All Fired Up! – Pokémon Season 1, Episode 74

Plot episodeIndigo Conference opensMoltres debut

All Fired Up! is the 74th episode of Pokémon: Indigo League, the first season of the Pokémon anime, and the 74th episode of the English dub overall (Japanese episode 76, Bulbapedia code EP074). It first aired in Japan on 10 December 1998 and in the United States on 23 October 1999. It falls within the season’s The Indigo Plateau Conference stretch (EP74–EP80).

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

Synopsis

Our heroes have finally reached the Indigo Plateau, home of the renound Pokemon League, Ash screams in celebration and terrifies Togepi who starts crying, he is completely unable to contain his excitement and is extremely confident. Ash and co arrive to find the streets lined with people waving flags with PokéBalls on, they were waiting for the Pokemon League torch to pass, the flames of the torchs are said to be from that of an ancient Moltres and its a great honour to wield the flame as those flames symbolise everything that is good about the Pokemon League.

Ash decides he wants to carry the Pokemon League torch and runs up to the torch bearer but Officer Jenny steps in and says only approved competitors can carry the torch. Ash protests that he does have eight badges and is going to compete, but she still says no because he isn’t an approved competitor and thats the rules, and old guy pops up from the vehicle behind the torch and it’s the president of the Pokemon League Torch Committee, Charles Goodshow, or Charlie for short. Charlie admires Ash’s spirit and decides to bend the rules for him on this occasion and let him carry the torch, the flame is passed to the torch that Ash is carrying. The convoy continues it’s approach to the Pokemon League with Ash at the front carrying the torch. Team Rocket meanwhile are overhead in their balloon and have other ideas. The convoy runs into unstable ground and President Goodshow, Misty, Brock, Pikachu and Officer Jenny fall into a hole in the ground. Ash didn’t fall in however and is left to face Team Rocket who then jump down from their balloon, Meowth jumps straight onto Ash’s face, scratching him and by pure reflex Ash throws the torch, Meowth grabs it (badly) and burns himself, Pikachu has got out of the hole and grabs the torch when Meowth drops it. Meowth at this point is running around in flames chasing Jessie and James, James sends Victreebel to stop him, but his Pokemon also catches fire. Ash reluctantly uses his Squirtle’s water gun to put them out and despite this they still continue to try and steal the torch. James lunges at Pikachu who is holding the torch, Pikachu throws the flame so he can use his attacks and shocks James, The torch is caught in the air by both Ash and Jessie, Squirtle too tries to get Jessie to release the flame, but Meowth tickles Ash, he releases his grip and they depart in the balloon with the flame in hand.

Stating that he’s failed, Ash sits on the ground looking beaten, but President Goodshow tells him he’s proud of his bravery and happily states that the flame will live on, before producing another flame of moltres from a lantern he hides beneath his beard, Charlie always keeps an extra flame with him from Moltres just incase the first one goes out.

A recovery crew lifts whats left of the convoy out of the crater, a torch is lit from the spare flame and the final journey to the Pokemon League begins, Ash initially carrying the torch before passing it to Misty and then to Brock. Ash and Misty spot the Pokemon League building, and Brock arrives and hands the flame to the President. Darkness begins to fall as the group arrive at the Pokemon League village where trainers stay during the competition, there they quickly find Gary and his cheerleaders, Gary as usual sets out to taunt Ash telling he’ll need lots of luck if he wants to win anything and making the valid point that you have to study the competition if you want to win. Gary leaves quickly, worried he might catch loseritus from Ash if he sticks around too long. That night Ash lies awake, thinking of comments like “The excitement is really getting to him” from Brock, and of course Gary’s earlier loseritus comment. Ash can’t sleep and gets out of bed, gets dressed and heads to the stadium in which tomorrows battles will take place, standing there staring at the arena and thinking about how succesful he will or won’t be in the morning. President Goodshow watches on, once more admiring Ash’s spirit.

The next day all of the competitors enter the stadium, there are hundreds of them and they’ve all won at least eight gym badges. Both Ash and Gary are there of course, Ash and Pikachu look nervous, Gary is as arrogant and smug as ever. The flame bearer arrives to light the stadium’s big central torch, when she gets to the top two figures block her path and try to take the torch. Ash immediately realises this is Team Rocket in disguise and runs to confront them. Weezing’s smog holds Ash back for long enough that Team Rocket are able to light the central torch and attach it to some kind of giant mechanical device which uses the torch as a power source! The giant mechanical grasshopper jumps into the arena narrowly missing the trainers, Pikachu tries a thundershock but it doesnt work, Ash sends out Bulbasaur whose Razor Leaf attack is incinerated when Team Rocket’s device turns the flames of moltres on the leaves. Ash, Bulbasaur and Pikachu get cornered by Team Rocket and he refuses to move, Team Rocket turn the central torch and flames spray toward Ash…. but he, Pikachu and Bulbasaur are unscathed. As Team Rocket are trying to work out how that can be, it soon becomes apparent, and the flames begin to take a shape, Moltres itself has arrived in the stadium!

Moltres is particularly unimpressed about the misuse of it’s flames and destroys Team Rocket’s mechanical grasshopper, sending them blasting off. The central torch returns to it’s position and Moltres flies into it, lighting it once more. President Goodshow does his speech welcoming all of the trainers to the Pokemon League.

Major Events

• — Indigo Plateau Conference opens (7-part arc)
• Charles Goodshow debuts
• Ash carries the flame and sees Moltres. Debuts: Goodshow
• Moltres. Lecture: Chansey.

Pokémon making their anime debut

• Moltres#0146 · EP074

Trivia

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

Changes in the English Dub

• English “Sekiei Pokemon League” banner text erased
• Officer Jenny’s torch “approval rule” invented
• Oak’s “Number Four” thread dropped
• Dub ending: Pikachu’s Jukebox — What Kind of Pokémon Are You?
• The torch run is scored with Mezase Pokémon Master in Japan and the second verse of the full-length Pokémon Theme in the dub

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