ENGLISH NAME	JAPANESE NAME	POKEMOPOLIS NAME	DODGINESS RATING	ANIMATION	STORY	TEAM ROCKET	MORAL LEARNT
772: Meowth, Colress and Team Rivalry!	778: Roketto-dan tai Purazuma-dan! Nyasu to Akuroma!	Colress' Terrible Job Interview			Meowth works an angle on Team Plasma's Corless; Pignite has something in its nose	Meowth's mouth gets him into trouble	You can't break up the Team Rocket Trio

Last episode saw the twerps part company with N, Anthea and Concordia. Teleported away from their mysterious new friend, they found themselves near the Dragonspiral Tower (not N's childhood home as I thought last episode), which itself is not far from the White Ruins. After some delay, it seems they've almost reached their destination. Ash is happily convinced that N and the women will somehow have changed their minds and fully accept his mindset about how the world works by the next time they meet. But as they set off towards the Dragonspiral Tower, this episode's main focus will be on...



Leaving the Pokémon Center in the town overlooked by the Tower, an excited Ash can't wait any longer and decides to just run on up the road like a happy retard. Iris and Cilan have to give chase, Iris shouting at him to wait up.

Meanwhile, Aldith is hearing the unpleasant news from Plasma Grunts that they lost N despite tracking him down at his Hidden Home. She is also informed him that Anthea and Concordia were there, and blame their failure on the interference of that kid and his Pikachu. More worrisome still is that Anthea and Concordia are so difficult to track (what with being freaky teleporters and all) and now that they're back with N he'll be hard to track too. She isn't interested in their excuses though, N could be a huge threat to their plans and they can't allow that now that the Pokémon Control Device is complete.

Colress immediately disagrees, saying that the Device isn't complete - science is NEVER over, there is still more research to be done. He means to debug the device and then see if he can get further efficiency from the device by practising more on the test subjects. Aldith "ugh"s with disgust at Colress' attitude and the grunts to prepare to head off in search of N again, but she stops them, telling them that they've brought unexpected guests with them. Confused, they ask what she means, and she points up to the balcony where Team Rocket are watching smugly - they're not even attempting to hide, in fact the moment Aldith points at them a spotlight appears on them! They leap down to the ground and point to the device, saying that now it belongs to them, and the grunts immediately rush to block it, bringing out a Magnemite and Golbat to attack. Jesse and James rush away, followed by the grunts and Aldith, with an indifferent Colress left behind "in charge" as he works on his Device. But as he taps away, another voice gets his attention - Meowth!

Colress is surprised but impressed, so Jesse and James were acting as distractions so Meowth could swoop in and steal the Device? Meowth agrees that Colress is smart, but tells him he's wrong. Team Rocket aren't so much interested in the Device as the mind behind it - they want Colress to come work for them! Colress bursts out laughing, surprised and pleased and amused - he never considered that this would be their plan.

Meanwhile Ash is gleefully pounding on down the road, ignoring Iris' angry shouts for him to slow down. Finally she rushes on ahead and gets in the beaming idiot's way, throwing her arms wide and stopping him in place. Irritated he demands to know what she wants, and Cilan catches up and tells him that it would be nice to take things a little slower. Ash's stomach growls and he realises that he's hungry, and immediately his simple little mind switches from,"MUST RUN!" to,"MUST EAT!" He calls out all of his Pokémon to settle down for a meal, Krookodile looking somewhat alarmed by Charizard's appearance

Meowth is impressed by the Pokémon Control device, which pleases Colress, but stresses again that what really interests him is Colress' talent. Their brief encounters have shown Meowth that Colress only cares about his research and doesn't give a shit about Team Plasma itself or any of its objectives - he just wants to perform his research. Team Rocket will give him that chance, he'll be given the freedom to research to his heart's content and won't be expected to buy into the objectives and goals of the organization. Colress is intrigued, and respectfully notes that Meowth could be of enormous help to him too - an intelligent Pokémon that he can speak with and get direct feedback from? Meowth immediately picks up that he wants to use him as a test subject, and happily agrees - it would be an honour to be his test subject in his first experiment on Team Rocket's behalf. They seal the deal by shaking hands/paws, it seems Colress is now a member of Team Rocket!

Out in the forest, a Plasma Grunt brings out Magnezone to attack Team Rocket, who stop to turn and fight. Aldith brings out Liepard and takes great pleasure in taunting Team Rocket - saying she is going to squash them. Jesse and James are smugly self-assured, declaring that Team Rocket has instilled fear in Kanto, Johto, Hoenn and Sinnoh. Team Plasma attack and the reason for Team Rocket's confidence is revealed, James hits a button and devices set up in the trees around them create a prism of light all around Aldith and the grunts. They've run directly into Team Rocket's traps, and find themselves trapped in place as Team Rocket mocks them, asking them to stay still while THEIR glorious plan comes to fruition. The rush off to re-join Meowth and Colress, leaving the humiliated Team Plasma behind.

