The Rocket-Dan's
Secret Empire
Pilot Episode






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Dogasu's Backpack | Features | Pokémon Radio Show!  The Rocket-Dan's Secret Empire



The unaired pilot episode of Pokémon Radio Show! The Rocket-Dan's Secret Empire was presumably used as a pitch to radio station InterFM for what would become the Rocket-Dan's radio program. The show, which was going under the title The Rocket-Dan's Secret Base (ロ ケット団のひみつ基地) at the time, contains proto versions of many of the segments for which the show would later become popular. The pilot was made available on April 26th, 2013 as a bonus CD to those who had bought all three of the Pokémon Radio Show! The Rocket-Dan's Secret Empire CDs from any of the Animate stores across Japan.

Release / General Information

On-Air Date
The episode never aired but was eventually released on CD on April 26th, 2013
Runtime 30 minutes, 32 seconds
Special Guest
Katsuyuki Konishi (小西克幸)

Based on the conversation in this episode it seems as if the pilot was recorded at some point between April 21st, 2012 and the show's proper debut on July 1st, 2012.

Obtaining the Pilot Episode

The pilot episode was made available to those who bought all three of the Pokémon Radio Show! The Rocket-Dan's Secret Empire CDs at any of the Animate stores across Japan.

Musashi
Kojirou
Nyasu

For those of you unaware, Animate is a chain of stores in Japan that specializes in merchandise related to Japanese cartoons. Books, CDs, DVD and Blu-ray, toys, posters, cell phone cases, stationary, stickers, keychains...you name it.

When you bought the Pokémon Radio Show! The Rocket-Dan's Secret Empire Volume One - Musashi Version, which went on sale on February 22nd, 2013, you received both a serial number to use to apply for the upcoming The Rocket-Dan's Secret Live event and a stamp card for the Pilot Episode CD. The stamp card was a small pink card printed on regular printer paper (it wasn't card stock or anything) with spaces for all three of the CDs.  Every time you bought one of the Rocket-Dan CDs, the staff at Animate would stamp its space on the card.




When you bought the third and final CD, you'd bring the card with you to the register and received a CD containing the "Mythical Pilot" (幻のパイロット).



The CD itself is in a slim case. There is no booklet but it does have a piece of paper that serves as the cover. On the back of this paper is a list of staff credits.

Opening Sketch ("Chapter One Opening")

The opening drama to the pilot episode is basically a rough draft of the drama that would appear in the first episode. The lines were changed in a few places in the final broadcast version but for the most part the two are practically the same.

Musashi, Kojirou, and Nyarth are following Meloetta under the orders of Dr. Seger. As they monitor the Pokémon, Kojirou begins to question the trio's serious attitude. He asks Musashi if she's happy being as "cool" and "professional" as they've been being lately and points out that Musashi, who used to eat whatever she liked and who dreamed of being an actress, has recently only ever spoken in order to confirm where they are. He then turns to Nyarth and tells him that he's the only Pokémon who's able to speak human language and yet gets the least amount of lines out of the three of them. He goes on to say that he can't tolerate having to say "everything is for Sakaki-sama!" anymore. Musashi finally breaks down and says that she's started to feel the same way but that there's nothing they can do about it.

At this point, Nyarth breaks out a secret weapon he had been saving just for such an occasion: plans for a Rocket-Dan radio show! By using a radio broadcast, the Rocket trio will be able to recruit the entire Earth's population of 7 billion people into the organization and gain the praise of their beloved Sakaki-sama!  In addition, the three of them will be able to say whatever they want on-air! Kojirou worries that Dr. Seger and ***** (the name gets bleeped out, but it sounds like whatever he was saying begins with kan...so maybe kantoku (the director)?) will get angry at them and complain, but Nyarth tells him not to worry because this whole operation of theirs will be a secret.

It's time for the Rocket-Dan's Secret Base (ロケット団のひみつ基地) to start!

Opening Music / Pre-Show Chat

The beginning of the instrumental version of Rocket-Dan yo Eien ni starts to play.

Each member of the Rocket trio starts off by introducing themselves. Musashi says she loves sushi and Kojirou shouts out to all the Kojirou fans out there. Nyarth says that since this is the first episode they'll have Kojirou, as the main host of the show, explain what's going on. An obviously unprepared Kojirou stammers that the main host of the show is Musashi and that she should be the one to explain what their show is all about. After almost blurting out the location of their secret base (and consequently getting scolded by her castmates) Musashi says that she'll leave the pain in the neck explanation of the show to Nyarth. Musashi and Kojirou both start to cheer loudly. Nyarth sighs.

