Showdown at the Po-ké Corral (Japanese:ライバルたいけつ！オーキドけんきゅうじょRival Showdown!Okido Laboratory) is the 65th episode of thePokémon animated series. It was first broadcast in Japan on October 8, 1998, and in the United States on September 30, 1999.
Spoiler warning: this article may contain major plot or ending details.
On a visit to Professor Oak's house, Ash runs into Gary where they talk about the upcoming Pokémon League. Professor Oak explains that instead of being so competitive with each other they should try and learn from each other. When Team Rocket busts into the lab and tries to steal all the Pokémon everyone learns a lesson about teamwork.
Plot
As a crowd of people cheer on,Ash throws hisPoké Ball, happy to be competing in the Pokémon League. However, upon throwing the ball, it comes right back at Ash, becoming larger. Just then, he wakes up withMimey using the vacuum to clean his face. Ash walks into the kitchen wherehis friends andDelia are, and complains about Mimey. Delia replies that he cleans whatever is dirty, and claims that Mr. Mime only listens to her.
Meanwhile,Team Rocket is walking down a dirt path toward theTeam Rocket HQ. They begin complaining about how they haven't successfully captured a single Pokémon forGiovanni. Too afraid to see what he would say, they quickly declare their resignations before trying to run off. However, they barely manage to take a couple of steps before the HQ suddenly explodes anda mysterious Pokémon flies out of the debris and into the sky. Team Rocket runs to the burning ruins of the HQ and finds Giovanni, growling in anger at the escaped Pokémon just as a helicopter comes for him.Jessie asks if there is anything they can do, and Giovanni frustratedly replies that they can do their job for a change before boarding the helicopter with hisPersian. With renewed confidence, Team Rocket aspires to catch more Pokémon.
AtProfessor Oak'slaboratory, Oak is excited to seeTogepi. Ash encountersGary, and they immediately begin to argue before Professor Oak tells them that the two topTrainers ofPallet Town should get along. When both are in disbelief that the other could be considered a top Trainer, Professor Oak reveals that the other Trainers from Pallet Town eventually couldn't succeed because of their lack of skills. He goes on to say that Gary has tenBadges, while Ash has eight, and that the Pokémon League will be held on top ofIndigo Plateau in two months, with more than 200 Trainers competing.
At Ash's house, the doorbell rings and Delia answers it, finding Team Rocketdisguised as a news crew. They claim to be from the Pokémon News Network and want to interview Ash for a show calledPokémon Masters of Tomorrow. However, they are literally swept off their feet by Mimey doing his chores. Delia tells them that Ash is with his friends at Professor Oak's laboratory.
Ash's Krabby compared to Gary's bigger Krabby
At the lab, Gary mocksAsh's Krabby and shows off his own, which isgiant and goes on to say that he rotates his Pokémon, and that Ash probably doesn't. He also states that Ash probably uses the same Pokémon all the time.Brock asks what kind of Pokémon Gary would use against hisGeodude; Gary replies that he would use aWater-type and have aGrass-type as backup, and asks Ash what kind of Pokémon he would use. Misty answers that Ash would use Pikachu. Gary mocks him, saying that it would be a bad move to match anElectric-type with aRock-type. Finally, Gary asks him how many Pokémon he has captured. Oak scans theirPokédexes and reveals that Gary has seen only 60 Pokémon, while Ash has seen more than 100. However, Oak adds that Gary has captured way more Pokémon than Ash. Gary suggests to go see all of the Pokémon he caught, and Oak agrees.
The group enters a section of the lab where Oak keeps the Pokémon caught by the Pallet Town Trainers in their Poké Balls. Ash has his own shelf, though almost all of the many Poké Balls on it are hisTauros's thirtySafari Balls. Gary is later mentioned to have caught over 200 Pokémon, meaning he has multiples of some Pokémon. Gary says that the more Pokémon a Trainer has, the better chance of winning. Ash retaliates, saying that Gary's Pokémon are not his friends, and that being friends with Pokémon is more important. Oak goes on to explain that people have different personalities, thus also having different ways of caring for Pokémon. He also says that Pokémon need to be respected and cared for like people.
Meanwhile, Team Rocket, out of their disguises, takes the back route to Oak's research field. By accident, Jessie kicks a pebble into a tree, and a horde ofKakuna drop down. In an instant, a swarm ofBeedrill fly at them. Team Rocket flees, only to slam into aSnorlax.
Back at the lab, Oak explains his day, and says that he starts off by checking on all of the Pokémon's health. He decides which Pokémon to let out of their Poké Balls and into a habitat built especially for that type, and feeds them breakfast. By the afternoon, he studies Pokémon and has recently been studying individual Pokémon of the same types. Then, it is time for dinner and he puts the Pokémon back in their Poké Balls. As they walk through the field, aDoduo, revealed to be one of Gary's Pokémon, greets the gang. Oak states that Pokémon frequently become more like their Trainers overtime. After explaining that sinceMuk and Krabby usually stay with him, that they have become more like him, Muk rushes over and tackles Oak to the ground.
