EP115

A Tent Situation (Japanese: かえってきたマサラタウン！ Back in Town!) is the 115th episode of the Pokémon anime. It was first broadcast in Japan on September 30, 1999 and in the United States on October 7, 2000.

Blurb
''Ash returns home, where he is pleasantly surprised by an old friend. Unfortunately he faces a new trial, as Team Rocket has besieged the famous Oak Laboratory and captured all the Poké Balls there.''

Plot
and arrive at Pallet Town, where he and  are surprised to see  waiting for them in Ash's house. When they ask why he left Professor Ivy, Brock abruptly falls to the ground shivering, and Misty theorizes that she dumped him. arrives home, and explains that she and Mimey found him a week ago, lying on the ground in a grassland, and took him home. Since then, Brock has been helping around the house, with Brock fighting over the chores with Mimey. Later, whilst discussing over dinner, insists on seeing. Ash is reminded of the GS Ball and then shows his mother his Winner's Trophy, which she suggests she could use as a dumbbell.

Ash,, Misty, Tracey, and Brock travel to Professor Oak's Laboratory, with watching from a distance. Ash is welcomed to the house by, who is crushing Oak under his weight. Tracey ignores the situation and asks to show Oak his sketches. Ash hands Oak the GS Ball and he puts it away to examine it later. Oak then shows them around the Laboratory, and Ash sends his out to rejoin the herd before encountering his other Pokémon,  and. Over some cups of tea, Oak begins to review Tracey's sketches. As Tracey nervously awaits Oak's approval, he is interrupted by activating a circus net that engulfs the Laboratory. Meanwhile, appears and tries to go through the net, though it cannot.

Team Rocket performs their while doing a circus act. Just as Ash is about to call out, he notices Muk's insistence and sends it out instead. Jessie sends out, but Muk ignores Lickitung and goes on to smother Jessie. James sends out, which Muk hugs as well. James tries his luck with, but it fails, and Muk deflects the leaves. Victreebel begins to swallow Muk, but soon spits it out in disgust. Lickitung slobbers all over Muk with its tongue, but it does nothing.

James commands Victreebel to use on Muk, which works, much to Ash's surprise. Ash is about to call out and Bulbasaur, but Team Rocket then throws rings around him and the others, which immobilize them. A Super Sucker then proceeds to suck all of the lab's Poké Balls and Tracey's sketchbooks. Meowth asks again why Brock came back, though he doesn't give an answer. The last Ball sucked in is the GS Ball, but then, a rip in the tent appears, caused by a 's. Team Rocket's tent and Jigglypuff are sent flying into the distance. The Meowth Balloon falls to the ground, releasing every Poké Ball inside. The Trainer turns out to be, and his Nidoqueen attacks Lickitung by grabbing its tongue and swinging it into Team Rocket. Nidoqueen then sends Victreebel flying into Team Rocket with a. Jessie throws Meowth into the ; he tries using, but his claws break from Nidoqueen's armored body. Gary tells his Nidoqueen to use, hurling Team Rocket into the air and sending them blasting off again.

Gary has Nidoqueen use its horn to free everyone. He then greets his grandfather, and everyone except for Ash admires his well-trained Nidoqueen. Ash tries to brag about his Orange League Winner's Trophy; Gary congratulates him but notes that it didn't help him defeat Team Rocket. Soon enough, Ash and Gary prepare for a battle to prove who has become the better Trainer over the past months.

Major events

 * and arrive in Pallet Town.
 * returns and meets for the first time.
 * Ash returns to its herd at Professor Oak's Laboratory.
 * James's Victreebel is revealed to know.
 * returns and is revealed to have obtained a.
 * Tracey meets Gary for the first time.
 * Ash challenges Gary to a, and he accepts.

Humans

 * Jessie
 * James
 * Delia Ketchum
 * Professor Ivy (flashback)
 * Professor Ivy's assistants (flashback)
 * James
 * Delia Ketchum
 * Professor Ivy (flashback)
 * Professor Ivy's assistants (flashback)
 * Professor Ivy (flashback)
 * Professor Ivy's assistants (flashback)

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


 * (flashback)
 * (flashback)
 * (flashback)
 * (flashback)
 * ('s)
 * ('s; Mimey)
 * (×2)
 * (×2)
 * (×3)
 * (×2)
 * (flashback)
 * ('s)
 * ('s; Mimey)
 * (×2)
 * (×2)
 * (×3)
 * (×2)
 * (×2)
 * (×2)
 * (×3)
 * (×2)
 * (×2)

Trivia

 * This episode's dub title is a reference to the phrase "a tense situation".
 * The book Go West, Young Ash is based on this episode.

Errors

 * This episode claims that this is the first time that has ever met  or . However this contradicts The Power of One, where Professor Oak, Delia, and Professor Ivy travel to Shamouti Island and meet up with, , and Tracey himself at the end of the movie. This also contradicts The Lost Lapras, since Tracey saw Oak on the phone monitor, even going as far as to introduce himself as "Tracey Sketchit". He also had a full conversation with him about  in Tracey Gets Bugged, although in those cases, it could be dismissed since he didn't meet him in person.
 * When Ash sends out his, it is sent out from a regular , instead of the it was captured in.
 * In one scene, Delia calls Tracey "Miss Tracey", even though Tracey is male.

Dub edits

 * Pikachu's Jukebox: My Best Friends
 * In the scene where Delia is accidentally trampling, she does not recognize him until he looks up. In the original version, she recognizes Brock before he looks up.
 * When James orders his to attack Ash's Muk, in the dub, he told it to "get stuck on Muk". In the original version, he commands it to use.
 * In the dub, James orders Victreebel to use while attacking Muk, but in the original version, he didn't give an attack order.
 * In the dub, Ash commands to use  on Victreebel. In the original Japanese version, Ash simply calls Muk by its name.
 * The English-dubbed version of this episode was released in Japan as part of the  VHS/DVD. This version has a few changes made:
 * The Who's That Pokémon? segment is presented in the Johto League Champions style rather than the original style as the segment from EP158 is used.
 * The ending credits are not included.

In other languages
Zirkus in Alabastia EP117 EP115 EP115 無印編第115話 精灵宝可梦 第116集