EP098

← EP097 : Tracey Gets Bugged

Original series

EP099 : The Mandarin Island Miss Match →

A Way Off Day Off

EP098   みなみのしまだよ！ぜんいんしゅうごう！ It's a Southern Island! Everyone Assemble!

First broadcast Japan May 27, 1999 United States April 8, 2000

English themes Opening Pokémon World Ending

Japanese themes Opening ライバル！ Ending タイプ・ワイルド

Credits Animation Team Ota Screenplay 藤田伸三 Shinzō Fujita Storyboard 鈴木敏明 Toshiaki Suzuki Assistant director 鈴木敏明 Toshiaki Suzuki Animation director 志村泉 Izumi Shimura Additional credits

Screenshots on Filb.de

A Way Off Day Off (Japanese: みなみのしまだよ！ぜんいんしゅうごう！ It's a Southern Island! Everyone Assemble!) is the 98th episode of the Pokémon animated series. It was first broadcast in Japan on May 27, 1999, and in the United States on April 8, 2000.

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

Blurb

Ash and the gang discover a new island that is loaded with different types of fruit trees, and since the food there is free they decide to take a day off and give their Pokémon a little vacation. Unfortunately, Team Rocket doesn't take a day off from trying to steal Pikachu... will they catch our heroes off guard?

Plot

Ash and his friends sail onboard Lapras, but all of them seem bored. Pikachu points to a nearby island, which they mark as their destination. As they head for it, Jigglypuff surfaces nearby. They touch down in a cove as Pikachu and Togepi run off while the gang takes in the island scenery. Misty sends out her Goldeen and Staryu to play, along with Lapras. A piece of fruit suddenly hits Ash in the head, and they see a Farfetch'd flying above them. A whole flock takes off from the island as Tracey sketches them. Pikachu and Togepi return with some fruit and Pikachu points to all the fruit trees. Ash and Misty take a bite of the yellow fruit, finding them sour. Tracey finds some darker ones that are riper.

The group decides to rest for the day on the island and sends out all of their Pokémon. The other Pokémon meet Tracey's Scyther for the first time and are initially afraid of it, despite Ash urging them not to be when he introduces it to them as Tracey's newest Pokémon. However, they all warm up to it once they see that Togepi is not afraid of it. Just then, as Ash is trying to interact with Charizard, the Flame Pokémon uses Flamethrower on him. The attack also heads toward Scyther, but it deflects it with its scythes. The two then have a tense confrontation before it is defused by Ash. Meanwhile, Team Rocket is also taking a vacation on the island. Jessie decides to not steal any Pokémon, but when she spots the group's Pokémon, they realize that Ash and his friends are nearby, and abandon their vacation plans in favor of stealing Pokémon.

Later, Ash and his friends bring back fruit as Snorlax attempts to eat the pile, but Scyther wards him away. Inside the pile, Jigglypuff pops out and sings, putting everyone to sleep. As usual, Jigglypuff stops, gets angry, and scribbles on everyone's faces. When everyone wakes up, they decide to let Snorlax sleep longer while they continue preparing. The Pokémon enjoy their share of fruit as everyone realizes how much they need the vacation. Tracey brings fruit sandwiches to the table as Misty is curious about the new food style. Snorlax comes up, eats everything, and goes back to sleep, leaving everyone else to clean the dishes. Tracey notices that Snorlax doesn't eat as much now due to less energy exertion. Misty chastises Ash for not training Snorlax.

At night, everyone is asleep, but Pikachu wakes up and notices that Ash is not there. He finds Ash on the beach, speculating about the GS Ball. Pikachu comes over and joins him in some stargazing. Ash then pulls out his two Badges and remembers how different Cissy and Danny were as Gym Leaders compared to the ones in Kanto.

Back at the camp, Misty is awakened by Tracey's sleep-talking, but a Sleep Powder attack over the camp silences all but Charizard and Scyther. James's Victreebel stops sending the powder as Jessie fires a bazooka, capturing everyone with suction plugs. Meowth tries to reel them all in, but Snorlax is too heavy to drag. Scyther slashes the rope as Charizard steps up to aid. The powerful Pokémon roar battle cries, waking the camp and getting Ash and Pikachu to return. Team Rocket rappels in on a zip line reciting their motto, but they crash into a tree before they can finish.

Team Rocket sends out Arbok and Weezing as Ash sends Pikachu. Weezing's Smokescreen covers the field, but Scyther's Swords Dance clears it and sends Weezing flying. Bulbasaur, Squirtle, and Pikachu take turns using Vine Whip, Water Gun, and Thunder Shock to attack Team Rocket. Charizard follows up with Flamethrower as Scyther uses Skull Bash to send them blasting off. Ash congratulates the Pokémon as they watch Charizard and Scyther walk away in an informal motion of respect.

