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| Season | Pokémon: BW Adventures in Unova and Beyond (Season 16) · Alexa and the road to Kalos arc (BW134–BW140) |
| Episode | Season 16, episode 42 · English episode 792 · Japanese episode 797 · Bulbapedia code BW139 |
| English title | Team Rocket’s Shocking Recruit! |
| Japanese title | エモンガ、ロケット団に入る！ Emonga, Roketto-dan ni Hairu! — “Emonga Joins Rocket-dan!” |
| First aired (Japan) | 5 September 2013 · TV Tokyo |
| First aired (US) | 16 November 2013 · Cartoon Network |
| Screenplay | Yukiyoshi Ōhashi |
| Opening / ending (Japan) | Natsumeku Sakamichi (Summerly Slope) – Daisuke · Te o Tsunagō (Let’s Join Hands) – Shiritsu Ebisu Chūgaku |
| English opening | It’s Always You and Me (Version 3) – Neal Coomer & Kathryn Raio |
| Who’s That Pokémon? | Exploud (US) |
| Previous episode | Go, Go Gogoat! (BW138) |
| Next episode | Survival of the Striaton Gym! (BW140) |
Filler / stand-alone episodeEmolga joins Team Rocket
Team Rocket’s Shocking Recruit! is the 42nd episode of Pokémon: BW Adventures in Unova and Beyond, the sixteenth season of the Pokémon anime, and the 792nd episode of the English dub overall (Japanese episode 797, Bulbapedia code BW139). It first aired in Japan on 5 September 2013 and in the United States on 16 November 2013. It falls within the season’s Alexa and the road to Kalos stretch (EP134–EP140).
Synopsis
Wrongly blamed for Axew’s injury, Iris’s Emolga pretends to join Team Rocket until Iris learns the truth and apologises. A picnic squabble already has Emolga in trouble when a wild Galvantula’s Electro Ball and a gust of wind send Axew tumbling into a rock; Iris blames Emolga, Snivy knocks her down with Vine Whip, and she flies off in a huff.
Emolga defeats all four of Jessie’s and James’s Pokémon with Attract, Discharge and Hidden Power, and Team Rocket recruit her. She joins in their motto, grabs Axew and argues with Snivy, waking a wild Exploud. In the balloon, Emolga tells Axew she is only pretending until Iris learns the truth; Meowth overhears, and the trio plot revenge using the sleeping Exploud.
When Team Rocket net Pikachu, Iris hears Axew’s heart and realises Emolga was protecting him from the Galvantula, and she apologises. Meowth cages Emolga and Axew with the Exploud; Emolga shields Axew from Thunder Punch, Snivy frees Pikachu, and Charizard’s Dragon Tail and Dragonite’s Dragon Rush send Exploud flying into the balloon. Afterwards Snivy and Emolga finally make peace.
Major Events
- Emolga joins Team Rocket. Iris wrongly blames Emolga for Axew’s injury
- Emolga pretends to join Team Rocket
- Iris hears Axew’s heart
- Snivy and Emolga make peace
- Jessie and James use all four Unova Pokémon together for the only time
- Woobat and Yamask confirmed male
- Japan’s TV ending returns to its original version
Trivia
- The screenplay is by Yukiyoshi Ōhashi.
- This is a stand-alone episode: it can be skipped without losing the thread of the Unova story.
Changes in the English Dub
- Japan’s TV ending returns to its original version
Part of our Pokémon: BW Adventures in Unova and Beyond guide. Browse every season of the Pokémon anime.