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DP150

← DP149 : Sticking With Who You Know!
Pokémon the Series: Diamond and Pearl
DP151 : The Needs of the Three! →
Unlocking the Red Chain of Events!
DP150.png
DP150   EP616
赤い鎖！ギンガ団始動！！
The Red Chain! Activated by Galaxy-dan!!
First broadcast
Japan November 5, 2009
United States March 27, 2010
English themes
Opening Battle Cry - (Stand Up!)
Ending
Japanese themes
Opening ハイタッチ！ 2009
Ending ドッチ～ニョ？
Credits
Animation OLM
Screenplay 冨岡淳広 Atsuhiro Tomioka
Storyboard 小山賢 Masaru Koyama
Assistant director 小山賢 Masaru Koyama
Animation director 武内啓 Akira Takeuchi
Additional credits

Unlocking the Red Chain of Events! (Japanese: 赤い鎖！ギンガ団始動！！ The Red Chain! Activated by Galaxy-dan!!) is the 150th episode of Pokémon the Series: Diamond and Pearl, and the 616th episode of the Pokémon animated series. It first aired in Japan on November 5, 2009 and in the United States on March 27, 2010.

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Spoiler warning: this article may contain major plot or ending details.
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Blurb

While taking a little time off on their way to Sunyshore City and Ash's next Gym Battle, our heroes discover Team Rocket's Meowth. The dazed Pokémon has been separated from Jessie and James after a rough run-in with Team Galactic! After explaining the situation, Meowth and our heroes head out to Team Galactic's secret base to rescue Jessie and James, as well as Looker from the International Police.

As Team Galactic continues to put the pieces together to accomplish its evil plans, our heroes confront the mysterious Jupiter of Team Galactic. She informs them she is aware of their previous encounters with the three lake Pokémon Mesprit, Azelf, and Uxie. This news bewilders our heroes all the more. Meanwhile, the gang (along with Meowth) rescues Looker, who has been trapped in a cell with Jessie and James. Team Galactic gets away, leaving Looker and our heroes still wondering what the evil organization is up to.

While trying to unravel the mystery, Looker discovers an object left behind by Team Galactic that, upon examination, destroys every bit of data the International Police have collected on them! That leaves everyone frustrated, but doubly determined to get to the bottom of Team Galactic's evil plans, as Pokémon Hunter J prepares to catch the very same three lake Pokémon...

Plot

A Team Galactic Grunt, later revealed to be Looker, is attacked by Jupiter while on a counter-operative mission at the Fuego Ironworks. Jupiter playfully mocks Looker, calling him cute. Looker smiles but calls Jupiter rude and says he's not interested in her. Jupiter, however, is very interested in just how much Looker knows about Team Galactic. Skuntank prepares to use Slash, but an explosion is triggered.

Meanwhile, in the Floaroma Town Pokémon Center, Ash and his friends are watching television, learning that the next Pokémon Contest will be held in Daybreak Town, located east of Mount Coronet, and will follow the Double Performance format. The group hit the road, following Route 205, when Pikachu and Piplup see something in the flowers. A closer inspection reveals it is Meowth. Seeing as he is badly injured, Brock heals him with a Super Potion. Meowth explains that Team Rocket was walking, feeling hungry, when they saw Team Galactic's helicopter. They chased after it and arrived at a factory which Brock checks on his Pokégear and identifies it as the abandoned Fuego Ironworks. Team Rocket climbed a ladder and saw Jupiter and Looker. The trio rushed to Looker’s aid, with a Vine Whip from James's Carnivine stopping Jupiter’s attack. Skuntank managed to break free, and Jupiter commanded the Golbat to attack. The resulting explosion blasted Meowth off, while Jessie and James were taken hostage by Jupiter. After being bandaged, Meowth proceeds to return to Fuego Ironworks to help his teammates. Ash’s group wants to help too, prompting Piplup and Pikachu to catch up with him but Meowth warns them off with Fury Swipes, reminding them that they're enemies. Dawn replies that they're actually in this for Looker since he had helped them out back on Mount Coronet.

Back at the Fuego Ironworks, Jessie, James, and Looker are locked up inside a prison cell. Jessie spots Skuntank look at her smugly. Jessie calls Skuntank gross and threatens to rip the fur off of its body for its attitude, but gets electrocuted after she touches the door, much to Skuntank's amusement. Looker adds that the entire facility is rigged with traps, with even Poké Balls not working. He apologizes for getting Jessie and James involved in his mess, but James replies that they willingly intervened. He adds that now they are inside Team Galactic's HQ, all that remains is to defeat their leader. However, Looker informs him that their current location houses neither Team Galactic's headquarters nor their boss. Looker begins recounting the history of the facility: in the past, Fuego Ironworks was the largest and most successful manufacturing plant in the entire Sinnoh region but was forced to shut down because of its excessive pollution. He tells Team Rocket that Team Galactic has been secretly using Fuego Ironworks to make something; the Red Chain. Over on Mount Coronet, Saturn's Toxicroak uses Rock Smash to break down a part of the mountain, revealing a huge, silvery spherical wall with a golden orb embedded in it. The Spear Key reacts to the object, confirming to them that they've finally found the Gateway to the Spear Pillar. Cyrus and Mars watch from the comfort of HQ, the former ordering Saturn to lock the area down until all preparations are ready. Jupiter and Charon soon learn that Spear Pillar has been found and receive new orders to deliver the Red Chain. A Team Galactic Grunt then informs Jupiter and Charon that an unidentified flying object has been detected near the facility perimeter, which turns out to be Ash, Dawn, Brock, Pikachu, Piplup, and Meowth approaching Fuego Ironworks in Meowth's Balloon. Upon being confronted by a group of Golbat, Ash's Pikachu, riding on Staraptor, and Dawn's Pachirisu on Gliscor, take them out with Thunderbolt and Discharge.

