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EP065

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← EP064 : It's Mr. Mime Time
Original series
EP066 : The Evolution Solution →
Showdown at the Po-ké Corral
EP065.png
  EP065  
ライバルたいけつ！オーキドけんきゅうじょ
Rival Showdown! Okido Laboratory
First broadcast
Japan October 8, 1998
United States September 30, 1999
English themes
Opening Pokémon Theme
Ending
Japanese themes
Opening めざせポケモンマスター
Ending ニャースのうた
Credits
Animation Team Ota
Screenplay 冨岡淳広 Atsuhiro Tomioka
Storyboard 日高政光 Masamitsu Hidaka
Assistant director 鈴木敏明 Toshiaki Suzuki
Animation director 志村泉 Izumi Shimura
Additional credits

Showdown at the Po-ké Corral (Japanese: ライバルたいけつ！オーキドけんきゅうじょ Rival Showdown! Okido Laboratory) is the 65th episode of the Pokémon animated series. It was first broadcast in Japan on October 8, 1998, and in the United States on September 30, 1999.

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

Blurb

On a visit to Professor Oak's house, Ash runs into Gary where they talk about the upcoming Pokémon League. Professor Oak explains that instead of being so competitive with each other they should try and learn from each other. When Team Rocket busts into the lab and tries to steal all the Pokémon everyone learns a lesson about teamwork.

Plot

As a crowd of people cheer on, Ash throws his Poké Ball, happy to be competing in the Pokémon League. However, upon throwing the ball, it comes right back at Ash, becoming larger. Just then, he wakes up with Mimey using the vacuum to clean his face. Ash walks into the kitchen where his friends and Delia are, and complains about Mimey. Delia replies that he cleans whatever is dirty, and claims that Mr. Mime only listens to her.

Meanwhile, Team Rocket is walking down a dirt path toward the Team Rocket HQ. They begin complaining about how they haven't successfully captured a single Pokémon for Giovanni. Too afraid to see what he would say, they quickly declare their resignations before trying to run off. Just then, the HQ explodes and a mysterious Pokémon flies out of the debris and into the sky. Team Rocket runs toward the HQ and finds Giovanni, growling in anger at the escaped Pokémon just as a helicopter comes for him. Jessie asks if there is anything they can do, and Giovanni replies that they can do their job for a change before boarding the helicopter with his Persian. With renewed confidence, Team Rocket aspires to catch more Pokémon.

At Professor Oak's laboratory, Oak is excited to see Togepi. Ash encounters Gary, and they immediately begin to argue before Professor Oak tells them that the two top Trainers of Pallet Town should get along. When both are in disbelief that the other could be considered a top Trainer, Professor Oak reveals that the other Trainers from Pallet Town eventually couldn't succeed because of their lack of skills. He goes on to say that Gary has ten Badges, while Ash has eight, and that the Pokémon League will be held on top of Indigo Plateau in two months, with more than 200 Trainers competing.

At Ash's house, the doorbell rings and Delia answers it, finding Team Rocket disguised as a news crew. They claim to be from the Pokémon News Network and want to interview Ash for a show called Pokémon Masters of Tomorrow. However, they are literally swept off their feet by Mimey doing his chores. Delia tells them that Ash is with his friends at Professor Oak's laboratory.

At the lab, Gary mocks Ash's Krabby and shows off his own, which is giant and goes on to say that he rotates his Pokémon, and that Ash probably doesn't. He also states that Ash probably uses the same Pokémon all the time. Brock asks what kind of Pokémon Gary would use against his Geodude; Gary replies that he would use a Water-type and have a Grass-type as backup, and asks Ash what kind of Pokémon he would use. Misty answers that Ash would use Pikachu. Gary mocks him, saying that it would be a bad move to match an Electric-type with a Rock-type. Finally, Gary asks him how many Pokémon he has captured. Oak scans their Pokédexes and reveals that Gary has seen only 60 Pokémon, while Ash has seen more than 100. However, Oak adds that Gary has captured way more Pokémon than Ash. Gary suggests to go see all of the Pokémon he caught, and Oak agrees.

