Sparks Fly for Magnemite – Pokémon Season 1, Episode 30

Plot episodeAsh catches Muk

Sparks Fly for Magnemite is the 30th episode of Pokémon: Indigo League, the first season of the Pokémon anime, and the 30th episode of the English dub overall (Japanese episode 30, Bulbapedia code EP030). It first aired in Japan on 21 October 1997 and in the United States on 16 October 1998. It falls within the season’s Fuchsia, the Safari Zone & the Pokémon Shock stretch (EP28–EP38).

Synopsis · Major Events · Trivia · Dub Changes · All episodes

Synopsis

Ash, Misty and Brock arrive in the very industrial and aptly named Gringy City, where everything is dark and miserable and theres no one around. Pikachu immediately starts to look sick and collapses, Ash grabs him and is electrocuted, a Magnemite watches on from the Shadow’s.

Ash in his pink rubber gloves rushes Pikachu to the Pokemon Center, and on arrival to the gringiest Pokemon Center they ever saw, they are little to their own knowledge being watched from afar by Team Rocket, who themselves are choking on the stench. Meowth instructs Jessie and James to get their suits on and go through the Sewer Pipes to the Pokemon Center.

On arrival to the Pokemon Center it seems that even the Nurse Joy there isn’t particularly helpful compared to her cousins from other cities. To make matters worse the generator is taken offline by a lot of Grimer, taking away power from the Pokemon in intensive care at the Pokemon center, plus of course the Air Supply to Jessie and James. Ash, Misty and Brock set off to find out whats wrong and get the power back on, their first stop being to officer Jenny who doesn’t know anymore than they do, but directs them to the power plant. Pikachu, despite being sick follows them.

Meanwhile Jessie and James narrowly avoid suffocating in their suits. Ash, Misty, Brock and a Pikachu who has seen better days enter the dark corridors of the seemingly deserted power plant, but it feels as though they’re being followed. Something appears from the darkness, fortunately it’s only a Magnemite who is more concerned with accosting Pikachu than doing anything particularly evil. Magnemite hovers around Pikachu a while longer before making a swift exit, seconds later a big group of Grimer drop from the ceiling and it becomes apparent why Magnemite fled.

Misty causes great offence to the Grimer group as well as the giant Muk that accompanies them and Muk orders that the Grimer pursue the group, a chase ensues around the dark corridors! Running into (literally) the factory workers who had left their control room to see what was up. They make it safely to the control room and Ash begins questioning whats going on, finding out that Grimer are blocking the water intake and that theres too many so they can’t get the power back on. The grimer that were chasing them finally catch up and break into the control room. Apparently Pikachu is the only one who can fight all the grimer despite being sick (he forgot his other Pokemon?), Pikachu gives it his best shot but fails, it looks bad and then an army of Magnemite and a Magneton who are all for some reason fans of Pikachu come flying through the ceiling and chase the Grimers away, even clearing the water intake and getting the plant back online! Power is restored to the city.

But the Muk stays behind and Pikachu and it’s Magnemite admirer manage to defeat it between them. Ash then captures it, and much to his discontent finds that Muk’s aroma can still be smelt when he is outside of the Pokeball. Pikachu is no longer sick, and the power station guys advise that he didn’t have a cold, he just felt ill because it’s body had built up too much electricity that it’s body had become magnetised, hence why the Magnemite liked it so much.

Team Rocket emerge from the filthy water in their Gyarados sub wielding a giant magnet to try and take advantage of Pikachu’s not longer valid magnetised state. Unfortunately for them a massive amount of magnemite stuck to their magnet and sunk their sub, sending them…. sinking off… again? Nurse Joy and Officer Jenny of Gringy City vow to clean the place up and bring the city back to life. Professor Oak disdainfully recieves Ash’s Muk.

Major Events

• — Ash catches Muk (sent to Oak’s)
• Gringey City
• Pikachu’s over-charge. Debuts: Fearow, Nidoran♀, Growlithe, Magnemite, Magneton, Muk. Gyarados submarine’s dub debut.

Pokémon making their anime debut

• Fearow#0022 · EP030
• Nidoran♀#0029 · EP030
• Growlithe#0058 · EP030
• Magnemite#0081 · EP030
• Magneton#0082 · EP030
• Grimer#0088 · EP030
• Muk#0089 · EP030

Captures and evolutions

• Muk#0089 · Ash · sent to Oak’s lab

Trivia

• The English title plays on "sparks fly" (romance); the Japanese title parodies *Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?*, and the power-plant workers are called Dick and Philip.
• The screenplay is by Junki Takegami.
• This is a plot episode: it advances the Kanto storyline.

Changes in the English Dub

• Nurse Joy’s call-button text, 守衛室 → CAUTION, 案内図 erased
• Impact star replaced
• Thunderbolt called Thunder Shock
• Nurse Joy’s prayer dropped; “nearly died” becomes “suffocated”
• Dub ending: the Kanto Pokérap (Friday segment)

Part of our Pokémon: Indigo League guide. Browse every season of the Pokémon anime.