EP005
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Showdown in Pewter City
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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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Showdown in Pewter City (Japanese: ニビジムのたたかい！ Battle of Nibi Gym!) is the fifth episode of the Pokémon anime. It was first broadcast in Japan on April 29, 1997 and in the United States on September 14, 1998.
Synopsis
The episode opens with Team Rocket digging a hole. After covering it, they forget exactly where the hole was dug and look around only to fall into it themselves.
Meanwhile, Ash, Misty and Pikachu have reached the edge of the Viridian Forest and arrive on the outskirts of Pewter City. Ash is tired enough that he decides to take a rest on some conveniently placed rocks. However, a nearby man tells him that there is a fee for sitting on the rocks. His name is Flint, and he is trying to sell rocks as souvenirs. Neither Ash nor Misty are interested.
They head to the Pokémon Center where Ash is surprised to encounter Nurse Joy. She explains that she is not the Viridian City Joy as Ash was obviously inclined to believe, but her older sister. She then shows Ash a poster promoting a tournament called the Pokémon League Championship and he decides to sign up. Before he can enter, however, he needs to defeat eight Pokémon Gym Leaders and earn from each a Gym Badge as proof of his victory. Flint walks in at this point and tells Ash about Pewter City's Gym Leader, Brock. He is openly skeptical of Ash's chances of winning, and laughs scornfully at the very thought of it.
Later, Ash and Misty discuss the situation over a meal and she warns Ash that Gym Leaders are much tougher than the average trainer. She offers to help him out, but he declines. This upsets her and she storms out of the restaurant, leaving Ash with the bill.
Ash stops by the Pokémon Center again to pick up his healed team before making his way to the Gym. Upon arriving he and Pikachu walk inside, only to find the interior pitch black. As Ash calls out a spotlight switches on to reveal the Gym Leader, Brock, sitting cross-legged on a platform. Ash challenges Brock, who then goes over the official rules and declares that each trainer may only use two Pokémon in the match. He stands up and asks about Ash's Pikachu, calling it cute but no match for him.
Despite this, Ash begins the match with Pikachu while Brock starts off with Onix. Pikachu is understandably intimidated by the giant rock Pokémon and tries to convince Ash to send out Pidgeotto instead. Ash responds by telling Pikachu that this is its battle, and commands it to use ThunderShock. The electric attack is woefully ineffective and Brock commands Onix to counter with Bind. It begins to crush Pikachu, inflicting very visible pain. This prompts Ash to recall Pikachu, only to have the attempt thwarted by the larger Pokémon's bulk. Ash cannot bear to watch his friend suffer any more agony, and forfeits the match.
As the dejected Ash leaves the Gym he encounters Flint, who suggests that he follow him to his home. Ash agrees, and over a batch of tea they discuss what happened in the Gym. Flint notices that Ash is obviously upset over his loss, so he consoles him with the knowledge that Brock could be an even better trainer than he already is. Confused, Ash asks why Brock is not living up to his potential. Flint decides to let Ash see for himself rather than explain.
Flint leads Ash outside and gestures across the way to another house. The two watch as Brock, in a pink apron, cares for his nine little brothers and sisters. As they walk away Flint explains that after Brock's good-for-nothing father left home to become a Pokémon trainer his heartbroken mother abandoned them, leaving the eldest Brock to take care of his siblings. Ash empathizes with Brock, but is determined to defeat him. Flint recognizes that determination and mentions that he might know of a way Ash can super-charge Pikachu.
They go to a hydro-electric plant where Flint hooks up the generator to the electric sacs in Pikachu's cheeks. As the river is bone-dry, Ash must run on a large water wheel to generate the electricity, which flows into Pikachu. Misty shows up and offers to lend Ash her Template:Type2 Pokémon, but Ash refuses, wanting to defeat Brock with his own team. He continues charging Pikachu until the generator overloads and Pikachu's electricity lights up the the night sky.
The next day, Ash returns with confidence to the Pewter City Gym for a rematch. Brock was also confident from the last battle, and the two quickly start the rematch. Brock sends out Geodude, while Ash sends out Pidgeotto. However, the Template:Type2 can't seem to harm the Rock-type, so Ash recalls him and sent out Pikachu. Misty is seen in the rafters, cheering for Ash, only to be crowded by Brock's siblings.
Brock comments on how weak Pikachu and Ash were, and Ash retorts by commanding Pikachu's attack, which easily knocks Geodude down. Both Brock and Misty are stunned, staring open-mouthed. Brock recalls his Geodude and sends out Onix, and a fearful Pikachu tries to do another Electric attack, damaging the gym itself instead. Onix wraps Pikachu with Bind, but Pikachu makes a comeback with his new attack, Thunderbolt, which manages to hurt Onix but still couldn't take it out. Just as Pikachu is about to pass out, Brock suddenly spares it by calling Onix off. He tells Ash to forfeit again, not wanting to cause further damage to Pikachu. Ash protests, wanting to fight the match to the end.
Suddenly, the gym's sprinklers are set off by a fire caused by Pikachu's earlier Electric attack. Water sprays all over Onix, weakening him and allowing Pikachu to fight back with another Electric attack. Just as Ash is about to command Pikachu to finish Onix off, he finds he can't move. Brock's brothers and sisters are all holding Ash in place, which Ash believes was his conscience. Brock orders his brothers and sisters to not get involved, but they protest, knowing that Brock's love of Pokémon made it painful for him to continue the match and watch his Onix get hurt further.
Ash calls back his Pikachu. He explains that if he defeated Brock now, it would only be because of the sprinklers being set off. He decides he wants to win his badge fair and square, much to Misty's disappointment since he is giving up a lucky advantage.
