DP042

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Diamond & Pearl series

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The Electrike Company!

DP042   EP508 ラクライ訓練センター！ Rakurai Practice Center!

First broadcast Japan August 9, 2007 United States December 22, 2007

English themes Opening Diamond and Pearl Ending

Japanese themes Opening Together Ending 君のそばで 〜ヒカリのテーマ〜(PopUp.Version)

Credits Animation Team Iguchi Screenplay 十川誠志 Masashi Sogo Storyboard 日高政光 Masamitsu Hidaka Assistant director 浅田裕二 Yūji Asada Animation director 岩根雅明 Masaaki Iwane Additional credits

Screenshots on Filb.de The above credits are from the Japanese anime magazine, Newtype. Another magazine, Animage, has different credits for this episode: Storyboard: 大庭秀昭 Hideaki Ōba Assistant director: 牧野行洋 Yukihiro Makino Animation director: 木下和栄 Kazue Kinoshita

The Electrike Company! (Japanese: ラクライ訓練センター！ Rakurai Practice Center!) is the 42nd episode of the Diamond & Pearl series, and the 508th episode of the Pokémon anime. It first aired in Japan on August 9, 2007 and in the United States on December 22, 2007.

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

Blurb

On a sunny day in Sinnoh, Ash is literally hit by a bolt out of the blue—an Electrike is practicing its Electric-type moves nearby, but it accidentally zapped Ash instead of its target! Jaco, the Electrike's Trainer, is a Pokémon breeder who's raising Electrike at the Pokémon Training Center. He doesn't think Electrike will ever be able to control its moves, but Brock knows better and offers to help both of them train. It's all about developing trust between Trainer and Pokémon so they can work together as a team. From daily care and feeding to learning Electrike's individual rhythm, Brock knows just how it's done!

Even Team Rocket feels a little touched by the developing bond between Jaco and Electrike. At least, James and Meowth are touched; Jessie is just touchy. She wants to steal Electrike now, but not only do James and Meowth try to stop her, they also volunteer to help Electrike and Jaco train! They have plenty of experience at being zapped by Pikachu, so they're happy to run around in insulated jackets so Electrike can practice hitting moving targets.

Jessie is still determined to steal Electrike, and she uses her own one-woman robot to grab it. But when Electrike evolves into Manectric, Jessie steals an easier prize instead: Pikachu! To stop her getaway, Manectric needs to hit the one exposed spot on her rampaging robot. Will Jaco and Manectric's hard work finally pay off? Of course! Manectric hits its target and sends Team Rocket blasting off. Now that it's finally learned to control its attacks, Manectric is ready to graduate from the Pokémon Training Center, and our heroes can say goodbye knowing that both Jaco and Manectric have grown from the experience.

Plot

Ash, Dawn, and Brock are sitting next to a pond, watching their Pokémon play in it, when they see an Electric move coming down on them from the sky. They evade it at the last second, and the rock they were sitting on is blown up. After that an Electrike comes running up. Dawn scans it on her Pokédex and Electrike zaps Ash. A man comes running up and apologizes to Ash.

He introduces himself as Jaco and says that he trains Electrike and that he is a Pokémon Breeder. He bends down to look at Staravia complimenting it while he reveals his passion for Flying-type Pokémon. Another man walks up and introduces himself as Cal. He runs a training center for Electric types nearby, and Jaco is training one of the Electrike there. Then he offers the group a tour of the center.

The gang go down to the school only to find it mostly abandoned, due to all the other Pokémon graduating. Then Cal shows up with an Electrike in his arms explaining that after graduating it too will go to the Power Generating room. Next, the scene turns to a demonstration of Electrike's training. He orders the Pokémon to use Charge followed by Thunder. The Electrike proves his ability to manipulate electricity by changing its direction to the left, upward and then on a quick descent hitting the target while Jaco's Electrike watches closely from the sidelines.

After he leaves, Jaco expresses his disappointment with Electrike, being more used to working with Flying types than Electric types. Brock volunteers to help coach Jaco in training Electrike and Jaco with his Electrike gladly accept.

Meanwhile, from their Magikarp Submarine, Team Rocket spies on the scene and figures Electrike is a good candidate to kidnap. James and Meowth point out that this Electrike is unstable, and hasn't matured yet. Jessie suggests that they wait for the twerps to do the work for them, then swoop in and steal it.

The scene turns to Brock explaining how to brush a Pokémon. Jaco starts by brushing it but gets zapped by Electrike to which Brock explains not to use a metal brush. Next, the scene turns to Electrike's training. It starts with Charge followed by Thunderbolt, but it loses control over the attack and accidentally hits Ash again. Upon seeing this, Brock suggest Ash and Dawn to make a demonstration with their Pokémon.

