ENGLISH NAME	JAPANESE NAME	POKEMOPOLIS NAME	DODGINESS RATING	ANIMATION	STORY	TEAM ROCKET	MORAL LEARNT
781: To Catch A Rotom!	787: Rotomu Bui Esu Okido-hakase!	Oak's Electric Asshole			The twerps help Professor Oak catch a Rotom	Evil MacGyvers!	Oak's life of hedonism prepared him for a little electrocution

Today finds the twerps approaching Torom Island, and they're exceptionally excited about it. Why? Because Cilan and Iris are going to get their first chance to meet the World's greatest Pokémon Researcher, a massive celebrity who just so happens to be their friend Ash's illegitimate father! As they pull into the island, there he is, Daddy Oak, the great Pokémon Researcher and HUGE pervert! So why is he there? Is it....



Oak greets his bastard son and is introduced to Cilan and Iris in person for the first time. He's genuinely interested in hearing Cilan offer some evaluations and Cilan happily assures him he will get his wish granted, only to be shoved aside by Iris who has decided now it is her turn to say hello. He comments on her "spirited" attitude, but asks where her Axew is, and out he pops from within Iris' hair. Oak says hello, offering a finger to Axew's little paws who takes them and shakes politely. As they all chat, they're watched from beneath the waters by Team Rocket, Jesse noting with a happy familiarity that she hasn't seen the Professor in ages - almost as if he was an old friend/associate of hers as well! James points out that the Professor wouldn't have come to this island without a good reason, and Meowth figures he knows what it is - there must be a valuable and rare Pokémon involved to get his attention.

Indeed there is, the anagram of the island's name giving us a clue almost as big as the explicit episode title. He is here for a Rotom, and tells the twerps as much inside of the Pokémon Centre. Torom Island has a large number of Rotom and is relatively close to Kanto, so Oak has decided to catch one from the island in the interests of efficiency. This way he can get it, bring it back to his Research Lab/Reserve and study it without taking too much time out of his other, regular research projects.

Ash shows Iris his Pokédex entry on Rotom, a Pokémon made of plasma that can take control of electrical objects. Ash actually REMEMBERS something, as he informs them of the time he saw a Rotom in the Sinnoh Region. So why is Oak researching them now? Well he wants to write a paper on Forme changes, and he can't think of a better subject than Rotom. Cilan is delighted, but Iris confused, so Rotom can change form? In what COULD be misconstrued as a hilarious bit of subtle mocking, he points out that it is clear she doesn't know much about Rotom. That gives him all the excuse he needs for a live presentation of his television show - something familiar to Japanese viewers and everybody who pirates the Japanese version of the show and watches it with overly-pedantic subtitles (so 99% of the Pokémon watching fanbase).

Sitting at his desk, he explains the history of Rotom and the six Formes (including its normal Forme) it is capable of taking, all of which just seem to be possession of various appliances. Finishing his presentation, Oak tells them a story about an old toy robot that - after years of being worn out and non-functioning - suddenly sprang back to life. Experts queried whether it might be a new type of Pokémon, but then it disappeared, and since then the general consensus has been that it may have been a Rotom.

Listening through receivers from outside, Team Rocket are impressed by Oak's story, and Jesse suddenly declares she has had the most wonderful idea OF ALL TIME. They will catch a Rotom themselves, then put it into one of their giant robots, and thus make the rockingest Rocket robot that ever rolled! James and Meowth both agree it's a great idea, but she's deaf to their compliments as she poses along with her fantasy robot and giggles madly with happiness.

Inside the PokéCentre, the twerps are asking if they can help Oak find the Rotom when suddenly the lights go out. It's not a Team Rocket attack though, and everybody else present seems delighted, saying it is time for "lunch" and wondering whose electrical device will be affected today. The lights pop on and off and Oak is pleased, having failed to tell the twerps about Torom Island's famous Rotom lunch time.... or maybe he just assumed the pig-ignorant fucks would actually read up on their destination before arriving! Nurse Joy and Audino arrive and confirm Oak's suspicions, and explains to Ash that the islands' Rotom feed on the electricity at the island's power station each day. They gorge themselves enough that the power fluctuates throughout the island. Afterwards, they work off their high spirits by invading appliances in the city and scaring the locals, because there is nothing they enjoy more than making people live in terror of their mod-cons.

You know, Rotoms are kinda assholes.

The people of the island don't mind the power fluctuations but the whole living in terror thing was getting a bit much. To deal with this, they created a kind of electrical playground for the Rotoms, putting a bunch of appliances in an open area for the Rotoms to tool around in. Oak takes them there now, shadowed by Team Rocket, because the adaptation of the island to the Rotoms has given him a dream scenario - he now knows exactly where and when the Rotoms will make an appearance.

