EP180
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Houndoom's Special Delivery
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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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Houndoom's Special Delivery (Japanese: ヘルガーとトゲピー！ Hellgar and Togepy!) is the 180th episode of the Pokémon animated series. It was first broadcast in Japan on January 11, 2001, and in the United States on December 1, 2001.
Blurb
When Team Rocket attacks our heroes as they travel through a mountain pass, Weezing's Smoke Screen attack separates Togepi and Misty. Togepi wanders away as Misty, Ash and Brock try to locate the pint-sized Pokémon. Finding Togepi scared and alone, a passing Houndoom becomes its temporary care-taker and brings Togepi home to its trainer. Will Misty ever be reunited with Togepi?
Plot
Ash and his friends find themselves surrounded by a magnificent mountain landscape. As they admire the scenery, they then spot a Houndoom with a satchel on its back as it makes a delivery. Ash checks his Pokédex for further information, and Misty is a little scared of Houndoom's intimidating appearance. Meanwhile, Team Rocket is also enjoying the mountain air from their balloon and take time out to enjoy some tea. They each take a sip when Jessie realizes that they are not fulfilling their required Team Rocket duties. Her teammates also agree, and soon James spots their next target – Ash's Pikachu.
The trio soon put their sneak attack plan into motion and intercept Ash and his friends. Aftering performing their motto, James has his Weezing use Smokescreen, making it impossible for Ash and his friends to see. Jessie then tells her Arbok to attack Pikachu, but Pikachu is ready and fends it off with a Thunderbolt. With all the action, Misty trips on a rock and drops Togepi. It rolls near Weezing, so to get away, it uses Metronome, which ends up Teleporting itself far away. Togepi ends up in a big tree and becomes scared after seeing how high off the ground it is. Meanwhile, James commands Weezing to use Tackle. Ash tells Pikachu to do the same, and Weezing is sent flying back into the balloon. Ash calls on Chikorita's assistance, and she cuts a hole through Team Rocket's balloon with a Razor Leaf which sends the evil trio blasting off. Weezing’s Smokescreen finally clears, and Misty informs the others that Togepi is missing. They begin calling out to Togepi, but it is nowhere to be seen.
The same Houndoom from before hears Togepi's crying and rescues it from atop a big tree. Houndoom sees that it is still sad and gets an apple for it. Houndoom sets off again, but Togepi's cries alert it to a Pinsir that is ready to attack. A breath of fire and an intimidating snarl leads Pinsir to walk off. Houndoom tries to leave Togepi again, but hears its crying and comes back again. This time Houndoom puts Togepi on its back and continues on with its new friend. Meanwhile, Misty is becoming increasingly distressed after searching for over an hour for Togepi. Brock urges her to remain calm. He and Ash then send out Noctowl and Golbat to conduct an aerial search for Togepi.
Houndoom continues traveling towards its destination, with Togepi on its back. It reassures Togepi that everything will be okay as it prepares to leaps across several rocks to make it across a raging river. In the midst of the crossing a wild Gyarados breaches the water and the resulting wake swamps Houndoom and Togepi into the river’s current. Houndoom lends its tail to Togepi, who promptly holds on, and the pair soon reach the other side. Togepi proceeds to climb a steep cliff as Houndoom lies exhausted on the riverbank, but it begins to lose its footing. Thankfully, Houndoom notices in time and rescues Togepi before jumping to the top of the cliff in several bounds. Houndoom lets Togepi off and shows it a nearby field of flowers with some Grass and Bug-type Pokémon. Togepi soon joins a trio of Bellossom in dancing. The Bellossom then toss Togepi into the air and it lands on a drowsy Venusaur. The disturbed Pokémon then releases a cloud of Sleep Powder, which Houndoom walk into in order to protect the others.
Back with the gang, Noctowl alerts Ash and his friends to a trail of footprints that resemble Togepi's, but there are another set of larger footprints beside them. Brock notices that Togepi's prints seem to end, while the other larger footprints continue on. Misty is instantly afraid of the thought that Togepi may have been carried away by something. Meanwhile, Togepi finally wakes up Houndoom and they get on their way again. Ash and company are hot on Togepi's trail, and they soon leap across the same rocks and river that Togepi and Houndoom crossed earlier. On the other side of the river the footprints continue, and this leads the group up to the same field of flowers that Togepi and Houndoom were in earlier. Meanwhile, Team Rocket attempt to fly their patched balloon, but it begins leaking air. They almost crash into the river, but Gyarados pushes them to shore instead. The Gyarados is enraged and sends them blasting off again with its Hydro Pump.
Togepi and Houndoom continue to travel further and further. They seek shelter inside a tree hollow as a thunderstorm rages on. Houndoom notices that Togepi is feeling bored and tickles it with its tail to cheer it up. After the thunderstorm has passed, the pair spot a mysterious Pokémon nearby, which leaps away after letting off electric sparks.
