EP038: Difference between revisions

{{Ash}}, {{an|Misty}}, and {{an|Brock}} make their way to the nearest [[Pokémon Center]] in [[Matcha City]] in order to revive Ash's tired {{AP|Pikachu}}. There, they meet a distressed [[Nurse Joy]], who details that the [[Poké Ball]] {{pkmn|Storage System|transporter}} has been problematic — the {{OBP|Pokémon|species}} she sends never arrives at another Pokémon Center, and it was replaced by a different Pokémon. [[Dr. Akihabara]], the inventor of the Pokémon Transport System, is at the Center trying to figure out what went wrong with the system. Brock suggests that a {{wp|computer virus}} could be the source of the problem. Akihabara explains that the system couldn't have been infected with a virus because he designed the circuits so well. Ash confuses his explanation of a computer virus with a biological one and thinks the transport system is actually sick. Nurse Joy is told about an antivirus, which is a powerful software made to fix the problem. However, upon further investigation into the system, Akihabara unexpectedly gasps and suddenly bolts out of the Center, leaving Joy and the others confused.

Ash, Misty, and Brock break into Akihabara's huge laboratory mansion to figure out what happened to him. Inside, they are startled by a giant holographic image of Akihabara's head. Ash and {{ashfr}} are led into a room with a giant machine. The doctor orders them to enter the machine, only telling them that they have entered a giant Human Transporter after he has sealed and locked the door. Akihabara then introduces the group to a {{p|Porygon}} and explains that {{TRT}} has stolen his other prototype Porygon, and are causing havoc. Team Rocket is literally inside the system, blocking the Poké Balls from reaching the Pokémon Centers and keeping them for themselves. Akihabara can't send the antivirus in there because it would kill them, so he decided to send Ash and his friends into the machine with Porygon to defeat Team Rocket. They refuse, but Akihabara traps them inside the Human Transporter and they are eventually sucked into cyberspace.

The group falls into the Transporter system, but Porygon flies beneath them, grows in size, and catches them. Riding on Porygon's back, Ash, Misty, Brock, and Pikachu go over to confront Team Rocket. [[Jessie]] and [[James]] send out {{TP|Jessie|Arbok}} and {{TP|James|Weezing}}; Weezing uses {{m|Poison Gas}} on them, making Ash and his friends cough. Then, Porygon regains composure and uses {{m|Conversion}}; its skin color becomes purple, like Weezing's. Porygon then charges, with the group still riding it, right into Weezing and Arbok, effectively [[fainting|knocking them out]].

Despite this, Akihabara, represented by a floating TV screen, warns them that Nurse Joy has hired another technician to put the antivirus program into the computer; and it indiscriminately targets anything, including Team Rocket, Ash, and his friends. Trying to fix the problem himself, the doctor did not tell Nurse Joy that the problem was caused by real people and not a virus. As the antivirus targets the groip, Porygon gathers Ash and his friends to attempt an escape. From the ground, Team Rocket calls Ash out for running away, but are corrected by Ash when he tells them to run from the antivirus. The antivirus then launches a few rockets that destroy the remainder of the Poké Ball barrier. {{MTR}} and the prototype Porygon rescue a panicking Jessie and James from the moving sea of Poké Balls and join Akihabara's Porygon in an attempt to escape.

The vaccine transforms into an object that resembles a flying spaceship and takes pursuit. It launches more missiles that both of the Porygon dodge with difficulty. Inside the Center, Nurse Joy and the technician are amazed by the resilience of the virus and command the antivirus to unleash a powerful attack. Revealing a gigantic particle gun, it locks onto the prototype Porygon and fires a huge beam, sending Team Rocket downward into a cyberspace bug hole created by the powerful attack. The bug holes created by the antivirus's beam cause a system error, and Joy orders the technician not to use the attack again.

The seizures caused from this episode have infamously made the Pokémon anime a frequent reference when discussing Japanese anime and its quick action and flashy effects. Numerous television shows and movies have made parodies with [[List of Pokémon parodies|notable references]] by ''[https://simpsonswiki.com/wiki/The_Simpsons The Simpsons]'' in the episode "[https://simpsonswiki.com/wiki/Thirty_Minutes_Over_Tokyo Thirty Minutes over Tokyo]" and ''{{wp|South Park}}'' in the episode "{{wp|Chinpokomon}}".

** The rumor about the existence of an English dub of this episode actually predates Blaustein's word. For example, the first answer Blaustein gave about this episode was a direct response to a user who mentioned reading on Wikipedia about the episode being dubbed: the line "4Kids Entertainment has acually dubbed Computer Soldier Porygon even though it didn't air" was added to the Wikipedia article currently titled {{wp|Pokémon episodes removed from rotation}} on March 15, 2006, and Bulbapedia was used as the source.<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pok%C3%A9mon_episodes_removed_from_rotation&diff=next&oldid=43907788</ref>