Episode Stats:

Japanese Episode AG 067: "Odoru Batoru da!  Runpappa!!"

("It's a Dance Battle!  Runpappa!!")

American Episode 339: "Go Go Ludicolo!"
Orchid-Hakase Pokémon Lecture:  Ledian
Japanese Air Date:  March 11th, 2004
American Air Date:  February 26th, 2005
Important Characters:  Poncho (Poncho)

In a forest near Touka City, Satoshi tries to figure out a strategy for facing Senri and his normal-type pokemon.  In order to decide who he should use, Satoshi lets all of his pokemon out of their Monster Balls.  As the young trainer considers the merits of each fighter, Juptoru manages to obtain some fruit from a nearby tree.  Afterwards, the Rocket-Dan appear and try to take Satoshi's pokemon, so Juptoru steps up a second time and impresses everyone by sending them blasting off.  Everyone becomes caught up in admiring Juptoru, causing Satoshi's Heigani to feel left out.  So when a bongo-playing trainer named Poncho appears and challenges our heroes to a battle, the roughneck pokemon volunteers itself in order to prove that Juptoru isn't Satoshi's only cool pokemon.  Heigani battles fiercely against Poncho's Runpappa, but the evolved form of Hasubrero pulls through with the win.  After Satoshi's humbling defeat, Poncho bids the young trainers farewell.  However, Heigani has decided to run off after him!  As Satoshi-tachi search for the runaway pokemon, Heigani arrives at the spot where Poncho had camped out in order to ask him for a rematch.  Suddenly, smoke fills the area!  The Rocket-Dan have returned, this time planning to steal Poncho's Runpappa.  As Satoshi and his friends arrive on the scene, Heigani fights bravely against the Rocket trio, eventually sending them blasting off.  Everyone begins to recognize Heigani's strength, and the group continues to praise the little pokemon as Satoshi continues to prepare for his battle in Touka City.

---

Thoughts
I enjoyed this nice little character-building episode.  Aside from the fact that we get to see the show's cast recognize Heigani's strength, we also get to have a nice meeting between Takeshi's Hasubrero and Runpappa.  The character of the day wasn't too exciting, as Poncho just seemed too much like a walking advertisement for Donkey Konga for my tastes, but he didn't ruin this otherwise above-average episode.

The dubbed version is OK.  Seriously, I'm having trouble finding anything to talk about when the episodes are nothing but time cuts the way this one is.

Cut--3 seconds
Three seconds are cut from the opening shot of the episode.

Side Note
The bongo rhythm that you guys hear in the dub is the exact same rhythm that is heard in the Japanese version.  4Kids has a tendency to change these sorts of things, so it's nice to see 4Kids keeping something like this every now and then.  The only change that was made was that Poncho just sort of stops playing his bongos when Ash takes out Dextette, while in the Japanese version he plays his instrument nonstop.

Dialogue Edit
In the dub, Poncho says that if he loses the battle, he'll treat the gang to cheeseburgers.  Originally, Japanese Poncho said that he'd treat the gang to Omu Raisu (a rice dish with a sort of egg covering; you see Ash's head turn into one of these at the end of "Showdown in Dark City.")

Cut--6 seconds altogether
The rest of the edits are time cuts, or whatever these little snippets are.

A second is cut from the shot right after the Trainer's Choice commercial break.

Two seconds are cut from the scene after Kids' WB!'s final commercial break.

And three seconds are cut from the TO BE CONTINUED... screen.

Previous Episode

Next Episode