EP126

←	EP125 : The Little Big Horn

The Chikorita Rescue

EP126

いじっぱりのチコリータ！！
The Stubborn Chicorita!!

First broadcast

Japan	December 16, 1999
United States	November 25, 2000

English themes

Opening	Pokémon Johto
Ending

Japanese themes

Opening	OK!
Ending	ニャースのパーティ

Credits

Additional credits
Animation	Team Ota
Screenplay	園田英樹 Hideki Sonoda
Storyboard	鈴木敏明 Toshiaki Suzuki
Assistant director	鈴木敏明 Toshiaki Suzuki
Animation director	志村泉 Izumi Shimura

Screenshots on Filb.de

The Chikorita Rescue (Japanese: いじっぱりのチコリータ！！ The Stubborn Chicorita!!) is the 126th episode of the Pokémon animated series. It was first broadcast in Japan on December 16, 1999, and in the United States on November 25, 2000.

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

Blurb

Ash encounters a wild Chikorita and engages it in battle, thinking to add it to his team, but as Team Rocket watches the battle from afar, they decide the Chikorita would be better suited to their own nefarious uses.

Plot

On their way to Violet City, Ash and his friends have decided to take a mountainous trail, though Brock complains about how cold it is. Just then, he notices a wild Chikorita. Remembering Casey and her Chikorita, Ash loudly proclaims his intent to catch the Chikorita, which surprisingly doesn't scare her away. Ash promptly sends out Bulbasaur. Chikorita charges, but Bulbasaur counters with Vine Whip. Chikorita then uses Razor Leaf, but Bulbasaur shoots them down with its own Razor Leaf flurry, then Tackles Chikorita. Ash throws his Poké Ball, but Chikorita simply swats it back, then catches Bulbasaur off-guard with a Vine Whip to the head.

Ash recalls Bulbasaur and sends out Charizard, though Chikorita remains steadfast. She charges at Charizard, who simply holds her off with his foot. Ash orders a Flamethrower, but Chikorita uses Vine Whip to trip Charizard, who inadvertently burns Ash. Chikorita then fires another Razor Leaf flurry, but Charizard burns the leaves with Flamethrower, then flies in for a Tackle. Chikorita counters with another Vine Whip to the head, but this time, her vines get caught by Charizard's arms, causing both Pokémon to crash into a nearby mountain. Everyone runs over, and Ash recalls Charizard. Chikorita struggles to stand and collapses again from exhaustion. The group decides to take her to the nearest Pokémon Center. Not far away, Team Rocket watches the fight, with Jessie left very impressed by how strong Chikorita was, and believing that they need that kind of toughness on Team Rocket. However, Meowth is offended by her reasoning to capture Chikorita.

Later, Ash and his friends are approaching the Pokémon Center when Chikorita awakens. Ash reassures her, but she bites his arm. Later, Nurse Joy announces that Chikorita will be fine after some rest. She then asks if Ash is okay, noticing the bite on his arm; Ash claims that he is alright. Nurse Joy goes on to explain that the Chikorita in the area are stubborn and relentless in battle, qualities that Ash admires. Suddenly, an ambulance pulls up in front of the Pokémon Center, and two paramedics rush in. They quickly take the Chikorita's table into the ambulance, while Nurse Joy wonders who they are. They reveal themselves as Team Rocket and recite their motto, before James orders Weezing to use Smog, allowing them to escape. Ash then pursues Team Rocket.

Believing they had successfully stolen Chikorita, Team Rocket starts celebrating, but unbeknownst to them, Ash is riding on top of the ambulance. Back at the Pokémon Center, Misty realizes that Ash ran off so fast that he forgot all of his Poké Balls. Meanwhile, at a mountain cabin where Team Rocket is at, Ash and Pikachu also realize that the former forgot his Pokémon. Inside the cabin, Team Rocket tries recruiting Chikorita, but she is merely left confused. Jessie then holds up a standard Team Rocket contract, asking Chikorita to sign. James adds that if she can't write, a footprint is just as legally binding.

Ash interrupts with his own rendition of the motto, infuriating Team Rocket. Ash and Pikachu then throw snowballs and try to escape with Chikorita, but Meowth triggers a trap that ensnares all of them. Ash ends up going over a hill, and Chikorita and Pikachu are pulled down with him. They end up rolling down the hill in a snowball, bouncing off trees during their descent. Eventually, they ramp off a hill and into a tree, which eventually breaks their restraints, sending them tumbling to the ground and getting buried by snow. Fortunately, the snow hides them from Team Rocket, who are in pursuit aboard a snow-ski.

