The Whistle Stop – Pokémon Season 3, Episode 12

Filler / stand-alone episodeLedyba debutNew Year’s Day episode

The Whistle Stop is the 12th episode of Pokémon: The Johto Journeys, the third season of the Pokémon anime, and the 128th episode of the English dub overall (Japanese episode 130, Bulbapedia code EP128). It first aired in Japan on 1 January 2000 and in the United States on 2 December 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 and friends continue their journey to the Johto League, as they cross a bridge Team Rocket make another bungled attempt to steal Pikachu; their attempt as usual fails but results in the destruction of the bridge which Ash & Co still need to cross. As they’re wondering how they can possibly cross a Pokémon trainer named Arielle offers to fly the group across using her Ledyba since she had some work to do at the Orchards on the other side.

Ash and co are flown across by Arielles Ledyba and arrive in an Orchard of Apple trees, its there that they witness Arielle using her whistle to command the Ledyba to pollenate all the Apple Trees in the orchard. But Team Rocket aren’t done yet, they’ve been listening in and watching and decide it would be a great idea to steal Arielles whistle thinking it would put the Ledyba under their command. Team Rocket attack and the Ledyba become confused and won’t follow Arielles commands without the whistle. Ash and Pikachu manage to send Team Rocket blasting off, but the commotion of the battle scares the Ledyba away too.

Arielle begins the search for her group of Ledyba and Ash and co try to help. Brock sends out his Zubat to try and find the Ledyba using it’s supersonic waves, unfortunately it goes wrong when a huge flock of Golbat appear instead. Ash then sends out Heracross and tells it to lead them to the nearest place that smells of flowers. Meanwhile Team Rocket are repairing whats left of their balloon and messing with Arielles whistle which is still in their posession, when all of a sudden Team Rocket spot the group of Ledyba sleeping. Meowth uses the whistle to command Arbok to attack, and all the Ledyba are caught in a net.

Suddenly Arielle smells something; its the faint smell that the Ledyba give off when they are in danger. Pikachu follows the scent and they find a trail leading off into the forest where they eventually find Team Rocket and the captive Ledyba. James catches Ash and friends as well as Arielle under a net. Arielle tries to command her Ledyba which she was previously convinced would only respond to the whistle, and they do listen; her group of Ledyba attack Arbok, Victreebel and Team Rocket while Ash uses Bulbasaur to free Arielle and his friends from the net. Jessie sends Lickitung out to use its confusion but Pikachu’s thunderbolt stops it just in time. Arielle commands a group tackle attack on Team Rocket, and they are sent blasting off, dropping Arielles whistle as they go.

Arielle commands her Ledyba to pollenate the orchards, she tries using the whistle and without, and they listen to her regardless. Arielle vows to try to use the whistle less and less every day. Ash and friends bid her farewell and continue on their journey.

Major Events

• Ledyba debut (prior PK04)
• New Year’s Day special airing with *Slowking’s Day*
• Lickitung’s Supersonic/Stomp
• Backmasked anti-4Kids message by Eric Stuart (replaced on Pokémon TV / 2015 DVD)

Pokémon making their anime debut

• Ledyba#0165 · EP128

Trivia

• The English title plays on a railway term for a minor halt, and Arielle’s Ledyba whistle.
• The screenplay is by Shōji Yonemura.
• 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 Ledyba in Japan, where it almost always matched the episode, but Blissey in the US, where 4Kids picked the Pokémon at random.

Changes in the English Dub

• James’s backmasked protest message (see Dialogue) is replaced with screaming on Pokémon TV and the 2015 DVD.
• Backmasking: James’s mumbling from inside Victreebel is a reversed message criticising Leo Burnett and 4Kids, recorded deliberately by Eric Stuart as a protest over lost commercial pay and health coverage (revealed 2007; confirmed by Stuart in 2011 and 2016). In Japanese, James simply tells Victreebel to stop.
• Pokémon Karaokémon: “Pikachu (I Choose You)” (Élan Rivera).

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