EP156

The Psychic Sidekicks! File:ThePsychicSidekicks.jpg.png

EP156   キリンリキ！エスパーポケモンのむら！ Kirinriki! The Village of ESPer Pokémon!

First broadcast Japan July 13, 2000 United States August 11, 2001

English themes Opening Pokémon Johto Ending

Japanese themes Opening OK! Ending ポケモンはらはら²リレー

Credits Animation Team Ota Screenplay 冨岡淳広 Atsuhiro Tomioka Storyboard 横田和 Kazu Yokota Assistant director 大町繁 Shigeru Ōmachi Animation director たけだゆうさく Yūsaku Takeda No additional credits are available at this time.

The Psychic Sidekicks! (Japanese: キリンリキ！エスパーポケモンのむら！ Kirinriki! The Village of ESPer Pokémon!) is episode 156 of the Pokémon anime. It was first broadcast in Japan on July 13, 2000 and in the United States on August 11, 2001.

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

Synopsis

Our three heroes are walking through a wood, and notice a sign that warns about Ghost Pokémon in the woods and they should use a Psychic Pokémon to keep them away. They don't have any Psychic types, but Brock remembers that Psyduck can use psychic attacks. Misty releases Psyduck and tells it to use its Confusion attack if they meet a ghost Pokémon, but it doesn't seem to understand her.

The bushes rustle and something peeks out. Misty orders Psyduck to use Confusion but it returns to its Poké Ball. Ash and Brock examine the thing in the bush, it doesn't look like a ghost type. A girl walks up and says it isn't, it's her Girafarig's tail. Ash consults Dexter, a Girafarig is a Psychic Pokémon with a second face on its tail.

Ash introduces himself. The girl is Cherrie. She picked a Girafarig to train because it's different. It's tradition in her home town to raise Psychic Pokémon because of the ghosts in the woods.

Team Rocket is listening to this and they make a plan to go to town and steal all the Psychic Pokémon. Wobbuffet comes out, annoying Jessie. Meowth says Psychic types are tricky to catch but he has a secret weapon.

The kids are eating lunch together. Cherrie says she wants to compete in the Johto League. She notices that Ash and Pikachu know each other very well, and says that it's thought if a trainer and their Psychic Pokémon are very close they can communicate psychically. She challenges Ash to a battle and he accepts.

Pikachu starts with a Quick Attack that knocks Girafarig down, but Girafarig gets up and uses Future Sight. Nothing seems to happen, so Pikachu continues with Thunderbolt and Agility when Girafarig tries to Stomp it. Suddenly a wind rustles through the trees and a tremendous blast comes out of nowhere! Pikachu is thrown back but he's not out of the fight yet. Cherrie explains that this is Future Sight: a time delayed Psychic attack. Now Girafarig uses Psybeam, Pikachu counters it with Thunderbolt, creating an explosion that raises a cloud of dust. Before Girafarig can attack again, Pikachu leaps out of the cloud and uses Thunder to win the match.

All of them congratulate Cherrie for a great match, but she's worried because she can't communicate psychically with with Girafarig. Ash reassures her that she's still a good trainer. Cherrie invites them all to her town to see all the other Psychic Pokémon.

In town, Misty is impressed with the Psychic Pokémon everywhere. A woman trainer chases after her playful Abra which keeps Teleporting around. Then an exhausted man comes running up the street and warns them about a giant Ghost Pokémon that was immune to Psychic attacks! He and his Mr. Mime were fishing when a giant Gengar appeared. He had Mr. Mime do a Psywave but the attack bounced off the Gengar and hit them instead. Then the Gengar captured Mr. Mime with its tongue. Brock and Ash decide to check it out.

Jessie and James drink a toast to their mechanical ghost, but Meowth says they should go back to town and catch the rest of the psychic Pokémon. The woman trainer finds her Abra in a tree, then they both see the Gengar. She tells Abra to use Psychic but the attack bounces off the Gengar's eyes and hits the Abra. The giant tongue comes down and grabs the Abra. Team Rocket gloats, this time they're unstoppable!

Cherrie's Girafarig indicates that something is wrong, just as the giant Gengar is seen at the town limits. The man with them recognizes it as the same one that ate his Mr. Mime, and the woman returns with the same story about her Abra. All the townsfolk grab their Pokémon and run inside, but Cherrie believes that her Girafarig can take on this thing despite its size.

As Team Rocket prepares to capture Pikachu, Cherrie tells Girafarig to attack with Psybeam. The attack bounces off the Gengar's eyes and hits, knocking it down. TR appear and say their motto, then explain that the Gengar works by using mirrors to reflect the Psychic attacks. Brock admits that this time they've been pretty smart. Misty grabs his ear and demands to know whose side he is on.

Cherrie gets angry. She and her Girafarig glow for a moment, then she orders Confusion. The attack is reflected and Girafarig gets stunned! Not giving up, Cherrie encourages her Pokémon to get up and use Psybeam. This attack is bounced back as well, and to protect Girafarig both Ash and Cherrie stand in front of it and take the blast themselves.

Ash tells a weakened Cherrie to leave Team Rocket to him, but she tells Girafarig to use Future Sight. Team Rocket watches the Girafarig just stand there and wonder if Future Sight will tell them what their future is going to be.

As Pikachu runs forward to attack, Cherrie suddenly has a vision of the Gengar trying to lick up Pikachu. She realises that this is Girafarig's vision and warns Ash of the attack, so Pikachu is able to avoid the robot's tongue at the last second. All attempts to catch Pikachu fail, because he's now flying high thanks to Girafarig's Confusion ability. Eventually the robot's tongue can't stretch any farther, and Pikachu uses a Thunder attack which disables the robot and frees the Abra and Mr. Mime that were inside.

Team Rocket are about to get out their Pokémon to continue the fight, but a wind rustles the trees and the Future Sight attack goes off, sending TR blasting off again.

Cherrie is happy, she and her Pokémon finally connected psychically. Ash and friends depart, and Cherrie vows that she and Girafarig will become as good a team as Ash and Pikachu are.

Major events

Debuts

• Girafarig

Characters

Humans

• Ash
• Misty
• Brock
• Jessie
• James
• Cherrie

Pokémon

Who's That Pokémon?: Ursaring (US and international), Kirinriki (Japan)

• Pikachu (Ash's)
• Meowth (Team Rocket)
• Togepi (Misty's)
• Wobbuffet (Jessie's)
• Psyduck (Misty's)
• Girafarig (Cherrie's; debut)
• Fearow
• Abra
• Alakazam
• Slowpoke
• Drowzee
• Exeggcute
• Exeggutor
• Mr. Mime

Trivia

• When The Johto Journeys went on a two month hiatus on Kids' WB! in 2001, this episode was promoted as a "lost episode." Even though it was classified as a lost episode, it was rerun three more times after its premiere. (October 19, 2001; December 10, 2001; July 9, 2002)
• This episode, along with Beauty and the Beach and The Fortune Hunters, has never been released on VHS or DVD.

In other languages

• French: Psychiquement vôtre
• Italian: Questione di telepatia
• Latin American Spanish: ¡La pareja psíquica!
• Spanish: Los amigos psíquicos

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