EP156

The Psychic Sidekicks! (Japanese: キリンリキ！エスパーポケモンのむら！ ! The Village of Pokémon!) is the 156th episode of the Pokémon animated series. It was first broadcast in Japan on July 13, 2000, and in the United States on August 11, 2001.
==Blurb==
Our heroes come to a town whose residents all raise Psychic Pokémon to repel the Ghost Pokémon that lurk nearby. Soon thereafter, Team Rocket makes its appearance in a Ghost Pokémon machine impervious to Psychic attacks, and begins to steal all the town's Pokémon.
==Plot==
 and are walking through a wood, and notice a Trainer Tips sign that warns of in the woods and recommends the use a Pokémon to keep them away. They don't have any Psychic types, but remembers that can use Psychic attacks. releases her Psyduck and tells it to use its attack if they meet a Ghost Pokémon, but it doesn't seem to understand her.
The bushes rustle and something peeks out. Misty orders Psyduck to use , but it returns to its . Ash and Brock examine the creature in the bush, and comment that it doesn't look like a Ghost-type Pokémon. A girl walks up and says that it isn't, it's her 's tail. Ash consults Dexter and learns that Girafarig is a Psychic Pokémon with a second head on its tail.
Ash introduces himself, and the girl presents herself as Cherry. She picked a Girafarig to train partly because it is an unusual Pokémon, and partly because it is tradition in her hometown of Len Town to raise Psychic Pokémon in order to protect against the ghosts in the woods. is listening to this, and they make a plan to go to town and steal all of the Psychic Pokémon. comments that Psychic types are tricky to catch, but he has a secret weapon in mind.
The trainers are eating lunch together. Cherry says she wants to compete in the Johto League. She comments that Ash and seem to know each other very well, causing them to blush. She then says that if a Trainer and their Psychic Pokémon are very close, they can communicate telepathically. She wishes this for her and Girafarig, and challenges Ash to a in order to grow stronger. Always ready for a match, Ash accepts.
Pikachu starts with a that knocks Girafarig down, but Girafarig gets up and uses . Nothing seems to happen, so Pikachu continues with and when Girafarig tries to him. Suddenly a wind rustles through the trees and a tremendous blast comes out of nowhere. Pikachu is thrown back, but he's not out of the fight yet. Cherry explains that this is Future Sight: a time-delayed Psychic attack. Now Girafarig uses , Pikachu counters it with Thunderbolt, creating an explosion that raises a cloud of dust. Before Girafarig can attack again, Pikachu leaps out of the cloud and uses to win the match. All of them congratulate Cherry for a great match, but she's worried because she can't communicate psychically with Girafarig. Ash reassures her that she's still a good . Cherry invites them all to Len Town to see the other Psychic Pokémon.
In town, Misty is impressed with the Psychic Pokémon everywhere. A woman, Mrs. Bellows, chases after her playful which keeps ing around. Then an exhausted man, comes running up the street and warns them about a giant Ghost Pokémon that was immune to Psychic attacks. He and his were fishing when a giant appeared. He had Mr. Mime use , but the attack bounced off the Gengar and hit them instead. Then the Gengar captured Mr. Mime with its tongue. Brock and Ash decide to check it out.
Jessie and James drink a toast to their mechanical ghost, but Meowth says they should go back to town and catch the rest of the Psychic Pokémon. Mrs. Bellows finds her in a tree and suddenly they both see the Gengar. She tells Abra to use , but the attack bounces off the Gengar's eyes and hits Abra. The machine’s giant tongue comes down and grabs Abra. Team Rocket gloats that this time they're unstoppable
Cherry's Girafarig indicates that something is wrong, just as the giant Gengar is seen at the town limits. Toku recognizes it as the same one that ate his Mr. Mime, and Mrs. Bellows returns with the same story about her Abra. All the townsfolk grab their Pokémon and run inside, but Cherry believes that her Girafarig can take on this machine despite its size. As Team Rocket prepares to capture Pikachu, Cherry tells Girafarig to attack with Psybeam. The attack bounces off the Gengar's eyes and hits Girafarig, knocking it down. Team Rocket appear out of the machine and say their , then explain that the Gengar works by using mirrors to reflect Psychic attacks. Brock admits that this time they've been pretty smart. Misty grabs his ear and demands to know whose side he is on.
Cherry gets angry. She and her Girafarig glow for a moment, then she orders Confusion. The attack is reflected and Girafarig gets stunned. Not giving up, Cherry encourages her Pokémon to get up and use Psybeam. This attack is bounced back as well, and to protect Girafarig both Ash and Cherry stand in front of it and take the blast themselves. Ash tells a weakened Cherry to leave Team Rocket to him, but she tells Girafarig to use Future Sight. Team Rocket watch what seems to be Girafarig just standing there, and wonder if Future Sight will tell them what their future is going to be.
