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| Episode Comparisons | Orange Islands
Episode
Stats:
Japanese Episode 112: "The Final Battle! Enter Kairyu!"
American Episode 307: "Enter the Dragonite"
Pokémon Dare Da? Fushigibana (Japanese), Tentacruel (English)
Dr. Ookido's Pokémon Course: Nyarth
Japanese Air Date: September 9th, 1999
American Air Date: September 23rd, 2000
Thoughts
The best battle of the Generation One portion of the Pocket Monsters animated series continues with another fantastic episode delivered to us by writer Atsuhiro Tomioka. This is actually the first time Mr. Tomioka's taken over writing both Part One and Part Two of a major battle like this, and as I'm sure we all know by now it won't be his last. Were the show's producers so impressed with the work he did on this two parter here that they were like OK, let's make sure we give him every major battle from here on out? That when it comes to Satoshi vs. Shigeru at the Johto League, or Haruka's first Grand Festival in Advanced Generation, or Satoshi vs. Shinji in the Sinnoh League, that Mr. Tomioka's the one you want to have on speed dial? I don't know the answer to this, but maybe!
While this is a fantastic episode, I do have to admit I don't really love how weak the first half of it is compared to the second. Mr. Tomioka very obviously put all his time and energy into the Kairyu portion of the episode and so when it then came time to work on all the battles at the front half of the episode he just kind of...well, I don't want to say he phoned it in, per se, but you can tell he was definitely saving himself up for the main event. Fushigibana vs. Kentauros is...fine, I guess. Eleboo vs. Fushigidane is a bit of a waste of time. And Eleboo vs. Lizardon gives Lizardon a win but accomplishes little else. None of these are bad, and I'll take comparatively weak Tomioka battle over many of the other writers who've worked on this show any day of the week. I just wish the first half of the episode had had just a little more TLC put into it.
One of the comments people always make about this episode is how they think Yuuji's cheating because his Kairyu knows more than four moves. Y'know, "Drake and his Game Shark Dragonite" and all that. But you know what, I actually like that the show did this. The video games only ever kept Pokémon restricted to four attacks in the first place because of the limitations of the original Game Boy hardware, right? But, those same limitations do not exist in animation, and so I've always questioned why the TV series has been so insistent on being faithful to one of the most video game-y parts of the source material. Being restricted to using the same four moves over and over again makes battles sooooo much less interesting, and so seeing Atsuhiro Tomioka being able to let loose and have Kairyu do whatever the hell it wants allows him to create a battle where you can't possibly know what's going to happen next. This is actually pretty huge for a TV show where battles and their outcomes are one of its main features!
When it comes to the English dub, I want to bring up quotes from two writers -- one from the Japanese version, and one from the English dub -- to demonstrate just how different the attitudes were toward the video games that started this whole thing. First up is Atsuhiro Tomioka, the writer I just spent the last three paragraphs going on and on about. In the book Memorial Book of the Orange Islands Mr. Tomioka gives this comment about his work on this two parter:
Here, Mr. Tomioka reveals that not only had he picked up the video games before even getting to this batch of episodes, but that he also played the games again before tackling this very important two-parter. It's an impressive amount of dedication that shows he truly cares about staying true to the video games that helped birth the TV show currently signing his paychecks.
The second screenwriter comment is from Michael Haigney, voice director and screenplay writer for the English dub put out by 4Kids. Now I don't know if Mr. Haigney actually wrote this particular episode or not (the credits never specify which of the show's writers work on any given episode), but I think it's still worth sharing since I think it does a lot to show the company's attitude toward the Pokémon video games. This is from the October 1st, 2022 episode of his "Original Pokéman" podcast, "Ep. 7 The Water Flowers of Cerulean City," in a segment where Mr. Haigney's reading a letter sent in to him from one of his listeners:
I bring up these two quotes side by side here because a large portion of the rewrites in this episode, in particular, appear to be due very much to these two very different approaches toward writing the show.
Yuuji's Eleboo does not keep its Japanese voice despite other Pokémon in the species being allowed to keep theirs in previous episodes.
Dialogue Edit
The last episode recap:
I guess the English dub narrator is getting paid by the word here or something because look how much longer his speech is in the 4Kids version compared to the Japanese original!
Anyway, this episode and the one before it show how, at 4Kids, the left hand doesn't seem to know what the right hand is doing. Last time Drake was a "Gym Leader," but this week he's consistently referred to as a "Champion," all of a sudden...?
Both Pokémon are declared unable to battle:
While Yuuji is indeed undefeated up until this point, we have no idea if anyone's ever been able to knock out half his team like this before. It's entirely plausible to think that other challengers have also done as well as Satoshi has up to this point, only to have their team completely crushed by Kairyu in the end, you know? But, we don't know one way or the other. In the Japanese version, at least, this is still up in the air.
What's not in the air is that the dub still referring to Drake as a "champion," which is just objectively wrong.
The field changes:
The English dub makes it sound like Drake's strategy is basically "well, it doesn't matter what happens to the rest of my team because I have my cheat code...er, Dragonite here with me," making him sound a lot more cocky than his Japanese counterpart does.
The Rocket trio, who have apparently gotten tickets to actually enter the stadium since the last time we saw them, comment on the action:
I guess 4Kids couldn't let these shots of Meowth filing his nails go on without someone commenting on it and so they add in the Meowth-a-cure "joke" for that purpose?
Also, throughout this whole exchange there's this thing where Jessie and James keep insulting Ash when in the original the duo's actually giving him nothing but compliments.
Also also, the Boss is not mentioned even once in the Japanese version of this episode.
Round Four begins:
"Champion" nonsense aside for a moment, the Japanese version also points out how the second half's starting out as a three-on-five battle, something the dub doesn't really do.
Drake sends out Venusaur:
Like with Gangar before it, Satoshi knows Yuuji's opponent is part Poison-Type and so he decides to go with Kentauros and its Ground-Type attack. Ash Ketchum, meanwhile, contemplates just full on cheating by calling on Lapras, a Pokémon who was just eliminated from the competition in the previous round. I guess hanging around the Rocket trio all this time really has rubbed off on the kid!
The 4Kids dub also loves to just make up stuff out of literally nothing at all, such as the claim that Yuuji's Grass-Type has "won many a battle here in the past." We have no idea what its battle record is in the Japanese version.
After Venusaur's defeated, Drake calls on Electabuzz:
So we're pretty sure the 4Kids writers just don't understand the concept of recoil damage, right? And so they changed Kenji's line to something they actually know?
Ash chooses who to go up against Electabuzz:
The reason the challenger has for choosing his Grass-Type starter is completely different depending on which version you're watching.
Electabuzz uses Thundershock on Bulbasaur:
Another day, another video game phrase ("it's not very effective") completely missed by the English dub.
Electabuzz Thunder Punches Bulbasaur right in the face:
The announcer's explanation of how Bulbasaur lost is similar-ish enough to the original, I guess, but the sentence "Electabuzz short-circuits the Bulb" is just too cringey to not bring up.
Electabuzz vs. Charizard:
The English dub "punches up" the announcer's dialogue a lot like this to make him more "fun," I guess, while the Japanese original has him being a lot more straightforward.
Also, Yuuji's still not a champion.
The barrage continues:
"I hope he likes his Charizard extra-crispy! Because after Electabuzz finishes electrocuting this Pokémon to death we're all going to descend on its charred remains and then force feed it to its Trainer. I'm sure Ketchum's tears'll make the meat of his fallen partner taste that much better!"
