Off to a Shocking Start: Episode 1 – "Pokémon, I Choose You!"

Welcome to the very first written episode guide for The Pokémon Snapshot! If you are just joining us on this digital journey, this blog is the new home for our massive episode backlog. We are officially taking our classic chronological anime reviews and our best on-mic banter, and adapting them into these comprehensive written guides.

Whether you want to read along as you rewatch the series, or you just want the ultimate nostalgic refresher without scrubbing through hours of audio, you are in the right place.

For our very first entry, we are traveling all the way back to Pallet Town to break down the episode that started it all: "Pokémon, I Choose You!"

Before we dive into the tall grass, let’s establish the dynamic of your hosts. I’m Jeff, your resident Pokémon veteran. I’ve been playing the games since I picked up Pokémon Blue in the year 2000 while stuck at home with appendicitis (thanks for the game money, Grandma!). Sitting opposite me is Tyler, our resident Pokémon rookie. While Tyler was a 90s kid who owned the cards, he admits his strategy was just to "slap down cards and say 'I think this one looks good'" without actually knowing the rules.

Together, we are rewatching the entire anime from the beginning. Let’s hit play on episode one.

The game that started it all for our host Jeff

Setting the Stage: The Hype of 1998

To understand the impact of this episode, we have to look at the timeline. In Japan, this episode aired on April 1, 1997, and was simply titled the same as its English counterpart. But in the United States, this episode premiered on September 8, 1998.

Why is that date so important? Because Pokémon Red and Pokémon Blue didn't launch in North America until September 28, 1998.

That means this anime episode aired a full 20 days before the video game came out. It was the ultimate, genius advertisement. Imagine being ten years old and watching a show featuring 150 unique, powerful creatures, all battling and exploring a massive world. By the time the Game Boy cartridge hit the shelves three weeks later, the hype was absolutely insurmountable.

And of course, we can't talk about the start of the anime without mentioning the theme song. It is the ultimate, unskippable jam. If you watch this episode and skip the intro, you're dead to us.

The opening of the Pokemon anime

The Opening Battle

The episode opens brilliantly by catering directly to the video game audience. We start with grayscale, 8-bit Game Boy graphics showing a Gengar battling a Nidorino, accompanied by the authentic, original sound effects from the 1996 Japanese Red and Green games. Suddenly, the graphics melt away, transforming into a vibrant, full-color anime stadium battle.

Watching a massive Gengar clash with a Nidorino is the perfect hook. However, watching it with adult eyes reveals a hilarious flaw in the Pokémon universe's logic.

Jeff: "I have a question. The person controlling the Nidorino tells him to do a Horn Attack. But in the games, Horn Attack is a Normal-type move, which is completely unable to hit Ghost-type Pokémon like Gengar!"

Tyler: "You would notice that detail."

Jeff: "And do you recognize the shadow of the trainer controlling the Nidorino? It was Bruno, one of the Elite Four! You would think one of the Elite Four would know a Normal move wouldn't work on a Ghost type."

Perhaps Bruno was having an off day, but it’s a funny inconsistency right out of the gate.

That nostalgic Gameboy Intro!

Pallet Town Parenting: Ash's Last Night of Freedom

We zap from the TV screen into the bedroom of our protagonist, Ash Ketchum. Ash is thrashing around in bed, watching the stadium battle and losing his mind with excitement because tomorrow, he turns ten years old. In the Pokémon universe, turning ten means you are legally allowed to get a starter Pokémon from Professor Oak and wander out into the world.

A ten-year-old boy fueled entirely by confidence, ready to be legally unleashed into a world of highly dangerous wild animals. What ould go wrong?

Looking at this as adults, the premise is mildly terrifying.

Tyler: "When we were planning for this episode, I wanted to take a little time to spend on this idea... sending a 10-year-old with a wild animal that they just met out into the wild world to battle organized crime and do all this stuff. It seems highly irresponsible! If I was the neighbor, I'd call CPS. It’s literally like saying, 'Here’s the family pet, go fight bears with it.'"

Ash's mom, Delia Ketchum, comes in and gives him the standard motherly advice: turn off the TV, put on your pajamas, and go to sleep. Ash gives her some sass, but reluctantly complies. However, in his excitement, he dreams about which starter Pokémon he will choose—Bulbasaur, Charmander, or Squirtle—and ends up throwing his Pokéball-shaped alarm clock in his sleep, shattering it against the wall.

