The Chikorita Rescue – Pokémon Season 3, Episode 10

Plot episodeAsh catches Chikorita

The Chikorita Rescue is the 10th episode of Pokémon: The Johto Journeys, the third season of the Pokémon anime, and the 126th episode of the English dub overall (Japanese episode 128, Bulbapedia code EP126). It first aired in Japan on 16 December 1999 and in the United States on 25 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

While on the road to Violet City and the first Johto Gym challenge, Ash and his friends encounter a sleeping Chikorita which appears to be wild. Ash decides he wants to capture the Chikorita and sends out Bulbasaur to battle it, unfortunately for him however Bulbasaur is defeated despite a strong start. Ash wants to make a point and sends out Charizard next, Charizard ends up flying straight into a mountain with Chikorita attached to it.

Chikorita appeared to still want to fight, but then collapses. Ash grabs it and takes it to the nearest Pokémon Center. Team Rocket had been watching events unfold in the background and were impressed by Chikorita, planning to steal it for themselves. Nurse Joy treats Chikorita at the Pokemon Center and the good news is that it will be fine. Everyone else gets their Pokémon treated while they’re there.

The group go into the room with Chikorita who is sleeping and recovering. An ambulance turns up and a couple of suspicious medics rush in and wheel Chikorita out on it’s bed saying they’re taking Chikorita to their specialist unit, quickly loading Chikorita into their ambulance. Nurse Joy chases them outside and asks where they’re from because she’s never seen them before and its then that they reveal themselves as Team Rocket. Weezing’s smog prevents anyone giving chase directly behind and they start driving around a windy hill. Ash and Pikachu climb directly over the hill enabling them to catch up.

Ash finds the snowy hideout where Team Rocket are holding Chikorita; and realises that he left all his Pokéball’s at the Pokemon Center. Meanwhile Jessie is trying to convince Chikorita to join Team Rocket. Ash makes his entrance to the Pokemon Lodge with his own version of the Team Rocket motto. Pikachu convinces Chikorita to run with him, but the two end up caught in a trap outside, which also catches Ash. The trap has locked Ash, Chikorita and Pikachu together by rope, when they panic and all try to run in different directions they end up sliding down the hill and get rolled up into a huge Snowball before ending up stuck in a tree briefly; they hide under a pile of snow until Team Rocket passes.

Ash, Pikachu and Chikorita are trying to find the best route to take when Chikorita suddenly runs off. It begins to snow and Ash and Pikachu dig in in a cave with a fire, but Ash is worried about Chikorita and gets up to go find it, leaving Pikachu in the cave with the fire. Ash trudges through the snow and after falling off a ledge manages to find Chikorita who is close to freezing, he brings Chikorita back to the cave where Pikachu is waiting and both Ash and Pikachu spend the night sleeping under Ash’s jacket.

The next day when the sun rises Ash, Chikorita and Pikachu leave the cave and just as they are about to return to the Pokémon Center they find Team Rocket waiting for them outside with a snow firing device. Chikorita’s vine whips break its controls and it starts firing snowballs at Team Rocket, Pikachu then dispatches them with a thunderbolt. A few moments later Misty, Nurse Joy and Brock find them and together they all head back to the Pokemon Center.

Ash and friends are saying their goodbyes to Nurse Joy and Chikorita, but Chikorita chases after Ash, deciding that it would like him to become its trainer. And so in the cold snowy mountains Ash and Chikorita have begun what promises to be a warm, new friendship.

Major Events

• Ash catches Chikorita
• Ash’s third motto rip-off (“copyrighted material”)
• First time Ash has two Grass starters

Captures and evolutions

• Chikorita#0152 · Ash

Trivia

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

Changes in the English Dub

• Dub inserts an instrumental of “Together Forever”.
• Pokémon Karaokémon: “Two Perfect Girls” (Eric Stuart as Brock).

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