EP262

You're a Star, Larvitar! (Japanese: ヨーギラスがんばる！ Does Its Best!) is the 262nd episode of the Pokémon animated series. It first aired in Japan on August 22, 2002, and in the United States on September 6, 2003. 
==Blurb==
Ash and friends report back to Professor Elm as they reach the base of Mount Silver, where they hope to return their Larvitar to its birthplace. On their way up the mountain, Ash faces a young trainer in Pokémon battle, pitting his Cyndaquil against the trainer's Magby. This Magby—the pre-evolved form of Magmar—is much stronger that Ash unexpected, and Ash suffers a defeat. Ash makes it up in a subsequent battle, when his Cyndaquil defeats a Quilava—the evolved form of Cyndaquil. Following a few steps behind, Jessie and James note all of the trainers and their rare and valuable Pokémon preparing to battle in the Johto Championship to be held on this mountain. Setting aside their usual plans for capturing Pikachu—and their usual hot-air mode of transport—they capture Larvitar and as many other Pokémon as they can muster and drive off with them in a specially made truck. Only Ash and friends stand a chance of rescuing the Pokémon they hold dear.
==Plot==
 and have reached the base of Mt. Silver and are nearing the Silver Conference, so they stop at a Pokémon Center to rest. The group also decides to call Professor Elm. The Professor admires how well is developing, making a point of its gain in self-confidence. Elm gives Ash instructions as to what to do when the group reaches the top of the mountain, right before ending the call. Just then, a approaches them and makes the assumption that the group is on their way to the Silver Conference. The boy wastes no time in challenging Ash to a .
Just outside of the Center, the boy introduces himself as . Ash and Satchel take their places at opposite ends of a battlefield. Satchel sends out his , prompting Ash to consult his Pokédex. Upon learning that Magby is a , Ash decides to send out . is surprised by his choice of Pokémon, wondering why Ash didn't choose his to battle Magby. On the other hand, Satchel commends Ash on his "fighting Fire with Fire" strategy. , acting as referee, signals the start of the battle. Cyndaquil dodges Magby's opening , and counters with a ; Satchel is impressed. Ash tells Cyndaquil to use a attack, and then its own Flamethrower. Satchel orders Magby to use Flamethrower once more and the two Pokémon's attacks meet, resulting in an ascending cascade of fire. Magby's move eventually prevails, but Cyndaquil manages to jump out of the way before it is damaged. Ash has his Pokémon use , and Satchel responds by ordering Magby to use . Cyndaquil stops in its tracks as Magby's copies surround it and begin running in a circle. Taking a chance, Ash orders Cyndaquil to go after one of the Magby; Cyndaquil attacks a fake, and Magby's Double Team is disrupted. Appearing from behind Cyndaquil, Magby is told to use . The attack strikes Cyndaquil dead-center, rendering the unable to battle, and winning Satchel the match.
After the battle, Ash decides that his Cyndaquil is in need of a long rest. Satchel approaches Ash and commends him on his of Cyndaquil, its speed, and the battling as a whole. Ash shows similar praise for Magby and its range of attacks. Although happy, Satchel expresses his goal to get his Magby to evolve into a . As a fellow Trainer on his way to the Silver Conference, Satchel states that, as a Magby, his Pokémon won't be strong enough to compete against the stronger Pokémon that they will surely face. Satchel feels sure that the battle that Ash and he just had will aid a lot on Magby's way to evolution. 
A little while later, Ash, and Cyndaquil are seen poolside, Cyndaquil recuperating from its battle. Ash seems worried about the upcoming Silver Conference. While he knows that Cyndaquil has "awesome" strengths, he divulges the same worry that Satchel had earlier regarding his unevolved Pokémon. All of a sudden, Ash spots a Trainer training with his , the evolved form of Cyndaquil. Seeing this, Ash conjures the determination from within him to get his Pokémon to evolve. Returning to the group, Ash announces that it's time for some "special training", and herds all of his Pokémon before heading to a field. All of are paired with a training partner to battle with: with Pikachu, Totodile against Cyndaquil, and is paired up with .
