The Bridge Bike Gang – Pokémon Season 1, Episode 35

Filler / stand-alone episodeFillerTeam Rocket’s bike-gang past

The Bridge Bike Gang is the 35th episode of Pokémon: Indigo League, the first season of the Pokémon anime, and the 35th episode of the English dub overall (Japanese episode 36, Bulbapedia code EP036). It first aired in Japan on 2 December 1997 and in the United States on 23 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

With fond memories of the Safari zone still fresh in their minds our heroes arrive in a nearby City and while looking for the Pokemon Center they find the biggest bridge they’ve ever seen. Brock seems to know about the bridge and tells them it straight leads to Sunnytown on the opposite side, which will save them lots of time. Sadly it turns out that a) the bridge isn’t completely finished and b) the bridge is only for cars because its 10 miles long.

Just then some cyclists pass by, it seems that the bridge is open to cyclists but not to cars yet. The mention of bikes opens old wounds between Ash and Misty. They can’t afford a bike and are sat around at the Pokemon Center trying to think of a solution, at this point Nurse Joy asks them to help her take some urgent medicine to the Pokemon Center in Sunny Town. She offers to borrow them some bicycles to cross the bridge and the problem is solved. They set off on their long cycling journey across the bridge, Jessie and James meanwhile are on an inflatable boat beneath the bridge watching them.

The group stop for a break, and a huge Bicycle gang approaches and surrounds them, their leader states that they can’t cross the bridge without an introduction, and by that he means a battle. Ash agrees to battle him, the biker gangs leader sends out Golem and Ash chooses Bulbasaur. Bulbasaur is taken out by a powerful tackle attack and Ash sends out Charmander whose heat is too much for Golem to take, and Ash wins, another member of the gang steps up and sends out Cloyster to battle, Misty decides to battle her instead as Cloyster is a water Pokemon and thats her speciality. While Misty tries to decide which Pokemon to use, Psyduck jumps out of it’s ball and the gang start to laugh at it, followed shortly by Ash. Misty orders Psyduck to attack Cloyster but it all goes rather badly. Cloyster clamps Psyducks head briefly before the battle is interrupted by Team Rocket on unicycles.

It seems that the gang members know Jessie and James who used to have ‘quite a reputation’ from back in the day, knowing them as Big Jess and Little Jim. Jessie and James reveal themselves as members of Team Rocket and ask for the gangs help to capture everyones Pokemon. The police then arrive, chase the gang and Team Rocket away and the trio continue on their journey to deliver the medicine.

A terrible storm begins and the trio continue. Meanwhile Jessie and James are watching from the safety of being behind a window when the gang pressure them into riding into the eye of the storm! The drawbridge begins to open but Ash won’t wait because theres a sick Pokemon who needs the medicine. He speeds up and jumps the gap in the bridge, at the same time Team Rocket are jumping over. Ash, Misty and Brock bounce off Team Rocket’s heads to make it across where they are confronted once more by the Biker gang, but to our heroes surprise once the bikers realise what their mission is they actually help them reach the Pokémon Center.

With the medicine delivered, Ash and Misty taking on the gang names “Awesome Ash and Mighty Misty” respectively and Brocks advances on a female gang member firmly rejected our heroes continue their journey.

Major Events

• Jessie and James’s bike-gang past (“Chainer Jessie”, “Trainer James”)
• Misty’s first ear-pull of Brock. Debuts: Golem, Cloyster, Shellder.

Pokémon making their anime debut

• Golem#0076 · EP036
• Shellder#0090 · EP036
• Cloyster#0091 · EP036

Trivia

• The screenplay is by Yukiyoshi Ōhashi.
• This is a stand-alone episode: it can be skipped without losing the thread of the Kanto story.

Changes in the English Dub

• City signs, “2F”, “P Se”, Pokémon Center poster erased
• Curry becomes hot dogs and pizza
• Dub ending: the Kanto Pokérap (Monday segment)
• The bicycle theme from the games plays on Cycling Road

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