EP099

← EP098 : A Way Off Day Off

Original series

EP100 : Wherefore Art Thou, Pokémon? →

The Mandarin Island Miss Match

EP099   してんのうカンナ！こおりのたたかい！！ Shitennō Canna! Ice Battle!!

First broadcast Japan June 3, 1999 United States April 15, 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 冨岡淳広 Atsuhiro Tomioka Storyboard 藤本義孝 Yoshitaka Fujimoto Assistant director 藤本義孝 Yoshitaka Fujimoto Animation director 山本郷 Gō Yamamoto Additional credits

Screenshots on Filb.de

The Mandarin Island Miss Match (Japanese: してんのうカンナ！こおりのたたかい！！ Shitennō Canna! Ice Battle!!) is the 99th episode of the Pokémon anime. It was first broadcast in Japan on June 3, 1999 and in the United States on April 15, 2000.

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

Blurb

Ash, Misty and Tracey are on Mandarin Island where Ash has just won three battles in a row. But, he finally meets his match when they run into, Prima, one of the very best trainers on the Orange Islands. Misty is thrilled to meet her hero because she also trains water-type Pokémon, but, it's Ash who learns a very valuable lesson from this trainer who also sets him on course for a chance at another Orange League badge!

Plot

Ash, Misty, and Tracey are on Mandarin Island, and Ash is on a winning streak. He finishes off a Butterfree with Bulbasaur's Razor Leaf. Ash starts to get a bit full of himself, then lets known the fact that he is hungry. Misty and Tracey then gets something to eat.

As Ash and Misty eat, Tracey tells them that Prima (known in the games as Lorelei) is going to give a lecture on the island. Misty is ecstatic, and tells Ash and Tracey that Prima is her hero. She hears a voice behind her, and turns to see Prima herself! Misty and Tracey introduce themselves while Ash chokes on his sandwich. She walks past them, however, and bends down to look at Togepi.

Nearby, Meowth watches from the bushes while Jessie and James eat. They peer through their binoculars, and James recognizes Prima. Unfortunately, he doesn't remember who she is. Prima looks out at the ocean, and makes many philosophical comments about nature. But all Ash wants is a battle. But Prima continues to ignore him. Ash interprets this to mean that she's afraid to battle and goes off in search of someone else. He does find an opponent who accepts his challenge. As Prima watches, Ash offers to let the boy set up the rules and they agree on two Pokémon each. Ash sends out Squirtle, and the boy releases a Persian.

Squirtle uses Water Gun, but Persian dodges it. It unleashes a Thunderbolt attack, but Squirtle uses Withdraw. Squirtle then pops out of its shell and Skull Bashes Persian, and knocks it out. The boy then sends out a Tauros, who Tackles Squirtle right away knocking it out. Ash withdraws Squirtle and sends out Charizard, but Ash still cannot control Charizard and it burns him.

Prima continues to watch as Tauros uses Take Down. Charizard then uses Flamethrower, knocking out Tauros in one hit. He then flies into the air and attempts to burn everything in sight. Ash tries to call it back, but the beam from the Poké Ball misses. When Ash gets Flamethrowered again, Prima is forced to intervene, sending out her Slowbro, who uses Disable, immobilizing Charizard in midair. It then brings it down to the ground, and Ash succeeds in calling it back. Prima asks Ash if he knows what he's doing, and he defends himself by saying that he was in the top sixteen in the Indigo League. Prima isn't impressed and starts to leave. She turns and asks them all to come to her demonstration later. They enthusiastically accept.

Later, Ash and his friends watch Prima battle from the stands of Mandarin Island Stadium. Team Rocket has also snuck in dressed as food vendors. James now fully recognizes Prima, and they plan to steal her Pokémon. The demonstration goes on for a while and Prima defeats every Pokémon she goes up against. Ash watches intently, determined to try to pick up some tips. After the demonstration, Prima invites Ash and his friends to her house for some tea. As Misty and Tracey thank her for inviting them and rave about her Pokémon, Ash sits in silence. Suddenly, he speaks up and announces his suspicions that Prima is trying to teach him reverse psychology (or perverse psychology, as he calls it). Prima tells them that every person has a particular way of acting in and out of battle. She explains to them that she is like the water. She usually "goes with the flow", but when she's in battle, she becomes as cold as ice. She walks outside, and tells Ash that the most important thing is knowing where your strength lies. Ash may be strong in some ways, but he needs to develop what comes from the inside.

Ash then once again challenges Prima to a battle which she accepts. They agree on one Pokémon each, and send out their Pokémon. Ash uses Pikachu, and Prima chooses Cloyster. Pikachu uses Thunderbolt, but Cloyster Withdraws into its shell. As a result the attack has no effect. Pikachu uses Agility, but is knocked back by Cloyster's Reflect attack. Pikachu uses Thunder which hits but then Cloyster starts to glow red. Tracey warns Ash that this is Rage, which increases its Attack level. Pikachu tries a Quick Attack, but is pummeled by Aurora Beam and Take Down. Ash loses.