Off in the distance, is hiding behind some bushes in a wooded area. Jessie spots multiple Trainers, most with evolved Pokémon, training in the field. The trio decides that they are going to steal all of the Pokémon belonging to the Pokémon Trainers, along with Pikachu. 
Brock and Misty, having been distracted by Ash's training, notice that Larvitar has wandered off. Having made its way to the field in which the other Trainers are training, Larvitar is startled by a ; the Trainers take notice of the seemingly rare Pokémon. Brock and Misty come to Larvitar's rescue just before any of the Trainers decide they want to make a newly caught Pokémon out of it. Just then, a sudden gust of wind drags all of the Pokémon through the field. Ash soon takes notice of the ordeal and runs to save Larvitar. However, he too ends up getting swept up by the wind, but Bayleef grabs onto Ash with her . Just as Ash is pondering what could be causing the wind, Team Rocket appears in their and recites a variation of their . It is revealed that a mecha attached to the balloon is being used to suck all of the Trainers' Pokémon up, including Satchel's Magby. With Ash's Pokémon left on the ground, Ash orders Cyndaquil to use its Flamethrower on Team Rocket, but has it sucked into the machine before it gets a chance to attack. Ash is also vacuumed up with Larvitar in hand, but Ash gets stuck in the nozzle. Larvitar manages to land on top of the machine without getting sucked inside. Heading off into the distance, Team Rocket, Ash, and all of the Pokémon, are followed on foot by Brock, Misty, Satchel, and Ash's other Pokémon.
Team Rocket lands at a nearby wood cabin and lowers the stolen Pokémon into a truck. Jessie has also tied Ash up and left him locked up within the cabin. Outside, Team Rocket is admiring the load of Pokémon they have stolen. They express their pride in their plan of using a truck to haul the Pokémon away, thinking no one would ever catch them. Moving to the front of the truck, Larvitar approaches the vehicle and s down on a rear tire. To the surprise of Team Rocket, the truck leans drastically; Larvitar quickly s underground. Ash, wondering what's going on outside the cabin, is surprised to see Larvitar appear from beneath the floorboards. Using its Bite, Larvitar frees Ash from his rope constraints. Ash is both very happy to have been saved by Larvitar and angry that it would put itself in so much danger. Just then, Brock, Misty, and Satchel are shown to not have found anything, leaving them with no other choice but to count on Noctowl.
Team Rocket is flabbergasted as to how the tire was flattened; Jessie promptly tells James and Meowth to fix it. Sneaking up from behind the cabin, Ash tells Larvitar to have Cyndaquil and Magby use Flamethrower to melt the glass blocking their escape from the machine. Larvitar agrees and digs underground, moving towards the vehicle until it is just behind it. Larvitar jumps up into the truck and conveys Ash's message to the Fire types. Magby and Cyndaquil begin their attempt at escape. Having finished changing the tire, Team Rocket loads back into the truck cabin and is ready to leave. To prevent this, Larvitar bites down on the exact tire that had just been changed, inhibiting their vehicle once again. As Jessie "supervises" the changing of tires once again, Noctowl spots Team Rocket during its aerial search. Alerted by the type, Brock, Misty, and Satchel head on their way to save Ash and the stolen Pokémon from Team Rocket.
With help on the way, the Fire duo of Cyndaquil and Magby has melted a hole in their cage, allowing the stolen Pokémon to escape. Having heard the commotion in the back of the truck, Team Rocket goes to investigate. Ash tells Larvitar from behind the cabin that the Pokémon have to hide. To Team Rocket's surprise, there is a hole in their machine and all of the Pokémon are nowhere to be found. As Jessie inspects the machine, Cyndaquil and Magby pop out and greet her with a Flamethrower attack to her face. Ash runs out from behind the cabin and orders the Pokémon to flee from the truck. With all of the stolen Pokémon on his side, Ash tells Team Rocket that he is leaving and taking all of the Pokémon with him. Jessie doesn't like this and sends out her ; James proceeds to send out his . Arbok's Bite attack, and Weezing's Tackle, are ordered by their Trainers. All of a sudden, Noctowl swoops down and strikes the two Pokémon. Soon enough Brock, Misty, Satchel, and the rest of Ash's Pokémon arrive in tow. A from Arbok, as well as a from Weezing, is successfully countered by a Flamethrower from Magby. Ash orders Phanpy to Tackle Arbok and Weezing into Team Rocket as Totodile uses on the group. Jessie retaliates by swinging Arbok by its tail, essentially using a "fling attack". Satchel has his Magby hit Arbok away with a Dynamic Punch. Reeling from its successful attack, Magby begins to evolve, much to everyone’s surprise. Unwilling to give up, Team Rocket sends their Pokémon to attack once more. Arbok's is no match for Magmar's powerful Flamethrower. Ash orders Cyndaquil to finish them off with its own Flamethrower, causing an explosion that sends Team Rocket blasting off into the distance. Satchel thanks Ash for his efforts, though Ash admits that Larvitar deserves all of the credit. 
