DP042

The Electrike Company! (Japanese: ラクライ訓練センター！ Practice Center!) is the 42nd episode of Pokémon the Series: Diamond and Pearl, and the 508th episode of the Pokémon animated series. It first aired in Japan on August 9, 2007 and in the United States on December 22, 2007.
==Blurb==
On a sunny day in Sinnoh, Ash is literally hit by a bolt out of the blue—an Electrike is practicing its Electric-type moves nearby, but it accidentally zapped Ash instead of its target! Jaco, the Electrike's Trainer, is a Pokémon breeder who's raising Electrike at the Pokémon Training Center. He doesn't think Electrike will ever be able to control its moves, but Brock knows better and offers to help both of them train. It's all about developing trust between Trainer and Pokémon so they can work together as a team. From daily care and feeding to learning Electrike's individual rhythm, Brock knows just how it's done!
Even Team Rocket feels a little touched by the developing bond between Jaco and Electrike. At least, James and Meowth are touched; Jessie is just touchy. She wants to steal Electrike now, but not only do James and Meowth try to stop her, they also volunteer to help Electrike and Jaco train! They have plenty of experience at being zapped by Pikachu, so they're happy to run around in insulated jackets so Electrike can practice hitting moving targets.
Jessie is still determined to steal Electrike, and she uses her own one-woman robot to grab it. But when Electrike evolves into Manectric, Jessie steals an easier prize instead: Pikachu! To stop her getaway, Manectric needs to hit the one exposed spot on her rampaging robot. Will Jaco and Manectric's hard work finally pay off? Of course! Manectric hits its target and sends Team Rocket blasting off. Now that it's finally learned to control its attacks, Manectric is ready to graduate from the Pokémon Training Center, and our heroes can say goodbye knowing that both Jaco and Manectric have grown from the experience.
==Plot==
 and are sitting next to a pond, watching their Pokémon play in it, when they see an move coming down on them from the sky. They evade it at the last second, though the attack obliterates the ground. Suddenly as bolts towards them, which scans on her Pokédex. The Electrike accidentally zaps Ash. A man soon follows and apologizes, before introducing himself as Jaco, a who is currently training the Electrike. He bends down to examine closer, and he complimenting it while he reveals his passion for . is close behind, and reveals that he runs the nearby Pokémon Training Center for Electric types and then offers the group a tour of the school.
The group go down to the school only to find it mostly abandoned, though Cal admits that Jaco and Electrike are the last remaining students as everyone else already graduated. Cal explains that the Training Center is deisgned to train Electrike Pokémon like Electrike to work in the power generation industry. He provides a demonstration of another Electrike's training. He orders the Pokémon to use followed by . The Electrike proves its ability to manipulate electricity by changing its direction to the left, upward and then on a quick descent before hitting the target while Jaco's Electrike watches closely from the sidelines.
After Cal leaves, Jaco expresses his disappointment with his Electrike, being more used to working with Flying types than Electric types. volunteers to help coach Jaco in training Electrike, and the budding Breeder accepts the offer. Meanwhile, from their Magikarp submarine, spies on the scene and figures Electrike is a good candidate to kidnap. James and point out that this Electrike is unstable, and has not matured yet. Jessie suggests that they wait for the twerps to do the work for them, then swoop in and steal it.
Later, Brock explains the importance of brushing a Pokémon. Jaco starts by brushing Electrike, but gets zapped by it to which Brock explains not to use a metal brush. Next, the scene turns to Electrike's training. It starts with Charge followed by , but it loses control over the attack and accidentally hits Ash again. Upon seeing this, Brock suggests Ash and Dawn call out their Electric Pokémon, and respectively, for a demonstration. Pikachu hits the target with no problem, but Pachirisu overcharges and blasts Ash. Dawn gives Pachirisu a Poffin, and it succeeds the second time. Brock tells Jaco that Electrike is more powerful than other Electric-type Pokémon. Later, Jaco walks in on Brock as he prepares for the Pokémon. Brock gives him some advice on not only Electric types, but how all different types need different treatments.
