EP077

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Original series

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The Fourth Round Rumble

EP077

くさのフィールド！いがいなきょうてき！
Grass Field! Unexpected Rival!

First broadcast

Japan	January 1, 1999
United States	November 13, 1999

English themes

Opening	Pokémon Theme
Ending

Japanese themes

Opening	めざせポケモンマスター
Ending	タイプ・ワイルド

Credits

Additional credits
Animation	Team Ota
Screenplay	大橋志吉 Yukiyoshi Ōhashi
Storyboard	浅田裕二 Yūji Asada
Assistant director	浅田裕二 Yūji Asada
Animation director	岩根雅明 Masaaki Iwane

Screenshots on Filb.de

The Fourth Round Rumble (Japanese: くさのフィールド！いがいなきょうてき！ Grass Field! Unexpected Rival!) is the 77th episode of the Pokémon anime. It was first broadcast in Japan on January 1, 1999 and in the United States on November 13, 1999.

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

Blurb

Ash's fourth battle on the Grass Field is against his toughest opponent yet! He battles Jeanette Fisher from Crimson City who brings a whole cheering section with her. Jeanette uses a powerful Scyther, which Ash has never battled before. Will his Bulbasaur be able whip Scyther's Double Team attack by using his reliable Vine Whip? To finish off the match, Jeanette brings out her Bellsprout which Ash feel is far inferior to his Pokémon. Once again, Ash lets his over-confidence take over.

Plot

Ash, Pikachu, Misty, and Brock are watching Gary Oak's Round 4 match in the Rock Field. Gary's Nidoking is pitted against Melissa's Golem. Nidoking charges with a Horn Attack, but Golem counters by grabbing on Nidoking's horn, then uses Seismic Toss. Nidoking is defeated and Gary is out of the competition. Frustrated by the defeat, Gary heads home. Ash thinks that he's going to lose his Round 4 match on the Grass Field as well, and becomes nervous, but Brock and Misty cheer him on. He then later learns, thanks to Professor Oak, that all of Pallet Town is cheering him on, which only makes him more nervous.

Meanwhile, Jessie, James and Meowth have opened up a snack stand so they can make money, selling snacks and even fake Gym Badges which Meowth made from bottlecaps, but like always, their true intention is to steal the Trainers' Pokémon.

At the Grass Field, Ash is getting ready for his next match with Jeanette Fisher. As always, Brock becomes lovestruck and starts to root for Jeanette. Misty admonishes Brock for that. Ash starts off with Bulbasaur, and Jeanette uses Beedrill. The Bug-type Pokémon is about to hit Bulbasaur with Poison Sting, but Bulbasaur dodges it. Bulbasaur uses Razor Leaf, but Beedrill counters with Twineedle. Bulbasaur dodges the attack again. Misty is hoping Jeanette may not have more Pokémon like her Beedrill, and Brock is hoping Jeanette doesn't have a boyfriend. Misty tells him, "There's no way that boyfriend is going to be you, mister, if that girl beats Ash!". Ash has Bulbasaur use Leech Seed, draining away Beedrill's energy. Brock becomes depressed that Beedrill is losing, but Misty angrily reminds him of who he should be rooting for. Ash then tells Bulbasaur to finish it off using Tackle. Jeanette's Beedrill faints and Bulbasaur wins.

Jeanette sends her next Pokémon, Scyther. Bulbasaur launches a Razor Leaf at it, but Scyther uses Double Team to evade. Scyther gets in a few hits before Ash gets the idea to use Vine Whip on all the targets, so Bulbasaur will eventually hit the real one. The plan works, and Scyther is knocked out.

Unwavering, Jeanette sends out her last Pokémon - Bellsprout. Ash laughs at first, saying she must be desperate to use something so obviously weak. Bulbasaur uses a Tackle attack, but Bellsprout bends away in a wobble-like manner with ease, picks up Bulbasaur, repeatedly slams him into the ground, and knocks Bulbasaur out.

Ash is shocked at this loss. Brock realizes that Jeanette's Bellsprout must be exceptionally trained, or else it would not be used in a League battle.

