EP039

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

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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 baby Pikachu. Ash and Pikachu ran after it and Misty and Brock followed them to see a whole clan of Pikachu with the baby Pikachu. Pikachu said hello but the wild Pikachu got scared and ran off. Pikachu started to walk away but the baby 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. The baby Pikachu 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 chanting their Pikachu chant. Ash and his friends watched and saw how happy Pikachu is. 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 and the Pikachu screamed for help. They were 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.

Finally, Ash stopped and Misty and Brock caught up to him. Behind Ash, his Pikachu shook tails with the baby 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.

Major events

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

Characters

Humans

• Ash
• Misty
• Brock
• Jessie
• James
• Professor Oak (flashback)

Pokémon

Who's That Pokémon?: Pikachu

• Pikachu (Ash's), multiple wild Pikachu
• Meowth (Team Rocket)
• Pidgeotto (Ash's; flashback)
• Spearow (flashback)

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.

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

• Brazilian Portuguese: O Adeus de Pikachu
• Dutch: Kom terug Pikachu
• Finnish: Pikachun hyvästit
• French: Au revoir Pikachu
• German: Pikachu´s Abschied
• Italian: Addio Pikachu!
• Latin American Spanish: Adiós Pikachu.
• Iberian Spanish: Adiós Pikachu
• Swedish: Pikachus farväl
• Mandarin: 皮卡丘的森林

← 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.