EP247

Outrageous Fortunes (Japanese: ニョロゾのしんか！ 's Evolution!) is the 247th episode of the Pokémon animated series. It was first broadcast in Japan on May 9, 2002, and in the United States on May 10, 2003. 
==Blurb==
On meeting up with a proud Pokémon Trainer who dares all comers to face his Poliwrath, Misty and Ash quickly rise to the challenge. Misty, in particular, encourages her Poliwhirl to watch closely as it may someday evolve into a Poliwrath. As is often the case, the battle isn't long over before this challenger and Ash and Misty have become fast friends. Meanwhile, Team Rocket, having furtively observed this battle and been convinced that the Poliwrath is a match even for Pikachu, decide to first capture it and then use it to capture Pikachu. Unfortunately, this logic does not hold as they find capturing a Pokémon stronger than Pikachu even more difficult than simply capturing Pikachu. A surprise is in store for Misty, as her Poliwhirl evolves not into a Poliwrath, but into another Pokémon altogether.
==Plot==
 and prepare to stop by a Pokémon Center when they spot a large crowd watching a raging . They decide to check it out. When they get a closer look they see two s, versus Delaney. The match quickly ends after Delaney's uses on . Delaney is thrilled by his seventh consecutive victory and calls out to the crowd for another eager challenger. Ash gladly steps forward. Misty also declares she wants to battle, causing her and Ash to begin fighting. Delaney ends the argument when he agrees to battle both of them. The first battle is Misty's Poliwhirl against Poliwrath. The match starts with a collision of attacks. Poliwhirl uses . Poliwrath dodges and uses . Poliwrath follows up with Submission and tosses Poliwhirl out of the match.
Ash takes his position and calls on his to start things off with a . Poliwrath dodges and strikes back with a Double Slap. In the meantime, Poliwhirl begins to recover to watch the battle. Misty wants Poliwhirl to watch as it "will" evolve into a Poliwrath someday. The match soon appears to be a bad matchup for Bayleef as Poliwrath has her standing on two feet, not four. is also watching the match, Jessie declares that she wants Poliwrath instead of this time. James and agree, because if they had Poliwrath, Pikachu would be easier to catch. Meanwhile, both Bayleef and Poliwrath appear to be severely damaged. Bayleef uses a attack and Poliwrath uses Double Slap. Suddenly, stops the match. Both Ash and Delaney are annoyed, but Brock points out that both Pokémon are too injured to go on. Delaney concedes and agrees to a draw with Ash before officially introducing himself.
Later, at the Pokémon Center, Ash and Misty are talking about healing their Pokémon when Ash slips on the wet floor, which is in the process of being cleaned. As a result, his belongings go flying out of his backpack. In the scramble to pick everything up, Poliwhirl finds Ash's King's Rock and is returned back to its with it. Afterwards, Ash happily hands his Pokémon to Nurse Joy for some rest.
Meanwhile, Delaney is busy apologizing to his Poliwrath for exhausting it earlier when he sees a fortune teller, which is actually Jessie in disguise. As a part of the elaborate ploy, and James pose as orange farmers and declare that the fortune teller predicted that orange prices would see a drastic increase, so they turned to farming oranges. With the farmer's recommendations in mind, Delaney is less skeptical. He waits to hear the fortune teller's latest prediction, and Jessie looks into her crystal ball to reveal that Poliwrath is possessed by evil. She offers to remove the evil, and so Delaney hands Poliwrath over to her. She covers the Poké Ball with a cloth and tells Delaney to count to thirty slowly with his eyes closed. The ploy allows Team Rocket to make their escape with Delaney's Poliwrath, but Delaney opens his eyes and sees them running off. Team Rocket runs away scared that he might catch up. Ash and his friends overhear Delaney's shouting, so they come over to join the chase. Ash demands answers, so Team Rocket recites their before making their escape soaring off in their Meowth balloon. As the gang follows they slide down a hill into a truck carrying hay, as Team Rocket disappears behind a mountain. Ash wants to send out , but all of his Pokémon are still at the Pokémon Center. As the truck stops, everybody jumps off and continues the chase.
Meanwhile, Team Rocket celebrates their successful getaway and tries to train Poliwrath. However, Poliwrath defeats all of their Pokémon and refuses to listen. Soon Ash and his friends find a Pokémon Center and get their Pokémon transferred over to them. As they come out of the Center a man runs up to them and alerts them to a Poliwrath and three other folks in the area. Team Rocket has since geared up Poliwrath with the Mark Three Manner Minder, a brace machine that allows them to control its movements. As Poliwrath defeats an , Ash and his friends catch up. Poliwrath struggles a lot more than previously and Delaney realizes that the machine is controlling its movements. Ash sends out . Poliwrath uses Water Gun. After this, Ash commands Phanpy to use , but Delaney stops him to avoid hurting his Poliwrath. Misty sends out next, which uses Tackle and on the Mark III Manner Minder making the machine fly onto Jessie. Meowth is pleased, and he gleefully takes the controller and begins to order Jessie around. He sends Jessie to battle Corsola, but she is quickly defeated by a Spike Cannon attack. James is excited to try the Manner Minder out. He forces Jessie to perform an "obedience Submission attack", though this causes Jessie to tumble roll instead. Poliwrath finally recovers and Double Slaps the manipulation device off Jessie. James orders out his , which latches onto his head. Meowth suggests the Manner Minder would do Victreebel wonders. Jessie sends into the fray, while Ash selects Phanpy again.
