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| For Ho-Oh the Bells Toll!
|
スイクンとミナキ！ホウオウのでんせつ！！
Suikun and Minaki! The Legend of Houou!!
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First broadcast
| Japan
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December 6, 2001
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| United States
|
September 25, 2002
|
|
English themes
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Japanese themes
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Credits
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For Ho-Oh the Bells Toll! (Japanese: スイクンとミナキ！ホウオウのでんせつ！！ Suikun and Minaki! The Legend of Houou!!) is the 227th episode of the Pokémon anime. It was first broadcast in Japan on December 6, 2001 and in the United States on September 25, 2002.
Synopsis
Ash and his friends rest a while in the Pokémon Center. All of a sudden, they hear a weird noise that's coming from the outside. They see Nurse Joy and Chansey run by. Joy says that there's something up with the Tin Tower. Morty notices this too, and is greeted by Eusine. Both go together to investigate what's going on. When they get up inside, sets of gold bells are vibrating. They go up on the next floor and see that the next set of bells, which are supposed to be there, are gone! Team Rocket celebrates their little steal in a forest, thinking now they'll get some legendary Pokémon. James explains that when the bells ring, it's supposed to summon Ho-Oh. So, they start shaking the bells, but no sound is coming out. Jessie grabs them and swings them around, but one slips out and breaks on a rock. All of a sudden, an eerie wind begins to blow, and back at Ecruteak City, things are quiet.
When the gang gets there, Eusine stops them, saying they are not allowed in. Morty comes out and Ash asks him what's going on. Morty first says that Ho-Oh must be nearby, the bells only ring at that time. Later in the forest, Team Rocket is surrounded by Template:Type2 Pokémon, which seem angry over them. They all fire a String Shot at Team Rocket. Morty explains the situation later at his Gym. The bells were recovered after Ho-Oh burned the Burnt Tower. The bells are supposed to summon Ho-Oh. Morty goes on telling about how Entei, Raikou, and Suicune were also born from the flames, thunder and rain in the Burned Tower. Ash mentions seeing Suicune, but just to make sure, he points it out in a book. Eusine gets angry, claiming that Ash is a liar for claiming to have seen both Ho-Oh and Suicune and challenges Ash to a Pokémon battle.
Ash is a little lost here as why Eusine wants to battle him, but he goes ahead anyway. Eusine sends out Alakazam. Ash is not sure now he can win this one, but he tells Pikachu to start off with a Thunderbolt. Before Pikachu can even get a chance at releasing the electricity, someone comes in and tells Morty that something is wrong at the Tin Tower. They all go out and see that Tin Tower is covered with webs! They try to go check it out but a group of Tangela stops them, then an army of Parasect use Spore. They head back inside and check out the town from the windows. Ash tells everyone to look out from his window, seeing the whole town is covered by webs. They have no other choice now but to break through the Pokémon. Ash heads back out, but now the Parasect are much closer. Everyone else comes out, and Gengar pops in front and uses Confuse Ray on them, stopping them.
They go through the forest, a few wall of webs stopping them. Ash has Cyndaquil burn them down and they continue. After awhile, they see Team Rocket, tied up with a bunch of webs. Morty finds the bells, but Tangela block him. Spinarak and Araidos come down and shoot a String Shot at them. Eusine sends out Alakazam, who uses Reflect to protect them, but a Tangela whips Alakazam, nailing him in one hit. Ash tries to persuade the Pokémon, but a Tangela attempts to whip him. Just before the attack contacted, something runs by that stops the Pokémon. Soon all the Pokémon start to flee from the area, and a shiny wind begins to blow, making the webs in the forest disappear. The shadow appears and reveals itself... it's Suicune! Jessie, knowing that Suicune is a rare Pokémon, sends out Arbok in an attempt to catch it; however, Suicune just releases a beam at them, causing an explosion. Suicune later finds a cliff to stand on, and Ash runs to it. Now, Eusine finds this a good time to fulfill his dream of catching Suicune as he sends out Alakazam. The Alakazam starts off with Disable, but Suicune blocks it with a barrier, and just before Alakazam can do another attack, Suicune uses Roar, sending Alakazam back into its Poké Ball. Afterwards, Suicune disappears; all that's left is a rainbow. The whole city of Ecruteak and the forest become clear of the webs.
Everything's back to normal as Morty and the gang are back outside his gym. Ash wonders where Eusine went, Morty explains he's off searching for Suicune, and it will probably be some time before he finds it again.
Major events
Debuts
Characters
Humans
Pokémon
Who's That Pokémon?: Caterpie
Trivia
- After Eusine tells the story of the three legendary beasts, Ash says that he has seen a Suicune. Ash could be referring to either the events of the fourth movie or the Suicune that he saw in the first episode of the Johto series, Don't Touch That 'dile. However, since he didn't know what Pokémon he saw in the earlier episode, the Suicune he saw in the movie is more likely the one he refers to.
- This episode can be found on the first GBA video.
- The English dub title for this episode is based on the novel "For Whom the Bell Tolls" by Ernest Hemingway.
- It's unknown if the crystal bell was permanently destroyed, or the power of Ho-Oh rebuilt it.
- In this episode, Team Rocket uses a variation of their motto.
- Brock says that Vine Whip is a special attack. This is true for Generation II and Generation III, but in Generation IV when attacks became physical and special regardless of their element, that statement of then-truth is now outdated.
- In one scene, Morty called the Tin Tower the Bell Tower even though back then, it was called the Tin Tower. The term Bell Tower wasn't official until Generation IV.
Errors
- As one of the Crystal Bells break, Jessie can be seen holding the other three bells, however, after it breaks, when it cuts to a shot of Jessie, James and Meowth, the bells are gone.
Dub edits
- Originally, when Ash and Eusine were about to begin their battle, Ash told Pikachu to use Thunderbolt. In the dub, the command was changed into ThunderShock.
In other languages
- French: Les cloches sacrées
- German. Aufstand der Pokémon
- Hebrew: פעמוני הבדולח pa'amonei habdolakh
- Italian: I campanelli rubati
- Mandarin: 水君與米那君！鳳王之傳說！
- Portuguese (Brazilian): Que Toquem os Sinos!
- Spanish:
- Iberian Spanish: Por Ho-Oh suenan los cascabeles
- Latin American Spanish: ¡Las campanas de Ho-Oh!
