April 30, 2025 • 44 mins
Pokémon Anime Review – EP009: “The School of Hard Knocks” | Bonemerang
In this episode of the Pika Pals Podcast, I revisit Pokémon: The School of Hard Knocks, where a mysterious mist leads Ash and friends into the heart of an elite Pokémon prep school. There, he discovers a world of pressure, privilege, and bullying — where success isn’t earned through battles, but bought with status. As Ash steps in to defend a struggling student, he questions what it really means to be a Pokémon Trainer.
⚡ Whether you’re a 90s kid reliving Indigo League memories or a new fan exploring the Kanto region for the first time, this nostalgic anime rewatch is full of fun, fan theories, and friendship. 🎧 New episodes weekly! Follow and be part of the Pika Pals family!
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Donate via Pika Pals Unite and show your support for mental health in the Pokémon community.
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🚨 Disclaimer:
Pika Pals Podcast is a fan project and not affiliated with Nintendo, Game Freak, or The Pokémon Company. All rights to characters, names, and images belong to their respective owners.
Episode details and Pokémon facts referenced from Bulbapedia, with appreciation for their amazing fan community.
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Keywords: Pokémon anime podcast, Indigo League rewatch, Ash Ketchum, Pikachu, Misty, Brock, Kanto region, Team Rocket, 90s anime, Pokémon nostalgia, Pokémon episode review, anime podcast, Pokémon fandom, retro anime, classic Pokémon, fan theories, Pokémon rewatch, mental health & fandom, Pika Pals Podcast
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:18):
Hello everyone, and welcome onceagain to the Peaker Pals
Podcast. I'm your host Pokémon Trainer
Dred, and I thank you for tuningin.
Now, the Peak Pounds Podcast is where I'm on a mission to
rewatch, recap, and laugh my waythrough every episode of the
(00:39):
original Pokémon anime series. And on today's show, I've
rewatched and I'm discussing episode 9 of the original
Pokémon anime series. This one is called The School of
Hard Knocks. Firstly, Poultries for this
episode of the podcast, going out a couple days later than I
(01:00):
had intended, but hopefully I will be back on track now and
I've got a couple guest episodesthat I've previously recorded,
edited and ready to publish as well, so please do keep a
lookout for them. In all honesty, I kind of felt a
little bit down the past week orso and I wasn't very motivated
(01:21):
to do the Peak Pounds podcast. I kind of felt like giving up
and not wanting to continue withit, and I knew that this feeling
would come because I struggle with trying to get a project
started and then consistently continue with it because I don't
(01:42):
feel that it's good enough. That's what happened with this
past week. I thought I didn't know if I
wanted to continue with the podcast.
I didn't know if anyone really enjoyed listening to it.
I didn't know what the point of it was.
And yeah, I just kind of wasn't really in a great place to
(02:03):
continue with it. But I do really appreciate the
support and the kindness of everyone who's listened to the
podcast so far. You seem to be enjoying it, and
as long as people are enjoying it and as long as people want to
listen to the Pica Pals podcast,I should continue doing it.
This week. I kind of just had a little bit
(02:24):
of a set back, I think, in all honesty, But I guess that that
was bound to happen. I struggled to even get past
episode 1 initially. And now I'm up to, well, episode
9 of the Pokémon anime, but I'vealso recorded guest episodes of
(02:46):
the podcast as well. But I'm feeling a bit better,
kind of was down in the air. Pika dumps, down in the dumps,
down in the pika dumps. Anyone in the pika dumps?
Don't think anyone wants to be there.
I imagine they'd be small, though, wouldn't they?
Like Nesquik kind of like, like rabbit, like rabbit poo.
Oh, I don't know what I'm on about, but yeah, thanks for
(03:09):
being with me. Apologies that this episode's
come out a couple days later than I would have liked it to
do. Really appreciate your support
and do let me know if you're enjoying the podcast and please
do let me know areas that you think could be improved because
I'm looking to refine it all thetime.
I'm looking to either shorten segments or add different
(03:32):
discussion pieces or different go to segments of the episode
and let me know what you like and and what you think you want
to keep, what you think could maybe be shorter.
I try to keep each episode underan hour because otherwise you
know who wants to be listening to me rambling on about Pokémon
for for longer than that. But just let me know if you have
(03:54):
any any feedback I I did, I would genuinely appreciate it.
Also like to take this time to thank Mind the Mental Health
charity for allowing me to collaborate with them and raise
money for such a good cause. Mental health has been a part of
my own journey and I know how important it is, but I also know
(04:16):
how vital and important the workthat the MIND charity does,
which is why I'd like to raise money for Mind, and I'd like to
raise 151 pounds, 151 being the number of original Pokémon.
We're doing pretty well on the fundraiser so far, and I'm
really grateful to everyone who's donated so far.
(04:39):
You can find out more information in the episode
description. You can go to the JustGiving
page justgiving.com/page/pika Pals Unite.
So check out my fundraiser and if you can afford to, any amount
will be massively appreciated. You can also follow me across
(05:00):
the socials at Yeetamania. And if you've got any questions
or want to just talk about Pokémon, you can e-mail at
yeetamania@gmail.com. So yeah, there has been a little
bit of a longer intro than I'd intended it to be.
The intro is probably going to be longer than a lot of the
episode discussion itself. Anyway, I felt like giving up on
(05:25):
the Peak of House podcast. I wasn't feeling too positive
about it. But then I decided to carry on
and here we go. So enjoy today's episode and
turn that hat backwards, grab your poker balls and get ready
for the Peak Pals podcast. OK, I just got done watching
(05:56):
episode 9 of the original Pokémon anime series and this
one is called The School of HardKnocks.
The Japanese title for this was Pokémon Victory Manual, and this
first aired in Japan on May the 27th, 1997 would go on to air in
(06:17):
the United States and beyond on September the 18th, 1998.
Now, we start off this episode with Misty and Ash in an
argument about the broken bike. Misty hasn't forgotten Ash, you
broke that bike and Misty's going to hang around until you
(06:38):
pay it back. They're arguing back and forth
about about the bike. Brock here.
He, he seems to have some sort of magical backpack because
inside his, his backpack is an entire set of table and chairs
that he pulls out And he, he sets up a, a tea set to have a
cup of tea. Not sure if he's just, you know,
going to sit back and watch the argument, but he sends Ash off
(06:59):
to collect some firewood to makesome, some tea and and pancakes.
So maybe pancakes can resolve anargument about bikes.
I'm not sure. I mean, pancakes could probably
resolve an argument about bikes for me.
I like pancakes be arguing aboutbikes.
Someone says, let's not argue, let's have some pancakes.
(07:20):
I'd probably be like, OK, that'sfair enough.
Anyway, as Ash and Pikachu are, you know, wandering around
trying to collect the firewood, they encounter a group of of
boys in in suits in like privateschool uniforms.
And one of them is is running ona treadmill and the rest are
(07:41):
kind of gathered around quizzinghim about various Pokémon like
quick fire Pokémon questions. Now the poor boy only gets one
Pokémon question wrong. And the rest of the boys are are
like jumping on him, giving him grief.
And Ash sees this jumps in to defend the situation.
I mean, Ash don't really know what's going on.
(08:02):
This is this is something that Ash has just stumbled upon.
But Ash, being Ash, likes to getinvolved in in situations.
So he jumps in to defend the, the treadmill kid who got the
Pokémon question wrong. And this is when we find out
that the boys are from a local Pokémon school.
And they're they're actually students of the Pokémon
(08:24):
Technical Institute, which is a boarding school which educates
Pokémon trainers. So Pokémon World continues to
surprise and educate us in in more ways than one.
