Pokémon: The Sisters of Cerulean City

== Episode Plots ==
At the start of the episode, Misty tries to convince Ash and Brock to bypass Cerulean City and go straight to Vermilion City. She fails and says that she will wait for Ash and Brock outside of town.
Later, Team Rocket enters a building looking for something to steal Pokémon with and they find what they're looking for.
The next day Ash and Brock enter the city, then they notice that Misty is gone and Ash doesn't mind it though Pikachu misses her. Later that day, they see a crowd of people around a building and wonder what's going on. They head over and see Officer Jenny standing at a crime scene. Officer Jenny accused them of being the thieves that stole a giant vacuum machine. Ash and Brock prove to Officer Jenny that they are innocent, she lets them go. After that Brock asks Officer Jenny out on a date but she turns him down. She then tells Ash what the thieves stole and tells Ash and Brock to move along.
Ash asks Brock if he can tell him anything about the Cerulean City Gym Leader. Brock says that since he is also a Gym Leader, he can't tell. Brock says that he has something that he needs to do and Ash heads to the Gym by himself.
When Ash arrives at the Gym, he sees three sisters performing a show. Ash confronts them backstage and discovers that they are the Gym Leaders and he challenges them to a gym battle. The girls (Lily, Daisy, and Violet) tell Ash that they can't because their Pokémon have battle three other Trainers from a place called Pallet Town and their Pokémon are all worn out. The only Pokémon they have left is a Goldeen that only knows Horn Attack. They offer Ash a badge without battling when Misty appears saying that she, the fourth Cerulean Sister, will battle him.
It turns out that Misty is the youngest Cerulean Sister but the other three call her a runt. After Misty fights with her sisters, Misty challenges Ash to an official 2 on 2 gym battle. Ash accepts.
At the start of the battle, Ash tried to send out Pikachu, but Pikachu didn't want to battle Misty. Ash then sends out Butterfree instead. While Misty sends out Staryu. Even though both sides are even, Staryu quickly knocks Butterfree into the water, making it lose. Misty withdraws Staryu and sends out her Starmie and Ash withdraws Butterfree and sends out his Pidgeotto. Pidgeotto uses Whirlwind on Starmie, but it jumps into the water and Tackles Pidgeotto. Pidgeotto use Wing Attack, but got hit by Starmie's Tackle again. Pidgeotto used Gust on it, making Starmie hit the wall.
Just as Ash is about to win, Team Rocket bursts in with the stolen vacuum and tries to steal all the water Pokémon with it. Their plan is to steal the water from the pool. It sucks in all the Pokémon including Seel and Pikachu but Ash tells Pikachu to use Thunderbolt due to water conducting electricity. The attack causes the machine to malfunction and Team Rocket to get electrocuted and fall into the water. They are then sucked down into the vacuum and, to the delight of Seel, blasted out from the other side and fly off into the sky.
After Team Rocket goes flying, Daisy gives Ash the Cascade Badge. Misty protests this until Daisy points out that if Ash used Pikachu from the start he would have won. Ash gladly accepts the badge. Ash and Misty leave the gym while arguing, meeting up with Brock and they all head out to Vermilion City.
Ash, Misty, Brock, and Pikachu are on their way to Vermilion City. Ash says that he can't wait to earn his third badge. A trainer appears and asks Ash if he will battle him and Ash agrees. Ash's Pidgeotto defeats the trainer's Rattata. The trainer admires Ash's two badges. He says that he may be able to win at A.J.'s gym and points Ash to it. Ash races off to the gym.
At A.J.'s gym, there is a sign that says he has a record of 98 wins to 0 losses and that the gym is not an official gym. A.J. walks up and challenges Ash to a battle. A.J. snaps a whip, making Ash jump. A.J. tells Ash that he plans to start challenging gym leaders for badges after his 100th win. Ash tells him that he has won ten battles and two badges. A.J. calls the Gyms "Failure City" and "Wimpsville", making Brock and Misty very mad.
A.J. summons his Sandshrew to battle Ash. Misty reminds him that electric attacks don't work on ground types. Ash ignores her advice and sends out Pidgeotto. Brock says that a flying type would do well against a ground type. Sandshrew rolls up into a ball and hurls itself into the air, taking Pidgeotto out quickly.
Ash sends out his Butterfree next and tells it to use Stun Spore, but A.J. cracks his whip and Sandshrew goes underground, avoiding the attack. It then bursts out of the ground, taking Butterfree out.
Ash wants Pikachu to fight, but Pikachu grabs onto the edge of the battlefield and refuses to let go. Pikachu Thunder Shocks Ash to make him let go.
Team Rocket is spying on the battle from a nearby tree. They decide to steal A.J.'s Sandshrew, then for a moment, they criticize his clothes. James whacks Meowth when he makes fun of their style.
Ash accuses A.J. of rigging the match and A.J. tells him to stop whining.
As they are leaving, Ash hears A.J. training his Pokémon and cracking his whip like mad. Ash confronts A.J. and tells him to stop hurting his Pokémon, but A.J. tells him to mind his own business. His Sandshrew is wearing a "strength intensifier" that A.J. invented. It allows Sandshrew withstand the effects of water on it. A.J. says that he is tougher on Sandshrew than his other Pokémon because it was his first Pokémon.
