one of my favorites becuse of how eerie it is. has a lot of loopholes though. like when on the phone with oak, he says that gary caught i think around 45 pokemon and in a later episode he caught 30. giant dragonite was pretty cool.liked how odd the lighthouse was, love just about all of it
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Mystery At The Lighthouse! (013)
- Thread starter Serebii
- Start date
This episode is pretty cool actually. I just find it unfortunate to see little Krabby getting captured and not being used aside from the Indigo League and the Water Cup. I guess the creators shot themselves in their own foot's with the six-at-the-time-rule. While in perspective it's understandable why they created that rule and applied to both anime and game-wise, it made some Pokémon have a limited presence in the anime. Same goes with Unova now where Ash got like 8-9 Pokemon or something.
But the episode was really good. Also notice how Gary's presence is there continuously in these episodes indirectly. His infrequent appearance is compensated by the fact that Gary is almost consistently mentioned during the entire Kanto saga - keeping the rivalry alive.
But the episode was really good. Also notice how Gary's presence is there continuously in these episodes indirectly. His infrequent appearance is compensated by the fact that Gary is almost consistently mentioned during the entire Kanto saga - keeping the rivalry alive.
WhyHelloThere
Well-Known Member
I jumped when the pokeball teleported. Also that Dragonite was disturbing.
Too bad the one Iris catches is the normal size. It would have been cool to see her catch a giant one like this.
pacman000
On a quest to be the best...
I first saw this yeeeears ago, but I missed the end. I had to ask my friends what Pokemon appeared; sure it looked like a Dragonite, but I expected a big reveal. Years later, I read the about the episode on the internet, and felt dumb.
Eventualy, I found a copy on VHS. When Bill called the Pokemon with the foghorn, I began to laugh. How they avoided a lawsuit, I'll never know. Maybe Ray Bradbury didn't watch kid's shows.
Eventualy, I found a copy on VHS. When Bill called the Pokemon with the foghorn, I began to laugh. How they avoided a lawsuit, I'll never know. Maybe Ray Bradbury didn't watch kid's shows.
BurningSociety12345543210
Banned
This episode was more disturbing than anything else, and how the hell did Dragonite get so big. Krabby's capture was nice, although that's pretty much it. Seeing TR shoot the Dragonite was stupid.
MattySadler
Well-Known Member
Not a bad episode but I didn't like Bill's role in it, thought it kinda made a quick end for him like. Should've been closer to his game/ manga counterpart and been a recurring character.
Kutie Pie
"It is my destiny."
I remember this most as the “giant Dragonite” episode. Not that Bill was boring... okay, he was, even though he reveals interesting secrets of the Pokémon world that will be quickly forgotten over time because... it's out-dated? Or is it because the episode was rather odd? It had a weird pacing to it that had two different plot-lines that didn't exactly intertwine very well by the end.
For starters, you got Ash getting his ear chewed off by Brock and Misty telling him he's not that great of a trainer right now. She even admits they were pity badges (even though he technically was winning them), and also tells Ash that he never “caught” his Pokémon, they just instead “follow” him (though it's a lie, he caught Caterpie and Pidgeotto, and maybe also Bulbasaur). Wouldn't that actually be a good thing, as it's proof Pokémon like him? Sure, the battling may help in gaining that trust or respect, but if Pokémon like you, that means they sense good things about you. (Or they're just stupid, but Pokémon have been established to be intelligent.)
They also chew him out for bragging, which is appropriate to point out that he's getting a big head. But then he complains that he is a good trainer, and goes off to prove himself. Though... in his own Ashy-boy way. The Pokémon he meets and catches is Krabby, which we won't see for a while after this one. I realize now that Krabby's smaller than I remembered xD. I knew it was small, but not that small. Guess I missed Ash calling it a shrimp. But the “battle” between it and Ash was great because it's silly. Probably one of my favorite moments, honestly, though I keep forgetting he caught it in the same episode we meet Bill.