The group prepares to land on the Fuego Ironworks rooftop, only to be greeted by Jupiter who has her Skuntank use Flamethrower. Piplup counters with Bubble Beam, creating a burst of steam that enables the group to land. Piplup races forward but halts at the sight of Jupiter and Skuntank. Ash orders Jupiter to move aside, but the latter simply says the kids are good at appearing out of nowhere and suggests they join Team Galactic, much to Dawn's disgust. Meowth asks about Jessie and James and Ash asks where Looker is. Jupiter doesn't give them any information, but to Dawn, she says "Oh, Mesprit", to Ash she says, "Azelf," and to Brock, she says, "Uxie.", and the group recall their encounters at Lake Verity, Lake Valor, and Lake Acuity. Jupiter is furious and admits that Team Galactic was supposed to have synchronized with the Lake guardians, while Brock demands to know how Team Galactic is aware of this information. Just then, a group of Golbat use Air Cutter on Pikachu and Staraptor. Pikachu counters with a Thunderbolt while Meowth rushes forward and uses Fury Swipes. Skuntank tries a Flamethrower though Piplup counters again with Bubble Beam. Gliscor and Pachirisu land behind Jupiter and Skuntank and Pikachu and Staraptor land on the side. Jupiter, knowing she is outnumbered and outmatched, orders a Toxic attack, forcing everyone to cover their mouths from the hazardous fumes, allowing Jupiter to escape in a helicopter. Pikachu and Staraptor move to pursue her, but Ash calls them off. Ash recalls Staraptor and Gliscor while everyone enters the facility. In the helicopter, Jupiter still cannot understand why the Lake guardians chose Ash and his friends, while Charon chastises her for being jealous. She snaps back and asks about the Red Chain. Charon assures her it's safe, and notes that it is stored underneath her feet.

Meanwhile, Meowth and the group return their attention to finding their missing friends. They soon locate Looker, Jessie, and James in their cell. Piplup and Pikachu use Bubble Beam and Thunderbolt on the door and it breaks. Looker thanks them and Team Rocket reunites before they leave to track Team Galactic down. Seeing as Jupiter is gone, Looker decides to examine the Fuego Ironworks for clues as to Team Galactic’s plan. With his special glasses, Looker leads the group down an elevator shaft and to an altered manufacturing area. A gleaming shard, a piece of the Red Chain, attracts Looker’s attention. In their balloon, Jessie disses Meowth's tracking abilities, but Meowth is sure that Jupiter left in their current direction. Consulting a map, James notes that they will soon arrive at Mount Coronet. Given Team Galactic's previous exploit inside the mountain, the trio believes they will find their foes there.

At the Floaroma Police Station, a machine examines the shard and transmits the data to International Police HQ. But within a few seconds, the shard glows before destroying the device. The shard turns out to be some sort of bomb as they receive a call from the International Police informing them that their entire database had been wiped out during the analysis. Looker realizes that Team Galactic left the object behind on purpose to ruin his investigation, departing from the station infuriated by the setback. Later in the evening, Ash, Dawn, and Brock depart the station as well but are stopped when Dawn mentions the Lake guardians. She wonders why Team Galactic is so interested in the three Pokémon and the heroes' sightings of them. Brock still wonders how Team Galactic was aware that they saw the Pokémon in the first place.

In the meantime, Cyrus and Team Galactic are on their way to the Spear Pillar with the Adamant Orb, Lustrous Orb, and Red Chain in their possession. Cyrus then contacts Pokémon Hunter J with new orders – to capture the Lake guardians.

Major events

For a list of all major events in Pokémon the Series: Diamond and Pearl, please see the timeline page.

Debuts

Pokémon debuts

Characters

Humans

Pokémon

Trivia

Errors

  • Jupiter states that she knew that Ash, Dawn, and Brock had seen Azelf, Mesprit, and Uxie, respectively. While it is likely that Cyrus told her of Ash and Dawn's encounters with the Legendary Pokémon, Brock encountered Uxie long after this and Cyrus could not have possibly known about it.
  • In the scene right after Staraptor protects Pikachu from Skuntank's Toxic, the middle of Gliscor's torso is red instead of purple.
  • After Jessie is electrocuted by the trap in the cell door, the Skuntank guarding the cell is shown laughing up against a wall identical to that of inside the cell, which is made of stone. However, in the previous shot, it was up against a normal looking, smooth wall.
  • This episode refers to the location of Dawn's next Contest as Daybreak City. However, in all future instances, it would be named Daybreak Town.
  • Jupiter's Skuntank uses X-Scissor, a move that it cannot legally learn.
  • Gliscor's red torso

    Gliscor's red torso

  • The stone wall

    The stone wall

Dub edits

In other languages



← DP149 : Sticking With Who You Know!
Pokémon the Series: Diamond and Pearl
DP151 : The Needs of the Three! →
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