BW129

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Best Wishes series

BW130 : Butterfree and Me! →

The Pirates of Decolore!

BW129   EP786 デコロラ諸島の海賊王！ The Pirate Kings of the Decolora Archipelago!

First broadcast Japan June 6, 2013 United States September 7, 2013

English themes Opening It's Always You and Me Ending

Japanese themes Opening 夏めく坂道 Ending 手をつなごう

Credits Animation Team Kato Screenplay 大橋志吉 Yukiyoshi Ōhashi Storyboard 西田健一 Ken'ichi Nishida Assistant director 西田健一 Ken'ichi Nishida Animation director 小山知洋 Tomohiro Koyama No additional credits are available at this time.

Screenshots on Filb.de Preview thread on BMGf Closed Original review thread on BMGf Dub review thread on BMGf

The Pirates of Decolore! (Japanese: デコロラ諸島の海賊王！ The Pirate Kings of the Decolora Archipelago!) is the 129th episode of the Best Wishes series, and the 786th episode of the Pokémon anime. It first aired in Japan on June 6, 2013 and in the United States on September 7, 2013.

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

Blurb

It’s a beautiful day at sea, and our heroes are enjoying the fresh air on deck when a Croconaw, Azumarill, and Octillery sneak aboard unnoticed. The three break into the ship’s supply room to steal boxes of food and discover Team Rocket attempting to do the same thing! The ship’s alarm sounds, and Porter says it can only mean one thing—pirates!

Pikachu and Snivy go to investigate and spot the three pilfering Pokémon pushing a cart loaded with stolen food. Several of the ship’s crew give chase, but the crooks have obviously done this sort of thing before. They swiftly get themselves and their loot aboard a raft (where Ducklett, the fourth member of the gang, waits as a “getaway driver”), and off they go, but not before knocking Team Rocket off the ship and into the ocean!

While Meowth vows to get the grub back, Officer Jenny of the Decolore Island police informs our heroes that this is the work of a well-known gang of pirates, who have been stealing all sorts of things from people throughout the islands. Ash, Iris, and Cilan offer to help, and they all set out aboard Officer Jenny’s police boat in search of the gang’s hideout.

Meowth has discovered the hideout, but when the pirates discover him, they attack despite pleas to talk things over. Soon, Charizard finds the gang’s hideout from the air and guides the police boat there. Officer Jenny attempts to put the gang under arrest, and Ash asks why they’ve been behaving so badly. With Meowth as translator, all four Pokémon pirates relate sad stories of being mistreated and abandoned by their Trainers. After that, they vowed to get even with people by stealing from them! Pignite and Snivy can relate to their plight, but as tempers flare, the battle lines are drawn. If the pirates lose, they agree to stop their thieving ways. And that’s exactly what happens.

Our heroes and Officer Jenny are preparing to leave when a sudden storm blows up, and they notice a rubber raft being tossed on the waves with three petrified Darumaka aboard, holding on for dear life! The water is too rough to take the police boat out, but Croconaw rallies the gang, and the four of them swim out and bring the raft safely to shore. Officer Jenny is impressed with their bravery and offers to make them members of the Decolore Coastguard, but not before they go back and apologize to everyone they have stolen from.

And so, with the future looking bright for the former pirates, our heroes set sail once again on their journey to the Kanto region!

Plot

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On a cruise ship during their travels through the Decolore Islands, Ash, Iris, Cilan, and Snivy are watching Pikachu, Pignite, and Axew as they play with a ball. Noting how they are in a place of the archipelago with many islands, Porter approaches them and offers them some juice. Meanwhile, on the water, two Pokémon emerge, an Octillery that climbs up to the ship's deck and a Croconaw, who waits under it. When the Pokémon are playing, Ash's Pignite makes a bad pass and goes after the ball. However, when he finds it, the Octillery jumps over him and then throws a boltrope to the water. Croconaw holds on to it and an Azumarill joins as well, Octillery pulls a capstan lever and the three proceed to enter to the ship.

