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This episode is essential viewing because: Ash and Gary learn the location of the Pokémon League. Mewtwo breaks away from Giovanni.

As this episode begins, we see a huge stadium, and a cheering crowd. In an arena in the center, Ash is standing there. He says hes finally here, the Pokémon League! He throws a Poké Ball, but it turns around, and grows huge! It opens up, and sucks Ash in. Then Ash wakes up, finding his moms Mr. Mime using a vacuum on his face. Mimie takes it off, and vacuums around Ashs room. then it looks at Ash, and uses the vacuum on his face again. =) Ash shouts at it to stop. Ash goes downstairs, where Brock is wearing an apron, and cooking. his mom says good morning, and asks if he slept well. He says that Mimie used the vacuum on his face! Mimie runs over to Ashs mom. She says that whenever it sees something dirty, it has to clean it! Misty says that now Ash wont have to go another week without bath. Ash tells Mr. Mime to wipe the smirk off Mistys face, but it just looks at him, and says "Mr. Mime!" and looks really cute. Ashs mom says that it will only listen to her. She tells it to go get some veggies from the garden, and Mimie runs off. Isnt it cute? Gah, I never thought Id be saying that about a Mr. Mime... Brock says that they still have to go to Prof. Oaks and find out about the Pokémon League.

Jessie, James and Meowth walk through a forest. Jessie says they might as well stop pretending. James says that theyve never caught any Pokémon. Meowth says they have CFS. Chronic Failure Syndrome! They come to Giovannis secret headquarters, a huge, castle-like building. Jessie says what is the worse he could do? Fire them, so, they quit! Just then, the building explodes! Something shoots out of it, Mewtwo! Its armor falls off as it flies away. Jessie wonders what it was, and James says he doesnt know. Giovanni and Persian are okay, and Giovanni says "That thing!" angrily. He asks what Jessie and James are doing here. Persian growls. James says that were just in the neighborhood. Giovannis helicopter comes, and he gets on. Jessie asks what they can do. He says to do their job for once, and leaves. They stand there for a moment. Meowth says the boss just gave them a major vote of confidence, and they all cry. Jessie says theres no use in crying over lost Pokémon! James says they have to renew their commitment for stealing Pokémon!

At Prof. Oaks lab, Ash rings the bell, and comes in. Prof. Oak says what a surprise! He;s so happy to see- A Togepi! Ash falls over, and says hes glad he likes it. Prof. Oak says Ash is not the only trainer to visit. Gary is sitting in the other room! Gary says hes not surprised Ash is late, hes surprised he showed up at all! Ash gtes angry, and Prof. Oak says to clam down! Pallets two top Pokémon trainers shouldnt fight like this! Theyre both surprised to here this bit of info, and say that the other cant be one of the top trainers! Prof. Oak says theyre both fine trainers, and will be masters before long! They could even learn from each other.

They sit down, and Ashs Krabby walks over, carrying a tray of cups filled with...something. Ash says hi, long time no see! Gary doesnt seem too impressed by Ashs Krabby. Prof. Oak says that four trainers left Pallet, but Ash and Gary have earned the most badges! The other two trainers didnt have enough skill to continue/ Gary says they wimped out. (I bet Sabrina turned one of them into a doll... =) Prof. Oak says that Gary has ten badges, and Ash has eight, and thats quite remarkable! Ash says thanks. Misty says that the Pokémon deserve credit, too! Ash realizes that maybe the Pokémon deserve more credit than he does!

Ash says hes on his way to the Pokémon League! Gary has one question for Ash, where does the Pokémon League meet? Brock says thats what they came to find out. Gary says it only meets once a year, in the same place. Ash begs him to tell him where! Prof. Oak says that its on top of the Indigo Plateau, and begins in two months, and over two-hundred trainers will be competing. Ash says hell have to beat them! Oak says he and Gary should take this time to train their Pokémon. Gary says that Ash couldnt beat him if he had a year to train!

At Ashs houe, the doorbell rings, and his mom answers. Jessie and James, disguised as a reporter and camera-guy respectively, are there. Jessie says theyre from PNN, the Pokémon New Network. James says they want to interview Ash for their show, Pokémon Masters of Tomorrow! Just then, Mimie comes out, sweeping furiously, and starts sweeping them away! Ashs mom says that Ash is at Prof. Oaks lab with his friends.

