EP083

← EP082 : A Scare in the Air

Original series

EP084 : The Lost Lapras →

Poké Ball Peril

EP083   なんごくポケモンとＧＳボール Southern Pokémon and the GS Ball

First broadcast Japan February 11, 1999 United States January 15, 2000

English themes Opening Pokémon Theme 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 小林清志 Kiyoshi Kobayashi Assistant director えがみきよし Kiyoshi Egami Animation director 藤田正幸 Masayuki Fujita Additional credits

Screenshots on Filb.de

Poké Ball Peril (Japanese: なんごくポケモンとＧＳボール Southern Pokémon and the GS Ball) is the 83rd episode of the Pokémon anime. It was first broadcast in Japan on February 11, 1999 and in the United States on January 15, 2000.

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

Blurb

After making a crash landing onto Valencia Island, our heroes get directions to Professor Ivy's laboratory where the mysterious Pokéball is being held. Once at the laboratory, Brock realizes that Professor Ivy and her group of scientists are Pokémon breeders just like him! Suddenly Brock begins to feel at home and thinks about staying for awhile to continue his studies on Pokémon breeding.

Plot

After the events in the previous episode, Ash and his friends manage to crash-land Team Rocket's blimp on Valencia Island. They get to an outlook and realize that they cannot find Professor Ivy's lab. Pikachu points to what appears to be a Pokémon Center. They go inside and find a Nurse Joy, much like Kanto's Centers, and she gives them the directions to Ivy's lab. They get to the lab and go inside, where they are met by three girls who lead the trio down to the beach. There, a Gyarados comes out of the sea as a woman pets it, shocking everyone with her skill. Gyarados takes her to the shore as one of the girls tosses her a lab coat. She introduces herself as Professor Ivy.

Back at the lab, Ivy shows them the gold Poké Ball. She reveals the inscribed letters on the top of the ball, giving it the name the GS Ball. One of the assistants demonstrates how the ball could not be transported. Ivy also points out how multiple attempts to open it have all failed. Ivy hands the Ball over to Ash to deliver to Professor Oak. Meanwhile, at the airfield, James and Meowth are dismayed by the ruined blimp, but Jessie reminds them that Ash and his friends have a return trip booked. Knowing that it means another shot at catching Pikachu, Team Rocket starts repairing the blimp.

Ivy leads Ash and the others through the outdoor environment, which serves as an extension of her lab. Misty smells the flowers, but is startled after a Vileplume steps out of the bushes. Ash checks his Pokédex and notices the Vileplume has differently colored petals. The assistants rush out a crate of Pokémon food as other Pokémon come out, all possessing an unusual orange coloring. Ivy explains that she has bred and raised all of Valencia Island's Pokémon, and they form an invaluable part of her research into the effect of the tropical climate's effects on Pokémon. Just then, an assistant points out that the Butterfree has not eaten in days despite them offering it different food combinations. Brock samples the food before running off. He returns to smash Berries, pointing out that the taste is important. He sprinkles the solution onto the food, and the Butterfree flies down immediately to eat, amazing Ivy.

Back at the living quarters, everyone is shocked at the amount of disorder there. Brock promptly puts on his gear and goes into a cleaning frenzy, making the place spotless and preparing dinner, much to the pleasure of Ivy and the assistants. Later that night, while everyone sleeps, Ivy and the assistants watch Vileplume mark the area with its pollen. Brock offers them some rice balls as he watches. An assistant notices a Raticate entering the pollen cloud. Ivy rushes in to pull Raticate to safety, in the process exposing herself to the pollen, which weakens her. She orders the assistants to contact the Pokémon Center. At the Center, Joy treats both Raticate and Ivy. Due to her actions, Raticate was not severely hurt and will recover. The assistants show their concerns for Ivy as Brock watches with admiration.

The next day, Ash and Misty prepare to leave, but they notice Brock is not with them. They find him fixing the roof with his Pokémon, and Ivy notes that Brock wants to stay. Brock explains that he can learn about Pokémon at the lab and that they need him more than Ash does. Ash agrees, and he and Misty bid farewell to Brock, Ivy, and her assistants. Later on, Misty notes how different it will be without Brock before bringing up the dilemma about getting back to Pallet Town. Ash brings out the blimp tickets, but Misty quickly reminds him that the blimp was a sham. When arrive at the airfield, they find a brand-new blimp on standby, and a disguised Team Rocket whisks them aboard. The ship takes to the skies as Jigglypuff manages to get onboard.

When Ash and Misty request food, Team Rocket steps out and drops a steel cage to imprison them before revealing themselves. They notice Brock is not with them and tease them about being a couple. Ash orders Pikachu to attack, but Jessie warns that the attack will destroy the entire blimp. Just then, Jigglypuff jumps in and sings, putting Ash and Misty to sleep. Team Rocket quickly grabs parachutes and opens the hatch to escape, with Jigglypuff flying out with them. However, Ash and Misty remain caged and asleep on the blimp without a pilot.

