Snow Way Out!

←	Holiday Hi-Jynx

Snow Way Out!

イワークでビバーク
Iwark as a Bivouac

First broadcast

Japan	October 5, 1998
United States	December 18, 1999

English themes

Opening	Pokémon Theme
Ending

Japanese themes

Opening	めざせポケモンマスター
Ending	ニャースのうた

Credits

Additional credits
Animation	Team Ota
Screenplay	米村正二 Shōji Yonemura
Storyboard	浅田裕二 Yūji Asada
Assistant director	井上修 Osamu Inoue
Animation director	梶浦紳一郎 Shin'ichirō Kajiura

Screenshots on Filb.de

Snow Way Out! (Japanese: イワークでビバーク Iwark as a Bivouac) is a special episode of the Pokémon anime. It was first broadcast in Japan on October 5, 1998, following Holiday Hi-Jynx, and in the United States on December 18, 1999. It was initially intended to be the 40th episode of the Pokémon anime, airing in Japan on January 6, 1998, but was rescheduled following the EP038 incident.

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

Blurb

Continuing their journey, Ash and gang find themselves at a fork in the road. They make the fateful decision to climb a steep and dangerous mountain taking them even deeper into the woods. Pikachu gets lost and they must all work together to find him, stay warm and weather the storm.

Plot

Continuing on their journey, Ash and his friends come to a fork in the road. Brock takes a moment to check his map, though Ash’s impulsiveness leads them to take the trail to the right leading into a huge mountain. As they notice their snowy surrounds, Misty and Brock both want to turn around and go the other way, but Ash declares a Pokémon Master always stays on course, no matter what the conditions. However things get worse, as the mountain they have stumbled upon is actually a part of a huge mountain range and Brock’s compass goes haywire from electromagnetic interference. As Brock declares that they are lost, Misty shouts at Ash to get them off the mountain. Ash calls out his Pidgeotto to find another route, and it soon returns with news of a good path up ahead.

Meanwhile, Team Rocket are trailing the twerps. While James and Meowth complain they are both freezing, Jessie declares that she loves the snow as it brings back memories of eating "snowgasboard"; a meal completely made of snow. She says that it was one of the few memories of her wretched and poverty-stricken childhood. However, James and Meowth are grossed out. James then says that they can head off Ash and his friends using the Meowth balloon. They then recite their motto, but stop when they notice their balloon drifting off in the wind. They chase after it without any luck, losing all of their food and supplies are on that balloon. Jessie starts to look at the snow and then tells them she can make snow rolls. James and Meowth don't want them, and Jessie wants to walk further to where the balloon is so she can get some soy sauce.

The light snowfall has now turned into a full-on blizzard, so the group contemplate setting up camp. As Ash insists they continue walking, Brock reminds him that the sun is going to set soon, and not even the bravest Pokémon Trainer would wander around in a snowstorm in the dark. Ash agrees, and as Brock says they should start to dig a cave, the snowstorm starts to intensify. The strong wind knocks Ash down, and he lets go of Pikachu, who is carried off into the distance by the gusty conditions. Ash chases after Pikachu, while Misty and Brock hunker down as the storm starts to intensify even more.

In spite of the awful conditions, Ash trudges through deep snow while repeatedly calling for Pikachu until he collapses from exhaustion. Then he hears something: Pikachu's voice. Ash calls back to Pikachu, Pikachu responds, and Ash follows the direction of Pikachu's voice. As he walks, he falls down a small cliff. He then hears Pikachu's voice close by. He then sees the small yellow Pokémon and he is hanging by one arm from a ledge on a very high cliff. Ash tries to grab Pikachu, but he falls down the cliff, yet manages to grab onto another ledge. Ash quickly comes up with a solution, and sends out Bulbasaur who uses Vine Whip to grab Pikachu. But Pikachu cannot hold on and he slips further down. Bulbasaur acts fast and grabs Pikachu with its vines just in time. They pull Pikachu up to their level before Pikachu and Ash embrace. Pikachu does a facial expression of Brock and in doing so, he reminds Ash that they need to get up the small cliff Ash fell down before and get back to Misty and Brock. He tries climbing up the cliff, but to no avail. He tries calling their names, but this doesn't work either.

