EP009

The School of Hard Knocks (Japanese: ポケモンひっしょうマニュアル Pokémon Victory Manual) is the ninth episode of the Pokémon animated series. It was first broadcast in Japan on May 27, 1997, and in the United States on September 18, 1998.
==Blurb==
While searching for firewood in the foggy woods, Ash and Pikachu discover a bunch of prep-school kids bullying a classmate named Joe. They're all students at Pokémon Technical Institute, which offers classes that allow trainers to enter the Pokémon League without getting badges.
But Joe says the rough treatment is necessary so he'll be strong enough to graduate. Still, Ash doesn't like the idea, and demands to meet the person responsible for this "tutoring" program.
We soon meet this leader, a conceited girl named Giselle. Brock and Ash are smitten by her looks, but Misty wants to battle. To Misty's surprise, Giselle's Rock-type Graveler defeats her Water-type Starmie, proving that matching up types is only one of several factors that determine victory. As Giselle gloats, Ash challengers her, and Pikachu faces her Cubone.
But Cubone is unaffected by Electric-type attacks—how can Pikachu win? What's the real deal with this school? And why does the school seem so familiar to Jessie and James?
==Plot==
;Snobby Students Of Pokémon Tech
When and fight about the former's broken bike again, pulls a table and some chairs out of his backpack, with all of the necessities to set it for a cup of tea. Brock sends Ash to collect firewood to make tea and crepes. As Ash and wander around the forest, they encounter a group of boys in suits. One of them is running on a treadmill, while the rest are gathered around, quizzing him about various . He misses a question and is rejected by the other boys, and Ash jumps in to defend him. The boys reveal that they are students of Pokémon Technical Institute, a boarding school which educates Pokémon Trainers. They leave, stating they don't want to fight. As Brock reads from the school's brochure, Pikachu started the treadmill and tries to keep up. The school trains its students without sending them to collect Badges, and guarantees entry into the Pokémon League upon graduation. Brock leans on the treadmill, speeding it up, which sends Pikachu flying. The school is expensive, and therefore populated with rich kids.
;Pokémon Tech's Corrupt Practices
The student who was being bullied, , defends his so-called friends, who were trying to help him. He explains that he sometimes pretends to know less than he really does because the questions get so much harder. Ash is very upset at this brutal "tutoring" system, and demands to meet the student in charge, with plans to stop it. The head student of the beginner class is a girl; Brock and Ash drool over her photo, which makes Misty angry. Ash insults Misty's looks, which makes her even angrier. reveals that they both flunked out of the Pokémon Tech entry exam, achieving the worst score in its history. Being led there by Ash has brought back some bad memories for Jessie and James, but cheers them up.
;Misty Challenges The Students!
Joe leads Ash and his friends to the head student Giselle's study area. He says it's overall skill as a Trainer, not any one battle, that determines success at Pokémon Tech. He says that even though he is the weakest student in his class, he is still better than someone with two Badges. Misty takes offense, and Joe reveals that he is familiar with her Gym; he usually beats her preferred Pokémon on the simulator. Misty demands a real battle, but Joe is doubtful of her ability to beat him. Misty calls her , though Joe calls on , a Pokémon, and has the type advantage. Nevertheless, Starmie beats Weepinbell with a single , shocking Joe. Giselle walks in and chastises Joe for not realizing that Starmie's real battle experience would give it an advantage. She calls him an embarrassment to the school. Giselle continues to upbraid Joe, and threatens to withdraw the help of the other students.
Misty challenges Giselle, saying that a true friend would not walk away from a friend in need of help, and that Giselle's beauty is only skin-deep. After accusing Misty of being jealous, Giselle summons a to challenge Misty's Starmie despite the double disadvantage that - and Pokémon have against Water Pokémon. Graveler's attack powers through Starmie's Water Gun with ease and sends Starmie flying through a window and into the school's pool, defeating it, much to Misty's humiliation. Everyone makes their way down to the pool. Giselle points out that weak Pokémon can still win if they are better . Ash jumps in, saying that there is more to training Pokémon than levels. He brags that he has two Badges, and Giselle insults him. When Ash reveals that he has been on his quest for two months, she is shocked that he has not yet trained his Pikachu to go into a , and snidely remarks his Pokémon may be training him instead.
