EP105 : Charizard Chills
Original series
EP107 : Pokémon Food Fight!
The Pokémon Water War
EP106.png
  EP106  
ひけしたいけつ!ゼニガメVSカメール
Firefighting Showdown! Zenigame VS Kameil
First broadcast
Japan July 29, 1999
United States August 26, 2000
English themes
Opening Pokémon World
Ending
Japanese themes
Opening ライバル!
Ending ラプラスにのって
Credits
Animation Team Ota
Screenplay 藤田伸三 Shinzō Fujita
Storyboard 藤本義孝 Yoshitaka Fujimoto
Assistant director 鈴木敏明 Toshiaki Suzuki
Animation director 志村泉 Izumi Shimura
Additional credits

The Pokémon Water War (Japanese: ひけしたいけつ!ゼニガメVSカメール Firefighting Showdown! Zenigame VS Kameil) is the 106th episode of the Pokémon anime. It was first broadcast in Japan on July 29, 1999, and in the United States on August 26, 2000.

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

Our heroes try, but are unable to extinguish a dangerous fire, until the local fire brigade—a trained team of Wartortles—arrives and squelches the flames. As a second fire rages, however, Team Rocket abducts the Wartortles, leaving Ash, Misty, Brock, and their Pokémon to somehow save the nearby town from a fiery end.

Plot

Arriving at the next port located on Ascorbia Island, Ash and his friends are eager to get something to eat. However, their plans are shelved when they approach a warehouse on fire. Defying Officer Jenny's orders, Ash and Misty rush towards the inferno. They send out Squirtle and Staryu to douse the flames, but their efforts are in vain, as the fire begins to spread. Just when some debris begins to fall on the group, a team of Wartortle appear to save them. With a blow of a whistle, they proceed to douse the flames in a coordinated display. Still, Squirtle is not pleased and focuses much of its attention on the lead Wartortle, which wears a yellow bandana around its neck.

Later that day, the team's Trainer, Captain Aidan, introduces Ash and his friends to his firefighting force: Teams Squirtle, Wartortle, and Blastoise. Team Blastoise is used for large-scale fires, Team Squirtle for tight-space rescues, while Team Wartortle is used in more general-purpose scenarios. Ash notices Squirtle's discontent, and is even more shocked when it puts on its signature black shades. Tracey is initially confused, but Ash details Squirtle's past as part of the troublesome Squirtle Squad. Ash quickly notices Squirtle's attention to the proceedings, and quickly realizes that its firefighting confidence had been shot when Squirtle itself had to be rescued. Ash begs Captain Aidan to have Squirtle join Team Wartortle for a day of training, which Captain Aidan reluctantly accepts.

Squirtle proves to be every bit as capable as the head of Team Wartortle. In a running exercise, the two are able to outpace the rest of the team. Even though Squirtle had tripped over a pebble and rolled its way to the finish, it set a new land speed record for a Turtle Pokémon. In a shooting exercise, Squirtle and Wartortle are able to shoot down moving targets with equal precision. However, one rogue target leads the team astray from Captain Aidan, and the team soon finds themselves falling into Team Rocket's pitfall trap. Team Rocket emerges from the crater in their Meowth Balloon with Team Wartortle and Ash's Squirtle ensnared in a net. They perform their motto, and with a pair of mechanical hands, Meowth snatches Pikachu as well. Weezing uses Smokescreen, allowing Team Rocket to escape. Tracey sends out his Scyther to clear the air, leaving the Pokemon exhausted.

Later, Team Rocket lands at a log cabin, using Pikachu's electricity to power a fan while the trio admires their loot. Jessie and James then begin arguing over who should keep one of the Wartortle, while Meowth tries to bribe the Turtle Pokemon with food. Jessie interrupts, but Meowth scratches his teammates' faces. Unbeknownst to them, Squirtle comes up with a plan and discusses it with Wartortle.

While busy looking for Team Rocket, Captain Aidan receives a call alerting him to an apartment fire. Jenny explains that an overturned truck has delayed Team Blastoise, and while Team Squirtle is on the scene, they are easily overwhelmed. At a loss and without Team Wartortle, Misty offers Staryu as a stopgap measure, and Tracey sends out Marill and Scyther to help out. Meanwhile, Venonat continues to search for the missing Pokémon and soon spots the Meowth Balloon.

