Japanese Title: Parting with Pikachu...!
Original Airdate: November 14, 2002
US Airdate: October 25, 2003
That episode where they didn't get into a shipwreck.
Chaos and mayhem break out when Team Rocket attacks the ship taking Ash and Pikachu to Hoenn. With only Pikachu at his side, this is Ash's greatest test yet as a Pokémon Trainer. Will it prove too taxing for Pikachu to do on his own?
This episode contains examples of the following tropes:
- And the Adventure Continues: "Next Time, A New Beginning!"
- Cliffhanger: The episode—and the original series as a whole—ends with Pikachu ill with a fever as they arrive at Littleroot Town.
- Double-Meaning Title: The episode's title is a Shout-Out to Home Alone, but it also references that Ash is headed to the Hoenn region without any of his friends or Pokèmon, aside from Pikachu.
- Grand Finale: The final episode of the original series.
- Mythology Gag: One of the Sailors Ash encounters on the ferry has a Machoke. Sailors faced in RSE typically fight with Machoke.
- Team Rocket Wins: Well, almost.
- They beat the Sailors who tried to stop them from leaving the ferry because Ash didn't have any of his other Pokémon.
- Although they didn't know this as they were blasted off, they managed to get Pikachu ill when trying to overload his electricity using an electromagnet.
- Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: When they get separated from Ash and Team Rocket, Pikachu and Meowth help a bunch of Pokémon on the ferry who are being terrorized by a gang of Haunter.