Ash fights back:
Hono'o no Uzu ("Fire Spin") and Hinoko ("Ember") don't sound anything alike and so I have no idea how this mix up occurred.
Drake's impressed:
There's a difference in the nuance here, but also, the dub adds in an echo effect to Drake's voice to make it sound like he's thinking this line of dialogue while in the original he's just speaking normally.
Charizard wins the match:
I'm not sure what offensive and defensive skills 4Kids is talking about here; the challenger's Pokémon won using speed (it grabbed Eleboo before it could fire off its Thunderbolt attack) and finishing move (Seismic Toss), just like what the Japanese announcer's reporting.
Drake calls on his final Pokémon:
Drake's "last hope" line here is reminiscent of the change from earlier in the episode where Drake's acting like he's putting all his eggs in the Kairyu basket. That same vibe's not in the Japanese version at all.
Eyecatch
We're back to the English dub showcasing the star Pokémon of the upcoming episode instead of the one we're currently watching:
The Japanese version won't use Fushigibana as the eyecatch Pokémon again until late Johto, but the dub will replace that one as well. In fact, English dub viewers won't actually get to see Venusaur in one of these eyecatch things until the Pokémon XY&Z series, over a decade and a half later!
Dialogue Edit
Drake chooses Dragonite:
The English dub refers to Dragonite as "legendary," lowercase "L." Now, both the Japanese and English versions of the last episode actually did keep in a line where Kairyu is referred to as a "Legendary Pokémon" (hey, it was the 90s!) and so there is a precedent for this kind of thing, but in this episode at least that description isn't being used in the original.
Anyway, the English dub completely rewrote the line from the Japanese original.
Dragonite uses Water Gun:
The phrase "it's super effective!" continues to be left out of the English dub script.
Charizard takes to the skies:
Kenji and Kasumi think back to the beginning of the previous episode -- where Kairyu's flying along the surface of the water before abruptly shooting skyward at a 90 degree angle -- and observe that the Pokémon's movements here are the same. The dub removes this observation.
The announcer also mentions how speedy Satoshi's Lizardon is, something else the English dub opts not to emphasize.
Charizard's speed doesn't seem to be enough, though:
Actually, English dub announcer guy, Charizard's falling after being grazed by Dragonite's Ice Beam, which you would have known if you had simply watched the scene immediately before this one!
The two dragons launch one final attack:
So Drake's line is technically saying the same thing as Yuuji is, just in a bit more of a roundabout way. But what stands out to me more about this exchange here is how this is actually the first time Charizard's been ordered to use the attack Dragon Rage in the English dub! If you remember the episode where it first learned the attack 4Kids mistranslated "Dragon Rage" as "Rage," and so if you're having to rely solely on what the 4Kids dub tells us (which, in the early 2000s, was the overwhelming majority of us) then you couldn't really be blamed for thinking Charizard is only just now learning "Dragon Rage," right?
None of this confusion exists in the original because the attack's been consistently referred to as "Dragon Rage" this whole time.
The Rocket trio react to Charizard's loss:
Both Musashi and Nyarth realize that Kairyu, while not at full power, is still way too strong for them to take on and so they tell Kojirou to wait it out just a bit longer. Jessie and Meowth, meanwhile, are just really engrossed in the action.
Ash recalls his Charizard:
The English dub dialogue can be interpreted to mean that Ash knew Charizard wasn't going to win, but that it's OK because its job was just to inflict damage on Dragonite, not actually defeat it. This same implication's not in the original.
Dragonite uses Thunderbolt on Squirtle:
I'm sorry, this could be what for Squirtle?
Anyway, the English dub's allergy to use the term "it's super effective" is still in full effect, apparently.
Squirtle's final attack:
Ash goes into one of the biggest battles of his career thus far, and then decides to command his Pokémon to use is one of the weakest Water-Type attacks in existence? Um...sure, OK!
The battle's over:
The ban on video game terms continues! This time it's the phrase "critical hit!" that gets excised.
The Rocket trio makes its move:
Putting aside the fact that James' line is a complete rewrite for a moment...literally nobody in the stadium can be seen eating anything, nachos or otherwise!
Team Rocket attacks:
Musashi's habit of using the first line of her motto to mock the person who just shouted out a question gets removed from the dub, once again.
I think this also may be one of the first times in the series when Kojirou and Nyarth perform the (finalized version of their) pre-motto laugh? In the Japanese version the Rocket trio has very specific laugh they do whenever they appear on the scene -- "Waah ha ha ha~" -- and while some proto versions of that have appeared in earlier episodes the one we hear in this episode is the one they'll continue to use throughout their remaining 20+ years on the show.
Music Edit
So this episode, like many others in the Orange Islands part of this series, keeps the overwhelming majority of the Japanese music cues intact. There are a few replacement tracks, sure, and as always 4Kids fills in any moments without any BGM with their own "music." But otherwise it's fairly OK-ish, soundtrack wise.
But, just because they keep the music tracks doesn't mean 4Kids isn't still up to some shenanigans. The most obvious example of this is during the Rocket trio's motto. In the original, the regular motto music plays as the trio begins its motto, as expected. But then when Satoshi cuts in and interrupts them the music abruptly screeches to a halt.
The duo resumes its motto, and the motto music picks up again where it left off. The music continues to play the whole time as the duo starts to say their names, but when Kojirou gets to his part Yuuji appears on-screen to interrupt them a second time. This interruption, like the one before it, brings the Rocket motto music to a halt.
In the English dub, however, 4Kids has the music continue to play through Ash's interruption (I guess that 0.5 seconds of silence was too much for them?), but then also abruptly cuts it off during James' "To extend our reach to the stars above" line in favor of a piece of 4Kids dub music. And it's not a smooth transition either; it's an abrupt, messy piece of music editing.
There are other spots in the episode where the music editing gets a bit wonky as well. A piece of music from Mewtwo Strikes Back! plays during the scene right before the commercial break where Yuuji's about to summon his Kairyu, just like in the Japanese version, but for some reason the English dub removes the first few notes of the song. They do the same thing with the Rocket trio motto as well; the first few notes get removed from the English dub of this episode, for some reason. The start and stop points of certain tracks get shifted around as well, with the Kairyu theme that plays after the motto, the music during the Kentauros vs. Kairyu battle, and both the songs that play during the Pikachu vs. Kairyu battle being great examples.
There are spreadsheets and other documents online that keep track of how much Japanese music was retained in the English dub, and while those are all great resources they're still only telling one side of the story. For the purposes of those documents they might say something like "The English dub kept the Team Rocket motto them. One point for them!" but the way the scenes play out in both the Japanese original and the English dub are still quite different.
Dialogue Edit
The Rocket trio reveals its plan to Ash:
In the original Nyarth explains their plan to Satoshi, who at this point in the episode wouldn't have any reason to know what in the world they're talking about. In the English dub, meanwhile, Meowth invites Ash to join the mafia.
Drake gets rid of the trio:
Attack commands are like the most simple thing in the world to translate, a slam dunk for the localizers, and yet 4Kids still feels the need to change them.
The Rocket trio's sent blasting off:
This rewrite's...whatever, but also since when does James care about food so much? When has that ever been a part of his personality in any of the over 100 episodes that have come before this one? Ash has "always thinking about food" as part of his personality, sure, but James from Team Rocket!?
Tauros rejoins the battle:
"Agility" gets added to the list of attacks removed from the English dub of this episode.
