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DP053

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← DP052 : Smells Like Team Spirit!
Pokémon the Series: Diamond and Pearl
DP054 : Once There Were Greenfields →
Tears For Fears!
DP053.png
DP053   EP519
ヒコザルの涙！
Hikozaru's Tears!
First broadcast
Japan November 8, 2007
United States April 12, 2008
English themes
Opening We Will Be Heroes
Ending
Japanese themes
Opening Together
Ending 君のそばで 〜ヒカリのテーマ〜 (Winter Version)
Credits
Animation Team Iguchi
Screenplay 松井亜弥 Aya Matsui
Storyboard 小山賢 Masaru Koyama
Assistant director 小山賢 Masaru Koyama
Animation director 広岡歳仁 Toshihito Hirooka
Additional credits

Tears For Fears! (Japanese: ヒコザルの涙！ Hikozaru's Tears!) is the 53rd episode of Pokémon the Series: Diamond and Pearl, and the 519th episode of the Pokémon anime. It was originally scheduled to air in Japan on November 1, 2007, but was delayed to November 8 due to baseball. It aired in the US on April 12, 2008.

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Spoiler warning: this article may contain major plot or ending details.
201

Blurb

As our heroes head towards Veilstone City, Ash's new Chimchar struggles to adapt to its new surroundings. Everything is the complete opposite of life with Paul: mealtimes are fun and everyone treats each other with friendship and kindness! Chimchar still has vivid memories of the lonely and harsh treatment it received from Paul, so this sudden reversal of fortune is nearly too much to take. When Ash even praises Chimchar after it loses a practice battle with Dawn's Piplup, Chimchar breaks down in emotion.

Meowth, who's searching for Team Rocket after their group was split up by some rampaging Zangoose, sees this scene and has a pang of sympathy for Chimchar. That night, Chimchar can't sleep and it finds Meowth sitting in the moonlight. Meowth isn't in the mood for a fight; instead, it gently tells Chimchar to make the best of its new life. Of course, all bets are off the next morning once Meowth rejoins Jessie and James: they catch Dawn and Brock by surprise, then try to steal all of their Pokémon by trapping them in giant canisters!

But when the Zangoose show up, Team Rocket has to hide in the canisters for their own protection. Ash and Chimchar reach the scene and realize the Zangoose are about to knock the canisters off a cliff! Chimchar has encountered Zangoose before and it's still afraid of them. Ash knows this, so he encourages Chimchar and gives it the confidence it needs to take on and defeat the Zangoose. With everyone safe and sound, it's three cheers for Chimchar, who finally feels like a part of its new family!

Plot

Ash, Dawn and Brock settle down for lunch while still on the road to Veilstone City. The gang decides to let their Pokémon out for the day, and soon, everyone is starting to set up for lunch. However, Chimchar is confused on what to do since everyone is in a happy mood. He remembers mealtimes with Paul, which involved Paul feeding Chimchar directly from a tin can while angrily telling him to hurry up. As everyone else begins eating, Chimchar has to be prompted by Ash, making it clear that the Pokémon is having trouble adjusting to his new circumstances.

Team Rocket also have their respective Pokémon out of their Poké Balls, eating with them. However, meal time is interrupted when Seviper notices that three Zangoose are heading their way. They begin fighting furiously and Seviper, despite attacking its mortal enemies, finds itself outnumbered and outmatched. Jessie returns Seviper to its Poké Ball, but it refuses to give up and comes straight back out. Jessie continually tries to get Seviper to return, but to no avail. Then, the wild Zangoose send Team Rocket blasting off again, with Meowth landing in a different area from Jessie and James.

With most of their Pokémon lounging about, Ash and Dawn go for a sparring match - all watched by Meowth as he looks for his teammates. Ash uses his Pikachu and Dawn uses her Buizel. After a tough match, the two compliment their Pokémon and Chimchar goes through another flashback from his time as Paul's Pokémon in which he defeated Elekid during training, but still got scolded by Paul since he did not access his Blaze Ability to do so. Ash and Dawn decide to have another battle using different Pokémon, as Ash selects Chimchar to battle against Dawn's Piplup. Despite putting up a tough fight, Chimchar loses the battle, which triggers another flashback, this time from the Hearthome City Tag Battle Competition in which he was cruelly released by Paul after all of his attempts to unlock Chimchar's Blaze failed. Ash picks up Chimchar, who expects to be criticized, but Ash instead congratulates him for putting up a tough fight against a Pokémon he has a type disadvantage against. This is followed up by compliments from Dawn and Brock, as well as cheering from all the other Pokémon. Chimchar is left very nervous and confused, and starts crying since he cannot handle his drastic change in environment. Ash is confused as to why Chimchar would cry when he is getting complimented, but Brock muses that Chimchar must not have had many chances to show any emotion while under Paul's ownership. Ash understands, and holds Chimchar while he sobs his heart out. Meowth is also moved by this emotional display and, with tears in his eyes, leaves without incident to continue looking for Jessie and James.

