Piccolo vs. Everyone

is the twentieth episode of the Namek Saga and the fifty-fifth overall episode in the uncut Dragon Ball Z series. This episode first aired in Japan on July 18, 1990. Its original American airdate was September 19, 2005.
==Summary==
Goku is seen dangling from the ceiling, performing pull-ups. He is placing enormous strain on every muscle in his body under fifty times Earth's normal gravity. He says to himself that he hopes his allies are making better progress on King Kai's Planet. Goku's sweat pours down repeatedly as he breathes hard. Goku wonders whether or not they were able to catch Bubbles yet.
Meanwhile, Yamcha, Tien Shinhan and Chiaotzu continue their training on King Kai's planet and struggle with their assignment of catching Bubbles. Yamcha is jumping around in an attempt to grab the hyperactive monkey, but keeps failing. Piccolo steps up to King Kai and tells him he is already proven to be above the others. He then tells King Kai that they should cut to the chase. King Kai tells him he needs to go through the proper procedure like everyone else. However, Piccolo finds King Kai's methods foolish and refuses to participate. Piccolo grabs King Kai out of frustration but lets go of him almost immediately afterward. King Kai asks him why he is in such a rush. He reminds Piccolo that he made a promise that he would not fight Frieza. He hopes Piccolo is not thinking of breaking that promise. King Kai says he has made it a rule for himself that he will not train a liar or a thief, so Piccolo had better not be either of those things.
thumb|left|Yamcha captures Bubbles as part of King Kai's training
King Kai tells the warriors it is time to eat and they all become ecstatic. As Tien, Chiaotzu, and Yamcha are eating all of King Kai's food, he tells them to save some rice for him. Tien says the food is really great. After all the food is gone, King Kai says that in their next lesson, they should definitely discuss moderation. King Kai notices Piccolo standing outside and staring in another direction. The Namekian warrior seems to be an enigma to him as he thinks to himself. Yamcha gets prepared to catch Bubbles again. Piccolo opens a canister of water and begins to drink from it. Yamcha quickly rushes after Bubbles and tackles him with his legs, gripping the monkey tightly in his grasp. After he manages to catch the ape, Tien and Chiaotzu celebrate along with him.
thumb|Yamcha, Tien, and Chiaotzu are surprised when they see Gregory
King Kai appears in front of Piccolo and asks him if he is sure he does not want something to eat. Piccolo tells him he is fine. Tien is then shown phasing back and forth in front of Bubbles before grabbing him by the tail. King Kai says they are doing great work and are getting faster and faster. Piccolo says he came here to get stronger. He explains that in order to do that, he needs to train with someone who is stronger than he is. He then says that they're not stronger than he is. Just then, Chiaotzu is seen capturing Bubbles and yanking him up and down out of joy. King Kai says they are ready for the second phase of their training and calls Gregory, the miniature cricket.
thumb|left|Piccolo contemplates the situation
Yamcha, Tien, and Chiaotzu are shocked at the sight of the tiny talking cricket. King Kai brings a mallet and Gregory tells them all they have to do is tap him with the mallet. He tells them not to go easy on him because he will not be going easy on them. Yamcha says he will give it a try, but once the hammer is tossed to him, he falls after grabbing it, realizing it was heavier than he expected. Yamcha complains, saying the massive weapon is as heavy as an anvil. Gregory says he is just blurting out excuses. Yamcha tells Gregory to bring it on and the cricket glides right past him. Gregory tells him he is too slow. King Kai tells Piccolo to give it a try and Piccolo replies by telling him he has better things to do than take swings at a cricket.
thumb|Zarbon admits to himself that Vegeta must be revived in order to be interrogated or he will be forced to face the consequences
A few moments are shown portraying Yamcha slamming his own foot with the hammer and Tien missing to hit the cricket as well. Chiaotzu is seen stumbling backward and failing also. Piccolo is seen meditating in the meantime as they struggle to surpass this challenge set forth by King Kai. King Kai tells the warriors that they should take a break as Piccolo is seen meditating, but Yamcha tells him he came here to train so that is exactly what he is going to do. As Piccolo thinks to himself about Vegeta, he tries to comprehend the magnitude of Frieza's power being even more dangerous than the likes of Vegeta. He concludes that King Kai is wasting their time as he is not prepared to face off against Frieza.
