IL015: Battle Aboard the St. Anne

Battle Aboard the St. Anne is a the tenth episode of the Pokémon anime series, except in the United States, when it was broadcast as the first episode. The episode was first broadcast in Japan on July 8, 1997 and in the United States on September 7, 1998. The episode follows Ash Ketchum, Misty, Brock and Pikachu as they get tickets to the luxury cruiselier, the St. Anne. Little do they know that it was a trap set up by Team Rocket's boss Giovanni. Later the ship begins to capsize and sink with Ash, Misty, Brock, Jesse, James and all their pokemon still on board.

Episode Plot
After earning the Thunder Badge, Ash, Misty, and Brock walk across a bridge and they spot a luxury liner ship in the distanece. After taking a closer look at it, they really want to go on it. But Brock says they don't have enough money to buy any tickets. They walk away sadly. However, Jessie and James, in disguise, give them tickets to board the ship and invite them to join a Pokemon Trainer on the ship, the St. Anne. Jessie and James go a lighthouse nearby to meet Meowth. They go to a phone to call their boss. Meowth notices that Giovanni has a Persian with him, making Meowth jealous. Team Rocket tell their plan to Giovanni: invite a bunch of Trainers aboard the St. Anne and steal thier pokemon.

Ash, Misty, and Brock get on board the St. Anne and they go into the main room. They notice all of the people, their pokemon, and pokemon merchandice. Ash sees a battle between a Starmie and a Raticate. The Raticate uses Super Fang to break Stamie's jewel, giving Raticate the win. Ash steps forward to challenge the Raticate's Trainer, sending out Butterfree. Raticate attacks with Hi Jump Kick and Butterfree counters it with Tackle. Raticate uses Hyper Fang, but Butterfree stops it with Stun Spore. Just as Ash is about to win, the Trainer recalls Raticate, calling the battle a draw. Meanwhile, James walks by the salesmen. One of them convinces him to buy a Magikarp by tricking him into thinking its a valuible pokemon.

As Ash and his friends are eating, the ship sails out of Vermilion City. The Trainer Ash battled earlier comes up to him and explains that he was immpressed with Butterfree and would like to trade his Raticate for Butterfree. Ash asks Brock if he should trade Butterfree but Brock is focused on the girl next to him. Ash decides to trade Butterfree. Ash and the Trainer go over to a trade machine to trade thier pokemon. Ash gets the Raticate and the Trainer gets Butterfree. A little ways away, Jessie and Meowth ask James why he bought the Magikarp. James tells them that its a rare pokemon. To prove this, he shows them its gold Pokeball. Meowth points out the the gold on the PokeBall was sprayed on. Jessie asks James how he affored it. James says that his salery was so small, he used Jessie's salery to buy it. She yells at him and makes him return it. Meanwhile, Misty notices Ash looking out at the sea, wondering if trading Butterfree was the right choice. He tells Misty that when he was trading Butterfree, he remembered all the good times they had together.

Team Rocket's plan starts, with the room everyone is in being locked up and the Trainers are forced to give their pokemon to Team Rocket Grunts. Ash tells Pikachu to use ThunderShock on one of the Grunts. This inspires all the other Trainers to fight back with their pokemon. Ash sends out Bulbasaur, Charmander, and Squirtle to fight the Grunts. Brock sends out his Geodude to fight too. Ash tries to sends out Butterfree, but Misty remindes him that he traded Butterfree away. He watches Butterfree and its new Trainer fighting the Grunts sadly.

A group of Pikachu uses Thunderbolt to send Team Rocket flying. The ship sails into a big storm. James drops the PokeBall Magikarp is in and runs after it. Ash finds the Trainer he traded Butterfree to and asks if he can trade back. The Trainer agrees and they start and reverse trade. The captain of the ship tells everyone that the ship is unsinkable. A wave knocks the captain into a lifeboat and everyone scambles to get into the lifeboats. Misty and Brock find Ash finishing the trade and Ash drops his PokeBall and the three of them run after it. They get the PokeBall, but a wave knocks them aganist a wall, knocking them unconious. James, Jessie, and Meowth get Magikarp's PokeBall, but another wave knocks them out also. They are all stuck on the ship when it sinks while the rest of the passengers get to safety. The captain believes everyone is safe, not knowing that Ash, his friends, and Team Rocket are still on the ship.

