EP024

← EP023 : The Tower of Terror

Original series

EP025 : Primeape Goes Bananas →

Haunter versus Kadabra

EP024   ゴーストVSエスパー！ Ghost VS Esper!

First broadcast Japan September 9, 1997 United States October 8, 1998

English themes Opening Pokémon Theme Ending

Japanese themes Opening めざせポケモンマスター Ending ひゃくごじゅういち

Credits Animation Team Ota Screenplay 武上純希 Junki Takegami Storyboard 鈴木敏明 Toshiaki Suzuki Assistant director 織田美浩 Yoshihiro Oda Animation director 山本郷 Gō Yamamoto Additional credits

Haunter versus Kadabra (Japanese: ゴーストVSエスパー！ Ghost VS Esper!) is the 24th episode of the Pokémon anime. It was first broadcast in Japan on September 9, 1997 and in USA on October 8, 1998.

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

Synopsis

After a brief recap of the previous episode, Ash and his friends return to Saffron City with Haunter in tow. Ash is feeling confident, but Brock is somewhat afraid of Haunter. However, Misty is not, Haunter hugging up and licking Misty’s face, paralyzing her. Ash scolds it and Haunter cries, but Ash reassures it, the Pokémon quickly perking up. Ash asks Haunter for help against Sabrina, and it agrees to.

Ash and his friends return to the Saffron Gym as Ash remembers the last match. He is ready to go inside, but he notices that his friends and Pikachu do not want to go in, based on what happened last time. Ash believes he will win, but Brock thinks Haunter is controlling Ash, but Haunter appears not to be, laughing continually. Ash brings out Charmander, Squirtle and Bulbasaur and they prepare to go inside. Everyone returns to the stadium, as Ash demands a rematch. Sabrina agrees and sends out Kadabra. Ash attempts to send out Haunter, but Haunter has disappeared. Ash freaks out, losing his confidence. Sabrina starts to get angry and orders Ash to send out another Pokémon or they will all return to the toy box. Ash tries to send Pikachu, but it backs away scared. His other Pokémon do the same, not wanting to battle. Sabrina is purely angry as Ash decides to back out, running away, everyone following him. The exit seals off as the little girl appears from behind, using telekinesis to turn Brock and Misty into dolls. The little girl appears in front of them as Ash’s Pokémon hind behind him. The man that told him to find the Ghost Pokémon before appears and teleports them out.

They reappear in the city and they all drop into a pile atop the man. Ash's Pokémon relax as Ash reflects on how mean Sabrina is. The man mentions that Sabrina was not always mean. Flashbacks reveal Sabrina as a young girl using telekinetic powers on everything, honing her skills at the cost of turning against her parents. The conflict caused her to split into two girls, the older trainer and the lonely little girl. The little girl is actually a doll representing Sabrina before she practiced telekinesis. Ash notices that the picture he showed is the same one they saw in Sabrina’s toy box. The man believes that Ash has found out that he is really Sabrina’s father, but Ash thinks he is a photographer. Pikachu laughs and the man is somewhat astounded that Ash is that oblivious. Sabrina's father asks why he does not have a Ghost Pokémon as Ash mentions that Haunter disappeared. He must find Haunter in order to free his friends.

Ash and Pikachu scan the city for Haunter. Meanwhile, Team Rocket is alongside a skyscraper on a platform. James readies the fishing net in order to capture Pikachu, but Haunter appears in front of them, scaring Team Rocket and causing them to fall off the platform. Jessie grabs hold as everyone else clings onto her. She cannot pull up because they are too heavy. Haunter appears next to Jessie and makes funny faces, trying to get her to laugh. She tries to resist because she will let go if she laughs. Eventually she cracks, laughing and releasing her grip. They crash through the sidewalk as Ash and Pikachu notice, Haunter appearing nearby. Ash wants to go back to the gym, but Haunter does not want to battle. However, Haunter comes with an idea and sides with Ash again as they return to the gym.

