EP015

← EP014 : Electric Shock Showdown

Original series

EP016 : Pokémon Shipwreck →

Battle Aboard the St. Anne

EP015   サントアンヌごうのたたかい！ Battle on the St. Anne!

First broadcast Japan July 8, 1997 United States September 7, 1998

English themes Opening Pokémon Theme Ending

Japanese themes Opening めざせポケモンマスター Ending ひゃくごじゅういち

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 玉川明洋 Akihiro Tamagawa Additional credits

Screenshots on Filb.de

Battle Aboard the St. Anne (Japanese: サントアンヌごうのたたかい！ Battle on the St. Anne!) is the 15th episode of the Pokémon anime. It was first broadcast in Japan on July 8, 1997. It aired in the United States as the first dubbed episode on September 7, 1998, and later aired in-sequence on September 27, 1998.

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

Synopsis

After earning the Thunder Badge, Ash and his friends walk across a bridge and spot a luxury liner in the distance. The group takes a closer look at the ship and they want to get on board, but Brock mentions that they cannot afford it, so they walk away sullen. However, Jessie and James, in disguise as ganguro girls, give them tickets to get on board to participate in a Pokémon Trainer party on board the St. Anne. While Ash and his friends look for the luxury liner, Jessie and James head to a nearby lighthouse to meet up with Meowth. Meowth opens up a call with the boss and Meowth notices a Persian hugging up to the boss; it has replaced Meowth due to the group’s constant failure. Team Rocket reveals their plan: the party is a ruse to allow Team Rocket to steal the attending trainers' Pokémon.

Ash and his friends get on board the ship and head into the main ballroom, noticing all the people, Pokémon and merchandise. Ash notices a battle between a Starmie and a Raticate. Raticate uses Super Fang to break Starmie's jewel, giving Raticate the win. Ash decides to step forward to challenge the Raticate’s Trainer, sending Butterfree out. Raticate attacks with Jump Kick, but Butterfree counters with Tackle. Raticate uses Hyper Fang, but Butterfree uses Stun Spore to paralyze it. Ash prepares to finish the duel, but the Gentleman recalls his Raticate and declares it a draw, even though Ash was actually winning. Meanwhile, James walks by the vendors. A salesman calls him over and convinces him to buy a Magikarp, tricking him into thinking that the Pokémon is worth a lot of money.

The ship sails out of Vermilion City as Ash and his friends chow down. The Gentleman comes up to Ash and commends his Butterfree. He proposes a trade between his Raticate and Ash's Butterfree. Ash asks Brock if he should go through with it, but Brock is too attracted to the woman next to him to respond, so Ash agrees to go ahead with the trade. They go to a trade machine and execute the trad; Ash acquires Raticate while the man gets Butterfree. Meanwhile, Jessie and Meowth confront James about buying the weak Magikarp. James tells them that it's a "gold mine" Pokémon — even its Poké Ball is gold! — but Meowth scratches it, revealling that it is in truth only spray-painted gold. Jessie asks James how he afforded it, and James reveals that, as the advance on his salary was too low, he took Jessie’s salary advance to buy it. Furious, she runs after him, and forces him to return the Magikarp.

Misty finds Ash looking out at sea, having second thoughts about the trade, and unsure if Butterfree will be taken care off. He mentions that, as the trade was happening, he remembered the experiences he had shared with Butterfree.

Team Rocket's plan goes into motion, the ballroom being locked down and Team Rocket Grunts confronting the Trainers. The grunts use vacuums to capture the trainers' Poké Balls. When one of the grunts walks up to Ash and demands his Pokémon, Ash orders Pikachu to attack the thugs with ThunderShock. He spurs the other Trainers to fight back, and everyone sends out their Pokémon. Ash’s Pikachu, Charmander, and Bulbasaur, together with Brock's Geodude, join the other Pokémon in stopping the Team Rocket thugs. Ash notices a Butterfree swarm attacking with Stun Spore and decides to summon his Butterfree. However, the Poké Ball reveals his Raticate as Misty reminds him that he traded Butterfree away. As he watches, Ash deeply misses his Butterfree, remembering his experiences with it and wanting it back.

Ash sends out Pidgeotto to join others in a group Gust attack. Pikachu group uses Thunderbolt to send Team Rocket flying off the ship and foiling the attack. However, during the battle the ship has sailed directly into a storm. Strong waves begin to batter the ship. James drops the Poké Ball holding Magikarp, and runs after it. Meanwhile, Ash finds the Gentleman, and requests that the trade be reversed. The man agrees, and they begin to execute a reverse trade.

The captain tries to calm the passengers, assuring them that the ship is unsinkable, but, after another wave crashes against the ship, he goes down in a lifeboat. The passengers quickly begin scrambling onto the other lifeboats to evacuate. Misty and Brock find Ash finishing the trade. Ash grabs his Poké Ball, but another wave causes him to drop it. Ash runs after it as his friends follow.

By this time, most of the passengers have gotten safely off the ship. As Ash grabs Butterfree’s Poké Ball, the ship rocks again, throwing him and his friends into another room, and knocking them out. Likewise, just as James grabs Magikarp’s Poké Ball, another wave sends Team Rocket flying against a wall; they too are knocked unconscious. The ship capsizes, and goes down. The captain, watching from his life boat, assumes that everyone is safe, not realizing that Ash, his friends, and Team Rocket are still on board.

Major events

• Ash trades his Butterfree for a Gentleman's Raticate, but later trades back.
• James buys a Magikarp from Magikarp salesman.
• The St. Anne sinks with Ash, Misty, Brock and Team Rocket on board.