Now how did Ash not know he can carry only six Pokémon? And how was the PokéDex having a “transfer Pokémon” button not touched upon since then? That's a nifty device! But how fitting he remembers Professor Oak through Pikachu's zapping him and him about to eat. I swear, you see Professor Oak eat more than you see him being a researcher. Speaking of, why is Krabby in a bowl? A freaking bowl that it can't move around in? He has a lake out back in the Corral, did he really get that senile? Also, Oak, it's not a good idea to brag about how well your grandson is doing. You're hurting Ash's feelings and making him even more obsessive with defeating Gary.
And why is everyone's cook on vacation in this episode? That better be just a dub thing—then again, in the second episode, Professor Oak ordered take-out...
Now we reach the second half of the episode, and the plot-line of Ash learning about a Pokémon team and collecting Pokémon kinda goes out the window so we can talk about how Pokémon are a mystery. Considering Bill is said to know more than Professor Oak, he sure doesn't really show it. For one thing, we meet him in a Kabuto costume that he apparently sucked at making it easily removable without help. Then he explains that he was in a costume because it would help him get into a Pokémon's head, and learn how they lived—in particular an extinct Pokémon. Something tells me he's a little cuckoo. Then he mentions there being over 150 types of Pokémon. Ha, more like over 700. But at least he admits to discovering more over time, which is a bit of a callback to the first episode, as well as foreshadowing Togepi later on. Granted, Bill says he's studying Pokémon to learn about them, but he doesn't know more than what Brock and Misty have told Ash, pretty much.
Fine, I'll point out the elephant in the room (even though it's more of a miniature elephant than anything because people already mentioned it). Why is Mewtwo on the door to the lighthouse? If Mewtwo is a secret project known only among various ranks in Team Rocket, does that mean Bill secretly works for Giovanni?
The world may never know.
Speaking of, I have to question this: how has no one seen this giant Dragonite? I don't care that it's said to be a myth, you would think that Bill, the guy who knows more than Professor Oak (whom is well-respected amongst Pokémon researchers everywhere), would know what a Dragonite is. They're rare, yes, but they don't get that big normally. That has to be a special Dragonite that has somehow managed to avoid attracting attention from humans. In the meantime, I think that Dragonite wants to eat you, Bill... or it's looking for its lost mate/real friend, and thus has no time to be your friend. Whichever works. I wonder if they planned on doing something with that Dragonite later on, at least when it came to rare, powerful Pokémon, but it never went anywhere.
(Its cry sounds a bit like Lugia, by the way. I can't be the only one who's noticed this.)
Team Rocket's role can be easy to forget, honestly, had it not been for them shooting at Dragonite in attempt to catch it. They really weren't doing anything special except musing over how to get to the lighthouse. Why choose the cliff if they knew they were going to die and are afraid of heights (which I'm questioning due to them using a hot air balloon as transport)? Weird decision, but I like it when they bounce off each other anyway. So it feels less comedic here, they're just not threatening. At least they tried something with this Dragonite, but they only succeeded in making it angry.
And what's with the creepy “What Have We learned Today?” thing at the end? Only Ash's message had anything to do with this episode, and I'm not sure if that's the lesson we should take out of it. Weren't we supposed to learn about how mysterious Pokémon are? Did anyone in this episode learn about that? No? We're just... going to talk about how being friends with Pokémon brings you closer together and that they're lots of fun to play with? Okay then. We'll just discover these “new” Pokémon all at once, then.
So not a great episode, but it's something that does set another foundation of what makes Pokémon what it is. Really, at the time it was a marvel because there really were only 150 Pokémon in existence. Nowadays, with a little over 700 under our belts, this episode is dated and a bit ridiculous (if laughable) to watch. Some of it still remains true, but I think we're just about reaching the limit as to how many Pokémon species we can find and as to how many more secrets we can solve—because I think we discovered a good amount. It also becomes funny because did any of the regions ever once talk to one another? Did no one travel the world outside of their region? There's no excuse as to how there can only be 150 species in the Pokémon world.
