EP209

Template:EpisodePrevNext

Machoke, Machoke Man! (Japanese: タンバジム！まっこうしょうぶかくとうたいけつ!! Tanba Gym! Wrestling Match!!) is episode 209 of the Pokémon anime. It was first broadcast in Japan on August 2, 2001 and in the United States on September 7, 2002.

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

Synopsis

Ash and friends are bound for Cianwood City. They stopped at the Cianwood Pharmacy and the pharmacist gave Janina the medicine to help Ampharos back on Olivine. She also gave her advice to take the express ferry to Olivine City which will get her back before nightfall. Ash and friends watched Janina off until she was safely gone.

They then were alerted by a battle between Chuck and his Machoke. Chuck congratulated Machoke on his defensive maneuvers and asked him to switch to offense. The battle persisted and Chuck defended all Machoke's attack until a Karate Chop connected across his chest. Chuck then ordered a Submission attack. Machoke wrapped Chuck up and rolled him around the dirt field and tossed him a good distance. Our heroes started to run over to Chuck to make sure he was okay. Chuck responded to himself that the submission was perfect. Misty and Brock were asking Chuck why he would take a Submission attack with the Machoke. He then shed tears and said that he was very proud of him and yelled to Machoke how perfect the Submission was and then Machoke and Chuck hugged, both of them shedding tears. Chuck then asked for Ash's name and what brought him to Cianwood. He then brought up the question if Ash was looking for the Cianwood Gym with a twinkle in his eye.

After Ash answered Chuck's questions, Chuck had Ash, Pikachu, and the others to march double time over to the Cianwood Gym. Machoke was the first to arrive at the Gym while our heroes asked him to hold up. Once they caught Machoke, they were all hunched over huffing and puffing. Chuck was the last to arrive and fell on his hands and knees counting and said, "What's a matter kids? Out of shape or something?", all huffed and puffed out. Brock was asking if Chuck was okay while Ash was wondering how much further to the Gym. Chuck pointed and said that we're here. Then all of his students and fighting Pokémon came running out of the entrance to meet Chuck. Chuck then introduced himself as the Cianwood Gym Leader and called himself the "leanest, meanest, toughest, roughest, fighting Pokémon master in all the land... but you can call me Chuck." Then everyone was kneeling at a large dinner table eating a whole bunch of food when Chuck's wife walked up to Ash with a pot of food asking him if he was here to battle for a Storm Badge. When Ash said yes, she said that she had no problem beating that flabby husband of hers, which Chuck retorted to.

The scene switched to Team Rocket walking along the road by the coastline, exhausted from their trip on the boat anchor and without any food to eat. Meowth then sniffed up a food aroma that got Jessie and James sniffing and then all three of them started to walk towards where the smell was coming from.

Back at the dinner table, Misty said that the food was delicious while Brock studied the food to be Pokémon Power Food to strengthen trainers and Pokémon alike and commented on the students' dedication to training. Chuck broke the silence, ready to have the gym match for the Storm Badge. The scene switches to the gym floor. Chuck starts with Poliwrath and Ash starts off with Pikachu and issues a Thunderbolt attack, which Poliwrath dodges. Then he orders Pikachu to issue a barrage of Thunderbolts. After two misses, the third one hits Poliwrath. Ash orders Pikachu to do a Quick Attack while Chuck has Poliwrath use Focus Energy. The Quick Attack had no effect on Poliwrath and Pikachu bounced right back off of him and back on the ground. Chuck then ordered Poliwrath to do a Doubleslap attack and Pikachu was knocked out of the battle. Chuck started to cry and acknowledge that even tough guys do the same. Ash thanked Pikachu for doing such a good job and told him to get a little rest.

The scene switches to right outside the Cianwood Gym where Team Rocket comes out of the bushes and into the Gym to chow down on the leftovers of the Pokémon Power Food. Wobbuffet then comes out of his Poké Ball, pushes his way to the pot of leftovers, lifts the pot up to his mouth and starts gulping down food, not sharing it with the other Team Rocket members.

Back at the gym match, Ash is thinking about choosing Bayleef as his Pokémon hoping it will have enough strength to beat Poliwrath and Machoke. Ash goes ahead and chooses Bayleef to take on Poliwrath. Chuck commends Ash on his Pokémon choice and for being a strong competitor. Chuck then issues Poliwrath to do a Water Gun attack, which Bayleef dodges. Ash then orders Bayleef to do a Razor Leaf attack, which connects. Then Ash has Bayleef to do a Vine Whip which wraps up Poliwrath, holds him up, and slam Poliwrath back on the ground. Chuck orders Poliwrath to Focus Energy, and Poliwrath is wobbling trying to stand up straight. Ash then orders Bayleef to Body Slam Poliwrath. Bayleef jumped high and landed hard on him. When the smoke cleared, Poliwrath was unable to battle. Ash thanked Bayleef for a job well done and Misty complimented Ash's strategy and Brock added that it helped that Pikachu wore Poliwrath down. Chuck went teary-eyed again and complimented Poliwrath for a well fought battle. Chuck then turned to Machoke and said that the time has come to battle.

Chuck ordered a Karate Chop attack on him to psyche Machoke up and help Chuck remain focused. While the Karate Chop was connecting, Chuck ordered Machoke to focus his energy on winning and continue to work on focusing. Ash used this idea on Bayleef. Ash ordered Bayleef to Body Slam him. Bayleef used her Body Slam attack on Ash but he manged to hold his ground as he took the power of the attack, telling Bayleef to stay focused.

