EP187

Moving Pictures (Japanese: こおったヒマナッツのなぞ！！ The Mystery of the Frozen !!) is the 187th episode of the Pokémon anime. It was first broadcast in Japan on March 1, 2001 and in the United States on January 26, 2002.

Blurb
''On their way to Olivine City, our heroes run into their old friend and shutterbug, Todd! As Todd and our friends catch up, a frozen Sunkern falls from the sky. The gang take it to a nearby lodge and, with the help of the old woman who runs it, thaw poor Sunkern out. The old woman explains she and her husband go to a valley with hundreds of Sunflora (the evolution of Sunkern) every year on their anniversary and have their picture taken. Tragically, this being their 50th wedding anniversary, they won't be able to continue the tradition because all of the Sunflora have disappeared. Where have all the Sunflora gone?''

Plot
In their travels, and  come across, who is now traveling far and wide in search of a closeup of the legendary Pokémon,. Their reunion is cut short, however, when a chunk of solid ice comes tumbling out of the sky. The group examines the object and discovers that a is frozen inside. snatches it up, and the friends rush it off to be treated at the Pokémon Center.

Todd relates that he saw a lodge earlier and they could they could take it there. At the lodge, they see an old lady named Sophia, who suggests that Brock can put it into a basin of hot water to melt the ice. After a while the ice melts, and Sunkern comes back to life. She then mentions that the lodge is named the Sunflora Lodge, and starts to explain the long, old story behind the naming of the lodge; insisting that the group listens, though they initially find it boring.

As she starts her story, the group realizes that it is actually a sweet but pitiful love story that takes place about 50 years ago between her and her lover, Marcello. Her lover, now her husband Marcello then appears and reveals that it was only some fictitious story that Sophia had cooked up that involved the both of them.

She then proceeds to show them her photo album that contains 49 pictures that they had taken with the hundreds of that came to the slope every year on their anniversary. Brock claims that this year would then be their golden anniversary and that the 50th picture would make a special one. Marcello sighs and explains that there wouldn't be one as the weather is unusually cold this year and none of the would appear.

But with the only Sunkern that they have, the couple decides that they should still take their 50th anniversary picture. When they reach the slope, the couple tries to come up with another fictional story when decides to show up with their giant snow blower to create trouble. They are buried in snow with no means of defending themselves, as Ash's and  are stuck under snow as well.

Sunkern then uses to melt the snow. Ash then commands Bulbasaur to use which destroys the snow blower, followed by Pikachu blasting them off with his. After sending Team Rocket off, the couple proceeds to take their anniversary picture reluctantly with the only Sunkern they have. Brock then suggests to Ash that he should evolve the Sunkern to Sunflora with the Sun Stone he won as a prize in the Bug-Catching Contest and Ash proclaims that was the only thing that they could do.

Upon evolving, miraculously, many Sunflora come along, and Todd happily takes the couple's 50th anniversary photo. Todd then exclaims that he saw Articuno flying across, and that it must have been Articuno causing the cold weather all along. With that, Ash, Misty, and Brock set off on their journey once again.

Major events

 * and meet up with Todd Snap, who is looking to get a photo of.
 * Ash uses his Sun Stone to evolve a wild into.
 * Todd joins the group again.

Humans

 * Jessie
 * James
 * Todd Snap
 * Sophia
 * Marcello
 * Todd Snap
 * Sophia
 * Marcello

Pokémon
Who's That Pokémon?: (US and international),  (Japan)


 * (evolves; debut)
 * (multiple)
 * (evolves; debut)
 * (multiple)
 * (evolves; debut)
 * (multiple)
 * (evolves; debut)
 * (multiple)

Trivia

 * This is the last episode where a pan-out was displayed with the "To be Continued" caption following it.
 * This episode marks one of the few times that an item is described by the Pokédex.
 * Other items are the Poké Flute in Wake Up Snorlax! and the Salveyo weed in The Stun Spore Detour.
 * This episode marks the first and currently only time that Ash uses an evolutionary stone to make a Pokémon evolve.
 * It also marks the first time that an item belonging to Ash is used to induce a Pokémon's evolution.
 * Both this episode and The Light Fantastic share their names with books. Interestingly, they are only two episodes apart from each other.
 * This episode references music in the real-world:
 * The episode's English title is also the name of an by the band.
 * The story of the Sunflora Lodge is based on a by.
 * The first story which Sophia tells to Ash and is a reference to the movie , which stars  and, who are the inspiration for Sophia and Marcello respectively. The user of  in this episode is also an homage to the film.

Errors

 * In the dub, the Pokédex says that the Sun Stone is used to evolve into . While the Sun Stone will induce evolution in a Gloom, it will become a, rather than a Vileplume. The Leaf Stone is the item used to make a Gloom a Vileplume.
 * When Todd is taking pictures of, he's holding up his right arm. But after he zooms out of his camera, Wobbuffet is holding up his left arm.

Dub edits

 * Todd Snap was named as Todd again due to legal issues involving.
 * While Ash, Misty and Todd think about how long Sophia's story will be, Brock wonders about if she has any . The reason for this is probably for comic effect.
 * The original airing of this episode on Hungama TV in started the episode directly from the title card, skipping the part of the episode that comes before it.

In other languages
Bewegende Bilder EP189 EP187 EP187 無印編第187話 精灵宝可梦 第188集