Pokémon Fashion Flash (ロコン! ブリーダーたいけつ![Notes 1], Rokon! Breeder Taiketsu!?, lit. Rokon! A Breeder Showdown!) is the 28th episode of Pocket Monsters of Pocket Monsters (1997 series), and the 27th episode of Pokémon: Indigo League of Pokémon the Series: The Beginning and the first season of Pokémon the Series.
Synopsis[]
English[]
At Brock's persistent request, our heroes stop by Caesar Street, a town of breeders famous for its Pokémon beauty salons. Brock makes a special request to visit a salon called Coron. The owner of the Beauty Salon, Coron, is a breeder who has received the most superior ranking in the Pokémon Breeder Contest for three years straight. Recently, a store called Salon Roquet has been introducing outrageous fashions, making wild profits and disrupting long-term shop-owners.[1]
Episode plot[]
In HopHopHop Town, our heroes find themselves on Scissor Street, also known as Breeder's Lane. It is explained that this place has many storefronts and parlors dedicated to Pokémon fashion, such as salons. Ash and friends would then stumble into a storefront known as Salon Roquet, where Jessie and James (disguised) are providing new hairstyles and makeovers to Pokémon. Misty wants to get in on this, but the line is long, and so they decide to abandon the store when Brock finds the store he's looking for.
Entering it, Brock freezes up until the voice of a woman snaps him back to reality. Within, they find a breeder named Suzie. Brock is enthralled by her, but Misty and Ash are more preoccupied with the Vulpix sleeping in a chair to the side. Misty wishes to pick it up, but the Vulpix is not pleased with this and attacks her with a Flamethrower for being disturbed. Brock then suddenly cries out his desire to be Suzie's pupil. As it turns out, Suzie is a famous breeder, and Brock, whose entire dream is to be a breeder of high caliber, desires to study under her. She denies him though, as she fears she's far too busy. Ash and Misty are still more interested in the Vulpix and ask about it. Later, as she serves tea to the others, she notes the sheen of Pikachu's coat. Suzie asks Brock if he's been the one mixing its food, to which he agrees. But she is even more surprised when her usually picky Vulpix decides to eat some of the food as well. Misty asks what is going on outside, and Suzie states that Salon Roquet had recently opened and focuses solely upon making the Pokémon look flashy. This runs counter to her beliefs, as she thinks it is more important to bring out the true inner beauty of the Pokémon. Ash agrees, saying that making Pokémon flashy is a waste of time. This begins an argument between Ash and Misty as she believes its okay for Pokémon to splurge a little. When Ash sarcastically suggests that Misty take her Psyduck to Salon Roquet, Misty decides that she will take her Pokémon to Salon Roquet. After she tells off Ash for making another wisecrack regarding her Psyduck, she leaves to go to Salon Roquet.
Suzie begins to wonder if this is the correct choice. Ash and Brock reassure her that she's on the right path and begin to set up plans to help her compete. She begins to explain the importance of communication and a nice massage after a hard battle, which draws trainers away from Salon Roquet to her salon. Meanwhile, as Misty heads to Salon Roquet, she is pulled in by Jessie and James who give her a makeover instead of her Psyduck, which, while fighting it at first, is actually impressed with the results. However, when Meowth accidentally betrays their identities to her, Team Rocket takes Misty hostage. Her Psyduck, however, manages to escape, and returns to Suzie's Salon where it tells Pikachu and the others of Misty's danger. Ash, Brock and Suzie rush to Salon Roquet where they see Misty tied to a chair. Team Rocket orders them to deliver Pikachu to them in exchange for Misty, but Ash refuses, ending up in a debate with the criminals over what true beauty is, something Suzie says is on the inside. As they battle, she goes on to state that focusing on the outside robs the Pokémon of the power within. James eventually summons their latest invention to battle, with Pikachu and Brock's Geodude going against Team Rocket's Ekans and Koffing, all dressed up themselves, which gives them an advantage against Pikachu's Electric attacks, but in the end, Team Rocket are blasted off again by Vulpix's Fire Spin, with their own costumes all burnt and charred from the Fire Spin. Misty, angry and upset, since she was caught in the Fire Spin as well, demands her Pokémon untie her. After this, Suzie states that she has a lot to learn, and will go on a journey to learn more about what it is to be a breeder and a trainer. She asks Brock to take care of her Vulpix in the meantime, which Brock accepts. Both Breeders then go their own way.
Debuts[]
Character[]
Pokémon[]
Move[]
Trivia[]
- "Dare da?": Vulpix (East Asia)
- "Who's That Pokémon?": Vulpix (International)
- "Kanto Pokérap": Wednesday
- In the October 1997 issue of Animedia, the episode was announced under the tentative title 「あこがれのブリーダーどおり」(kanji equivalent: 「憧れのブリーダー通り」, romanized: "Akogare no Breeder-doori", translated: "The Longed-For Breeder Street"), which was changed for the final aired episode.[2]
- Meowth's Song replaced One Hundred Fifty-One as the ending.
- Interestingly enough, Rachael Lillis, the voice of Misty and Jessie in English, also voiced Utena, the main protagonist of "Revolutionary Girl Utena" who dresses in men's clothes. In addition, that anime has been referenced occasionally by the Pokémon anime as well, for example two episodes prior and in "Wake Up Snorlax!".
- This episode marks the first time a variation of the Team Rocket's motto was used.
- This could be the first example of Pokémon Contests (most commonly resembling Super Contests in Sinnoh), as Team Rockets's Ekans and Koffing dress up (Visual), and do movements (Dance) before an attack (Acting). However, this is not confirmed.
- Misty imagines Pikachu with a pink dress and a bow. But, Pikachu is actually male. That reasons that Pikachu wasn't interested.
Mistakes[]
- When Misty yells for Psyduck, her head overlaps James' arm. James also doesn't have his gloves on in this scene.
- Suzie's Vulpix appears to have seven tailplumes when sitting down in a scene despite the fact that Vulpix have six tailplumes.
- When Misty was yelling at Ash, her shirt is discolored.
- In the English dub, when Ekans and Koffing spin their dresses to deflect Pikachu's Thundershock, Ekans' Japanese voice, Arbo, can be heard.
Dub differences[]
- Misty asks for permission to touch Vulpix in the original version but she never does this in the dub.
Video[]
Pokémon Fashion Flash - FULL EPISODE 27 - Season 1
English (Available outside of East and Southeast Asia)
Gallery[]
Notes[]
- ^ Kanji equivalent: 「ロコン! ブリーダー対決!」
References[]
- ^ (n.d.) . "Pokémon Fashion Flash | Pokémon TV (pokemon.com)". From The Official Pokémon Website | Pokemon.com. Archived from the original on January 21, 2024.
- ^ (1997). Animedia (October 1997 issue). Gakken.
