EP215

Octillery The Outcast (Japanese: オクタンとテッポウオ！うずまきカップよせん！！ and ! Preliminaries!!), is the 215th episode of the Pokémon animated series. It was first broadcast in Japan on September 13, 2001, and in the United States on October 19, 2002.
==Blurb==
After reaching the town where the preliminary round of the Whirl Cup is held, Ash and Misty enter and earn the two victories required to continue on to the finals. A friend they had met earlier is not as fortunate. When Misty tries to console him with promises of the next Whirl Cup to be held in three years, he remains depressed, saying that it was not lack of ability but the low spirits of his Octillery that had brought about his defeat. The Pokémon had been depressed ever since it evolved from a Remoraid and was subsequently spurned by its onetime Remoraid friends. If the boy cannot somehow mend these friendships between Pokémon that have now grown different in appearance, he doesn't see any hopes of victory even in three years time. Ash and friends willingly lend their knowledge and enthusiasm to this problem of Pokémon sociology.
==Plot==
 and have finally reached Scarlet City, the site of the Whirl Cup tournament. tells his friends to stop arguing over who is going to win as they enter the Pokémon Center to register for the preliminary rounds. The lengthy queue comes as a surprise to Ash and . Brock begins flirting with Nurse Joy, but Misty bumps him out of the way. Ash and Misty register for the Whirl Cup. Nurse Joy hands the group a map of the tournament grounds, and explains that Ash will be competing in Stadium A while Misty’s first round will be in Stadium B. Joy runs through her database and reveals that two wins will be required to enter the actual Whirl Cup event, as only 64 competitors can qualify.
Afterwards, the group eat some icy poles outside. They are suddenly approached by a young , Marcellus, who pleads with Ash to his . Ash quickly agrees to the match, though Brock warns him that the preliminaries are only tomorrow, and that he should save his Pokémon's strength. Misty asks Marcellus for further details, and he admits that he wants to evolve his Remoraid into an . Marcellus shows them a stadium for the Whirl Cup and admits that the event will largely be occurring on land, so an Octillery would be perfectly suited. Misty decides to accept the challenge instead, since she hasn't had gotten the chance to train with her since she caught it. She calls it out against Marcellus’s Remoraid. Marcellus commands Remoraid to use , which Corsola counters with , knocking back the Remoraid. Corsola goes for a but Remoraid dives underneath and Corsola hits one of the pillars. It seems like Remoraid is nowhere to be seen, but soon it is spotted riding atop a wave. Marcellus tells Remoraid to use another Water Gun, and this time, it knocks Corsola out. Seconds later, Remoraid evolves into Octillery. Marcellus thanks them and declares that he’ll meet them in the Whirl Cup finals before heading off. 
The next day, the preliminary matches begin. Ash has go up against a Trainer and his . Totodlie's fancy footwork helps it avoid the several s, and it knocks Seel out with a single Water Gun attack. Misty's first round goes well, and her s a out of the competition. Ash breezes through his second round, defeating a with Totodile. In Misty’s second round, her Corsola manages to from several direct hits from a . A Tackle attack gives Misty her second win, allowing her to advance into the Whirl Cup tournament. The group reunite back at the Pokémon Center, where Ash and Misty reveal that they both won their two preliminaries. Marcellus walks past them and appears quite glum. Ash quickly, though tactlessly, recognizes from Marcellus's mood that he lost and thus will not be entering the main tournament. Misty offers him some advice, and this appears to cheer Marcellus up. He invites them to his place for dinner, and the group accepts the offer.
Inside Marcellus's mansion, the group ventures into a room with Remoraid in several aquarium tanks. Marcellus explains that he has caught Remoraid from all over including the southern sea. He admits that it is taking his Pokémon a while to evolve and calls out his only Octillery. Marcellus places Octillery in one of the tanks, but the Remoraid quickly swim off in another direction. After being struck by several Water Guns, Octillery retreats into a ceramic jar to console itself. The group are concerned and realize that the Remoraid probably don't recognize Octillery as their friend because they never saw it evolve. Marcellus explains that Octillery's feelings of exclusion got to it so badly, it ended up being unable to concentrate on battling during the preliminaries, and they ended up losing. After a few ideas, they dress up Ash in an Octillery costume, much to Ash's chagrin. Ash tries to lure out the Octillery, but instead he receives a Water Gun for his efforts.
