This episode is essential viewing because: Ash gets a Larvitar.

AshCo are all resting along the coastline enjoying some sandwiches. Ash wonders what the egg will hatch into. Brock suggests that it might be a legendary pokémon and Ash asks the egg to hurry up and hatch, when it starts to glow. Pokémon! No time to question my moves…

It stops glowing and Brock sighs that it was just another false alarm. Ash suggests that maybe it just needs to get a little warmer. He takes the egg out of its case and puts it under his shirt, then starts to sing a lullaby, “Come on out, come on out, legendary pokémon”

JessieCo here the words “legendary pokémon” and Jessie wonders how AshCo got a hold of an un-hatched legendary pokémon. Meowth wants to steal it, but James says that he’s never heard of a legendary pokémon egg. Jessie says that that’s because they’re very rare and goes along with Meowth’s earlier suggestion.

The egg starts to glow again and we hear a crack. Ash lifts up his shirt to show a larvitar. He congratulates himself, but Misty says that he didn’t really do much. Ash looks it up in the pokédex. Misty is disappointed by the fact that it isn’t a legendary pokémon, but Ash is still happy with the fact that the got to see it hatch. Misty worries that it might be sick, as it isn’t moving. Brock puts his hand on it and discovers that its temperature is way too low. He says that they need to get it to a pokémon center, but Misty points out the fact that New Bark is still a long way away. Brock consults a map and announces that there is a closer pokémon center.

When they arrive, Joy confirms that it is indeed sick, but she can’t figure out why. Ash asks her if there’s anything that they can do and Joy calls Elm, since he’ll probably know.

Unfortunately, Elm isn’t in his lab, as he is busy greeting Oak and Delia at some huge dock. Oak introduces Delia, who then thanks Elm for being such a big help to Ash. Apparently they were planning on surprising Ash. Elm suggests that they put on monster masks and jump out when Ash comes. Delia remembers how she used to make scary faces to get Ash to brush his teeth at night and they all talk about how fun of a mother Delia must have been to Ash. Elm says that he knows where Ash got his mischievous side. A storm starts to roll in.

The storm is also at the pokémon center where AshCo and Joy are. Joy sent Elm an e-mail message and hopes to hear back from him soon, as Larvitar doesn’t look good at all. Brock points out that it’s shaking even harder now despite the fact that they have wrapped it up in a blanket and put a heating lamp next to it. Joy takes its temperature as the lightning crashes outside and confirms that its temperature has dropped even further. Joy is worried, as Larvitar’s chances of survival have dropped along with its temperature. Lightning crashes again and the power goes out. Ash is worried about the lack of power to the heater and Joy wonders why the backup generators haven’t kicked in. She goes to investigate.

She discovers that the generator is smoking and deducts that it was hit by lightning. She runs up to it and falls into a pitfall. JessieCo laugh above and explain that they’re the ones who fired the generator while using the storm as a cover.

Ash wonders what’s taking Joy so long when sirens are heard. A suspicious-looking doctor and Joy walk in and say that they can take Larvitar to an emergency hospital. Ash is about to hand Larvitar to the Joy, but Brock stops him. He says that the real Joy has a voice like an angel, but this one has the voice of a gravel truck. Joy smells like wildflowers, while this one smells like dirt. The last difference is that Joy’s mouth moves when she talks. Jessie pulls off the mask and yells at Brock, saying that she is a hundred times prettier than Joy. Meowth hits her with a fan for blowing their cover. James also pulls of his mask and tries to take Larvitar from Ash by force. He only succeeds in taking the blanket and Ash orders a thunderbolt from Pikachu. This time JessieCo run off before they can be hit harder and be blasted off.

Misty and Brock find Joy and pull her out of the hole, but Joy says that they damaged the generator beyond repair.

Ash is taking care of Larvitar for the moment. He has wrapped it in another blanket (this one red instead of pink) and orders Cyndaquil out to warm it up. It turns its flame up too high at first but then Ash tells it to turn it down just a little. Ash then holds Larvitar and promises to make it healthy again.

At Elm’s lab, meanwhile, the storm is not quite as strong, but still present. Elm, Oak, and Delia are eating dinner while Elm and Oak are having the classic “nature vs. nurture” argument about pokémon. Elm is using the red gyarados as an example of how environment can affect a pokémon personality, while Oak is saying that gyarados are aggressive by nature. Elm insists that this one is more aggressive than most gyarados. A frustrated Delia suggests that they change the subject, but just gets ignored. She then points out to Elm that he has a new e-mail message. Elm reads it and tells Delia and Oak of the situation that AshCo and Joy have on their hands.

