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The School of Hard Knocks (Japanese: ポケモンひっしょうマニュアル Pokémon Victory Manual) is the ninth episode of the Pokémon anime. It was first broadcast in Japan on May 27, 1997 and in USA on September 18, 1998.

Ash and his friends stumble upon a school made for Pokémon trainers who would rather study than collect badges.

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

Synopsis

Major events

• Jessie and James relate how they flunked out of Pokémon Tech in the past.

Debuts

• Giselle
• Joe

Characters

Humans

• Ash Ketchum
• Misty
• Brock
• Jessie
• James
• Giselle
• Joe

Pokémon

Who's That Pokémon?: Cubone

• Pikachu (Ash's)
• Meowth (Team Rocket)
• Starmie (Misty's)
• Weepinbell (Joe's; debut)
• Graveler (Giselle's; debut)
• Cubone (Giselle's; debut)
• Pidgey
• Pidgeotto
• Pidgeot (debut)

Trivia

• This episode is the only time in which Brock falls for a girl that's younger than himself and Ash falls for a girl at all.
• This is the one of the few episodes where Rachael Lillis provided the voice of Pikachu.

Errors

Dub edits

• Right before the title screen appears, Misty hits Brock in the head with a log. This was cut from the dub.
• This episode contains many paint edits:
  • When talking about tea, Brock pulls out a wooden cup that says "Rizaadon Haku Richuu". In the dub, it is a can with pictograms. Ash is later seen drinking from the cup unedited.
  • Similar to the above edit, Brock's bottle of "Mt. Moon Spring Water" had a picture of a mountain painted over the Japanese text.
  • Misty's note about the Pokémon Seminar was originally full of Japanese text. In the dub, it has a black-and-white picture of the school at the top of the paper and some blurred-out text on the bottom.
  • Joe's picture of Giselle had a note from her in the upper-right hand corner. This was erased in the dub.
  • The sign at the top of the door after the commercial break says "Training Room". The dub replaces the text with five Poké Balls which light up.
  • In the Japanese version, the simulation states the move used on the lower-left hand corner. (In this case, Razor Leaf.) The dub adds another health bar over it.
  • However, the kanji on one student's book is left unedited.

In other languages

• French: L'école crève-coeur
• Portuguese (Brazil): A Escola dos Golpes Duros
• Spanish: La Escuela Difícil

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