EP083

← EP082 : A Scare in the Air

Original series

EP084 : The Lost Lapras →

Poké Ball Peril

EP083   なんごくポケモンとＧＳボール Southern Pokémon and the GS Ball

First broadcast Japan February 11, 1999 United States January 15, 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 冨岡淳広 Atsuhiro Tomioka Storyboard 小林清志 Kiyoshi Kobayashi Assistant director えがみきよし Kiyoshi Egami Animation director 藤田正幸 Masayuki Fujita Additional credits

Screenshots on Filb.de

Poké Ball Peril (Japanese: なんごくポケモンとＧＳボール Southern Pokémon and the GS Ball) is the 83rd episode of the Pokémon anime. It was first broadcast in Japan on February 11, 1999 and in the United States on January 15, 2000.

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

Blurb

After making a crash landing onto Valencia Island, our heroes get directions to Professor Ivy's laboratory where the mysterious Pokéball is being held. Once at the laboratory, Brock realizes that Professor Ivy and her group of scientists are Pokémon breeders just like him! Suddenly Brock begins to feel at home and thinks about staying for awhile to continue his studies on Pokémon breeding.

Plot

After the events in the previous episode, Ash and his friends managed to touch the blimp down on Valencia Island. As they walk, Ash finds the tropical heat exhausting. They get to an outlook and realize that they cannot find Professor Ivy's lab. Pikachu points to what appears to be a Pokémon Center. They go inside and find Nurse Joy, much like previous centers. Nurse Joy gives them directions to Ivy's lab. They get to the lab and go inside, finding it empty. A floor hatch opens and three girls greet them, leading the trio down to the beach. A Gyarados comes out of the sea as a woman pets it, shocking everyone by her skill. Gyarados takes her to the shore as one of the girls tosses her a lab coat. She introduces herself as Professor Ivy.

Back at the lab, Ivy shows them the gold and silver ball. She reveals the inscribed letters on the top of the ball, giving it the name the GS Ball. One of the assistants demonstrates how the ball could not be transported. Ivy also points out how multiple attempts to open it have all failed. Ivy hands the ball over to Ash to deliver to Professor Oak. Ash calls Oak and shows him the GS Ball. Ivy takes the phone and the two professors talk, the scientific terminology baffling Ash and prompting him to cut the call short.

At the airfield, Meowth looks in shock at the ruined blimp. Both Meowth and James believe the blimp is beyond repair, but Jessie smacks them and reminds them that Ash and his friends have a return trip booked. Knowing that it means getting another shot at catching Pikachu, Team Rocket gets to work repairing the blimp.

Ivy leads Ash and the others throughout the outside environment, which serves as her lab. Misty smells the flowers, but a Vileplume steps out of the bushes. Ash checks his Pokédex and notices the Vileplume has different color leaves. The assistants rush out a crate of Pokémon food as other Pokémon come out, all possessing different coloring than normal. Ivy points the difference to the tropical climate. Brock and the others are amazed at the varying Pokémon as Pikachu and Togepi take a sample of the food. Ash and Misty scold them, but attention quickly shifts when an assistant points out that the Butterfree has not eaten in days despite different food combinations. Brock samples the food before running off. He returns to smash berries, pointing out that the taste is important. He sprinkles the solution onto the food, and the Butterfree flies down immediately to eat. The professor is amazed at Brock's skill.

Back at the living quarters, everyone is shocked at the amount of disorder, the assistants referring to it as a little dump. Brock goes crazy at the need to clean, putting on his gear and going into a cleaning frenzy, making the place spotless and preparing an awesome dinner. The professor and the assistants jump into the food as Brock muses at the comparison to his family. Later that night, while everyone sleeps, Professor Ivy and the assistants watch Vileplume mark the area with their pollen. Brock meets with them and gives them a snack as he watches. The assistant notices a Raticate entering the pollen zone. Ivy rushes in to pull Raticate to safety, exposing herself to the pollen and weakening her. She orders the assistants to contact the Pokémon Center. At the center, Joy treats both Raticate and the Professor. Due to her actions, Raticate was not hurt very much and will recover. The assistants show their concerns to Ivy as Brock watches with admiration.

The next day, Ash and Misty prepare to leave, but they notice Brock is not with them. Brock's Pokémon rush around with him as he fixes the roof. Ivy notes that Brock wants to stay. Brock explains that he can learn about Pokémon at the lab and that they need him more than Ash does. Ash agrees as they shake hands. Ash and Misty leave the lab and wave farewell to Brock, Professor Ivy, and her assistants.

As they walk, Misty notes how different it will be without Brock before bringing up the dilemma about getting back to Pallet Town. Ash brings out the blimp tickets as Misty mentions how the blimp was a disaster. When they get to the field, they find a brand new blimp on standby. A disguised Team Rocket whisks them aboard. The ship takes to the skies as Jigglypuff manages to get onboard.

