Get Your Rotom Running! – Pokémon Season 12, Episode 1

Filler / stand-alone episodeDub season premiereRotom in all its forms

Get Your Rotom Running! is the 1st episode of Pokémon DP: Galactic Battles, the twelfth season of the Pokémon anime, and the 568th episode of the English dub overall (Japanese episode 572, Bulbapedia code DP105). It first aired in Japan on 4 December 2008 and in the United States on 9 May 2009. It falls within the season’s Canalave & the Mine Badge stretch (EP105–EP109).

Premiered on Cartoon Network on Saturday 9 May 2009, a week after the Battle Dimension finale, with the new opening Battle Cry – (Stand Up!); it fell inside the North American Wi-Fi distribution of the Secret Key that unlocks Rotom’s forms in Platinum (20 April – 12 May 2009).

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

Synopsis

Waiting in Canalave City for Gym Leader Byron, Ash, Dawn and Brock visit the Old Chateau for its famous Old Gateau, only to find the storm-darkened mansion haunted by a mischievous Rotom. Following a tip from Professor Oak, they arrive to learn that the power is out and the building is rumoured to be haunted, while Team Rocket have already sneaked in after the cake.

Pikachu restores the generator with Thunderbolt, and Brock sets to work baking. One appliance after another comes to life: a lawn mower chases Ash and Chimchar, a fan blows Dawn’s Pokémon outside, a washing machine fires Hydro Pump, a fridge unleashes Blizzard and a microwave uses Overheat, while Team Rocket’s hidden snacks vanish and they end up locked in a storeroom.

Pikachu’s Thunderbolt and Piplup’s Bubble Beam finally force Rotom out into its true form, and Pachirisu’s Discharge helps drive it off, though its parting shock leaves everyone with frizzy hair before it disappears into a lamppost. Team Rocket open the Chateau’s display case only to find wax replicas, while the friends enjoy the real Old Gateau at sunset.

Major Events

• Dub season premiere, with the new English opening Battle Cry – (Stand Up!) and the first dub title cards written entirely in capitals
• A Rotom possesses a microwave, a fridge, a washing machine, a fan and a lawn mower as Heat, Frost, Wash, Fan and Mow Rotom
• Pikachu restores the power and Brock bakes the Old Gateau
• Team Rocket find only wax replicas and never meet the group
• The only episode in which Dawn’s Mamoswine appears solely as a Piloswine
• Rotom’s TV debut, in all its forms

Pokémon making their anime debut

• Rotom#0479 · DP105

Trivia

• The English title plays on “Get your motor runnin’”, the opening line of Steppenwolf’s “Born to Be Wild”, for a Rotom that brings motors to life.
• The screenplay is by Shōji Yonemura.
• This is a stand-alone episode: it can be skipped without losing the thread of the Sinnoh story.

Changes in the English Dub

• The dub’s title cards are written entirely in capitals for the first time
• Team Rocket’s stolen biscuit, rice cracker and chocolate become a chocolate bar, a candy bar and a cookie
• James’s and Meowth’s lines about the wax replicas are swapped
• Team Rocket recite a blasting-off rhyme instead of their Japanese catchphrase
• Pokémon.com’s summary credits Professor Rowan with Professor Oak’s tip
• New English opening Battle Cry – (Stand Up!) (Erin Bowman), Version 1
• Music from Pikachu’s Vacation

Part of our Pokémon DP: Galactic Battles guide. Browse every season of the Pokémon anime.