EP011: Difference between revisions

Charmander – The Stray Pokémon

EP011   はぐれポケモン・ヒトカゲ Stray Pokémon - Hitokage

First broadcast Japan June 10, 1997 United States September 22, 1998

English themes Opening Pokémon Theme Ending

Japanese themes Opening めざせポケモンマスター Ending ひゃくごじゅういち

Credits Animation Team Ota Screenplay 武上純希 Junki Takegami Storyboard 井硲清高 Kiyotaka Itani Assistant director 井硲清高 Kiyotaka Itani Animation director 志村泉 Izumi Shimura Additional credits

Charmander – The Stray Pokémon (Japanese: はぐれポケモン・ヒトカゲ Stray Pokémon - Hitokage) is the 11th episode of the Pokémon anime. It was first broadcast in Japan on June 10, 1997 and in the United States on September 22, 1998.

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

Synopsis

This synopsis is in the wrong tense. Please feel free to edit this synopsis to change it to the present tense.

Ash and friends seem to have lost their way en route to Vermilion City, making Misty very frustrated. The group stops to consult a map that Brock has unfolded, and Ash determines that -- while they are currently in the middle of nowhere -- the trail they are following intersects Route 24, which in turn leads straight to Vermilion City. Brock, satisfied with how they must proceed, puts the map away. But as they move to leave a large shadow suddenly falls across their path, causing them to look up in alarm.

With the sunlight shining directly into their eyes, the source of the shadow manifests itself as the impossibly large silhouette of a Pokémon. Ash quickly orders Pikachu to get ready, but it has other ideas and takes cover behind the group. Just as he begins to rebuke his Pokémon the sunlight's intensity dims, revealing a Charmander sitting upon a rock as having cast the shadow.

After checking Dexter, Ash was happy that he finally got a chance to catch a Charmander. Brock pointed out how weak its tail flame was, and that it probably needed help. Ash chucked a Poké Ball at it, but the Charmander whacked it back with its tail. Ash asked if Pikachu should weaken it first, but Misty suggested she try, because her Template:Type2 Pokémon would help. Brock still didn't think it was that strong because of its small flame, and suggested that Ash try again.

Ash threw the Poké Ball again, and this time it pulled the Charmander in. However, it broke out quickly, which caused the Poké Ball to conk off of Ash's head. They were surprised by how much spunk the Charmander was showing. "A little too much, if you ask me," was Ash's comment.

Pikachu climbed up onto the rock and talked to the Charmander. It then came back down and put on a charades display. Ash eventually figured out that what Pikachu was saying is that Charmander was waiting on the rock for someone else to come pick him up. Brock decided that if it belonged to someone else, it was best to leave it. Ash and friends left.

Farther down the trail, Ash and friends discovered the Pokémon Center that was on the map. Ash declared that Route 24 couldn't be far now. And they couldn't have found it at a better time, as it soon started raining, forcing Ash and friends to quickly race down there.

A brief scene showed the Charmander still on the rock, vainly trying to protect its tail flame from the rain with a leaf (it'll die if its flame goes out). Back at the Pokémon Center, Misty was serving up some soup, but Brock was still worried about the Charmander. Ash pointed out that there's no way the Charmander would of waited around that long. Brock agreed, stating that the trainer surely would of gotten it by now.

However, they hear laughter nearby, and looked over to see a trainer named Damian surrounded by a group of hanger-ons. They were awing over his Pokémon collection, which was pretty sizable, when one of them asked if he had a Charmander too. Damian revealed he did, but since it was so weak, he left it on a rock out in the middle of the woods promising to return for it, which he had no intention of doing.

Ash and his friends realized that it must have been his Charmander they saw and that based on Damian's description of Charmanders's loyalty to him, it must still be waiting on the rock. This pushed the normally calm Brock over the edge, and he stood up and made his way over. While they continued to laugh about how the Charmander was probably still waiting, Brock confronted Damian, telling him to go get the Charmander.

