Episode Stats:

Japanese Episode AG 009: "Kaiki!  Kinokoko Yashiki no Nazo!?"

(How Bizarre!  The Riddle of the Kinokoko Mansion!?)

American Episode 281: "Taming of the Shroomish"
Orchid-Hakase Pokemon Lecture:  Nyula
Pokemon Dare Da?  None (Japanese), Snubbull (American)
Japanese Air Date:  January 23rd, 2003
American Air Date:  December 6th, 2003
Important Characters:  Azuma (Alex)
Important Places:  Rinshin Town (Rinshin Town)

Satoshi-tachi have finally gotten out of the Forest of Touka and have arrived in Rinshin Town.  Haruka and Takeshi go off to go shopping for supplies/clothes while Satoshi and Masato go for a bite to eat and to search for pokemon.  Along the way, Masato spots a Kinokoko and wonders what it's doing out of the forest.  After eating some of Takeshi's pokemon food, the mushroom pokemon hops away, causing Satoshi and Masato to follow.  Meanwhile, Haruka overhears some trainers talking about a cursed house, so she eagerly drags a reluctant Takeshi to see what everyone's talking about.  When they arrive, they meet with Satoshi and Masato, who had been led to the mansion by the Kinokoko.  Suddenly, a man named Azuma appears and tells the kids that because of the construction going on in the area, all the Kinokoko in the forest have had to seek refuge in the old mansion.  Suddenly, the Rocket-Dan appear to kidnap the mushroom pokemon, but the Kinokoko, with the help of Satoshi-tachi's pokemon, are able to ward them off.  Azuma announces that he'll work to reforest the area so that the Kinokoko will have a place to live, so Satoshi-tachi happily leave the area. 

---

Thoughts
The good news:  they're finally out of the forest.  The bad news:  the group has stumbled across Filler Town.

Yeah, that's right.  This is the first of three back to back to back filler episodes.  Regardless of  how you feel about the fourth episode, there's no denying that this is a filler episode.  And it's not that great a filler episode either.  The only redeeming factor about this episode is that Haruka commands Achamo to do something, and it actually does it--it doesn't blunder or mess up or anything.  Other than that, though, I'd be pretty hard-pressed to find something positive about this episode.

Dub-wise, it's pretty boring.  Nothing but the standard snips here and there to report.  I was actually surprised that they left all the chainsaw scenes alone, since kids' shows and chainsaws don't typically go together.  Could it be that the censors are finally lightening up?

Naaaaah~~~

Dialogue Edit
In the dubbed version, they never actually say the blue-haired random filler guy's name, but the closed captions called him "Alex." It's not the first time a character's name is only present in the closed captioning, and I'm sure it won't be the last time either.  And in case you're wondering, Azuma's name is said in the Japanese version on several occasions. 

Cut--7 seconds altogether
I'll just list all the cuts here, since they're all the same type of edits:

The very first shot of the episode is shortened by three seconds. 

Right after the title screen, the pan shot of the garden area is cut by a second.

After the "Who's That Pokémon" commercial break, there's a second cut from the opening pan shot.

A second from the scene right after the last commercial break is cut.

...and finally, a second from the TO BE CONTINUED screen is cut.

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