Who Gets to Keep Togepi? (Japanese:トゲピーはだれのもの！？Who Gets to KeepTogepy!?) is the 50th episode of thePokémon animated series. It first aired in Japan on June 25, 1998, and in the United States on March 27, 1999.
Spoiler warning: this article may contain major plot or ending details.
When Ash and friends reach a certain Pokémon E. R., Joy informs Ash that a message has arrived for him, from Professor Oak. He promptly calls the professor and learns that in the time since they last spoke, his Pokédex has been upgraded to a new version, providing Ash with information on newly discovered Pokémon. With this new found knowledge, our heroes anxiously prepare for a fresh journey.
Plot
Ash andhis friends arrive at aPokémon Center, whereNurse Joy gives Ash a letter fromProfessor Oak. Ash instantly calls the Professor on the video phone, and is informed that hisPokédex can now be upgraded with new information and a voice change. Ash inserts his Pokédex into the PC and receives the upgrade. Later, Ash and his friends sit at a nearby table and begin to discuss thePokémon that they wish would hatch out of the mysteriousEgg Ashfound back atGrampa Canyon. They all assume their favorite Pokémon;Misty wants aWater-type andBrock aRock-type. The discussion concludes and they leave the Pokémon Center.
Outside, they findTeam Rocket posing as Egg sellers. The three have a whole basketful of Eggs that look just like Ash's mysterious Egg. Team Rocket tries to talk them into trading or buying one of their Eggs and when the group politely refuses,Jessie andJames resort to throwing all of their fake Eggs in the air. The real Egg, that Brock was holding, gets stolen byMeowth in the confusion caused by the multitude of lookalikes. They recite theirmotto, though they realize Ash and his friends are too focused on finding their Egg. Team Rocket runs out of sight, escaping with the real Egg, leaving Ash and his friends with the fakes. Later, in a small shack, James is set on eating the Egg, though Meowth decides to take care of it. He sleeps with it, sings to it, eats with it, and guards it from anything he feels is a threat.
Ash and his friends follow a trail of broken red blue and green eggshells until they reach the shack. They decide to burst in, even though it may be dangerous to do so, and get the Egg back. Ash sends outPidgeotto, Misty calls onStaryu, and Brock'sGeodude lends a hand. They all quickly break through one of shack's windows, surprising Team Rocket. Pidgeotto retrieves the Egg, placing it in Ash's hands. Ash dives to the floor to avoidArbok. James sends outWeezing, who uses aPoison Gasattack, making Ash and the others cough and gasp for air. Amongst the haze, MeowthScratches Ash's face, causing him to let go of the Egg in pain and Meowth retrieves it. However, the Egg is tossed around frantically in a series of tackles and catches. Pidgeotto'sGust clears the air, and Meowth suddenly slips, sending the Egg into the air. Ash lunges for the Egg, though he fails to catch it. Fortunately, Pikachu ends up with the Egg and gives it back to Ash. At that moment, the Egg begins to glow and hatch.
Misty, enthralled with this new event, jumps in, pushing everyone aside to get a closer look. She grasps the Egg just as the hatching Pokémon emerges, revealing a new, unidentified Pokémon. Everyone, including Team Rocket, take a moment to admire it, before realizing they are still in opposition with Ash and his friends. Pikachu launches an Electric attack at Team Rocket, defeating them and their Pokémon. This allows Ash and his friends to escape with the new Pokémon, much to Meowth's displeasure.
Bulbasaur "defeating" Psyduck
At a park bench, Misty plays a game of peekaboo, much to the little Pokémon's enjoyment. Ash points his newly updated Pokédex at the Pokémon, which identifies it as the Egg Pokémon,Togepi. They are then confronted by Team Rocket, and they all quarrel amongst each other over who should have Togepi. Eventually, they all decide to have a Pokémon tournament to determine who should have Togepi. They all make their way to an outdooramphitheatre. Jessie and James are sidelined by Meowth, leaving only himself against Ash and his friends to battle it out in a one-on-one sudden death-match. As everyone prepares to make their choice, Meowth panics because he has no Pokémon, and goes and asks Jessie and James for theirs. They refuse, as he didn't let them participate in the tournament; Meowth then remembers that he is a Pokémon and decides to battle for himself.
The first match is between Meowth and Brock'sOnix. Meowth's Scratch attacks prove useless against Onix's rock body. Brock responds with aRock Throw, the attack hits. Meowth takes a break, though soon notices two buckets of water nearby. He resorts pour the buckets onto Onix, followed by aFury Swipes attack, and to everyone's surprise Meowth wins the battle. Brock accuses Meowth of cheating, though he defends his rights to be a protective parent unhindered. Misty and Ash, in their first battle sinceCerulean City, go up against each other. Ash sends outBulbasaur and Misty attempts to send out Staryu, but insteadPsyduck pops out. Misty instructs Bulbasaur to attack Psyduck on the head to worsen its chronic headache, but Ash decides to use Bulbasaur for a different manner, and commands it to lick Psyduck on the head and tickle it until Psyduck went back in itsPoké Ball. Ash and Meowth battle, but it is cut short after oneThunderbolt by Pikachu, giving Ash the victory. Jessie and James drag a crisp, sobbing Meowth away.
