Episode Stats:

Japanese Episode 054: "Keisatsu-ken Gaadei"

(Gardie the Police Dog)

American Episode 050:  "The Case of the K-9 Caper!"
Pokemon Dare Da?  Gardie
Japanese Air Date:  July 16th, 1998
American Air Date:  April 10, 1999

Satoshi-tachi are walking along when they spot a thief being chased by the police.  After the thief is disarmed by a group of Gardie, Pikachu is ordered to attack.  Suddenly, Officer Junsa steps in and scolds Satoshi for ruining the Gardie's training session!  Junsa reveals that the Gardie are special police pokemon and that they were undergoing special training.  Satoshi decides that he wants his Pikachu to go through the same training in order to become a better pokemon, so he and Pikachu enroll in Junsa's class.  After a difficult obstacle course that exhausts Satoshi and his pokemon, the Rocket-Dan burst onto the scene.  Using a combination of different gases, Musashi-tachi are able to disarm the Gardie's sense of smell and ability to distinguish their trainer's voice.  Then, using a voice synthesizer, Musashi-tachi make themselves sound like Junsa, enabling them to gain control of the pokemon!  They try to do the same to Pikachu, but the pokemon's bond with its trainer is too strong to be broken by a voice duplicator.  As Junsa convinces her Gardie that she is really their trainer, Satoshi and Pikachu are able to take care of the Rocket-Dan.  With the pokemon thieves gone, Satoshi-tachi decide to leave the police school, proclaiming that Pikachu is fine the way it is.  And so, the journey continues...

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Thoughts
Joi got a main pokemon with Lucky as early as the second episode, but this is really the first time that Junsa is given a signature pokemon.  The idea of a police academy for pokemon is pretty interesting, and the anime pulls the whole thing off pretty well.  It's nice to see Satoshi not breeze through the training and actually give up on something for once, because we rarely see that in the show at all.

Dub-wise, it was a zero-edit episode, which gives me time to nitpick a little bit.

Pokemon Ondo replaces POKETTO ni FANTAJII as the ending theme, giving Japanese viewers a chance to see Dogasu and Arbo sing. 

Side Note
A few points of interest--one, this is the second episode in a row that Kojirou crossdresses in.  The odd thing is is that earlier in the episode, we see male police officers who have male police uniforms, so we know that male police officer uniforms exist.  So he didn't have to dress up as a female officer; instead, he chose to.  Interesting...

Two, not only is it amazing that Junsa ran through the obstacle course as fast as she did without seeming the least bit tired, but she did this all while wearing high heels.  Amazing.

And lastly, there's a goof in the dub.  When Jessie first puts on her Ash disguise, she speaks with Ash's voice BEFORE changing the voice synthesizer thing to Ash's voice.  Whoops.  That didn't happen in the Japanese version.

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