Later, all of the stolen Pokémon are reunited with their owners. As Ash and company are readying to head off, the group and Satchel part ways. Misty proclaims that Ash has found a new rival in Satchel. Despite Brock's claims of struggle Ash will probably face in the Silver Conference if facing Satchel, Ash shows the confidence that he can beat anyone that comes his way. He has realized that even though some of his Pokémon haven't evolved, they have the power and heart to win if he uses their power in the right ways. The group heads on their way to the peaks of Mt. Silver.
==Major events==
* Ash's Larvitar is revealed to know and .
* Jessie's Arbok is revealed to know .
===Debuts===
====Pokémon debuts====
* 
=====Main series debuts=====
* 
==Characters==
===Humans===
* 
* 
* 
* Jessie
* James
* Professor Elm
* 
* s
** 
===Pokémon===
Who's That Pokémon?: (US and international), (Japan)
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ()
* (; )
* ()
* (; unofficial)
* ()
* ()
* ('s; evolves)
* ('s; newly evolved)
* ('s)
* (Trainer's)
* (Trainer's)
* (Trainer's)
* (Trainer's; debut)
* (Trainer's)
* (Trainer's)
* (Trainer's; ×2)
* (Trainer's)
* (Trainer's)
==Trivia==
* The Pokémon Center in this episode is the same one that and visited in The Legend of Thunder!.
* In this episode, uses a variation of their .
* has thoughts about evolving , but it doesn't evolve. This would change, however, with its evolution in An Old Family Blend!; in that episode, Ash brings it back to his team for the Lily of the Valley Conference.
* As of this episode, all of the Johto first partner Pokémon and their evolved forms have appeared in the .
** This also made it the longest time to date the animated series has taken to introduce all forms of a region's first partner Pokémon (the first Johto first partner Pokémon to physically appear, and , appeared in Don't Touch That 'dile, 145 episodes ago).
* One of the Trainers seen in this episode bears a striking resemblance to the Pokémon League entrance exam instructor from The Ultimate Test.
* On televised airings, this is the season finale of Pokémon: Master Quest. However, digital and US DVD releases of the season give that title to Hoenn Alone!.
* Music from The Power of One can be heard in this episode.
===Errors===
* The Pokémon.com blurb for this episode states that Ash's Cyndaquil battles a Trainer's and wins. While Ash does observe a Trainer training with a Quilava, a battle against them never takes place during the episode.
* In the original Japanese version and in the dub, 's Trainer calls Machoke "".
* Professor Elm refers to Ranger Mason as a male, despite the fact the character is later revealed to be female.
* comments on Cyndaquil's "Flame Attack", which is not an actual move.
* When Ash explains his plan to , the "z" mark on his face is missing.
* When Ash is seen with all of the stolen Pokémon, a is there. However, there was no Totodile that was stolen, and Ash's was with and at the time.
* When and are blasted by and says "Mama", his whiskers are missing.
EP262 error 2.png|Ash's missing cheek mark
EP262 error.png|The Totodile error
EP262 error 3.png|Meowth's missing whiskers
===Dub edits===
==In other languages==
262
Category:Episodes written by Shinzō Fujita
Category:Episodes storyboarded by Kazu Yokota
Category:Episodes directed by Yoshito Hata
Category:Episodes animated by Masaru Fukumoto
Category:Episodes in which an alternately colored Pokémon appears
de:Larvitar – Superstar!
es:EP264
fr:EP262
it:OA146
ja:無印編第262話
zh:宝可梦 第263集