EP032

The Ninja Poké-Showdown (Japanese: セキチクにんじゃたいけつ！ Ninja Showdown!) is the 32nd episode of the Pokémon animated series. It first aired in Japan on November 4, 1997, and in the United States on October 20, 1998.
==Blurb==
Fuchsia Gym, the authorized gym where Ash seeks his next badge, turns out to be a hidden ninja's lair. After finally discovering and entering the gym, he is held up by a complex system of traps. At last, the gym's eccentric trainer challenges Ash to a match. Just as he defeats the trainer, the official battle with the Master begins. The battle goes out of control as Team Rocket also enters the gym and its vast array of traps. Can Ash actually earn the gym badge?
==Plot==
 and find themselves lost in a forest en route to the Fuchsia Gym and decide to take a break by a waterfall. brushes and comments on its wonderful hair, whilst takes a sip of water. tells Psyduck that drinking cold water will only make its headache worse, but Psyduck responds with a blank stare, which angers her. She then asks Brock if he would like to trade Vulpix for Psyduck, though he refuses. As they head off for the Gym, a watches them from the trees.
The group ends up at an odd-looking mansion where they stop to ask directions, though it appears to be deserted. Misty leans against a wall and falls through it. Brock knocks on the wall and it is revealed to be a secret door, in which they quickly locate Misty. Suddenly, the same that was spying on them before appears. It hops away, so they decide to follow it. However, Ash runs into a small series of mishaps, such as being electrocuted by a , colliding into an invisible wall, nearly falling off a ledge because of a wall trap and being pinned to another wall by several . Then, a girl, who identifies herself as a ninja warrior , jumps from the ceiling. Though Ash and Misty criticize Aya's dangerous traps, Brock is smitten and compliments Aya's outfit. However, she slaps his hand away and pushes him to the ground before claiming that she will not let the group go until she and Ash have a ; he accepts the one-on-one match, though not before asking everyone to help him get down from the wall he's stuck on.
The battle begins; Aya sends out Venonat and Ash chooses . Bulbasaur uses , but Venonat jumps on its head and launches a attack, which Bulbasaur blows away. It then replies with its , though Venonat evades it and scores a direct hit with its . Bulbasaur then finishes it off with before its vines quickly entangle the and drain it of its energy. Aya recalls Venonat, just as a Voltorb appears and uses , filling the room with smoke. Koga appears from the smoke, explains that they are at the Fuchsia Gym, reveals that he is the Gym Leader, introduces Aya as his younger sister, and announces that he will battle Ash and not let the group go until he does. Ash states his intentions of wanting to find the Gym and challenge Koga, and Koga shows him a that he can earn by defeating him in a two-on-two battle. Ash sends in , and Koga responds by sending out his own Venonat, which promptly evolves into due to it having more experience than Aya's. Koga orders Venomoth to use Stun Spore, and Ash orders Pidgeotto to use . This time, however, the Stun Spore hits and Pidgeotto. Venomoth follows up with , prompting Ash to recall Pidgeotto and send out . Venomoth uses Stun Spore again, but Charmander blocks it with .
At that moment, arrives on the scene by breaking thought the ceiling and performs a theatrical rendition of their , sending out and in the process. Ash, Aya, and Koga send in Charmander, Venonat, and Venomoth, respectively, to battle, but James throws a fistful of a sticky thread at them, immobilizing them. then steps up, only to meet the same fate from Jessie. Misty then tries to send out Starmie, but Psyduck breaks out of its instead. An infuriated Misty asks Ash what moves Psyduck knows; Ash consults the Pokédex, which lists . Misty tells Psyduck to use Tail Whip, but Psyduck wags its tail to no effect whatsoever, much to Misty's irritation. The Pokédex then lists Psyduck's second move as , which Psyduck does use on Arbok, but it doesn't work. Arbok begins biting Psyduck's head, worsening its headache.
