TB001: Pokémon - I Choose You!

is the 1st episode of of , the first season of , and of .
==Synopsis==
Meet Ash Ketchum, a 10-year-old boy full of imagination, confidence, and dreams that are almost too big for his village of Pallet Town—plus the desire to become a Pokémon Master!
Ash is finally old enough to receive his first Pokémon from Professor Oak, the town's Pokémon expert-but on the morning Ash is supposed to claim it, he oversleeps! By the time he arrives at Professor Oak's, the three Pokémon he wanted have already been chosen by the other Trainers-in-training, including his rival, Gary! The only Pokémon remaining is a strong-willed Pikachu.
Trainer and Pokémon don't get along right away. Not only does Pikachu refuse to enter its Poké Ball, it would rather climb a tree than battle a Pidgey that Ash encounters! Disagreements aside, they start to bond when they find themselves chased by an angry flock of Spearow. The Spearow wound Pikachu, but Ash risks his own safety to protect his Pokémon.
To further their escape, Ash "borrows" a bike owned by a young girl named Misty. He soon wrecks the bike; however, he and Pikachu are surrounded by the Spearow. When Ash fearlessly confronts the Spearow, Pikachu is inspired to summon its remaining energy to repel the Pokémon with a powerful electric shock.
Finally out of harm's way, the wild experience makes Ash and Pikachu realize that they've begun what promises to be a blooming friendship.
==Episode plot==
A battle between a Nidorino and Gengar is broadcast on the television and, after Gengar gets the advantage, Nidorino is called back and switched for Onix. The cameras then show 10-year-old Ash Ketchum watching the battle on television until he is interrupted by his mother. She tells Ash to go to sleep. Ash protests and she changes the channel to a program with Professor Oak describing the three Pokémon he can choose from in the morning: the grass type Bulbasaur, the water type Squirtle and the fire type Charmander. Ash falls asleep and dreams about owning a Bulbasaur and then a Squirtle, talking about the advantages in his sleep. The next morning, Ash dreams about owning a Charmander, throwing a Poké Ball, which turns out to be his alarm clock, designed to look like a Voltorb.
When the alarm clock hits the wall Ash wakes up and rushes, still in his pajamas, to Professor Oak's laboratory to collect his first Pokémon. Ash, however, runs into Gary Oak, the professor's grandson, along with the people of Pallet Town, who, along with Gary's cheerleaders, show their support for Gary. Gary tells Ash that he already got his Pokémon, although he does not tell Ash which Pokémon he chose. Gary, who tells Ash that he is already behind, leaves with his cheerleaders and the townsfolk following. Professor Oak then appears, telling Ash that he is late. The two go inside, where the Professor tells him that the three starter Pokémon have been taken by Trainers who were on time.
The Professor tells Ash that there is still one Pokémon left, a Pikachu. Professor Oak then warns Ash that it might not be a good idea to choose Pikachu. However, Ash decides to take Pikachu, but Pikachu is not as happy and electrocutes Ash. Oak then gives Ash his Pokédex and Poké Balls, with Pikachu electrocuting both Ash and Professor Oak. Ash then leaves the laboratory and is greeted by his mother and the people of Pallet Town. His mother is impressed with choice but Pikachu electrocutes Ash's mom and the crowd. Ash is given his backpack filled with supplies and some advice from his mother, and leaves, literally dragging Pikachu behind him, after tying a rope around Pikachu's waist and using rubber gloves to protect himself.
After dragging Pikachu along for a while, he decides to try and improve his relationship with Pikachu by untying him and taking off the rubber gloves. Pikachu, however, continues to ignore Ash's instructions, including when he asks Pikachu to attack a Pidgey. Ash throws a Poké Ball and almost captures Pidgey, who escapes and runs away, with Pikachu happily laughing at Ash's failed attempt. Ash then decides to sneak up on Pidgey, hiding behind his pajama top, later using it to trap Pidgey, who escapes using its Gust attack and then its Sand Attack. Pikachu continues to laugh at Ash, who then watches a Rattata steal food from his backpack.
Ash, more determined than ever, turns around and spots three Pidgey, including the one he had tried to capture. Ash throws a rock but misses, with the three Pidgey flying away. Ash then spots another Pokémon and throws a rock, and hits his target. The Pokémon, however, is a Spearow, who begins to attack Ash and then Pikachu. Pikachu used Thunder Shock to scare Spearow away, although Spearow cries out and a whole flock begins to attack Ash and Pikachu, who run away but are easily caught and attacked by the Spearow. Pikachu, who had run ahead of Ash, takes a lot of damage before Ash arrives to scare away the attacking Spearow.
Ash picks Pikachu up and runs to a cliff edge, where he decides to jump off and into the water below, where he sees a Magikarp and a Gyarados. He then grabs a fishing lure and is pulled out by Misty, who questions Ash about the state Pikachu is in, telling him of a nearby Pokémon Center. Ash takes her bike and cycles off towards the Pokémon Center, with the flock of Spearow following behind them. Ash crashes the bike and crawls over to Pikachu, putting a Poké Ball out for Pikachu to enter, to protect it from the attacking Spearow. Ash then stands up to the Spearow, challenging them to attack him. Pikachu, seeing Ash's courage and determination to protect him gets to his feet and climbs onto Ash's shoulder, jumping into the air and using a lighting bolt to release a strong Thunder Shock attack, which scares away the Spearow flock.
Later on, when the storm clears, Ash and Pikachu wake up. Ash tells Pikachu that they beat the Spearow Gang and Pikachu nods in agreement. Ash looks up into the sky and sees a mysterious flying Pokémon in the sky towards a rainbow. The Pokédex can give Ash no information as it was not registered in it and tells Ash that there were still more Pokémon which have not been discovered. Ash and Pikachu decide to walk on towards the Pokémon Center in the next city (Viridian City), as Misty's bike is too badly damaged to use. The two continue walking and eventually, from a hilltop, are able to look down on the city as the episode ends.