Ash says that a great Pokémon trainer should be friends with his Pokémon. Ash asks Brock what he thinks but Brock only wants to know what kind of food A.J. gives his Pokémon. A.J., like Brock, makes his own Pokémon food from a secret recipe. Ash is feeling left out when Brock and Misty are interested of what A.J. does. Pikachu tries to pick up one of Sandshrew's weights, but falls backwards from the weight, unlike Sandshrew who did alternating curls rapidly.
Meanwhile, Team Rocket is outside A.J.'s tent, checking their equipment for their newest plan to catch Pikachu. They fight over changing their motto.
A.J.'s Pokémon are all very tired. A.J. insults Pikachu, and Ash tries to punch him but only making them both fall into the pool. Pikachu tries on the strength intensifier, but it doesn't fit well and Pikachu rolls up into a ball. Sandshrew laughs at Pikachu and rolls up into a ball.
Team Rocket rolls into the tent in a rubber ball, ready to take Pikachu. However, they are confused on who is who, and they take Sandshrew by mistake. A.J. and everyone else realizes that Sandshrew is missing and they walk over to Pikachu. A.J. releases Pikachu from the strength intensifier. Sadly, Pikachu doesn't know where Sandshrew is either. Ash thinks that Sandshrew may have run away because he saw how much better Ash treated Pikachu. A.J. gets angry, insisting that Sandshrew would never run away because of all he and A.J. have been through together. He sends out his three Rattata, his Butterfree, and his Beedrill to look for Sandshrew.
Jessie and James argue on who should carry the bag when Sandshrew bursts out startling them all. Meowth grabs Sandshrew's tail with his teeth to prevent him from running away.
Ash tries to convince A.J.'s Pokémon to leave with him, but they ignore him. Suddenly Sandshrew bursts out of the ground with a worn out Meowth still biting its tail. Watching A.J. and his Pokémon, Brock points out how much A.J. cares for them despite his brutal training methods, although Ash is still a bit skeptical.
Pikachu finds Meowth and Brock discovers that Team Rocket had kidnapped Sandshrew. Ash wakes Meowth up and gets clawed in the face. Meowth realizes that he is facing against some angry Pokémon and their trainers. He tries to figure a way out of the situation when Jessie and James show up and say their intro. Jessie tells A.J. that taking his Sandshrew was a mistake and James calls it" second-rate" really making A.J. mad. He challenges them to a battle. Jessie sends out her Ekans and James sends out his Koffing. Sandshrew takes them both out and Meowth tries to bite Sandshrew's armored skin. All of Team Rocket's Pokémon give up when Sandshrew uses a Fissure attack.
This was A.J.'s 100th win and he sets out to earn badges. Like Ash, he wants to be the world greatest Pokémon master. They become rivals and agree to meet at a Pokémon League competition.
The episode begins with Ash and Misty fighting about the latter's bike again. In an attempt to get them to stop fighting, Brock pulled out of his backpack a table, some chairs, and everything you need to make a cup of tea. Brock sends Ash to collect some firewood.
When Ash and Pikachu were looking for firewood in a forest, they come across a group of boys wearing suits. One boy was running on a treadmill while the others quizzed him about various Pokémon. The boy misses a question and the other boys make fun of him. Ash interrupts and defends the boy. The boys say that they are students at the Pokémon Technical Institute, which is a boarding school that teaches Pokémon trainers. The group leaves, saying that they don't want to fight Ash. While Brock started reading the school's brochure, Pikachu started the treadmill and began to run on it. Brock reads that the school trains students, that they don't have to collect badges, and graduates are automatically entered into the Pokémon League. The school has very high fees, allowing only rich children go there. Brock inadvertently leans on the treadmill, making it speed up and causing Pikachu to go flying off. Ash wanted to know where the school was and the boy pointed right in front of them. The fog cleared and revealed they were right near Pokémon Tech all along.
The boy that was running on the treadmill, Joe, defended his "friends" stating they were trying to help him, he said he sometimes pretends to not know the question so he does not have to do the tougher questions. When Misty asked what the teachers said Joe replied "They don't even know about it, or if they do they pretend not to." Ash became upset at this "tutoring" system and demanded to speak to the student in charge. The head of the class was an attractive girl, causing Brock and Ash drool over her picture infuriating Misty. Ash then called Misty " someone who treats you bad and looks even worse" making Misty even more angry.
Jessie and James, who are following Ash, reveal that they were students at Pokémon Tech, but flunked out. Being led there by Ash was bringing back bad memories for the both of them. Meowth was trying to cheer them up.
Meanwhile, Joe leads Ash, Misty, and Brock to the head student's, Giselle, study area. Joe says that it's a person's overall skill as trainer, not just one battle that determines a person's success at Pokémon Tech. He also says that even though he is the weakest student in his class, he is still better than someone with two badges. Misty got mad and Joe said that he's familiar with her gym and always beats the Pokémon she uses most on the battle simulator. Misty challenged Joe to a real battle, and Joe told her, "You'll be sorry."
