DP092

Template:EpisodePrevNext

A Lean Mean Team Rocket Machine! (Japanese: 原点回帰だロケット団!? Back to Basics, Team Rocket!?) is the 92nd episode of the Diamond & Pearl series, and the 558th episode of the Pokémon anime. It first aired in Japan on September 4, 2008 and in the United States on January 31, 2009.

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

Synopsis

Template:Incomplete synopsis On their way to Celestic Town, Ash and his friends have to take Piplup to the Pokémon Center after it collapsed from excessive contest training. Meanwhile, Team Rocket, who were following the group on a slope, decide to have lunch in a luxury restaurant. But then Jessie notices that Meowth's golden charm is buried under rolls of flab. The trio now realizes that, due to them having lead a rich and luxurious life ever since they had earned the money at the summer school, they have become lazy and grown a lot in flesh. Wanting to return to their former "sharp and cool" shapes, they start a harsh training session.

Major events

Debuts

Pokémon debuts

Anime debuts

• Mew (fantasy)

Characters

Humans

• Ash
• Brock
• Dawn
• Jessie
• James
• Professor Oak
• Nurse Joy
• Pokémon trainers

Pokémon

• Pikachu (Ash's)
• Meowth (Team Rocket)
• Wobbuffet (Jessie's)
• Mime Jr. (James's)
• Turtwig (Ash's)
• Chimchar (Ash's)
• Staravia (Ash's)
• Buizel (Ash's)
• Gliscor (Ash's)
• Piplup (Dawn's)
• Buneary (Dawn's)
• Pachirisu (Dawn's)
• Ambipom (Dawn's)
• Swinub (Dawn's)
• Sudowoodo (Brock's)
• Croagunk (Brock's)
• Happiny (Brock's)
• Yanmega (Jessie's)
• Carnivine (James's)
• Celebi (fantasy)
• Milotic (fantasy)
• Shieldon (fantasy)
• Riolu (fantasy)
• Mew (fantasy)
• Wooper (fantasy)
• Chansey (fantasy)
• Glaceon
• Machoke

Trivia

• Both Team Rocket Forever and Face Forward Team Rocket! are used as background music.
• Music from Pokémon Heroes is used.
• Team Rocket used their original motto in this episode, and the background music used in it from the original series can also be heard. James displayed his famous rose as well.
• Professor Oak's lecture: Chingling
• A girl who is seen in the Pokémon Center has a design very similar to Pietra from Right On, Rhydon!.
• This episode marks the first appearance of Mew in an episode of the anime (although it is merely in one of Meowth's fantasies). As a result, this means that all of the Generation I Pokémon have appeared in an episode of the anime at some point.
• The disguise Team Rocket wears in this episode looks very similar to The Black Arachnid's, especially when Meowth appears, which the Black Arachnid also owns.
• The dub's title is a pun on the phrase, "a lean mean fighting machine".
• According to Meowth's translation, Piplup recognizes Team Rocket's disguised Pokémon, which rarely happens in the anime

Errors

Dub edits

Double Trouble was used as background music.

Template:Epstub Template:EpisodePrevNext

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