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| Episode Comparisons | Orange Islands
Episode
Stats:
Japanese Episode 105: "Lizardon! I Choose You!"
American Episode 249: "Charizard Chills"
Pokémon Dare Da? Nyorobon (Japanese), Caterpie (English)
Dr. Ookido's Pokémon Course: Pocket Monsters The Movie "Revelation Lugia" Special Feature
Japanese Air Date: July 22nd, 1999
American Air Date: September 2nd, 2000
Important Characters: Hidé (Tad)
Important Places: Cleopatra Island (Cleopatra Island)
Thoughts
Pokémon fans often refer to the Orange Islands part of the animated series as a "filler season," and while I guess that is technically correct -- the only reason these episodes exist in the first place is because the Gold & Silver video games had been delayed -- I don't really like to use the term "filler" to refer to this arc because of the negative connotations that word has. The word "filler," as we all know, is often shorthand for "something that doesn't matter" or "something you can just skip," and while I disagree with that definition first and foremost, I also disagree with the implication that the Orange Islands arc of Pocket Monsters doesn't matter. Because if you skip the Orange Islands arc you miss out on Kenji's introduction, Satoshi getting the GS ball (aka the whole reason he ends up going to the Johto Region in the first place), Satoshi and Kasumi getting the Kabigon and Nyoromo they'll go on to use in future "canon" arcs, and Pokémon learning powerful attacks they'll go on to use over and over again, to name a few. Oh, and you'll also miss the moment when Satoshi's Lizardon finally starts to become a usable member of the team.
The longest running storyline of the original series gets wrapped up in this episode of the Orange Islands arc and it's...well, it's fine, I guess. Not great, but it could've been a whole lot worse. The problem I have is that the whole "disobedient Lizardon" storyline wasn't ever really handled all that well from the get-go -- after Hitokage evolves the show basically just goes "Lizardon, I choose you! What!? Not today either? Alright then, Lizardon return!" over and over again until literally this episode -- so it's not like screenplay writer Atsuhiro Tomioka had a lot to work with going into this. And the solution he came up with of having Lizardon deciding not to trust Satoshi until it's basically standing at death's doorstep is probably about the best he could have done, all things considered. But, I still wish this episode could have been the grand conclusion to a well planned character arc instead of what it actually wound up being, which is the high point in an otherwise mess of a storyline.
Regardless, Atsuhiro Tomioka uses this episode to demonstrate why he's one of the best writers working on the show. The callbacks, especially, are a real treat here. The obvious one is where Hidé (pronounced Hee-day, by the way) mentions the Trainers at the Yuzu Gym talking about Satoshi after his visit. It's something Mr. Tomioka didn't have to even bother including at all, but I'm glad he did because it's a neat bit of world building that reminds us that at the end of the day all these random Pokémon Trainers we meet inhabit the same world that Satoshi does. A less obvious callback, meanwhile, involves Hidé's Nyorobon. All the way back in Episode 011 Lizardon's previous Trainer, Daisuke, makes a comment about how his Hitokage wasn't even able to defeat a measly little Nyoromo, and yet here we get to see that same Fire-Type, nearly 100 episodes later, going up against and even beating Nyoromo's final evolved form! These are tiny details that a lot of other writers probably wouldn't have picked up on, much less incorporate into their scripts, and yet screenplay writer Atsuhiro Tomioka does just that. He really is one of the best.
The English dub wraps up its second season (taps the sign) with an episode whose localization isn't terrible, but isn't all that great either. It has a pretty decent script for large chunks of the episode but then 4Kids kind of whiffs it when it comes to some of the episode's more important dialogue. There's also way too much music replacement in this episode, with major moments (I'm looking at you, first match between Lizardon and Nyorobon!) losing so much of their impact because of 4Kids' inability to just leave the soundtrack alone. And then there's Tad's voice, who sounds like Maddie Blaustein was just really not in the mood that day or something because it comes off as really, really phoned in. There are much, much worse episodes than this one, localization-wise, but there are a lot better ones out there as well.
The show's ending theme finally changes from Type: Wild to Laplace ni Notte as of this episode. I honestly don't understand what took them so long, really. We're nearly 2/3 of the way through the Orange Island arc and yet they're only just now getting around to updating the ending? An ending theme that will only get to stick around for a dozen episodes or so before they change it again once we hit Johto? What happened?
Side Note
The name of the island this episode takes place on is, apparently, Cleopatra Island (クレオパトラ島), most likely named after the Cleopatra mandarin.
I say "apparently" because the island's name is never actually said aloud in the episode itself, in either the Japanese version or the English dub. In fact, the only reason we even know this island's name is because various guide books released for the series, both in Japan and the U.S., identify it as such. For example, the image above is from Page 68 of The Memorial Book of Orange Islands, which mentions the island's name under the "Setting" (舞台) heading.
I don't know why the show wouldn't put the island's name in the actual episode itself -- it does so with just about every other island in the region, after all -- but at the end of the day I guess it's not that big a deal. Just very, very odd.
Dialogue Edit
The first rewrite of the episode I'll point out isn't in the opening narration for once! This one happens, instead, during the part where Tad compares Misty to a Tentacruel:
While this exchange does indeed have the same vibes as the Japanese version, the English dub's rewrite of Kasumi's line means we miss out on hearing which of the two jellyfish Pokémon she likes better.
