AG044

The Princess and the Togepi (Japanese: カスミ登場！トゲピーとまぼろしの王国！！ Enter ! and the Mirage Kingdom!!) is the 44th episode of the, and the 318th episode of the Pokémon anime. It was first broadcast in Japan on September 25, 2003 and in the United States on September 25, 2004.

Blurb
Ash and friends welcome an old friend—Misty! She's received an invitation to a Togepi Festival, and is soon greeted by Team Rocket disguised as the operating committee for the festival. They escort Misty and Togepi inside a large building, which turns out to be a concealed zeppelin. Ash and friends climb aboard before takeoff, and the aircraft makes its way to the Mirage Kingdom.

Misty leaves the zeppelin and is met by Colonel Hansen, who demands that she turn over Togepi. Ash and Brock step forward to protect her, sending out Mudkip and Pikachu. Misty, May, and Max flee while Pikachu and Mudkip battle Colonel Hansen's two Ninjask.

Colonel Hansen's Shedinja catches up with Misty, who sends out her Corsola. During the battle, Togepi is blasted away and found unconscious in a stream by the princess of the Mirage Kingdom. A servant tells the king that the princess has finally found a Togepi, and they all gather in the princess' quarters to look at it.

Misty arrives and demands the return of her Togepi. The princess and the servant explain that Togepi are worshipped in the Mirage Kingdom, and in order to become ruler, the princess must have one in her possession for the coronation ceremony. Colonel Hansen wants the throne for himself, which is why he tried to steal Misty's Togepi. The princess decides to send Misty and friends home with Togepi.

As the gang are about to board the zeppelin, a mirror image of the temple appears in the sky. Togepi begins to glow and float toward it. Colonel Hansen arrives with Team Rocket, and his Shedinja attacks the group using Solar Beam, which Pikachu attempts to block with Thundershock.

Plot
and are walking when Ash and  spot, their old traveling companion. They exchange greetings, and Misty proceeds to tell and Max that she already knows their names. Misty shows off her invitation to a convention for Trainers and approaches the hotel behind them. Then, two mysterious people dressed in outfits with Togepi markings come up to Misty and take her into the building. Inside, the two people, who are actually, tells to take off. The building then collapses and a blimp starts floating away. Ash and his friends realize that Misty is in trouble and rush toward the rope hanging from the blimp. All of them manage to grab the rope and make their way into it. The blimp goes through a sandstorm in a desert and reaches its destination, the Mirage Kingdom. Meowth lands the blimp in a landing area, and Jessie and James disguise themselves again. As Misty leaves the blimp, Ash and the others come out, as well as Jessie and James. When asked for their identity, Team Rocket gladly recites their motto. Misty becomes furious at them, thinking that they were trying to steal. However, Team Rocket tells them that they were actually after. As the battle commences, a man steps in with his and.

He demands Togepi, but Misty refuses to hand it over to him. He says that his name is Colonel Hansen. Hansen then orders Shedinja to use to demonstrate its power. Ash and Brock face Hansen with and, while Misty, Max, and May run. When Hansen notices that the Togepi is getting away, he commands Shedinja to go after them. Misty, Max, and May keep running until they reach a maze. Shedinja appears, freaking Misty out, but she is determined to protect Togepi. She sends out and orders it to use. Unfortunately, the attack did not harm the bug Pokémon a bit. Shedinja attacks with another Solar Beam, hitting Misty so hard that she loses Togepi. A girl in a blue dress discovers Togepi and notices how hurt it is. She informs the caretaker about her find and brings Togepi to a room for treatment. This girl turns out to be Sara, the princess of the Mirage Kingdom. When Sara brings Togepi to her parents, both are thrilled by it. At this point, Misty barges in and sees Togepi. The queen thinks that Misty is trying to steal Togepi, but Sara quickly realizes that Togepi belonged to her. Misty thanks the princess for taking care of Togepi and proceeds to tell them that Hansen tried to steal it from her.

Meanwhile, Hansen states that he has a plan to steal Togepi and tells Team Rocket that they will be rewarded if they help him. As Misty and company go outside of the temple, Ash and Brock meet up with them. Brock, as usual, goes gaga for the princess and starts flirting with her. Misty, also as usual, pulls him away from her by the ear, but she also throws him back. Max and May are quite shocked by this but they are impressed nevertheless. The princess explains the importance of Togepi to the kingdom. However, knowing that Hansen is set on trying to take Togepi, she asks Ash and his friends to leave the Mirage Kingdom immediately for their safety. However, as they are about to leave, they notice a temple in the sky. Togepi seems to be reaching for it and then it suddenly floats away. Hansen and Team Rocket appear. Shedinja fires a Solar Beam at them and Pikachu counters it with his.

Major events

 * returns, with and Max meeting her for the first time.

Humans

 * Princess Sara
 * Colonel Hansen
 * King and Queen of the Mirage Kingdom
 * King and Queen of the Mirage Kingdom

Humans

 * Max
 * Jessie
 * James
 * Princess Sara
 * Colonel Hansen
 * King and Queen of the Mirage Kingdom
 * James
 * Princess Sara
 * Colonel Hansen
 * King and Queen of the Mirage Kingdom
 * King and Queen of the Mirage Kingdom

Pokémon
Pokémon Trainer’s Choice:


 * (Colonel Hansen's; debut)
 * (Colonel Hansen's; ×2; debut)
 * (Colonel Hansen's; debut)
 * (Colonel Hansen's; ×2; debut)
 * (Colonel Hansen's; debut)
 * (Colonel Hansen's; ×2; debut)
 * (Colonel Hansen's; debut)
 * (Colonel Hansen's; ×2; debut)

Trivia

 * This was the first episode featuring 's outfit.
 * This was also Misty's first main series appearance after Gotta Catch Ya Later!.
 * This episode aired in the United States exactly one year after its Japanese air date.
 * The English dub title is based on the fairy-tale  by.
 * The Japanese voice artists for 's first three female traveling companions are featured in this episode and the next one; Mayumi Iizuka and KAORI. voice Misty and, respectively; and Megumi Toyoguchi, who voices Princess Sara in this episode, went on to play during the.
 * This is the first episode to use music from Pokémon Heroes: Latios & Latias. However, the background music is replaced in the dub.
 * This episode is featured on Pokémon All-Stars: Togepi from 's series.

Errors

 * During the shot when is floating towards Misty, May, and Max, the silver halo over Shedinja's head is missing.
 * Close to the end, the same mistake happens again. When Colonel Hansen and attack and Misty refuses to hand  over, Shedinja can be seen without its halo.

Pokémon Trainer's Choice

 * Question: Trainers, one of these Pokémon is the best choice to battle ?
 * Choices:, ,
 * Answer: Ok, Trainers! If you chose, you were right!

In other languages
Die Prinzessin und das Togepi EP320 AG044 AG044 AG編第44話 精灵宝可梦 超世代 第44集