;Street Smarts Or Book Smarts: Pikachu VS Cubone
Ash protests that his three Pokémon are his friends. Giselle notes most beginners have six Pokémon, and she attributes his two Badges to luck. She is also surprised that he chose Pikachu as his starting Pokémon, as they are known to be hard to handle. Her mockery and laughter angers Pikachu, and Ash demands a battle. In response, Giselle summons . Ash calls for a attack, but Cubone deflects it, much to his dismay. Giselle orders Cubone to use a attack, but Pikachu responds by making funny faces at Cubone. The two Pokémon get into a close-range staring contest, until Giselle calls for a attack; the bonk on the head staggers Pikachu. She calls for a , which knocks Pikachu out cold. Ash complains that it was cheap for Giselle to have Cubone throw its bone at Pikachu, but Cubone goes ahead and lobs another Bonemerang knocking Pikachu back yet again. Giselle calls for another Bonemerang, but this time, reinvigorated by motivating words from Ash, Pikachu jumps over it and twists the skull on Cubone's head backwards, so it can no longer see. Pikachu bites and scratches Cubone before its own Bonemerang comes back and knocks it out. Giselle is taken aback by the loss and returns her crying Pokémon. She is amazed that Pikachu won without using electricity, as noted in textbooks. Misty reassures Joe, who is admiring the incredible battle, that the victory was a fluke.
Team Rocket takes advantage of everyone's distraction to appear with their . The Tech students, recognizing them as the ones who flunked the entrance exam, attack Team Rocket together by barraging them with Poké Balls. Team Rocket is outnumbered and decides to flee, though they are hit by the Poké Balls in the process. Giselle reflects on the day's events, noting that school cannot teach everything. Joe decides to leave Pokémon Tech and return home to start afresh like Ash did. Joe asks if he can keep Giselle's picture; she replies that she has one of him, because they are now friends and hope to meet again in the Pokémon League. Ash demands to know why he and Misty are not friends like Joe and Giselle are, and she snarks that it is because Joe doesn't owe Giselle a bike.
==Major events==
* Jessie and James are revealed to have been flunked out of Pokémon Tech in the past.
* Misty's Starmie is revealed to know .
===Debuts===
====Pokémon debuts====
* 
* 
* 
* 
==Characters==
===Humans===
* 
* 
* 
* Jessie
* James
* Giselle
* 
* Students
===Pokémon===
Who's That Pokémon?: 
* ()
* ()
* ()
* (Giselle's; debut)
* (Giselle's; debut)
* ('s; debut)
* (fantasy)
* (fantasy)
* (fantasy; debut)
==Trivia==
* Rachael Lillis provided the voice of for all but one of his lines.
* This is Eric Stuart's first full episode voicing James. He had previously taken over for Ted Lewis towards the end of the previous episode.
* This is the first episode of the to break the fourth wall. At the beginning of the episode, breaks up an argument between and by commenting that they're running late and have to start the show.
* This is one of the few episodes that mention a real-life place; in this episode, Brock talks about French crepes in a French accent, causing Misty go into a romantic daydream of her sitting in France.
* This is the first episode to have a Who's That Pokémon? segment about a Pokémon that has yet to appear in the animated series at the time of the segment, with only appearing six minutes later.
* This episode's English dub title is a reference to the saying "".
** This is also the first episode to have the title be a play on or a reference to something.
* The types of weather mentioned by the announcer in this episode were both later introduced in the games: fog and snow.
* This episode is the only time to date in which Brock falls for a girl who is visibly younger than himself and Ash explicitly falls for a girl at all.