Ash left the Pewter Gym, and on his way out of Pewter City, he apologizes to Pikachu for being so tough. He hears someone calling him, and turns to find Brock running to catch up with him and give him the Boulder Badge. Ash says he can't accept the badge, but Brock insists Ash earned it through his kindness to Pokémon. Brock continues to explain that rather than becoming a great Pokémon trainer, his dream is to become a Pokémon breeder, but can't do so because of his family duties. He gives Ash the badge, and asks him to fulfill his dream, and Ash agrees.
Suddenly, Flint shows up again, and reveals that he is Brock's "good-for-nothing" father. He explains that he didn't want to return to his family as a failure of a Pokémon trainer. Ash puzzles over the fact that Flint helped him instead of his son, Brock, and Flint explains that Ash's helplessness reminded him of himself. Flint was ready to take back the responsibilities he abandoned, which Brock returns to him, along with a long list of tasks for him to remember while taking care of the children.
That evening, Ash and Brock travel on the road out of Pewter City. Brock asks to make sure it's okay that he joins Ash on his Pokémon journey, and Ash insists that he is glad to have him along. However, Misty is a different story, and from several paces behind she yells at him to not forget about her bike. Ash and Pikachu try to ditch Misty, followed by Brock and the angry girl herself.
Team Rocket show up at the end for a final cameo, trampled by Ash and his friends as they run over the hole in the ground, unaware of the people underfoot.
Major events
- Ash reaches Pewter City.
- Ash and Misty meet Brock.
- Ash has his first Gym Battle.
- Ash suffers his first loss.
- Ash's Pikachu learns Thunderbolt.
- Ash gets a Boulder Badge.
- Brock joins Ash and Misty.
- For a list of all major events in the animated series, please see the history page.
Debuts
Humans
Pokémon debuts
Characters
Humans
Pokémon
- Pikachu (Ash's)
- Meowth (Team Rocket)
- Pidgeotto (Ash's)
- Onix (Brock's, debut)
- Geodude (Brock's, debut)
Trivia
- This episode introduces Team Rocket's hole gag.
- This is the first of few episodes where Team Rocket appears but has no bearing on the plot.
- This episode introduced the most named, recurring characters in the entire anime. However, given that it introduced Brock's siblings, it has an unfair advantage over other episodes. If Gary's cheerleaders had ever been named, the honor would go to the first episode.
- This is one of the few episodes where Ash tries to return Pikachu to its Poké Ball.
- The poster in the Pokémon Center uses type symbols from the TCG, specifically (from top to bottom) the lightning, psychic, grass, fire, and water symbols.
- This episode is featured on the Volume 20: Onix copy of Pokémon All Stars.
Errors
- As Ash tries to return Pikachu back into its Poké Ball, the Ball's lightning bolt mark is missing.
- Ash's advantage over Brock should not have technically worked. Template:Type2 Pokémon are always immune to Template:Type2 moves, no matter how strong the attack or how weakened the opposing Pokémon. This is the first of many times Pikachu's Electric attacks defy type match-ups to change the results of the battle.
- Oddly, in DP016 when Pikachu once again battled an Onix, Ash actually says that electric attacks would have no effect.
Dub edits
- Flint charges a $2 fee for sitting on his rocks, or 50 ¥ in the Japanese version.
- Various pieces of text were changed to English:
- The unreadable (due to the position of the camera) signs at Flint's shop were changed to "SALE".
- The poster in the Pokémon Center was translated, emulating the font and style of the letters exactly.
- The restaurant bill was changed from ¥1150 to $1150. The bottom of the bill is changed from "Restaraunt Nibi" to "Thank You".
- The "Nibi Gym" sign was changed to say "Pewter Gym".
- The sign outside Flint's house changed from "We have rocks" to "ROCKS FOR SALE".
- Instead of saying Brock's mother left the family to Brock's care, Flint tells Ash that she died after trying to raise the family on her own. This resulted in an inconsistency in the English dub, as Brock's mother, Lola appears in A Family That Battles Together, Stays Together! as well as in several other episodes afterwards.
- Also, originally there were nine brothers and sisters, not ten as the dub would lead one to believe.
In other languages
- Arabic: الوصول الى مدينة بيوتر
- Czech: Zápas v Cínovém městě
- Dutch: Krachtmeting in Pewter City
- Finnish: Välit selviksi Pewter Cityssä
- French:
- Canadian French: Duel à Pewter Cité
- European French: Confrontation à Argenta
- German: Showdown in Marmoria City
- Hebrew: התחרות בעיר פיוטר hatacharut ba'eer Pewter
- Italian: La grande sfida
- Mandarin: 尼比市的决斗
- Portuguese:
- Brazilian Portuguese: Exibição na Cidade de Pewter
- European Portuguese: Confronto na cidade de Pewter
- Spanish:
- Iberian Spanish: Combate en la Ciudad Plateada
- Latin American Spanish: ¡Batalla en ciudad Plateada!
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This episode article is part of Project Anime, a Bulbapedia project that covers all aspects of Pokémon animation. |
- Original series episodes
- Episodes written by Junki Takegami
- Episodes storyboarded and directed by Kiyotaka Itani
- Episodes animated by Tokuhiro Matsubara
- Episodes focusing on Ash
- Episodes focusing on Pikachu
- Episodes focusing on Brock
- Episodes in which a main character is introduced
- Episodes with gym battles
- Episodes in which Ash gets a badge
- Episodes in which a main character's Pokémon learns a new move