Back at the lab. Gary brings out his own Krabby, which is much bigger than Ashs. Gary says that he alternates which Pokémon he uses, so they all get a chance to battle and grow stronger! Brock says that hes right. Gary says that he figured that Ash didnt use his Krabby to battle, and probably always uses the same Pokémon. He says he shouldnt ne telling Ash all this, but thought that maybe hed like to know what a real trainer does. Brock tells Prof. Oak he should stop them, or their might be a fight! Prof. Oak says that hes not a referee. Gary says that different Pokémon will do better against different Gym leaders Pokémons attacks. Brock asks what Pokémon hed use against his Geodude. Gary says that hed use a Water type, with a Grass as back-up. Misty says that Ash would use Pikachu. Gary says that everyone knows that you shouldnt use an Electric type against a Rock type!

Gary asks Ash how many Pokémon hes caught, or is he too embarassed to say? Misty says its none of his business. Prof, Oak, over at his computer, says that something is very interesting! He gets Ash and Garys Pokédexes from the computer. He says that he scanned them, and it says that Gary has seen 60 Pokémon, and Ash has seen over 100! Ash says he beat Gary! But, Oak adds, Gary has captured more. Gary says that Ash uses the Pokédex everytime he sees a Pokémon, but he catches them first, and asks questions later! He asks Prof. Oak if they can go down to his lab to see all the Pokémon hes captured. Prof. Oak says thats theyll go Poké around in his lab.

They go down to the lab, where there are hundreds of Poké Balls! Prof. Oak says that these are all the Pokémon captured by the Pallet Town trainers. He shows them the ones that belong to Ash. There are two Poké Balls, and several Safari Balls. Misty says there are a lot, but Prof. Oak says that most of them are Tauros that Ash caught in the Safari Zone.

Okay, important note. For those of you who dont know, there was a cut Safari Zone episode, The Legend of Dratini. In it, Ash kept catching Tauros, even though he didnt want them. They didnt dub it because the Warden used a gun, and they didnt want the little kiddies to try and imitate him or something. Thats stupid, they have guns in other eps that have been dubbed... ::mutter mutter::: Anyway...

Prof. Oak says that Gary has caught 200 Pokémon! Misty says that since there are only about 150 Pokémon, Gary must have caught more than one of a few types. Gary says you can never have too many Pokémon, and the more you have, the more battles you can win! Ash says that all of Garys Pokémon probably arent his friends. He says the most important things are what you teach and what you learn. Ash says his Pokémon are ten times better than Garys!

Prof, Oak says that they both have very different, but very valid views on raising Pokémon. They each captured differnet Pokémon, and with their different personalities, they found different ways to care for them. Prof, Oak pats Pikachu on the headd. He says that Pokémon are special. They are living creatures, and deserve consideration and respect. (Hey, Gastly Haunter and Gengar arent exactly living...) He says that they should treat Pokémon like theyd treat their loved ones, that way they can live in peace, and learn more about them. He says that by treating Pokémon as individuals, they will leanr more about their mysteries. Brock asks if thats why Prof. Oak decided to take care of so many Pokémon. Prof. Oak says yes. Every Pokémon he cares for becomes part of his research, and a part of himself.

Meanwhile, Jessie, James and Meowth are trying to get to Prof. Oaks lab through the back, his Pokémon Research area. Theyre walking through a forest, and Meowth and James are complaining. One of them accidently kiks a rock into a tree, and a bunch of Kakuna drop down! Jessie says that if those are Kakuna... Meowth finishes, saying that there must be Beedrill nearby, run for your lives! They run from a huge swarm. James says that they should have known there would be Beedrill there. They all run into something big. James says to get the license plate number. They see there is a Snorlax blocking the path. The Beedrill zoom down at them...

Back at the lab. Prof. Oak is telling everyone what he does each day. Every morning, he checks to make sure each Pokémon is okay. After that, he lets some out of their Poké Balls so they can get some fresh air and exercise. We see several Pokémon out in a field. He says that he designed special habitats for the Pokémon. Then he feeds them breakfast. It takes a long time to feed them all, so by the time hes done, its time for lunch! After that, he starts his research. Hes been researching the different variations in Pokémon of the same typ, and the results have been very interesting. After didnnner, they go back in the Poké Balls. And thats what he does every day.

