AG039 : A Poké-BLOCK Party!
Pokémon the Series: Ruby and Sapphire
AG041 : What You Seed is What You Get
Watt's with Wattson?
AG040.png
AG040   EP314
キンセツジム!テッセンの電撃バトル!!
Kinsetsu Gym! Tessen's Electric Shock Battle!!
First broadcast
Japan August 28, 2003
United States September 4, 2004
English themes
Opening I Wanna Be a Hero
Ending
Japanese themes
Opening アドバンス・アドベンチャー
Ending ポルカ・オ・ドルカ
Credits
Animation Team Ota
Screenplay 松井亜弥 Aya Matsui
Storyboard 藤本義孝 Yoshitaka Fujimoto
Assistant director 渡辺正彦 Masahiko Watanabe
Animation director 岩根雅明 Masaaki Iwane
Additional credits

Watt's with Wattson? (Japanese: キンセツジム!テッセンの電撃バトル!! Kinsetsu Gym! Tessen's Electric Shock Battle!!) is the 40th episode of Pokémon the Series: Ruby and Sapphire, and the 314th episode of the Pokémon anime. It first aired in Japan on August 28, 2003, and in the United States on September 4, 2004.

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Spoiler warning: this article may contain major plot or ending details.
201

Blurb

Ash and company are finally at the Mauville Gym. They have an electrifying introduction to Wattson, the Gym's leader, who specializes in Electric-type Pokémon. They discover that he seems to enjoy being a bit of a trickster. Upon entering the gym, they are sent through a type of electric slide/roller coaster ending in a mechanical Raikou, which Pikachu tries to attack.

Elsewhere, Team Rocket is exploring the possibility of capturing a large array of Electric-type Pokémon they just found.

Wattson decides on a three-on-three match. He uses his Magnemite, but Pikachu knocks it out in one hit. Next he sends in Voltorb, which Pikachu also KO's in one hit. Finally, Wattson sends in Magneton, which also falls to Pikachu. Everyone is shocked and amazed, but Wattson recovers and hands Ash the Dynamo Badge.

Ash rushes his Pikachu to the Pokémon Center to recover. There he finds out that it is overloaded with electricity; probably from the Raikou incident. Wattson decides to go to the mountainside to mull over his loss for a bit when he encounters Team Rocket stealing the Electric-type Pokémon. Ash and company arrive and they all help Wattson recover the Pokémon from Team Rocket before sending them blasting off again.

Ash tries to give the Dynamo Badge back to Wattson because Pikachu won due to its being overcharged. Wattson tells him to keep it, though, because Ash deserves it.

Plot

Ash and his friends eagerly wait outside the doors to the Mauville Gym so Ash can battle for his Dynamo Badge. Ash pushes on the door, only for it to surprisingly fall to the ground. As everyone steps on, the door transforms into a moving platform that whisks them through a rollercoaster-like track and across some water before coming face to face with a Raikou. Thinking it will attack, Ash immediately takes action and has Pikachu strike it with Iron Tail. The head of the Raikou explodes, revealing that it was just a robot. Wattson, the Mauville City Gym Leader, along with his assistant Watt, promptly appear out of a side door to greet the group. Wattson appears delighted with Ash for being able to defeat the mechanical Raikou and happily accepts his Gym challenge. Meanwhile, Team Rocket discovers what appears to be an abandoned power station, New Mauville. Thinking that they could use this as a base for their operations in the Hoenn region, they proceed to enter, only to find out that it's filled with Voltorb and Magnemite. Dejected, Jessie and James leave, only to be stopped by a scheming Meowth, who informs them that the Electric Pokémon would make a great present for the Boss.

Later, Watt announces that the Gym match between Ash versus Wattson can begin. Wattson declares that the match will be a three-on-three and he will be using his Voltorb, Magnemite, and Magneton, and as he's been training with them all for years, Ash should expect a tough battle. Brock and the others are shocked that Wattson disclosed which Pokémon he'll be using, before turning their attention to Ash’s potential choices. Pikachu, more eager than ever, leaps onto the battlefield, determined to go first, and Ash agrees. Wattson laughs, happy that Ash is using an Electric type against his, and commands Magnemite to use Swift. Ash responds by having Pikachu use Thunderbolt, which proves so powerful that it knocks out Magnemite with a single hit. Wattson is stunned, but still jovial and sends in Voltorb, telling it to use Screech. Ash has Pikachu use another Thunderbolt, and Voltorb is also taken out in a single hit. By now, everyone is surprised at Pikachu's amazing performance, while Wattson has lost most of his jolly nature and, now determined to defeat Ash, angrily sends in Magneton, ordering a Zap Cannon attack. Ash has Pikachu use Thunder, which easily plows through the Zap Cannon blast and knocks Magneton out instantly. Ash is declared the winner, and no one can believe his swift victory. Wattson is in complete shock at being defeated so easily, but he attempts to put a brave face on and awards Ash the Dynamo Badge before leaving the Gym, much to Watt’s concerns. However, Ash doesn't get a chance to celebrate his win as he notices that Pikachu's not feeling well.

