Episode Stats:

Japanese Episode 110:  "Nyoromo and Kasumi"
American Episode 305:  "The Stun Spore Detour"
Pokémon Dare Da?  Nyoromo (Japanese), Dragonair (English)
Dr. Ookido's Pokémon Course:  Crab
Japanese Air Date:  August 26th, 1999
American Air Date:  September 16th, 2000

One day both Satoshi and Kenji accidentally get a lung full of Rafflesia’s stun spore! The incident causes the two Trainers to become paralyzed, leaving Kasumi to have to nurse the two of them back to health. She learns there’s something called an Asilé waterweed nearby that‘ll be able to cure their condition and so she and Togepy set out to find it. Meanwhile, Musashi's also fallen victim to a Rafflesia's stun spore and so Kojirou and Nyarth leave to find that same herb. The two teams eventually butt heads at a nearby pond when they encounter a wild Nyoromo with a bit of the waterweed attached to its tail. Kasumi's Tosakinto, Hitodeman, and Koduck all work together to defeat the Rocket-Dan’s Utsubot, Matadogas, and Nyarth and send Musashi's teammates packing. Kasumi then finds a patch of the waterweed, gathers up an armful, and heads back toward her friends. She even leaves some behind for Kojirou and Nyarth to take back to their teammate! Later, both groups use the Asilé waterweed to cure their friends' paralysis. A newly recovered Musashi decides that now's the perfect chance to go after Pikachu but Kojirou and Nyarth, still touched by Kasumi's generosity earlier, refuse to join in. Satoshi's Pikachu easily defeats Musashi and so the Rocket-Dan decides to leave the twerps alone for the rest of the day. Now that everyone's back to normal – and Kasumi has a new partner in Nyoromo -- our heroes set sail for the Orange League Winners Cup.

---

Thoughts
In the last episode comparison I brought up how "Koiking! The Secrets of Evolution!!" was an episode that presented itself as a Kenji story and yet barely had the kid do much of anything at all. On its own that wouldn't be so great, but then when you compare it to the one that came just one week later -- "Nyoromo and Kasumi" -- it makes the previous one look so much worse in comparison.

"Nyoromo and Kasumi" did everything the previous episode couldn't be bothered to do, and then some. It made Satoshi's traveling companion the centerpiece of the story. It showed her battling -- and even defeating -- a group of villains, all by herself. It had her getting a new Pokémon. It showed how she's genuinely a good person, even to those who wish her nothing but harm. This episode did so, so many things right when it comes to Kasumi, and seeing the show hit it right out of the park after whiffing it so badly just one week earlier is actually kind of impressive. Odd, but impressive all the same.

Speaking of new Pokémon, I guess Kasumi has a Nyoromo now...? We never actually see her throw a Monster Ball at it (come to think of it, the same thing's true for her other on-screen capture as well) but the Water-Type is hers now. This episode also marks the first time in the show's history a character will get a Pokémon in one generation that can evolve into a brand new Pokémon introduced in the next. I checked, and it doesn't seem like the general public would have known about Nyorotono at the time this episode came out (that wouldn't happen until Gold & Silver went on sale in Japan) and so while we can look back now and go "Oh, they obviously just gave Kasumi this particular Pokémon to promote the upcoming video games" that probably wasn't what any of the viewers were thinking in the summer of 1999. Back then, seeing Kasumi get a Nyoromo was probably just seen as a random capture, no more significant than Satoshi getting a Kabigon earlier in the arc.

The Rocket trio's the other big part of this episode, but unfortunately "Nyoromo and Kasumi" was written by screenplay writer Yukiyoshi Ohashi and so there are a bunch of issues. Mr. Ohashi is quite famous among Rocket trio fans as being one of the writers who just loves, loves, loves depicting them as a team of absolute jerks who can't seem to stand the sight of one another, and this episode is one of the best examples of that awful tendency in action. Musashi being a selfish diva can actually be a funny little B-plot under a better writer, sure, but the way Mr. Ohashi has Kojirou and Nyarth harp on it so much, over and over again, ends up making the whole thing just seem needlessly mean spirited.

The English dub decides to finally give me a break and actually not rewrite 3/4 of the dialogue for the first time in what feels like forever, so that's nice! The big script change in this one is the watering down of Ohashi's "Musashi the selfish abuser" storyline, which, well, fair enough I guess. And while there are a few other odd rewrites here and there this is still a much, much better localization than what we've been getting lately. "The Stun Spore Detour" is also the first Season Three episode to not feature any digital paint edits whatsoever, and while that is a welcome change it also raises some questions about why certain episodes are getting edited while others aren't. What's the difference, really, between the "text" on Tracey's book from a few episodes back and the "text" on the snacks James and Meowth leave out on the road in this episode? Editing one but not the other doesn't make any sense, and that combined with the varying fidelity of the localized scripts shows just how inconsistent the 4Kids dub can be sometimes.

Dialogue Edit
The first rewrite of the episode goes to Mr. Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town:

Japanese (original)	Japanese (translated)	English Dub
サトシ　「オレンジリーグ・ウィナーズカップか。よしっ！絶対に勝ってやる ぜ！」	Satoshi:  "The Orange League Winners Cup...I'll win it for sure!"	Ash:  "We're really on a hot streak, Pikachu. We're so hot, we're on fire!"
ピカチュウ　「ピ～カ ピカチュウ～！」	Pikachu:  "Pi~ka Pikachu~!"	Pikachu:  "Pikachu~!"

To me, this rewrite gives off the vibe that 4Kids misplaced the original script for this part of the episode and had to come up for something for Ash to say here, and so they saw that there's this stylized orange and red background behind them and came up with this line about them being "on fire." Is it a dumb theory? Sure. Am I completely convinced this isn't what actually happened? Not really, no!

Also Pikachu's dialogue gets changed as well, because why the hell not!

