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| Season | Pokémon: Indigo League (Season 1) · The St. Anne & Porta Vista arc (EP15–EP19) |
| Episode | Season 1, episode 16 · English episode 16 · Japanese episode 16 · Bulbapedia code EP016 |
| English title | Pokémon Shipwreck |
| Japanese title | ポケモンひょうりゅうき Pokemon Hyōryūki — “Pokémon Adrift” |
| First aired (Japan) | 15 July 1997 · TV Tokyo |
| First aired (US) | 29 September 1998 · first-run syndication |
| Screenplay | Junki Takegami |
| 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? | Magikarp (US) · Magikarp (Japan) |
| Previous episode | Battle Aboard the St. Anne (EP015) |
| Next episode | Island of the Giant Pokémon (EP017) |
Plot episodeMagikarp evolves into Gyarados
Pokémon Shipwreck is the 16th episode of Pokémon: Indigo League, the first season of the Pokémon anime, and the 16th episode of the English dub overall (Japanese episode 16, Bulbapedia code EP016). It first aired in Japan on 15 July 1997 and in the United States on 29 September 1998. It falls within the season’s The St. Anne & Porta Vista stretch (EP15–EP19).
Synopsis
The episode opens with officer Jenny laying flowers at sea for Ash, Misty, Brock, Jessie & James suspecting they are now dead. Meanwhile our heroes and Team Rocket wake up, with Ash witnessing fish swimming outside the windows and quickly using his powers of deduction to realise that the ship has sunk.
Jessie in all her knowledge meanwhile commands Ekans to use his acid to make a hole in the ship so that they can escape, this resulting in the ship taking on water even quicker and them getting trapped in a corridor, drowning. Misty sends Goldeen to try and find a way out, but Goldeen finds Team Rocket and rescues them.Team Rocket attack, Ash and Brock get their Pokemon out to engage them but this inbalances the ship which is resting ominously on a narrow rock, above a huge chasm. Everyone decides that not dying is more important than the battle they were about to have and withdraws their Pokemon. Team Rocket and our heroes agree a temporary truce in order to escape together. Misty, who is relying on the knowledge of the model SS. Anne she had as a kid manages to guide everyone to the Engine room, where the hull is the thinnest, providing the best chance of escape. With the help of Onix, Bulbasaur and Charmander along the way they make it there (just about!) and Charmander burns a hole in the hull. Everyone ties themselvevs to a water Pokemon and makes their escape… errr except Team Rocket who don’t have any and are left behind. When James who is laughing maniacally reveals his secret weapon and method of escape; the Magikarp he bought. His plan unfortunately didn’t go too well, with Magikarp completely unable to help them. The St. Anne then takes on more water and sinks deeper still. Ash, Misty and Brock are sat on a raft wondering where Team Rocket are, Ash sends Pidgeotto to scout and find out which direction has the nearest land, he finds Jessie, James and Meowth (and Magikarp) floating in the sea. Just as they are about to give Team Rocket a traditional sea burial it turns out they’re actually still alive. Both groups spend the night on a raft adrift at sea, with hunger starting to set in. Crazed with hunger Meowth tries to take a bite out of Magikarp and promptly breaks his teeth. James, angry that his Magikarp is good for nothing, not even eating kicks Magikarp off the raft, prompting it to evolve into a Gyarados, a very angry Gyarados based on the way he treated it.
The group tries to escape with Gyarados hot on their heels, with three of Misty’s best water Pokemon pulling the raft and everyones combined rowing effort. Sadly to no avail, as Gyarados summons numerous other Gyarados and hits the group with a Dragon rage attack, throwing everyone violently into the distance.
Major Events
- Escape from the sunken St. Anne — first Ash/Team Rocket cooperation
- James’s Magikarp → Gyarados (Dragon Rage) and abandons him. Debut: Gyarados (James’s
- Species debuted EP001). First dub episode after the US *Red/Blue* launch.
Captures and evolutions
Magikarp → Gyarados#0130 · James
Trivia
- The screenplay is by Junki Takegami.
- This is a plot episode: it advances the Kanto storyline.
Changes in the English Dub
- 船底/甲板 erased from the blueprint
- +1 s TBC
- Koi dishes become carp dishes
- Noah’s dove becomes “a bird”
- Dub ending: the Kanto Pokérap (Monday segment)
Part of our Pokémon: Indigo League guide. Browse every season of the Pokémon anime.