Misty Meets Her Match – Pokémon Season 2, Episode 23

Plot episodeSpike Shell BadgeSquirtle learns Hydro Pump

Misty Meets Her Match is the 23rd episode of Pokémon: Adventures in the Orange Islands, the second season of the Pokémon anime, and the 103rd episode of the English dub overall (Japanese episode 105, Bulbapedia code EP103). It first aired in Japan on 1 July 1999 and in the United States on 9 September 2000. It falls within the season’s Trovita Gym & Charizard’s change of heart stretch (EP103–EP105).

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

Synopsis

Today we find our heroes on a ferry bound for Trovita Island, Ash is intent on challenging the Trovita Gym and winning his third Orange Islands gym badge. As they approach the Island they see a little girl and her Seel caught in a whirlpool and shouting for help. A guy can be seen shouting “Mahri!” from a cliff on the coast, he’s looking out to sea to try and find her after hearing the shouts, he then spots Misty diving into the water with her Staryu, she dives beneath the water and rescues both Mahri and Seel, she then takes them over to Lapras.

The guy watching from the Cliffside has already taken a liking to Misty, Team Rocket are just behind Ash and co in their Sub but they get caught in the whirlpool that Mahri was just rescued from. When Ash and co arrive on the pier Mahri is greeted by her older brother; Rudy. Rudy thanks the group (but mostly Misty) for saving his sister and presents her with flowers etc and then asks to dance with her, Rudy says there are no water trainers on the Island as talented as she is and that he’d be honoured if she’d stay for a while and instruct the trainers at his humble gym, revealing that he is the Trovita Island Gym leader!

Ash issues a challenge to Rudy, but Rudy is kinda busy with Misty. Mahri steps in and tells her brother to listen to Ash because he came here for a gym match. Rudy accepts Ash’s challenge but Rudy tells Ash he needs to pass a little test first; that test being that while sailing on a speedboat down a river Ash’s Pokémon need to hit all the targets that pop out. Rudy’s attention is clearly more on Misty than Ash’s challenge. Ash sends out Charizard by mistake, and it promptly incinerates Misty, before Ash returns it.

Team Rocket emerge from the water, realising they are no longer in the ocean but in Trovita River, they spot Ash and co coming ahead, but a target marker pops out in front of them, Ash orders his Squirtle to attack the marker and accidentally sends Team Rocket blasting off, Ash despite thinking he may have just heard Team Rocket continues his challenge, completing it successfully.

Rudy states that tomorrow they’ll have a match and if Ash wins 2 out of 3 he’ll win a badge, he also states that Ash can pick two Pokémon of any types, and he’ll use the same types himself, Rudy then goes on to invite Misty over for dinner, a request that is echoed by Mahri, and she heads off with Rudy without even saying bye to Ash and Tracey.

Ash and Tracey call Professor Oak who warns Ash not to get overconfident. Tracey then shows Professor Oak a sketch of an unknown Pokémon he saw in the woods, thinking it could be a new type of Pokemon! Meanwhile Misty has enjoyed a delicious meal cooked by Rudy, Mahri reveals that shes always wanted a big sister just like Misty and asks her to stay forever. Rudy changes the subject and takes Misty to the gym to meet their Pokémon, who are all dancing, he goes on to explain that part of his training philosophy is to teach the Pokémon to dance as he believes it helps to unlock their powers even further, he then goes on to ask Misty if she’d consider staying on Trovita for good, but Misty looks unsure and Rudy asks her to think about it and to give her answer after tomorrows match.

The next day Rudy, Mahri, Ash and friends head to the Trovita gym’s battle platform, they are first battling with electric types, Ash sends out Pikachu and Rudy chooses Electabuzz, who it becomes quickly apparent isn’t going to be beaten by electric attacks. Pikachu is defeated by Electabuzz’s tackle and thunder punch, almost knocking Pikachu off the arena into the ravine below, but Ash manages to stop him from falling. Next up Ash sends out Bulbasaur, Rudy sends out Exeggcutor and prompts one of his assistants to turn on the music, the Exeggcutor starts dancing to the music and avoids Bulbasaurs attacks with its dance moves, it then hits Bulbasaur with an egg bomb attack and closes in to finish off Bulbasaur, who manages to put Exeggcutor to sleep just in time.

Team Rocket meanwhile are climbing up the sheer clliffside of the battle platform when they get knocked down by the sleeping Exeggcutor, which itself gets rescued by Bulbasaurs vine whips. Bulbasaur claims victory and its now 1-1 with the next battle as the decider.

For the deciding battle water element Pokémon are used, Rudy sends out Starmie and Ash uses Squirtle, he even arrogantly dedicates the battle he’s about to win to Misty. Both Pokémon use their water guns but it’s a deadlock, Rudy prompts the music again and Starmie begins to dance, and against all odds manages an electric attack, Squirtle is in big trouble as that’s his weakness. Just then Misty shouts to Ash and tells him to do something, showing that her true allegiance is with him, not Rudy. Ash tells Squirtle to aim its water gun at the ground and get out of the way of the electric attack, Squirtle learns hydro pump, one of the most powerful water attacks and knocks Starmie to the ground, it then goes in for a skull bash and finishes the match, claiming victory for Ash!

Rudy awards Ash the Spike-shell badge, and gives Misty some flowers, despite that he already knows that she won’t be staying on at Trovita with him, he tells Ash what a lucky guy he is and our heroes then bid farewell to Rudy, Mahri and co.

Major Events

• Ash wins the Spike Shell Badge from Rudy
• Squirtle learns Hydro Pump
• Bulbasaur’s Sleep Powder topples Exeggutor
• Rudy asks Misty to stay
• Tracey sketches an Elekid
• Aired in the US after EP105–EP107

Trivia

• The English title plays on “match as in a battle, and as in a suitor”.
• The screenplay is by Hideki Sonoda.
• This is a plot episode: it advances the Orange Islands storyline.
• The Who’s That Pokémon? segment features Seel in Japan, where it almost always matched the episode, but Scyther in the US, where 4Kids picked the Pokémon at random.

Changes in the English Dub

• Pokémon (Dance Mix) inserted twice (Rudy’s training and Squirtle vs Starmie); a little over half the Japanese score kept

Part of our Pokémon: Adventures in the Orange Islands guide. Browse every season of the Pokémon anime.