"Mareanie says you're quite a catch!"
—Meowth
Japanese Title: The Extracurricular Lesson is Hidoide!?
Original Airdate: January 26, 2017
US Airdate: June 3, 2017
For Mareanie, James is bae.
A trip to the beach doesn't go the way they expected, for either Team Rocket or the twerps. So what happens when a Mareanie takes affection for James much further than any of his Pokémon have ever expressed before?
This episode contains examples of the following tropes:
- Abhorrent Admirer: Mareanie poisons James, and he ends up with a purple face. Matched up with his blue hair, he vaguely looks like a Mareanie himself, and she falls in love with him.
- Bishie Sparkle: Mareanie sees James this way when he actually asks her to join him.
- Chekhov's Gunman: Meowth says that, when poisoned, James looks like a Mareanie that this Mareanie was once smitten for. We would find out in a later episode that the Mareanie in question indeed does look like James when he is poisoned.
- Contrived Coincidence: Team Rocket aren't even actively hunting for Ash and Pikachu this episode, and the encounter between them was a complete accident. They're in tropical paradise, so do the two groups really have to be in the same beachfront?
- Eye Catch: Since he's poisoned, James sounds like he's about to take his final breath when he does the Dare da? leadout in the Japanese.
- Gratuitous English: In the Japanese version, Meowth translates Mareanie's acceptance of James's offer to join him in English.
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall: In the Japanese, James wonders why he is the one doing the PokéProblem.
- Super Drowning Skills: Meowth gets hexed by Mimikyu again, and the next thing Jessie and James know, he's floating face-down in the water. We even get to see his spirit float back into his body afterward. (The drowning part is cut from the English dub.)
- Supervillain Lair: Team Rocket officially makes Bewear's den their hideout. From here, they will set out to improve it. They also resolve to eventually catch Bewear for themselves.
- Team Rocket Wins: They were oh so close! With Mareanie and Mimikyu, they were actually able to faint both Pikachu and Rowlet! But Bewear grabbed them before they could claim their reward. Still this counts as the first time the trio legitimately defeated all of Ash's current team.
- Uncatty Resemblance: When afflicted with poison, James happens to look just like a Mareanie she was once in love with, further solidifying her crush on him.