After this, Ash makes a rock pun before falling into a Vileplume. Pikachu rushes over to Misty to get help:

Japanese (original)	Japanese (translated)	English Dub
カスミ　「あらピカチュウ！」	Kasumi:  "Oh, it's Pikachu."	Misty:  "Oh hi Pikachu."
ピカチュウ　「ピッ！」	Pikachu:  "Pi!"	Pikachu:  "Pi!"
カスミ　「コダックたちの水遊びは終わったわよ。サトシたちは？」	Kasumi:  "Koduck and the others just finished playing in the water. Where's Satoshi?"	Misty:  "I thought you and Ash were going to go down to the beach to do a little training."
ピカチュウ　「ピカピカ～ピ～カッ ピカピ」	Pikachu:  "Pika Pika~ Pi~ka Pikapi"	Pikachu:  "Pikachu Pika~ Pi~ka Pikapi"
カスミ　「サトシがどうかしたの？」	Kasumi:  "Did something happen to Satoshi?"	Misty:  "Did something happen to Ash?"
ピカチュウ　「ピカッ」	Pikachu:  "Pika"	Pikachu:  "Pika"

So the English dub never bothers to tell us why Psyduck's out of its Poké Ball here, just walking around beside its Trainer when it usually doesn't do that sort of thing. How odd!

After the episode's title screen, Misty wonders what to do next:

Japanese (original)	Japanese (translated)	English Dub
カスミ　「あっ そうだ！」	Kasumi:  "Ah, I know!"	Misty:  "I know!"
ピカチュウ　「ピ？」	Pikachu:  "Pi?"	Pikachu:  "Pi?"
カスミ　「ポケモンセンターに行けばいいんじゃない。地図 地図っと…ああ ダメだ！この島にポケモンセンターないんだった。どうしよう」	Kasumi:  "All I've gotta do is go to a Pokémon Center. Now let's see, where's that map...ah! That won't work! There aren't any Pokémon Centers on this island! What'll I do?"	Misty:  "I'll run and get some medicine at the nearest Pokémon Center. Ah! Which happens to be thirty miles away on another island. Oh no!"

The "thirty miles" part is an invention of the dub.

Misty figures out her mission for the episode:

Japanese (original)	Japanese (translated)	English Dub
ケンジ　「ラフレシアを…その参考のところ」	Kenji:  "Look up Rafflesia...then go to 'More Information'..."	Tracey:  "Look up Vileplume...Antidote info..."
カスミ　「うん」	Kasumi:  "OK."	Misty:  "Right."
ポケモン図鑑　「ラフレシアのしびれ粉を吸い込んだときはアシレ水草を煎じて飲 むと治る」	Pokémon Bestiary:  "If you breathe in Rafflesia's stun spore, boil some Asilé waterweed and drink it to get better."	Pokédex:  "An effective Stun Spore antidote can be made by boiling the leaves of the Salveyo Weed."
カスミ　「アシレ水草？」	Kasumi:  "Asilé waterweed?"	Misty:  "I wonder where I find that."
ポケモン図鑑　「アシレ水草。水のきれいな池の底に生息。近くにはニョロモがい ることが多い」	Pokémon Bestiary:  "Asilé waterweed. They grow at the bottom of ponds where the water's clear. Nyoromo can often be found nearby"	Pokédex:  "Salveyo Weed is found on clear lake bottoms wherever Vileplume live. Poliwag are also found in the vicinity of this plant."

The English dub is mostly fine here, but there are some odd differences; the Japanese Pokémon Bestiary doesn't have a dedicated "Antidote Info" button, and it also doesn't mention anything about Rafflesia living near the weeds as well. Which is probably why we also don't see another actual Rafflesia for the rest of the episode.

And then there's the name of the weed itself. The name Asilé waterweed (アシレ水草) presumably comes from taking the last three syllables of Rafflesia's name (ラフレ シア) and then rearranging them from back to front to create "Asile." For the sake of conveying the proper pronunciation I'll be putting an accent mark over the "e" in my spelling to make it clear the final letter isn't silent.

The English dub renames the plant to "Salveyo Weed," something that seems to be a new word created just for Pokémon. But I'm not really sure where it comes from. Just looking at the word by itself one would think it's based on salve, as in the medicinal ointment, but that doesn't really make sense in context since the plant in this episode is something that's boiled and made into tea, not ground into a paste to soothe skin issues.

Whatever the etymology is, I think we can all agree how delightful it is to see the English dub of Pokémon being able to get away with having its characters say the word "weed" over and over again without Kids' WB! freaking out over it.

Next we get the episode's debut of the Rocket trio. James and Meowth return to their cabin with a red apple:

Japanese (original)	Japanese (translated)	English Dub
ニャース　「欲しいと言っていた赤い果物だニャ」	Nyarth:  "Here's the red fruit you said you wanted Nya."	Meowth:  "It wasn't easy but we brung ya the apple you wanted, Jess."
ムサシ　「しびれる… 体が熱い。なんだか熱でほおも赤らみますます美人になったみたい。私って罪な女ね…」	Musashi:  "My body's numb...and it's running hot. But, my cheeks being so flushed like this is making me look more and more like a classic beauty. Oh, what a sly little temptress I am..."	Jessie:  "I think my fever's... getting worse. But, it gives my alabaster skin such a lovely crimson hue. Ah yes. Very beautiful."
ニャース　「赤い果物を苦労して取ってきたニャ～」	Nyarth:  "It wasn't easy, but we got you the red fruit..."	Meowth:  "How come you were so particular about havin' a bright red apple?"
ムサシ　 「あ…ありがとう」	Musashi:  "Th...thank you."	Jessie:  "It's very simple."

Two things here. One, the Japanese version consistently refers to the, well, apple as the more generic term "red fruit" for some reason, and so the dub changes this to "apple." The other thing is that the dub has Jessie talking about having "alabaster skin," a phrase generally used by white people, when in the Japanese version she speaks more plainly about how beautiful the fever's making her look.

James starts to push back a bit:

Japanese (original)	Japanese (translated)	English Dub
ムサシ　「あ～あ 冷たいストロベリーアイスクリームが食べたい」	Musashi:  "Ah, I'd love some nice, cold strawberry ice cream."	Jessie:  "I'm not well...but if I had a pint of boysenberry ice cream..."
ニャース　「ニャ～ンてわがままだニャ」	Nyarth:  "What the!? That's so selfish of you Nya!"	Meowth:  "Oh no! No way!"
コジロウ　「ほんとに！元気なときよりもさらにわがままが増したな」	Kojirou:  "I swear, you're even more selfish now than you are when you're not sick."	James:  "Jessie, I think you've blown this little temperature you're running totally out of proportion."
ムサシ　「わがままだなんて！私はただはかない私をあわれんで…ううっ ううっ…美人薄命って言うし。あ～あ、あの枯れ葉が落ちたら私もはかなく散るのよ」	Musashi:  "I'm not being selfish! I'm just feeling for how fleeting my life is. (sobs) They say beautiful women die young, you know. Ah~ When that dead leaf out there falls I, too, shall fade away..."	Jessie:  (sobs) "What if there's something terribly, terribly wrong with me? (sobs) Beautiful things are very fragile. Soon I may be gone with the wind...like that tender, lovely little leaf."

