Pokémon
Playing the Leveling Field
TV Flash files “Playing the Leveling Field” as hour 559 of 1220 in the TV Flash guide — Pokémon (1998–present (U.S.)) on Kids' WB/Syndication, season 11, episode 41, aired 2009-02-07, 22 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S11E41: listed hour 559 of 1220 in the Pokémon guide, hour 41 of 52 in season 11. It aired 2009-02-07 (22 min). The listed hour before it is “A Lean Mean Team Rocket Machine” (S11E40). Next is “Doc Brock!” (S11E42). Broadcast log — titles and dates, not a plot bible.
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
As the gang get to Celestic Town for a Pokémon Contest, Ash & Co. bump into the Hearthome Gym Leader, Fantina. Ash is eager to see her battle, however she is more interested in the upcoming contest. She does agree to a practice match, but is Ash biting off more than he can chew?
Viewer FAQ
Where does Playing the Leveling Field sit in the Pokémon guide?
S11E41 is listed hour 559 of 1220 — hour 41 of 52 in season 11, season 11 episode 41.
When did Pokémon S11E41 air?
Playing the Leveling Field aired 2009-02-07 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…