AG097

Gaining Groudon (Japanese: グラードンＶＳカイオーガ！ （前編） Groudon VS Kyogre! (Part 1)) is the 97th episode of the, and the 371st episode of the Pokémon anime. It was first broadcast in Japan on October 7, 2004 and in the United States on October 15, 2005.

Blurb
The kids are floating on logs at sea when a red submarine appears beneath them, belonging to Team Magma. At the floating Magma base, the kids are taken into custody. Team Magma Leader Maxie explains to them about how he has the Blue Orb in his possession, allowing him to control Groudon. Unfortunately, the Legendary Pokémon they currently have in their possession is Kyogre.

A disguised Shelly of Team Aqua sneaks away and unlocks Kyogre, setting off an alarm. Kyogre awakens and busts out of the floating base, causing it to begin sinking. In the chaos, the kids try to grab the orb, and Pikachu accidentally absorbs it and goes berserk.

Ash is separated from his friends and attacked by a Team Magma member. He meets what appears to be another member of Team Magma—but it's really Lance of the Elite Four in disguise! Lance has also sent his red Gyarados to go help Ash's friends.

Both Teams Magma and Aqua end up on Monsu Island, along with Team Rocket, who wants to steal both Legendary Pokémon. Of course, it's no good, as Kyogre is under the control of the Red Orb, which is currently in Team Aqua's possession...

Plot
At the end of the previous episode, 's had blasted off  one way, and Pikachu,, and  the other way. Ash and his friends are now floating in the ocean, hanging onto logs, wondering what to do now as the ferry to Mossdeep City is long gone and there are no other boats in sight. Suddenly, a giant submarine surfaces right under them. They are now riding it, and conclude that someone has rescued them. They call out towards the submarine's conning tower, trying to attract someone's attention, when to their surprise, a Team Magma member rises from it. They hide as the member, who turns out to be Tabitha, looks through his binoculars towards their destination up ahead. From their hiding place out of Tabitha's view, Ash and his friends recognize him and realize the sub belongs to Team Magma. They watch as the sub heads for an opening in a much larger ship ahead, which May realizes to be Team Magma's base.

Once the sub reaches the dock inside, two crew members acknowledge their boss, Maxie, who is waiting for them. Maxie notices Ash and his friends, now exposed to everyone's sight, frantically looking for another place to hide. After forcing them on deck with their hands raised, the team then encircles Ash and his friends, and they use two of their Mightyena to guard the prisoners. While they talk, another female Magma member slips unnoticed out of the sub, and heads off another way. Maxie and Tabitha confer briefly about the possibility of Team Aqua being nearby, then the scene switches to the mysterious female Magma member. She approaches two male grunts that are guarding a door. Two well-placed punches later, both grunts are out cold. The woman then pulls back her hood to reveal that she is actually Tactical Commander Shelly of Team Aqua. She goes into the door, entering a room that houses 's containment chamber. Yes, Team Magma has captured Kyogre, and Team Aqua wants it. Shelly punches a code into the control panel for the chamber, and a rush of steam comes from several vents inside it.

Meanwhile, Team Magma has taken their captives to Maxie's office on the ship. Maxie tells Ash and his friends to sit down so they can talk, but Ash angrily refuses, saying he'd rather stand. In response, the growl fiercely at the captives. This frightens and Max, and the group finally sits down. Ash promptly yells at Maxie, the Mightyena growl again, and May calls Ash's name in a scared voice, meaning he should calm down. Tabitha jumps in, saying nobody talks to his boss that way, but Maxie calms him down. Maxie goes on to explain about their plans to increase the earth's land, and surprises Ash and his friends by saying they plan to awaken the Legendary Pokémon. They have currently captured a Kyogre, which Team Aqua is after, and they know that Team Aqua has a Groudon, so they want to swap prisoners. The Blue Orb rises from Maxie's desk, and he explains that whoever holds the orb can control a Groudon, giving him ultimate power. Team Magma plans to use that power to increase the world's land and finally defeat Team Aqua.

