Dueling Piccolos

is the 9th episode of the Vegeta Saga in the uncut Dragon Ball Z series. This episode first aired in Japan on August 9, 1989. Its original American airdate was July 7, 2005.
==Summary==
Eight months remain until the Saiyans reach Earth, and Gohan is shown continuing his previous studies before being taken from home by solving a complex math equation, though this isn't enough to keep him from missing his family. Meanwhile, Piccolo, remembering his earlier battle with Raditz, ups his training by splitting his body into two, creating an identical twin that he can fight against.
Elsewhere, Gohan is just finishing the construction of a home-made sand yacht which he will be using to try and cross the desert. In transit, he is attacked by a Sand Eagle which tries to lash out and grab him with its gigantic talons. He manages to maneuver the craft to avoid the air-strikes, but in dong so, drives himself into a patch of rocky land which slowly wears away at the fragile craft.
It finally goes to pieces on a downhill incline ending in a sheer cliff face where Gohan comes upon (and nearly lands on) the Sabertooth Tiger that has appeared previously in the desert. Once the eagle gives up on Gohan, it leaves him, not knowing that Gohan has not disappeared, but is merely hidden in a pile of sand that he had fallen into when he landed. Once he digs himself out and sees the Sabertooth (though he hardly pays attention to its growling) he realizes that he is on a beach, which in turn means that he has found the ocean.
Trying to find his house, he sets off running to try and find his home by following the beach. He is followed shortly afterwards by the Sabertooth Tiger, who seems to have grown somewhat of an attachment to him. While Gohan manages the beach's rocky terrain with relative ease, the big cat seems to have quite a bit of trouble as it desperately tries to follow the young boy. The Sabertooth finally manages to catch up with Gohan when it finds him asleep after he seems to have eaten a large fish, leaving only the head, tail, and bones behind because he didn't even realize that the beast had been following him. The Sabertooth attempts to eat the meager scraps left behind by Gohan as he sleeps.
When day breaks yet again, Gohan starts off again with the Sabertooth following behind yet again. The two travel the beach for quite a while as Gohan continues to attempt to find his home, they bond quite closely as Gohan is shown trying to pull the Sabertooth back up the face of a ledge it had apparently fallen off of. As all of this is going on, Piccolo continues his intense training with his clone, as he battles with himself in order to get stronger. They battle fiercely, Piccolo's strength and speed having grown considerably with his training. But they are too evenly matched and neither one can beat the other.
The Sabertooth is shown waking up just as Gohan is departing, and barely manages to get on its' feet quick enough to start following him as he fades out of sight. Back home, Chi-Chi is shown being terribly depressed as Ox-King tries his best to cheer up his daughter, as he says that she hasn't eaten anything in the past week. She won't let him in, however, and he states how she really misses Gohan and Goku.
Finally, after running the along the beach for several days, he comes across the same gigantic stone wall that he had encountered when he first found the beach. Once he gets around it, he finds both the remains of his sand-craft, and his footprints from before. After realizing that he had somehow walked in a complete circle, he runs past the weary tiger and into the woods, his destination, a gigantic mountain. Once he scrambles up the mountain's side and reaches the peak, he looks around him and realizes that Piccolo has actually stranded him on a gigantic deserted island.
Once he realizes this, he resolves to somehow get off the island and get home to his home. After much careful planning, he designs a raft that will be enable him to sail off the island. Elsewhere, Piccolo continues to push himself past his limits, namely by continuously firing his Special Beam Cannon. Though he continues to cause massive damage to his training grounds, he is still unsatisfied and continues his harsh self-training.
Gohan, in order to gather the needed materials to build his raft, chops down a gigantic tree with his bare hands, then prepares it for building by using his sword to chop of the branches and leaves. He then drags it onto the beach where he chops it straight down the middle of the trunk and works at hollowing it out as the Sabertooth tries its best to help. The sun sets just as he is finishing his work on the raft. He pushes it out into the water and bids the downcast Sabertooth farewell, promising to come back after he has seen his mother.
It continues to watch him as he paddles out into the sunset and howls in its sadness. Once he finds himself out far enough, Gohan releases the sail and allows the wind to carry him out to sea. Overjoyed at being on his way at last, he enjoys the beautiful ocean and marine life as his ship leaps across the waves. Sensing something amiss, the two Piccolos cease their fighting. Once he realizes that something is off with Gohan, he re-joins himself into one being and flies off to see what is amiss.
Gohan, asleep at sea, awakens when it begins raining and a violent storm begins tossing his small craft around in the waves. Though he struggles to pull the sail down, it tears and he is left at the mercy of the gigantic storm swells. He begins eating the food he had brought with him to keep up his strength when his ship starts taking on water. He begins bailing out the water and reveals that he cannot swim as he works to keep his craft afloat.
Sensing that Gohan is out in the storm somewhere Piccolo flies into it to try and find Gohan, but the harsh conditions keep him from doing so. Gohan's ship finally falls apart under the strain and he is left clinging to a piece of lumber that he managed to hold onto. He is then swept into a water spout and flung around as Piccolo continues to search for him.
==Major Events==
*Gohan attempts to leave Break Wasteland but capsizes in the storm.
==Battles==
*Gohan vs. Sand Eagle
*Piccolo vs. Piccolo
==Appearances==
===Characters===
*Goku
*Piccolo
*Gohan
*Chi-Chi
*Ox-King
*Raditz
*Vegeta
*Nappa
===Locations===
*Earth
**Break Wasteland
**Mount Paozu
***Goku's House
*Other World
**Snake Way
===Objects===
*Gohan's Sword
*Scouter
*Battle Armor
*Attack Ball
==Differences from the manga==
*The entire events of this episode were exclusive to the anime.
==Gallery==
==Site Navigation==
es:Episodio 15 (Dragon Ball Z)
ca:Episodi 15 (BDZ)
pt-br:Fugindo de Piccolo! Gohan enfrenta uma tempestade
fr:Dragon Ball Z épisode 015
Category:Episodes
Category:Dragon Ball Z episodes
Category:Vegeta Saga
Category:Uncut Dragon Ball Z episodes