EP085

← EP084 : The Lost Lapras

Original series

EP086 : Pikachu Re-Volts →

Fit to be Tide

EP085   オレンジリーグ！ナツカンジム！ Orange League! Natsukan Gym!

First broadcast Japan February 25, 1999 United States February 5, 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 大橋志吉 Yukiyoshi Ōhashi Storyboard 井上修 Osamu Inoue Assistant director 井上修 Osamu Inoue Animation director 梶浦紳一郎 Shin'ichirō Kajiura Additional credits

Fit to be Tide (Japanese: オレンジリーグ！ナツカンジム！ Orange League! Natsukan Gym!) is the 85th episode of the Pokémon anime. It was first broadcast in Japan on February 25, 1999 and in the United States on February 5, 2000.

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

Synopsis

Ash, Misty, and Tracey are riding Lapras across the ocean. They want to stop and find somewhere to eat, and Tracey says that they are getting close to Mikan Island, where one of the four gym leaders in the Orange Crew is. They talk to Professor Oak at the Pokémon Center.

Team Rocket, now in a Magikarp submarine, is tracking them, but their submarine gets tangled in seaweed.

On Mikan Island, Ash, Misty, Tracey, Pikachu, and Togepi walk along the path and see Mikan Gym up ahead, but as Ash runs toward the gym, he spots a coconut on the ground next to a tree. He runs over to it with Pikachu and picks it up, but a bucket of water falls on their heads. The coconut was a trap set by a boy named Senta, but he is told off by Cissy, his older sister and the Mikan Gym Leader.

On the Orange Islands, the gym battles are different from Pokémon battles; First is a Water Gun challenge, where Ash's Squirtle and Cissy's Seadra shoot Water Guns at cans on the wall and flying plates. Both are evenly matched and hit every target. To decide the winner, they both aim for the same target, and hit it at the same time.

To break the tie is a Pokémon Wave Ride, where Ash's Lapras and Cissy's Blastoise will race to a flag, go around it, and race back to shore. Before the race can begin, however, Team Rocket attacks. James had to go out and untangle their submarine, and nearly drowned trying to get back to the surface. They capture Blastoise in a net, and head back underwater, but their submarine stalls and their pedals break. Blastoise is too strong for them and gets back to the surface. Pikachu dips its tail in the water and uses a Thunderbolt to shock them, and Blastoise sends them blasting off with Hydro Pump.

With Team Rocket defeated, the Pokémon Wave Ride begins. However, Ash and Cissy must stand on their Pokémon's back. During the race, they are evenly matched; however, Ash nearly falls off and is caught by Lapras, but in the process Cissy gets ahead of him and turns around the flag first. Suddenly a tidal wave comes up behind them, and Lapras freezes it with Ice Beam. The wave sends Cissy flying, but she is caught by Blastoise, and then they get ahead of Ash. Ash has Lapras use Ice Beam to make an ice track. Lapras is faster on ice than in water, and wins the race.

Cissy gives Ash a Coral Eye Badge, and he and his friends ride Lapras off the island, continuing their Pokémon journey.

Major events

• Ash's Lapras learns Ice Beam.
• Ash defeats Cissy and earns the Coral Eye Badge, his first in the Orange League.

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

Characters

Humans

• Ash
• Misty
• Tracey
• Jessie
• James
• Cissy
• Senta, Cissy's younger brother
• Professor Oak
• Nurse Joy

Pokémon

Who's That Pokémon?: Primeape (U.S. and international); Seadra (Japan)

• Pikachu (Ash's)
• Meowth (Team Rocket)
• Togepi (Misty's)
• Squirtle (Ash's)
• Muk (Ash's; at Oak's lab)
• Lapras (Ash's)
• Psyduck (Misty's)
• Weezing (James's)
• Chansey (Joy's)
• Seadra (Cissy's)
• Blastoise (Cissy's)

Trivia

• The Mikan Gym is shaped like a giant soda can.
• This episode's dub title is a reference to the popular saying, "Fit to be Tied."
• This is the first time Team Rocket is seen inside their Magikarp submarine, which they use throughout the entire Orange Islands season. The submarine they used during the Indigo season resembles a Gyarados.
• "NATSUKAN", the Mikan Gym's Japanese name, can be seen printed on the gym even in the dubbed version.
• This episode is featured on the Volume 4: Squirtle copy of Pokémon All-Stars.
• The book The Four Star Challenge is based on this episode.
• This is the first episode in which the word "fight" is repeated three times during the Team Rocket motto.

Errors

• Ash acts like he's never seen a Seadra before, even though he battled one in the first round of the Indigo League.
• The island's name, "Mikan," is Japanese for "Orange." In the dub, however, all characters improperly pronounce Mikan, which should properly be "mee-khan," not "mick-an."

Dub edits

• The character of Senta is left nameless in the dub.

In other languages

Language		Title
Mandarin Chinese		橘子聯盟夏干道館
Czech		Nebezpečné vlny
European French		Un match très serré
German		Wettkampf der Wasser-Pokémon
Hebrew		מוכן לניצחון muchan lenitsachon
Hungarian		A rózsakorall jelvény
Italian		Una nuova Medaglia
Portuguese	Brazil	Maré de Sorte
	Portugal	Preparado para Onda
Russian		Созданный для волн
Spanish	Latin America	¡Duelo en la marea!
	Spain	Nacido para navegar

← EP084 : The Lost Lapras

Original series

EP086 : Pikachu Re-Volts →

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