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| Season | Pokémon: Johto League Champions (Season 4) · Whitestone & Bayleef arc (EP197–EP200) |
| Episode | Season 4, episode 40 · English episode 197 · Japanese episode 199 · Bulbapedia code EP197 |
| English title | The Art of Pokémon |
| Japanese title | ドーブルのきせき!! あさひのなかでかがやいて! Dōburu no Kiseki!! Asahi no Naka de Kagayaite! — “The Miracle of Doble!! Shining in the Morning Sun!” |
| First aired (Japan) | 10 May 2001 · TV Tokyo |
| First aired (US) | 6 April 2002 · Kids’ WB |
| Screenplay | Takeshi Shudō |
| Opening / ending (Japan) | Mezase Pokémon Master (Whiteberry version) – Whiteberry · Maemuki Rocket-dan! (Face Forward Team Rocket!) – Team Rocket |
| English opening | Born to Be a Winner – David Rolfe |
| Who’s That Pokémon? | Beedrill (US) · Smeargle (Japan) |
| Previous episode | Control Freak! (EP196) |
| Next episode | The Heartbreak of Brock (EP198) |
Filler / stand-alone episodeSmeargle TV debutTakeshi Shudō script
The Art of Pokémon is the 40th episode of Pokémon: Johto League Champions, the fourth season of the Pokémon anime, and the 197th episode of the English dub overall (Japanese episode 199, Bulbapedia code EP197). It first aired in Japan on 10 May 2001 and in the United States on 6 April 2002. It falls within the season’s Whitestone & Bayleef stretch (EP197–EP200).
Synopsis
A famous painter and his three Smeargle rediscover their inspiration after Team Rocket kidnap the “paintbrushes” in the white-walled city of Whitestone. The gang find Smeargle spraying coloured streaks over the pristine buildings until artist Jack Pollockson claims them and hands the furious residents a blank cheque; the Smeargle are his brushes, their tail colours reflecting their moods, but they have produced nothing he rates in a long time.
Team Rocket sneak into his gallery, weep theatrically at a painting, and settle for photographing the collection to sell as copies rather than risk fencing famous originals. Pollockson admits he once dreamt of being a Pokémon Master, and that his ageing eyes can no longer tell subtle shades apart; he remembers a sunrise fifty years ago that painted the land a thousand colours.
A net drops and the Smeargle are gone, one trailing yellow paint. Team Rocket set them to churning out “original” art under Meowth’s threats until the gang follow the drips. Jessie’s Arbok squares up to Pikachu, but Pollockson sees dawn breaking and calls his Smeargle to him, abandoning the fight. They paint the sunrise across a Whitestone building for the townsfolk to see; rain washes it away, but the artist has his muse back, while Wobbuffet scatters the trio’s stolen prints to the wind.
Major Events
- Smeargle main-series debut
- Jack Pollockson
- Team Rocket do not blast off
- Screenplay by Takeshi Shudō
Pokémon making their anime debut
Smeargle#0235 · EP197
Trivia
- The English title plays on the treatise "The Art of War".
- The screenplay is by Takeshi Shudō.
- 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 Smeargle in Japan, where it almost always matched the episode, but Beedrill in the US, where 4Kids picked the Pokémon at random.
Changes in the English Dub
- A reference to Tarō Okamoto’s “art is an explosion” is lost.
Part of our Pokémon: Johto League Champions guide. Browse every season of the Pokémon anime.