At the ship's storage, Jessie, James and Meowth sneak in through the ventilation system in order to steal some food. However, before they get a chance, the Water-type Pokémon appear and steal the food before them, taking it off the ferry. Ash and company hear the alarm and rush to help, only to find the getaway raft and watch the Pokémon get away with the food. After hearing about the acts that these pirate Pokémon partake within, Ash decides to try and stop them using Oshawott to go after the getaway raft.

But even after Oshawott gets on the raft, he doesn't attack them, and instead laughs. This made the Croconaw order the Octillery to cover it`s face with ink, making Oshawott go back to its Poké Ball. The pirate Pokémon continue on their way, but Ash is determined they won't get away with stealing food that doesn't belong to them, so he releases Charizard and tells it to follow the pirate raft to their hideout.

While Charizard is searching for the pirate Pokémon, Jesse and James have struggled to their nearby submarine to catch their breath. Realizing that Meowth is nowhere to be seen, they assume he went after the pirate raft and decide to head after it as well. they go after him, suspecting he is on the pirate raft. Meowth decides to show these pirates a lesson when someone steals from Team Rocket.

The pirate raft continues along with Meowth clinging to the side, smart enough to have caught up to the raft, but not confront them while outnumbered like Oshawott did. However, Meowth vows revenge by teaching these pirate Pokémon a lesson when someone steals from Team Rocket.

On the cruise ship, Iris cleans the gunk out of Oshawott's eyes and tells him not to be upset, as there wasn't anything he could have done. Porter admits there have been plenty of reports of pirate Pokémon operating in the area that they just kind of failed to actually let any of the passengers know about. They reported the theft to Officer Jenny on the next island, though, and the heroes are determined to help her track down the pirate Pokémon once Charizard lets them know where they are. The heroes know there is a reason why those pirates stole the food, hoping they can stop them after learning why they did in the first place.

After docking, Porter and the heroes give details to Officer Jenny, including what type of Pokémon were involved (helped by Pikachu's impersonation of the Azumarill). Jenny takes notes and says this is the usual gang of pirates, who have stolen a fisherman's boat, food from beachgoers and fruit from a farmer. Because of the number of Decolore Islands, Jenny has been unable to locate their hideout.

Charizard eventually spots the pirates' hideout, which is located back half of an island with a resort town on the other side. The Pirate Pokémon begin unloading into a cave, watched by Meowth who ponders how to reveal the location to Jesse and James. Unfortunately for him, he is spotted by Ducklett who calls the others out, and has to face the music. He tries to be diplomatic, asking if they can't just talk this out, but they refuse to comply. Octillery jumps on him, wrapping him up in his tentacles and leaving Meowth to have to squeeze himself out into an oddly phallic shape before sighing that he's a little tied up at the moment. All this is observed by Charizard as well and heads back to inform Ash of the pirates' location.

Cilan is impressed by Officer Jenny's cruiser, with the Officer herself seeming to take Cilan's interest as flattering. She is explaining the cruiser is a must-have for traversing the various islands when Charizard lands to let the heroes know he has found the pirate hangout. Jenny has no choice but to bring Ash and company with her on the cruiser, motoring along behind Charizard as he leads the way. Cilan notes all the scuba-gear as she explains her police force acts as the coastguard as well, and is surprised when she sees the island that Charizard is taking them towards. It's a well-known resort island that appears on all the maps. Cilan suggests that they're hiding in plain sight, and Jenny says this is why she was never able to find them.

At the hideaway, Meowth is trying to convince the pirate Pokémon that they're all on the same side. He tries to impress them with the reveal that he is part of Team Rocket, but they've never heard of it, which just infuriates him. Going into a little rant he insists that Team Rocket is a super-secret organization that is going to rule the world, then corrects himself, insisting that they already rule the world. The pirate Pokémon are unimpressed though, and still don't consider Meowth a kindred spirit. They have other problems, though, when Meowth and the pirates spot Officer Jenny's cruiser.

