SS002

Cerulean Blues (Japanese: ハナダジムのリベンジマッチ Revenge Match at Gym) is the second Weekly Pokémon Broadcasting Station side story episode and the sixth episode of Pokémon Chronicles. It first aired in Japan on December 10, 2002, in the United Kingdom on June 15, 2005 and in the United States on June 24, 2006.

Blurb
Misty has returned to Cerulean City to step in as the Cerulean Gym Leader. But as soon as she arrives, she hears a news report about the Pokémon Investigation Agency closing Gyms that fail to meet proper standards—and rumor says Cerulean City is their next stop! Unaware that three of her enemies are in town, Misty rushes to the Gym and finds an out-of-control Gyarados in the pool. Neither Nurse Joy nor her sister's fan club can control it, and she can't just stick it in its Poké Ball while it's still upset. It's Misty's duty as Gym Leader to solve the problem, except she's also had a Gyarados phobia ever since she was a baby!

Misty puts on a water show costume and swims in the pool, hoping to stir Gyarados's memories of performing together back when it was a Magikarp. Instead, Gyarados turns the pool into a raging whirlpool, and Misty blacks out. As her Horsea rescues her, she dreams of Ash and Brock telling her she can do this on her own. When she comes to, however, she reluctantly puts Gyarados in an underwater cage, hoping to protect the other Pokémon. But all this time, her three foes—the Invincible Pokémon Brothers Kim, Kail, and Kai—have been spying on her, and this is their ticket to taking over the Gym!

Right then and there, Kim challenges her for leadership of the Gym and invites everyone in the city to watch. Misty has no choice but to accept, and she sends out Staryu. Kim's Hitmonchan pretends it can't swim, and when Staryu goes to rescue it, it knocks Staryu out with one hit! Nurse Joy, the referee, declares this an illegal trick and gives Staryu the victory. Next, Corsola faces Kim's Tentacruel, but the other two brothers send out their own Tentacruel and have them gang up on Corsola. Outraged, Nurse Joy disqualifies the brothers and bans them for cheating—but to force her to reverse her ruling, the brothers simply turn their Tentacruel on Gyarados!

Misty jumps into protect Gyarados, taking the brunt of the Tentacruel attacks. Gyarados breaks out of the cage and saves her, then blasts the brothers and their Tentacruel right out of the Gym. Nurse Joy reveals herself as a Pokémon Inspection Agent, and the Cerulean Gym has passed her test. Now that Nurse Joy is headed to Hoenn, Misty asks for a favor—if Nurse Joy sees a Trainer named Ash, tell him that Misty is a real Gym Leader now!

Plot
After the events of Gotta Catch Ya Later!, is on her way back to Cerulean City. Misty comments to that they are almost home, and promises to get something to eat as soon as they get there. As Togepi happily cries out, Misty reaches the top of a hill and sees Cerulean City spread out before her.

As she arrives in town, she notices a lot of people congregating around a large TV screen. On it, there is a news report about the Pokémon Inspection Agency, which has just closed down their fourth Gym in less than a month. It cuts to Agent Thedora, who explains that they are nailing down on anything substandard. This means that any "unsafe, unclean, or uncool" Gym will be shut down by them. Hearing rumors that they were on their way to Cerulean City, Misty rushes to get there before they do since the Gym will certainly be shut down if there's no leader present. Before she can get there, she is spotted by The Invincible Pokémon Brothers, who are determined to get revenge.

Finally at Cerulean Gym, Misty calls out to see if anybody is there. However, everyone is preoccupied by a in the swimming pool that seems very angry. At the side of the pool is Nurse Joy with four boys, one of which falls in. As the Gyarados begins to chase him, Misty arrives and asks what's wrong. The boys introduce themselves as the local chapter of her sisters' fan club, and comment that she is almost as pretty as they are. They were looking after the Gym until Misty got back, but Gyarados has been in an endless rage for days, and they can't calm it down. Nurse Joy explains that it is caught in an endless agitation loop, and suggests that Misty could think of something.

Misty decides to try to get Gyarados to return, but Joy tells her that it won't work while Gyarados is so distressed. Next, Misty sends out. However, also comes out, and falls into the water. Before it drowns, Gyarados s it out, hitting the boy who is still in the pool, and sending them both onto the poolside. As Politoed claps, the fan club make a hasty exit while Gyarados continues to rage.

