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| Season | Pokémon: Indigo League (Season 1) · Pallet Town to Cerulean City arc (EP1–EP7) |
| Episode | Season 1, episode 3 · English episode 3 · Japanese episode 3 · Bulbapedia code EP003 |
| English title | Ash Catches a Pokémon |
| Japanese title | ポケモンゲットだぜ! Pokemon Getto da ze! — “I Got a Pokémon!” |
| First aired (Japan) | 15 April 1997 · TV Tokyo |
| First aired (US) | 10 September 1998 · first-run syndication |
| Screenplay | Atsuhiro Tomioka |
| Opening / ending (Japan) | Mezase Pokémon Master (Aim to Be a Pokémon Master) – Rica Matsumoto · Hyakugojūichi (One Hundred Fifty-One) – Professor Oak & the Pokémon Kids |
| English opening | Pokémon Theme – Jason Paige |
| Who’s That Pokémon? | Caterpie (US) · Caterpie (Japan) |
| Previous episode | Pokémon Emergency! (EP002) |
| Next episode | Challenge of the Samurai (EP004) |
Plot episodeAsh catches Caterpie & PidgeottoFirst evolution
Ash Catches a Pokémon is the 3rd episode of Pokémon: Indigo League, the first season of the Pokémon anime, and the 3rd episode of the English dub overall (Japanese episode 3, Bulbapedia code EP003). It first aired in Japan on 15 April 1997 and in the United States on 10 September 1998. It falls within the season’s Pallet Town to Cerulean City stretch (EP1–EP7).
Synopsis
Ash heads into the Viridian Forest accompanied by Pikachu and Misty. It’s there that he captures his first Pokemon, a Caterpie which for some reason Misty is terrified of as it seems she has a phobia of bug type Pokemon. As they continue through Viridian Forest Ash encounters and catches a Pidgeotto and things are looking up! However what they don’t know is that Team Rocket have been following them since the Pokemon Center in Viridian City, having witnessed (and experienced first hand) the power of Pikachu’s thundershocks themselves they’re now intent on stealing Ash’s Pikachu (as in their view it seems more powerful than the average Pikachu) as a present for their boss… Team Rocket engage Ash in battle and Ash and his little team manage to fend them off, resulting in Ash’s Caterpie evolving into Metapod!
Major Events
- Ash catches Caterpie (first capture) and Pidgeotto
- Caterpie → Metapod (first evolution shown)
- First (unofficial) Trainer win. Debuts: Pidgeotto, Metapod, Beedrill
- Butterfree (fantasy). Only episode in which Ash catches two species.
Pokémon making their anime debut
Metapod#0011 · EP003
Butterfree#0012 · EP003
Beedrill#0015 · EP003
Pidgeotto#0017 · EP003
Captures and evolutions
Caterpie#0010 · Ash · first capture- Pidgeotto#0017 · Ash
- Caterpie → Metapod#0011 · Ash
Trivia
- The screenplay is by Atsuhiro Tomioka.
- This is a plot episode: it advances the Kanto storyline.
Changes in the English Dub
- Misty’s slap cut (~1 s; sound kept)
- がーん onomatopoeia replaced
- A “Heaven/Hell” line rewritten
- Ash reads the title card in Japan; Misty does in the dub
- Dub ending: the Kanto Pokérap (Wednesday segment)
Part of our Pokémon: Indigo League guide. Browse every season of the Pokémon anime.