EP002

← EP001 : Pokémon - I Choose You!

Original series

EP003 : Ash Catches a Pokémon →

Pokémon Emergency!

EP002   たいけつ！ポケモンセンター！ Showdown! Pokémon Center!

First broadcast Japan April 8, 1997 United States September 9, 1998

English themes Opening Pokémon Theme Ending

Japanese themes Opening めざせポケモンマスター Ending ひゃくごじゅういち

Credits Animation Team Ota Screenplay 首藤剛志 Takeshi Shudō Storyboard 鈴木敏明 Toshiaki Suzuki Assistant director 井上修 Osamu Inoue Animation director 藤田宗克 Munekatsu Fujita Additional credits

Screenshots on Filb.de たいけつ！ポケモンセンター！ on the official Japanese Pokémon YouTube channel

Pokémon Emergency! (Japanese: たいけつ！ポケモンセンター！ Showdown! Pokémon Center!) is the second episode of the Pokémon animated series. It was first broadcast in Japan on April 8, 1997, and in the United States on September 9, 1998.

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

Blurb

Ash rushes into Viridian City with his gravely wounded Pikachu. The city's on high alert for Pokémon thieves-thieves like Jessie, James, and Meowth of Team Rocket, a group of bad guys dedicated to stealing valuable Pokémon.

While Ash waits at the Pokémon Center for news on Pikachu's condition, Misty arrives, angry about the bike Ash wrecked-but she softens when she sees Pikachu wheeled out on a stretcher.

Team Rocket crashes through the roof of the Pokémon Center. While Nurse Joy transports Poké Balls to Pewter City for safety, Ash tries to fight off Team Rocket's Pokémon, Koffing and Ekans. Ash is having no luck battling, so his Pikachu, still recovering, teams up with a bunch of other Pikachu at the Pokémon Center to blast Team Rocket out of the building!

Having discovered that Ash's Pikachu is not your ordinary Pikachu, Jessie, James, and Meowth make it their mission to capture it.

With the bad guys expelled, Misty joins Ash and Pikachu on their journey to Pewter City. While strolling through Viridian Forest, a Caterpie makes an appearance. Ash sees an opportunity for his first Pokémon capture. Will he be successful?

Plot

Officer Jenny is in the midst of alerting Viridian City's citizens of Pokémon poachers seen in the area via announcement speaker when she spots Ash with Pikachu in his arms. She gives him a lift to the Pokémon Center after his Pokédex confirms his identity. The pair slide into the Pokémon Center's foyer, much to Nurse Joy's dismay. She quickly orders a stretcher and two Chansey take Pikachu into the emergency room. While Nurse Joy is attending to Pikachu's injuries, Ash calls his mother and Professor Oak, the latter of whom is surprised to discover that Ash is already in Viridian City. When Ash mentions the strange golden Pokémon he had recently seen, Professor Oak is skeptical that Ash had actually seen the Pokémon, which many Trainers have searched for ages without success. Afterward, the girl whose bicycle was "borrowed" and destroyed by Ash angrily storms into the Pokémon Center, though after Ash explains himself, the girl, whose name is Misty, shifts her attention to Pikachu's well-being.

At that moment, an alarm in the Pokémon Center sounds and a villainous group named Team Rocket invade the building. Their Poké Balls break a skylight, and Koffing fills the air with smoke. Team Rocket recites their motto for the first time to Ash and destroys the Center's electrical system in a scheme to steal the Pokémon inside. Nurse Joy, Misty, and Ash retreat to a locked storage room with Pikachu, who is still on his stretcher. The power initially cuts out, though the backup system, Pika-Power, activates. Nurse Joy begins transporting as many Pokémon as she can to Pewter City's Pokémon Center. Suddenly, Koffing breaks through the doors. At Misty's insistence, Ash tries and fails to fend off Ekans and Koffing with a Pidgey, an empty Poké Ball, and Rattata. Misty calls on her Goldeen to help, but without a body of water in which it can swim, it flails helplessly before being recalled.