Ash has fallen asleep with Larvitar in his arms. He has a strange dream. He is standing alone in the dark wondering where he is. He then sees the inside of a crate and hears the sound of a motor. The motor belongs to a motorcycle dragging him along. It crashes, dumping the crate on the side of the road and breaking it. An egg rolls out with a terrified Ash inside. The egg floats along a rushing river with Ash somehow able to see through the shell. The egg somehow lands among a crowd of people who are kicking the egg, and therefore Ash, around. Ash yells at them to stop, but nobody seems to hear him. He then gets kicked out into the middle of a street, where a huge truck is about to smash him to pieces. Ash wakes up, startled, just before it hits. Larvitar is shaking, this time with fear instead of coldness, and Ash wonders how he was having Larvitar’s nightmare. Elm arrives. Elm and Oak assure AshCo that they can figure out what’s wrong with it and save it. Everyone is relieved by these words, but Ash is still curious as to why Delia and Oak are here. Instead of answering directly, however, Delia offers to cook a big breakfast for everyone. Who’s that pokémon?! It’s Swinub!!

After Elm gives it some medicine, it announces that physically Larvitar is better now. Oak tells AshCo and Joy that they saved its life by trying to keep it warm, but the professors are still worried because even though its fully conscious and well, it won’t respond to anything. Ash asks Larvitar what’s wrong in a soft, worried voice, but it still won’t respond. Delia comes in and announces that breakfast is ready. Everyone heads down to the kitchen to eat, but Ash lingers for a few moments before joining everyone. Larvitar opens it’s eyes slightly after Ash leaves.

Ash says that he knows what’s wrong with Larvitar. He says that something awful happened to it before it hatched. Elm asks how he knows and he tells them about his dream. Misty asks if Ash was somehow inside Larvitar’s head and Ash says that he thinks he was. Ash suggests that maybe Larvitar doesn’t want to be in this world at all. Elm agrees and Ash asks if he can take Larvitar outside to show it that the world isn’t that bad. Elm says it couldn’t hurt.

Ash explains things like what an ocean is and what the sky is. Ash lies back in the grass tells Larvitar that it’s really comfortable. Larvitar looks up at several jumpluff and Ash points out how happy they look. Suddenly two strangely dressed people next to a haystack tell Ash how goody two-shoes he’s being. Prepare for trouble and stop your dreaming/ make it double ‘cause we’re busy scheming/ to protect the world from goody two-shoes/ and let you know that when you snooze, you lose/ go ahead, take your nap and float off to dreamland/ then your pokémon will be under our command/ Jessie/ James/ rest is normal. JessieCo try to tempt Larvitar with how comfortable haystack is. Ash says that Larvitar isn’t that dumb and JessieCo run into the haystack. They emerge inside a mecha with a giant net on the top, a hand on one side, and a claw on the other. They try to catch Larvitar with the net, but Ash picks it up and runs off with it. Meowth launches the hand and plays rock paper scissors with Ash. Ash loses with scissors. The giant hand then grabs Ash, causing him to let go of Larvitar. Meowth brags about his invention, but James asks what Meowth was planning on doing if he lost. Meowth says that the hand is programmed to throw three microseconds after the opponent, so it’s impossible to lose. Ash tells Larvitar to get away while it can, but Larvitar is frozen with fear again. Ash tells Pikachu to protect Larvitar, so Meowth tries to capture Pikachu first. Pikachu shocks the mecha, but as usual it is insolated. They then use their claw to grab it. They try to use the net to grab Larvitar, but the jumpluff all get in the way, annoying JessieCo. Larvitar wakes up and sees the jumpluff getting hurt for him. He lets out a huge screech that can even be heard at the pokémon center by Delia, Misty, Brock, Oak, Elm, and Joy. Elm wonders why it’s responding now after being so cold. Ash tells Larvitar to flee, but it remembers Ash’s promise to take care of it. It then gets a determined look on its face. Several small, white spheres appear around it. The mecha glows white and starts to float. Jessie yells at Meowth to get it back on the ground, but he can’t, as it’s out of his control. Larvitar also releases Pikachu. Elm and the others arrive and Elm says that Larvitar is performing a very powerful hidden power attack. JessieCo are sent flying. Everyone is impressed by Larvitar’s power, even as an infant. Ash congratulates it and explains about teamwork. The jumpluff come up and Larvitar acts scared of them, but Ash says that they won’t hurt it and explains about friendship. Some bellossom start to dance and Ash tells Larvitar that it’s just a welcome dance. Some pidgey and some butterfree fly overhead and Larvitar smiles for the first time. Ash says that now it has truly hatched, but when Misty comes up to it, it acts scared again. Everyone is concerned, but Elm says that it will take more time for Larvitar to get used to the world.

Ash successfully registers for the Silver Conference at the New Bark pokémon center. I’m on a master quest! Pokemon!

Delia tells Misty and Brock to take care of Ash. Elm asks Ash to return Larvitar to the pokémon preserve on Mount Silver. Larvitar seems very happy about this and Brock notes that Larvitar has gotten very attached to Ash. For some reason Misty gets angry at Ash because of this. Everyone says his or her goodbyes as Ash then heads for the Silver Conference.

This episode guide has been written by KasumiMizuno.

Characters appearing in this episode

Ash

Misty

Brock

Jessie

James

Meowth

Ash's Pikachu

Pokémon appearing in this episode

• Pikachu belonging to Ash
• Meowth

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