Ash orders a counterattack:
Ash orders his Pokémon to "just stand there" (LOL), which is somehow a clear enough of an order to get his Wild Bull Pokémon to brace itself for impact. The Japanese version is a bit more direct.
Dragonite uses Hyper Beam on Pikachu:
While the dialogue in the Japanese version doesn't match up exactly with what you see in the Red & Green video games whenever your opponent uses Hyper Beam (こうげきの はんどうで てきの カイリューは うごけない！) the idea that Kairyu must recharge after using the attack is still very much present in Tomioka's script. The English dub, meanwhile, removes this dialogue entirely.
Ash wins the match:
Yuuji's still not a champion, but also, the Japanese version doesn't bring up the trophy here the way the dub does.
Drake congratulates Ash:
Ash's last line here is so baffling to me. "Me too?" Me too what?
The closing narration:
So the "Honorary Trainer" title is just never going to be brought up in the English dub, huh? In the original Satoshi won a trophy, a place in the hall of fame, and the title of "Orange League Honorary Trainer," but in the English dub he apparently only wins those first two? And doesn't get the title?
The final line of the episode:
Satoshi's former traveling companion's not brought up in the Japanese version at all.
Cut (???) 5 seconds
I'm not sure how to classify this edit, or even how to explain it, but I'll try anyway. To start with, let's take a quick look at where we end up in both versions. Japanese version's on the left, English is on the right.
So here's how the ending plays out in the Japanese original:
And now let's take a look at that same sequence in the English dub:
Overall, the English version of this scene is about five seconds shorter than the Japanese version.
This is such an odd, perplexing edit. I mean, it's a unique way of shaving five seconds off the episode's runtime, I guess -- this is around the time Kids' WB! started requiring more and more ad space from each of their shows, after all -- but it's still really, really bizarre.
This page was last updated on June 19th, 2025
Japanese Episode 112: "The Final Battle! Enter Kairyu!"
American Episode 307: "Enter the Dragonite"
Pokémon Dare Da? Fushigibana (Japanese), Tentacruel (English)
Dr. Ookido's Pokémon Course: Nyarth
Japanese Air Date: September 9th, 1999
American Air Date: September 23rd, 2000
The smoke
clears in Kankitsu Stadium to reveal that both Yuuji's Gangar and
Satoshi's Laplace have suffered a double knock out! After a quick break
the full battle resumes in Round Four, with Yuuji's Fushigibana vs.
Satoshi's Kentauros. The unique battlefield dampens the effectiveness
of Kentauros' attacks but it’s eventually able to KO Yuuji’s
Pokémon with a powerful Take Down attack. In Round Five, Yuuji's
Eleboo makes quick work of Satoshi's Fushigidane so the challenger
sends
out his Lizardon, who goes on to defeat it with a well-timed Seismic
Toss. Yuuji's down to his final Pokémon and so he sends out his
Kairyu. The ensuing battle between Yuuji’s Kairyu and Satoshi’s
Lizardon eventually ends when the two Pokémon use Dragon Rage on
each other, knocking Lizardon out while also significantly weakening
Kairyu. Satoshi sends out his Zenigame next, and while the Water-Type
is able to get a few hits in it too is eventually beaten by Yuuji's
Pokémon. The same is true of Kentauros, who eventually succumbs
to Kairyu’s Thunder attack. Satoshi’s down to his last Pokémon
and so he bets it all on Pikachu. The Electric-Type uses its tail like
a spring to leap out of the way of Kairyu's Hyper Beam and grab onto
Kairyu's head to deliver a powerful Thunder attack at point-blank
range. Yuuji's Pokémon finally goes down, winning the battle for
the young challenger! During the post-match ceremony, Satoshi is
awarded the Winners Cup trophy and a spot in the Orange Islands Hall of
Fame.
Thoughts
The best battle of the Generation One portion of the Pocket Monsters animated series continues with another fantastic episode delivered to us by writer Atsuhiro Tomioka. This is actually the first time Mr. Tomioka's taken over writing both Part One and Part Two of a major battle like this, and as I'm sure we all know by now it won't be his last. Were the show's producers so impressed with the work he did on this two parter here that they were like OK, let's make sure we give him every major battle from here on out? That when it comes to Satoshi vs. Shigeru at the Johto League, or Haruka's first Grand Festival in Advanced Generation, or Satoshi vs. Shinji in the Sinnoh League, that Mr. Tomioka's the one you want to have on speed dial? I don't know the answer to this, but maybe!
While this is a fantastic episode, I do have to admit I don't really love how weak the first half of it is compared to the second. Mr. Tomioka very obviously put all his time and energy into the Kairyu portion of the episode and so when it then came time to work on all the battles at the front half of the episode he just kind of...well, I don't want to say he phoned it in, per se, but you can tell he was definitely saving himself up for the main event. Fushigibana vs. Kentauros is...fine, I guess. Eleboo vs. Fushigidane is a bit of a waste of time. And Eleboo vs. Lizardon gives Lizardon a win but accomplishes little else. None of these are bad, and I'll take comparatively weak Tomioka battle over many of the other writers who've worked on this show any day of the week. I just wish the first half of the episode had had just a little more TLC put into it.
One of the comments people always make about this episode is how they think Yuuji's cheating because his Kairyu knows more than four moves. Y'know, "Drake and his Game Shark Dragonite" and all that. But you know what, I actually like that the show did this. The video games only ever kept Pokémon restricted to four attacks in the first place because of the limitations of the original Game Boy hardware, right? But, those same limitations do not exist in animation, and so I've always questioned why the TV series has been so insistent on being faithful to one of the most video game-y parts of the source material. Being restricted to using the same four moves over and over again makes battles sooooo much less interesting, and so seeing Atsuhiro Tomioka being able to let loose and have Kairyu do whatever the hell it wants allows him to create a battle where you can't possibly know what's going to happen next. This is actually pretty huge for a TV show where battles and their outcomes are one of its main features!
When it comes to the English dub, I want to bring up quotes from two writers -- one from the Japanese version, and one from the English dub -- to demonstrate just how different the attitudes were toward the video games that started this whole thing. First up is Atsuhiro Tomioka, the writer I just spent the last three paragraphs going on and on about. In the book Memorial Book of the Orange Islands Mr. Tomioka gives this comment about his work on this two parter:
| In order to write this two
parter I restarted the video games for the first time in a while. My
favorite part of Part One is Zenigame vs. Iwark. Come forth, you
engrossing ultimate Pokémon battle you! こ の前後編を書くために、ひさしぶりにゲームをやり直しました。前編 のお気に入りはゼニガメ対イワーク。とことんこだわった究極のポケモンバトルによってく れ |
Here, Mr. Tomioka reveals that not only had he picked up the video games before even getting to this batch of episodes, but that he also played the games again before tackling this very important two-parter. It's an impressive amount of dedication that shows he truly cares about staying true to the video games that helped birth the TV show currently signing his paychecks.
