"That's it! Psyduck's absolute migraine attack: Disable!"
—Misty
Japanese Title: Kamonegi's Sitting Duck
Original Airdate: June 18, 1998
US Airdate: March 20, 1999
The one where... The group wants to eat a Pokémon.
Ash and Misty think they've hit the jackpot when a rare Farfetch'd is spotted, and vow to capture it. What they don't realize is that the Pokémon is part of a distraction a rogue trainer is employing to steal other trainers' Pokémon. It's duck vs. duck as the solution lies with Psyduck.
Tropes
- Breaking the Fourth Wall: Meowth does then when he comments that Keith tricked Team Rocket "two times in one episode".
- Contrived Coincidence: For Keith's plan to steal Misty's Pokémon to work, not only did he need to have the exact same make and color of backpack, but had it filled with rocks that were just the right size as weight to match the backpack's. We later learn he didn't know how many Pokéballs Misty had, meaning it's just luck that she didn't realize her backpack was swapped until she emptied it.
- Dub-Induced Plot Hole: Jessie mentions that Lickitung is floating away, which confused many viewers at the time, considering she had never mentioned having a Lickitung beforehand. She caught it in "Princess vs. Princess", which the English dub aired Out of Order.
- Easily Forgiven: Keita/Keith gets off quite easy for stealing other trainers' Pokémon.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: While not evil, Keith and Farfetch'd are still thieves who steal other people's Pokémon. That said, they do truly care about each other.
- Failed a Spot Check: Somehow, Team Rocket failed to notice one last Voltorb still in their balloon until it went off.
- Karma Houdini: Keith and Farfetch'd get away with stealing other trainers’ Pokémon, but this was only because none of the trainers decided to press charges against him. The closest thing he and Farfetch'd get is a scare from all the Voltorb explosions, even then they still come out scratchless.
- Ocular Gushers: Misty when she realized her backpack has been switched.
- Oh, Crap!: Meowth has this reaction when he sees that Team Rocket missed a Voltorb, and it was going off.Meowth: Oh, no, there's one left!
- Punch! Punch! Punch! Uh Oh...: Farfetch'd thought it would be a good idea to repeatedly whack Psyduck over the head with his leek. Too bad making his headache worse gave him a power-up.
- Replaced with Replica: Keith's M.O. is to steal backpacks and replace them with identical ones.
- Too Dumb to Live:
- Even if all of the Pokemon Keith gave them weren't Voltorb, Team Rocket really should've known better than to open all the Pokeballs in their small balloon.
- Even if Keith and Farfetch'd did succeed in getting away and try to use the Pokémon they stole, they'd still have trouble getting them to obey the former when they see that Keith isn't their trainer.
- Uncatty Resemblance: Keith is designed similar to Farfetch'd. Having thick, slanted eyebrows and a tuft of hair that sticks up, like the feathers on the head of the latter.
- Whatever Happened to the Mouse?: We never find out how Jessie and James got their Pokémon back from Keith.
