Episode
# 438 - The Poké - Spokesman
Episode Title origin: A spokesman speaks for someone else. In this case,
Pokémon.
Teaser:
Our heroes, still on their way to Olivine City, find that Pikachu is severely
exhausted. A man named Simon comes and tells them what their problem is, then
tries to converse with Pikachu-in Pikachu!
I really like how the reuse words from Season 1's theme in the season 4 theme
Song.
Anyway, back at Simon's rest stop, Team Rocket is dressed as old folks (for
the senior's discount). They see the twerps approaching and decide to hide.
Simon explains that he normally charges a nominal fee, but since he didn't
tell them that, he won't charge this time. Team Rocket then attacks and tries
to cause trouble, but Officer Jenny shows up, not for Team Rocket initially,
but for Simon, as part of a Pokémon communicator scam. Suddenly, however,
smoke bombs reign down, and Simon and Team Rocket escape. As it turns out,
these people are the real scam artists, and Simon doesn't really mean harm to
anyone. Team Rocket is incensed at this (especially Meowth). They may be
low-down dirty scoundrels, but even they have to draw the line somewhere. So,
Pikachu is taken to the Pokémon Center. Once there, Ash talks to Professor
Oak if he's heard any cases of people communicating with Pokémon in
Pokémon-talk. The Professor can't find any verifiable claims. Ash decides
that Simon really is a fraud. Suddenly, Simon appears behind them to defend
himself.
After the break, Simon tells his side. He tells a story about when he was
stuck in a storm cellar. He had an encounter in which could swear he talked
with a trio of Pokémon. Maybe it really happened, maybe it didn't. Now he
can't decide. Suddenly, the con artists attack the Pokémon Center, draining
it of its power. Nurse Joy runs out to protest this, stating that some
Pokémon will invariably not survive without power (I assume that 1st degree
Pokémon Homicide carries a heavy penalty). They don't care, so Simon makes a
final attempt to stop the Magnemite and Magneton from draining the power. He
finally succeeds, allowing Pikachu to commence a power transfer, which then
allows the cons to receive a big shock. The police then arrive, but Jenny is
interested in arresting Simon-just the real crooks. Meanwhile, Team Rocket,
who has been relatively unscathed for most of the episode, gets hit by a
lighting bolt. Poor guys.
Tag:
Our heroes are on their way, as is Simon. As he starts off, he meets, a
certain talking Meowth, who helps raise his confidence.
Who's that Pokémon: Wooper
Moral of The Episode: Never trust men in sunglasses.
Analysis: You can always tell how much I like an episode by how long my
summary is. This is, flat-out, one of the top 5 episodes of Pokémon, with
numerous plot twists. I simply cannot recommend this episode. As you probably
remember, "UnBEARable" was an episode where we knew everything and the characters were in the dark. For part of the episode, the characters know
what's going on and we don't.
This episode does not easily fit the mold of any other episode, really. It
isn't really a "Team Rocket does good" episode since they don't really do
anything until the end. There isn't really a battle, so it's not a battle
episode. It isn't a chase episode like "The Wayward Wobbuffet." It can't be a
"crime solving" episode, because unlike "Hypno's Naptime" or "The Breeding
Center Secret" because the episode doesn't center on the crimes being
committed, but the story of a single person. It surely is not an "Ash/Misty
conflict" episode, a "Brock's Lost Love" episode, or a "main character
background episode" such as "Ignorance is Blissey." The only categorization
this could possibly fall under is the "people's dreams" episode, such as "The
Problem with Paras." Even here, the term is not exact, since that aspect
shares time with the "morality play" aspect, seen more in movies than in TV
episodes. Of course, who cares what category it falls into-it's a classic.
Steven Reich
Webmaster Pokéwatch
http://www.smbhq.com/users/pokewatch/
www.pojo.com