After the tournament, Togepi still doesn't want to go with Ash, or Brock, instead still choosing Misty. Ash's Pokédex explains that, when Togepi hatched, it imprinted on her as its parent, much to Misty's benefit. Misty holds up her new Pokémon in celebration, much to Ash and Brock's disappointment.
This is also the first episode where a main character obtains a Pokémon from the following generation.
WhenArbok slapsBrock in the back of the head, his eyes open.
This episode marks the first of the many times in whichPikachu savesTogepi, though it is also the only one of those times in which these efforts are noticed by anyone else.
Even though it is implied a few times in the episode that Brock knew the concepts of breeding and/or raisingPokémon Eggs, he doesn't seem to know about imprinting until after thePokédex reveals why Togepi wanted to go toMisty.
This is the first episode to show a Pokémon hatching from an Egg.
This is the first episode to feature a remixed version of the battle theme during the fight between Meowth and Onix.
The sound effects played during the Pokédex upgrade process included sounds originally fromStar Trek: The Next Generation.
Misty said that she hoped the Egg would hatch aTentacruel. Like all Pokémon, they would have hatched as their unevolved form, for Tentacruel this beingTentacool. Likewise, Brock wished for aGolem, but it would hatch as the unevolvedGeodude which he already has.
Similarly, James speculated while spying on Ash and friends discussion on what will hatch from the egg that it would be aDragonair, even though it would have hatched into aDratini first.
When Misty is fantasizing about Brock's Egg hatching into a Lapras, its jaw is colored blue instead of cream, and its eyes are solid gray.
WhenJessie andJames advertise theirEggs, the bottom of Misty's shorts is colored red instead of blue, while Brock's belt is colored green instead of black.
When Misty is about to send out Staryu andPsyduck comes out instead, her wholebag glows white.
Additionally, the light around the bag remains in place when Misty moves it.
When Team Rocket is inside their hideout, they lounge without their gloves or shoes on. However, in couple of instances, their gloves and shoes will randomly reappear.
WhenAsh orders Pikachu to useThunderbolt, his belt buckle is brown.
When Brock agrees to the battle rules, the spots on Togepi's feet turn the same color as its feet.
Shortly after, the sleeve of his shirt turns the same color as his vest.
When Ash, Brock, Misty, and Pikachu look at Togepi after the "Tournament", a part of Misty's hand is missing.
During the flashback explaining that Misty was the first thing Togepi saw, Misty's hair overlaps Togepi, despite Togepi being in front of her hair.
In the foreign-language dubs based on the English dub, the Pokédex voice doesn't change, butProfessor Oak mentioning about a new voice was still left in the dialogue.
Misty's miscolored shorts and Brock's miscolored belt
The Japanese release states "Dr. Okido" on the video card that Ash gets from Nurse Joy. It was painted out for the dub.
The sign on the restaurant originally statedFamily Restaurant Magikarp (ファミリーレストランコイキング). It was painted out for the dub.
One of the eggs Misty picks has the textSorry, Try Again (スカ) on it, in the dub this was replaced by a frowny smiley.
The water buckets originally had a sign statingIn Case of Fire (消火用) above them. The sign was painted out for the dub.
In the dub, Professor Oak states that the Pokédex upgrade includes a new voice. This was done to provide an in-continuity explanation for how Eric Stuart takes over as the voice of the Pokédex from this episode onward.
The English-dubbed version of this episode was released in Japan as part of thePokémon de English! Kazu - Iro Hen VHS/DVD. This version has a few changes made:
The Who's That Pokémon? segment is presented in theJohto League Champions style rather than the original style as the segment fromEP158 is used.
The Pokérap and ending credits are not included.
In the Japanese version of the scene where Team Rocket spies on Ash and friends with the Egg, the Rocket trio speculates that the egg could contain aLegendary Pokémon, something that's not directly indicated in the English dub.
James's reprimanding Meowth for holding onto the egg during mealtime is toned down to him merely asking if he's still holding onto it in the English dub.
During Meowth's bathtime scene with the egg, he mentions counting down to 100 to soak, alluding toa Japanese cultural norm for children regarding bathing. The English version changes it to him deciding to tell it a bedtime story.
Jessie and James's dialogue while watching Meowth nurture the egg to sleep was different. In the Japanese version, James mentions he never knew Meowth had that kind of hobby, with Jessie taking issue at James calling it a hobby. In the English version, James was about to comment on Meowth's recent behavior only for Jessie to cut him off and say Meowth's revolting.
Misty and Ash's argument originally had Misty inferring that Ash should have brought Togepi's egg to thepolice box, only for Ash to retort that something like that isn't likely to be put into a lost and found. The English dub changed it to Misty inferring that Ash should take better care of it, only for Ash to call Misty out on her never caring for it beforehand.
During the tournament, when Meowth essentially commands himself to fight, Meowth speaks normally while he's the Trainer while he only meows when he's the Pokémon in the Japanese version. This is not carried over in the English version.
Meowth's response to Brock decrying him for cheating via grabbing buckets of water originally had wordplay between the Japanese terms for "fresh" and "water". This was changed to Meowth simply stating he's a parent and intends to win the tournament by any means necessary.
Shortly after Pikachu beats Meowth in a flash via Thunderbolt, Meowth in the Japanese version makes explicit that Pikachu won due to aiming directly at thekoban on his head, something that's implied yet not directly acknowledged in the English dub.
Misty's miscolored shorts and Brock's miscolored belt
Jessie with no gloves
Brock's miscolored shirt
