Hot Matches!

Gotta Watch’em All Podcast 148

Recording Date: 8/24/26

Publish Date: 8/28/26

Watch the video version of this podcast at: http://patreon.com/pokemonprofessor 

Last week we had a ton of action that will be hard to beat! We saw Poliwag evolve into Poliwhirl and Ash end up with a new Pokémon! All of this happened on their way to Goldenrod City! We have seen Ash and the party complete numerous side quests and diversions on their journey, and this episode is no different!

Hot Matches! Begins at a random Pokémon Center with no context given about where they could be! One thing is for certain, we aren’t in Goldenrod City.We meet Miki, who Brock immediately falls for, and we see an immediate battle between her Skarmory and Brock’s Vulpix. We learn quickly that this Skarmory is serious, and that Miki isn’t messing around. Ash steps up to battle and his Cyndaquil is taught a lesson too! Unfortunately, Team Rocket steps in and breaks up the battle.

This episode definitely lives up to its name, as the battles are frequent and intense. We see Ash put Cyndaquil through some one on one training, and some cool combinations of attacks like Agility and Tackle.We don’t see much of Team Rocket, and the story wraps up with points for world building and action, but it falls a bit short in terms of moving the story along.

Let us know what you think! Will we get to Goldenrod next week?

Learn more about this episode on Bulbapedia! https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/EP152

Pokémon the Series original air date -

Japan: 6/8/2000

USA: 5/5/2001