AG153 : Tactics Theatrics!!
Pokémon the Series: Ruby and Sapphire
AG155 : The Green Guardian
Reversing the Charges
AG154.png
AG154   EP428
ドッキリ!ビックリ!エレキッド!!
Startling! Frightening! Elekid!!
First broadcast
Japan December 1, 2005
United States October 7, 2006
English themes
Opening Battle Frontier
Ending Pokémon Go!
Japanese themes
Opening バトルフロンティア
Ending GLORY DAY 〜輝くその日〜
Credits
Animation Team Ota
Screenplay 大橋志吉 Yukiyoshi Ōhashi
Storyboard 秦義人 Yoshito Hata
Assistant director 渡辺正彦 Masahiko Watanabe
Animation director 志村泉 Izumi Shimura
Additional credits

Reversing the Charges (Japanese: ドッキリ!ビックリ!エレキッド!! Startling! Frightening! Elekid!!) is the 154th episode of Pokémon the Series: Ruby and Sapphire, and the 428th episode of the Pokémon anime. It was first broadcast in Japan on December 1, 2005, and in the United States on October 7, 2006.

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

On the way to the Battle Pike, Ash and his friends spot some strange and stormy weather nearby. What's more, an irritable Elekid is busy zapping all the local Pokémon! Pikachu and Phanpy try to stop Elekid, but in the confusion, May's Pokémon Egg lands on Elekid's head and Elekid gets away. Team Rocket finds Elekid—and the Egg—but Elekid zaps them too and now Mime Jr. is lost as well!

Ash and his friends find Mime Jr., who tags along as they search for May's Pokémon Egg. Meanwhile, Elekid continues to use its Electric-type moves on everyone who crosses its path. Lightning from that nearby storm has overcharged it, so now it has to release the excess energy. When Ash realizes what's going on, he has Pikachu charge up the same way. Now Pikachu is ready to battle with Elekid, which should drain enough energy to restore it to normal!

Team Rocket shows up with their latest robot, but James calls time-out so he can swap the Pokémon Egg for Mime Jr. Now it's back to stealing Pokémon! The robot is shielded against electricity and too tough for Phanpy to defeat, but Elekid and Pikachu team up for a super-powerful Thunder move that releases their extra charges and overloads the robot. Then Phanpy evolves into Donphan and sends Team Rocket on their way. With everything finally back to normal, our friends can continue their journey to the Battle Pike!

Plot

As Ash gently places his third Symbol into place, Max checks his PokéNav and tells them that the nearest facility is the Battle Pike, near Fuchsia City. May polishes her Egg with Phanpy watching nearby. May lifts the lid on the Egg case and gently places the Egg inside as she and her friends set off once again.

A thunderous sound erupts as an overpowering thunderstorm strikes a nearby mountain range. The group rushes to the site and soon locate several severely injured wild Pokémon. A distinct cry alerts the group to an Elekid taking on an Exeggutor while May quickly queries its Pokédex data. Elekid starts rotating its arms at a high speed generating an enormous amount of energy and thrusts Exeggutor backward. Going berserk, Elekid goes for another Thunderbolt electrifying Exeggutor and knocking it unconscious. Ash attempts to stop Elekid but it just angrily launches a Thunder attack towards Pikachu. The attack is avoided as Pikachu retaliates with an Iron Tail. Elekid dodges this attack and attacks quickly, sending an electrifying charge directly at Pikachu. Pikachu recovers from the attack and rushes forward with Volt Tackle, but the attack fails and Pikachu gets pushed back by Elekid. Elekid dashes towards him with a Thunder Punch, but Phanpy intervenes and blocks the attack. Phanpy performs a Rollout knocking Elekid backward. This only angers Elekid more as its power greatly increases, sending electrical bolts in every direction. May drops her Egg as she tries to duck for cover and Max takes a direct hit from the uncontrollable energy. The Egg case gets wedged in between Elekid’s horns as it launches a devastating Thunderbolt that destroys trees and terrain. The smoke clears as Elekid has disappeared with May's Egg. Elekid tries to remove the Egg case from atop its head, but it is lodged between both of its horns.

Meanwhile, Team Rocket is walking down a path when they spot several injured Pokémon. Meowth questions a Scyther, and it informs the trio of the powerful Elekid who likes to attack others for the fun of it. Jessie admits Elekid sounds like her kind of Pokémon just as the said Elekid walks into their line of view. Elekid finally manages to remove the Egg case before blasting Team Rocket off, sending Mime Jr. flying off into the opposite direction.