Can even private educate us? I didn't know there were Pokémon
schools, but apparently there there are now.
(08:47):
They don't want to get involved in a fight so so they they
decide to leave the situation. Ash kind of reports back on
what's happened to Brock and Misty, and Brock reads up a
little bit about the Pokémon school and that their school
apparently says that it will provide guaranteed entry to the
(09:07):
Pokémon League. So essentially what this school
does is that it trains Pokémon trainers in in all aspects of
Pokémon. And instead of them having to go
and collect gym badges like Ash has been doing, they receive
enough Pokémon knowledge and I guess they pass enough Pokémon
tests that the school guaranteesthem entry to the Pokémon League
(09:32):
as long as they graduate. So another way to get into the
Pokémon League is by going to a private school.
Not something I choose to do. I'd, I'd want to do it, you
know, Ash's way. But for these kids, they're at
the, the Pokémon private school and, and that is what they are
(09:52):
hoping to achieve. But we soon find out that the
Pokémon Technical Institute as it is called, has some pretty
corrupt practices. Going back to the boy who was
being bullied earlier by the other students on the treadmill,
we find out his name is Joe and his friends or so-called friends
(10:14):
are you know, a bunch of rich kids who can afford to go to
this school. He tries to defend them in their
earlier actions and explaining that sometimes he pretends to
know less than he really does because the questions otherwise,
they get much harder. Now, I'm not sure if that's
really a method to progress at the Pokémon school.
(10:36):
If if you don't want to answer harder questions, you'll just
pretend you only know like a certain level of Pokémon
knowledge. But you know, that was Joe's
tactic and and that's what he's sticking to.
Ash, though, you know this struck A chord with him.
He's still not very happy about the tutoring system or, or the
way that the students treat eachother at this school.
(10:58):
And he demands to meet the student in charge.
Ash plans to to have a word and,you know, ask what's going on.
I don't really think they're going to listen to Ash.
I mean, Ash, Brock and Misty have just stumbled upon this
private school and they're just going to walk in the door and,
and disagree with with the way that things are going.
I mean, that's not exactly goingto work.
(11:19):
They probably wouldn't even be allowed in.
And I doubt that the people at the private school are going to
give him much time to, you know,even say his piece.
But anyway, Ash is like wants tofind the leader of the this this
student union. And he just he just demands to
to have a word with them. And this would be where we would
see that the leader of the beginner's class is a female
(11:45):
student. And Joe actually has a
photograph of her. Not sure if that's, you know,
mandatory upon being part of theschool.
Maybe you get given a photographof the head student so you
remember what they look like. Or maybe Joe just has this in
his personal collection. Not quite sure.
(12:07):
We actually see Brock and Ash looking at the photograph of
this female student and and like, they're both, well,
they're pretty impressed. They're drooling at the mouth.
Misty, on the other hand, not happy.
Not sure if she's jealous, not sure if she's just, you know,
angry about the way Brock and Ash are acting.
But it didn't take Ash too long to to change his his view on the
(12:31):
private school once he saw the the female student in charge.
And we'd find out that that female student was called
Giselle. Also, at this point, Team
Rocket, we always get to kind ofsee what Team Rocket's up to in
these episodes and Team Rocket reveal that they they both
actually flunked out of the Pokémon Tech school and they
(12:53):
didn't even get past the entry exam.
In fact, Jesse and James tell usthat they received the worst
score in the history of this private Pokémon school.
So there's an interesting insight into the background of
Team Rocket. They had actually attended this
private Pokémon school or at least tried to attend this
(13:14):
private Pokémon school, but theydidn't get past the initial
entry exam and they received thelowest grades in the history of
Pokémon school. So that's bringing back some bad
memories there for for Jesse andJames back to the school little
boy Joe, who we've met, he he heleads Ash and friends along to
(13:35):
meet Giselle and in the study area and he gives them a little
bit more insight into the ways of thinking of these private
Pokémon students. He says that they believe it's
the overall skill of a trainer and not anyone battle that can
determine success at Pokémon Tech.
So you have to consistently be learning, training, researching,
(14:00):
studying. If you, if you, if you go out
there and you just win 1 battle,that's, that's not to say that
you are the best student. And Joe actually believes that
even though he considers himselfmaybe to be the weakest student
at at the Pokémon prep school, that he's actually a better
Pokémon trainer than Ash, who atthis stage has two gym batches.
(14:22):
Joe also goes on to tell us herehe plays on a Pokémon simulator
and he'd actually battled against Misty's water gym on the
simulator and beat in her gym many times.
But I suppose there's a difference between playing on
like a, you know, virtual version of a Pokémon gym and and
battling in in in real life or for for in a in a real life
(14:47):
battle. So Misty is pretty offended by
this and demands an actual battle with Joe, but Joe's like
dismisses it because he thinks, well, I've already beaten you
many times on the Pokémon simulator, so I'd probably beat
you anyway. In any case, Misty calls out her
Stormy and we see Joe call out his weeping battle, his grass
(15:12):
type Pokémon, and this will havethe advantage at this stage with
Weeping Bale versus a Stormy. But nonetheless, Stormy is able
to beat Weeping Bale with one single water gun attack, which
shocks Joe, puts him in his place and pleased it did you
know Joe was pretty confident. He was like, I don't need to
beat you because I've beaten youso many times on the Pokémon Gym
(15:37):
Simulator game, whatever it would be called.
And and and he was pretty confident he was going to beat
Misty. Misty comes out with stormy
water gonna attack beats him. One move done.
So take that, take that Joe. That's what you get for having
that prep school confidence. This is where Giselle head
student walks in and would breakJoe further for not realizing
(16:01):
that Stormy's real life battle experience would obviously give
Misty the advantage over playingon a video game.
But Joe does seem to be given a hard time by the other students
because she calls him an embarrassment to the entire
school and she continues to pileon Joe and give him a hard time.
Which I'm not sure if that is maybe a method in their way of
(16:24):
teaching, but either way, Misty kind of changes her tune here
and kind of feels sorry for Joe even though earlier she was
offended by him, she doesn't like to see the way that he's
being treated. She turns around and she
challenges head girl Giselle to a Pokémon battle and she said
that true friend wouldn't reallytreat someone like this and they
(16:47):
would. They would stay and help a
friend in need. Giselle and Misty have a little
bit of a back and forth here just now, telling Misty that
she's just jealous of her, jealous of her looks and her her
success. Misty tells her that beauty is
only skin deep. True that, true that.
Misty and Giselle sends out her Pokémon a Graveler and Misty
(17:10):
sends out Stormy again, despite the fact that that Pokémon would
be at a disadvantage because Graveler is a rock and a ground
type Pokémon. Not a very long battle here.
Gravelers attack powers through able to deflect the water gun
and send Stormy flying through window and actually landing in
(17:32):
the school's swimming pool. So Misty defeated pretty
quickly. Humiliated, accused of being
jealous. Misty not going to be feeling
very good right now. Ash and Brock on the other hand
are still just, you know, head over heels, drooling over
Giselle and not really sticking up for Misty at this stage.
(17:52):
So who who's friends with who here?
I mean the school kids aren't really being nice to each other.
Ash and Brock have forgotten where their loyalties lie.
That's what you get when you start messing around in the
private school. Now these characters, they're
really not kind of meshing here.Ash and Misty and Brock
continuing to get insulted by Giselle and the private
(18:15):
students. She actually goes on to tell Ash
that if he's been on his Pokémonjourney for over 2 months, he
she would be shocked that he hasn't even been able to train
Pikachu to get into his poker ball.
