Clefairy and the Moon Stone

EP006   ピッピとつきのいし Pippi and the Moon Stone

First broadcast Japan May 6, 1997 United States September 15, 1998

English themes Opening Pokémon Theme Ending

Japanese themes Opening めざせポケモンマスター Ending ひゃくごじゅういち

Credits Animation Team Ota Screenplay 冨岡淳広Atsuhiro Tomioka Storyboard 鈴木敏明Toshiaki Suzuki Assistant director 浅田裕二Yūji Asada Animation director 尾鷲英俊Hidetoshi Owashi Additional credits

Screenshots on Filb.de Clefairy and the Moon Stone on the officialPokémon TVYouTube channel

Clefairy and the Moon Stone (Japanese:ピッピとつきのいしPippi and the Moon Stone) is the sixth episode of thePokémon animated series. It was first broadcast in Japan on May 6, 1997, and in the United States on September 15, 1998.

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

Blurb

At Mount Moon, our friends rescue a scientist named Seymour from a batch of Zubat. (Along the way, Brock is able to catch one of the Zubat.) Seymour leads Ash and his friends into a cave to find the legendary Moon Stone, which is said to increase the power of Pokémon.

Deep in the cave, Ash spots a Clefairy carrying a Moon Stone. He considers capturing it, but Seymour tells him Clefairy prefer to live at Mount Moon. Ash decides to leave the Clefairy in peace, but Team Rocket shows up with plans of their own!

Will Team Rocket steal the Moon Stone? Are there other Clefairy lurking about, and do they carry Moon Stones, too? And is the legend of the Moon Stone true?

Plot

Mt. Moon And The Mysterious Moon Stone

Ash andhis friends are hiking towardsMt. Moon, discussing the legend of a meteor made ofMoon Stone crashing there in prehistoric times. At the base of Mt. Moon, the group encounters a man being attacked by a flock ofZubat.Misty prompts Ash to act, and he ordersPikachu to useThunder Shock, causing the Zubat to flee. The lab-coat-wearing man introduces himself asSeymour, a scientist who is upset because someone installed strong lights that are disturbing the wildPokémon living throughout the caves, including Zubat,Paras, andSandshrew.

Seymour explains that he believes that the attackers are after the Moon Stone. He says that it is a massive boulder, believed to be a million years old or more, hidden deep under Mt. Moon. Fragments of the Stone are said to increase a Pokémon's power. Seymour theorizes that this is because the resident Pokémon came from outer space, and used the Moon Stone as their spacecraft. At that moment, aClefairy bounces past, carrying something. Ash scans it on his Pokédex and decides to catch it, but Seymour intervenes.

Team Rocket Wants That Stone!

Instead,Meowth traps the Clefairy.Brock and Ash agree that they have to stopTeam Rocket, before they make any more trouble. Team Rocket freely admit to putting up the lights; Meowth also reveals their plan to steal the Moon Stone. Ash and Brock challengeJessie andJames, resulting in a battle pittingJessie's Ekans andJames's Koffing againstAsh's Butterfree and Brock's newZubat, caught at the entrance to the cave. James orders Koffing to generateSmog. Ash counters with Butterfree'sWhirlwind, and Zubat joins in, sending the Smog back on Team Rocket, much to their surprise. The four Pokémon exchange attacks, culminating in aSupersonic attack from Zubat and a Whirlwind from Butterfree that send Jessie and Jamesblasting off again, but leaving Meowth behind. Misty and Seymour follow the Clefairy as it exits the cave and heads up the mountain. Meowth, waiting in anticipation, appears and demands the Moon Stone. Misty sends outStaryu by throwing itsPoké Ball into the river. Without much trouble, Staryu sends Meowth blasting off as well, with a combination ofSwift andWater Gun.

A Clefairy Parade

Later, Brock feeds all the Pokémon withPokémon food, made according to his own special recipe. Seymour tastes it and deems it not bad. Ash follows suit, but he finds it awful. Meanwhile, Clefairy and Pikachu are having a conversation on a nearby rock. They hop away, followed by the rest of the group. They arrive at another cave, where they find the huge core of the Moon Stone. Clefairy adds its stone to the ring at the base of the core, which completes the circuit. The large core surrounded by the smaller fragments begins to glow blue in the moonlight. Dozens of Clefairy approach and begin to dance around the Moon Stone, praying to it. Seymour states that humans are supposed to ride the Stone back out to the stars, but his epiphany is interrupted by Team Rocket's return.

