Gaining Groudon (Japanese: グラードンＶＳカイオーガ！ （前編）Groudon VS Kyogre! (Part 1)) is the 97th episode of Pokémon the Series: Ruby and Sapphire, and the 371st episode of the Pokémon animated series. It was first broadcast in Japan on October 7, 2004, and in the United States on October 15, 2005.
Spoiler warning: this article may contain major plot or ending details.
Blurb
The kids are floating on logs at sea when a red submarine appears beneath them, belonging to Team Magma. At the floating Magma base, the kids are taken into custody. Team Magma Leader Maxie explains to them about how he has the Blue Orb in his possession, allowing him to control Groudon. Unfortunately, the Legendary Pokémon they currently have in their possession is Kyogre.
A disguised Shelly of Team Aqua sneaks away and unlocks Kyogre, setting off an alarm. Kyogre awakens and busts out of the floating base, causing it to begin sinking. In the chaos, the kids try to grab the orb, and Pikachu accidentally absorbs it and goes berserk.
Ash is separated from his friends and attacked by a Team Magma member. He meets what appears to be another member of Team Magma—but it's really Lance of the Elite Four in disguise! Lance has also sent his red Gyarados to go help Ash's friends.
Both Teams Magma and Aqua end up on Monsu Island, along with Team Rocket, who wants to steal both Legendary Pokémon. Of course, it's no good, as Kyogre is under the control of the Red Orb, which is currently in Team Aqua's possession...
Plot
Ash and his friends find themselves stranded in the middle of the ocean after Team Rocket tried to steal Pikachu at the end of the previous episode. Suddenly, a giant red submarine surfaces right under them. They call out towards the submarine's conning tower, trying to attract someone's attention, when, to their surprise, Tabitha of Team Magma rises from it to survey the surroundings with binoculars. The group hides as the submarine heads for an opening in a much larger ship ahead, which May realizes to be Team Magma's base. Once the sub reaches the dock inside, two crew members acknowledge their boss, Maxie, who is waiting for them. Maxie immediately notices Ash and his friends as they frantically look for another place to hide. After forcing them on deck with their hands raised, Team Magma and their snarling Mightyena encircle the group. Maxie officially introduces himself and orders them to stay out of his plans.
While Maxie and Tabitha confer briefly about the possibility of Team Aqua being nearby, Shelly of Team Aqua, disguised in Team Magma Grunt apparel, emerges from the docked submarine. She approaches two male grunts that are guarding a door. Two well-placed punches later and both grunts are out cold. Shelly enters a room that houses Kyogre held in a containment chamber. She punches a code into the chamber’s control panel, helping to awaken Kyogre.
In his office, Maxie tells Ash and his friends to sit down so they can talk. While Ash initially refuses, Team Magma's Mightyena quickly intimidate May and Max into obeying, and the group sits down. Ash accuses Team Magma of being selfish and wanting to control the super-ancient Pokémon. Tabitha jumps in, saying nobody talks to his boss that way, but Maxie calms him down. Maxie corrects Ash as he explains that Team Magma want to increase the earth's land mass, and awakening the Legendary PokémonGroudon is part of the process. To the shock of Ash and his friends, Maxie reveals that they have already captured a Kyogre, which, while useless to their grand design, they've captured to keep it away from Team Aqua, who desire it for their own plans. The Blue Orb rises up from Maxie's desk, and he reveals that it holds the power to control Groudon. He also knows that Team Aqua has captured Groudon and possesses the Red Orb, which can control Kyogre. As a result, each team now posseses a Legendary Pokémon that they're unable to control. To resolve the situation, both teams have agreed to swap prisoners on the nearby Monsu Island. As Maxie orders Tabitha to lock Ash and his friends up, an alarm sounds as Shelly fully revives Kyogre. The Legendary Pokémon breaks free of its restraints and crashes through Team Magma base’s hull, escaping into the ocean. Shelly reports to her superiors that the mission has been a success. Lance, disguised as a Team Magma Grunt while undertaking his latest Pokémon G-Men mission, confronts Shelly on the ship's deck. She removes her Magma disguise, revealing her Team Aqua wet suit, and leaps overboard into the water.
Back in Maxie's office, scrambled intercom reports of the confusion related to Kyogre's escape and the resulting damages are still pouring in. Suddenly, a blast knocks Maxie down and sends the Blue Orb flying. Brock exclaims that now's their chance to get it, so Ash gets Pikachu to do so. Tabitha orders three Mightyena to intervene, but Pikachu jumps from one Mightyena's head to the other, and finally catches the orb. Unexpectedly, the Blue Orb begins pulsing with a red light and absorbs itself into Pikachu's body. Pikachu writhes in pain briefly, and at Maxie's suggestion, Tabitha takes the opportunity to have the Mightyena attack. Hearing them, a possessed Pikachu turns around and defeats all three with a supercharged Thunderbolt. Pikachu sways back and forth from the strain, and Tabitha pulls out a Poké Ball, but just then, another explosion hits the wall behind him. Ash and his friends take that opportunity to escape. Tabitha helps his boss up, and Maxie says they've got to get that Pikachu back.