Inside, Team Rocket is still fighting amongst themselves when Squirtle and Team Wartortle flood Team Rocket's cabin with water, with the pressure bursting the doors open. While Team Rocket is washed out of the building, Squirtle and Wartortle remain trapped in their nets, but manage to bunny-hop over each other to slowly inch their way out of the cabin. Now outside, they lure Meowth into having him scratch them free from their net, as they withdraw into their shells to avoid getting hurt. Just then, Ash and Captain Aidan arrive on the scene, and Venonat Tackles Team Rocket out of the way. In a last-ditch effort to claim Squirtle and Team Wartortle, Team Rocket sends out Arbok and Weezing. However, they are propelled backwards by Water Gun, and Pikachu's Thunderbolt sends Team Rocket flying.

At the apartment fire, Misty and Scyther become worn out; while Staryu, Marill, and Team Squirtle are unable to contain the fire. However, Squirtle and Team Wartortle arrive in time, just as a child is revealed to be trapped in the building. Squirtle puts on its black shades and is eager to meet the challenge. It and the head Wartortle, with help from a Blastoise, are propelled into the fiery building. They soon reach the child, and Wartortle has the boy cling onto its back. Unexpectedly, the floor crumbles under Wartortle's weight, but Squirtle manages to pull it and the child back to safety. Wartortle then notices a falling door, and uses Water Gun to save Squirtle from injury. Wartortle and Squirtle emerge with the boy in hand, leaping over a wall of fire in the process. Team Wartortle, Squirtle, and Blastoise's efforts eventually manage to put out the fire. The young boy is reunited with his mother, who then thanks Captain Aidan for his efforts. Ash urges the woman to thank the Pokemon as his Squirtle and the lead Wartortle shake hands. In the end, Ash and his friends part ways with Captain Aidan, but not without performing a final salute.

Major events

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

Debuts

Humans

Pokémon debuts

Characters

Humans

 
Dare da?

Pokémon

 
Who's That Pokémon?

Who's That Pokémon?: Tangela (US and international); Wartortle (The leader of Team Wartortle) (Japan)

Trivia

Errors

 
Togepi's missing face and Tracey's green arm
  • When Ash recalls Lapras at the beginning of the episode, his gloves are missing. The same happens with Officer Jenny when Squirtle and Staryu are trying to stop the fire and when she explains why Team Blastoise cannot get to the final fire.
  • When Team Wartortle lined up to put out the first fire, the leader of the team is missing its signature yellow bandana.
  • Officer Jenny explains that Team Blastoise cannot get to the final fire because a truck is blocking their way. However, when Ash and Tracey arrive, Team Blastoise can be seen moving it out of the way without any problems.
  • In the scene of the final fire, Tracey is holding Togepi. However, Togepi's face is missing, although it may just be hiding, and Tracey's arm is painted the same color as his shirt.
  • In one scene where Misty is seen trying to put out the fire with her Staryu and Tracey's Marill and Scyther, Ash and Tracey are seen next to her. In the next scene, they are shown running to meet up with her.
  • The Pokémon.com blurb mentions Brock instead of Tracey, even though Brock isn't a part of the group at that time. Also, Wartortle is pluralized with an S.

Dub edits

  • Pikachu's Jukebox: Viridian City
  • In the English dub, Jessie says, "Eevee, Mankey, Hitmonlee" (a play on "Eeny, meeny, miny, moe").
  • The scene in the log cabin with Team Rocket fighting over who gets to pick a Wartortle first was slightly edited for the dub. During that scene, Meowth scratches Jessie and James's faces and they have a brawl. In the original Japanese version, Meowth is actually seen to be violently scratching Jessie and James's faces with an almost perfect and fluid scratching animation, with the resulting bloody scratch marks on their faces. In the English dub, the scratching shot was cut, and was replaced with two shots of colored stars with a black background, as it was very violent for this type of show.
  • In the original Japanese version, Pokémon Ondo plays in the background while Team Rocket is eating and wearing kimonos near a working fan. In the English dub, random music plays in the background.
  • In the English dub, the "ze" on Squirtle Squad's flag is removed in both scenes it appears in.

In other languages



EP105 : Charizard Chills
Original series
EP107 : Pokémon Food Fight!
  This episode article is part of Project Anime, a Bulbapedia project that covers all aspects of the Pokémon anime.