Indigo League, Episode 17: "Island of the Giant Pokémon"

Season 1, Episode 17, Original Air Date: July 22, 1997 (JP), September 30, 1998 (US)

Hello everyone: Happy Year of the Rat. First of all, I apologize for the delay once again. Second, I am currently drafting my review of "Mewtwo Strikes Back Evolution" for its EN debut on Netflix next month. In the meantime, I present my look at the Indigo League episode "Island of the Giant Pokémon!"

Picking up where we left off, everyone has washed up on the shore on a mysterious island. While our heroes are thankfully all right; Ash only has two of his Pokémon, with Pikachu and the others missing somewhere else on the island!

Elsewhere, a Krabby pinches Jessie and James' legs; jostling them from being buried in the sand! They also discover that not only Meowth is missing, but so are Ekans and Koffing! On top of this, they're tapped from before; so they can't even call for help in a payphone! Neglecting any potential "Lost" jokes I could make, that's what we did before we had phones in our pockets; fellas. Heck, it took until 2019 for Ash to get a mobile; but that's a matter for another day.

Pikachu is somewhere else on the island, thankfully all right from the shipwreck; and he finds Ash's Poké Balls in the sand! He then lets out Bulbasaur, Charmander and Squirtle to go search for their friends.

There is also a bit of Slowpoke fishing by the shore, more on that later.

That night, the search for Ash and the others continues; and I just love the face Squirtle makes as he jokes about them being eaten. It's so funny and cute!

Then,  Meowth, Ekans and Koffing ambush everyone! However, they won't follow Meowth's orders; with the subs saying they "only do bad things because Master bad." Weird that Ash's Pokémon can speak normally, but Meowth sounds like a Chicagoland gangster and the others sound kind of like Torgo from Manos: The Hands of Fate.

Tying Meowth to a tree, as everyone else has dinner; and Squirtle offers him some food on the grounds he apologize. He does not, so not one morsel for him. Then, all of a sudden, a massive Rhydon comes charging through the trees; and everyone, human and Pokémon alike runs for cover!

This part here with the oden stand always weirded me out when I was a kid, and it still does. Still, it does give another tip off this island isn't what it seems. Again, there's another potential "Lost" joke I could have made.

The next morning, Ash, Brock and Misty wake with the vow to go find their friends on the island.

Elsewhere, Team Rocket decides to give a "collect call" to Giovanni (some of you younger readers might have to Google that term); and upon telling their motto, Giovanni berates them and tells them not to bother him like that again. Guess that may have started the fan theory that he sends them away to get them out of his hair. So, they decide to do the next logical thing: tug the phone cable to see where it leads, and the payphone with it!

Then, a Pikachu approaches Jessie and James, but not the one they're looking for: it's huge! More on that in a moment, but for now, Jessie and James flee as the payphone is crushed by the massive Pikachu!

Ash, Brock and Misty also dive away from a massive Charizard (in a scene that's used in the intro); and elsewhere on the island, the Pokémon try to elude a giant Blastoise and Venusaur! In the latter case, when Bulbasaur is asked to treat it like family; Bulbasaur replies "Just call me an orphan: I don't have any family." ... We'll talk later this season.

Jessie and James run from a giant Kabutops, still dragging the phone cable behind them! They hop into a mine cart, but it sends them back where they came! They try to use the brake, but the lever snaps off in their hands as the cart keeps barreling along! 

Ash, Brock and Misty then run into a jumbo-sized Pikachu; which others pounced upon when the Gigantimax Form was unveiled. Insert "Game Freak does not forget" joke here.

The bridge beneath their feet caves in, and everyone falls into the mine cart as the phone cable drags the giant Pokémon behind them! The Pokémon are running from the other giants as a loop-de-loop is up ahead! It turns out the mine cart is part of a roller coaster! Even with what we find out next, whatever the equivalent of OSHA in this 'verse is going to be livid. Safety is almost as bad as the infamous Action Park. 

The Pokémon reunite with their trainers by leaping into the cart, as all the giant Pokémon are tangled up in the phone cable!

The cable breaks, the cart is sent shooting into the sky, revealing the Pokémon to be animatronics and the island to be a theme park called Pokémon Land! If they want to bring back Poké Park at Universal's upcoming Super Nintendo World; hopefully it won't be this messy.

So, we close on everyone making it safely to the tropical paradise of Porta Vista; and Slowpoke catching a Shellder on its tail; with it becoming a Slowbro! 

"Island of the Giant Pokémon" is a fun little adventure to close out the St. Anne mini-arc of sorts. The animation has held up fairly well over time; and with Generation VIII now featuring the Dynamax; I actually find myself enjoying it a lot more. Of course, there is a certain appeal to having giant Japanese monsters at any age in my book. I once again apologize for the delay, but I have more coming in February; including my review of "Mewtwo Strikes Back: Evolution!" To be continued...