EP036

The Bridge Bike Gang

EP036

あらしのサイクリングロード
Stormy Cycling Road

First broadcast

Japan	December 2, 1997
United States	October 23, 1998

English themes

Opening	Pokémon Theme
Ending

Japanese themes

Opening	めざせポケモンマスター
Ending	ニャースのうた

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	武田優作 Yūsaku Takeda

Screenshots on Filb.de

The Bridge Bike Gang (Japanese: あらしのサイクリングロード Stormy Cycling Road) is the 36th episode of the Pokémon animated series. It was first broadcast in Japan on December 2, 1997, and in the United States on October 23, 1998.

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

Blurb

In the course of a journey, one meets up with many different things. Returning to civilization after a long period of wandering, our heroes find a bridge that reaches 20 kilometers in length. There is no way to reach Sunnytown—on the other side of the bridge—but by crossing. The bridge, however, has been designed especially for bicycles. The party tries to purchase bicycles in order to cross the bridge, but lacking the funds and otherwise at a complete loss, they decide to stop by the Pokémon Center and re-evaluate their plans. At the Pokémon Center, by pure luck, a job awaits them—delivering medicine to Sunnytown.

Plot

Ash and his friends come across a bridge, but when they try to walk on it, an officer named Norman says only the bike track was ready, not the actual road. Devastated, the group then sees a bike store, but their prices are expensive. The group retreats to the Pokémon Center to think of a plan to get a bike. Suddenly, a worried Nurse Joy appears and says she had to deliver medicine for injured Pokémon over the bridge to Sunnytown, but she cannot leave the Center because she has Pokémon to attend to. Ash and Misty agree to carry out the task for her after Nurse Joy informs them she has several spare bikes. Misty and Brock ride a tandem bicycle, whilst Ash leads in his single bike, enjoying the bridge's view and fresh air. Meanwhile, below the bridge, James rows an inflatable boat whilst Jessie and Meowth peer through their binoculars and notice Ash and his friends. Jessie and James mention the area could almost be considered their hometown and make plans to target Pikachu.

Just after Ash and his friends finish their refreshments, they find themselves surrounded by a group of wild bikers. They tried to escape, but the gang's leader Chopper challenges Ash to a battle. He sends out his Golem and Ash calls on Bulbasaur. Golem's shell protects it from Bulbasaur's Vine Whip and it easily wins with a single Tackle. Ash then sends out Charmander, who sets Golem alight with Flamethrower and Fire Spin. Golem's Tackle misses Charmander, and it strikes several of the gang members instead, making Ash and Charmander laugh at their misfortune. Chopper withdraws his Golem, but the Poké Ball is still hot from Charmander's attack.

Next, Tyra, the other leader of the bike gang, sends out Cloyster against Misty, who tries to send out Starmie, but Psyduck appears instead. Misty decides to give it a chance, but Psyduck's attacks repeatedly backfire on it. Before Psyduck has a chance to develop a headache from Cloyster's own attacks, Team Rocket arrives, riding on unicycles and saying their motto. They receive a heroes' welcome from the bicycle gang, who refer to Jessie as "Chainer Jessie" and "Big Jess" for her penchant of swinging a chain around as she rode her bike, and James as "Little Jim" and "Trainer James" because he was the only one in the bike gang who had to use training wheels. Just as Team Rocket and the bike gang begin to attack Ash and his friends, the police arrive. The bike gang immediately rides off, almost leaving Team Rocket behind. When Officer Jenny arrives, she offers them a ride, though she retracts her offer after being called to another emergency. As the weather becomes ferocious and turns into a storm, the bicycle gang and Team Rocket seek refuge in a building. Chopper and Tyra then challenge Team Rocket to ride through the storm on their unicycles. The whole trio falls for the peer pressure and accepts the task.

In Sunnytown, Nurse Joy calls the other Pokémon Center; she is worried that medicine hasn't arrived to cure the injured Pokémon, a Shellder. As Ash and his friends continue to ride through the rainstorm, the bridge lifts to allow a ship to pass through. However, they determinedly continue riding. Simultaneously, Team Rocket is trying their hardest to pedal their unicycles up the other side of the upturned bridge. Just as Ash and his friends are not going to make it, they see Team Rocket jumping from the other side and promptly bounce on their heads, sending the trio into the water while allowing themselves to be propelled upward and on to the other side. As they pass the bike gang, they are challenged to a battle. When Ash refuses and tells them that he is delivering medicine for a sick Pokémon, the gang decides to escort them. They arrive in time, and Nurse Joy quickly pours the medicine into the tank, instantly improving Shellder's condition. Misty phones through to the other town's Nurse Joy, alerting her to their arrival. The bike gang promptly calls Ash and Misty "Awesome Ash" and "Mighty Misty". Brock tells Tyra that she can call him "Honey", only to receive a slap.