The twerps have finished their lunch and are delightfully sated. They clean up, recalling their happily full Pokémon... but then Ash notices that Pignite hasn't touched his food at all. That's bizarre, a fatty like Pignite is always happy to eat, and Cilan reminds them that Pignite was just checked out at the Pokémon Center and got a clean bill of health. A small sneeze from Pignite blasts flames in Ash's face, much to everybody's alarm, but Ash laughs it off, saying it wasn't that strong. But that causes its own concerns - Pignite has a powerful Flamethrower, why didn't the attack do any damage? Ash orders a Flamethrower and Pignite tries to blast flames from his nostrils... but he can barely get flames to appear at all and they quickly turn to soot. This is very concerning, what is wrong with Pignite?

Back in Colress' lab, he has Meowth stand in place and blasts him in the head with a beam from his Pokémon Control Device. Meowth is prepared, not just from having agreed to take part but beforehand as well - it seems that Meowth prepared for his meeting with Colress by undertaking careful mental conditioning to fight off the influence of the device. He's happy to help Colress out, but not interested in losing his free will.

Counting Mareep to keep his distracted from the influence of the beam, Meowth seems more intrigued by what the device does than concerned. Jesse and James arrive and don't question what is going on, fully believing that Meowth has reached a deal with Colress and impressed by how quickly he has gotten to work for them. Colress beams over the research data he is getting - as an intelligent, willing subject, Meowth's brain is probably reacting far differently to the wild, unwilling Pokémon that Colress normally tests. But while Jesse and James believe Meowth is solid as a rock thanks to his concentration training, the Scratch-Cat is struggling to keep things up. Things get worse when Colress suddenly cranks up the power, and Meowth finds his conscious mind spiralling down into darkness. The beam finishes and Meowth stumbles to a knee, leaving a pleased Jesse and James to smile at each other, thinking he has resisted the control beam.

In the forest, the Plasma Grunts are trying to blast their way out of the Energy Field to no avail. Aldith tells them to stop wasting time, proving why she is a Lieutenant and they're just grunts - she can think. She orders the lead grunt to order a Supersonic from Magnezone, having spotted various wild Pokémon who have come to get a look at the weird goings on in the forest. The sound passes through the energy field without any problems, confusing the surrounding Pokémon who immediately react violently, blasting attacks in the direction of the energy field. The devices powering the field are destroyed, and Team Plasma are now free to get back to Colress and "rescue" him from Team Rocket.

Jesse and James congratulate Colress on his achievements, telling him he'll be instrumental in their taking over the Unova Region. Curious, Colress asks what is it that drives evil organisations like Team Rocket and Team Plasma? Colress himself is far more dangerous a character - he isn't evil, he doesn't have any drive to achieve anything, he's interested purely in his research... and morals and ethics mean absolutely nothing to him if they get in the way of it. He doesn't want to hurt Pokémon, he just doesn't care if Pokémon get hurt. Jesse replies that they're not really evil, they just take what they want and it's as simple as that.

Aldith shows up rolling her eyes at Jesse and James, saying they're members of a third-rate organisation. Colress turns and, either assessing the situation or just revealing the truth, he declares that Meowth is now one of them - Team Plasma. Jesse and James are horrified, and he chuckles at the accusation, saying he never actually promised to join them. It seems that he really is unsatisfied with Team Plasma, just not THAT unsatisfied. Jesse points out that Meowth isn't actually under his control though, confident in the power of his mental conditioning... and is horrified when Meowth responds by staggering up and hopping from foot to foot - like a caged animal gone deranged from lack of space :( - and accepts Aldith's proclamation that Team Rocket are now his enemy!

While this horrible violation of what is right is going on, elsewhere Pignite is facing his own dilemma - he can't use Flamethrower! Settling down on his fat ass miserably, he sighs and Axew peers up at him sadly... and gets a good look up his nose. Peering closer, the little dragon sees something and Ash and Iris get the same idea. Soon we're getting a POV shot from inside Pignite's nose as Ash and Iris peer up inside it, and they too spot that something is lodged in there. What could it be? What could resist the heat and flame? Cilan says they should try and find a way to shake it out, and suggests jumping up and down. Ash takes that to heart and joins Pignite in leaping up and down in place, their first jumps surprising Axew and Pikachu who are knocked over by the shock of their landing. The two smaller Pokémon quickly join them though, jumping up and down in place to try and dislodge whatever is in Pignite's nose.