The second screenwriter comment is from Michael Haigney, voice director and screenplay writer for the English dub put out by 4Kids. Now I don't know if Mr. Haigney actually wrote this particular episode or not (the credits never specify which of the show's writers work on any given episode), but I think it's still worth sharing since I think it does a lot to show the company's attitude toward the Pokémon video games. This is from the October 1st, 2022 episode of his "Original Pokéman" podcast, "Ep. 7 The Water Flowers of Cerulean City," in a segment where Mr. Haigney's reading a letter sent in to him from one of his listeners:
| "I'm
genuinely surprised you all" -- and I guess he means all of us who
worked on the show as voice actors -- "were never introduced to the
gameplay, or at least the mechanics/storyline of it. Do you think if
you had been, it would have helped with the show/made more sense? Or do
you feel it would have made it feel more difficult?" Y'know, I've thought about this a little bit since I've been doing this podcast and I always felt my job was to Americanize, or English-ize -- if that's a word, which I doubt it is -- the series. Try to match the flaps, convey what the characters'...character was, what their personalities were, and to punch up the gags, as Bob Hope might say. 'Cause there was a lot of Japanese humor in the show that relied on puns and plays on words. But also I just wanted to kind of juice up the dialogue. And it may have just been lost in translation, I'm not blaming the Japanese in any way. Would it have helped to know a lot more about the game, or anything about the game? Maybe. I mean, there were probably some episodes in which I may have misinterpreted or just goofed up on dialogue, that violated the game. But I'm not so sure there were so many that weren't in the original animation, in the original script from the Japanese creators. I felt that any information (that) was important for the series, and the game, was in the series, and I didn't presume to get to the point where I could know as much, or more, than the creators of the series. So, I think just as a practical matter...I'm fine with the way it worked, not knowing anything about the game. Maybe some fans are not happy about my feeling on that, but...that's how I feel. |
I bring up these two quotes side by side here because a large portion of the rewrites in this episode, in particular, appear to be due very much to these two very different approaches toward writing the show.
Yuuji's Eleboo does not keep its Japanese voice despite other Pokémon in the species being allowed to keep theirs in previous episodes.
Dialogue Edit
The last episode recap:
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| ナレーション 「オレンジリーグ
ウィナーズカップ。カンキツスタジアムで名誉トレーナーの称号と殿堂入りをかけたバトルに挑んだサトシ。カイリュー使いのヘッドリーダーユウジが繰り出す
強敵相手に６VSたい６のフルバトルが開始された。」 |
Narrator: "The Orange League
Winners Cup. Satoshi faces off in a battle where the title of Honorary
Trainer and induction into the Hall of Fame are on the line. He's
currently going up
against Yuuji, a Kairyu user, and his team of super strong
Pokémon in
a six-on-six Full Battle." |
Narrator: "Last time, our hero
Ash finally arrived at Pummelo Stadium to challenge the reigning Orange
League champion and battle for the coveted Winner's Trophy. Though
Drake, the undefeated Orange League Trainer, proved to be a powerful
opponent, Ash managed to win the first two battles in the six-on-six
match. But when Gengar launched a Night Shade attack, and Lapras
quickly countered with an Ice Beam, the results were explosive. Now the
anxious spectators are waiting to discover which Pokémon has
triumphed." |
I guess the English dub narrator is getting paid by the word here or something because look how much longer his speech is in the 4Kids version compared to the Japanese original!
Anyway, this episode and the one before it show how, at 4Kids, the left hand doesn't seem to know what the right hand is doing. Last time Drake was a "Gym Leader," but this week he's consistently referred to as a "Champion," all of a sudden...?
Both Pokémon are declared unable to battle:
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| アナウンサー 「久々に 強力な挑戦者の登場です。サトシ選手
ユウジのポケモンを３体連続ノックアウト」 |
Announcer: "It's been a while
since we've seen such a strong challenger. Challenger Satoshi has
knocked out three of Yuuji's Pokémon in a row." |
Announcer: "Well, Ash may not
have won that round but this is the first time a challenger has knocked
out three of the champion's Pokémon in a row." |
While Yuuji is indeed undefeated up until this point, we have no idea if anyone's ever been able to knock out half his team like this before. It's entirely plausible to think that other challengers have also done as well as Satoshi has up to this point, only to have their team completely crushed by Kairyu in the end, you know? But, we don't know one way or the other. In the Japanese version, at least, this is still up in the air.
What's not in the air is that the dub still referring to Drake as a "champion," which is just objectively wrong.
The field changes:
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| 審判 「ここでフィールドチェンジです」 |
Referee: "The field will be
changing now." |
Referee: "There'll be a time
out for the field change." |
| アナウンサー 「フィールドチェンジが見られるのも実に久しぶりです。３体の戦
闘不能が出た時点でフィールドを変更。トレーナーも新たな戦略を要求されます。」 |
Announcer: "It really has been
a while since we've gotten to see a field change. When three
Pokémon are declared unable to battle the battlefield is swapped
out with a new one. This will also require the Trainers to update their
strategies." |
Announcer: "In the Winner's
Trophy competition whenever three of either Trainer's Pokémon
are defeated the field is changed. And now, both these Trainers will
have to adapt and come up with brand new battle strategies." |
| ユウジ 「お前の出番が くるかもしれないな…カイリュー」 |
Yuuji: "You might get to make
an appearance after all...Kairyu." |
Drake: "You're the only
strategy I'll need to win." |
The English dub makes it sound like Drake's strategy is basically "well, it doesn't matter what happens to the rest of my team because I have my cheat code...er, Dragonite here with me," making him sound a lot more cocky than his Japanese counterpart does.
The Rocket trio, who have apparently gotten tickets to actually enter the stadium since the last time we saw them, comment on the action:
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| コジロウ 「やるなあ ジャリンコのやつ」 |
Kojirou: "The twerp's doing
pretty well for himself." |
James: "The twerp's doing
pretty well for himself." |
| ムサシ 「こんぐらい当然よ」 |
Musashi: "Yeah, well. That's
to be expected." |
Jessie: "He's not so great." |
| コジロウ 「そりゃ そっか。オレたちだって勝てないんだし」 |
Kojirou: "I guess. After all, we've never been able to beat him." |
James: "Well, if he's not so great then how come we never manage to beat him?" |
| ムサシ 「それを言うかな それを！私たちだって頑張ってんでしょ！そういうこと言っちゃダメでしょ！“はい”は？」 | Musashi: "Don't say things
like that! We're out here doing our best aren't we! I
don't wanna
hear you talking like that anymore! Tell me you understand." |
Jessie: "I've had enough of
you two! You insult us while Meowth sits there giving himself a
manicure!" |
| ニャース 「ニャハハッ。そのうち絶対カイリューも出てくるはずなのニャ」 |
Nyarth: "Nya ha ha! The way
things're going Kairyu will definitely get a chance to battle Nya." |
Meowth: "Ha ha ha ha! For
James, it'd be a manicure but for me, it's a Meowth-a-cure." |
| コジロウ 「でもさ、あのカイリューにジャリンコ勝てるのかな？」 | Kojirou: "But do you think
that
twerp can actually beat it?" |
James: "Well, great or not,
that kid will never beat Dragonite. Ooh-hoo-hoo~" |
| ニャース 「ベつに勝たなくてもいいのニャ。カイリューにダメージを与えてくれ ればオーケーニャン」 | Nyarth: "Doesn't really matter
if he beats it or Ny-ot. Our plan'll still work as long as he's able to
get in a few good hits Nya." |
Meowth: "Luckily, we don't
need him to beat Dragonite.
We just need him to battle it for a while and tire it out for us." |
| コジロウ 「おお そっか。カイリューがヘロヘロになったところで横取りするんだった」 | Kojirou: "Oh, that's right!
Once Kairyu's all exhausted we can just swoop in and take it!" |
James: "Yeah, and then while
its defenses are down we can capture it and bring it back to the Boss." |
| ニャース 「最後に勝つのは ニャーたちニャ」 | Nyarth: "And, that'll make us the real winners." |
Meowth: "And, that'll make us the real winners." |
I guess 4Kids couldn't let these shots of Meowth filing his nails go on without someone commenting on it and so they add in the Meowth-a-cure "joke" for that purpose?