Ash and his friends continue searching for May's lost Egg as Team Rocket begins looking for Mime Jr. Ahead in the path, Meowth spots the Egg that was lodged between Elekid's ears. While Jessie is excited with this find, James is still worried about Mime Jr. James becomes increasingly aggravated as his teammates inventively suggest that the Egg or Elekid would make great additions to Team Rocket. Meanwhile, Max locates the heavily injured Mime Jr and Brock immediately treats it. Mime Jr. makes a quick recovery and resumes its usual mimicry, taking a particular liking to Ash’s Phanpy. Elekid confronts the group yet again, though it doesn’t have May's Egg. May demands to know where her Egg is, to which Elekid prepares to attack. Phanpy and Pikachu step forward as Elekid begins the battle with a devastating Thunder Punch. Both Pikachu and Phanpy evade this attack as Phanpy responds with a Rollout, but is quickly sent flying backward by Elekid's electrical energy. The battlefield erupts with a giant plume of smoke and dust with Elekid now gone from the area.

Team Rocket is still searching for Mime Jr. as an electrical disturbance sparks nearby and Elekid appears from the nearby underbrush. As James tries to dash towards Elekid, Jessie restrains him, and Elekid dashes forward with another Thunder Punch sending Team Rocket blasting off again. In another location, everyone else is searching for May's Egg. Brock recalls that Pikachu became aggressive when he was overcharged with electricity in the past, suggesting that Elekid is in the same condition. In order to defeat Elekid, Brock proposes they expose Pikachu to the overhead lightning storm. Everyone has their concerns, though Pikachu insists. A bolt of lightning erupts into the nearby ground as another bolt erupts from the sky and electrifies Pikachu. Now fully charged, Pikachu begins the battle with a Thunderbolt. The match is interrupted as a strange mecha comes thundering from the distance with Team Rocket setting the usual scene. May realizes that James has her Egg while James notices that May has Mime Jr. James rushes down to trade the Egg for Mime Jr. James returns to the mecha, and following the reunion the trio resume their attack. They launch a net from the mecha with Pikachu dodging and electrifying the mecha.

The electrical charge is diverted as Phanpy rushes ahead and charges into the mecha. Three bombs are launched from the mecha though Phanpy deflects these with its Defense Curl. While Phanpy distracts Team Rocket, Ash orders Pikachu to use Iron Tail on Elekid. However, Elekid is ready and blocks the attack. Meowth has the Golem Mark Two punch Phanpy away as he sets his sights on the real prize, Elekid. Elekid begins to charge up to attack, so Ash has Pikachu combine his own Thunder to lash the mecha. Team Rocket are unfazed as the electricity slowly fills up their own storage energy gauge. Pikachu and Elekid keep up their efforts eventually overcharging the Golem mecha and defeating it. The excess electricity runs up into the dark cloud above and Elekid's ailment seems to have been cured. Team Rocket’s mecha reboots and Ash has Phanpy respond with a Rollout attack to stop Team Rocket from obtaining Elekid and Pikachu. The Rollout fails as the mecha punches Phanpy away. A mysterious light overtakes Phanpy's body as the evolutionary process begins to take place and Phanpy evolves into Donphan. Donphan rolls towards Team Rocket one last time with its force knocking Team Rocket's mecha towards the ground and finishes the battle with a Hyper Beam, sending Team Rocket blasting off into the sky for their third and final time.

With Elekid now returned to normal, the group bids it farewell and resumes their journey towards the Battle Pike.

Major events

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

Debuts

Pokémon debuts

Characters

Humans

Pokémon

Trivia

  • This is the only episode in which Ash's Phanpy is voiced by Jamie Peacock.
  • Donphan remains outside of its Poké Ball for the entire episode.
  • This is the last episode where Pikachu uses Thunder.
  • This is the first episode where one of Ash's Pokémon evolves outside of the series they were obtained in.
    • It is also the first time one of them evolved outside their native region.
  • This is one of the few episodes where Team Rocket blasts off three times.
  • Battle Frontier is used as background music.

Errors

  • The last frame of the title card in the English dub is a frame of the original Japanese title card.
  • At some point in the episode, Team Rocket doesn't have the Eevee Egg, although they appear to carry it later.
  • In the ending scene, Brock's shadow overlaps on Pikachu.

Dub edits

In other languages



AG153 : Tactics Theatrics!!
Pokémon the Series: Ruby and Sapphire
AG155 : The Green Guardian
  This episode article is part of Project Anime, a Bulbapedia project that covers all aspects of the Pokémon anime.