EP002

Pokémon Emergency! (Japanese: たいけつ！ポケモンセンター！ Showdown! Pokémon Center!) is the second episode of the Pokémon anime. It was first broadcast in Japan on April 8, 1997 and in the United States on September 9, 1998.

Synopsis
After its battle with the, is badly injured. is on his way to the Viridian City Pokémon Center, having been told by that he can take Pikachu here to be healed. As he enters the town, Ash is stopped by Officer Jenny, who finds it suspicious that he is carrying Pikachu in his arms and not in a. Ash is unsure how to prove his identity, but Officer Jenny sees his Pokédex, which it turns out also acts as his ID. Jenny drives Ash to the Pokémon Center on her motorbike, leaving behind Misty, who had just arrived carrying the scorched remains of her bicycle. Angrily, she runs after the motorbike.

A wanted poster is revealed, showing the pictures of two "Most Wanted Criminals", Jessie and James of. A grappling hook reaches down and pulls the poster up into Team Rocket's Meowth-shaped hot air balloon, which is floating overhead. The two troublemakers swear revenge on Viridian for using such horrible pictures of them, while their ally  urges them to focus on their mission of stealing rare Pokémon.

Meanwhile, Ash arrives at the Pokémon Center. The Pokémon Center's Nurse Joy takes Pikachu away on a stretcher, scolding Ash for allowing it to have become so badly hurt. Ash feels crestfallen, and decides to call home. His mother tries to encourage him, but he still feels downtrodden. He is then called by, who is surprised that he has reached Viridian so soon. Ash tells him about (in the previous episode). Oak doesn't believe him, saying that many Trainers have never seen that Pokémon even after searching their entire lives. Oak wishes Ash good luck, and hangs up.

At that moment, Misty enters the Pokémon Center with her destroyed bike, angry because it was Ash's Pikachu that destroyed it. Ash explains that Pikachu was injured badly, and Misty forgets about the bike, instead inquiring after Pikachu's recovery. Just as Nurse Joy brings Pikachu in, an alarm goes off, warning of the approach of Team Rocket's balloon.

Team Rocket launch an attack on the Pokémon Center, intent on stealing the Pokémon inside. Their Poké Balls smash through the glass roof, releasing an Ekans and a Koffing. Koffing, under the cover of which Jessie and James enter the Pokémon Centre and begin to recite their motto. Nurse Joy begins transferring Pokémon to the safety of the Pewter City Pokémon Center to protect them from Team Rocket's clutches. Meanwhile, Ash and Misty attempt to fight off Team Rocket. At Misty's urging, Ash releases a and a  from Poké Balls that have been knocked to the floor, but they are easily defeated by Jessie's Ekans. Misty sends out a, but it flops around uselessly due to the lack of water.

Ash flees, pushing Pikachu's stretcher, but it runs into a thick cord and overturns. Pikachu is catapulted into the air and lands among a group of other Pikachu that power the Center's backup generator. Powered by Ash riding quickly on Misty's burnt bicycle, Ash's Pikachu hits Team Rocket with a powerful. As Team Rocket takes the electricity, Koffing expels a large amount of poisonous gas in pain. The gas reacts to the electricity, and the result is a colossal explosion which destroys much of the Pokémon Centre.

Officer Jenny arrives too late to do anything but watch the explosion. Meanwhile, Team Rocket manage to grab onto a rope hanging from their balloon. They decide that Ash's Pikachu would make a great gift for their and agree to steal it when the chance comes. At that moment, a piece of debris punctures the balloon, and it flies away out of control.

The next day, Ash leaves Viridian City and heads for Viridian Forest, with Pikachu and Misty in tow. The episode ends with Ash spotting a wild, and throwing a Poké Ball in the hope of capturing it.

Major events

 * visits a Pokémon Center and meets a Nurse Joy and an Officer Jenny for the first time.
 * Ash meets Jessie and James, two members of the villainous Team Rocket along with their partner, a.
 * Misty introduces herself and declares that she will follow Ash until he repays the damages to her bike.
 * Team Rocket also decides to follow Ash and steal his.
 * Ash prepares to catch a Caterpie.

