TB023: The Tower of Terror

is the 23rd episode of of , Season 1 of , and of .
==Synopsis==
Ash realizes that he must battle and collect a ghost Pokémon in order to defeat the young girl's psychic Pokémon. In search of a ghost Pokémon, he heads immediately for a tower in Lavender Town where they are said to dwell. Jessie, James and Meowth from Team Rocket are already at the tower, but as they lay in wait for our heroes, they are attacked by Gastly, Haunter and Gangar. In the process of trying to defeat the ghost Pokémon, Ash learns a lesson or two about the mystical spirit world. Can Ash capture a ghost Pokémon and if so, will it be enough to defeat the psychic Gym Leader of Saffron City?
==Episode plot==
Ash, Misty, and Brock are making their way toward Lavender Town. Ash hopes to find a Ghost-Type Pokémon to give him a chance against Gym Leader, Sabrina, who had previously defeated him miserably. As they are walking, the fog becomes thicker and visibility drops. Everyone begins to hold hands hoping to stay together. Brock, however, cannot find Ash's hand and accidentally grabs Pikachu's tail instead of Ash's hand. Pikachu doesn't take too kindly to this, and releases a Thundershock, frying Brock. A terrified Misty screams in terror only to realize it was Brock getting shocked. Ash then decides to play a prank on his friends and dons a skull mask. This shocks Misty, Brock and Pikachu, much to Ash's amusement. His friends aren't quite as happy about it. He explains how they must conquer their fears if they want any hope to catch a Ghost Pokémon. However, Ash is still given an angry scolding by Misty and Brock for his stupid prank, and Pikachu shows how furious it is with zapping Ash with a Thunderbolt. Defeated, Ash groans that he'll keep the mask stored away until Halloween.
Arriving at Lavender Town, they make their way to the Pokémon Tower. Ash is the only one courageous enough to go in, while Brock and Misty hope to wait outside until morning. As this is happening, Team Rocket spies on them from within. James in his excitement accidentally falls into a hole in the floor. As Jessie and Meowth peek inside to see if their comrade is okay, Meowth notices a nearby closet opening. From within, a Gastly jumps out, scaring the scaredy-cat. Jessie looks back to ask Meowth what he's crying about, and Meowth points her in the direction of the Gastly. Jessie looks, but sees nothing. As she isn't paying attention, that same Gastly appears and takes up her visage. Meowth uses Scratch to attack it, but misses and scratches Jessie instead. Jessie whacks Meowth with a frying pan and Meowth falls down the hole James fell into earlier. Jessie looks into a mirror and sees the Gastly behind her. It frightens her so much that she falls down into the hole with the others. It isn't long until Jessie also falls down the hole, as the Gastly possesses a mirror and startles her with it. Their screams draw our heroes' attention, and they enter the tower. Within the tower, everything is dark. Charmander utilizes its' Flamethrower to light the area until Brock finds a candle. As they explore the mansion, they find a deep pit from which scary sounds are emanating. Elsewhere, Gengar, Haunter and Gastly begin to party down and live their best after-lives in the basement. As Ash and Co. continue to explore the mountain, they soon find themselves in a large dining room. Inside, they find a set table and a rope. Ash pulls the rope, and the room comes to life. A sign welcomes them as the furniture begins to bully the heroes. The entire group run and escape the room. The heroes are fed up, so they exit the tower. Ash tries to get them to reenter with him, but they refuse. Ash decides to go back in all by himself. As he does so, he hears sounds and believes it must be a Pokémon, so he throws a Poké Ball at the source of the sounds, striking Jessie in the face. Suddenly, a Haunter shows up and scares Ash and Pikachu. He attempts to battle it with Charmander, but as they Leer at each other, Charmander makes a funny face, amusing Haunter. Haunter Licks Charmander, paralyzing it. Ash recalls Charmander, but is then smacked in the back and sent flying by a Gengar. Gengar and Haunter begin doing a skit, but Ash is not impressed, causing the Pokémon to sorrowfully pass through the floor. Ash and Pikachu jump after them, but they crash into the floor, causing the chandelier to fall on top of them. The Ghost-type Pokémon return and pull out Ash and Pikachu's souls. At first, the two are freaked out, but eventually they warm up to the idea, proceeding to play with the Ghost-types and scare their friends. The Ghost Pokémon ask Ash and Pikachu to stay, but they decline. They then return to their bodies and come back to life as Misty and Brock pull them free from the rubble. The next day, they decide to leave the tower, with Ash resolving to beat Sabrina without a Ghost-type. Just then, though, Haunter shows up and decides to join the team and help Ash out.
==Debuts==
===Pokémon===
*Haunter
*Gengar
===Move===
*Lick
*Leer
==Quotes==
:"Light the candle, not me!" - Brock
==Trivia==
*The "Pokemon Tower" in this episode seems more like an abandoned haunted house than the Pokémon Tower in the game, which was a Pokémon cemetery.
*The episode was temporarily banned from re-airing on Kids' WB! after the September 11 terrorist attacks in the United States in 2001. It was later put back into circulation.
**Due to this, Kids' WB! refused to give the tape to Cartoon Network for them to air this episode back in 2002. They have since conceded the rights to air it.
*This episode's English title is a reference to the Tower of Terror ride found at Disney theme parks.
*Gastly is shown to be able to create hands out of its purple surroundings.
*In this episode, Ash and Pikachu share an out of body experience; a real-world phenomena.
*The book Night in the Haunted Tower is based on this episode.
*"Who's that Pokémon?": Gengar (JA, EN and KO)
*The mask Ash used resembles Duskull's face.
*This is a rare episode in which Jessie, James and Meowth don't introduce themselves once.
===Mistakes===
*In the last scene with Team Rocket on the carousel, Gengar's eyes are white instead of red.
*When Pikachu shocks Ash in the beginning, Ash's Japanese voice is heard.
*When Misty was trying to wake up Ash, the chandelier that was on top of him and Pikachu is gone.
*Ash's Poké Ball is miscolored when it hits Jessie's face.
*After Haunter scared Misty and Brock, Ash's bag has its colors swapped.
*When Gastly and Gengar were amused by seeing Team Rocket on the carousel, Gengar's eyes were white.
===Dub differences===
*In the dub, when Jessie falls onto James and Meowth, James tells her that the place is dangerous. In the original Japanese version, however, James remarks that Jessie is heavy.
==Gallery﻿==
==References==
Category:Episodes focusing on Ash
Category:Episodes in which a main character obtains a new Pokémon