After the title screen, Tad reveals how he knows all about our heroes:
We of course know that the Orange Islands' Pokémon League isn't something you get in to but is instead something you're just a part of, but I guess 4Kids didn't realize this when working on this episode...? Japan was over half a year into Johto by the time 4Kids would have started working on this episode and so you'd think someone would've noticed there wasn't going to be a big tournament arc this time around. But, well, I guess not!
At least Tad's "I'm trying to get into the Pokémon League" isn't quite as bad as that "on the road to Johto" nonsense we'll be getting for the entirety of the Generation 2 seasons, so it at least has that going for it.
Meowth spots the boat incoming:
Musashi tells us that Cleopatra Island is uninhabited, information that isn't provided to us by the English dub.
Later, the battle between Ash and Tad is about to begin. Tad sends out his first Pokémon:
There's this old meme from a few years ago where a clip from the English dub of Pocket Monsters Best Wishes! shows Trip, Ash, and Servine all saying the word "Servine" about a half a dozen times in a row before the episode abruptly cuts to the easiest "Who's That Pokémon?" quiz in television history. Part of what makes the segment so laughably easy is how the English dub likes to have its Pokémon voice actors overly enunciate their character's names without even attempting to make them sound like anything other than some guy in a recording booth reciting trademarked product names over and over again into a microphone.
This segment here is another great, if somewhat less well known, example of this phenomenon. In the English dub Poliwrath just sounds like some guy yelling the word "Poliwrath" into a mic and so when Ash then goes "What's that?" immediately after hearing it speak the whole thing sounds absolutely ridiculous. This same facepalm moment isn't in the Japanese version because 1) Nyorobon doesn't say its full name in the original, and 2) Satoshi doesn't say "What's that?" to indicate he has no idea what this Water-Type is.
Ash looks up Poliwrath in the Pokédex:
The connection made between the muscles Nyoboron's developed while swimming and its ability to use Fighting-Type moves in combat is completely taken out of the English dub.
Misty asks Tad about his Pokémon's belt:
While the two versions are quite similar, the English dub adds an extra detail about Poliwrath "beat(ing) every Pokémon around" (something you don't usually have to do in most tournaments) that isn't in the original.
Next up is the battle between Pikachu and Poliwrath. After Pikachu loses, Tracey has this to say:
If you've ever wondered why there's this seemingly random image of fire and ice and water all swirling around behind Kenji back there, then wonder no more! Originally Satoshi's friend guesses that Hidé's strategy is to catch his opponent off guard by purposefully using Pokémon that're supposed to be weak to the one his opponent chooses, hence the elemental attack imagery behind him.
Ash decides to use Charizard:
The whole reason Satoshi chooses his Lizardon to face off against Hidé and his Nyorobon is to emulate what he saw his opponent do in the first match between Pikachu and Nyorobon. The English dub simplifies this to "I just want to surprise him" instead.
Ash chooses Charizard, who starts to fly around:
Ignoring a repeat of the "get into the Orange League" nonsense for a bit, 4Kids decides to have Tad spell things out a bit more plainly in the English dub with his last line than what's there.
Ash pleads with his Charizard:
Satoshi's attempt to appeal to Lizardon's sense of teamwork by asking it to avenge his Pikachu gets removed from the English dub in favor of Ash simply stating he "need(s) you to win this battle." 4Kids then has Tad talk about "power Pokémon," cementing the idea that their version of this character prides himself on winning solely on brute strength instead of cunning strategy.
Charizard continues to ignore its Trainer:
The dub removes Kasumi's explicit mention of the whole "Lizardon doesn't obey Satoshi" issue being a long standing one.
Satoshi's final line, meanwhile, shows him guessing why his Pokémon won't listen to a word he says, but the English dub decides to remove that and make Ash's question a bit more generic instead.
Charizard tries to use Flamethrower on Poliwrath:
Steel-Type confirmed! Steel-Type confirmed!
Originally Kasumi guesses that Hidé's Pokémon is at a really high level.
Tad reacts:
Hidé's taunt here is a callback to what Satoshi said before he called on his Lizardon to battle, but since 4Kids rewrote Satoshi's line back then they also went ahead and rewrote this line as well.
The battle ends with Charizard getting frozen, and so Tad takes his leave while Ash stays behind to tend to his Pokémon. That night:
Here, Satoshi is (inadvertently) showing his Lizardon that he's still mostly focusing on Nyorobon and how strong it is. This annoys Lizardon, as seen by the glare it shoots at its Trainer, and so the Fire-Type starts to thrash about.
In the English version, however, Ash is fully focused on Charizard instead, making his Pokémon's little fit here seem more like a random tantrum than it does a reaction to anything going on at that particular moment.
Eyecatch
Tad's Nyorobon gets replaced by a copy-and-paste of the Caterpie eyecatch from Episode 3.
This is the only time a Nyorobon will ever be featured as a Pokémon in the "Who's That Pokémon?" segment and so it would have been nice if 4Kids had at least taken a stock image of a Poliwrath and used that instead, but I guess they had other plans!
Dialogue Edit
Ash notices Charizard's flame:
So it's fairly common knowledge that a Hitokage will die if the flame on its tail goes out but I don't believe the same's ever been confirmed for any of its evolved forms...? It's reasonable to assume that it works the same for Lizardo and Lizardon, but do we know this for sure? 4Kids apparently thought so because they changed Satoshi's rather generic "get better" to a somewhat more grim "don't die on me now" plea instead.
Misty adds more firewood:
The Japanese version doesn't actually tell us what Kenji hands his traveling companion but it's probably just regular old water, I'm assuming. In the English dub, meanwhile, Tracey apparently carries cocoa around in a canteen and then serves it out of paper cups. You know, normal stuff!