Putting the strawberry ice cream becoming boysenberry ice cream thing aside for a moment, the big change here is Kojirou's line. Originally he echoes Nyarth's complaint about Musashi being selfish, but the English dub changes this to James downplaying Jessie's ailment instead.

James figures out his mission for the episode:

Japanese (original)	Japanese (translated)	English Dub
コジロウ　「そうだ！ボクが幼少の頃ラフレシアの しびれ粉を吸ったときじいやがアシレ水草を煎じて飲ませてくれたんだ。それで すぐに治った」	Kojirou:  "That's it! When I was a little kid I breathed in some of Rafflesia's stun spore, and so the old handyman at my place boiled some Asilé waterweed and made me drink it. It cured me right away."	James:  "I just remembered that as a tiny tot I breathed some Stun Spore, and my dear grandpapa made a potion out of boiled Salveyo weed that he got from the lake on his estate. It cured me right away."

The person who gave Kojirou the Stun Spore curing elixir is referred to as his jiiya (じいや), the same word used in the Orange Islands episode "The Gluttonous Kabigon! A Big Panic!" or the Advanced Generation episode "Manene Enters! The Relaxation Guesthouse!" to refer to this guy:


So for those of you keeping track:

Episode Title	Japanese Term	English Dub Term
"The Gluttonous Kabigon! A Big Panic!"	jiiya	servants
"Nyoromo and Kasumi"	jiiya	grandpapa
"Manene Enters! The Relaxation Guesthouse!"	jiiya	Pop-Pop

Inconsistent translations like these make it so that English dub viewers would have absolutely no reason to believe James is talking about the same person in all three episodes. Now to be fair, both the references we've gotten so far have existed only in these little throwaway lines that were probably too minor for your average translator to even notice. Plus, the character's actual in-person appearance won't be until an Advanced Generation episode that comes out years and years from now (and one that 4Kids won't even get to dub!). So I can certainly cut them some slack here. Still, the fact remains that Kojirou's (probably!) talking about the same person here while James is definitely talking about different people.

Cut -- 5 seconds
Right after the line above, there's a six second shot of Musashi and Nyarth kicking Kojirou over and over again that gets severely shortened. Only the last one second is kept in, with the remaining five seconds being replaced with full screen impact stars playing on a loop. Screenshots from the Japanese version are on the left, and the English dub equivalent's on the right.

In both versions, the sequence starts with this pair of full-screen impact stars.
After that, we see Musashi and Nyarth kicking Kojirou over and over as the camera slowly pulls back. The dub replaces this footage with full-screen impact starts, taking the animation from the beginning of the sequence and playing it over and over on a loop.
(this repeats over and over for about five seconds)
The dub returns right as the pink and purple background starts to fades away.

I've said this before but I'll say it again, I don't really get how seeing a violent act for one second is really any less terrible than seeing that same violent act for six seconds. You end up seeing it either way, right? It's especially odd in this case, because the use of the full-screen impact stars for so much of this sequence implies something truly violent and unfit for television is happening offscreen when in reality it's just more of the same.

Dialogue Edit
James and Meowth go out searching for Salveyo weeds:

Japanese (original)	Japanese (translated)	English Dub
コジロウ　「何なんだ、この格好？もう。ムサシがいたら絶対 拒否してるよ」	Kojirou:  "C'mon, why do we have to wear these outfits? Musashi wouldn't be caught dead in one of these."	James:  "I don't see why I couldn't wear my Team Rocket uniform. I feel like a clown in this getup."
ニャース　「池の中の探し物を見つけるときの正装だニャ。こうやってザルを持っ てだニャア、腰をフリフリ すくうニャア。ほんでもってニャ、まずは小石を捨てるニャア」	Nyarth:  "This is what you're supposed to wear when you're looking for something in a pond Nya. You take the sieve here Nya, and you put your back into it as you scoop the water up Nya. And then once you have it Nya, the first thing you gotta do is throw out the pebbles Nya."	Meowth:  "We've gotta find some of that Salveyo weed to help Jessie get better, don't we? But if anybody saw Team Rocket splashin' around in some lagoon they'd get suspicious. That's why I swiped these disguises from the local costume shop."
コジロウ　「それはドジョウを捕まえるときに…」	Kojirou:  "Aren't you just describing what to do to catch loaches...?"	James:  "Couldn't you have swiped something a little more...flattering?"
ニャース　「ドジョウも水草も関係ないニャ！ニャアもう言われたとおりにすれば いいニャ！」	Nyarth:  "Doesn't matter if it's loaches or waterweeds Nya! Just do as you're told Nya!"	Meowth:  "I'm trying to do the best I can here! I'm a Pokémon, not a fashion consultant!"

The outfits Kojirou and Nyarth are wearing are part of a traditional Japanese festival known as Yasugibushi (安来節) from Yasugi City in Shimane Prefecture. Part of the festival includes a song known as "Loach Scooping Festival" (どじょうすくい), and performers of this song wear something very similar to what we see on Kojirou and Nyarth here.

On Kojirou we can see him wearing a kasuri jacket (カスリの上着) and pants (ズボン) on his body, a tenugui towel (手拭い) around his head, a traditional zeni coin tied to his nose (though the way the animators draw it makes it look more like a clown nose than a copper coin), and a biku (びく) basket on his hip for carrying any fish he catches. He's also seen holding a sieve in his hand. Nyarth, on the other hand, is just wearing the tenugui towel and zeni coin on his "nose." The jacket and headband tend to be more intricately decorated in real life than what we see in this particular Pocket Monsters episode, though these designs were probably just simplified to make them easier to animate.