And with that out of the way, time to hunker down. It's gonna be one hell of a showdown.
For starters, you got Ash getting his ear chewed off by Brock and Misty telling him he's not that great of a trainer right now. She even admits they were pity badges (even though he technically was winning them), and also tells Ash that he never “caught” his Pokémon, they just instead “follow” him (though it's a lie, he caught Caterpie and Pidgeotto, and maybe also Bulbasaur). Wouldn't that actually be a good thing, as it's proof Pokémon like him? Sure, the battling may help in gaining that trust or respect, but if Pokémon like you, that means they sense good things about you. (Or they're just stupid, but Pokémon have been established to be intelligent.)
They also chew him out for bragging, which is appropriate to point out that he's getting a big head. But then he complains that he is a good trainer, and goes off to prove himself. Though... in his own Ashy-boy way. The Pokémon he meets and catches is Krabby, which we won't see for a while after this one. I realize now that Krabby's smaller than I remembered xD. I knew it was small, but not that small. Guess I missed Ash calling it a shrimp. But the “battle” between it and Ash was great because it's silly. Probably one of my favorite moments, honestly, though I keep forgetting he caught it in the same episode we meet Bill.
Now how did Ash not know he can carry only six Pokémon? And how was the PokéDex having a “transfer Pokémon” button not touched upon since then? That's a nifty device! But how fitting he remembers Professor Oak through Pikachu's zapping him and him about to eat. I swear, you see Professor Oak eat more than you see him being a researcher. Speaking of, why is Krabby in a bowl? A freaking bowl that it can't move around in? He has a lake out back in the Corral, did he really get that senile? Also, Oak, it's not a good idea to brag about how well your grandson is doing. You're hurting Ash's feelings and making him even more obsessive with defeating Gary.
And why is everyone's cook on vacation in this episode? That better be just a dub thing—then again, in the second episode, Professor Oak ordered take-out...
Now we reach the second half of the episode, and the plot-line of Ash learning about a Pokémon team and collecting Pokémon kinda goes out the window so we can talk about how Pokémon are a mystery. Considering Bill is said to know more than Professor Oak, he sure doesn't really show it. For one thing, we meet him in a Kabuto costume that he apparently sucked at making it easily removable without help. Then he explains that he was in a costume because it would help him get into a Pokémon's head, and learn how they lived—in particular an extinct Pokémon. Something tells me he's a little cuckoo. Then he mentions there being over 150 types of Pokémon. Ha, more like over 700. But at least he admits to discovering more over time, which is a bit of a callback to the first episode, as well as foreshadowing Togepi later on. Granted, Bill says he's studying Pokémon to learn about them, but he doesn't know more than what Brock and Misty have told Ash, pretty much.
Fine, I'll point out the elephant in the room (even though it's more of a miniature elephant than anything because people already mentioned it). Why is Mewtwo on the door to the lighthouse? If Mewtwo is a secret project known only among various ranks in Team Rocket, does that mean Bill secretly works for Giovanni?
The world may never know.
Speaking of, I have to question this: how has no one seen this giant Dragonite? I don't care that it's said to be a myth, you would think that Bill, the guy who knows more than Professor Oak (whom is well-respected amongst Pokémon researchers everywhere), would know what a Dragonite is. They're rare, yes, but they don't get that big normally. That has to be a special Dragonite that has somehow managed to avoid attracting attention from humans. In the meantime, I think that Dragonite wants to eat you, Bill... or it's looking for its lost mate/real friend, and thus has no time to be your friend. Whichever works. I wonder if they planned on doing something with that Dragonite later on, at least when it came to rare, powerful Pokémon, but it never went anywhere.
(Its cry sounds a bit like Lugia, by the way. I can't be the only one who's noticed this.)
