AG135

Numero Uno Articuno (Japanese: 初陣！バトルファクトリー！！（前編）, First Battle! Battle Factory! (Part One)) is the 135th episode of the, and the 409th episode of the Pokémon anime. It was first broadcast in Japan on July 21, 2005 and in the United States on April 22, 2006.

Blurb
The Battle Factory is Ash's next destination—if he can find it, that is. He and his friends have become lost, but they see snow and an Articuno flying overhead, followed by a plane in distress. The group winds up at a Pokémon Center, where Scott gives them a ride to the Battle Factory. There they meet Noland, who's not just the Factory Head but also a bit of a mechanical mastermind, and the pilot of the plane they saw last night.

Ash can pick which of Noland's Pokémon he wants to battle. Noland has befriended an Articuno whom he helped once, and he takes Max and Pikachu up in his plane to fly with the Legendary Pokémon. Team Rocket wants Articuno for themselves, and they show up in their own plane to steal it. It's no match for Articuno, who quickly sends them on their way.

Impressed, Ash decides he wants to battle Articuno. What's more, he wants to battle it with Charizard! It looks like this is shaping up to be quite a match...

Plot
and are on their way to the, but they get lost. They eventually start setting up camp for the night. Then, while they take a few minutes to admire the moon, a bit of snow blows by, and they see something fly overhead. After a few brief glimpses, they identify it as an. Articuno is soon joined in flight by a small, apparently malfunctioning biplane, but both apparently crash.

, who have also set up camp for the night not far away, also see it. suggests trying to capture it, with the usual bizarre vision of what the would do with it. Jessie and James are excited, until James points out that Articuno is, after all, an extremely powerful legendary Pokémon. As a result, James proclaims that they should go ahead and straightforwardly take and the Pokémon from the Battle Factory.

Ash and his friends have been walking around trying to find Articuno again. They don't find it, but they do find a Pokémon Center. They spend the night there, and the local Nurse Joy promises to give them directions to the Battle Factory in the morning. The next day, Joy is about to give them the directions, when she is interrupted by someone telling her not to bother. It's Scott, and he offers to take them to the Battle Factory himself. It turns out that Scott is every bit as insane a driver as Professor Birch, and he takes a shortcut. Fortunately, everyone survives the trip.

They are about to enter the Battle Factory when they hear the noise of an engine. A large vehicle smashes through the doors of the Factory and nearly runs the group down. When a voice from inside the vehicle makes it clear that the thing is out of control, Ash,, and Brock use their Pokémon to stop it. A hatch opens on top of the vehicle, and a man climbs out, complaining about how it doesn't listen to a thing he says. He thanks them for their help, and Scott addresses him as. Noland goes on to introduce the vehicle as the Noland J-9, his latest and greatest super-machine. He is interrupted by an assistant, who runs out and, rather exasperated, asks Noland if he's been playing around with that thing again. Noland replies that he isn't playing, it's his hobby. The assistant asks what the difference is, and Noland doesn't have an answer. Noland introduces the assistant as Sergio, his number one apprentice. Scott asks Noland to introduce himself. He introduces himself as Factory Head Noland, and Scott explains to Ash that that means he's the Frontier Brain of the Battle Factory. Ash introduces himself and says he's there to challenge Noland.

Team Rocket is watching from a nearby tree. Realizing Noland's affinity for machines, they decide to steal some mecha parts in addition to the Pokémon.

Sergio calls out that it's Pokéblock time, and about a dozen powerful-looking Pokémon come running. May's Munchlax comes out of its Poké Ball to join them in the meal. May is about to call it back, but Sergio assures her that there is plenty of Pokéblock for everyone. Ash asks Noland if all these Pokémon are his. Noland says yes, and that more Pokémon give more possibilities for battles. He asks Ash which ones he wants to battle, and says Ash can pick as many as he wants, but Ash has trouble deciding. Meanwhile, Munchlax grabs one of the bowls of Pokéblock, and runs off into a nearby building. May and Max give chase.

Team Rocket is watching from on top of a building. They're impressed by the apparent strength of the Pokémon, and plan to take them all. James is a bit worried about whether they'll be able to get so many, but Meowth says to just leave it to him.

May and Max enter the building Munchlax went into. It's dark inside, and they can't see clearly, but it doesn't take long to spot Munchlax standing on a crate, eating Pokéblock in private, to May's curiosity. Then Max notices something else: the airplane they saw the previous night. And then, a cold breeze starts blowing, apparently coming from Munchlax. May wonders if it's learned an move, but Max says it isn't  or. The truth is revealed moments later, as Articuno arises from behind Munchlax, then flies out of the building.

