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AG015

Revision as of 11:49, 2 February 2019 by FinnishPokéFan92 (talk | contribs) (→‎Major events)
← AG014 : All in a Day's Wurmple
Advanced Generation series
AG016 : The Winner by a Nosepass →
Gonna Rule The School!
AG015.png
AG015   EP289
勉強します！ポケモントレーナーズスクール！！
Try to Study! Pokémon Trainer's School!!
First broadcast
Japan March 6, 2003
United States January 10, 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 そこに空があるから
Credits
Animation Team Ota
Screenplay 松井亜弥 Aya Matsui
Storyboard 須藤典彦 Norihiko Sudō
Assistant director 須藤典彦 Norihiko Sudō
Animation director 志村泉 Izumi Shimura
Additional credits

Gonna Rule The School! (Japanese: 勉強します！ポケモントレーナーズスクール！！ Try to Study! Pokémon Trainer's School!!) is the 15th episode of the Advanced Generation series, and the 289th episode of the Pokémon anime. It was first broadcast in Japan on March 6, 2003 and in the United States on January 10, 2004.

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

Rustboro City at last! Now that Ash and friends have arrived in Rustboro City, they're taking a moment to sightsee. They bump into a schoolteacher, Roxanne, and her class on a class trip. The kids are about Max's age and one of them, Kenny, is afraid of Pokémon. Roxanne invites the gang back to see the Pokémon Trainer's School. Ash is anxious to get to his gym battle, but Roxanne persuades him to wait. As it turns out, Ash would have had to wait anyway. Roxanne is the gym leader, too! The Pokémon Trainer's School is pretty big and has all kinds of different classes. May is especially interested in a class on Pokémon Contests. Max decides to attend the beginners' class that Kenny is in. He's in the middle of battling the class show-off, Tommy, when the principal comes running in to tell them that the school's Poké Balls have all been stolen. Team Rocket strikes again! Kenny steps in and saves the day by telling Max which attacks will work best, and Tommy cooperates, too. When they work together, the kids are able to defeat Team Rocket and save the Poké Balls. Just to be safe, Roxanne's Geodude sends Team Rocket blasting off again. Now that Ash has seen Roxanne and her Geodude in action, he's really ready for his gym battle!

Plot

Ash and his friends finally arrive at Rustboro City, where they do some sightseeing. At a local tower, Ash goes overboard on souvenirs, embarrassing everyone else. As Ash tries to apologize, Max notices a Poliwag cowering under a bench. When they manage to get Poliwag to warm up to them, they notice a strange arm-band on the end of its tail. Soon, they are met by a local teacher named Roxanne, who has arrived with her Beginners' Class, a group of students Max's age, on a field trip. The Poliwag had belonged to a class member named Kenny, who is afraid of touching Pokémon. Ash and friends are invited to their school, the Pokémon Trainers' School, which is also convenient as it is next door to the Rustboro City Gym, where Ash and May will participate in their first Gym Battles.

At the Trainer's School, the headmaster takes them through the academy, including a Pokémon Contest class that piques May's interest, a Doctor's class taught jointly by a teacher and a Nurse Joy, as well as a battling class that draws Ash's interest. When they enter Roxanne's class, they are greeted by Professor Oak, in the middle of a lecture by videophone. Max is immediately rendered speechless at seeing his idol for the first time, while Ash, Brock, and May take the time to greet Professor Oak. When Professor Oak asks about whether he or Roxanne had won the Gym Battle, Ash learns that Roxanne is also the Rustboro Gym's Leader. As the headmaster explains, Roxanne is herself an alumnus of the Trainer's School, and quickly earned the title due to her prodigy skills. Roxanne, due to having to teach the Beginner's Class, asks Ash to delay their battle for two days, for which Ash accepts.

Meanwhile, Max is quizzed by a jealous student named Tommy on what attacks would work against Flying-type Pokémon (Max answers Thunderbolt and Thunder) and those that use Dig (Max answers Earthquake and Magnitude), quickly frustrating him. Continuing on with their tour, they are led to a room where the Academy's Poké Balls are kept and rented out to students. Outside the academy, Team Rocket manages to overhear, and plot to steal the Poké Balls. Ash and company are invited to partake in classes the next day. That night, Pikachu and Ash work on perfecting Iron Tail by slicing through small rocks (for which one manages to hit Pikachu on the head after it was successful).

