AG083

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AG082 : A Shroomish Skirmish
Advanced Generation series
AG084 : Who's Flying Now?
Unfair-Weather Friends
AG083.png
AG083   EP357
お天気研究所のポワルン!
Powalen of the Weather Research Center
First broadcast
Japan July 1, 2004
United States June 18, 2005
English themes
Opening This Dream
Ending
Japanese themes
Opening チャレンジャー!!
Ending いっぱいサマー!!
Credits
Animation Team Ota
Screenplay 武上純希 Junki Takegami
Storyboard 秦義人 Yoshito Hata
Assistant director 秦義人 Yoshito Hata
Animation director 宍戸久美子 Kumiko Shishido
Additional credits

Unfair Weather Friends (Japanese: お天気研究所のポワルン! Powalen of the Weather Research Center) is the 83rd episode of the Advanced Generation series, and the 357th episode of the Pokémon anime. It was first broadcast in Japan on July 1, 2004 and in the United States on June 18, 2005.

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

Ash and the gang are headed to Fortree City when it starts raining and then snowing. They run for shelter and meet a Castform who leads them onward. The gang is greeted by two scientists from the nearby Weather Institute, Bart and Millie. Brock feels absolutely nothing for the attractive Millie, which puzzles him.

Millie is showing the kids around the Weather Institute when a Team Aqua helicopter suddenly appears, and they restrain all the other scientists (plus Team Rocket). Team Aqua is looking for information on the Legendary Pokémon, Groudon and Kyogre. Bart gives his access card to Castform, who flees in search of Millie.

Inside the institute, Ash, Millie and friends reunite with Castform, fight off Team Aqua, and use the access card to get into the computer. Millie transfers all the data onto a disk and deletes the copy on the hard drive.

Outside, Team Aqua uses the weather machine to create a bolt of lightning that sends Team Rocket blasting off. Millie gives Team Aqua the access card. A Team Aqua technician finds the files missing, and Millie reveals that she is in fact, a he—Brodie, the Man of a Thousand Faces, a member of Team Magma! He escapes with the disk.

Team Aqua leaves. Bart is feeling betrayed, but then the real Millie shows up—and Bart puts her to work transferring all their paper files on the Legendary Pokémon back into the computer.

Plot

Ash and his friends are seen walking down a road. A sunny day turns to rain, then to thunder, and finally snow. The explanation? Castform, the Weather Pokémon. Castform begins to lead the group to safety when the weather turns sunny again. Castform's form changes with the weather.

Castform leads them to its Trainer, Bart, a researcher at the Weather Institute, and Bart's trainee, Millie, who has a Ditto. Brock, as usual, starts to go into his pretty-girl-trance at the sight of Millie, but something's wrong. Brock can't quite explain it, but he doesn't feel as gaga for this lady as he does for other ladies. Meanwhile, Team Rocket is snowed in, and appear to be enjoying themselves. Or at least Meowth is; Jessie and James blame the crazy weather patterns on Ash and his friends.

The researchers show Ash and the others their weather control machine. Team Rocket later find the machine and immediately make ill-fated plans to use it for nefarious ends. Team Aqua arrive on the scene soon afterwards, and in full force. Of course, they also want the machine. Team Rocket are clearly upset by the presence of Team Aqua and perform most of their motto before being clamped in restraints.

The researchers and Team Rocket are held captive together shortly. Oddly enough, the female scientist claims to have never heard of Team Rocket; perhaps this is because they're in Hoenn, and Team Rocket is Kanto-based. Jessie and James suck in their stomachs and the restraints loosen. Team Aqua begins powering up the weather control machine, but it appears as though they simply wanted data from the machine and not the machine itself. The data they're interested in relates to a local legendary Pokémon.

Bart gives the data Pass Card to Castform and tells it to escape. Castform ducks into a ventilation shaft with Team Aqua in pursuit. Ash, his friends, and Millie are watching action outside on security cameras. Millie points out that all the air ducts lead to the room they are currently in and correctly predicts that Castform will come to them, but two Team Aqua grunts arrive and spot Castform. Everyone but Ash and Pikachu flees, and Pikachu knocks out the grunts with a couple of lightning bolts.

Millie suggests that they delete the data from the main computer but it's being guarded by Team Aqua. Millie's Ditto transforms into Castform and lures the Aqua guards away. Millie then copies the data onto a disc and erases the master file. Meanwhile, Ash finds Ditto (still disguised as Castform) and carries it back to his friends and Millie, inadvertently leading the guards back to them. Ash calls out his Torkoal to provide a smokescreen. The group exit the institute only to run into Team Aqua and their leader, Isabel.

Isabel has the weather control machine is brought online and threatens the captured scientists with a lightning storm (while a lighting bolt causes Team Rocket to blast off) unless Millie turns over the key card. Bart, unaware that Millie has deleted the data, begs her not to give in but Millie hands it over. Ash and friends grin as Team Aqua discover that the data has been destroyed. Then Millie taunts Isabel with the data disc and jumps to the top of the machine. Everyone looks at her, surprised as "Millie" is revealed to be Brodie, a male member of Team Magma known for being a master of disguise. This explains Brock's lack of a reaction earlier.

May gets involved in the battle, but Combusken doesn't have enough power to battle Brodie's Ditto. He escapes with the data and, for a change, the bad guys win this round. The real Millie then arrives on the scene, all ready for her first day at the institute. Brock does his patented pretty-girl-trance. As it turns out, the data isn't completely lost. It's in hard copy but it will take a long time to re-enter.

The episode closes with another scene of Team Rocket freezing in the snow.

Major events

For a list of all major events in the anime, please see the history page.

Debuts

Humans

Pokémon debuts

Characters

Humans

Pokémon

Pokémon Trainer's Choice

Pokémon Trainer's Choice: Koffing

Trivia

  • Full of Summer!! replaces Smile as the ending.
  • This episode, much like Now That's Flower Power! and Love, Petalburg Style!, was named similarly to a Johto episode in both the English dub and the Latin American Spanish, and Spanish Dub.
    • This episode's title is based on the phrase "fair weather friends", which is also the basis for the similarly named Johto episode.
  • This is the first time more than one transformation of two different kinds of Pokémon are seen: Castform transforming into its other forms, and Ditto transforming into a Castform. Also, Ditto is the first Pokémon to go into nested transformations (transforming into another form without going back to its original form).
  • This is the first time that the Hoenn Pokédex is referred to as "Dextette" in the series in reference to its female voice (the former male equivalent always being referred to as "Dexter").

Errors

Castform error
  • When Team Rocket is complaining to Team Aqua about being captured, Wobbuffet is nowhere to be seen.
  • Right before Millie(Brodie) commands her Ditto to transform, Castform's lower body is the wrong shape.
  • When Millie goes to transfer the data there is a blue dot on her forehead.

Dub edits

Pokémon Trainer's Choice

In other languages



AG082 : A Shroomish Skirmish
Advanced Generation series
AG084 : Who's Flying Now?
Project Anime logo.png This episode article is part of Project Anime, a Bulbapedia project that covers all aspects of the Pokémon anime.