When everyone is back together, Noland explains that he'd been doing a little "night cruising" with Articuno the previous night. Max comments on how impressive it is that Noland caught such a powerful Pokémon, but Noland says it's a wild Pokémon. He goes on to explain:

One night, while he was test-flying his plane, he was quite startled to find Articuno flying alongside him. Then Articuno started having trouble flying. Noland figures that it injured its wing during one of its flights from mountaintop to mountaintop. He got it to land on top of his plane, brought it down, and helped it heal. Since then, it has come to visit him with some regularity.

Max says he wants to fly with Articuno, and Noland offers to take him up in the plane. Max invites Pikachu along, and they take to the air. Before long, Noland and Articuno are competing at fancy flying. May, Brock, and Scott, watching from the ground, are so enthralled that they don't even notice Ash is gone until he gets back. Brock asks where he was, and Ash says he was just making a quick phone call. Just then, Scott notices something else in the sky.

It's Team Rocket in a new mecha, making a very rapid descent to land near them. After the motto, Ash asks what they're there for. They respond that they're there to take the Battle Factory's Pokémon, of course. Ash orders Pikachu to attack, then remembers that Pikachu is up in the plane with Max. He decides to use Grovyle instead, but before he can send it out, one of the mecha's many hands grabs the Poké Ball right out of his hand. The mecha then takes to the air, grabs about half of Noland's Pokémon, and is about to fly off when Noland rams it with his plane. The Pokémon are released, and the mecha comes crashing down. Noland makes known that he finds Team Rocket's mecha interesting before asking Articuno to get rid of them. It grabs the mecha in its claws, lifts it off the ground, and throws it high into the air, where an finishes it off.

That night, Noland asks Ash if he's decided which Pokémon he wants to battle, and he says yes. Max thinks he'll go for Venusaur, and May thinks Rhyhorn, but Ash says neither. He wants to go one-on-one against Articuno. This surprises everyone, except possibly Noland. He just turns to Articuno, asks if it agrees to this, and when its reply is affirmative, asks what Pokémon Ash will be using. Ash looks up towards the moon, and says "that one."

Everyone looks, and they see something large and winged silhouetted against the moon... Ash's Charizard. The phone call he'd made earlier was to at the valley where Charizard was training. Charizard greets him with the usual. Noland says he's looking forward to tomorrow, and the episode ends with both Articuno and Charizard eying the competition.

Major events

 * , Max, and meet Scott for the first time.
 * and arrive at the  and meet Factory Head Noland, the first Frontier Brain.
 * Ash's Charizard returns.
 * Ash and Charizard prepare to face off against Noland's Articuno.

Humans

 * Sergio
 * Sergio

Pokémon debuts

 * Noland's Articuno

Humans

 * Max
 * Jessie
 * James
 * Nurse Joy
 * (fantasy)
 * Sergio
 * Scott
 * (fantasy)
 * Sergio
 * Scott
 * Scott

Pokémon
Pokémon Trainer's Choice:


 * (returns)
 * ('s)
 * ('s)
 * ('s)
 * ('s)
 * ('s)
 * ('s)
 * ('s)
 * ('s)
 * ('s)
 * ('s)
 * ('s)
 * ('s)
 * (befriended)
 * ('s)
 * ('s)
 * ('s)
 * ('s)
 * ('s)
 * ('s)
 * ('s)
 * (befriended)

Trivia

 * replaced Pokémon Symphonic Medley as the Japanese opening theme.
 * Pokémon Counting Song replaced GLORY DAY ~That Shining Day~ as the Japanese ending theme.
 * When discussing the, mentions stealing some machine parts. Given the Battle Factory's location, which is near Cerulean City, this could be a reference to the Machine Part stolen by a  in Generation II from the Kanto Power Plant, which is also near Cerulean City.
 * After Meowth announces the name of 's new Pokémon-stealing machine, James states its acronym, GAGME. Jessie quickly notes that it spells "Gag me," in reference to the expression "Gag me with a spoon," which states a person's distaste with something said by another person.
 * This episode was the first to air in Japan after the theatrical release of Lucario and the Mystery of Mew.

Errors

 * Just when Team Rocket is about to grab 's Pokémon, Noland's 's mouth is colored the same as the upper part of its body.
 * When he explains that he called her to get his back, Ash mispronounces 's name.
 * When Ash's Charizard uses on him,  says "Not again..." However, May has never seen Ash's Charizard before this and thus shouldn't know about its habit of attacking Ash.

Pokémon Trainer's Choice

 * Question: Trainers, Which Pokémon is most effective against ?
 * Choices:, ,
 * Answer: OK, Trainers! If you chose, you were right!

In other languages
Wiedersehen macht Freude! EP412 AG135 AG編第135話 精灵宝可梦 超世代 第134集