Episodes #71-80

#71 Go West Young Meowth!

Ash, along with his mother, Brock, and Misty, is invited to Hollywood, for the premiere of "Pokémon in love". When they get there it is a dump. Team Rocket follows, of course; but Meowth is preoccupied, plagued by bad memories.
* * * Meowth's earliest memories are of being abandoned, and left to starve. He saw a movie about Hollywood, and set out, in hopes of a better life. Once there, he found that a lone Meowth could not survive on the streets. He was taken in by a gang of Meowth, led by a sole Persian, and together, they stole to survive. One day, Meowth came across a pampered female Meowth named Meowthsy. Although Meowth tried hard to woo her, Meowthsy was unimpressed. She explained that she looked to humans for affection, and that she allowed a human to own her, because they bought her nice things and said Meowth was a freak. Meowth was inspired by her remark, and decided that in order to win her love, he would have to become human. Meowth took up residence in the attic of a boarding school. He listened to the humans down below, mimicking their ballet exercises, and mouthing along with their grammar drills. During the night, he studied their books. He learned to walk on his hind legs, though it was quite painful for him, and made him too slow to participate in the gang's food runs. One day, while listening in on the class' grammar lesson, he found that he could speak English. He ran to find Meowthsy, so he could showcase his new skills. Her response? "When you look in the mirror, your reflection is not human. You are simply a Meowth who talks and acts like a human, and such a thing is frightening to me and you will always be a freak." Heartbroken, Meowth left town...
* * * Now, Meowth is back in his old neighborhood, for the first time since joining Team Rocket. He is confronted by his old gang, and learns that Meowthsy is with them, having been abandoned because her human owner got poor and set her on the streets and drove off. Meowth thinks she deserves better, and tries to rescue her from the gang, but Persian attacks him. Meowth and Persian run at each other, claws unsheathed-- Meowth staggers, Persian falls. In the end, Meowthsy goes to Persian, explaining that Meowth reminds her of humans, which she no longer likes and he will always be a freak. Depressed, Meowth leaves town again, swearing that he has no past to speak of, other than his life with Team Rocket. Meanwhile at the movies.... The movie just ended than and only Ash's mom,Misty,Brock and Ash were clapping because they were the only people in the theater along with the director. And the parts when they were in it were cut out. Then Team Rocket comes,does the usuall and leaves.

#72 Make Room for Gloom!

Ash lives in a nice country house, complete with a sizable garden. His mother asks him to help her trim the bushes; and he sneaks out on her.
* * * Ash and his friends find themselves at a large enclosed garden. It is kept by a girl named  Florinda, and her servant,Potter. As Ash co. tours the premises, they are invited to let their Grass Pokémon roam free. Ash sends out Bulbasaur, who runs around, sniffing the various plants. One plant makes it act drunk. Another plant makes it very ill. Florinda takes note, and rushes Bulbasaur to her house, so she can treat it. Florinda has her Gloom squeeze nectar into Bulbasaur's mouth, which cures it of its poisoning. Bulbasaur then takes a liking to Gloom. Meanwhile, Brock takes a liking to Florinda (big surprise). Brock tells Florinda that his friend will be participating in the Pokémon League, and asks if she will be going as well. Florinda says no, because she doesn't want to put her Gloom at risk. She feels that it is too weak, in its current state, and for some reason, it won't even evolve into a Vileplume, when exposed to a Leaf Stone. Professor Oak appears out of nowhere, and examines her Leaf Stone, discovering that it is fake. He asks who sold it to her, and Florinda gives an accurate description of Team Rocket... Team Rocket breaks into the garden, in hopes of stealing some Pokémon. There are no Pokémon to steal, but they do run across the plants that Bulbasaur was sniffing, and decide that they are worth snatching. Florinda calls to the Rockets from afar, begging them to stop. Ash is slightly more forward, having Bulbasaur attack them. Meowth hits Ash co. with some stun spore, which he'd harvested from the plants. Everyone is paralyzed, except for Florinda and Gloom, who were standing out of range,on a bridge above everything. Florinda is afraid to let Gloom fight, but Brock coaxes her, telling her that if it doesn't, the Rockets will get away. Gloom uses Double Team, to confuse the Rockets and their Pokémon, then Solar Beams them into oblivion. Florinda verbally thanks Brock, for helping her to discover Gloom's true power. Unfortunately for him, she is in love with her Potter, so anything else is out of the question. Poor Brock... maybe next time.

