 |
|
| Season | Pokémon: Advanced Battle (Season 8) · Izabe Island: Harley, Ludicolo & Snorunt arc (AG102–AG109) |
| Episode | Season 8, episode 12 · English episode 377 · Japanese episode 380 · Bulbapedia code AG104 |
| English title | Claydol Big and Tall |
| Japanese title | 巨大ネンドールを封印せよ！！ Kyodai Nendōru o Fūin seyo!! — “Seal the Giant Nendoll!!” |
| First aired (Japan) | 25 November 2004 · TV Tokyo |
| First aired (US) | 3 December 2005 · Kids’ WB |
| Screenplay | Junki Takegami |
| Opening / ending (Japan) | Challenger!! – Rica Matsumoto · GLORY DAY ~Kagayaku Sono Hi~ (That Shining Day) – GARDEN |
| English opening | Unbeatable – David Rolfe |
| Pokémon Trainer’s Choice | Which is not a Normal type? (Flaaffy / Togepi / Cleffa) → Flaaffy (spelt “Flaafy”; outdated since Togepi and Cleffa became Fairy types) |
| Previous episode | A Cacturne for the Worse (AG103) |
| Next episode | Once in a Mawile (AG105) |
Filler / stand-alone episodeGiant ClaydolLast Oak’s Lecture
Claydol Big and Tall is the 12th episode of Pokémon: Advanced Battle, the eighth season of the Pokémon anime, and the 377th episode of the English dub overall (Japanese episode 380, Bulbapedia code AG104). It first aired in Japan on 25 November 2004 and in the United States on 3 December 2005. It falls within the season’s Izabe Island: Harley, Ludicolo & Snorunt stretch (EP102–EP109).
Synopsis
Crossing a canyon on Izabe Island, the group spot an enormous stone Poké Ball sitting on a hilltop. Sigourney, the island’s sage, explains the legend behind it: long ago a powerful Pokémon escaped from a ball just like it and rampaged for seven days before it was sealed inside a second giant ball, which now rests at the bottom of Lake Izabe. Team Rocket overhear and fly their balloon to the lake, where a press of a remote sets off bombs that crack the ancient ball open and release a giant Claydol. The trio’s hooks latch onto the Pokémon, but it is far too heavy to lift; Claydol freezes the balloon solid with Ice Beam and blasts Team Rocket away with Hyper Beam before stomping off inland, clearing its path with more Hyper Beams.
Ash’s thrown Poké Ball simply bounces off, and Water Gun from Brock’s Lombre and Mudkip only enrages Claydol into a Rapid Spin. Team Rocket land nearby and offer to help, privately hoping to capture the giant themselves. Following Sigourney’s ancient book, the first plan is to lure Claydol with eggplant, so Ash and James dress up as giant eggplants and lead it on, until Sigourney realises that he has misread the text: Claydol hates eggplant. The pair escape just before being stamped flat. For the second attempt, Jessie, May, Meowth and Wobbuffet dress as maidens and perform for Claydol to music, as the legend describes, and it fixes its attention on the disguised Wobbuffet and follows it toward the stone ball on the hill.
Ash sends Swellow to pluck Wobbuffet to safety, but Swellow only snatches its wig, and Claydol turns furious. The great stone ball is set rolling downhill but jams against a rock outcrop. Mudkip and Lombre soften the obstruction with Water Gun and Pikachu shatters it with Thunder, and the ball thunders down, strikes Claydol and seals it back inside. Team Rocket immediately try to haul the ball away with a mechanical claw, but its weight drags their balloon down the slope and they are blasted away once more. The sealed ball comes to rest in Lake Izabe where the original had lain, and Sigourney rewards the travellers with food and souvenirs before reaching for his ancient texts again, to the group’s exasperation. In Japan this was the last episode followed by Professor Oak’s Pokémon Lecture until the Diamond and Pearl series.
Major Events
- A giant Claydol escapes from a stone ball and is sealed back inside
- Ash’s Poké Ball bounces off it
- Last Professor Oak’s Pokémon Lecture (Torkoal) until Diamond and Pearl
- Claydol debuts
Pokémon making their anime debut
Claydol#0344 · AG104
Trivia
- The English title plays on "big and tall" menswear.
- The screenplay is by Junki Takegami.
- This is a stand-alone episode: it can be skipped without losing the thread of the Hoenn story.
Changes in the English Dub
- Poké Ball banner removed
- Jessie’s cleavage edited in her princess disguise
- Wobbuffet’s flute muted
- Instrumental Advance Adventure and music from The Power of One
Part of our Pokémon: Advanced Battle guide. Browse every season of the Pokémon anime.