At the Pokémon Center, Wattson is sadly handing his Pokémon over to Nurse Joy so they can recover from the battle and informs her that Watt will be sent to pick them up later. Nurse Joy appears confused at seeing the usually bubbly and warm Wattson seeming so somber and dejected, but Wattson just tells her he's having a bad day before leaving. Soon after he's gone, Ash, Watt, and the others rush into the Pokémon Center, asking Nurse Joy to check out the now clearly sick Pikachu. Meanwhile, Wattson has ventured over to the abandoned power plant to mull over the disastrous battle with Ash. He soon concludes that he is no longer worthy of the title of Gym Leader. A wild Electrike approaches Wattson, and the pair begin playing. Back at the Pokémon Center, Nurse Joy tells the group that Pikachu's electric levels are higher than usual. She asks Ash if he's been exposed to any high voltage recently, which makes Ash disclose the incident with the mechanical Raikou. Nurse Joy informs the group that Pikachu is overcharged, which enables him to have a lot of power in his electric attacks for a short period of time. Brock realizes that this is the reason for Ash's shocking victory over Wattson. The medical treatment is soon over, with Pikachu leaping into Ash's arms. Wattson's assistant storms into the treatment room, asking if Nurse Joy has seen Wattson, as he seems to have disappeared. She recalls the incident a few moments ago when he dropped off his Pokémon somberly, then works out that Wattson is at his favorite location, the abandoned power plant.

Back at New Mauville, Electrike shows Wattson its Thunder Wave, making him laugh. Wattson turns to see Team Rocket stealing the Voltorb and Magnemite from the power plant in a new electric-proof machine. As Ash and the others arrive on the scene, Team Rocket promptly vacuums up Pikachu and Electrike. Ash prepares to call on another Pokémon for assistance, but Meowth fires a capture net and snares everyone. Team Rocket rumble off, overjoyed with their apparent victory over the twerps. However, a giant mechanical Raikou followed by Ash and the others blocks their path. As Team Rocket consider their options against the Raikou, Brock and May call out Forretress and Torchic respectively. However, the Rapid Spin and Ember combination proves unsuccessful. Luckily, the robotic Raikou's intimidating glare and occasional roars keep the Rocket trio petrified while Pikachu leads all of the caged Pokémon in a joint attempt to escape. Team Rocket eventually decides to attack the Raikou and have Seviper launch a Poison Tail attack on it which immediately destroys it. Right at that moment, the caged Pokémon escape. Seviper and Cacnea attack Pikachu, but Pikachu easily sends them flying with a Quick Attack. Dustox is sent out and blows Pikachu away. As Dustox prepares to use Psybeam, she is paralyzed by Electrike's Thunder Wave. Pikachu regains his footing and sends Team Rocket blasting off with a Thunderbolt.

Afterward, Ash confesses to Wattson that Pikachu was overcharged at the time of their Gym battle, hence the quick victory. He tries to hand the Dynamo Badge back to Wattson, but Wattson says that he deserves it for his efforts in helping save the Pokémon at the power plant. Ash is still uncertain, but Watt says that Wattson never lies. With that, Ash happily declares that he has rightfully earned the Badge. Wattson affirms that he will resume his role as Mauville Gym Leader, now with a new Electrike to train. He turns to Ash and requests a future rematch once his Electrike has grown a bit, and Ash agrees to the idea.

Major events

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

Debuts

Humans

Pokémon debuts

TV episode debuts

Characters

Humans

Pokémon

 
Who's That Pokémon?

Who's That Pokémon?: Meditite

Trivia

  • This is the last main series episode that was skipped in the Finnish dub, with all of the future main series episodes airing in Finnish sooner or later after their English dub release (on the condition that they are dubbed in English).
  • This is the last time to date when Ash has won a Gym Badge in the same episode in which he meets the Gym Leader, and the only such instance outside of the original series.
  • This is the season finale of Pokémon: Advanced.
  • This is the final episode of Pokémon the Series: Ruby and Sapphire to air in Poland.
  • This episode is the last to feature the Who's That Pokémon? eyecatch in the dub until In the Shadow of Zekrom!, almost six years and eight seasons later.
  • On Pokémon.com and iTunes, this episode is listed as What's With Wattson?.
  • This is the first time Ash has won a Gym battle without any of his Pokémon being defeated, excluding one-on-one battles.
    • This is also the only Gym battle that Ash has won using only one Pokémon against multiple opponents.

Errors

  • Before the battle, Max states that the Grass type is strong against the Electric type.
    • However, he may have been referring to the fact that Grass-type Pokémon resist Electric-type attacks.
  • When Ash gets Pikachu back from the cage, the inner green circle on his hat is smaller than usual.
  • Max says that Thunder Wave confused Jessie's Dustox, when it actually paralyzed her.
  • When all of the Pokémon freed from Team Rocket gather around Wattson, Voltorb are shown to be almost the same size as Magneton. They should be half the size of Magneton, according to their Pokédex entries.

Dub edits

  • In the Japanese version, the Raikou robot that Pikachu destroyed and the robot that defeated Team Rocket were two different robots. However, the dub neglects to mention this, and instead implies that Wattson repaired the Raikou robot that Pikachu destroyed between his destroying it and it blasting off Team Rocket.

In other languages



AG039 : A Poké-BLOCK Party!
Pokémon the Series: Ruby and Sapphire
AG041 : What You Seed is What You Get
  This episode article is part of Project Anime, a Bulbapedia project that covers all aspects of the Pokémon anime.