And Ash is like, wow, yeah, if only you knew, if only you knew
what I've been through. And the private students
(18:38):
continue to mock and laugh at Ash and his friends.
Giselle saying that she's surprised that Ash even chose a
Pikachu as his starting Pokémon because they're so known for
being hard to train and hard to handle.
Ash is like I said, I've had enough.
You know, I've, I may have enjoyed looking at your picture,
but you've insulted me, you've insulted my friends.
(19:00):
And he demands a Pokémon paddle so Giselle would agree, sending
out Cubone, Ash using his Pikachu with a Thunder shock but
cubone able to deflect it. Giselle then orders her Cubone
to use the Lear attack, which kind of lets you know, stare.
(19:21):
You ever been layered out? I've been layered out before.
I've layered out other people I think, but didn't know it was an
attack. Anyway, Cuban uses Lear attack.
Pikachu responds with his own version of Lear attack, which is
just kind of like pulling funny face, leading to them kind of
just getting nose to nose in a staring contest.
So Giselle then interrupts, asksfor the bone club attack, which
(19:46):
bonks Pikachu on the head with abone and she asks to finish it
off with bone meringue, which isn't a meringue made of bones,
it's a, it's a, it's like a boomerang with a bone instead,
which is the KO shot because thebone meringue would knock
Pikachu out cold. Ash complaining here saying that
(20:09):
it was cheap for Giselle to haveQ bone throw it's bone at
Pikachu even though that's kind of part of Q bones whole stick
you know? He's he can use the bone because
that's part of his his Pokémon character.
You know, that's one of his moves.
And so then Q bone goes ahead, throws another bone meringue and
(20:30):
knocks Pikachu out yet again. Giselle here, Savage just bone
meringue after bone meringue after bone meringue.
Pikachu is just getting knocked out after knockout, but she gets
a little bit too confident as asshe goes for the third one.
By this time, Pikachu's able to jump over the bone lands on Q
(20:51):
bones head twists Q bones skull around that he well, you know
the skull that he wears on his head.
If you know who Q bone is, you know that he wears a skull on
his head, because otherwise, if Pikachu just jumped on him and
turned his whole skull around, that would be well, that would
be like really savage. Actually, I'll kind of be like
(21:11):
Pokémon murder, which he didn't do.
I probably should have made it clear that Q Bone wears a skull
as like a headpiece and and anyway Pikachu jumps onto Q
bone, twists the the skull roundso that he can't see.
Pikachu uses bite and scratch just at the last minute is able
(21:32):
to jump out the way as the bone meringue.
How many times have I said that this episode comes flying back
and knocks out Q Bone. Giselle, shocked by the loss and
asks a crying Cubone to return to his poker ball.
She's actually amazed that Pikachu won without using an
(21:54):
electric attack and makes a noteof it in their in their school
textbooks. So they thought they knew
everything, but they learnt a lesson here today with Ash.
Misty, though, never really won to give Ash's props.
She tells Joe, who's who's watching from the sidelines,
that it was probably a fluke win.
At this stage, Team Rocket make their entry to kind of take
(22:18):
advantage of everyone's distraction.
And just as they're about to enter with their Team Rocket
motto, the students actually recognise Jesse and James as
being the ones who flunked the entrance exam and having the
lowest scores in the history of the school.
Maybe they've got like a pictureof them up somewhere in the
school, like history making students.
(22:39):
And before Team Rocket can really even do anything, the
students all kind of throw theirpoker balls at them and Team
Rocket decide to flee. I think that they'd already had
a hard time returning to the thegrounds of this school.
And then these prep school students, these snobby students
wouldn't let them forget it and and chase them off the school
grounds. Now as this episode comes to a
(23:02):
close, we actually get to see the head girl, Giselle and Joe,
you know, kind of like the the timid student from from earlier.
They're reflecting on the eventsof of today and and they note
that maybe Pokémon School can't teach you everything.
Maybe there's some things that you can only learn on the road
(23:23):
on your Pokémon adventure. And that's why Joe actually
decides to leave Pokémon Tech and return home to start his
Pokémon adventure from scratch. He wants to do it the way that
Ash did. For some reason, though, Joe
asks if he can keep Giselle's picture.
I mean, he's leaving the school.I'm guessing this was his
picture, but then why is he asking to keep it?
(23:46):
Maybe it was school property. Maybe you get given one, but if
you leave, you have to give everything back Anyway.
Joe's like, can I keep your picture?
She actually turns around and she's like, yeah, sure, because
I've got one of you. Strange, strange episode, this
strange episode, strange Pokémonschool.
Why the kids got pictures of each other?
Do they know they've got pictures of each other?
(24:07):
Anyway, apparently Joe and Giselle are now friends.
So it's one of those things where it's like the the more
popular student who was, who wasa bit mean and a bit of a bully
at the start, has, has now takena liking to the the student who
was being picked on and they become friends.
And as they bid farewell, Joe, you know, decides to leave the
(24:28):
school. Don't know if his parents are
going to be very happy about that because they might have
paid a lot of money for private Pokémon school.
But good on you Joe, do what youwant to do.
There's they say, see down the road maybe I'll see you at the
Pokémon League. Joe and Giselle now friends.
Ash closes the episode. He asks Misty why they're not
friends like Joe and Giselle. I mean they don't have pictures
(24:50):
of each other, but Ash is like, how come we're not friends like
those two are? And this is where Misty would
snark back. That is because Joe doesn't owe
Giselle a bike. Misty, she is not one to forget
and that would kind of be the end of this episode.
An interesting episode, this one, not one of my favourites
really, but it is interesting toexplore different avenues of the
(25:15):
Pokémon universe and and, and different ways of getting into
the Pokémon League. Going to a private school is
kind of like paying your way in,I think.
But yeah, anyway, it was interesting to watch back.
I've pulled out some of my favorite frames and some of my
favorite pieces of animation, sodon't forget to check them out
on the social medias at Yeet a Mania.
(25:39):
And we will continue to discuss Pokémon.
I'm going to look at some of thedebuts of Pokémon characters.
We're going to be doing a Pokémon Spotlight and more.
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OK, we're back. Let's look at the Pokémon
characters that debuted in this episode.
So this was the school of Hard Knocks and we saw the debuts of
Giselle, who was the head girl and Joe, the the private
schoolboy who was kind of given a hard time and in the end
decided to leave the school to to begin his Pokémon adventure
(30:02):
again. Now the Pokémon that debuted in
this episode for the first time,we got to see a Pigeot, we got
to see weeping bell, we got to see Graveler and we got to see Q
bone. And today's Pokémon spotlight is
going to be for Q bone. So Q bone is a ground type
(30:23):
Pokémon introduced in generation1.
Pokedex number is 104 and in thePokémon Red and blue beta,
cubone was originally known as just orphan based on the fact
that this Pokémon was abandoned at birth.
Now Cubone famously wears the skull over its head but there is
(30:46):
a Japanese trading card that features a cubone using the move
Growl and it kind of partially reveals cubones face.
In the second episode of the Pokémon Origins sub Series A
mother Marwack is shown protecting her child from team
(31:10):
rocket and even though Marwack is alive the Cubone is still
wearing the skull. So and maybe some inconsistently
there because the skull in legend is supposed to be the
mother's skull, but if in this scene the mother was still alive
it's just got skull on. Anyway, I don't know, maybe it's
Grandma's skull? Who knows?