They agree and bring forth Pikachu and Pachirisu. Pikachu hits the target with no problem, but Pachirisu overcharges and blasts Ash. Dawn gives Pachirisu a Poffin, and succeeds the second time. Brock then tells him that Electrike is more powerful than other Electric-type Pokémon. Later, Jaco walks in on Brock as he prepares food for the Pokémon. Brock gives him some advice on breeding not only Electric types, but how all different types need different treatments.

That evening, Pikachu is training with Electrike while being remotely watched by James and Meowth who start to feel the bond of partnership the two have and are inspired for them to see it through. Ironically, Jessie has gotten tired of waiting despite her earlier advice and has them rush in. She tries to steal the Pokémon, but James and Meowth hold her back. She gets insulted, and runs off on her own. The others offer to keep helping Electrike, stunning Ash, Dawn and Brock.

Next morning, Pikachu and Electrike enjoy a meal prepared by Jaco. After that, they turn back to their training. Jaco orders Electrike to Charge again and hit the target with a Thunderbolt, this time succeeding. Then Ash, Meowth and James dress in electricity insulated jackets in order to help Electrike learn to control electricity. Cal shows up in his car and acts impressed.

Jessie returns later, in her own pink mecha to steal Electrike. Pikachu attacks, but her machine is insulated. While held captive in the mecha's hand, Electrike evolves into Manectric, shattering the restraint. Manectric is too big for Jessie's hands now, so she steals Pikachu instead. James and Meowth hop onto the back and hack a hole for Manectric to hit. Manectric has gained a lot of power, improved aim and electricity control, able to hit the small target and blasts Team Rocket off.

After that, Cal shows up and congratulates them on their good work and Manectric graduates to go off to the power generator and charge it. In the closing scenes, Jaco bids his farewell to Manectric as he leaves with Cal, while the group heads off to Hearthome City.

Major events

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

Characters

Humans

• Ash
• Dawn
• Brock
• Jessie
• James
• Jaco
• Cal

Pokémon

• Pikachu (Ash's)
• Meowth (Team Rocket)
• Piplup (Dawn's)
• Wobbuffet (Jessie's)
• Mime Jr. (James's)
• Aipom (Ash's)
• Staravia (Ash's)
• Turtwig (Ash's)
• Buneary (Dawn's)
• Pachirisu (Dawn's)
• Buizel (Dawn's)
• Sudowoodo (Brock's)
• Croagunk (Brock's)
• Happiny (Brock's)
• Electrike (Jaco's; evolves)
• Manectric (Jaco's; newly evolved)
• Electrike (Cal's)

Trivia

• Music from Jirachi: Wish Maker and an alternate cut of Together are used as background music.
• This is the first episode to use music from Pokémon Ranger and the Temple of the Sea, during Electrike's evolution. However, the background music is replaced in the dub.
• Ash narrates the preview for the next episode.
• This is one of the few episodes where Team Rocket actually wants to be blasted off. James and Meowth requested for Ash to blast them off while trying to hold back Jessie.
• In this episode, Team Rocket uses a variation of their motto.
• During Team Rocket's motto, the music was cut out during James and Meowth's lines to portray their sadness.
• The dub title is a pun on the 1971 program The Electric Company.

Errors

• When Ash, James, and Meowth are running from Electrike, Ash doesn't have his gloves on. However, when he tells Pikachu to use Thunderbolt on Jessie's machine, the gloves are back on. After Electrike evolves, Ash's gloves are gone again.
• Pachirisu and Pikachu zap the two outer targets. When the camera pans out, it shows the target on the right undamaged and the left and center targets broken.
  • Similarly, Cal's Electrike zaps the center target, but when the camera zooms out, the left one is destroyed, while the center one is unscathed.
• In the Polish dub, during the showcase of Cal's Electrike Thunder is called Thunderbolt.

• 

  Ash without his gloves

In other languages

Language		Title
Mandarin Chinese		落雷獸訓練中心！
Czech		Ve společnosti Electrika
Dutch		Een Electrike onder hoogspanning
Finnish		Sähköinen sähäkkyys
European French		Il y a de l'électricité dans l'air
German		Eine "blitzende" Herausforderung!
Italian		La fabbrica di energia
Korean		썬더라이! 포켓몬 훈련소를 졸업하라!
Polish		Zespół Electrike'a
Portuguese	Brazil	A Companhia Electrike!
	Portugal	A Companhia Electrike!
Russian		В компании Электрайка
Spanish	Latin America	¡En compañía de Electrike!
	Spain	¡La compañía Electrike!
Swedish		Elproblem
Thai		ศูนย์ฝึกฝนราคุไร!

← DP041 : A Stand-Up Sit-Down!

Diamond & Pearl series

DP043 : Malice In Wonderland! →

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