EP098

← EP097 : Tracey Gets Bugged

Original series

EP099 : The Mandarin Island Miss Match →

A Way Off Day Off

EP098   みなみのしまだよ！ぜんいんしゅうごう！ It's a Southern Island! Everyone Assemble!

First broadcast Japan May 27, 1999 United States April 8, 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 藤田伸三 Shinzō Fujita Storyboard 鈴木敏明 Toshiaki Suzuki Assistant director 鈴木敏明 Toshiaki Suzuki Animation director 志村泉 Izumi Shimura Additional credits

Screenshots on Filb.de

A Way Off Day Off (Japanese: みなみのしまだよ！ぜんいんしゅうごう！ It's a Southern Island! Everyone Assemble!) is the 98th episode of the Pokémon anime. It was first broadcast in Japan on May 27, 1999 and in the United States on April 8, 2000.

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

Synopsis

Ash and his friends sail onboard Lapras, but all of them seem bored. Pikachu points to a nearby island, which they mark as their destination. As they head for it, Jigglypuff surfaces nearby. They touch down in a cove as Pikachu and Togepi run off while the humans take in the island scenery. Misty sends out her Goldeen and Staryu to play, along with Ash's Lapras. A piece of fruit hits Ash in the head as they see a Farfetch'd flying above them. A whole flock takes off from the island as Tracey sketches them. Pikachu and Togepi return with some fruit as Pikachu points to all the fruit trees. Ash and Misty take a bit of the yellow fruit, finding them sour. Tracey finds some darker ones that are riper. The group decides to rest for the day on the island as a vacation. Ash brings out his Pokémon, his Snorlax and Charizard quickly going to sleep. Tracey brings out his Pokémon. Misty brings out Psyduck, but it is already out. Scyther shows off its strength, scaring some of the Pokémon. Togepi is not afraid, walking up to Scyther and playing. Everyone else soon follows. Ash calls to Charizard to greet, but it looks away. Ash walks closer as Charizard uses Flamethrower on Ash. The attack also heads toward Scyther, but it deflects it with its scythes. Charizard notices as Scyther steps closer. Charizard stands up, as the two seem ready to fight. Ash stops them as the two turn away.

Meanwhile, Team Rocket is also taking their vacation on the island. Jessie decides to not steal any Pokémon, but when she spots Togepi playing with Marill nearby, Lapras eating algae, and Goldeen and Staryu swimming, they realize that Ash and his friends are nearby. Ash’s group enjoys the break as Team Rocket observes nearby, deciding to poach all the Pokémon.

Ash and co. bring back fruit as Snorlax attempts to eat the pile, but Scyther wards him away. Inside the pile, Jigglypuff pops out and sings, putting everyone to sleep. As usual, Jigglypuff stops, gets angry and draws on everyone.

When everyone wakes up, they decide to let Snorlax sleep longer while they continue preparing. The Pokémon enjoy their share of fruit as everyone realizes how much they need the vacation. Tracey brings fruit sandwiches to the table as Misty is curious about the new food style. Snorlax comes up and takes the entire plate, sliding the contents into its mouth. It goes back to sleep, leaving everyone else to clean the dishes. Tracey notices that Snorlax doesn't eat as much now due to less energy exertion. Misty slams Ash for not really training Snorlax. Togepi seems happy playing with Marill's tail. Scyther flexes its power while training in the middle of the pond, Charizard watching with intent.

At night, everyone is asleep, but Pikachu wakes up and notices Ash is not there. Ash is out on the beach, speculating about the GS Ball, comparing it to a normal Poké Ball. Pikachu comes over as they watch the stars bright and clear. Ash pulls out his two Badges and remembers how different Cissy and Danny were as Gym Leaders compared to the Kanto Gym Leaders, reflecting on his wins for the Coral Eye Badge and Sea Ruby Badge, wondering about the next one.

Back at the camp, Tracey talks in his sleep about finding and sketching the Legendary birds. Misty wakes up to his talking, but a Sleep Powder attack over the camp silences all but Charizard and Scyther. James's Victreebel stops sending the powder as Jessie fires a bazooka, capturing everyone with suction plugs. Meowth tries to reel them all in, but Snorlax is too heavy to drag. Scyther slashes the rope as Charizard steps up to aid. The powerful Pokémon roar battle cries, waking the camp and getting Ash and Pikachu to return. Team Rocket rappels in on a zip-line reciting their motto, crashing into a tree before they can finish, which makes them say their final lines incoherently due to being stunned from the impact. Meowth jumps in and gets them in line with scratches to the face.