The next day, Ash brings out Lapras as everyone departs the island with refreshed spirits. Meanwhile, Team Rocket finds themselves stuck on a small rock island. They try to relax as a Farfetch'd comes up, and the trio realizes that the small rock is holding the Farfetch'd flock. The Farfetch'd all proceed to smack Team Rocket with their leeks.

Major events

• James's Victreebel is revealed to know Sleep Powder.
• Tracey's Scyther is revealed to know Skull Bash.

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

Characters

Humans

Dare da?

• Ash
• Misty
• Tracey
• Jessie
• James
• Cissy (flashback)
• Danny (flashback)

Pokémon

Who's That Pokémon?

Who's That Pokémon?: Porygon (US and international), Farfetch'd (Japan)

• Pikachu (Ash's)
• Meowth (Team Rocket)
• Togepi (Misty's)
• Bulbasaur (Ash's)
• Charizard (Ash's)
• Squirtle (Ash's)
• Lapras (Ash's)
• Snorlax (Ash's)
• Goldeen (Misty's)
• Staryu (Misty's)
• Psyduck (Misty's)
• Venonat (Tracey's)
• Marill (Tracey's)
• Scyther (Tracey's)
• Arbok (Jessie's)
• Lickitung (Jessie's)
• Weezing (James's)
• Victreebel (James's)
• Seadra (Cissy's; flashback)
• Blastoise (Cissy's; flashback)
• Nidoqueen (Danny's; flashback)
• Scyther (Danny's; flashback)
• Geodude (Danny's; flashback)
• Electrode (Danny's; flashback)
• Jigglypuff (anime)
• Farfetch'd (multiple)

Trivia

• Professor Oak's Pokémon Lecture: Ditto: At the end, Ditto transforms into a more dashing, slightly sinister-looking Professor Oak, prompting Oak to ask in surprise who the being is.
  • Pokémon senryū summary: Ditto. Here we go, transformation! The transformer.
• James's nose is inexplicably about six inches long when he talks about Victreebel and himself being a "knockout combination", likely a reference to a Japanese sign for arrogance, a Yamabushi Tengu.
• The U.S. dub features Porygon in the Who's That Pokémon? segment, despite the incident that happened in Japan during EP038 that caused the episode's worldwide banning.
  • This is also the only time when Porygon's English voice has been heard.
• This episode was partially adapted into the book Scyther, Heart of a Champion.
• This episode marks the 100th episode of the Pokémon animated series if Holiday Hi-Jynx and Snow Way Out! are counted in.
• In this episode, Team Rocket uses a variation of their motto, although not intentionally like most other variations.
• This episode's title is formatted as A Way Off Day Off! on the DVD menu of Australian DVDs.

Errors

• In the beginning, Pikachu and Togepi's footprints are missing in the sand. However, they are shown from above when the Farfetch'd fly overhead.
• When the other Pokémon go to greet Scyther, Bulbasaur's voice is missing, although its mouth moves.
• In a scene where Scyther and Charizard are intimidating each other, Charizard's fang is colored orange.
• In the scene where Ash is sitting on a rock on the beach at night looking at the GS Ball, he puts it away when Pikachu approaches him. However, the GS Ball is later seen in his hand.
• In one scene, there are orange stripes in the inner fold of Charizard's wings.
• In one scene, the black outlines in Arbok's pattern are missing.
• When Team Rocket blasts off, Arbok's pattern has its colors reversed.
• After Charizard and Scyther resolve their differences and walk away from each other, Scyther is much larger than normal.

• 

  Charizard's wing error

• 

  Arbok's hood pattern error

• 

  Scyther's unusual size

Dub edits

• My Best Friends and an instrumental of Together Forever are used as background music.
• Pikachu's Jukebox: 2.B.A. Master

In other languages

Language		Title
Arabic		يوم إجازة
Mandarin Chinese		南方之島，全員大集合
Czech		Báječné volno
Danish		En anderledes fridag
Dutch		Een Echte Slechte Dag
European French		Des vacances de rêve
German		Ferientag mit Hindernissen
Hebrew		יום חופשי Yom khofshi
Hindi		छुट्टी, मस्ती , और धमाल! Chhutti, Masti, aur Dhamaal! *
Hungarian		Fárasztó pihenőnap
Italian		Una giornata di riposo
Korean		리자몽, 스라크가 싫어
Norwegian		En annerledes fridag
Polish		Czas relaksu
Portuguese	Brazil	Mas Que Dia
	Portugal	Um Dia de Descanso Atribulado
Romanian		La o Zi Distanță
Russian		Испорченный выходной
Spanish	Latin America	¡Un día libre!
	Spain	Menudo día libre
Swedish		En ledig dag

← EP097 : Tracey Gets Bugged

Original series

EP099 : The Mandarin Island Miss Match →

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