EP194
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Ring Masters
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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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Ring Masters (Japanese: オーダイルＶＳカメックス！すもうバトル！！ Ordile VS Kamex! Sumo Battle!!) is the 194th episode of the Pokémon animated series. It first aired in Japan on April 19, 2001, and in the United States on March 16, 2002.
Blurb
As Ash and company pass through an intriguing little village, they notice a Feraligatr in the midst of a battle. Drawing closer, they see the Feraligatr defeat one opponent after another, but it never seems to tire! When the gang meets the Feraligatr's trainer, they find out that Pokémon battles in this town are of a different breed. Here they practice the art of Pokémon Sumo. Oversized Pokémon are taught to wrestle and are forbidden from using special attacks in Sumo matches. As luck would have it, the Sumo conference is being held the following day. True to his nature, Ash decides to enter the conference, certain he can win. He is surprised, however, to find out he must use a Pokémon that weighs at least 80 kilograms. For Ash, that means only one Pokémon... Snorlax! Although Snorlax makes the weigh-in, it doesn't seem to be interested in moving towards the ring, let alone battling. Watch the surprising turn of events as Ash cleverly uses Snorlax's guts to his advantage.
Plot
Ash and his friends are passing through Rikishii Town when they see a Feraligatr defeating several Pokémon in a row. After its sixth win, Misty takes a closer look at the Feraligatr and quickly falls in love with the Water type. The group greets Feraligatr's Trainer, Raiden, who tells them that the people of the town specialize in Pokémon sumo wrestling and introduces them to Shonosuke, the director of the Pokémon Sumo Society. Shonosuke explains the rules of Pokémon sumo wrestling, in which the Pokémon only has to rely on their physical skills and not using any of their usual attacks. He even mentions that Raiden and his Feraligatr are expecting to win this year’s Pokémon Sumo Conference, which is being held today, with a coveted King's Rock as the main prize. As Feraligatr resumes its training, Ash calls out his Totodile to see his evolved form and declares his interest in participating in the Pokémon Sumo Conference. He plans to have Pikachu and Totodile start training for it, but Shonosuke informs him that in order to participate, he needs a Pokémon that is heavy.
At the Pokémon Center, Ash asks Professor Oak to transfer him his Snorlax due to only Pokémon weighing at least 80 kilograms being allowed to enter the competition. Since Ash has six Pokémon in his team, he transfers his Noctowl to Professor Oak so that he can research its unusual rare coloring. At the registration area, a disguised Team Rocket enters Wobbuffet, disguised as a Miltank nicknamed "Milky", into the competition. James and Meowth are concerned about Jessie's plan of entering her Wobbuffet since he's a light-weight Pokémon, but Jessie tells them not to worry, as she has already planned everything out. Meanwhile, Ash manages to get his Snorlax registered into the competition, being the last person to enter, with Snorlax's weight breaking the weigh-in scale. Snorlax is fast asleep, even missing the opening ceremony. However, as Shonosuke announces the prize, which includes the King's Rock and a one-year supply of Pokémon food, Snorlax finally wakes up when it hears about the food prize.
After Shonosuke finishes his speech and explaining the rules, the group meets up with Raiden and his Feraligatr. They are amazed by the other big Pokémon that will be competing, especially Blastoise, which is expected to win the competition. The first match is between Jessie's "Miltank" versus an Ursaring. Jessie makes an easy win and is announced the winner of the match, but Shonosuke lodges a protest to the referee. Shonosuke noticed that Jessie's "Miltank" used a Counter attack, which breaks the rules and means that "Miltank" is hereby disqualified. Outraged by this decision, Team Rocket reveals their true identities. Shonosuke is furious and tells them that they made a mockery of the rules of this competition. Not bothered by what he says, Team Rocket is about to send out their Pokémon to attack, but they are quickly sent blasting off again by a Hydro Pump from Raiden's Feraligatr.
The next match is between Raiden's Feraligatr versus a Golem. The group assumes that Golem is going to win due to its weight advantage, but Raiden turns the tables by using Golem's disadvantages, knocking Golem down to the ground and winning the match. Ash is amazed and resolves to win as well. After a few matches, it is Ash and Snorlax's turn, with a Poliwrath as their opponent. As the match begins, Snorlax makes a surprising win as Poliwrath attacks Snorlax's belly and is bounced back, quickly knocking it out. The shocked referee announces the win and Snorlax happily goes for the prize food, but Ash quickly manages to recall Snorlax back to its Poké Ball. Raiden and Shonosuke are amazed by Snorlax's ability since Ash is just a rookie. Outside the arena, Team Rocket develops up a plan to sell phony Pokémon paw prints to the audience for money while looking for an opportunity to steal Pokémon.
Soon, both Ash and Raiden make it to the semi-finals. The two matches are Raiden's Feraligatr against Blastoise and Ash's Snorlax fights Machamp. While Feraligatr wins in a very close match, Ash's Snorlax once again makes an easy win via its bouncy belly, much to Ash's surprise. Raiden congratulates Ash for making it to the finals, but also says he won't go easy on him just because he's a nice kid. Shonosuke tells Ash that he should be proud of himself, as he is the first rookie to ever reach the finals. He tells them that finals are next and for them both to give it their best.
The final match begins between Raiden's Feraligatr and Ash's Snorlax. Snorlax makes the first move, but Feraligatr dodges it. Snorlax barely manages to retain its balance and, even while teetering on the edge of the ring, still manages to dodge Feraligatr's attack. Raiden is immediately shocked and impressed with how deceptively agile Snorlax is. Both of them make an impressive move, but as Feraligatr is pushing Snorlax out of the ring, Ash tells Snorlax to take a deep breath, using its belly to push Feraligatr away, saving Snorlax. Feraligatr manages to toss Snorlax, but Snorlax manages to land within the ring with a huge impact, causing the entire stadium to shake. Feraligatr loses its balance as a result and Snorlax manages to push it out of the ring, winning the match and the competition. Misty and Brock are happy that Ash won, even though Misty is also sad that Feraligatr lost.