In a hurry with Pikachu's stretcher, Ash hits Misty's bicycle, causing Pikachu to wake up. The other Pikachu at the Pokémon Center surround Ash's Pikachu, healing him, as well as delivering a powerful electric shock to Team Rocket. Ash hops onto Misty's singed bike, and Pikachu absorbs the pedal-powered bicycle light's charge to hit Team Rocket with a powerful Thunder Shock. The attack mixes with Koffing's gas, resulting in a colossal explosion that destroys much of the Pokémon Center.

Team Rocket escapes and declares their mission to capture Ash's not-so-ordinary Pikachu for their boss. Flying debris then punctures their Meowth-shaped balloon, and the trio is sent blasting off. The next day, Ash and Misty venture into Viridian Forest, with Misty having decided to follow Ash until he replaces her destroyed bicycle. Just then, Ash spots a Caterpie, much to Misty's disgust, and prepares to catch it.

Major events

• Ash meets an Officer Jenny and a Nurse Joy and visits a Pokémon Center for the first time.
• Misty introduces herself to Ash and declares that she will follow him until he repays the damages to her bike.
• Ash and Misty encounter Jessie and James, two members of the villainous Team Rocket, and their partner, a talking Meowth, for the first time.
• Misty is revealed to own a Goldeen.
• The Team Rocket trio decides to follow Ash and steal his Pikachu.
• Ash prepares to catch a Caterpie.

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

Debuts

Humans

• Officer Jenny
• Team Rocket
  • Jessie
  • James
• Nurse Joy

Pokémon debuts

• Meowth (Team Rocket)
• Chansey (Nurse Joy's)
• Koffing (James's)
• Ekans (Jessie's)
• Goldeen (Misty's)
• Caterpie (later Ash's)

Characters

Humans

Dare da?

• Ash
• Misty
• Jessie
• James
• Delia Ketchum
• Professor Oak
• Nurse Joy
• Officer Jenny

Pokémon

Who's That Pokémon?

Who's That Pokémon?: Koffing

• Pikachu (Ash's)
• Meowth (Team Rocket; debut)
• Goldeen (Misty's; debut)
• Ekans (Jessie's; debut)
• Koffing (James's; debut)
• Chansey (Nurse Joy's; debut)
• Pikachu (Nurse Joy's; multiple)
• Pidgey (Trainer's)
• Rattata (Trainer's)
• Ho-Oh (anime; flashback)
• Caterpie (later Ash's; debut)
• Jigglypuff (computer animation)

Trivia

A differently-colored Pidgey

The engraving of legendary Pokémon

• This is currently the only time in the main series in which any of Ash's male relatives are mentioned. Delia mentions that it took his father four days to reach Viridian City from Pallet Town and that Ash is the "apple" of his eye. She also mentions Ash's grandfather in the Japanese version.
• On the wall of the Pokémon Center, the engravings are of Arcanine, Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres. Ash misidentifies the Ho-Oh he saw in the previous episode as Articuno.
• The Pidgey in the clock is green, instead of its normal color. Though some may consider this to be alternate coloration, this is not how the "Shiny" Pidgey appears in the games. This could just be a coloring error, considering this, after all, was only the second episode of the series just like how there was a green Poké Ball in the very first episode.
  • This is the second appearance of a clock with a Pidgey Cuckoo. The first was inside a Voltorb clock Ash had in the previous episode. Both are also destroyed in some way (Ash's Voltorb clock is smashed when thrown in Ash's sleep, the Pokémon Center's clock is destroyed when the Center blows up). Another Pidgey cuckoo clock would also appear 18 episodes later.
• The events of this episode are referenced in Two Degrees of Separation! by Team Rocket, who tell Dawn that they have been chasing Pikachu for as long as she'd been alive.
• This episode was partially adapted into the book I Choose You!.
• This episode was modified after the EP038 seizure incident. Originally, the scene where Pikachu uses Thunder Shock on Team Rocket was a sequence of rapidly flashing images of each Team Rocket member. This was changed to a four-square grid to reduce the flashing effect. This change affected all home releases and re-broadcasts in Japan, and all international versions of the episode.
• Several scenes from the episode, including Misty's attempt at distracting Team Rocket are shown on the VHS A Sneak Peek at Pokémon.
• The Officer Jenny of this episode made a reappearance in A Secret Sphere of Influence!, exactly 500 episodes later.
• The Turkish dub of the episode doesn't translate the episode title, nor recite it in Turkish to the audience. However, Netflix handles the title accordingly.
• In the Japanese version, Delia says a black hen lays white eggs and a Pidgey lays Spearow eggs. In the games, it would later become possible for a Pidgey to produce a Spearow Egg and vice versa, as both species are in the Flying Egg Group.
• Goldeen's line after being sent out in the Japanese version is heard in every Super Smash Bros. game, specifically their Japanese versions, after the Goldeen from those games is summoned via the Poké Ball.