Also, throughout this whole exchange there's this thing where Jessie and James keep insulting Ash when in the original the duo's actually giving him nothing but compliments.
Also also, the Boss is not mentioned even once in the Japanese version of this episode.
Round Four begins:
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| アナウンサー 「さあ、試合再開！ユウジの手持ちのポケモンはあと３体。まだ５
体を残すサトシ選手と後半戦 どう戦うのでしょう？」 |
Announcer: "And that means the
match has restarted! Yuuji has three Pokémon left. How will he
fight in the second half against Challenger Satoshi's five remaining
Pokémon?" |
Announcer: "There's the bell
to start the second half of this full six-on-six Winner's Trophy
battle. Drake, the undefeated Orange League Champion has just three
Pokémon left." |
| ユウジ 「さあ いけ！」 |
Yuuji: "Here we go!" |
Drake: "I choose you,
Venusaur!" |
"Champion" nonsense aside for a moment, the Japanese version also points out how the second half's starting out as a three-on-five battle, something the dub doesn't really do.
Drake sends out Venusaur:
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| アナウンサー 「後半戦、最初に投入したのはフシギバナです」 |
Announcer: "The first
Pokémon Yuuji chooses for this second half of the match is
Fushigibana!" |
Announcer: "Drake has picked
Venusaur who's won many a battle here in the past." |
| サトシ 「フシギバナ。苦手なタイプはじめん系。だったら…ケンタロス
キミに決めた！」 |
Satoshi: "Fushigibana... it
won't do well against Ground attacks. So...Kentauros! I choose you!" |
Ash: "Venusaur's too strong
for Bulbasaur. And Lapras needs a good rest...I choose you, Tauros!" |
Like with Gangar before it, Satoshi knows Yuuji's opponent is part Poison-Type and so he decides to go with Kentauros and its Ground-Type attack. Ash Ketchum, meanwhile, contemplates just full on cheating by calling on Lapras, a Pokémon who was just eliminated from the competition in the previous round. I guess hanging around the Rocket trio all this time really has rubbed off on the kid!
The 4Kids dub also loves to just make up stuff out of literally nothing at all, such as the claim that Yuuji's Grass-Type has "won many a battle here in the past." We have no idea what its battle record is in the Japanese version.
After Venusaur's defeated, Drake calls on Electabuzz:
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| アナウンサー 「ユウジ選手、５体目はエレブーです。強力なでんき技の使い手
だ。ケンタロス、今の戦いでかなりダメージを受けています。このまま続投させるか？ サトシ選手」 |
Announcer: "Competitor Yuuji's
chosen Eleboo as his fifth Pokémon. It's able to use powerful
electric attacks. Kentauros, meanwhile, has taken a lot of damage in
the battle
just now. Will Challenger Satoshi let it keep going?" |
Announcer: "The atmosphere
here is charged as
Electabuzz, Drake's fifth Pokémon prepares to take on Tauros.
The question is, will Ash stick with the beefy battler or is Tauros too
tuckered to unplug Electabuzz?" |
| ケンタロス（荒
い息） |
Kentauros: (pants) |
Tauros: (pants) |
| ケンジ 「とっしん攻撃は 自分にも衝撃が跳ね返るからな」 |
Kenji: "I'll bet it's so worn
out because its 'Take Down' attack also causes recoil damage." |
Tracey: "It looks like Tauros
is pretty worn out. Ash better use another Pokémon." |
So we're pretty sure the 4Kids writers just don't understand the concept of recoil damage, right? And so they changed Kenji's line to something they actually know?
Ash chooses who to go up against Electabuzz:
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| サトシ 「でんき系か。それなら…」 |
Satoshi: "An Electric element,
huh? In that case..." |
Ash: "I gotta go with
somebody fresh." |
The reason the challenger has for choosing his Grass-Type starter is completely different depending on which version you're watching.
Electabuzz uses Thundershock on Bulbasaur:
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| アナウンサー 「効果は いまひとつのようだ。サトシ選手の作戦どおりです」 |
Announcer: "It's not very
effective... Challenger Satoshi's strategy seems to be going as
planned." |
Announcer: "Bulbasaur shakes
off the shock. Ash's strategy is working perfectly." |
Another day, another video game phrase ("it's not very effective") completely missed by the English dub.
Electabuzz Thunder Punches Bulbasaur right in the face:
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| アナウンサー 「さすがヘッドリーダー
ユウジのポケモンだ。レベルの差が相性を越えた」 |
Announcer: "Just what you'd
expect from Head Leader Yuuji's Pokémon. Their differences in
level overcame any type advantages." |
Announcer: "Electabuzz
short-circuits the Bulb. This high level Electric-Type's defeat of a
Grass-Type has this crowd buzzing." |
The announcer's explanation of how Bulbasaur lost is similar-ish enough to the original, I guess, but the sentence "Electabuzz short-circuits the Bulb" is just too cringey to not bring up.
Electabuzz vs. Charizard:
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| アナウンサー 「エレブー、
かみなりパンチで先制です！早くも流れはユウジが作っている。リザードン、電撃に苦しそうだ！」 |
Announcer: "Eleboo takes the
lead with a Thunder Punch! Yuuji's already got this battle going in his
favor. That electricity really seems to have Lizardon struggling." |
Announcer: "Electabuzz
connects first with a devastating Thunder Punch! Charizard is cooling
off quick as the champion grabs the early advantage." |
| サトシ 「頑張れ リザードン！」 |
Satoshi: "Hang in there,
Lizardon!" |
Ash: "Hang in there,
Charizard!" |
The English dub "punches up" the announcer's dialogue a lot like this to make him more "fun," I guess, while the Japanese original has him being a lot more straightforward.
Also, Yuuji's still not a champion.
The barrage continues:
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| ユウジ 「エレブー かみなりだ！」 |
Yuuji: "Eleboo! Thunder!" |
Drake: "Thunder attack, now." |
| エレブー 「エーレブー！」 |
Eleboo: "E~le~boo!" |
Electabuzz: "Buru Buru Buru
Buru!" |
| アナウンサー 「ユウジ 容赦のない連続攻撃です。耐えきれるか？
リザードン」 |
Announcer: "It's a relentless series of attacks, one after the other! Will Lizardon be able to withstand them all?" | Announcer: "Ketchum better
come up with something fast or I hope he likes his Charizard
extra-crispy!" |
"I hope he likes his Charizard extra-crispy! Because after Electabuzz finishes electrocuting this Pokémon to death we're all going to descend on its charred remains and then force feed it to its Trainer. I'm sure Ketchum's tears'll make the meat of his fallen partner taste that much better!"
Ash fights back:
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| サトシ
「反撃だ！ ほのおのうず！」 |
Satoshi: "Time to fight back!
Use Fire Spin!" |
Ash: "Charizard! Ember attack!" |
| リザードン 「グオー！」 |
Lizardon: "Guo~!" |
Charizard: "Guo~!" |
| アナウンサー 「これは すごい！ほのおのうずでかみなりを振り払いました！」 |
Announcer: "Amazing! He was
able to use its Fire Spin to shake off the Thunder attack!" |
Announcer: "A scorching
response from Charizard, who grounds Electabuzz with a searing
counter-attack." |
Hono'o no Uzu ("Fire Spin") and Hinoko ("Ember") don't sound anything alike and so I have no idea how this mix up occurred.
