EP115

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A Tent Situation

EP115

かえってきたマサラタウン！
Back in Masara Town!

First broadcast

Japan	September 30, 1999
United States	October 7, 2000

English themes

Opening	Pokémon World
Ending

Japanese themes

Opening	ライバル！
Ending	ラプラスにのって

Credits

Additional credits
Animation	Team Ota
Screenplay	大橋志吉 Yukiyoshi Ōhashi
Storyboard	横田和 Kazu Yokota
Assistant director	大町繁 Shigeru Ōmachi
Animation director	たけだゆうさく Yūsaku Takeda

Screenshots on Filb.de

A Tent Situation (Japanese: かえってきたマサラタウン！ Back in Masara Town!) is the 115th episode of the Pokémon animated series. It was first broadcast in Japan on September 30, 1999, and in the United States on October 7, 2000.

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

Blurb

Ash returns home, where he is pleasantly surprised by an old friend. Unfortunately he faces a new trial, as Team Rocket has besieged the famous Oak Laboratory and captured all the Poké Balls there.

Plot

Ash and his friends arrive at Pallet Town, where he and Misty are surprised to see Brock waiting for them in Ash's house. When they ask why he left Professor Ivy, Brock abruptly falls to the ground shivering, and Misty believes she dumped him. Delia arrives home, and explains that she and Mimey found him a week ago, lying on the ground in a grassland, and took him home. Since then, Brock has been helping around the house, with Brock fighting over the chores with Mimey. Later, whilst discussing over dinner, Tracey insists on seeing Professor Oak. Ash is reminded of the GS Ball and then shows his mother his Winner's Trophy, which she suggests she could use as a dumbbell.

Ash and his friends, including Brock, travel to Professor Oak's Laboratory, with Team Rocket watching from a distance. Ash is welcomed to the house by Muk, who is crushing Oak under his weight. Tracey asks to show Oak his sketches. Ash hands Oak the GS Ball and he puts it away to examine it later. Oak then shows them around the Laboratory, and Ash sends his Tauros out to rejoin the herd before encountering his other Pokémon, Snorlax and Kingler. Over some cups of tea, Oak begins to review Tracey's sketches. As Tracey nervously awaits Oak's approval, he is interrupted by Meowth activating a circus net that engulfs the Laboratory. Meanwhile, Jigglypuff appears and tries to go through the net, though it cannot.

Team Rocket performs their motto while doing a circus act. Just as Ash is about to call out Bulbasaur, he notices Muk's insistence and sends it out instead. Jessie sends out Lickitung, but Muk ignores Lickitung and goes on to smother Jessie. James sends out Victreebel, which Muk hugs as well. James tries his luck with Razor Leaf, but it fails as Muk deflects the leaves. Victreebel begins to swallow Muk, but soon spits it out in disgust. Lickitung slobbers all over Muk with its tongue, to no effect.

James commands Victreebel to use Sleep Powder on Muk, which works, much to Ash's surprise. Ash is about to call out Squirtle and Bulbasaur, but Team Rocket throws rings around him and the others, immobilizing them. A Super Sucker then proceeds to suck all of the lab's Poké Balls and Tracey's sketchbooks. Meowth asks again why Brock came back, though he doesn't respond. The last Ball sucked in is the GS Ball. However, a rip in the tent appears, caused by a Trainer's Nidoqueen. Team Rocket's tent and Jigglypuff are sent flying into the distance. The Meowth Balloon falls to the ground, releasing every Poké Ball inside. The Trainer turns out to be Gary. His Nidoqueen attacks Lickitung by grabbing its tongue and swinging it into Team Rocket. Nidoqueen then sends Victreebel flying into Team Rocket with a Mega Punch. Jessie responds by throwing Meowth into the battle; he tries using Scratch, but his claws break from Nidoqueen's armored body. Gary tells his Nidoqueen to use Strength, hurling Team Rocket into the air and sending them blasting off.

Gary has Nidoqueen use its horn to free everyone. He then greets his grandfather, and everyone except for Ash admires his well-trained Nidoqueen. Ash tries to brag about his Orange League Winner's Trophy; Gary congratulates him but notes that it didn't help him defeat Team Rocket. Soon enough, Ash and Gary prepare for a battle to prove who has become the better Trainer over the past months.