Errors

• On the wanted poster, the rose James holds is lilac instead of red. However, this could be due to the series being in its early stages and some things not yet set in stone.
• When Officer Jenny checks Ash's identity, she speaks without moving her mouth.
• When Ash is holding his Pokédex as it confirms his identity, his glove turns completely dark-green.
• Despite not being a Legendary Pokémon, Arcanine can be seen on the wall with the legendary birds. This is likely due to its category, which classifies it as a "Legendary Pokémon" (like Pikachu is a "Mouse Pokémon").
• When Team Rocket first appears inside the Pokémon Center, they are slightly transparent and the background can be seen through them.
• When Ash asks what Team Rocket is talking about, Meowth has pads on his forepaws.
• When the power goes out in the Pokémon Center, Nurse Joy's dress and apron have their colors reversed.
• When Ash sends out Pidgey, its eyes are yellow instead of black and white.
• The first two times James is shown in the doorway of the Poké Ball room, his left hand is colored like his skin instead of black.
• In the scene where the Pokémon Center explodes, the building on the far right has a considerable difference in its design the moment before the explosion took place and during the explosion.
• In the English dub:
  • When the narrator is recapping the previous episode, he incorrectly says "Spearows." The plural of a Pokémon is the same as the singular.
  • Misty states that Water-type Pokémon cannot battle on land, which would be proven untrue throughout the course of the anime. In the Japanese version, she states that fish Pokémon cannot battle on land.
• In the Finnish dub, Professor Oak incorrectly refers to Gary as his nephew instead of grandson.

• 

  Nurse Joy's miscolored dress and apron

• 

  Pidgey's yellow eyes

• 

  James's miscolored glove

Changes

Dub edits

• Kanto Pokérap: Day 2
• The English dub of the recap changes Ash's introductory line:
  • Original: "And I hereby declare to the Pokémon of the world...I will be a Pokémon master...Pokémon Master! That is what I'll..."
  • Flashback: "That's right. I declare to the Pokémon of the world...I will be the greatest Pokémon Trainer...the greatest Pokémon master...of all time."
• In the Japanese version, Delia says that Ash's grandfather would be proud of him as well as his father.
  • In addition, Delia's attempt to discern whether Ash was wearing clean underwear was originally a request that he brush teeth every morning.
• Ash's comment that had Oak realizing he had the wrong camera activated was changed between the two versions: In the original, Ash asked if there was ramen cooking in the background. In the English dub, he commented that he didn't recognize the back of Oak's head.
• Professor Oak abruptly ending his telephone conversation with Ash is different in both versions: in the English version, Oak says that his pizza just arrived, while in the Japanese version, Oak realizes that his ramen is overcooking. However, the ramen can still be heard boiling.
  • On that same note, the English version included a doorbell sound-effect that wasn't present in the original version.
    • English dub writer Michael Haigney stated that he added the pizza delivery and doorbell sound to the script in order to explain why Oak suddenly needed to rush offscreen. Haigney felt that it did not visually make sense for Oak to run away in that manner if Oak were concerned about his ramen being overcooked because the ramen could be seen directly behind him.
• Misty introduces herself to Ash, Team Rocket, and the audience during the Pokémon Center battle in the Japanese version, while Nurse Joy reveals Misty's name to the audience at the end of the English version. The name is also mentioned at the narrator's conclusion.
• When Cartoon Network would rerun the first English dub season, most episodes would cut the "TO BE CONTINUED" screen. This was one of the few episodes in which Cartoon Network would leave the "TO BE CONTINUED" screen intact, most likely due to the narrator talking over it.