Standing in the midst of the "playground", they spot a spark of energy running through the powerlines, then two more - there are three Rotoms on their way. Team Rocket of course immediately shift their goal from capturing one Rotom into capturing three - because if they're going to fail, they might as well fail big!

Ash has Pikachu use thunderbolt on the lines, which is effectively giving the Rotoms a big serving of dessert, attracting them to come down to where Oak and the twerps are waiting. Pikachu is startled down to the ground and the Rotoms buzz around him, one of them tapping Pikachu's electric sacs (ewww) in hope of getting a rise from him. They succeed and Pikachu reacts as feels natural for him, blasting a Thunderbolt at them.... and they open their mouths and gulp the contents of Pikachu's sacs down greedily (double ewwww!).

Team Rocket are now more intrigued than ever - catch those Rotoms and they'll have the key to capturing Pikachu too, as they're not only immune to his powers but eagerly gobble them up. Of course, this means they need to find a power supple of their own to attract the little troublemakers.

Professor Oak takes notes on the Rotoms' taste for Pikachu's electricity and then - proving he is theoretical a genius but a moron in practical terms - he tosses a Pokéball at a Rotom without making any effort to weaken it first. In fact, the Rotom is currently at the peak of its strength! It is sucked into the Pokéball, falls to the ground, flashes a light and shakes about a bit as Professor Oak waits in anticipation. The two other Rotom float over the Pokéball, looking concerned (as they should!) at this unexpected and unwelcome attempt to capture their buddy. The Pokéball seems to settle, Oak seems about to declare victory... and the Pokéball bursts open and Rotom leaps out, laughing at Oak's despair as the Professor hunches down and buries his head between his legs.

He must REALLY miss Delia!

Oak is blasted with Spark, alarming the twerps, but after getting over the initial surprise he laughs it off. His hair massively poofed up, he poses bravely, labcoat blowing in the wind, and tells them that a Pokémon Researcher has to be able to take some hits if they want to work in the field. Cilan is impressed by Oak's endurance, though Iris thinks his praise may be just a little too over the top - hell, Ash takes harder hits BY CHOICE most days and he's hardly a genius!

Rotom throws another Spark's Oak's way, though this one misses, seemingly a warning shot. Oak doesn't flinch at all, apologising for surprising it with his attempt to capture it, but he wants to be friends with it, is all. Rotom actually blasts him right in the fact with the next Spark, but Oak doesn't seem affected at all beyond his hair puffing up even more. Throwing his arms wide (no he's not saying COME AT ME, BRO!) he steps forward and tells it to shock him to its hearts content, leaving it surprised and confused. Oak asks the twerps to have their Pokémon to use their electric-based moves to lure the Rotom in, and Cilan opens first with Stunfisk. Unfortunately for Cilan and Stunfisk's morale, the electric blast they hit the Rotom with is not tasty at all. Oak is blasted again - and again doesn't react - and he apologises for the poor taste, unfazed by the Rotom thrashing grumpily at his hair to postulate that Stunfisk's part-ground type may have contributed to the poor taste. He fixes up his own hair, and Iris sends in Emolga to see if the Rotom think her discharge tastes good (triple ewwwww!).

Unfortunately it is a bit too tasty, and they zoom in on Emolga who bounces and glides away in a panic, not liking all the attention. Iris tries to explain they WANT to lure the Rotoms in, but Emolga doesn't like not being in control. She uses Attract, hoping to stop the Rotoms from freaking her out... but it has no effect! Cilan proposes they may be female, but Oak corrects him. Rotoms are without gender, so Attract will never work no matter the gender of the Pokémon using it. They once again swarm towards the horrified Emolga, but suddenly pull away and take a new tack - they possess a microwave, washing machine and lawnmower, and take great delight in continuing to scare Emolga. She bounces off of Stunfisk, and the lawnmower rides over the rejected landfish, leaving tears of rejection in its eyes. Emolga are hit with a grass, water and fire type attack from the different possessed Pokémon, who had fled to the safety of Iris' arms. She yells at them not to be brat and gets blasted with a fire attack, which Oak takes note of with clinical interest.

The assembled Rotoms roar at Oak, upset at his lack of fear, and are not pleased at all when Iris recalls Emolga to her Pokéball. Oak calls to Ash to have Pikachu use Thunderbolt to keep the Rotoms from dispersing, but while Pikachu's electricity is gobbled up eagerly by the lawnmower, it is ignored by the washing machine and microwave. Why? Possibly they prefer Emolga's, but one thing is for sure, all three of them love the sudden blast of electricity that comes from somewhere else. The Rotoms begin moving away from the "playground", the twerps and Oak following and hearing familiar voices chanting for them to eat more. Where is the electricity coming from? From a jury-rigged device hooked up to the power lines by Team Rocket!