A man performs a "Loach Scooping Dance" in this YouTube video

So look. I'm fully aware your average American kid wouldn't have any reason to know what the hell any of this is. And if the Japanese version had relied on its viewers knowing literally any of what's in the previous two paragraphs then I'd be more onboard with 4Kids' rewrite here.

But, the Japanese dialogue is actually fairly easy to follow, even without this knowledge...? It never uses the word Yasugibushi, for example, and Nyarth's original explanation isn't really alienating to non-Japanese audiences either. The only thing I can think of as being confusing to American audiences is the mention of the real world animal loach (they're not as well known in the States as they are in Japan), but even then a simple change from loach to fish would've solved that problem right away. If they had left the rest of the dialogue as-is things would have been just fine.

But 4Kids changes it anyway. The new dialogue mostly makes sense (though the idea of a seemingly deserted island having a costume shop -- but no Pokémon Center, remember! -- is a bit odd), but at the same time...the Japanese dialogue also makes sense.

Poliwag enters the scene:

Japanese (original)	Japanese (translated)	English Dub
コジロウ　「アシレ水草だ！ニョロモがアシレ水草の在りかを知ってるに違いな い」	Kojirou:  "Look, it's Asilé waterweed! I'm positive that Nyoromo must know where to find it."	James:  "It's all coming back now. Grandpapa used a Poliwag to find the Salveyo weed when I was Stun Spored."

Kojirou doesn't mention his jiiya in the original version of this dialogue.

Meowth tries to catch Poliwag:

Japanese (original)	Japanese (translated)	English Dub
ニャース　「捕まえたニャ～」	Nyarth:  "I got it!"	Meowth:  "We got ya now!"
コジロウ　「やったあ！ これでムサシのわがままから解放される」	Kojirou:  "Hooray! Now we'll be free from Musashi's selfishness!"	James:  "And now that we know we can find the Salveyo weed, can we change out of these costumes?"
ニャース　「おミャーも早くニョロモを押さえつけるニャ」	Nyarth:  "Hurry up and help me pin down this Nyoromo Nya!"	Meowth:  "Quit your yappin' and give me a hand with this Poliwag, will ya?"

Kojirou celebrates being freed from Musashi's unending selfishness while James celebrates being able to get out of those costumes.

Misty meets Poliwag:

Japanese (original)	Japanese (translated)	English Dub
ポケモン図鑑　「ニョロモ　おたまポケモン。おなかの渦巻き状の模様が特徴であ る」	Pokémon Bestiary:  "Nyoromo, the Tadpole Pokémon. It is characterized by the spiral pattern on its belly."	Pokédex:  "Poliwag, the Tadpole Pokémon. It has no arms, but its tail makes it a strong swimmer."
カスミ　「ん～　クリッとしたその目がキュートだわ」	Kasumi:  "Ooh, those big round eyes it has are so cute!"	Misty:  "Mmm. Poliwag can help us find the Salveyo weed."

"Spiral pattern on its belly"? Pfft, that's dumb, let's bring up how Poliwag doesn't have any arms instead! That's what every child in America wants to hear about, right!?

Eyecatch
Dragonair makes its in-episode English dub TV series debut (complete with brand new dub voice) as the eyecatch Pokémon of this random Orange Islands episode:


As for the Japanese eyecatch, we get Nyoromo being "shot" from above, as if it's doing its best impersonation of that one Kanto episode where the exam proctor tricked everyone with that "Purin from above" trick question, for some reason!

Dialogue Edit
Goldeen defeats Victreebel:

Japanese (original)	Japanese (translated)	English Dub
カスミ　「トサキント よくやったわ。サトシたちのためにも負けられないんだから」	Kasumi:  "Great job, Tosakinto! There's no way we can lose with Satoshi and Kenji back there waiting for us."	Misty:  "Great job, Goldeen. You just showed Team Rocket why Water Pokémon are my favorites."
トサキント　「トサキン」	Tosakinto:  "Tosakin~"	Goldeen:  "Goldeen, Goldeen Goldeen."
トゲピー　「チョッゲ チョッゲ」	Togepy:  "Chogge Chogge"	Togepi:  "Chogge Chogge"
ニョロモ　「ニョロ ニョロ ニョロ～」	Nyoromo:  "Nyoro Nyoro Nyoro~"	Poliwag:  "Poli! Poli! Poli!"
ニャース　「ニャにをやってるニャ～⁉ニャ～たちの平和のためにも勝つニャ！」	Nyarth:  "What're you doin' out there Nya? You have to win or we'll never get any peace and quiet Nya!"	Meowth:  "Why can't ya train that Victreebel to battle? It looked like a punching bag out there!"
コジロウ　「ああ 分かった 分かった。」	Kojirou:  "Yes, I know I know."	James:  "It could use some work."

The reasons each side is battling in the first place -- Kasumi to help her friends, Kojirou and Nyarth to finally free themselves from having to wait on Musashi hand and foot -- get completely wiped out in favor of some more generic battle related commentary.

Meowth vs. Psyduck:

Japanese (original)	Japanese (translated)	English Dub
ニャース　「かみつきニャ～！」	Nyarth:  "And here comes a bite!"	Meowth:  "AhAhAhAhAhAh~!"

Nyarth announces he'll bite (lowercase "B") Koduck, while Meowth just kind of makes awkward Ahh-ing noises instead.

Psyduck defeats Meowth:

Japanese (original)	Japanese (translated)	English Dub
カスミ　「出るわよ 出るわよ～かなしばり」	Kasumi:  "Alright, here it comes. Use Disable!"	Misty:  "Get a headache...get a nice, big, juicy headache."
コダック　「プババババババババ　バア！」	Koduck:  "Pu bababa bababa bababa baa!"	Psyduck:  "Psy yi yi yi yi yi yi yi yi yi yi yi yi yi"
ニャース　「ニャ？動けないニャ」	Nyarth:  "Nya? I can't move Nya."	Meowth:  "Huh? Uh uh uh..."
カスミ　「コダック！ ねんりきよ！」	Kasumi:  "Koduck, use Confusion!"	Misty:  "Use Confusion, Psyduck."

