EP013
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Mystery at the Lighthouse
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First broadcast
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English themes
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Japanese themes
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Credits
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Mystery at the Lighthouse (Japanese: マサキのとうだい Masaki's Lighthouse) is the 13th episode of the Pokémon anime. It was first broadcast in Japan on June 24, 1997, and in the United States on September 24, 1998.
Blurb
The party emerges from the forest onto a beach, where in the distance they see a lighthouse, shining at the top of a cliff. The lighthouse belongs to Bill, a Pokémon researcher who is awaiting the coming of a one-of-a-kind Pokémon, never before seen by humans. Before long, a tremendously large shadow begins to take form in the sea mists, but this possible discovery could be hindered due to the infamous Team Rocket lurking in the background cooking up another one of their schemes. Could such a legendary Pokémon truly exist?
Plot
While Ash is wandering through the forest with his friends, he begins bragging about his accomplishments, but Misty reminds him he only got his Badges out of pity and claims all of his Pokémon simply followed him, and therefore, he failed to actually catch any of them. This angers Ash, who then runs off through the forest vowing to legitimately catch a Pokémon. He finds himself on a beach and notices a small Krabby scurrying between his feet. Ash insults Krabby for its small size, and it challenges him to a battle. Not even bothering to call upon one of his Pokémon, Ash lunges at Krabby with a stick. When Krabby slices it with little effort, Ash throws a Poké Ball and catches it. When the Poké Ball is transferred to Oak's lab, Misty informs Ash that Trainers can only carry a maximum of six Pokémon with them at a time. Suddenly, Pikachu begins jumping and looking at a distant object, alerting the gang to look at a lighthouse on a cliff. Excited, they all run towards it.
By the time they arrive there, night has fallen and the long walk has made them exhausted. Ash rings the bell, only to be greeted by an eerie ringing and a mysterious voice asking them to identify themselves. After Ash and his friends explain their situation and Brock offers to cook for the lighthouse keeper, they are granted entrance. However, as the door swings open, they find there is no one to greet them. Ash asks for permission to use the lighthouse's phone, and is directed to a mysterious video phone near them. Ash calls Professor Oak to ask about his newly caught Krabby.
As he picks up, Oak is shown cooking dinner, and Ash is enraged to learn that Gary has also caught a Krabby. He becomes even more angry when he sees how large it is compared to his own. Ash is further humiliated when he finds out that Gary has already caught 45 Pokémon, dwarfing his mere seven. Oak tells them that they are calling from Bill's Lighthouse, and that he is a very knowledgeable Pokémon researcher who knows more than Oak himself. Bill overhears the conversation, and accepts Professor Oak's request to give the trio a crash course in Pokémon. The lights turn on and a giant Kabuto appears, claiming to be the keeper of the lighthouse. Meanwhile, Team Rocket has set their sights on stealing all of the rare Pokémon inside Bill's Lighthouse. They perform their motto and begin their ascent up the sea cliffs.
Ash and his friends realize that the Kabuto is actually a costume made by Bill, who has been stuck in a Pokémon suit for hours. After Ash helps Bill out of the costume, he explains that there are more than 150 known Pokémon species, but there is only one Pokémon he is searching for, which he claims is the largest Pokémon ever. He says it is unique and that no one had ever laid eyes upon it. He takes the trio up to the observation deck to overlook the ocean. He reveals that he heard a strange noise coming across the ocean from the Pokémon one night, but that it was the last time he ever heard it. As Bill is reminiscing, the same sound is suddenly heard, and a giant Dragonite appears, rising from the ocean. As it comes closer to the lighthouse, Team Rocket spots it and initially admires its beautifully haunting sound. Then, they begin launching a barrage of missiles to try to catch it. This angers Dragonite, and it smashes the top of the lighthouse and sends Team Rocket flying with its tail. Bill calls out for it, but to no avail, and the Pokémon simply walks away.
In the morning, Bill seems to be at peace despite failing to learn more about the Pokémon and is grateful that he got to see it at all. Ash and his friends make their goodbyes and set out to continue their journey.
Major events
- Ash catches a Krabby.
- Ash learns that a Trainer can only have six Pokémon on hand at once, and that his extras are automatically sent to reside at Professor Oak's Laboratory.
- Due to Ash already having six Pokémon on hand, his Krabby is sent to Professor Oak's Laboratory.
- Gary is revealed to have caught a giant Krabby and own a total of 45 Pokémon.
- Ash and his friends meet Bill.