Later, Team Rocket, having escaped the Beedrill, climbs rocks to get to Oak's lab. Jessie accidentally grabs hands with aGeodude. Geodude blushes, but is thrown away. When Jessie puts her hand back down, it lands atop of aSandshrew's head, angering it and provoking it intorepeatedly scratching Jessie's face, then kicking her and fleeing. Suddenly, an angeredOnix comes up from out of the ground and starts chasing Team Rocket.
Meanwhile, Ash remarks that Oak must have all of the Pokémon in the world, but he disagrees and says that there are many more undiscovered species of Pokémon. Ash realizes that Togepi is a Pokémon no one ever saw before, and then remembersthe mysterious Pokémon he saw at the beginning of his journey. Gary suggests a battle for practice, and Ash accepts. Before they can begin, however, an explosion occurs at the far end of the field, and Oak realizes it was coming from theElectric Pokémon preserve. Upon arrival, they see that manyVoltorb andElectrode haveblown up because Team Rocket trotted onto their territory.
Team Rocket tells them that they are there to steal Pikachu. As Gary and Oak are stunned to hear atalkingMeowth, Team Rocket performs theirmotto. Gary challenges them to a fight, but before the fight begins, Ash's thirty Tauros stampede at them, sending them blasting off. Gary departs, saying that he and Ash could have their battle at the Pokémon League; Ash agrees. At that, Oak makes Ash and his friends fix the fence his Tauros broke through. Irritated at first, Ash and his friends begin working on the fence, knowing there is two months left before the Pokémon League starts.
This is the last of three episodes (the other two beingThe Battle of the Badge andIt's Mr. Mime Time) to featureMewtwo in scenes that are preludes tothe first movie, even though after the seizures caused byEP038, the show went on a four-month hiatus and the three Mewtwo episodes ended up airing after the movie premiere on July 18, 1998. In this episode, Mewtwo blasts out ofTeam Rocket HQ, causing it to explode. This scene is also shown in the movie's prologue: the explosion of Team Rocket HQ is shown here from a different perspective and with a different animation, while the two shots of Mewtwo flying away use the same animation, even though in this episode both shots are cut at the beginning and at the end, and a brief shot (less than a second) of theTeam Rocket trio is present among the Mewtwo shots, which are not synchronized like in the movie. Also, the shot of Giovanni's helicopter taking off in this episode uses the same animation (played in reverse) of the same helicopter landing toNew Island in the movie's prologue.
This is the first episode to use music fromPikachu's Vacation. However, the background music is replaced in the English dub.
This is one of the few episodes that reveals a passage of time.
This episode marks the only appearance ofSafari Balls in the English dub of theanimated series, as every future time whenAsh uses one of hisTauros in battle, he is seen sending them out fromstandard Poké Balls. The reason for this inconsistency is unknown.
In this episode, Team Rocket uses a variation of theirmotto.
On theUK terrestrial TV premiere of this episode (on theitv channel), the episode was split into two parts due to time constraints. The two parts aired on different days.
Errors
Team Rocket HQ has a completely different design than it did inthe previous episode. The reconstructed version seen ina later episode uses the initial design as a basis, suggesting that the design seen here is an animation error.
When Team Rocket is swept away byMimey, the band onJessie's disguise is missing.
WhenMisty tells Ash to not tell how many Pokémon he caught toGary, the spots onTogepi's feet are the same color as the feet.
When the lab's Pokémon are seen, a few Nidoran♂ and Nidoran♀ are present. The males are colored blue and the females are purple, when it should be vice-versa. Despite looking like their Shiny sprite coloring from the games, official game-basedalternate coloration did not debut in the animated series untilPokémon: The Johto Journeys.
Additionally, thePrimeape are depicted as the same size asMankey.
When everyone enters the Oak Corral, the animation of Gary looking to his side upon spotting hisDoduo plays prematurely, before being played again at the correct moment.
When Misty notices the smoke,Pikachu's tail has its colors reversed.
In the English dub, thetitle card displays the name for this episode asShowdown at the Po-ké Corrall instead ofShowdown at the Po-ké Corral (misspelling "corral"). The titleShowdown at the Po-ké Corral is usedon Pokémon.com.
This episode's title is formatted asShowdown At The Po-ké Corral on the DVD menu ofAustralian DVDs.
Mimey is referred to as a male in the English dub whenDelia says, "When Mr. Mime sees something dirty, he has to clean it."
After Mimey cleans Ash's face with a vacuum, Misty quips that Ash can go another week without taking a bath in the English dub. In the original version, she simply says it spares him the effort of washing his face himself.
When Misty states that Ash has his Pokémon to thank for getting as far as he did, Ash is accepting in the English dub and gives them credit. In the original, he instead stands up for himself, saying he put in a lot of effort as well.
When Ash and Gary are arguing over who's the better Pokémon Trainer, Professor Oak explains their past to Brock by saying "the two have been like that for a long time". In the English dub, he simply says it is not his place to come between them.
Misty and Brock saying Gary and Ash could get along since they both love Pokémon is dub-only. In the original, they state that it is expected for rivals to be fired up around each other.
When his Tauros send Team Rocket blasting off, Ash is surprised that they are all his. This is likely due to the fact that they were caught inEP035, which wasbanned in the English dub.
Oak's closing speech is slightly different in the English dub; he adds that not only does helping others and sharing their burdens help people become Trainers, but better friends and people as well.
The title card error
Primeape's size
Pikachu's miscolored tail