Team Rocket is lying on the floor completely stuffed and satisfied from eating the rest of the food on the dinner table in the gym. Chuck's wife then comes up to them and asks how can she help them. This makes Team Rocket say their motto, in which Chuck's wife interrupts by coming to the conclusion that they are new students to see Chuck. Chuck's wife tell them to wash the dishes, do the laundry, scrub the floors, and make the beds. James tell her that she doesn't understand Team Rocket's purpose for being there and Meowth was complaining about doing her dirty work. Chuck's wife then tells them it will help build up an appetite for an afternoon snack - steamed dumplings. That gets the Team Rocket trio excited and they dance around just before doing their duties.

Back to the gym match between Bayleef and Machoke. Chuck ordered Machoke to Focus Energy while Ash ordered Bayleef to stay focused. Machoke attempted to attack Bayleef with many Karate Chops that Bayleef was avoiding as best as she could, but one Karate Chop from Machoke connected to Bayleef and she was down on the ground. Chuck then crossed his arms and ordered Machoke to do a Cross Chop attack. Ash ordered Bayleef to use her Vine Whip attack and wrapped up one of Machoke's arms, preventing the Cross Chop attack. A tug-of-war ensued where one Pokémon tried to pull the other Pokémon to them using Bayleef's vines as a rope. Ash and Chuck wanted their Pokémon to Focus Energy to gain the upper hand. Brock then suggested the idea of Bayleef to put slack in her vines for Machoke to lose his footing and fall to the ground. Misty agreed that it will take strategy as well as strength to win the battle.

Machoke in the mean time was reeling Bayleef in to him with her vines. As soon as Bayleef was close enough to Machoke, Chuck ordered Machoke to use its Submission attack. Bayleef was sent flying. Ash was decreeing the match isn't over yet as long as Bayleef stays focused. Bayleef gathered herself while in mid-air and Ash ordered a Vine Whip attack. The Vine Whip wrapped up the Machoke and when Bayleef landed, she lifted Machoke up and slammed him right back down on the ground. Then Ash ordered Bayleef to do a Body Slam on Machoke, which was a direct hit. Before Machoke could recover, Ash ordered Bayleef to use Razor Leaf. Machoke was knocked back on the ground again. Machoke was announced as unable to battle. Ash and Bayleef won the match. Bayleef ran over to Ash and Ash hugged her for doing such a great job in battle. Bayleef then got up and Body Slammed Ash, but Ash held his ground again and complimented on the Body Slam attack she used in the battle.

Chuck then walked up to Ash and commended him on the great battle and how he hasn't had a battle like that in a long time and it was no disgrace losing to a trainer like him. Chuck also said that he admired Ash and Bayleef's strategy and that working closely with your Pokémon is the only strategy you need. Ash said his thanks and Chuck handed him the Storm Badge. Ash, Pikachu, and Bayleef celebrated their victory with Machoke, Chuck, his students, Brock, and Misty circled around them.

The scene changes to nightfall and Ash talking to Janina on the phone. Ash asks if Jasmine is able to battle now. Janina then says that the medicine has helped Sparkle feel a lot better but it will take some time before Jasmine is up to battling again. Ash fully understands the situation and he will check back with Janina and Jasmine later. Chuck and his wife then offered Ash and his friends to check out the Whirl Islands. Chuck explained that the Whirl Islands have been the source of myths and legends over the years, including mysterious Pokémon. After some discussion, our heroes decide to go to the Whirl Islands. Chuck's wife then gives Ash a card that will pay for the passage on the ferry as a gift for the great battle against Chuck. Then Chuck's wife talks about her husband's flabbiness and Ash doing something right to beat him. The flabbiness line made Chuck remember it is time to train.

The scene changes to Team Rocket sitting outside of Cianwood Gym going over the dumplings, dinner, dessert, and other luxuries they had today. They said it was simply a blast.

The final scene switches to our heroes on the boat that will lead them to the Whirl Islands with Machoke, Chuck, and his wife waving to them giving them luck and wishes on their journey and they are welcome back to visit them anytime. Our heroes wave back and thank them for everything. As they sail to the Whirl Islands, Misty counts on there being lots of cool Water Pokémon there. Brock hopes that there are many cute girls waiting for him on the islands and says that he is on his way. Ash and Pikachu are looking forward to meeting mysterious Pokémon in the Whirl Islands.

Major events

• Ash defeats Chuck and wins the Cianwood Gym badge.

Debuts

• Chuck

Characters

Humans

• Ash Ketchum
• Misty
• Brock
• Jessie
• James
• Janina
• Chuck
• Chuck's students
• Chuck's wife
• Unnamed gym assistant

Pokémon

• Pikachu (Ash's)
• Meowth (Team Rocket)
• Togepi (Misty's)
• Wobbuffet (Jessie's)
• Bayleef (Ash's)
• Machoke (Chuck's)
• Poliwrath (Chuck's)
• Mankey
• Machop
• Machamp
• Hitmontop

Trivia

• This episode's dub title is a reference to the Village People song, "Macho Macho Man".
• This episode was the last time Pokémon Johto was used as the music for the dub's final commercial break's eyecatch. Starting with the next episode, a snippet of the current opening theme is used for the final commercial break's eyecatch, a practice that would continue until the 4Kids dub ended.

Errors

Dub edits

In other languages

• French: Un champion fort, fort, fort
• Italian: Una prova di forza
• Latin American Spanish: ¡Machoke Machoke man!
• Spanish: Machoke, Machoke, Machote

Template:Epstub Template:EpisodePrevNext

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