Pokémon From Outer Space?

Seymour attacks Team Rocket to keep them from the Stone, though he loses his glasses. Ash attacks with Pikachu, while Brock summonsOnix against Ekans and Koffing. Jessie orders Ekans to useDig, and James ordersSmokescreen. Ash calls onPidgeotto, and its Whirlwind blows the smoke away. When the smoke settles, Team Rocket is gone, and the Moon Stone gone with them. Brock orders Onix to Dig and follow Team Rocket underground, while the humans and other Pokémon run through the caves. One of the Clefairy retrieves Seymour's glasses for him.

Team Rocket uses the Stone to slide downhill. Onix appears suddenly, upsetting the sled. Onix attempts toTackle Team Rocket, but Koffing counters, and both Pokémon fall to the ground. At that moment, Seymour and the Clefairy appear from Onix's tunnel. The Clefairy use aMetronome that cause anexplosion, which sends Team Rocket blasting off once more. Chips of the Moon Stone drift down from the sky and cause many of the Clefairy toevolve intoClefable. Seymour stays with the Clefairy and Clefable, hoping to someday visit outer space with them.

Following the night's events, Ash and his friends continue their journey toCerulean City. Ash noticesGary has left some graffiti on aroad sign, calling him a loser. The message infuriates Ash and he speeds down the road.

Major events

• Brockcatches aZubat.
• Brock encountersTeam Rocket for the first time.
• Ash's Butterfree andPidgeotto are revealed to knowWhirlwind.
• Jessie's Ekans is revealed to knowBite.
• Misty is revealed to own aStaryu.
• Brock's Onix is revealed to knowDig.
• James's Koffing is revealed to knowTackle.

For a list of all major events inPokémon the Series: The Beginning, please see thetimeline page.

Debuts

Pokémon debuts

• Zubat (Brock's)
• Paras
• Clefairy
• Staryu (Misty's)
• Clefable

Characters

Humans

• Ash
• Misty
• Brock
• Jessie
• James
• Gary (fantasy; Japanese version only)
• Seymour

Pokémon

Who's That Pokémon?:Clefairy

• Pikachu (Ash's)
• Meowth (Team Rocket)
• Butterfree (Ash's)
• Pidgeotto (Ash's)
• Staryu (Misty's; debut)
• Onix (Brock's)
• Zubat (Brock's; new; debut)
• Ekans (Jessie's)
• Koffing (James's)
• Sandshrew
• Clefairy (multiple; some evolve; debut)
• Clefable (multiple; newly evolved; debut)
• Zubat (multiple; debut)
• Paras (multiple; debut)

Trivia

• This marks the first time a Pokémon has beenconfused in theanimated series.
• This is the first episode to feature aDouble Battle, even though Double Battles were not introduced untilGeneration III.
• This is the first time a main character hascaught a Pokémon off-screen during an episode.
• The twinkling star that normally appears whenTeam Rocket blasts off out of view makes its first appearance in this episode.
• This is the first episode to featurestone-inducedEvolutions.
• Several scenes in the episode, including theTeam Rocket motto, were shown inA Sneak Peek at Pokémon.
• When Ash andhis friends find the sign for the direction toCerulean City,Misty briefly appears saddened, foreshadowing the events ofthe next episode.
• Some Clefairy lines from this episode can be heard inSuper Smash Bros. andSuper Smash Bros. Melee, specifically after those games' Clefairy is summoned via thePoké Ball. In the games' English versions, the line comes from theWho's That Pokémon? segment while in their Japanese versions, they come from the episode's actual scenes.

Errors

• When aClefairy first appears,Brock's belt is colored green.
• WhenJessie andJames releaseEkans andKoffing inMt. Moon, the button on thePoké Ball is attached to the lower white half instead of the upper red half.
• WhenButterfree andZubat are sent out, Zubat briefly overlaps Butterfree.
• When Misty andSeymour leave the cave,Ash's gloves turn completely dark-green.
• When Zubat is hit byKoffing, the back of its wings is colored like the front, similar toits evolved form.
• While reading the sign pointing to Cerulean City, Ash is missing a glove.
• In the English dub:
  • When Ash checks on Seymour, Ash's Japanese voice can be heard. This also occurs with Ekans when it dives underground.
  • When Ash commands Butterfree toWhirlwind theSmog away, Brock commands his Zubat to useDouble Team, yet it uses Whirlwind as well. This is presumably an error in translating from the original Japanese version where Brock ordered Zubat to "team up" with Butterfree.
• In the firstItalian dub,Paras andClefable's names are altered into "Parasaur" and "Cleferian" for unknown reasons.

