Japanese Title: Pikachu and Pichu!
Original Airdate: January 4th, 2001
US Airdate: December 1st, 2001
Catching a sweet scent on the breeze, Ash and Pikachu follow their noses to a nearby apple orchard. As Misty and Brock follow, they warn the trainer and his Pokémon against eating apples that don't belong to them. No sooner is this said than Pikachu is caught red-handed with couple of cores! Once Ash proves Pikachu's innocence to the orchard owner, he and Pikachu track down the real thieves, a band of hungry Pichu forced into the orchard due to low amounts of wild growing fruit. Find out how Ash and Pikachu teach them teamwork and help create a symbiotic relationship between the Pichu and the proprietor!Tropes:
- Clear My Name: When Charmaine catches Pikachu holding one of her apples, Ash proves his innocence by having Pikachu open his mouth to compare the bite marks on the apple with the width of his teeth. Sure enough, the canine marks are too small to be his. Charmaine apologizes to them upon seeing this.
- Explosive Overclocking: The chain of Pichu along with Pikachu overload Team Rocket's battery, blasting them off.
- Finger Wag: Pikachu does this while scolding the Pichu for stealing apples.
- Human Ladder: The Pichu make a chain to reach Pikachu.
- Irony: The TV James is watching that is being charged by the captive Pikachu displays a happy Pikachu.
- Not What It Looks Like:
- When the Pichu in the trees drop a bunch of apples cores around Pikachu, Ash and the others come upon him and think he ate them. He quickly protests his innocence. The same thing happens when he ends up with one of the apples in his hands when Charmaine drops a net over him.
- When Meowth picks an apple, Jessie and James demand he share it with them. Unfortunately, one the Pichu pluck the apple from Meowth's paw and eats it before giving him back the core, causing Jessie and James to think Meowth ate himselfnote
- Painful Rhyme:Jessie: Prepare for trouble, don't make us be brutal!
James: And make it double, we want all that fruit...al! - Similarly Named Works: The Japanese title of this episode shares its name with the first Pichu Bros short (only the dub title; the Japanese title reverses the names).
- Take a Third Option: Charmaine wants to protect her orchard, but the Pichu can't get any food for themselves otherwise. They end up working a deal where the Pichu can ward off intruders in exchange for food.