This leads to Ash oversleeping on the most important day of his life. And honestly This is entirely on his mother.

Sleeping peacefully, completely unaware that he just lost his chance at a Charmander, Squirtle, and Bulbasaur.

Jeff: "Ash overslept. Let's put another mark to the bad parenting of his mother because she knows it's the biggest day of his life. Why didn't she just wake him up?"

Tyler: "My lord, I wrote down the exact same thing! What is she doing? Sitting downstairs eating pancakes and watching Oprah? It's an odd family dynamic. Dad's gone, mom accepts a lot of back sass, and drops the ball on waking him up."

Enter Gary Oak

A panicked Ash sprints out of his house in his pajamas. He manages to throw on his shoes but literally crashes into his soon-to-be rival, Gary Oak, right outside the Professor’s lab.

Gary Oak pretending he has never met Ash before, despite both of them living in the exact same tiny village for their entire ten years of life.

Gary already has a squad of cheerleaders following him around (which is a bizarre flex for a ten-year-old who has supposedly never left his hometown). Gary is incredibly arrogant, belittling Ash despite them ostensibly living in the same tiny village their whole lives.

Tyler: "What is Gary’s motivation? He’s a 10-year-old rocking around a village with cheerleaders who already hates Ash despite acting like they’ve never really met."

Jeff: "I'm pretty sure it was just to add a villain to the story. But let's be honest, what did you name Gary when you played the video games as a kid?"

Tyler: "We probably shouldn't discuss what name I gave Gary. If my mom was walking by, I'd have to hide the Game Boy screen."

Jeff: "Mine was usually just 'idiot' or 'jerkface'."

Ash heads inside to meet Professor Oak. We have to pause here to acknowledge that Professor Oak is unnecessarily cruel in this scene. Instead of just telling Ash that all the starter Pokémon are gone, Oak watches Ash get his hopes up, select Squirtle, and open an empty Pokéball. Then he lets Ash do it again for Bulbasaur. And again for Charmander. Oak intentionally lets this kid break his own heart three consecutive times before finally revealing he has one Pokémon left.

"Ah yes, let me stand here in silence and watch this child shatter his own dreams before I hand him a highly dangerous electric mouse." — Professor Oak, probably.

That final Pokémon is, of course, an Electric-type mouse with an "electrifying personality" (Oak's terrible pun, not ours).

Ash receives Pikachu. Because Pikachu refuses to stay inside his Pokéball, Ash has to carry him outside. When Ash's mom comes to see him off, Pikachu decides to assert dominance by unleashing a massive thundershock that electrocutes Ash, Professor Oak, Delia, and the entire Pallet Town crowd.

The face of a creature who just mass-electrocuted a crowd of innocent bystanders and feels absolutely zero remorse.

Into the Wild: Ash is the World's Worst Trainer

Ash and Pikachu set off on Route 1, but they are absolutely not a team. Pikachu refuses to walk, forcing Ash to drag him along with a rope while wearing rubber gloves for protection.

Pikachu makes it very clear he doesn't respect Ash. And frankly, based on what happens next, he shouldn't.

A wild Pidgey appears. Ash, who clearly skipped every tutorial his mother tried to make him watch on Professor Oak's educational TV channel, has absolutely no idea how to catch a Pokémon. He doesn't weaken it. He just throws a Pokéball at it while screaming, "Enjoy your last minutes of freedom!" (A deeply concerning, power-hungry battle cry for a ten-year-old).

The Pidgey escapes. Ash then tries to trap it by throwing his jacket over it. Pikachu sits in a tree and literally laughs at him. The Pokédex (Dexter) even throws some shade, noting that Pidgey and Rattata like to steal food from "stupid trainers," prompting Ash to realize his own Pokédex is insulting him.

Frustrated, angry, and lacking any tactical awareness, Ash resorts to the worst possible strategy: he picks up a rock and throws it at a bird in the tall grass.

Unfortunately for Ash, he doesn't hit a docile Pidgey. He hits a Spearow.

The face of a bird that is about to summon its entire squad to destroy a ten-year-old.

