Plot
The gang continues to wander through Izabe Island. Soon, they spot a statue of a Poké Ball. Brock wants to know story behind it, so an older man comes to tell it - it is for all who want to learn. The man is Sigorni, the sage of the Island. He knows the story of the Poké Ball in this Valley, the Valley of Destruction, but offers them souvenirs, much to their disappointment. However, he still has a book before the destruction. He tells them the tale.
Long ago, during this destruction, a power was sealed inside the stone Poké Ball. However, the power was released, so the ball is empty. When it got out, the power destroyed the island - seven days it took time. A sage, dressed in white appeared, summoned another Poké Ball to seal the power within, preventing destruction to roam the island once more. The man says that he'll show them the Poké Ball, but if they are worthy. Everyone raises their hand up, so the man goes to show them, through the Izabi Lake. He still offers them the souvenirs, though. Team Rocket heard the story, so they go to get to the lake before they do. They go inside the balloon and see the Poké Ball in the middle of the lake, so plan to get the power held within.
The sage shows them the ball, but sees Team Rocket. He wants to know if Team Rocket is interested in buying the souvenirs, though Ash tells him that they are mean and have no money. Team Rocket objects to the latter, saying the gadgets cost a lot of money. Team Rocket drops the bombs over the stone Poké Ball. The man warns that the power within can destroy the whole world. Soon, the ball begins to crack, revealing that a huge Claydol was kept inside - twenty times the normal one. Team Rocket is terrified by its size, but Jessie tells Meowth to capture it, so they release a device to pull it. However, Claydol is very heavy, so Jessie tells it to be captured. Claydol responses by freezing them with Ice Beam, then blasting off with Hyper Beam. They return - on Claydol's head.
Claydol begins to move, repeating the destruction, attacking everything with Hyper Beam. Ash goes to catch it, but the Claydol is too large to be kept inside. So, the sage tells them they need to get it to the mountain peak and bring it into the stone Poké Ball. However, they know that Team Rocket's balloon couldn't lift it, so the sage tells them that he thinks he knows what to do. The sage reads more, so the water techniques should affect it. Brock sends Mudkip and Lombre, who use Water Gun on the Claydol, stopping it. Next scene, however, the Claydol spins around, transporting Team Rocket to them and reflecting the attack back to them. Meowth whispers to Jessie and James they could help them so after they can get Claydol, so they offer help. Ash refuses, but is convinced he needs help to get Claydol down.
The sage reads the book more, and says they shouldn't use water type attacks. Instead, they need to make a food trail, to lure Claydol for hunger. James and Ash try to lure it by offering eggplants, but fail. The sage confirms that Claydol eats eggplants, but they need to be bigger. Brock has an idea - soon, Ash and James are dressed like eggplants. Claydol spots them and follows them, so they run to the peak. The sage reads more, so Claydol does not love, but hates eggplants. Ash and James run to a dead end and see Claydol very angry. Brock tells them that Claydol hates eggplants, so they soon take off their costumes and run to hiding seeing the costumes being stomped on. Claydol goes to a dead end as well, so uses Hyper Beam to make a hole so it can pass. The villagers hear the explosion, so begin to evacuate their homes.
The gang and Team Rocket begin to make a new plan. Jessie wonders why it wants to destroy the village, so the sage translates more of the text. It was believed that a maiden created Claydol from a material, so Claydol sought her out. To save the village, the sage transformed himself to a beautiful maiden, dancing and singing to lure Claydol out. Jessie is very happy, as she believes she is the maiden. Soon, she, May, Meowth and Wobbuffet begin to play instruments. Jessie is annoyed by the other three, but others tell her to focus. The sage is unsure if the maiden was gorgeous or ugly, so Jessie, Mewoth, May and Wobbuffet change their uniforms. Claydol goes to them. The four demonstrates, though Claydol uses its moves to get rid of May, Jessie and Meowth, so Wobbuffet is the one standing. Wobbuffet runs and plays an instrument, while Claydol runs to it, fallen in love. The sage tells them that the sage in the book looked a lot like Wobbuffet, although May, Meowth and Jessie are not sure...
When Wobbuffet comes to path, Claydol is needing to be captured inside the stone Poké Ball. However, the Claydol will get it, so Ash sends Swellow to get Wobbuffet. Swellow takes... its wig, so Claydol is very angry for that fact. Wobbuffet runs away, so the gang and Team Rocket release the Poké Ball. However, what they did not count is that it got stuck. Brock sends Mudkip and Lombre to help, who use Water Gun, and along with Pikachu (who used Thunder), allow the ball to roll down. The ball touches Claydol, takes it and captures it inside. Everyone cheers, though they see Team Rocket trying to get the stone Poké Ball. They pull it down, but it is heavy, so the rope cuts and they are blasted off. The Poké Ball itself rolls to the lake, at exact same place where it was before. Max wonders if Claydol was a Pokémon at all. They hope that it is never set loose again, and that they will be able to live with it in peace.
Debuts
- Claydol
Trivia
- Ash is seen to have worn his hat backwards after he got out of the eggplant costume.
- This was also the last episode to use Challenger!! as the opening Japanese theme.
- The giant Poké Ball used in this episode is reminiscent of the Lavender Town chapter of The Electric Tale of Pikachu manga. Both were used to attempt capture a giant Ancient Pokémon and seal it away. However, the Haunter died, and wasn't captured, while the Claydol was resealed in the giant Pokéball.
- For a short moment, May, Jessie, Meowth, and Wobbuffet play a song similar to Lugia's tune in The Power of One.
- An instrumental of Advance Adventure was used, as well as a sample of The Legend Comes to Life from Pokémon the Movie 2000 - The Power of One.
Errors
- In Pokémon Trainer's Choice, "Flaaffy" is misspelled as Flaafy.
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