Team Rocket's role can be easy to forget, honestly, had it not been for them shooting at Dragonite in attempt to catch it. They really weren't doing anything special except musing over how to get to the lighthouse. Why choose the cliff if they knew they were going to die and are afraid of heights (which I'm questioning due to them using a hot air balloon as transport)? Weird decision, but I like it when they bounce off each other anyway. So it feels less comedic here, they're just not threatening. At least they tried something with this Dragonite, but they only succeeded in making it angry.
And what's with the creepy “What Have We learned Today?” thing at the end? Only Ash's message had anything to do with this episode, and I'm not sure if that's the lesson we should take out of it. Weren't we supposed to learn about how mysterious Pokémon are? Did anyone in this episode learn about that? No? We're just... going to talk about how being friends with Pokémon brings you closer together and that they're lots of fun to play with? Okay then. We'll just discover these “new” Pokémon all at once, then.
So not a great episode, but it's something that does set another foundation of what makes Pokémon what it is. Really, at the time it was a marvel because there really were only 150 Pokémon in existence. Nowadays, with a little over 700 under our belts, this episode is dated and a bit ridiculous (if laughable) to watch. Some of it still remains true, but I think we're just about reaching the limit as to how many Pokémon species we can find and as to how many more secrets we can solve—because I think we discovered a good amount. It also becomes funny because did any of the regions ever once talk to one another? Did no one travel the world outside of their region? There's no excuse as to how there can only be 150 species in the Pokémon world.
And with that out of the way, time to hunker down. It's gonna be one hell of a showdown.
Last edited:
JX Valentine
Ever-Discordant
Can't help but mention a couple of things months later, probably because I'm hilariously biased!
My theory is that he'd just received them, so he has yet to prepare them for being introduced into a new habitat. It's kinda like how when you buy a goldfish, you introduce them to an aquarium first by sticking it still in the bag into the water so it has time to adjust. Pokémon have a tendency to fight each other when unattended, so the last thing he'd probably want is to let new Pokémon get shocked by being beaten up by other resident Pokémon.
It is just a dub thing, yep. *nods* The original has him advising Ash not to eat purely fish in the winter months, and Bill's "my cook is on vacation" speech was originally him asking Brock if he knows how to make fried noodles.
Yeah, I don't know why it was changed either.
A lot of people tend to point this out, but it's a little awkward because back then, it wasn't certain as to whether or not the series would continue past the first season/gen. (This is also why there's a Mewtwo on the door: because no one thought there would be a Mewtwo movie.) It's even a little dodgy as to whether or not Gen II was a known thing. Sure, Ho-oh was in the first episode, but it wasn't colored correctly. But more importantly, keep in mind that this episode aired two years before Gold and Silver were released in Japan. So as far as anyone knew, 150 was a good number to land on.
Besides, technically, Bill's not incorrect, and there's really no way he could have said that there are hundreds of Pokémon. Had he said that, people would've debated against his point back then. The best compromise would have been to leave it out altogether, but this is more of an introduction-to-the-Pokémon-universe episode.
In any case, considering the fact that Bill's from Johto, it's very, very likely that he already knew about at least 100 other Pokémon. It's just, y'know. Kids from Kanto.
You also have a good point about Dragonite and how someone should know about it because of its size, but ...!
... Bill can't see it.
The original makes this abundantly clear (In his attempts to get the Pokémon to stay, he actually asks the Pokémon to show him what it looks like, which tells you he knows how tall it is, but that's it.), but even in the dub, he mentions that the Pokémon only appears on dark, foggy nights. Visibility is very low in those conditions, so.
Of course, the next question is why the beacon didn't illuminate it, but my theory is that the fog was just too thick.
It probably helps that that part of the episode was more or less a homage to a short story, rather than something they planned on going back to. Plots back in that season tended to be a little ... weird like that.
Nope. b)'')b
Stealth. *nods*
Among other things. *le nod* One of the messages in this episode was also that everyone had a different purpose, and there's no right or wrong way to interact with Pokémon. (Bill brings this up in his speech inside the lighthouse.) So that segment was more or less emphasizing that each character had their own path: Ash with training, Brock with breeding, Misty with ... whatever she does, and Bill with researching.
