Stage Fight! (Japanese: おどる！ポケモンショーボート！Dance! Pokémon Showboat!) is the 90th episode of the Pokémon anime. It first aired in Japan on April 1, 1999 and in the United States on February 12, 2000.
Spoiler warning: this article may contain major plot or ending details.
Ash, Misty, and Tracey buy tickets to the Pokémon Showboat, a wonderful carnival where Pokémon can speak and perform plays! A young actress from the performance has been having problems with her Raichu ever since it shocked her early in their relationship. Ash and Pikachu may be able to help. Of course, they'll have to deal with Team Rocket first, as they attempt to steal all the talking Pokémon.
Plot
Ash, Misty, and Tracey continue exploring the Orange Archipelago when they stumble upon a floating theatre called the Pokémon Showboat where all the actors, singers, and dancers are Pokémon. The three of them decide they would like to see the show and enter the paddle steamer boat. Ash and his friends are impressed by the talking Pokémon. Abra referees a boxing ring match between Hitmonchan and Machoke while Clefable watches the onslaught. As the show comes to an end, Ash says that he guesses there are more Pokémon than just Meowth who can talk. Suddenly Togepi wanders off and walks behind the stage. Ash, Misty, and Tracey run after Togepi. When they finally catch up to Togepi, they find out that the Pokémon in the performance were lip syncing to human voice actors hidden in the backstage. A young actress named Kay appears and yells at the group to be quiet. As the performance ends with the Pokémon dancing onstage, Roger, a voice actor, asks Kay send her Raichu out to the stage to dance with the other Pokémon. Raichu then appears from out behind a box and when Kay asks Raichu to perform it just sits there sadly and refuses.
The voice actors of the show and Ash's crew are then seen sailing on the floating theatre to the next island, Kinnow Island. Ash thanks Roger for taking them along and asks if there is anything they could do for him in return for the ride. He then says that he would like Ash to teach Kay some pointers on how to become closer with her Raichu. Meanwhile, Team Rocket in their Magikarp Submarine are pursuing the vessel and plot on how to steal the performing Pokémon.
Back on the floating theatre, Ash is trying to teach Kay how to get along with her Pokémon. Ash asks Kay to show him a performance with her and Raichu, which she does, but Raichu continues to do nothing. Ash then tries to give Raichu some words of encouragement, but ends up getting shocked in the process.
Later on, Kay gazes out at the water from the deck and feels hopeless. Ash tries to talk to her about Raichu. Kay blames herself for Raichu not wanting to perform. When she first met Raichu, the Electric-type approached her, and in it excitement it nearly shocked her. Kay reacted instinctively and threw Raichu off her and into some crates. Because of that day, Raichu is now too nervous to perform with Kay anymore because it can sense Kay's fears of being shocked again. Just then Team Rocket fires two torpedoes at the paddle steamer which sends Raichu flying into Kay's arms. Raichu starts to shock Kay and Kay reassures Raichu that it's okay and that she isn't afraid of being shocked anymore.
Team Rocket then appears aboard the boat. Ash tries to stop them, but Roger insists they comply to avoid the Pokémon Showboat and the performers livelihoods being destroyed. With everyone tied up, Team Rocket leaves to go and steal the performing Pokémon. Meowth tells the performing Pokémon that he is their boss from now on. He notices Raichu crying and threatens it, only to get shocked instead. Hitmonchan attempts to intimidate Meowth and James. Upon noticing Roger's eye movements, Hitmonchan pretends to agree with James, but later punches him.
The voice actors manage to get up, even with the ropes still around them, and distract Team Rocket by voicing over their Pokémon. The trick works, and Team Rocket are convinced, Meowth even sympathises with them, knowing the struggle talking Pokémon face. The trio soon find themselves surrounded and are intimidated by the Pokémon's tough talk. Hitmonchan uses Fire Punch and burns James' face. Out for revenge, James sends out Victreebel, only for him to get devoured by it. Jessie takes over the command and sends out Weezing. She orders a Smokescreen which chokes everyone on the ship, except for Ash and friends who break free from the ropes. James calls back Weezing and the smoke disperses. Ash and Tracey confront Team Rocket with Pikachu and Marill. Meanwhile the voice actors have broken free and Kay rushes over to her cowering Raichu. Everyone watches on in amazement as Kay then teams up with her Raichu and uses Mega Punch to blast Team Rocket off the boat.
As the boat stops at another island and prepares for the next show, Ash takes the time to call Oak on the videotelephone about the floating theater. Just then Kay runs out of the boat and informs Ash that Roger cannot perform in the show because he's lost his voice from Team Rocket's earlier Smokescreen. Kay fills in for Roger's part, while Ash, his friends and their Pokémon join the stage performance.
The part of the show where Hitmonchan and Machoke were fighting each other is a reference to the Rocky movies.
When Ash helps with the performance at the end of the episode, he remarks, "It's kinda hard to match the lip flaps, isn't it?" This is a reference to "lip-flap," which is a problem faced by production companies such as 4Kids when dubbing anime.
When Victreebel bites down to James's head, Jessie calls James's Weezing out instead of him and tells it to use Smokescreen.
In the last scene where all the Pokémon are dancing, Aim to Be a Pokémon Master was played in the background. In the English version, Pokémon World was played.
The dancing scene is the only time a Jynx's feet have ever been seen.
Despite the fact that both the preceding and succeeding episodes are included, this episode was missing from Netflix when S02 was still available on Netflix, likely because of its depiction of Jynx.
This episode is not played on Pokémon TV, and the Pokémon.com synopsis lacks pictures of Jynx, likely due to this past controversy.
As of April 2013, it is removed from Pokémon.com entirely.
In the original version of the episode, Kay and Ash voiced over Raichu and Pikachu, respectively, using their normal voices. In the dubbed version, they used higher pitched, comedic voices.
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