EP119 : A Sappy Ending
Original series
EP121 : Illusion Confusion!
Roll On, Pokémon!
EP120.png
  EP120  
ドンファンのたに!
The Valley of Donfan!
First broadcast
Japan November 4, 1999
United States November 4, 2000
English themes
Opening Pokémon Johto
Ending
Japanese themes
Opening OK!
Ending ニャースのパーティ
Credits
Animation Team Ota
Screenplay 大橋志吉 Yukiyoshi Ōhashi
Storyboard 鈴木敏明 Toshiaki Suzuki
Assistant director 鈴木敏明 Toshiaki Suzuki
Animation director 志村泉 Izumi Shimura
Additional credits

Roll On, Pokémon! (Japanese: ドンファンのたに! The Valley of Donfan!) is the 120th episode of the Pokémon anime. It was first broadcast in Japan on November 4, 1999 and in the United States on November 4, 2000.

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Spoiler warning: this article may contain major plot or ending details.
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Synopsis

The episode starts with Ash, Misty and Brock walking through the forest, and, according to the narrator, still heading for Violet City. They come across a beautiful looking valley, which they will have to pass through in order to continue on their way. Ash is proclaiming his eagerness to continue, when the ground starts shaking and some large rocks fall the cliff above. On the ledge on the same cliff sit Jessie, James and Meowth, who are looking very relived at how the rocks missed them. Just as Meowth cracks another awful pun, there is more shaking and the section of rock they are sitting on falls away beneath them. They fall into some trees below and get tangled up into a load of vines. At this point the title screen cuts in.

Ash and Misty and Brock are walking along a road, when they notice a shaking bush, which is concealing a Donphan behind it. Ash is just about to capture it when Brock stops him, saying that because its tusks are so short, it must be very young, and that he should catch it because it needs a good Pokémon breeder. Ash and Brock then start arguing over who would be the best Trainer for it, when Misty cuts in to tell them that the Donphan is walking away. At this, Brock calls out his Onix. The Donphan turns around and looks surprised. Brock tells Onix to use Tackle. Onix throws Donphan back, but Donphan recovers by rolling into a ball and rolling fast back at Onix. Onix falls down and Misty comments how fast the Donphan was. Brock calls Onix back to its Poké Ball and Ash cuts in front, sending out his new Heracross. Heracross uses Tackle, sending Donphan flying backwards for a rough landing. Donphan jumps back up and uses what appears to be Rollout. Ash tells Heracross to use Horn Attack, whacking Donphan out of the way. Donphan crashes into a tree, and Ash tells Heracross to move in for the final attack. Before he gives a command, A figure moves in front of Donphan. The unnamed girl tells him to stop attacking her Donphan as she embraces it. She starts getting mad at Ash, telling him she'll turn him in to Officer Jenny. Ash apologizes and says Brock and him thought it was a wild Pokémon. He turns around to see Brock holding hands with the girl, talking to her. The woman says her name is Rochelle. Brock comments on her necklace, telling her how pretty the amberite is. Misty walks up and asks Brock what amberite is. He says it's a very rare gemstone worn by royalty. After denying the request for a battle by Ash, she walks into the trees and disappears.

In the next scene, it cuts to Team Rocket in a valley. They are looking for amberite, under the impression that it is very valuable. Meowth tells Jessie and James what he overheard while the others were taking a nap - that Donphan are able to 'sniff out' amberite. It is then decided that they will steal a Donphan to aid their efforts. The trio steals Rochelle's Donphan that was seen earlier by capturing it in a net and flying away with it in their balloon. The stolen Donphan does not immediately obey Team Rocket, however, after James offers it a meal of plants and leaves that he collected, the Donphan begins to help them. Their efforts to find the amberite were not fruitful however, as for some reason which is unknown at this stage, the stolen Donphan cannot find any amberite.

The scene cuts back to Ash, Misty, Brock and Rochelle. After Zubat cannot find the stolen Donphan with its Supersonic ability due to interference from the trees, Rochelle blows a high pitched whistle. Almost immediately, a herd of Donphan appear by her side, albeit lacking the stolen one. It is revealed that Rochelle has not trained the stolen Donphan to respond to the whistle as it is too young and she has not had enough time to do so. The Donphan are ordered by Rochelle to find the missing herd member. Shortly after, the herd of Donphan, Ash, Misty, Brock and Rochelle appear by Team Rocket's side, along with the stolen Donphan. After a short battle with Team Rocket's Pokémon, they are sent flying off into the distance in their balloon. Rochelle then explains that the stolen Donphan is inexperienced and cannot find amberite on its own yet.

After this, Ash and Rochelle have a one on one Pokémon battle. Ash chooses his Heracross, while Rochelle uses her most experienced Donphan by Ash's request. Ash loses the battle but is happy with the experience that he and his Heracross gained in the ordeal. Ash, Misty and a distraught Brock leave Rochelle and continue on their journey to Violet City.

Major events

For a list of all major events in the anime, please see the history page.

Debuts

Pokémon debuts

TV episode debuts

Characters

Humans

 
Dare da?

Pokémon

 
Who's That Pokémon?

Who's That Pokémon?: Hoothoot (U.S. and international); Donphan (Japan)


Trivia

  • The English dub of this episode first aired exactly one year after the original did in Japanese.
  • The Donphan's ability to sniff for amberite appears to have been inspired by truffle hogs: pigs which, in the real world, are used to find truffles.
  • The book Go West, Young Ash is based on this episode.
  • The English dub's name may be based on the song Roll On, Columbia, Roll On.

Errors

  • Brock's Zubat was depicted with the backs of its wings being the same in appearance as the insides of its wings. It may be worth noting that although the back of Zubat's wings are different in appearance to its wing insides, Golbat's wings are not so.
  • Rochelle called both Ash and Misty by name before learning them.

Dub edits

  • Brock calls Ash selfish, and that he should think about what's best for Donphan, which Ash retorts that he's what's best for Donphan. Originally, Brock mentions that Ash already got Heracross and Brock should have the honor of capturing Donphan, which Ash responds with his wanting to capture it, since he saw it first.
  • The substance that Donphan were tasked to look for was actually Agate, not Amberite.
  • Rochelle's reasons for why Ash and his friends shouldn't try to capture the Donphan was slightly different. The dub implies that the entire lot of Donphan belonged to her and her alone, while the original makes it clear that they belong to other Trainers besides herself.
  • Meowth's statement about where he heard about Amberite/Agate was "at a rest stop in the mountains" in the dub and an Odango shop in the original.
  • Jessie refers to the Japanese idiom Hidari Uchiwa, with James commenting about Jessie's fan being on her right hand, not her left. The dub replaces it with James asking about the fan and Jessie retorting about the hot air.
  • Brock mentioned in the dub that Rochelle must have been pretty impressed by them, with her congratulating Pikachu more specifically. In the original version, Brock was actually expressing his happiness that the Donphan were safe, and that Rochelle was thanking Ash and his friends in general.
  • The dub omits the fact that Rochelle is using her Donphan to help her fellow artisans get Agate/Amberite for their sculptures in their village.
  • Ash originally asks if Heracross was all right, and Rochelle states that she thinks she won.

In other languages


EP119 : A Sappy Ending
Original series
EP121 : Illusion Confusion!
  This episode article is part of Project Anime, a Bulbapedia project that covers all aspects of the Pokémon anime.