Differences between the episode and the comic adaptation

• The exchange between Delia and Ash cuts out their respective references to Ash "soaring like a Spearow" and "a fallen Pidgey", thus making it seem as though Delia's outburst was in reference to Ash's retort of being the apple in his eye being that of a "rotten apple."
• The scene where Ash receives a call from Professor Oak and sees that Oak has the back camera on by mistake was cut.
• Professor Oak's bet with Gary was changed. In the comic, he mentioned that he would have "eaten his own hat" if he discovered Ash didn't catch a single Pokémon, with Ash asking if it was a cowboy hat when implying Gary won the bet, with Oak privately and glumly admitting that it was indeed a ten-gallon cowboy hat. In the actual episode, he mentioned he would have given Gary a million dollars for the same bet. Ash then made a comment that implied that Gary won the bet, with Oak then glumly deciding he really shouldn't have bothered making the bet at all.
• Ash's closing remark to Professor Oak when the latter abruptly ended the call was changed to him barely giving a "Bye, Prof." to him as he signed off. In the anime, he gives a confused remark instead.
• The comic omits the scene where Team Rocket "blasts off" via their hot air balloon, although it is still implied by showing a punctured hole.

In other languages

Language		Title
Arabic		البوكيمون في خطر
Basque		Pokemon Larrialdia
Bulgarian		Покемон – спешна помощ! Pokemon - spešna pomoŝ!
Valencian		Emergència Pokemon
Chinese	Cantonese	在寵物小精靈中心的決戰 * 精靈寶可夢中心大對決 * 寶可夢中心大對決！ *
	Mandarin	神奇寶貝中心大對決！ * 神奇宝贝中心大决斗 *
Czech		Nemocnice pro pokémony
Danish		Pokémon Nødsituation
Dutch		Pokémon noodgeval!
Finnish		Pokémon hädässä!
French	Canada	Pokémon en détresse
	Europe	Pokémon aux urgences
German		In letzter Minute
Hebrew		אש מגיע לורידיאן Ash megiha LeViridian * מקרה חירום פוקימוני Mikre kherum Pokémoni *
Hindi		पोकेमोन एमर्जेन्सी! Pokémon Emergency!
Hungarian		Vigyázat! Pokémon veszély!
Italian		Emergenza! * Emergenza Pokémon *
Korean		대결! 포켓몬스터 Daegyeol! pokesmonseuteo
Norwegian		Pokémon-alarm!
Polish		Ostry dyżur Pokémon
Portuguese	Brazil	Emergência Pokémon!
	Portugal	Emergência Pokémon
Romanian		Urgență Pokémon!
Russian		Скорая помощь покемонов
Serbian		Покемон узбуна!
Spanish	Latin America	¡Emergencia Pokémon!
	Spain	Emergencia Pokémon
Swedish		Pokémon nödfall * Pokémon Nödläge! * Nödläge *
Thai		ตะลุยโปเกมอนเซ็นเตอร์
Turkish		Pokémon Acil Durumu
Ukrainian		Допомога Покемону!
Vietnamese		Trận quyết đấu

References

← EP001 : Pokémon - I Choose You!

Original series

EP003 : Ash Catches a Pokémon →

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