Pokemon Company
Airdate: January 10, 2002
Summary: Our heroes are on their way to Mahogany Town when they run into Team Rocket dressed as football players. Predictably, Team Rocket’s plan to steal Pikachu backfires when a football bomb goes off and blasts Team Rocket into loserdom. When will they learn? We focus on Team Rocket as they use parachutes to cushion their fall. They call a meeting to discuss why they keep losing to the kids, with Jessie/James/Meowth/Wobbuffett all voting 3-1 to blame each other, getting nowhere fast. They then do the calculus of themselves vs. our heroes, ending in an all out brawl of discontent and ultimately failure. They then stumble upon a Delibird with a PA announcement on its cage saying that it is a tough Pokemon to catch, motivating them to catch it and reclaim some glory. Arbok, Weezing, and Victreebel all fail at battling Delibird, until Wobbuffett shows up and uses Counter. They are about to catch Delibird when an old lady shows up, congratulating them on beating Delibird, saying she is a Team Rocket scout, ironic! Team Rocket says they are actually part of the team, but the old lady doesn’t believe them, infuriating Jesse and James. The old lady, after seeing James’ membership card tells them that they were discontinued as members for not paying into retirement, healthcare, or dues… our favorite evil gang is gangless. The old lady tells our heroes to sign up again as members of the team, sending their info to HR lady Wendy, who remembers a bad experience with Jesse and tells Giovanni that Jesse and James need to be kicked out, Giovanni says they can stay if they pay their loan. Just then, Team Rocket and the recruiter stumble upon the kids, so hoping for a chance at redemption they try to catch Pikachu. Delibird gives our heroes bombs as gifts, waking them up and pushing them to battle the Christmas bird, who really starts to cause havoc to Team Rocket’s delight. Delibird gives another gift to Pikachu, who was given a recovery bomb, allowing Pikachu full health and a groundbreaking Thunder. Even after the loss, Jesse and James are still allowed in Team Rocket but with the caveat that they must slowly pay back their debts, doing so with their bonus. Off to Mahogany!
Best Trainer/Pokémon: Delibird, 1 v 4 is tough but it almost pulled out the victory.
Worst Trainer/Pokémon: Wendy in HR, office politics are unfairly hurting our favorite gang.
One thing I learned: Giovanni has a kind heart…. How?
Who is that Pokémon?: Smeaergle, I don’t really care about the Sketch gimmick, or like its design… so booooooo!
Best Quote: “If that’s the Democratic way I am voting Republican” – Meowth getting political, I would be fascinated to see his other policy positions.
Best Scene: Delibird giving Pikachu energy enough to give that rare Pikachu evil smile of pure power.
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