The Evolution Solution – Pokémon Season 1, Episode 66

Plot episodeFillerJessie catches Shellder

The Evolution Solution is the 66th episode of Pokémon: Indigo League, the first season of the Pokémon anime, and the 66th episode of the English dub overall (Japanese episode 68, Bulbapedia code EP066). It first aired in Japan on 15 October 1998 and in the United States on 2 October 1999. It falls within the season’s Christmas, Mewtwo & the road to Indigo stretch (EP64–EP73).

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

Synopsis

About to begin his training in Pallet, Ash sees his mom, friends and many townsfolk are all about to take a trip to Seafoam Island to visit the beach and try windsurfing. Ash wants to join them but his mom points out he should be training.

Ash visits Oak’s lab to see him looking a little stressed out trying to solve a Pokemon evolution mystery; why does a shellder clamping onto a Slowpokes tail make them combine and evolve into Slowbro? Professor Oak thinks he knows someone who might be able to solve it, Professor Westwood from Seafoam Island.

Professor Oak asks Ash to go over and see Professor Westwood to get some answers, he see’s Misty and Brock windsurfing who assume he’s just goofing off, they head over and meet Professor Westwood, who likes to be known simply as Westwood the Fifth. Westwood is pretty interested in Togepi as he hasn’t seen one before.

It actually turns out that Westwood is already working on the mystery of why Slowpoke and Shellder combine to become Slowbro, but he isn’t any further ahead with his research than Oak. The group head off to find some lunch, meanwhile Giovanni the Team Rocket leader is having a relaxing day at the beach with his Persian to recover from the stress of Team Rockets HQ being destroyed. Jessie, James and Meowth watch from afar, Meowth is particularly jealous of the affection he shows for the Persian, Jessie and James have already scrubbled Giovanni’s yaucht and are now digging for clams, when to their surprise they discover a Shellder which Jessie ends up capturing. Shortly after Giovanni calls them over, threatens them and tells them to break into Professor Westwoods lab.

Back at the lab Westwood is showing the group how the shape of Shellders shell completely changes when it attaches to Slowpoke. Ash and Misty spot some people parasailing, it turns out to be Jessie and James who crash land on the labs balcony. Professor Westwood is first very curious to see a talking Meowth, but then gets scared about what they might be plotting. Team Rocket demand all of the Professors Pokemon, but he only has a Slowpoke in his lab, The Professor runs away with Slowpoke, Ash and friends along with Team Rocket give chase, Westwood trips, Team Rocket send Shellder after Slowpoke, Psyduck comes out and blocks the shellder (unintentionally) and gets bitten by it. Team Rocket attack Psyduck, Jessie throws Shellder straight at Slowpoke, and misses, Shellder clamping onto Psyducks head giving it a major headache. Psyduck uses a disable attack on Team Rocket, their Pokemon and the Shellder, followed by its confusion attack, this sends all of them except Shellder blasting off again.

Shellder attaches to Slowpokes tail and the evolution into Slowbro takes place there and then. Team Rocket run at the group again and Westwood instructs Slowbro to hit with Mega Punch, it remembers how to use that attack at the last second and punches Team Rocket into the sunset. Professor Westwood believes he has solved the mystery as to why the two evolve into Slowbro; simply because it’s mutually beneficial, the Shellder helps Slowpoke to counterbalance and stand on two feet, freeing its arms for attacks like the Mega Punch, it also enables Shellder to travel on land!

Ash has missed a day of training, but did learn something about Pokemon. Slowbro and Psyduck bid each other a long farewell.

Major Events

• — Jessie catches Shellder, which clamps Westwood V’s Slowpoke → Slowbro and leaves her. Dub relocates “Binnes” to Seafoam Island. Lecture: Alakazam.

Captures and evolutions

• Shellder#0090 · Jessie · briefly
• Slowpoke → Slowbro#0080 · Westwood V

Trivia

• The screenplay is by Yukiyoshi Ōhashi.
• This is a plot episode: it advances the Kanto storyline.
• The Who’s That Pokémon? segment features Slowbro in Japan, where it almost always matched the episode, but Raichu in the US, where 4Kids picked the Pokémon at random.

Changes in the English Dub

• Eyecatch swapped
• “Binnes”, a Cannes parody, becomes Seafoam Island
• Dub ending: Pikachu’s Jukebox — My Best Friends

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