EP049

← EP048 : Holy Matrimony!

Original series

EP050 : Who Gets to Keep Togepi? →

So Near, Yet So Farfetch'd

EP049   カモネギのカモ Kamonegi's Easy Mark

First broadcast Japan June 18, 1998 United States March 20, 1999

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 冨岡淳広 Atsuhiro Tomioka 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

So Near, Yet So Farfetch'd (Japanese: カモネギのカモ Kamonegi's Easy Mark) is the 49th episode of the Pokémon anime. It was first broadcast in Japan on June 18, 1998, and in the United States on March 20, 1999.

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

Synopsis

Misty sees a Farfetch'd, which performs a trick in front of her. She immediately decides to capture it, but it runs off into the forest. She chases after it, but bumps into Keith, losing her bag in the process. He apologizes for running into her and gives her back her bag full of Poké Balls. In the process Misty loses Farfetch'd. However, when she comes out of the forest to find Ash, Brock, and Pikachu, she discovers that she picked up a different bag, as it is full of rocks instead of Poké Balls. It turns out Keith was a backpack-switching thief, and used his Farfetch'd as a distraction so he could steal Misty's Pokémon.

Keith spots Team Rocket walking by, and approaches them, telling him he would like to give them his Farfetch'd, Staryu, and Starmie. As they stop at a dock to take a small boat across the lake, Keith "remembers" something he forgot, and runs off, leaving Team Rocket with Farfetch'd and all of Keith's Pokémon. Naturally, they try to steal them, and take the boat themselves, but this is exactly what Keith wanted them to do; the cork comes loose in the boat, causing it to sink. Jessie and James lose Arbok and Weezing (and Lickitung, though Jessie shouldn't have Lickitung at this point), and Farfetch'd takes them to to Keith.

Ash, Misty, and Brock tell Officer Jenny what happened, still believing it to be an accident, but Jenny tells them that Misty is the fifth victim of the backpack-switching thief. Psyduck gets out of its Poké Ball and goes over to them, and leads them toward Keith. Meanwhile, Team Rocket attacks Keith, and he tells them that the whole thing was a joke, and gives them all the Poké Balls. Shortly after they leave, Ash, Misty, Brock, and Officer Jenny arrive, Psyduck having led them correctly. Keith says that his Farfetch'd is too weak to battle, and he has no choice but to steal Pokémon. In response, they decide that he should learn the correct way to catch Pokémon, and Ash battles Keith with his Bulbasaur. To Keith's surprise, Farfetch'd uses its techniques and defeats Bulbasaur. Keith says that he wouldn't have used Farfetch'd to steal if he had known it could use techniques. Misty battles Keith, but her only Pokémon is Psyduck. However, Farfetch'd hits it on the head enough to give it a headache, and it defeats Farfetch'd using Disable, and then Confusion.

Meanwhile, Team Rocket open all the Poké Balls that Keith gave them, only to discover that they all contain Voltorb. Angry that they have been tricked again, they throw the Voltorb over the edge of their balloon, and directly down to where Keith and Farfetch'd are, and they all selfdestruct near him. He promises not to do anything bad anymore, and gives back all the Pokémon he stole, and decides to train his Farfetch'd to become even stronger.

Jessie and James consider telling Giovanni what happened, but Meowth convinces them not to. However, one Voltorb is left in their balloon, and it selfdestructs, sending them falling out of the balloon.

Major events

Debuts

Pokémon debuts

• Farfetch'd

Characters

Humans

• Ash
• Misty
• Brock
• Jessie
• James
• Officer Jenny
• Keith

Pokémon

Who’s That Pokémon?: Farfetch'd

• Pikachu (Ash's)
• Meowth (Team Rocket)
• Bulbasaur (Ash's)
• Psyduck (Misty's)
• Farfetch'd (Keith's; debut)
• Voltorb (Keith's, formerly)

Trivia

• This episode takes place after Princess Versus Princess because Jessie's Lickitung is mentioned here. However, Misty's Togepi is never seen or mentioned in this episode (except for its egg), who hatched in the following episode.
• In the English dub, Brock refers to Psyduck as a male by calling it a "he".
• Meowth breaks the fourth wall by saying, "he tricked us two times in one episode!". Psyduck does too when the Narrator says Misty got her backpack back with "a little help from Psyduck", which it responds to questioningly, prompting the Narrator to say "Or rather, a lot of help from Psyduck" which causes it to smile.

In other languages

• Finnish: Lähellä, mutta silti niin kaukana
• French: Recette aux poireaux
• German: Der Trickbetrüger
• Hebrew: 'תעלולי פרפג ta'alulei Farfetch'd
• Hungarian: Nesze, semmi, fogd meg jól!
• Italian: Una bella lezione
• Mandarin: 大蔥鴨的蔥
• Portuguese:
  • Brazilian Portuguese: O Pokémon Farfetch'd
  • European Portuguese: Tão perto está o Farfetch'd
• Russian: В погоне за Фарфечдом
• Spanish:
  • Iberian Spanish: Tan cerca y aún así tan Farfetch'd
  • Latin American Spanish: ¡Tan cerca y aún tan Farfetch'd!
• Swedish: Pokémontjuven

← EP048 : Holy Matrimony!

Original series

EP050 : Who Gets to Keep Togepi? →

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