(31:31):
And in fact, despite the Pokedexentry saying that a Cubone wears
the skull of its dead mother, Cubone are actually born wearing
a skull when hatched from an egg.
Now I've dived back into my official Pokémon Handbook Deluxe
Edition and there's actually no mention of Cubone wearing the
(31:52):
skull of its mother. Instead, the Pokedex entry for
this says that Cubone uses the bones of ancient Pokémon to make
armour and crude weapons. So who knows, maybe the maybe
the the mother's skull theory has kind of become legend over
time or maybe they've changed itin in retcon bit.
(32:15):
But just found that interesting because I always thought it was
the fact that Cubone wore it themother's skull.
But the more I've looked into itthe bore, it seems that the
skull's just part of the character and and and in the
Pokémon Handbook Deluxe edition says that Cubone used the the
bones of ancient Pokémon. So it could be any Pokémon.
(32:39):
Let's look at some of the originof the Cubone character.
Cubone was created out of the thought of how sad it would be
for a Pokémon to die in its design.
It's reptilian in nature and seems to be loosely based on a
dinosaur. It does very much look like
little dinosaur, but the idea that someone had the thought of
(33:02):
a Pokémon character based on a Pokémon character dying is quite
interesting. And that's that's the whole
origin of the Cuban character. But it also could be based on
primitive cultures that actuallywear bones for decoration and
that do use them as weapons. So maybe that's an inspiration
(33:23):
for the character as well. Now the use of its bone as a
boomerang, the bone meringue, the bone rang, bone rang
bonerang. Boner rang bomerang.
Anyway, he has a bone and he uses it as a boomerang.
Now, that's actually a referenceto the original use of a
(33:46):
boomerang. So it's not just, you know,
something you pick up at the Australian airport when you
forget to buy a gift. It's originally the intention of
it was for hunting animals in indigenous Australian cultures.
That's what a boomerang was usedfor and that's what the
inspiration for Cubones Boomerang, boomerang, boomerang,
(34:12):
boomerang, boomerang, boomerang.That's a bone.
That's that's the inspiration for that little bit of episode.
Trivia for you now. Rachel Lillis, who's usually the
voice of Jesse, actually provides the voice of Pikachu
for all but one of the lines in this episode.
(34:32):
This is actually the first episode of the animated series
to break the 4th wall, as at thevery beginning of the episode,
Brock breaks up the argument between Ash and Misty by
commenting that they're running late and they have to start the
show. What show?
What? What are we in a simulation?
What show is this? It's Pokémon.
(34:52):
This is one of the few episodes that mention a real life place.
In this episode, Brock talks about French crepes and does a
French accent, causing Misty to go into like a Daydream about
being in France and and I guess France exists in Pokémon Canon.
(35:12):
Pallet Town and France France town.
This would also be the first episode to have a Who's that
Pokémon segment about a Pokémon that had yet to appear in the
animated series. So if you're watching this for
the first time and you're able to guess that you've got to be
some sort of Pokémon fan, and that would be Q Bone, who then
(35:34):
actually wouldn't appear until the second-half of the episode.
This is also one of the very fewepisodes where the fact that
Pokémon are able to learn certain moves at certain levels
is mentioned. So very similar to the Nintendo
game, but actually referenced inthe episode here.
And also, this episode marks theonly time that Misty Starmie has
(35:57):
won a battle on screen. Celebrate Stormy fans because
this is the only time that MistyStormy has ever won on screen.
Some dub edits between the original Japanese airing and
when the episode got translated into other languages.
(36:18):
Brock saying about the photo of the girl at the beginning of the
episode in the Japanese originalbroadcast.
He actually says she can violatemy rights anytime, but this was
a cut from the re airing in in America, understandably.
(36:39):
And Brock. Yeah, OK.
And also right before the title card appears, Misty hits Brock
in the head with a log. Misty's pretty violent and she's
always hitting people. But anyway, she hits Brock in
head with a log. But this was cut from the dub
edit because of a controversy around direct violence, and the
(37:04):
direct violence always seems to be Misty hitting someone.
So anyway, thought that was interesting.
In the Japanese version, Misty bonks Brock on the head with a
log, but that had to be cut too violent.
Now, one of the things that I like to do is look at some
Pokémon life lessons and see if there are ways that we can learn
from Pokémon, and I thought thattoday's episode showed us that
(37:27):
true strength comes from bonds and friendship.
This episode showcased that having a strong bond with your
Pokémon can triumph over strict training methods that focus
solely on levels, technical knowledge, and past scores.
We were able to emphasize the importance of nurturing
(37:49):
relationships and connections inour lives and that they can
often contribute to our overall success and well-being.
Also, this episode teaches us tochallenge the status quo.
Ash confronted the elitist attitudes of the private school
students at the Pokémon Technical Institute.
For the ways that they were picking on one of the other
(38:11):
students, for the ways that theykind of looked down on people
who didn't attend the school. And this serves as a reminder
that we should sometimes question the existence of
systems around us, especially when they perpetrate inequality
or they undermine the values of of true friendship.
So maybe these lessons can remind us that the world of
(38:34):
Pokémon can provide valuable insights that we can apply to
our everyday lives. OK, who wants to do some Pokémon
jokes? It's time for everyone's
favorite segment. It's time for joking on.
OK, let's see what we got. Sidux constant headache is
(38:57):
probably just a clever excuse toavoid doing any real work.
Why did Meowth learn to talk? Because he wanted to have a
personal conversation. You know that Team Rocket are
about as useful as a screen dooron a submarine.
(39:23):
What do you call a fake Pokémon?A fake him on?
What the heck? OK, you know, Mewtwo's always so
melodramatic you'd think he was auditioning for a Shakespeare
play. Oh dear, Gengar is basically the
(39:52):
Pokémon version of that one creepy uncle who always tells
those really bad jokes at familygatherings.
Gengar might as well have written this segment in that
case. OK, that was the Pokémon jokes
this week. That was the Pokémon jokes.
That was joking, mom. OK, as we're about to bring
(40:19):
today's podcast episode to a closed, let's look at what we
learned on the show tonight. What did we learn on the show
tonight, Jed? So what did we learn on the Pika
Palace podcast? Not a lot, I imagine.
(40:40):
Well, we discovered that the prestigious Pokémon Technical
Institute takes a rather unconventional approach to
educating, proving that not all learning methods are created
equal. Sometimes the number of badges
or the level of a Pokémon doesn't determine their
strength. It's the bond between Trainer
and Pokémon that matters most. We were reminded that even the
(41:04):
most beautiful and confident people, like Giselle the Head
Girl, it can have a mean streak.Reinforcing the old adage, don't
judge a book by its cover. Ash and Pikachu continued to
show us the value of St. smarts over book smarts.
And finally, we learned that even in the world of Pokémon,
(41:26):
expensive schools and privilegedstudents can't guarantee
success. Sometimes it's the underdogs who
come out on top. Well, that's the end of this
week's podcast. That's the end of the show.
And you know what that means? The.
Time has come. Best I know that you and I some
(42:03):
house away. We have to say goodbye.
Somehow today we'd have to say goodbye.
Man, people are going to get real sick of me singing that
song. Well then I'm going to get
(42:24):
singer sick in that song. Sorry.
Anyway, that was today's episodeof the Peaker Pals podcast.
I hope you enjoyed it. Thank you for listening.
Please don't forget to leave a review and a rating on your
chosen podcast platform as that will help other people discover
(42:44):
the show. And hey, if you know any friends
or family members who like Pokémon and might want to listen
to the Peek of Powers podcast, send it to them too.
As always, you can follow me on the socials at Yeetamania For
more episodes, exclusive contentand or things Pokémon.
