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  Episode Title Origin: The Screen Actors Guild, the actors' union.

Teaser:
Our heroes are in a city, when suddenly a figure hands them a bag and tell them to hold it for him. Usually such bags have secret military papers or enriched Uranium in them. This time, however, it's-a Smoochum?

Play that music!

In any case, when Brock is later mistaken for a celebrity, Smoochum, Togepi, and Pikachu start following a robotic Skiploom (this should be raising a red flag for you). Of course, Team Rocket is behind all of this, but they do not last long in battle. After this, Brock, Misty, and Ash discover that Smoochum belongs to movie star Brad Van Darn (Character Name Origin: Jean Claude Van Damme, a famous actor in action movies). He is worried that Smoochum will ruin his image (or at least his manager is). At the same time, he and Smoochum have quite a history together, and he cannot bear to let it go. At any rate, he must prepare for a performance he is giving. His manager, meanwhile, tries to persuade him to get rid of Smoochum.

Van Darn is about to give his performance, and leaves Smoochum in the care of our friends. The manager, however, concocts a plan to have security remove them from the building. What he doesn't know is that the security guards on duty have been replaced by none other than Team Rocket, who take the group on stage to perform in their own torturous side show. Thankfully, Van Darn shows upto put and end to it. However, to do so will require acknowledging the fact that he, tough guy that he is, possesses a Smoochum. Even so, he presses on, valiantly fighting Team Rocket. In the end, it all works out-Team Rocket is ejected, and rather than being a downfall, Smoochum becomes a boost to Van Darn's career.

Tag:
We see a trailer for Brad's newest film, and it seems now that Smoochum is the star. In any event, our heroes must continue on their way to Olivine City.

Who's that Pokémon: Murkrow

Moral of the Episode: Be yourself.

Analysis: An interesting and original episode. It's a very unique twist on the old "actor who wants to be himself" plot line. The manager was also a very interesting character, as he tried to protect Van Darn from his secret. In the end, the episode shows that sometimes it's more important to show you really are than just what people expect.

Steven Reich
Webmaster Pokéwatch
http://pokewatch.nick15.com/
Proud Owner of a Life-size Togepi Doll