Well, besides the meta ones, anyway.
But yeah, there were a lot of problems with this episode (such as, for example, how hilariously all over the place it was), but at least some of the problems could be easier to understand if one realizes that this was made back when Pokémon was still very new. There were talks of Gen II since Gen I came out, but the writers didn't know things like whether or not the Mewtwo movie would be a thing or how many Pokémon there would be in the next gen and so on and so forth. If you watch it while imagining that there only Gen I exists, it's a little easier to swallow.
It's also easier to watch if you keep in mind that one of its biggest problems is the fact that it's apparently meant to be an introduction chapter. Yes, I know. Thirteen episodes in, and we're only getting an explanation for how the world works, but that at least accounts for some of its weirdness in that it's really focused on explaining things like the six-Pokémon limit, the storage system, and how the world works. Even the narrator spends a lot more time talking in this episode than any other because he's so busy explaining what badges are and how the League works, and a lot of Bill's speech (especially in the dub) sounds suspiciously like a thorough explanation to what a trainer is exactly. To be honest, I'm not sure why the writers chose to write up this explanation so late in the game. My only going theory is that Bill's the first researcher to pop up since Oak, so they can't very well have Oak drop exposition. But that really doesn't hold that much water, given how many characters of the day even the earliest seasons had. Not to mention viewers would have probably figured half of this stuff out already.
Aaaaanyway, otherwise, this analysis is pretty spot-on on the crit I haven't quoted. I just felt like throwing in my two cents about the other stuff. b)'')b
My theory is that he'd just received them, so he has yet to prepare them for being introduced into a new habitat. It's kinda like how when you buy a goldfish, you introduce them to an aquarium first by sticking it still in the bag into the water so it has time to adjust. Pokémon have a tendency to fight each other when unattended, so the last thing he'd probably want is to let new Pokémon get shocked by being beaten up by other resident Pokémon.
It is just a dub thing, yep. *nods* The original has him advising Ash not to eat purely fish in the winter months, and Bill's "my cook is on vacation" speech was originally him asking Brock if he knows how to make fried noodles.
Yeah, I don't know why it was changed either.
A lot of people tend to point this out, but it's a little awkward because back then, it wasn't certain as to whether or not the series would continue past the first season/gen. (This is also why there's a Mewtwo on the door: because no one thought there would be a Mewtwo movie.) It's even a little dodgy as to whether or not Gen II was a known thing. Sure, Ho-oh was in the first episode, but it wasn't colored correctly. But more importantly, keep in mind that this episode aired two years before Gold and Silver were released in Japan. So as far as anyone knew, 150 was a good number to land on.
Besides, technically, Bill's not incorrect, and there's really no way he could have said that there are hundreds of Pokémon. Had he said that, people would've debated against his point back then. The best compromise would have been to leave it out altogether, but this is more of an introduction-to-the-Pokémon-universe episode.
In any case, considering the fact that Bill's from Johto, it's very, very likely that he already knew about at least 100 other Pokémon. It's just, y'know. Kids from Kanto.
You also have a good point about Dragonite and how someone should know about it because of its size, but ...!
... Bill can't see it.
The original makes this abundantly clear (In his attempts to get the Pokémon to stay, he actually asks the Pokémon to show him what it looks like, which tells you he knows how tall it is, but that's it.), but even in the dub, he mentions that the Pokémon only appears on dark, foggy nights. Visibility is very low in those conditions, so.
Of course, the next question is why the beacon didn't illuminate it, but my theory is that the fog was just too thick.
It probably helps that that part of the episode was more or less a homage to a short story, rather than something they planned on going back to. Plots back in that season tended to be a little ... weird like that.
Nope. b)'')b
Stealth. *nods*
Among other things. *le nod* One of the messages in this episode was also that everyone had a different purpose, and there's no right or wrong way to interact with Pokémon. (Bill brings this up in his speech inside the lighthouse.) So that segment was more or less emphasizing that each character had their own path: Ash with training, Brock with breeding, Misty with ... whatever she does, and Bill with researching.
