Japanese Title: The Secret of the Breeding Center!
Original Airdate: August 6th, 1998
US Airdate: May 1st, 1999
The new guys.
The one where... We meet Cassidy and Bill.note
There's a new breeding center in town that promises to pamper and polish your Pokémon, and maybe even evolve them. But our heroes soon discover its terrible secret—it's no more than a cover for a wicked Pokémon-stealing operation. And the thieves, for once, aren't Jessie and James—they're Butch and Cassidy, a pair of Team Rocket members who are actually in good standing with the boss. They're a couple of fashionistas, like Jessie and James, only they're better at it, and better at crime. Needless to say, there's no love lost between the two Team Rocket groups. Butch and Cassidy frame our heroes for the attempted theft of the Pokémon at the breeding center. The kids are carted off to jail, and it looks like Butch and Cassidy will get away with their Poké-purloining plans. But some photos that Snap took at the breeding center put our heroes in the clear, and Butch and Cassidy behind bars. As our friends leave town for their next adventure, Snap parts ways with them to continue his Pokémon photography.
This episode provides examples of:
- Always Someone Better: Cassidy and Butch make their debut in this episode, and are shown to be more competent than Jessie and James.
- And That's Terrible: When Officer Jenny discovers the photos Snap took while in the breeding center, she says "Oh, no! That's terrible!"
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Both Butch and Cassidy until their lies are exposed by Officer Jenny.
- Blatant Lies: After Misty exonerates Ash and co., Team Rocket tries to have Officer Jenny bail them out as well. Predictably, their pleas fall on deaf ears after Misty points out to Jenny that Team Rocket are Pokémon thieves.
- Cassandra Truth: Ash, Brock, and Snap get blown off by Officer Jenny when they try telling her about Butch and Cassidy's schemes. Fortunately for them, they are vindicated seconds later when Misty arrives with Snap's camera.
- Clear My Name: With Ash and his friends in custody, Misty conducts her own investigation to prove their innocence.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: Despite generally being more competent at scheming than Jessie and James, Butch and Cassidy don't seem to be any better at Pokemon battling. Cassidy's Raticate is quickly defeated by Pikachu, and neither she nor Butch try to send out any other Pokemon.
- Early-Installment Weirdness:
- The Running Gag of everyone getting Butch's name wrong was not introduced until his next appearance.
- Also, Victreebel's voice has been dubbed in this episode while all of its future appearances would leave the voice intact from the Japanese.
- Everyone Has Standards: Officer Jenny willingly books Ash, Brock and Snap for helping Team Rocket steal Pokémon, but is clearly appalled when Misty tells her that Butch and Cassidy had tricked her.
- Eye Catch: This episode, the Who's that Pokémon is Victreebel (original) and/or Psyduck (dub).
- Frame-Up: After Ash, Brock and Snap are captured, Butch and Cassidy trick the local Officer Jenny into arresting them as Pokémon thieves. Unfortunately for them, Jenny is convinced otherwise when Misty retrieves Snap's camera and shows her the photos he took at the center.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Giovanni not telling Jessie, James, and Meowth about the breeding center scam winds up being a bad idea when they almost steal from him.
- Horrible Judge of Character: Butch and Cassidy easily trick Officer Jenny into thinking that Ash, Snap, and Brock are Pokémon thieves, disregarding Ash and co.'s claims otherwise. It's only when Misty retrieves Snap's photos of the breeding center and shows her what's really going on that Jenny realizes her mistake.
- Hypocritical Humor: Meowth gets mad at Cassidy and Butch for their similar-sounding motto, but:Meowth: It took us months to find a motto we could swipe!
- Implausible Deniability: When Misty exposes their lies, Officer Jenny storms back to the breeding center to arrest Butch and Cassidy, who try, in full Team Rocket uniform, to deny it. Needless to say, Jenny isn't fooled one bit.
- Irony: As Meowth points out, he, Jessie, and James ended up getting turned in, not by Ash and the others, but by their own teammates.
- Locked Out of the Loop: Apparently, Giovanni saw fit to keep Jessie, James, and Meowth from knowing about the breeding center scam. This results in them breaking into their own organization's base, followed by getting arrested for it.
- Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Butch and Cassidy leaving Psyduck in the breeding center ends up being their undoing when Misty sneaks in to have Jenny clear Ash, Brock, and Snap of all charges.
- Oh, Crap!:
- Ash panics after he realizes that a trap cage has just landed on him, Brock and Snap.
- Butch and Cassidy have one shortly after Officer Jenny storms to the breeding center to arrest them. Seconds later, they have another one when Raticate is defeated.
- Police Are Useless: A zigzagged example occurs in the second half of the episode. Butch and Cassidy trick the local Officer Jenny into arresting Ash, Snap, and Brock along with Team Rocket. Once Misty retrieves Snap's camera and provides photographic evidence of what Cassidy and Butch are doing, however, she quickly wises up, lets them go, and immediately storms back to the center to arrest them.
- Pragmatic Villainy: Even though Cassidy and Butch intend to steal the Pokemon at their false breeding center, they willingly give Pokemon back to trainers who come to pick them up early to avoid arousing suspicion.
- Put on a Bus: Snap leaves the group at the end of the episode to continue his quest for photographing new Pokémon.
- Put on a Prison Bus: At the end of the episode, Butch and Cassidy are hauled off to jail in a police van shortly after Bulbasaur grabs them with his vine whip.
- Remember the New Guy?: This is the first appearance of James' Weepinbell (or rather, Victreebel) when it was never even mentioned he had one until this episode.
- Spanner in the Works: Cassidy and Butch's frameup of Ash, Brock, and Snap would've gone off without a hitch had they not missed Misty and Pikachu as well.
- Sweet Polly Oliver: When Misty goes to pick up her Psyduck from the breeding center, she attempts to disguise herself as a boy with a sweater and a baseball cap hiding her ponytail, so Cassidy doesn't recognize her as having broken into the center earlier. Cassidy doesn't recognize Misty, but she knows she's not really a boy...Cassidy: Miss?Misty: (nervously) YES?!
- They Know Too Much: A non-fatal example occurs in the episode's second half, where Butch and Cassidy has Ash, Snap and Brock captured and taken to Officer Jenny for knowing too much about the breeding center's secret.
- Villain: Exit, Stage Left: Butch and Cassidy attempt to escape after Raticate is defeated by Pikachu. Ash, however, isn't in the mood to just let them get away and sends out Bulbasaur to stop them.