Debuts
Human Characters Pokemon Characters Items
 * Giovanni
 * Magikarp Salesman
 * Gentleman
 * Giovanni's Persian
 * Raticate
 * Trade Machine

Major Events

 * James foolishly buys a Magikarp

Trivia

 * The "Who's that Pokemon?" of this episode is Raticate.
 * The captain of the St. Anne decided NOT to go down with the ship, even though it's a tradition for captains to do so.
 * James and Jessie disguised themselves as Ganguro Girls at the beginning of the episode, though technicaly Jessie had orange hair.
 * This is the first of few episodes where James cross-dresses as a girl.
 * Aside from Misty and Jessie, Rachael Lillis also voiced the lady accompanying the Gentleman.
 * The trade machine had the same buttons as a VCR.

Quotes

 * Misty: "Just imagine, sunbathing on deck all day, just a nice long, relaxing cruise."

Brock: "We could never afford a cruise like that."

Misty: "Augh."

They walk all depressed.

Ash: "Reality can really bum you out."
 * "The famous St. Anne?"

Ash
 * "Do you know anybody who says "radical" anymore?"

Ash about outdated slang
 * Blonde girl(James): "Like wow, don't I make like the coolest girl?"

Red-head girl (Jessie) bonks James

Jessie: "Stop acting like an ignoramus."

James: "Ow."
 * "Meow! What's with the Persian?!"

Meowth about his rival.
 * James: "Was it really all right for us to give out all those tickets for free?"

Boss (Giovanni): "A small price to pay for what I'll get in return."
 * "My Squirtle and my Charmander are much better than theirs are."

Ash bragging again.
 * Gentleman: "Well now, is anybody else brave enough to challenge my Raticate?"

Ash: "I can't wait!"

Ash Challenges the Gentleman

Ash: "How about battling my Butterfree?"

Gentleman: "As you wish."
 * James: "Say Jessie, this place is packed."

Jessie: "Yes and packed with pokemon."

James: "And soon all these pokemon will be ours."

James fantasy happens

James: "All for us."

Jessie: "Shut up. They're not for us, they're for the boss."

James: "I forgot."
 * "It certainly is lively."

James about Magikarp.
 * Magikarp Salesman: "I normally charge $100 but for you I'll throw in an egg-laying set, child-care set and an education set for only $300. How about it?"

James: "I'LL TAKE IT!"

Magikarp Salesman: I can tell, ha ha, you're going to be a very rich man, a very rich man."

James is super happy.
 * Brock: "She's beautiful."

Misty: "Hello in there."

Brock: "Beautiful."

Misty: "(sigh) Here we go again."
 * Jessie: "You idiot! Can't you see you were tricked?!"

Meowth: "What a dope!"

James: "But you don't understand, Magikarp is a gold mine. Even its pokeball is solid gold."

Meowth: "It's just gold plated!"
 * Jessie: "How did you get the money for it?"

James: "Well, the advance on my salary didn't quite cover it so I..."

Jessie: "So you did what?"

James: "I used the advance on your salary."

Jessie is mad and beats up James.

Jessie: "You go return that fish and get my money back right now!"
 * "It won't be long now."

Giovanni
 * Jessie: "Are you crazy?"

James: "But I..."

Jessie: "WE GOT WORK TO DO!"
 * "I think we should all be very proud of our pokemon, and we taught Team Rocket a lesson they'll never forget."

Ash
 * "I can't wait to get off of this lousy bucket."

Jessie about Team Rocket's worst defeat ever.
 * James: "Wait! There goes my salary advance!"

Jessie: "There goes my money too."
 * "Now there's no reason to panic. I just thought I'd test out one of the lifeboats."

The Captain
 * James: "Wait! There goes my next paycheck!"

Jessie: "Who cares about your paycheck, what about mine?"

Links
Watch this and other episodes: Pokemon Episode 15: Battle Aboard the St. Anne