Ash says that Prof. Oak must learn a lot about Pokémon. Theyre all outside now. Prof. Oak says that its a great oppotunity to study them. A Doduo walks over to them. Gary says hi to it, because its his Doduo. Brock says that the Pokémon must love it there. Prof. Oak says he hopes so. He wants to study Pokémon properyl, with them free in their natural habitat. By studying them in the enviroment they were born in, he can tell how each is affected by their trainer. He says that he has recently discovered something interesting. Pokémon will sometimes take on the characterisitcs of the person who cpatured them! Ash says that must be right, like with Misty and Psyduck. She says thats rediculous. Brock says then that means he must have a girlfriend! He holds Vulpix, and says that Suzy gave him the Vulpix, and she loved Vulpix. So if Vulpix is like Brock, then that must mean she loves Brock! He goes into a weird daydreaming trance, and Vulpix looks at him like hes crazy. Gary asks what his problem is. Misty says that hes vacationing in fantasy land.

Prof. Oak says that this can only happen if the trainer and Pokémon keep in close contact. He says its not surprising that Ashs Muk and Krabby have grown attached to him. Muk peeks out from behind some bushes. It runs, er, oozes very quickly to Prof. Oak, and jumps on him. Prof. Oak tells Muk that he said not to do that, its oozing all over his favorite lab coat! Prof, Oak says, see? He told them that Pokémon get attached! Then Muk covers his face.

Team Rocket is now climbing through a rocky area. Jessie says that they have to take the hard way. James is crying. Jessie accidenltly puts her hand on a Geodudes. It blushes, and she tosses it away. They she accidently grabs a Sandshrew, whichs claws up her face. Then an Onix comes up around them. They all run for their lives, yet again.

Prof. Oak takes Ash and the others to see where all the Water Pokémon are. Misty is thrilled. Ash says that Prof. Oak must have every Pokémon there is! Prof. Oak says definitly not! There are lots of Pokémon that no one has ever captured, or even seen! Brock syas that people uses to think there were only 150 Pokémon, but then they found Togepi. Togepi makes cute noises. Ash remembers how on the day he left Pallet, he saw that weird bird Pokémon that Dexter didnt know about. (Houou, in case youre wondering.) Prof. Oak says its still a mystery. He says it important to discover new and different Pokémon. Ash says he;s going to catch as many as he can, and Gary says he will, too. (Doesnt he have enough?!) Brock says that they both really love Pokémon, and Misty says that maybe Ash and Gary can like each other.

Gary says that he and Ash should have a Pokémon battle, to train a bit before the Pokémon League! Ash says yes, but then there is a huge explosion in the distance! Prof, Oak says it came from the Electric Pokémon Preserve. they rush over, and Team Rocket climbs out of a hole caused by the explosion of a few dozen Voltorbs and Electrodes. James says that hes tired and wants to go home. Ash said he should have known it was them. they jump out of the pit. They say they want Ashs Pikachu! Gary and Prof. Oak are surprised to hear Meowth talk. Prof. Oak asks if Meowth could say a few more words. Meowth says hed be glad to. He joins in as Jessie and James try to say their motto, and they beat him up and tell him to knock it off. They say to hand over Pikachu, and the other Pokémon at the preserve, or theyll just take them! Ash and Gary say that they wont get anything, and get ready for a Pokémon battle!

But just then, a huge herd of Tauros crashes through a nearby gate, and sends Team Rocket flying. Jessie wonders why good things never happen to bad people. James says who knows. Meowth says that at least they werent fired, but now theyre blasting off again! Brock says that they sure know how to make an exit. Gary tell Prof. Oak that they took care of Team Rocket! Ash points out that they really didnt do anything. Prof. Oak says that Ash is responsible for getting rid of them. all those Tauros were his, and if they hadnt come at that time, who knows what might have happened? (Huh?! It was Team Rocket against Ash, Gary, Brock and Misty, and maybe a bunch of other Pokémon. Nothing could have happened!!!) Ash says it was a good thing they came. Gary says that hes going to head home, its been a long day. He says he and Ash can have their battle at the Pokémon League. Ash says that Gary can lose to him there. Gary leaves.

Ash says something about compteting at the Pokémon League. Brock says hell have to work hard. Ash says hes ready to start working now! Prof. Oak says good, and hands Ash some wood planks. He says Ash can start now, by fixing the fence his Tauros destroyed! He gives Brock and Misty some hammers and nails, saying that they can help, too. He says that helping others, and sharing each others burdens is the best way to become a better trainer, a better friend, and a better person. So, they all work to get the fence back up.

This episode guide has been written by flik.

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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