#73 To Master the Onix-pected!

Ash and co. go into the mountains surrounding Pallet Town, in hopes of finding a trainer named Bruno,and finding his secrets to catching Pokemon. Brock respects this trainer greatly, as he is a member of the Elite Four; and wishes to train under him. Once in the mountains, they receive warning from an old lady, that a giant Onix is rampaging through the area. Heedless, the group presses on, finding themselves in a gulch full of Onix tracks. Suddenly an Onix-- easily three times the size of any Onix they've ever encountered, and covered in battle scars--comes rushing towards them. The trio is rescued by a mountain man, who turns out to be Bruno. Brock begs Bruno to accept Ash and himself as pupils, and Bruno agrees. First, he has them fetch water from the stream, then he has them chop the firewood, and make a cooking fire. Finally, he sits down to eat his dinner, while Ash and Brock wonder what they've been tricked into doing. Brock figures that Bruno is testing them. He's pretending to relax his guard, but if they were to attack him, he'd easily beat them off. To prove his point, Brock runs at Bruno with a club--and clobbers him over the head. Nursing the wound, Bruno excuses the kids, saying that he doesn't have time for students, since he's trying to capture the giant Onix. Team Rocket overhears Bruno's story about the Onix, and decides to capture it for themselves. Unfortunately, when they encounter the mad Onix, their attacks only manage to anger it further. Ash co. soon finds the trio cowering in a cave, trapped by the deadly rock snake. Hoping to draw the beast away, the kids send out Squirtle and Staryu, as well as their own Onix, to combat it. Again, the attacks are useless. Enraged, the Onix turns on Ash co. as well. Bruno reappears, to rescue the kids once again. Onix lunges towards him, but Bruno is too fast for it to catch. Finally, it falls to the ground, exhausted. Bruno asks the Onix what has upset it so, and finds the root of the problem--a Sandslash, wedged between Onix's scales. He quickly removes it, and the grateful Onix allows itself to be captured.

#74 The Ancient Puzzle of Poké-napolis!

Ash and his friends are enjoying their time in the mountains. Brock releases Vulpix, allowing it to battle with Pikachu, but Jigglypuff gets in their way, and at the last minute, both Pokemon must redirect their attacks, so not to hit her. They end up firing on the side of the mountain, and the explosion uncovers the entrance to an ancient temple. A girl named Eve runs to them, and picks up a small, golden artifact from the blast site. She is an archeologist, and along with her crew, is gathering relics, from a time when giant Pokémon--Pokégods, if you will--were worshipped by humans. In her trailer, she has several artifacts already, including a Psyduck statue, and a golden spoon. She also has a stone which looks like a tombstone,and says somthing about the earth and the Pokegods destroying there temple and someday the earth. Night falls, and Team Rocket sneaks into the temple, hoping to find some treasure for themselves. Jessie sends out Arbok to go inside the temple and get the most priceless piece he can find. Arbok discovers something that resembles a bow tie, but as soon as it touches it, it is sucked inside. The "bow tie" then chases after Jessie, James, and Meowth, capturing them as well. In the morning, Eve finds the bow tie lying on the ground. One of her men touches it, and he is absorbed. The air around the relic begins to shimmer, and an enormous Gengar comes into view, Gengar has black things all over his body. Ash co. and Eve find cover in the trailer, but the rest of Eve's crew is absorbed by the monster. The monstrous Gengar turns away from the excavation site, and starts towards Pallet Town. Desperate to save his friends and family, Ash sends his out Pidgeotto,and Brock sends out Gengar to combat the Gengar... but it absorbs them all. Meanwhile, back in Eve's trailer, the spoon, and the relic that Ash found begin to glow. They touch, and a giant Alakazam is released. Alakazam and Gengar immediately begin to fight, and the Pokégods' immense power begins to tear the sky apart. Eve recalls some hieroglyphic tablets she found at the site, which described how the Pokégods had the power to destroy the world. The kids realize that they must stop the Pokégods, at all costs. As if on cue, Jigglypuff appears, and the kids realize that she can sing the Pokégods to sleep. Jigglypuff approaches the fighting monsters, and sings her lullaby, but she is too small, and can not be heard. As Jiggly continues to sing, a fourth relic, sitting atop the temple's entrance, begins to glow. It floats over to where Alakazam and Gengar are fighting, and a giant Jigglypuff pops out! The Jigglypuff begins to sing, using the relic as its microphone,but however this jigglypuff has a very deep voice. Soon, everyone is asleep. Enraged, Jigglypuff pops the cap off the relic, revealing an old fashioned ink brush... When Ash co. awakens, they find the Pokégods gone, and the absorbed people freed. Eve decides that there are some forces that humans should not meddle with, and resolves to leave the artifacts in their resting place.