Ash decides to dig a snow cave rather than brave the bitter cold. After his hands begin to suffer frostbite, he has his Charmander use Flamethrower to blast through the snow. It does a good job of building the cave and then, Ash sends out Bulbasaur and Squirtle to help seal the cave off from the elements. It takes them a while, but they do it. Ash then tries to figure out how to heat up the cave. Bulbasaur suggests to Charmander to make its tail flame more intense, and it does so.

Meanwhile, Team Rocket are huddled inside an igloo. Suddenly Meowth’s last candle goes out, and Jessie’s offer of snow rolls doesn’t lift anyone’s spirits. Meowth reveals that he has three matches left, but without anything to light them with, the Rocket trio try using their imaginations to get warmth. Jessie then notices her teammates fast asleep, but she slaps them around to stop them from freezing.

As the brutal snowstorm rages on, Charmander's tail flame starts to weaken from trying to keep everyone warm. Ash tells Charmander to get back into its Poké Ball, but it refuses, but Ash calls it back anyway, much to Charmander's shock. Ash then figures that the Pokémon should be warm inside their Poké Balls. So, he tells Bulbasaur and Squirtle back into their Poké Balls, and like Charmander, they refuse too. Ash calls them back anyway, much to their surprise. Ash then attempts to call Pikachu back into his Poké Ball, but Pikachu refuses, and he clings onto Ash. Ash is touched by Pikachu's gesture of trying to keep his Trainer warm and he accepts his decision.

As the time passes, Ash and Pikachu are freezing cold. Ash wonders if his other Pokémon are warm enough inside their Poké Balls, so he takes off his jacket and wraps his Poké Balls inside. But now, the snowstorm has gotten so bad that a part of the snow wall has broken through. Ash runs over to the hole and sits in front of it, blocking the snow coming in. Ash again orders Pikachu to get inside his Poké Ball. Though Pikachu adamantly refuses, worrying for Ash's safety and Ash assures Pikachu he will be okay, as long as he knows Pikachu will be safe. Finally, Ash orders Pikachu to get inside the Poké Ball. Pikachu refuses once more. Then, the rest of Ash's Pokémon- Bulbasaur, Charmander, Squirtle and Pidgeotto- all free themselves from their Poké Balls and hold on to Ash. Ash is so taken aback by his Pokémon's commitment to him that he is reduced to tears. He then looks at them and conceded that they will be cold all together.

It is now morning and the harsh snowstorm has completely subsided. Charmander demolishes the snow wall with Flamethrower, and Ash looks upon the amazing view with his beloved Pokémon. He hears a voice calling him, he turns around, and it is pleasantly surprised to see Misty, Brock and his Onix. Onix lifts Ash and his Pokémon up to his friends' level. They ask Ash how he survived the storm and he tells them about the cave he dug. Brock and Misty then reveal that Onix dug into an underground hot spring, and they were very comfortable there, much to Ash's extreme surprise. They then discover that the blizzard blew over Team Rocket's balloon, which is right next to them. Brock says it is out of fuel, but he sends out his Vulpix, and has it use Flamethrower, and the balloon is now flyable. They then fly off over the mountain range.

Team Rocket stop pinching each other's cheeks when they spot the twerps in their balloon. They chase after them, only to fall into a hot spring and are declined to move, as they are very comfortable. Ash thinks he heard Team Rocket while the balloon files above them, and then, they see a town ahead and are overjoyed. Meanwhile, Team Rocket discover that the hot spring is too hot for them to sit in, but are forced to stay in the heated waters as the weather is too cold for them to get out.

Major events

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

Characters

Humans

Dare da?

Ash Ketchum
Brock
Misty
Jessie
James
Jessie's caretaker* (flashback)

Pokémon

Who's That Pokémon?

