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| Season | Pokémon: Johto League Champions (Season 4) · Festivals, balloons & the first Gen III Pokémon arc (EP201–EP207) |
| Episode | Season 4, episode 44 · English episode 201 · Japanese episode 203 · Bulbapedia code EP201 |
| English title | Doin’ What Comes Natu-rally |
| Japanese title | ネイティうらない! みらいよちのしんぴ!! Neiti Uranai! Mirai Yochi no Shinpi!! — “Naty Fortune Teller! The Mystery of Telling the Future!!” |
| First aired (Japan) | 7 June 2001 · TV Tokyo |
| First aired (US) | 18 May 2002 · Kids’ WB |
| Screenplay | Yukiyoshi Ōhashi |
| 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? | Jigglypuff (US) · Natu (Japan) |
| Previous episode | Turning Over a New Bayleef (EP200) |
| Next episode | The Big Balloon Blow-Up (EP202) |
Filler / stand-alone episodeNatu debut
Doin’ What Comes Natu-rally is the 44th episode of Pokémon: Johto League Champions, the fourth season of the Pokémon anime, and the 201st episode of the English dub overall (Japanese episode 203, Bulbapedia code EP201). It first aired in Japan on 7 June 2001 and in the United States on 18 May 2002. It falls within the season’s Festivals, balloons & the first Gen III Pokémon stretch (EP201–EP207).
Synopsis
A shy boy and his fortune-telling Natu overcome stage fright at a Pokémon street performers’ festival. The gang startle McKenzie hiding in the grass with his Natu, “Naughty”, and later find his father running a fortune booth where a Natu hops across stones, rings a bell and uses Future Sight to produce predictions. Called on to perform, McKenzie freezes, forgets his lines and bolts.
Misty’s idea of a Wooper mask helps him rehearse, though Naughty’s Future Sight proves too weak; Ash suggests battling to toughen it up, which only frightens the boy. Meanwhile James nearly falls for the Magikarp salesman again, and Jessie and Meowth plot to steal the performers’ Pokémon. During McKenzie’s show the trio drop a bomb as a distraction and, performing their motto on a trapeze, scoop up the Pokémon including Naughty, slipping away under Weezing’s Smokescreen despite Poliwhirl’s Bubble.
Aboard the balloon Jessie makes her captives stamp “contracts” until a Machoke breaks loose. Bayleef’s Razor Leaf cuts the net and then downs the balloon, which crashes at a school. Razor Leaf flattens Victreebel in one hit, Naughty’s Confuse Ray sends Arbok slithering into its own Trainers, and Pikachu’s Thunderbolt finishes them. Asked to perform for the schoolchildren, McKenzie dons his mask, Naughty’s Future Sight works perfectly, and he takes the mask off to applause.
Major Events
- Natu debut
- James meets the Magikarp salesman again
- Banned in South Korea
Pokémon making their anime debut
Natu#0177 · EP201
Trivia
- The English title plays on the song "Doin’ What Comes Natur’lly" from Annie Get Your Gun.
- 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 Natu in Japan, where it almost always matched the episode, but Jigglypuff in the US, where 4Kids picked the Pokémon at random.
Changes in the English Dub
- Pokémon Ondo plays as festival background music in Japanese.
Part of our Pokémon: Johto League Champions guide. Browse every season of the Pokémon anime.