Ash gives the big speech that helps win his Pokémon over:
This is like the most important speech in the episode, and while 4Kids gets some of it right they also altered a crucial parts.
In the original Satoshi recognizes that he's still not good enough as a Trainer and then tells Lizardon he understands why it might not want to fight with him side-by-side just yet. He's attempting to see things from Lizardon's point of view, maybe for the first time ever, in order to understand why it feels the way it does. Satoshi then tells his Pokémon that regardless, he still holds out hope that someday, maybe, the two of them will make a great team. They're not quite there, he concedes, but perhaps someday!
The first two sentences in the English dub version of this speech are on the right track but then from the third sentence onward is where things start to veer off in a different direction. Americans don't like all the self-deprecation and humility we see in the Japanese version, I guess, and so the English dub adds in the line of Ash saying "I always try to do my best and I know I'm getting better" to help show Ash as a stronger, more confident character than Satoshi is. He can recognize he's not the best, just like his Japanese counterpart does, but he's also like "but you gotta give me some credit, right?" The change boils down to a difference in attitudes between what the main character in a Japanese cartoon should be versus what a main character in an American cartoon should be, I'm assuming. Ash then goes through Charizard's evolution line, for some reason, before ending the whole thing with a wish that at least mirrors what Satoshi wants in the Japanese version.
The Rocket trio's mecha appears:
As usual, the English dub removes Musashi using the first line in her motto to mimic her opponent and just has her recite the regular opening line instead.
After the motto the Rocket trio make their getaway:
The Rocket trio's banter from the original has Kojirou mentioning alcohol so maybe that's why they changed this exchange?
After destroying the Rocket trio's drill machine Charizard looks like it's about to learn a new move. Ash takes out his Pokédex to confirm:
The fact that 4Kids knew shockingly little about the video games on which the TV series is based has been pretty well documented, I think, but one thing I don't get about all this is how incredibly transparent they're being about this ignorance. After all, the vast majority of anything resembling research into the video games was already done when the Japanese scripts were written and so all 4Kids really has to do is just translate the original dialogue as-is and voila! -- now it looks like like they actually know what they're talking about, too! But they want to rewrite things, for whatever reason, and so we get baffling nonsense like this popping up from time to time.
The Rocket trio blasts off:
The Rocket trio's blasting off catchphrase -- the one they've used in pretty much every single one of the 100+ episodes 4Kids has dubbed so far -- gets removed from the English dub of this episode, just because!
Tad challenges Ash to a rematch:
In the original Hidé makes it a point to establish the rematch as a one-on-one battle, something Tad neglects to do in the English dub.
Music Edit
In the Japanese version the ending theme Type: Wild! plays in the background during the battle between Satoshi and Hidé.
This gets replaced by Pokémon World for the English dub.
Side Note
A translation quirk happens a few times during this second battle with Tad that I feel needs addressing. The first instance of this happens when Ash orders his Pokémon to dodge Poliwrath's Water Gun attack:
And pops up again when Poliwrath's about to use Ice Beam attack:
Just to clarify, Satoshi's ordering his Pokémon to fly (lowercase F) outta the way, not use the Pokémon attack "Fly" (uppercase F) to get outta the way. We know this because if it was supposed to be the latter then the lines in the Japanese version would be Sora o Tobu (そらをとぶ), what the attack "Fly" goes by in the original, not simply Tobe (飛べ).
The distinction gets a bit muddied up when translating all this to English and so I thought I'd offer a clarification, just in case.
Dialogue Edit
After dodging Poliwrath's Ice Beam, Charizard flies back toward its opponent:
The attack Hidé orders his Pokémon to use is Counter, not Body Slam.
Tad concedes defeat:
Satoshi is somewhat famous for saying he wants to have a rematch with the Trainers he meets and then never ends up seeing them ever again, but did you know that Hidé here isn't one of them? Originally the two Trainers just wish each other good luck.
After Tad leaves, Ash looks to the future:
This little bit of foreshadowing of a few episodes from now gets removed in favor of generic "This is gonna be so great now" dialogue.
This page was last updated on August 16th, 2024
Japanese Episode 105: "Lizardon! I Choose You!"
American Episode 249: "Charizard Chills"
Pokémon Dare Da? Nyorobon (Japanese), Caterpie (English)
Dr. Ookido's Pokémon Course: Pocket Monsters The Movie "Revelation Lugia" Special Feature
Japanese Air Date: July 22nd, 1999
American Air Date: September 2nd, 2000
Important Characters: Hidé (Tad)
Important Places: Cleopatra Island (Cleopatra Island)
Satoshi and
his friends are riding along with Laplace when they meet Hidé, a
young
Trainer who's heard all about Satoshi from other Trainers in the
region. They soon decide to go ashore nearby Cleopatra Island and have
a quick Pokémon battle to test their skills. Satoshi thinks
their first match will be an easy victory – after all, his Pikachu has
a Type advantage over Hidé’s Nyorobon – but Hidé’s
championship title
winning Water-Type surprises everyone by making quick work of its
opponent. Satoshi calls out his Lizardon to fight next but the
Fire-Type predictably refuses to listen to its Trainer. Hidé's
Nyorobon
uses a powerful Ice Beam attack to freeze Lizardon solid, immediately
bringing the battle to an abrupt end. Satoshi spends the rest of the
night tending to his fallen Pokémon, showing just how much he
cares for Lizardon as he works tirelessly to nurse it back to health.
