IL066: Snow Way Out!

Snow Way Out! (イワークでビバーク) is a speical episode of the Pokémon: Indigo League season.

Synopsis
Ash, Misty and Brock, per Ash's decision, go though the mountains. However, a blizzard causes Pikachu to get lost and Ash goes to find him. While Ash saves him, he needs to make an ice cave. After the cave is made, Ash goes to call his Pokémon back or they will freeze. However, the cave gets colder, so Ash goes to stop it, but his Pokémon go to warm him up.

Episode Plot
Ash, Brock and Misty continue on their journey, and reach a fork on the road. Brock suggests they take one side of the road, since the other leads to a mountain, and Misty agrees with him since she doesn't want to be cold, but Ash decides to go the other way claiming it's not a mountain, only a hill. Misty tells him she hopes he has made the right call.

However, when they reach the mountain, Misty says they will need a cable car to climb the mountain safely. Brock suggests they go back to the fork on the road so they can take the other road, but Ash, claiming a Pokémon master doesn't change his path no matter what challenges they have to face, says he won't let a little mount of snow stop him. Pikachu cheers him on, agreeing with him.

As they climb the mountain, Misty says she's freezing and asks how long they will take to reach the top. Brock, checking out his map, says they're pretty close to it. However, Brock's compass starts freaking out, and Brock theorizes it can be because the mountain has so much iron in it, that will rip the compass' needle off. Misty panics and asks how they will find the way without the compass. Brock tries to reassure her and checks out his map and the sun's position, pulling Ash's and Misty's hopes up. However, both fall as Brock concludes they're actually lost.

Misty demands that Ash, having been the one to claim the mountain wasn't that high, finds a way down for them. Ash looks at a loss for a moment, but then calls for Pidgeotto and tells him to find them a trail that leads down the mountain. Pidgeotto does so and returns, pointing them the way, and Ash reassures Misty and Brock, telling them everything is fine.

Meanwhile, somewhere else on the mountain, Meowth and James are hugging each other trying to keep themselves warm. Meowth asks why they took the cold route, and complains to be freezing. James tells him he hates snow as much as Meowth does, but points to Jessie, saying she loves it. Jessie is happily dancing on the snow, saying in a sing-song voice, 'Snow, snow, I love you'. James asks Jessie if she really likes the snow, and she says she loves it because it brings back delicious memories for her. Meowth thinks Jesse was driven insane by the snow, and a surprised Jessie tells them she means it, asking them if they never ate 'snowgasbord'.

James and Meowth ask her what that is, and a starry-eyed Jessie recalls one of her fondest memories of her terrible childhood. In a flashback, a young Jessie appears dancing and singing in the snow as she was in the present, when her mother (unseen) calls her to come in because snowgasbord is served. Jessie's mother, her face unseen, puts a tray with dishes in front of Jessie, saying she did all of Jessie's favorites: snow dumpling with snow sauce, snow sushi and snow potatoes with snow cream, and for dessert, a bowl of Jessie's beloved snow pudding. Jessie's mother then wishes her a happy snowgasbord, and a happy Jessie tells her mother that's the best snowgasbord a mother could do.

Back in the present, Jessie sighs saying there's nothing like homemade food. James and Meowth are stunned that Jessie actually had snow for a meal, with James claiming he doesn't believe that. Jessie defensively says they had to do with what they had, plus snow is low-fat, helping her keep her figure. James then decides they have to go, saying they pass Ash and his friends if they use the balloon. As the balloon fills with hot air, Jessie says they'll be just like the snow and float, and they say their motto. As they're close to the end, Meowth interrupts with a scream, and both Jessie and James attack him telling him not to interrupt them, with James claiming that's the best part, and Meowth tells them the balloon is leaving without them. Team Rocket then rushes after the balloon, which is floating away.