Prima calls back Cloyster, and looks at Pikachu to see if it is okay. She tells Ash that he has the skills he needs to be a Pokémon Master, but he needs to remember that his Pokémon are the ones who win the Badges. She tells him that with his Pokémon and friends at his side, he'll always succeed. She then tells him that if he wins all the Gym Badges in the Orange League, he'll be presented with an "Honorable Trainer" trophy. Ash then thanks Prima.

Suddenly, voices sound from above. It's Team Rocket, and they ask if Prima has a recording of her lecture on a CD. She replies that it's on tape only, and whispers to Ash and his friends that it's $18.95. Team Rocket falls out of their balloon, then says their motto. Misty correctly guesses that their original plan was to steal Prima's Pokémon, but they tell her that they figured they'd lose. They then decided to stick with the program and steal Pikachu. Ash gets ready to fight, but Prima tells him that she'll take care of it.

She sends out Jynx, who uses Ice Punch and freezes Team Rocket. Jynx then uses Blizzard and blows them into the sky. The pieces from the ice block rain down, making sparkles in the sky. Everyone watches, amazed. That evening, Prima tells Ash that the nearest Gym is on Trovita Island, which is straight across the bay on the other side of Mandarin Island. Ash and his friends thank Prima again for everything that she taught him. They wave farewell, and head towards their next adventure.

Major events

• Lorelei* of the Elite Four makes an appearance.
• Ash battles Prima but is defeated.
• Ash, Misty, and Tracey learn about the Orange League from Prima.

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

Debuts

Humans

• Prima (Lorelei)

Characters

Humans

Dare da?

• Ash
• Misty
• Tracey
• Jessie
• James
• Prima (Lorelei)
• Unnamed local Trainer

Pokémon

Who's That Pokémon?

Who's That Pokémon?: Machop (U.S. and international), Cloyster (Japan)

• Pikachu (Ash's)
• Meowth (Team Rocket)
• Togepi (Misty's)
• Bulbasaur (Ash's)
• Charizard (Ash's)
• Squirtle (Ash's)
• Slowbro (Prima's)
• Dewgong (Prima's)
• Cloyster (Prima's)
• Jynx (Prima's)
• Butterfree (unnamed Trainer's; Orange Archipelago Variant)
• Persian (unnamed Trainer's)
• Tauros (unnamed Trainer's)
• Kadabra (unnamed Trainer's)
• Machamp (unnamed Trainer's)
• Marowak (unnamed Trainer's)

Trivia

Jynx in its original design

• Professor Oak's lecture:
  • Pokémon senryū summary: The smile it shows at times is cute: Primeape.
• The book The Four Star Challenge is based on this episode.
• Despite the fact that both the preceding and succeeding episodes are included, this episode is missing from the U.S. Netflix, likely because of its depiction of Jynx.
  • This episode is not played on Pokémon TV, and the Pokémon.com synopsis lacks pictures of Jynx, likely due to this past controversy.
  • As of April 2013, it is removed from Pokémon.com entirely.
  • It is also removed from the re-release of the Orange Islands DVD box set.
• James calls Prima "Miss Elite," likely a reference to her status as the first member of the Elite Four as Lorelei in the Game Boy games.

Errors

• During the scene when a Kadabra battled against Prima's Cloyster, it says "Alakazam". Also, a Machamp says "Machop".
• When Jynx uses Ice Punch, Prima incorrectly orders it to use Ice Beam in the dub.

Dub edits

• In the dub, Lorelei is incorrectly referred to as Prima. This was likely due to "Lorelei" having an extra syllable over her Japanese name, "Kanna". It is also possible that the writers did not know that she already had an English name.

The original Japanese scene, without the zoom added in the dubbed version

• A 25-second scene, after Ash suggests that Prima is only denying him a battle because she will lose, was cut from all international dubs. In the original Japanese version, he challenges her to a battle, but she smiles and does not take him seriously, making him blush in embarrassment and anger. Ash then says something inappropriate about Misty in front of Prima. This really angers Misty, she shouts at Ash, and he walks away to find another Trainer to battle. In the versions with the cut, it is simply implied that he feels sorry for her because she didn't accept his challenge.

In other languages

Language		Title
Mandarin Chinese		四天王科拿，冰之戰鬥
Czech		Zápas na Mandarinkovém ostrově
Dutch		De Mandarin Island Miss Match
European French		Sirena sur l'île Mandarine
German		Ash und die Lektion auf der Mandarininsel
Hebrew		תחרות באי מנדרינה tacharut ba'ee Mandarina
Hungarian		Ash csatája a Mandarin szigeten
Italian		Lezioni di vita
Korean		사천왕 칸나! 물과 얼음의 마음
Norwegian		Mandarinøyas overraskelse
Polish		Mistrzyni Wyspy Mandarynek
Portuguese	Brazil	Batalha Errada na Ilha Mandarin
	Portugal	O Combate da Ilha Mandarin
Romanian		Meciul de pe Insula Mandarin
Russian		Поражение на Мандариновом острове
Spanish	Latin America	¡Duelo en la isla Mandarín!
	Spain	Combate femenino de isla Mandarina
Swedish		Prima Pokémon

← EP098 : A Way Off Day Off

Original series

EP100 : Wherefore Art Thou, Pokémon? →

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