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Ash and the group are jogging along Seafoam Island (even though it looks

a lot different from the game) when Ash runs into a traffic mess and he seems

He wakes up and sees a load of cars around him. Officer Jenny clears up

the hub-bub and she tells Ash to be careful. He asks why there are so many

cars with surfboards. She says it's because Humunga Dunga's coming. She

continues by saying that it's supposed to be a really big wave that a guy

named Jan rode on and he planted a flag at the top of a large rock in the sea.

Ash gets an idea to go surfing and he gets on a surfboard and paddles

toward the ocean. Misty, Brock, Pikachu, and Togepi obviously decide to stay

on shore, even though Misty says,"Watch out, waves, 'cause here I come."

Pikachu looks at a cliff above the beach and sees another Pikachu, with blue

eyes and wrinkles. Its tail lifts up and glows, and a man inside a cottage on

the cliff says,"That's a big wave, but not the big wave." (The man, who's

name is Victor, is talking about Humunga Dunga, which is that wave that

Officer Jenny was talking about. Victor strives to ride it, but we'll talk

about this matter a little later.) Ash falls, and he's about to get up, when

he realises that he has a cramp. He yells, but Misty and Brock can't do

anything. Victor suddenly appears in the water, on a surfboard, and with his

wrinkled Pikachu on it. The ride the waves that come, and rescue Ash, who is

Ash wakes up in Victor's little cottage on the cliff. Brock, Misty, and

Pikachu are happy that he's back, and they tell him that Victor was the one

who saved him. Ash thanks Victor, but Victor is modest and says to thank his

Pikachu, Pooka. Pikachu goes outside to see Pooka, and they begin to chat.

Meawhile, Team Rocket comtemplates about snatching the Pikachus in their

Gyaraddos submarine.

Ash, Misty, and Brock look at some photos up on Victor's wall. One is a

picture of him 20 years ago, and another from 40 years ago. And there is one

more picture. It is of Victor and Jan. Victor tells them about Jan. Jan was a

really good surfer. Victor began to surf because of Jan, and all along, Jan

was his idol. Jan watched Victor surf all the time, like he was his mentor.

Victor was very happy as a surfer. One day, there was a really big wave.

(Hint, hint, Humunga Dunga) Many people tried to surf it, but they were not

good enough. However, Jan had enough skills and not only did he ride it, he

stuck a flag, which had his logo (a "J") on it, into a very tall rock in the

ocean. After riding Humunga Dunga, Jan gave Victor his surfboard. Then, Jan

decided to leave to surf the world. Victor kept practicing to be a good

surfer, but when the next Humunga Dunga came, 20 years later, Victor had

failed and he quit surfing. But one day, while Victor was on the beach, a

Pikachu (Pooka) on a wooden raft came to him from the ocean. And from that

moment, Victor began to surf again.

Ash thinks that Victors past is really interesting and feels that Victor

will ride Humunga Dunga this time. Suddenly, they hear the Pikachus yelling

outside. Uh oh! Team Rocket has got them in a machine hand which comes out of

their submarine. Team Rocket says their little motto, but they get raised up

the cliff by geysers. They hold fans (or something) which squirt out water.

This scene is really cool because of all the water squirting out. Suddenly,

Jessie and James get dropped down on the submarine as Meowth stops the water.

Jessie yells something like "A twerp on the land is worth 2 Pikachu in the

hand", but I'm not sure.

