While taking a break at a restaurant, Ash and Co. hear that Professor Oak and DJ Mary would be arriving in town. Team Rocket sees an opportunity in this and disguises themselves. With Jessie as DJ Mary, James as Professor Oak, and Meowth and Wobbuffet as their manager, things go very well for them until the real Professor Oak and Mary show up. Unable to tell which is which, Misty suggests a contest with things only the REAL Professor Oak would know. Which Oak is more knowledgeable?
Tropes
- Beware the Cute Ones: Professor Oak defeats Team Rocket with a Pidgey he just caught. Team Rocket underestimated how much ability a Pidgey can have, and didn't think that Pidgey could use a Gust attack.
- Call-Back: One of the quiz questions was a Pokémon silhouette test as Ash, Brock, and Misty pointed out back in "The Ultimate Test".
- Didn't Think This Through: In order to get the free buffet from the recording of Professor Oaks radio show, Team Rocket impersonates the Professor and DJ Mary. They, however, never what though they would do when the real Professor and Mary show up.
- Jeopardy! Intelligence Test: Both Professor Oak and the fake Oak (James) agree to a pop quiz to see how much the real Professor Oak would know about Pokémon.
- Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: In hindsight, despite James' Hidden Depths on how well he can do poetry, it was not a good idea for Meowth to suggest that only the real Professor Oak can do Pokémon poetry.
- Poetry: Ultimately how Nurse Joy figured out which Professor Oak was real. Interestingly, James was eventually discovered as the impostor not because he played his part badly but because he played his part too well: they were having a poetry contest, and James came up with overly-flowery poems to impress the judges. The poems were good, but they weren't even close to Professor Oak's actual poems, which were typically only two or three lines but contained a "hidden lesson" that was absent from James' poetry.
- Something Only He Would Say: When Ash asked if Oak loses the quiz, He says that it would be because he needs to study Pokémon more sufficiently. Immediately Brock knew that only the real Oak would say something like that.
- Spot the Imposter: The plot of this episode. The audience can also tell the fake Professor Oak by James's lighter complexion, eyes and younger-looking face, and the fake Mary by the shape of Jessie's eyes. But of course our heroes don't notice those details.
- Totem Pole Trench: Meowth stands on top of Wobbuffet and wears a trenchcoat, fedora and large sunglasses to pose as a loud-mouthed radio producer to Jessie's Mary and James's Professor Oak impersonations.
