Don't Touch That 'dile (Japanese:ワカバタウン！はじまりをつげるかぜのふくまち！Wakaba Town! The Town Where Winds Telling of a Beginning Blow!) is the 117th episode of thePokémon animated series and the first episode of theJohto League arc. It was first broadcast in Japan on October 14, 1999, and in the United States on October 14, 2000.
Spoiler warning: this article may contain major plot or ending details.
Ash begins his journey in Johto, a largely unexplored region said to be thickly populated with Pokémon entirely new to him and his friends.
Plot
Ash andhis friends are walking through a foggy forest forNew Bark Town in order to register for theJohto League. Ash notices a familiar tree branch and declares that they must be lost.Misty scolds Ash, and the two of them get into an argument, whichBrock is forced to break up.Togepi senses something and promptly hops out of Misty's arms, prompting the others to follow. The group is startled after seeinga mysterious blue Pokémon on a formation in the middle of a small pond. When the Pokémon notices them, it runs away. Ash tries to follow it but falls off a steep edge, andPikachu and Togepi soon follow. Becoming alarmed by his disappearance, Misty and Brock go after Ash, but they also trip and fall.Jigglypuff walks by and seems to find it fun before sliding down the hill as well.
Meanwhile,Team Rocket is also lost in the same fog-filled forest. They become hungry and decide to run, and soon find themselves out of the forest and staring at a large building. The trio is started by a horde ofFearow and rushes inside what is actually a Pokémon Lab. A voice suddenly speaks up, and the group soon finds the source,Professor Elm. He is too busy looking through his microscope to realize the visitors are Team Rocket; thinking it isNurse Joy, he tells them to check up on hisTotodile. They encounter Totodile shortly after, and it bites ontoMeowth's tail and sprays aWater Gun atJames's face. Posing as Nurse Joy,Jessie says she will bring Totodile back to thePokémon Center before picking Totodile up and running out of the lab, followed by James and Meowth.
Upon reaching New Bark Town, Ash and his friends head for the Pokémon Center, but when they reach it, they are met byNurse Joy's Chansey. She presses a button after Brock speculates on Chansey not being Nurse Joy, and a screen appears. A recording of Nurse Joy plays on the screen, saying that she is with Professor Elm and will be back by 2:00. Noting the time on the clock, Misty realizes that it is 3:30. Ash and Misty decide to sit down as they wait, though Brock is furious and demands that they go find her. However, when the three of them reach Elm's laboratory, they see police officers led byOfficer Jenny surrounding the premises. Brock tries to offer Jenny a bouquet of flowers, but Misty pulls him away by his collar.
Ash, Brock, and Misty rush inside the lab and see Nurse Joy scolding Elm for being careless. Brock tries to flirt with Nurse Joy as well but is pulled away by Misty again. Ash and his friends then learn about the stolen Totodile, who was supposed to be picked up by a femaleTrainer. They also learn aboutJohto'sfirst partner Pokémon. Ash mentions that he is fromPallet Town and is questioned about having metProfessor Oak. Hearing this, Elm then proceeds to rant to Brock about his time as one of Oak's top students at the university while Misty and Ash play with theCyndaquil that Nurse Joy took from Elm. After this, one of the police officers brings a plaster mold of Team Rocket's footprints.Officer Jenny's Growlithe sniffs the mold and begins to tracks down Team Rocket and Totodile.
Meanwhile, Team Rocket decides to take a break at a local park, and Jessie is furious when Totodile chomps down on her hair. Meowth goes to make a phone call tothe Boss, though Jessie smacks him away with the phone booth door and claims that he would take all of the credit. While the two of them argue, James walks past them and makes the phone call. At that moment, Ash, his friends, and Officer Jenny arrive on the scene. Team Rocket recites theirmotto and comments that they can't return Totodile because it won't let go of Jessie's hair. Ash scolds the three for stealing a new Trainer's Pokémon, but Team Rocket is unfazed and attempts to run away. Ash then sends outBulbasaur and has it useVine Whip to trip Team Rocket. James hasWeezing useSmokescreen, butAsh's Charizard blows the smog away.
Bulbasaur manages to pull Totodile off Jessie's hair, and theBig Jaw Pokémon lands in Ash's arms. AsGrowlithe goes in to apprehend the trio, Weezing'sSludge leaves it blinded. James uses the opportunity to call onVictreebel, who latches onto his head. Jessie resorts to usingLickitung. Ash sends outSquirtle, and its Water Gun hits Lickitung. Desperate to flee, Jessie calls outArbok, and together with Team Rocket's other Pokémon, they attempt a group attack. Ash replies with his own group effort: Pikachu'sThunderbolt, Charizard'sFlamethrower, Bulbasaur'sRazor Leaf, and Squirtle's Water Gun combine and send Team Rocket's Pokémon flying. To finish things off, Totodile sends Jessie, James, and Meowth on their way with a Water Gun. Officer Jenny is disappointed not to have made any arrests but is grateful that Totodile is safe and sound.
Back at Elm's lab, Ash makes a call through to Oak. Ash speaks briefly before letting Elm talk to his former mentor. As the two Professors get deep into conversation, Nurse Joy arrives and escorts Ash and his friends to the Pokémon Center. There, she officially registers Ash for the Johto League. Ash and his friends then leave New Bark Town and head for the first Johto LeagueGym inViolet City, unaware of Jigglypuff, who is still following after them.
However, the Hungama TV/Disney XD airings in India continued using Pokémon World as the opening and ending tillThe Fortune Hunters,followed by which Pokémon Johto debuts for the said airings.
This episode first aired in Japan more than a month prior toPokémon Gold and Silver's release in Japan.
Coincidentally, this is the only time that music from a newgeneration premieres after the opening episode of its respective region. Instead, the music debuts inSpinarak Attack, the first episode to air after the release of Gold and Silver in Japan.
This episode marks a rare instance in which Team Rocket's Pokémon blast off before Team Rocket themselves. It is also the first time where they are marked as individual twinkling stars as opposed to a single one after blasting off.
In theFinnish dub, the first eight episodes of the third season had rather poor sound mixing, as some of the lines were too loud and the others were fairly quiet, and the English dub soundtrack may be silently audible in the background.
In theBrazilian Portuguese dub, when the group reaches New Bark Town, Ash says he's going to register for the Johto League, instead of only saying he's going to the Johto League. This makes the follow-up dialogue with Brock redundant, with Brock saying he has to register first, and Ash repeating exactly what he already said before.
The English dub implies that theTrainer thatTotodile will receive is female, whereas the Japanese version doesn't state the gender of the Trainer picking up Totodile. Interestingly, later in the animated series, a female Trainer namedMarina is seen with a Totodile that she received from Professor Elm.
Originally, Professor Elm doesn't specify when Totodile's Trainer would show up.
In the English dub,Misty reveals thatAsh slept in until 4:00 PM in thefirst episode, while Misty doesn't specify any time in the original version.
James's missing glove
Charizard's miscolored wings
Ash's missing gloves
