Bulbapedia

Snow Way Out!

← Holiday Hi-Jynx
Original series
EP039 : Pikachu's Goodbye →
Snow Way Out!
Snow Way Out.png
イワークでビバーク
Iwark as a Bivouac
First broadcast
Japan October 5, 1998
United States December 18, 1999
English themes
Opening Pokémon Theme
Ending
Japanese themes
Opening めざせポケモンマスター
Ending ニャースのうた
Credits
Animation Team Ota
Screenplay 米村正二 Shōji Yonemura
Storyboard 浅田裕二 Yūji Asada
Assistant director 井上修 Osamu Inoue
Animation director 梶浦紳一郎 Shin'ichirō Kajiura
Additional credits

Snow Way Out! (Japanese: イワークでビバーク Iwark as a Bivouac) is a special episode of the Pokémon animated series. It was first broadcast in Japan on October 5, 1998, following Holiday Hi-Jynx, and in the United States on December 18, 1999.

This episode, similar to Pikachu's Goodbye, does not appear in the schedule prior to the EP038 incident.

201
Spoiler warning: this article may contain major plot or ending details.
201

Blurb

Continuing their journey, Ash and gang find themselves at a fork in the road. They make the fateful decision to climb a steep and dangerous mountain taking them even deeper into the woods. Pikachu gets lost and they must all work together to find him, stay warm and weather the storm.

Plot

Continuing on their journey, Ash and his friends come to a fork in the road. Brock takes a moment to check his map, though Ash’s impulsiveness leads them to take the trail to the right leading into a huge mountain. As they notice their snowy surrounds, Misty and Brock both want to turn around and go the other way, but Ash declares a Pokémon Master always stays on course, no matter what the conditions. However things get worse, as the mountain they have stumbled upon is actually a part of a huge mountain range and Brock’s compass goes haywire from electromagnetic interference. As Brock declares that they are lost, Misty shouts at Ash to get them off the mountain. Ash calls out his Pidgeotto to find another route, and it soon returns with news of a good path up ahead.

Meanwhile, Team Rocket is trailing the twerps. While James and Meowth complain they are both freezing, Jessie declares that she loves the snow as it brings back memories of eating "snowgasboard"; a meal completely made of snow. She says that it was one of the few memories of her wretched and poverty-stricken childhood. However, James and Meowth are grossed out. James then says that they can head off Ash and his friends using the Meowth balloon. They then recite their motto, but stop when they notice their balloon drifting off in the wind. They chase after it without any luck, losing all of their food and supplies are on that balloon. Jessie starts to look at the snow and then tells them she can make snow rolls. James and Meowth don't want them, and Jessie wants to walk further to where the balloon is so she can get some soy sauce.

The light snowfall has now turned into a full-on blizzard, so the group contemplate setting up camp. As Ash insists they continue walking, Brock reminds him that the sun is going to set soon, and not even the bravest Pokémon Trainer would wander around in a snowstorm in the dark. Ash agrees, and as Brock says they should start to dig a cave, the snowstorm starts to intensify. The strong wind knocks Ash down, and he lets go of Pikachu, who is carried off into the distance by the gusty conditions. Ash chases after Pikachu, while Misty and Brock hunker down as the storm starts to intensify even more.

In spite of the awful conditions, Ash trudges through deep snow while repeatedly calling for Pikachu until he collapses from exhaustion. Then he hears something: Pikachu's voice. Ash calls back to Pikachu, Pikachu responds, and Ash follows the direction of Pikachu's voice. As he walks, he falls down a small cliff. He then hears Pikachu's voice close by. He then sees the small yellow Pokémon and he is hanging by one arm from a ledge on a very high cliff. Ash tries to grab Pikachu, but he falls down the cliff, yet manages to grab onto another ledge. Ash quickly comes up with a solution, and sends out Bulbasaur who uses Vine Whip to grab Pikachu. But Pikachu cannot hold on and he slips further down. Bulbasaur acts fast and grabs Pikachu with its vines just in time. They pull Pikachu up to their level before Pikachu and Ash embrace. Pikachu does a facial expression of Brock and in doing so, he reminds Ash that they need to get up the small cliff Ash fell down before and get back to Misty and Brock. He tries climbing up the cliff, but to no avail. He tries calling their names, but this doesn't work either.