Misty and Joy head downstairs, where Misty is reunited with and. However, Gyarados is now in the aquarium and Misty needs to figure out what to do. Joy confirms that she will need to find a way to rein it back in, but there is a problem: Misty has a fear of Gyarados that goes back to when she was a baby. As she was crawling along, she crawled into the mouth of a Gyarados and was almost eaten. Misty decides that she will have to get over her fear if she wants to uphold her responsibility. Watching in the window, the Invincible Pokémon Brothers decide to use the Gyarados problem against her.

Misty in now on the diving board in her mermaid costume. She explains that she once took part in a water ballet with the Gyarados when it was a, and that recreating their special moment may calm it down. After diving into the water, she is joined by the Gym Pokémon, who then dance with her. Gyarados watches for a moment, but then uses on them. Trapped, Misty runs out of air, but in her last moments of consciousness she sees Horsea pushing her to the surface.

In a foggy area, Misty sees and. They ask what she is doing there and if it is true that they made her the Gym Leader of Cerulean. Misty tells them that they made a mistake, and that she is not good enough. But they say that of course she is, and that they believe in her. As they float away, Misty calls that she needs their help. Suddenly, her foot becomes trapped, which is revealed to be held by Gyarados. She wakes up, and drinks the tea that Joy hands to her. Nurse Joy suggests separating Gyarados for the safety of the other Pokémon, and Misty agrees.

Misty gives Gyarados one more chance to return its Poké Ball, which is resisted. She then traps it in a cage, which Gyarados can't get out of. Misty feels bad for it, but before she can contemplate too much, Kim makes an announcement to Cerulean City. He announces that as Misty has lost control of her Pokémon (not exactly true since she never had control of it to begin with), meaning it's time for a change of Gym Leader. The Invincible Pokémon Brothers challenge Misty to a battle, with the winner becoming the new Gym Leader. Kail and Kai gives a shout-out to the residents of Cerulean City and they all rush in to watch the battle.

The Invincible Pokémon Brothers introduce themselves as Kim, Kail, and Kai. They tell Misty that allowing a Pokémon to control her makes her unfit to lead a Gym, which Misty denies is true, but Kim states that there should be such a rule and suggests that she is too scared to battle because she would lose easily in front of everyone. Kai then gets the crowd to encourage Misty to battle, as a result, she decides to accept the challenge. As the boy who fell in the pool earlier begins the commentary, Nurse Joy announces that the battle will consist of three one-on-one matches, best 2 out of 3. Misty sends out, while Kim sends out. Hitmonchan begins to drown, so Misty tells Staryu to help it out. However, it was a decoy and Hitmonchan punches Staryu, who goes down in one hit. Misty calls out Kim for his dirty trick, but Kim states that he's playing to win, however, Nurse Joy declares Hitmonchan's move illegal and proclaims Staryu the winner, much to Kim's shock.

Next, Misty sends out, while Kim sends out. Tentacruel starts out with, which hurts Corsola badly. However, Misty orders a, and then sends Corsola into a attack. As Corsola heads towards Tentacruel, Kail and Kai send out their own Tentacruel, which both bash into Corsola. As Corsola crashes into a rock near Gyarados, Nurse Joy tells them that it is a rule violation. However, Kim denies this, stating that the challenge was from the Invincible Pokémon Brothers as a group, not just one single brother, disregarding the fact that the challenge is supposed to be a one-on-one battle. Misty comments that Kim is too chicken to fight by himself and the brothers respond by ordering the Tentacruel to use. Corsola is badly hurt, and so Misty dives in to save it.

Kim declares that the "chicken" has tied the match 1-1, but Nurse Joy states the opposite and disqualifies them for their continued rule violation. The Invincible Pokémon Brothers are angry at being denied of their "fair and square" win, but their tantrum only makes Nurse Joy ban them from all official Pokémon matches. In an attempt to force Nurse Joy reverse her ruling, the Invincible Pokémon Brothers order their Tentacruel to use Poison Sting on Gyarados. Nurse Joy tells the Invincible Pokémon Brothers to stop, but they demand to have their ban lifted and be given the win. Misty impulsively dives in front of the stings and takes the hits herself to protect Gyarados. Gyarados is taken aback by how far Misty is willing to go to protect it. Kim's Tentacruel then Tackles her into the cage, and the air is knocked out of her. As Misty floats down to the bottom of the pool, the Invincible Pokémon Brothers watch and sadistically take enjoyment in her suffering. Gyarados becomes horrified that Misty could drown, and it frantically begins to bang on the cage again. As everyone other than the Invincible Pokémon Brothers watch in worry, Gyarados makes a particularly powerful hit, making the cage collapse, much to Kim's surprise. Gyarados then quickly lifts Misty to the surface.