By the next morning Lizardon has gained a newfound respect for Satoshi
and even indicates it’s decided to start listening to what he has to
say from here on out! After taking care of an interruption from the
Rocket trio, during which Lizardon learns Dragon Rage, Satoshi meets up
with Hidé again to have a rematch. This time around, however,
Lizardon
actually listens to its Trainer's orders and is able to use its
non-Fire attacks to lead Satoshi to victory. Satoshi and his friends
bid Hidé farewell as they look ahead, thinking just how much
stronger
Satoshi’s team has become.
Thoughts
Pokémon fans often refer to the Orange Islands part of the animated series as a "filler season," and while I guess that is technically correct -- the only reason these episodes exist in the first place is because the Gold & Silver video games had been delayed -- I don't really like to use the term "filler" to refer to this arc because of the negative connotations that word has. The word "filler," as we all know, is often shorthand for "something that doesn't matter" or "something you can just skip," and while I disagree with that definition first and foremost, I also disagree with the implication that the Orange Islands arc of Pocket Monsters doesn't matter. Because if you skip the Orange Islands arc you miss out on Kenji's introduction, Satoshi getting the GS ball (aka the whole reason he ends up going to the Johto Region in the first place), Satoshi and Kasumi getting the Kabigon and Nyoromo they'll go on to use in future "canon" arcs, and Pokémon learning powerful attacks they'll go on to use over and over again, to name a few. Oh, and you'll also miss the moment when Satoshi's Lizardon finally starts to become a usable member of the team.
The longest running storyline of the original series gets wrapped up in this episode of the Orange Islands arc and it's...well, it's fine, I guess. Not great, but it could've been a whole lot worse. The problem I have is that the whole "disobedient Lizardon" storyline wasn't ever really handled all that well from the get-go -- after Hitokage evolves the show basically just goes "Lizardon, I choose you! What!? Not today either? Alright then, Lizardon return!" over and over again until literally this episode -- so it's not like screenplay writer Atsuhiro Tomioka had a lot to work with going into this. And the solution he came up with of having Lizardon deciding not to trust Satoshi until it's basically standing at death's doorstep is probably about the best he could have done, all things considered. But, I still wish this episode could have been the grand conclusion to a well planned character arc instead of what it actually wound up being, which is the high point in an otherwise mess of a storyline.
Regardless, Atsuhiro Tomioka uses this episode to demonstrate why he's one of the best writers working on the show. The callbacks, especially, are a real treat here. The obvious one is where Hidé (pronounced Hee-day, by the way) mentions the Trainers at the Yuzu Gym talking about Satoshi after his visit. It's something Mr. Tomioka didn't have to even bother including at all, but I'm glad he did because it's a neat bit of world building that reminds us that at the end of the day all these random Pokémon Trainers we meet inhabit the same world that Satoshi does. A less obvious callback, meanwhile, involves Hidé's Nyorobon. All the way back in Episode 011 Lizardon's previous Trainer, Daisuke, makes a comment about how his Hitokage wasn't even able to defeat a measly little Nyoromo, and yet here we get to see that same Fire-Type, nearly 100 episodes later, going up against and even beating Nyoromo's final evolved form! These are tiny details that a lot of other writers probably wouldn't have picked up on, much less incorporate into their scripts, and yet screenplay writer Atsuhiro Tomioka does just that. He really is one of the best.
The English dub wraps up its second season (taps the sign) with an episode whose localization isn't terrible, but isn't all that great either. It has a pretty decent script for large chunks of the episode but then 4Kids kind of whiffs it when it comes to some of the episode's more important dialogue. There's also way too much music replacement in this episode, with major moments (I'm looking at you, first match between Lizardon and Nyorobon!) losing so much of their impact because of 4Kids' inability to just leave the soundtrack alone. And then there's Tad's voice, who sounds like Maddie Blaustein was just really not in the mood that day or something because it comes off as really, really phoned in. There are much, much worse episodes than this one, localization-wise, but there are a lot better ones out there as well.
The show's ending theme finally changes from Type: Wild to Laplace ni Notte as of this episode. I honestly don't understand what took them so long, really. We're nearly 2/3 of the way through the Orange Island arc and yet they're only just now getting around to updating the ending? An ending theme that will only get to stick around for a dozen episodes or so before they change it again once we hit Johto? What happened?
Side Note
The name of the island this episode takes place on is, apparently, Cleopatra Island (クレオパトラ島), most likely named after the Cleopatra mandarin.
I say "apparently" because the island's name is never actually said aloud in the episode itself, in either the Japanese version or the English dub. In fact, the only reason we even know this island's name is because various guide books released for the series, both in Japan and the U.S., identify it as such. For example, the image above is from Page 68 of The Memorial Book of Orange Islands, which mentions the island's name under the "Setting" (舞台) heading.
I don't know why the show wouldn't put the island's name in the actual episode itself -- it does so with just about every other island in the region, after all -- but at the end of the day I guess it's not that big a deal. Just very, very odd.