The next day at the academy, Max is introduced to Anita, another Beginner Class student. As he learns, neither Anita nor Kenny is into Pokémon, and that their parents make them attend. Meanwhile, Tommy enters to try to bully Max once again. Anita quickly takes a liking to Max due to him having frustrating Tommy by being able to answer all of his questions. Later, after class has started, the kids are interacting with the Academy's Pokémon. Interested in becoming a Pokémon Coordinator, May sneaks off for the Pokémon Contest class, only to leave when they have a pop quiz. Meanwhile, Roxanne asks Ash (who she introduces as an elite Trainer) and Brock (who she introduces as the former Gym Leader of the world's premier Rock-type Gym) to be her guest speakers, while allowing the students a chance to interact with their own Pokémon. The children are particularly entertained by Lotad's antics, as its delayed response to a Water Gun order manages to splash Brock in the face. Ash tries to help Kenny to overcome his fear of touching Pokémon by trying to persuade him to pet Pikachu. However, Tommy having "accidentally" stepped on Poliwag's tail sparks another fight between him and Max.

Later on, during the Beginner's Class battle practice, Tommy and Max square off. Roxanne offers six Poké Balls for a one-on-one battle between the two. When the battle begins, Tommy has Magby while Max has Poliwag, putting Max with the type advantage. As Max is contemplating his battle options (including leading off with Water Gun), Tommy begins with a Flamethrower, which Max counters with Defense Curl. When Tommy tries again, Max uses Belly Drum. With increased Attack and Defense power, Max chooses not to go forward and attack, and on Tommy's next attempt with Flamethrower, it is replied with another Defense Curl - however, repeated hits is taking its toll on Poliwag. Before Tommy can finish, a school alarm bell sounds, and the headmaster appears to tell everyone that the Poké Balls have been stolen. A giant Wurmple robot, piloted by Team Rocket, appears, with a bag of Poké Balls on its tail. Ash attempts to take back the Poké Balls by Thunderbolting Team Rocket fails, due to the attacks hitting a screen. Brock's contribution with Forretress' Tackle is countered by Seviper's Poison Tail, while May's attempt with Wurmple's String Shot is met with Cacnea's Pin Missile.

Max wants to join in with Poliwag, but is held back by a shy Kenny, who insists on Max to use an actual attack. Taking the advice, Poliwag's Water Gun hits Seviper. Tommy, not willing to let Max take the glory, orders Magby to attack as well, hitting Cacnea. When Ash tries to help the two out, Roxanne holds him back, insistent on allowing the Beginner's Class their chance to take on Team Rocket by themselves. Kenny formulates a plan where Max and Poliwag distract Team Rocket, while Tommy and Magby overheat the Wurmple robot. As they execute their plan, Poliwag uses Water Gun in the same manner as Pikachu and Thunderbolt before, while avoiding Pin Missile by using Protect. This gives Tommy and Magby the chance to attack the Wurmple robot, while Anita and her rental Pidgey uses Wing Attack to free the Poké Balls. Finally, Roxanne uses her own Geodude to send Team Rocket flying by using Rollout. At the end of it all, Kenny and Anita have found renewed interest in Pokémon (Kenny also having overcome his fear of touching Pokémon), while Tommy and Max have resolved their differences.

The episode ends with Ash and Roxanne ready to face each other the next day in their Gym Battle.

Major events

For a list of all major events in Pokémon the Series, please see the timeline page.

Debuts

Humans

Pokémon debuts

TV episode debuts

Characters

Humans

Pokémon

Who's That Pokémon?

Who's That Pokémon?: Croconaw

Trivia

  • Ash's souvenirs slightly resemble what one might find in a Seattle airport shop, the shirt with an image similar to the Space Needle.
  • As of this episode, all forms of the Johto starter Pokémon have made their appearance in the anime.
  • While Brock does not know it yet, he is introduced to his future career goal in this episode: a Pokémon Doctor.
  • This is the first episode in the main series in which the move Protect is used.

Errors

  • When Max sends out Poliwag, it says, "Poliwhirl."
  • As Roxanne approaches Max after he found the Pokémon Trainers' School's Poliwag, her collar, which is supposed to be white, is the same color as her dress.
  • Forretress should not have been affected by Seviper's Poison Tail, as Forretress is a Steel-type.
  • When some of the students at the school are shown with the school's Pokémon, one boy is seen holding a Nidoran♀ but it is wrongly colored pink like the Nidoran♂. This, however, could be a Shiny Nidoran♀.
  • The closed captioning incorrectly spells Feraligatr as "Feraligator".
  • When Max orders Poliwag to use Defense Curl against Magby, Roxanne praises this because Poliwag is increasing its Defense stats. However, all of the Fire-type moves at the time were Special Attacks.
  • The coloring error

    The coloring error

Dub edits

In other languages




← AG014 : All in a Day's Wurmple
Advanced Generation series
AG016 : The Winner by a Nosepass →
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