Team Rocket sends out Arbok and Weezing as Ash sends Pikachu. Weezing's SmokeScreen covers the field, but Scyther's Swords Dance clears it and sends Weezing flying. Bulbasaur, Squirtle and Pikachu take turns using Vine Whip, Water Gun and ThunderShock to attack Team Rocket. Charizard follows up with Flamethrower as Scyther uses Skull Bash to send them blasting off. Ash congratulates the Pokémon as they watch Charizard and Scyther walk away in an informal respect motion.

The next day, Ash brings out Lapras as everyone departs the island with refreshed spirits. Meanwhile, Team Rocket winds up stuck on a small rock island. They try to relax as a Farfetch'd comes up. They find out the small rock holds the Farfetch'd flock. They all smack Team Rocket with their sticks.

Major events

• James's Victreebel is revealed to know Sleep Powder.
• Tracey's Scyther is revealed to know Skull Bash.

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

Characters

Humans

Dare da?

• Ash
• Misty
• Tracey
• Jessie
• James
• Cissy (flashback)
• Danny (flashback)

Pokémon

Who's That Pokémon?

Who's That Pokémon?: Porygon (U.S. and international), Farfetch'd (Japan)

• Pikachu (Ash's)
• Meowth (Team Rocket)
• Togepi (Misty's)
• Bulbasaur (Ash's)
• Charizard (Ash's)
• Squirtle (Ash's)
• Lapras (Ash's)
• Snorlax (Ash's)
• Goldeen (Misty's)
• Staryu (Misty's)
• Psyduck (Misty's)
• Venonat (Tracey's)
• Marill (Tracey's)
• Scyther (Tracey's)
• Arbok (Jessie's)
• Lickitung (Jessie's)
• Weezing (James's)
• Victreebel (James's)
• Jigglypuff (anime)
• Farfetch'd (multiple)
• Seadra (Cissy's; flashback)
• Blastoise (Cissy's; flashback)
• Nidoqueen (Danny's; flashback)
• Scyther (Danny's; flashback)
• Geodude (Danny's; flashback)
• Electrode (Danny's; flashback)

Trivia

• Professor Oak's lecture: Ditto: At the end, Ditto transforms into a more dashing, slightly sinister-looking Professor Oak, prompting Oak to ask in surprise who the being is.
  • Pokémon senryū summary: Ditto. Here we go, transformation! The transformer.
• James's nose is inexplicably about six inches long when he talks about Victreebel and himself being a "knockout combination", likely a reference to a Japanese sign for arrogance, a Yamabushi Tengu.
• The U.S. dub features Porygon in Who's That Pokémon?, despite the incident that happened in Japan during EP038 that caused the episode's banning.
  • This is also the only time when Porygon's English voice has been heard.
• The book Scyther, Heart of a Champion is partially based on this episode.
• My Best Friends is used as an insert song in the dub.
• This episode marks the 100th episode of the Pokémon anime if Holiday Hi-Jynx and Snow Way Out! are counted in.
• In this episode, Team Rocket uses a variation of their motto, although not intentionally like most other variations.

Errors

Scyther's unusual size

• When the other Pokémon go to greet Scyther, Bulbasaur's voice is missing, although its mouth moves.
• After Charizard and Scyther resolve their differences and walk away from each other, Scyther is much larger than normal.
• In a scene which Scyther and Charizard are intimidating each other, Charizard's fang is colored orange.
• In one scene the black outlines in Arbok's pattern are missing
• In one scene, there is an orange stripe in the inner fold of Charizard's wings.
• In the scene where Ash is sitting on a rock on the beach at night looking at the GS Ball, after putting it away when Pikachu comes up to him, the GS Ball remains in his hand.

In other languages

Language		Title
Mandarin Chinese		南方之島，全員大集合
Czech		Báječné volno
Dutch		Een Echte Slechte Dag
European French		Des vacances de rêve
German		Ferientag mit Hindernissen
Hebrew		יום חופשי yom chofshi
Hungarian		Fárasztó pihenőnap
Italian		Una giornata di riposo
Polish		Czas relaksu
Portuguese	Brazil	Mas Que Dia
	Portugal	Um Dia de Descanso Atribulado
Romanian		La o Zi Distanță
Russian		Испорченный выходной
Spanish	Latin America	¡Un día libre!
	Spain	Menudo día libre
Swedish		En ledig dag

← EP097 : Tracey Gets Bugged

Original series

EP099 : The Mandarin Island Miss Match →

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