Damien pushed him off, but Ash and Misty soon arrived to support Brock. It was about to go to a Pokémon battle, but Nurse Joy broke it up, saying Pokémon should never be used in personal battles. Damian and his crew left, and Joy warned them about their bad reputation. Brock spaced out in his usual fashion, but Ash and Misty snapped him out of it by reminding him about the Charmander.

The three raced back through the pouring rain toward the rock where the Charmander was, only to find it had worse problems than the weather. A gang of Spearow were attacking it as well. Ash tried to drive them off by throwing a rock, but this only made the Spearow attack them. Ash ordered a ThunderShock from Pikachu, and it obeyed, scaring off the Spearow. Unfortunately, its ThunderShock also inadvertently zapped Ash, Misty, and Brock too.

They quickly wrapped Charmander up in their rain coats, Ash volunteered to make sure its tail flame stayed lit. They raced their way back to the Pokémon Center, and asked Nurse Joy to help.

Nurse Joy was angry at Ash and Co., wondering how they could let the Charmander get into such bad shape. But Ash explained that it was Damian that left the Charmander out there, taking advantage of Charmander's loyalty. Brock pleaded with Nurse Joy to save the Charmander, and she promised to do whatever she could.

From there, there was nothing they can do but wait. A montage of scenes showed the three waiting, while Brock silently pleaded for Charmander to hang on. Nurse Joy soon came out, though, and reported success. The Charmander pulled through, and would be fine by morning.

When morning came, Ash and Misty were asleep on couches in the center, Pikachu asleep below. Ash rolled over, causing his blanket to drop onto Pikachu. Suddenly, Brock shouted, causing Ash to crash off the couch. It turned out Charmander had disappeared from the ER.

Ash was certain that the Charmander simply went back to the rock. Brock wanted to go after it again, but Misty pointed out that it was no use. Even if Damian was a jerk, the Charmander was still loyal to him, and nothing would change that. They couldn't just force Charmander to go with them if it didn't want to.

A scene showed Charmander on its way back, stopping long enough to look back at the Pokémon Center. Ash and friends were soon on their way as well, Brock still disappointed. Ash pointed out that Charmander knew they cared about it, but it couldn't forget about Damian. Misty then gave Brock a smack, saying that Route 24 was just ahead, and there would be plenty of Pokémon once they get to Vermilion City.

Up ahead, Team Rocket was grouped around their newest mecha. They went into a dancing version of their motto, but Meowth cut in early. They declared they now had a foolproof plan to capture Pikachu, and they started up their "automatic super-duper high-speed whatchamacallit," which turned out to be an over glorified hole driller.

Meowth flipped, saying they tried this already, but James assured them that this time they'll remember where the hole was. They went to work covering the hole, and when Meowth asked if they were sure, Jessie said "Don't you think we're smarter than that?" to which Meowth replied with a face fault. Suddenly, he saw Ash and Co. coming, and alerted the others. They quickly hid, Jessie ordered the mecha to hide itself as well.

Pikachu came up to the hole and walked right over it. It seemed Pikachu was too light to trigger the pitfall. Jessie and James argued over who blew it this time, until Meowth shut them up with scratches to the face. Ash, Brock, and Misty, being a lot heavier, ended up triggering the pitfall and falling into the hole.

Team Rocket then appeared, laughing at the fact that their trap worked. Pikachu tried to shock them, but they were dressed in rubber uniforms that didn't conduct electricity. Pikachu tried to make a break for it, but they fired the Anti-Pikachu Rubber Balloon Bazooka, which eventually caught Pikachu and trapped it inside.

Ash realized that Pikachu was in trouble. So he quickly tried to climb out of the pit, but failed. He tried to get Misty and Brock to get up, but he was standing on them. Team Rocket gloated for a while, then turned to leave, but then Charmander stepped in their way.

Charmander, as translated by Meowth, ordered them to give Pikachu back to Ash and the others. Team Rocket naturally refused, and warned the Charmander to beat it or else. The Charmander responded by closing its eyes, focusing hard, and unleashing a massive Flamethrower that utterly roasted Team Rocket.

