The Pirates of Decolore! (Japanese: デコロラ諸島の海賊王!, Hepburn: The Pirate King of the Decolora Archipelago!) is the 32nd episode of Pokémon: BW Adventures in Unova and Beyond.
Synopsis[]
It’s a beautiful day at sea, and our heroes are enjoying the fresh air on deck when a Croconaw, Azumarill, and Octillery sneak aboard unnoticed. The three break into the ship’s supply room to steal boxes of food and discover Team Rocket attempting to do the same thing! The ship’s alarm sounds, and Porter says it can only mean one thing—pirates!
Pikachu and Snivy go to investigate and spot the three pilfering Pokémon pushing a cart loaded with stolen food. Several of the ship’s crew give chase, but the crooks have obviously done this sort of thing before. They swiftly get themselves and their loot aboard a raft (where Ducklett, the fourth member of the gang, waits as a “getaway driver”), and off they go, but not before knocking Team Rocket off the ship and into the ocean!
While Meowth vows to get the grub back, Officer Jenny of the Decolore Island police informs our heroes that this is the work of a well-known gang of pirates, who have been stealing all sorts of things from people throughout the islands. Ash, Iris, and Cilan offer to help, and they all set out aboard Officer Jenny’s police boat in search of the gang’s hideout.
Meowth has discovered the hideout, but when the pirates discover him, they attack despite pleas to talk things over. Soon, Charizard finds the gang’s hideout from the air and guides the police boat there. Officer Jenny attempts to put the gang under arrest, and Ash asks why they’ve been behaving so badly. With Meowth as translator, all four Pokémon pirates relate sad stories of being mistreated and abandoned by their Trainers. After that, they vowed to get even with people by stealing from them! Pignite and Snivy can relate to their plight, but as tempers flare, the battle lines are drawn. If the pirates lose, they agree to stop their thieving ways. And that’s exactly what happens.
Our heroes and Officer Jenny are preparing to leave when a sudden storm blows up, and they notice a rubber raft being tossed on the waves with three petrified Darumaka aboard, holding on for dear life! The water is too rough to take the police boat out, but Croconaw rallies the gang, and the four of them swim out and bring the raft safely to shore. Officer Jenny is impressed with their bravery and offers to make them members of the Decolore Coastguard, but not before they go back and apologize to everyone they have stolen from.
And so, with the future looking bright for the former pirates, our heroes set sail once again on their journey to the Kanto region![1]
Episode plot[]
As Axew, Pikachu and Pignite play, the heroes admire how many Decolore Islands are there. Porter gives them some juice, making the heroes glad they are here. Suddenly, a Croconaw appears, whose partner, an Octillery, goes onto the ship. Pignite accidentally throws the ball too far away and goes to get it. As he goes after the ball, Pignite sees Octillery, who jumps on and lowers the rope, allowing the Croconaw and an Azumarill to board the ship as well. Team Rocket also snuck aboard the ship and were collecting the food supplies, intending on stealing them. As the trio leave, they face Azumarill, Croconaw and Octillery, who attack them with Bubblebeam, Hidden Power and Water Gun, then take the supplies. They run off and are seen by Pikachu and Snivy. The alarm sets off, so Porter is certain that the pirates are at work, stealing their supplies.
Pikachu and Snivy show the pirates, who are Croconaw, Octillery and Azumarill. Since their path is blocked, they go back and hit the ship's security. The Pokémon go to the rail, but Team Rocket appears, wanting the food back. Azumarill, however, slams them with its tail, making Team Rocket fall into the sea. The Pokémon drop food supplies into the sea, where Octillery places them on a raft that a Ducklett pushed to them. Iris reminds the Pokémon stealing is wrong, but she and others evade their attacks. Croconaw and Azumarill jump and go onto the raft, which is pushed off by Croconaw's Water Gun. Ash's Oshawott comes out and goes after these pirates. He goes onto the raft and despite feeling uncomfortable, he greets them. Octillery sludges him with ink, so Oshawott returns to his Poké Ball.
Ash sends Charizard to chase the raft away. Jessie and James are on their submarine and seeing Meowth is gone, they go after him, suspecting he is on the raft. Meowth decides to show these pirates a lesson when someone steals from Team Rocket. Iris wipes the ink from Oshawott's face, while Porter warns them all sailing in these waters is dangerous, due to pirate Pokémon living nearby. The heroes know there is a reason why those pirates stole the food, hoping after learning the reason they can stop them. Porter also remembers Officer Jenny is nearby investigating this case, so the heroes vouch to help her out. They stop at an island and tell Officer Jenny what happened. Jenny sees this is the usual gang, who has been creating havoc: from stealing boats, food and even crops.