Misty brought out her Starmie and Joe brought out his Weepinbell, a Pokémon that has a type advantage over Misty's Pokémon. Still, Starmie beat Weepinbell. Giselle walked in and made fun of Joe for losing and called him an embarrassment to the school. Brock and Ash swooned over Giselle, who was very pretty. Even James, who was hiding in a tree with Jessie, liked her. Meowth says she is not as cute as him, so Jessie and James sent him blasting off. Giselle continued to torment Joe and threatened to make sure that the other students couldn't help him anymore.
Misty challenges her saying that a true friend wouldn't let down a friend in need and that Giselle's beauty is only skin deep. Giselle laughs and calls Misty jealous. She summons her Graveler to battle Misty. Misty sends out her Starmie to battle Graveler. Despite having the type advantage, Misty lost.
Giselle said that a Pokémon is only as good as its trainer and its level is high. Ash interrupts her saying that trainers need to be friends with their Pokémon. Ash says that he has two badges and Giselle laughs and calls him a beginner. When he says that he has been on his journey for two months, Giselle is surprised that he hasn't trained his Pikachu to go into its Poké Ball yet.
Ash says that his three Pokémon are his friends and Giselle is surprised that he only has three, beginners usually have six. She says that him winning two badges with only a few Pokémon was only luck. She is also surprised that Ash chose Pikachu as his first Pokémon because they are known to be hard to train. Pikachu and Ash are furious and demand to battle her. Giselle summoned her Cubone to battle Ash and Ash sent out Pikachu. Ash told Pikachu to use Thunder Bolt, but Cubone deflected it. Giselle told Cubone to use Leer but, Pikachu kept on making funny faces at Cubone. Cubone and Pikachu got into a staring contest until Giselle said to use Bone Club which hit Pikachu in the head. She then said to use Bonemerang and that knocked Pikachu out cold. When Cubone uses Bonemerang again, Pikachu gets up and jumps up and twists the skull on Cubone's head backwards so Cubone couldn't see anymore. The Bonemerang attack came back and hit Cubone, defeating him. Giselle was stunned that she had lost and Pikachu won without using electricity.
Team Rocket then appears and recites their motto, which after that, Meowth fall and splashed into the pool. Giselle and the students recognize them as the people that flunked out and attacks them as a mob. Team Rocket then runs off.
Joe decides to go home and start his journey over again and he asks Giselle for her picture she says that she has one of him because they are friends now. Maybe they will meet one day in the Pokémon League.
Ash asks Misty why they aren't friends like that. Misty says its because Joe doesn't owe Giselle a bike! After that, Joe and Giselle said their goodbyes to Ash, Misty, Brock and Pikachu, and the gang leave for Vermilion City once again.
== Back Cover Summary ==
Ash Ketchum continues to work toward his goal of becoming a champion Pokémon trainer as he challenges a trio of synchronized swimmers in "Cerulean City"; A.J., a stern trainer, in "League"; and the conceited champion of a posh prep school in "Hard Knocks." Assisted by Misty and his friend Brock, Ash also overcomes the inept villains of Team Rocket and learns lessons about modesty, honesty, and sportsmanship. Although Ash initially feels that A.J. drives his Pokémon too hard in "League," he discovers how deeply he cares for them when Team Rocket tries to kidnap Sandshrew, his favorite. In "Hard Knocks," Ash defends a smaller boy from bullying upper classmen, and shows the snobbish students that training Pokémon isn't an academic exercise, but a way of life based on friendship and mutual affection. Viewers not caught up in the Pokémon craze may find the idea of fighting high-tech duels with these cute little animals incongruous
== DVD Bonus Film Availability ==
* Seen appeared on 1999-2005 Columbia TriStar Home Video/Entertainment DVD releases of Bye Bye Birdie, The Aubrey Hepburn Story, Steel Magnolias, Whatever it Takes, Bad Boys (1994), Hideaway, Dragon Tales: Adventures in Dragon Land!, The Road Home, The Muppet Movie, A Knight's Tale, The Wedding Planner, Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella, Close Encounters of the Third kind: Collector's Edition and Godzilla Vs Mechagodzilla II.
* It also appears on 1999-2001 Trimark Home Video & 2001-2005 Lions Gate Home Entertainment DVDs of Ground Control, Cyborg 2, Stephen King's Rose Red, Heaven's Burning, The Bible Genesis, American Psycho 2, Cube, Rent-A-Cop, Sinbad: Beyond of Veil of Mist, Route 666, Saturday Night Live: The Best of Chris Farley, The Last Don II, Step into Liquid, Pi Optical Illusions and High Tension: Unrated.
* It debuted on 2001-2002 Republic/Artisan DVDs of Greatest Heroes of the Bible, Indiscreet, and The Grass is Greener, the 2000 Digital Versatile Disc Ltd. DVD of The Last of the Mohicans, and the 2004 MGM DVD of Digimon: Enter Flamedramon.
== 1999/2005 DVD ==
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