#75 Bad to the Bone!

Ash has been hanging around Professor Oak's lab, pestering the good doctor. Oak politely informs him that Gary has already left for Indigo Plateau, to sign up for the Pokémon League; which gets Ash out of his hair. Halfway to the Indigo Plateau, Ash's group runs into a boy named Saizou (at least I think thats his name,I missed this episode but my brother told me) Saizou wants to battle Ash, but there's a catch: The loser has to give over all of his badges to the winner. Ash angrily refuses, making what is perhaps his first intelligent decision in the history of the show. Saizou accuses him of running from the battle, so Ash agrees to fight. Ash sends out Bulbasaur, and Saizou sends out a Marowak. Both Saizou and his Pokémon are trained as samurai; and Marowak wields its bone club like an iron sword. It easily beats Bulbasaur, dodging all of its attacks; then powers up its energy with Focus Energy, and gives the plant Pokémon a hard slash with its weapon. Ash recalls Bulbasaur, and sends out Pikachu, who defeats Marowak with a Thundershock.  Saizou falls to his knees, tears streaming down his cheeks. Marowak was his strongest Pokémon, and if it lost, that means he's blown his only chance at getting a set of badges. Ash co. realizes that Saizou doesn't have the ante for his bet. The samurai explains that he used to have badges-all eight, in fact; but he was robbed of them by two Rockets, and a talking Meowth. Ash knows firsthand how hard it is to collect the badges, and offers to aid Saizou, in getting them back. Elsewhere, James and Meowth spend quite some time gloating over their most recent heist. Time enough, for Jessie to sneak away with the badges. Oops. Ash co. and Saizou accost them, but of course, there are no badges to be found. Marowak throws a fit, enraged by the fact that its master lost the badges that it had fought for. It storms off, leaving Saizou behind. James and Meowth eventually catch up with Jessie, and scold her for stealing their badges. Jessie goes off on one or her rants, saying that she needs the badges, so she can compete in the Pokémon League, and how could her partners deny her what she wants most? Well, it really doesn't matter, because Ash and co. show up to reclaim the badges. The Rockets agree to return Saizou's badges, if he can beat them in battle. Saizou agrees, and sends out his other Pokémon, a Doduo. Arbok slaughters it. Marowak considers how much its master means to it, and decides to return to him. It arrives on the scene just in the nick of time, and easily defeats the Rockets. Saizou thanks Marowak, Saizou thanks Ash, James and Meowth thank Jessie, for ruining their plan...