The group enters a section of the lab where Oak keeps the Pokémon caught by the Pallet Town Trainers in their Poké Balls. Ash has his own shelf, though almost all of the many Poké Balls on it are his Tauros's thirty Safari Balls. Gary is later mentioned to have caught over 200 Pokémon, meaning he has multiples of some Pokémon. Gary says that the more Pokémon a Trainer has, the better chance of winning. Ash retaliates, saying that Gary's Pokémon are not his friends, and that being friends with Pokémon is more important. Oak goes on to explain that people have different personalities, thus also having different ways of caring for Pokémon. He also says that Pokémon need to be respected and cared for like people.

Meanwhile, Team Rocket, out of their disguises, takes the back route to Oak's research field. By accident, Jessie kicks a pebble into a tree, and a horde of Kakuna drop down. In an instant, a swarm of Beedrill fly at them. Team Rocket flees, only to slam into a Snorlax.

Back at the lab, Oak explains his day, and says that he starts off by checking on all of the Pokémon's health. He decides which Pokémon to let out of their Poké Balls and into a habitat built especially for that type, and feeds them breakfast. By the afternoon, he studies Pokémon and has recently been studying individual Pokémon of the same types. Then, it is time for dinner and he puts the Pokémon back in their Poké Balls. As they walk through the field, a Doduo, revealed to be one of Gary's Pokémon, greets the gang. Oak states that Pokémon frequently become more like their Trainers overtime. After explaining that since Muk and Krabby usually stay with him, that they have become more like him, Muk rushes over and tackles Oak to the ground.

Later, Team Rocket, having escaped the Beedrill, climbs rocks to get to Oak's lab. Jessie accidentally grabs hands with a Geodude. Geodude blushes, but is thrown away. When Jessie puts her hand back down, it lands atop of a Sandshrew's head, angering it and provoking it into repeatedly scratching Jessie's face, then kicking her and fleeing. Suddenly, an angered Onix comes up from out of the ground and starts chasing Team Rocket.

Meanwhile, Ash remarks that Oak must have all of the Pokémon in the world, but he disagrees and says that there are many more undiscovered species of Pokémon. Ash realizes that Togepi is a Pokémon no one ever saw before, and then remembers the mysterious Pokémon he saw at the beginning of his journey. Gary suggests a battle for practice, and Ash accepts. Before they can begin, however, an explosion occurs at the far end of the field, and Oak realizes it was coming from the Electric Pokémon preserve. Upon arrival, they see that many Voltorb and Electrode have blown up because Team Rocket trotted onto their territory.

Team Rocket tells them that they are there to steal Pikachu. As Gary and Oak are stunned to hear a talking Meowth, Team Rocket performs their motto. Gary challenges them to a fight, but before the fight begins, Ash's thirty Tauros stampede at them, sending them blasting off. Gary departs, saying that he and Ash could have their battle at the Pokémon League; Ash agrees. At that, Oak makes Ash and his friends fix the fence his Tauros broke through. Irritated at first, Ash and his friends begin working on the fence, knowing there is two months left before the Pokémon League starts.

Major events

For a list of all major events in Pokémon the Series: The Beginning, please see the timeline page.

Debuts

Pokémon debuts

English dub debuts

Characters

Humans

Dare da?

Pokémon

Who's That Pokémon?

Who's That Pokémon?: Slowbro (US and international), Muk (Japan)

