EP255

'''Why? Wynaut! (Japanese: ソーナノ！？ジムバッジとソーナンス！！' !? Gym Badges and !!'') is the 255th episode of the Pokémon anime. It was first broadcast in Japan on July 4, 2002 and in the United States on June 28, 2003.

Blurb
''Having defeated Clair and earned his eighth gym badge, Ash must now set out for the Johto League championship, which he learns is to be held on Mt Silver in three months time. As Ash heads toward New Bark Town, where he will register for entry in this competition, he is stopped by two reporters who ask for a shot of the trainer making his triumphant return. The reporters turn out to be none other than Jessie and James of Team Rocket. They trick Ash out of all eight of his badges, but the plan backfires when a passing Wynaut steals the badges from Wobbuffet. Remembering each of the eight victories that earned him these badges, Ash sets out after Team Rocket, determined to get back what is rightfully his.''

Plot
While they are still in Blackthorn City, and his friends are sitting on Clair's outdoor balcony at the Gym, eating breakfast with her. After some discussion, Ash plans to go to New Bark Town to register for the Silver Conference even though it is still three months away. has plans of their own, and they decide to steal Ash's Badges for their own purposes; and James want to sell the Badges, while Jessie wants to enter the Silver Conference using them. In the midst of their discussion, Team Rocket's food is stolen, with Wobbuffet receiving the blame.

Jessie and James pose as a reporter and cameraman just as Ash and his friends are walking out of the gates. Jessie takes Ash's jacket and hands it to a hidden Meowth, whilst James puts Ash in an oversized red coat and golden crown. Ash poses for several photos, and Meowth and Wobbuffet are admiring Ash's Badges. Jessie then returns Ash's jacket and begins to walk away with James. However, Ash utters the word "prepared", causing Jessie and James to try and resist the urge to say their. Ash mentions the word "trouble" next, and Team Rocket instinctively reveal their true identities. Meowth and James tell Ash that they have come for his Badges. Ash peers inside his coat, noticing that the eight Badges have been replaced with bottle caps.

Ash and his friends chase Team Rocket, but is further ahead with the Badge case. It decides to rest on a marked ledge with a Jessie flag on it. Wobbuffet then moves from its position, locating red Berry-filled trees. Wobbuffet imagines Jessie, James, and Meowth happily thanking it and stuffing their faces with the Berry. It promptly begins filling the Badge case with the Berries. As it does so, a watches hidden behind some shrubs, and it grabs the case. Wobbuffet quickly notices and the two Pokémon have an exchange. Jessie and the gang suddenly arrive, startling Wobbuffet and giving Wynaut time to flee. Unable to locate the case, Wobbuffet tries to explain what happened, with Meowth translating it and Wobbuffet drawing a picture of Wynaut in the dirt. Unfortunately, James misinterprets the drawing as being of his childhood nanny. After Wobbuffet states the thief was blue, Jessie believes a stole the Badges, and they try to find one. Meanwhile, Ash tries on his own to try to find the Badges. Though Clair mentions that he could have the Badges reissued, Ash refuses, stating that those particular Badges have special meaning to him.

Team Rocket stumbles across a Wooper sitting on a rock in the middle of a running stream. She attempts to grab it with her hands, but it dodges the trio and runs into the forest. Meanwhile, Ash calls out and  to search the forest alongside Clair and her. Misty and Brock stay together whilst Ash goes in a different direction to find Team Rocket. Noctowl and Bayleef find Wynaut and the case with the Badges and Berries. Wynaut is having trouble opening the case, so Bayleef lends its vines and returns the case back to Wynaut. With glee, Wynaut empties the case, and to Bayleef's astonishment, Ash's Badges also fall out. Noctowl flies off, locating Ash by a stream and notifies him of the discovery.

Bayleef has since gathered the Badges on a large leaf. Wynaut's snack is suddenly interrupted when Wooper appears, followed by Team Rocket. and are sent out to deal with the situation. Bayleef jumps backwards, holding both Wooper and the leaf of Badges to avoid Arbok's. Victreebel's trips the fleeing Bayleef, separating it from the Badges. Jessie again calls for a Poison Sting attack, but the Wynaut's intercepts, sending the attack back towards Arbok. Just as Meowth retrieves the Badges from the ground, Ash arrives on the scene. Arbok uses Poison Sting again, this time allowing Team Rocket to escape to their awaiting Meowth balloon. Bayleef's Vine Whip sends Ash flying towards Team Rocket, but he narrowly misses the balloon's basket and begins falling to the ground. Noctowl quickly tries to catch him by the bag, but it slips from its grip. Clair and Dragonair then arrive and manage to rescue Ash.

