EP114

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EP113 : Viva Las Lapras
Original series
EP115 : A Tent Situation
The Underground Round Up
EP114.png
  EP114  
マルマインだいばくは!?
Big Explosion of Marumine!?
First broadcast
Japan September 23, 1999
United States September 30, 2000
English themes
Opening Pokémon World
Ending
Japanese themes
Opening ライバル!
Ending ラプラスにのって
Credits
Animation Team Ota
Screenplay 武上純希 Junki Takegami
Storyboard 藤本義孝 Yoshitaka Fujimoto
Assistant director 藤本義孝 Yoshitaka Fujimoto
Animation director 山本郷 Sato Yamamoto
Additional credits

The Underground Round Up (Japanese: マルマインだいばくは!? Big Explosion of Marumine!?) is the 114th episode of the Pokémon anime. It was first broadcast in Japan on September 23, 1999 and in the United States on September 30, 2000.

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

Synopsis

Ash, Misty and Tracey arrive on Hamlin Island after releasing Lapras back into the wild. As luck would have it, a ferry line happens to run from Hamlin straight back to Ash's home town of Pallet Town.

On their way to the ferry Ash exclaims that he cannot wait to get back to Pallet to taste his mother's 'Deep Dish Chilli Dog and Pizza Pot Pies.' Tracey says he can't wait to finally meet Professor Oak and Misty remarks that Prof. Oak probably can't wait until the three bring the GS Ball to him. The trio come to a road bridge that is blocked. Ash reads aloud a sign which says 'Due to extremely dangerous conditions, persons are forbidden to cross this bridge.' With no other way to get to the ferry dock on the other side, Tracey suggests they cross it anyway. Just as he finishes speaking a huge Explosion blows apart the middle of the bridge.

The three find a row boat and make their way across the small stretch of ocean. Tracey checks things out with his binoculars and remarks that it appears as though there are no people in the town. Sure enough when they arrive they are greeted with a veritable ghost town. The trio walk past an alley way where the viewer sees a pair of devious white eyes watching them. Togepi feels a presence but the heroes don't notice.

The three enter the ferry's waiting lounge but come across a locked door which prevents them from getting out to the dock and the ferry itself. Togepi wanders out of the building whilst Ash, Misty and Tracey are pondering how they'll get back to Pallet. As it walks out the door it comes across a playful Voltorb who rolls away. Seeing it as a game Togepi runs after the Voltorb. As Misty and co. walk back out of the building, Misty sees that Togepi is not where she left it. They run out of the building calling for Togepi, running straight past an alley here Togepi is walking on a rolling Voltorb. The three backtrack quickly when they hear Togepi's voice and gaze in amazement of the scene. Ash checks his Pokédex for Voltorb's data. The trio are shocked when Dexter tells them Voltorb may explode without warning, as Togepi is standing right on top of one. Misty attempts to pull Togepi off but Togepi picks the Voltorb up with it. Ash tells Misty that he feels as though they're not alone in the alley and Tracey agrees. Misty looks up where dozens of ball-shaped silhouettes are hiding behind corners. Ash again checks his Pokédex which gives data for Electrode. Ash and friends become worried when the Pokédex refers to Electrode as the 'Bomb Ball'. The Electrode begin rolling into view, all sparking with electricity. Misty picks up Togepi, Voltorb in hand and the group begin to slowly walk back through the streets where they are greeted by even more sparking Electrode. A gust of wind knocks over a wooden sign, which startles the Electrode who begin to light up. The heroes start sprinting away from them, however the first Electrode causes a chain reaction of explosions. The screaming group manage to stay ahead of the explosions before they are faced with a wall of sparking Electrode.

Ash exclaims the hopelessness of the situation when from on top of a building a man's voice tells them not to move. A bearded man wearing a coat and a cowboy hat throws out several Poké Balls which release Diglett everywhere. Ash looks up Diglett on his Pokédex and finds out that they dig tunnels under the surface. The mystery trainer then tells the Diglett to dig the Electrode underground. The Diglett create holes under the Electrode who safely explode underground. The stranger tells the heroes to follow him.

Back at another building Togepi continues to roll around on Voltorb while the group sit with the stranger around a table. The man tells the heroes that the island used to be filled with people and tourists but a Voltorb that managed to escape from a Pokémon electricity experiment bred in the wild. They began evolving quickly into Electrode and started to outnumber people on the island. The lack of space caused the Electrode to become irritated and they started exploding causing mayhem on the island. People started leaving immediately and the town ended up deserted in turn putting the ferry out of commission. Tracey asks why the man is still on the island and Ash suspects he may be a thief. The man laughs it off and introduces himself as Poncho, a Diglett Rancher hired by the mayor of the town. He tells the group that he trains his Diglett to dig a large tunnel from under the small island all the way to a prairie behind the city on Hamlin. His plan is to have the Electrode roll from the island to the prairie, making the island safe once again and giving the Electrode freedom.