thumb|left|Piccolo spars with Tien, Yamcha, and Chiaotzu
Meanwhile, inside Frieza's Spaceship, Appule is monitoring Vegeta's condition in a rejuvenation chamber. As Appule checks the stats using a control panel, Zarbon walks into the chamber room. Zarbon asks about Vegeta's condition and Appule replies that his vital signs have stabilized for now. However, he states that Vegeta is still in critical condition and may never regain consciousness. Zarbon becomes annoyed and threatens Appule, telling him that he must be revived at all costs since Frieza ordered that Vegeta be interrogated. Appule fearfully agrees with Zarbon. As he raises his head, Zarbon notes to himself that if Vegeta does not recover, Frieza will have his head. Frieza is seen staring at the rest of his Dragon Balls and expressing his desire to obtain the Dragon Ball that Vegeta has hidden.
thumb|Appule is shocked to see Vegeta has recovered so soon
On the small planet, King Kai is seen taking a nap on a rocking chair. Gregory is shown to be exhausted as Chiaotzu is tapping the hammer on the ground. As Gregory yells out that he will teach them to give him some respect, he dares them to keep up with him. Chiaotzu confronts the challenge head on. As Gregory charges at Chiaotzu, a slow-motion scene begins, showcasing Chiaotzu feeling Gregory's speed and reacting by swiftly bashing him extremely hard and sending him flying through the air. Gregory then slams through King Kai's home and directly at King Kai himself, toppling him off his rocking chair. Bubbles begins to panic and run around. King Kai asks Gregory if it is true that they managed to hit him, but Gregory denies it, saying that they cannot prove a thing. However, a huge bump on Gregory's head proves otherwise. King Kai says that it was a very quick accomplishment, stating that it only took them an hour and five minutes to pass the test. Yamcha and Tien step forward, ready for the next lesson.
thumb|left|Zarbon is surprised by a sudden explosion in the ship
King Kai says that for the next exercise, they will be exploring the ancient art of grappling. Piccolo steps forward, stating that he wants to participate. Piccolo declares that he will take them all on at once. Piccolo estimates that he could take on ten of them and it still would not be a challenge since they had to struggle against a grasshopper and a monkey. King Kai says the odds seem unfairly stacked but will not stand in their way if they really want to train like that. Piccolo says he is ready and quickly steps forward, daring Yamcha and Tien to attack him. King Kai gives the signal for the fight to commence and Yamcha attacks with a flurry of punches and kicks, followed by Tien's similar charge. Piccolo dodges them both, sparring with them all by himself. Chiaotzu takes the opportunity to sneak behind Piccolo and grab him. He begins emitting a charge and shocking Piccolo. As Tien and Yamcha charge at Piccolo simultaneously, he topples them both at the same time by striking them down. Chiaotzu continues to charge from behind, forcing Piccolo to extend and elongate his arm using his Namekian genetics, and grab the small warrior. He then proceeds to raise Chiaotzu into the air and forcefully slam him to the ground. Tien begins to scream for Chiaotzu's well-being but King Kai reassures him that they're already dead and cannot die a second time.
thumb|Vegeta executes Appule and steps on his corpse after exploding out from the rejuvenation chamber
Chiaotzu levitates back off the ground and Piccolo admits to himself that he cannot believe how much stronger they've already become. He becomes convinced that it is from the training as they begin to swing at him again. Piccolo dodges them for a while before getting pinned down by Chiaotzu and slammed in the face by Tien. Yamcha then proceeds to uppercut him in the gut. Piccolo sinks to his knees as Tien asks him if he has had enough. Piccolo gets back up and tosses aside his cape and turban. He then states that he has not even gotten started. They all commence fighting stances once again. King Kai then interferes and says he has decided that they should take a break for lunch. Tien, Yamcha, and Chiaotzu agree and follow King Kai. Piccolo is left to ponder to himself as the rest go to eat.
thumb|left|Zarbon investigates the recovery room, but Vegeta is nowhere to be seen
Within Frieza's ship, Vegeta is still in the rejuvenation chamber. Appule says that Frieza is not going to be happy and at this rate, Vegeta will not recover. Appule declares that the mighty Saiyan Vegeta may not be so mighty after all. Appule then says that he hopes Vegeta will pull out alive because he is really going to enjoy watching Zarbon torture him to death. He admits that would keep him entertained for a while. Appule says he is going to take a little break, sarcastically stating that he would not want Vegeta to wander off and get hurt. As Appule continues to laugh, Vegeta opens his eyes, which completely leaves Appule in shock. The rejuvenation chamber begins to light up with energy as Appule steps backward.
thumb|Vegeta creates a diversion and infiltrates Frieza's throne room to steal the Dragon Balls
In Frieza's throne room, Zarbon and Frieza are contemplating the situation. Frieza asks Zarbon of Vegeta's condition and he says that Vegeta should be regaining consciousness any time now. Frieza says that if that is true, he will not have to execute him after all. Zarbon agrees with Frieza. Just then, the entire ship begins to shake, causing Zarbon to abruptly fall forward before regaining his footing. He then turns to face the throne door. He yells out asking about what that sudden eruption could have been. Frieza orders him to find out.
