EP066

← EP065 : Showdown at the Po-ké Corral

Original series

EP067 : The Pi-Kahuna →

The Evolution Solution

EP066   ヤドンがヤドランになるとき When Yadon Becomes Yadoran

First broadcast Japan October 15, 1998 United States October 2, 1999

English themes Opening Pokémon Theme Ending

Japanese themes Opening めざせポケモンマスター Ending ニャースのうた

Credits Animation Team Ota Screenplay 大橋志吉 Yukiyoshi Ōhashi Storyboard 浅田裕二 Yūji Asada Assistant director 浅田裕二 Yūji Asada Animation director 岩根雅明 Masaaki Iwane Additional credits

Screenshots on Filb.de

The Evolution Solution (Japanese: ヤドンがヤドランになるとき When Yadon Becomes Yadoran) is the 66th episode of the Pokémon anime. It was first broadcast in Japan on October 15, 1998 and in the United States on October 2, 1999.

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

Blurb

Ash decides to join his mom and friends who are vacationing on Seafoam Island. While there, he searches out the programmer of the Pokedex to get information about the evolution of a Slowpoke. The mystery of how Slowpoke evolves into a Slowbro is surprisingly revealed when Team Rocket makes their usual bumbling interference.

Plot

Ash is surprised to learn that his mother Delia, some of Pallet Town's locals, and his friends are going to go to the Seafoam Islands for a beachside holiday. Delia tells Ash that he has to stay behind to train, just as the tour group leaves shortly after. Ash goes to Professor Oak's lab, only to discover that Oak is trying to find out why Slowpoke evolves into Slowbro. When Ash suggests that he use the Pokedex to search for answers, Oak is instantly reminded of Professor Westwood V, a Pokéologist and the original creator of the Pokédex who would know the answer. He conveniently lives of the Seafoam Islands, so Ash and Pikachu quickly decide to assist, capitalizing on an excuse to go to the beach.

Ash arrives and surprises Misty and Brock. They walk to Westwood's lab, where they discover that he is actually the fifth of many Westwoods, and insists on being called that. He is also trying to figure out the mystery of Slowpoke and Shellder, and hopes to present a theory to the world's leading body of Pokéologists, the Pokémon Suppositum. Westwood V goes outside to fish, trying to understand Slowpoke. As Ash and his friends find a Slowpoke sitting next to them, Psyduck comes out of its Poké Ball and talks to the Slowpoke. After what seems to be some random, unintelligent conversation, a Krabby comes out the water. It first grabs onto Slowpoke's tail, and then Psyduck's, inflicting great pain. The team decides to go have some lunch for a break.

Meanwhile, Team Rocket's Boss is taking a vacation on the beach and making Jessie and James dig for clams, having already cleaned his private yacht. Upset that they cannot take a break, James digs up a Shellder and decides to try to capture it. James calls out Weezing and defeats the Shellder with Haze, but Jessie steps up to capture it, much to James' disappointment. They go to the Boss, but he disapproves of their capture and orders them to steal potentially invaluable information from Westwood V's lab.

Westwood V shows Ash and his friends a computer simulation of Slowpoke's evolution, and notes the form change Shellder undergoes when it clamps on to Slowpoke's tail. Team Rocket arrives in a parasail and startles everyone when it crash-lands on the lab's balcony. After performing their motto, they hand Westwood V a paper with their own "Team Rockédex" entries about themselves. Westwood V is instantly impressed by Meowth's speech and starts writing notes. He then realizes that Team Rocket may be trying to enslave him and tries to escape. The trio finds that the only Pokémon Westwood V has is a Slowpoke.

Westwood V tries to flee with his Slowpoke, but after tripping, Team Rocket catches up and sends out Shellder to make it evolve into Slowbro. To everyone's surprise, Slowpoke, regarded as the Dopey Pokémon, runs around in an attempt to flee from Shellder. Misty decides to intervene with the seaside location perfect for her Water-type Pokémon, but Psyduck emerges. Psyduck turns around and Shellder clamps onto its tail instead. After a delayed pain reaction, Psyduck throws Shellder off, sending the Pokémon flying. Weezing attempts to knock Psyduck out, but only bounces on its head. Infuriated, Jessie throws Shellder again, but it clamps onto Psyduck's head this time, giving it a major headache. Psyduck, now much more powerful because of its headache, uses Disable to stop everyone and its Confusion sends Team Rocket flying. It suddenly loses concentration, however, both Team Rocket and Shellder land close by. As Slowpoke walks towards Psyduck to thank it, it trips and Shellder clamps onto its tail, evolving it. Team Rocket runs back to grab Slowbro, but it uses Mega Punch, causing Team Rocket to blast off again.

