- Jessie: AAAAAHHH, not my hair! My flowing hair is my trademark! Now I'm really mad! YOU'VE MADE A REALLY BIG MISTAKE, SEVIPER!
Seviper: (Oh, Crap! face)
James: Poor Seviper!
Meowth: It knows not what it's done!
Japanese Title: Habunake VS Kimori! The Strike Offensive of Certain Kills!!
Original Airdate: January 16, 2003
US Airdate: December 6, 2003
Seviper thought it was the baddest thing in Petalburg Forest. It was wrong.
When Ash's Treecko is defeated by a wild Seviper, Jessie sets her sights on capturing it for herself to take Arbok's place. But this Seviper is particularly crafty...until it makes one fatal mistake. Team Rocket hopes this new snake Pokémon will be their trump card to finally catching Pikachu.
This episode contains examples of the following tropes:
- Defeat Equals Friendship: In a twisted fashion. Jessie was so incensed that the Seviper she was pursuing bit off her ponytail that she personally beat it into fainting. But once called, it obeyed her without fail. And would through the next two regions.
- Deus ex Machina: How Seviper bites off Jessie's hair. After capturing Seviper, Jessie's hair grows back to normal.
- Enemy Eats Your Lunch: When Torchic first encounters Seviper, it devours the apple Torchic had been carrying, much to Torchic's dismay.
- Establishing Character Moment: Early in the episode, Treecko establishes himself as a loner by running up a tree away from Tailow, Forretress, and Torchic.
- But then Treecko rescues Torchic from (then-wild) Seviper.
- Hit Flash: In the dub, it's added at the beginning of Jessie's Fury Swipes on Seviper. But the online versions omit it and play the scene uncensored.
- Lost in Translation: One of the few times this is averted in the English dub with the rice balls.
- Nobody Touches the Hair: What sets Jessie off with Seviper.
- No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: Jessie beats up Seviper barehanded after the snake chopped off her hair, to the SHEER TERROR of her companions. In fact, Meowth grew concerned that Jessie may not be interested in merely catching Seviper anymore.Meowth: Easy on the merchandise! Catch it!
- Oh, Crap!: Seviper's maw hangs wide open
◊ when it realized it must have done something horribly wrong: namely, getting to Jessie's hair. James and Meowth also look appropriately horrified when they realize how much trouble Seviper is in. - Pit Trap: One of Team Rocket's attempts to catch Seviper was to lure it over a hidden hole with a basket of fruit. Unfortunately, Seviper saw through the trap and used its tail to snatch the basket without going over the hole. Team Rocket then comes out of hiding and complain about how it avoided falling into their trap...before realizing they're standing right on it.
- Rage Breaking Point: Jessie becomes more and more frustrated as Seviper evades capture and steals her lunch, until finally it pushes her too far by chomping off her hair.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: Seviper has red eyes and is clearly a jerkass, but that's nothing compared to Jessie's glowing red eyes when Seviper shears off her hair and triggers her Unstoppable Rage.
- This Is Unforgivable!: First, Seviper stole Jessie's rice balls. Then, it bit off Jessie's ponytail. Yeah, it had that beatdown coming.
- Training from Hell: Treecko puts himself through one, trying to strengthen his Pound attack with the risk of worsening his injury.