#76 All Fired Up

Ash and co. are on there way to the Indigo Plateau when all of the sudden their is a crowd of people, Ash starts bowing thinking they all cheering for him because he finnaly arrived. Then all of the people go run off behind him Ash,Ash and co. turns around and  there is a man carring a torch. They soon meet a guy named Charlie,he is the president of the Pokemon League torch commitee.And the torch the man is carring is the official League torch,it was lit by a Moltres along time ago.Ash asks if he can run with it,the man finnally hands it over.Later down the road the truck following Ash falls in a hole,Misty and Brock and Charlie were in the truck. All of the sudden Team Rocket lands there ballon and Takes the torch with a little fighting involved. Ash feels so bad,however in side Charlie's shirt is a lantern with a peice of the Moltres flame! He explains that he always keeps a peice of the flame close to his heart,that's how much the League means to him. They enter the town where trainers stay when they are in the league,they soon meet up with Gary and his cheerleaders. Later when everyone is sleeping Ash can't he has nerves and goes to the Indigo Plateau. The next day is the opening ceremonies Ash and Pikachu along with other thousands of trainers enters the staduim,and get into 2 sections a girl then runs in careing the torch runs up the stairs to put the torch in the holder for it to burn till the League is over. But instead there is 2 people dressed up a Greeks take the torch Ash and Pikachu run up the stairs but it's to late,the greeks are really Team Rocket the throw the torch in the holder then a giant bug takes the holder with the Moltres flame inside it! The giant bug is run by Team Rocket. Ash  sends out Bulbasaur,Bulbasaur uses Razor Leaf but the flame gets bigger. Ash is cornerd by the giant bug,the giant bug throws the flame at Ash,Pikachu and Bulbasaur,but they did'nt get burnt the flame turns out to be the Moltres! Moltres takes care of Team Rocket and returns to the stand as a flame.And they continue the league........

#77 Round One, Begin!

Ash and co. are eating at a resturant,Ash can't wate to battle in the Indigo Plateau,however Brock says he has to beet some trainers before he can battle in the Plateau. As goes to a station to sign into the league Ash asks who he is battleing,the person behind the counter says there are four battles he has to beat: Ice,water,ground,plant when he presses a button it will stop on which stadium he goes to,it stops on water. The trainer there is a man named Mandi. Now this Mandi person soon gets on Team Rockets nerves,he does magic tricks with pokeballs and impressives people with his talent. Pretty soon Ash and co. meet up with Gary and his cheerleaders,Gary is going to the Ice stadium first. Ash recives a phone call and it's Professor Oak,he says to Ash that Gary swiched 2 pokemon,so Krabby like on cue comes and Ash wants Krabby to be with him in the league. ASh and co. are in a resturant and the t.v. shows that Gary already beat the ice field. Brock and Misty were telling Ash he should'nt use Krabby because this was the first time he has ever used him,but Ash revused to not use his Krabby. Pretty soon came when he has to battle Mandi,now Ash is shaking. Ash went on to the belcani thingy he was on the green side and Mandi was on the Red side,it's a 3 vs. 3 battle so let's begin! Mandi sends out Eggsitcutor,Ash Krabby.Krabby beats Eggsicutor then evolves into Kingler. Ash decides to keep Kingler all through. Next Mandi sends out Seadra,Ash sends out you guessed it...Kingler,again Kingler beats Mandi's Pokemon. Next is the last Pokemon Mandi is using he is going to use..............GOLBAT!!! I'll let you guess what Ash is going to use (incase you didn't know it's Kingler) Now Golbat should have the advantage but Kingler beats it. Ash is sooo happy and starts to jump up and down in front of the camera because he won.

#78 Fire & Ice

Ash wins his second battle in the rock arena, as Squirtle defeats Nidorino. After battle, Ash decides to go off to find something to eat as he and Pikachu are both starved. He leaves his other Pokémon behind to eat as well, although Misty and Brock feel he should've taken them to a Pokémon Center. They catch up with Ash, Poké-balls in hand, to tell Ash to take them to the center, but they can't because the center is full up. After deciding to go looking for another center, Ash spots a restaurant. He arrives inside to find there is plenty food there, except he has no money. Fortunately, they are offering free meals to participants in the Pokémon League and Ash gets the food for free. After a nice meal, and another close call for Togepi (where Pikachu saves the day as usual) They head out to notice Brock is missing. They find him out on the street watching all the Nurse Joys and Officer Jenny's passing by. Then then find a finger from the alley summoning them. They discover a hidden Pokémon Center, or so they think. Ash gives in his Pokémon, before noticing that Brock isn't reacting the way he should when a Nurse Joy is around. They discover it is Team Rocket and they are getting away with Ash's Pokémon. The center turns into their balloon and they start to float away, until Onix stops them and brings back Ash's Pokémon. Then after piercing their balloon, are let off to blow away. Back in the competition, in the ice arena, Ash is winning, until the competitor calls out an Arcanine. The battle is hard as Arcanine melts the ice all around leaving Pikachu no place to run, but Pikachu dives, shocks, and wins the battle.

