#82: Pokemon, I Choose You! https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/4/5/5/AAAG8cAAD8y_.jpg
Show: Pokemon Original airdate (US): September 8, 1998
"Spearows, do you know who I am? I am Ash, from the town of Pallet! I am destined to be the world's number one Pokemon master! I can't be defeated by the likes of you! I'm going to capture and defeat you all, you hear me? Pikachu, go inside the Pokeball, it's the only way! COME AND GET ME!"
Pokemon had, in my opinion, one of the best first episodes of any anime, period. It introduced us all to Ash Ketchum and his Pikachu, as well as Misty, whose iconic first encounter with Ash involved him stealing and destroying her bike and never paying her back! Actually, Misty apparently DOES get her bike back later on, go figure. Ash and Pikachu don't get along too well at first, making for some cute and humorous moments as Ash struggles to get the little yellow rat to just go inside its Pokeball! Of course, this leads to them running afoul of a horde of Spearows, leading to one of the greatest moments in anime history: Ash protecting Pikachu by standing up to the flock of vicious birds, and Pikachu unleashing the first hint of its incredible power, saving them both! It's honestly a fairly simple and predictable episode, but it's presented so perfectly that it really gets viewers hooked and wanting to see where Ash's journey goes next. As for me, I actually didn't get into Pokemon until about a month after the anime started, so I didn't get to see this episode until the second time around, but even then it left a huge impression on me, instantly becoming my favorite of the show. Considering just how far Ash and Pikachu have come together, this episode still resonates all these years later, and is a must watch for any fan (fortunately, The Pokemon Company have been gracious enough to upload it to Youtube to watch for free, so... go watch it!).
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This signature won't change until Chrono Trigger gets a re-release on a modern Nintendo console.