Ash gets Noctowl to pick Pikachu up from the ground, reaching the escaping Team Rocket soon after. Pikachu lets out a, and the balloon bursts, sending Team Rocket flying. Ash and his friends manage to rescue seven of the eight Badges, with only the Rising Badge missing. The group disperses once again to find the missing Badge in the surrounding greenery. Wynaut appears from the bushes with the Rising Badge in hand and hands it over to Bayleef. Bayleef then gives the Badge to Ash, who is searching nearby. However, when Bayleef tries to give credit to Wynaut for finding it, it disappears. A ship carrying logs suddenly travels past them on a nearby stream, with Wynaut standing on it and waving. However, by the time Ash looks up, both the ship and Wynaut have passed through. Misty, Clair, and Brock gather near Ash; and he shows them that the Badge has been recovered.

The group later talks to via video phone in the Pokémon Center. Ash announces that he has all eight of his Johto Badges. The call ends abruptly, however, when Ash's Snorlax,, , and become too enthusiastic, crushing Professor Oak. Clair instructs Ash to follow a road to the sea, then to follow the coastline to reach New Bark Town in order to register for the Johto League Silver Conference. The group waves goodbye to Clair and begins to head towards their next destination.

Major events

 * learns that the Johto League Silver Conference will take place in at the foot of Mt. Silver in three months.
 * Ash and head to New Bark Town in order for Ash to register for the Silver Conference.

Humans

 * Jessie
 * James
 * Falkner (flashback)
 * Bugsy (flashback)
 * Whitney (flashback)
 * Morty (flashback)
 * Chuck (flashback)
 * Jasmine (flashback)
 * Pryce (flashback)
 * Clair
 * Chuck (flashback)
 * Jasmine (flashback)
 * Pryce (flashback)
 * Clair

Pokémon
Who's That Pokémon?: (US and international),  (Japan)
 * (at Professor Oak's Laboratory)
 * (flashback)
 * (at Professor Oak's Laboratory)
 * (at Professor Oak's Laboratory)
 * (flashback)
 * (flashback)
 * (flashback)
 * (Falkner's; flashback)
 * (flashback)
 * (flashback)
 * (Morty's; flashback)
 * (Chuck's; flashback)
 * (flashback)
 * (flashback)
 * (Clair's; flashback)
 * (Clair's; flashback)
 * (Falkner's; flashback)
 * (flashback)
 * (flashback)
 * (Morty's; flashback)
 * (Chuck's; flashback)
 * (flashback)
 * (flashback)
 * (Clair's; flashback)
 * (Clair's; flashback)
 * (Clair's; flashback)

Trivia

 * One version, such as certain broadcasts and the, has the erroneous title Why? Why Not!, somewhat ignoring the intended pun. Another version, including the version streaming on Pokémon TV and the , gives the title correct as Why? Wynaut!, making the pun clearer.
 * Some dubs, like Iberian Spanish, use translations of the first title whereas others, like Latin American Spanish, use the second.
 * Throughout the entire Blackthorn City arc, is never seen by a human. This perhaps accounts for its perceived rarity outside of Hoenn.
 * This is one of the few times in the anime a member of (in this case, Jessie) refers to  by his name and not "twerp" or "brat". The first time was in Electric Shock Showdown when Meowth was cheering for Pikachu and Ash, the second time was in Fire and Ice when Jessie was talking about how the crowd was cheering for Ash, and the third time was in Will the Real Oak Please Stand Up when she addresses  as "Brock".
 * They were in disguise during the first, third and fourth incidents.
 * This is the only episode where a Pokémon from a future Generation is used in Dare da? — its Pokédex number is listed as ???.
 * Music from Pikachu's Rescue Adventure can be heard during Wobbuffet's fantasy.
 * In the original Japanese version, and 's conversation contains a pun that was lost in translation. Their Japanese names, ソーナノ (Wynaut) and ソーナンス (Wobbuffet) translates into "Really?" and "That's right!" respectively.
 * This episode is featured on Pokémon All-Stars: Wobbuffet from 's series.

Errors

 * When remembering his Badges, Ash says he received the twice. The first one was actually the.
 * Meowth was holding the leaf that had Ash's Badges in it, then it shows Meowth holding nothing, and then holding the leaf again.
 * Ash says he won his Plain Badge from Whitney in the Goldenrod Gym; however, this is incorrect as he won it on her uncle's Miltank farm. However, it's highly possible he was referring to how she is the Gym Leader at Goldenrod.
 * In the recap of the previous episode, the animation is flawed.
 * There is a repeated frame when Team Rocket finds Ash's Badges.

In other languages
Die Orden sind weg! EP257 EP255 無印編第255話 精灵宝可梦 第256集