Summary
Ash and Team Rocket join forces to stop the alien invasion by the Pokémon Beheeyem. The episode has a horror-like plot with Ash being chased by transformed townspeople with mask-like faces. By returning the UFO’s power source, Ash successfully stops the invasion and everything returns to normal.
There have been some bizarre episodes Pokémon over the years, but one of the strangest may be the time Ash and Team Rocket worked together to overcome an alien invasion. The alien invaders are in fact Pokémon, but that doesn’t change the fact that they come from space and are slowly taking over a small town.
In the episode “Capacia UFO Island!”, Ash and his friends witness the crash of a UFO just outside of town. They investigate the crash site and find the Amulet Coin, an in-game item that increases holding bonuses. Team Rocket investigates on their own, finds a seemingly identical coin, and loses Meowth. Ash et al. decided to take a break for the evening and went to the local Pokémon Center to rest. However, when he woke up, Ash was stunned by the faces of his companions, who had been transformed.
Cilan, Iris, and even Axew’s faces have all been replaced with flat faces similar to those of the Pokémon Beheeyem, which Ash gradually begins to recognize.
Beheeyem’s invasion was surprisingly successful
While they insisted nothing happened, Ash ran away from them, but soon discovered that Officer Jenny, and indeed, the entire town, have all transformed to have faces resembling this expressionless mask. Ash watched as Beheeyem stepped out to give the townspeople an order: search for an object that resembled Ash’s Talisman Coin. Ash contacts Team Rocket, who have also not been transformed, and they agree to work together to solve this problem.
The episode has a full Body Invasion-style plot, in which Ash, Jessie, and James are left alone to save the town. This is one of the most horror-like episodes in the entire series, with Ash outnumbered and chased by townspeople with disturbingly bizarre faces. Finally, Beheeyem explains that their spaceship is missing a vital part and, in desperation, they used their psychic powers to enlist the townspeople in their search. Ash delivers his coin but fails; The coin that James found was real money, but Team Rocket couldn’t control themselves and tried to keep it.
By dealing with Team Rocket and returning the power, Ash is able to make the Beheeyem return to their ship and leave, and he watches it take off, presumably back into space. Thankfully, everyone returns to normal when Beheeyem leaves, including Ash’s companions, and it’s another strange day in the life of Ash Ketchum.
The episode is strange from start to finish, not only for introducing another species of UFO-controlling alien Pokémon, but also for its horror theme and strange use of an in-game item. There’s no telling what might happen if Ash can’t return the coin they’re looking for, and the existence of UFOs provides solid evidence that these Pokémon are definitely from space. At the end of the day, Ash Ketchum single-handedly stopped an alien invasion, which was probably impossible. Pokémon fans have been waiting for.
Watch on Netflix
Pokemon
Created by Satoshi Taijiri, Ken Sugimori, Junichi Masuda
First movie Pokemon: The First Movie
Latest movie Movie Pokémon: Secrets of the Jungle
First TV show chapter Pokemon
Airing date of the first episode April 1, 1997
Current line Pokemon
TV program) Pokemon
