Pokémon
The Bug Stops Here
TV Flash files “The Bug Stops Here” as hour 163 of 1220 in the TV Flash guide — Pokémon (1998–present (U.S.)) on Kids' WB/Syndication, season 4, episode 4, aired 2000-08-24, 22 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S04E04: listed hour 163 of 1220 in the Pokémon guide, hour 4 of 52 in season 4. It aired 2000-08-24 (22 min). The listed hour before it is “Air Time” (S04E03). Next is “Type Casting” (S04E05). Broadcast log — titles and dates, not a plot bible.
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
Ash and friends arrive at the National Park where the Bug Catching Contest is about to start. They reunite with Casey who is also competing. As the contest starts, Ash and Casey decide to see who can get the best pokemon. Meanwhile, when Team Rocket is denied entry into the competition, they steal the costume of one of the employees and sneak into the park. When their plan fails, they resort to their old ways and prepare a trap to catch Pikachu.
Viewer FAQ
Where does The Bug Stops Here sit in the Pokémon guide?
S04E04 is listed hour 163 of 1220 — hour 4 of 52 in season 4, season 4 episode 4.
When did Pokémon S04E04 air?
The Bug Stops Here aired 2000-08-24 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…