Dialogue Edit
The first rewrite of the episode I'll point out isn't in the opening narration for once! This one happens, instead, during the part where Tad compares Misty to a Tentacruel:
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| カスミ 「ん…でもあたしはドククラゲちゃんよりメノクラゲちゃんのほうがいい
かなあ」 |
Kasumi: "Hm...but I think I
might like
Menokurage-chan more than Dokukurage-chan..." |
Misty: "It's hard to believe,
but some people actually think Tentacruel are really nasty looking." |
| サトシ 「だから褒めことばじゃないと思うんだけど…」 |
Satoshi: "I don't think that
was meant to be a compliment..." |
Ash: "Misty, I think this guy is one of those people." |
While this exchange does indeed have the same vibes as the Japanese version, the English dub's rewrite of Kasumi's line means we miss out on hearing which of the two jellyfish Pokémon she likes better.
After the title screen, Tad reveals how he knows all about our heroes:
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| ヒデ 「オレもオレンジリーグに挑戦してんのさ」 |
Hidé: "I'm also
challenging
the Orange League." |
Tad: "I'm trying to get into
the Pokémon League, too." |
We of course know that the Orange Islands' Pokémon League isn't something you get in to but is instead something you're just a part of, but I guess 4Kids didn't realize this when working on this episode...? Japan was over half a year into Johto by the time 4Kids would have started working on this episode and so you'd think someone would've noticed there wasn't going to be a big tournament arc this time around. But, well, I guess not!
At least Tad's "I'm trying to get into the Pokémon League" isn't quite as bad as that "on the road to Johto" nonsense we'll be getting for the entirety of the Generation 2 seasons, so it at least has that going for it.
Meowth spots the boat incoming:
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| ニャース 「船が１そう接近中ニャ」 |
Nyarth: "There's a boat
approaching Nya." |
Meowth: "Look, there's a boat
comin'." |
| ムサシ 「こんなちっこい無人島に？」 |
Musashi: "To this tiny desert
island?" |
Jessie: "What kind of losers
would come here?" |
| コジロウ 「物好きもいたもんだ」 |
Kojirou: "To each his own, I
guess." |
James: "We came here, didn't
we?" |
Musashi tells us that Cleopatra Island is uninhabited, information that isn't provided to us by the English dub.
Later, the battle between Ash and Tad is about to begin. Tad sends out his first Pokémon:
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| ニョロボン 「ボン」 |
Nyorobon: "Bon." |
Poliwrath: "Poliwrath." |
| ピカチュウ 「ピ？」 |
Pikachu: "Pi?" | Pikachu: "Pi?" |
| サトシ 「ええ？こいつは…」 |
Satoshi: "Huh? Is that..." |
Ash: "Uh...What's that?" |
There's this old meme from a few years ago where a clip from the English dub of Pocket Monsters Best Wishes! shows Trip, Ash, and Servine all saying the word "Servine" about a half a dozen times in a row before the episode abruptly cuts to the easiest "Who's That Pokémon?" quiz in television history. Part of what makes the segment so laughably easy is how the English dub likes to have its Pokémon voice actors overly enunciate their character's names without even attempting to make them sound like anything other than some guy in a recording booth reciting trademarked product names over and over again into a microphone.
This segment here is another great, if somewhat less well known, example of this phenomenon. In the English dub Poliwrath just sounds like some guy yelling the word "Poliwrath" into a mic and so when Ash then goes "What's that?" immediately after hearing it speak the whole thing sounds absolutely ridiculous. This same facepalm moment isn't in the Japanese version because 1) Nyorobon doesn't say its full name in the original, and 2) Satoshi doesn't say "What's that?" to indicate he has no idea what this Water-Type is.
Ash looks up Poliwrath in the Pokédex:
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| ポケモン図鑑 「ニョロボン。おたまポケモン。泳ぐための筋肉が発達しこの筋肉
を駆使したかくとう系の技も得意である」 |
Pokémon Bestiary:
"Nyorobon, the Tadpole Pokémon. Nyorobon makes full use of the
muscles it has developed for
swimming to excel at using Fighting element attacks." |
Pokédex:
"Poliwrath, the Tadpole Pokémon. Poliwrath is an excellent
swimmer and
its powerful muscles make its attacks extremely effective." |
The connection made between the muscles Nyoboron's developed while swimming and its ability to use Fighting-Type moves in combat is completely taken out of the English dub.
Misty asks Tad about his Pokémon's belt:
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| カスミ 「そのベルトは何？」 |
Kasumi: "What's that belt?" |
Misty: "What is it wearing?" |
| ヒデ 「ふるさとのポケモン大会で優勝したときのチャンピオンベルトさ。言った
ろ？オレは強いポケモンが好きだって。これは強さの証しだ」 |
Hidé: "It's the
Champion Belt
we won at a Pokémon tournament in my hometown. Remember how I
said I like strong Pokémon? Well, this belt is proof of that
strength I like so much." |
Tad: "Back home they have a
competition to find the Trainer with the strongest Pokémon. I
won. Poliwrath beat every Pokémon around. That's the
championship belt." |
While the two versions are quite similar, the English dub adds an extra detail about Poliwrath "beat(ing) every Pokémon around" (something you don't usually have to do in most tournaments) that isn't in the original.
Next up is the battle between Pikachu and Poliwrath. After Pikachu loses, Tracey has this to say:
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| ケンジ 「心理作戦。あえて不利なタイプのポケモンを出せば当然相手のトレー
ナーは油断してかかってくる」 |
Kenji: "He's playing mind
games. He purposefully chose a Pokémon with a type disadvantage
and waited for his opponent to let his guard down before moving in for
the attack." |
Tracey: "This guy is smart.