Ash decides to dig a snow cave rather than brave the bitter cold. After his hands begin to suffer frostbite, he has his Charmander use Flamethrower to blast through the snow. It does a good job of building the cave and then, Ash sends out Bulbasaur and Squirtle to help seal the cave off from the elements. It takes them a while, but they do it. Ash then tries to figure out how to heat up the cave. Bulbasaur suggests to Charmander to make its tail flame more intense, and it does so.

Meanwhile, Team Rocket is huddled inside an igloo. Suddenly Meowth’s last candle goes out, and Jessie’s offer of snow rolls doesn’t lift anyone’s spirits. Meowth reveals that he has three burnt out matches left, the Rocket trio try using their imaginations to get warmth. Jessie then notices her teammates fast asleep, but she slaps them around to stop them from freezing.

As the brutal snowstorm rages on, Charmander's tail flame starts to weaken from trying to keep everyone warm. Ash tells Charmander to get back into its Poké Ball, but it refuses, but Ash calls it back anyway, much to Charmander's shock. Ash then figures that the Pokémon should be warm inside their Poké Balls. So, he tells Bulbasaur and Squirtle back into their Poké Balls, and like Charmander, they refuse too. Ash calls them back anyway, much to their surprise. Ash then attempts to call Pikachu back into his Poké Ball, but Pikachu refuses, and he clings onto Ash. Ash is touched by Pikachu's gesture of trying to keep his Trainer warm and he accepts his decision.

As the time passes, Ash and Pikachu are freezing cold. Ash wonders if his other Pokémon are warm enough inside their Poké Balls, so he takes off his jacket and wraps his Poké Balls inside. But now, the snowstorm has gotten so bad that a part of the snow wall has broken through. Ash runs over to the hole and sits in front of it, blocking the snow coming in. Ash again orders Pikachu to get inside his Poké Ball. Though Pikachu adamantly refuses, worrying for Ash's safety and Ash assures Pikachu he will be okay, as long as he knows Pikachu will be safe. Finally, Ash orders Pikachu to get inside the Poké Ball. Pikachu refuses once more. Then, the rest of Ash's Pokémon- Bulbasaur, Charmander, Squirtle and Pidgeotto- all free themselves from their Poké Balls and hold on to Ash. Ash is so taken aback by his Pokémon's commitment to him that he is reduced to tears. He then looks at them and conceded that they will be cold all together.

It is now morning and the harsh snowstorm has completely subsided. Charmander demolishes the snow wall with Flamethrower, and Ash looks upon the amazing view with his beloved Pokémon. He hears a voice calling him, he turns around, and it is pleasantly surprised to see Misty, Brock and his Onix. Onix lifts Ash and his Pokémon up to his friends' level. They ask Ash how he survived the storm and he tells them about the cave he dug. Brock and Misty then reveal that Onix dug into an underground hot spring, and they were very comfortable there, much to Ash's extreme surprise. They then discover that the blizzard blew over Team Rocket's balloon, which is right next to them. Brock says it is out of fuel, but he sends out his Vulpix, and has it use Flamethrower, and the balloon is now flyable. They then fly off over the mountain range.

Team Rocket stop pinching each other's cheeks when they spot the twerps in their balloon. They chase after them, only to fall into a hot spring and are declined to move, as they are very comfortable. Ash thinks he heard Team Rocket while the balloon files above them, and then, they see a town ahead and are overjoyed. Meanwhile, Team Rocket discover that the hot spring is too hot for them to sit in, but are forced to stay in the heated waters as the weather is too cold for them to get out.

Major events

For a list of all major events in Pokémon the Series: The Beginning, please see the timeline page.

Characters

Humans

Dare da?

Pokémon

Who's That Pokémon?

