Plot[]
Venturing from New Bark Town, Ash and his friends stumble across a girl and her Chikorita in the midst of training. As a wild Rattata hops out of a bush, Chikorita is sent into battle. Chikorita's first Tackle misses its target, but the next attack knocks Rattata out. The young Trainer sees her opportunity and immediately catches it with a Poké Ball. She celebrates her latest catch with a rendition of the Team Electabuzz Baseball theme. Afterward, she calls back her Chikorita and spots Pikachu. She pulls him off of Ash's shoulder and asks him to shock her since she has been wanting to know what it feels like. Despite Ash's protests against it, both of them get shocked by Pikachu.
The group takes the time to meet the Trainer, who introduces herself as Casey. She reveals that she has an affinity for yellow-striped Pokémon and wants to catch an Electabuzz. She also reveals that she is a huge Team Electabuzz fan, but Ash notes that the team tends to place last. To settle this, Casey challenges Ash to a three-on-three battle. Casey starts the battle with Pidgey and Ash sends out Charizard. Both Misty and Brock are surprised by his choice, given that Casey is a new Trainer. However, Casey calls out the first attack and Pidgey flies in for a Quick Attack, but it merely bounces off Charizard's chest and is soon defeated by a strong exhale by Charizard.
Casey recalls Pidgey and then sends out her new Rattata. Casey commands Rattata to use Tackle against Charizard, but the Pokémon just bounces off Charizard's stomach again. Becoming infuriated with how the battle is ending up, Casey sends out Chikorita and tells it to use Vine Whip on Charizard. Ash simply has Charizard use Flamethrower on Chikorita, causing the Grass-type's head leaf to catch fire, and it soon faints. Brock officially declares Ash the winner, leaving Casey distraught.
Though Ash and his friends commend her resolve, Casey runs away, her pride broken. In the middle of fleeing, she trips and falls to the ground. With this, Casey recalls her family's tradition of cheering on the Electabuzz, because even though they haven't won any of their games, they never gave up. With that in mind, she gets back up and tells herself that she will be just like Team Electabuzz. With this proclamation, Team Rocket applauds Casey and reveal themselves before her. Sporting Team Electabuzz baseball gear, they tell her that they also support Team Electabuzz, and Casey instantly opens up to them. After confiding their losses at Ash's hands to Casey, Team Rocket convinces her that he is a cheater for using a Charizard against her and that Charizard is forbidden from being used against new Trainers.
Finding Ash once again, Casey challenges Ash to another battle. The stage is set in a baseball diamond and Casey starts the battle with Chikorita, while Ash uses Pikachu. Both Brock and Misty root for Casey as she begins the battle by telling Chikorita to use Sweet Scent. The attack immediately leaves Ash and Pikachu a little dazed by the smell. Chikorita then lands a Tackle attack on Pikachu. Team Rocket watches the battle unfold from the scoreboard, waiting to implement their cheating tactic to assist Casey. After a small discussion, Meowth presses a button, which activates a group of robotic Electabuzz fans to cheer Casey on and boost her confidence.
Continuing the battle, Ash commands Pikachu to use Thunderbolt against Chikorita. However, Chikorita easily deflects the attack by spinning the leaf upon her head. Brock tells Ash that Grass-type Pokémon are strong against Electric-types, and therefore, he'd have to change his battle strategy. Chikorita then lands another Tackle on Pikachu. After this, Team Rocket then turns on a giant batting machine. Ash questions what it is, while Casey accuses him of being a cheater and that the machine simply proves it. However, Team Rocket seizes control of the machine and sends it after Chikorita, who cowers in fear of not knowing what to do. Just then, Pikachu jumps out in front of Chikorita to protect it against the contraption. Casey gasps, surprised that he would do this since she had been convinced that Ash was a cheater.
The machine soon captures Pikachu and Chikorita, after which Team Rocket reveals themselves to everyone and recites their motto. Ash tells Casey who Team Rocket really is, and Casey realizes that she had been tricked all along as Team Rocket tells them of their plans for both Pikachu and Chikorita. Meowth presses a button on his remote, and several pitching machines emerge and begin sending a flurry of baseballs towards Casey and Ash. As soon as a baseball hits Casey in the leg, she immediately gives up, but Ash declares that they can't just allow Team Rocket to defeat them. After he compares a Pokémon match to baseball, Ash is hit by a baseball but claims that it is not a Pokéball.
