Japanese Title: Ice Field! Blazing Battle!
Original Airdate: December 24th, 1998
US Airdate: November 6th, 1999
The one where... Ash continues his league journey.
Ash's second Pokémon League battle takes place on the Rock Field where he relies on his Squirtle to hopefully take down a Nidorino. In between matches, Ash needs to drop off his Pokémon at the Pokémon Center to have them taken care of. Team Rocket takes this opportunity to make one more attempt at stealing Pikachu. They set up a Pokémon Center of their own and when Ash drops off his Pokeballs, they grab them and escape! When he finally gets his Pokémon back, Ash must race to make it to his third match of competition, which will be held on the Ice Field.
Tropes
- Batman Cold Open: Ash's second round match begins the episode in its final stretch.
- Berserk Button: At Team Rocket's fake Pokémon Center setup, as Ash and Misty are talking with Brock when he suspects the "Nurse Joy" there (actually Jessie in disguise) is a phony, they keep claiming that the trouble is that Brock wasn't prepared to see them. Of course, hearing those two words causes Jessie and James to blow their cover, strip off their disguises and recite their motto.
- Continuity Nod: Ash passes by a theater with a poster for the Pokémon in Love movie, the film Ash and friends helped produce in "Lights, Camera, Quack-tion".
- Curb-Stomp Battle: Pete's Arcanine takes down Kingler with a single Dragon Rage.
- The Determinator: Kingler relentlessly Crabhammers Cloyster's shell after the latter uses Withdraw until the Water/Ice-type faints.
- Disguised in Drag: James (of course) dresses up as a generic female nurse when luring Ash and his friends to their fake Pokémon Center. Not surprisingly, they fell for it and didn't even recognize the "nurse"'s distinct short purple hair.
- Fire/Water Juxtaposition: A fire-ice variant is present in the English dub title, where it refers to the contrast between Arcanine, a Fire-type Pokémon Ash has to battle, and the icy terrain his Pokémon has to battle on. In the end, the contrast is a clash, where Arcanine's fire moves melts the terrain into a pool, leaving it vulnerable to Pikachu's Thunderbolt.
- Invisible Subtle Difference: Brock reveals knowledge of miniscule details that differentiate the various Jennys and Joys from each other.
- Latex Perfection: Subverted with Jessie's Nurse Joy mask; even though it's visually an accurate likeness, the face remains frozen in the same closed-eyes smile (this is probably why Jessie spent most of her time impersonating Nurse Joy by standing completely still and not saying or doing anything). Not surprisingly, Brock wasn't fooled by Jessie's Nurse Joy disguise.
- No Name Given: Ash's Rock field opponent is left unnamed in both the original and dub.
- Rhymes on a Dime:
- Jessie, James and Meowth early on in the episode when they are hiding inside trash cans outside the Rock Stadium when Ash wins the second round...Jessie: Thousands are inside rooting for Ash, while Team Rocket is outside rooting through trash!
Meowth: Let's come up with some plans and get outta these cans!
James: Say! There's a way, to swipe Pikachu that I know...
All Three: So let's all get to work and get on with the show! - Brock does this after Misty asks how he was able to recognize one of the Nurse Joys (due to them looking alike), and Misty lampshades it...Brock: What your eyes don't see is very clear to me.
Misty: (squinting ala Brock) Brock is a poet. I didn't know it.
- Jessie, James and Meowth early on in the episode when they are hiding inside trash cans outside the Rock Stadium when Ash wins the second round...
- Spot the Impostor: Brock's ability to detect a fake Nurse Joy is seen here, when Ash and the gang are at Team Rocket's fake Pokémon Center setup. He notices he's not falling in love with Jessie's impersonation of Nurse Joy (while she is standing completely still in her Nurse Joy costume and mask, and not saying or doing anything) and then suspects the "Joy" of being an impostor.
- The Unreveal: We never learn which Pokémon either Ash or his Rock field opponent were taken out before Squirtle and Nidorino were sent out, or both Ash and Pete's initial choices taken out before Kingler and Cloyster face off. We also never learn the name of Ash's Rock field opponent.
- The Worf Effect: After seeing Kingler annihilating all three of its opponents in the last episode and keeping Cloyster on the defensive before defeating it, we watch it go down in one shot by Pete's powerful Arcanine despite having the type advantage.