In Japanese, the attack that got localized as "Disable" is Kanashibari (かなしばり, or 金縛り), which more literally translates to "to be bound hand and foot." The term kanashibari can be used to describe situations where you literally cannot move your body freely -- being in a straitjacket, having sleep paralysis, being frozen in fear, etc. -- and the idea behind the attack is that you're temporarily freezing a part of a Pokémon's body to prevent it from using one of its attacks. In this episode, I guess Nyarth's bite attack is what's being Disabled here, and so the Rocket Pokémon suddenly gets a case of lockjaw and is therefore unable to get himself out of the way of Koduck's Confusion attack.

The 4Kids dub, meanwhile, has Misty wishing her Pokémon get a "juicy" headache, a string of words so incredibly horrific I don't want to spend another second thinking about it.

The Rocket duo look back on its defeat:

Japanese (original)	Japanese (translated)	English Dub
ニャース　「ニャンでジャリガール１人にやられてしまったんだニャ～」	Nyarth:  "How'd we get beaten by that twerp girl all by herself Nya?"	Meowth:  "Ah, we usually just get beat by the twerp.
コジロウ　「もしかしてこっち側にムサシがいないからか？」	Kojirou:  "It can't be because we don't have Musashi with us this time around...can it?"	James:  "Now we're getting beaten by his friends."
ニャース　「難しい問題だニャ。でも 小屋に戻ればムサシに こき使われるし、池 に行けばジャリガールにやられるし。まったく立つ瀬がニャい」	Nyarth:  "We're in a real predicament Nya. If we go back to the cabin Musashi'll just walk all over us, and if we go back to the pond that twerp girl will just beat us up again Nya. Talk about a rock and a hard place Nya."	Meowth:  "Well, now what are we gonna do? That girl has the Poliwag and the Salveyo weed. If we go back without it Jessie'll be sick...of us. Meh~"
コジロウ　「このことムサシに報告したらどんな仕打ちが待ってるんだろう？ハ ア」	Kojirou:  "I wonder what kind of punishment'll be waiting for us when we report all this to Musashi? (sighs)"	James:  "You'd think these kids today would have something on their minds besides Pokémon. Waa~"
ニャース　「しょこで相談ニャ」	Nyarth:  "Now that gives me an idea Nya."	Meowth:  "You just gave me an idea."

I can actually understand 4Kids' instinct to want to soften some of Jessie's more violent tendencies. Even Musashi's Japanese voice actor, Megumi Hayashibara, felt the same way at times, which is why she writes in her book about how she eventually asked the writers not to have her character always use the fear of violence to control her teammates as much moving forward. And so the removal of dialogue suggesting Musashi will "punish them" for failing at their task is understandable. I don't necessarily like it -- there are better ways to fudge the script slightly so that the original intent is still there -- but I can at least understand the thought process here.

Misty treats Poliwag's wounds:

Japanese (original)	Japanese (translated)	English Dub
カスミ　「この程度の傷ならすぐに治るわ。はい もう大丈夫よ」	Kasumi:  "You're just a little banged up, you'll be all better in no time. OK, you're all set."	Misty:  "Luckily, I always bring a little Pokémon cream along. That should take the hurt away"
ニョロモ　「ニョロ ニョ～」	Nyoromo:  "Nyoro Nyo~!"	Poliwag:  "Po~li li li!"

I don't know what in the world "Pokémon cream" is supposed to be and, quite frankly? I don't think I wanna know.

Poliwag tries to follow Misty:

Japanese (original)	Japanese (translated)	English Dub
カスミ　「トゲピーと遊んでくれてありがとう。でもね、友達が寝込んでるから帰 らなくちゃいけないのよ」	Kasumi:  "Thank you for playing with Togepy. But we have a couple of  friends who are sick in bed and so we have to go back."	Misty:  "We'd like to stay and play, but our friends are sick. This plant'll help them get better, and after it does, maybe we can come back here and see you again."
ニョロモ　「ニョロ ニョロニョ～ ニョ～」	Nyoromo:  "Nyoro Nyoro Nyo~ Nyo~"	Poliwag:  "Poli~"
カスミ　「おうちに帰らなくて平気なの？トゲピーと 一緒に来る？」	Kasumi:  "Are you OK to not go home? Would you like to come along with Togepy?"	Misty:  "That is, unless you'd like to come along with Togepi and me and meet our friends now."
ニョロモ　「ニョロ」	Nyoromo:  "Nyoro"	Poliwag:  "Po~"

Pokémon, as a franchise, generally tends to shy away from bringing up the very obvious ethical dilemmas inherit in the part of its premise that deals with humans ripping creatures out of their natural habitats and then more or less forcing them to follow them around the rest of their lives. It's just better for everyone involved to let viewers forget that part, y'know? But here, Kasumi asking Nyoromo "Are you OK to not go home?" is a grim reminder that sometimes the cute little Pokémon our heroes "catch" have places they call home, and so it's not so surprising to see 4Kids opt not to include that in their version.

In the original Kasumi is also more or less ready to say goodbye to Nyoromo while the English dub has her promising to "come back here and see you again."

Misty and Poliwag get going:

Japanese (original)	Japanese (translated)	English Dub
カスミ　「早く持っていってあげないとピカチュウも待ちくたびれちゃうわよね」	Kasumi:  "We have to hurry up and get these back...poor Pikachu's been waiting for us all this time."	Misty:  "As soon as Ash and Tracey get better I'll introduce you to Pikachu, and Squirtle, and Psyduck, and Lapras, and Bulbasaur, and..."
トゲピー　「チョッゲ チョッゲ プリィ～」	Togepy:  "Chogge Chogge Purii~!"	Togepi:  "Chogge Chogge Purii~!"

Kasumi's concern for Pikachu gets replaced with Misty listing out a bunch of Pokémon names.