Meanwhile, Misty and Brock, now as dolls, are sitting on a couch, unable to move. They notice another doll nearby as they realize that it Sabrina's mother. They are shocked as she reveals that Sabrina is still good. The roof opens as the Sabrina doll looks down upon them. Misty demands a battle and for them to change them back, but she doesn't want them to change. Ash returns and asks for another match. Misty and Brock protest, but Ash is set to battle. Kadabra comes back out as Ash orders Haunter to go, but it disappears again. This time, there is no backing out as Ash freaks out. Ash falls to the floor in defeat, but Pikachu steps out to battle, even though Ash knows Pikachu is at a disadvantage. Pikachu wants to stand up for Ash as the battle begins. Pikachu uses ThunderShock, but Kadabra Teleports to avoid it. It uses Psybeam to knock Pikachu back. Pikachu gets back up and uses a Thunderbolt, hitting and roasting Kadabra. It seems like a win, but it uses Recover to heal. The battle seems to be against Ash, but suddenly, Haunter appears in front of Sabrina and laughs. The doll believes that it is unfair to pit two against one, but Sabrina’s dad reappears and says that Haunter is playing on its own, not battling, so it is not against the rules. Haunter makes funny faces and even pulls out a bomb, exploding it in front of Sabrina. The effort works as Sabrina cracks a smile, progressing to hysterical laughter. Sabrina's dad seems happy at Sabrina’s breakthrough, but Ash is still unconvinced that he is her dad, making him angry. However, he notes that Haunter has helped Sabrina. Ash is still angry that he did not win, but Sabrina’s dad points to Kadabra rolling on the floor laughing, since Sabrina and Kadabra are joined telepathically. Sabrina's doll disappears and drops Kadabra’s Poké Ball, Misty and Brock returning to human form. Sabrina’s father declares Ash the winner.

Ash and his friends leave Saffron City, Ash glancing at his new Marsh Badge. They make plans to head off to the next gym in Celadon City. Meanwhile, Team Rocket is frozen in the pit being filled with cement, but they manage to get out and blast off.

Major events

• Ash returns to Saffron City and battles Sabrina.
• Ash earns the Marsh Badge.
• Ash gives Haunter to Sabrina.

Characters

Humans

• Ash
• Misty
• Brock
• Jessie
• James
• Sabrina
• Sabrina's father
• Sabrina's mother

Pokémon

Who’s That Pokémon?: Haunter

• Pikachu (Ash's)
• Meowth (Team Rocket)
• Bulbasaur (Ash's)
• Charmander (Ash's)
• Squirtle (Ash's)
• Haunter (Ash's; leaves)
• Kadabra (Sabrina's)
• Haunter (Sabrina's; new)
• Gastly (flashback)
• Gengar (flashback)

Trivia

• The Polish dub of this episode adds a voiceover for Haunter in one scene in the city when it talks to Ash.
• The book Night in the Haunted Tower is based on this episode.
• For unspecified reasons, both Sabrina and Ash state that Ash caught Haunter in this episode.
• The Marsh Badge that Ash earns in this episode is his fourth badge. However, in a rare deviation from the traditional sequence of gyms, the Marsh Badge is fifth badge the player can earn in the games.

Dub edits

• In the dub, the Narrator claims that Ash returned for the biggest showdown in his life, while in the Japanese version, he simply says that Ash returned to Saffron City.
• The signs that Misty, Brock, and Pikachu hold when they are reluctant to enter the gym were translated in the Dub to "Go Ash Go!" (Brock), Ash's face (both Misty), and "Good Luck" (Pikachu). Originally, they said "Never Give Up, Satoshi", "Guts" (left), and Do Your Best (right) for Brock and Misty's signs, respectively, whileas Pikachu's sign was the same as the dub in terms of translation.
• Brock says to Ash after he tells them about how Haunter will make sure that Ash wins against Sabrina: "I wouldn't be too sure, Ash. What if Haunter's the one controlling you?" Originally, Brock just reminds Ash that he should keep an eye on Haunter so that it won't disappear on him.
• In the dub, Ash believed that the man knew so much about Sabrina because he was her photographer, while in the Japanese version Ash believed that he is a neighbor of Sabrina's.
• Originally, the Egg that falls on Team Rocket was meant to be a Columbus Egg, and James explains what a Columbus egg was, followed by Jessie saying that she thought it was in reference to Christopher Columbus liking eggs. This was changed by the dub to a variation of the "Who came first: The Chicken or the Egg" argument.

In other languages

• Arabic: هونتر يواجه كادابرا
• Dutch: Waar is Haunter?
• Finnish: Salaisuus paljastuu
• French: La revanche
• German: Alpollo vs. Kadabra
• Hebrew: הונטר נגד קדברה Haunter neged Kadabra
• Italian: Haunter contro Kadabra
• Mandarin: 鬼斯通对抗超能力
• Portuguese:
  • Brazilian Portuguese: Haunter VS Kadabra
  • European Portuguese: Haunter Contra Kadabra
• Russian: Хонтер против Кадабры
• Spanish:
  • Iberian Spanish: Haunter versus Kadabra
  • Latin American Spanish: ¡Haunter contra Kadabra!

← EP023 : The Tower of Terror

Original series

EP025 : Primeape Goes Bananas →

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