Not far away, Team Aqua's sub surfaces, as Shelly reports to Aqua Leader Archie that the operation to release Kyogre was successful. Archie holds up the Red Orb, and it glows, summoning Kyogre, who launches a Hyper Beam at Team Magma's ship. On that ship, Lance pulls out Dragonite's Poké Ball, noting that the situation has now turned drastic. The target of his attention suddenly shifts, however, when he notices Ash and his friends on the deck below him, recognizing Ash and wondering what he's doing mixed up in all this. Brock says their only chance is to abandon ship, so he dives into the water along with May and Max. Ash and Pikachu are about to follow when they're suddenly blindsided by one of Tabitha's Mightyena. Tabitha gloats, having cornered Ash. As they resurface, Ash’s friends realize Ash is missing and watch as Tabitha forces Ash aboard a waiting helicopter. Lance, still in disguise, also hops on the craft as it sets off for Monsu Island. With the Red Orb still in hand, Archie promptly has Kyogre finish off Team Magma’s ship, so it is sure to sink. This creates a powerful downward current that pushes May, Max, and Brock deeper into the water. The trio are soon saved by a Red Gyarados, and Brock quickly recognizes it as Lance’s.
Team Rocket find themselves lying on Monsu Island’s shore with the wind knocked out of them from their earlier blast-off. They recognize Team Magma's helicopter flying overhead, and wonder what they're up to. Team Aqua and Team Magma finally come face-to-face for their arranged swap. Archie reveals that he has two Team Magma hostages, who had been caught trying to take Groudon from them. Team Rocket is watching this from not far off, and is stunned at the mentions of Groudon and Kyogre in the negotiations. When Maxie demands for Groudon to be handed over as agreed, as it serves no use for Team Aqua, Archie just laughs and reveals to him that he now also possesses Kyogre. Archie issues an ultimatum: either Team Magma will be dissolved on this very day and leave Team Aqua unopposed, or he'll use the Red Orb to have Kyogre destroy everything. Team Rocket comments on the situation, and decide to use the two teams' arguing as an opportunity to steal both Groudon and Kyogre in order to give them to the Boss.
Meanwhile, Ash and Pikachu are still trapped in Team Magma's helicopter, and guarded by several grunts outside. Pikachu continues to writhe from the pain of absorbing the Blue Orb and becomes increasingly hostile, letting loose Thunderbolts in every direction before collapsing again. The disguised Lance enters the room. Ash is angry at first, but calms down when Lance removes his hood to reveal his true identity to him. He quietly fills Ash in on the situation, and Ash informs him that Pikachu bonded with the Blue Orb. Lance notes that Pikachu, being a small Pokémon, likely wasn't able to resist the orb's power upon coming to contact with it; however, he doesn't think Pikachu is in life-threatening danger, so he reassures Ash that he will do his best to help out and tells him to stay put for now. Meanwhile, Brock, May, and Max are approaching Monsu Island on Gyarados's back, feeling reassured to have the support of a Dragon-typeChampion's support behind them.
The Rocket trio set their sights on infiltrating Team Aqua's submarine in the hopes of nabbing Groudon or Kyogre. Using a fake wall, they slip by two patrolling Aqua guards and their Crawdaunt, and soon locate Kyogre's storage cell. Jessie pulls out a bazooka, and Meowth enters a password on the keyboard, but it doesn't work. Meowth resorts pressing random buttons, eventually shutting down the computer. Jessie and Meowth argue, and Wobbuffet tries a button that ends up causing an explosion and incidentally opens the door. Team Rocket rejoice, but are stopped short by the Aqua guards and their Crawdaunt. Shelly receives word of the intruders, and Archie is quick to point the finger at Team Magma, though Maxie denies any involvement. James sends out Cacnea to deal with the two Crawdaunt. A single Pin Missile is all that's necessary to let Team Rocket go by, and they quickly approach Kyogre's tank. Jessie ensnares Kyogre in an electrified net, attempting to weaken the Water type. However, Kyogre awakens in a rage and jumps out of the cargo hold, sending the electrified net back onto Team Rocket and blasting them off. The explosion causes a fire aboard the submarine, right next to the cargo hold where the imprisoned Groudon is held. Meanwhile, Ash desperately tries to hold Pikachu as he goes insane from the surge of the Blue Orb's power.
In the Japanese version, this episode and AG098 form the first two-part episode in the Pokémon animated series. However, the English titles of these episodes do not reflect their two-part status, and they would not for any future two-part episode until AG171 and AG172.
The episode's English dub title is based on the phrase "gaining ground".
When Shelly says that Lance is not a Team Magma member, the gloves on her disguise are missing. This also happens with Lance's when he describes his mission to Ash.
When Archie commands Kyogre to attack Team Magma's ship for the first time, Kyogre's wing patterns begin to glow. However, right before the patterns start to glow, they are missing.
When Team Rocket sees Team Magma flying overhead and Jessie sits up, James's gloves and boots are colored purple instead of their usual slate-gray.
When May and Max look at Lance's Gyarados, its whiskers are cream-colored instead of red.
As the two Team Aqua Grunts are walking past Kyogre's cargo hold on patrol, the white stripes are missing from the female grunt's shirt.
In the English dub, Brock refers to Lance as a member of the Elite Four, although he was previously mentioned to be a Champion. This is likely a translation error, as in the Japanese version, Brock refers to him as the "Champion of the Elite Four".
Kyogre's missing pattern
James's miscolored equipment
The female grunt's missing stripes
Dub edits
In the English dub, Maxie calls Ash by name, while in the original Japanese version, he does not.
Inversely, in the original Japanese version, Lance calls Shelly by name, while in the English dub, he does not.
In the English dub, while observing Team Aqua and Team Magma, James says that the situation is better than his soap operas. In the original Japanese version, he is worried about what the two villainous teams are planning to do.
Pokémon Trainer's Choice
Question: Trainers, which Pokémon would be most effective against Plusle and Minun?
Kyogre's missing pattern
James's miscolored equipment
The female grunt's missing stripes