As Pikachu runs forward to attack, Cherry suddenly has a vision of the Gengar trying to Pikachu. She realizes that this is Girafarig's vision and warns Ash of the attack, so Pikachu is able to avoid the robot's tongue at the last second. All attempts to catch Pikachu fail, because he's now flying high thanks to Girafarig's Confusion ability. Eventually the robot's tongue can't stretch any farther, and Pikachu uses a Thunder attack which disables the robot and frees the Abra and Mr. Mime that were inside. Team Rocket is about to send out their Pokémon to continue the fight, but a wind rustles the trees and the Future Sight attack goes off, sending Team Rocket blasting off again.
Cherry is happy, as she and her Pokémon finally connected telepathically. Ash and friends depart, and Cherry vows that she and Girafarig will become as good a team as Ash and Pikachu.
==Major events==
===Debuts===
====Pokémon debuts====
=====TV episode debuts=====
* 
==Characters==
===Humans===
* 
* 
* 
* Jessie
* James
* Cherry
* Mrs. Bellows
* 
* Citizens
===Pokémon===
Who's That Pokémon?: (US and international), (Japan)
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ()
* (Cherry's)
* ('s)
* (Mrs. Bellows's)
* (Trainer's)
* (Trainer's)
* (Trainers'; ×3)
* (Trainer's)
* (Trainer's)
* (Trainer's)
* (×3)
==Trivia==
* When Pokémon: The Johto Journeys went on a two month hiatus on in 2001, this episode was promoted as a "lost episode". Even though it was classified as a lost episode, it was rerun four more times after its premiere (October 19, 2001; December 10, 2001; July 9, 2002; June 3, 2008).
** This episode aired April 20, 2001 in . Because of the "lost episode" incident, this is the longest distance between a European airdate and the correspondent American one with the European coming first: 113 days.
* Up until the November 10, 2015 DVD release of Pokémon The Johto Journeys: The Complete Collection, this episode, along with The Fortune Hunters, wasn't released on Region 1 VHS or DVD much like the lost episode Beauty and the Beach.
** Both the and the versions of this episode and The Fortune Hunters were released by Salvat, the company that distributes DVD versions of the episodes in the Iberian Peninsula. Both of these episodes were also included in the n season 3 box set.
* Ghost-types that are immune to Psychic-type attacks were later introduced as actual Pokémon, in the form of and .
** Through the use of its Ability, is also immune to Psychic-type attacks.
* The sign that the group encounters is based on the Trainer Tips from the games.
* When Team Rocket is driving with their mecha, they chant, "We've gotta catch 'em all!"
* was freed alongside , although it could have easily itself to safety.
* This episode was the first to air in Japan after the theatrical release of M03.
* was not the only Pokémon of the team to display psychic moves on the occasion. They could also use the newly caught , that would be more useful against ghosts for being part-.
* Despite forest surrounding Len Town to be described as filled of Ghost Pokémon, not a single real one is in fact seen within it, besides three , that are not Pokémon.
===Errors===
* During this episode, it is mistakenly stated that Psychic-types are strong against Ghost-types, when in fact the reverse is true (though Gastly, Haunter, and Gengar were weak due to their ). In Generation I, an error in programming resulted in Ghost-type attacks having no effect on Psychic Pokémon, rather than being super effective against them as was intended; as this particular episode was released well into Generation II, after the mistake was fixed, it is unclear how this error entered into the script.
* When and look at the bushes, 's bag is missing.
* When the group comes across for the first time and Misty is telling Psyduck to use , Psyduck's bill becomes the same color as the rest of its body.
* When Girafarig speaks after Cherry tells Ash to relax, its voice plays before its mouth moves.
* After says that Misty has a Psyduck, the strap on Misty's bag is missing.
* When Jessie opens up her compact, which gives a reflection of James and , the "R" on James' shirt is facing the correct way instead of being flipped horizontally as it should be seen on a mirror.
* At the end of the episode, the narrator says "What will happen to our heroes on their way to Johto?" However, they are already in Johto.
EP156 error.png|Psyduck's miscolored bill
EP156 error 2.png|The reflection error
===Dub edits===
* Pokémon Karaokémon: Two Perfect Girls
==In other languages==
156
Category:Episodes written by Atsuhiro Tomioka
Category:Episodes storyboarded by Kazu Yokota
Category:Episodes directed by Shigeru Ōmachi
Category:Episodes animated by Yūsaku Takeda
de:Der magische Blick!
es:EP158
fr:EP156
it:OA040
ja:無印編第156話
zh:宝可梦 第157集