Misty asks if Westwood V figured out why Slowpoke evolves. He answers confidently, with a brand-new theory, that both Pokémon benefit. He explains that Shellder helps Slowpoke to balance on two legs instead of four, freeing its hands so it can use Mega Punch, and Shellder gains land transportation on Slowpoke's tail. As the group leaves, Ash thinks Psyduck may want to say goodbye to Slowbro. Misty, Ash, and Brock watch on as the two Pokémon have a rather slow conversation.

Major events

Shellder being caught

• James's Weezing is revealed to know Haze*.
• Jessie catches a Shellder that James wanted to catch, but it attaches itself to a Slowpoke and catalyzes its evolution into a Slowbro and thus leaves her.

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

Characters

Humans

Dare da?

• Ash
• Misty
• Brock
• Jessie
• James
• Professor Oak
• Delia Ketchum
• Giovanni
• Professor Westwood V
• Professor Westwood I, II, III, and IV (portraits only)

Pokémon

Who's That Pokémon?

Who's That Pokémon?: Raichu (US and international), Slowbro (Japan)

• Pikachu (Ash's)
• Meowth (Team Rocket)
• Togepi (Misty's)
• Psyduck (Misty's)
• Shellder (Jessie's; new; evolves with Slowpoke; leaves)
• Weezing (James's)
• Persian (Giovanni's)
• Mr. Mime (Delia's; Mimey)
• Slowpoke (Professor Westwood V's; evolves)
• Slowbro (Professor Westwood V's; newly evolved)
• Krabby
• Magikarp

Trivia

• Professor Oak's Pokémon Lecture: Alakazam
  • Pokémon senryū summary: "I want to see an Alakazam using a fork."
• Part of the lecture for this episode was used in the dub as part of the introduction to the VHS version of Mewtwo Strikes Back.
• The book Prepare for Trouble is partially based on this episode.
• Meowth imitates Moe Howard of The Three Stooges after Shellder appears and sticks out its tongue by saying "Oh, you're a wise guy, huh?"
• Music from Mewtwo Strikes Back and Pikachu's Vacation is played in the episode. However, the background music is replaced in the dub.
• The Swedish title is a reference to On the Origin of Species (Swedish translation: Om arternas uppkomst).

Errors

• Misty says that Psyduck used its "tail wag attack", although in multiple episodes, she says the proper name "Tail Whip".
• When Slowbro uses Amnesia, Ash and his friends are stunned, and Brock says, "That's supposed to make its opponents forget!" This is untrue, since Amnesia only affects the user in the games.

Dub edits

• Pikachu's Jukebox: My Best Friends
• The setting of the episode is said to be the Seafoam Islands in the dub when, in actuality, it is an anime-exclusive location called Binnes (ビンヌ; a reference to Cannes) in the Japanese version, which has no relation to the aforementioned game location.
• Professor Westwood V is outright said to have programmed the Pokédex in the dub, when he was simply one of the people to write the device's bestiary in the Japanese version.
• James tells Weezing to use Haze in the dub. In the original, it was told to counterattack.

In other languages

Language		Title
Bulgarian		Еволюционното Решение
Mandarin Chinese		當呆呆獸變成呆河馬的時候
Czech		Tajemství vývoje
Danish		Gåden Om Slowpoke
Dutch		De evolutiesensatie
Finnish		Evoluutiomysteeri
European French		Le mystère de l'évolution
German		Rätselhafte Entwicklung
Hebrew		הפתרון להתפתחות hapitaron lahitpat'chut
Hindi		एक नई खोज! Ek Nayi Khoj! *
Hungarian		Miből lesz a Pokémon?
Italian		Una grande scoperta
Korean		야돈, 야도란으로 진화하다
Norwegian		Den innviklede utviklingen
Polish		Problem ewolucji
Portuguese	Brazil	A Solução da Evolução
	Portugal	A Solução da Evolução
Romanian		Soluție la Evoluție
Russian		Разгадка тайн эволюции
Spanish	Latin America	¡La solución de la evolución!
	Spain	La solución de la evolución
Swedish		Arternas uppkomst

← EP065 : Showdown at the Po-ké Corral

Original series

EP067 : The Pi-Kahuna →

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