DP103

←	DP102 : Shield with a Twist!

Jumping Rocket Ship!

DP103

EP569

混戦混乱ミオシティ！
Chaotic Melee in Mio City!

First broadcast

Japan	November 20, 2008
United States	April 25, 2009

English themes

Opening	We Will Be Heroes
Ending

Japanese themes

Opening	ハイタッチ！
Ending	あしたはきっと

Credits

Additional credits
Animation	Team Iguchi
Screenplay	大橋志吉 Yukiyoshi Ōhashi
Storyboard	山田浩之 Hiroyuki Yamada
Assistant director	山田浩之 Hiroyuki Yamada
Animation director	夏目久仁彦 Kunihiko Natsume

Screenshots on Filb.de

Jumping Rocket Ship! (Japanese: 混戦混乱ミオシティ！ Chaotic Melee in Mio City!) is the 103rd episode of Pokémon the Series: Diamond and Pearl, and the 569th episode of the Pokémon anime. It first aired in Japan on November 20, 2008, in the United Kingdom on April 16, 2009 and in the United States on April 25, 2009.

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

Blurb

Barry joins Ash and the gang as they take a blimp to Canalave City. As soon as they disembark, Team Rocket—disguised as photographers—offers to take a commemorative picture of everyone and their Pokémon. Even Barry, after some encouragement, reluctantly sends out his Empoleon. It turns out to be a Team Rocket trap, of course, but our heroes' Pokémon fight back and cause a huge explosion that sends all the Pokémon soaring out of sight. Meowth and Mime Jr. land next to Pikachu and Pachirisu, and Meowth hatches a cunning plan by pretending to be Pikachu's new ally. Ash finds Gliscor and Staravia right away, then sends them after Team Rocket's balloon. Staravia is distracted by Team Rocket's lovely Staravia decoy, but Gliscor manages to take down the balloon, forcing Jessie and James to search the city on foot.

As the search continues through the mazelike streets of Canalave City, Team Rocket and our heroes manage to find some of their Pokémon. And just in the nick of time, both Ash and Team Rocket spot Pikachu's group. But Meowth's secret plan won't work if Pikachu reunites with Ash first, so Meowth leads Pikachu in the wrong direction! Ash still finds Pikachu's group first, so Meowth and Mime Jr. ask our heroes if they can join the good guys. Meowth is tired of being abused by Jessie and James—or so he says...

As they head to the Pokémon Center, Meowth and the gang fall into a Team Rocket pit trap. Jessie and James are indignant when Barry tells them Meowth has switched sides, and a Pokémon battle breaks out! Once Ash's Buizel and Barry's Empoleon defeat Team Rocket without a second thought, Meowth realizes where his true loyalties lie. He turns on the twerps and the fight is on, but not for long. A triple attack from Buizel, Empoleon, and Piplup sends all of Team Rocket blasting into the sky! With everyone safely reunited, Barry sets off for Iron Island, while Ash sets his sights on the Canalave Gym.

Plot

Ash, Dawn, Brock, and Barry take a blimp to Canalave City. Upon landing, Jessie and James pose as an air hostess and photographer respectively, and ask the group if they want a commemorative photo. Barry is reluctant, and only calls out his Empoleon, while the rest of the group bring out all of their Pokémon. When they're ready, the photographers have the Trainers to move aside and fall directly into a waiting pitfall trap. James clicks the snap button on the camera and captures the Pokémon in a net. Jessie reveals herself and begins the Rocket motto, only to be cut off by Barry who orders Empoleon use Hydro Pump, and Ash has Chimchar try a Flamethrower. The moves collide with a Haze from Jessie's Seviper and a Bullet Seed from James's Carnivine. The result is a huge explosion that sends all the Pokémon flying in different directions. Jessie and James immediately set off to nab all of Pokémon for themselves, while Ash’s group hope to rescue their Pokémon from being poached.

Coincidentally, Pikachu, Pachirisu, Mime Jr., and Meowth all land in the same place, meaning that Meowth is stuck with Pikachu. He devises a plan to earn his trust and eventually capture him, along with the rest of the twerps' Pokémon. Meowth tells Pikachu that he doesn't want to be with Team Rocket anymore, and that he wants to travel with the twerps. He makes up a story to convince Pikachu that he's telling the truth.

Meanwhile, Ash and friends are walking on a bridge, with Barry and Ash arguing back and forth. Just then, they find Staravia and Gliscor flying around, looking for Ash. At the same time, Team Rocket sees the two Flying Pokémon from their balloon in the distance and they attempt to capture them. Ash orders Staravia to attack, but James launches a fake Staravia designed to look like a female. Staravia falls for the trick and chases after the decoy. Ash then orders Gliscor to use X-Scissor. Jessie tells James to launch a fake Gliscor, only to find out that he didn't make one. Gliscor cuts through the balloon, sending Team Rocket blasting off to another part of Canalave. Croagunk is then seen passing by on a boat

Empoleon, Piplup, Happiny, and Grotle are wandering around the city looking for their Trainers. Piplup takes the lead and convinces the others that it knows the way out, only to find dead ends, over and over again. Grotle eventually gets so tired that it curls up and Happiny has to carry it.

