EP100
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Wherefore Art Thou, Pokémon?
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First broadcast
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English themes
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Japanese themes
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Credits
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Wherefore Art Thou, Pokémon? (Japanese: ニドランのこいものがたり Nidoran's Love Story) is the 100th episode of the Pokémon anime. It was first broadcast in Japan on June 10, 1999 and in the United States on April 22, 2000.
Synopsis
Ash, Misty and Tracey arrive in an old looking town where they meet a young Trainer by the name of Emily who is looking for her female Nidoran by the name of Maria with an orange ribbon around her neck. She asks if the gang have seen her. Ash looks up his Pokédex and gets a picture of the male one and then eventually the female one. She pleads with them to help her and they agree.
After the gang search for a little while, save for Pikachu who finds some pink fruit. Ash and Misty eventually bump into Ralph, another kid from the town who has a similar problem as before. He is looking for Tony, a male Nidoran with a blue and purple ribbon. Ash looks up the male Nidoran in his Pokédex and gets the data. Tracey eventually comes back with Emily asking if they have found Maria yet and Ralph calls her a kidnapper. Both Ralph and Emily eventually begin to argue over their two Pokémon.
Tracey's Marill comes back and points to where both Nidoran are located. Ralph and Emily get overjoyed and literally run over Tracey to get to them. The gang also follow where they are led to a flower garden where they find both Nidoran cuddling into each other. Tracey and Misty immediately realize what is going on but Ash as usual is clueless. Both Pokémon act very romantic but shortly after are taken away by their trainers. Both Ralph and Emily insult the others Nidoran.
Ash, Misty and Tracey go to a sandwich bar and talk to the owner who tells them Ralph and Emily’s story. They both knew each other since they were children and competed in many of the same contests and caught many of the same Pokémon; this led to their own two Nidoran Tony and Maria falling in love. However with Ralph and Emily hating each other so they could not be together.
The gang leave the sandwich bar at sunset when they spot a Nidoran running in front of them, revealed to be Tony and it vanishes into a group of buildings. Tony is seen calling up to a window when Maria comes out to see him. Misty realizes that Tony is “talking sweet talk” up to the window, Ash asks how she knows but Misty merely tells him that he is not mature enough to understand. Tony and Maria continue talking to each other until Emily appears at the window and dunks him at the window with a pale of water. Ralph eventually finds Tony soaking and takes him back to his house, which is revealed to be right next to Emily’s house. Misty vows to do something about the situation but Ash tell her that it is none of her business but Misty brushes him off. Ash then makes one of his remarks that makes Misty call him a big baby. Team Rocket as usual are in the bushes listening in on the situation and vow to capture the two.
Later during the night Misty is writing letters. One for Emily and one for Ralph from each other. As usual Misty and Ash end up arguing but they turn on Tracey when he says that they should be together and they call him crazy. Jessie plots to have Meowth convince Tony and Maria to come away with Team Rocket by tricking them into thinking that it is the only way to be together. Jessie also gives off a bit of her love life trials only to have Meowth call her a nut job to which Jessie boots him and James. Meowth goes first to Maria and then to Tony to try and convince them to come with him only to have it end in failure because as much as they love each other they would never abandon their trainers. With their first plan in failure Jessie comes up with another plan to which James and Meowth do not have much enthusiasm.
The gang are next seen waiting in the bushes to see the fruits of Misty’s plan. Emily, Ralph and their Nidoran come into the park where they both accuse each other of sending the other a stupid gift and letter. Misty sent Ralph a toy plane and Emily a bouquet of flowers however Ralph throws up on planes and Emily being allergic to Misty’s flowers. Both start fighting once again. They are interrupted however when Team Rocket show up, cross-dressing once again this time as a bride and groom who are newly married. They soon reveal themselves and grab Tony and Maria before saying their motto on top of a giant wedding cake. Inside the cake they reveal their balloon and make their escape. Misty tells Emily and Ralph that it was their fault that their Pokémon were stolen. However Ash and Tracey notice some cans that fell from Team Rocket’s balloon and they follow them.
Team Rocket attempt to dress up Maria and Tony despite their squirming only to have the gang find them thanks to the cans. Tony and Maria make their escape but Jessie commands Arbok to attack. Ralph and Emily command them to use their tackle attack which knocks Arbok back. James joins in and calls out Victreebel who eats Jessie’s head this time. Maria uses Scratch on Arbok who in retaliation attacks Tony who is knocked back. The battle ensues equal sided until Victreebel traps Tony and Maria rescues him. Both Ralph and Emily find out that both Pokémon are fighting for one another. Both Nidoran beat back Arbok and Victreebel by using double attacks like Double Kick. Ralph and Emily say their attack names together this time without minding each other.