Vegeta is seen stepping on Appule's now-deceased corpse, stating that his enemies keep underestimating the true powers of a Saiyan. Vegeta blasts a hole through the room, causing another explosion. This diverts Zarbon and Frieza's attention and Zarbon says that the sound came from the recovery room. Frieza tells him to hurry and Zarbon runs to the room, opening the steel door and peeking inside. The entire rejuvenation room is in shambles, which leaves Zarbon in complete shock. Zarbon runs around in search of the arrogant Saiyan, stating that he must have flown off. Frieza orders him to go after Vegeta. They are unaware that Vegeta is still inside the ship and has created a diversion on purpose just to get them away from the throne room. Frieza panics and this leaves Zarbon in frustration, stating that he will find Vegeta. Frieza tells Zarbon that if he does not find him, he will have to face the consequences. Vegeta runs to the throne room to find all the Dragon Balls intact. Vegeta declares that Frieza has left his Dragon Balls unguarded and has made his last mistake.
==Major Events==
*Vegeta awakens from the Medical Machine.
==Battles==
*Yamcha, Tien, and Chiaotzu vs. Piccolo
==Appearances==
===Characters===
*Vegeta
*Goku
*Frieza
*Zarbon
*Appule
*King Kai
*Bubbles
*Gregory
*Piccolo
*Tien Shinhan
*Yamcha
*Chiaotzu
===Locations===
*Space
**Namek
*Other World
**King Kai's Planet
===Objects===
*Capsule Corporation Spaceship
*Gravity Machine
*Medical Machine
*Namekian Dragon Ball
==Differences from the manga==
*All of the events that take place on King Kai's Planet are exclusive to the anime.
*The order of events surrounding Appule's death and Vegeta escaping the recovery chamber is altered from the manga:
**The manga has both Zarbon and Appule already in the chamber observing Vegeta's recovery with the latter henchman estimating that the Saiyan Prince will recover within half-an-hour. As Zarbon leaves to report the news to Frieza, Appule smugly boasts that even someone as proud as Vegeta will confess to anything once Frieza is done with him, to which an already awake Vegeta proceeds to obliterate Appule with a ki blast, shooting him out into the hall.
**The anime splits the above sequence into three parts, the first (in the previous episode) showing Zarbon and Appule silently but confidently watching Vegeta as he heals. The second depicts Appule monitoring the prince's condition on his own before Zarbon enters asking for an update, with Appule stating that the saiyan is in critical condition with no way of knowing if he'll ever reawaken. Zarbon aggressively orders Appule to do whatever is necessary to ensure Vegeta's recovery lest Frieza will kill him, which unnerves the lower-ranked henchmen. There is also a scene of Frieza watching the Namekian skies impatiently which was not in the manga.
**The third scene has Appule once again monitoring Vegeta on his own. He hopes aloud that Vegeta heals up since Frieza will most likely take it out on the former if not. Upon stabilizing the prince, Appule taunts the seemingly unconscious Saiyan Prince calling him (in Japanese only) "Vegeta-chan" and saying that even if he does recover, Frieza will send him to Hell almost immediately afterward once he divulges the where he hid the four-star dragon ball. This awakens Vegeta which startles Appule and the scene cuts away just as the latter screams with Vegeta about to fire his ki blast. When the scene cuts back, Vegeta is stomping on the dead Appule's head, mocking him for underestimating his recovery capability. He proceeds to blow a hole on the side of the chamber opposite to the hallway with a second blast, leading outside, 
**In the manga, Vegeta's only ki blast also knocked a gaping hole through the ship's hallway which Zarbon and Frieza enter through to find him gone, with Appule's corpse being shown in the hall from the legs down (Zarbon's speech bubble obscures most of it). Due to the above-mentioned changes in the anime, they instead enter via the undamaged door to find Appule's fried carcass still near the destroyed medical machine and the gaping hole Vegeta used to "escape" the ship.
***On that note, Zarbon directly reporting to Frieza that Vegeta should regain consciousness within thirty minutes, borrowing from Appule's estimate in the manga, and Frieza cooly remarking now he won't have to kill the former, is not shown in the manga.
== Trivia ==
* Piccolo pictures Vegeta with his current battle jacket lacking the crotch guards when pondering Frieza's strength, not the version he saw Vegeta wearing in-person during the Saiyan Conflict back in the Vegeta Saga.
* In Japanese, Frieza does not threaten Zarbon with death until the succeeding episode after Vegeta has completely escaped and taken their dragon balls. The English dubs have Frieza threaten Zarbon almost immediately with the hour-long reprieve once they think Vegeta has fled the ship. Kai rectified this change.
==Gallery==
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