EP039

"Pikachu's Goodbye" redirects here. For the song, see The Time Has Come (Pikachu's Goodbye).

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← EP038

Original series

EP040 : The Battling Eevee Brothers →

Pikachu's Goodbye

EP039   ピカチュウのもり Forest of Pikachu

First broadcast Japan April 16, 1998 United States November 20, 1998

English themes Opening Pokémon Theme Ending

Japanese themes Opening めざせポケモンマスター Ending ポケットにファンタジー

Credits Animation Team Ota Screenplay 藤田伸三 Shinzō Fujita Storyboard 日高政光 Masamitsu Hidaka Assistant director 井硲清高 Kiyotaka Itani Animation director 酒井啓史 Keishi Sakai Additional credits

The original airing credited 志村泉 Izumi Shimura and 岩根雅明 Masaaki Iwane as animation directors in addition to Hiroshi Sakai

Pikachu's Goodbye (Japanese: ピカチュウのもり Forest of Pikachu) is the 39th episode of the Pokémon anime. It was first broadcast in Japan on April 16, 1998 and in the United States on November 20, 1998. It was created in response to the EP038 incident, and did not appear in the original schedule.

Notably, it is also, with The Battling Eevee Brothers, the first hour-long Pokémon special.

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

Synopsis

Ash, Misty, and Brock were resting in the forest. Ash started to swing on vines, but he slamed into a tree. Pikachu came over to see if Ash was all right when it saw a small Pikachu. Ash and Pikachu ran after it and Misty and Brock followed them to see a whole clan of Pikachu with the small Pikachu. Pikachu said hello but the wild Pikachu got scared and ran off. Pikachu started to walk away but the small Pikachu came over and shook tails with it. Brock claimed it must have accepted Ash's Pikachu. Ash ran toward them, yelling that he wants to be part of their group, but he scared them and they ran off. Later, Ash asks Brock and Misty why they ran away. Brock tells him that he probably scared the Pikachu, because they were not used to human contact in the deep forest they were in. The small Pikachu, watching their conversation, fell into a river and Ash's Pikachu jumped in to save it. The Pikachu all started joining tails to save them and they succeeded.

Meanwhile, Team Rocket saw the Pikachu and decided that they would capture them for the boss.

At night, all the Pikachu started singing their Pikachu chant. Ash and his friends watched and saw how happy Pikachu was. Ash was sad but claimed it was nothing. He stayed up while Misty and Brock slept and saw Pikachu's face in the fire. He thought maybe Pikachu should be with its own kind. The fire finally went out, with the image of Pikachu running away. Suddenly, the Pikachu screamed for help. Ash, Brock, and Misty went to investigate the noise immediately, only to find all the Pikachu captured in a net which was, as Jessie said, electric-proof. James shot a net at Ash and his friends, but they got out of it very easily. Team Rocket started sailing away with the Pikachu but Ash's Pikachu began chewing at the net and broke it. Ash and his friends held up the net they were captured in and the Pikachu jumped in it unharmed. Ash's Pikachu bit a hole in the balloon and Team Rocket started blasting off again. Ash started to walk away without Pikachu and Misty and Brock asked him why. He said Pikachu would be happier here. Pikachu started following but Ash yelled at it to stay behind. He ran away and remembered a lot about Pikachu, having a flashback of many memories of their previous adventures.

Finally, Ash stopped and Misty and Brock caught up to him. Behind Ash, his Pikachu shook tails with the small Pikachu and all the wild Pikachu started chanting. Pikachu ran into Ash's arms. Ash was so touched that he started to cry. The episode ended with Ash and Pikachu hugging, with the narrator saying that in their hearts, they know that they will face every challenge together.

Major events

• Ash attempts to release Pikachu, but Pikachu returns to Ash.

Characters

Humans

• Ash
• Misty
• Brock
• Jessie
• James
• Erika (flashback; Japanese version only)
• Professor Oak (flashback)

Pokémon

Who's That Pokémon?: Pikachu

• Pikachu (Ash's)
• Meowth (Team Rocket)
• Pikachu (multiple)
• Spearow (multiple; flashback)
• Pidgeotto (Ash's; flashback)
• Pikachu (Viridian City Pokémon Center's; multiple; flashback)
• Starmie (Misty's; flashback; Japanese version only)
• Raichu (Lt. Surge's; flashback; Japanese version only)
• Gloom (Erika's; flashback; Japanese version only)

Trivia

• This episode was created after the EP038 incident: the episode schedule did not include it before the incident. The original EP039 was supposed to be Holiday Hi-Jynx.
  • The net Team Rocket uses is called the "Seizure Net". Coincidencially, this episode is the episode that aired right after the seizure episode in Japan.
• The episode aired as a two-hour special (放送再開スペシャル（放送再開スペシャル やっとあえるね！）１時間SP) with The Battling Eevee Brothers, when Pokémon returned to airwaves.
• Not counting the flashbacks, Pikachu and Meowth were the only two species of Pokémon seen in this episode.
• The events of The Kangaskhan Kid were referenced in the beginning of this episode.
  • Ash crashes into a tree. George of the Jungle often does the same.
• This is the most recent episode in which wild Pikachu appear.
• A short version of Goodnight, My Pikachu can be heard.
• The book I Choose You! is based on this episode.
• This episode is featured on the Volume 1: Pikachu copy of Pokémon All Stars.

Errors

• Throughout the episode, the size of the wild Pikachu colony changes.
  • When they are first seen, there appears to be about 40-50 Pikachu in the clearing.
  • When they are in the clearing at night singing, there are about 25-30 Pikachu.
  • When Team Rocket pulls up the net containing all the Pikachu, it looks like there are at least 500 Pikachu in the net.
  • When the Pikachu are all on the ground after escaping, there are about 35-40.
  • In the final sequence where Pikachu runs to Ash and they hug, there are about 20 Pikachu cheering for them.
• There could have been multiple wild Pikachu missing from some scenes, though.

Dub edits

• The original montage of Ash and Pikachu is different in both versions. The original Japanese version has clips that are shown in chronological episodic order. The dubbed English version have clips from certain episodes in random order, with many clips missing from the original Japanese version, and it also has some clips not present in the original Japanese version.

In other languages

• Dutch: Kom terug Pikachu
• Finnish: Pikachun hyvästit
• French: Au revoir Pikachu
• German: Pikachu´s Abschied
• Hebrew: להתראות פיקאצ'ו lehitraot Pikachu
• Italian: Addio Pikachu!
• Mandarin: 皮卡丘的森林
• Portuguese:
  • Brazilian Portuguese: O Adeus de Pikachu
  • European Portuguese: A Despedida do Pikachu
• Russian: Прощай, Пикачу!
• Spanish:
  • Latin American Spanish: Adiós Pikachu.
  • Iberian Spanish: Adiós Pikachu
• Swedish: Pikachus farväl

← EP038

Original series

EP040 : The Battling Eevee Brothers →

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