Instead of going head to head with power attacks he let Pikachu use its
energy up and then lowered the boom." |
| カスミ 「ポケモンもトレーナーもレベルが高くなくちゃ出来ないことね」 |
Kasumi: "That's not something
you could pull off if both the Pokémon and the Trainer weren't
at a
high level." |
Misty: "Tad and his Poliwrath
must be pretty experienced to pull something like that off." |
If you've ever wondered why there's this seemingly random image of fire and ice and water all swirling around behind Kenji back there, then wonder no more! Originally Satoshi's friend guesses that Hidé's strategy is to catch his opponent off guard by purposefully using Pokémon that're supposed to be weak to the one his opponent chooses, hence the elemental attack imagery behind him.
Ash decides to use Charizard:
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| ヒデ 「相性で勝負が決まるなんておもしろくないからね。オレがずっとこのやり
方で勝っているんだ」 |
Hidé: "Having battles
decided
by type match-ups just isn't any fun. So I've been winning this way
this whole time instead." |
Tad: "There's no challenge in
just matching up the Pokémon by their elements. But there's a
lot to be said for the element of surprise." |
| サトシ 「そっちが相性をひっくり返すならオレだってやってやる」 |
Satoshi: "If he can turn a
battle on its head with Type mis-matches then so can I." |
Ash: "If you like surprises,
you'll love this. My secret
weapon." |
The whole reason Satoshi chooses his Lizardon to face off against Hidé and his Nyorobon is to emulate what he saw his opponent do in the first match between Pikachu and Nyorobon. The English dub simplifies this to "I just want to surprise him" instead.
Ash chooses Charizard, who starts to fly around:
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| ヒデ 「そんなんでオレンジリーグに挑戦してたのか？あきれたやつだな」 |
Hidé: "You came to
challenge
the Orange League with that?
I'm actually speechless." |
Tad: "You'll never get into
the Orange League using a Pokémon like that, Ash." |
| サトシ 「なにっ」 |
Satoshi: "What'd you say?" |
Ash: "What do you mean?" |
| ヒデ 「威勢だけは確かにあるなあ」 |
Hidé: "Well it at least
has some power, I'll
give you that." |
Tad: "It may be powerful, but
you can't control it." |
Ignoring a repeat of the "get into the Orange League" nonsense for a bit, 4Kids decides to have Tad spell things out a bit more plainly in the English dub with his last line than what's there.
Ash pleads with his Charizard:
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| サトシ 「頼むリザードン！戦ってくれ！ピカチュの敵を討ってくれよ！」 |
Satoshi: "I'm counting on you
Lizardon! Please, do it for me! Do it for Pikachu!" |
Ash: "Come on, Charizard. Get
back here. I need you to win this battle." |
| ヒデ 「しょうがないな。お前たちに正しいポケモンバトルっていうのを教えてや
る」 |
Hidé: "Guess I've got
no
choice. I'll just have to teach you two the correct way to conduct a
Pokémon battle." |
Tad: "This is pathetic. I
guess I'll have to show you how a real power Pokémon wins a
battle." |
Satoshi's attempt to appeal to Lizardon's sense of teamwork by asking it to avenge his Pikachu gets removed from the English dub in favor of Ash simply stating he "need(s) you to win this battle." 4Kids then has Tad talk about "power Pokémon," cementing the idea that their version of this character prides himself on winning solely on brute strength instead of cunning strategy.
Charizard continues to ignore its Trainer:
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| ケンジ 「全然言うこと聞かないぞ」 |
Kenji: "It's not listening to
a word he says." |
Tracey: "Charizard's not
listening at all." |
| カスミ 「今に始まったことじゃないけどね。いつもよりひどい感じ」 |
Kasumi: "This isn't the first
time this has happened, but it does seem worse than before." |
Misty: "I thought Charizard
would get better, but it seems like it's getting worse." |
| サトシ 「何でだよ…オレ、まだお前に認められてないのかよ」 |
Satoshi: "Come on...you still
think I'm not worthy of you?" |
Ash: "Charizard, please. Why
can't we just battle together as a team?" |
The dub removes Kasumi's explicit mention of the whole "Lizardon doesn't obey Satoshi" issue being a long standing one.
Satoshi's final line, meanwhile, shows him guessing why his Pokémon won't listen to a word he says, but the English dub decides to remove that and make Ash's question a bit more generic instead.
Charizard tries to use Flamethrower on Poliwrath:
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| ケンジ 「ダメだ！効いてない」 |
Kenji: "It's no use! It's not
working!" |
Tracey: "Misty, it's not
working." |
| カスミ 「あのニョロボン、かなりのレベルね」 |
Kasumi: "That Nyorobon must be
at a really high level." |
Misty: "That Poliwrath has
skin like steel." |
Steel-Type confirmed! Steel-Type confirmed!
Originally Kasumi guesses that Hidé's Pokémon is at a really high level.
Tad reacts:
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| ヒデ 「確かに攻撃力はなかなかのものだな。だが相性をひっくり返すほどじゃな
いぜ」 |
Hidé: "Its attack power
is
high, I'll give you that. But still isn't enough to turn this battle on
its head with a Type mis-match." |
Tad: "Its attack power is
pretty impressive. But even that Flamethrower won't stop Poliwrath." |
Hidé's taunt here is a callback to what Satoshi said before he called on his Lizardon to battle, but since 4Kids rewrote Satoshi's line back then they also went ahead and rewrote this line as well.
