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| Season | Pokémon: Indigo League (Season 1) · Pallet Town to Cerulean City arc (EP1–EP7) |
| Episode | Season 1, episode 1 · English episode 1 · Japanese episode 1 · Bulbapedia code EP001 |
| English title | Pokémon, I Choose You! |
| Japanese title | ポケモン! きみにきめた! Pokemon! Kimi ni Kimeta! — “Pokémon! I Choose You!” |
| First aired (Japan) | 1 April 1997 · TV Tokyo |
| First aired (US) | 8 September 1998 · first-run syndication |
| Screenplay | Takeshi Shudō |
| Opening / ending (Japan) | Mezase Pokémon Master (Aim to Be a Pokémon Master) – Rica Matsumoto · Hyakugojūichi (One Hundred Fifty-One) – Professor Oak & the Pokémon Kids |
| English opening | Pokémon Theme – Jason Paige |
| Who’s That Pokémon? | Pikachu (US) · Pikachu (Japan) |
| Next episode | Pokémon Emergency! (EP002) |
Plot episodeSeries premiereAsh receives Pikachu
Pokémon, I Choose You! is the 1st episode of Pokémon: Indigo League, the first season of the Pokémon anime, and the 1st episode of the English dub overall (Japanese episode 1, Bulbapedia code EP001). It first aired in Japan on 1 April 1997 and in the United States on 8 September 1998. It falls within the season’s Pallet Town to Cerulean City stretch (EP1–EP7).
Synopsis
Ash Ketchum has just had his 10th birthday and can finally get his Pokémon trainers license. Ash has looked forward to getting his Pokémon for so long that he couldn’t sleep and ended up turning up late to Professor Oaks lab only to find all the standard starter Pokémon have been taken. Professor Oak can see Ash is genuinely devastated to have been late and missed out on Charmander, Squirtle and Bulbasaur so tells Ash there is one other Pokémon he could take… a rather disobedient Pikachu that doesn’t like going inside it’s Pokéball.
Ash and Pikachu set off on their journey, with Pikachu completely ignoring Ash, and Ash having to pull him along with a rope. Ash tries and fails to catch a few different Pokémon while being mocked by Pikachu until eventually Ash throws a rock which hits a Spearow on it’s head. The Spearow calls it’s whole flock to attack Ash and Pikachu in retribution for this. Ash borrows a girls bike and the two try to escape the flock but to no avail, with the Spearow flying directly at him and Pikachu Ash chooses to shield Pikachu with his body and stands in the way. Pikachu realises at this point Ash does infact care for him and uses a powerful electric attack to fend off the Spearow, destroying the girls bike in the process. As Ash and Pikachu wake up they see a mysterious golden bird flying over, like no Pokémon they’ve ever heard of.
Major Events
- Ash, Gary and two others leave Pallet
- Ash receives Pikachu, Pokédex, 6 Poké Balls
- Fails to catch Pidgey
- Meets Misty, destroys her bike
- Spearow flock
- Sees Ho-Oh (first Legendary and first Gen II Pokémon). Debuts: Ash, Misty, Oak, Gary, Delia
- 16 species (record) — Pikachu, Pidgey, Rattata, Spearow, Sandshrew, Mankey, Magikarp, Gyarados, Nidorino, Gengar, Onix, Dodrio, Ho-Oh, and Bulbasaur/Charmander/Squirtle in Ash’s dream. Storyboarded by Kunihiko Yuyama. Only OS episode without Team Rocket. GBA Video Vol. 3.
Pokémon making their anime debut
Bulbasaur#0001 · EP001
Charmander#0004 · EP001
Squirtle#0007 · EP001
Pidgey#0016 · EP001
Rattata#0019 · EP001
Spearow#0021 · EP001
Pikachu#0025 · EP001
Sandshrew#0027 · EP001
Nidorino#0033 · EP001
Mankey#0056 · EP001
Dodrio#0085 · EP001
Gengar#0094 · EP001
Onix#0095 · EP001
Magikarp#0129 · EP001
Gyarados#0130 · EP001
Ho-Oh#0250 · EP001
Captures and evolutions
- Pikachu#0025 · Ash · starter from Professor Oak
Trivia
- The screenplay is by Takeshi Shudō.
- This is a plot episode: it advances the Kanto storyline.
Changes in the English Dub
- Misty’s slap cut (~1 s, freeze-frame)
- Starter labels on Oak’s TV and the names on the three Poké Balls erased
- Banner がんばれサトシ → “GO ASH GO!”
- Only two Japanese music cues kept
- Satoshi → Ash Ketchum (the surname was invented for the dub), Kasumi → Misty, Shigeru → Gary Oak, Hanako → Delia
- Ash and Gary are made strangers, contradicting later episodes
- Professor Oak’s “fourth Trainer” rivalry thread dropped
- The dub claims Pokémon can only say their own names
- Dub ending: the Kanto Pokérap (Monday segment)
- Only about a minute of Japanese music survives in the dub — the Red/Green title-screen cue and Tears, After the Cloudy Weather
Part of our Pokémon: Indigo League guide. Browse every season of the Pokémon anime.