Misty checks out the traps the Rocket trio leaves out for her on the road:

Japanese (original)	Japanese (translated)	English Dub
カスミ　「ん？ 今は遊んでる場合じゃないもんね」	Kasumi:  "Hm? This isn't the time to play tea party."	Misty:  "Who'd've left this fancy tea set right in the road?"
コジロウ・ニャース　「チェッ」	Kojirou & Nyarth:  "Drat!"	(no dialogue)
カスミ　「あら 化粧品！サトシたちが待ってるわ」	Kasumi:  "Oh, look at all this makeup! But the guys are waiting."	Misty:  "Ah, and all this makeup! I have to get back and help the guys."
トゲピー　「チョッゲ チョッゲ」	Togepy:  "Chogge Chogge"	Togepi:  "Chogge Chogge"
コジロウ・ニャース　「チェッ チェッ」	Kojirou & Nyarth:  "Double drat!"	(no dialogue)
カスミ　「うわ おいしそ～！ そういえばお昼食べてなかったっけ～」	Kasumi:  "Wow, this looks so yummy! Come to think of it I haven't had lunch yet."	Misty:  "This is the most scrumptious looking basket of food I've ever seen in my whole life!"
トゲピー　「チョッゲ プリィ」	Togepy:  "Chogge Puri~"	Togepi:  "Chogge Puri~"
カスミ　「でもサトシたちが元気になるのが先よ」	Kasumi:  "But helping Satoshi and Kenji get better comes first."	Misty:  "But we can't stop and eat 'cause they're waiting for us."
コジロウ・ニャース　「チェッ チェッ チェッ」	Kojirou & Nyarth:  "Triple drat!"	(no dialogue)
カスミ　「まあ ステキなドレス！でも サトシたちが待ってるもんね」	Kasumi:  "Wow, what beautiful dresses! But the boys are waiting."	Misty:  "What beautiful dresses! Whoever uses this road has very good taste."
コジロウ・ニャース　「ああ…」	Kojirou & Nyarth:  (sighs)	(no dialogue)

The Japanese original has this amusing bit where Kojirou and Nyarth just kind of sigh with disappointment, off-screen, every time Kasumi fails to fall for one of their traps. Yet for some reason these all get removed from the English dub.

The dub also changes the part where Kasumi says she hasn't eaten lunch yet, I guess because maybe 4Kids was worried the network might object to having one of the show's elementary school aged characters admitting to skipping lunch...? You know, bad role model and all that?

Misty and Poliwag are about to meet the disguised Rocket duo:

Japanese (original)	Japanese (translated)	English Dub
カスミ　「大体あんなものがいきなり道にあるなんておかしいもんね」	Kasumi:  "But how weird was it seeing all that stuff just out on the road like that?"	Misty:  "...and then there's Scyther, and Charizard, and Marill, and Venonat, and..."
トゲピー　「チョッゲ プリィ～」	Togepy:  "Chogge Purii~!"	Togepi:  "Chogge Purii~!"

The dub continues the "naming Pokémon" bit from earlier in the episode, though this time it's a bit less effective because if you look at the actual animation you'll see that Kasumi's clearly talking to Togepy here, not Nyoromo.

The disguised Rocket duo tells its sob story:

Japanese (original)	Japanese (translated)	English Dub
コジロウ　「あっ あの～」	Kojirou:  "Excuse me..."	James:  "Oh, pardon me, Miss."
カスミ　「何ですか？」	Kasumi:  "Yes?"	Misty:  "Can I help you?"
コジロウ　「この島には、アシレ水草があると聞いてきたんですけども」	Kojirou:  "We heard there was some Asilé waterweed on this island."	James:  "Perhaps. Would what you're carrying by any chance be something called Salveyo weed?"
カスミ　「はい」	Kasumi:  "OK..."	Misty:  "Yes..."

This is pretty small, but Kojirou's asking about the waterweed in general while James is asking about the bunch of waterweed in Misty's arms specifically.

Oh, and also Eric Stuart gives James' lady character (a New Yorker's poor attempt at) a southern accent, for some reason. In the original Kojirou speaks standard Japanese.

The ruse continues.

Japanese (original)	Japanese (translated)	English Dub
コジロウ　「実は…この子がラフレシアのしびれ粉を吸い込んでしまって」	Kojirou:  "You see...my baby here inhaled some Rafflesia stun spore."	James:  "It's just...It's just that my baby inhaled Vileplume Stun Spooo~re."
カスミ　「それは大変」	Kasumi:  "Oh how terrible!"	Misty:  "Well that's terrible."
コジロウ　「それでアシレ水草を持っていたらぜひ分けていただきたいのです」	Kojirou:  "So if you have any Asilé waterweeds I wonder if you'd be willing to share some with us."	James:  "My poor precious honey child hasn't been able to move even one little old bitty muscle for days. "
ニャース　「ううう…」	Nyarth:  "Goo goo ga ga."	Meowth:  "Goo goo...ma!"
コジロウ　「それはもう苦しそうで苦労して果物を手に入れても少しも食べてくれ ないんです。日頃もやりたい放題なのに熱にうなされたらもうわがままし放題。こっちは必死に看病してるのにあれやれこれやれこき使われて…」	Kojirou:  "She looks so pitiful and so we worked so hard to get her some fruit, but she wouldn't eat a bite. She usually gets to do whatever she wants but when she gets a fever her selfishness just flies off the charts. We're trying our best to look after her but she just keeps walking all over us."	James:  "But the worst of all is, my sweet pea can't smile. Oh, if I could only find a hunk of that Salveyo weed I'd boil it up, my precious angel could drink it down, and I could see that smile one...more...time."
ニャース　「聞くも涙、語るも涙なんだニャ～。ムサシが倒れたばっかりに…」	Nyarth:  "Just hearing you say this out loud's moving me to tears Nya~. Even though she's bedridden, Musashi is..."	Meowth:  "That's the saddest story I ever heard. We gotta do somethin' to help that baby."
カスミ　「ムサシが？…って あんたたち」	Kasumi:  "Musashi...!? Then that means you're..."	Misty:  "That baby! Sounds like Meowth!"
コジロウ　「げっ！ バレちゃしょうがないわ」	Kojirou:  "Huh! So you found us out, huh?"	James:  "Eee! Well at least I fooled you."
カスミ　「何なのよ！」	Kasumi:  "What's going on!"	Misty:  "That's 'cause you're a fool."

Kojirou's whole sob story is clearly a (very slightly) reworked retelling of how Musashi's been mistreating the two of them lately, culminating in Nyarth blurting out his teammates's real name. The English dub, meanwhile, makes up a brand new story about a baby no longer having the ability to smile, which seems kind of random and also a little bit dark for a kids' show like this...?

