EP191: Difference between revisions

The Dunsparce Deception

EP191   ノコッチはのこっちない！？ There Aren't Any Nokocchi Here!?

First broadcast Japan March 29, 2001 United States February 23, 2002

English themes Opening Born to Be a Winner Ending

Japanese themes Opening OK! Ending ぼくのベストフレンドへ

Credits Animation Team Ota Screenplay 大橋志吉 Yukiyoshi Ōhashi Storyboard 横田和 Kazu Yokota Assistant director 大町繁 Shigeru Ōmachi Animation director たけだゆうさく Yūsaku Takeda Additional credits

Screenshots on Filb.de

The Dunsparce Deception (Japanese: ノコッチはのこっちない！？ There Aren't Any Nokocchi Here!?) is the 191st episode of the Pokémon anime. It was first broadcast in Japan on March 29, 2001 and in the United States on February 23, 2002.

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

Blurb

On the outskirts of a small town, our heroes run into a young boy named Bucky. He tells our friends of his woes in trying to capture a Dunsparce. It seems the Dunsparce are indeed sparse in this area, at least they are now. When Bucky was out of town visiting his grandpa, a swarm of them came through and every kid in town caught one. Although Bucky still tries to participate in the Dunsparce games by using his Caterpie, Caterpie just can't compete. While Ash and Co. make good on their promise to help Bucky find one of these snake-like Pokémon, Team Rocket pulls a scheme in town to rid the children of their Dunsparce. Will Team Rocket get away with the Poké-napping this time or will our heroes, joined by their new friend, Bucky, be able to triumph over Team Rocket and spare the Dunsparce?

Plot

As Ash, Misty, and Brock continue towards Olivine City, they notice someone hidden in the grass, looking for something while holding a net. They approach and ask him if he is looking for Bug Pokémon. The boy stands up and says that he is looking for a Dunsparce. Ash looks up the Pokémon on his Pokédex and asks whether the boy is looking for a Dunsparce that ran away. The boy explains that he is looking for a wild Dunsparce. He calls out his Caterpie, the Pokémon he would use to fight against Dunsparce if he found one. Misty freaks out upon seeing the Caterpie and hides behind a rock. Ash tells the boy not to mind Misty, since she always gets a little "excited" when she's around Bug Pokémon, and the boy says that he also gets excited around them, too.

He introduces himself as Bucky, and the others introduce themselves to him. Misty asks Bucky why he's looking for a wild Dunsparce, but before he can answer, a group of kids Bucky's age walk by, each with a Dunsparce of their own. The kid leading the group calls out to Bucky and invites him to go to the park so that they can all play with their Pokémon, and Bucky tells him that he'll join them soon. The kids talk to each other excitedly about their Dunsparce while walking to the park. At the park, some of the children argue about whose Dunsparce is the largest, and even measure to compare. Others show their friends picture books they made to describe their Dunsparce's day. Some of the kids show off the way their Dunsparce are able to hover a little bit above the ground.

Ash, Misty, Brock, and Bucky watch everyone in the park play with their Dunsparce, and Brock mentions how every kid in town has a Dunsparce except for Bucky. Bucky acknowledges this, and explains that his grandfather became sick a few months ago, so he went back to his hometown to visit him. His grandfather got better after a couple of weeks, so Bucky went back home. However, it turns out that while Bucky was out of town, a swarm of Dunsparce came through the area, and all of his friends caught one. No matter how hard Bucky searched for a Dunsparce, he was unable to find a single one.

The kids call out to Bucky, telling him that they are about to have their Dunsparce race through an obstacle course. They invite him to race, telling him to use his Caterpie. All of the Dunsparce and Bucky's Caterpie line up at the start, with Caterpie being noticeably smaller than the Dunsparce. The race starts, and all of the kids cheer on their own Pokémon. Caterpie lags significantly behind all the Dunsparce, despite putting in its best efforts. Team Rocket watches the Dunsparce race from behind the bushes. Meowth and James note how there are so many Dunsparce, but Jessie reminds them not to get distracted, since they have to focus on getting Pikachu.

Caterpie struggles to climb up a bunch of steps, while Bucky motivates it to keep going. Caterpie sees a Dunsparce right behind it, and Dunsparce's owner tells it to fly right over Caterpie. It does so, easily getting to the top of the steps and sliding down the slide. The boy cheers and turns to Bucky, telling him that Caterpie is already one lap behind. Bucky keeps telling Caterpie to not give up. However, Caterpie loses its balance and falls down the steps, knocking itself out. Bucky decides that Caterpie needs to rest and leaves the race, saying farewell to his friends.

