Mild ‘n Wooly – Pokémon Season 3, Episode 23

Filler / stand-alone episodeMareep debut

Mild ‘n Wooly is the 23rd episode of Pokémon: The Johto Journeys, the third season of the Pokémon anime, and the 139th episode of the English dub overall (Japanese episode 141, Bulbapedia code EP139). It first aired in Japan on 16 March 2000 and in the United States on 17 February 2001. It falls within the season’s Between the Gyms stretch (EP135–EP140).

Synopsis · Major Events · Trivia · Dub Changes · All episodes

Synopsis

Today our heroes Ash, Misty and Brock have stopped at a beautiful spot to enjoy a brief break from their journey to the Johto League when they spot a Mareep wearing a pink ribbon which then goes on to charge at them, it seems to take a liking to Pikachu who it then proceeds to jump on, Pikachu uses an electric attack to try and escape but it just makes the Mareep even fluffier. Just then a whole gang of Mareep turn up, all attracted by Pikachu’s electric, they mob Pikachu until a little girl and her mother (Ellen) come over and use a Raichu to draw the Mareep back in.

The little girl; Mary and her mother invite Ash and friends back to their home at the Mareep ranch for dinner as an apology for the Mareep mobbing Pikachu. During the conversation at the ranch Mary begs her mother to allow her and her Mareep named Fluffy to enter the Mareep festival battles but her mother declines; stating that she’s too young. Mary is clearly an aspiring young trainer who dreams of battling Pokemon, she gets particularly excited when she hears that Ash is on his way to compete in the Johto League.

Brock volunteers himself and his friends to stay around the ranch for a couple of days and help out Mary and her mother. Team Rocket however are watching in the distance trying to work out how much money they could make if they stole all of the Mareep. Ash spots Mary and Fluffy practicing their attacks and Fluffy demonstrates a powerful electric attack on a target pole. Mary asks Ash to have a battle with her; Fluffy the Mareep vs. Pikachu. Fluffy and Mary have never battled before but they have clearly been practicing… making a very aggressive start and definitely leading against Pikachu, she would potentially have won but Fluffy used up all of it’s energy attacking. Mary learns a valuable lesson from the battle; that it’s not just about attacks, but about caring for your Pokémon and not wearing it out.

That evening Mary’s mother Ellen serves a really nice meal for Ash, Misty and Brock. She goes to look for Mary and overhears her talking to Mareep about the mistakes she made, admitting she wasn’t ready for battling yet.

Later that night a huge thunder storm moves in over the ranch. Ellen harnesses the power of the lightning storm to keep the Mareep’s fleecy coats in tip top condition. The storm comes and goes and leaves the Mareep sparkling, it’s a magical moment briefly until a net lands on the Mareep and lifts them into the air – it’s Team Rocket stealing the Mareep; they also manage to grab Pikachu with a mechanical arm. Ellen’s Raichu uses a thunderbolt, but Team Rocket have a panel fitted to the balloon that absorbs electricity and powers some decorative lighting. Raichu keeps on squeezing out more and more voltage until eventually setting the balloon alight, it crashes to the ground in flames but Raichu is completely worn out from the effort.

Ellen sends her whole herd of Mareep to attack Team Rocket, but he steps in with a double duty anti electricity panel. Fluffy then jumps in front of the rest of the herd and Mary tells her mother to get the Mareep to aim their electricity into Fluffy who then unleashes a powerful attack shocking Team Rocket, Ash frees Pikachu who also contributes his own powerful electric attacks; sending Team Rocket blasting off.

The next day Ellen hands Mary a Pokéball, and suggests that maybe she can use it in the festival battle! Ellen along with Ash and friends turn up to the stadium to watch Mary and Fluffy battle at the Mareep festival. Ash and friends continue their journey to Azalea Town and their next Johto League gym.

Major Events

• Mareep debut
• Dub calls Swift “Speed Star”

Pokémon making their anime debut

• Mareep#0179 · EP139

Trivia

• The English title plays on "wild and woolly", for Mary’s Mareep.
• The screenplay is by Shinzō Fujita.
• This is a stand-alone episode: it can be skipped without losing the thread of the Johto story.
• The Who’s That Pokémon? segment features Mareep in Japan, where it almost always matched the episode, but Scizor in the US, where 4Kids picked the Pokémon at random.

Changes in the English Dub

• Swift is called “Speed Star”.
• Pokémon Karaokémon: “Song of Jigglypuff”.

Part of our Pokémon: The Johto Journeys guide. Browse every season of the Pokémon anime.