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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 11 · English episode 168 · Japanese episode 170 · Bulbapedia code EP168 |
| English title | Hook, Line, and Stinker |
| Japanese title | アズマオウ! フィッシングバトル!! Azumaō! Fisshingu Batoru!! — “Azumao! Fishing Battle!!” |
| First aired (Japan) | 12 October 2000 · TV Tokyo |
| First aired (US) | 29 September 2001 · Kids’ WB |
| Screenplay | Yukiyoshi Ōhashi |
| 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? | Kabuto (US) · Seaking (Japan) |
| Previous episode | A Hot Water Battle (EP167) |
| Next episode | Beauty and the Breeder (EP169) |
Plot episodeMisty wins the Seaking Competition
Hook, Line, and Stinker is the 11th episode of Pokémon: Johto League Champions, the fourth season of the Pokémon anime, and the 168th episode of the English dub overall (Japanese episode 170, Bulbapedia code EP168). It first aired in Japan on 12 October 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
Misty wins a Seaking Catching Competition and proves her Poliwhirl is no pushover against a bully’s Poliwrath. The trouble begins when a Poliwrath knocks Misty’s Poliwhirl out of a stream and its Trainer, Andreas, sneers at every Water type she owns. The rules of the local contest: any rod and lure, one registered helper Pokémon, and the single heaviest Seaking caught in a Lake Ball wins a trophy and a year’s supply of chocolate. Ash enters with Pikachu, Misty with Poliwhirl.
Team Rocket fish too, first with a chibi-Jessie lure and then by dangling Meowth himself on a line, which only tangles him with Misty’s hook and capsizes the boats. Ash lands a sizeable Seaking with Thunderbolt, Andreas bags his with Mega Punch and Double Slap, and Misty’s homemade lure hooks a monster just before the buzzer. The two top catches weigh exactly 55 kilograms each, so a battle decides it.
Poliwrath’s Submission sends Poliwhirl flying and it cowers behind Misty’s legs, until her other Pokémon leap out to cheer and she reminds it that strength does not require evolving. Poliwhirl answers with Bubble, Mega Punch, more Bubble and a finishing Water Gun. Team Rocket’s mid-match chocolate heist ends under Pikachu’s Thunderbolt, Andreas apologises, and Misty shares out her prize, forgetting Ash entirely.
Major Events
- Misty wins the Seaking Catching Competition
- Ash and Misty catch Seaking in Lake Balls and release them
- Poliwhirl reveals Mega Punch
- Andreas debuts
Captures and evolutions
Seaking#0119 · Ash and Misty · Lake Balls · released after the contest
Trivia
- The English title plays on the phrase "hook, line and sinker".
- The screenplay is by Yukiyoshi Ōhashi.
- This is a plot episode: it advances the Johto storyline.
- The Who’s That Pokémon? segment features Seaking in Japan, where it almost always matched the episode, but Kabuto 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.