Weather changes. Brock complains they haven't reached the top even though they have walked the entire day. A snowstorm begins, and Ash tells them to move on before the sun sets. Cut to a tired Team Rocket. James and Meowth are panting, James whining that all their food and supplies are in the balloon and claiming he's hungry, while a thoughtful Jessie looks at the snowy ground. Jessie tells them she'll make snow rolls for dinner, and, although James and Meowth are against it, Jessie's determined to make her mother's snow rolls recipe, and orders them to keep going after the balloon since she can't make the rolls without soy sauce (there's some in the balloon). Meowth deadpans he'd rather have ketchup on his rolls.

A snowstorm breaks out. Ash wants to keep going, but Misty and Brock disagree. Brock suggests it's better if they stop and dig a snow cave to spend the night in. Ash insists on moving on, but relents when Brock tells him not even the most fearless Pokémon Master would go on in a snowstorm at night. Wind blows and knocks Ash down; he drops Pikachu, who he had been holding in his arms, wrapped in his jacket, and the wind blows Pikachu away. Ash rushes after him; Misty tries to follow them, but Brock holds her back.

Ash searches for Pikachu, calling out his name. Eventually, he hears Pikachu calling back, and finds the electric mouse hanging to the edge of an abyss. He tries to help Pikachu up, but Pikachu slips down further. Ash then calls for Bulbasaur to pull Pikachu up with his Vine Whip, but Pikachu slips and falls when holding the Whip. Bulbasaur then wraps his Vines around Pikachu's middle and Ash pulls him up.

Ash and Pikachu then try to come back, but, since Ash fell down a cliff, he can't manage to climb it back up. Ash calls out for Brock and Misty, but when they can't hear him, decides to dig a snowcave like Brock suggested. Ash begins to dig with his bare hands, but soon his hands are too cold to keep going, and he chooses Charmander, asking him to use Flamethrower to carve an opening on the snow wall. Ash then calls Squirtle and Bulbasaur to help him, Pikachu and Charmander seal the open cave with snow. Once the cave is sealed, Ash notices his Pokémon are tired and cold, and suggests they sit by Charmander's tail flame to keep warm.

Team Rocket is trapped in an igloo. Their candle blows out and all they have left is three used matches. Each one of them takes a match and uses their imagination in order to keep warm. Meowth imagines he's in a hot fountain, James imagines he's on the beach, while Jessie sees herself on the desert wearing winter clothes. She comes back from her daydream to see James and Meowth falling asleep and she slaps them back awake.

Back in the cave, Charmander is tired from all the effort and Ash recalls him, against his wishes. Ash then muses it must be warm inside the Poké Ball, so he recalls Squirtle and Bulbasaur as well. He tries to convince Pikachu to go into his Poké Ball, but Pikachu refuses and tells Ash he wants to help keep him warm. The wind blows the sealed wall of the cave open, and Ash rushes to sit with his back against the hole. He orders Pikachu to go in his Poké Ball and promises Pikachu he's going to be fine as long as he knows Pikachu is fine too.

Ash and Pikachu are arguing when Squirtle, Charmander, Bulbasaur and Pidgeotto break out of their Poké Balls and cuddle with Ash in an effort to keep each other warm. Touched, Ash cries as his Pokémon settle around him: Charmander on his left, Squirtle on his right, Pidgeotto on his shoulder, Bulbasaur on his lap and Pikachu clinging to his leg.

The next morning, Misty and Brock find Ash and his Pokémon just out of the cave. Misty asks how they survived the storm, and tells him Brock's Onix found an underground hot fountain, claiming they were very comfortable. Brock shows Ash Team Rocket's empty balloon and uses Vulpix to fill it up with hot air.

The floating balloon is seen by Team Rocket, who stayed awake by pinching at each other's cheeks. They rush after the balloon, but fall inside a hot fountain, and they happily say they're warming up again. Ash hears them, but he shrugs it off when Misty says she didn't hear anything. The gang finally reaches the next town, while Team Rocket stays trapped in the fountain, since it's too hot to stay in, but too cold to get out.

Quotes

 * "We'll be cold all together!" - Ash to his Pokémon inside the cave.

Trivia

 * This episode was meant to be transmitted as IL041, but because of IL038, it was aired at a later date.
 * The "Who's that Pokémon?" in this episode is Muk.

Mistakes
In this episode Ash still has his Charmander, even though it has already evolved in an earlier episode.