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

Debuts

• Magikarp salesman
• Giovanni
• Team Rocket Grunts

Pokémon debuts

• Raticate (Ash's)
• Persian (Giovanni's)
• Magikarp

Characters

Humans

Dare da?

• Ash
• Misty
• Brock
• Jessie
• James
• Giovanni
• Magikarp salesman
• Gentleman
• Team Rocket Grunts
• Samurai (flashback)
• Captain

Pokémon

Who's That Pokémon?

Who's That Pokémon?: Raticate

• Pikachu (Ash's)
• Meowth (Team Rocket)
• Caterpie (Ash's; flashback)
• Metapod (Ash's; flashback)
• Butterfree (Ash's; traded to Gentleman, then traded back)
• Pidgeotto (Ash's)
• Bulbasaur (Ash's)
• Charmander (Ash's)
• Squirtle (Ash's)
• Staryu (Misty's)
• Geodude (Brock's)
• Magikarp (James's; new)
• Persian (Giovanni's; debut)
• Squirtle (Gentleman's)
• Raticate (Gentleman's; traded to Ash, then traded back; debut)
• Bulbasaur (multiple)
• Charmander (multiple)
• Squirtle
• Caterpie
• Butterfree (multiple)
• Beedrill (multiple; flashback)
• Pidgey
• Pidgeotto (multiple)
• Rattata
• Pikachu (multiple)
• Oddish
• Weepinbell
• Geodude (multiple)
• Staryu
• Starmie

Trivia

• When the episode aired as a sneak peek, it was not shown everywhere, as some areas ran the annual Labor Day Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon instead.
• This is the first episode to end on a cliffhanger.
• This is the first episode in which Ash is seen making a Pokémon trade.
• This is the first episode in which Team Rocket members besides Jessie, James, and Meowth appear.
• While there wasn't an attack by Team Rocket on the ship in the games, an undercover Global Police officer mentions he is on the trail of Team Rocket, hinting that there may be an attack.
• While not in the episode itself, the preview for this episode from the previous episode had Ash directly referring to Giovanni by name, the only instance where one of the protagonists ever used his name.
• The St. Anne retains its Japanese name in the anime, despite being called the S.S. Anne in the games. This is probably due to the number of paint edits required to make the change, but actually prevents a future dub error when Ritchie is on a ship called the S.S. Anne in The Search for the Legend.
• The captain calling the St. Anne unsinkable and then capsizing is an obvious reference to the Titanic. Indeed, in the next episode's recap, the narrator acknowledges this by exclaiming "Holy Titanic!".
• This is the first episode in which Team Rocket encounter the Magikarp salesman.
• The scene where all the Pikachu are jumping over a wall to battle the Team Rocket soldiers is identical to the scene in Pokémon Emergency! where the Pikachu are jumping over a wall in the Pokémon Center to battle Team Rocket.
• The button the Gentleman pressed to start the trade was a "record" button. There were also play, fast forward, and pause buttons.
• The book Island of the Giant Pokémon is partially based on this episode.

Errors

• Raticate uses Jump Kick in this episode, a move that can't be learned by Raticate in the games.
• During the battle between the Gentleman's Raticate and an unnamed Trainer's Starmie, the unnamed Trainer tells his Starmie to use an attack called "Spinning Tackle." An attack similar to Rapid Spin, a move that can be considered a spinning tackle. However, Rapid Spin wasn't introduced until Generation II.
  • Also in this battle, the Gentleman has his Raticate use Super Fang to finish the battle. This move cannot cause a Pokémon to faint unless it has 1 HP remaining.
• In the scene where James is walking by the Magikarp salesman, the booth to the left of the Magikarp salesman's booth has a pyramid of normal colored Poké Balls on it. Later, in a scene where James is talking to the Magikarp salesman, the pyramid of Poké Balls is now gold.

Dub edits

• The scene with Giovanni talking with Jessie, James and Meowth was used in the VHS A Sneak Peek at Pokémon with alternate dialogue. Rather than discussing their plan, Giovanni tells them, that they need to capture Ash's Pikachu before various Pokémon merchandise such as the anime, manga, video games, trading cards and figures, hits the stores or else they'll probably be found out.
• In the original version, Ash calls the man to whom he trades his Butterfree a "gentleman" and thus is acknowledged as one on Bulbapedia.

In other languages

Language		Title
Arabic		معركه على ظهر السفينه
Mandarin Chinese		聖安奴號之戰 / 圣安奴号之战
Czech		Bitva na palubě Svaté Anny
Dutch		Gevecht aan Boord van de St. Anne
Finnish		Kieroa peliä valtamerilaivalla!
French	Canada	Bataille à bord du Sainte Anne
	Europe	Bataille à bord du St. Anne
German		An Bord der M.S. Anne
Hebrew		הקרב על הסיפון hakrav al hasipun
Hungarian		Harc a Szent Anna fedélzetén
Italian		Un'insolita crociera
Korean		로켓단 두목 비주기 lokesdan dumog bijugi
Polish		Bitwa na pokładzie Świętej Anny
Portuguese	Brazil	Batalha a Bordo do St. Anne
	Portugal	Batalha a Bordo do Santa Ana
Romanian		Bătălie la Bordul St. Anne
Russian		Битва на борту Св. Анны
Spanish	Latin America	¡Duelo a bordo del Santa Anna!
	Spain	Combate a bordo del St. Anne
Swedish		Slaget på Saint Anne
Vietnamese		Chuyến đi thú vị trên con tàu Anne

← EP014 : Electric Shock Showdown

Original series

EP016 : Pokémon Shipwreck →

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