Who's That Pokémon?: Muk (US and international), Pidgeotto (Japan)


Scheduling conflict

After the hiatus caused by EP038, the show moved from Tuesday to Thursday. The original schedule was as follows:

Code English title Japanese title Planned broadcast Actual broadcast
* Holiday Hi-Jynx ルージュラのクリスマス December 23, 1997 October 5, 1998
* Snow Way Out! イワークでビバーク — October 5, 1998
EP040 The Battling Eevee Brothers イーブイ４きょうだい January 6, 1998 April 16, 1998
EP041 Wake Up, Snorlax! おきろ！カビゴン！ January 13, 1998 April 23, 1998
EP042 Showdown at Dark City たいけつ！ポケモンジム！ January 20, 1998 April 30, 1998
EP043 March of the Exeggutor Squad ナッシーぐんだんだいこうしん！ January 27, 1998 May 7, 1998
EP044 The Problem with Paras パラスとパラセクト February 3, 1998 May 14, 1998
EP052 Princess vs. Princess げきとう！ポケモンひなまつり March 3, 1998 July 9, 1998
EP053 The Purr-fect Hero こどものひだよ！ぜんいんしゅうごう！ May 5, 1998 July 9, 1998

It was planned to be followed by a clip show summing up the events from EP028 to Holiday Hi-Jynx, then planned as EP039, on its original airing.

When episodes of the dub are aired in order, this episode and Holiday Hi-Jynx are placed between It's Mr. Mime Time and Showdown at the Po-ké Corral, as this is the point at which the episodes first aired in Japan. This causes confusion from viewers due to Ash using Charmander instead of Charizard, and Misty still having her Starmie and Horsea (and not yet having her Togepi). Canonically, these episodes go either directly before or directly after Pikachu's Goodbye.

Unlike Princess vs. Princess and The Purr-fect Hero, this episode and Holiday Hi-Jynx were broadcast on a Monday rather than a Thursday, and were originally considered unnumbered special episodes.[1] They were later counted as regular episodes, incrementing the numbers for all subsequent episodes by 2.[2] Holiday Hi-Jynx, Beauty and The Beach, and this episode aired between Ditto's Mysterious Mansion and The Battling Eevee Brothers on Pocket Monsters Encore. Due to not airing on the initially intended date, it is considered by Bulbapedia to be a special episode.

Trivia

Errors

  • At the beginning of the episode, Brock's belt is colored green instead of black.
  • When James is holding Meowth and they are shivering, Meowth's feet don't have the orange tips.
  • When Jessie says that she loves snow, her left arm is cut off for a few frames.
    • Shortly after, Meowth's forepaws are entirely orange.
  • When Jessie says that James and Meowth will freeze if they do not wake up, the back of Meowth's ears is colored black instead of cream.
  • Brock's miscolored belt

    Brock's miscolored belt

  • Meowth's foot error

    Meowth's foot error

  • Jessie's arm error

    Jessie's arm error

Dub edits

  • Pikachu's Jukebox: 2.B.A. Master
  • Jessie's caretaker is referred to as her mother in the dub.
  • Jessie's snow rolls were originally called snow sushi in the Japanese dub.
  • The igloo scene was heavily edited. There is a scene cut of Meowth lighting candles with a match while Jessie explains how good the snow-rolls were, and all the shots of Meowth and Jessie holding matches in the igloo scene were painted out and replaced with candles. Altogether, 24 seconds were cut from this scene.
  • Jessie makes a reference to The Little Match Girl fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen in the original Japanese version when she describes ways to keep warm.

In other languages


References

  1. ↑ テレビ東京　ポケットモンスター (archived)
  2. ↑ アニメ ポケットモンスター｜ポケットモンスターオフィシャルサイト


← Holiday Hi-Jynx
Original series
EP039 : Pikachu's Goodbye →
Project Anime logo.png This episode article is part of Project Anime, a Bulbapedia project that covers all aspects of Pokémon animation.
Retrieved from "https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/w/index.php?title=Snow_Way_Out!&oldid=4174046"