EP237

As Cold as Pryce (Japanese: イノムーとふゆのヤナギ！ and of the Winter!) is the 237th episode of the Pokémon animated series. It first aired in Japan on February 21, 2002, and in the United States on March 1, 2003. 
==Blurb==
Finally setting foot in Mahogany Town, Ash is anxious to set about winning his next badge. When he finally locates the town gym leader, Pryce, he is surprised to recognize the man, having previously exchanged differing opinions on the proper nature of relationships between Pokémon and trainer. The embittered gym leader maintains his position that Pokémon must be controlled rather than trusted, must remain servants and never friends. When a natural catastrophe sends Ash and Pryce hurtling deep into the depths of the earth—and equally deep into the recesses of this gym leader's mysterious past—the two confront the Piloswine that loyally served Pryce long ago. In this lost Pokémon Ash recognizes the seed that might bring about a change of heart in Pryce.
==Plot==
 and walk over to the Mahogany Gym, but it appears to be locked. A lady named Sheila informs the group that the Gym Leader, Pryce, has gone up to the mountains for his morning meditation under a waterfall. Sheila offers to escort them there, but they have to hurry after her. Meanwhile, , who was waiting at the Gym, tail them. After finally catching up with Sheila, they see Pryce. Ash is shocked to see that Pryce is the man who saved them on the bridge the other day. Pryce says that it would be pointless to Ash, because his emotional bonds with his Pokémon have dulled their senses. After Ash protests, Pryce sends out his . He tells Ash that if he can beat Dewgong, he will get his Gym battle. 
Ash battles him with and quickly loses. Pryce restates that Ash's heart was too involved in the battle to craft a good strategy. He dismisses the Gym challenge before walking off, though Ash follows close behind. , who witnessed the whole match, follows Ash. Soon, Ash gets separated from , and the Rocket trio also lose each other for a moment. Jessie spots Ash and starts the , and when James says his line, they realize that they were both standing in the same bush. The chase for Pikachu eventually leads to the edge of a cliff, where Ash is cornered. Suddenly, Pryce appears and calls Team Rocket idiots for trying to forcibly steal someone else's Pokémon. launches a . Pryce prepares to guide out of the trouble, but the ground collapses underneath himself, Ash, and Pikachu.
As the trio free fall into a crevasse, Ash sends out to help Pryce and to break their fall using . At the top of the cliff, Team Rocket is arguing over whose idea the Smokescreen was, when , , and Sheila appear. Brock asks if they saw Ash, and Jessie and James run away, leaving to spill the beans. Sheila sees a small gully for them to climb down. At the bottom of the cliff, Pryce makes a spicy herbal medicine to restore Totodile's energy since it exhausted itself from the Water Gun. Pryce thanks Ash for how his Pokémon reacted under stress, but that's as close as he is with them, he must retain strict discipline. 
Back up at the top, Sheila explains to Misty and Brock that Pryce used to love his Pokémon. Because he treated his Pokémon so coldly, and his favoring of the , people began calling him "Icy Pryce". She, Brock, and Misty descend the cliff by a rope. Meanwhile, Ash and Pryce look for a way out and stumble upon an opening, which was revealed earlier by Totodile's Water Gun. Pryce spots an old anklet, which he says belonged to his . Now at the bottom, Sheila explains that Pryce once had a Piloswine, that one day just left. Pryce elaborates to Ash, saying that he and Piloswine were once in a national tournament against a . He and Piloswine were both badly burned, as Pryce ran to protect it. One night, Piloswine just left the snowbound cottage they were recovering in, and Pryce never saw it again. Ever since then, Pryce stopped treating Pokémon as friends.
 
Pryce and Ash soon enter a cavern covered in a thin layer of ice. Ash sees a figure frozen in the ice. With a shock, Pryce realizes it is his Piloswine, which is holding herbs used to treat burns. Ash deduces that it got trapped after looking for herbs to help his friend. Pryce falls to his knees, and with tears trickling down his face he apologizes to his friend for leaving it behind. Ash uses 's to thaw the ice and Pikachu's to revive Piloswine. Piloswine still remembers Pryce, to the old man's delight. Pryce tells Piloswine to up and explains to Ash that the move restores energy. 
Sheila calls out for the lost duo, and Pryce emerges with his old friend Piloswine by his side once again. Sheila is also excited to see Piloswine. Team Rocket descends into the crevasse with their balloon and starts another battle. Pryce takes and Weezing head-on with Piloswine, and beats them both with a blast of . Pikachu delivers a powerful to send Team Rocket off, and everyone celebrates. Back at the Gym, Ash requests a Gym battle against Pryce, though he declines. Pryce admits that he and Piloswine need some rest, but he offers to battle Ash tomorrow. Ash accepts and looks forward to earning his seventh Johto League Badge.
==Major events==
* and arrive in Mahogany Town.
* Ash and his friends meet Pryce again and learn that he is the Gym Leader.
* Ash has an unofficial with Pryce and loses.
* Ash and his friends help Pryce find his lost .
* Pryce accepts Ash's request for a Gym battle.
===Debuts===
====Humans====
* Sheila
====Pokémon debuts====
=====TV episode debuts=====
* ()
==Characters==
===Humans===
* 
* 
* 
* Jessie
* James
* Pryce
* Sheila
* Magmar Trainer (flashback)
===Pokémon===
Who's That Pokémon?: (US and international), (Japan)
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ()
* (; )
* ()
* ()
* ()
* (Pryce's)
* ()
* (Trainer's; flashback)
* (Trainer's; flashback)
* (Trainer's; flashback)
* (Trainer's flashback)
==Trivia==
* Pryce's bitter attitude and haunted past appears to be an allusion to the Pokémon Adventures .
* The episode's English title is derived from the phrase "as cold as ice".
* In this episode, uses a variation of their .
* Pryce is shown meditating under a waterfall, a reference to what one of his Gym s mentions him doing in the Generation II .
* references the , which was when the US hockey team defeated the in the Medal Round of the at .
* Music from Mewtwo Strikes Back can be heard in this episode.
===Errors===
* When Team Rocket trips over a rock, 's foot is seen, but in the next shot, Wobbuffet isn't present.
* When Pryce tells to use and Ash asks what it is, Pryce says its an "ability that Piloswine can use" when it is actually a move.
* Despite falling off the cliff first, Pryce was the one further down the hole.
* When is called out of its , it cries, but its mouth doesn't move.
* In the English dub, during the Who's That Pokémon? segment, the clue says " is composed of three Magnemites," which is the incorrect plural for Magnemite. All Pokémon names have invariant plurals.
===Dub edits===
==In other languages==
237
Category:Episodes written by Junki Takegami
Category:Episodes storyboarded by Yoshitaka Fujimoto
Category:Episodes directed by Shigeru Ōmachi
Category:Episodes animated by Keishi Sakai
Category:Episodes in which an alternately colored Pokémon appears
de:Der eiskalte Norbert
es:EP239
fr:EP237
it:OA121
ja:無印編第237話
zh:宝可梦 第238集