EP099
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The Mandarin Island Miss Match
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First broadcast
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English themes
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Japanese themes
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Credits
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The Mandarin Island Miss Match (Japanese: してんのうカンナ！こおりのたたかい！！ Kanna of The Big Four! Ice Battle!!) is the 99th episode of the Pokémon animated series. It was first broadcast in Japan on June 3, 1999, and in the United States on April 15, 2000.
Blurb
Ash, Misty and Tracey are on Mandarin Island where Ash has just won three battles in a row. But, he finally meets his match when they run into, Prima, one of the very best trainers on the Orange Islands. Misty is thrilled to meet her hero because she also trains water-type Pokémon, but, it's Ash who learns a very valuable lesson from this trainer who also sets him on course for a chance at another Orange League badge!
Plot
On Mandarin Island, Ash finishes off a Butterfree with Bulbasaur's Razor Leaf attack. Later on, as Ash and Misty eat, Tracey tells them that Prima is going to give a lecture on the island. Misty is ecstatic and tells Ash and Tracey that Prima is her hero. She hears a voice behind her and turns to see Prima herself. Misty and Tracey proceed to introduce themselves while Ash chokes on his sandwich. She walks past them, however, and bends down to look at Togepi.
Nearby, Meowth watches from the bushes while Jessie and James eat. James sees Prima and recognizes her, but cannot ascertain her name. Prima looks out at the ocean and makes many philosophical comments about nature. Ash asks for a battle, but Prima ignores him. Ash arrogantly interprets this as an admission that she is afraid to battle and goes off in search of someone else.
Ash eventually does find an opponent who accepts his challenge. As Prima watches, Ash offers to let the boy set up the rules and they agree on two Pokémon each. Ash sends out Squirtle, and the boy releases a Persian. Squirtle uses Water Gun, but Persian dodges it before using Thunderbolt, but Squirtle uses Withdraw to defend against the super effective move. Squirtle pops out of its shell and Skull Bashes Persian, knocking it out. The boy sends out a Tauros, who Tackles Squirtle right away, knocking it out in one hit. Ash withdraws Squirtle and sends out Charizard, but Ash still cannot control Charizard, who burns him.
Prima continues to watch as Tauros uses Take Down. Charizard uses Flamethrower, knocking out Tauros in one hit before flying into the air and attempting to burn everything in sight. Ash tries to call him back, but the recall beam from the Poké Ball misses. When Ash gets burnt by Flamethrower again, Prima intervenes, sending out her Slowbro, who uses Disable, immobilizing Charizard in midair. Slowbro manages to bring him down to the ground, and Ash succeeds in calling him back. Prima asks Ash if he knows what he is doing, and he defends himself by saying that he was in the top sixteen in the Indigo Plateau Conference. Unimpressed, Prima asks the trio to come to her demonstration later, and they enthusiastically accept.
Later, Ash and his friends watch Prima battle from the stands of Mandarin Island Stadium. Team Rocket also sneaks in, dressed as food vendors. James now fully recognizes Prima, and they plan to steal her Pokémon. The demonstration goes on for a while and Prima defeats every Pokémon she goes up against. Ash watches intently, determined to try and pick up some tips. After the demonstration, Prima invites Ash and his friends to her house for some tea. There, Ash announces his suspicions that Prima is trying to teach him reverse psychology. Prima tells them that every person has a particular way of acting in and out of battle. She explains that she is like the water, usually going with the flow, but when she is in battle, she becomes as cold as ice. She walks outside and tells Ash that the most important thing is knowing where his strength lies. She insists that Ash may be strong in some ways, but he needs to develop what comes from the inside.
Ash challenges Prima to a battle once again, which she accepts. They agree on one Pokémon each and send out their Pokémon. Ash uses Pikachu, and Prima chooses Cloyster. Pikachu uses Thunderbolt, but Cloyster Withdraws into its shell. Pikachu uses Agility, but is knocked back by Cloyster's Reflect. Next, Pikachu uses Thunder; it hits Cloyster, but it begins glowing red. Tracey warns Ash that this is Rage, which increases its attack power. Pikachu tries a Quick Attack but is defeated by Aurora Beam and Take Down.
Prima calls back Cloyster and looks at Pikachu to see if he is okay. She tells Ash that he has the skills he needs to be a Pokémon Master, but adds that he needs to remember that his Pokémon are the ones who win the Badges. She tells him that with his Pokémon and friends by his side, he will always succeed. She finally reveals that if he wins all of the Gym Badges in the Orange League, he will be presented with an "Honorable Trainer" trophy.