Touched by what Ash had said, Casey gets back up on her feet, pulls out her baseball bat, and determinedly hits all of the baseballs back, leaving Team Rocket red-faced. Afterwards, Ash calls out Squirtle and Bulbasaur, while Casey calls out her Pidgey and Rattata to help hit away the rest of the baseballs. With Team Rocket now facing an onslaught of baseballs, Casey attacks James with Rattata and Pidgey, getting Chikorita and Pikachu back.
Casey then has Chikorita to use Razor Leaf on Team Rocket, and Pikachu shocks them with Thunderbolt. Next, Ash and Casey team up to have Chikorita and Pikachu to perform a double Tackle attack, which sends Team Rocket blasting off. With the battle won, Pikachu and Chikorita congratulate each other while Casey and Ash share a high-five. Casey apologizes to Ash for letting Team Rocket convince her that he was a cheater. She leaves Ash and his friends on her own journey, hoping to encounter them at the Johto League.
Major Events[]
- Ash and his friends meet Casey, a rookie Trainer.
- Casey catches a Rattata.
- Liam reveals to Casey that he owns an Elekid.
- Ash's Pikachu is revealed to know Tackle.
- Liam's Cyndaquil is revealed to know Tackle.
- Liam catches a Sentret.
- Liam's Elekid learns Brick Break.
Characters[]
- Ash Ketchum
- Misty
- Brock
- Liam
- Agent Ben
- Lilo Pelekai
- Dora Marquez
- Yui Hirasawa
- Mio Akiyama
- Ritsu Tainaka
- Tsumugi Kotobuki
- Azusa Nakano
- Ui Hirasawa
- Jun Suzuki
- Sawako Yamanaka
- Nodoka Manabe
- Sumire Saito
- Nao Okuda
- Jessie
- James
- Casey (debut)
- Casey's family (flashback)
Animals[]
- Stitch
- Boots (flashback)
Pokémon[]
- Pikachu (Ash's)
- Meowth (Team Rocket)
- Cyndaquil (Liam's)
- Elekid (Liam's)
- Sentret (Liam's; new)
- Togepi (Misty's)
- Bulbasaur (Ash's)
- Charizard (Ash's)
- Squirtle (Ash's)
- Chikorita (Casey's; debut)
- Pidgey (Casey's)
- Rattata (Casey's; new)
- Goodra (Yui's; Huggy)
- Leavanny (Mio's; Nana)
- Meowstic (Azusa's; Snowbelle)
- Torterra (Dora's; Arbol)
- Eevee (Dora's; Eva)
- Gloom (Lilo's; Hula)
- Beedrill (fantasy)
- Elekid (fantasy)
- Electabuzz (fantasy)
Trivia[]
- The English dub of this episode first aired exactly one year after the original airing in Japan.
- The episode's English dub title is a reference to the popular saying "double trouble" and the baseball term doubleheader.
- The baseball teams all seem to be representations of real-life Japanese baseball teams, with the Electabuzz based on the Osaka Hanshin Tigers team, and the teams with Magikarp and Starmie logos representing Hiroshima Toyo Carp and the Yokohama BayStars, respectively.
- A Monsters, Inc. reference is made by Ben
- In this episode, Team Rocket uses a variation of their motto.
- This episode was partially adapted into the book The Chikorita Challenge.
- This episode is featured on Pokémon All-Stars: Chikorita from Magna Pacific's Pokémon All-Stars series.
- The shot in which Meowth is crying behind a tree is a reference to the series Star of the Giants, in which the main character's sister is also shown crying behind a tree, as she watches her son and father practice playing baseball.
- When Ash first sees Casey's Pidgey, he makes a reference to the first episode, where he also tried to catch a Pidgey himself.
- Casey's love for Electabuzz is shown when Liam had his Elekid.
- Lilo reveals that she once had her own baseball team called "Lilo's Lasers". This could be a reference to the Lilo and Stitch: The Series episode, "Slugger".
- Dora reveals that her monkey friend Boots loves baseball and that he is great at throwing/pitching and catching the ball. She also mentions that her father is the baseball coach. This could be a reference to the Dora the Explorer episode, Baseball Boots.
- Ben learns that Casey's Chikorita is one of the Pokémon Professor Elm gave away in the previous episode.
- This is the fastest episode Liam has caught his first Pokémon in Johto.
- When Mugi scolded Ash for hurting Casey's feelings, this is a similar scenario reference to Chip and Dale: Rescue Rangers episode "Adventures in Squirrelsitting" where Gadget scolded Chip for hurting Tammy's feelings.