Visit me across your social media channel of preference at
(43:07):
Yeetamania and you could also share your love of Pokémon or
send questions or suggestions orrequests to be on the show to my
e-mail address at yeetamania@gmail.com.
Please don't forget to check outmore information about my Pika
Pals Unite fundraiser, raising money for a really good cause
(43:28):
for the mental health charity Mind in Somerset.
That's been today's episode. Thank you for bearing with me.
Sorry if it wasn't, as you know,exciting of an episode.
As usual. I I almost didn't do it and I'm
kind of glad that I did. But yeah, anyway, Pokémon and
(43:53):
I've been Jed and there's been aPig Abouts podcast and you've
been a real peeker, pal.
Hello everyone, and welcome onceagain to the Peaker Pals
Podcast. I'm your host Pokémon Trainer
Dred, and I thank you for tuningin.
Now, the Peak Pounds Podcast is where I'm on a mission to
rewatch, recap, and laugh my waythrough every episode of the
(00:39):
original Pokémon anime series. And on today's show, I've
rewatched and I'm discussing episode 9 of the original
Pokémon anime series. This one is called The School of
Hard Knocks. Firstly, Poultries for this
episode of the podcast, going out a couple days later than I
(01:00):
had intended, but hopefully I will be back on track now and
I've got a couple guest episodesthat I've previously recorded,
edited and ready to publish as well, so please do keep a
lookout for them. In all honesty, I kind of felt a
little bit down the past week orso and I wasn't very motivated
(01:21):
to do the Peak Pounds podcast. I kind of felt like giving up
and not wanting to continue withit, and I knew that this feeling
would come because I struggle with trying to get a project
started and then consistently continue with it because I don't
(01:42):
feel that it's good enough. That's what happened with this
past week. I thought I didn't know if I
wanted to continue with the podcast.
I didn't know if anyone really enjoyed listening to it.
I didn't know what the point of it was.
And yeah, I just kind of wasn't really in a great place to
(02:03):
continue with it. But I do really appreciate the
support and the kindness of everyone who's listened to the
podcast so far. You seem to be enjoying it, and
as long as people are enjoying it and as long as people want to
listen to the Pica Pals podcast,I should continue doing it.
This week. I kind of just had a little bit
(02:24):
of a set back, I think, in all honesty, But I guess that that
was bound to happen. I struggled to even get past
episode 1 initially. And now I'm up to, well, episode
9 of the Pokémon anime, but I'vealso recorded guest episodes of
(02:46):
the podcast as well. But I'm feeling a bit better,
kind of was down in the air. Pika dumps, down in the dumps,
down in the pika dumps. Anyone in the pika dumps?
Don't think anyone wants to be there.
I imagine they'd be small, though, wouldn't they?
Like Nesquik kind of like, like rabbit, like rabbit poo.
Oh, I don't know what I'm on about, but yeah, thanks for
(03:09):
being with me. Apologies that this episode's
come out a couple days later than I would have liked it to
do. Really appreciate your support
and do let me know if you're enjoying the podcast and please
do let me know areas that you think could be improved because
I'm looking to refine it all thetime.
I'm looking to either shorten segments or add different
(03:32):
discussion pieces or different go to segments of the episode
and let me know what you like and and what you think you want
to keep, what you think could maybe be shorter.
I try to keep each episode underan hour because otherwise you
know who wants to be listening to me rambling on about Pokémon
for for longer than that. But just let me know if you have
(03:54):
any any feedback I I did, I would genuinely appreciate it.
Also like to take this time to thank Mind the Mental Health
charity for allowing me to collaborate with them and raise
money for such a good cause. Mental health has been a part of
my own journey and I know how important it is, but I also know
(04:16):
how vital and important the workthat the MIND charity does,
which is why I'd like to raise money for Mind, and I'd like to
raise 151 pounds, 151 being the number of original Pokémon.
We're doing pretty well on the fundraiser so far, and I'm
really grateful to everyone who's donated so far.
(04:39):
You can find out more information in the episode
description. You can go to the JustGiving
page justgiving.com/page/pika Pals Unite.
So check out my fundraiser and if you can afford to, any amount
will be massively appreciated. You can also follow me across
(05:00):
the socials at Yeetamania. And if you've got any questions
or want to just talk about Pokémon, you can e-mail at
yeetamania@gmail.com. So yeah, there has been a little
bit of a longer intro than I'd intended it to be.
The intro is probably going to be longer than a lot of the
episode discussion itself. Anyway, I felt like giving up on
(05:25):
the Peak of House podcast. I wasn't feeling too positive
about it. But then I decided to carry on
and here we go. So enjoy today's episode and
turn that hat backwards, grab your poker balls and get ready
for the Peak Pals podcast. OK, I just got done watching
(05:56):
episode 9 of the original Pokémon anime series and this
one is called The School of HardKnocks.
The Japanese title for this was Pokémon Victory Manual, and this
first aired in Japan on May the 27th, 1997 would go on to air in
(06:17):
the United States and beyond on September the 18th, 1998.
Now, we start off this episode with Misty and Ash in an
argument about the broken bike. Misty hasn't forgotten Ash, you
broke that bike and Misty's going to hang around until you
(06:38):
pay it back. They're arguing back and forth
about about the bike. Brock here.
He, he seems to have some sort of magical backpack because
inside his, his backpack is an entire set of table and chairs
that he pulls out And he, he sets up a, a tea set to have a
cup of tea. Not sure if he's just, you know,
going to sit back and watch the argument, but he sends Ash off
(06:59):
to collect some firewood to makesome, some tea and and pancakes.
So maybe pancakes can resolve anargument about bikes.
I'm not sure. I mean, pancakes could probably
resolve an argument about bikes for me.
I like pancakes be arguing aboutbikes.
Someone says, let's not argue, let's have some pancakes.
(07:20):
I'd probably be like, OK, that'sfair enough.
Anyway, as Ash and Pikachu are, you know, wandering around
trying to collect the firewood, they encounter a group of of
boys in in suits in like privateschool uniforms.
And one of them is is running ona treadmill and the rest are
(07:41):
kind of gathered around quizzinghim about various Pokémon like
quick fire Pokémon questions. Now the poor boy only gets one
Pokémon question wrong. And the rest of the boys are are
like jumping on him, giving him grief.
And Ash sees this jumps in to defend the situation.
I mean, Ash don't really know what's going on.
(08:02):
This is this is something that Ash has just stumbled upon.
But Ash, being Ash, likes to getinvolved in in situations.
So he jumps in to defend the, the treadmill kid who got the
Pokémon question wrong. And this is when we find out
that the boys are from a local Pokémon school.
And they're they're actually students of the Pokémon
(08:24):
Technical Institute, which is a boarding school which educates
Pokémon trainers. So Pokémon World continues to
surprise and educate us in in more ways than one.
Can even private educate us? I didn't know there were Pokémon
schools, but apparently there there are now.
(08:47):
They don't want to get involved in a fight so so they they
decide to leave the situation. Ash kind of reports back on
what's happened to Brock and Misty, and Brock reads up a
little bit about the Pokémon school and that their school
apparently says that it will provide guaranteed entry to the
(09:07):
Pokémon League. So essentially what this school
does is that it trains Pokémon trainers in in all aspects of
Pokémon. And instead of them having to go
and collect gym badges like Ash has been doing, they receive
enough Pokémon knowledge and I guess they pass enough Pokémon
tests that the school guaranteesthem entry to the Pokémon League
(09:32):
as long as they graduate. So another way to get into the
Pokémon League is by going to a private school.
