EP199

← EP198 : The Heartbreak of Brock

Original series

EP200 : Turning Over A New Bayleef →

Current Events

EP199   さよならチコリータ！？でんきのラビリンス！ Goodbye Chicorita!? The Electric Labyrinth!

First broadcast Japan May 24, 2001 United States April 27, 2002

English themes Opening Born to Be a Winner Ending

Japanese themes Opening めざせポケモンマスター (Whiteberry) Ending 前向きロケット団！

Credits Animation Team Ota Screenplay 米村正二 Shōji Yonemura Storyboard 藤本義孝 Yoshitaka Fujimoto Assistant director 鈴木敏明 Toshiaki Suzuki Animation director 志村泉 Izumi Shimura Additional credits

Screenshots on Filb.de

Current Events (Japanese: さよならチコリータ！？でんきのラビリンス！ Goodbye Chicorita!? The Electric Labyrinth!), is the 199th episode of the Pokémon animated series. It was first broadcast in Japan on May 24, 2001, and in the United States on April 27, 2002.

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

Blurb

Nearing Olivine City, our heroes notice a field full of windmills. Brock explains the windmills are used to generate electricity. Deciding the breezy windmill field is a nice place to take a break and get some fresh air, our heroes release their Pokémon from their Poké Balls and begin to set up a picnic. When Ash and Chikorita go looking for firewood, they stumble upon a concrete building with the front door wide open. Curious, the duo enter and are promptly locked in when a strong gust of wind shuts the heavy electric door. Hearing Ash's cries for help, Pikachu races towards the building, followed by Brock and Misty. While Brock contacts the electric company for help, Ash decides to descend the floors of the compound and locates the building's power source. He and Chikorita must battle their way through the scores of security systems in place... Electric-type Pokémon!

Plot

Ash and his friends stop in a large field near a wind power generator to take a break. Meanwhile, Team Rocket is starving and soon spots an odd white building in the distance. They are curious, and soon James knocks on the door. After a few tries, he tries to open it up, but the door is electronically locked, which Meowth infers after seeing a card reader. He tries to pick at it with his claw, but ends up breaking his claw in the reader. Meowth is infuriated and scratches at the door, which results in him and his teammates being electrocuted. Just then, the door opens slowly, allowing the trio to enter and explore. Jigglypuff also wanders into the facility.

Brock decides a picnic is in order. Ash volunteers to fetch the firewood with Pikachu, but the Electric-type is fast asleep. Instead, Ash decides to take Chikorita. Meanwhile, Team Rocket finds themselves walking through various empty hallways when they come across a Magnemite. Four more Magnemite appear, and together they attack with their electricity, sending Team Rocket fleeing. As Ash and Chikorita are walking across the field, they find the building, with the door still open. When the two enter, the door suddenly slams shut, trapping them inside. Ash begins calling for help and his friends come running. Brock notices that the building's electric lock is damaged and tells Ash that he'll call the Electric company for assistance. Ash tries to get the door open without any luck; however, Chikorita spots a map of the complex and has Ash looks at it. They go downstairs to check out the place. Upon looking through various empty halls, Ash and Chikorita are attacked by a swarm of Magnemite and a Magneton. Team Rocket watches the squabble, but Jigglypuff soon arrives. Fearing that it is going to sing, James takes away her microphone and tosses it to Jessie, who then throws it towards the Magnemite to give them some time. The microphone rolls to Ash’s feet, and Jigglypuff rushes at him to retrieve its precious item. Ash realizes there is a destroyed shutter behind him, so he runs through it and down a fleet of stairs. Moments later, Jigglypuff manages to get her microphone and Sings, putting all of the Magnet Pokémon to sleep.

Brock returns to Misty's side and informs her that the Electric company will attend to the door eventually. On the next floor, Ash wanders around four large generators, where he is attacked by a swarm of Electrode. Ash tells Chikorita to use Vine Whip, making one explode, thus creating a path for Ash to escape. The Electrode pursue them, but Ash and Chikorita narrowly escape the Explosions and reach another area. Jigglypuff then appears, but Chikorita quickly tosses its microphone away, allowing Ash to escape down another staircase. Jigglypuff encounters Team Rocket again. As with before, Team Rocket grabs Jigglypuff's microphone and throws it away, giving everyone time to escape. Jigglypuff successfully retrieves her microphone again and lulls the Electrode to sleep. Desperate to find a hiding spot, Team Rocket takes cover inside a room, but they are confronted by an Electabuzz. Meowth quickly tells Electabuzz that Ash is the one causing the trouble and that they are just workers. Electabuzz believes him and marches off to find Ash. Meanwhile, Misty and Brock, searching for Ash and Chikorita, make their way into the building after an electronics expert pries the door open.

Ash runs into Electabuzz, who attacks him and Chikorita. However, their battle is interrupted by Team Rocket, who traps the Pokémon in a cage. Chikorita tries to break open the cage with Razor Leaf, but the bars are too strong. The trio runs off with the captured Pokémon and exits the power station facility. Ash slides down a hillside and stops the evil trio in their tracks. Upon being cornered, Jessie and James have Arbok and Victreebel attack Ash. Helpless at Ash's predicament, Chikorita evolves into Bayleef, much to the delight of Team Rocket. Bayleef frees herself and Electabuzz with Razor Leaf. Misty, Brock, and the electrician catch up to them in time to see Bayleef throwing Arbok and Victreebel into Team Rocket with a Vine Whip. The female electrician, who happens to be Electabuzz's Trainer, orders it to use Thunderbolt alongside Ash's Pikachu. Bayleef gives Team Rocket a final Vine Whip and sends them blasting off.

