DP088

←	DP087 : The Psyduck Stops Here!

Camping It Up!

DP088

EP554

ポケモンサマースクール開講！！
Start of Pokémon Summer School!!

First broadcast

Japan	August 7, 2008
United States	January 3, 2009

English themes

Opening	We Will Be Heroes
Ending

Japanese themes

Opening	Together2008
Ending	風のメッセージ

Credits

Additional credits
Animation	Team Iguchi
Screenplay	米村正二 Shōji Yonemura
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

Camping It Up! (Japanese: ポケモンサマースクール開講！！ Start of Pokémon Summer School!!) is the 88th episode of Pokémon the Series: Diamond and Pearl, and the 554th episode of the Pokémon animated series. It first aired in Japan on August 7, 2008 and in the United States on January 3, 2009.

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

Blurb

Ash and his friends are just in time for the Pokémon Summer Academy at Professor Rowan's research facility on Mt. Coronet, where young Trainers have gathered to make new friends and learn about Pokémon. Among the campers are Dawn's one-time tag partner, Conway, and Jessie—now Jessilinda—who's forgotten about Team Rocket's plan to steal the Academy's Pokémon. Each Trainer is assigned a team and a new Pokémon; Ash nearly gets into a fight over a Poké Ball with Angie, another Trainer on Ash's Red Team, before ending up with a Raichu. Angie has a Monferno, Dawn gets a Grimer, and Brock has a Magnemite. Angie's Monferno is out of control and Ash's Raichu is too shy, but tomorrow Professor Rowan will judge how well everyone has done with their Pokémon!

When they're not busy getting on each other's nerves, Angie and Ash are busy falling asleep in class. But after a full day of excitement, bedtime finally rolls around. Everyone is still wide-awake, so Angie plays cards with Ash and his friends until Professor Rowan's assistant, Yuzo, angrily enforces the lights-out rule. The next day, Ash works to build up his Raichu's confidence, and Angie challenges her Monferno to let out all its aggression. Pokémon and Trainer are finally bonding, just in time for the day's battles!

Brock is up against Jessie and her Smoochum, but Smoochum is so cute that Jessie cuddles her Pokémon and forfeits the battle. Dawn's Grimer faces Conway's Venonat, then Ash's Raichu and Angie's Monferno take each other on in a match that perfectly demonstrates their Trainers' attack-oriented styles. At the end of it all, Dawn gets an award for bonding with her Pokémon, but the Red Team—including Ash, Angie, Brock, and Dawn—is currently last in overall points, thanks to Angie and Ash's behavior the previous day. Conway's Blue Team is first in the points, but it's not over yet. There are still more Pokémon Summer Academy adventures ahead!

Plot

After receiving an invitation from Professor Rowan, Ash and his friends rush over to the Pokémon Summer Academy near Mt. Coronet for a one-week training camp. After being separated into one of three teams {Red, Blue, and Green}, the Trainer's first task is to choose a random Poké Ball which they will train and battle with the next day. Ash and friends are all on the Red Team and also meet Angie, a competitive tomboy who quickly becomes Ash's rival. Ash receives a skittish Raichu, Angie selects an energetic Monferno, Dawn's Grimer appears to lack self-esteem, while Brock is happy with his Magnemite. Old acquaintance Conway is also in attendance and on the Blue Team, he received a Venonat. Team Rocket remain totally off the radar, with Jessie, disguised as Jessilinda on the Green Team, spending all of her time gushing over her Smoochum, while James and Meowth bide their time by working as janitors for the school.

Angie gives chase to her Monferno who tries to pick a fight with a Trainer's Croconaw. Ash's Pikachu tries to intervene peacefully, only for Monferno to hit it with Ember. Pikachu retaliates by shocking both Monferno and Croconaw, and Angie responds by calling out her own Shinx. Ash also gets involved, until Professor Rowan scolds the pair for trying to start a fight and reminds them that they at the school to learn. As the bell marking the end of the first hour rings, he tells them that in the next day's battle, he will judge how well the students have befriended their Pokémon and award points accordingly. The mention of points confuses Ash, so Angie and Conway explain that after each section, each team is awarded points for their performance, and whichever team has the most points at the end of the week is declared the winner.

Later, Yuzo hosts the students' first class. After checking out their Pokémon's moves on their Pokédexes, Ash and Dawn attempt to bond with their Pokémon. Dawn feeds Grimer some of her homemade Poffins and starts practicing Contest poses with it. Brock feeds his partner Magnemite static electricity and gives it polish. Ash starts brushing Raichu's fur, though the comb gets caught in its fur, making Raichu electrocutes him as result. Angie continues to struggle with Monferno, and begins chasing it around the classroom. Monferno uses Ember again hitting Ash, Pikachu, and Raichu. Ash and Angie argue and are made to run laps as punishment. After lunch everyone participates in games and classes. Ash and Angie pass out in the middle of a lesson and get in trouble again.

