"Fine!"
—James and Meowth, realizing that Jessie's "Silcoon" is different from May's Silcoon
Japanese Title: Run Satoshi! Cross the Kibanha River!
Original Airdate: May 8, 2003
US Airdate: February 28, 2004
James and Meowth realize there's something off about Jessie's "Silcoon"...
When Ash's new Corphish falls ill after eating a buoy, Ash rushes to bring it to the nearest Pokémon Center. Meanwhile, Ash's friends and Team Rocket get trapped in cages on the beach when the latter's latest trap goes awry, just as the tides start to come in.
This episode contains examples of the following tropes:
- Big Damn Heroes: Ash and Corphish saving everyone from the cages.
- Big Eater: As May points out, Corphish ends up having an appetite that rivals her Wurmple. Unfortunately, he ends up eating a buoy, which triggers the plot.
- Chekhov's Gun:
- Corphish eats some rope and buoys, thinking they're seaweed. Later in the episode, he catches a fever, and when Ash takes him to Nurse Joy for a checkup, guess what was the cause of his illness?
- The tape recorder Team Rocket uses to bait the twerps is dropped at Brock's feet when they're caught in cages, and Taillow is the only member of the group who isn't trapped. When they realize that the tide is coming in and will drown them if they don't escape, Ash's friends use the recorder to make an SOS message and send Taillow to take it to him.
- Didn't Think This Through: When the group is pulling on the cord holding Team Rocket's balloon, Ash tells Corphish to help. Before Brock and Max can say what a bad idea that is, Corphish ends up inadvertently slicing the cord with its pincer.
- Extreme Omnivore: Subverted. While many Pokemon have been shown to be capable of eating anything with no problem, Ash's Corphish ends up getting sick after inadvertently eating a buoy.
- Failed a Spot Check: The Pokémon that the two Wurmple evolve into are obviously different (May's is a Silcoon, Jessie's is a Cascoon; they're shaped the same, but are slightly different colors and have different eyes), but nobody but James and Meowth notice. Ash, for one, only scanned May's Silcoon with his Pokédex. This becomes a point of contention next time they evolve.
- Hypocritical Humor: In the recorded message, Ash's friends plead for help, and Jessie chastises them for "sniveling"...right before the Rockets start screaming for help themselves.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: When Wurmple uses String Shot to stop Team Rocket's Balloon, it takes all the twerps to hold it from flying off. Then Corphish tries to help, and cuts the cord with his claw. Thing is, it was Ash who told it to help.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: May gets concerned about Wurmple no longer eating. It turns out it was the first sign that it was about to evolve. Lord knows it ate enough as a Wurmple…
- Piranha Problem: One of the obstacles Ash and Pikachu encounter while getting Corphish to the Poémon Center is crossing a river filled with Carnavah.
- Rising Water, Rising Tension: For everyone trapped in those cages as the tide's coming in.
- Sick Episode: For Corphish, with details under Chekhov's Gun.
- Ungrateful Bastard: Team Rocket gets caught in one of their own traps (the other cages snared May, Brock and Max and the Pokémon; the third cage was meant for Ash and Pikachu), and are rescued by Ash and Nurse Joy as with the rest of Ash's friends. They still try to kidnap Pikachu nonetheless.