Major events

Ash and his friends arrive in Pallet Town.
Brock is revealed to have left Professor Ivy and returned to Pallet Town.
Brock and Tracey meet for the first time.
Ash delivers the GS Ball to Professor Oak.
Ash returns Tauros to his herd at Professor Oak's Laboratory.
James's Victreebel is revealed to know Double-Edge*.
Gary returns and is revealed to have obtained a Nidoqueen.
Tracey meets Gary for the first time.
Ash challenges Gary to a battle, and he accepts.

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

Debuts

Pokémon debuts

Characters

Humans

Dare da?

Pokémon

Who's That Pokémon?

Who's That Pokémon?: Omastar (US and international); Mr. Mime (Mimey) (Japan)

Pikachu (Ash's)
Meowth (Team Rocket)
Togepi (Misty's)
Kingler (Ash's)
Muk (Ash's)
Tauros (Ash's; ×30)
Snorlax (Ash's)
Onix (Brock's; flashback)
Geodude (Brock's; flashback)
Zubat (Brock's; flashback)
Vulpix (Brock's; flashback)
Lickitung (Jessie's)
Victreebel (James's)
Nidoqueen (Gary's)
Mr. Mime (Delia's; Mimey)
Jigglypuff (anime)
Butterfree (Orange Islands Variant; flashback)
Nidorina
Nidorino (×2)
Vileplume (×2)
Dodrio (×3)
Rhyhorn (×2)

Trivia

This episode's English dub title is a reference to the phrase "a tense situation".
This episode was partially adapted into the book Go West, Young Ash.

Errors

This episode claims that this is the first time that Tracey has ever met Professor Oak or Delia. However, this contradicts The Power of One, where Professor Oak, Delia, and Professor Ivy travel to Shamouti Island and meet up with Ash, Misty, and Tracey himself at the end of the movie. This also contradicts The Lost Lapras, since Tracey saw Oak on the phone monitor, even going as far as to introduce himself as "Tracey Sketchit". He also had a full conversation with him about Scyther in Tracey Gets Bugged, although in those cases, it could be dismissed since he didn't meet him in person.
In a recurring error, when Ash sends out his Tauros, he is sent out from a regular Poké Ball, instead of the Safari Ball he was captured in.
In several scenes, Lickitung's eyebrows are colored yellow instead of pink.
When Team Rocket blasts off, Lickitung's stripes have their colors reversed.

Tauros's Poké Ball
Lickitung's miscolored eyebrows
Lickitung's miscolored stripes

Dub edits

Pikachu's Jukebox: My Best Friends
In the scene where Delia is accidentally trampling Brock, she does not recognize him until he looks up. In the original version, she recognizes Brock before he looks up.
When James orders his Victreebel to attack Ash's Muk, in the dub, he told it to "get stuck on Muk". In the original version, he commands it to use Double-Edge.
In the dub, James orders Victreebel to use Poison Powder while attacking Muk, but in the original version, he didn't give an attack order.
In the dub, Ash commands Muk to use Poison Gas on Victreebel. In the original Japanese version, Ash simply calls Muk by its name.
The English-dubbed version of this episode was released in Japan as part of the Pokémon de English! Kazu - Iro Hen VHS/DVD. This version has a few changes made:
- The Who's That Pokémon? segment is presented in the Johto League Champions style rather than the original style as the segment from EP158 is used.
- The ending credits are not included.

In other languages

Language		Title
Arabic		موقف محرج
Bulgarian		Забавление в цирка
Mandarin Chinese		真新鎮，我回來了
Czech		Stanový útok
Dutch		Een Gespannen Situatie
European French		Le plus lamentable chapiteau du monde
German		Zirkus in Alabastia
Hebrew		יריבות מבית Yerivut me'bayit
Hindi		टेंशन वाली सिचुएशन Tension wali Situation *
Hungarian		Cirkusz
Italian		Ritorno a casa* Ritorno a Biancavilla*
Polish		Tajemnica Brocka
Portuguese	Brazil	O Circo Está Armado
Portuguese	Portugal	Uma Situação de Tenda
Romanian		O Situație despre Corturi
Spanish	Latin America	¡Reencuentros!
Spanish	Spain	Metidos en una carpa