Pokémon
For Ho-Oh the Bells Toll!
TV Flash files “For Ho-Oh the Bells Toll!” as hour 229 of 1220 in the TV Flash guide — Pokémon (1998–present (U.S.)) on Kids' WB/Syndication, season 5, episode 18, aired 2002-09-25, 22 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S05E18: listed hour 229 of 1220 in the Pokémon guide, hour 18 of 65 in season 5. It aired 2002-09-25 (22 min). The listed hour before it is “Espeon, Not Included” (S05E17). Next is “Extreme Pokémon!” (S05E19). Broadcast log — titles and dates, not a plot bible.
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
When Ash, Misty, and Brock run to investigate a mysterious chorus of bells that spontaneously ring out, they chance to meet their old friend Morty and a Pokémon researcher of his acquaintance. Morty and the researcher discover that the sacred Crystal bells, which are said to ring when a legendary Ho-oh returns, are missing. Since the bells were also used to heal the Bug Pokémon living in that area, these Pokémon lash out against their human neighbors, covering the town with their webs. Ash and friends decide to get to the heart of things and, in the forest, find Team Rocket restrained by webs and hanging from a tree. Ash, Misty, Brock, Morty, and the researcher begin to battle with the Bug Pokémon.
Viewer FAQ
Where does For Ho-Oh the Bells Toll! sit in the Pokémon guide?
S05E18 is listed hour 229 of 1220 — hour 18 of 65 in season 5, season 5 episode 18.
When did Pokémon S05E18 air?
For Ho-Oh the Bells Toll! aired 2002-09-25 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…