Indigo League, Episode 13: “Mystery at the Lighthouse”

Season 1, Episode 13, Original Air Date: June 24, 1997 (JP), September 24, 1998 (US)

Picking up where we left off, everyone is still on their way to Vermilion City; and Ash is admiring the Boulder Badge and Cascade Badges he has. While Misty snarks at their legitimacy, Brock says that one or the other; Ash has two badges and six Pokémon. Misty then claims they all followed him. Actually no: only Charmander and Squirtle did. Pikachu was his starter, and he caught Pidgeotto, Bulbasaur and Butterfree (as a Caterpie).

Heading towards a beach, even though the sunset is beautiful, Ash bemoans that he doesn't want to watch it, he wants more Pokémon! Sure enough, one comes scuttling up on the sand: Krabby!

After scanning Krabby with the Pokédex, Ash starts prodding at Krabby; causing Krabby to pinch his finger. While he pinches his left index finger; the next shot shows his right index finger as he leaps up in pain. He decides to catch Krabby, running towards him on the beach in slow motion; if you'll forgive a certain overused music cue that I still love anyway.

Ash picks up a stick, and manages to catch Krabby after it's chopped into many pieces! He's happy about this, but then his joy turns to worry after the Poké Ball in his hand vanishes in a flash of light! Brock and Misty find their friend and explain to Ash that due to the six-Pokémon limit, any others are automatically transported back to the lab; and can be swapped out with the push of a button on the Pokédex. Interesting, as that feature wouldn't be realized until the Rotom Pokédex in the Sun and Moon games as well as the Pokémon Box now being in your bag in the Let's Go games.

The next step is to find some place to rest for the night; as well as regroup and make a phone call. The lighthouse on the hill is the only place nearby; and the lonely keeper agrees to let them in after Brock offers to make everyone bacon double cheeseburgers. The man on the other end of the intercom agrees; since his cook is out and he's had nothing to eat but tofu.

The lighthouse keeper points out the phone, which is a Bellsprout phone. Ash dials Professor Oak, and thankfully Krabby is OK in his lab. Oak also reveals that Gary caught one as well, as one of 45 Pokémon! He's also cooking tofu, and introduces everyone to Bill. As Team Rocket scopes out the lighthouse, everyone meets with Bill; who is trapped inside a Kabuto costume!

Ash presses a button on the costume, and Bill is freed! This episode takes plenty of liberties with his character in looks and personality; notably, his role as PC programmer isn't even mentioned.

This leads to Bill expositing further about the history of the Pokémon world, telling of the 150 species discovered at the time of this episode's initial airing. Bill says they're all lucky to be trainers, but Bill is waiting for one Pokémon in particular to come to him in the night. As Team Rocket is trying to scale some cliffs near the side of the lighthouse, we see the Pokémon's silhouette: it's a Dragonite!

Team Rocket then drives the Pokémon away in a barrage of bazooka fire, but not before they're sent blasting off! While Bill is disappointed, he is fine with waiting for the Pokémon to return one day as he speaks with Ash, Brock and Misty about all their goals. Further compounding things is how Bill says that there are more Pokémon than they can imagine, and it will take years to find them all. Based on how long the series has been around and the upcoming Sword and Shield, I can definitely agree with this. So, we close on Ash, Brock and Misty leaving Bill for the next step of their journey. Next time: we reach Vermilion City!

"Mystery at the Lighthouse" is another strong episode in the Indigo League's early run. Even though I didn't see this episode that often as a kid, looking back on it, it's still a great piece of world-building for the series with some solid animation that I'm more than happy to revisit whenever given the chance. Sorry this took so long to get out, but I have more planned for this blog in the time ahead. Next time: "Electric Shock Showdown!" To be continued...