Drake's impressed:
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| ユウジ 「なるほど。レベルは申し分ない」 |
Yuuji: "Impressive. I couldn't
ask for it to be at a better level." |
Drake: "This one's level is
higher than I thought." |
There's a difference in the nuance here, but also, the dub adds in an echo effect to Drake's voice to make it sound like he's thinking this line of dialogue while in the original he's just speaking normally.
Charizard wins the match:
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| アナウンサー 「なんと！
サトシ選手ついにエレブーを倒した！速攻、大技を決めてリザードン 勝利のかえんほうしゃ！」 |
Announcer: "What a surprise!
Challenger Satoshi's finally defeated Eleboo! Lizardon, who used speedy
attacks and a finishing move to decide the battle, is letting off a
series of victory Flamethrowers!" |
Announcer: "A shocking
turnaround as Charizard combines offensive and defensive skills to toss
Drake's Electabuzz right out of this match!" |
I'm not sure what offensive and defensive skills 4Kids is talking about here; the challenger's Pokémon won using speed (it grabbed Eleboo before it could fire off its Thunderbolt attack) and finishing move (Seismic Toss), just like what the Japanese announcer's reporting.
Drake calls on his final Pokémon:
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| ユウジ 「さあいくぞ。出番だ、カイリュー！」 |
Yuuji: "Let's do this. You're
up, Kairyu!" |
Drake: "My last hope. I choose
you!" |
Drake's "last hope" line here is reminiscent of the change from earlier in the episode where Drake's acting like he's putting all his eggs in the Kairyu basket. That same vibe's not in the Japanese version at all.
Eyecatch
We're back to the English dub showcasing the star Pokémon of the upcoming episode instead of the one we're currently watching:
 |
 |
The Japanese version won't use Fushigibana as the eyecatch Pokémon again until late Johto, but the dub will replace that one as well. In fact, English dub viewers won't actually get to see Venusaur in one of these eyecatch things until the Pokémon XY&Z series, over a decade and a half later!
Dialogue Edit
Drake chooses Dragonite:
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| アナウンサー 「さあ カイリューです。サトシ選手、残り４体で
どう攻略するのでしょう」 |
Announcer: "And here's Kairyu.
How will Challenger Satoshi beat it with his remaining four
Pokémon?" |
Announcer: "Drake's last
Pokémon, the legendary Dragonite. If Dragonite goes down, this
battle is over." |
The English dub refers to Dragonite as "legendary," lowercase "L." Now, both the Japanese and English versions of the last episode actually did keep in a line where Kairyu is referred to as a "Legendary Pokémon" (hey, it was the 90s!) and so there is a precedent for this kind of thing, but in this episode at least that description isn't being used in the original.
Anyway, the English dub completely rewrote the line from the Japanese original.
Dragonite uses Water Gun:
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| アナウンサー 「おおっ！多彩な技を使いこなすカイリューならではの反撃！効果
は抜群だ！」 |
Announcer: "Wow! A
counterattack only made possible by a Kairyu with a wide variety of
attacks at its disposal! It's super effective!" |
Announcer: "Dragonite not only
douses Charizard's attack but it may be dampening Ketchum's hopes for
the Winner's Trophy." |
The phrase "it's super effective!" continues to be left out of the English dub script.
Charizard takes to the skies:
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| アナウンサー 「おっとリザードン！空へ飛んで かわしました！スピードも
かなりのものだ」 |
Announcer: "Wow, Lizardon! It
dodged the attack by flying into the sky! What an impressive display of
speed!" |
Announcer: "Charizard dodges
Dragonite's Ice Beam with an impressive show of air force!" |
| ユウジ 「追うんだカイリュー！」 |
Yuuji: "After it, Kairyu!" |
Drake: "After it, Dragonite." |
| カイリュー 「バウ！」 |
Kairyu: "Bau!" |
Dragonite: "Bau!" |
| ケンジ 「あの動き！」 |
Kenji: "Those movements!" |
Tracey: "Look at it go!" |
| カスミ 「海で見たのと同じ」 |
Kasumi: "They're just like
what we saw
out in the ocean on the way here!" |
Misty: "Dragonite moves like a jet." |
Kenji and Kasumi think back to the beginning of the previous episode -- where Kairyu's flying along the surface of the water before abruptly shooting skyward at a 90 degree angle -- and observe that the Pokémon's movements here are the same. The dub removes this observation.
The announcer also mentions how speedy Satoshi's Lizardon is, something else the English dub opts not to emphasize.
Charizard's speed doesn't seem to be enough, though:
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| アナウンサー 「リザードン得意のかえんほうしゃもカイリューのスピードの前に
かわされています」 |
Announcer: "Even Lizardon's
special attack, Flamethrower, is no match for Kairyu's incredible
speed." |
Announcer: "Charizard's gone
into a dizzying dive to avoid Dragonite's relentless attacks!" |
Actually, English dub announcer guy, Charizard's falling after being grazed by Dragonite's Ice Beam, which you would have known if you had simply watched the scene immediately before this one!
The two dragons launch one final attack:
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| サトシ 「戦いが長引くと不利だ。りゅうのいかり で決めてやれ！」 |
Satoshi: "This battle'll get
tougher the longer it drags out. Let's finish it off with Dragon Rage!" |
Ash: "We gotta do something to
end this fast. Finish it off with Dragon Rage." |
| ユウジ 「ならばこちらも りゅうのいかり だ！」 |
Yuuji: "In that case we'll use
Dragon Rage too!" |
Drake: "Fight fire with fire,
Dragonite." |
So Drake's line is technically saying the same thing as Yuuji is, just in a bit more of a roundabout way. But what stands out to me more about this exchange here is how this is actually the first time Charizard's been ordered to use the attack Dragon Rage in the English dub! If you remember the episode where it first learned the attack 4Kids mistranslated "Dragon Rage" as "Rage," and so if you're having to rely solely on what the 4Kids dub tells us (which, in the early 2000s, was the overwhelming majority of us) then you couldn't really be blamed for thinking Charizard is only just now learning "Dragon Rage," right?
None of this confusion exists in the original because the attack's been consistently referred to as "Dragon Rage" this whole time.
The Rocket trio react to Charizard's loss:
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| コジロウ 「よーし！カイリューもダメージを受けてる。オレたちの出番だぜ！」 |
Kojirou: "Alright! Kairyu's
also taken some damage. We're up!" |
James: "Alright, Dragonite
looks like it's draggin'. Let's go capture it." |
| ムサシ 「まだまだ」 |
Musashi: "Not yet we're not." |
Jessie: "Sit down!" |
| ニャース 「ほれ、もう 一声ニャ！」 |
Nyarth: "Wait just a little
longer Nya." |
Meowth: "Yeah, I'm enjoyin'
this." |
Both Musashi and Nyarth realize that Kairyu, while not at full power, is still way too strong for them to take on and so they tell Kojirou to wait it out just a bit longer. Jessie and Meowth, meanwhile, are just really engrossed in the action.
Ash recalls his Charizard:
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| サトシ 「戻れリザードン。ありがとう、リザードン。おかげで向こうにもダメー
ジを与えられた。あとはみんなで力を合わせてやるしかない」 |
Satoshi:
"Return, Lizardon! Thank you, Lizardon. Thanks to you my opponent also
took some damage. Looks like everyone's going to have to combine their
strength to beat this one." |
Ash: "Return, Charizard! Thank
you, Charizard, you did your job. You wore it down just like I wanted
you to. We're all gonna have to work as a team to win this one, aren't
we?" |
The English dub dialogue can be interpreted to mean that Ash knew Charizard wasn't going to win, but that it's OK because its job was just to inflict damage on Dragonite, not actually defeat it. This same implication's not in the original.