After Poncho finishes his story a phone rings and is answered by Misty. It's someone from the mayor's office looking for Poncho. Poncho is told that he is no longer required as the mayor's office want the Electrode gone today and his methods are taking too long. Poncho tells the crew that the mayor has already hired someone else to take care of the Electrode. The heroes ask each other who else could have been hired.

A machine underwater approaches the island.

Poncho tells the group that they probably hired whoever promised to do it the quickest. The machine hits the island and drives on with caterpillar tires. The group races out and are faced with a huge machine. Team Rocket appear and spout their motto. They tell the heroes that the mayor hired them and their 'Electrode Eliminator' machine to remove the Electrode quickly. Misty asks why Team Rocket would want to help remove the Electrode, Jessie and James tell them that they are getting paid well and they are planning on keeping the Electrode that they move. They retreat to the machine and race off to some Electrode. The machine's arms put pressure on the Electrode and force them to explode. Team Rocket begin picking up the exploded Electrode and put them in a container on the machine. The heroes can't do anything to stop Team Rocket as they have a contract from the mayor giving them the right to remove the Electrode however they want. Team Rocket gleefully continue exploding the Electrode and putting them in the container. Electrode from all over the island make their way over to see what the commotion is and surround the machine of Team Rocket. Poncho notes that the Electrode are extremely angry and Tracey points out that the condensed explosion of the huge number of Electrode could destroy the entire island. The friendly Voltorb hops over to the front of the machine and Team Rocket decide to blow it up. Togepi begins waving its arms before they start glowing blue in an attempted Metronome attack. Togepi begins hopping up and down performing a Splash and Misty thinks that it may be trying an attack. Tracey and Ash brush it off and say Togepi is too young to know any moves. James is having trouble hitting the rogue Voltorb and Jessie and Meowth give him a verbal spray. Despite his best efforts James cannot manage to stop the Voltorb. Togepi runs out to assist the Voltorb and Pikachu runs to Togepi's side. Pikachu Thunderbolts the machine but as usual Team Rocket have shock-proofed the machine. Team Rocket advance on Togepi, Pikachu and Voltorb. Poncho calls Team Rocket a disgrace to the Electrode wrangling profession and pulls out a Poké Ball from under his hat. Out from the Poké Ball comes a Dugtrio. Again Ash checks his Pokédex and looks up Dugtrio's data. Dugtrio creates a massive hole underneath Team Rocket which the machine falls into sending them deep into the ground. Poncho tells the group that the job is only half finished and releases all of his Diglett once more. The Diglett begin digging under the Electrode and cause them to roll into the tunnel Poncho created underground.

Team Rocket are sitting, moping about their defeat when the stampede of Electrode head straight towards them. The Electrode sweep Team Rocket along with them as the Diglett act as a conveyor belt to move the Electrode back above ground. Dugtrio leads all the Electrode out to the grassy prairie where they jump around happily. Poncho takes the heroes to the prairie in his Diglett hot-air balloon where they watch the Electrode enjoying themselves. The friendly Voltorb goes to rejoin its friends and is followed by Togepi who starts crying when it must say goodbye. Misty tells Togepi that you can still be friends with someone in your heart, even if they aren't with you and the Voltorb rushes off to be with its Electrode friends.

Soon the island is reinhabited by people and the bridge is repaired. The ferry service is running again so Ash, Misty and Tracey say their goodbyes to Poncho before boarding it back to Pallet Town. While they wave goodbye from the ferry, a familiar Jigglypuff appears, delighted to have a potential audience. The episode ends with the three heroes, Pikachu and Togepi all looking on to the horizon.

Major events

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

Debuts

Characters

Humans

Pokémon

Who’s That Pokémon?: Kingler (US and international); Biriridama (Japan)

Trivia

Errors

  • At the end of the episode, as Togepi is saying goodbye to Voltorb, the vocal effect added to Voltorb's voice is missing.

Dub edits

  • When Togepi uses Metronome in an attempt to stop Team Rocket from taking Voltorb, it uses Splash. In the original, Misty knew what the attack was, while the attack is unknown to her in the dub.

In other languages



EP113 : Viva Las Lapras
Original series
EP115 : A Tent Situation
Project Anime logo.png This episode article is part of Project Anime, a Bulbapedia project that covers all aspects of the Pokémon anime.