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| Season | Pokémon: Diamond and Pearl (Season 10) · The road to Hearthome: Happiny, Cynthia & Gary arc (DP038–DP047) |
| Episode | Season 10, episode 39 · English episode 503 · Japanese episode 506 · Bulbapedia code DP039 |
| English title | Steamboat Willies! |
| Japanese title | ピカチュウのおるすばん！ Pikachū no Orusuban! — “Pikachu’s Caretaking!” |
| First aired (Japan) | 5 July 2007 · TV Tokyo |
| First aired (US) | 1 December 2007 · Cartoon Network |
| Screenplay | Aya Matsui |
| Opening / ending (Japan) | Together – Fumie Akiyoshi · Kimi no Soba de ~Hikari no Tēma~ (By Your Side ~Hikari’s Theme~), Pop-Up Version – Grin |
| English opening | Diamond and Pearl – Chris “Breeze” Barczynski |
| Previous episode | One Big Happiny Family! (DP038) |
| Next episode | Top-Down Training! (DP040) |
Filler / stand-alone episodeThe Pokémon on their ownA runaway steamboat
Steamboat Willies! is the 39th episode of Pokémon: Diamond and Pearl, the tenth season of the Pokémon anime, and the 503rd episode of the English dub overall (Japanese episode 506, Bulbapedia code DP039). It first aired in Japan on 5 July 2007 and in the United States on 1 December 2007. It falls within the season’s The road to Hearthome: Happiny, Cynthia & Gary stretch (EP38–EP47).
Synopsis
From a cliff above a broad river, the friends spot their ride to Hearthome City: a steamboat shaped like a Wailord, watched over by an elderly man dozing in a chair on the dock. They explore its dining room and bandstand and let their Pokémon play on the sun deck, and when the old man wakes and tells them the boat leaves at noon, Ash, Dawn and Brock dash off to a nearby store, leaving Pikachu and Piplup in charge and the old man to keep an eye on things. Team Rocket spot the unattended Pokémon from their balloon. Aboard, the Pokémon form a band, with Sudowoodo pounding the piano, Pikachu on bass, Buizel on saxophone and Turtwig on drums, while Aipom, Buneary and Happiny try on dresses in a costume room and Croagunk stares at itself in a mirror.
Pachirisu ties a bunch of balloons around its waist and floats off through the kitchen to the bridge, where a popping balloon startles it into a shock that starts the engine, and the steamboat pulls away while the old man sleeps. Team Rocket take the stage in disguise, with James as a Plusle and Meowth as a Minun, and lure the Pokémon through a door marked “Welcome” that locks behind them. When Pachirisu wakes up and falls onto the wheel, the boat swerves, the key skids away from James, and the Pokémon break out to blast Team Rocket through the ceiling with Swift, Sonic Boom, Bubble Beam and Thunderbolt. On the shore, the old man wakes to find the boat gone, and he lends the returning Ash and Dawn his Mantine to chase it.
The runaway steamboat is heading for a huge waterfall. Pikachu and Piplup organise the Pokémon, putting Pachirisu and Happiny on Staravia and lining up the others on the rail, while Pikachu drags the mesmerised Croagunk away from its mirror. Mantine leaps aboard, Ash takes the wheel and Dawn has Piplup spin up a Whirlpool, and together they swing the boat around; when the current starts to pull it back, Buneary freezes the whirlpool solid with Ice Beam. Pikachu, Turtwig and Buizel shatter a rock pillar ahead, and Mantine smashes the last falling chunk to pieces just in time. Back at the harbour, the old man apologises and praises Pikachu and Piplup for their quick thinking, and the friends thank him for the loan of Mantine and finally sail for Hearthome City.
Major Events
- The Pokémon have to steer the boat on their own
- The last Japanese episode before the tenth movie opened
Trivia
- The English title plays on “Mickey Mouse’s Steamboat Willie”.
- The screenplay is by Aya Matsui.
- This is a stand-alone episode: it can be skipped without losing the thread of the Sinnoh story.
Changes in the English Dub
- Happiny added to Together and replaces the Egg in the ending
- The “Summer Vacation Fan Club” song
Part of our Pokémon: Diamond and Pearl guide. Browse every season of the Pokémon anime.