EP077

← EP076 : Fire and Ice

Original series

EP078 : A Friend In Deed →

The Fourth Round Rumble

EP077   くさのフィールド！いがいなきょうてき！ Grass Battlefield! Unexpected Rival!

First broadcast Japan January 1, 1999 United States November 13, 1999

English themes Opening Pokémon Theme Ending

Japanese themes Opening めざせポケモンマスター Ending タイプ・ワイルド

Credits Animation Team Ota Screenplay 大橋志吉 Yukiyoshi Ōhashi Storyboard 浅田裕二 Yūji Asada Assistant director 浅田裕二 Yūji Asada Animation director 岩根雅明 Masaaki Iwane Additional credits

The Fourth Round Rumble (Japanese: くさのフィールド！いがいなきょうてき！ Grass Battlefield! Unexpected Rival!) is the 77th episode of the Pokémon anime. It was first broadcast in Japan on January 1, 1999 and in the United States on November 13, 1999.

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

Synopsis

Ash, Pikachu, Misty and Brock are watching Gary Oak's Round 4 match in the Rock Field. Gary's Nidoking is pitted against Melissa's Golem. Nidoking charges with a Horn Attack, but Golem counters, then uses Seismic Toss. Nidoking is defeated and Gary is out of the competition. Frustrated by the defeat, Gary heads home. Ash thinks that he's going to lose his Round 4 match on the Grass Field as well, and becomes nervous, but Brock and Misty cheer him on. He then later learns, thanks to Professor Oak, that all of Pallet Town is cheering him on, which only makes him more nervous.

Meanwhile, Jessie, James and Meowth have opened up a snack stand so they can make money, selling snacks and even fake Gym Badges which Meowth made from bottlecaps, but like always, their true intention is to steal the Trainers' Pokémon.

At the Grass Field, Ash is getting ready for his next match with Jeanette Fisher. As always, Brock becomes lovestruck and starts to root for Jeanette. Misty admonishes Brock for that. Ash starts off with Bulbasaur, and Jeanette uses Beedrill. The Template:Type2 Pokémon is about to hit Bulbasaur with Poison Sting, but Bulbasaur dodges it. Bulbasaur uses Razor Leaf, but Beedrill counters with Twineedle. Bulbasaur dodges the attack again. Misty is hoping Jeanette may not have more Pokémon like her Beedrill, and Brock is hoping Jeanette doesn't have a boyfriend. Misty tells him, "There's no way that boyfriend is going to be you, mister, if that girl beats Ash!". Ash has Bulbasaur use Leech Seed, draining away Beedrill's energy. Brock becomes depressed that Beedrill is losing, but Misty reminds him of who he should be rooting for. Ash then tells Bulbasaur to finish it off using Tackle. Jeanette's Beedrill faints and Bulbasaur wins!

Jeanette sends her next Pokémon, Scyther. Bulbasaur launches a Razor Leaf at it, but Scyther uses Double Team to evade. Scyther gets in a few hits before Ash gets the idea to use Vine Whip on all the targets, so Bulbasaur will eventually hit the real one. The plan works, and Scyther is knocked out!

Unwavering, Jeanette sends out her last Pokémon - Bellsprout! Ash laughs at first, saying she must be desperate to use something so obviously weak. Bulbasaur uses a Tackle attack, but Bellsprout bends away in a wobble-like manner with ease, picks up Bulbasaur, repeatedly slams him into the ground, and knocks Bulbasaur out!

Ash is shocked at this loss. Brock realizes that Jeanette's Bellsprout must be exceptionally trained, or else it would not be used in a League battle.

Ash sends out Pikachu to try and fight. Pikachu uses ThunderShock, but Bellsprout's roots keep it ingrained and immune to electric attacks. Bellsprout uses a powerful Vine Whip and Pikachu is knocked out!

Down to his last Pokémon, Ash pauses for a second and sends out... Muk! Misty & Brock are shocked that Ash recalled Muk from Oak's lab as a backup Pokémon. Muk is able to absorb Bellsprout's attacks with ease, then uses a Body Slam (essentially smothering Bellsprout) to finish it off.

Ash wins the battle, and has now cleared all four preliminary fields!

Major events

• Gary loses and heads home.
• Ash wins the fourth round of the Pokémon League.

Characters

Humans

• Ash
• Misty
• Brock
• Jessie
• James
• Gary
• Delia
• Professor Oak
• Officer Jenny
• Jeanette Fisher
• Melissa

Pokémon

Who’s That Pokémon?: Bellsprout (US and international), Spear (Japan)

• Pikachu (Ash's)
• Meowth (Team Rocket)
• Togepi (Misty's)
• Bulbasaur (Ash's)
• Muk (Ash's)
• Victreebel (James's)
• Nidoking (Gary's)
• Growlithe (Officer Jenny's)
• Beedrill (Jeanette's)
• Scyther (Jeanette's)
• Bellsprout (Jeanette's)
• Golem (Melissa's)

Trivia

• This episode marks the second appearance of James's Victreebel. In The Breeding Center Secret, Victreebel's voice is low, but from this episode onward, its voice is extremely screechy and high-pitched.

Errors

• When Officer Jenny commands her Growlithe to use Flamethrower, she calls it Arcanine. The noise it makes is also identical to the Arcanine in the previous episode.
• In one shot, Professor Oak's eyebrows change to large and gray.
• At the commercial break, just before the beginning of the "Who's That Pokémon?" segment, the screen turns black for a split-second and blue Japanese characters appear in the lower-right corner.

In other languages

• Finnish: Kuuma neljäs kierros
• French: Quatrième tour décisif
• German: Hopp oder Top - Die Runde 4
• Hebrew: הסיבוב הרביעי hasivuv harevi'ee
• Italian: Una nuova vittoria
• Portuguese (Brazilian): O Difícil Quarto Turno
• Spanish:
  • Iberian Spanish: La sonada cuarta ronda
  • Latin American Spanish: ¡Cuarta ronda, tiembla!

← EP076 : Fire and Ice

Original series

EP078 : A Friend In Deed →

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