Koga pulls a cord, opening up several ceiling panels and unleashing a large amount of Voltorb on the trio. However, Team Rocket uses more of their sticky thread to reel in the entire pack of Voltorb. However, one of the Voltorb gets to explode when holds it up, which the group uses as a chance to escape into another room. Brock notices that the room is slanted, and Koga explains that it is a strategy to confuse any opponents. Team Rocket breaks through a wall, with the Voltorb stuffed in a loot bag. Meowth bowls a Voltorb towards Ash and his friends, and it explodes. Ash attempts to retaliate, though his Pokemon are still entangled in Team Rocket's sticky web. When Psyduck runs frantically through the scene, Meowth hits Psyduck out of the way, agitated by its chaotic behavior. At that moment, Psyduck uses a variety of powers to freeze Team Rocket, send them blasting off, and remove the sticky gunk from Venonat, Venomoth, Charmander, and Pikachu. Ash's Pokédex chimes in, identifying Psyduck's third and fourth attacks as and , respectively, which it can use when affected by a severe headache. Koga and Aya both offer to trade for Psyduck, but Misty declines, saying she wouldn't trade Psyduck for the world. When Koga tries to offer her a Soul Badge out of gratitude, Ash is reminded of the fact that they still have a match to finish.
Ash and Koga resume their battle outside in the courtyard. Koga's Golbat makes the first move, swooping in on Ash's Charmander with a . Charmander keeps Golbat at bay with his attack, though Koga responds with . Despite the earsplitting sound, Charmander launches a series of Flamethower attacks, burning Brock's face and Golbat's wing in the process. Charmander then wins the battle with an intense . Koga promptly gives Ash a Soul Badge in recognition of Charmander's battle skill alongside Psyduck's efforts for saving the Gym and his Voltorb from Team Rocket, and the trio goes on their way, with Misty still being in slight disbelief at the power that Psyduck actually posseses.
==Major events==
* and arrive at the Fuchsia Gym and meet the Gym Leader Koga, and his sister, .
* Ash's Bulbasaur is revealed to know .
* Ash challenges Koga to a Gym , but the battle is interrupted by .
* Misty's Psyduck battles for the first time and is revealed to know , , , and .
* Ash's Charmander is revealed to know and .
* Ash continues his battle with Koga and wins, earning a .
===Debuts===
====Humans====
* 
* Koga
====Pokémon debuts====
* ()
* 
==Characters==
===Humans===
* 
* 
* 
* Jessie
* James
* Koga
* 
===Pokémon===
Who's That Pokémon?: 
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ()
* (Koga's; evolves)
* (Koga's; newly evolved; debut)
* (; debut)
* (Koga's; multiple)
* ('s)
==Trivia==
* This is Maddie Blaustein's first episode as .
** However, the first one, chronologically speaking, is Beauty and the Beach due to it being initially skipped in the dub.
* 's eyes open up after being hit by 's .
* This episode marks the first time jumps out of 's when she attempts to summon another Pokémon.
* This episode was partially adapted into the book Psyduck Ducks Out.
* This episode is featured on Volume 13: Psyduck from Viz Media's series.
* performs , a type of Japanese dance-drama, when they enter Koga's Gym.
* Due to Koga later becoming a member of the Elite Four in the games, this is technically the first appearance of an Elite Four member in the .
** The first appearance of a current Elite Four member would not be until To Master the Onixpected!, 39 episodes later.
* The Gym is not located in Fuchsia City as it is in the . Fuchsia City itself would not appear until almost 400 episodes later in Time Warp Heals All Wounds.
* This episode was banned in , likely because of references to Japanese culture.
* Parts of this episode were reanimated and used for flashback material for The Fires of a Red-Hot Reunion!.
* In the Japanese version, Koga frequently makes use of the archaic polite language usually associated in Japanese media with samurais, including de gozaru and the obsolete personal pronoun sessha.
===Errors===
* When Brock opens the door to the mansion, he is to the right of while is to the left, but in the next shot, they swap places.