Overnight, slips into Marcellus's home through a window. Jessie is initially startled by the school of Remoraid because they remind her of her first-grade teacher, but James helps her settle down. suggests that they could open a fishing park and make money for people to catch the Remoraid. With that, the trio commences their plan and vacuums up all the Remoraid. Meanwhile, the group and Marcellus are having dinner when they hear a funny noise. Marcellus decides to check it out. He flips on the light switch and he is greeted by Team Rocket who perform their . Marcellus demands to know what they want, then he turns to see that his tanks are empty. Ash and his friends peer through the doorway just as Team Rocket leave through a window. The group and Marcellus rush outside to see Team Rocket leave in their truck. Before the trio drives off, Octillery walks over and clings to the truck's bottom. Octillery leaves a trail of ink behind for Marcellus to follow. Team Rocket stops at a port to load their stolen goods onto a waiting boat. Meowth takes the controls of the crane, but he is stopped by Octillery who suctions itself to his face. Jessie and James attempt to pull Octillery off, but they get headbutted by Octillery's hard head. Octillery soon breaks open the tank containing all of Marcellus’s Remoraid and frees them into the nearby ocean. Now the group has arrived on the scene, but Team Rocket isn't giving up. Meowth tries to grab Octillery with the crane, making a few unsuccessful moves but finally getting it. Ash is about to have Pikachu use , but Meowth laughs and warns that Octillery will be hit as well. With no other option, the Remoraid all fire at the crane, causing Octillery to go flying. But the Remoraid save it with their Water Gun jets, placing it gently onto the port. Marcellus is thrilled to see that his Remoraid have finally recognized Octillery as their friend. Pikachu unleashes a Thunderbolt followed by Octillery shooting an , blowing Team Rocket sky high. After the battle, the Remoraid soon evolve into Octillery themselves and it looks like Marcellus's Octillery won't be lonely anymore.
The next day, Ash, Misty, Brock, Marcellus, and the finalist Trainers all await at a cliff to watch the Whirl Cup Stadium, partially flooded, rise from the swirling seas. It looks like the real battle has just begun.
==Major events==
* and enter the Whirl Cup and make it through the preliminaries.
===Debuts===
====Pokémon debuts====
* 
==Characters==
===Humans===
* 
* 
* 
* Jessie
* James
* Nurse Joy
* Marcellus
* Whirl Cup competitors
===Pokémon===
Who's That Pokémon?: (US and international), (Japan)
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ()
* (Marcellus's; multiple; evolved; one evolves)
* (Marcellus's; multiple; one newly evolved; debut)
* (Trainer's)
* (Trainer's)
* (Trainer's)
* (Trainer's)
* (Trainer's)
* (Trainer's)
* (Trainer's)
* (Trainer's)
* (Trainer's)
* (Trainer's)
==Trivia==
* This episode begins the three-part Whirl Cup arc.
* Music from Pikachu's Vacation can be heard in this episode.
* Professor Oak's Pokémon Lecture: 
===Errors===
* When enters the room with the aquarium, James tells Jessie that he sees no resemblance to her first-grade teacher, sounding as if he met that teacher. James, however, grew up in a private school for rich people and could not have been in Jessie's first-grade class.
* When Team Rocket exits the window, their truck is close to the building. However, when they run to it, the truck is further away.
===Dub edits===
==In other languages==
215
Category:Episodes written by Atsuhiro Tomioka
Category:Episodes storyboarded by Yoshitaka Fujimoto
Category:Episodes directed by Toshiaki Suzuki
Category:Episodes animated by Izumi Shimura
Category:Episodes focusing on Misty
de:Octillery im Abseits
es:EP217
fr:EP215
it:OA099
ja:無印編第215話
zh:宝可梦 第216集