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| Season | Pokémon: Johto League Champions (Season 4) · The National Park & the road from Goldenrod arc (EP161–EP172) |
| Episode | Season 4, episode 8 · English episode 165 · Japanese episode 167 · Bulbapedia code EP165 |
| English title | Hassle in the Castle |
| Japanese title | ズバットのやかた! きけんなめいろ!! Zubatto no Yakata! Kiken na Meiro!! — “Zubat’s Mansion! A Dangerous Labyrinth!!” |
| First aired (Japan) | 21 September 2000 · TV Tokyo |
| First aired (US) | 29 September 2001 · Kids’ WB |
| Screenplay | Shinzō Fujita |
| Opening / ending (Japan) | OK! – Rica Matsumoto · Pokémon Hara Hara Rirē (Exciting Pokémon Relay) – Rikako Aikawa |
| English opening | Born to Be a Winner – David Rolfe |
| Who’s That Pokémon? | Persian (US) · Zubat (Japan) |
| Previous episode | Carrying On (EP164) |
| Next episode | Two Hits and a Miss (EP166) |
Plot episodeBrock’s Zubat evolves
Hassle in the Castle is the 8th episode of Pokémon: Johto League Champions, the fourth season of the Pokémon anime, and the 165th episode of the English dub overall (Japanese episode 167, Bulbapedia code EP165). It first aired in Japan on 21 September 2000 and in the United States on 29 September 2001. It falls within the season’s The National Park & the road from Goldenrod stretch (EP161–EP172).
Synopsis
Brock falls for a doctor who treats patients with Pokémon, and his Zubat evolves into Golbat while rescuing her from a castle maze. Sheltering from a storm, the gang stumble into Dr Anna’s clinic, where Zubat ultrasounds, Machoke massages and Mareep muscle stimulation are all part of the treatment. Brock’s Zubat and Anna’s bow-wearing Zubat, Mimi, hit it off instantly, and Brock volunteers to help with the rounds.
Team Rocket raid the pantry and flee down a corridor Anna warns against; the floor tips everyone, including Brock, Anna and both Zubat, into a sealed labyrinth beneath the castle whose walls rise and fall as people cross the floor. Anna maps the route with Zubat’s Supersonic, while Ash, Misty and nurse Keiko dig out the buried exit above ground and Pineco’s Self-Destruct blows the stuck door open.
Outside, Team Rocket bag the Zubat and lasso Pikachu into an electricity-proof jar. The Zubat clear Weezing’s Smokescreen, Brock’s Zubat confuses Arbok with Supersonic and then evolves into Golbat, deflecting Poison Sting with Wing Attack. Its amplified Supersonic smashes the jar (and Anna’s laptop) and Pikachu’s Thunder Shock blasts the trio away. Brock dreams of staying on as a doctor, but Anna gently notes that Golbat’s waves are far too strong for medicine.
Major Events
- Brock’s Zubat evolves into Golbat, the first on-screen evolution of a Brock Pokémon and the first main-character evolution during a Team Rocket battle
- Dr. Anna debuts
Captures and evolutions
Zubat → Golbat#0042 · Brock
Trivia
- The screenplay is by Shinzō Fujita.
- This is a plot episode: it advances the Johto storyline.
- The Who’s That Pokémon? segment features Zubat in Japan, where it almost always matched the episode, but Persian in the US, where 4Kids picked the Pokémon at random.
Part of our Pokémon: Johto League Champions guide. Browse every season of the Pokémon anime.