Team Rocket goes deeper in the water. They feel like they've accomplished

a lot. Eventually, they see real Gyaraddos lurking in the water. James says

that he's heard that Gyaraddos go to shallow water to lay eggs. Jessie and

Meowth become very nervous and they start to pedal to the surface. Some

Gyaraddos follow and one uses hyper beam until they somehow float their

Gyaraddos submarine in air. The hyper beam strikes, and Team Rocket blasts

Ash, Misty, Brock, and Victor are in a speed boat in the water. Ash sees

the Pikachus in the air and he sends out Bulbasaur to rescue them with the

vines. But, Bulbasaur only grasps Ash's Pikachu and Pooka falls into the

water. Victor strips off his shirt, gets his surfboard, and jumps into the

water. He gets Pooka on the surfboard and suddenly, Pooka glows, which means

that Humunga Dunga is coming. Victor ponders about it, and suddenly, he sees

a big wave coming. It's Humunga Dunga! Victor unrolls his flag, and starts

riding the wave with Pooka. Up on the cliffs, Ash and the group spot Victor

and Pooka riding the wave. Finally, Victor reaches the rock and sticks the

flag in. Wow! The water floods the beach and knocks over a beach chair and an

Victor comes back from the water and looks at the throng of people. He

spots a girl and a boy and he goes up to them. "You can do it too", he says,

handing them Victor's surfboard. "Oh....all right!", answer the kids in a

really pestering tone. Ash and the group smiles.

Team Rocket's stuck between some Gyaraddos which are circling them

slowly. Too bad for them!

This episode is not only a "classic", but it's story line is well planned

out. The only problem with it is that it's shown way too much, and now I get

bored. Still, that shouldn't be a factor. Let's see. The opening is a good

one, because it arouses suspicion, and even if you don't like I doubt that

you want him to get run over by a car. The Jan idea is very symbolical,

making him like this eerie figure. And Pooka; what does he mean? I thought

that he was like a pokemon version of Jan, but maybe not. Pooka is also a

strange symbol. Team Rocket's encounter with the Gyaraddos is really cool,

especially the hyper beam, which looks really neat. There was also the

surfboard thing. I noticed that when Ash went out to ride the waves, his

surfboard had a picture of a Psyduck. When they show Victor starting to surf

at a young age, his surfboard has a Pikachu on it. And Jan's has a "J" on it,

otherwise known as his logo. I'm pretty sure that this has a connection to

how good the surfer is. Ash sucks (no offense), Victor was pretty good, and

Jan was a legend. See a small relationship? It makes lots of sense. A problem

in this episode might be too little Misty, Brock, Togepi, or any pokemon

other than Pikachu. There is a little too much Pikachu, but it's not a

problem, because it adds flavor to the "surfing Pikachu" idea, and Pikachu is

a main focus anyway.

Grade: A- (This is a new system for me)

Ash, Misty, and Brock jog along the road near the beach. A car races by

Ash, and he gets disoriented by the exhaust fumes. He starts to cough, and

walks into the path of another car. The car stops, fortunately, but it causes

a massive traffic jam. Everyone starts to yell at each other, and Officer

Jenny approaches on her motorcycle. She clears up the jam, and everyone

continues on their way. Ash and his friends ask her why so many people are at

the beach, and why they have surfboards, and she tells them that Humunga

Dunga is coming. She explains that it's a huge wave that hits the island once

every twenty years. They look at the ocean, and see several surfers trying to

stick a flag or something into a large rock off shore a ways. Officer Jenny

tells them that they're trying to be surfing legends, like Jan. She goes on

to say that Jan was an excellent surfer who rode Humunga Dunga all the way to

the top forty years ago. His flag can be seen flying at the very peak of the

rock. Since then, everyone has been trying to match this feat, but no one

has. Ash decides to try surfing out for himself, and dashes out to the ocean.

