EP104

← EP103 : Misty Meets Her Match

Original series

EP105 : Charizard Chills →

Bound For Trouble

EP104   ピカチュウＶＳニャース！？ Pikachu VS Nyarth!?

First broadcast Japan July 15, 1999 United States September 15, 2000

English themes Opening Pokémon World Ending

Japanese themes Opening ライバル！ Ending ポケモン音頭

Credits Animation Team Ota Screenplay 大橋志吉 Yukiyoshi Ōhashi Storyboard 浅田裕二 Yūji Asada Assistant director 浅田裕二 Yūji Asada Animation director 岩根雅明 Masaaki Iwane Additional credits

Screenshots on Filb.de

Bound For Trouble (Japanese: ピカチュウＶＳニャース！？ Pikachu VS Nyarth!?) is the 104th episode of the Pokémon anime. It was first broadcast in Japan on July 15, 1999 and in the United States on September 15, 2000.

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

Blurb

After leaving Trovita Island, Ash and his friends stop off at a place that has a reputation for super-sized Pokémon. After falling for a Team Rocket trick that lands them in a giant hole in the ground, Pikachu gets stolen once again. This time Team Rocket locks Pikachu and Meowth together just before a giant Pidgeot swoops down and grabs them. Can the two survive in a land of giant Pokémon, being stuck together and without a key?

Plot

With Ash earning his third Badge, he and his friends have now stopped on Fairchild Island, which is known to have larger-than-normal Pidgeot and Rhydon. The group soon finds a fruit basket in the middle of the road. Ash goes for it, but Misty stops him, suspecting it to be a trap. She points to a nearby fruit tree as an alternative, and as they go for it, they fall into a trap hole. One of the apples falls onto Ash's head, and he tries to eat it, finding out it is a fake.

Team Rocket reveals themselves and how they used reverse psychology with the real fruit basket, causing Ash to pin the blame on Misty for her poor judgment, but she dismisses the subject and orders Ash to find them a way out. Jessie and James send out Arbok and Weezing. Ash throws Pikachu in the air and he attacks with Thunderbolt. However, Team Rocket uses special gloves to deflect the attack, and Pikachu is made dizzy by Arbok's Poison Sting and Weezing's Poison Gas. Before he can recover, Meowth locks one of the belts around Pikachu's waist and the other belt around his own waist. Team Rocket then escapes just as Ash, Misty, and Tracey climb out of the hole, too late to stop the villains from stealing Pikachu.

Soon afterward, Pikachu stands helplessly amongst the Rockets as they prepare to take him back to their boss. However, their plans are foiled yet again when a giant Pidgeot swoops down and grabs the rope binding Pikachu and Meowth, with Meowth losing his electric deflection gloves in the ascent. Meowth fears that Pidgeot is taking them back to its nest, and has Pikachu unleash Thunderbolt. While he accidentally shocks Meowth on the first try, he manages to hit Pidgeot with the next attack, causing it to release, sending them plummeting. Meowth attempts to use Pikachu as a cushion for the landing, but Pikachu tries to switch it around. After alternating, Pikachu emerges victorious and Meowth hits the ground first. This is not the end of their troubles, however, as the rope hitched to their belts leaves both Meowth and Pikachu stuck together in the middle of the island; Meowth reveals that Jessie has the key that unlocks the belts. Angered by this revelation, Pikachu shocks Meowth with Thunderbolt.

Back where Team Rocket landed their hot-air balloon, Jessie and James doubt Meowth can bring Pikachu back. Ash and his friends corner them with Bulbasaur and Staryu. However, they quickly stop the Trainers and explain about the abduction. Team Rocket takes off in the balloon to search, and the heroes decide to do the same. Tracey sends out Marill to listen for Pidgeot, leading them to Pidgeot’s nest atop a giant rock spire. Ignoring Misty's advice, Ash climbs up to the top, only to discover that the nest is empty. The Pidgeot subsequently returns and dive-bombs Ash, knocking him off the spire and back down to his friends. Apparently undaunted, Ash gets up and continues to search. Both Misty and Tracey know how close Ash and Pikachu are and that Ash will not stop searching.

Meanwhile, Meowth and Pikachu run into a fork in the road and try to go separate ways, but the rope causes them to knock each other over flat on their faces. Meowth goes into a frenzy and angrily declares that they will be going in the direction he wants to go, but Pikachu threatens to shock Meowth again, forcing him to cooperate. After a moment, Meowth knows that Pikachu is in charge and tries to put up a friendly attitude, but Pikachu knows Meowth is deceptive and breaks it with another Electric blast.

Meowth and Pikachu are still walking, when Pikachu suddenly smells something. A giant Rhydon comes up from behind and Pikachu tries to run, but Meowth is too scared. Rhydon attacks and Pikachu pulls them up the hill, with Rhydon in hot pursuit. Rhydon knocks them around and they make another run. They both fall down a cliff and continue running, but Rhydon is gaining. They get boxed into a canyon, and Pikachu chooses to fight with Thunderbolt, but Rhydon, being a Ground-type, negates the attack. It prepares to charge and Pikachu comes up with a plan. Both Pokémon jump up onto Rhydon and Meowth tickles it to get it to laugh, and Pikachu fires a Thunderbolt into its mouth to knock it out. Both applaud the teamwork. Ash and the others find Pikachu's footprints from the Rhydon struggle. They follow the tracks to the cliff, and Ash jumps down the cliff to continue looking. Jessie and James are still searching from the balloon without much success.

