• French: La Pierre Lune
• Italian: La Pietra lunare
• Portuguese: Clefairy e a Pedra da Lua
• Spanish: Clefairy y la Roca Lunar

This episode article is part of Project Anime, a Bulbapedia project that covers all aspects of Pokémon animation.