EP018

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Beauty and the Beach (Japanese: アオプルコのきゅうじつ Holiday at Acapulco) is the 18th episode of the Pokémon anime. It was first broadcast in Japan on July 29, 1997 and in the United States as a "lost episode" special on June 24, 2000.

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

Synopsis

Ash and company have finally arrived in Porta Vista, a beachside tourist town. Wasting no time, Ash, Brock and Pikachu change into swimsuits and jump into the ocean. Misty arrives a few minutes later, also in a swimsuit, and Ash stares at her. She asks why he's looking at her, and he cracks that "It's unusual to see you looking like a girl!" This earns him a beach ball to the face by an angry Misty.

Team Rocket, still using their Gyarados submarine spy on beachgoers from their vantage point underwater. They decide to steal the money of the wealthy tourists. Suddenly, Jessie notices a speeding boat heading in their direction. The boat is piloted by Brock, who thought Ash borrowed it because Pikachu was on the boat. The boat collides with the sub and eventually crashes into a dock. Moe, the owner of the boat, comes out to survey the damage. Ash volunteers that he, Brock and Misty will work to help pay the cost of repairing the boat and the dock. Moe agrees to this.

Meanwhile, Team Rocket's sub has washed up onto a private beach and they're greeted by a woman named Brutella. James asks if they can work for her restaurant to help pay for repairs to their sub, and she agrees. Later, it's revealed that both Moe and Brutella are restaurateurs and rivals. For a while, Brutella's restaurant has more customers and James taunts Ash and his friends over this. Ash decides to have his Pokémon help out as well. Squirtle and Pikachu are told to hand out fliers advertising Moe's; Pidgeotto and Charmander are to help keep the grill going in the kitchen, and Bulbasaur is assigned to help Misty do her waitressing duties. This works well until Meowth sabotages everything (including throwing banana peels on the floor to trip Misty up) and the crowd leaves Moe's restaurant for Brutella's. Ash apologizes for messing everything up.

Brutella arrives with Team Rocket a few minutes later and tells Moe that he needs to pay her the money he owes her. If he's unable to pay, she'll take his boat as payment. Moe is despondent, as he doesn't think he'll have the money by tomorrow. He explains that he'd planned to take a world cruise in his boat. Ash encourages him not to give up on his dream.

Then, two familiar faces appear: Professor Oak and Delia Ketchum. Ash is surprised to see both of them. Professor Oak explains that the Beach Beauty and Pokémon Costume Contest is set to start shortly, and he suggests handing out fliers to the audience. He also suggests that Misty enter and (hopefully) win some prize money to help out Moe. Ash releases Pidgeotto, who blankets the beach and town with fliers. Soon, Moe's restaurant is full again, much to Brutella's dismay.

As the contest begins, Moe sits with Delia and Professor Oak. He explains how Ash encouraged him not to give up on his dream. Delia says that she and the professor are in town with the Pallet Town Volunteer Patrol. The contest begins, with Brock as emcee. Misty is the first contestant, and she uses her Starmie and Ash's Squirtle to form a UFO. Team Rocket's Ekans and Koffing are next, and they're costumed as an Omastar. They're kicked off the stage by Gary Oak and his cheerleaders, who are apparently the next contestants. Gary grabs the microphone from Brock and insults Ash, who jumps out of his seat and heads for the stage.

Meanwhile, Brutella tells Jessie and James that she knows they're Team Rocket members and that she's fixed their submarine. She blackmails them into stopping the contest so that the audience will come to her restaurant. Jessie tells Brutella that they can destroy things without even trying.

Back onstage, Ash challenges the always-cocky Gary to a Pokémon battle, but Gary refuses, stating that he doesn't want to battle an amateur trainer. Brock steps between the two rivals before Ash's anger gets the best of him. Just then, the Gyarados submarine explodes from the water, causing panic. People run away, thinking that it's a real Gyarados on a rampage. Ash grabs the microphone and tells the remaining frightened audience members that it's a mecha, not a Pokémon. Team Rocket then fire a missile from the sub. Gary looks at Ash, who sends out Pidgeotto and Charmander. Charmander's Flamethrower attack hits the missile, which turns and changes course: straight for the submarine! Team Rocket pedal furiously to get away, but they crash into Brutella's restaurant, which is then destroyed by the missile.

Ash and his friends say farewell to Moe, who is heading off on his long-awaited cruise. Ash also says goodbye to Professor Oak and his mother, who is holding a trophy inscribed with the words: "First Place in Our Hearts: Ash Ketchum."