Meowth takes off first and the pirate Pokémon prepare to do the same but are forced to halt by the sheer power of Officer Jenny's voice when she declares they're under arrest. The heroes demand to know why they did it anyway, since people and Pokémon should get along well together. Furious, the Pokémon angrily shout their own names at them, which, of course, none of them are able to understand...but Meowth can.

Meowth insists they not worry about how he got there, acting as translator and explaining that the Pokémon were abandoned by their trainers. Each of them remember their cruel and callous trainers and how and why they were abandoned: Croconaw lost multiple Gym Battles and failed to evolve, Azumarill evolved (her Trainer preferred her as a Marill), Octillery was considered useless (due to his Trainer not knowing that Octillery evolved from Remoraid) and Ducklett lost a battle and didn't seem to be as upset about it as his Trainer believed he should've been. After they were abandoned, the four of them struggled by themselves for a long while, sometimes even going days without food, before eventually teaming up and turning to piracy as both a way to sustain themselves and as payback against humans for their mistreatment by their former Trainers.

Meowth feels sympathetic, saying it gets him "right in the gut" since he's been hungry in the past as well. The heroes are horrified at the idea of their trainers being so callous, but they insist that not all trainers are that way. Pignite agrees, translated by Meowth, he knows what it is like to be abandoned by a trainer but he also knows that this doesn't make all humans/trainers bad people. Pikachu confirms this as well, and Snivy speaks up too, reminding everybody that she abandoned her trainer, having no patience for such a loser. Ash then asks the pirates not to steal anymore. When they refuse, Meowth translates a conversation between Snivy and Croconaw, with the two challenging each other to a battle, with Meowth essentially arguing with and goading himself as he translates what each of the two are saying. If Snivy wins, the pirate Pokémon have to stop stealing on their behalf.

While Jenny is unsure of all this, Ash insists that they resolve this complex issue with a battle. Officer Jenny agrees to referee a two-on-two battle with Ash's Pignite and Snivy up against Croconaw and Azumarill. The battle kicks off immediately with Croconaw taking a shot at their two opponents, who barely dodge in time. The action is fast, and there's a decided disadvantage to Ash who for once can't hear the orders being given by his opponent. Snivy and Pignite are mostly on the defensive, Pignite taking a shot of Water Gun hard to the chest. Iris is concerned, Pignite is weak against water moves, but when Pignite leaps up ready to keep fighting, Cilan reminds her that spirit counts as well.

Pignite and Snivy finally go on the offensive, slapping the two pirates with Vine Whip and chasing them with Flamethrower. Snivy trips Azumarill with Vine Whip and Pignite blasts them both with flamethrower. Croconaw helps Azumarill back up and goes on a bit of a mental rampage, smashing Iron Tail at both of them to back them off. But Snivy can attack from range and uses Leaf Storm effectively, backing them off before Pignite finishes things off with Fire Pledge. Croconaw and Azumarill are knocked out, Pignite and Snivy are the winners, and the pirate careers of the Pokémon are over.

Defeated, the pirate Pokémon sit sadly on the beach as the heroes remind them of their promise. Jenny then insists that they give up their life of crime, and the pirates reluctantly nod in agreement, giving their word. However, new voices get their attention, which turns out to be Team Rocket.

Ash sighs and tells Team Rocket that they should give it up, but Meowth happily rejoins his buddies and says that Team Rocket never will. Jessie and James offer the pirate Pokémon to join them and continue their careers in evil. Furious, Iris insists they butt out, but Jessie retorts in disagreement and brings out Woobat to fight. James also calls out Yamask, and they blast attacks at the group on the beach, who have to dodge aside.

Unfortunately for Team Rocket, they hadn't considered the fact that they've encountered the twerps plenty of times in the past, and this simple attack isn't going to scare them off. Ash orders a Leaf Storm/Fire Pledge one-two punch, and to their great surprise Team Rocket find themselves blasting off too soon, according to them.

