Pokemon getto da ze!

Well... Ash subjects a poor Caterpie to some seriously neglectful abuse... but it turns out it just happens to be Inordinately super powerful for some reason?

So .. Ash learnt nothing? He learnt that he can just mistreat his Pokémon and it'll be fine in the end because he gives them a pat on the head?

This episode highlights the extremely weird themes of the show in terms of animal abuse. Is it trying to justify such practices? I guess so.

We see Team Rocket again - this episode really isn't offering many new ideas.

In this early episode of the long running show, players of the game (lapsed or otherwise) are rewarded with a fairly flawless recreation of the dopamine hits of early gameplay.

As the show introduces catch and evolution mechanics, the opening chapter of Ash's journey continues with a rewarding episode. Like any good kids show, it's not bereft of a lesson, specifically exploring Misty's fear and dislike of bugs, and poor treatment of the newly captured Caterpie as a result. Speaking of Caterpie, for an animated grub who only sticks around for a single episode, it's given far more personality and character than you might expect.

Another fun dip in this series' introduction.

This episode was nice, it showed what we all felt when catching our first pokemon, and the love we had for it even if it was just a small bug. Ash love for pokemons is so great that even Misty at one point notices, and it is something she admires of him. This episode also showed what an evolution looks like, and it explained why the Team Rocket are after Pikachu (which is something I think they are mistaken about) so props for that too. I do not know how the opening songs sound like in other languages, but every time I hear the Italian opening I have to sing it aloud because it is so good. Listen to it yourself.