Well, besides the meta ones, anyway.
But yeah, there were a lot of problems with this episode (such as, for example, how hilariously all over the place it was), but at least some of the problems could be easier to understand if one realizes that this was made back when Pokémon was still very new. There were talks of Gen II since Gen I came out, but the writers didn't know things like whether or not the Mewtwo movie would be a thing or how many Pokémon there would be in the next gen and so on and so forth. If you watch it while imagining that there only Gen I exists, it's a little easier to swallow.
It's also easier to watch if you keep in mind that one of its biggest problems is the fact that it's apparently meant to be an introduction chapter. Yes, I know. Thirteen episodes in, and we're only getting an explanation for how the world works, but that at least accounts for some of its weirdness in that it's really focused on explaining things like the six-Pokémon limit, the storage system, and how the world works. Even the narrator spends a lot more time talking in this episode than any other because he's so busy explaining what badges are and how the League works, and a lot of Bill's speech (especially in the dub) sounds suspiciously like a thorough explanation to what a trainer is exactly. To be honest, I'm not sure why the writers chose to write up this explanation so late in the game. My only going theory is that Bill's the first researcher to pop up since Oak, so they can't very well have Oak drop exposition. But that really doesn't hold that much water, given how many characters of the day even the earliest seasons had. Not to mention viewers would have probably figured half of this stuff out already.
Aaaaanyway, otherwise, this analysis is pretty spot-on on the crit I haven't quoted. I just felt like throwing in my two cents about the other stuff. b)'')b
MoarGamerscore
New Member
The cries released from Dragonite in this episode always scared me - but they captivated me too, as a child. After just re-watching this (and the first 20 episodes) with some friends the other night, the cries still do the same thing. 
Good times.
Good times.
"Pocket Monsters 2" had been announced long before this episode aired, with beta pictures and at least 4 new Pokémon having been released. Possibly a playable demo too, I don't remember the exact dates here... but Gen II was definitely a known thing that was on its way.
I just watched this episode in Japanese and I loved the music tracks that were used; they made the episode seem a lot more eerie than the dub. I especially liked Bill's lecture after he escaped the Kabuto outfit; I don't know exactly what he said in the Japanese version, but I got the gist of it. I just liked the scene in general because it was powerful in a subtle way. The dub version of that scene had a similar feel to it, but it wasn't as intense or mysterious. And I got goosebumps when Dragonite's cries were played. It happened the last time I watched this episode, but I found it to be even creepier this time for some reason. Anyway, this is definitely one of my favorite OS episodes.
The Pokemon Broadcast
Snafu
I see I'm not the only one who picked up on this.
I actually had to go check how big Dragonite really is after watching this episode because I was thinking that there was no way they're actually that big.
They're only about 7 feet tall naturally. This one was definitely a special case for this episode.
minerswhocraft
Misty Come Back!
It's very peculiar to me that the Bill character never went anywhere in the series. He seemed like he could have been a pretty big deal, but never shows up again. This episode makes me sad to think about Bill's fate. Perhaps he got stuck back in that costume where he rotted away all alone. (sad face)
keepitsimple
site of lies
I found Bill to be far more creepy than the Dragonite, both as a kid and now. The episode was upsetting when I was a kid. I remember being saddened at the shooting scene, despite Dragonite staying alive.
Ash catches his most forgettable Pokemon of all time here, as opposed to the last 3 episodes where he gets three of his most memorable pokemon. Krabby really got the short end of the stick.
Ash catches his most forgettable Pokemon of all time here, as opposed to the last 3 episodes where he gets three of his most memorable pokemon. Krabby really got the short end of the stick.
Meh not really. All his philosophical talk was long-winded and his lighthouse was the only cool thing he had lol.
I just liked his style of fashion and how mature he was. He didn't look that much older than Ash to me yet he was infinitely more intelligent which was cool. ^^;
Well he was smart since he had many years of experience unlike Ash who was a newbie.