Tunnel Vision – Pokémon Season 3, Episode 33

Filler / stand-alone episodeJigglypuff returns

Tunnel Vision is the 33rd episode of Pokémon: The Johto Journeys, the third season of the Pokémon anime, and the 149th episode of the English dub overall (Japanese episode 151, Bulbapedia code EP149). It first aired in Japan on 25 May 2000 and in the United States on 7 April 2001. It falls within the season’s On the road to Goldenrod stretch (EP148–EP155).

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

Synopsis

Ash and his friends are continuing on their journey to Goldenrod City, however they’ve come up against a bit of an obstacle; the Onix tunnel! It’s a big tunnel full of Onix which will lead them to Goldenrod City without having to climb over the mountains. The group decide to wait until the next day to travel through the tunnel because it’s getting dark so they head to a safe place to rest. Little do they know that both Jigglypuff and Snubble are nearby.

Team Rocket meanwhile are already trying to navigate the tunnel, and have awoken lots of sleeping and now very annoyed Onix who send them running straight back out of the tunnel where they spend time trying to work out how they can get past the Onix, concluding that the best way would be to steal Misty’s water Pokemon.

Ash, Misty and Brock are taking a rest with their Pokemon nearby when Pikachu spots the Snubble from the rich ladies house which is obviously trying to track a scent of some kind. The group decide to follow Snubble to see what its after but as they’re following it Jigglypuff emerges from the bushes and starts singing, putting Ash & friends, Team Rocket and Snubble to sleep.

Snubble wakes up some time later and finds its face has been drawn on, it tracks Jigglypuffs scent and steals its microphone before running off into the forest. Ash and friends stumble upon Jigglypuff but realise that it looks sad and doesn’t have its microphone, for some reason this triggers them to volunteer to help Jigglypuff find its microphone. Team Rocket are nearby trying to dig a trap for Misty when Snubble turns up and bites Meowth’s tail, Jessie immediately recognises it as the one they met in Palm Springs. Jessie decides she wants to keep the Snubble, Meowth obviously takes exception to this and gives the ultimatum that they have to choose between Snubble and Meowth; they choose Snubble and Meowth leaves feeling rejected and shocked.

Ash and friends continue down their road when they find a couple of trees with delicious fruit baskets under each of them, which they straight away are traps set up by Team Rocket, and Jigglypuff who goes running over to grab the food quickly proves them right as it triggers three consecutive pitfall traps and is rescued by Bulbasaur each time. Team Rocket are watching on in horror with Snubble as their traps fail again. Meowth meanwhile is walking along on his own feeling sorry for himself when he stops to take a rest… he is then approached by Jigglypuff who is still really sad that someone stole its microphone; the two discuss their dreams and seemingly become friends – they decide to form a new team called The Dream Team… but as that’s been discussed Snubble finds Meowth and bites into his tail… Jigglypuff spots it’s mic and starts attacking Snubble for it.

Jessie tells Meowth to help Snubble, Meowth doesn’t want to, and a little battle ensues. Ash, Misty and Brock show up and break up the mini Pokemon fight, Jessie and James declare that they want Misty’s Pokemon and they begin their motto, Meowth is waiting to deliver the closing line but it seems Wobbuffet has taken it’s role!

Misty battles Team Rocket’s Arbok with her Poliwag, James sends his Victreebel to join in and Ash counters it with Chikorita. Jessie’s Wobbuffet counter attacks Chikorita before combined attacks from Poliwag and Pikachu send Team Rocket blasting off. Snubble see’s Meowth blast off, drops Jigglypuffs mic and runs off desperate for another bite of Meowth’s tail.

Jigglypuff is overjoyed to have its mic back and bursts into song, putting Ash and friends to sleep before itself heading into the Onix tunnel. The Onix who dwell in the tunnel promptly confront Jigglypuff who is pleased to have them as an audience and puts them to sleep too. A few hours later Ash and friends wake up and start their journey through the tunnel, finding the Onix are all asleep, with scribbled on faces. Hours later Team Rocket begin travelling through the tunnel, Jessie trips up on a rock and falls over waking up all the Onix, who are once more non too pleased with them.

Major Events

• Jigglypuff vs Snubbull
• Wobbuffet first joins the motto
• Dub spoiler (Squirtle gone) from out-of-order airing

Trivia

• The English title plays on the idiom, for the Onix Tunnel.
• The screenplay is by Yukiyoshi Ōhashi.
• 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 Jigglypuff in Japan, where it almost always matched the episode, but Azumarill in the US, where 4Kids picked the Pokémon at random.

Changes in the English Dub

• Because the dub aired this before The Fire-ing Squad!, Ash’s line that he no longer has Squirtle spoiled that episode’s ending.
• The dub narrator says the heroes are on the road “to Johto”, although they are already there.
• More of the Japanese music was replaced than usual (only two or three cues kept); the dub adds “You Can Do It (If You Really Try)”.
• Pokémon Karaokémon: “Song of Jigglypuff”.

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