TB030: Sparks Fly for Magnemite

is the 30th episode of of , Season 1 of , and of .
==Synopsis==
As our heroes make their way through the industrial town of Gringy City, Pikachu, perhaps weary from travel, is in a strange state; the electric sacks on his cheeks are continually twitching as though overcharged. At the town's Pokémon Center, Joy diagnoses Pikachu as being in the first stages of a Pokémon cold. She begins treatment immediately, but the town suddenly goes into a blackout. Assuming the problem to be in the power-generating station near the beach, Ash and friends go to investigate. There they discover the Pokémon, Magnemite and a pack of Grimer—Pokémon created from sludge. What exactly is going on?
==Episode plot==
Ash, Misty, and Brock arrive in Gringey City where everything is dark, highly polluted, and gloomy. While reading the guidebook, Brock explains that the city used to be very lively but after many factories were built the city was changed. Pikachu isn't feeling well, his face is red and sparks are coming out of his cheeks and Ash gets shocked when holding Pikachu. Ash rushes Pikachu to the Pokémon Center while a shadowy Pokémon watches him.
Meanwhile, in the sewer, Jessie and James are planning to dive into the sewer system to get into the center to steal Pokémon, but complain about how awful it smells. Meowth gives scuba suits to wear and tells them that he will stay and pump air into their suits. Jessie and James are reluctant to dive into the filthy sewers. Meowth pushes a button that gives them an electric shock and he forces them to dive. As they lower themselves into the water, they are quite annoyed with Meowth complaining about how they are always getting the dirty work.
At the Pokémon Center, Ash rings a bell on the front desk and Nurse Joy comes out. It's late at night and she is very tired, Ash says somethings wrong with Pikachu, she says Pikachu has a cold. Ash yells at her for not being helpful and Nurse Joy explains that the sparks coming from Pikachu's cheeks are an early sign of a cold in electric mouse Pokémon. She suggests that Ash and his friends leave Pikachu there for the night and come back for him in the morning; by then, Pikachu will be better.
At the same time, a group of Grimer block the water flow into the power plant, causing the power to go out all over the city. This makes the power in Team Rocket's suits to go out, restricting their air supply. There are also some Pokémon at the Pokémon Center who are in critical condition and if the power doesn't come back on soon, the Pokémon could get worse. Ash and his friends decide to go to the power plant to try and get the power back on. They ask Officer Jenny for directions to the plant and Pikachu comes out of the nearby bushes. Ash asks why Pikachu isn't at the Pokémon center, Misty realizes that Pikachu is afraid that they won't come back for him later. Ash decides that Pikachu can come with them but tells Pikachu to take it easy. Pikachu jumps into his arms and shocks him while the shadowy Pokémon watches him from a bush.
Jessie and James are recovering from nearly suffocating due to their air supply getting switched off by the blackout. Meowth notices Ash the group running towards the power plant and says there is still a chance, but Jesse and James are not as enthusiastic as they are still annoyed at Meowth for nearly causing them to drown in the sewer.
They enter the plant and no one is there to greet them. Misty looks at a map for directions to the central control room. Misty freaks out as something flies behind her. Ash says that Misty is a coward and Misty and Brock see the shadowy figure behind Ash. Ash turns around and no one is there. The shadowy figure goes behind Pikachu and Ash scans it with his Pokédex. It turns out the shadow is a Magnemite. Ash tries to catch it, but Magnemite is only interested in Pikachu. Magnemite appears to be in love with Pikachu, much to Pikachu's fear. Brock questions how a magnet Pokémon like Magnemite could fall in love with an electric mouse like Pikachu.
After Pikachu is chased around briefly Ash yells at the Magnemite to leave and it seems to do so. Soon after though, a really bad smell enters the hallway. They turn around to see a crate fall from the ceiling and a group of Grimer fall out of the ceiling. Misty is appalled by the smell and Ash questions if that is the smell of sludge, but Brock thinks they shouldn't say anything that would insult the Grimer, or they will attack. Ash compliments them on their smell, but Misty says that they stink. The leader of the Grimer, a Muk, approaches them from behind and the Muk orders the Grimer to attack Ash and his friends. Ash and his friends start to run away from the Grimer and the Muk. As they run around the corner, they meet two plant workers. The Grimer start catching up to them and they all run into the control room for safety. One of the workers explains that the Grimer are clogging the pipes to the sea and preventing the power from coming back on.