Not something I choose to do. I'd, I'd want to do it, you
know, Ash's way. But for these kids, they're at
the, the Pokémon private school and, and that is what they are
(09:52):
hoping to achieve. But we soon find out that the
Pokémon Technical Institute as it is called, has some pretty
corrupt practices. Going back to the boy who was
being bullied earlier by the other students on the treadmill,
we find out his name is Joe and his friends or so-called friends
(10:14):
are you know, a bunch of rich kids who can afford to go to
this school. He tries to defend them in their
earlier actions and explaining that sometimes he pretends to
know less than he really does because the questions otherwise,
they get much harder. Now, I'm not sure if that's
really a method to progress at the Pokémon school.
(10:36):
If if you don't want to answer harder questions, you'll just
pretend you only know like a certain level of Pokémon
knowledge. But you know, that was Joe's
tactic and and that's what he's sticking to.
Ash, though, you know this struck A chord with him.
He's still not very happy about the tutoring system or, or the
way that the students treat eachother at this school.
(10:58):
And he demands to meet the student in charge.
Ash plans to to have a word and,you know, ask what's going on.
I don't really think they're going to listen to Ash.
I mean, Ash, Brock and Misty have just stumbled upon this
private school and they're just going to walk in the door and,
and disagree with with the way that things are going.
I mean, that's not exactly goingto work.
(11:19):
They probably wouldn't even be allowed in.
And I doubt that the people at the private school are going to
give him much time to, you know,even say his piece.
But anyway, Ash is like wants tofind the leader of the this this
student union. And he just he just demands to
to have a word with them. And this would be where we would
see that the leader of the beginner's class is a female
(11:45):
student. And Joe actually has a
photograph of her. Not sure if that's, you know,
mandatory upon being part of theschool.
Maybe you get given a photographof the head student so you
remember what they look like. Or maybe Joe just has this in
his personal collection. Not quite sure.
(12:07):
We actually see Brock and Ash looking at the photograph of
this female student and and like, they're both, well,
they're pretty impressed. They're drooling at the mouth.
Misty, on the other hand, not happy.
Not sure if she's jealous, not sure if she's just, you know,
angry about the way Brock and Ash are acting.
But it didn't take Ash too long to to change his his view on the
(12:31):
private school once he saw the the female student in charge.
And we'd find out that that female student was called
Giselle. Also, at this point, Team
Rocket, we always get to kind ofsee what Team Rocket's up to in
these episodes and Team Rocket reveal that they they both
actually flunked out of the Pokémon Tech school and they
(12:53):
didn't even get past the entry exam.
In fact, Jesse and James tell usthat they received the worst
score in the history of this private Pokémon school.
So there's an interesting insight into the background of
Team Rocket. They had actually attended this
private Pokémon school or at least tried to attend this
(13:14):
private Pokémon school, but theydidn't get past the initial
entry exam and they received thelowest grades in the history of
Pokémon school. So that's bringing back some bad
memories there for for Jesse andJames back to the school little
boy Joe, who we've met, he he heleads Ash and friends along to
(13:35):
meet Giselle and in the study area and he gives them a little
bit more insight into the ways of thinking of these private
Pokémon students. He says that they believe it's
the overall skill of a trainer and not anyone battle that can
determine success at Pokémon Tech.
So you have to consistently be learning, training, researching,
(14:00):
studying. If you, if you, if you go out
there and you just win 1 battle,that's, that's not to say that
you are the best student. And Joe actually believes that
even though he considers himselfmaybe to be the weakest student
at at the Pokémon prep school, that he's actually a better
Pokémon trainer than Ash, who atthis stage has two gym batches.
(14:22):
Joe also goes on to tell us herehe plays on a Pokémon simulator
and he'd actually battled against Misty's water gym on the
simulator and beat in her gym many times.
But I suppose there's a difference between playing on
like a, you know, virtual version of a Pokémon gym and and
battling in in in real life or for for in a in a real life
(14:47):
battle. So Misty is pretty offended by
this and demands an actual battle with Joe, but Joe's like
dismisses it because he thinks, well, I've already beaten you
many times on the Pokémon simulator, so I'd probably beat
you anyway. In any case, Misty calls out her
Stormy and we see Joe call out his weeping battle, his grass
(15:12):
type Pokémon, and this will havethe advantage at this stage with
Weeping Bale versus a Stormy. But nonetheless, Stormy is able
to beat Weeping Bale with one single water gun attack, which
shocks Joe, puts him in his place and pleased it did you
know Joe was pretty confident. He was like, I don't need to
beat you because I've beaten youso many times on the Pokémon Gym
(15:37):
Simulator game, whatever it would be called.
And and and he was pretty confident he was going to beat
Misty. Misty comes out with stormy
water gonna attack beats him. One move done.
So take that, take that Joe. That's what you get for having
that prep school confidence. This is where Giselle head
student walks in and would breakJoe further for not realizing
(16:01):
that Stormy's real life battle experience would obviously give
Misty the advantage over playingon a video game.
But Joe does seem to be given a hard time by the other students
because she calls him an embarrassment to the entire
school and she continues to pileon Joe and give him a hard time.
Which I'm not sure if that is maybe a method in their way of
(16:24):
teaching, but either way, Misty kind of changes her tune here
and kind of feels sorry for Joe even though earlier she was
offended by him, she doesn't like to see the way that he's
being treated. She turns around and she
challenges head girl Giselle to a Pokémon battle and she said
that true friend wouldn't reallytreat someone like this and they
(16:47):
would. They would stay and help a
friend in need. Giselle and Misty have a little
bit of a back and forth here just now, telling Misty that
she's just jealous of her, jealous of her looks and her her
success. Misty tells her that beauty is
only skin deep. True that, true that.
Misty and Giselle sends out her Pokémon a Graveler and Misty
(17:10):
sends out Stormy again, despite the fact that that Pokémon would
be at a disadvantage because Graveler is a rock and a ground
type Pokémon. Not a very long battle here.
Gravelers attack powers through able to deflect the water gun
and send Stormy flying through window and actually landing in
(17:32):
the school's swimming pool. So Misty defeated pretty
quickly. Humiliated, accused of being
jealous. Misty not going to be feeling
very good right now. Ash and Brock on the other hand
are still just, you know, head over heels, drooling over
Giselle and not really sticking up for Misty at this stage.
(17:52):
So who who's friends with who here?
I mean the school kids aren't really being nice to each other.
Ash and Brock have forgotten where their loyalties lie.
That's what you get when you start messing around in the
private school. Now these characters, they're
really not kind of meshing here.Ash and Misty and Brock
continuing to get insulted by Giselle and the private
(18:15):
students. She actually goes on to tell Ash
that if he's been on his Pokémonjourney for over 2 months, he
she would be shocked that he hasn't even been able to train
Pikachu to get into his poker ball.
And Ash is like, wow, yeah, if only you knew, if only you knew
what I've been through. And the private students
(18:38):
continue to mock and laugh at Ash and his friends.
Giselle saying that she's surprised that Ash even chose a
Pikachu as his starting Pokémon because they're so known for
being hard to train and hard to handle.
Ash is like I said, I've had enough.
You know, I've, I may have enjoyed looking at your picture,
but you've insulted me, you've insulted my friends.
(19:00):
And he demands a Pokémon paddle so Giselle would agree, sending
out Cubone, Ash using his Pikachu with a Thunder shock but
cubone able to deflect it. Giselle then orders her Cubone
to use the Lear attack, which kind of lets you know, stare.