They dropped the Pikachu balloon and ran like crazy, James screaming, "Didn't I tell you we needed fireproof uniforms?!" Jessie told him to keep running. "Some geniuses", said a despondent Meowth. Team Rocket went "blasting off again" by running off, much to Damian's surprise that Charmander beat them.

Ash, Misty, and Brock, having gotten out of the pit, thanked Charmander for their help, and Ash asked Charmander if he wanted to come along with them. However, Damian showed up, saying he came back for Charmander, "just as he promised". Ash was angry, saying he was just bragging about how he abandoned Charmander, but Damian just laughed, saying it toughened him up. Besides, what's wrong with dumping off a weak Pokémon?

Charmander seemed to be taking exception to these statements, but Damian went on about not even having to make Charmander tough himself. Brock angrily replied that raising a Pokémon is the best part of being a trainer, but Damian called it the most boring part. Finally, Damian, having had enough talk, flung a Poké Ball at Charmander but Charmander, finally realized that Damian neither cared for nor respected it. It whacked the ball right back into his face.

Damian was now furious, and threatened to crush Charmander with every Poké Ball he had, but Charmander used Flamethrower on him. Pikachu added injury to injury by adding a ThunderShock of its own. The utterly scorched Damian ran off crying, and the others cheered Charmander for its choice.

Brock told Ash to go ahead and catch Charmander. Ash protested at first, but Brock convinced him that Ash will raise Charmander to be a great Pokémon. Ash relented, and threw a Poké Ball, which Charmander hopped into for an easy catch. With a new Pokémon, and a new friend, Ash and friends continued on their way to Vermilion City.

Major events

• Ash catches a Charmander.

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

Debuts

Pokémon debuts

• Charmander (Ash's)

Characters

Humans

• Ash
• Misty
• Brock
• Jessie
• James
• Nurse Joy
• Damian

Pokémon

Who’s That Pokémon?: Charmander

• Pikachu (Ash's)
• Meowth (Team Rocket)
• Charmander (Ash's, formerly Damian's; new; debut)
• Spearow

Trivia

• This is the second episode of a three-episode arc where Ash gets each of Kanto's starter Pokémon.
• It is revealed in this episode that initiating a Pokémon battle to settle an argument is frowned upon, and that Pokémon battles are not supposed to occur in Pokémon Centers. Ironically, Platinum introduces the concept of battling trainers in Pokémon Centers.
• This is the first episode where Izumi Shimura is credited as an animation director.
• Damian is shown to be carrying around twenty Poké Balls, all allegedly containing Pokémon; however, it is later established that a trainer can only carry six Pokémon at a time in their party (just like in the games). This may be because he wasn't shown having a Pokédex, therefore, he doesn't send his Pokémon to anywhere.

Errors

• In the English dub Ash says that Route 24 leads straight to Vermilion City. In the games, Route 24 is just north of Cerulean City, which the gang left from four episodes (and, according to Misty, ten days) prior. The quickest way to get to Vermilion in the games is through the underground path on Route 5--just south of Cerulean. This probably shouldn't be written off as a character flaw, either, given that the gang meets Bill two episodes later (presumably on Route 25), and this actually does get them to Vermilion, which they reach the following episode.

Dub edits

In other languages

• Czech: Charmander, Zatoulaný Pokémon
• Dutch: Charmander, de verlaten Pokémon
• Finnish: Charmander, petetty Pokémon
• French: Le Pokémon abandonné
• German: Glumanda - Ein Pokémon in Nöten
• Hebrew: הפוקימון הנטוש haPokémon hanatush
• Italian: Un nuovo Pokémon
• Mandarin: 消失的小火龙
• Portuguese:
  • Brazilian Portuguese: Charmander, o Pokémon Perdido
  • European Portuguese: Charmander, o Pokémon Extraviado
• Russian: Потерявшийся покемон Чармандер
• Spanish:
  • Iberian Spanish: Charmander, el Pokémon perdido
  • Latin American Spanish: ¡Charmander, el Pokémon abandonado!

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