Ash and his friends seem to have lost trace of Togepi because the footprints have been washed away by the storm. Soon Pikachu finds some fresh footprints. Misty is somewhat relieved to see that Togepi is still traveling with its mystery companion, and this encourages the group to continue their search. Togepi soon drifts off to sleep on Houndoom's back, as it returns to a Mareep farm. Ash and friends finally catch up and are relieved to find Togepi. Misty thanks Houndoom for taking care of her Togepi, and soon it wakes up and jumps into Misty's arms. The Mareep farmer is glad to see his Houndoom, nicknamed "Doomy", return and he then reaches into the satchel to retrieve his new shears. Team Rocket interrupts this happy moment by catching Doomy in a net. Ash sends out Chikorita again, and it cuts Houndoom free with its Razor Leaf attack. Jessie and James send out Arbok and Victreebel to fight back, but Pikachu and Houndoom save the day and send Team Rocket blasting off again, for the third time.
After the battle, the Mareep farmer leads Ash's group back to the road towards Ecruteak City. As everyone prepares to say their goodbyes, Togepi begins to cry. It then jumps out of Misty's arms and runs towards Doomy. Doomy smiles at its new friend, but urges Togepi to leave with Misty and the others. Misty promptly picks Togepi up and offers it comfort. Doomy and Togepi share a final goodbye, and afterwards Ash and the others continue their journey.
Major events
- For a list of all major events in the animated series, please see the history page.
Debuts
Pokémon debuts
Characters
Humans
Pokémon
Who's That Pokémon?: Poliwhirl (US and international), Houndoom (Japan)
- Pikachu (Ash's)
- Meowth (Team Rocket)
- Togepi (Misty's)
- Wobbuffet (Jessie's)
- Chikorita (Ash's)
- Noctowl (Ash's; Shiny)
- Golbat (Brock's)
- Arbok (Jessie's)
- Weezing (James's)
- Victreebel (James's)
- Houndoom (Mareep farmer's; Doomy; debut)
- Mareep (Mareep farmer's; multiple)
- Raikou (debut)
- Venusaur
- Butterfree (multiple)
- Pinsir
- Gyarados
- Ledyba (multiple)
- Ledian (multiple)
- Bellossom (×3)
Trivia
- This episode was originally titled "Howl Of The Houndoom".
- This episode marks the only time that Raikou physically appears in the main series.
- The book Togepi Springs Into Action! is based on this episode.
- This episode marks one of the few times that Team Rocket have blasted off three times in one episode.
- This is the first time the narrator closes an episode with the phrase "as the journey continues" in the dub, something he would not say again until Trials and Adulations!, after which it would become increasingly common as a closing line.
- This is the first time Togepi is shown to be afraid of heights. It is usually happy to be high up.
- This is the third time Togepi has used Metronome and got Teleport.
Errors
- At the beginning of the episode, the narrator says that Ash and his friends are heading to Johto. However, they are already in Johto.
- After Brock sends out Golbat, the back of its wings is colored blue instead of purple.
- In one shot featuring Team Rocket, Jessie's earring is white instead of green.
- In the English dub:
- When Togepi joins the dancing Bellossom, the Bellossom's Japanese voice can be heard.
- When Team Rocket is blasting off the third time, they say "We give up!" However, the closed captioning refers to the dialogue as "We've been fried!"
Golbat's miscolored wings
Jessie's miscolored earring
Dub edits
- Never Too Far From Home is used as an insert song.
- The original airing of this episode on Hungama TV in India started it directly from the title card, skipping the part of the episode that comes before it.
In other languages
| Language | Title | |
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 Bulgarian
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Специалната доставка на Хаудум | |
| Mandarin Chinese | 黑魯加與波克比 | |
 Czech
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Doporučený dopis od Houndooma | |
 Dutch
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Houndooms Speciale Bezorging | |
 Finnish
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Mihin jäljet päättyvät? | |
 European French
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Livraison à domicile | |
 German
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Ausgebüxt! | |
 Hebrew
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משלוח מיוחד של האונדום mishlo'akh meyukhad shel Houndoom | |
 Hindi
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Houndoom की स्पेशल डिलीवरी Houndoum ki special delivery * | |
 Italian
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Una consegna speciale | |
 Polish
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Wyjątkowa przesyłka | |
 Brazilian Portuguese
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Entrega Especial Houndoom | |
| Spanish |  Latin America
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¡El envío especial de Houndoom! |
 Spain
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La entrega especial de Houndoom | |
 Swedish
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Houndooms passagerare | |
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This episode article is part of Project Anime, a Bulbapedia project that covers all aspects of Pokémon animation. |