(19:21):
You ever been layered out? I've been layered out before.
I've layered out other people I think, but didn't know it was an
attack. Anyway, Cuban uses Lear attack.
Pikachu responds with his own version of Lear attack, which is
just kind of like pulling funny face, leading to them kind of
just getting nose to nose in a staring contest.
So Giselle then interrupts, asksfor the bone club attack, which
(19:46):
bonks Pikachu on the head with abone and she asks to finish it
off with bone meringue, which isn't a meringue made of bones,
it's a, it's a, it's like a boomerang with a bone instead,
which is the KO shot because thebone meringue would knock
Pikachu out cold. Ash complaining here saying that
(20:09):
it was cheap for Giselle to haveQ bone throw it's bone at
Pikachu even though that's kind of part of Q bones whole stick
you know? He's he can use the bone because
that's part of his his Pokémon character.
You know, that's one of his moves.
And so then Q bone goes ahead, throws another bone meringue and
(20:30):
knocks Pikachu out yet again. Giselle here, Savage just bone
meringue after bone meringue after bone meringue.
Pikachu is just getting knocked out after knockout, but she gets
a little bit too confident as asshe goes for the third one.
By this time, Pikachu's able to jump over the bone lands on Q
(20:51):
bones head twists Q bones skull around that he well, you know
the skull that he wears on his head.
If you know who Q bone is, you know that he wears a skull on
his head, because otherwise, if Pikachu just jumped on him and
turned his whole skull around, that would be well, that would
be like really savage. Actually, I'll kind of be like
(21:11):
Pokémon murder, which he didn't do.
I probably should have made it clear that Q Bone wears a skull
as like a headpiece and and anyway Pikachu jumps onto Q
bone, twists the the skull roundso that he can't see.
Pikachu uses bite and scratch just at the last minute is able
(21:32):
to jump out the way as the bone meringue.
How many times have I said that this episode comes flying back
and knocks out Q Bone. Giselle, shocked by the loss and
asks a crying Cubone to return to his poker ball.
She's actually amazed that Pikachu won without using an
(21:54):
electric attack and makes a noteof it in their in their school
textbooks. So they thought they knew
everything, but they learnt a lesson here today with Ash.
Misty, though, never really won to give Ash's props.
She tells Joe, who's who's watching from the sidelines,
that it was probably a fluke win.
At this stage, Team Rocket make their entry to kind of take
(22:18):
advantage of everyone's distraction.
And just as they're about to enter with their Team Rocket
motto, the students actually recognise Jesse and James as
being the ones who flunked the entrance exam and having the
lowest scores in the history of the school.
Maybe they've got like a pictureof them up somewhere in the
school, like history making students.
(22:39):
And before Team Rocket can really even do anything, the
students all kind of throw theirpoker balls at them and Team
Rocket decide to flee. I think that they'd already had
a hard time returning to the thegrounds of this school.
And then these prep school students, these snobby students
wouldn't let them forget it and and chase them off the school
grounds. Now as this episode comes to a
(23:02):
close, we actually get to see the head girl, Giselle and Joe,
you know, kind of like the the timid student from from earlier.
They're reflecting on the eventsof of today and and they note
that maybe Pokémon School can't teach you everything.
Maybe there's some things that you can only learn on the road
(23:23):
on your Pokémon adventure. And that's why Joe actually
decides to leave Pokémon Tech and return home to start his
Pokémon adventure from scratch. He wants to do it the way that
Ash did. For some reason, though, Joe
asks if he can keep Giselle's picture.
I mean, he's leaving the school.I'm guessing this was his
picture, but then why is he asking to keep it?
(23:46):
Maybe it was school property. Maybe you get given one, but if
you leave, you have to give everything back Anyway.
Joe's like, can I keep your picture?
She actually turns around and she's like, yeah, sure, because
I've got one of you. Strange, strange episode, this
strange episode, strange Pokémonschool.
Why the kids got pictures of each other?
Do they know they've got pictures of each other?
(24:07):
Anyway, apparently Joe and Giselle are now friends.
So it's one of those things where it's like the the more
popular student who was, who wasa bit mean and a bit of a bully
at the start, has, has now takena liking to the the student who
was being picked on and they become friends.
And as they bid farewell, Joe, you know, decides to leave the
(24:28):
school. Don't know if his parents are
going to be very happy about that because they might have
paid a lot of money for private Pokémon school.
But good on you Joe, do what youwant to do.
There's they say, see down the road maybe I'll see you at the
Pokémon League. Joe and Giselle now friends.
Ash closes the episode. He asks Misty why they're not
friends like Joe and Giselle. I mean they don't have pictures
(24:50):
of each other, but Ash is like, how come we're not friends like
those two are? And this is where Misty would
snark back. That is because Joe doesn't owe
Giselle a bike. Misty, she is not one to forget
and that would kind of be the end of this episode.
An interesting episode, this one, not one of my favourites
really, but it is interesting toexplore different avenues of the
(25:15):
Pokémon universe and and, and different ways of getting into
the Pokémon League. Going to a private school is
kind of like paying your way in,I think.
But yeah, anyway, it was interesting to watch back.
I've pulled out some of my favorite frames and some of my
favorite pieces of animation, sodon't forget to check them out
on the social medias at Yeet a Mania.
(25:39):
And we will continue to discuss Pokémon.
I'm going to look at some of thedebuts of Pokémon characters.
We're going to be doing a Pokémon Spotlight and more.
But first, go take a pause for the cause and get a quick
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(29:39):
OK, we're back. Let's look at the Pokémon
characters that debuted in this episode.
So this was the school of Hard Knocks and we saw the debuts of
Giselle, who was the head girl and Joe, the the private
schoolboy who was kind of given a hard time and in the end
decided to leave the school to to begin his Pokémon adventure
(30:02):
again. Now the Pokémon that debuted in
this episode for the first time,we got to see a Pigeot, we got
to see weeping bell, we got to see Graveler and we got to see Q
bone. And today's Pokémon spotlight is
going to be for Q bone. So Q bone is a ground type
(30:23):
Pokémon introduced in generation1.
Pokedex number is 104 and in thePokémon Red and blue beta,
cubone was originally known as just orphan based on the fact
that this Pokémon was abandoned at birth.
Now Cubone famously wears the skull over its head but there is
(30:46):
a Japanese trading card that features a cubone using the move
Growl and it kind of partially reveals cubones face.
In the second episode of the Pokémon Origins sub Series A
mother Marwack is shown protecting her child from team
(31:10):
rocket and even though Marwack is alive the Cubone is still
wearing the skull. So and maybe some inconsistently
there because the skull in legend is supposed to be the
mother's skull, but if in this scene the mother was still alive
it's just got skull on. Anyway, I don't know, maybe it's
Grandma's skull? Who knows?
(31:31):
And in fact, despite the Pokedexentry saying that a Cubone wears
the skull of its dead mother, Cubone are actually born wearing
a skull when hatched from an egg.
Now I've dived back into my official Pokémon Handbook Deluxe
Edition and there's actually no mention of Cubone wearing the
(31:52):
skull of its mother. Instead, the Pokedex entry for
this says that Cubone uses the bones of ancient Pokémon to make
armour and crude weapons. So who knows, maybe the maybe
the the mother's skull theory has kind of become legend over
time or maybe they've changed itin in retcon bit.
(32:15):
But just found that interesting because I always thought it was
the fact that Cubone wore it themother's skull.
But the more I've looked into itthe bore, it seems that the
skull's just part of the character and and and in the
Pokémon Handbook Deluxe edition says that Cubone used the the
bones of ancient Pokémon. So it could be any Pokémon.