Dragonite uses Thunderbolt on Squirtle:
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| アナウンサー 「みず系に最も苦手な攻撃が決まった！効果は抜群だー！」 |
Announcer: "The attack that
Water types are weakest against has hit its mark! It's super effective!" |
Announcer: "This could be
sayonara for Squirtle as Dragonite's electric attack sets its shell
sizzling! |
I'm sorry, this could be what for Squirtle?
Anyway, the English dub's allergy to use the term "it's super effective" is still in full effect, apparently.
Squirtle's final attack:
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| サトシ 「ゼニガメ！バブルこうせん！」 |
Satoshi: "Zenigame! Bubble
Beam!" |
Ash: "Squirtle! Bubble attack
now!" |
Ash goes into one of the biggest battles of his career thus far, and then decides to command his Pokémon to use is one of the weakest Water-Type attacks in existence? Um...sure, OK!
The battle's over:
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| アナウンサー 「さすがカイリュー！ゼニガメの反撃にバランスを崩しながらも会
心の一撃だ！」 |
Announcer: "That's Kairyu for
you! Even though Zenigame's counterattack caused it to lose its balance
it still managed to get in a critical hit!" |
Announcer: "Once again,
Dragonite proves what a brawny battler it is. Despite Squirtle's Bubble
attack it digs in and strikes back." |
The ban on video game terms continues! This time it's the phrase "critical hit!" that gets excised.
The Rocket trio makes its move:
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| ムサシ 「効いてる効いてる！いくわよ」 |
Musashi: "It's working! It's
working! Let's go!" |
Jessie: "Dragonite's
exhausted. Let's go." |
| ニャース 「作戦開始ニャ」 |
Nyarth: "Let's get this plan
started Nya!" |
James: "This oughta be a
cinch." |
| コジロウ 「え？ もう少し待とうよ」 |
Kojirou: "Eh? Let's wait it
out a little longer." |
James: "Jess, bring me back
some nachos." |
Putting aside the fact that James' line is a complete rewrite for a moment...literally nobody in the stadium can be seen eating anything, nachos or otherwise!
Team Rocket attacks:
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| アナウンサー 「さあサトシ選手、あと２体！どう…あっ！ ああっ
あれは何だ？」 |
Announcer: "Challenger Satoshi
only has two Pokémon left! How will he...Ah! Wait! What's that
up there?" |
Announcer: "Now the challenger
has just two Pokémon remaining and this should be.. Hey, wait,
what's that up there?" |
| カイリュー 「バウ？ ウウッ」 |
Kairyu: "Bau? Uuu" |
Dragonite: "Bau? Uuu" |
| コジロウ＆ニャース (笑) |
Kojirou & Nyarth: (laughs) |
James & Meowth: (laughs) |
| ムサシ 「“ああっ あれは何だ？”と聞かれたら…」 |
Musashi: "If we're asked "Ah!
Wait! What's that up there?"" |
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!" |
Musashi's habit of using the first line of her motto to mock the person who just shouted out a question gets removed from the dub, once again.
I think this also may be one of the first times in the series when Kojirou and Nyarth perform the (finalized version of their) pre-motto laugh? In the Japanese version the Rocket trio has very specific laugh they do whenever they appear on the scene -- "Waah ha ha ha~" -- and while some proto versions of that have appeared in earlier episodes the one we hear in this episode is the one they'll continue to use throughout their remaining 20+ years on the show.
Music Edit
So this episode, like many others in the Orange Islands part of this series, keeps the overwhelming majority of the Japanese music cues intact. There are a few replacement tracks, sure, and as always 4Kids fills in any moments without any BGM with their own "music." But otherwise it's fairly OK-ish, soundtrack wise.
But, just because they keep the music tracks doesn't mean 4Kids isn't still up to some shenanigans. The most obvious example of this is during the Rocket trio's motto. In the original, the regular motto music plays as the trio begins its motto, as expected. But then when Satoshi cuts in and interrupts them the music abruptly screeches to a halt.
The duo resumes its motto, and the motto music picks up again where it left off. The music continues to play the whole time as the duo starts to say their names, but when Kojirou gets to his part Yuuji appears on-screen to interrupt them a second time. This interruption, like the one before it, brings the Rocket motto music to a halt.
In the English dub, however, 4Kids has the music continue to play through Ash's interruption (I guess that 0.5 seconds of silence was too much for them?), but then also abruptly cuts it off during James' "To extend our reach to the stars above" line in favor of a piece of 4Kids dub music. And it's not a smooth transition either; it's an abrupt, messy piece of music editing.
There are other spots in the episode where the music editing gets a bit wonky as well. A piece of music from Mewtwo Strikes Back! plays during the scene right before the commercial break where Yuuji's about to summon his Kairyu, just like in the Japanese version, but for some reason the English dub removes the first few notes of the song. They do the same thing with the Rocket trio motto as well; the first few notes get removed from the English dub of this episode, for some reason. The start and stop points of certain tracks get shifted around as well, with the Kairyu theme that plays after the motto, the music during the Kentauros vs. Kairyu battle, and both the songs that play during the Pikachu vs. Kairyu battle being great examples.
There are spreadsheets and other documents online that keep track of how much Japanese music was retained in the English dub, and while those are all great resources they're still only telling one side of the story. For the purposes of those documents they might say something like "The English dub kept the Team Rocket motto them. One point for them!" but the way the scenes play out in both the Japanese original and the English dub are still quite different.
Dialogue Edit
The Rocket trio reveals its plan to Ash:
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| ムサシ 「カイリュー頂きゃこっちのもんよ」 |
Musashi: "We'll be taking
Kairyu with us now!" |
Jessie: "And thanks for your
help, twerp." |
| サトシ 「あいつら！」 |
Satoshi: "Those guys..." |
Ash: "What're you talking
about?" |
| ムサシ 「ハーイジャリンコたち。あたしたちのために頑張ってくれてご苦労さん
ね」 |
Musashi: "Hi there twerp kids!
Thank you for all the hard work you did for us." |
Jessie: "You're the reason
we're here. You didn't know you were playing for our side this time, did you?" |
| ニャース 「おミャーらがカイリューを弱らせてくれるのずーっと待ってたの
ニャ」 |
Nyarth: "We've been waiting
for you to weaken Kairyu for us this whole time Nya." |
Meowth: "Yeah, if you ever get
tired of being a twerp maybe we'll make you a permanent part of the
team." |
In the original Nyarth explains their plan to Satoshi, who at this point in the episode wouldn't have any reason to know what in the world they're talking about. In the English dub, meanwhile, Meowth invites Ash to join the mafia.
Drake gets rid of the trio:
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| ユウジ 「カイリュー！」 |
Yuuji: "Kairyu!" |
Drake: "Dragonite? |
| カイリュー 「ン？」 |
Kairyu: "Hm?" |
Dragonite: "Hm?" |
| ユウジ 「ロケットずつきだ！」 |
Yuuji: "Use Skull Bash!" |
Drake: "You know what to do, don't you?" |
| カイリュー 「バウ！」 |
Kairyu: "Bau!" |
Dragonite: "Bau!" |
Attack commands are like the most simple thing in the world to translate, a slam dunk for the localizers, and yet 4Kids still feels the need to change them.