Tyler: "Who made the decision to release Ash into the wild with what seems like no training? He doesn't seem to get the concept of how you actually catch Pokémon... and so he throws a rock at a bird. And of course, Pikachu shocks the Spearow after the Spearow attacks Pikachu. Because the Spearow thinks Pikachu threw the rock!"

This single rock throw triggers an absolute Hitchcockian nightmare. The Spearow calls for its flock, and suddenly, Ash and Pikachu are running for their lives from a massive, violent swarm of angry birds.

Bikes, Lightning, and Legendary Birds

Ash and Pikachu are running for their lives from the Spearow flock. Ash grabs the injured Pikachu and leaps down a waterfall to escape, eventually being fished out of a river by a red-haired girl named Misty.

In the Japanese version, when Ash pops out of the water and startles her, Misty immediately slaps him across the face. In the English dub, this physical violence was cut, leaving a weird transition where Ash is just awkwardly rubbing his cheek while Misty yells at him to get his Pokémon to a Pokémon Center.

Ash, having no idea where or what a Pokémon Center is, panics. He sees the Spearow flock approaching again. So, what does our noble hero do? He steals Misty's bicycle.

Ash pedals furiously into a massive rainstorm, but the bike crashes. The Spearow are closing in. In a truly emotional moment that actually anchors the entire series, Ash realizes he can't outrun them. He lays the injured Pikachu on the ground and begs him to go inside his Pokéball where it's safe.

Ash Ketchum, a ten-year-old boy, then turns around, spreads his arms wide, and challenges a flock of angry birds to hand-to-hand combat to protect a creature that has done nothing but electrocute him all day.

Local ten-year-old attempts to fistfight a tornado of angry birds. It is simultaneously the dumbest and bravest thing he will ever do.

Tyler: "What was he expecting to do?!"

Jeff: "All I can think of is the movie The Birds. Birds are freaky."

Tyler: "Ash is not deterred. He is going to fight this entire flock in hand-to-hand combat. But fortunately, seeing Ash's true heart and how he was willing to sacrifice himself... Pikachu decides to jump onto Ash's shoulder and destroys the entire flock with an amazing lightning burst."

The Thundershock is so massive it fries the Spearow, destroys Misty's bike (which will be a plot point for a very long time), and knocks both Ash and Pikachu unconscious.

When the storm clears, Ash and Pikachu wake up on the ground, bonded for life. As they look up into the sky, a rainbow stretches over the clouds, and a massive, glowing golden bird flies toward a rainbow. Dexter the Pokédex states there is no data on this Pokémon.

We, however, know exactly who it is: Ho-Oh.

Making its grand appearance years before Pokémon Gold and Silver were even released, Ho-Oh becomes the very first Generation 2 Pokémon to appear in the franchise.

This is an incredible piece of foreshadowing by the animation studio. Ho-Oh is the legendary mascot of Pokémon Gold, a Generation 2 game that wouldn't be released in Japan until November 1999, and not in America until late 2000. Putting a Generation 2 Pokémon in the very first episode of the anime was a brilliant way to signal to the audience that this world was vastly larger than the 150 Pokémon currently programmed into their Game Boys.

Final Trivia and Wrapping Up

As Ash carries his new best friend toward Viridian City, the episode ends, leading us directly into the iconic Pokérap (which forced you to watch all five episodes a week just to hear the complete song).

Before we close the book on Episode 1, here are two final pieces of trivia to log in your Pokédex:

1. The Largest Roster: This single episode holds the record for the most Pokémon debuts in the entire anime. A total of 16 different Pokémon are shown on screen for the first time.

2. Enjoy the Peace and Quiet: This is the only episode of the original series where Team Rocket does not appear. Once they debut in episode 2, you will not have another Team Rocket-free episode until the Nimbasa City Gym rematch—a staggering 672 episodes later!

   
   

That does it for our breakdown of "Pokémon, I Choose You!" It is a messy, funny, occasionally illogical, but ultimately heartwarming introduction to a world we have loved for over three decades.

Thank you for checking out the new digital home of The Pokémon Snapshot. We will be rolling out more of these written Retro Reviews soon as we work our way through the archives.

What was your favorite moment from the very first episode? Let us know, and make sure you are subscribed to the podcast feed so you never miss a new deep dive!