Suddenly, Team Rocket arrives and asks Prima for a CD recording of her lecture. She replies that it is on tape only, and whispers to Ash and his friends that it is $18.95, shocking Team Rocket before they say their motto. Misty correctly guesses that their original plan was to steal Prima's Pokémon, but they tell her that they decided to go after Pikachu, figuring they would lose against Prima. Ash gets ready to fight, but Prima tells him that she will take care of it. She immediately sends out Jynx, who uses Ice Punch and freezes Team Rocket. Jynx uses Blizzard and blows them into the sky. The pieces from the ice block rain down, making sparkles in the sky.
That evening, Prima tells Ash that the nearest Gym is on Trovita Island, which is straight across the bay on the other side of Mandarin Island. Ash and his friends thank Prima before heading off.
Major events
- Ash and his friends meet Prima of the Kanto Elite Four.
- Ash battles Prima, but is defeated.
- Ash learns from Prima that there is an Orange League Gym on Trovita Island, and decides to head there.
- For a list of all major events in Pokémon the Series: The Beginning, please see the timeline page.
Debuts
Humans
Pokémon debuts
Characters
Humans
Pokémon
Who's That Pokémon?: Machop (US and international), Cloyster (Japan)
- Pikachu (Ash's)
- Meowth (Team Rocket)
- Togepi (Misty's)
- Bulbasaur (Ash's)
- Charizard (Ash's)
- Squirtle (Ash's)
- Slowbro (Prima's)
- Dewgong (Prima's)
- Cloyster (Prima's)
- Jynx (Prima's)
- Persian (Trainer's)
- Tauros (Trainer's)
- Kadabra (Trainer's)
- Machamp (Trainer's)
- Marowak (Trainer's)
- Butterfree (Trainer's; Orange Islands Variant)
Trivia
- Professor Oak's Pokémon Lecture:
- Pokémon senryū summary: The smile it shows at times is cute: Primeape.
- This episode was partially adapted into the book The Four-Star Challenge.
- Despite the fact that both the preceding and succeeding episodes are included, this episode was missing from Netflix when Pokémon: Adventures in the Orange Islands was still available on Netflix, likely because of its depiction of Jynx.
- This episode is not played on Pokémon TV, and the Pokémon.com synopsis lacks pictures of Jynx, likely due to this past controversy.
- As of May 2014, it is removed from Pokémon.com entirely.
- It is also removed from the re-release of the Orange Islands DVD box set.
- In addition, it was skipped by Hungama TV and Disney XD in India and was replaced by Charizard Chills.
- In 2017, when the series was added to Prime Video in Japan, the version featured updated the color of Prima's Jynx to her current purple design to resolve the controversy. This version has not been dubbed into English, and as a result is still banned from being shown in the dub whenever the second season is rerun or rereleased on home video and digital formats outside of Asia.
- This episode marks the first time Ash has battled an Elite Four member.
- This is the last English dubbed episode to feature Jynx in her original design. Until the debut of her redesign in Mean With Envy, all shots featuring Jynx are edited out in the English dubs of episodes following this one.
- James calls Prima "Miss Elite", likely a reference to her status as Lorelei, the first member of the Elite Four, in the games.
Errors
- When Ash wins the battle in the beginning, his gloves are missing for a few frames.
- At the beginning and end of Ash and his friends' meal, Ash and Tracey's bags have their colors swapped.
- When Prima walks over to Ash and his friends, she is briefly layered between the table and Tracey.
- When James shoves a sandwich into his mouth, his nose disappears.
- During the scene when a Kadabra battled against Prima's Cloyster, it says "Alakazam". Also, a Machamp says "Machop".
- When Jessie says "Prepare for trouble, and defeat", the split in her shirt goes past the "R" and to her collar.
- In the English dub, when Jynx uses Ice Punch, Prima incorrectly orders her to use Ice Beam.
Ash's missing gloves
The layering error
James's missing nose
Modified scene
A 38-second scene, after Ash suggests that Prima is only denying him a battle because she will lose, was modified in the Japanese version after its initial airing, and cut in some dubs. The scene features a conversation between Ash, Misty, and Prima. In the original version of the scene, Prima is mostly out-of-frame, with only the side of her breast in the frame, with it remaining on-screen for most of that scene.
In the Japanese version, the scene was re-edited after the initial airing. The first half of the scene was edited to remove Prima's bust from the frame, replacing that part of the frame with Prima's back like in the previous shot; in the second half of the scene, the shot is zoomed in to crop most of Prima's bust out of the frame, although the tip of her bust is still visible.
In the English dub, the scene was cut entirely in most airings and many home video releases. It is cut in all U.S. DVD releases, but not on Australian DVD releases. Since 2014, this episode (along with two other episodes featuring Jynx) no longer appears on VOD services or new home video releases. The version of the episode including this scene is believed to have been previously broadcast on Kids WB and Cartoon Network.
In other dubs, the scene has often remained uncut. The scene appears in the French and German DVD releases from 2009 and 2010, respectively. The scene was also uncut in the Brazilian Portuguese dub, being shown on Cartoon Network Brazil.
