A Crowning Achievement
ヤドキング!おうじゃのしるし!
A Crowning Achievement is the 260th episode of the Pokémon anime and the first time Slowking was shown in an actual episode. It is known as the last episode in the anime where the studio used hand-painted cel animation.
Backed up by the fact that the Slowking is nicknamed Arthur, this episode is most likely based on the story of 'The Sword and the Stone' where many people tried to pull a sword out from a stone but only a young boy named Arthur was able to, after which he became king.
The Slowking in this episode also appears briefly in the Unown dimension during episode 263, Address Unown!
Summary
The episode focuses on a girl named Alice and her Slowpoke, Arthur. Her and her father travel whilst studying archaeology and are currently by a lake where a colony of Slowpoke live. The Slowpoke are suffering from a drought after an earthquake drained most of the water in their lake away. Studying some nearby hieroglyphics, Alice and her father state that a special Slowpoke will evolve into a Slowking and save the colony.
A King's Rock was revealed after the water drained away but as they're so slow, each time one of the Slowpoke tries to reach it the Shellder in the water leap up and bite onto their tails, causing them to evolve into Slowbro. Team Rocket try to steal the King's Rock but Ash quickly deals with them. Realising the colony's fate looks grim, Alice starts to cry. Seeing this, Arthur is determined to reach the King's Rock. With newly-found speed and a little help from Larvitar's Screech attack Arthur reaches the King's Rock in time and evolves into a Slowking. Here, Team Rocket returns and tries to capture Arthur but he merely deflects their attacks. After they've blasted away, Arthur turns towards the waterfall and splits the water in two with his psychic powers, revealing a pathway. He leads the colony into the cave and on the other side is a paradise for the Slowpoke; a large lake and a forest. Alice releases Arthur, stating that the colony need him as their leader. They hug goodbye before he leaves, the waterfall returning to how it once was. She's clearly upset about losing her friend so her father points out how it was her Slowpoke that was the chosen one in the legend, to try and cheer her up. Ash adds that she can just come and visit Arthur whenever she wants to see him again, before the trio bid farewell and leave to continue on their adventures. |