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A Scare in the Air (Japanese: ひこうせんはふこうせん!? Blimp Accident!? ) is episode 82 of the Pokémon anime. It was first broadcast in Japan on February 4, 1999 and in the United States on January 8, 2000.

Ash, Misty and Brock are pondering how to get to the Orange Islands when Ash wins a contest for three free blimp tickets. The blimp unfortunately is being run by Team Rocket. Jigglypuff accidentally starts the blimp and stows away. So Ash and company have to deal with inept piloting, cold food, a lost Togepi, and a Jigglypuff with a sheet over its head pretending to be a ghost!

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

Synopsis

The episode starts out with Ash and Co. at a grocery store picking up supplies for their trip to the Orange Islands. Ash suggests that they walk there however according to Brock’s guidebook it’d only take a day if they went by blimp. Their ship comes in when a couple of guys were running a campaign where you could win a prize if you took your store receipt to them. Ash did it and won a trip on the blimp.

Meanwhile Jessie and James get an assignment from Giovanni to operate the blimp as the blimp brigade.

When Ash and Co. get to the blimp yard they see a broken down blimp where a couple of guys approach them and asks if they are taking a ride on that blimp. They then proceed to tell them that it’s haunted and full of ghosts. This is where Jessie and James come in.

When Ash and Co. get on the blimp they take notice how broken down it is. During this time Meowth is fixing dinner and Jessie and James act as waiters. During a bumpy ride Ash complains about the ride so Jessie and James ask Meowth who’s flying the blimp, which of course nobody was. It was flying itself.

This is where Jessie and James try to pilot the blimp however they fly into a big storm.

After an even bumpier ride Misty loses Togepi. So they set out to find it and Jessie and James look for the twerps. When Ash and Co. get up to the balloon part of the blimp they encounter a ghost however it turned out to be Jigglypuff.

After a while Jessie and James meet up with Ash and friends and start a Pokémon battle. Things get rough after Brock’s Geodude throws Weezing through the blimp and it starts ripping apart. After so much of it ripping apart Togepi is finally spotted up on a high ledge. Ash uses Bulbasaur to obtain Togepi from the ledge. Forgetting about Team Rocket, Jessie and James try to get Pikachu from Ash while he’s busy with Togepi however after a huge bump Jessie and James fall off the blimp and through the balloon. Thinking quickly Meowth had grabbed some of the fabric to make a parachute except Jigglypuff landed on top of it and started singing. This caused them to fall asleep and Meowth to let go of the fabric and they landed in the ocean.

Now Ash and friends and left to land the out of control blimp. They use their Pokémon to steer the blimp and then they crash on Valencia Island. Ash and Co. now continue on to Professor Ivy’s lab to obtain the GS ball.

Major events

• Ash and co. reach Valencia Island in a blimp.

Debuts

Characters

Humans

• Ash
• Misty
• Brock
• Jessie
• James

Pokémon

Who's That Pokémon?: Vulpix (Japan, US, and international)

• Pikachu (Ash's)
• Meowth (Team Rocket)
• Togepi (Misty's)
• Bulbasaur (Ash's)
• Squirtle (Ash's)
• Staryu (Misty's)
• Psyduck (Misty's)
• Onix (Brock's)
• Geodude (Brock's)
• Zubat (Brock's)
• Vulpix (Brock's)
• Arbok (Jessie's)
• Weezing (James's)
• Persian (Giovanni's)
• Jigglypuff (anime)

Trivia

• The dub of this episode was renamed "Spirits in the Sky" after the September 11th tragedy. However, this may have only been temporary, as the Cartoon Network rerun kept the original dub title.
• This episode's renamed dub title is a reference to the Norman Greenbaum song, Spirit in the Sky.

Errors

• While this episode marks the beginning of the Orange Islands arc, both KidsWB! and Cartoon Network aired the first season intro instead of the Orange Islands theme for this episode and the next.

Dub edits

In other languages

• French: Y a t'il un pilote dans le dirigeable?
• Italian: Il dirigibile fantasma
• Latin American Spanish: ¡Un susto en el aire!
• Spanish: Susto en el aire

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