Major events

Brock staying with Professor Ivy

• Ash and his friends meet Professor Ivy.
• Ash receives the GS Ball from Professor Ivy.
• Brock decides to become Professor Ivy's assistant and leaves the group.
• Ash and Misty head back to Pallet Town, but are caught in one of Team Rocket's traps and left alone aboard a pilotless blimp.

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

Debuts

Humans

• Professor Ivy

Characters

Humans

Dare da?

• Ash
• Misty
• Brock
• Jessie
• James
• Nurse Joy
• Professor Oak
• Professor Ivy
• Professor Ivy's assistants

Pokémon

Who's That Pokémon?

Who's That Pokémon?: Lapras (US and international), Poliwhirl (Japan)

• Pikachu (Ash's)
• Meowth (Team Rocket)
• Togepi (Misty's)
• Bulbasaur (Ash's)
• Squirtle (Ash's)
• Staryu (Misty's)
• Psyduck (Misty's)
• Onix (Brock's)
• Geodude (Brock's)
• Zubat (Brock's)
• Vulpix (Brock's)
• Chansey (Nurse Joy's)
• Jigglypuff (anime)
• Butterfree (Orange Archipelago Variant)
• Raticate (Valencia Island Variant)
• Nidoran♀ (Valencia Island Variant)
• Nidoran♂ (Valencia Island Variant)
• Vileplume (multiple; Valencia Island Variant)
• Paras (×2; Valencia Island Variant)
• Weepinbell (Valencia Island Variant)
• Poliwhirl
• Cloyster
• Magikarp
• Gyarados

Trivia

Normal-colored Paras from Valencia Island in The Power of One

• Professor Oak's Pokémon Lecture:
  • Pokémon senryū summary: Beware of Electabuzz, thunder, fires, and fathers.
• Though Professor Ivy said that Pokémon have slightly different coloration in the Orange Islands, only Butterfree's coloration remained consistent in future episodes. All of the other Pokémon seen have had their regular colors in the Orange Islands. Even when a Paras and a Nidorina from Valencia Island appeared in The Power of One, they were normal-colored.
• Near the end of the episode, right before Pikachu uses Thunderbolt on Team Rocket, they warn Ash that the blimp is filled with flammable gas, and if Pikachu used an Electric attack, they would explode. This is most likely a reference to the Hindenburg disaster of 1937, when a German zeppelin filled with flammable hydrogen gas exploded and crash-landed while attempting to land in New Jersey, killing 36 people. The cause of the explosion was most likely due to a static electricity build-up that had sparked and ignited the gas.
• The cry of the Lapras in the Who's That Pokémon? segment is different from other Lapras depicted.

Errors

• The title card displays the name for this episode as Pokéball Peril instead of Poké Ball Peril (incorrectly formatting "Poké Ball"). The title Pokéball Peril is also used on Pokémon.com.
  • This episode's title is formatted as PokéBall Peril on the DVD menu of Australian DVDs.
• This episode, Pallet Party Panic, and A Scare in the Air use the Pokémon Theme instead of Pokémon World as the opening in the Kids' WB! and Cartoon Network airings, the Netflix and Pokémon TV video-on-demand, and Australian DVD releases. However, the US DVD releases use Pokémon World.
• When Ash and Misty are walking by themselves after waving goodbye to everybody, Misty's ponytail is on the right side instead of the left. When the camera changes to the close up, the ponytail is back on the left.
• When saying goodbye, Brock has on his apron, but then is shown with his usual green vest seconds later.
• While on the video phone, Professor Ivy has the receiver and so does Professor Oak, but Ash speaks without it. Ash can obviously hear Professor Oak talking too.

• EP083 title card.png

  The title card

Dub edits

• Pikachu's Jukebox: My Best Friends
• In the dub, James calls Ash and Misty a pair of "very romantic creatures" when Team Rocket captures them. In the Japanese version, he teases them that they had decided to "dump that guy" (Brock) and elope.

In other languages

Language		Title
Mandarin Chinese		南國神奇寶貝與GS球
Czech		Problémy s pokébalem
Danish		Pokéball-alarm
Dutch		Een Poké Ball met Hindernissen
European French		Le danger Poké Ball
German		Gefahr im Verzug
Hebrew		סכנת כדור הפוקימון Sakanat kadur ha'Pokémon
Hindi		पोके बॉल का खतरा Poke ball ka Khatra *
Hungarian		Pokélabda veszedelem
Italian		Arrivederci Brock
Norwegian		Pokéball-fare
Polish		Niebezpieczny Pokéball
Portuguese	Brazil	A Poké Bola Misteriosa
	Portugal	Perigo de Pokébola
Romanian		Pierirea Poké-mingilor
Russian		Загадочный покебол
Spanish	Latin America	¡Peligro Pokébola!
	Spain	Peligro Poké Ball
Swedish		Ett tropiskt paradis

← EP082 : A Scare in the Air

Original series

EP084 : The Lost Lapras →

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