XY079

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XY078 : Lights! Camera! Pika!
Pokémon the Series: XY
XY080 : Performing with Fiery Charm!
A Frenzied Factory Fiasco!
XY079.png
XY079   EP878
激闘モンスターボール工場!ピカチュウVSニャース!!
Fierce Battle in the Monster Ball Factory! Pikachu VS Nyarth!!
First broadcast
Japan June 25, 2015
United States August 30, 2015*
September 5, 2015*
English themes
Opening Be a Hero
Ending
Japanese themes
Opening ゲッタバンバン
Ending ガオガオ・オールスター
Credits
Animation Team Kato
Screenplay 米村正二 Shōji Yonemura
Storyboard 三浦陽 Yo Miura
Assistant director 浅田裕二 Yūji Asada
Animation director 岩根雅明 Masaaki Iwane
No additional credits are available at this time.

A Frenzied Factory Fiasco! (Japanese: 激闘モンスターボール工場!ピカチュウVSニャース!! Fierce Battle in the Monster Ball Factory! Pikachu VS Nyarth!!) is the 79th episode of Pokémon the Series: XY, and the 878th episode of the Pokémon anime. It first aired in Japan on June 25, 2015, in Canada on August 29, 2015, and in the United States on September 5, 2015.

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

Our heroes have taken an exciting detour from their Anistar City journey: a visit to the one-and-only Poké Ball Factory! The three factory managers who offer them a tour look strangely familiar...

It’s Team Rocket, of course, but by the time the villains reveal themselves, our heroes have handed over every one of their Poké Balls (plus Pikachu) and gotten themselves locked in a storeroom! When Pikachu escapes, a frantic chase ensues as Pikachu tries to rescue the case full of Poké Balls and Meowth tries to use Pikachu’s own Poké Ball to trap it!

Finally, Meowth offers a challenge: if Pikachu can beat him in battle, he’ll give back all the Poké Balls. Meowth tries to pull a double-cross, but Pikachu’s Iron Tail takes him down, and Team Rocket goes blasting off again. And after freeing the real factory managers, our heroes get an official tour by way of thanks!

Plot

Ash and his friends arrive at the Poké Ball Factory, as Clemont cries out in joy in having one of his dreams fulfilled. A disguised Team Rocket welcomes them, and takes them on a "premium brand" tour of the Factory. They eventually trick the twerps into handing over all of their Pokémon by offering them a unique service which detects easy-to-miss damage to Poké Balls and status conditions of their Pokémon. Ash comments that Pikachu does not like entering his Poké Ball, leading James to reveal a special glass case to put Pikachu in, and Meowth asks for Pikachu's Poké Ball to go along with him. While Clemont comments he would like to explore more of the Factory, Team Rocket invites the group to experience a "special booth" which will emulate how Pokémon feel inside a Poké Ball. Ash and his friends get taken to a dark storage room, but are left feeling disappointed by the so-called experience. The doors shut behind them, before the Factory workers reveal that they are actually Team Rocket. The crooks inform the group that their real plan was to take the Factory's Poké Balls and steal all their Pokémon.

Pikachu tries to break free, but the case is invulnerable to electricity. So instead, he smashes through the case. Pikachu uses Thunderbolt on his foes, but Wobbuffet reflects it back using Mirror Coat, which Pikachu avoids. Meowth then tries to recall Pikachu back into his Poké Ball, but Pikachu continues to dodge. Jessie and James then send out Pumpkaboo and Inkay to help. Pumpkaboo uses Shadow Ball, which Pikachu manages to evade, but gets hit with Inkay's Psybeam. Smoke from the attack surrounds Pikachu and Meowth attempts to recall Pikachu into his Poké Ball again. As the smoke clears, Pikachu has disappeared, and Team Rocket jump for joy thinking that they have caught their prime target. Team Rocket then run away and begin to steal all kinds of Poké Balls in the Poké Ball Factory.

Ash angrily bangs on the locked doors, which refuse to budge. Then Pikachu speaks out, and explains to Ash that he escaped in the nick of time using a side ventilation tunnel. Pikachu uses Iron Tail on the locked doors, which fails to break open the door. Inside the production section of the Factory, Team Rocket hear Pikachu's voice, and decide to follow the sound. They arrive and see Pikachu attempting to use Iron Tail once more, and they cry out in shock. Meowth attempts to call Pikachu into his Poké Ball again, but Pikachu escapes into the same ventilation tunnel. James sends out Inkay to follow Pikachu down the tunnel while Jessie and James go to store their stolen Poké Balls in their getaway truck. Inside the tunnel, Inkay attacks Pikachu multiple times, sending him flying, but Pikachu retaliates with Quick Attack and runs away.

