IL029: The Punchy Pokémon

Synopsis
In the outskirts of Fuchsia City, Ash, Misty, and Brock come across Hitmonchan, a fighter-Pokémon. Ash, thinking its a wild Pokémon, attempts to capture it, but he and Pikachu are badly defeated.

The Hitmonchan's trainer comes out from the trees and he says that Hitmonchan fought a good battle. Ash is disappointed that Hitmonchan is not a wild Pokémon. Suddenly, a little girl comes running out from the trees. She calls the trainer her father and begs him to come home. He tells his daughter, Rebecca, that he won't come home until he has become the P1 Grand Prix champion. He then tells everyone that he will be at his gym and then he leaves.

Ash asks Rebecca what the trainer was talking about. Rebecca says that Anthony is so determined to become the P1 Grand Prix champion, that he has abandoned his family. Brock wants to help Rebecca, so he volunteers him and Ash to have their Pokémon, Geodude and Primeape will defeat Anthony and his Hitmonchan.

Meanwhile, Team Rocket hears about the P1 Grand Prix and they want to enter to win the champion's belt. James and Meowth only want to win for the all- you -eat- buffet the winner gets, making Jessie mad at them. James and Meowth ask her what she would do with the prize money. She replies that she would go to a salon and then go on a shopping spree. James points out the only fighting Pokémon can enter and Jessie says they will have to "borrow" one. They see a tall man and his Hitmonlee. They decide the Hitmonlee will be the Pokémon they "borrow".

At the P1 Grand Prix, all of the trainers are ready and the first battle is between Primeape and a Machop. No matter what Ash says, Primeape won't listen to him until the Machop uses Seismic Toss and throws Primeape out of the ring. Ash runs to save Primeape, but he misses. He asks Primeape if its okay. Primeape gives Ash a sad look but brushes it off quickly and Primeape climbs back into the ring. Now Primeape is listening to Ash and it defeats Machop by using Scratch and Mega Kick.

The next battle is between Hitmonlee and Geodude. Rebecca is worried but Brock assures her that he will win. Rebecca tells him to look out and Brock is hit in the head by Geodude, who was kicked hard. Brock sends Geodude back in and it is beaten up badly. Anthony approches Brock and tells him that a real man knows when its time to quit. Brock forefits the match and apologizes to Geodude for making it enter the grand prix. Ash promises that he and Primeape will win the tournament.

As the tournament continues, Primeape, Hitmonchan, and Hitmonlee are the only ones left. The next battle is between Hitmonchan and Hitmonlee. Jessie is ready for anything and tells Meowth to make sure they win. Meowth squirts glue up through the floor of the arena and Hitmonchan gets stuck. Anthony forefits and he tells Rebecca that he is sorry he worried Rebecca and her mother. Misty says the fighting brought a family back together.

The final match between Primeape and Hitmonlee starts. Primeape blocks many kicks from Hitmonlee and punches Hitmonlee a couple of times. Under the arena, Meowth tries to cheat again, but Pikachu spots him. Pikachu looks to see what Meowth is doing and he sees that Meowth put a bomb under the arena.

Back on the stage Hitmonlee jumps up, according to the plan and Meowth hits the button for the bomb to go off, but it doesn't. Hitmonlee falls down and Primeape grabs it and uses Seismic Toss and Primeape wins the match. Primeape has become the new P1 Grand Prix champion. Team Rocket wonders what went wrong and then Pikachu comes in giving Meowth the bomb. After Pikachu walks a safe distance the bomb goes off and Team Rocket blasts off again.

Anthony says Primeape has a lot talent and asks Ash if he could train it. Ash leaves Primeape with Anthony so it can train and he promises to come back for Primeape one day.

Quotes
~Anthony suggesting Brock admits defeat.
 * "If you're a real man, you'd know when you have to admit defeat. Time to face facts: You can lose today and win tomorrow."

Trivia

 * For the P1 tournament, 8 competitors have entered, yet back in Generation I, there were only 8 -type Pokémon: Mankey, Primeape, Poliwrath, Machop, Machoke, Machamp, Hitmonlee and Hitmonchan. However, no participant had a Mankey leaving only 7 participants. The last minute entry being Brock and his Geodude.
 * This episode is the first time pikachu fights a battle without using real moves.