Nyarth explains that the Rocket-Dan, as headed by Sakaki-sama, has created this radio show to make them the number one organization in the entire world. By exchanging information and speaking with various special guests, they'll be able to recruit each and every person in the world into the Rocket-Dan! He goes on to say that you can become a member of the Rocket-Dan just by listening to their show and encourages everyone to tell their friends about it so that they can become Rocket-Dan members as well. But don't tell Dr. Seger about any of this! 

The trio hasn't really figured out what they'll do during the radio show so they've decided to make it together with their fans. Kojirou suggests they use Twitter, prompting Musashi to state that those who don't have their own computer or mobile phones, like elementary school kids, won't be able to use it. Well...whatever!  It's time for the first segment  "Bring in Your Pokémon!" (ポケモン連れてらっ しゃい!).

The First Segment

Kojirou tells Nyarth to hold on a minute; didn't he just say that they haven't figured out what they'll do during the radio show? Nyarth responds by handing him a sheet of paper and telling him to read from it. The explanation of what this part of the show is is more or less the same as what appears in every episode of the regular radio show:

"In this segment, we invite people who diligently raise their Pokémon to the studio and talk to them about various things. What kind of conversations will we have with these Pokémon-raising specialists? Don't miss it!"

Nyarth then cuts to commercial but, since this is the pilot episode, they skip on to the next segment.

"Bring In Your Pokémon!"

The guest for the pilot episode is none other than Mr. Katsuyuki Konishi!



Mr. Konishi is surprised to see a talking Nyarth! Musashi wonders what he's going on about since everybody knows that Nyarth can speak human language.

Kojirou starts to read from Mr. Konishi's profile. He works for Ken Productions, he's from Wakayama prefecture (he likes tangerines), and his birthday's April 21st (Musashi says "Happy Birthday" and then realizes that it's already past). 

In the Pocket Monsters series along Katsuyuki Konishi has provided the voices of Satoshi's Kabigon, Satoshi's Kentauros, Satoshi's Heracros, Delibird, Raikou and Jun'ichi's Meganium in The Legend of Thunder, Kojirou's Sabonea, Satoshi's Heigani, Satoshi's Onigohri, Haruka's Burshamo, Takeshi's Gureggru, J's Bohmander, Kengo's Pottaishi and Empärt, Shirona's Gablias, Shinji's Tekkanin, Kouhei's Yadoking, Kouhei's Heracros, Satoshi's Gligar and Glion, Haruka's Kameil, Jun's Empärt, Satoshi's Mukuhawk, Shinji's Nidoking, Ptera, Katsura's Boober, Thunder in the second movie, Mantain and Kingdra in the third movie, Koratta in Pichu and Pikachu, Hassamu in the fourth movie, Ptera in the fifth movie, Airm'd in The Glittering Starlit Camp, Meta Groudon and Bohmander in the first Advanced Generation movie, Dogohmb in The Dancing Pokémon Secret Base, Rayquaza in the second Advanced Generation movie, Onidrill in the fourth Advanced Generation movie, and Raikou in the fourth Diamond & Pearl movie.

Outside of Pocket Monsters, Mr. Konishi has provided the voices of Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad in the Assassin's Creed games and Lloyd Irving in the Tales of Symphonia games.

Interview

Nyarth starts the interview saying that Mr. Konishi has brought a lot of Pokémon in today. Mr. Konishi wonders what he should bring out first...DOGOHMB!  DOGOHMB DOGOHMB DOGOHMB!!!! The Pokémon shouts loudly and causes quite a commotion, prompting Musashi to ask Mr. Konishi to hurry up and recall it to its Monster Ball. Once Dogohmb is put away, Nyarth reports that Musashi has hidden underneath the table!  Musashi observes that Gonyonyo are way cuter.



Next up is Satoshi's Glion! The Pokémon lets out a funny "eeeeeeeeeeee" noise, making it sound like it's been weakened or something. "Why are you crying!?," asks Mr. Konishi. He then explains that Glion's been inside its Monster Ball for a really long time now and that it's become lonely, prompting Kojirou to say that that's all his fault for not letting it out from time to time.



Gureggru shows up next making its distinct humming noise. Mr. Konishi wonders what it's thinking about. 



Heigani pops out next, shouting its name out over and over. Kabigon is called out next to stop Heigani from running around but it's just sleeping so it's not really of any use to anyone. On top of that, it's way too big to fit inside the studio! Kabigon and the rest of the Pokémon are called back.




