EP115

← EP114 : The Underground Round Up

Original series

EP116 : The Rivalry Revival →

A Tent Situation

EP115   かえってきたマサラタウン！ Back in Masara Town!

First broadcast Japan September 30, 1999 United States October 7, 2000

English themes Opening Pokémon World Ending

Japanese themes Opening ライバル！ Ending ラプラスにのって

Credits Animation Team Ota Screenplay 大橋志吉 Yukiyoshi Ōhashi Storyboard 横田和 Kazu Yokota Assistant director 大町繁 Shigeru Ōmachi Animation director たけだゆうさく Yūsaku Takeda Additional credits

Screenshots on Filb.de

A Tent Situation (Japanese: かえってきたマサラタウン！ Back in Masara Town!) is the 115th episode of the Pokémon anime. It was first broadcast in Japan on September 30, 1999 and in the United States on October 7, 2000.

Spoiler warning: this article may contain major plot or ending details.

Blurb

Ash returns home, where he is pleasantly surprised by an old friend. Unfortunately he faces a new trial, as Team Rocket has besieged the famous Oak Laboratory and captured all the Poké Balls there.

Plot

Ash, Misty, and Tracey are traveling to Pallet Town, with all of them excited to be back. Tracey in particular is looking forward to meeting Professor Oak and cannot wait to show him the many sketches he drew as a Pokémon watcher.

When Ash arrives home, Misty and Ash are surprised to see Brock waiting for them in the house. They are confused as to why Brock had left Professor Ivy back on Valencia Island. He gives no reason as to why he left and when Ash and Misty mention Professor Ivy, Brock falls to the ground shivering, saying, "Don't mention that name..." Misty theorizes that she dumped him. Delia arrives home and explains how Brock came here: She and Mimey found him on the ground in a grassland and took him home once she realizes who he was. Since then Brock has been helping around the house, with Brock fighting over the chores with Mimey.

Whilst discussing dinner, Tracey insists on seeing Professor Oak. Ash is reminded of the GS Ball and shows Mrs. Ketchum his trophy, which she suggests she could use as a dumbbell.

Ash, Pikachu, Misty, Tracey and Brock travel to Professor Oak's laboratory with Team Rocket watching from a distance. Ash is welcomed to the house by his Muk who is crushing Professor Oak under his weight. Tracey ignores the situation and asks to show Professor Oak his sketches.

Ash hands Professor Oak the GS Ball and he puts it away to examine it later. Professor Oak then shows them around the Laboratory. Tracey sketches every Pokémon he sees and shows Professor Oak his sketches. As Tracey nervously awaits Oaks approval, he is interrupted by Meowth activating a circus net that engulfs the Laboratory. Meanwhile Jigglypuff appears and tries to go through the net though it can't.

Inside the net, Team Rocket are in and perform the motto while doing a circus act. They try to steal Pikachu, but Ash sends out his Muk to attack Lickitung. Muk ignores the Lickitung and goes on to hug Jessie. James sends out his Victreebel, which again Muk hugs. James tries his luck with Razor Leaf but it "just didn't cut it." as said in the episode. Victreebel tries to swallow Ash's Muk but it uses Poison Gas before it can use Poison Powder. Lickitung slobbers all over Muk with its tongue but it does nothing.

James commands Victreebel to use Sleep Powder on Muk which works, much to Ash's surprise. Ash switches to Squirtle and Bulbasaur. Team Rocket then throws rings around Ash, Misty, Pikachu, Professor Oak, Brock and Tracey which stops them from moving. A Super Sucker then proceeds to suck in every Poké Ball that are in the Laboratory, including Tracey's Sketchbooks. Meowth asks again why Brock came back, though he doesn't give an answer. The last ball sucked in is the GS Ball, but then a rip in the tent appears, caused by a mysterious man and his Nidoqueen. The Meowth Balloon falls to the ground, releasing every Poké Ball in it.

The mysterious man turns out to be Gary and the Nidoqueen attacks Lickitung by grabbing its tongue and swinging it into Team Rocket. Meowth tries using Scratch but it doesn't work, only breaking his claws. Gary tells his Nidoqueen to strike back, hurling Team Rocket into the air.

Ash and Gary start a battle to prove who has become the better Trainer over the past months.