The Invincible Pokémon Brothers are not happy with this turn of events, and order the Tentacruel to attack with, Bubble Beam, and. However, Gyarados easily deflects their attacks before using a to send the Tentacruel blasting off. After seeing Gyarados glaring at them, Invincible Pokémon Brothers cowardly call quits, only for a Hydro Pump to send them and Hitmonchan blasting off as well. As the crowd cheers, happily agrees to return to its Poké Ball. Nurse Joy congratulates Misty and tells her that she has proven herself to resume Gym Leader duties and that her Gym has passed inspection. Misty is confused, but Joy explains that she is a Pokémon Inspection Agent.

Outside the Gym, Agent Joy explains that she is now going to the Hoenn region. Misty asks her that if she meets Ash, to pass along a message that Misty has finally made it as a Gym Leader. Agent Joy agrees and then sets off. As Misty watches her go, she thinks of Ash and Brock and knows that they were right that she could do it on her own. As a new chapter of Misty's life begins, she begins training the Gym Pokémon.

Major events

 * resumes her post as the Cerulean City Gym Leader.
 * Misty manages to conquer her fear of and is able to tame one herself.
 * Misty encounters the Invincible Pokémon Brothers again.

Humans

 * (fantasy)
 * (fantasy)
 * Nurse Joy
 * The Sensational Sisters (flashback)
 * Violet
 * Kim, Kail, and Kai
 * Pokémon Inspection Agency Agents
 * The Sensational Sisters Fan Club members
 * Residents of Cerulean City
 * Pokémon Inspection Agency Agents
 * The Sensational Sisters Fan Club members
 * Residents of Cerulean City

Pokémon

 * (fantasy)
 * (new)
 * (Kim's)
 * (Invincible Pokémon Brothers'; ×3)
 * (Cerulean Gym's)
 * (Cerulean Gym's; ×3)
 * (Cerulean Gym's)
 * (Cerulean Gym's)
 * (new)
 * (Kim's)
 * (Invincible Pokémon Brothers'; ×3)
 * (Cerulean Gym's)
 * (Cerulean Gym's; ×3)
 * (Cerulean Gym's)
 * (Cerulean Gym's)

Trivia

 * This episode was aired between AG003 and AG004 in Japan.
 * reads the title card.
 * Misty is able to talk underwater, which could be an example of anime physics.
 * Music from Mewtwo Strikes Back and The Power of One was used in this episode.
 * Cerulean Gym was nearly shut down for the Gym Leader not being present, but in later episodes, the Hearthome Gym was not known to be in danger of shutting down despite its Gym Leader taking frequent extended absences.
 * The beginning of this episode is connected with Gotta Catch Ya Later as Misty arrives in Cerulean City with her bike. The events of this episode happen around the same time as Hoenn Alone, A Family That Battles Together Stays Together!, Get the Show on the Road, A Ruin With a View, There's no Place Like Hoenn and You Can Never Taillow

Errors

 * At the beginning of the episode, when Misty is talking to Togepi, the part of her hair visible under her ear is colored the same as her skin.
 * Hitmonchan is incorrectly referred to as a Punching-type Pokémon twice. While its species name is the Punching Pokémon, its type is Fighting.
 * Some of the Tentacruel's tentacles are blue instead of gray in one scene.
 * Multiple Tentacruel are incorrectly referred as "Tentacruels."
 * Kail and Kai are misnamed Kam and Khan.
 * The on Misty's coffee cup is purple like a  instead of brown.

Dub edits

 * In the dub, Joy tells Misty that she'll make a fine gym leader. She originally simply said that she's proven herself to continue Gym Leader duties.
 * The dub has Misty thanking Brock and Ash, while in the original, she only thanked Ash.

In other languages
Azuria-Blues EH02 Pokémon Chronicles 16 SS002 放送局第2話 周刊宝可梦广播电台 第2集