That evening, Pikachu is training with Electrike while being remotely watched by James and Meowth who start to feel the bond of partnership the two have and are inspired for them to see it through. Ironically, Jessie has gotten tired of waiting despite her earlier advice and has them rush in. They resort to their , but James and Meowth are not impressed with Jessie's plan to steal Electrike, and they attempt to hold her back, saying they should not stop Jaco and Electrike's training and that if they wanted to steal the Pokémon, she should do so herself - ending up with Jessie running away crying. James and Meowth offer to keep helping Electrike, stunning Ash and his friends.
The following morning, after a meal courtesy of Jaco, Pikachu and Electrike resume their training. Jaco orders Electrike to Charge again and hit the target with a Thunderbolt, this time succeeding. Then Ash, Meowth, and James dress in electric-insulating jackets in order to help Electrike learn to control its electricity. Cal shows up in his car and is visibly impressed by the progress.
Jessie returns later, in her own pink mecha to steal Electrike. Pikachu attacks, but her machine is insulated. While held captive in the mecha's hand, Electrike evolves into , shattering the restraint. With Manectric too big for Jessie's hands now, she steals Pikachu instead. James and Meowth hop onto the back and hack a hole for Manectric to hit. Jessie resorts to another plan and sends her machine up in the air. Manectric has gained a lot of power, improved aim and electricity control, manages to raise a Thunder attack to destroy the mecha and send Team Rocket blasting off, but James and Meowth don't mind - they are happy for Electrike succeeding and evolving.
Afterward, Cal shows up and congratulates Jaco and the group on their good work. He declares that Manectric has officially graduated and soon leaves to drop it off to work at a power generator. Jaco bids his farewell to Manectric as he leaves with Cal, while the group heads off to Hearthome City.
==Major events==
===Debuts===
====Pokémon debuts====
==Characters==
===Humans===
* 
* 
* 
* Jessie
* James
* Jaco
* 
===Pokémon===
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ()
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* ()
* (Jaco's; evolves)
* (Jaco's; newly evolved)
* ('s)
==Trivia==
* Music from Jirachi: Wish Maker and an alternate cut of Together are used as background music.
* 4Kids background music is used in this episode.
* This is the first episode to use music from Pokémon Ranger and the Temple of the Sea, during 's Evolution. However, the background music is replaced in the dub.
* narrates the preview for the next episode.
* This is one of the few episodes where actually wants to be blasted off. James and requested for Ash to blast them off while trying to hold back Jessie.
* In this episode, Team Rocket uses a variation of their .
** During the motto, the music was cut out during James and Meowth's lines to portray their sadness.
* The dub title is a pun on the 1971 program .
* The Professor Oak's Big Pokémon Encyclopedia following this episode marks, to date, the only animated appearances of 
===Errors===
* When Ash, James, and Meowth are running from Electrike, Ash doesn't have his gloves on. However, when he tells to use on Jessie's machine, the gloves are back on. After Electrike evolves, Ash's gloves are gone again.
* and Pikachu zap the two outer targets, but when the camera pans out, it shows the target on the right undamaged and the left and center targets broken.
** Similarly, 's Electrike zaps the center target, but when the camera zooms out, the left one is destroyed, while the center one is unscathed.
* In the dub, Cal's Electrike's is called .
DP042 error.png|Ash without his gloves
===Dub edits===
==In other languages==
042
Category:Episodes written by Masashi Sogo
Category:Episodes storyboarded by Masamitsu Hidaka
Category:Episodes directed by Yūji Asada
Category:Episodes animated by Masaaki Iwane
Category:Episodes focusing on Brock
de:Eine „blitzende“ Herausforderung!
es:EP511
fr:DP042
it:DP042
ja:DP編第42話
zh:宝可梦 钻石＆珍珠 第42集