Misty calls out her Poliwhirl, and it emerges with the King's Rock on its head. The item leads Poliwhirl to suddenly evolve into a . Ash looks it up in his Pokédex. Misty is thrilled by her very happy Pokémon. Jessie is furious and orders Arbok to attack. James follows suit, but Politoed instead greets Victreebel with a friendly handshake. Misty commands it to use Water Gun instead, which batters Victreebel's Razor Leaves away. Politoed uses Double Slap and performs a victory dance afterwards. Delaney alerts Ash to Phanpy's current predicament; it is in trouble from Arbok's . Brock reads through his guidebook, and he asks Misty if Politoed can use a move called . Misty orders the attack, and it causes Arbok and Victreebel to become and begin infighting. Arbok strikes out at Politoed, which Misty notices was particularly powerful. Brock reads that Swagger confuses and also raises its opponents' power. Next, Delaney commands Poliwrath to use Double Slap on Arbok. Politoed slaps Victreebel. Phanpy finishes them with a Take Down, which knocks them into their Trainers and Poliwrath's Poké Ball is sent flying. Delaney catches his Poké Ball before Pikachu blasts Team Rocket off with . Everyone celebrates after finally defeating Team Rocket. Later, at the Pokémon Center, Delaney and the gang part ways and their journey continues.
==Major events==
* 's uses 's King's Rock to evolve into and learns .
===Debuts===
====Pokémon debuts====
* ()
==Characters==
===Humans===
* 
* 
* 
* Jessie
* James
* Nurse Joy
* Delaney
* 
* Farmer
* Crowd
===Pokémon===
Who's That Pokémon?: (US and international), (Japan)
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ()
* (; evolves)
* (; newly evolved; debut)
* ()
* ()
* ()
* (Nurse Joy's)
* (Delaney's)
* ('s)
* 
==Trivia==
* and transfer their Pokémon between Pokémon Centers. This presumably has the same physical effect as trading, which is required for to evolve into .
* The device used by for this episode bears a resemblance to the Strength Intensifiers A.J. used on his Pokémon. Its purpose is also similar to the device Dr. Namba used on and hoped to use on .
* Instead of the regular Team Rocket theme, the music during the is a variation.
* This is the third time an overly-confident Trainer is well-known for his "unbeatable" . The other times were in Charizard Chills and Hook, Line, and Stinker.
* The English title is most likely a reference to "The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune" (Hamlet 3. 1. 68), part of Hamlet's "" soliloquy from the tragedy by .
** It may also be based on either the game show or "Outrageous Fortune".
** Another possible source for the title could be the fortune teller act put on by Team Rocket during the episode. 
* When Poliwhirl evolves, Team Rocket says, "Shazam!" This may be a reference to , the comic book figure who transforms from a young man into an adult superhero at the mention of the name of the wizard who gave him his abilities, Shazam.
* When Team Rocket runs away with Poliwrath's Poké Ball, Face Forward Team Rocket! plays in the background.
* Despite learning in this episode, it has never used the move since.
===Errors===
* When Poliwrath is fighting Ash's Bayleef, it is the ninth battle that day. However, Brock says it is Poliwrath's eighth battle.
* When Nurse Joy sends over the group's Pokémon, the s are missing the outer white circle.
* When Misty calls on to battle Poliwrath, she sends it out of a regular Poké Ball instead of the Lure Ball it is contained in.
* When Team Rocket blasts off, even though isn't out of its Poké Ball, it is seen blasting off with them.
* When Misty sends out her Poliwhirl while facing Delaney, the Poké Ball is missing the button and the outer white circle.
EP247 error.png|The missing outer ring
EP247 error 2.png|Corsola's "Poké Ball"
===Dub edits===
* There are two separate shots of Poliwrath violently slapping Jessie; in one of those shots, she has red spots on her cheeks from Poliwrath's intense slapping. Both of these shots were deemed "too violent" and cut from the broadcast version and first US home video release and replaced with an impact animation. The version streamed on Pokémon TV and the second US home video release, however, leaves the shots in this episode intact.
EP247 Deleted Shot 1.png|Slap scene 1 of 2
EP247 Deleted Shot 2.png|Slap scene 2 of 2
EP247 censorship.png|The replacement impact animations
==In other languages==
247
Category:Episodes written by Yukiyoshi Ōhashi
Category:Episodes by one-time storyboarders
Category:Episodes directed by Shigeru Ōmachi
Category:Episodes animated by Kazuhisa Kosuge
Category:Episodes in which a main character's Pokémon evolves
Category:Episodes focusing on Misty
Category:Episodes in which a main character's Pokémon learns a new move
de:Böse Zukunft
es:EP249
fr:EP247
it:OA131
ja:無印編第247話
zh:宝可梦 第248集