Meanwhile, Shelly has now managed to increase the humidity in Kyogre's chamber to enough of a level that it can be revived. Alarm sirens sound in that room, and even as far up as Maxie's office. Everyone is startled, and Maxie hits the button for the intercom on his desk. A Magma grunt's voice on the intercom explains the situation. Kyogre has now fully awakened, and Shelly calls out for it to break free. It breaks its bonds without much difficulty, but can't break its muzzle. Regardless, it plunges through the wall and into the ocean, causing the ship to tilt violently to one side. A red-haired male Magma grunt confronts Shelly on the ship's deck. She removes her Magma disguise, revealing her Team Aqua wet suit, and leaps overboard into the water.

Back in Maxie's office, scrambled intercom reports of the confusion related to Kyogre's escape are still pouring in. Suddenly, a blast (apparently from Kyogre) knocks Maxie down and sends the Blue Orb flying. exclaims that now's their chance to get it, so Ash gets Pikachu to do so. Tabitha has the three Mightyena who had been guarding them try to stop Pikachu, but Pikachu jumps from one Mightyena's head to the other, and finally to the orb. Pikachu lands, having successfully caught it. Suddenly, a quick cutscene shows an opening eye and a growl, and the Blue Orb starts to glow and absorb itself into Pikachu's body. Pikachu writhes in pain briefly, and at Maxie's suggestion, Tabitha takes the opportunity to have the Mightyena attack. Hearing them, a possessed Pikachu turns around and defeats all three with a supercharged. Pikachu sways back and forth from the strain, and Tabitha pulls out a Poké Ball, but just then, another explosion hits the wall behind him. Ash and his friends take that opportunity to escape. Tabitha helps his boss up, and Maxie says they've got to get that Pikachu back.

Not far away, Team Aqua's sub surfaces, as Shelly reports to Aqua Leader Archie that the operation to release Kyogre was successful. Archie holds up the Red Orb, and it glows, summoning Kyogre, who releases a at Team Magma's ship. On that ship, the red-haired Magma member pulls out a Poké Ball, noting that the situation has now turned drastic. But then he notices Ash and his friends on the deck below him, recognizing Ash and wondering what he's doing mixed up in all this. Brock says their only chance is to abandon ship, so he dives into the water along with May and Max. Ash and Pikachu are about to follow when they're suddenly blindsided by one of Tabitha's Mightyena. Tabitha gloats, having cornered Ash.

May, Max, and Brock now surface and wonder where Ash is, only to notice that he's been captured. Tabitha and his two Mightyena are bringing Ash onto Team Magma's helicopter. Tabitha confers with a teammate, while the mysterious red-headed grunt listens. The helicopter takes off from Team Magma's ship as Archie watches from his sub. With the Red Orb still in hand, Archie promptly has Kyogre finish off the ship, so it is sure to sink. This creates a powerful downward current that pushes May, Max, and Brock deeper into the water, but something is following them.

The scene then switches to show Team Rocket, lying on a beach with the wind knocked out of them. This is where they had landed following the previous episode's blastoff. They recognize Team Magma's helicopter flying overhead, and wonder what they're up to. Meanwhile, out in the ocean, a Red Gyarados surfaces, carrying an unconscious May, Max, and Brock. They awaken, and May and Max promptly get scared when they realize they're on a Gyarados, but Brock recognizes it as Lance's.

While this is going on, it's time for the big meeting between Teams Aqua and Magma. Magma's helicopter lands, and the team gets out. Archie reveals that he has two Team Magma hostages, and offers to trade them for the Blue Orb. Team Rocket is watching this from not far off, and is stunned at the mentions of Groudon and Kyogre in the negotiations. After some more discussion, Archie reveals to Maxie that he already has the Red Orb and can control Kyogre, and that he'll be unstoppable if he can get the Blue Orb as well. Team Rocket comments on this, and decide to steal Groudon and Kyogre to give to the.

Meanwhile, Ash and Pikachu are still trapped in Team Magma's helicopter, and guarded by several grunts outside. Pikachu is still in pain from having absorbed the Blue Orb. Suddenly, he glows with those red markings again and breaks free of Ash's grip. He then basically goes insane, letting out massive bursts of electricity everywhere, including one that just misses Ash, before finally fainting from the strain. Worried, Ash picks him up, but then notices the red-haired Magma member from earlier at the door. Ash is angry at first, but the Magma member removes his hood to reveal that he's Lance. He quietly fills Ash in on the situation, and Ash explains what happened to Pikachu. Lance doesn't think Pikachu is in life-threatening danger, so he reassures Ash and explains more about what's going on.