Trivia

Ash's Tauros's Safari Balls
  • Professor Oak's Pokémon Lecture: Electrode
    • Pokémon senryū summary: Also known as bomb ball: Electrode.
  • Meowth's Song replaced Pokémon Ondo as the Japanese ending theme.
  • This episode is preceded by Holiday Hi-Jynx and Snow Way Out! in the English dub.
  • This episode's English dub title is a reference to the historical showdown at the O.K. Corral.
  • This is the last of three episodes (the other two being The Battle of the Badge and It's Mr. Mime Time) to feature Mewtwo in scenes that are preludes to the first movie, even though after the seizures caused by EP038, the show went on a four-month hiatus and the three Mewtwo episodes ended up airing after the movie premiere on July 18, 1998. In this episode, Mewtwo blasts out of Team Rocket HQ, causing it to explode. This scene is also shown in the movie's prologue: the explosion of Team Rocket HQ is shown here from a different perspective and with a different animation, while the two shots of Mewtwo flying away use the same animation, even though in this episode both shots are cut at the beginning and at the end, and a brief shot (less than a second) of the Team Rocket trio is present among the Mewtwo shots, which are not synchronized like in the movie. Also, the shot of Giovanni's helicopter taking off in this episode uses the same animation (played in reverse) of the same helicopter landing to New Island in the movie's prologue.
  • This is the first episode to use music from Pikachu's Vacation. However, the background music is replaced in the English dub.
  • This is one of the few episodes that reveals a passage of time.
  • This episode marks the only appearance of Safari Balls in the English dub of the animated series, as every future time when Ash uses one of his Tauros in battle, he is seen sending them out from standard Poké Balls. The reason for this inconsistency is unknown.
  • When Professor Oak is explaining his daily routine to Ash and friends, the frame for the clips shows type symbols from the Trading Card Game. The same frame is also shown on Oak's computer in Spell of the Unown: Entei.
    • Additionally, the Psychic symbol is not seen on the frame.
  • In this episode, Team Rocket uses a variation of their motto.
  • On the UK terrestrial TV premiere of this episode (on the itv channel), the episode was split into two parts due to time constraints. The two parts aired on different days.

Errors

  • Team Rocket HQ has a completely different design than it did in the previous episode. The reconstructed version seen in a later episode uses the initial design as a basis, suggesting that the design seen here is an animation error.
  • When Team Rocket is swept away by Mimey, the band on Jessie's disguise is missing.
  • When Misty tells Ash to not tell how many Pokémon he caught to Gary, the spots on Togepi's feet are the same color as the feet.
  • When the lab's Pokémon are seen, a few Nidoran♂ and Nidoran♀ are present. The males are colored blue and the females are purple, when it should be vice-versa. Despite looking like their Shiny sprite coloring from the games, official game-based alternate coloration did not debut in the animated series until Pokémon: The Johto Journeys.
  • When Misty notices the smoke, Pikachu's tail has its colors reversed.
  • Gary is surprised to see Meowth talking, despite having met him two episodes before in The Battle of the Badge.
  • In the English dub, the title card displays the name for this episode as Showdown at the Po-ké Corrall instead of Showdown at the Po-ké Corral (misspelling "corral"). The title Showdown at the Po-ké Corral is used on Pokémon.com.
    • This episode's title is formatted as Showdown At The Po-ké Corral on the DVD menu of Australian DVDs.
  • The title card error

    The title card error

  • Primeape's size

    Primeape's size

  • Pikachu's miscolored tail

    Pikachu's miscolored tail

Dub edits

  • Pikachu's Jukebox: Viridian City
  • Mimey is referred to as a male in the English dub when Delia says, "When Mr. Mime sees something dirty, he has to clean it."
  • After Mimey cleans Ash's face with a vacuum, Misty quips that Ash can go another week without taking a bath in the English dub. In the original version, she simply says it spares him the effort of washing his face himself.
  • When Misty states that Ash has his Pokémon to thank for getting as far as he did, Ash is accepting in the English dub and gives them credit. In the original, he instead stands up for himself, saying he put in a lot of effort as well.
  • When Ash and Gary are arguing over who's the better Pokémon Trainer, Professor Oak explains their past to Brock by saying "the two have been like that for a long time". In the English dub, he simply says it is not his place to come between them.
  • Misty and Brock saying Gary and Ash could get along since they both love Pokémon is dub-only. In the original, they state that it is expected for rivals to be fired up around each other.
  • When his Tauros send Team Rocket blasting off, Ash is surprised that they are all his. This is likely due to the fact that they were caught in EP035, which was banned in the English dub.
  • Oak's closing speech is slightly different in the English dub; he adds that not only does helping others and sharing their burdens help people become Trainers, but better friends and people as well.
  • In the Indian Hungama TV dub, Team Rocket say that they are from Hungama channel, which is the same channel on which the animated series airs. This is one of the few fourth wall breaks that were only in a certain dub.

In other languages



← EP064 : It's Mr. Mime Time
Original series
EP066 : The Evolution Solution →
Project Anime logo.png This episode article is part of Project Anime, a Bulbapedia project that covers all aspects of Pokémon animation.
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