Episode Stats:

Japanese Episode 146:  "Sonansu and the Pokémon Trade Meet!!"
English Episode 341:  "Tricks of the Trade"
Pokemon Dare Da?  Sonansu (Japanese), Wooper (English)
Orchid-Hakase Pokemon Lecture:  Bariyardo
Japanese Air Date:  May 4th, 2000
American Air Date:  March 24th, 2001
Important Characters:  Teru (Benny), Mitsuji (Fernando)

Satoshi-tachi come across a town having a big Pokemon Exchange Event.  There are a number of events going on, such as a Kentaros versus Kentaros battle (which Satoshi wins), but the big event is a pokemon exchange.  Satoshi-tachi meet Teru, a boy who isn't having much look finding someone to take his Sonansu off his hands.  They agree to help the little boy, going around town to gather prospective trainers.  Meanwhile, Musashi-tachi are cooking up a scam, boasting that their Pokemon Transport machine is able to raise the level of the pokemon it transfers.  In reality, the Monster Balls are being switched with empty Monster Balls, giving the Rocket-Dan new pokemon while the trainers get nothing!  While everyone is fooled, Kojirou is called out by the Koiking seller (from way back in the St. Anne episode), who tries to get him to buy another pokemon.  Kojirou recognizes the swindler and chases him around town, demanding his money be returned.  Musashi joins in the chase, and in the confusion her Monster Ball gets mixed up with Teru's Monster Ball.  The chase is over when the Rocket-Dan's angry customers confront the trio, but they are able to get away with everybody's pokemon.  Eventually, Satoshi-tachi find them, and are surprised when a Sonansu comes out of one of Musashi's Monster Balls.  The bide pokemon is able to ward off Satoshi's Chikorita for a while, but it is no match for Pikachu as it goes blasting off with the rest of the Rocket-Dan.  As Satoshi-tachi are ready to leave the town, Teru is happy with his new Beroringa and is hopeful that his Sonansu has a good trainer.  Now Sonansu's one of the Rocket-Dan!

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Thoughts
We get Sonansu!  We get Sonansu!

Sonansu has to be my favorite Rocket-Dan pokemon at the moment.  The little blob is just funny to me, and it's a lot of fun to imitate.  Wobbuffet, on the other hand, isn't half as cute.  I dunno, hearing "Wobbbuffet!" just isn't the same as hearing "SooooNANsu!"  Does "Wobbuffet" even mean anything?  Not that I know of. 

Other than the fact that we get Sonansu, nothing really happens in this episode.  A Pokemon Exchange could have been a bit more interesting, but it just didn't hold my interest.  Apparently, the anime producers felt the same way--that's probably why they had the whole Kentaros battle thing.  They just couldn't think of how to fill 22 minutes with people exchanging pokemon, so they added that little side-event as filler.  One thing that I did like about this episode was that we get to see Buru walk around, telling us that the anime producers haven't forgotten about it.  It's also nice to see the Koiking salesman from the beginning of the series.  From a comparison stanpoint, nothing was really changed, so I'll just move on to the next episode.

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