EP253
Great Bowls of Fire!
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First broadcast
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English themes
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Japanese themes
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Credits
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Great Bowls of Fire! (Japanese: カイリュー！げきりんはつどう！ Kairyu! Imperial Wrath is Met!) is episode 253 of the Pokémon anime. It was first broadcast in Japan on June 20, 2002 and in the United States on June 14, 2003.
Things go from bad to worse when Team Rocket steal a sacred golden bowl and start a fire. Dragonite realises what has happened but is affected by Attack Rage, preventing it from stopping its attacks.
Synopsis
When last seen, company arrives in the form of a Pokémon approaching them from the sky. It is quickly revealed to be Ash's Charizard, whose Flamethrower greeting was a dead giveaway. They are quickly followed by Liza and Charla, who both Ash and Clair are acquainted with. Furthermore, it is also revealed that Liza and Clair were good childhood friends, and that Clair was already familiar with Charizard (as Liza occasionally brings the Charizard from Charicific Valley to the Holy Land to train), but hadn't known that Charizard once belonged to Ash. Clair also reveals that Charizard also has a romantic relation with Charla, him being her bodyguard and "knight in shining armor". After Liza is briefed on their troubles with Team Rocket having stolen the Dragon Fang (and tricking the Holy Land's Dragonite to assist them), Liza and Charizard pledge their assistance.
As they are towed in balloons through the Holy Land, they wonder why Dragonite would assist Team Rocket, unusual considering that the first Blackthorn Gym Leader had loved the Holy Land, and had dedicated his life in protecting it, and Dragonite had continued in doing the same. Meanwhile, Team Rocket manages to land near a shrine, where Dragonite implores them to eat in safety. Clair and company, in the meantime, are headed towards the same shrine - the Dragon Shrine, a shrine built as a dedication to the preservation of harmony between humans and Pokémon, as Team Rocket prepares to loot the contents while Dragonite is asleep. Within the shrine lies the Prayer Flame, a flame dedicated to the harmony that has been burning since the shrine was first built over 500 years ago. Though James tries to steal the golden bowl containing the Prayer Flame, his hands slip, and the flame spills out of the shrine, setting fire to the nearby landscape. Dragonite notices this, and turns on Team Rocket with a Hyper Beam, even as the Flame burns out of control.
Ash and company reaches the scene just as Dragonite hit by its own Hyper Beam (thanks to Wobbuffet's Counter), and manage to save Team Rocket from another Hyper Beam. Clair sends out Dragonair to put out the out-of-control fire, while Liza, along with Misty and Brock (with Charla, Onix, Geodude, Staryu, and Politoed) try to save the Pokémon trapped in the fires. As Kaburagi takes back the Dragon Fang box from Team Rocket, Clair tries to reason with Dragonite, but to no avail - Dragonite fires a Hyper Beam on it, which was only partially deflected by Charizard's Flamethrower. Kaburagi, seeing this, realizes that Dragonite is in a state of attack rage - wherein it cannot stop itself from attacking. Pikachu tries to calm down Dragonite with a Thunder, but Dragonite easily knocks it down. Ash catches Pikachu, and is in turn saved from Dragonite's attack by Charizard.
As to why Dragonite would enter the attack rage, James is forced to come clean with having stolen the Prayer Flame. Kaburagi is set in charge of restoring the shrine, just as Charizard and Dragonite battle it out. Charizard opens with a Flamethrower, to which Dragonite responds with a Hyper Beam at Ash. Dragonair intercepts the attack with Safeguard, as Ash and Clair agree to battle together to rein in Dragonite. After exchanging Hyper Beams (and Charizard nearly missing an attempt at Seismic Toss), Clair realizes that taking turns throwing attacks at it will not help at all. Formulating a plan, Dragonair calls upon thunder clouds while Charizard manages to keep Dragonite stationary, allowing Pikachu to get in a Thunder attack that makes its mark on Dragonite. However, when Dragonite tries to break free with another Hyper Beam, Charizard uses Fire Spin to contain the attack, which explodes in Dragonite's face, sending it pummeling into the water.
As everyone regroups together, Dragonite emerges from the water, its attack rage gone. Finally in a conscious state, it examines the damage it had caused and weeps. As it is consoled by the other Pokémon living in the area, Misty and Kaburagi tells them to leave, but Kaburagi quickly realizes that they had taken the Dragon Fang from the box. One Thunderbolt attack later, and the Dragon Fang slips from James' hand, and Team Rocket is sent flying. Ash recovers the Dragon Fang, while Geodude manages to recover the Prayer Flame.
Later, back at the Gym, Ash and company agree to start a new Gym Battle the next day, as Charizard Flamethrower Ash's face as a sign of luck.
Major events
- Ash's Charizard returns.
Debuts
Characters
Humans
Pokémon
- Pikachu (Ash's)
- Togepi (Misty's)
- Meowth (Team Rocket)
- Charizard (Ash's, Liza's)
- Staryu (Misty's)
- Politoed (Misty's)
- Onix (Brock's)
- Geodude (Brock's)
- Dragonair (Clair's)
- Dragonite
- Pidgey
- Spearow
- Murkrow
- Rattata
- Aipom
- Nidoran♀
- Sentret
- Furret
- Wynaut (hidden)
Trivia
- Attack Rage is the anime equivalent of the side effect of the move Outrage.
- The English title to this episode is a reference to the song Great Balls of Fire.
Errors
- When Ash told Charizard to use Fire Spin, Charizard used a different attack that was incorrectly referred to as Fire Spin.
Dub edits
In other languages
- French: Tout feu tout flamme
- Italian: L'ultima Medaglia (terza parte)
- Latin American Spanish: ¡Enormes bolas de fuego!
- Spanish: Grandes bolas de fuego
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