(32:39):
Let's look at some of the originof the Cubone character.
Cubone was created out of the thought of how sad it would be
for a Pokémon to die in its design.
It's reptilian in nature and seems to be loosely based on a
dinosaur. It does very much look like
little dinosaur, but the idea that someone had the thought of
(33:02):
a Pokémon character based on a Pokémon character dying is quite
interesting. And that's that's the whole
origin of the Cuban character. But it also could be based on
primitive cultures that actuallywear bones for decoration and
that do use them as weapons. So maybe that's an inspiration
(33:23):
for the character as well. Now the use of its bone as a
boomerang, the bone meringue, the bone rang, bone rang
bonerang. Boner rang bomerang.
Anyway, he has a bone and he uses it as a boomerang.
Now, that's actually a referenceto the original use of a
(33:46):
boomerang. So it's not just, you know,
something you pick up at the Australian airport when you
forget to buy a gift. It's originally the intention of
it was for hunting animals in indigenous Australian cultures.
That's what a boomerang was usedfor and that's what the
inspiration for Cubones Boomerang, boomerang, boomerang,
(34:12):
boomerang, boomerang, boomerang.That's a bone.
That's that's the inspiration for that little bit of episode.
Trivia for you now. Rachel Lillis, who's usually the
voice of Jesse, actually provides the voice of Pikachu
for all but one of the lines in this episode.
(34:32):
This is actually the first episode of the animated series
to break the 4th wall, as at thevery beginning of the episode,
Brock breaks up the argument between Ash and Misty by
commenting that they're running late and they have to start the
show. What show?
What? What are we in a simulation?
What show is this? It's Pokémon.
(34:52):
This is one of the few episodes that mention a real life place.
In this episode, Brock talks about French crepes and does a
French accent, causing Misty to go into like a Daydream about
being in France and and I guess France exists in Pokémon Canon.
(35:12):
Pallet Town and France France town.
This would also be the first episode to have a Who's that
Pokémon segment about a Pokémon that had yet to appear in the
animated series. So if you're watching this for
the first time and you're able to guess that you've got to be
some sort of Pokémon fan, and that would be Q Bone, who then
(35:34):
actually wouldn't appear until the second-half of the episode.
This is also one of the very fewepisodes where the fact that
Pokémon are able to learn certain moves at certain levels
is mentioned. So very similar to the Nintendo
game, but actually referenced inthe episode here.
And also, this episode marks theonly time that Misty Starmie has
(35:57):
won a battle on screen. Celebrate Stormy fans because
this is the only time that MistyStormy has ever won on screen.
Some dub edits between the original Japanese airing and
when the episode got translated into other languages.
(36:18):
Brock saying about the photo of the girl at the beginning of the
episode in the Japanese originalbroadcast.
He actually says she can violatemy rights anytime, but this was
a cut from the re airing in in America, understandably.
(36:39):
And Brock. Yeah, OK.
And also right before the title card appears, Misty hits Brock
in the head with a log. Misty's pretty violent and she's
always hitting people. But anyway, she hits Brock in
head with a log. But this was cut from the dub
edit because of a controversy around direct violence, and the
(37:04):
direct violence always seems to be Misty hitting someone.
So anyway, thought that was interesting.
In the Japanese version, Misty bonks Brock on the head with a
log, but that had to be cut too violent.
Now, one of the things that I like to do is look at some
Pokémon life lessons and see if there are ways that we can learn
from Pokémon, and I thought thattoday's episode showed us that
(37:27):
true strength comes from bonds and friendship.
This episode showcased that having a strong bond with your
Pokémon can triumph over strict training methods that focus
solely on levels, technical knowledge, and past scores.
We were able to emphasize the importance of nurturing
(37:49):
relationships and connections inour lives and that they can
often contribute to our overall success and well-being.
Also, this episode teaches us tochallenge the status quo.
Ash confronted the elitist attitudes of the private school
students at the Pokémon Technical Institute.
For the ways that they were picking on one of the other
(38:11):
students, for the ways that theykind of looked down on people
who didn't attend the school. And this serves as a reminder
that we should sometimes question the existence of
systems around us, especially when they perpetrate inequality
or they undermine the values of of true friendship.
So maybe these lessons can remind us that the world of
(38:34):
Pokémon can provide valuable insights that we can apply to
our everyday lives. OK, who wants to do some Pokémon
jokes? It's time for everyone's
favorite segment. It's time for joking on.
OK, let's see what we got. Sidux constant headache is
(38:57):
probably just a clever excuse toavoid doing any real work.
Why did Meowth learn to talk? Because he wanted to have a
personal conversation. You know that Team Rocket are
about as useful as a screen dooron a submarine.
(39:23):
What do you call a fake Pokémon?A fake him on?
What the heck? OK, you know, Mewtwo's always so
melodramatic you'd think he was auditioning for a Shakespeare
play. Oh dear, Gengar is basically the
(39:52):
Pokémon version of that one creepy uncle who always tells
those really bad jokes at familygatherings.
Gengar might as well have written this segment in that
case. OK, that was the Pokémon jokes
this week. That was the Pokémon jokes.
That was joking, mom. OK, as we're about to bring
(40:19):
today's podcast episode to a closed, let's look at what we
learned on the show tonight. What did we learn on the show
tonight, Jed? So what did we learn on the Pika
Palace podcast? Not a lot, I imagine.
(40:40):
Well, we discovered that the prestigious Pokémon Technical
Institute takes a rather unconventional approach to
educating, proving that not all learning methods are created
equal. Sometimes the number of badges
or the level of a Pokémon doesn't determine their
strength. It's the bond between Trainer
and Pokémon that matters most. We were reminded that even the
(41:04):
most beautiful and confident people, like Giselle the Head
Girl, it can have a mean streak.Reinforcing the old adage, don't
judge a book by its cover. Ash and Pikachu continued to
show us the value of St. smarts over book smarts.
And finally, we learned that even in the world of Pokémon,
(41:26):
expensive schools and privilegedstudents can't guarantee
success. Sometimes it's the underdogs who
come out on top. Well, that's the end of this
week's podcast. That's the end of the show.
And you know what that means? The.
Time has come. Best I know that you and I some
(42:03):
house away. We have to say goodbye.
Somehow today we'd have to say goodbye.
Man, people are going to get real sick of me singing that
song. Well then I'm going to get
(42:24):
singer sick in that song. Sorry.
Anyway, that was today's episodeof the Peaker Pals podcast.
I hope you enjoyed it. Thank you for listening.
Please don't forget to leave a review and a rating on your
chosen podcast platform as that will help other people discover
(42:44):
the show. And hey, if you know any friends
or family members who like Pokémon and might want to listen
to the Peek of Powers podcast, send it to them too.
As always, you can follow me on the socials at Yeetamania For
more episodes, exclusive contentand or things Pokémon.
Visit me across your social media channel of preference at
(43:07):
Yeetamania and you could also share your love of Pokémon or
send questions or suggestions orrequests to be on the show to my
e-mail address at yeetamania@gmail.com.
Please don't forget to check outmore information about my Pika
Pals Unite fundraiser, raising money for a really good cause
(43:28):
for the mental health charity Mind in Somerset.
That's been today's episode. Thank you for bearing with me.
Sorry if it wasn't, as you know,exciting of an episode.
As usual. I I almost didn't do it and I'm
kind of glad that I did. But yeah, anyway, Pokémon and
(43:53):
I've been Jed and there's been aPig Abouts podcast and you've
been a real peeker, pal.
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