Meanwhile, Team Rocket emerges out of the water, stacked on a single unicycle and covered in seaweed.

Major events

Jessie and James are revealed to have been members of a bike gang in the past.
Misty's Psyduck is revealed to be able to use Confusion and Disable only when its headache is severe enough.

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?: Cloyster

Trivia

This episode marks the first time Misty takes Brock by the ear when he is in love with a beautiful woman.
The tune that plays when Red rides his Bicycle in Red and Blue is heard the first time Ash and his friends are seen on their loaned bikes.
Chopper's bike design is based on Zapdos.

Errors

In the original version, the narrator incorrectly refers to the Safari Zone as "Safari Land". 「サファリランド」
While Brock is talking with Nurse Joy, Ash's legs are briefly shown overlapping Brock's body twice.
When Ash and friends are biking over the bridge, Ash rings his bicycle bell despite his bike not having a bell.
When Ash first sees Team Rocket, he has his bag, despite not wearing it in previous scenes.
When Ash and his friends meet up with Officer Jenny, Pikachu's cheek pouches are missing.
In one scene at the Pokémon Center in Sunnytown, Chopper's hair is darker than normal.
In the Swedish dub, when Ash cheers for the idea to cross the bridge just before the title card shows up, his English voice can heard.

Pikachu's missing cheek pouches
Chopper's miscolored hair

Dub edits

Kanto Pokérap: Day 1 (Version 2)
Originally, Misty wanted curry while Brock wanted ochazuke or pancakes. In the English version, Misty wants a hot dog while Brock wants deep-dish extra cheese pizza.
The Pokémon Center's poster had text removed.
Misty complains about doing all the work on the bike she and Brock share, while originally she was upset because she wanted a bike only she rode, not a shared bike.
Big Jess and Little Jim were originally addressed with 姉御 Anego (big sister) and 兄貴 Aniki (big brother).
- Jessie's original nickname was チェーンのムサシ Chēn no Musashi (Chain Musashi) instead of Chainer Jessie. While James's was 補助輪のコジロウ Hojorin no Kojirō (Training Wheels Kojirō) instead of Trainer James.
In the Danish dub, Norman's dialogue is altered to include a contemporary pop culture reference to Scandlines TV commercial characters Kaj and Bøje, a pair of seagulls.
In the Swedish dub, Norman states that the bridge is en och en halv mil, 15 kilometers.
In the Swedish dub, in the end, Jessie and James say "nu är det Jul igen" ("now it's Christmas again"), probably making a pun on the fact that hjul (wheel) and Jul (Christmas) have the same pronunciation and the fact that they are cycling on a unicycle.

In other languages

Language		Title
Arabic		عصابة الجسر
Mandarin Chinese		暴風雨的單車路 / 暴风雨的单车路
Czech		Kolařský gang
Danish		Brobisserne
Dutch		De Brug Fietsbende
Finnish		Sillan fillarijengi
French	Canada	La bande des bicyclettes
French	Europe	Le gang des bicyclettes La bande des bicyclettes*
German		Die Fahrrad-Gang
Hebrew		כנופיית אופני הגשר Knufiat ofaney ha'gesher
Hindi		ब्रिज की बाइक गाँग Bridge ki Bike Gang *
Hungarian		A biciklis banda
Italian		Avventura su due ruote* Una biciclettata sul ponte*
Korean		긴급상황 포켓몬을 구하라
Norwegian		Gjengen på broen
Polish		Rowerowy gang wielkiego mostu
Portuguese	Brazil	A Gangue das Bicicletas
Portuguese	Portugal	O Gangue de Motoqueiros da Ponte
Romanian		Gașca Bicicliștilor de pe Pod
Russian		Байкеры орудуют на мосту!
Spanish	Latin America	¡La banda del puente!
Spanish	Spain	La banda de las bicis del puente La banda de la bici del puente*
Swedish		Cykelgänget
Turkish		Köprüdeki Bisiklet Çetesi
Ukrainian		Байкери на Мосту