Template:EpisodePrevNext

Hail to the Chef (Japanese: ニューラとバリヤード！どっちのレストラン!? Nyula and Barrierd! Whose Restaurant!?) is episode 141 of Advanced Generation. It was first broadcast in Japan on September 1, 2005 and in the United States on June 3, 2006.

In this episode, Ash and friends, as well as Team Rocket, come across two restaurants owned by two sisters and their respective Pokémon- a Sneasel and a Mr. Mime. The sisters are competing to see who will inherit their father's restaurant, but both Pokémon cooks have problems that need to be resolved.

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

Template:Japanese version

Synopsis

Thanks to Argy for this synopsis.

On the road to Saffron City, Ash, May, Brock, Max, and Pikachu come across a restaurant when May's Munchlax escapes from its Poké Ball and runs toward it. Meanwhile, Team Rocket collapses on the road, hungry. Then they see a different restaurant and run toward it. Suddenly, Jessie realizes they don't have any money, but the girl inside the restaurant offers to feed them for free. The same happens to Ash's party in the other restaurant. Brock sees the girl, Rhonda, and imagines himself drinking milk with her in a formal setting. However, Max invades the fantasy and pulls Brock back to reality.

Meanwhile, in the other restaurant, Jessie informs the girl there, Rhoda, that she is a top Coordinator, and Rhoda is highly impressed. Then, Meowth and Rhoda's Sneasel exchange insulting remarks and almost get into a fight. Jessie says Sneasel would be a good addition to their team, and Meowth is devastated.

In the other restaurant, Rhonda's Mr. Mime puts on a performance, using Confusion to create an elaborate display while cooking.

Team Rocket gets their food, and it looks very plain. However, James shouts in glee and says the food is delicious. Jessie concurs, but Meowth's food is terrible. They get more food, and Jessie and James find it equally tasty. Meowth tries his new food and finds that it's unbearably spicy. As a test, he tries some of Jessie's food and finds it tastes as delicious as it sounds. Sneasel played a prank on him and gave him terrible food, so he becomes angry and the two begin fighting.

Mr. Mime's display of food looks extravagant, and Ash's group is very impressed. However, when they taste the food, they all collapse with disgusted looks on their faces. Brock looks as if he is in pain. Rhonda apologizes.

Suddenly, Meowth bursts through the wall, with Rhoda and Sneasel following. Brock mistakes Rhoda for Rhonda, and Meowth and Sneasel fight in the foreground. Jessie and James appear through the hole in the wall, and both groups are surprised to see each other. Then Rhoda explains that the two sisters are competing for the inheritance of their father's restaurant. They decide to have a cooking competition with Ash's group and Team Rocket as the judges. Brock offers to teach Mr. Mime how to make delicious food, and Jessie and James offer to teach Sneasel to put on a good performance and make attractive food. Rhoda thinks that since Jessie is a "top Coordinator," it would be a good idea for her to teach Sneasel how to perform.

In Sneasel's restaurant, Jessie tells Sneasel to carve an ice sculpure; it succeeds, but the result is very tiny and has to be viewed with a magnifying glass. In the other restaurant, Brock teaches Mr. Mime to cook, with promising results. Back to Sneasel, Jessie dresses in in several extravagant outfits, all of which it dislikes. Later, while Jessie and James sleep, it works on cutting carrots evenly. Mr. Mime, in the other restaurant, works on cooking some more.

The day of the contest has arrived. Both Pokémon go to work at their respective statements. Jessie and James cheer on Sneasel, and Meowth cheers on Mr. Mime, but Brock tells him to stop. Mr. Mime impresses everyone with a good show. Sneasel performs well, as well, spinning around as it cuts lettuce and potatoes. The cooking battle continues until Jessie and James pull Sneasel, Mr. Mime, and Pikachu with ropes and lock them in a cage. They begin the motto, but stop when they realize Meowth isn't with them. They have to reassure him that Sneasel won't replace him, and then the motto continues as usual. They take the Pokémon outside into their balloon. May releases her Combusken and Brock releases Mudkip to assault the balloon, but it fails.

Rhonda tells Mr. Mime to use Trick, and it switches the cage key on Jessie's finger with a ladle, which hits her in the head. It then uses Confusion again to unlock the cage and the three Pokémon escape, Sneasel looking back at Meowth as it jumps out (it also tears a hole in the balloon, sending Team Rocket flying). The Pokémon are reunited with their trainers.

Rhoda then tells Rhonda that she and Sneasel will go start their own restaurant, and Rhonda can have their father's restaurant. They begin to walk away, but Rhonda yells for Rhoda to come back and work with her and Mr. Mime, which she does. In the end, the two Pokémon become friends and the two sisters run the restaurant together, feeding an attractive and delicious meal to Ash's group.

Major events

Debuts

• Rhoda
• Rhonda
• Rhoda's Sneasel
• Rhonda's Mr. Mime

Characters

Humans

• Ash Ketchum
• May
• Brock
• Max
• Jessie
• James
• Rhoda
• Rhonda

Pokémon

• Pikachu (Ash's)
• Meowth (Team Rocket)
• Wobbuffet (Jessie's)
• Chimecho (James's)
• Combusken (May's)
• Munchlax (May's)
• Mudkip (Brock's)
• Mr. Mime (Rhoda's)
• Sneasel (Rhonda's)

Trivia

• When Team Rocket is in their balloon after capturing the three Pokémon, the song that Jessie sings to mock the people on the ground is to the tune of the series ending theme, Pokémon Counting Song.
• The BGM used in the contest scenes was Exciting Pokémon Relay.
• Nearly a week before this episode's U.S. debut, Weavile and Mime Jr.'s names were released. They happen to be evolved form and pre-evolved form of the two main Pokémon in this episode.

Errors

• The ending credits list Jessie's Seviper and James's Cacnea as being in the episode, when in fact they never appeared.

Pokémon Trainer's Choice

• Question: Trainers, Which Pokémon is not a flying type?
• Choices: Swellow, Dustox, Masquerain
• Answer: OK trainers! If you chose Dustox, you were right!

Dub edits

In other languages

• French: Un combat de chefs

Template:Epstub Template:EpisodePrevNext

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