A Little Rocket R & R! (Japanese: 休め! ロケット団!, Hepburn: Yasume! Rocket-dan!, trans. Rest! Team Rocket!) is the 24th episode of Pocket Monsters (2019 series), and Pokémon Journeys: The Series of Pokémon Journeys: The Series.
Synopsis[]
Team Rocket’s Matori has a big mission coming up, and she does not want any incompetence! The solution? Send Jessie, James, and Meowth (and Wobbuffet) on a vacation! They’re happy for a break, but just as they get settled in, the Twerps appear! Ash and Goh are searching for a giant Pokémon who’s rumored to live in a nearby lake—it turns out to be a Magikarp, who Goh catches with the disguised Team Rocket trio’s help! Then, Matori suddenly attacks, but the trio can’t stand seeing her get the upper hand, so they help Ash and Goh defeat her! Perhaps she’ll think twice before excluding them again?[1]
Episode plot[]
Team Rocket is plotting in their hideout before they receive a call. Answering, they expect Giovanni to appear but are instead met with Matori who scolds them on how they should pick up on calls immediately. Jessie demands to know where Giovanni is and what Matori wants and is answered with Giovanni being out for business. Upon receiving the information, Jessie hangs up on the call to the surprise of the other Team Rocket members. James calls back to the Team Rocket headquarters to which Matori states that the team is to take a leave of absence.
At Cerise Laboratory, Ash, Goh, and Professor Cerise are looking over the Resort Area of the Sinnoh region. Professor Cerise tells the two that there is a giant lake with a large Pokémon inside. Ren chimes in to say that the unknown Pokémon has only been seen as a shadow within the lake and can jump to incredible heights. Chrysa also adds that many Trainers gather around the lake, hoping to be the Trainer that catches the mysterious Pokémon. Ash and Goh, excited about the tale, decide they want to visit the lake and capture the lake Pokémon.
At the Sinnoh Resort Area, Team Rocket is shown to have found their spot for relaxation, enjoying the ocean, blue sky, and green fields while forgetting about their schemes against Ash and Pikachu. However, to their surprise, Ash and Goh walk past them. Goh asks Team Rocket for directions to the lake they had heard about, not noticing the team in their vacation clothing. As Ash and Goh head off towards the lake, Meowth suggests that they attempt to catch Pikachu while they are near, though this is met with Jessie reminding him of Giovanni's order for them to take a break from their schemes. Team Rocket attempt to distract themselves from Pikachu by going shopping but surprisingly run into Ash and gang again. Goh walks over to them to thank Team Rocket for their directions as James asks what the two are doing. Ash says that they are looking for Fishing Rods and James proceeds to help them look for some in a nearby store. Outside of the store, Jessie grabs Pikachu to move it out of the way of an oncoming skateboarder. Ash and Goh thank Team Rocket for their help, though upon them setting off, Team Rocket is disappointed in the fact that they came close to capturing Pikachu. The group walks off after they are reminded that they need to take a break.
Matori is shown arriving to the Resort Area in a helicopter, meeting up with members of Team Rocket. She heads inside of a tent to discuss Team Rocket's plan of taking over the world and having complete order from Giovanni. She states that in order to rule the world, strong Pokémon will be needed, so a plan is set up to steal Pokémon from tourists of the Resort Area.
Hiding in the bushes, Team Rocket is watching over Ash, Goh, and the tourists fishing around the lake. Goh feels a bite on his line before reeling in a Goldeen. He uses his Pokédex to identify Goldeen and catches it. Ash also gets a bite and reels in a Magikarp which Goh also catches. The two continue to fish in the lake, but only reel in more Goldeen and Magikarp. Goh changes the lure on his Fishing Rod to an Octillery Lure and casts it into the water, immediately getting a bite. Ash, Pikachu, and Raboot help Goh with pulling in the Pokémon before Ash spots Team Rocket watching them in the distance and calls for their help. All eight of them pull in the Fishing Rod which fishes up a giant Magikarp, the mysterious Pokémon that lived in the lake. The group and the onlooking tourists are amazed by Magikarp's jumping power and how Goh was able to reel in the giant Pokémon. Goh throws a Poké Ball at the Magikarp, but it swiftly slaps it back into Goh's face with its tail. In order to calm down Magikarp, Goh sends out his Oddish and commands it to use Sleep Powder, putting the giant fish Pokémon to sleep. Now that the Magikarp is asleep, Goh throws another Poké Ball and successfully catches it. Goh goes to thank the tired Team Rocket gang for helping them with the capture of his new giant Pokémon.
As Team Rocket is about to head off, they see explosions come from the Resort Area's main center. The Team Rocket Grunts are shown capturing various Pokémon from Trainers in nets. Ash and Goh rush over and see the captured Pokémon while Jessie, James, and their Pokémon watch over the operation, angered that they were excluded. Matori notices that Ash and Goh try to intervene with their plan, so she leaves the Team Rocket Grunts to battle them as they send out Rhyperior, Purugly, Toxicroak, and Skuntank. Ash sends out Riolu as Pikachu leaps beside it while Goh orders Raboot to join the upcoming battle. Ash tells Pikachu to use Quick Attack and Riolu to use Vacuum Wave, but are met from counters of Toxicroak's Sludge Bomb and Purugly's Fury Swipes respectively. Goh's Raboot attempts to attack Rhyperior but is hit with Stone Edge, making it weak. Ash attempts to command another attack, but Pikachu has become Poisoned from Toxicroak's attack. Toxicroak then throws Pikachu into the air and uses Venoshock. Ash attempts to go towards his now weakened Pikachu but is stopped by the flames of Skuntank's Flamethrower attack. While the flames keep back the battlers, one of the Grunts grabs Pikachu and the Pokémon thieves escape in a helicopter before Officer Jenny can get there.