Humans

 * Jessie
 * James
 * Officer Jenny
 * Nurse Joy
 * Nurse Joy

Humans

 * Nurse Joy
 * Officer Jenny
 * Jessie
 * James
 * Jessie
 * James

Pokémon
Who's That Pokémon?:


 * (debut)
 * (debut)
 * (debut)
 * (debut)
 * (debut)
 * (Pokémon Center's; multiple)
 * (unnamed 's)
 * (unnamed 's)
 * (flashback)
 * (debut)
 * (flashback)
 * (computer animation)
 * (computer animation)

Trivia

 * This is currently the only episode in which any of Ash's male relatives are mentioned. Delia mentions that it took his father four days to reach Viridian City from Pallet Town and that is the 'apple' of his eye. Ash's grandfather is also mentioned by her in the Japanese version.
 * On the wall at the Pokémon Center, the engravings are of, , , and . Ash misidentifies the he saw in the previous episode as Articuno.
 * The in the clock is green, instead of its normal color. Though some may consider this to be alternate coloration, this is not how the "Shiny" Pidgey appears in the .  This could just be a coloring error, considering this, after all, was only the second episode of the series just like how there was a green Poké Ball in the very first episode.
 * This is the second appearance of a clock with a Pidgey Cuckoo. The first was inside a Voltorb clock Ash had in the previous episode.
 * The events of this episode are referenced in Two Degrees of Separation! by Team Rocket, who tell that they have been chasing  for as long as she'd been alive. Coincidentally, that episode aired in late September in Japan and late April in the US, while this episode aired in early September in the US and early April in Japan.
 * The book I Choose You! is based on this episode.
 * This episode was modified after the EP038 seizure incident. Originally, the scene where Pikachu uses ThunderShock on Team Rocket was a sequence of rapidly flashing images of each Team Rocket member. This was changed to a four-square grid to reduce the flashing effect. This change affected all home releases and re-broadcasts in Japan, and all international versions of the episode.



Errors

 * Just before Team Rocket throw their Poké Balls at the Center from their balloon, Jessie has no lipstick for a split second. Jessie also has no lipstick when their wanted poster is first shown.
 * The first two times James is shown in the doorway of the Poké Ball room he isn't wearing a left glove.
 * is not a legendary Pokémon; however, it was shown on the wall with the legendary birds. This is likely due to Arcanine's, which classifies it as a "Legendary Pokémon" (like Pikachu is a "Mouse Pokémon").
 * On the wanted poster, James is shown holding a lilac rose, although normally he holds a red rose.
 * When Ash is laying Pikachu down on the bed in the Pokémon Center, Pikachu's tail is shown purely yellow, without the brown start.
 * When Misty is looking at the Pikachu, one of her bags is missing.
 * When Ash sends out the Pidgey from its Poké Ball, its eyes are yellow.

Dub edits

 * While the recap uses the same dialog in the Japanese version, for some reason the dub changes Ash's introductory line:
 * Original: "And I hereby declare to the Pokémon of the world...I will be a Pokémon master...Pokémon Master! That is what I'll..."
 * Flashback: "That's right. I declare to the Pokémon of the world...I will be the greatest Pokémon Trainer...the greatest Pokémon master...of all time."
 * In the Japanese version, Delia says that Ash's grandfather would be proud of him as well as his father.
 * Professor Oak abruptly ending his telephone conversation with Ash is different in both versions: in the English version, Oak says that his pizza just arrived, while in the Japanese version, Oak realizes that he is in the middle of cooking ramen.
 * On that same note, the English version included a doorbell sound-effect that wasn't present in the original version.
 * Misty introduces herself to Ash, Team Rocket, and the audience during the Pokémon Center battle in the Japanese version, while Nurse Joy reveals Misty's name to the audience at the end of the English version.
 * In the Japanese version, Ash's mom says that a brown hen lays white eggs and a Spearow lays Pidgey eggs. Coincidentally, both can breed with each other.