Gonna Rule The School!

AG015

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

No additional credits are available at this time.
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

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 episode 15 of Advanced Generation. It was first broadcast in Japan on March 6, 2003 and in the United States on January 10, 2004. Ash and friends arrive at Rustboro City, where they are invited by Roxanne, a local teacher, to tour the Pokémon Trainer's School.

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

Synopsis

Ash and friends finally arrive at Rustboro City, where they do some sightseeing. At a local tower, Ash gets 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 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 Trainer's 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 contest training class that piques May's interest, 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 another 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 and 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. May sneaks off for the contest class (only to leave when they have a pop quiz), while 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 making him touch Pikachu. However, Kenny 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 use an actual attack. Taking the advice, Poliwag's Water Gun hits Seviper. Tommy, not one 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 would 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 counterattack from Pin Missile by using Protect. This allows 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 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

Ash meets Roxanne and asks her for a gym battle.
Max visits the Pokémon Trainer's School and takes part in his first Pokémon battle, which he loses.

Debuts

Characters

Humans

Pokémon

Who’s That Pokémon?: Croconaw

The following Pokémon all belong to the Pokémon Trainer's School:

Trivia

Errors

Dub edits

In other languages

French: La Pokémon academie
Portuguese: Mandando no Pedaço!
Latin American Spanish: {tt|¡Quiero ir a la escuela!|I want to go to the school!}}

Template:Epstub Template:EpisodePrevNext

This episode article is part of Project Anime, a Bulbapedia project that covers all aspects of Pokémon animation.