"'Wobbuffet. The Patient Pokémon.' Yadda yadda yadda... '...is unable to initiate attacks.'"
—James, reading from his field guide.
Japanese Title: Sonans and the Pokémon Swap Meet!!
Original Airdate: May 4th, 2000
US Airdate: March 24th, 2001
The beginning of a legend.
At the Pokémon Swap Meet, our heroes befriend a young Pokémon trainer named Benny who's having difficulties finding a trading partner willing to accept his Wobbuffet. When Jessie inadvertently deposits her Pokéball across from his in the exchanger, this young trainer gets more than he had bargained for.
Tropes
- Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: Despite actually being sought after by several trainers, Misty outright refuses to trade away Psyduck.
- Call-Back:
- The Magikarp Salesman from "Battle Aboard the St. Anne" reappears to dupe James with the same trick. He almost falls for it again, but then remembers the previous incident and gives chase.
- When Ash originally caught his Tauros herd, one of the Pokémon he was shown deliberately trying to catch was a Rhyhorn. One of the Pokémon offered for his Tauros in this episode was a Rhyhorn.
- The Cameo: Snubble is shown in the background searching for Meowth. Unlike past times, its appearance isn't the cause of Team Rocket's scam being blown.
- Color Failure: Jessie, when she finds out her Lickitung is gone and she has Wobbuffet instead.
- Comically Missing the Point:
- After Benny trades his Wobbuffet, Jessie later attacks Ash's team with it. The heroes have a stunned reaction before replying...:Ash: I didn't know Team Rocket had a Wobbuffet.
- They later see Benny with Jessie's Lickitung. Both they and Benny ponder who made the trade.
- After Benny trades his Wobbuffet, Jessie later attacks Ash's team with it. The heroes have a stunned reaction before replying...:
- Dramatic Irony: Ash and co. are completely unaware that Jessie's new Wobbuffet was Benny's, while his new Lickitung was Jessie's.
- Foreshadowing: At the beginning of the episode, Jessie is shown beating Lickitung up for licking her. This is a subtle hint that Lickitung is going to get a better trainer.
- Iconic Sequel Character: Wobbuffet, the third most prominent Pokémon of the series, makes his debut here.
- Innocuously Important Episode: This seemingly not-particularly-important episode introduces Jessie's Wobbuffet. He would later prove popular enough to be ascended to main character status, and remain a fixture of the series from here on. Wobbuffet continues making appearances in the show to this day, hundreds of episodes and more than two decades later. In a more downplayed example, the writers also quietly use this episode to write out Ash's Heracross.
- Lethal Joke Character: Wobbuffet, fitting with it's games counterpart, has no offensive attacks, but still delivers a Curbstomp Battle to Ash's Chikorita using Counter. He still couldn't sustain Pikachu's Thunderbolt, however (not yet anyway).
- Oh, Crap!: The Magikarp Salesman has this reaction when he realizes James remembers him.
- Put on a Bus:
- Jessie's Lickitung is accidentally traded to the episode's One-Shot Character and not seen again. At least Benny and Lickitung appear to be happy together. Jessie and Wobbuffet would figure it out eventually.
- On a similar note, Ash leaves his Heracross with Professor Oak in exchange for one of his Tauros to compete in one of the swap meet's side events. By the next episode, he agrees to leave it there, indefinitely withdrawing it from his team.
- Shout-Out: James abbreviates his reading of the description of Wobbuffet in the English dub with "yadda yadda yadda".
- Small Role, Big Impact: The Magikarp Salesman plays a minor role in this episode, but he is indirectly responsible for Jessie getting her Wobbuffet. When he encounters James again, the latter becomes so angry when he recognizes him, James chases after the Magikarp Salesman, in which they both bump into Jessie, causing her to land in front of the trade machine Benny was, her Lickitung is accidentally traded for his Wobbuffet.
- Taught by Experience: The trio hang a sack of fake Poké Balls under their balloon, knowing from experience that the twerps would target those while they can escape.
- Toros y Flamenco: Palmpona has a running of the Tauros, like the Running of the Bulls in Pamplona, Spain.