Major events

• Ash wins the Beauty Contest (US version)
• Delia holds onto the winner of the Beauty Contest's trophy (Japanese version)
• First appearance of the Gyarados Submarine (Japanese version)
• Misty and Brock meet Gary (Japanese version)

Debuts

• Team Rocket's Gyarados submarine. (Japanese version)

Characters

Humans

• Ash
• Misty
• Brock
• Jessie
• James
• Professor Oak
• Delia Ketchum
• Gary Oak
• Moe
• Brutella

Pokémon

Who’s That Pokémon?: Pidgeotto (US and international), Obaba (Japan)

• Pikachu (Ash's)
• Meowth (Team Rocket)
• Pidgeotto (Ash's)
• Bulbasaur (Ash's)
• Charmander (Ash's)
• Squirtle (Ash's)
• Starmie (Misty's)
• Ekans (Jessie's)
• Koffing (James's)

Trivia

• This episode, along with The Psychic Sidekicks and The Fortune Hunters, never made its release on VHS and DVD.
• Even though it was premiered on June 24, 2000, this episode was rerun only once on August 18, 2000 and then never shown again in the USA, not even on a DVD.
• This episode was not dubbed when Nathan Price was voicing Meowth, so it is (chronologically) the first episode in which Maddie Blaustein provides his voice.
• This episode's dub title is a reference to the fairytale, Beauty and the Beast.
• Misty's beach ball appears similar to a Master Ball.
• Contrary to popular belief, Delia Ketchum does NOT win the Beauty contest in either version, as she never entered. The winner of the contest is actually unknown and unspecified.

Errors

• In the English dub, Brock mistakenly calls Misty's Starmie a Staryu.
• In the Japanese raw, Moe tells Misty that things will get fun when she's "8 years older" which implies that she's twelve (as the age of sexual consent is 20 years old in Japan). However, she stated that her age was actually 10 years old in Ash catches a Pokémon (though he may have mistook her age.).

Dub edits

• In the English version, Moe tells Misty that she reminds him of his granddaughter, while as in the Japanese version, he thinks about "having fun" with her when she's eight years older.
• Ash and Brock were inviting everyone to have Fresh-fried Flounder, Seven-layered crab cakes, squid on a stick, and clam-juice snow-cones in the dubbed version, while as they only invited everyone to have Ramen and shaved-ice and taking a break from the sun.
• The term "Oil" on the oil barrel that Meowth is pumping into the restaurant is edited out.
• Brock's mention of the prize as being "Many stuff worth $1,000" is dub added.

• James was wearing a inflatable bikini. This scene, which caused the episode to be banned for two years and because it was unable to get past the censors, was cut completely from the dub. In one of the cut-out scenes, James says to Misty, "When you're older, you'll have a chest like this".
  • After Misty finishes her turn at the contest, the next footage shows James showing off his inflatable bikini. Then, their Pokémon as posing as an Omastar comes on stage. Only the Pokémon were seen in the dub.
  • After Brock comments about Gary's cheerleaders, Jessie and James (with the bikini still on) are seen mad. In the dub, this scene skips and goes into their conversation with Brutella.
• Originally, the "Who's That Pokémon?" in the Japanese version was Brutella. It showed her dodging a bunch of random objects. Afterwards, she sticks out her tongue and is answered by having a sink drop on her head. In the English dub, it was Pidgeotto.
• Even though it was a first season episode, when premiered in the US, the Orange Islands theme song was played instead. Also, during the part where fliers for the contest was shown, the theme was played in the background. This may suggest that this episode was a special for the Orange Islands dub rather than an actual episode itself.
• This is one of the few occasions where the Japanese writing on signs and flyers is not painted out in the American version.
• Gary refers to his cheerleaders as his "Girlfriends" in the original version, and his "Fanclub" in the dub.
• James's response to Brutella's command to destroy Moe's restaurant is different between the two versions. Originally, James says "We'll go through the fire and through the water!" (Which is also the first line in Mezaze Pokémon Master.), in the dub, he says "You can count on us! Destroying things is our speciality!"
• In the Japanese vesion, no winner is specified, and it's implied that Delia was only holding on to it for the winner. In the dub, Ash is the winner, being awarded for saving the contest from Team Rocket and Brutella.
• The scene where Jessie commands the Gyarados Sub was rewritten because of that fact.

In other languages

• Brazilian Portuguese: Férias em Acapulco (Not broadcasted)
• Dutch: Een strand vakantie
• French: La beauté et la plage
• Latin American Spanish: ¡Vacaciones en Acapulco! (Not broadcasted)

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