The Rocket trio's sent blasting off:
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| ムサシ 「何よ！ちっとも弱ってないじゃない」 |
Musashi: "What just happened?
That Kairyu's not even the tiniest bit weakened." |
Jessie: "We needed that like a
hole in the head." |
| ニャース 「強いニャ」 |
Nyarth: "It's so strong Nya!" |
Meowth: "We blew it." |
| コジロウ 「だから“もうちょっと待とう”って…」 |
Kojirou: "That's why I told
you 'Let's wait it out a little longer'." |
James: "Now, I'll never get
those nachos." |
| ロケット団 「イヤな感じ～！」 |
Rocket-Dan: "This feels bad~!" |
Team Rocket: "We're blasting
off again!" |
This rewrite's...whatever, but also since when does James care about food so much? When has that ever been a part of his personality in any of the over 100 episodes that have come before this one? Ash has "always thinking about food" as part of his personality, sure, but James from Team Rocket!?
Tauros rejoins the battle:
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| ユウジ 「飛ぶんだ！こうそくいどうからのしかかり！」 |
Yuuji: "Now fly! Use Agility
followed by Body Slam!" |
Drake: "Now fly! And use your
Body Slam!" |
"Agility" gets added to the list of attacks removed from the English dub of this episode.
Ash orders a counterattack:
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| サトシ 「つので受け止めるんだ！」 |
Satoshi: "Catch it with your
horns!" |
Ash: "Tauros, just stand
there!" |
Ash orders his Pokémon to "just stand there" (LOL), which is somehow a clear enough of an order to get his Wild Bull Pokémon to brace itself for impact. The Japanese version is a bit more direct.
Dragonite uses Hyper Beam on Pikachu:
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| アナウンサー 「す…
すごい！尻尾をバネのように生かしジャンプした！カイリュー、エネルギーチャージまで動くことができません！」 |
Announcer: "A-Amazing! Pikachu
used its tail like a springboard to jump into the air! Kairyu's unable
to move until it recharges its energy!" |
Announcer: "Unbelievable!
Pikachu used its tail as a springboard to escape the Hyper Beam.
Pikachu bounces back but Dragonite doesn't look very bouncy." |
While the dialogue in the Japanese version doesn't match up exactly with what you see in the Red & Green video games whenever your opponent uses Hyper Beam (こうげきの はんどうで てきの カイリューは うごけない！) the idea that Kairyu must recharge after using the attack is still very much present in Tomioka's script. The English dub, meanwhile, removes this dialogue entirely.
Ash wins the match:
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| アナウンサー 「サトシ選手ヘッドリーダー
ユウジを破り新たに殿堂入りを果たしましたー！」 |
Announcer: "Challenger Satoshi
has defeated the Head Leader Yuuji and has become the newest inductee
into the Hall of Fame!" |
Announcer: "Ash Ketchum has
beaten the undefeated Orange Crew champion, earning himself a place of
honor in the Orange League Hall of Fame and the coveted Winner's
Trophy." |
Yuuji's still not a champion, but also, the Japanese version doesn't bring up the trophy here the way the dub does.
Drake congratulates Ash:
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| ユウジ 「おめでとう、サトシくん。すばらしい試合だったよ」 |
Yuuji: "Congratulations,
Satoshi-kun. That was a wonderful match." |
Drake: "You really deserve
that trophy. You're a great Pokémon Trainer." |
| サトシ 「ありがとうございます！」 |
Satoshi: "Thank you very much!" |
Ash: "'Cause I have great
Pokémon." |
| リザードン 「グオオー！」 |
Lizardon: "Guoo-!" |
Charizard: "Guoo-!" |
| ラプラス 「プー！」 |
Laplace: "Puu!" |
Lapras: "Puu!" |
| ケンタロス 「モー！」 |
Kentauros: "Moo!" |
Tauros: "Moo!" |
| ゼニガメ 「ゼニー！」 |
Zenigame: "Zeni!" |
Squirtle: "Squirtle." |
| フシギダネ 「ダネー！」 |
Fushigidane: "Dane!" |
Bulbasaur: "Bulbasaur." |
| ピカチュウ 「ピカピカー！」 |
Pikachu: "Pika Pikaa!" |
Pikachu: "Pika Pikaa!" |
| サトシ 「みんな…」 |
Satoshi: "You guys..." |
Ash: "Me too." |
Ash's last line here is so baffling to me. "Me too?" Me too what?
The closing narration:
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| ナレーション 「激闘の果てに ついにオレンジリーグ
名誉トレーナーの称号をゲットしたサトシ。ピカチュウたちの信頼と友情が見事な勝利をもたらしたのである」 |
Narrator: "After a fiercely
fought battle Satoshi has finally earned the title of Orange League
Honorary Trainer. The trust and friendship he has with Pikachu and his
other Pokémon is what brought him victory." |
Narrator: "And so, with the
help of his Pokémon friends Ash wins the match, the Winner's
Trophy, and his rightful place in the Orange Island League's Hall of
Fame. Quite an accomplishment for a kid from Pallet Town, wouldn't you
say?" |
So the "Honorary Trainer" title is just never going to be brought up in the English dub, huh? In the original Satoshi won a trophy, a place in the hall of fame, and the title of "Orange League Honorary Trainer," but in the English dub he apparently only wins those first two? And doesn't get the title?
The final line of the episode:
| Japanese
(original) |
Japanese
(translated) |
English
Dub |
| サトシ 「名誉トレーナー ゲットだぜ！」 |
Satoshi: "I got the title of
Honorary Trainer!" |
Ash: "Just wait till Brock
hears about this." |
| ピカチュウ 「ピッ ピカチュウ！」 |
Pikachu: "Pi Pikachu!" |
Pikachu: "Pi Pikachu!" |
Satoshi's former traveling companion's not brought up in the Japanese version at all.
Cut (???) 5 seconds
I'm not sure how to classify this edit, or even how to explain it, but I'll try anyway. To start with, let's take a quick look at where we end up in both versions. Japanese version's on the left, English is on the right.
 |
 |
So here's how the ending plays out in the Japanese original:
 |
 |
| We
start off by seeing the stone tablet with all of Satoshi's
Pokémon's hand (paw) prints on it. |
Then,
a picture-in-picture circle featuring Satoshi and Pikachu begins to
open up. |
 |
 |
| Once
fully opened, Satoshi and Pikachu deliver their finals lines of the
episode. |
Then,
the circle begins to close. |
 |
|
| After
we get one last good look at the stone tablet... |
...The
image shrinks down and the TO BE CONTINUED text appears. |
And now let's take a look at that same sequence in the English dub:
 |
 |
| We
start off with the stone tablet, just like in the original. |
The
circle opens up, also just like in the Japanese version. |
 |
 |
| Ash
delivers his line, and Pikachu begins to deliver its line... |
...but
then all of a sudden the screen starts to shrink before Pikachu's even
finished. |
|
|
| Pikachu
delivers the rest of its line as the TO BE CONTINUED text appears on
screen. |
The
episode ends on a freeze frame with Ash and Pikachu still on-screen.
Meanwhile, the sound effect of the circle closing from the Japanese
version plays despite that animation not existing in this version. |
Overall, the English version of this scene is about five seconds shorter than the Japanese version.
This is such an odd, perplexing edit. I mean, it's a unique way of shaving five seconds off the episode's runtime, I guess -- this is around the time Kids' WB! started requiring more and more ad space from each of their shows, after all -- but it's still really, really bizarre.
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