Sweet Baby James – Pokémon Season 9, Episode 2

Plot episodeJames leaves ChimechoJames catches Mime Jr.

Sweet Baby James is the 2nd episode of Pokémon: Battle Frontier, the ninth season of the Pokémon anime, and the 419th episode of the English dub overall (Japanese episode 423, Bulbapedia code AG147). It first aired in Japan on 13 October 2005 and in the United States on 9 September 2006. It falls within the season’s New voices, new Symbols: the Arena & the Dome stretch (EP146–EP153).

Aired the next morning, Saturday 9 September 2006, in Cartoon Network’s Saturday-morning line-up, where the season usually ran two episodes a week until late November.

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

Synopsis

On the road to the Battle Arena, May’s Munchlax suddenly loses its appetite and comes down with a fever. At the same time James’s Chimecho falls ill, too weak even to use Heal Bell, and James carries it off in search of help. Instead of a Pokémon Center he finds a castle: his family’s summer home, kept by the elderly couple Nanny and Pop-Pop, who raised him and welcome him back with open arms. The old pair assume Jessie is his wife, so James hastily introduces her as his executive secretary and Meowth as his manager, then begs them both to keep his Team Rocket career secret. When Pop-Pop asks about the R on his uniform, Jessie claims it stands for royalty and romance. James is relieved to hear his parents are away travelling the world. Then Ash’s group arrives, having been offered help for Munchlax by the same couple and their Mime Jr., and James pulls them aside to propose a truce: no trouble from Team Rocket, provided Nanny and Pop-Pop never learn the truth.

The visit is anything but peaceful. Jessie and Meowth raid the refrigerator, and Jessie tries to smuggle an Oddish out of the greenhouse inside her shirt, forcing James to cover for them and set the Pokémon free. That night, while James sits up with Chimecho and enjoys Mime Jr.’s company, his partners sneak off with Mime Jr. and Munchlax and head for the greenhouse to steal more Pokémon. Ash spots their light, but this time it is James who turns on his own team, cutting their motto short. When the sack bursts and the Pokémon scatter, Mime Jr. runs straight to James. Jessie sends out Seviper against Ash’s Phanpy, and James sides with the heroes, ordering Cacnea to attack Seviper with Sandstorm and Needle Arm. A combined Hidden Power and Pin Missile blasts Jessie and Meowth away while James stays behind.

When Nanny and Pop-Pop come running, James insists everyone was just playing, and Jessie and Meowth drop through the ceiling pretending nothing happened. Next morning Munchlax is well again and May thanks the couple, but Chimecho is still far too sick to travel. James realises he has to leave it behind, and Chimecho nods to tell him it will be fine. As he hands over its Poké Ball, Mime Jr. hops into an empty ball and is caught, choosing James as its new Trainer. James finally confesses to Nanny and Pop-Pop that he is a member of Team Rocket, and they accept that he is still the kind boy they raised. As the balloon lifts off, James sees Chimecho sitting up and smiling at the window, and he waves goodbye through his tears.

Major Events

• James leaves Chimecho with Nanny and Pop-Pop. James’s family summer home and a truce with Team Rocket
• James catches Mime Jr., which hops into an empty Poké Ball
• James confesses to Nanny and Pop-Pop that he is in Team Rocket

Pokémon making their anime debut

• Mime Jr.#0439 · AG147

Captures and evolutions

• Mime Jr.#0439 · James · it hops into an empty Poké Ball

Trivia

• The English title plays on the James Taylor song "Sweet Baby James".
• The screenplay is by Yukiyoshi Ōhashi.
• This is a plot episode: it advances the Kanto storyline.

Changes in the English Dub

• James calls Chimecho “Chime”
• Nanny and Pop-Pop become James’s grandparents (in Japanese, his caretakers)
• Smile at Chimecho’s farewell replaced by the dub song “Best Friends”

Part of our Pokémon: Battle Frontier guide. Browse every season of the Pokémon anime.