That night in their shared dorm room, Dawn reveals that she has a deck of cards, so Ash, Angie and Brock decide to stay up and play a game. Conway also tries to join them, but Dawn throws a pillow to keep him out. Angie reveals that she is often busy working at a Pokémon Day Care and plans to take over the business someday. Ash and his friends all reveal their own dreams until Yuzo barges in and angrily enforces their curfew.

The morning before their battles, Ash and Angie do some last-minute training to overcome their Pokémon's issues. Ash boosts Raichu's confidence by encouraging it to use strong attacks like Focus Punch to destroy a huge boulder. Angie is markedly impressed by Ash's performance before turning her attention to her troubled Monferno. Taking a page from Ash's book, she has Monferno attack her to improve its power and speed. Afterwards, Monferno and Angie are beginning to bond.

Professor Rowan reminds his pupils that the aim of today's matches is to bring out the best in one's partner Pokémon, before calling for the battles to begin. Brock has Magnemite unleash a Thunder attack. Jessilinda orders a counter Sweet Kiss, however she is so taken by her Smoochum's cuteness that she steps into the line of Thunder. Yuzo is perplexed, but awards her a no contest result. Next, Dawn treats her match against Conway like a Contest, using a Heart Seal as she summons Grimer to battle. Venonat uses Psychic to manipulate Grimer's Sludge attack. On the second try, Dawn orders a Poison Gas which hits its mark. Conway is impressed after Grimer spins while using Poison Gas to counter an oncoming Stun Spore. The two sides prove evenly matched and the battle ends inconclusively.

Later, Ash versus Angie. Monferno's Mach Punch and Raichu's Focus Punch cancel each other out. After Raichu Digs underground to escape an oncoming Flame Wheel, Monferno switches to an Ember attack. However Raichu leaps out from the hole, using Double Team to evade Monferno's Fury Swipes. Ash finally scores a hit, knocking Monferno to the ground with a Thunderbolt. However Monferno strikes back with a Flame Wheel. Monferno attacks again, using Ember to sweep through Raichu's Double Team defense. Raichu recovers as it descends towards the battlefield, hitting Monferno with a Focus Punch while simultaneously taking a Fury Swipe. Ash calls for a definitive Thunderbolt, and it collides with Monferno's Ember just as time runs out.

At the end of the day, Dawn wins the award for most development in their friendship with their Pokémon. Professor Rowan reveals the tally of points at the second day mark. The Blue Team come in first, the Green in second, and the Red in last. Angie refutes the tally, but Professor Rowan clarifies that while Dawn has earned the most points individually, Ash and Angie's antics yesterday cost the team some points. Ash and Angie apologize to their team and vow to do better in the next activities.

Major events

Ash, Dawn, and Brock enroll in the Pokémon Summer Academy.
Ash and his friends meet up with Conway again.
Ash and his friends meet Angie, another student in the Summer Academy.

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

Debuts

Humans

Angie

Pokémon debuts

Monferno

Characters

Humans

Pokémon

Trivia

This episode begins the four-part Pokémon Summer Academy arc.
Summer Vacation Fan Club is used as background music.
None of James's Pokémon appear in this episode or at any time during the Summer Academy arc.
Team Rocket doesn't appear in their standard uniforms, blast off, or recite their motto in this episode and throughout the rest of the Summer Academy arc.
- However, they do mumble the first lines of their motto while they are sleeping.
The three teams' names come from the first Pokémon games Red, Green, and Blue.
This episode, along with the other episodes in the Summer Academy arc, were adapted into the book Pokémon Academy.

Errors

When Dawn first sends out Grimer, her Piplup is not on her head. After Grimer is sent out, Piplup is back on her head.

Dub edits

In other languages

Language		Title
Mandarin Chinese		神奇寶貝暑期講座開課！！
Czech		Pokémonový tábor
Danish		Tilbage på skolebænken!
Dutch		Op zomerkamp!
Finnish		Leirielämää!
European French		La rentrée des classes!
German		Die Pokémon-Sommer-Akademie!
Italian		L'accademia Pokémon estiva!* L'Accademia Estiva Pokémon!*
Korean		신나는 포켓몬 여름학교
Norwegian		Tilbake til skolebenken!
Polish		Letnia szkoła już nas woła!
Portuguese	Brazil	O Acampamento de Verão!
Portuguese	Portugal	Acampamento Escolar!
Russian		Летняя академия покемонов
Spanish	Latin America	¡La academia Pokémon de verano!
Spanish	Spain	Campamento Pokémon
Swedish		Skolstart!