Major events

• Ash and his friends arrive in Pallet Town.
• Brock returns and meets Tracey.
• Tracey meets Professor Oak in person.
• Ash returns Tauros to its herd at Professor Oak's Laboratory.
• James's Victreebel is revealed to know Double-Edge* and Poison Powder*.
• Ash's Muk is revealed to know Poison Gas*.
• Gary returns, is revealed to have obtained a Nidoqueen, and decides to have a battle with Ash.

For a list of all major events in the animated series, please see the history page.

Characters

Humans

Dare da?

• Ash
• Misty
• Tracey
• Brock
• Jessie
• James
• Delia Ketchum
• Professor Oak
• Gary
• Professor Ivy (flashback)
• Professor Ivy's assistants (flashback)

Pokémon

Who's That Pokémon?

Who's That Pokémon?: Omastar (US and international); Mr. Mime (Mimey) (Japan)

• Pikachu (Ash's)
• Meowth (Team Rocket)
• Togepi (Misty's)
• Kingler (Ash's)
• Muk (Ash's)
• Tauros (Ash's)
• Snorlax (Ash's)
• Onix (Brock's; flashback)
• Geodude (Brock's; flashback)
• Zubat (Brock's; flashback)
• Vulpix (Brock's; flashback)
• Lickitung (Jessie's)
• Victreebel (James's)
• Nidoqueen (Gary's)
• Mr. Mime (Delia's; Mimey)
• Jigglypuff (anime)
• Butterfree (Orange Archipelago Variant)

Other Pokémon seen at Oak's Laboratory

• Nidorina
• Nidorino (×2)
• Vileplume (×2)
• Dodrio (×3)
• Rhyhorn (×2)

Trivia

• This episode's dub title is a reference to the phrase "a tense situation".
• The book Go West, Young Ash is based on this episode.

Errors

• This episode claims that this is the first time that Tracey has ever met Professor Oak or Delia. However this contradicts The Power of One, where Professor Oak, Delia, and Professor Ivy travel to Shamouti Island and meet up with Ash, Misty, and Tracey himself at the end of the movie. This also contradicts The Lost Lapras, since Tracey saw Oak on the phone monitor, even going as far as to introduce himself as "Tracey Sketchit". He also had a full conversation with him about Scyther in Tracey Gets Bugged, although in those cases, it could be dismissed since he didn't meet him in person.
• When Ash sends out his Tauros, it is sent out from a regular Poké Ball, instead of the Safari Ball it was captured in.
• In one scene, Delia calls Tracey "Miss Tracey", even though Tracey is male.

Dub edits

• Pikachu's Jukebox: My Best Friends
• In the scene where Delia is accidentally trampling Brock, she does not recognize him until he looks up. In the original version, she recognizes Brock before he looks up.
• Ash commands Muk to use Poison Gas in the English dub. In the original Japanese version, Ash said "Betbeton!" (Muk's Japanese name).
• When James orders his Victreebel to attack Ash's Muk, in the dub, he told it to "get stuck on Muk". In the original version, he commands it to use Double-Edge.
• James orders Victreebel to use Poison Powder, but in the original version, there is no mention of Victreebel knowing Poison Powder.
• The English-dubbed version of this episode was released in Japan as part of the Pokémon de English! Kazu - Iro Hen VHS/DVD. This version has a few changes made:
  • The Who's That Pokémon? segment is presented in the Johto League Champions style rather than the original style as the segment from EP158 is used.
  • The ending credits are not included.

• 

  The scene that was dubbed as Muk using Poison Gas

In other languages

Language		Title
Bulgarian		Забавление в цирка
Mandarin Chinese		真新鎮，我回來了
Czech		Stanový útok
Dutch		Een Gespannen Situatie
European French		Le plus lamentable chapiteau du monde
German		Zirkus in Alabastia
Hebrew		יריבות מביתyerivut mibayit
Hindi		टेंशन वाली सिचुएशन Tension wali Situation *
Hungarian		Cirkusz
Italian		Ritorno a casa* Ritorno a Biancavilla*
Polish		Tajemnica Brocka
Portuguese	Brazil	O Circo Está Armado
	Portugal	Uma Situação de Tenda
Romanian		O Situație despre Corturi
Spanish	Latin America	¡Reencuentros!
	Spain	Metidos en una carpa

← EP114 : The Underground Round Up

Original series

EP116 : The Rivalry Revival →

This episode article is part of Project Anime, a Bulbapedia project that covers all aspects of Pokémon animation.