Iris tells the pirates they will end up like Team Rocket if they keep doing bad things, an idea which horrifies the pirate Pokémon, causing them to shake their heads fearfully. Just then, storm clouds roll in and the sea becomes disrupted, and Jenny warns that this is a regular occurrence. Suddenly, they spot an inflatable raft with three terrified Darumaka inside of it. The waters are too choppy to use the cruiser to rescue them, and only a group of abandoned Pokémon looking for redemption would be able to save them now.

The pirate Pokémon prevent Ash from sending in Oshawott, insisting that they will handle things. They leap into the water and swim to the Darumaka, guiding them to shore, even saving them from falling into the water when a particularly powerful wave kicks them into the air.

With the Darumaka saved, once the storm dies down Jenny takes everybody to the resort town, where the Darumaka are reunited with their two young trainers. Ash tells them that the pirate Pokémon were responsible for the rescue, leaving them somewhat embarrassed but grateful. Jenny then suggests that they join up and assist the Decolore Coast Guard. They accept Jenny's offer, but they must first apologize to everybody whom they have stolen from, which they agree to do. Later, the heroes depart on their cruise ship and wave goodbye to Jenny and the former pirate Pokémon who now work for her as a Water Rescue Squad.

Major events

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

Characters

Humans

Dare da?

• Ash
• Iris
• Cilan
• Jessie
• James
• Officer Jenny
• Porter
• Sailors (×2)
• Trainers (×2)
• Trainers (silhouettes; multiple)

Pokémon

Who's That Pokémon?

Who's That Pokémon?: Octillery

• Pikachu (Ash's)
• Meowth (Team Rocket)
• Axew (Iris's)
• Charizard (Ash's)
• Oshawott (Ash's)
• Pignite (Ash's)
• Snivy (Ash's)
• Woobat (Jessie's)
• Yamask (James's)
• Croconaw (Officer Jenny's; new)
• Azumarill (Officer Jenny's; new)
• Octillery (Officer Jenny's; new)
• Ducklett (Officer Jenny's; new)
• Darumaka (×3; Trainers')

Trivia

• Professor Oak's Pokémon Live Caster: Golurk
• The opening animation is updated to include Professor Oak's Rotom.
• Pikachu once again uses his talent for mimicry in this episode to impersonate Azumarill.

Errors

• There is inconsistency in regards to the color of the ship railings. While the railings in the roofed ship terrace are colored red in most scenes, when they are shown from the outside and during full views of the ship, they are blue. Since the ship itself and Porter's color schemes features blue, the railings are probably supposed to be blue as well.
• In one scene, Jessie's earrings are colored red.
• When Ash tells Charizard to chase the raft, his zipper is colored the same as his skin.
• In another scene, Azumarill's face is missing.
• While riding the boat, Oshawott sits on Ash's lap, but when he leans over to talk to Officer Jenny, Oshawott disappears.
• When Charizard goes flying in search of the raft, the downside greenish part of its wings is upside, and the upper orange parts of its wings is downside.

• 

  Jessie's earrings error

In other languages

Language		Title
Mandarin Chinese		杰可羅拉群島的海賊王！
Dutch		De piraten van Decolore!
Finnish		Decoloren merirosvot!
Greek		Οι Πειρατές των Ντέκολορ!
Italian		I pirati delle Isole Cristalline!
Korean		데코로라제도의 해적왕!
Norwegian		Piratene på Decolore-øyene!
Polish		Piraci z Decolore!
Brazilian Portuguese		Os Piratas de Decolore!
Russian		Пираты Деколор!
European Spanish		¡Los Piratas de Decoloras!
Swedish		Decolore-piraterna!
Thai		เจ้าแห่งโจรสลัดบนหมู่เกาะเดโคโรรา!

← BW128 : To Catch a Rotom!

Best Wishes series

BW130 : Butterfree and Me! →

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