Night falls and both Pikachu and Meowth are hungry from fatigue. They find one apple on a tree and make a run for it. Meowth jumps for it, but Pikachu pulls Meowth down with the rope before using Thunderbolt to bring the fruit down. Pikachu prepares to eat it all, but after seeing Meowth’s sadness decides to split the apple. Meowth realizes how nice Pikachu is and talks about how they could have been friends had things in their lives had gone differently. He thinks Pikachu should abandon Ash and join Team Rocket, believing the two would make a great team. However, Pikachu can't hear him as he has fallen asleep in Meowth's lap. Meowth simply chuckles at the thought and goes to sleep as well.

The next day, the two wake up and the giant Pidgeot swoops down after them. They try to run, but the giant Rhydon cuts them off. Both prepare to attack, but Ash and Team Rocket arrive. Ash sends out Snorlax to stop Rhydon while Jessie sends Arbok to stop Pidgeot. Snorlax uses Mega Punch to send Rhydon flying while Arbok uses Wrap and Bite to send Pidgeot scurrying. Meowth runs up to Jessie and James, but is crushed that Team Rocket searched for Meowth only to get to Pikachu. Pikachu runs up to Ash, but James pulls on Meowth in a tug-of-war, Ash demanding them to let go of Pikachu while Meowth screams for James to let go of him. Ash sends Bulbasaur out, knocking Meowth out of James’s grip. Ash sends Pikachu to attack, and James sends out Victreebel, which bites Arbok. Bulbasaur uses Vine Whip to send both of them flying back. Jessie loses the key and Ash grabs it, unlocking both Pikachu and Meowth. Team Rocket runs back to the balloon and prepares a cannon. Misty tries to send out Staryu, but Psyduck comes out instead. The cannon prepares to fire and Misty orders Psyduck to use Confusion. Togepi uses Metronome, which causes the balloon to explode and sends Team Rocket flying. They think Psyduck did it, but Misty suspects Togepi did. Ash and Pikachu hug after being separated. Meanwhile, Team Rocket is battered and hungry. They find an apple, and all three fight for it, with Jessie eating it all. Meowth misses Pikachu's kindness.

Major events

• Ash's Snorlax is revealed to know Mega Punch.

For a list of all major events in Pokémon the Series, please see the timeline page.

Characters

Humans

Dare da?

• Ash
• Misty
• Tracey
• Jessie
• James
• Giovanni (fantasy)

Pokémon

Who's That Pokémon?

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

• Pikachu (Ash's)
• Meowth (Team Rocket)
• Togepi (Misty's)
• Bulbasaur (Ash's)
• Lapras (Ash's; flashback)
• Snorlax (Ash's)
• Staryu (Misty's)
• Psyduck (Misty's)
• Marill (Tracey's)
• Arbok (Jessie's)
• Weezing (James's)
• Victreebel (James's)
• Persian (Giovanni's; fantasy)
• Pidgeot (giant)
• Rhydon (giant)

Trivia

• This was chosen by Ikue Ohtani as the seventh episode of Pocket Monsters Anime Premier 10.
• Pokémon Ondo replaced Type: Wild as the Japanese ending theme.
• The plot of this episode bears a significant similarity to the 1958 crime film The Defiant Ones.
• This is the third episode of the Orange Islands saga to feature giant Pokémon.
• This episode marks the second time a giant Rhydon has appeared in the anime, the first being a robot in Island of the Giant Pokémon.
• This was the last episode to air before The Power of One debuted in Japanese theaters.
• Pikachu was able to defeat Blaine's Rhydon by aiming an attack at its horn. In this episode, however, Rhydon's mouth is the vulnerable area.
• Unlike in most other cases, James's Victreebel does not pounce on him immediately when sent out, instead first attacking Arbok.
• The Pokémon Junior book Two of a Kind is based on this episode.
• After Togepi uses Metronome on Team Rocket's balloon, Misty immediately realizes that Togepi may have used the move. While the speculation has always been there, this is the first time Misty has realized it directly after Togepi has used the move.
• A shot of Meowth performing an akanbe, which involves pulling one's eyelid down and sticking out one's tongue at the same time, is still present in the dub, despite similar shots being removed from Clefairy And The Moon Stone and A Ruin with a View.

Errors

• When Meowth and Pikachu land after the giant Pidgeot drops them, they are not wearing their connectors.
• When Ash climbs out of the trap and runs after Pikachu, the Meowth balloon can be seen taking off in the distance. However, due to a lack of transition, the next scene makes it appear that the balloon never got off the ground.
• In the Polish dub, while inspecting the map, Tracey says that this island is inhabited by Pidgey instead of Pidgeot.

Dub edits

• Pikachu's Jukebox: 2.B.A. Master
• In the English dub, You Can Do It (If You Really Try), from the 2.B.A. Master CD, can be heard at one point.
• This episode was aired between Shell Shock! and Bye Bye Psyduck on the Hungama TV and Disney XD in India, skipping Stage Fight!.

In other languages

Language		Title
Mandarin Chinese		皮卡丘對抗喵喵
Czech		Velké problémy
Danish		Nu er det ballade
Dutch		Pikachu in Moeilijkheden
European French		Unis à la vie à la mort !
German		Mächtig Ärger
Hebrew		קשורים בצרות kshurim betsarot
Hindi		प्रॉब्लेम तो होनी ही है! Problem toh honi hi hai! *
Hungarian		Lebilincselő kalandok
Italian		Quando trionfa l'amicizia
Norwegian		Nå blir det bråk *
Polish		Skok w kłopoty
Portuguese	Brazil	Arranjando Encrenca
	Portugal	Acorrentados em Sarilhos
Romanian		Întotdeauna Pericol
Russian		Навстречу неприятностям!
Spanish	Latin America	¡Mi amigo Pikachu! *
	Spain	Destinados a tener problemas
Swedish		Bundsförvanter

← EP103 : Misty Meets Her Match

Original series

EP105 : Charizard Chills →

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