The Rocket duo does its motto:

Japanese (original)	Japanese (translated)	English Dub
ニャース　「銀河を駆けるロケット団の２人には」	Nyarth:  "The Rocket-Dan who holds up the galaxy are the two of us."	Meowth:  "Team Rocket blast off at the speed of light."
コジロウ　「ホワイトホール白い明日が待ってるぜ」	Kojirou: (normal voice) "A white hole - a white tomorrow is waiting."	James:  (lady voice) "Surrender your Salveyo weed, girlfriend, or prepare to fight."
ニャース　「ニャ～んてニャ」	Nyarth:  "What he said nya~"	Meowth:  "That's right."

In the Japanese version the two just do the regular version of their motto. (Also..."girlfriend"?)

The duo's defeated:

Japanese (original)	Japanese (translated)	English Dub
ニャース　「ムサシにはニャンと言い訳するニャ？」	Nyarth:  "How're we gonna explain this to Musashi?"	Meowth:  "Now how are we gonna help Jessie?"
コジロウ　「どうしよう」	Kojirou:  "What'll we do?"	James:  "Beats me."

So many of the rewrites in this particular episode seem to be centered on making the relationships among the members of the Rocket trio seem a lot less harsh (aww, Meowth wants to help Jessie!), which I do understand but is also a bit interesting considering how much meaner it tends to make just about every other character throughout the rest of the show.

Misty shares some of her Salveyo weed with Team Rocket:

Japanese (original)	Japanese (translated)	English Dub
ニャース　「ニャンて…ニャンて優しいんだニャ」	Nyarth:  "She's...she's so nice to us Nya."	Meowth:  "And after all we've done to her."
コジロウ　「あの子はほんとは気立てのいい子なんだ」	Kojirou:  "That girl really is a good natured kid."	James:  "I must admit that little redhead is as good as gold."
ニャース　「ジャリガールの爪のアカでも煎じてムサシに飲ませてやりたいぐらい だニャ」	Nyarth:  "She's so kind I just wanna take a page out of that twerp's book and make Musashi read it."	Meowth:  "Those two other twerps are pretty lucky to have such a kindhearted, caring, generous twerp like her for a friend."
コジロウ　「うんうん」	Kojirou:  "Mm-hm."	James:  "Mm-hm."

I know for a lot of these rewrites I typically go "I have no idea why 4Kids changed this" but for this exchange, at least, I actually do have a theory!

In the original, Nyarth's second line is Jari Gaaru no tsume no aka de mo senjite Musashi ni nomasete yaritai gurai da, which, if translated literally, becomes "It makes me want to make a tea out of the dirt from under that twerp girl's fingernails and make Musashi drink it." Which is pretty effing disgusting, right? But, "make tea from the dirt under one's fingernails and make someone else drink it" is actually an old Japanese idiom that's equivalent to the English language's "take a page out of (someone's) book" or "follow in someone's footsteps." The idea, I think, is that even the nasty dirt under a great person's fingernails could be of benefit to someone as mean and nasty as Musashi.

So what I think happened here is the 4Kids script writers got the literal word-for-word translation of Nyarth's fingernail line -- "It makes me want to make a tea out of the dirt from under that twerp girl's fingernails and make Musashi drink it" --  but didn't know what it actually means, and so they went "ew" and decided to just rewrite the whole thing.

Jessie's all better:

Japanese (original)	Japanese (translated)	English Dub
ムサシ　「あ～あ　元気になっちゃった」	Musashi:  "Ah~ Much better!"	Jessie:  "I'm me again."
コジロウとニャース　「ハア」	Kojirou and Nyarth:  (sighs)	James and Meowth:  (sighs)
ムサシ　「でもさ？ そのジャリガールが１人でアシレ水草を探してたってことは、ジャリボーイたちは寝込んでんじゃないの？」	Musashi:  "But y'know, if that twerp girl was out there searching for the Asilé waterweed by herself that means the twerp boys were probably also out of commission."	Jessie:  "That whiny wimp must've been looking for Salveyo weed by herself because the other two twerps are sick, so this is the perfect time to attack them."
コジロウとニャース　「あっ」	Kojirou and Nyarth:  "Huh?"	James & Meowth:  "Huh?"
ムサシ　「どうしてそういうところを襲わないのよ？だから あんたたちはダメなの！ピカチュウを頂く絶好のチャンスじゃない！」	Musashi:  "So then why didn't you go after them? That's why you two are such failures! You had the perfect opportunity to get Pikachu and you blew it!"	Jessie:  "Both of you have already wasted valuable time. But if we move fast maybe we can triple team the girl and capture Pikachu."
コジロウ　「あっ で… でも…」	Kojirou:  "Ah...but...um..."	James:  "But...Jessie..."
ムサシ　「あ～あ ずっと寝てたから体動かしたくて しかたないわ。フッ！ 早速行くわよ」	Musashi:  "Ah well~ I've been in bed so long I'm itching to go out there and get some exercise anyway. Come on, let's go."	Jessie:  "I can see that you two are...totally lost without me. Come on, let's go."
コジロウ　「水草まで分けてもらってすぐに襲いに行くなんて気が引けるよ」	Kojirou:  "I don't feel great about going after the ones who shared their waterweed with us."	James:  "I can't believe she wants to attack one of the kids responsible for helping her get well."
ニャース　「そうなんだニャ～。お礼を言わなきゃいけない立場なんだニャ」	Nyarth:  "I know what you mean Nya. We should be thanking her, not attacking her Nya."	Meowth:  "That's Jessie, keepin' up the old Team Rocket tradition."

This is one of those instances where the overall message is generally the same despite the individual lines themselves being fairly different.

Jessie attacks our heroes:

Japanese (original)	Japanese (translated)	English Dub
ムサシ　「いけー！それ！やれっ！アーボック！まきつく攻撃」	Musashi:  "Come on! Hey! Do it! Arbok! Use your Wrap attack!"	Jessie:  "Come on, Arbok! What's the matter with you? We have to beat those kids!"
コジロウ　「さすがにいけないよな」	Kojirou:  "Yep, this doesn't feel right."	James:  "Want to crawl under this rock?"
ニャース　「ニャ～」	Nyarth:  "Nya~"	Meowth:  "Yeah."
ムサシ　「なんであんたたちは攻撃に加わらないのよ！」	Musashi:  "Hey! Why aren't you two helping!"	Jessie:  "Why aren't you two helping me out here? Grrr..."
ニャース　「気が進まないニャ」	Nyarth:  "We're just not in the mood."	Meowth:  "We don't wanna cramp your style."
コジロウ　「ふんふん」	Kojirou:  "Mm-hm, right."	James:  "Mm-hm."