Ash and Goh, both now worried about Pikachu being captured, head to a nearby Pokémon Center. Outside of the Pokémon Center, Team Rocket schemes up a plan to get revenge on Matori and the Grunts. Team Rocket heads inside of the Pokémon Center to help out the boys with finding the stolen Pokémon with James revealing he put a tracking device on Skuntank during the battle to track where the Grunts headed. Ash and Goh team up with Team Rocket, still unknowing of who they are.
As the team goes out searching while monitoring the tracker on their Rotom Phone, Team Rocket fantasizes about the praise they will get from Giovanni upon taking all of the stolen Pokémon for themselves. They eventually come across the grunt's camp and the stolen Pokémon, all of them now inside cages. Jessie tells Goh to make a move and distract the guards. Once the grunt's notice, they send out Toxicroak and Rhyperior, to which Goh responds by sending out his giant Magikarp he captured earlier. James and Ash head over to the caged Pokémon with James picking the lock, freeing Pikachu into Ash's arms. Ash feeds Pikachu a Pecha Berry, curing its Poison status. Meanwhile, Goh orders his Magikarp to use Splash, sending the confused grunts and their Pokémon into the air and crashing back down. Matori and some Grunts notice the commotion and see the captured Pokémon being freed by Ash and James. Matori orders the Grunts to send out Purugly and Skuntank, questioning what Ash thinks he's going to do. Purugly attempts to use Slash but is stopped with Pikachu's Iron Tail attack. Suddenly, Matori and the Grunts find themselves surrounded by the captured Pokémon who begin to charge towards and attack the Grunts Pokémon. With Officer Jenny and her Growlithe appearing on the scene, Matori orders the Grunts to flee as Rhyperior uses Stone Edge to create a stone wall, allowing them to successfully escape.
All of the captured Pokémon are reunited with their Trainers. Officer Jenny thanks Team Rocket for their help in freeing the caged Pokémon. Team Rocket prepares to leave before Goh asks what their names are. Jessie is prepared to begin the Team Rocket motto before James, Meowth, and Wobbuffet stop her and drag her away.
Team Rocket then returns to their base, receiving another call from Matori. Looking tired, Matori states that Team Rocket are able to return to their scheming, with Jessie mocking Matori about how tired she looks and suggests she should take a break as well. As the call ends, Team Rocket rejoices about how they were able to successfully spoil Matori's plans. Back at Cerise Laboratory, Professor Cherise, Ren, and Chrysa see the giant Magikarp that Goh caught, amazed by its jumping height capable of breaking through the glass dome surrounding the Cerise Park. Magikarp falls from a great leap, leaving the Professor and his assistants soaked. Goh also tells the Professor of how he caught it with the help of some friendly folk he met along the way.
Debuts[]
Pokémon[]
- Goh's Goldeen
- Goh's Magikarp (2×)
- Team Rocket's Toxicroak
- Team Rocket's Rhyperior
- Team Rocket's Skuntank
- Team Rocket's Purugly
Trivia[]
- Who's That Pokémon?: Meowth
- The episode was originally scheduled to air on May 3, 2020, but it was later postponed indefinitely due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, along with the series and its upcoming episodes.
- The episode's originally intended airing was replaced with a rerun of "Legend? Go! Friends? Go!"
- The re-air of Next Episode Preview about "Ivysaur's Mysterious Tower!" was shown instead.
- After that, the episode has a reschedule air-date: June 24, 2020.
- This episode is the last to air in Japan prior to the release of The Isle of Armor Expansion Pass.
- It is worth noting that 3 of the 4 Pokémon Team Rocket used in this episode were the aces of Team Galactic's commanders. Mars uses Purugly, Saturn uses Toxicroak, while Jupiter uses Skuntank.
- Goh's giant Magikarp is a reference to Platinum's Resort Area, where a level 100 Magikarp can be found.
- This is the first time Goldeen had a Pokédex entry, although Misty's Goldeen marked the species' debut in "Pokémon Emergency!," 1,119 episodes ago.
- This is the first time since "The Sun, the Scare, the Secret Lair!" that Team Rocket (not Jessie and James) defeats all of Ash's Pokémon.
- This is the one of the few episodes in the series where Jessie and James stay good.
Mistakes[]
- Numel, when running from the grunts, is shown as a triped. It is actually a quadruped, with Boldore being the only three legged Pokémon in existence.
Gallery[]
References[]
- ^ (n.d.) . "A Little Rocket R & R! | Pokémon TV (pokemon.com)". From The Official Pokémon Website | Pokemon.com. Archived from the original on February 12, 2024.
