Episode Stats:

Japanese Episode 119:  "Clash! Heracros vs. Kailios!!"
English Episode 314:  "A Sappy Ending"
Pokemon Dare Da?   Heracross (Japanese), Donphan (English)
Orchid-Hakase Pokemon Lecture:  Nyoromo
Japanese Air Date:  October 28th, 1999
American Air Date:  October 28th, 2000
Important Characters:  Morio (Woodruff)

Satoshi and his friends are walking through a forest when they spot a section of the forest that looks bare.  As our heroes wonder what the cause could be, a man named Morio appears and explains that the area belongs to a group of Heracross and Butterfree.  The pokemon had been living peacefully until a group of Kairos started coming over and eating their food, but Morio can't figure out why.  Suddenly, a group of Kairos appear, so Satoshi steps in and fights them off.  After the attack, Morio decides that the only way they can solve this issue is to head over to the Kairos' territory and see what's going on.  As they head to the territory, our heroes notice that one of the Heracross that Satoshi saved has been following them.  The group of people and the Heracross eventually make it to the Kairos' home, but when they get there, they're greeted by one of the Rocket-Dan's mechas!  The Rocket trio explains that they'll have their mecha drain the sap from all the trees in the area and sell it off, even if it has a negative impact on the environment.  A battle ensues, and the Rocket-Dan are defeated thanks to the efforts of Heracross.  Once the trio is dealt with, Satoshi and his friends leave Morio and continue on their journey.  As they're leaving, the Heracross indicates that it wants to join Satoshi.  The young trainer agrees, and before long, the young trainer resumes his journey with a new pokemon in hand.

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Thoughts
A lot of people in the fandom seem to have this automatic mechanism that tells them that non-filler episodes = good and that fillers = bad.  As if their brains can't get beyond this extremely black and white mindset.  But!  When you get an non-filler episode as boring as this, it becomes clear that the fans who think this way are just full of it.

I mean, yeah, this episode has some good in it.  I really liked how Kasumi's fear of bug pokemon was brought up again, especially that one part where she was kind of like "oh well, sucks to be them...BYE."  I also loved the part where Kojirou calls out his Utsubot and then runs for his life.  And as for Heracross...well, it's just a lovable little thing, isn't it?

Yet...this episode just couldn't hold my interest.  The plot was alright and not one that had been done a million times, but it still bored the hell out of me.  Morio's bland blandness didn't help, either.  I mean, seriously; he could have been replaced by a random Junsa and no one would have noticed the difference.

The dubbed version turned out a lot better than the last two episodes did, dialogue-wise.  4Kids didn't get so rewrite-happy this time around, but there are still a few rewrites worth mentioning.

Heracross keeps its Japanese voice.

Dialogue Edit
This first one occurs when the Kairos start attacking the Heracross that would eventually become Satoshi's:


Satoshi was originally talking to the Kairos in this scene, telling them how unfair it is of them to gang up on one pokemon like that.  The dub changes this to have Ash talking about them, not to them.

Yes, I admit that this is kind of a nitpicky thing to point out.

This next one comes up after Satoshi saves said Heracross.


According to 4Kids, rhyming = teh funny.

In the Japanese version, Satoshi says that he bet Heracross wants to thank them for helping it out earlier.  Kasumi then steps in and says that Heracross is probably just interested in Fushigidane's nectar.

I think this is what Misty's trying to say in the English version, but it doesn't really come across all that well.  It also doesn't help that the line is incredibly lame and groan worthy.

Later, when everyone discovers the downed rope bridge:


Morio doesn't mention anything about having just been there; he just announces that the bridge has fallen.

After the commercial break, the Rocket-Dan enters the scene.  Which means rewrites galore:


Originally, Morio asks the Rocket-Dan what they're doing there.  Nyasu responds that, oh yeah, they don't know about our great plan yet.  Kasumi then asks what they mean by "great plan."

The dub makes it seem like Team Rocket just got their mecha from the same type of ad that you'd get x-ray goggles and magic kits from.  Weird.

Also, Nyasu doesn't mention any time span in the original.  Yeah, I know he's making a joke in the English version.  Just sayin'.

Later, Jessie and James think that the sweet scent they're smelling is either French toast or Belgian waffles.  Originally, they just asked what that smell was.

The big rewrite of the episode, though, has to be this:


Kojirou and Nyasu, in the Japanese version, were originally talking about how the sap they're eating tastes like pancake syrup.  Musashi steps in and starts talking about the kind of Western-style pancakes she'd like to eat.  She then talks about flipping the "pancake" on a hot plate, adding sauce to it, and then sprinkling it with katsuobushi (little fish flakes that are sprinkled on top of the okonomiyaki when it's done cooking).  Kojirou says that the dish she's describing is okonomiyaki, not pancakes.  Nyasu ends the flashback by telling Kojirou to ignore her.

Kids in America don't know what okonomiyaki is, so 4Kids rewrote the scene to have Jessie talking about wanting a "disgusting" pancake and opening up an IHOP knock-off instead.  The stuff that Jessie calls Limburger cheese and cajun curry powder are actually the katsuobushi that Musashi was talking about in the Japanese version.

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