The battle ends with Charizard getting frozen, and so Tad takes his leave while Ash stays behind to tend to his Pokémon. That night:
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| サトシ 「あんなすごい冷凍ビーム、見たことなかったよなあ」 |
Satoshi: "I've never seen an
Ice Beam quite like that." |
Ash: "We gotta make sure
Charizard is gonna be all right, Pikachu." |
Here, Satoshi is (inadvertently) showing his Lizardon that he's still mostly focusing on Nyorobon and how strong it is. This annoys Lizardon, as seen by the glare it shoots at its Trainer, and so the Fire-Type starts to thrash about.
 |
 |
In the English version, however, Ash is fully focused on Charizard instead, making his Pokémon's little fit here seem more like a random tantrum than it does a reaction to anything going on at that particular moment.
Eyecatch
Tad's Nyorobon gets replaced by a copy-and-paste of the Caterpie eyecatch from Episode 3.
 |
 |
This is the only time a Nyorobon will ever be featured as a Pokémon in the "Who's That Pokémon?" segment and so it would have been nice if 4Kids had at least taken a stock image of a Poliwrath and used that instead, but I guess they had other plans!
Dialogue Edit
Ash notices Charizard's flame:
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| サトシ 「リザードン、早く元気になってくれよ」 |
Satoshi: "Lizardon, hurry up
and get better!" |
Ash: "Come on, Charizard. You
can't let your flame go out." |
So it's fairly common knowledge that a Hitokage will die if the flame on its tail goes out but I don't believe the same's ever been confirmed for any of its evolved forms...? It's reasonable to assume that it works the same for Lizardo and Lizardon, but do we know this for sure? 4Kids apparently thought so because they changed Satoshi's rather generic "get better" to a somewhat more grim "don't die on me now" plea instead.
Misty adds more firewood:
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| ケンジ 「はい、飲むかい？」 |
Kenji: "How 'bout a drink?" |
Tracey: "Here, have some
cocoa." |
| カスミ 「ありがとう」 |
Kasumi: "Thanks." |
Misty: "Thanks, Tracey." |
The Japanese version doesn't actually tell us what Kenji hands his traveling companion but it's probably just regular old water, I'm assuming. In the English dub, meanwhile, Tracey apparently carries cocoa around in a canteen and then serves it out of paper cups. You know, normal stuff!
Ash gives the big speech that helps win his Pokémon over:
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| サトシ 「リザードン。オレさ、まだまだレベル低いかもしれない。お前弱いポケ
モンって相手にしないだろ？きっとオレもレベル低いトレーナーだから相手にしてもらえなかったんだろうなってさ。でもさいつかお前と一緒に戦う夢なんだ
ぜ。お前と一緒に戦ってそして絶対に勝つんだ」 |
Satoshi: "Hey Lizardon.
I'm...well, maybe I am a low
level Trainer after all. You know how you don't like
to take on weak Pokémon, right? Well, I'm guessing you don't
like to take on battles alongside a weak Trainer like me, either. But
you know, I'm still holding out hope that one day the two of us can
fight side by
side. And when that day comes, the two of us will fight together
and win." |
Ash: "Look, Charizard. I may
not be the greatest Trainer in the world. Sometimes I don't do the
smartest things and I make lots of mistakes. But I always try to do my
best and I know I'm getting better. I think. We've been together since
you were a Charmander and then when you evolved into Charmeleon. And
all I want to do is be good enough for you so we can battle side by
side as a team." |
This is like the most important speech in the episode, and while 4Kids gets some of it right they also altered a crucial parts.
In the original Satoshi recognizes that he's still not good enough as a Trainer and then tells Lizardon he understands why it might not want to fight with him side-by-side just yet. He's attempting to see things from Lizardon's point of view, maybe for the first time ever, in order to understand why it feels the way it does. Satoshi then tells his Pokémon that regardless, he still holds out hope that someday, maybe, the two of them will make a great team. They're not quite there, he concedes, but perhaps someday!
The first two sentences in the English dub version of this speech are on the right track but then from the third sentence onward is where things start to veer off in a different direction. Americans don't like all the self-deprecation and humility we see in the Japanese version, I guess, and so the English dub adds in the line of Ash saying "I always try to do my best and I know I'm getting better" to help show Ash as a stronger, more confident character than Satoshi is. He can recognize he's not the best, just like his Japanese counterpart does, but he's also like "but you gotta give me some credit, right?" The change boils down to a difference in attitudes between what the main character in a Japanese cartoon should be versus what a main character in an American cartoon should be, I'm assuming. Ash then goes through Charizard's evolution line, for some reason, before ending the whole thing with a wish that at least mirrors what Satoshi wants in the Japanese version.
The Rocket trio's mecha appears:
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| ヒデ 「何だ？どうした？あ」 |
Hidé: "What's this?
What's
going on? Ah..." |
Tad: "Ash, what's going on?
Huh?" |
| ムサシ 「何だどしたと聞かれたら」 |
Musashi: "If we're asked
'what's this? what's going on?'" |
Jessie: "Prepare for trouble!" |
| コジロウ 「答えてあげるが世の情け」 |
Kojirou: "It's up to the world
whether or not we answer." |
James: "Make it double." |
As usual, the English dub removes Musashi using the first line in her motto to mimic her opponent and just has her recite the regular opening line instead.
After the motto the Rocket trio make their getaway:
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| ムサシ 「長居は無用」 |
Musashi: "Wouldn't wanna
overstay our welcome." |
Jessie: "Thanks for the
Pikachu." |
| コジロウ 「勝利の美酒はおうちで飲もう」 |
Kojirou: "Let's have a victory
drink when we get home." |
James: "The boss'll love it." |
| ニャース 「ポッポがニャくから」 |
Nyarth: "C'mon, the
Poppo've already started their early morning crowing Nya." |
Meowth: "Ta-ta, twerps!" |
| ロケット団 「か～えろっ」 |
Rocket-Dan: "So off we go" |
Team Rocket: (laughs) |
The Rocket trio's banter from the original has Kojirou mentioning alcohol so maybe that's why they changed this exchange?