#79 The Fourth Round Rumble

Gary is battling his 4th match of the Pokémon League. His Nidoking is battling against a Golem. After a little fighting, Nidoking is defeated and Gary is out of the Pokémon League. This defeat makes Ash nervous that he too may lose his fourth battle. Brock tells him not to give up, and so he doesn't. Meanwhile, Team Rocket are trying selling things to get money. They seem to be good at it as they sell out of official Pokémon League badges, well, Meowth is up to his usual tricks and they aren't official, he is in fact making them out of bottle caps, but they sure sell well anyway. They decide to try a distraction with some fake Pikachu being taken away by there balloon, a couple of Officer Jenny's spot the balloon and Growlithe takes it down. Jessie and James were going to use the distraction to allow them to steal all the spectators Pokémon with a vacuum. The Jenny's notice there vacuum and ticket it. Team Rocket run for cover and disguise themselves as snack salesmen and start selling hot-dogs and ice-cream. Ash enters his last arena before he can battle in the Indigo arena. His opponent Ginette starts with a Beedrill. Ash fights the Beedrill with his Bulbasaur. After a few close calls, leech seeds it to death and wins. Next, Bulbasaur battles Scyther. Again it's close, but Bulbasaur wins again. Then, Ginette brings out a Bellsprout. Ash believes it is going to be an easy win, but surprisingly to everyone, Bellsprout defeats Bulbasaur. Ash sends Pikachu to take care of Bellsprout, but poor Pikachu is knocked out cold by Bellsprout's thin, twig arm. Luckily, before battle, Ash had gotten his Muk and this was his last hope for this match. Muk proves to be invulnerable to Bellsprout's attacks. Muk moves towards the helpless Bellsprout and smothers it. Ash has won his 4th match, and it's on to the central Indigo arena. After the match, Jessie and James found they had a successful day, and sold many hot-dogs and ice-cream, they are quite pleased with their ability to sell. Maybe they should go into business as a fast food chain!

#80 A Friend in Good Deed

Ash and the gang are going to find a place to eat, after a successful 4th win, Ash is getting ready for his fifth battle, he doesn't know who he's up against yet. His mom invades the kitchen inside the restaurant and starts making something for Ash. Her cooking is great, leaving the chef asking for the recipe, so they all have a nice dinner. Later, as Ash is getting on the elevator to go back outside, a boy named Richie is rushing to catch the elevator too. Ash stops the door for him and he gets on. They are going down, just as the power goes out. They are trapped in the elevator, but Richie has a plan to get Pikachu to power the elevator the rest of the way down. Once they get out, they hear an announcement that they have to get their Pokémon inspected by the Pokémon League, or they are disqualified from the competition. It's really another plan of Team Rocket's to steal everybody's Pokémon, they fool everyone and get all the Pokémon until Pikachu shocks Jessie as she tries to pick him up, and so they reveal themselves. They successfully get away, but Ash and Richie chase after them. Ash decides to dive down the mountain, but Ritchie stops him. Ash becomes mad at Richie, as they continue the chase. They leap out in front of the van, and so James swerves aside, falling over into a stream, the van is still going and Jessie and Meowth are okay. Unfortunately, James was knocked unconscious by the fall. Jessie manages to steer them to safety. Later on, Ash is sorry for becoming mad at Richie, realizing that his life was saved, and the two boys camp out for the night. The following morning they find Team Rocket and the stolen Pokémon. Jessie and James wake up to discover them, and lock the door. They start driving away, so Ash searches the bag for one of his Pokémon, but can't find which ones are his. Pikachu finds Bulbasaur, but Bulbasaur can't seem to penetrate the wall. Richie calls out his Charmander (which is called Zibo), which gets through the wall. Ash and Richie eventually succeed in getting all the Pokémon back (Ash finds out that Richie has a pikachu too called "Sparky"), and return to the League building to find out who Ash is battling for the fifth round. It turns out to be Richie... both of them friends, both with ambitions of becoming the greatest trainer in the world.