Pokémon
Around the Whirlpool
TV Flash files “Around the Whirlpool” as the first listed hour of season 5 — Pokémon (1998–present (U.S.)) on Kids' WB/Syndication, season 5, episode 1, aired 2001-08-09, 22 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S05E01: listed hour 212 of 1220 in the Pokémon guide, first listed hour of season 5. It aired 2001-08-09 (22 min). The listed hour before it is “Machoke, Machoke Man!” (S04E52). Next is “Fly Me to the Moon” (S05E02). Broadcast log — titles and dates, not a plot bible.
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
In a scuffle with Team Rocket, Ash and friends are thrown from the ship that is brining them to the Whirl Islands. As powerful whirlpools draw them toward impending doom, a mysterious form under the sea shifts the powerful undertow, drawing them to safety. Shortly thereafter, a Corsola comes skipping over the sea's surface and guides them back to a ship where their old friend, Professor Elm waits. They ride the ship to a bustling harbor on Blue Point Isle. There they learn about an upcoming competition in which Water Pokemon trainers will battle for the title of Whirl Islands champion. Meanwhile, Team Rocket is planning on attacking the Pokemon Center so they can steal all of the Pokemon there.
Viewer FAQ
Where does Around the Whirlpool sit in the Pokémon guide?
S05E01 is listed hour 212 of 1220 — first listed hour of season 5, season 5 episode 1.
When did Pokémon S05E01 air?
Around the Whirlpool aired 2001-08-09 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…