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| Season | Pokémon: Johto League Champions (Season 4) · A new look in Japan: Wobbuffet, sumo & Crobat arc (EP192–EP196) |
| Episode | Season 4, episode 39 · English episode 196 · Japanese episode 198 · Bulbapedia code EP196 |
| English title | Control Freak! |
| Japanese title | ゴルバットVSかめんのじょおうムサシ! いせきのたたかい!! Gorubatto Tai Kamen no Joō Musashi! Iseki no Tatakai!! — “Golbat vs. the Masked Queen Musashi! The Ruins Battle!!” |
| First aired (Japan) | 3 May 2001 · TV Tokyo |
| First aired (US) | 30 March 2002 · Kids’ WB |
| Screenplay | Junki Takegami |
| Opening / ending (Japan) | Mezase Pokémon Master (Whiteberry version) – Whiteberry · Maemuki Rocket-dan! (Face Forward Team Rocket!) – Team Rocket |
| English opening | Born to Be a Winner – David Rolfe |
| Who’s That Pokémon? | Miltank (US) · Golbat (Japan) |
| Previous episode | The Poké-Spokesman (EP195) |
| Next episode | The Art of Pokémon (EP197) |
Plot episodeGolbat evolves into Crobat
Control Freak! is the 39th episode of Pokémon: Johto League Champions, the fourth season of the Pokémon anime, and the 196th episode of the English dub overall (Japanese episode 198, Bulbapedia code EP196). It first aired in Japan on 3 May 2001 and in the United States on 30 March 2002. It falls within the season’s A new look in Japan: Wobbuffet, sumo & Crobat stretch (EP192–EP196).
Synopsis
Jessie seizes an ancient mask and staff that let her command any Pokémon, and Brock’s Golbat evolves into Crobat to stop her. Golbat’s twitching ears lead the gang to an archaeologist, Tierra, knocked out at her wrecked dig; she is seeking a buried temple whose queen once controlled Pokémon with golden regalia. Brock repairs her laptop, Golbat’s Supersonic pinpoints the temple and Geodude Digs down to it.
Team Rocket’s Dig-a-Tron gets there first. Jessie dons the mask, proclaims herself Queen of All Pokémon, sets Victreebel on James and has Meowth dancing, then turns Pikachu’s Thunderbolt on Ash. Geodude, Onix and Golbat all fall under her spell until Golbat shakes it off and jams the staff with Supersonic; Onix is ordered to haul the drill out, smashing the temple to rubble as it goes.
On the surface the control flickers on and off as Jessie crosses a boundary marking, since the regalia only work within the queen’s old village. The trio flee in their rocket-converted drill, too fast for Noctowl or Golbat, until Brock’s encouragement triggers Golbat’s evolution into four-winged Crobat, which catches the machine and shreds it with Wing Attack. Crobat blocks Jessie from the fallen mask and Pikachu’s Thunderbolt does the rest. Tierra keeps the relics for study, and Brock’s declaration of love earns the usual ear-pull from Misty.
Major Events
- Brock’s Golbat evolves into Crobat (debut)
- Geodude reveals Dig
- Jessie wears the golden mask
Pokémon making their anime debut
Crobat#0169 · EP196
Captures and evolutions
- Golbat → Crobat#0169 · Brock
Trivia
- The English title plays on the phrase "control freak".
- The screenplay is by Junki Takegami.
- This is a plot episode: it advances the Johto storyline.
- The Who’s That Pokémon? segment features Golbat in Japan, where it almost always matched the episode, but Miltank in the US, where 4Kids picked the Pokémon at random.
Changes in the English Dub
- Team Rocket get a new motto variation written for the dub.
- Nearly all of the music is replaced with older Kanto-era cues.
Part of our Pokémon: Johto League Champions guide. Browse every season of the Pokémon anime.