Pokémon
The Ultimate Test
TV Flash files “The Ultimate Test” as hour 56 of 1220 in the TV Flash guide — Pokémon (1998–present (U.S.)) on Kids' WB/Syndication, season 1, episode 56, aired 1998-07-30, 22 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S01E56: listed hour 56 of 1220 in the Pokémon guide, hour 56 of 82 in season 1. It aired 1998-07-30 (22 min). The listed hour before it is “Pokémon Paparazzi” (S01E55). Next is “The Breeding Center Secret” (S01E57). Broadcast log — titles and dates, not a plot bible.
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
While everyone is eating lunch, Misty mentions that it has been a while since Ash received a gym badge. Todd then tells Ash about a test that he can take that will allow him to enter the Pokemon League if he passes it. Everyone heads over to the building and Ash enters, and Jessie and James (in disguises) also enter. However, the test turns out to be harder then they thought, and Jessie quits during the first part. When it comes time to battle with random pokemon that obey whoever uses them, Team Rocket come up with a plan to capture all of the pokemon and Pikachu!
Viewer FAQ
Where does The Ultimate Test sit in the Pokémon guide?
S01E56 is listed hour 56 of 1220 — hour 56 of 82 in season 1, season 1 episode 56.
When did Pokémon S01E56 air?
The Ultimate Test aired 1998-07-30 and is listed at 22 minutes.
Do I need the games first?
The TV series is one engine with the games and cards, not a homework prerequisite. U.S. breakthrough is 1998 anime syndication as childhood OS.
In the series
Why this series still plays
A ten-year-old, a yellow mouse, and a globetrotting checklist that became a childhood operating system. Anime lands in American syndication as one engine with the games and cards — catch, train, argue about types. Kids’ TV as collection ritual, gym-badge serialization, and the rare cartoon that still prints money because the adventure never quite finishes.
The work, first: a young trainer, a yellow mouse, a globetrotting checklist that became a childhood operating system. Based on Game Freak/Nintendo games, the anime's U.S. TV breakthrough in 1998 (Kids' WB and syndication) detonated a multi-platform kids' empire: games, cards, films, toys, one engine. Satoshi Tajiri and Kunihiko Yuyama's world turned anime into mainstream American children's programming. Rica Matsumoto and Veronica Taylor as Ash across languages; Ikue Otani's Pikachu. Catch, train, argue about…
Filed against
- Rica Matsumoto as Ash Ketchum (JP)
Rica Matsumoto voices Ash Ketchum on Pokémon — the ten-year-old whose globetrotting checklist became a childhood operating system in Japanese, then a syndication engine abroad. Catch, train, argue about types. TV Flash files her as 1990s…
- Veronica Taylor as Ash Ketchum (US early)
Veronica Taylor was early U.S. Ash Ketchum on Pokémon — a ten-year-old, a yellow mouse, a globetrotting checklist that became a childhood operating system. Anime landed in American syndication as one engine with the games and cards:…
- Ikue Otani as Pikachu
Ikue Otani voiced Pikachu as a childhood operating system — a ten-year-old, a yellow mouse, anime landing in American syndication as one engine with the games and cards. Catch, train, argue about types. TV Flash files her as 1990s kids-TV…