Ash and friends find Sudowoodo, Buneary, Swinub, Ambipom, Buizel, and Chimchar. Though Barry is disappointed that Empoleon isn't with them. Jessie and James also come across most of their Pokémon, with exception of Meowth and Mime Jr. Soon enough both Ash’s group and Team Rocket spot Meowth and company on the opposite side of a lake. At first, Meowth is happy to see them, but he remembers the story he told Pikachu, who becomes very suspicious. Meowth suddenly runs off with Pikachu, Mime Jr., and Pachirisu. Just then, Ash and friends round a corner, only to find Team Rocket. They start fighting, then go off in separate directions.

Meanwhile, Staravia is in the forest with the fake female Staravia, but then it suddenly falls into a nearby stream. Staravia looks around, confused, wondering where the "Staravia" went.

Soon afterward, Ash and friends finds Piplup's group, then Pikachu's group wondering the streets. Meowth tells the twerps the story he told Pikachu. At first, they don't believe him, but they are eventually convinced. They take some time to break, spoiling Mime Jr. and Meowth with Poffins and even suggesting Meowth should become a television personality because of his unique talking abilities.

Meowth begins to consider actually turning over a new leaf, and so he and the group head over to the Pokémon Center to contact Sinnoh Now host Rhonda for any media opportunities. However they fall into another of Team Rocket’s pitfall traps. While Mime Jr. rushes into James’s arms, Meowth stays with the twerps. Barry tells Jessie and James that Meowth's days with Team Rocket are over. Jessie becomes irate and calls on Seviper to deal with Ash and friends. Barry commands Empoleon to use Hydro Pump, knocking Team Rocket into a heap. Buizel follows up with Sonic Boom. Meowth starts remembering all of the times and the blastoffs that Team Rocket has been through. He suddenly attacks Empoleon with Fury Swipes, and decides that his heart will always be with Team Rocket. With Meowth revealing his true loyalties, Ash, Barry and Dawn have their Water Pokémon send Team Rocket blasting off yet again. Strangely, Meowth is happy.

As Staravia returns, Brock suddenly remembers that Croagunk wasn't found. Then, he sees a pretty woman and is immediately infatuated. Then Croagunk arrives to Poison Jab him, as usual. Later, Ash and his friends wave Barry off as he heads to Iron Island for some training.

Major events

Ash and his friends arrive in Canalave City.
Meowth claims to be learning Night Slash, but refuses to use the move due to its scariness.
Barry leaves the group to train at Iron Island.

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

Debuts

Pokémon debuts

Characters

Humans

Ash
Dawn
Brock
Jessie
James
Barry
Lady
Girl on TV (Meowth's fantasy)
Crowd (Meowth's fantasy)
Gondolier
Boat driver

Pokémon

Trivia

The dub version of this episode first aired in the United Kingdom on April 16, 2009 along with Shield with a Twist!.
Music from Celebi: The Voice of the Forest, Lucario and the Mystery of Mew, and Pokémon Ranger and the Temple of the Sea are used as background music.
Professor Oak's Big Pokémon Examination: Altaria
Pokémon.com's online preview for this episode included a line exclaiming "Staraptor finds romance!" Although this could be an error, it spoils an event that happens 15 episodes later.
The title card music for the English dub has changed.
Jessie makes a reference to A Maze-ing Race!.
The DVD release of this episode incorrectly lists its title as Jumping Rock Ship!.
The episode's English title is based on the phrase "jumping ship".
When Meowth asks Pikachu if he doesn't trust him, Pikachu mimics Wobbuffet. Wobbuffet's Japanese name is a pun that reads like "that's right" (ソーナンス Sōnansu), and so it's implied that this is what Pikachu replies.

Errors

When the move Teeter Dance was used, everyone should have been affected. However, Seviper and Empoleon were not.
In one of the boat scenes, Croagunk's Japanese voice can be heard.
When Pikachu and Pachirisu find Ash and his friends, Piplup is on Dawn's head. Then, when the camera angle changes to a front view, Piplup isn't on her head anymore.

Dub edits

In other languages

Language		Title
Mandarin Chinese		混戰混亂的水脈市！！
Czech		Odchod z Rakeťáckého týmu
Danish		Team Rocket-afhopper
Dutch		Verlaat het Rocket Schip!
Finnish		Katso Meowth loikkaa!
European French		Miaouss joue un double jeu !
German		Wer suchet der findet!
Italian		Team Rocket, addio?
Korean		나옹, 밥이냐 의리냐! 그것이 문제로다
Norwegian		Hopper av Rocket-skipet!
Polish		Zamieszanie w wielkim mieście
Portuguese	Brazil	Separados até o fim!
Portuguese	Portugal	Perdidos e Achados!
Romanian		În Balonul Echipei Racheta
Russian		Прыжок с корабля «Ракета»
Spanish	Latin America	¡Cambiándose de Equipo!
Spanish	Spain	¡Abandono en el Team Rocket!
Swedish		Hoppa av Rocket-skeppet!