- For a list of all major events in the anime, please see the history page.
Debuts
Humans
Pokémon debuts
Characters
Humans
Pokémon
- Pikachu (Ash's)
- Meowth (Team Rocket)
- Butterfree (Ash's)
- Pidgeotto (Ash's)
- Bulbasaur (Ash's)
- Charmander (Ash's)
- Squirtle (Ash's)
- Krabby (Ash's; new; sent to Oak's Laboratory; debut)
- Krabby (Gary's; giant)
- Dragonite (giant; debut)
Trivia
- At the beginning of the episode, several unidentified Pokémon League Badges are seen in the background.
- This marks the fourth episode in a row in which Ash catches a Pokémon. This is the most episodes in a row with Ash as a protagonist where he catches a Pokémon in each episode.
- This episode confirms that, just like the games, a Pokémon Trainer can only carry six Pokémon at a time.
- The fourth wall is broken in this episode when Ash answers the narrator's question as to what Pokémon he currently has.
- Brock mentions in this episode that Trainers can switch the Pokémon in their party by pressing a button inside their Pokédex, suggesting that additional Pokémon are kept in computer storage similar to the games. However, this rule is immediately dropped and in future episodes Ash would have to call Professor Oak in order to switch the Pokémon in his party and have the requested Pokémon sent over.
- This is the first time that Ash and one of his rivals are confirmed to have a Pokémon of the same species.
- In this episode, Bill is depicted as having green hair. This is the only time this is the case as he has brown hair in all other media.
- This episode features the first appearances of giant Pokémon: Dragonite and Gary's Krabby.
- This is the second episode after Showdown in Pewter City where Team Rocket does appear but Ash and his friends do not encounter them at all.
- Dragonite does a roar similar to Godzilla when hit by Team Rocket.
- The plot of this episode was likely based on the short story "The Fog Horn" by Ray Bradbury, which also contributed to the creation of the Godzilla franchise. In the story, a sea monster who is the only one left of its kind, hears a fog horn that sounds similar to its own voice and it is attracted to it.
- At the end of the episode, when Ash asks Bill if he thinks every species of Pokémon will be discovered, a Dragonite-shaped cloud can be seen.
- Despite Bill claiming the Dragonite present is the last of its kind, several other Dragonite appear in later seasons, but with regular size. It has been speculated that Bill refers to this Dragonite as the last of its kind not because of its species, but because of its size. The Dragonite in this episode is much larger than Dragonite seen later in the series.
- This is one of few episodes that mention people eating Pokémon, as Ash is worried that Professor Oak may be cooking his Krabby.
- This episode is the first of only three times in the anime where a Pokémon is caught during a battle with a human. The other two times would occur in A Tail with a Twist and Facing Fear with Eyes Wide Open!
Errors
- When Krabby pinches Ash's finger, it pinches his left index finger, but in the next shot, the wound appears on his right index finger.
- After Krabby's Poké Ball disappears, the white stripe on Ash’s bag turns orange.
- In Ash's flashback of the first episode, Professor Oak shouts, "Here's your Pikachu!!!!", with the elongation of the "chu" part being from Pikachu electrocuting them. However, in the actual episode, the dialogue was Ash weakly saying, "Thank you," before yelling, as well as Professor Oak screaming, "You're welcome!" when Pikachu starts electrocuting them.
- When Ash and his friends notice the lighthouse, Ash is to the right of Misty, but in the next shot, he is to the left.
- When Misty mentions that the lighthouse will probably have extra beds, her suspenders are missing, while the strap of her bag is colored red like the suspenders instead of purple.
- When Ash and his friends stop at the lighthouse, an extra footstep can be heard.
- When the lighthouse door is shown for the first time, the second column of Pokémon images from below is an indiscernable Pokémon, Moltres, Arcanine, and Scyther, followed by two more indiscernable Pokémon, but when when the whole door is shown, the arrangement is Victreebel, Golbat, Moltres, Arcanine, Clefairy and Scyther.
- Mewtwo can also be seen on the door, despite it not having been cloned yet.
- When Bill starts saying that the planet was created 4.6 billion years ago, the visor on Ash's hat is white instead of red.
- In the Brazilian Portuguese dub, Bill says the planet was created between 4 and 6 billion years ago instead of 4.6.
- When Bill shows the array of all known Pokémon, the space between Marowak, Ninetales, Exeggcute, and (possibly) Rattata is blank.
- When Team Rocket is discussing how they will break into the lighthouse, Meowth's ears turn blue.
