"I can't wait for the chance to show you 3 little goody-goodies what losers you are. You don't stand a chance against us. We're going to win that championship belt!"
"And after we do, you can find us at the all-you-can-eat buffet table."
—Jessie and James
Japanese Title: Fighting Pokémon! The Great Battle!
Original Air Date: October 14, 1997
US Air Date: October 15, 1998
The one where... Primeape gets his time to shine and immediately gets bus'd.
In the outskirts of Fuchsia City, our heroes come across Hitmonchan, a fighter-Pokémon. With little thought, Ash attempts to capture it, but he and Pikachu are badly defeated. Hitmonchan's master Anthony has abandoned his family, training day and night, aiming for victory at the P1 Grand Prix (the number one Pokémon Grand Prix). His daughter Rebecca tells Ash and his friends of her desire to make her father remember his family. In the meantime, Ash's party enters the P1 Grand Prix, but with Team Rockets unwanted, not to mention, unofficial presence at the competition, the battle goes out of control.
This episode contains examples of the following tropes:
- A Day in the Limelight: Primeape gets a lot of focus in this episode after spending most of his time doing nothing for Ash.
- At Arm's Length: Hitmonchan uses first his boxing glove and then his foot to hold Pikachu back in their fight who can only flail his arms uselessly.
- Beat Them at Their Own Game: Averted: Despite being an Electric Pokémon, Ash decides to teach Pikachu some basic punches to try and defeat Hitmonchan. It fails miserably - Pikachu's punches prove virtually useless, and he is thoroughly humiliated by Hitmonchan.
- Brooklyn Rage: Anthony's got a thick Brooklyn accent.
- Curb-Stomp Battle:
- Powerful as it may be, Pikachu has no boxing experience whatsoever. So naturally, the little guy's punches have no effect on Hitmonchan, who utterly clobbers the mouse once it starts fighting back.
- Geodude is forced to defend against Hitmonlee's attacks and can't get any off itself. It also doesn't help that Geodude, a Rock-type Pokémon, is weak to Fighting-type attacks. Brock has a brief Heroic B So D from the mismatch until Anthony encourages him to surrender, and apologizes to Geodude afterward.
- Deus Exit Machina: The episode ends with Ash leaving Primeape to train with Anthony, when it otherwise could have gone on to be one of Ash's heavy hitters.
- Didn't Think This Through: While it would be theoretically good in hand-to-hand combat, one can't help but wonder what Brock's train of logic was when he decided to compete in the P1 Grand Prix, a tournament dedicated to Fighting types, with his Rock/Ground Geodude.
- Eye Catch: The Who's That Pokémon is Hitmonchan.
- Forgot About His Powers: Ash has Pikachu try to box Hirmonchan, rather than simply use Pikachu's actual attacks. Even Brock and Misty don't even bring up the possibility.
- Genki Girl: Misty was really getting into cheering during Primape's winning streak, at one point standing up to aggressivly cheer it on, as Pikachu and Rebecca look at her feeling slightly uncomfortable.
- Hypocrite: When Brock's Geodude is being overwhelmed by Hitmonlee, Anthony urges Brock to throw in the towel, saying that a "real man" knows when to admit defeat — though he fails to follow his own advice when Hitmonchan is being pummelled by Hitmonlee.
- Imagine Spot:
- Pikachu has one, realizing trying to beat Hitmonchan in a direct fight is a Curb-Stomp Battle waiting to happen.
- Jessie also has one while imagining how she'll use the prize money, fantasising about being surrounded by attractive males.
- Informed Flaw: Misty says that Primeape used to be disobedient towards Ash. Was it? Given its violent attitude in its debut episode they had every right to assume that would be the case, but since it didn't get any screen time since being caught... well, who knows?
- Know When to Fold 'Em: Anthony notes that it takes a real man to know when to admit defeat, and even knows when to throw in the towel himself.Anthony: If you’re a real man, you know when you have to admit defeat. Time to face facts; You can lose today, and win tomorrow.