* Koga has his attack Ash's Pidgeotto with and , which it and , respectively. However, no Pokémon can have more than one major status condition on it at the same time.
* Even though Ash is stuck to the wall by the throwing stars, when the camera changes to show the side of Ash's face and sleeve, the stars are missing.
* When Ash and notice the , Ash's bag is missing. This also happens to Misty when slaps Brock.
* The Pokédex classifies as the Bug Pokémon instead of the Insect Pokémon.
** Shortly afterward, 's left ear is briefly overlapped by Ash while part of Ash's right leg is missing.
* When Ash asks Aya to remove him from the wall, Misty's eyes are colored white instead of blue.
* When Koga tells Venomoth to use Sleep Powder, it is colored like Stun Spore.
* In the shot right after Team Rocket performs their , Ash's gloves are completely black.
* When Ash and his friends enter the slanted trap room in the mansion, there are several errors: 
** When the floor tilts, Ash and his friends tilt, but the trapdoor does not.
** The wall design changes from one scene to the next.
** Initially, the back wall is slanted, but appears normal later.
** After Team Rocket blasts off, the room is no longer slanted.
* When Pikachu tries to remove the webbing on himself, part of the stripe on Charmander is missing.
* In several scenes, the back of 's wings are colored blue instead of purple, similar to .
* When Koga gives Ash his Soul Badge, it is perpendicular and rounder. However, when Koga unrolls it earlier, the badge was pointing away from the top.
* In the English dub:
** Ash commands his to use , though in the games, Bulbasaur cannot legitimately know this move. This was most likely a dubbing error, since Whirlwind is known as ふきとばし Blow Away in Japanese. Ash was most likely telling Bulbasaur to simply "blow it away" rather than the actual attack.
** Ash instructs his Pikachu to use "electric attack", which does not exist, while in the Japanese version he instructs it to use . This is most likely a translation error, as Thunder Shock's Japanese name でんきショック means Electric Shock.
* In the dub, after obtaining the Soul Badge, Ash's English voice can be heard.
Ash Bulbasaur Whirlwind.png|Ash's Bulbasaur using Whirlwind
EP032 error.png|Ash's miscolored gloves
EP032 error 2.png|Golbat's miscolored wings
===Dub edits===
* Kanto Pokérap: Day 2
* James's comment about the Gym looking like a Japanese restaurant is dub-only.
* The exchange between Jessie and James during Team Rocket's planning scene is different between versions:
** In the original version, Jessie paraphrases a quote by the Japanese author , saying, "The evening primrose suits , and Pokémon suit us villains." She then tosses the rose she was holding to James while saying that a beautiful flower has its poison. When James gets stung by the flower, he notes that it has thorns rather than poison, causing an irritated Jessie to throw her binoculars at him to shut him up.
** In the English dub version, Jessie makes an alliteration about Poison Pokémon. When James acts confused, she tosses her rose to him and explains that beautiful things can be painful. After getting stung by the rose's thorns and complaining about getting hurt, he's struck by Jessie's thrown binoculars to hurry him along.
* In the original version, Brock questions if Koga's Venonat's evolution was using Kawarimi no Jutsu, a ninja art also known as "Body Replacement Technique" or "Substitution Jutsu" in the West. In the English dub, this was changed to "Metamorphosis attack".
==In other languages==
032
Category:Banned episodes
Category:Episodes written by Yukiyoshi Ōhashi
Category:Episodes storyboarded and directed by Kiyotaka Itani
Category:Episodes storyboarded by Kiyotaka Itani
Category:Episodes directed by Kiyotaka Itani
Category:Episodes animated by Takayuki Shimura
Category:Episodes with Gym battles
Category:Episodes in which Ash gets a Badge
Category:Episodes focusing on Ash
Category:Banned episodes
de:Die Arena der Ninjas
es:EP032
fr:EP032
it:GA032
ja:無印編第32話
zh:宝可梦 第32集