==Debuts==
===Character===
*Ash
*Delia Ketchum
*Professor Oak
*Gary Oak
*Misty
===Pokémon===
*Nidorino
*Gengar
*Onix
*Bulbasaur
*Squirtle
*Dodrio
*Charmander
*Pikachu (Ash's)
*Pidgey
*Rattata
*Spearow
*Sandshrew
*Mankey
*Magikarp
*Gyarados
*Ho-Oh
===Item===
*Poké Ball
*Pokédex
*Bicycle
===Move===
*Horn Attack
*Hypnosis
*Thunder Shock
*Gust
*Sand Attack
==Transcript==
See here the written transcript of this episode.
==Quotes==
==Trivia==
*"Who's That Pokémon?:" Pikachu (JA, EN, and KO)
*The opening of the episode sees a battle between a Nidorino and a Gengar, which also appears on the Pokémon Red and Green games.
**After Nidorino is put to sleep, its Trainer calls it back. This Trainer's silhouette is said to be Bruno's. Bruno later appears in the flesh in "To Master the Onixpected!"
*Ho-Oh is seen flying during the episode, despite not being introduced as a Pokémon at this point and despite being a Pokémon in the Johto region.
*This episode has the most Pokémon debuts in the entire anime, with 16.
*Gengar and Nidorino are the first two Pokémon shown in the series. However, the first Pokémon to be physically seen on the show was Dodrio, where it was shown crowing like a rooster in Pallet Town to bring the morning.
*This is the only episode without Team Rocket in it at all until "Rematch at the Nacrene Gym!"
*This was the first TB episode to:
**Be animated by Team Ota in Japan.
***Team Ota was the first animation company to start its duty starting with TB001 until RS171, and from RS173 to RS174. 
**Wherein Studio Edix serves as a Negative Editing.
***Studio Edix was the first negative editing company to start its duty starting with TB001 until TB030. 
**Wherein Yasutaka Fukumoto served as a Promotional Thanks.
***Fukumoto was the first and only promotional thanks person to start his duty starting with TB001 until GS063.
**Wherein Maki Production serves as a Title List Work.
***Maki Production was the first and only title list work company to start its duty starting with TB001 until TB118.
**Wherein Imagica serves as a developing.
***Imagica was the first and only developing company to start its duty starting with TB001 until GS144.
**Wherein Eastman serves as the film. 
***Eastman was the first and only film company to start its duty starting with TB001 until GS137.
**To feature the Japanese credit terms, タイミング text, フィルム text, text, and text to appear during the ending credits from TB001 until GS144, タイトルリスワーク text to appear during the ending credits from TB001 until TB118, ネガ text to appear during the ending credits from TB001 until GS028, and プロモーションサンクス text to appear during the credits from TB001 until GS063.
*This is the first episode of the Japanese dub of the Pokémon anime to have the hand drawn Pocket Monsters logo, the TV Tokyo red-colored halo logo, the catchphrase チュッ! text, the テレビ text logo, the Softx logo, and the プロダクション text logo during the opening credits and the ending credits, the white flash during the Dare da? (だれだ？ Who is it?) segment, and to have to have one Pokémon image per screen during the opening animation. But during the re-airing of episode 1 on Kids Station, they used the CGI Pocket Monsters logo, they shown four Pokémon images per screen, just the テレビ text logo during the opening credits without the TV Tokyo's red-colored halo logo, and without the catchphrase チュッ！text, the Dare da? (だれだ？ Who is it?) segment starts at the black screen, and continues on the blue screen without the white flash.
===Dub differences===
*In the original version, Misty slaps Ash shortly after they meet for being irresponsible, although the scene was cut (due to the violence) when the episode was dubbed into English.
**Despite this, any instances of Ash getting electrocuted by Pikachu was never censored.
*The background of the episode's title card was different compared to the other episode title cards in the dub.
**In addition, the episode's introduction music was different in the dub as well.
*The crowd chanting for Ash was edited out in the dub.
*In the original, Misty says that there is a hospital in Viridian City, while in the dub, she tells Ash that it's just nearby.
*When Ash first gets electrocuted by Pikachu, Professor Oak in the original mentions how [Pikachu] dislikes being touched, in the dub, however, this was changed to him describing Pikachu as having an "electrifying personality".
*In the original, the names of the starter Pokémon were engraved on their respective Poké Balls, though this was visually removed in the dub.
*In the original, the banner the crowd holds to cheer on Ash reads "Good luck, Satoshi!" while in the dub, this was changed to "Go, Ash, Go!".
==Mistakes==
*When Ash was throwing his Poké Ball in his dream, the ball was painted red on both sides.
*Gary addresses Ash as if he has never met him before, despite the fact that they were childhood friends.
*Throughout most of the episode, Pikachu's Poké Ball does not have its lightning bolt symbol.
*In the dub, near the end of the episode, Ash calls the Spearow "Spearows", even though the plural and singular forms of a Pokémon name are the same.
*Despite the slap being edited out in the dub, Misty's pose afterwards - which has her hand still raised - was left in.
*Rattata's name is mispronounced during the episode.
*When Ash and Pikachu got fished out by Misty, the white part of Ash's backwards-worn cap is missing.
==Video==
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==Gallery==
==Notes==
==References==
de:Pika-Pikachu (Episode)
es:EP001
pl:EP001
Category:Episodes in which a main character is introduced
Category:Episodes in which a main character obtains a new Pokémon
Category:Milestone episodes
Category:Episodes focusing on Ash
Category:Episodes focusing on Pikachu
Category:Episodes featuring Legendary Pokémon