- James's belt turns white in one scene during the motto, and shortly after, Meowth's forepaws are colored orange instead of cream.
- When Bill introduces himself, the front of Ash's hat is partially red, but this error is corrected in the same shot.
- In the same scene, Pikachu's left ear briefly overlaps Brock.
- In one scene in the "alternate dimension", Ash's gloves disappear, while his undershirt is colored white instead of black.
- In one scene, the zipper line on Ash's backpack is blue instead of black.
- In one scene, Pikachu's body appears brown, but its tail remains yellow.
- In the English dub, when Misty tells Ash that all his Pokémon followed him, she is actually incorrect. Pikachu was given to him by Professor Oak, Butterfree (caught as a Caterpie) was a lucky catch, Bulbasaur and Pidgeotto were caught in a legitimate battle, while Squirtle and Charmander were the only ones that followed him. Ash further exemplifies this error by saying, "Now I really caught one," after catching Krabby. In the original version, Misty only questions if how he got those Pokémon should be counted as "caught" or not, with Ash stating that it's close enough.
- In the Taiwanese dub, Kabuto is incorrectly referred to as Kabutops.
The door to the lighthouse
Misty's missing suspenders and miscolored bag
Meowth's miscolored forepaw
Dub edits
- Kanto Pokérap: Day 3
- The speaker conversation between Brock and Bill is different between the two versions: in the original version, Brock asks if he can use his kitchen so he can make delicious tamago chaahan and nabe. Bill asks if he can also make yakisoba as well, which Brock responds that he can make that as well as katayaki, chow mein, sauce yakisoba, or anything else Bill might like, to which Bill responds he'd like katayaki, and lets them in. In the dubbed version, Brock asks him if he can use his kitchen to make bacon double cheeseburgers for his group. Bill asks if he can make anything without tofu, to which Brock responds he can. Bill gladly agrees to let them in since he hadn't eaten anything but tofu since his cook left for vacation.
- In the original version, Misty identifies the phone as resembling a Bellsprout; in the dubbed version, she simply points out it's a videophone. Also, Ash called Oak directly by his phone number in the Japanese version. In the dubbed version, he calls him via collect.
- In the original version, Professor Oak says that Ash caught him in the middle of cooking Nabe, while in the dubbed version, he mentions that he is making tofu to make the time while his cook is on vacation.
- Also, the dubbed version implies that Bill and Oak dislike eating tofu. In the original version, they imply that they enjoy eating tofu.
- In the English dub, Professor Oak says that the tofu is done when talking to Ash. In the Brazilian Portuguese dub, he says that the tofu has burned.
In other languages
| Language | Title | |
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 Arabic
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لغز في المناره | |
| Chinese | Cantonese | 正輝的燈塔 |
| Mandarin | 正輝的燈塔 / 正辉的灯塔 | |
 Czech
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Tajemný maják | |
 Danish
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Mysteriet Ved Fyrtårnet | |
 Dutch
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Mysterie in de Vuurtoren | |
 Finnish
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Majakan mysteeri * Majakan arvoitus * | |
| French |  Canada
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Le mystère du phare |
 Europe
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Le mystère du phare | |
 German
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Der geheimnisvolle Leuchtturm | |
 Greek
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Μυστήριο στο Φάρο | |
 Hebrew
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מיסתורי המגדלור | |
 Hindi
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लाइटहाउस का राज़! * सबसे बड़े पोकेमोन का रहस्य! * | |
 Hungarian
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A világítótorony rejtélye | |
 Italian
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Il mistero del faro * Mistero al faro * | |
 Korean
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기다려! 환상의 포켓몬 | |
 Norwegian
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Mysteriet i fyrtårnet | |
 Polish
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Tajemnica morskiej latarni | |
| Portuguese |  Brazil
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Mistério no Farol |
 Portugal
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Mistério no Farol | |
 Romanian
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Mister la Far | |
 Russian
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Тайна маяка | |
 Serbian
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Тајна светионика | |
| Spanish |  Latin America
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¡El Misterio del Faro! |
 Spain
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Misterio en el faro | |
 Swedish
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Mysteriet vid Fyren * Mysteriet vid fyrtornet * | |
 Turkish
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Fenerdeki Gizem * Deniz Fenerindeki Gizem * | |
 Ukrainian
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Таємниця Маяка | |
 Vietnamese
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Ngọn hải đăng của Masaki | |
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This episode article is part of Project Anime, a Bulbapedia project that covers all aspects of the Pokémon anime. |