"We can't come on, we're already here!"
"But thanks for the invite, I might shed a tear!"
"To protect the world from devastation!"
"To unite the people within our nation!"
"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"
"To extend our reach to the stars above!"
"It's Jesse!"
"And James!"
"Team Rocket goes electric at the speed of light!"
"Surrender now, or prepare for a high voltage fight!"
"Meowth, dat's right!"

They demand to know what Team Rocket want, and the answer is pretty straightforward - the want the Rotoms! What for? James has no qualms with admitting they mean to use them to possess robots and use them for their own personal gain, and Oak is disgusted at the notion. Of course, technically speaking that is exactly what Oak is doing, and Team Rocket aren't trying to force the Rotom into their service. Morally of course, they're in the wrong, but unfortunately in a court of law, the,"They're a pack of cunts, Your Honour!" doesn't hold legal water.

So Oak and twerps' only option is to out-lure the Rotoms, which will be difficult given that Team Rocket are hooked into the power grid and can draw on huge amounts of tasty electricity to draw in the Rotoms. Pikachu tries a massive thunderbolt but Team Rocket just counter with a massive blast of their stolen electricity, and the Rotoms head towards where the most "food" seems to be located.

Cilan cries out to Stunfisk to help out and the stupid little fish bravely flops over ready to do its thing.... until Cilan breaks its heart by remembering that it can't actually do anything to help!

Team Rocket blast a massive burst into the air and lawnmower Rotom leaps into it, the lawnmower being smashed and leaving the Rotom hanging trapped in the air within the massive beam of electricity. Team Rocket crank up a device that sucks on the electricity in the air, and the massive blast they fired into the sky is drawn back, carrying Rotom with it and locking it inside. Team Rocket slap an R label onto the glass window and declare Rotom theirs, and this greatly saddens Ash, who knows what has just happened is wrong.

It's also exactly what Oak tried with his Pokéball slightly earlier!

The washing machine and microwave immediately skid backwards to hide by the twerps, and Ash demands that Team Rocket let Rotom go. Jesse replies sarcastically with the most incredible fucking face you're ever likely to see.... it's.... it's beautiful.

Team Rocket aren't going to let it go, of course. The container is hermetically sealed, and the label is a "magic seal" designed to deal with Ghost-Types. Iris thinks that is weird, while Team Rocket prove that they can never leave well enough alone by saying they want to capture the other two now, rather than cheesing it with what they've got.

Ash warns he won't let them do this, and Jesse asks how they're going to do this, with twerpitude? They blast more electricity at the two Rotom, supplemented by the "taste" of their captured friend, knocking them from their appliances. Panicked, they retreat to a fridge and fan respectively, but Team Rocket aren't concerned, they can blast them out of any appliance they hide in. But as they blast at the fleeing Rotoms, the twerps do save the day - and Stunfisk is involved! Using their ground-types, the twerps send in Stunfisk, Krookodile and Excadrill to block and negate the electric blasts, providing a block for the Rotoms.

Oak is impressed by their thinking, and tells the Rotoms to get in there and rescue their friend. Team Rocket can only watch in horror as their plans are torn to shreds, Pikachu using Iron Tail on the counter and the Rotoms blasting it too, destroying the supposedly impenetrable box. Team Rocket are frozen by Rotom attack and then hit with a Triple Spark that sends them blasting off again, bodies coated in chunks of ice. Jesse is furious at James' hermetically sealed box (kids show? My ass!) till he admits that he just used duct tape on it, after which she seems impressed it lasted as long as it did!

The Rotom that was captured heads up to Oak to say thanks, and he notices that one of its "arms" appears to be injured. He sprays some potion onto it, surprising and delighting it as it feels immediately better. Since it has just been saved by being taken along to help Team Rocket achieve their goals, he asks if it would be willing to come along with him now to help him achieve his goals! It confers with the other two Rotoms and then returns to give its agreement. Pleased, Oak pulls out a Pokéball and captures the Rotom, and this time it doesn't burst out of the Pokéball, allowing Oak to do Ash's tradition,"I JUST CAUGHT A...." pose!



Oak tells the other two Rotoms they are free to visit anytime, and they head away happily to return to their lives of stealing electricity, possessing appliances and terrifying people! Cilan watches them go and asks Oak to provide one of his world famous poems, and he does... so that's nice!

Soon Oak is ready to go, traveling by plane to make a quick return to Kanto. He offers the twerps a ride with him, but they want to continue to slowboat their way around the region and enjoy the sights. No stranger to long meandering trips enjoying the sights of exotic locations (and picking up various venereal diseases) he gives his bastard child his blessing and sets off. As the other Rotoms continue to enjoy the playground, the twerps wave their goodbyes to Oak as his plane departs, Cilan offering the traditional,"BEST WISHES!" as he goes. The narrator points out the journey will continue, and in a slight twist his voice is replaced halfway through by Oak himself.

The man just can't resist showboating!

BEST QUOTES

"We'll make the rockingest rocket robot that ever rolled!"

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