When Ash and Misty request food, Team Rocket steps out and drops a steel cage to imprison them before revealing themselves. They notice Brock is not with them and James cracks a joke about Ash and Misty being "a pair of very romantic creatures", with Meowth adding that Ash and Misty are lovebirds, which both of them blatantly deny. Jessie adds that they're both blushing. Ash orders Pikachu to attack, but Jessie warns that the attack will destroy the entire blimp. Jigglypuff jumps in and sings. Team Rocket quickly grabs parachutes and opens the hatch, flying out as well as Jigglypuff. Misty and Ash are stuck on the blimp without a pilot.

Major events

• Ash obtains the GS Ball.
• Brock decides to be Professor Ivy's assistant and leaves the group.

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

Debuts

Humans

• Professor Ivy

Characters

Humans

Dare da?

• Ash
• Misty
• Brock
• Jessie
• James
• Nurse Joy
• Professor Oak
• Professor Ivy
• Professor Ivy's assistants

Pokémon

Who's That Pokémon?

Who's That Pokémon?: Lapras (U.S. and international), Poliwhirl (Japan)

• Pikachu (Ash's)
• Meowth (Team Rocket)
• Togepi (Misty's)
• Bulbasaur (Ash's)
• Squirtle (Ash's)
• Staryu (Misty's)
• Psyduck (Misty's)
• Onix (Brock's)
• Geodude (Brock's)
• Zubat (Brock's)
• Vulpix (Brock's)
• Chansey (Nurse Joy's)
• Jigglypuff (anime)
• Butterfree (Orange Archipelago Variant)
• Raticate (Valencia Island Variant)
• Nidoran♀ (Valencia Island Variant)
• Nidoran♂ (Valencia Island Variant)
• Vileplume (multiple; Valencia Island Variant)
• Paras (×2; Valencia Island Variant)
• Weepinbell (Valencia Island Variant)
• Poliwhirl
• Cloyster
• Magikarp
• Gyarados

Trivia

Normal-colored Paras from Valencia Island in The Power of One

• Professor Oak's Pokémon Lecture:
  • Pokémon senryū summary: Beware of Electabuzz, thunder, fires, and fathers.
• Despite the fact that this episode marks the beginning of the Orange Islands arc, both Kids' WB! and Cartoon Network aired the first season intro instead of the Orange Islands theme for this episode, A Scare in the Air and Pallet Party Panic. This was amended on the home video releases of these episodes, but was reverted in the U.S. Netflix and Pokémon TV releases for unknown reasons.
• Though Professor Ivy said that Pokémon have slightly different coloration in the Orange Islands, only Butterfree's coloration remained consistent in future episodes. All of the other Pokémon seen have had their regular colors in the Orange Islands. Even when a Paras and a Nidorina from Valencia Island appeared in The Power of One, they were normal-colored.
• Near the end of the episode, right before Pikachu uses a Thunderbolt attack on Team Rocket, they warn Ash that the blimp is filled with flammable gas, and if Pikachu did an electric attack they would "go Pika-boom!" (as Meowth says). This is most likely a reference to the Hindenburg disaster of 1937, when a German zeppelin filled with flammable hydrogen gas exploded and crash-landed while attempting to land in New Jersey, killing 36 people. The cause of the explosion was most likely due to a static electricity build-up that had sparked and ignited the gas.
• The cry of the Lapras in "Who's That Pokémon?" is different from other Lapras depicted.

Errors

• On both the title card and on the corresponding page on Pokémon.com, Poké Ball is spelled as one word, unlike its spelling in the games.
• When Ash and Misty are walking by themselves after waving goodbye to everybody, Misty's ponytail is on the right side instead of the left. When the camera changes to the close up, the ponytail is back on the left.
• When saying goodbye, Brock has on his apron, but then is shown with his usual green vest seconds later.
• While on the video phone, Professor Ivy has the receiver and so does Professor Oak, but Ash speaks without it. Ash can obviously hear Professor Oak talking, too.

In other languages

Language		Title
Mandarin Chinese		南國神奇寶貝與GS球
Czech		Problémy s pokébalem
Danish		Pokéball Alarm
Dutch		Een Poké Ball met Hindernissen
European French		Le danger Poké Ball
German		Gefahr im Verzug
Hebrew		סכנת כדור הפוקימו sakanat kadur haPokémon
Hindi		पोके बॉल का खतरा Poke ball ka Khatra *
Hungarian		Pokélabda veszedelem
Italian		Arrivederci Brock
Norwegian		Pokéball-fare
Polish		Niebezpieczny pokéball
Portuguese	Brazil	A Poké Bola Misteriosa
	Portugal	Perigo de Pokébola
Romanian		Pierirea Poké-mingilor
Russian		Загадочный покебол
Spanish	Latin America	¡Peligro Pokébola!
	Spain	Peligro Poké Ball
Swedish		Ett tropiskt paradis

← EP082 : A Scare in the Air

Original series

EP084 : The Lost Lapras →

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