Jessie neglecting to command her Pokémon to use "Wrap" in the English dub is probably what most people will see as the biggest difference here, but James' and Meowth's completely rewritten dialogue deserve a mention as well!

The battle continues:

Japanese (original)	Japanese (translated)	English Dub
サトシ　「ピカチュウ！でんげきだ！」	Satoshi:  "Pikachu! Hit it with your electricity!"	Ash:  "Pikachu, Thundershock!"

The attack that got localized as "Thundershock" is known as denki shokku (でんきショック) in Japanese, but as you can see in the transcript above that's not what's being called out here.

Ash uses "Thundershock":

Japanese (original)	Japanese (translated)	English Dub
ムサシ　「ジャリボーイたちはすっかり元気になってるじゃないの！」	Musashi:  "These twerps don't seem sick to me!"	Jessie:  (screaming)
(as they fly through the air)
ムサシ　 「１人イヤな感じ…」	Musashi:  "This feels bad~ Solo version."	Jessie:  (screaming)
(after landing)
ムサシ　 「せっかくしびれが治ったと思ったのに…」	Musashi:  "...And now I'm back to being paralyzed."	Jessie:  "Wonder if that weed'll cure a Thundershock."

A lot of Musashi's dialogue here -- which is actually pretty funny! -- gets replaced with Jessie screaming in pain.

Speaking of the question of whether or not the waterweed will work on Jessie a second time:

Japanese (original)	Japanese (translated)	English Dub
コジロウ　「まったく！ せっかく治してやったのに。今度はアシレ水草でも治らないぞ」	Kojirou:  "You've gotta be kidding me! After going to all that trouble to cure you. Asilé waterweed isn't going to work on you this time, y'know!"	James:  "I think what you really need, Jessie, is something that'll cure a terminal case of ingratitude."
ニャース　「どうも！お騒がせしましたニャーッ！」	Nyarth:  "Thank you! Sorry for all the trouble Nya~!"	Meowth:  "Thanks again! Uh I mean, we're blastin' off again!"

So originally Kojirou claims the waterweed won't work on Musashi, and so if we think about how Asilé waterweed can cure paralysis caused by breathing in Stun Spore but not paralysis caused by electricity, then I guess that would mean the broth made by boiling the waterweed is something that only works on someone's lungs...? I guess that's what Kojirou's inferring here? Whatever the case is, the English dub completely changes Kojirou's dialogue here, preventing dub viewers from being able to make any of those same inferences.

Ash and Tracey meet the newest member of the team:

Japanese (original)	Japanese (translated)	English Dub
ケンジ　「これもすべてカスミのおかげだよ」	Kenji:  "It's all thanks to you, Kasumi."	Tracey:  "That Salveyo weed tea really did the trick."
サトシ　「カスミ、どうもありがとう」	Satoshi:  "Thank you, Kasumi."	Ash:  "And we owe it all to you, Misty."
カスミ　「ううん。ニョロモのおかげよね」	Kasumi:  "Mm-mm. The one you should really be thanking is Nyoromo here."	Misty:  "Mm-mm. We owe it all to Poliwag."
サトシ　「ああ、そうそう。そのニョロモは？」	Satoshi:  "Oh yeah, I've been meaning to ask you. What's with the Nyoromo?"	Ash:  "I guess it was...a team effort."
カスミ　「なんか懐かれちゃって」	Kasumi:  "Oh, it just kind of started following me around."	Misty:  "It sure was, wasn't it?"
ニョロモ　「ニョロ ニョロ」	Nyoromo:  "Nyoro Nyoro."	Poliwag:  "Poli Poli!"
ケンジ　「ニョロモ ゲットだな」	Kenji:  "So you basically got yourself a Nyoromo, huh?"	Tracey:  "And you two make a great team."
カスミ　「うん。ニョロモ ゲットよ」	Kasumi:  "Yup. I got a Nyoromo."	Misty:  "Yeah. And great friends too."
ニョロモ　「ニョロ～」	Nyoromo:  "Nyoro~"	Poliwag:  "Poli! Poli! Poli!"

The Japanese version uses this exchange to tell us that the Nyoromo that's been following Kasumi around this whole episode is now officially one of her Pokémon, even though we never actually see her throw a Monster Ball at it on-screen. The English dub removes all this and just has everyone make some generic comments about teamwork instead.

The ending narration:

Japanese (original)	Japanese (translated)	English Dub
ナレーション　「ラフレシアのしびれ粉を吸ってしまったサトシたちだったがカス ミの頑張りとニョロモの協力によって元気を取り戻すことができた」	Narrator:  "Satoshi and Kenji were incapacitated after inhaling Rafflesia's stun spore, but thanks to Kasumi's efforts and Nyoromo's cooperation they were able to nurse them back to health."	Narrator:  "By defending Poliwag from Team Rocket Misty has won a new friend, and a new Pokémon. And her dedication to helping Ash and Tracey has earned their gratitude."

The English dub had to tell its viewers that Poliwag is now Misty's Pokémon somehow, and since they rewrote all the dialogue that would have told us this earlier (for...reasons) I guess they decided to have their narrator be the one to tell us instead.

Ash gets screamed at:

Japanese (original)	Japanese (translated)	English Dub
サトシ　「でもカスミ。いつになく今日は優しかったじゃないか」	Satoshi:  "But Kasumi, you were unusually nice today."	Ash:  "Thanks, Misty. Thanks for helping me and being super nice when I was sick."
カスミ　「いつもでしょ！」	Kasumi:  "What do you mean 'unusually'!?"	Misty:  "Don't get used to it!"
トゲピー　「チョッゲ チョッゲ プリィ～」	Togepy:  "Chogge Chogge Purii~!"	Togepi:  "Chogge Chogge Purii~!"

Unlike in the dub, Kasumi actually does have a reason to suddenly snap at her friend in the original.

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This page was last updated on April 21st, 2025