Episode Stats: 

Japanese Episode 24:  "Goosuto VS Esupaa" 

("Ghosto vs. ESP!")

American Episode 24:  "Haunter vs. Kadabra"
Pokemon Dare Da?  Ghosto
Japanese Air Date:  September 9th, 1997
American Air Date:  October 8th, 1998
Important Characters:  Natsume no haha (Sabrina's mother)

Satoshi, now with a ghost-type pokemon, returns to challenge Natsume to a rematch at the Yamabuki City gym.  When the battle commences, Satoshi calls on Ghosto...but it won't appear when called.  Satoshi, unable to use his trump card, starts to run away.  However, Takeshi and Kasumi aren't able to escape--they are turned into dolls and are kept at Natsume's gym.  Satoshi meets with the mysterious bearded man from before (who turns out to be Natsume's father), and tells Satoshi that Natsume is divided into two forms:  the adult, who is a serious pokemon trainer, and the doll, which symbolizes her lost childhood.  Satoshi finds Ghosto and returns with it to the gym to another rematch.  Again, Satoshi calls on Ghosto, and again it won't come out when summoned.  Desperate, Satoshi calls on Pikachu, but victory still seems to be on Natsume's side.  Just as all seems lost, Ghosto appears and starts to joke around with Natsume.  Natsume laughs at the pokemon's antics, and Yungeller, who's linked telepathically to the gym leader, also begins to laugh.  Unable to battle, Yungeller is declared the loser as Natsume's childhood half merges with her gym leader self.  Kasumi and Takeshi are returned to normal, and Satoshi is rewarded the Gold Badge!

---

Thoughts
Have you ever watched an episode of Pocket Monsters and wondered why the Rocket-Dan were even put in the episode in the first place?  You sit there and think that the Japanese producers just made up a little side story just so an episode won't go by without the famous trio of Musashi, Kojirou, and Nyasu? 

This is how this episode is to me.  Since the Rocket-Dan aren't the main antagonists of the episode, they're turned into a diversion to the rest of the episode's plot.  I mean, I love the Rocket-Dan as much as the next guy, but sometimes I think the episode would be better off without them. 

Anyway, the Natsume battle ends with this episode, and I was kind of disappointed with its outcome.  So far, Machisu is the only gym leader Satoshi has beaten using tactics you could use yourself in the video game.  Then again, the fact that Nastume's ultra-powerful psychic pokemon could only be beaten by beating the gym leader herself kind of elevates psychic pokemon to a higher power, so I'm kind of mixed about it.  Anyway, the series' pace starts to get a little funky after the next few episodes, but I'll get to that later...

Paint Edit
When Satoshi first enters the gym, Takeshi and Kasumi are reluctant to enter.  So, they stay behind holding signs to support Satoshi.  Of course, they were changed for the American dub:

Brock's sign:  "Go Ash Go"
Takeshi's sign:  "NEBAA GIBU APPU Satoshi!" ("Never Give Up Satoshi!")

Pikachu's sign:  "Good Luck!"
Pikachu's sign (Japanese):  "Ganbare" ("Good Luck")

Misty's sign (left hand):  A picture of Ash's head
Kasumi's sign (left hand):  There wasn't a pic of Satoshi on this sign, it simply said "FAITO da"   ("Fight")

Misty's sign (right hand):  Another picture of Satoshi's head
Kasumi's sign (right hand):  Same deal as above, but it said "GATTSU da" (Guts!)

Dialogue Edit
The scene when Natsume's father is talking to Satoshi on the park bench outside and thinks that Satoshi must have figured out that he is Natsume's father is pretty funny, but it's slightly different in both versions.  In the dub, Ash says that the bearded man must be a photographer.  Originally, he guessed that the man was Natsume's next-door neighbor.  It's a small change, but one I felt like mentioning because I don't have much else to say about this episode.

Side Note
The whole dialogue with the Rocket-Dan regarding the egg is essentially the same in both versions.  I listened to the Japanese version, and from what I was able to pick up, Kojirou was saying how there's an argument about the origins of the earliest egg.  In the dub, he's talking about how the egg preceded the chicken.  I thought I'd mention it because when I saw the scene dubbed, I thought there was some untranslatable pun involved and I'm assuming that a number of you have that same thought. 

Side Note
Meowth says this as Team Rocket's falling into the concrete below:

Meowth:  "She's gonna die laughin'."

What was that!?  Did Meowth just say the d-word?  The show has always danced around the notion of death the few times it's come up, but here they just threw a reference in arbitrarily.  I wonder why...

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