Nyarth announces that Mr. Konishi has another Pokémon that Musashi doesn't like. Musashi loves her precious Fushigidane (Megumi Hayashibara provides its voice in addition to Musashi's), so that could only mean...Heracros!  Satoshi's Heracros starts sucking on what we're meant to assume is the bulb on Fushigidane's back but Musashi is too busy screaming for Fushigidane's voice to be heard. Mr. Konishi states that Heracross likes to eat honey.


The Rocket trio talk about how great it is to have so many great Pokémon come into their studio. The conversation then turns more toward Mr. Konishi himself. Kojirou says he heard that Mr. Konishi once spent nearly 30,000 yen (roughly US $300) for a plain black T-shirt. Musashi adds that she's heard this story before and that it happened ten years ago? Or maybe seven? Mr. Konishi explains that he went this really expensive brand name store once and found a shirt with an interesting yet simple design so he went up to the counter and asked to see both the black and the white versions of it. And, to his surprise, they were 30,000 yen apiece! That's 60,000 yen (about US $600) for two shirts! They didn't have the white shirt in his size so he couldn't buy that one, but as for the black one...well, he felt awkward about not buying the shirt after having asked for them (maybe he wanted to avoid looking like he didn't have the money?) so he ended up buying the $300 black one. And ever since then he's been known to wear this expensive shirt to many of his recording sessions. The Rocket-Dan remind him that he's on radio right now and so nobody can see him.

He's also heading overseas soon, and Musashi states that he can go round trip with JetStar. They kind of change subjects very quickly, making me think there was something else here that was maybe edited out later. JetStar Japan started operations in July 2012.

Next, Kojirou asks Mr. Konishi if he has fun raising so many Pokémon. He responds that yes, of course it's a lot of fun to play with the Pokémon and go on adventures with them and have them participate in battles. Musashi states that she's happy that Katsuyuki Konishi was able to bring all those Pokémon into the studio and let the fans know what they've been up to. Are these Pokémon well? Are they still alive? The others laugh.

Onigohri comes out next, causing the studio to get a little bit cold, so Heigani is called back out to calm it down. Mr. Konishi explains that Heigani just told Onigohri to stand down and adds that the Ice-Type sees Heigani like a big brother. He adds that it feels the same way about Haruka's Burshamo even though it's a female, prompting the Fire-Type Pokémon to make a brief appearance.




Next, Mr. Konishi brings out Sabonea! Musashi fawns over how cute it is while Kojirou gets impaled by one of Sabonea's famous hugs. Mr. Konishi comments on how attached Sabonea is to its former Trainer.


Musashi and Kojirou decide to ask what Mr. Konishi does outside of raising Pokémon, so he replies by saying that he's mainly a voice actor. Kojirou asks what's so fun about it but Mr. Konishi is too shy to give his answer! The Rocket trio reassures him by saying that they're in their Secret Base so he can say anything he wants. He begins to answer when suddenly...the segment comes to a close! Musashi thanks her guest for coming.

An e-mail from the Boss

Nyarth announces that they've just received an e-mail from Sakaki-sama. "Nyarth, Musashi, Kojirou, how are you? I'm doing well. I've got a favor to ask of you three. Our organization's secret weapons division "Q" has received a new item. I'd like you three to try it out and then send your impressions of it back to headquarters. I know this is a lot to ask of you but you three are the only ones I trust enough to do this for me. Thank you." Musashi says that this pleasant e-mail doesn't sound like the Boss at all and wonders who actually wrote it.

And with that, the next segment starts!!

The "Let's Try Out This New Item" Segment

Katsuyuki Konishi rejoins the Rocket trio in the studio.

Today's item is a...thick pen? A marker? Nyarth reads a product description that states that this straw-like item is actually supposed to help purify water. No one on the show ever says the product name out loud, but based on what happens next I'm going to go ahead and say that they're using the mizu-Q portable straw water purifier (携帯用ストロー浄水器mizu-Q).

Mizu-Q
Musashi brings out three liquids -- juice, saltwater, and tea -- and asks Mr. Konishi to taste each one of them with a regular straw first. Mr. Konishi grumbles about being used as the guinea pig as he prepares to sip on the various liquids. He tries the juice first (it's tangerine juice), then the saltwater ("It's salty!  This is really gross!") and then ends with the tea ("it's delicious").