As Ash paddles out, Pikachu notices another, much older looking, Pikachu

sitting on a cliff not far away. This Pikachu perks up, and looks out at the

ocean, his tail starting to glow slightly. A man inside a cabin looks at him,

saying "That's a big wave all right, but not THE big wave." Ash does pretty

well surfing, but wipes out. Suddenly, his foot cramps up, and he starts to

flail about in the water. A wave crashes into him, and he his knocked

unconscious, face down in the water. Another, much larger wave approaches

him, but the man on the cliff, with the Pikachu on the tip of his board,

surfs by and scoops him up. He gives the Pikachu ("Pooka" as he calls him)

different surfing commands and they go towards shore. Ash wakes up just

enough to see the Pikachu sitting there, but drifts off again. Later, in the

man's cabin, he wakes up. Brock tells Ash that the man's name is Victor, and

Ash thanks him for saving his life. Victor looks out at Pooka, sitting on the

cliff again, and tells Ash to thank him. Pikachu dashes out to Pooka, and

joins him as he watches the sea. Team Rocket surfaces from the water in the

Gyarados sub, and sees the two Pikachu sitting there. They prepare to steal

both.

Back inside, Misty sings Togepi to sleep, and Ash and Brock talk with

Victor. He tells them that he's had Pooka for twenty years, and remembers how

he found him. He was floating on a piece of board in the ocean and landed

right into his arms. They've been friends ever since. He says that Pooka is a

mysterious Pokémon, for he can feel the waves in his body. He can sense when

a big wave is coming and Victor tells them that they've ridden every big wave

for twenty years. Misty notices some pictures on a wall. One is of Victor and

Pooka twenty years ago, the other is of Victor forty years ago. Brock asks

who the person is in the third picture with Victor, and he tells them that

he's Jan, the surfer. He says that, when he was a kid, everyone wanted to be

like Jan. In fact, Victor himself started surfing so he'd be like him. He'd

try every day, and, through the support of Jan, he became better and better.

He tells them that he thinks Jan could feel the waves within him as well, and

always seemed to be waiting for something. One day, it came. It was the wave

Humunga Dunga. He tells about how Jan rode the wave all the way to the top,

and jabbed his flag into the peak of the mountain. He then says that, after

getting to shore, he gave his board to Victor, telling him that he could do

it too. He then set off in a boat to "surf the world."

He then tells them that, twenty years later, he challenged Humunga Dunga,

but failed. After that, he got really discouraged, and didn't want to surf

anymore. Then, he got Pooka, and everything changed. He says that he and

Pooka have conquered every sort of wave together, and they're ready for

Humunga Dunga. Ash tells him that he believes in him, and they hear Pikachu

and Pooka cry out. They dash outside to see both in the clutches of the

Gyarados sub's grabbers. Team Rocket appears, does their motto, and set off.

They dive down, and Pikachu vainly tries to break through their glass cage.

Suddenly, out of the depths, come several real Gyarados. James says that he's

heard that Gyarados come to these waters every year to lay their eggs, and

they hate to be disturbed. The Gyarados slam the sub a few times, and Team

Rocket tries to leave. Unfortunately for them, the Gyarados aren't through

with them yet, and Hyper Beam them out of the water. On the surface, Ash and

his friends are in a motorboat searching for Team Rocket. The sub launches

into the air and breaks apart. Pikachu and Pooka break out of their cage, and

Team Rocket flies over the sea. Ash sends Bulbasaur out, and he catches

Pikachu with his vines. Pooka falls to the water, and Victor throws out his

surfboard, then dives into the water. The waves start to get rough, and Ash

and his friends are forced to return to shore. As soon as Victor saves Pooka,

Pooka starts to glow and bluish color. It's the big one, and it can be seen

coming over the horizon.

On shore, Officer Jenny tells everyone to report to higher ground. Ash

and his friends are worried about Victor and Pooka, as they can't see them.

Suddenly, he notices them at the top of the wave, rapidly approaching the

rock. Victor readies his flag, and the board flies over top of the rock.

Victor jabs his flag into the rock, right next to Jan's, and everyone cheers.

The wave crashes, and Victor looks out at what he did. Ash and his friends

congratulate him, and he notices two kids standing among the crowd. "Hey, you

could do it too," he tells them, and gives them his board. Ash and his

friends smile.

Later that evening, somewhere out in the ocean, Team Rocket sits and

waits as the Gyarados circle them. How are they going to get out of this one?

Trainer Dominic