Team Rocket eventually try to make their escape and catch the Nidoran by use of one of their many giant vacuums but it goes amiss when Pikachu uses a branch to get to their balloon but avoid being blown in. It uses its Thunderbolt and destroys the vacuum. Misty calls out Staryu who bursts Team Rocket’s balloon and they go blasting off once again. Misty gets on to Ralph and Emily to make them see sense in their actions. Both of them finally listen and decide what’s best for their Pokémon. Tony and Maria finally kiss and in doing so evolve into Nidorina and Nidorino. Tracey sketches it but also wonders what made them evolve their battle of their kiss but Misty hits him with his drawing. Ash asks if people change with their kiss. Misty says back to him that they should find out for themselves.
At the end Team rocket are seen being rung with Arbok and Victreebel on the church bells.
Major events
Debuts
Characters
Humans
Pokémon
Who’s That Pokémon?: Venonat (US and international); Nidoran (male and female) (Japan)
- Pikachu (Ash's)
- Meowth (Team Rocket)
- Togepi (Misty's)
- Staryu (Misty's)
- Marill (Tracey's)
- Arbok (Jessie's)
- Victreebel (James's)
- Nidoran♀ (Emily's; nicknamed "Maria", evolves)
- Nidorina (Emily's; nicknamed "Maria", newly evolved)
- Nidoran♂ (Ralph's; nicknamed "Tony", evolves)
- Nidorino (Ralph's; nicknamed "Tony", newly evolved)
- Pidgey (Emily's; flashback)
- Caterpie (Emily's; flashback)
- Raticate (Emily's; flashback)
- Vulpix (Emily's; flashback)
- Oddish (Emily's; flashback)
- Pidgey (Ralph's; flashback)
- Caterpie (Ralph's; flashback)
- Raticate (Ralph's; flashback)
- Vulpix (Ralph's; flashback)
- Oddish (Ralph's; flashback)
Trivia
- The plot for this episode is based on William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Likewise, this episode's dub title is a reference to a well-known line in the play, "Wherefore art thou Romeo?"
- Emily also calls Tony "Romeo" when she pours water on him.
- The names of the two Nidoran, Tony and Maria, are taken from the musical West Side Story which is also based on Romeo and Juliet.
- This is the first time Pokémon Contests are mentioned in the anime, though it is unknown if these contests are the same as those introduced later on in the games.
- This is the 100th episode of the entire Pokémon anime, if the Holiday Hi-Jynx and Snow Way Out! specials are not counted.
- At the end of the episode, Team Rocket break the fourth wall, replying to the Narrator's comment.
- The Narrator's comment refers to All's Well That Ends Well, another Shakespeare play.
- Professor Oak's lecture: Kabuto. In the end, Oak picks up a Kabuto fossil, but accidentally drops it on his own foot.
- Pokémon senryū summary: At the bottom of the ocean, Kabuto, lies resting.
- This is the first and only time two species of Pokémon are the answers to Who's That Pokémon?
- The Pokémon logo of the Pokémon Center resembles the Nintendo logo.
- This is the second time Victreebel eats someone else's head besides James upon being released. The first was Meowth in A Shipful of Shivers.
- Ralph and Emily's Raticate were shown to be much smaller than normal Raticate.
- Also, they bore the colors of Raticate found in the mainland which contradicts what Professor Ivy said in Poké Ball Peril. The Raticate at Ivy's lab were much darker which, as Ivy explained, was a result of the tropical climate.
Errors
- In the beginning of the episode, there is a dubbing error in which the narrator says Ash defeated Prima in the previous episode. In reality, Ash was actually defeated by Prima and not the other way around.
- When Ash was viewing the Pokédex entries of Maria and Tony, the newly evolved Nidorina and Nidorino, respectively, the picture in the Pokédex was of them with the accessories put on by their trainers.
- The use of a comma after the phrase "Wherefore Art Thou" in the title implies that the writers thought "wherefore" means "where" rather than "why".
Dub edits
In other languages
- French: Amour rime avec toujours
- German: Liebe auf den ersten Blick
- Hebrew: אהבת הפוקימון ahavat haPokémon
- Italian: Oh Pokémon, perché sei tu Pokémon?
- Portuguese (Brazilian and European): Onde Estás, Pokémon?
- Spanish:
- Iberian Spanish: ¿Por qué existís, Pokémon?
- Latin American Spanish: ¡Los Pokémon de Ralph y Emily!
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This episode article is part of Project Anime, a Bulbapedia project that covers all aspects of Pokémon animation. |