Officer Jenny is not pleased the gang is causing trouble around the Islands and cannot find their hideout. The pirates, however, go on the other end of the island and place their cargo in a cave. Ducklett, however, spots Meowth hiding, so Octillery binds him, even if Meowth just wants to talk things over. Charizard sees this and returns, confirming where the pirates are. The heroes board onto Officer Jenny's boat and sail where Charizard leads them to. Cilan notices the diving gear, so Jenny replies they are the Coast Guard as well. Jenny is surprised Charizard is taking them to a round island, since it has a resort in it. Meowth is being interrogated, so claims he is already a thief, being a member of Team Rocket. The heroes arrive and Officer Jenny puts the pirates under arrest. The heroes wonder why these Pokémon stole things in the first place.
The pirates are frustrated but angrily blurt out why. Ash and the others don't understand what they said, so Meowth decides to translate. The Pokémon were actually abandoned by their own trainers. Each of them remember their cruel and callous trainers and how and why they were abandoned: Croconaw failed to win any Gym Battles and it never evolved into a Feraligatr, Azumarill had evolved but its Trainer preferred it as a Marill, Octillery was considered useless due to its Trainer not knowing that it evolved from Remoraid, and Ducklett lost a battle and didn't seem to be too upset about it as its Trainer believed it should've been. After they were abandoned, the four of them struggled by themselves for a long while, sometimes even going days without food, before eventually teaming up and turning to piracy as both a way to sustain themselves and as payback against humans for their mistreatment by their former Trainers. Pignite replies not everyone is a bad trainer, according to Meowth. Pikachu confirms this, while Snivy speaks up, reminding everyone that she abandoned her trainer, having no respect or patience for such a loser. Iris wonders if something happened in Snivy's past which Ash asks her to ease up. Ash asks the pirates not to steal anymore. Since they refuse, Meowth translates Snivy proposes a battle. The pirates accept, so Ash has Pignite and Snivy face Croconaw and Azumarill.
Croconaw starts with Water Gun, but Snivy and Pignite dodge. Snivy uses Vine Whip, hitting Croconaw back and dodges Azumarill's Bubblebeam. Pignite uses Flame Charge, hitting Azumarill. Croconaw attacks Pignite with Hydro Pump, but misses. Azumarill uses Hydro Pump, hitting Pignite, who manages to stand up, continuing the battle. Snivy uses Vine Whip, hitting Azumarill and Croconaw. Using Vine Whip, Snivy causes Azumarill and Croconaw to trip over and be hit by Pignite's Flamethrower. Croconaw uses Iron Tail, but Snivy and Pignite avoid the attack. Snivy retaliates with Leaf Storm, hitting Azumarill and Croconaw, who are defeated by Pignite's Fire Pledge.
Since they were defeated, the pirates reluctantly agree to stop stealing food. However, Jessie and James appear. Meowth joins them, as they intend to offer the pirates to join them. Jessie sends Woobat and James sends Yamask. Yamask uses Shadow Ball and Woobat Air Slash, but miss. Snivy uses Leaf Storm, damaging Woobat and Yamask. Using Fire Pledge, Pignite throws Yamask and Woobat to Team Rocket, who quickly blast off. Iris shows the pirates that might happen if they continue stealing, causing them to shake their heads while shuddering. Suddenly, it starts raining, and the heroes notice some Darumaka stranded on a raft in the ocean. The pirates jump in and swim to rescue these Darumaka. However, a wave nearly overturns the raft, but the pirates use Water Gun to stabilize the raft and rescue the Darumaka.
Back at the island, two children thank them for saving Darumaka, as when they were playing with them, a wave stranded them away. Officer Jenny is impressed by these pirates and asks them to join the Coast Guard. Croconaw, Octillery, Ducklett and Azumarill like the idea and accept the invitation, but have to apologize to everyone they stole from, which they agree to do. Later, the heroes are at the cruiser, bidding farewell to Officer Jenny and her four new Pokémon.
Quotes[]
- "What?! That was quick." - Jessie
- "WE'RE BLASTING OFF TOO SOON!" - Team Rocket
Trivia[]
- While Pignite tries to point out some trainers are good, this is a callback to how Ash took him in and helped him defeat his previous trainer who abandoned him.
- Snivy claims she has zero tolerance for loser trainers, this is a direct callback to her first appearance when she didn't let Ash catch her and how they found her.
- The pirate Pokemon were abandoned for two of the same reasons: Croconaw and Ducklett were abandoned because they lost many battles while Azumarille and Octillery were abandoned because they evolved.
Mistakes[]
- The old opening which featured N and Team Plasma is used instead of the new one.
- During the battle between Pignite and Snivy against Croconaw and Azumarill, Ash mistakenly says Fire Punch on Pignite as his move used to be Fire Pledge.
Gallery[]
References[]
- ^ (n.d.) . "The Pirates of Decolore! | Pokémon TV (pokemon.com)". From The Official Pokémon Website | Pokemon.com. Archived from the original on February 5, 2024.