EP039

"Pikachu's Goodbye" redirects here. For the song, see The Time Has Come.

Pikachu's Goodbye (Japanese: ピカチュウのもり Forest of Pikachu) is the 39th episode of the Pokémon anime. It was first broadcast in Japan on April 16, 1998 and in the United States on November 20, 1998. It was created in response to the EP038 incident, and did not appear in the original schedule.

Notably, it is also, with The Battling Eevee Brothers, the first hour-long Pokémon special.

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

Synopsis

Ash, Misty, and Brock are resting in the forest. Ash starts to swing on vines, but he runs into a tree. Pikachu comes over to see if Ash is all right and sees a baby Pikachu. Ash and Pikachu run after it and Misty and Brock follow to see a whole clan of Pikachu and the baby Pikachu. Pikachu says hello but the wild Pikachu get scared and runs off. Pikachu starts to walk away but the baby Pikachu comes over and shakes tails with it. Brock says it must have accepted Ash's Pikachu. Ash runs toward them, yelling that he wants to be part of their group, but he scares them and they run away. The baby Pikachu falls into a river and Ash's Pikachu jumps in to get it. The Pikachu all start joining tails to save them and they succeed.

Meanwhile, Team Rocket sees the Pikachu and decides that they will capture them for the boss.

At night, all the Pikachu start chanting the Pikachu chant. Ash and his friends watch and see how happy Pikachu is. Ash is sad but says it is nothing. He stays up while Misty and Brock sleep and sees Pikachu's face in the fire. He thinks maybe Pikachu should be with its own kind. The fire goes out and the Pikachu scream for help. They are captured in a net which is, as Jessie says, electric-proof. James shoots a net at Ash and his friends, but they get out of it very easily. Team Rocket starts sailing away with the Pikachu but Ash's Pikachu begins chewing at the net and breaks it. Ash and his friends hold up the net they were captured in and the Pikachu jump in it unharmed. Ash's Pikachu bites a hole in the balloon and Team Rocket blasts off again. Ash starts to walk away without Pikachu and Misty and Brock ask him why. He says Pikachu would be happier here. Pikachu starts following but Ash yells at it to stay behind. He runs away and remembers a lot about Pikachu.

Finally, Ash stops and Misty and Brock catch up to him. Behind Ash, his Pikachu shakes tails with the baby Pikachu and all the wild Pikachu start chanting. Pikachu runs into Ash's arms. Ash is touched and starts to cry. The episode ends with Ash and Pikachu hugging.

Major events

• Ash attempts to release Pikachu, but Pikachu returns to Ash.

Debuts

Characters

Humans

• Ash
• Misty
• Brock
• Jessie
• James
• Professor Oak (flashback)

Pokémon

Who's That Pokémon?: Pikachu

• Pikachu (Ash's)
• Meowth (Team Rocket)
• Pidgeotto (Ash's; flashback)
• Spearow (flashback)
• Pikachu

Trivia

• This episode was created after the EP038 incident: the episode schedule did not include it before the incident. The original EP039 was supposed to be Holiday Hi-Jynx.
• The episode aired as a two-hour special (放送再開スペシャル（放送再開スペシャル やっとあえるね！）１時間SP) with The Battling Eevee Brothers, when Pokémon returned to airwaves.
• Not counting the flashbacks, Pikachu and Meowth were the only two species of Pokémon seen in this episode.
• The events of The Kangaskhan Kid were referenced in the beginning of this episode.
• This is the most recent episode in which wild Pikachu appear.

Errors

Dub edits

• The original montage of Ash and Pikachu is different in both versions. The original Japanese version has clips that are shown in chronological episodic order. The dubbed English version have clips from certain episodes in random order, with many clips missing from the original Japanese version, and it also has some clips not present in the original Japanese version.

In other languages

• Brazilian Portuguese: O Adeus de Pikachu
• Dutch: Kom terug Pikachu
• Finnish: Pikachun hyvästit
• French: Au revoir Pikachu
• Italian: Addio Pikachu!
• Latin American Spanish: Adiós Pikachu.
• Iberian Spanish: Adiós Pikachu
• Swedish: Pikachus farväl

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