By now, May and Max have calmed down about the Gyarados, since Brock has been explaining to them about who Lance is and how he and Ash know him, as Gyarados takes them to the island where everyone is. Another scene-switch shows Team Rocket observing Team Aqua's sub. They know from what they overheard that Team Aqua is keeping Groudon and Kyogre captive there. Two Aqua guards with their make their rounds, but after they have gone by one of the storage containers, part of the wall falls down, and Team Rocket emerges. They'd disguised themselves with a fake wall similar to Trainers. They tiptoe off, and come to a control panel and monitor that shows where Kyogre is being held now. Jessie pulls out a bazooka, and enters a password on the keyboard, but it doesn't work. Jessie and James tease Meowth as he presses random buttons, eventually shutting down the computer. Jessie and Meowth argue, and tries a button that causes an explosion. The door Team Rocket wanted opens, and they rejoice, but are stopped short by the Aqua guards and their Crawdaunt.

Back at the showdown between Archie and Maxie, Shelly receives a report on her radio about Team Rocket, and Archie blames Team Magma for the intrusion. Maxie denies any involvement. The scene switches to May, Max, and Brock running towards the action. A storm quickly starts, and they decide to hurry.

Meanwhile, James sends out to deal with the two Crawdaunt. A single is all that's necessary to let Team Rocket go by, and they quickly approach Kyogre's tank. Jessie fires a net from her bazooka that envelops Kyogre, and she then presses a button that electrifies the net, attempting to weaken the. It seems that her voltage wasn't nearly high enough though, since the electricity merely alerted Kyogre. It jumps out of the water, sending the electrified net back onto Team Rocket and blasting them off. The explosion causes a fire in Kyogre's containment chamber.

Still captive in Team Magma's helicopter, Ash is holding Pikachu, trying desperately to calm him down as he goes insane again, letting out bolts of electricity everywhere. Ash is getting hurt, but won't let go of Pikachu this time.

Major events

 * While lost at sea, and  are held captive by Team Magma.
 * Ash and his friends meet Maxie, the leader of Team Magma.
 * Team Magma is revealed to have has captured while Team Aqua has captured.
 * Shelly frees Kyogre from Team Magma's captivity.
 * Ash's Pikachu accidentally absorbs the Blue Orb into his body.
 * Ash meets up with Lance again.

Humans

 * Maxie
 * Archie

Humans

 * Max
 * Jessie
 * James
 * Lance
 * Maxie
 * Archie
 * Tabitha
 * Shelly
 * s
 * s
 * Shelly
 * s
 * s

Pokémon
Pokémon Trainer’s Choice:


 * (Lance's; Red Gyarados)
 * ('; multiple)
 * ('; ×2)
 * (Lance's; Red Gyarados)
 * ('; multiple)
 * ('; ×2)
 * ('; ×2)

Trivia

 * The title of this episode is based on the phrase "gaining ground".
 * doesn't recite their in this episode.

Errors

 * In the Pokémon Trainer's Choice segment, the answer of who would be most effective against and  was . However, Mudkip itself is not a  Pokémon, meaning that it technically is the least effective, while, as a Grass type, is the most resistant to Electric moves.
 * However, it does evolve into.
 * When Archie commands to attack Team Magma's ship for the first time, Kyogre's wing patterns begin to glow. For a split-second, before the patterns start to glow, they are missing.
 * When Team Rocket see Team Magma flying overhead and Jessie sits up, James's gloves and boots are colored purple instead of their usual slate-gray.
 * As the two s are walking past Kyogre's cargo hold on patrol, the white stripes are missing from the female grunt's shirt.

Pokémon Trainer's Choice

 * Question: Trainers, which Pokémon would be most effective against and ?
 * Choices:, ,
 * Answer: OK, Trainers! If you chose, you were right!

In other languages
Macht über Groudon EP373 AG097 AG097 AG編第97話 精灵宝可梦 超世代 第97集