The Rocket trio then pours all three beverages into a cup and adds the purifying agent. Kojirou, reading the instructions, reports that they have to wait two minutes and then use the straw attachment to drink the newly purified liquid. Musashi announces that the liquid is becoming clearer and is starting to look potable. As they wait, the Rocket trio and Mr. Konishi think of when an item like this would be useful. Nyarth suggests that it would be good while camping, saying it could be used to purify river water. Kojirou suggests it could be used to purify bathwater, prompting his castmates to wonder what in the world he's talking about. 

How to Use

The two minutes are now up! Nyarth decides to drink the juice, but when he puts his mouth on the straw nothing comes up! He's eventually able to suck the juice through the straw and reports that it tastes more pure while still retaining a bit of its flavor. He also adds that the straw that comes with the water purifier prevents you from just gulping down the liquid and that it is therefore perfect for when you're really thirsty.

Mr. Konishi drinks the saltwater next, and...it's still really salty! It's just as salty as it was before! Maybe they did the purification wrong? Kojirou brings out the instructions again and they decide to read the whole thing. "This product cannot be used with any water that's too toxic for fish to live in." OK, that makes sense. "This product cannot be used to desalinate ocean water or remove water hardness." So that's why the saltwater's still salty, huh? Musashi then points out something important that they missed: "When drinking river water or pool water or leftover bathwater, this AQUA...this straw purifier can be used to drink the water." Kojirou then points out that under that is some bolded text: "This product will get rid of E. coli in the water and create hygenic drinking water." So that means, Nyarth deduces, that this product is meant for water and nothing else. 

The trio concludes that they did a great job of showing you how not to use this particular product. You can use this to drink water in foreign countries known for not having the best water quality -- Musashi brings up India as an example -- or where you can't buy bottled water.

Nyarth brings the segment to a close by saying that any of you listeners out there who have any ideas of what they should try next should submit them to the show via Twitter.

Winding down...?

The instrumental version of Rocket-Dan yo Eien ni plays as Musashi looks back at the radio show they all just did. It really was a lot of fun, wasn't it? But not so fast...they have one more segment to go!

The Plan We Didn't Rehearse! Cell Phones are Useful Nya~!

In this segment, Nyarth and the others will call someone up and ask them whatever they want over the phone. Musashi wonders what'll happen if the other person just doesn't pick up, but Nyarth ignores this and starts dialing anyway. As the phone rings and rings, Musashi and Kojirou wonder who he's calling.

After what seems like an eternity, someone finally picks up -- it's the chief director of the TV series and movies, Mr. Kunihiko Yuyama! The Rocket trio introduce themselves and apologize for calling him so abruptly.

Yuyama Kunihiko

Musashi then announces that she has a question: What's in store for the Rocket-Dan? He says the trio will be brought back to life, prompting Musashi to state that they're not dead yet. When she presses him to find out what he means, he says that they'll be brought back to the way they used to be when they first debuted. Next, Kojirou announces that he has a question: What do you think about the Rocket-Dan getting less screentime lately? Mr. Yuyama responds that they did a number of tests and found that they were relying too much on the Rocket-Dan and that they wanted to do more stories with just Satoshi and his friends. Finally, Nyarth announces that he has a question: Tell us bluntly, which Rocket-Dan do you prefer? The current one or the way we were before? He replies by saying that the Rocket-Dan were serious when the series first started and that at some point they became less so. The Rocket trio laugh, saying that that isn't their fault. After a moment, Nyarth wonders if maybe they (as in the voice actors) had anything to do with that.

Next, Musashi asks what kind of operations they'll be in charge of next. He says they'll wear colorful disguises and then announces that the Rocket-Dan will no longer appear. Kojirou and Nyarth ask what he means but Musashi hurries the segment to a close before he gets a chance to answer. 

As the dial tone starts to ring, the Rocket trio wonder what he meant by "will no longer appear." Musashi recalls him saying that they'll be revived...but they won't be appearing in this year's movie? Nyarth wonders if this "revival" of theirs won't happen this year but will maybe occur next year instead. Or maybe they'll appear in the Pikachu short? And then, after being elevated to this high level -- BOOM! they're out of here...? In any case, the Rocket trio thanks Kunihiko Yuyama.

Closing Remarks

The Rocket trio encourages anyone who has a question to send them in via Twitter.

Nyarth then asks his fellow DJs what they thought of the Rocket-Dan's very first radio show. "It was perfect" says Musashi. "It was wonderful" says Kojirou. He then points to the episode's guest, Katsuyuki Konishi, and says that he was great and really helped them out. Musashi thanks him even though he brought out some Pokémon that she didn't like. She tells Mr. Konishi to come back again sometime.

Signature

The Rocket trio all sign off with an ii kanji~!




 

 

 

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