The original scene, which included Prima's bust
The Japanese edited scene, which removed her bust from the frame
Content
In the original Japanese version, Ash challenges Prima to a battle, but she smiles and does not take him seriously. This frustrates Ash, and he brags about being "a stone's throw away" from being a Pokémon Master, which Misty questions if he even knows what "a stone's throw away" means. Ash then asks if Misty wants to challenge him, though he remarks that Misty wouldn't be a challenge, angering her. She shouts at Ash, but he walks away to find another Trainer to battle, while Misty, angry with Ash's arrogance, wants Prima to beat him.
In the English dub, the dialogue in the scene is as follows:
- Ash: Hey, what's so funny? Not only am I an undefeated Champion on this island, but I'm practically a Pokémon Master! C'mon, Prima, one battle?
- Misty: The only thing you're the Master of is disaster!
- Ash: Who asked you? Maybe you want me to teach you a lesson instead of Prima. Hey, I guess I could use another easy win.
- Misty: What do you mean, 'another easy win?'
- Ash (walking away): Oh well, if the great Prima's scared of me, I guess I'll find somebody who's not afraid to lose.
- Misty (annoyed): Ugh... that Ash is so... If he ever did battle you, he'd see he's not as great as he thinks he is!
In the versions with the cut, it is simply implied that he feels sorry for her because she did not accept his challenge.
Dub edits
- Pikachu's Jukebox: Viridian City
- In the dub, Lorelei is named Prima instead of using her English name from the games.
- There is a common fan theory that this is due to "Lorelei" having an extra syllable over her Japanese name, "Kanna". However, this is the case for many characters in the anime, so it is unlikely that it would only be an issue for Lorelei. Additionally, "Kanna" was referred to as "Kanna-sama" by Misty, or "Kanna-san" by other characters in the Japanese version, making this four or three characters respectively.
- All of the references to Prima's status as a member of the Elite Four are removed from the dub.
- This would later create a minor contradiction when Misty mentions this encounter with Prima in Wired for Battle! and refers to her as an Elite Four member.
- In the dub, Ash is stated to have won three matches at the beginning of the episode. The Japanese version never states how many battles Ash won.
- Prima's house is originally stated to be a vacation house.
- Prima does exhibition matches every week in the dub. Originally, she holds lectures every year.
- Ash's command for Squirtle to use Withdraw occurs in the dub only.
- In the dub, Ash brags about ending up in the Top 16 in the Indigo League. Originally, he brags about his Badges.
- Interestingly, in the film manga version, Ash brags about finishing in the Top 16 in the Indigo League.
- "Mandarin Island Stadium" is never mentioned in the Japanese version.
- Ash mentioning "Esoteric techniques" is changed to "Perverse psychology" in the dub.
- Prima's advice in the Japanese version emphasizes more on Ash's connection with his Pokémon rather than his own power from within.
- In the dub, Meowth asks if Prima's lecture is available on CD, but Prima says it's tape only, and it costs $18.95. In the Japanese version, Prima seemed to recognize Team Rocket, but doesn't seem to know them.
In other languages
| Language | Title | |
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 Arabic
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إعرف بوكيمونك | |
| Mandarin Chinese | 四天王科拿，冰之戰鬥 | |
 Czech
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Zápas na Mandarinkovém ostrově | |
 Danish
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Misforståelsen på Mandarin Island | |
 Dutch
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De Mandarin Island Miss Match | |
 European French
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Sirena sur l'île Mandarine | |
 German
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Ash und die Lektion auf der Mandarin Insel | |
 Hebrew
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תחרות באי מנדרינה Takharut ba'Ee Mandarina | |
 Hungarian
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Ash csatája a Mandarin szigeten | |
 Italian
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Lezioni di vita | |
 Korean
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사천왕 칸나! 물과 얼음의 마음 | |
 Norwegian
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Mandarinøyas overraskelse | |
 Polish
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Mistrzyni Wyspy Mandarynek | |
| Portuguese |  Brazil
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Batalha Errada na Ilha Mandarin |
 Portugal
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O Combate da Ilha Mandarin | |
 Romanian
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Meciul de pe Insula Mandarin | |
 Russian
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Поражение на Мандариновом острове | |
| Spanish |  Latin America
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¡Duelo en la isla Mandarín! |
 Spain
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Combate femenino de isla Mandarina | |
 Swedish
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Prima Pokémon | |
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This episode article is part of Project Anime, a Bulbapedia project that covers all aspects of Pokémon animation. |
- Original series episodes
- Banned episodes
- Episodes written by Atsuhiro Tomioka
- Episodes storyboarded and directed by Yoshitaka Fujimoto
- Episodes storyboarded by Yoshitaka Fujimoto
- Episodes directed by Yoshitaka Fujimoto
- Episodes animated by Gō Yamamoto
- Episodes focusing on Ash
- Episodes featuring Elite Four members