The prize-giving ceremony begins as Ash is presented with the King's Rock and the one-year supply of Pokémon food. Happily, Snorlax rushes towards the food, eats it down to the last grub within moments, and promptly falls asleep afterwards. The group is glad that they don't have to carry the supply with them and Ash returns Snorlax into its Poké Ball, deciding to send it back to Professor Oak and call back his Noctowl, not having the food necessary to keep Snorlax fed. Both Raiden and Ash shake hands and Raiden wishes him good luck on all his Johto League matches.
Later, Team Rocket, with bags full of phony Pokémon paw prints, notices the competition is already over, much to their dismay, as they now have to wait until next year to sell them.
Major events
- Ash temporarily sends Noctowl to Professor Oak's Laboratory in exchange for his Snorlax.
- Ash participates in the Pokémon Sumo Conference and wins, earning a King's Rock as a reward.
- For a list of all major events in the animated series, please see the history page.
Debuts
Pokémon debuts
TV episode debuts
Characters
Humans
Pokémon
Who's That Pokémon?: Ledyba (US and international), Feraligatr (Japan)
- Pikachu (Ash's)
- Meowth (Team Rocket)
- Togepi (Misty's)
- Wobbuffet (Jessie's)
- Snorlax (Ash's)
- Totodile (Ash's)
- Chansey (Nurse Joy's)
- Feraligatr (Raiden's)
- Blastoise (Trainer's)
- Arbok (Trainer's)
- Nidoking (Trainer's)
- Golduck (Trainer's)
- Poliwrath (Trainer's)
- Machamp (Trainer's)
- Golem (Trainer's)
- Rhydon (Trainer's)
- Kangaskhan (Trainer's)
- Quagsire (Trainer's)
- Granbull (Trainers'; ×2)
- Heracross (Trainer's)
- Ursaring (Trainers'; ×2)
- Lickitung (Trainer's)
Trivia
- Brock breaks the fourth wall at the beginning of this episode by quoting the narrator.
- Despite the Pokémon Sumo Conference's weight requirement of at least 80 kilograms, many of the competing Pokémon's listed species weights are below the requirement, such as Arbok (65 kg) and Nidoking (62 kg). This is most likely because each species of Pokémon can vary in weight in the anime, as opposed to the games, where members of a species almost always weigh the same.
- The idea of Pokémon sumo wrestling would later be revisited in Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver with the Ring Drop and Circle Push events of the Pokéathlon and in The Journalist from Another Region with the Pokémon Sumo Tournament. The latter case even includes a direct reference to this episode as Ash reminisces about it.
- Music from The Power of One can be heard in this episode.
- The King's Rock Ash acquires in this episode is later used in Outrageous Fortunes to evolve Misty's Poliwhirl into a Politoed.
- This episode was banned in South Korea, likely due to it being focused on sumo wrestling.
- In the English dub, Meowth says, "Try not to have a cow, Jessie." This is a reference to the American animated sitcom The Simpsons, specifically Bart Simpson's catchphrase "Don't have a cow, man!".
Errors
- Ash tells Professor Oak that Snorlax is his only Pokémon that meets the weight condition, but any of his 88.4 kg. Tauros could also qualify. This error also appears in the blurb.
- In the examination room, a Nidoking is gray instead of purple.
- After Jessie reminds Wobbuffet to act like a Miltank, the right half of James's sumo wrestler disguise is colored dark-blue instead of light-blue.
- In one scene, the competing Pokémon are shown on a wall. Six are shown, but there should be at least eight. Since the sumo conference is a single-elimination style tournament, there must be two, four, eight, sixteen, or etc. competitors.
- When Meowth says that Wobbuffet's Counter will take Team Rocket through the entire tournament, pads appear on his forepaws.
- When Raiden mentions that Shonosuke can lodge a protest if he has doubts about a decision, his shirt is missing.
- When James holds the print, his gloves are missing.
- During one of Feraligatr's lunges at Blastoise, its jaw is blue instead of cream.
- When showing the board at the end of the episode, a Machamp's jaw is miscolored dark-gray instead of cream. It is also erroneously drawn with fangs.
The miscolored Nidoking
James's missing gloves
Machamp's miscolored jaw
Dub edits
- The original airing of this episode on Hungama TV in India started the episode directly from the title card, skipping the part of the episode that comes before it.
- The red symbol on the picture frames was removed in the English dub.
In other languages
| Language | Title | |
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 Bulgarian
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Господари на ринга | |
| Mandarin Chinese | 大力鱷VS水箭龜！！相撲大賽！ | |
 Czech
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Pán ringu | |
 Dutch
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Meesters in de Ring | |
 European French
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Un tournoi poids lourd | |
 German
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Pokémon Sumo | |
 Hebrew
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מלכי הזירהmalkei hazira | |
 Hindi
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रिंग मास्टर्स Ring Masters * | |
 Italian
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Pesi massimi | |
 Polish
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Mistrz ringu | |
| Portuguese |  Brazil
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Gigantes do Ringue |
 Portugal
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Mestres do Ringue | |
| Spanish |  Latin America
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¡Maestros del ring! |
 Spain
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Maestros de sumo Pokémon | |
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This episode article is part of Project Anime, a Bulbapedia project that covers all aspects of Pokémon animation. |
