Ash and company meet Simon; a man who claims to be able to understand and speak to Pokémon. But is he for real?
Tropes
- The Cameo: Cassidy and Butch appear on a wanted poster of Officer Jenny's as she identifies Team Rocket.
- Clear My Name: Simon goes through this.
- Con Artist: A quartet of conmen go around claiming that they can interpret Pokémon speak by telling the naive trainers what they want to hear, putting the minimal amount of effort in. Simon is obviously unamused by this.
- Continuity Snarl: Officer Jenny makes the rather outrageous claim that Pokémon can't understand human language despite being obviously untrue throughout the entire series.
- Foreshadowing: The fact that Simon isn't running a money-making scam is tipped off early on when, after focusing on getting Pikachu some help, he comments that he normally charges for his services but won't do so in this instance.
- Good Feels Good: James lampshades this after Meowth's Pet the Dog moment listed below.
- Motivational Lie: Meowth gives this to Simon in the final scene, using his own human-speaking ability to encourage the latter that he'll be able to hear Pokémon speak once more.
- Not Helping Your Case: When Officer Jenny confronts Simon, believing that is lying about being able to understand Pokémon and running a scam, he doesn't exactly make himself innocent when he tells her to ask the Pokémon to prove he's not lying.
- Pet the Dog: Team Rocket is genuinely touched by Simon's plead to the Magnemite and Magneton, with Meowth feeling it deep in his heart. In the final scene, the latter goes a step further and uses his human language to encourage the old man that he can truly speak to Pokémon.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: While Officer Jenny attempted arrest Simon because she believe he was the one scamming Pokémon trainers by falsely claiming to understand what Pokémon say, she doesn't turn a blind eye to Jessie and James, once she recognizes them as members of Team Rocket. Also she doesn't hesitate to help get Ash and his friends to the local Pokémon center to get Pikachu medical help after Pikachu inhales a lot of smoke the from the smoke bombs set off from the the conmen who are really scamming Pokémon trainers. At the end of the episode once the conmen are caught, and Simon prepares to allow himself to be arrested, Officer Jenny lets him off the hook after being told be Nurse Joy how he helped save the Pokémon in the Pokémon center when the conmen were having Magnemite and Magneton drain the power, then thanks Simon and arrests the conmen.
- Shout-Out: Simon is named after the "Simon Says" game.