Who's That Pokémon?: Muk (US and international), Pidgeotto (Japan)

Scheduling conflict

After the hiatus caused by EP038, the show moved from Tuesday to Thursday. The original schedule was as follows:

Code	English title	Japanese title	Planned broadcast	Actual broadcast
*	Holiday Hi-Jynx	ルージュラのクリスマス	December 23, 1997	October 5, 1998
*	Snow Way Out!	イワークでビバーク	—	October 5, 1998
EP040	The Battling Eevee Brothers	イーブイ４きょうだい	January 6, 1998	April 16, 1998
EP041	Wake Up, Snorlax!	おきろ！カビゴン！	January 13, 1998	April 23, 1998
EP042	Showdown at Dark City	たいけつ！ポケモンジム！	January 20, 1998	April 30, 1998
EP043	March of the Exeggutor Squad	ナッシーぐんだんだいこうしん！	January 27, 1998	May 7, 1998
EP044	The Problem with Paras	パラスとパラセクト	February 3, 1998	May 14, 1998

EP052	Princess vs. Princess	げきとう！ポケモンひなまつり	March 3, 1998	July 9, 1998
EP053	The Purr-fect Hero	こどものひだよ！ぜんいんしゅうごう！	May 5, 1998	July 9, 1998

It was planned to be followed by a clip show summing up the events from EP028 to Holiday Hi-Jynx, then planned as EP039, on its original airing.

When episodes of the dub are aired in order, this episode and Holiday Hi-Jynx are placed between It's Mr. Mime Time and Showdown at the Po-ké Corral, as this is the point at which the episodes first aired in Japan. This causes confusion from viewers due to Ash using Charmander instead of Charizard, and Misty still having her Starmie and Horsea (and not having her Togepi). Canonically, these episodes go either directly before or directly after Pikachu's Goodbye. Due to not airing on the initially intended date, it is considered by Bulbapedia to be a special episode.

Trivia

The end of the episode was followed by a music video of Together With the Wind, the Japanese ending theme to Mewtwo Strikes Back, rather than a Professor Oak's Pokémon Lecture segment. This was likely due to the fact that the segment didn't exist when the episode was originally scheduled to be broadcast.
The dub episode title is a pun of the phrase "no way out".
Snow Way Out is also the name of a Mario Party 8 minigame.
This is one of the few episodes where Ash orders Pikachu to get into his Poké Ball. Though he doesn't succeed as usual, the fact that he tried is unusual.
This is also the first episode where a previously caught Pokémon, other than Psyduck, forces its way out of its Poké Ball. Charmander, Squirtle, Bulbasaur, and Pidgeotto all exit their Poké Balls to keep Ash warm throughout the night.
This episode is featured on Volume 9: Charmander from VIZ Media's Pokémon All-Stars series.
The Pokémon Junior book A Pokémon Snow-Down was based on this episode.
This episode marks the first time where Pikachu displays his remarkable ability to imitate other Pokémon and people. In this case, Pikachu does an impression of Brock.
Parts of this episode were reanimated and used for flashback material for The Fires of a Red-Hot Reunion.
This episode's title is formatted as Snow Way Out on the DVD menu of Australian DVDs.

Errors

When James is holding Meowth and they are shivering, Meowth's feet don't have the orange tips.
- Shortly after, Meowth's forepaws are entirely orange.

Dub edits

Pikachu's Jukebox: 2.B.A. Master
Jessie's caretaker is referred to as her mother in the dub.
The igloo scene was heavily edited. There is a scene cut of Meowth lighting candles with a match while Jessie explains how good the snow-rolls were, and all the shots of Meowth and Jessie holding matches in the igloo scene were painted out and replaced with candles. Altogether, 24 seconds were cut from this scene.

In other languages

Language		Title
Catalan		Sortida de la neu
Mandarin Chinese		用大岩蛇露營
Czech		Vánice
Danish		Sneblind Vej
Dutch		Verdwaald in de Sneeuw!
Finnish		Jäinen uhka
European French		Tempête de neige
German		Verirrt im Schneesturm
Hebrew		הדרך המושלגת החוצה haderech hamushleget hachutsa
Hindi		बर्फ में फस गए! Barf me phas gaye! *
Hungarian		Az nagy behavazás
Italian		'La tormenta
Korean		피카츄 눈산을 넘어라!
Norwegian		Det er ingen skam å snø
Polish		Zamieć
Portuguese	Brazil	Perdidos na Neve
Portuguese	Portugal	Uma Aventura Gelada!
Romanian		Calea Înzăpezită Către Afară
Russian		Cнежная буря
Spanish	Latin America	¡Perdidos en la nieve!
Spanish	Spain	Salida de la nieve
Swedish		Snöstormen