Japanese Title: Rookie's Chicorita!
Original Airdate: October 21st, 1999
US Airdate: October 21st, 2000
One similarity between the respective beginnings of Ash's and Casey's Pokémon journeys: they were both electrocuted by Pikachu.
The one where... Ash gets a new rival.
In a Pokémon battle, Ash soundly defeats an ambitious young Trainer, who runs away dejectedly. Before Ash can comfort the novice, though, Team Rocket steps in, convincing the girl that Ash won by foul play, and recruiting her to their cause.
Tropes
- Berserk Button: Ash disses Casey's favorite team.
- Bullying a Dragon: Casey really gets in Ash's face after he insults her favorite baseball team, and antagonizes him when she wants a battle, despite Ash's warning that she's a beginner and he's a lot more experienced. It doesn't end well for her: Ash uses Charizard (making this a near-literal case) to decimate her entire team without even trying.
- Curbstomp Battle: Casey is a beginner who received her starter barely a few days ago. Ash, by this point, has placed in the top 16 in the Indigo League and won the Orange League, not to mention he still has plenty of high-level Pokémon from his past adventures-including Charizard, a Fire Pokémon, specifically effective against the type of Casey's starter. Three guesses on how their fight goes. (Charizard doesn't even need to use any actual attacks to defeat Pidgey and Ratatta). Here's the play-by-play:
- Pidgey flies in close to attack, and Charizard simply blows on it to knock it out of the fight.
- Rattata charges in head-on, and Charizard simply stands still and allows it to bounce off and KO itself.
- Chikorita wraps its vines around Charizard's throat, accomplishing nothing. Charizard then launches a small fireball which grazes Chikorita, setting it on fire and causing it to panic and run around in circles until it exhausts itself.
- Cuteness Proximity: Casey can't help but grab and cuddle Pikachu when she first meets the twerps. Pikachu ends up electrocuting her AND Ash.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Even Team Rocket is disgusted that Ash used Charizard against Casey, a beginning trainer with no real battle experience. Subverted though, since they decide to exploit Casey's desire to get back at Ash as part of their scheme.
- Expy: The baseball teams are expies for real Japanese baseball teams.
- Groin Attack: Casey's Rattata rams James in the groin.
- Heroic BSoD: After getting effortlessly trounced by Ash, Casey is visibly very upset and starts to think of herself as a loser.
- I Warned You: Ash tried to warn Casey that she really didn't want to be shocked by Pikachu. She didn't listen. He also warned against battling him given that Casey's just a beginner. Again, she didn't listen.
- Insane Troll Logic: When Ash is trying to talk Casey down citing that he has more experience as a trainer, Casey shouts that there is no way she could lose to someone who knows less about baseball than her and equates Ash's lack of baseball knowledge to be equal to not knowing about Pokemon.
- Jail Bait Wait: In the original Japanese, Brock says he hopes he'll meet Casey again in 8 years. In the dub, this is changed to him wondering if she has a sister.
- Jerkass Ball: While Casey was too pushy and was no saint, Ash was kind of a jerk to her in this episode.
- No-Sell: Casey's Pidgey and Rattata hurt themselves when trying to attack Charizard. Even Chikorita trying to choke Charizard with its vines didn't get so much as a wince out of him.
- Shout-Out: Casey's name is from Casey at the Bat.
- Took a Level in Badass: While the battle requires no real effort on his part, Ash's sound defeat of Casey illustrates how he has developed past the inept rookie he was at the start of his journey back in Kanto.
- Took a Level in Kindness: After defeating Team Rocket, Casey becomes a bit nicer and even admits to her mistake of trusting Jessie, James, and Meowth.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Brock and Misty don't seem to approve of Ash using Charizard to battle a rookie trainer like Casey.