Ash sends out Pikachu to try to fight. Pikachu uses ThunderShock, but Bellsprout dodges the attack, and uses Razor Leaf. Pikachu was able to dodge and tries to use Thunderbolt, but Bellsprout's roots keep him ingrained and immune to electric attacks. Pikachu now tries to do some punching and kick-boxing but Bellsprout slams Pikachu & defeats him.

Down to his last Pokémon, Ash pauses for a second and sends out... Muk. Both Misty and Brock are shocked that Ash recalled Muk from Oak's lab as a backup Pokémon. Muk is able to absorb Bellsprout's Slam and Razor Leaf attacks with ease, then uses a Body Slam (essentially smothering Bellsprout) to finish it off.

Ash wins the battle, and has now cleared all four preliminary fields.

Major events

Gary loses his fourth round battle, placing him in the Top 32 in the Indigo Plateau Conference.
Gary heads back to Pallet Town.
Ash uses his Muk in battle for the first time.
Ash's Muk is revealed to know Body Slam.
Ash wins his fourth and final preliminary round match in the Pokémon League and advances to the fifth round, securing him a place in the Indigo Stadium.

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

Characters

Humans

Dare da?

Pokémon

Who's That Pokémon?

Who's That Pokémon?: Bellsprout (US and international), Beedrill (Japan)

Trivia

Professor Oak's Pokémon Lecture: Indigo Plateau Conference meeting hall (part one)
- Pokémon senryū summary: I want to see them once. Officer Jenny and Nurse Joy's children.
This episode marks the third appearance of James's Victreebel. In The Breeding Center Secret, Victreebel's voice is low, but like in All Fired Up!, its voice is extremely screechy and high-pitched in this episode.
In this episode, Team Rocket uses a variation of their motto.
Team Rocket does not blast off in this episode.
This episode was banned in South Korea.
On its original airing in Japan, it was followed by a two-hour clip show, It's the New Year! Pocket Monsters Special!.

Errors

Professor Oak's eyebrows

When Officer Jenny commands her Growlithe to use Flamethrower, she incorrectly refers to it as Arcanine in the dub, and its cry is also identical to the Arcanine in the previous episode.
- However, this error is corrected in Castilian Spanish dub
In one shot, Professor Oak's eyebrows change to large and gray.
For a split second during the cut between the commercial break and the first half of the "Who's That Pokémon" segment, the first quarter second of the Japanese "Who's That Pokémon" segment can be seen. Though mostly obscured by the dubs whiteout transition effect, one can clearly make out the Japanese "Pocket Monster" logo in the lower right-hand corner.
When Jeanette commands her Scyther to use Slash, the next command was a dubbing error. In the dub, Scyther uses Quick Attack. In the original Japanese version, it was Swift.
When Jeanette's Scyther uses Double Team, Bulbasaur's cry sounds like Scyther, instead of Bulbasaur's own cry.
Jeanette's Beedrill used Tackle, which Beedrill cannot legally learn in the games.
When the screen pans horizontally across the central flame, the stadium shifts repeatedly.

Dub edits

In other languages

Language		Title
Mandarin Chinese		草之場地意外的強敵
Czech		Napínavý čtvrtý zápas
Danish		Drama I Fjerde Runde
Dutch		Het Vierde Ronde Gerommel
Finnish		Kuuma neljäs kierros
European French		Quatrième tour décisif
German		Hopp oder Top - Die Runde 4
Hebrew		הסיבוב הרביעי hasivuv harevi'ee
Hindi		चोथा राऊंन्ड हुआ शुरू! Chautha Round Hua Shuru! *
Hungarian		A negyedik forduló küzdelmei
Italian		Una nuova vittoria
Norwegian		Fjerde rundes oppgjør
Polish		Huczna runda piąta
Portuguese	Brazil	O Difícil Quarto Turno
Portuguese	Portugal	O Quarto Assalto
Romanian		A Patra Rundă
Russian		Перипетии четвёртого раунда
Spanish	Latin America	¡Cuarta ronda, tiembla!
Spanish	Spain	La sonada cuarta ronda
Swedish		Fjärde ronden