That night, Chimchar has a nightmare about having to fight under Paul's command battling a Graveler. Graveler jumps out against Chimchar and uses Rock Throw, sending boulders flying. Paul orders Chimchar not to move, as his typical way of trying to force him to access Blaze under pressure. Chimchar's nightmare switches to the Zangoose fight before he was caught, still with Paul's voice in his head. Chimchar jolts awake and, unable to get back to sleep, goes for a walk.

Meowth is still looking for the rest of Team Rocket when he crosses paths with Chimchar. After convincing him that he does not want to fight, Meowth tells Chimchar that he knows what it is like to worry, and he dreams of the time when he and the others are finally able to capture Pikachu, as he would not have anything to worry about. Meowth tells Chimchar that he should stop worrying about the past, and instead look to the new, brighter future, because he is a very lucky Pokémon. Meowth states to Chimchar that his new friends would do anything for him, before he leaves. Chimchar is left thoughtful at this new outlook. The next morning, all of the Pokémon start helping out preparing for a meal, and Chimchar is once again unsure of what to do. Ash calls over to him, asking for help carrying some water, to which Chimchar happily agrees.

Later, Team Rocket is shown in their balloon, retrieving Meowth by his rear end with a "plunger". They state that were going to steal Ash's Pokémon and that meeting Meowth was just a coincidence, then go through with their plan to capture the gang’s Pokémon while they are out of their Poké Balls. As they begin to fly off with the Pokémon in canisters, Dawn tries to make her Pokémon return into their Poké Balls, but fails. Meowth says the containers are protected from that, so Dawn commands Piplup it to use Bubble Beam while Brock orders Croagunk to use Poison Sting. This also fails.

Seviper, however, gets out of its Poké Ball due to sensing the three Zangoose once again. The gang of Zangoose climb up a tree to reach Seviper, and rip the balloon apart, sending them crashing to the ground. Team Rocket decide to hide themselves within one of the containers, but this backfires, as the wild Zangoose attack the container, attempting to get to Seviper, and push it close to the edge of a nearby cliff. Ash and Chimchar return and see what is happening, and Ash tells Chimchar to help. However, Chimchar is too frightened to fight the wild Zangoose. Ash gives him a little pep talk, telling him that while he understands Chimchar is scared, the other Pokémon really need his help. Chimchar is reminded of the kindness shown by Ash and the others, and Meowth telling him that the group would do anything to help him if they needed to. Ash tells Chimchar not to worry about the power of Blaze, as all he needs to win is just to believe that he can. As a result, Chimchar becomes motivated, overcomes his fear, and fights off the Zangoose. He uses Dig a few times to confuse them, before finishing them off with Flamethrower.

With the Zangoose defeated, Team Rocket opens the container from the inside and tries to escape, but Ash and Dawn command Pikachu to use Thunderbolt, Chimchar to use Flamethrower, Turtwig to use Razor Leaf, Piplup to use Bubble Beam, and Buneary to use Ice Beam, sending Team Rocket blasting off for the second and final time. Chimchar joins the other Pokémon in their cheering, and with his past completely fading away, he looks forward to his new life with a bright future ahead of him.

Major events

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

Debuts

Pokémon debuts

Characters

Humans

Pokémon

Trivia

Ash with scratches on his shoulder

Errors

  • Ash's scratch disappears in the next scene.
  • The three Zangoose's eyes in one of Chimchar's flashbacks are incorrectly colored as white.
  • Meowth appears with an eyelash while he is in the tube with the rest of Team Rocket and their Pokémon.
  • When Team Rocket blasts off for the last time, Wobbuffet is seen outside of his Poké Ball, yet when they blast off, the Poké Ball release noise is heard before Wobbuffet says his name.
  • In the English dub:
    • The narrator says, "With the Eterna City Contest and Tag Battle behind them..." The group has just left from a Contest in Hearthome City, not Eterna. This may be due to script confusion, as the next episode features the Eterna Gym Leader, Gardenia.
    • In Chimchar's flashback of the Hearthome Contest, Chimchar remembers Paul saying, "You are out of here!", when Paul actually said, "You're out of here!"
    • Seviper's Japanese voice can be heard during the brawls against Zangoose.

Dub edits

In other languages



← DP052 : Smells Like Team Spirit!
Pokémon the Series: Diamond and Pearl
DP054 : Once There Were Greenfields →
Project Anime logo.png This episode article is part of Project Anime, a Bulbapedia project that covers all aspects of Pokémon animation.
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