While walking away, with Ash and his friends following closely behind, Bucky tells Caterpie not to worry and to have a good rest. He returns Caterpie to its Poké Ball. Ash, Misty, and Brock all volunteer to help Bucky find a Dunsparce so that he can play with the other kids. Ash sends out his Chikorita, Totodile, and Noctowl, Misty sends out her Poliwhirl, and Brock sends out his Golbat. Everyone starts looking for a wild Dunsparce. Togepi walks happily before it sees some soil popping out of the ground. Suddenly, the soil moves in a different direction, and Togepi happily follows it until it reaches Pikachu. Pikachu pats the soil, curious, when a Dunsparce pops out of it. Bucky happens to pass by and is surprised that he finally found a Dunsparce. He turns his head towards Ash when Ash tells him not to let it get away, but just then, the Dunsparce hides back into the ground. Everyone gathers around the spot where Dunsparce hid, and they decide that they'll just have to dig it back out.

While Totodile, Chikorita, Togepi, and Pikachu are staring at the spot, a net from Team Rocket's Meowth balloon comes down and captures them. When Ash and Bucky wonder what's going on, Team Rocket recite their motto while dressed in pirate costumes. Misty asks why they're dressed up like pirates, James answers that it's because..."because." Meowth mentions that he thought they were dressed up like pirates because there was a mix-up at the dry cleaners. James pulls up the net, satisfied with the selection of Pokémon they captured. Ash has Chikorita use Razor Leaf, but it doesn't cut the net because the net has a steel coating. At that, Ash decides to send out Cyndaquil and has it use Flamethrower. It successfully breaks off the net, freeing the Pokémon. Misty has Poliwhirl use Water Gun, which hits the balloon and sends Team Rocket crashing onto the ground. Meowth lands next to a lump of soil that Dunsparce then pops out of. Ash has Cyndaquil use Flamethrower, which causes an explosion and blasts Team Rocket off, with Meowth holding Dunsparce. As Team Rocket is flying through the air, Meowth notices that they got a Dunsparce, and they all scream that it's better than nothing.

Bucky is disappointed since he almost had a Dunsparce, and sighs while sitting on a rock. Misty tells Bucky to cheer up, but Bucky says that he couldn't catch that Dunsparce even after all of their help. Ash, Misty, and Brock provide a more optimistic outlook, saying that they can just find another Dunsparce since there has to be more Dunsparce where that one came from. This cheers Bucky up, and he thanks the others.

Meowth cheers over the fact that they caught a Dunsparce. Jessie is not amused, since she believes that Dunsparce is a boring Pokémon, but Meowth argues that it's better than no Pokémon at all. James says that the Boss would hardly notice one Dunsparce, but then Jessie says that the Boss would notice dozens of Dunsparce. They all decide to steal the Dunsparce from the children. James walks around town, ringing a bell and telling everyone to come see the new "3-D Virtual Pokémon Show" in the park. The kids, who are playing with their Dunsparce, decide to check it out, hoping to see things like moving holograms or computer-controlled puppets.

At the park, Jessie announces the presentation of Dunsparce versus Moltres. The curtains open to reveal James dressed up in a Moltres costume and Meowth dressed up in a Dunsparce costume, and the kids are immediately disappointed. Wobbuffet suddenly appears in front of the kids, and Jessie kicks it to the side. Wobbuffet appears again, and Jessie kicks it to the other side, telling it to stay backstage. Jessie finally announces that the battle between Moltres and Dunsparce has begun.

She announces that Moltres uses Wing Attack, to which James jabs at Meowth with his costume wing. She then says that Dunsparce protects itself by using Defense Curl. Meowth struggles to curl up, and complains that he can't move in his costume. To that, Jessie says that Dunsparce uses Glare, but Meowth complains that he doesn't know how to do Glare. Jessie tells him to just look nasty like he always does, and Meowth tells her not to insult him since he's not an actor. He kicks him back to the stage, telling him to just fake it. Meowth Glares at James, and then Jessie says that Moltres attacks Dunsparce with Fire Spin. James uses red streamers to act as Fire Spin, and the crowd continues to be dissatisfied with the performance. Jessie then announces that Moltres uses Sky Attack. When James tells Jessie that he doesn't even know what a Sky Attack is, Jessie claims that neither do the kids know, and tells him to just do anything. To that, James grabs Meowth and flings him high up into the air. The crowd watches as Meowth lands somewhere in the forest.

A trading machine appears on stage, and Jessie and James announce that they are offering to trade everyone a Moltres for a Dunsparce. All the kids gasp, and ask if it's really true. James declares that they are the Messengers of Moltres, traveling the world as ambassadors of the Flame Pokémon. With the exception of one girl, all of the kids run up to trade their Dunsparce.

Meanwhile, Ash and his friends have been looking for a Dunsparce for hours, but have been unable to find a single one. They walk along the forest when they come across Bucky's friends crying. Bucky asks his friend Timothy why everyone is crying, and Timothy explains the situation. The Poké Balls that were traded to them were all fakes, so Team Rocket took all of the Dunsparce while the kids got nothing. Misty asks the kids to describe what the two people that tricked them looked like, and Ash, Misty, and Brock figure out that it was Team Rocket. Bucky asks the one girl who didn't go up to Team Rocket whether her Dunsparce was taken, and she says no, because she didn't want to trade her Dunsparce for any Pokémon. Ash, Misty, and Brock promise Bucky that they will help get his friends' Dunsparce back.