In the aftermath, the representative of the Electric company thanks Ash and his friends for stopping Team Rocket. Ash also apologizes for trespassing and congratulates Bayleef on her efforts. Just then, Jigglypuff pops up and starts Singing, putting everyone to sleep. Infuriated by this, Jigglypuff scribbles on the group's faces and stomps away.

Major events

• Ash's Chikorita evolves into Bayleef.

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

Debuts

Pokémon debuts

• Ash's Bayleef

Characters

Humans

Pocket Monster TV

• Ash
• Misty
• Brock
• Jessie
• James
• Electric company

Pokémon

Who's That Pokémon?

Who's That Pokémon?: Dragonair (US and international), Chikorita (Japan)

• Pikachu (Ash's)
• Meowth (Team Rocket)
• Togepi (Misty's)
• Wobbuffet (Jessie's)
• Bulbasaur (Ash's)
• Chikorita (Ash's; evolves)
• Bayleef (Ash's; newly evolved)
• Cyndaquil (Ash's)
• Totodile (Ash's)
• Arbok (Jessie's)
• Victreebel (James's)
• Jigglypuff (anime)
• Magnemite (electric company's; ×10)
• Magneton (electric company's)
• Electrode (electric company's; multiple)
• Electabuzz (electric company's)

Trivia

• This episode is featured on Volume 18: Chikorita from Viz Media's Pokémon All-Stars series.
• This episode is featured on Pokémon All-Stars: Chikorita from Magna Pacific's Pokémon All-Stars series.
• When Chikorita gets hit by Electabuzz's Thunder Punch, Ash catches her and says, "I think I'm a pretty good shortstop". This may be a reference to Casey, who once had a Chikorita (that had since evolved into Bayleef), and whose favorite baseball team was the Electabuzz.
• After everybody falls asleep due to Jigglypuff's song, Brock can be seen with drawn-on eyes and eyelashes.
• This marks the only time during the Johto League arc when one of Ash's Pokémon evolves.
  • This is the last time one of Ash's Pokémon evolves until his Grovyle in Exploud and Clear!, 141 episodes later. This marks the largest number of episodes between one of Ash's Pokémon evolving to date.
• Music from Pikachu's Vacation, Mewtwo Strikes Back and The Power of One can be heard in this episode.

Errors

• In several scenes, Misty's bag is missing.
• Right before the opening theme song (before the title card in the Japanese version) when Ash is holding Chikorita, Pikachu speaks, but his mouth doesn't move.
• When Ash is trying to escape the locked building, there is a window right next to the door, but when viewed from the outside, the window is much farther away.
• The lines on Meowth's charm disappear for a moment right after Ash saves Chikorita from Magneton's attack.
• The symbol on Ash's hat disappears twice.
• When Ash thanks Brock for going to get him help, the door leading into the abandoned building is orange when it should be purple.
• When Ash finds Jigglypuff's marker, after Jessie throws it away, he incorrectly refers to it as a microphone.
• Right after Team Rocket discerns where Ash and Chikorita have gone, Wobbuffet pops out of his Poké Ball. When shoving Wobbuffet back down, Jessie says "Meowth said down..." when it was James who had said it.
• After Team Rocket enters the elevator, Ash runs in place for a few frames in the transition to the next shot.
• At the end of the episode, Misty's bag is on her right shoulder, but when she pulls on Brock's ear, it is on her left.
• When Jigglypuff is about to Sing to Ash and his friends, the head of security's badge is missing.
• When the camera pans across Ash and his friends after Jigglypuff realizes that they fell asleep, the cut in Bayleef's leaf is on the right instead of the left.
• At the end of the episode, the narrator says that Ash and his friends will continue on their journey to Johto. However, they are already in Johto.

• 

  Meowth's charm error

• 

  Ash's hat error

• 

  Bayleef's leaf error

Dub edits

• During the scene where Ash is being attacked by Victreebel and Arbok, some shots depicting Victreebel using Vine Whip on Ash are cut.
• The original airing of this episode on Hungama TV in India started the episode directly from the title card, skipping the part of the episode that comes before it.

In other languages

Language		Title
Bulgarian		Токов удар
Mandarin Chinese		再見了，菊草葉 電氣的迷宮
Czech		Elektrická ochranka
Dutch		Schokkende Dingen
European French		Courants alternatifs
German		Brenzliges Abenteuer
Hebrew		ללכת עם הזרם Lalekhet eem ha'zerem *
Hindi		हर तरफ है बिजली! Har tarf hai Bijlee! *
Italian		Avventure elettrizzanti
Polish		Uwaga! Wysokie napięcie!
Portuguese	Brazil	Um Dia Eletrizante
	Portugal	Acontecimentos Correntes
Spanish	Latin America	¡Los guardianes eléctricos!
	Spain	Seguridad eléctrica

← EP198 : The Heartbreak of Brock

Original series

EP200 : Turning Over a New Bayleef →

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