Yeah, I know: this anime is the very antonym of 'obscure', but I wanted to visit it here anyway.
Pokemon has had a strange significance in my life. I got into it in the late summer of 1999, not too long before the American release of the Fossil expansion.
What's that? Wasn't I into the video games like everyone else?
Nope!
I didn't have a GameBoy at the time, and if I had, I would have sold it to buy cards. :3 Pokemon, for me, has always been about the trading card game (TCG)---I just couldn't get into anything else about it.
Where the anime was concerned, it was useful insofar as what it could tell me about Pokemon (I didn't have internet at the time) and the world they lived in. The only unfortunate thing was I counted the anime as a necessary evil---the anime was just so dumb! D:
Even so, there were a few episodes I like: 'The Pi-kahuna' being among them. :3
I'm aware of the fan theory surrounding this episode ...which is almost too obvious to be counted as a theory, but I'll cover it in this review.
Enjoy it if you can---at the time of this writing, DailyMotion's future isn't too certain. :(
Anyway...
Our story begins at a beach on Seafoam Island.
This episode begins withn Ash, Misty and Brock jogging along the highway, in training for the forthcoming Pokemon League (shouldn't the Pokemon be exercising?). Ash overexerts himself, nearly causing a traffic accident. Luckily, Officer Jenny is there to set things aright, as well as provide some exposition as to why there's so much traffic.
As it turns out, a huge tidal wave known as Humunga-Dunga is expected to hit the beach. The wave is a *icosannual event, attracting surfers from all around (hence the traffic). Some surfers make a game of riding the waves up to the side of a natural rock spire protruding from the sea, hoping to stick a flag into it (the high, the better!). Only one surfer has ever managed to plant their flag on the spire's apex: some guy named Jan ...and that was forty years ago. ^^
*a neologism (meaning 'every twenty years') I found on the internet. Woo-hoo! :D
Jenny's story inspires Ash to put Pokemon training in abeyance for to challenge Humungadunga ...should be easy: just borrow Misty's Gyarados and ride it to the top. ^^
Ash isn't particularly good at surfing---in fact, he fails at it! So much so that he gets into trouble in the sea and needs a rescue. And old surfer guy named Victor (who I swear looks like Sam Elliot) and his Pikachu answer the call as Brock and Misty look on (I'm sure one of them would have done something ...eventually).
Anyway, Ash is taken to recover at Victors cabin. Misty and Brock greet Ash as he wakes up. Ash is introduced to Victor and his Pikachu: *Puka. From his bedside window, Ash sees Pooka standing at the edge of a cliff overlooking the ocean. Ash's own Pikachu ventures out to meet Puka.
*Puka (pronounced, 'poo'kah') is a Hawaiian word meaning 'hole' ...Yeah. It's also a type of shell used in jewelry making. Now 'P-U-K-A' is how the name is spelled on Bulbapedia (so it's the variation used in this review). However... If spelled as 'Pooka' or 'Pookah', the (Irish) word denotes a type of imp or sprite ...that can transform into an animal. This plays well into the fan theory I mentioned earlier (we'll get to it).
Anyway, Puka has some strange connection with the sea: he seems to be able to communicate with it.
Victor tells Ash and co. the story of how, twenty years ago, he came to befriend Puka,
VICTOR: "It's kind of unusual because I didn't capture Puka like you would a regular Pokemon. Pooka... Came to me from the sea"
...Twenty years---how long does a Pikachu live?
The narrative segues to a flashback of the young Victor sitting on the shore, as he spies a Pikachu (Puka) holding fast to a piece of wood, floating on the waves. The Pikachu leaps into Victor's arms, and faints.
VICTOR (continuing): "I can't explain how or why it happened, but from that day on, Puka and I have never been apart"
Victor also talks a bit about his history as a surfer. Concisely, Victor was a fanboy of Jan's before Jan's famous ride of Humungadunga. Victor took up surfing for to become like his role model. After Jan's conquering of Humungadunga, he offered Victor his surfboard, saying "You can do it, too!". After that, Jan set sail across the sea, (supposedly) never to be heard from again. Twenty years later, Victor took on Humungadunga, but failed to plant a flag. Soon after this, Victor met Puka.
Victor's story about he and Jan is similar to that of Cody Maverick and Big Z from 'Surf's Up' (2007; very bizarre film).
As the story ends, Puka and Pikachu are heard screaming outside. Victor, Ash and co. run to the scene: the Pokemon have been taken from the cliff, by the mechanical arms of Team Rocket's submarine! After reciting their motto, Team Rocket makes their getaway with Pikachu and Puka.
Victor, Ash and co. pursue the Rocket's in their speedboat.
Slowing Team Rocket's escape are a herd (or school... or pod ...or somesuch) of angry Gyarados.
MEOWTH: "What (are they) doing here!?"
JAMES: "Well, I have heard that Gyarados travel to shallow waters once a year in order to lay their eggs"
...Don't these water Pokemon know Humungadunga is coming?
Anyway, Team Rocket's sub is forced to surface, revealing its location to our heroes. More importantly, the Gyarados continue their attack, dividing the sub with a powerful hyper beam. The destruction flings Pikachu and Puka from the wreckage. Ash manages to save Pikachu via use of his Bulbasaur's vine whip, but Puka remains in distress. Victor tosses his surfboard to Puka, then dives into the sea to save him. Ah, but the water's beginning to get rough ...the wave is coming! D:
Ash and co. race back to shore, for fear their boat will capsize (our heroes)!
Both Victor and Puka watch the wave roll in from their surfboard ...It's now or never!
Of course, Victor and Puka ride the wave to the top of the rock, with Victor planting his flag beside Jan's (I won't ask where Victor was keeping that flag).
Ash and co. meet Victor and Puka on the shore, congratulating them for their achievement ...which, though impressive, was met with no competition as Victor and Puka were the only ones who dared to ride Humungadunga (despite all the excitement for its arrival). The episode ends with Victor passing his surfboard to some random kids on the beach (straight to eBay!).
The theory, as it's presented here, suggests Puka is a reincarnation of Jan (meaning Jan is dead). ...I have a slightly different take. Recall what I found about the meaning of 'Pooka': a mythological being that can transform into animals.
My idea isn't that Jan died and was reincarnated as a Pikachu (Puka), but that Jan IS a Pooka (or 'Puka'---the spellings denote different meanings, nonetheless, they have been used somewhat interchangeably. For example, in the SNES game 'Breath of Fire', there is a human-shaped character named Karn who can transform into different beasts---a tiny dragon called 'Puka' is among these).
So, my somewhat more cheerful perspective is Jan never died---he's just a Pooka (but whether he's 'human' or Pokemon by default remains a mystery). :3