• 
  Ash's miscolored gloves
• 
  Zubat's miscolored wings
• 
  Ash's missing glove

Changes

Dub edits

• Kanto Pokérap: Day 1 (Poliwrath error)
• The recap scenes at the beginning edited Nibi Gym toPewter Gym.
• While thenarrator's statement was mostly the same in the beginning scene, it skips over the fact that they are heading to Cerulean City in the dub.
• Seymour mentioned he works for thePewter Museum of Science in the Japanese version. This was not mentioned in the dub.
• Seymour talks about romance in the Japanese version, while he recites poetry in the English version. In the original version, Seymour thanks the sun, which is why the sun appears while is moving around.
• Seymour's two main virtues are changed from Love and Courage (original) to Knowledge and Research (dub). When he announces the virtues, the Japanese version has them written in the background. The dub erased all of the kanji from the English version.
• Ash makes a reference to theMacarena when Pikachu usescharades to speak to him. The original line references theBon Dance.
  • In the original version, they say the Clefairy are protected by their god, referring to the largeMoon Stone. Though the general idea of the dialogue remained in the dub, the fact that the Moon Stone was seen by the Clefairy as a deity was not referenced.
• The guesses the gang makes when Pikachu is trying to tell them what the Clefairy are doing is different in both versions. In the original the guesses are:
  • First, Ash guesses that they embrace.
  • Second, Brock guesses good child.
  • Third, Misty and Ash guess they protect and cheer.
  • Finally, Ash guesses that a God protects them.
• In the dub, the guesses they make are:
  • First, Ash guesses that they pick up
  • Second, Misty thinks that Pikachu means they raise up.
  • Third, Ash thinks that the Clefairy like raisins.
  • Fourth, Brock figures out that by hair, Pikachu means God
  • Finally, Ash guesses that they pray to the Moon Stone.
• In the dub, the Narrator wonders if Ash is running towards victory, danger, or disaster and that no one knows. In the original version, the narrator says that it doesn't really matter if you're behind, the one who laughs last is cool.
• "Cerulean City" is translated on the sign directing towards it.Gary's message changes from "Shigeru has arrived! Satoshi's a moron!" to "Gary was here! Ash is a loser!". Also, it had Gary's transparent image superimposed over the sign. It showed him pulling down his eyelid and sticking his tongue out at the same time, a childish Japanese taunting gesture (anakanbe), which was eliminated from the English dub, although the sound effect was still retained.

• 
  The sign on Route 4 (original)
• 
  The sign on Route 4 (dub)
• 
  Gary's message (original)
• 
  Gary's message (dub)

Differences between the episode and the comic adaptation

• Most of the lines about Seymour going to space, specifically Ash andhis friends' responses to him, were moved to when they are leaving Mt. Moon in the comic.
• The scene where Ash reads Gary's message on the sign leading to Cerulean City retains Gary's faded bii-da facial expression, something that was cut in the English dub of the episode.
• The ending narration for the comic (at least the one contained in Nintendo Power) was also changed, where the narrator adds in that to continue Ash's adventure, the reader might try to buy Pokémon Red and Blue. In addition, Misty exclaims "ASH!" offscreen as Ash is racing towards Cerulean City while leaving Brock and Misty in the dust, and Brock's line of "He'll never learn..." is moved to his racing down. On a similar note, Misty's expression at learning their next destination was Cerulean City was omitted.

In other languages

This episode article is part ofProject Anime, aBulbapedia project that covers all aspects ofPokémon animation.

• Original series episodes
• Episodes written by Atsuhiro Tomioka
• Episodes storyboarded by Toshiaki Suzuki
• Episodes directed by Yūji Asada
• Episodes animated by Hidetoshi Otaka
• Episodes focusing on Brock
• Episodes in which a main character obtains a new Pokémon