* This is one of the very few episodes in the animated series where the fact that Pokémon learn certain moves or evolve at certain levels is mentioned.
* This is the first episode since its debut where Ash's Pidgeotto doesn't appear.
* This episode marks the only time Misty's Starmie has won a battle on-screen.
* The scenes where Pikachu battles Cubone are used in the first Pokémon opening in .
* Ash's Pikachu using "Leer" is the first time an improvised move was used.
* Giselle's snide remark of Ash not training his Pikachu to go into its ball becomes ironic as the concept of Pokémon travelling outside their ball becomes more common. This occurs as early as the original series where Misty's Togepi travels outside of a Poké Ball.
* boasts about how his has a clear advantage over Misty's Starmie as a type, but since Starmie's type is also strong against Weepinbell's type, both sides technically have a type advantage over the other.
===Errors===
* In some scenes during the opening, Ash and Misty's bags are missing.
* Right before blasts off, James's glove is pitch black.
* When Giselle is telling Ash how Pikachu should be kept in a Poké Ball, there is a close up of Pikachu; during this, Pikachu says his name, but his mouth does not move.
* When Giselle is laughing after telling Ash about Pikachu, Pikachu jumps between Ash and Misty and one of Starmie's legs on the star on its back is missing.
* When battling , Ash calls out "Shock Attack" when he means .
* In the dub, some Pokémon are called by the name of their evolutionary relatives. was accidentally called by 's German name and was called 's German name.
* In the and dubs, is referred to as when Joe is describing 's evolutions.
* In the redub, Cubone is called by its beta name, Orphon.
* In the n dub, after Brock asks Ash to find firewood, there is the moment where Pikachu's dialogue is translated as "Where you can find firewood?" with Ash's voice being used for Pikachu's line. It is possible this error occurred because the Russian dub had a script as the main source for the translation at the time.
EP009 error.png|James's miscolored glove
EP009 error 2.png|Starmie's missing leg
===Dub edits===
* Kanto Pokérap: Day 4
* In the original Brock says about a photo of a preteen girl "I'll look forward to her in eight years" while in the dub he says "She can violate my rights any time".
** Brock saying "She can violate my rights any time!" was cut out of the Kids' WB! airing.
* Right before the title card appears, Misty hits Brock in the head with a log. This was cut from the dub because of the direct violence controversy that started with EP001.
** Also in that same scene, Brock mistakenly said "To be continued" instead of saying to see the episode. This is the reason why Misty hit Brock with a log later.
* This episode contains many paint edits:
** When talking about tea, Brock pulls out a wooden cup that has some Pokémon names written (, , , and ). In the dub, it is a can with pictograms. Ash is later seen drinking from the cup unedited.
** Similar to the above edit, Brock's bottle of "Mt. Moon Spring Water" had a picture of a mountain painted over the Japanese text.
** Misty's note about the Pokémon Seminar was originally full of Japanese text. In the dub, it has a black-and-white picture of the school at the top of the paper and some blurred-out Latin text on the bottom.
** 's picture of Giselle had a note from her in the upper-right hand corner. This was erased in the dub.
** The sign at the top of the door after the commercial break says "Training Room". The dub replaces the text with five Poké Balls which light up.
** In the Japanese version, the simulation states the move used on the lower-left hand corner. In this case it was . The dub adds another health bar over it.
** However, the kanji on one student's book is left unedited.
* Computer effects were added in the dubbed version, specifically into the scene where Joe was showing them the virtual training center.
==In other languages==
009
Category:Episodes written by Takeshi Shudō
Category:Episodes storyboarded and directed by Yūji Asada
Category:Episodes storyboarded by Yūji Asada
Category:Episodes directed by Yūji Asada
Category:Episodes animated by Akihiro Tamagawa
de:Übung macht den Meister
es:EP009
fr:EP009
it:GA009
ja:無印編第9話
zh:宝可梦 第9集