PS039

Just a Spearow Carrier

VS オニスズメ

VS Onisuzume

Info

Series

Pokémon Adventures

Other

Location

Indigo Plateau

Just a Spearow Carrier (Japanese: VS オニスズメ VS Onisuzume) is the 39th round in the Pokémon Adventures manga.

Plot

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

The long-awaited championship tournament has begun at the Indigo Plateau, and the Pokémon Fan Club Chairman makes his excited appearance as a fan. Spotting a Spearow, the Chairman wonders who the Trainer is before Spearow's owner kindly requests the return of it, startling the man with his intimidating appearance. The mysterious man moves over to the counter to register himself in the tournament; noticing that Red, Blue, and Green have all signed up as well, the man expresses his pleased sentiments.

To the roar of the watching crowd, Red has Poli defeat his opponent's Kabutops, earning him a place in the semi-finals as his rival Blue does the same. Revealing a history of Pokémon League winners from Pallet Town, Blue declares his anticipation in facing Red for the finals before leaving. Just then, Red sees Green attempt to pull a trick on an unsuspecting Fisherman, by having her Nidoran♀ court his Nidoran♂ and encourage a trade of her Weedle for his Butterfree. Red catches Green in the act and demands to know what she is doing in the tournament, but the girl calmly explains her presence by indicating her place in the semi-finals, and surprises Red by declaring herself a Trainer from Pallet Town. Before Red can follow Green to question her further, Bill makes his appearance with the match-ups for the semi-finals. To Red's dismay he must face Blue for his semi-final match, meaning that he can no longer face Blue for the finals.

As they join the spectators, Bill comforts Red as Green faces off the mysterious "Dr. O". Green releases Jiggly, her Jigglypuff, while Dr. O reveals his Spearow; both Pokémon selections draw remarks of confusion from the crowd. Red himself is familiar with Green's tactics, but Dr. O's selection of Spearow befuddles him. Confidently, Green accuses her foe of underestimating her as she calls a Tri Attack from Jiggly, gleefully declaring to have won all her League matches with the first hit. To her surprise, not only has Spearow not fainted, it retaliates with a Fury Attack that corners Green and Jiggly. Hurriedly Green switches to Sing, instantly inducing drowsiness in the audience except for Blue, who points out that Spearow's flight and distance in between have caused Sing to fail.

Annoyed, Green has Jiggly attack Spearow relentlessly, and as Spearow dodges every single one Red calls at Green to switch to aerial tactics. To his surprise Green retorts that she has no Flying Pokémon, and Dr. O muses that perhaps Green had underestimated him, revealing his team of Pidgeot and Dodrio. Realizing Dr. O must know Green's weakness, the mysterious Trainer goes behind Green as she cringes, whispering a warning: "No matter what your reasons, stealing will never pay." Green is momentarily stunned by Dr. O's comment, before seizing the chance for Jiggly to lock Dr. O in Disable, letting her switch to Blasty. Much to everyone's amazement Green has Blasty withdraw its forelimbs, letting her ride on its lower legs as it uses Hydro Pump to propel them into the air for an aerial attack, turning the tables on Dr. O. Just as Dr. O's identity is almost revealed, Dr. O has Spearow activate Mirror Move, creating a deflective shield the returns the attack at Blasty and heavily damages it.

Once again cornered by Spearow, Green screams in terror at the Tiny Bird Pokémon, much to the confusion of everyone present. Confirming Green's phobia of birds, Dr. O explains that six years earlier a girl was kidnapped by a giant bird Pokémon. As he had a grandson of the same age, he had helped in the extensive search and knows what the girl looks like, and in fact the very same girl had been caught on his security cameras stealing a Squirtle. Both Red and Bill realize with a shock Dr. O's true identity, and as he reveals himself as none other than Professor Oak, he comforts Green on her traumatic experience. Trembling, Green orders a last-ditch Water Gun from Blasty, but the attack is returned by Mirror Move. With Blasty's defeat, Green loses the semi-final match to her dismay, as the Professor asks her to explain her motivations for the theft.

Confirming her abduction at a young age and her childhood with no home or family, Green states that the only link to her past was her birthplace of Pallet Town. When she had finally returned she heard that the Professor had granted two boys a Pokédex for them to go on journeys, something she had yearned for dearly. As she tears up Professor Oak gently admonishes her for stealing, before giving her his third Pokédex and officially recognizing her as a Trainer from Pallet Town. Green finally breaks down as the Professor consoles her. Elsewhere, Bill, having shared similar experiences of being snatched away by a bird Pokémon, bursts into tears as well.

In the locker room, Blue meets his grandfather as the latter catches his breath. Blue remarks that either him or Red would have to fight the Professor, but his grandfather reveals having won an earlier tournament, and declares his decision to withdraw from the competition. With Green ineligible to participate due to her loss, the battle between Red and Blue is announced to be the final battle, much to Red's elation.

Major events

Green is revealed to own a Nidoran♀ and a Weedle.
Green, Dr. O, Red, and Blue reach the semi-finals of the Indigo League tournament.
Green is given the third Pokédex and becomes a Pokédex holder.
Green is defeated by Dr. O in the semi-finals, who then withdraws from the competition, leaving Red and Blue to battle in the final round of the Indigo League Tournament.

	Spoilers end here.

Debuts

Pokémon debuts

Characters

Humans

Pokémon

Poliwrath (Poli; Red's)
Pikachu (Pika; Red's)
Pidgeot (Blue's)
Jigglypuff (Jiggly; Green's)
Squirtle (Blasty; Green's; picture)
Blastoise (Blasty; Green's)
Nidoran♀ (Nido; Green's)
Weedle (Green's)
Spearow (Dr. O's)
Pidgeot (Dr. O's)
Dodrio (Dr. O's)
Nidoran♂ (Wilton's)
Butterfree (Wilton's)
Magmar (Firebreather's)
Pikachu (Trainer's)
Farfetch'd (Trainer's)
Dragonair (Trainer's)
Kabutops (Trainer's)
Ho-Oh (silhouette; flashback)

Trivia

This round is included in The Best of Pokémon Adventures: Red.

Errors

In the VIZ Media first edition, when the Pokémon League scoreboard is shown, Blue is identified as "GREEN" and Green is identified as "BLUE". This error is a result of Green and Blue switching names for the English translation. This error was also present in the compilation volume The Best of Pokémon Adventures: Red, but was corrected for the second edition re-translation.

In other languages

Language		Title
Mandarin Chinese		VS 烈雀
Finnish		Red vastaan Spearow
European French		Piafabec* La Ligue Pokémon !*
German		Nur ein Habitak-Trainer* VS. Habitak*
Korean		VS 깨비참
European Spanish		Contra Spearow
Vietnamese		VS Onisuzume