Pikachu arrives in the main production room of the Poké Ball Factory, and spots the briefcase containing the stolen Poké Balls. Pikachu uses conveyor belts to try to retrieve the case. Unfortunately, Meowth pulls a switch which reverses the directions of the conveyor belts, and manages to grab the case instead. Meowth then proceeds again to try and recall Pikachu into his Poké Ball. Pikachu flees from Meowth, until Meowth accidentally gets grabbed by a hook which causes him to lose the case. The fight for the Poké Ball case continues, with Pikachu and Meowth being picked up by the Factory's machinery. Jessie and James then arrive, having stored their stolen Poké Balls away, and use the Factory's computers to help them control the machinery to catch Pikachu and help Meowth.

Meanwhile, Clemont reveals his "Extra Strength Pry-It-Open" invention he has been working on, which will pry open the door. As it begins to work on the door, the machine explodes and blows open the locked door. The group runs out to try and save Pikachu and their other Pokémon.

The fight between Pikachu and Meowth continues, but Jessie and James flee when they spot the twerps escaping on the surveillance system. Meowth, however, decides to stay and catch Pikachu. Pikachu leaps onto another conveyor belt and throws a Luxury Ball at Meowth, which hits and calls him inside nearly capturing him. Meowth manages to escape, although he did enjoy the feeling of the Luxury Ball, then continues after Pikachu. As Pikachu notices the briefcase, Meowth tries to recall him again, until James shouts out to him to forget Pikachu. Meowth then grabs the Poké Ball case and flees. Elsewhere, while Ash reunites with Pikachu to go after Team Rocket, Serena and Clemont help the Factory workers who have been tied up by Team Rocket.

As Team Rocket gets away in their truck, Ash runs outside and commands Pikachu to use Thunderbolt, effectively halting their escape. Meowth steps out of the cabin and offers a challenge: if Pikachu can beat him in battle, he'll give back all the Poké Balls. Pikachu accepts. Meowth starts off with Fury Swipes while Pikachu is ready with an Iron Tail. Meowth pulls a double-cross, and tries to use Pikachu's Poké Ball to recall him inside. Pikachu dodges and uses Iron Tail to take Meowth down and send his Poké Ball flying back to Ash. Ash confronts the rest of Team Rocket and demands they follow through on their deal to return the stolen Pokémon. Though Jessie and James take out their Poké Balls to battle Ash, a Poké Ball statue rolls off its plinth and sends Team Rocket blasting off.

Afterwards, the Poké Ball Factory foreman thanks the group for stopping Team Rocket. Ash corrects him, informing him that most of the thanks belongs to Pikachu. As a reward, the foreman offers the group a genuine tour of the factory, and the four happily accept.

Major events

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

Debuts

Pokémon debuts

Characters

Humans

Pokémon Quiz

Pokémon

Who's That Pokémon?

Who's That Pokémon?: Staraptor (US and international)
Pokémon Quiz: Meowth (Team Rocket) (Japan)

Trivia

The title card segment focuses on Team Rocket for this episode

Errors

Bunnelby with bigger pupils
  • When Clemont tells the factory workers to hold on, his mouth does not move.
  • When Ash and his friends put all of their Poké Balls in the case, Bonnie's hands are briefly drawn like Clemont's.
  • As the other Pokémon came out of their Poké Balls, Bunnelby's pupils are bigger than its appearances in other episodes.
  • While Meowth is holding the Poké Ball case on his head, the handle switches between being on the front and back between shots.
  • When Pikachu is fighting Team Rocket, the door to Ash and his friends disappears between shots.
  • When Pikachu escapes Team Rocket's glass cage, he runs to the left of the door where Ash and his friends are and escapes into a vent to the left, which is also zoomed in on when Team Rocket runs past it. However, when Pikachu turns up in front of the door, he points at a vent right in front of the door, which is open as if he escaped through there. This vent is also closed in later shots.
  • When Team Rocket is running away with the Poké Ball case, the bar to the vent Pikachu escaped through is lying in front of the vent. In a later shot, it is positioned far more to the left and is closed in a later shot.
  • After Pikachu points to Ash's friends, Ash's left hand overlaps on him.
  • In the Japanese version of the scene where Team Rocket is seen stealing various sorts of Poké Balls, James lists Quick, Premier, and Net Balls, even though no Quick Balls are seen in the entire episode. The dub corrects this by having James mention a Dusk Ball instead of a Quick Ball.

Dub edits

In other languages



XY078 : Lights! Camera! Pika!
Pokémon the Series: XY
XY080 : Performing with Fiery Charm!
Project Anime logo.png This episode article is part of Project Anime, a Bulbapedia project that covers all aspects of the Pokémon anime.