After destroying the Rocket trio's drill machine Charizard looks like it's about to learn a new move. Ash takes out his Pokédex to confirm:
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| ポケモン図鑑 「りゅうのいかり。リザードンの技の１つで巨大なダメージを敵に
与えるドラゴン系の大技である」 |
Pokémon Bestiary:
"Dragon Rage. One of Lizardon's attacks, this move is a Dragon-Type one
that deals huge damage to its opponents." |
Pokédex: "Rage. One of
Charizard's most powerful attacks. Rage attack usually has a
devastating effect on its opponents." |
| サトシ 「りゅうのいかり…」 |
Satoshi: "Dragon Rage..." |
Ash: "I can't believe it." |
The fact that 4Kids knew shockingly little about the video games on which the TV series is based has been pretty well documented, I think, but one thing I don't get about all this is how incredibly transparent they're being about this ignorance. After all, the vast majority of anything resembling research into the video games was already done when the Japanese scripts were written and so all 4Kids really has to do is just translate the original dialogue as-is and voila! -- now it looks like like they actually know what they're talking about, too! But they want to rewrite things, for whatever reason, and so we get baffling nonsense like this popping up from time to time.
The Rocket trio blasts off:
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| ロケット団 「イヤな感じ～！」 |
Rocket-Dan: "This feels bad~!" |
Team Rocket: "Oh no!" |
The Rocket trio's blasting off catchphrase -- the one they've used in pretty much every single one of the 100+ episodes 4Kids has dubbed so far -- gets removed from the English dub of this episode, just because!
Tad challenges Ash to a rematch:
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| ヒデ 「改めて勝負を申し込む。１対１でバトルしようぜ」 |
Hidé: "I'd like to
challenge
you to a rematch. How does one-on-one sound?" |
Tad: "I think I promised you a
rematch. If you're ready, let's have it now." |
| サトシ 「あっ あ」 |
Satoshi: "Ah...um..." |
Ash: "Uh..." |
| リザードン 「ガオ」 | Lizardon: (growls) |
Charizard: (growls) |
| サトシ 「フフッ もちろん喜んで」 | Satoshi: "Heh heh of course!
I'd be happy to!" |
Ash: "Ahh! OK, we're ready!" |
In the original Hidé makes it a point to establish the rematch as a one-on-one battle, something Tad neglects to do in the English dub.
Music Edit
In the Japanese version the ending theme Type: Wild! plays in the background during the battle between Satoshi and Hidé.
This gets replaced by Pokémon World for the English dub.
Side Note
A translation quirk happens a few times during this second battle with Tad that I feel needs addressing. The first instance of this happens when Ash orders his Pokémon to dodge Poliwrath's Water Gun attack:
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| サトシ 「飛べリザードン！」 |
Satoshi: "Fly outta there,
Lizardon!" |
Ash: "Fly, Charizard!" |
And pops up again when Poliwrath's about to use Ice Beam attack:
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| サトシ 「リザードン危ない！飛べ！」 |
Satoshi: "Lizardon, watch out!
Fly outta there!" |
Ash: "Charizard, look out! Fly
away!" |
Just to clarify, Satoshi's ordering his Pokémon to fly (lowercase F) outta the way, not use the Pokémon attack "Fly" (uppercase F) to get outta the way. We know this because if it was supposed to be the latter then the lines in the Japanese version would be Sora o Tobu (そらをとぶ), what the attack "Fly" goes by in the original, not simply Tobe (飛べ).
The distinction gets a bit muddied up when translating all this to English and so I thought I'd offer a clarification, just in case.
Dialogue Edit
After dodging Poliwrath's Ice Beam, Charizard flies back toward its opponent:
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| ヒデ 「来るぞ！カウンターでたたき伏せろ！」 |
Hidé: "Here it comes!
Knock it
down with Counter!" |
Tad: "Poliwrath, get ready to
Body Slam it!" |
The attack Hidé orders his Pokémon to use is Counter, not Body Slam.
Tad concedes defeat:
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| ヒデ 「サトシ、オレの負けだ。お互いオレンジリーグがんばろうぜ」 |
Hidé: "Well Satoshi, I
lost.
But let's both still do our best in the Orange League." |
Tad: "Ash, that was great. I
hope we get to battle again in the Orange League." |
| サトシ 「うん！」 |
Satoshi: "You bet!" |
Ash: "Me too." |
Satoshi is somewhat famous for saying he wants to have a rematch with the Trainers he meets and then never ends up seeing them ever again, but did you know that Hidé here isn't one of them? Originally the two Trainers just wish each other good luck.
After Tad leaves, Ash looks to the future:
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| サトシ 「ようし！次のジムもがんばろうぜ！リザードンでゲットだぜ！」 |
Satoshi: "Alright! The next
Gym better watch out! Cuz I'm getting my next badge with Lizardon here!" |
Ash: "This is gonna be so
great now. I'm gonna beat everybody!" |
This little bit of foreshadowing of a few episodes from now gets removed in favor of generic "This is gonna be so great now" dialogue.
| Previous Episode |
This page was last updated on August 16th, 2024
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