At another ruined research facility, N passes through and notes that Team Plasma were researching here as well. But where did they go? He spots a Watchog and Patrat and asks them to tell him what they saw here, and gets a look inside their minds, spotting a group of bizarre robotic-insect like Pokémon called Genesect leaping about inside the facility before bursting off into the forest. That just raises a further mystery - what are Team Plasma up to?

At the moment their latest "recruit" is taking a swing at former partners Jesse and James. Meowth - powered up and dumbed down - claws vicious looking Fury Swipes at them as they dodge away. Meowth's power has been raised so much that his Fury Swipes creates a cyclone, and Colress roars with pleasure at his achievement. Jesse and James can't believe that Meowth is under Plasma's control, but they're not giving up on him that easily. Calling out Frillish and Amoonguss, they attack Meowth back, shocking the Plasma Grunts who have never dealt with people before that were willing to attack their own Pokémon. Meowth Fury Swipes through a Bubble Beam but is dazed by a Stun Spore/Body Slam combo, and then Frillish uses Psychic to draw Meowth over to Jesse and James. They grab him by the arms as he gurgles angrily, trying to follow his programming, and they hit with a different type. Having prepared for these eventualities, they count down Noctowls in his head, whispering in his ear, ending on zero. The word acts as a signal to a prepared part of Meowth's subconscious brain, and to the great shock of Team Plasma they see a Pokémon broken free of the control of Corless' device!



Hell yes, Meowth!

Furious, Aldith calls out Liepard but it and Team Plasma are enveloped in a mist by Frillish, and when it clears Team Rocket are nowhere to be seen. A bemused Corless mocks one of the grunts who insisted that they wouldn't get away as they look up at the roof, a hole torn in it for Team Rocket to escape through. Flying by jetpack, James is pleased as punch to see Meowth is back with them. Meowth agrees, it's good to be himself again, but notes sadly that all their planned mental conditioning failed to stop the device taking control of his mind, and he apologises. Jesse tells him not to fret though, after all history has taught her they'll have plenty of other chances in the future.

Back with the twerps (they don't get the B-Plot very often!), Ash and Pignite are exhausted from the jumping and have had no luck. Ash comes to an extreme conclusion, and calls out Charizard to help them. A shocked Pignite is hauled into the air by Charizard and then swung around by the ankles, all wide-eyed and crying out in terror as Charizard happily does his thing... then drops Pignite to plummet towards the ground! The poor piggy squeals as it falls, but jerks to a stop just before it can hit the ground, caught by Charizard before the moment of impact. But sadly even this extreme centrifugal force has failed to dislodge the blockage, and Pignite lies gasping on the ground, the air escaping his snout moving a leaf... and that gives Iris an idea.

Ghetsis is finally getting the news from Aldith that they lost N (they took their sweet time reporting!), and are careful not to mention their run-in with Team Rocket. Ghetsis is upset about constantly getting the same bad news from them, but surprises them by saying he's actually in a good mood today. Why? Because he's finally found a clue to the whereabouts of the Light Stone... at the White Ruins. Team Plasma are to go there immediately, and Ghetsis tells Colress the time has finally come to meet Reshiram. He's delighted, and this is probably the source of his "loyalty" to Team Plasma - they're giving him access to Reshiram, and there can be no greater test subject. But as Plasma enjoy their "success", every word they say is listened in on by Team Rocket. Jesse, James and Meowth have apparently REALLY covered every contingency this time - at some point one of them planted a bug on the Pokémon Control Device, and now they know that Reshiram can be found at the White Ruins too.

The sun setting, Iris tells Ash she has an idea to deal with Pignite's problem. She tickles his snout with a blade of grass, and Pignite lets rip with a far more powerful sneeze than the one he had earlier in the episode. Two objects blast out of his nose (grossss) and he sits wide-eyed on his ass, surprised at the force of his sneeze. Axew toddles over and picks up the objects (grossss) and brings them back to the twerps. What were they? Seed shells from a Bullet Seed! Cilan realises that this must have happened when Pansage's attack was redirected last episode, technically this has all been his fault. Ash doesn't care though, Pignite is back to his best, and lets rip with a Flamethrower in Ash's face to prove it. He's pleased by the power, and a happy Charizard shows he is pleased too by blasting Ash with a far more powerful flamethrower. Ash, being Ash, is thrilled by the power of the blasts burning the flesh from his bones, and the episode ends with his cheering as Pignite and Charizard blast alternate Flamethrowers into the air. They've had an oddly quiet day for them, all the action has been going on between Team Plasma and Team Rocket... and it seems we haven't seen the last of that type of interaction. Now all three groups (four if you count N) are heading for the White Ruins.

Previous Episode Next Episode Episode List