The Little Big Horn – Pokémon Season 3, Episode 9

Filler / stand-alone episodeStantler debut

The Little Big Horn is the 9th episode of Pokémon: The Johto Journeys, the third season of the Pokémon anime, and the 125th episode of the English dub overall (Japanese episode 127, Bulbapedia code EP125). It first aired in Japan on 9 December 1999 and in the United States on 18 November 2000. It falls within the season’s The road to Violet City stretch (EP122–EP129).

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

Synopsis

Ash, Misty and Brock are walking through a Park in the middle of a big city when they spot a young Stantler in the bushes. Brock notices that the Stantler is injured and tries to feed it some Pokémon chow, it allows Brock to approach and pet it but then Ash and Misty notice a herd of adult Stantler are right behind him – the herd charges the group and the young Stantler goes back into the bushes.

Ash and friends look back and see that the Stantler are no longer behind them, assuming they must have lost them, just then Officer Jenny appears from the bushes and asks them to come down to the station to make a statement. Apparently a huge herd of Stantler has been chasing people out of the park quite a lot recently and that it doesn’t make sense, as Stantler normally live in the mountains and this Park is in the middle of a big city.

Brock theorises that the herd of Stantler may not have been there at all, and it could’ve been an illusion, just then Team Rocket can be overheard outside, they’re were trying to steal Stantler in the Park when they too were chased off by a whole herd.

Just then a huge load of Stantler come running down the street, everyone runs except Brock; he sees one of the Stantler pass through a lamp post and this backs up his theory that they are an illusion; he takes the chance and sure enough he is right. The young injured Stantler then appears and Brock has very much earned its trust; he bandages the stantlers leg and it goes to sleep in his lap.

Ash, Misty and Officer Jenny are talking to Brock about how he knew it was an illusion and Team Rocket are listening in, annoyed that the Stantler tricked them with its illusion they vow to steal the one Stantler that is real.

The group all go to sleep at the Police Station and the next day they take Stantler to the path which leads up the mountains, but it seems to want to stay with Brock, he startles it by stamping his foot and tells it he doesn’t want it around anymore and it heads reluctantly up the mountain path with tears in its eyes. Team Rocket’s balloon is passing overhead and they spot Stantler; luckily Brock spots their balloon too and he and his friends head in the direction that Stantler went.

Team Rocket deploy their anti Stantler device which catches Stantler in a net, they then head down and attach the net to their balloon just as Brock comes running to try and help it. But the balloon is already flying off, Brock uses his Onix to destroy Team Rockets anti stantler device and then Ash arrives and sends Pikachu to shoot the balloon down with a thunderbolt; but its too far out.

It looks as though Team Rocket are going to actually get away when suddenly a full sized Stantler appears and charges the balloon, slicing it in half and knocking it out of the sky. Ash’s Bulbasaur breaks Stantler’s fall and then brock manages to catch it before it hits the ground. Team Rocket are confronted by a herd of Stantler and this time it’s not an illusion, they are promptly sent blasting off.

Brock delivers the baby Stantler to its herd, reuniting it with its mother, friends and family.

Major Events

• Stantler debut
• Brock and the fawn (*Harry and the Hendersons* homage)

Pokémon making their anime debut

• Stantler#0234 · EP125

Trivia

• The English title plays on the Battle of the Little Bighorn, and the baby Stantler’s antlers.
• The screenplay is by Junki Takegami.
• This is a stand-alone episode: it can be skipped without losing the thread of the Johto story.
• The Who’s That Pokémon? segment features Stantler in Japan, where it almost always matched the episode, but Totodile in the US, where 4Kids picked the Pokémon at random.

Changes in the English Dub

• Dub inserts an instrumental of “Together Forever”.
• Pokémon Karaokémon: “All We Wanna Do” (Élan Rivera & Jamily Gray).

Part of our Pokémon: The Johto Journeys guide. Browse every season of the Pokémon anime.