Episode Stats:

Japanese Episode 042: "Taiketsu!  Pokemon JIMU!" 

("Showdown!  Pokemon Gym!")

American Episode 040:  "Showdown in Dark City"
Pokemon Dare Da?  Strike
Japanese Air Date:  April 30th, 1998
American Air Date:  October 30th, 1998
Important Places:  Dark City (Dark City), Yas Gym (Yas Gym), Kas Gym (Kas Gym)

Satoshi-tachi arrive in Dark City, a city that hides from Pokemon Trainers.  After asking around for a bit, Satoshi-tachi discover that there are two gangs in the area, the Yas group and the Kas group.  Both groups are fighting to become full-fledged Pokemon Gyms, but in the ensuing struggle they're ruining the city.  After Satoshi has a scuffle with the Rocket-Dan, a recruiter from the Yas Gym who was watching the battle asks Satoshi-tachi to come with her.  She takes the kids to the Yas Gym and ask them to join, but when Satoshi finds out that the leader only wants to be recognized as an official Pokemon Gym in order to make more money, he declines.  The Yas Gym Leader sends his Strike to deal with Satoshi, and in the battle the young trainer learns that the color red makes both Strike and the Kas Gym's Elebuu enraged.  After escaping from the gym and learning that the Yas Gym has the same selfish reasons for becoming a Pokemon Gym, Satoshi joins forces with the citizens of Dark City to plan a way to teach the gyms a lesson.  After a while, the two gangs have another brawl in the streets, so Satoshi-tachi make their move.  They dump all the pokemon and the gang members with a liquid that makes them all red, causing the gyms' main pokemon to go berserk.  The leaders of both gangs see the error of their ways and seek Satoshi's aid in helping them become responsible Pokemon Trainers.  Once they see that the city has begun renovating itself, Satoshi-tachi leave for their next destination.

---

Thoughts
You ever wonder how Pokemon Gyms get started in the first place?  If you think about it, a situation similar to the one that occurs in this episode isn't too unlikely, and it's nice to see this aspect of the universe.  Overall, though, the whole thing came off as kinda incomplete.  I mean, why pit an Elebuu and a Strike against one another?  And where did the whole "seeing red makes them go berserk" thing come from?  No other Elebuu or Strike in the series is affected by the color red, so why these two?  There are just so many unanswered questions that really damage this episode. 

Elebuu keeps its funny, funny Japanese voice. 

Paint Edit
In the opening pan shot of Dark City, the word RESUTORAN (restaurant) was erased from a sign on the left side of the pan.  Also, during Takeshi's first line of dialogue, there's a bunch of kanji in the background that's also erased by 4Kids.

Paint Edit
During the first scene showing Pikachu and its bottle of ketchup, there are a number of banners in the background that are erased by 4Kids.  There's the banner that says OMURESHI, -SHA, and a bunch of other things that I can't really make out (it's written in normal handwriting, which is a lot harder to read than the usual typed text stuff).  The banners were completely painted off the wall by 4Kids.

Paint Edit
As the kids are trying to come up with aliases to give to the Yas Gym recruiter, there are a bunch of sale banners in the background with the names of various dishes (Hayashi Rice, Omu Rice, Kago Fry, etc.) written in katakana.  4Kids painted the signs completely off the wall.

And for those of you interested, the nicknames the gang came up with were just as bad in the Japanese version as they were in the American version (well, from what I can tell, anyway).  Satoshi calls himself Ketchup (Tom Ato in the dub), Kasumi is Chikin Raisu (Chicken Rice--Anne Chovi in the dub), and Takeshi is Karee Raisu (Curee Rice--Caesar Salad in the dub). 

Paint Edit
I'm starting to think that I should just put all the paint edits under one heading instead of creating different paragraphs for each scene...

Inside the Yas Gym, the room where the leader is first seen lifting weights has a big ol' scroll hanging on the wall that says Tairyoku ("physical strength").  The kanji is erased by 4Kids.  The kanji is also erased when he slips on the ketchup that spilled on the floor.

Paint Edit
The wooden sign outside the Kas Gym used to say KAZU JIMU in katakana, but 4Kids replaced it with a picture of the Kas logo.

Paint Edit
During the final brawl outside, there's a sign that says P.M. FA KURABU (the KURABU part being in katakana) in the background.  It shows up when the two Gym Leaders bump into each other.  4Kids erases the text, but this time they left the sign alone.

Also, at the end, there's a pink sign that says RESUTORAN SHEHA ("Restaurant Sheha," whatever that means) behind Joi as she releases her Junsa.  The text is erased by 4Kids.

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