History Recap / PokemonS1E15BattleAboardTheStAnne

* DropTheHammer: After James' line at the top, Jessie hits him with a sledgehammer.
-->'''Jessie:''' Stop acting like an ignoramus!

* AdaptationalNameChange: The S.S. Anne from ''VideoGame/PokemonRedAndBlue'' becomes the St. Anne here.

-->'''Jessie:''' Stop acting like an ignoramus.

* BondVillainStupidity: Team Rocket didn't bring any of their own Pokémon, apparently believing they could force the passengers into surrender via intimidation alone. Cue CurbStompBattle with them on the receiving side.

** Apparently, Team Rocket figured that the trainers wouldn't fight back when they attempted to steal their Pokemon. [[UnderestimatingBadassery They were wrong big time]].

* VillainDecay: In full swing for Team Rocket by this episode, especially James. Jessie calls him out on staying in character as a ganguro after giving Ash and his friends tickets aboard the ''St. Anne''. Later, he uses his salary advance and Jessie's to buy a worthless Magikarp from a con salesman.

* LateArrivalSpoiler: In the dub only, this episode was aired the day before the series began its official rotation, since it was thought the first episode was too slow-paced to serve as an introduction and lacked all the main characters. This means that anyone who happened to see this episode on the premier, and then start watching from the real first episode the next day, would be spoiled about Brock becoming a traveling companion, Misty doing the same rather than vanishing after Ash crashes her bike[[note]]This would be obvious to any watcher who understands [[LawOfConservationOfDetail proper]] [[ChekhovsGun writing technique]], but the target audience would be too young to necessarily [[TheUnTwist have this understanding]].[[/note]] that Team Rocket won’t give up chasing Pikachu, and the species of the first five Pokémon Ash catches.

* VileVillainSaccharineShow: The Rocket Boss. When Team Rocket first contacts him, his appearance and voice are distorted in a shadowy, almost demonic fashion. Unlike Team Rocket, he is not PlayedForLaughs in this episode, save for making one small pun on [[IncrediblyLamePun purrfection]].
* VillainDecay: In full-swing for Team Rocket by this episode, especially James. Jessie calls him out on staying in character as a ganguro after giving Ash and his friends tickets aboard the ''St. Anne''. Later, he uses his salary advance and Jessie's to buy a worthless Magikarp from a con salesman.

* YouHaveFailedMe: The Boss reveals that he had replaced Meowth with his evolved form Persian because he was growing tired of Team Rocket's constant failures. He promises to restore Meowth's position as top-cat if their latest scheme is successful.

* OutOfOrder: When Pokémon premiered in the United States, this episode aired as a 'sneak peek' one day before the actual first episode, ''Pokémon - I Choose You!''. The only difference between the 'sneak peek' version and the regular version is that the preview version has a different opening and closing narration.

* YouHaveFailedMe: The Boss reveals that he had replaced Meowth with his evolved form Persian because he was growing tired of Team Rocket's constant failures. He promises to restore Meowth's position as top-cat if their latest scheme is successful.

* DidntThinkThisThrough: Apparently, Team Rocket figured that the trainers wouldn't fight back when they attempted to steal their Pokemon. [[UnderestimatingBadassery They were wrong big time]].

* BondVillainStupidity: Team Rocket didn't bring any of their own Pokémon, apparently believing they could force the passengers into surrender via intimidation alone. RealityEnsues.

* ShoutOut: The captain of the ''St. Anne'' refers to her as being "Unsinkable", a claim made of the ''UsefulNotes/RMSTitanic''.

* ShoutOut: The captain of the ''St. Anne'' refers to her as being "Unsinkable"

* BigBadassBattleSequence: It's the first instance of many trainers battle each other at the same time. The trainers aboard the ''St. Anne'' repel Team Rocket's attack.