Who's Flying Now? (Japanese:ヒワマキシティのフェザーカーニバル！！Hiwamaki City's Feather Carnival!!) is the 84th episode ofPokémon the Series: Ruby and Sapphire, and the 358th episode of thePokémon animated series. It was first broadcast in Japan on July 8, 2004, and in the United States on June 25, 2005.
Spoiler warning: this article may contain major plot or ending details.
Ash and friends climb the steps to the Fortree City Gym—only to find out that the Gym Leader is busy in town with the Feather Carnival. Ash quickly heads to the carnival, where Winona is riding her Skarmory above the city.
Team Rocket is also at the carnival, and James laments the time he saw a Chimecho for sale at a carnival but did not buy it in time. Jessie and Meowth ditch him.
The kids meet Winona, and Ash challenges her to a Gym battle. She's busy with the carnival, so their battle will have to wait. Ash and friends decide to have fun, and release their Pokémon so they can have fun too.
James sees a Chimecho for sale—from the Magikarp salesman who's scammed him three times in the past! He buys it anyway, but once he shows it to Jessie and Meowth, it turns out to be just a Hoppip in disguise. A real Chimecho floats by, and happily joins James.
Ash and Winona arrive at the Gym, but an explosion in town calls them back to the carnival. Team Rocket is using a giant robot to shock and capture Flying-type Pokémon. When Ash fights back, they capture his Pikachu and Swellow too, and use Chimecho to heal their wounds.
Winona's Skarmory defeats Team Rocket with a Drill Peck attack, sending them blasting off. The festival resumes that evening, with the skies full of Flying Pokémon.
Plot
Ash andhis friends are on the way toFortree City in pursuit of Ash's nextGym battle andBadge. As the city comes into sight,Max notes that Fortree City has an abundance of treehouses, andBrock courteously explains that it's an old tradition in the city. Ash, on the other hand, isn't particularly interested in the trees and speeds off towards the Gym. Upon arrival, Ash calls out that he's here for a battle, and he's greeted by the Fortree City Gym assistant,Zachary. Zachary informs Ash that theGym Leader is in the village, and unfortunately she's busy with theFeather Carnival, a once-a-year celebration of the sky in the city. Of course, Ash races down to the square to find the Gym Leader. While looking around the square, Max spots aSkarmory flying with two people, a woman and young child, on its back.
Ash and his friends move to track down the landingSkarmory. After a joyride, the Skarmory has landed and its Trainer is looking for another passenger to take on a Pokémon ride. Brock gets to her first, but Ash fights his way through the crowd and introduces himself to the pilot,Winona. They discover quickly that Winona is also the Fortree Gym Leader, so Ash immediately challenges her. Winona accepts the challenge, but delays the match until after the festival. That leaves Ash and others fairly idle for some time, so the friends calls out their Pokémon to enjoy the carnival.May and Max even get a ride on Skarmory like the other children, their first experiences on a flying Pokémon. Brock and Ash watch from the ground, discussing a combination of local history and strategy for Ash's upcoming match.
Team Rocket also arrives in Fortree City.Jessie andMeowth are perfectly happy to be at a carnival, butJames seems rather unhappy. When pushed, James regales them with a story from his youth—when he was just a young boy he saw a rareChimecho, which he wanted very dearly. Unfortunately,his parents wouldn't let him have one, and by the time he escaped his home to find Chimecho himself, the carnival had packed up and left. James says that this incident left him a "hollow shell of a man", and bursts into tears. However, it turns out that Jessie and Meowth got bored and walked off while he was talking, despite his emotional display. James later forgets that his teammates ditched him when he passes a stand selling Chimecho. He is immediately apprehensive as the swindlingMagikarp salesman is running the stand, but James is conned into buying one of the "Chimecho" with the trio's remaining money. James walks away happy, thinking that his new "Chimecho" will bring him success and happiness. Jessie and Meowth soon find James, and are quick to point out that it's not a Chimecho—it's in fact aHoppip painted like a Chimecho with a bell for a tail. However, just as Jessie and James begin to fight over the error, a breeze whistles through and the Hoppip happily floats away. James's upset is quickly remedied when a realChimecho floats by. James asks Chimecho if it would like come along with him, and Chimecho happily agrees.
Elsewhere, Zachary and Winona lead Ash up to the Fortree City Gym, an open arena on top of the Gym itself, on level with the surrounding trees. Before Ash and Winona can start their battle, an explosion breaks out in the city square below. Team Rocket, in their newDouble Trouble Sparky Shocker mecha uses electricity to disable and capture all of Fortree City's famous flying Pokémon. Winona and Skarmory immediately hit the robot with aSteel Wing. Team Rocket launches into theirmotto joined by Chimecho, then the battle commences.Pikachu uses theThunderbolt on Team Rocket, but Chimecho usesHeal Bell, which replenishes the trio's health. Ash opts for another strategy, and has hisSwellow fly in with Pikachu on its back. Swellow pushes through the mecha's electric attacks before getting close enough to retaliate with aWing Attack. However Team Rocket counters with another electric attack and capture Swellow and Pikachu. Skarmory, however, uses aDrill Peck attack to break the robot's cage and free the captured Pokémon. Skarmory Drill Pecks the robot, and the resulting explosion blasts Team Rocket off. While the day has been saved, the sun is setting, so Ash and Winona agree to delay the battle until thefollowing day. The day and the Feather Carnival end with a fireworks display and some formation flying, with Winona at the head.
After the Pokémon Trainer's Choice segment,Skitty's legs are pink instead of cream-colored.
AfterJames gets thefalse Chimecho, the stripe on its head is missing. This also happens when he shows it to Jessie.
When Team Rocket blasts off,Wobbuffet is shown to be dirty and beat, despite being previously in his Poké Ball.
In theBrazilian dub, when James discovers that the false Chimecho is actually aHoppip, Team Rocket refers to it as aSkiploom.
Dub edits
You & Me & Pokémon is used as background music whileAsh andhis friends are enjoying the carnival in the English dub. In the original Japanese version,Ready Go! is used instead.
In the original Japanese version, James holds wine in his hand. In the English dub, the drink color is changed to look more like strawberry milk.
Pokémon Trainer's Choice
Question: Trainers, which one of these Pokémon is the best choice to battle Magby?