Somewhere in the forest, Team Rocket struggle to catch the Dunsparce after letting them out of their Poké Balls. James tries to defend himself by explaining that Jessie told him to check on the Dunsparce, so he opened the Poké Balls to check that they were still inside. Jessie yells at him and says that they have to catch the Dunsparce before they're gone for good. They continue struggling to catch the Dunsparce, when Ash, Misty, and James catch up to them. Ash sends out Totodile and has it use Water Gun, but Wobbuffet sends the attack right back. Misty sends out Poliwhirl and has it use Water Gun, but Wobbuffet uses Counter again, sending it right back. Then, Totodile uses Water Gun again while Wobbuffet is unprepared, and successfully hits it. James then sends out Victreebel to have it help out, but it just bites James.

Just then, all of the children arrive at the scene, and the Dunsparce move to return to their Trainers. Jessie sends out her Arbok, who stands in front of the Dunsparce's way. The children decide to use their Dunsparce to battle Arbok, and call for them to use Screech. Arbok freezes up, and the Dunsparce make their way to their owners. Jessie tells Arbok to stop them from getting away, but the children have their Dunsparce use Glare, completely stopping Arbok from moving. The Dunsparce then use Take Down on Team Rocket, blasting them off.

All of the children rejoice now that they finally got their Dunsparce back. The wild Dunsparce from before suddenly pops out of the ground, and Bucky sends out Caterpie to battle it. It hits Dunsparce, but Dunsparce hits it right back. Bucky has Caterpie use String Shot and Tackle, and then throws a Poké Ball at Dunsparce. Everyone watches with anticipation until the Poké Ball finally catches Dunsparce. Bucky cheers, now that he finally has his own Dunsparce.

Back at the park, all of the Dunsparce race through the obstacle course again, now with Bucky's new Dunsparce included. Bucky cheers on his Dunsparce, while Caterpie cheers Dunsparce on from up on Bucky's shoulder. At the entrance of the park, Ash, Misty, and Brock comment on how happy Bucky is now. Bucky turns around and bids farewell to them, thanking them for helping him.

Major events

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

Debuts

Pokémon debuts

• Dunsparce

Characters

Humans

Dare da?

• Ash
• Misty
• Brock
• Jessie
• James
• Bucky
• Timothy
• Children

Pokémon

Who's That Pokémon?

Who's That Pokémon?: Mew (U.S. and international), Dunsparce (Japan)

• Pikachu (Ash's)
• Meowth (Team Rocket)
• Togepi (Misty's)
• Wobbuffet (Jessie's)
• Chikorita (Ash's)
• Cyndaquil (Ash's)
• Totodile (Ash's)
• Noctowl (Ash's)
• Psyduck (Misty's)
• Poliwhirl (Misty's)
• Golbat (Brock's)
• Arbok (Jessie's)
• Victreebel (James's)
• Dunsparce (multiple, debut)
• Dunsparce (Bucky's; new)
• Caterpie (Bucky's)

Trivia

• This is the first episode to feature an event legendary Pokémon in Who's That Pokémon?.
• This is the last episode with the original Dare Da? as an eyecatch in the Japanese version.
• This is also the last episode to have the original title card in the Japanese version (in the dub, its last appearance is in The Fortune Hunters).
• This is the second time James has worn a Moltres costume. The first was in the episode The Fortune Hunters. The two costumes in question are not the same.

Errors

• Dunsparce was repeatedly called a Bug-type in this episode. It is actually a Normal-type.
• The Poké Ball does not open when Bucky sends out his Caterpie at the beginning of the episode.
• Jessie doesn't have her gloves on when she orders Wobbuffet to use Counter and when she orders Arbok to counterattack after the Dunsparce used Screech.
  • Also during the battle between Jessie's Wobbuffet and Misty's Poliwhirl, Jessie instructs Wobbuffet to use Counter against Water Gun which works. Counter should only repel physical moves. The correct move would have been Mirror Coat.
• When Team Rocket gets blasted off by the kids' Dunsparce, Victreebel disappears.

Dub edits

• The original airing of this episode on Hungama TV in India started the episode directly from the title card, skipping the part of the episode that comes before it.

In other languages

Language		Title
Mandarin Chinese		土龍弟弟全都沒了？！
Czech		Městečko Dunsparce
Dutch		De Dunspace Desillusie
European French		Un Pokémon nommé Désir
German		Trügerische Dummisel
Hebrew		תרמית הדאנספרסtarmit haDunsparce
Hindi		Dunsparce - एक बग पोकेमोन Dunsparce -Ek Bug Pokemon *
Italian		Baratto con inganno
Polish		Podstęp Dunsparce'a
Brazilian Portuguese		Quem Espera Sempre Alcança
Spanish	Latin America	¡El engaño de Dunsparce!
	Spain	Los huidizos Dunsparce

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