- Letting the Air out of the Band: Team Rocket's usually dramatic and hammy motto goes out with a whimper when James, being the bottom of their Totem Pole Trench disguise, collapses after carrying Jessie for too long.Jessie: To protect the world from devastation!
James: (visibly struggling) To unite all peoples within our nation!
Jessie: To denounce the evils of truth and love!
James: (going red in the face) To extend our reach to the st—oh, I can't take it!
Jessie: Team Rocket, blast off at the speed of light!
James: (slowly falls to his knees as their leitmotif peters out) Surrender now...surrender now, or prepare to...prepare to...(starts whimpering)
Jessie: Ah, we're not finished! - Manly Tears: Primeape's eyes are brimming with them during his and Ash's goodbye.
- Murderous Thighs: When James complains about being the low man on their Totem Pole Trench, Jessie silences him by almost crushing his head between her legs.
- Not Now, Kiddo: Ash is too focused on Primeape vs. Hitmonlee to pay attention to Pikachu's warning that Team Rocket are cheating, so he decides to detach the bomb from the ring and give it back to the villains himself.
- Papa Wolf: Despite being an absent parent, Anthony's protective enough of Rebecca to take hit from Hitmonlee when it almost clobbers her, and throws in the towel when he realizes just how badly his absence has hurt his family.
- Parental Neglect: Anthony has all but abandoned his family so he and his Hitmonchan can train for the P1 Grand Prix. Thankfully, he realizes that he was in the wrong and returns home with Rebecca at the end of the episode.
- Put on a Bus: Ash's Primeape stays with Anthony to continue its career as a P1 Champion. Despite what the narrator said in the 4Kids version, there was nothing in the original version that implies that Ash will reunite with Primeape in the future.
- Rapid-Fire Fisticuffs: Hitmonchan unleashes a flurry of punches upon Pikachu during their impromptu match.
- Rocket Punch: Pikachu uses this against Hitmonchan—to no effect.
- Shout-Out: The two featured Pokémon in this episode are kicking Pokémon Hitmonlee and punching Pokémon Hitmonchan, making this one of the few direct references to pop culture in the franchise.
- At one point in the dub, Anthony motivates Hitmonchan with the line "Gotta be smart! Gotta be strong! Gotta keep moving!" A direct nod to Des'ree's track, You Gotta Be.
- The P1 Grand Prix is inspired by the K-1 Grand Prix, a popular annual kickboxing tournament of the time.
- Anthony and Giant are respectively based on the two titans of Japanese pro wrestling, Antonio Inoki and Giant Baba. That Des’ree line mentioned above replaced a reference to Inoki’s Catchphrase “Ichi, ni, san, da!”
- The design of the P1 title belt comes from the original IWGP championship belt of New Japan Pro-Wrestling.
- Sticky Situation: Team Rocket cheat during the Hitmonchan/Hitmonlee match by having Meowth pour some glue onto the ring from below, leaving Hitmonchan stuck in place.
- Taking the Bullet: When Rebecca attempts to stop Hitmonlee from finishing Hitmonchan, Anthony leaps in to take the resulting hit for her.
- Took a Level in Kindness: When Ash shows concern for Primeape when he gets tossed out of the ring by Machop, the Pig Monkey Pokémon is moved by Ash's kindness and starts following his orders instead of acting like a crazed berserker all the time.
- Totem Pole Trench: Jessie and James do this after stealing Giant's coat in order to enter in the tournament with his Hitmonlee. Eventually, James complains that Jessie is too heavy and later collapses from exhaustion.
- Trying Not to Cry: Primeape's on the verge of tears when he has to say goodbye to Ash, but he manages to hold them back.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: Giant is last seen tied up in a restroom by Team Rocket. There was no indication that he was eventually freed or that Hitmonlee was returned to him after the tournament.
