TB046: Attack of the Prehistoric Pokémon

is the 46th episode of of , Season 1 of , and of .
==Synopsis==
Our heroes approach Grampa Canyon, famous for the beautiful scenery of its valley. As they approach, however, they find wave upon wave of people also heading for Grampa Canyon. Carrying backpacks, pickaxes, etc. they are all dressed like explorers. Ash has no idea what is so special about the canyon, but he notices a familiar face among the crowd—that of his rival, Gary. According to Gary, fossils from an extinct Pokémon have been discovered, triggering an ancient Pokémon excavation boom.
==Episode plot==
The group continue on their way and notice people digging for fossils in Grandpa Canyon. Gary Oak shows up for this too. Ash wants to dig for fossils so that he can find a better fossil than Gary. Gary finds a fossil and an archaeologist examines it. Gary thinks it's the brain of an extinct Pokémon but the professor says it's a Pokémon coprolite fossil (fossilized Pokémon manure).
Meanwhile, Team Rocket plants bombs in the canyon so they can find fossils quicker. Ash notices this just as Meowth lights the fuse. Ash and Squirtle chase it trying to put out the fuse. It gets to the end and Pikachu shoots an electric beam at it in panic. The blast goes off and Ash, Team Rocket, and Pikachu find themselves underground. Squirtle is the only one who escapes quickly enough. Misty and Brock hear the explosion and they run over to it and they find Squirtle. Misty, Brock, and Squirtle quickly start digging to find Ash and Team Rocket.
Meanwhile, Ash and Team Rocket try to find a way out. They meet some ancient Pokémon who they thought to be extinct. Jessie and James say that the blast must have woken up Pokémon that have been sleeping for 1,000 years. The ancient Pokémon are angry at Ash and Team Rocket for waking them up, so they attack. Ash sends out Charmeleon, but he refuses to battle such weak opponents. Just then, the fossil Pokémon suddenly run off. They are happy the Pokémon left, but then they realize why they left: an Aerodactyl appears as it scratched Charmeleon down and grabs Ash, and swoops up into the air.
Meanwhile, Geodude has finally found a hole leading into the cave. A crowd has come to help dig for Ash and Team Rocket. Suddenly, the Aerodactyl flies up out of the hole with Ash in its grasp. Charmeleon wants to battle Aerodactyl, and shows a scratch Aerodactyl made on his forehead, but the Pokémon taunts Charmeleon. Upset for being taunted, Charmeleon angrily stomped its feet and roars, evolving as everyone watches before Charizard is finally revealed. Unleashing its Flamethrower, Charizard takes flight and chases Aerodactyl. Charizard uses Flamethrower on Aerodactyl, but misses. Ash feels that Charizard does still care about him, but when its Flamethrower accidentally burns Ash, he realizes that Charmeleon had only evolved to fight Aerodactyl for his own pride.
Misty sees Jigglypuff and asks it to sing so Aerodactyl will fall asleep and drop Ash. Jigglypuff happily starts singing. Aerodactyl falls asleep and drops Ash. Ash is caught by Charizard who managed to stay awake before falling into sleep. As everyone is asleep from Jigglypuff's Sing, Jigglypuff was visibly infuriated and drew on everyone's faces with a black marker. Officer Jenny tells everyone that it was just a dream caused by Jigglypuff's song and sends the people on their way because the canyon becomes a danger zone due to the prehistoric Pokémon living in the underground, and that any further digging may lead to more cave-ins. Ash gets an egg from the site after he was grab hold of it while under Jigglypuff's Sing, which Brock steals from him to take care of it.
Meanwhile, still stuck with the prehistoric Pokémon, Team Rocket try to find a way to escape them, only for James to sneeze, waking them up again.
==Debuts==
===Pokémon===
*Ash's Charizard
*Aerodactyl
*Kabuto
*Kabutops
*Omanyte
*Omastar
===Item===
*Egg
==Trivia==
*Each of Gary's cheerleaders had the letters A-F written on their faces while they were asleep.
*Gary found an example of a Pokémon Coprolite fossil.
*The "Who's that Pokémon?" in this episode is Kabutops.
*This episode shows the first carnivorous Pokémon and the first time a Pokémon has actually tried to eat a human.
*When Ash is attempting to put out the fuse lit by Team Rocket, they roll into a boulder, similar to Raiders of the Lost Ark.
*Gary is dressed up just like Indiana Jones.
*Team Rocket sang "Rock-a-bye, Baby" at the end of the episode.
===Mistakes===
*Gary's left eyelid is miscolored when he calls Ash a "loser".
*When the camera pans over all of the fossil Pokémon to show their red eyes, one Kabuto is depicted with the colors of its claws and shell swapped.
*In two shots where Charizard is blasting fire at Aerodactyl, its wings are cream-yellow instead of blueish green.
*When Ash fell down sleeping, the egg that was found was miscolored with red circles, when it should have been with blue circles.
===Dub differences===
*The sign at the beginning of the episode states the name of the canyon in the Japanese version. In the dub, the sign is a picture of a pick-axe and shovel instead.
*In the Japanese version Gary calls Ash a "tardy Trainer" while in English version he calls him a "loser".
*In the Japanese version, after realizing that Charmeleon evolved into Charizard in order to fight Aerodactyl, Ash screams "Help me!", which he doesn't do in the English version.
==Gallery==
==References==
Category:Episodes featuring a main character's Pokémon evolving
Category:Episodes focusing on Ash
Category:Episodes focusing on Jigglypuff
Category:Episodes focusing on Togepi
Category:Episodes focusing on Team Rocket
Category:Episodes in which a main character obtains a Pokémon Egg