Ash and Pikachu try to figure out the route back to the Pokémon Center when Chikorita suddenly runs off. Ash attempts to stop her, but ends up slipping and falling as Chikorita disappears. Realizing it was starting to snow, Ash and Pikachu make their way to a cave and sit around a small fire they started. Ash impulsively runs out in search of Chikorita and tells Pikachu to remain inside in case Misty and Brock come. Ash eventually falls down a tunnel, where he finds Chikorita freezing from the cold. Upon seeing Ash, Chikorita jumps into his arms. He then makes his way back to the cave and ends up bundling together with Pikachu to wait out the weather.

The next day, the snowstorm stops, and Ash, Pikachu, and Chikorita try make it back to the Pokémon Center. However, they are intercepted by Team Rocket, who is using a snowball-firing machine. Chikorita uses Razor Leaf on the snowballs the trio throws, then, under Ash's orders, she Vine Whips the machine, causing it to go out of control. While Team Rocket is distracted, Ash orders a Thunderbolt from Pikachu, which causes the machine to explode, sending Team Rocket blasting off again. Ash, Pikachu, and Chikorita are then reunited with Brock, Misty, and Nurse Joy. The group returns to the Pokémon Center, and Ash and his friends prepare to hit the road again. However, Chikorita follows the group as they begin to depart and waves her scent in Ash's face. Nurse Joy explains that she wants to come along, and Ash happily accepts his newest Pokémon.

Major events

Ash after catching Chikorita

Ash catches a Chikorita.

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

Debuts

Pokémon debuts

Ash's Chikorita

Characters

Humans

Dare da?

Pokémon

Who's That Pokémon?

Who's That Pokémon?: Quagsire (US and international); Chikorita (Japan)

Trivia

This is the third episode in which Ash rips off Team Rocket's motto.
This is the second episode in which Ash's Charizard uses a move that is unavailable to any member of its evolutionary line in the games.
This episode is featured on Volume 18: Chikorita from VIZ Media's Pokémon All-Stars series.
This episode is featured on Pokémon All-Stars: Chikorita from Magna Pacific's Pokémon All-Stars series.
This episode was partially adapted into the book The Chikorita Challenge.
Ash left all his Poké Balls at the Pokémon Center, but he holds up a Poké Ball when he is ripping off Team Rocket's motto. However, this could be one of the empty Poké Balls he may have had.
With Ash's catch of Chikorita, this marks the first time he had not only two Grass-type Pokémon, but two Grass-type regional first partner Pokémon on his team, the other being his Bulbasaur.
In this episode, Team Rocket uses a variation of their motto.

Errors

The animation error

In one scene, Ash doesn't have on his backpack, but in the next shot, he does.
In one scene, Chikorita has scratches, but in the next shot, they disappear. They reappear in the following scene.
When Ash tells Pikachu and Chikorita to make a run for it, the rope that caught him in Team Rocket's trap is not connected.
In the Hindi Hungama dub of this episode, Chikorita is incorrectly referred to as a male, as various Hindi pronouns addressing males were used to refer to her.

Dub edits

Pokémon Karaokémon: Two Perfect Girls
An instrumental of Together Forever is used as an insert song when Ash finds Chikorita for the second time.

In other languages

Language		Title
Arabic		انقاذ تشيكوريتا
Bulgarian		Спасяването на Чикорита
Mandarin Chinese		好勝的菊草葉
Czech		Záchrana Chikority
Dutch		Operatie Chikorita
Finnish		Chikorita vaarassa
European French		Une nouvelle amitié
German		Endivies Rettung
Hebrew		להציל את צ'יקוריטהlehatsil et Chikorita
Hindi		Chikorita - नया पोकेमोन Chikorita- Naya Pokemon *
Hungarian		Chikorita megmentése
Italian		Un Chikorita da salvare* Il salvataggio del Chikorita*
Korean		치코리타는 고집불통 chikolitaneun gojibbultong
Polish		Ocalić Chikoritę
Portuguese	Brazil	O Resgate de Chikorita
Portuguese	Portugal	O Salvamento da Chikorita
Romanian		Salvarea lui Chikorita
Spanish	Latin America	¡El rescate de Chikorita!
Spanish	Spain	El rescate de Chikorita
Swedish		Iskall Chikorita