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| Season | Pokémon: The Johto Journeys (Season 3) · Violet City: the Zephyr Badge arc (EP130–EP131) |
| Episode | Season 3, episode 15 · English episode 131 · Japanese episode 133 · Bulbapedia code EP131 |
| English title | Fighting Flyer with Fire |
| Japanese title | キキョウジム! おおぞらのたたかい!! Kikyō Jimu! Ōzora no Tatakai!! — “Kikyou Gym! Sky Battle!!” |
| First aired (Japan) | 20 January 2000 · TV Tokyo |
| First aired (US) | 16 December 2000 · Kids’ WB |
| Screenplay | Shōji Yonemura |
| Opening / ending (Japan) | OK! – Rica Matsumoto · Nyarth no Pāti (Meowth’s Party) – Meowth, Jessie & James |
| English opening | Pokémon Johto – PJ Lequerica |
| Who’s That Pokémon? | Marill (US) · Pidgeot (Japan) |
| Previous episode | A Bout with Sprout (EP130) |
| Next episode | For Crying Out Loud (EP132) |
Plot episodeZephyr BadgeFalkner debuts
Fighting Flyer with Fire is the 15th episode of Pokémon: The Johto Journeys, the third season of the Pokémon anime, and the 131st episode of the English dub overall (Japanese episode 133, Bulbapedia code EP131). It first aired in Japan on 20 January 2000 and in the United States on 16 December 2000. It falls within the season’s Violet City: the Zephyr Badge stretch (EP130–EP131).
Synopsis
Ash and friends have finally made it to Violet City and Ash is excited to challenge for his first Johto League gym badge. Just as he is about to enter the gym a couple of suspicious looking characters from the Pokémon Bureau appear to inspect Ash’s Pikachu, it is infact Team Rocket in disguise and they begin making their escape on their balloon.
Ash sends out Heracross to stop them but Team Rocket planned ahead, and threw some sap on the ground, Heracross prioritised eating over saving his comrade and it looked as though Team Rocket were going to escape; however a guy on a hang glider with a Hoot Hoot arrived, sent the Hoot Hoot to steal Pikachu and began his descent toward Ash & Co, but Team Rocket weren’t finished and shot his hang glider with Arbok’s poison stings sending him hurtling toward the ground. The guy with the hang glider then sent out his Pidgeot and rode on its back to tear Team Rocket’s balloon, sending them blasting off.
The guy then landed next to Ash and gang, returned Pikachu and told the group why he loved flying type Pokémon so much, Ash reminisces and tells him about his own Pidgeot. It’s then that the guy introduces himself as Falkner; the Violet City gym leader and they go inside (infact, to it’s rooftop) for a match.
A three versus three match begins with Falkner sending out Hoot Hoot as his first, Ash responds by sending out Chikorita in an unexpected move and despite putting up a good effort Chikorita is defeated. Ash sends Pikachu to face Falkner’s Hoot Hoot next and Pikachu wins convincingly, Falkner sends out his Dodrio next who is apparently undefeated by challengers. Falkner makes the shocking revelation that his Dodrio can actually fly (it can jump very high moreso) and the battle commences; Dodrio matches Pikachu for agility and looks to be winning the match until Pikachu manages to land a Thunder attack, winning the battle for Ash. It was always quite obvious what Falkner’s third Pokémon would be; he sends out his Pidgeot as expected and Pikachu is pretty tired but still wants to fight, seconds later Pikachu is defeated.
Ash sends out his final Pokemon to face Pidgeot; it’s Charizard. An impressive aerial battle ensues with Pidgeot gaining the advantage, it seems that one of Charizard’s wings is injured and Pidgeot presses the advantage. Charizard finds the strength to fly, but Pidgeot is superior and runs rings around it with his agility, but Ash recognises the patterns of the agility enabling Charizard to hit with a fire spin before grabbing it and defeating it with a Seismic toss, winning the match for Ash.
Falkner congratulates Ash on his victory and awards him the Zephyr badge. Our heroes continue on to the next gym and the next adventure.
Major Events
- Zephyr Badge (Falkner debuts)
- Only Gym Leader using none of his game team
- Dub’s only spoken “Fly” command
- Banned in South Korea
Trivia
- The English title plays on "fighting fire with fire" — Charizard against Falkner’s Flying-types (the form was reused for DP085 and DP163).
- The screenplay is by Shōji Yonemura.
- This is a plot episode: it advances the Johto storyline.
- The Who’s That Pokémon? segment features Pidgeot in Japan, where it almost always matched the episode, but Marill in the US, where 4Kids picked the Pokémon at random.
Changes in the English Dub
- Pokémon Karaokémon: “Two Perfect Girls” (Eric Stuart as Brock).
Part of our Pokémon: The Johto Journeys guide. Browse every season of the Pokémon anime.