The Grimer break down the door. Pikachu uses ThunderShock to stop the Grimer, but it doesn't work. The Magnemite from earlier bursts out of the grating, followed by some other Magnemite and Magneton. Their attacks scare away all the Grimer. The Magnemite and Magneton also scared away the Grimer that were blocking the pipes to sea and the power comes back on.
But, the Muk still remains. Pikachu uses ThunderShock on it and the Magnemite that likes Pikachu uses ThunderShock on Muk as well. The attacks make Muk faint and Ash catches it. Much to Ash's disappointment, the bad smell goes through the Poké Ball!
Everyone leaves the power plant and the sun has come up. Pikachu has stopped being magnetized, having gotten rid of the excess electricity. One of the workers explains that when an electric mouse has too much electricity, it becomes magnetized and it acts like it has a cold. The Magnemite doesn't like Pikachu anymore because it only liked Pikachu because it was magnetized and Magnemite doesn't have an interest in a non-magnetized electric mouse.
Team Rocket's Gyarados submarine rises up out of the sea and it has a big magnet on it. Their plan is to catch Pikachu using the magnet since Pikachu is magnetized. But they don't know that Pikachu isn't magnetized anymore. When they turn the magnet on, all that's achieved is magnetizing all the Magnemite and Magneton in the city get stuck on it. However, the weight of that many Magnet Pokémon is so heavy, that the submarine sinks to the bottom of the sea, along with all the Magnet Pokémon they caught.
As Ash and his friends are about to leave Gringey City, they tell everyone that the Grimer being here is a sign that the city is too polluted. The citizens promise to clean up the city.
Meanwhile, at Professor Oak's lab, a Poké Ball arrives from Ash. Professor Oak is curious about what Ash has caught and he covers his nose as Muk appears.
==Debuts==
===Pokémon===
*Grimer
*Muk (Ash's)
*Magnemite
*Magneton
*Growlithe
==Quotes==
:"Excuse me, miss, but are you the oddball of your family?" - Ash
:"Oh no, it's all my other relatives who are odd." - Nurse Joy
:"And you call me chicken! You're a total coward!" - Misty
:"Maybe not a total coward." - Ash
:"The smell goes right through the Poké Ball." - Ash about his Muk
:"Now the fun begins, with our new secret weapon. Tell them, James." - Jessie
:"Now that Pikachu is magnetized, our plan is to take this high powered electromagnet and..." - James
:"...finally capture Pikachu!" - Jessie and James
:"Hey, who're you talking too? Let's just catch Pikachu." - Meowth
:"Why don't you keep your sniver box to yourself?" - Jessie
:"That's right." - James
:"What's the idea of sending me a Muk?! YUCK!" - Professor Oak about Ash's Muk
==Trivia==
*The "Who's that Pokémon" in this episode was Magnemite.
*Ash refers to Pikachu as male.
*This was the last EP episode when Studio Edix serves as a Negative Editing. Wind Up took over the negative editing duties starting with TB031 until GS028.
*The Japanese title is a reference to the book ""
*This marks the first time Pikachu becomes ill.
===Mistakes===
*Officer Jenny describes the power plant having smoke stacks, yet it's hydroelectric so it shouldn't produce any form of airborne pollution.
*At the end, when Ash is talking to Nurse Joy, the Raticate and Fearow are way smaller than their usual sizes.
*In one scene, Pikachu's ears are much bigger than they normally are.
*Ash says that Pikachu is the only Pokémon that could help defeat the Grimer and Muk, but this is not true because he also had four other Pokémon that could've helped.
===Dub differences===
*Ash's mention of Muk having a child is not present in the Japanese version.
==Gallery==
==References==
Category:Episodes focusing on Pikachu
Category:Episodes in which a main character obtains a new Pokémon