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Franchise milestone Banned worldwide after a "paka-paka" red / blue strobe (12 Hz alternation) triggered photosensitive seizures in roughly 700 viewers. Holds the Guinness record for "Most Photosensitive Epileptic Seizures Caused by a Television Show." Has never re-aired anywhere. Porygon's evolutionary line has not headlined an episode since.

Pokémon: The Original Series · Indigo League (Kanto) arc

EP038 · Electric Soldier Porygon

でんのうせんしポリゴン

JP air. 1997-12-16 Season. Indigo League (S1) Position. Episode 38 of 276 in Original

Why this episode matters

Key episode in Original

Banned worldwide. The Porygon line has not headlined an episode since.

Synopsis

What happens.

Ash and his friends make their way to the nearest Pokémon Center in Matcha City in order to revive Ash's tired Pikachu.

Synopsis adapted from Bulbapedia's EP038 entry, used under CC-BY-NC-SA 2.5.

Story arc · EP001-EP082

Indigo League (Kanto).

Ash collects eight Kanto badges, faces rival Gary Oak, and competes at the Indigo Plateau Conference. Misty and Brock complete the original trio. Team Rocket's Jessie / James / Meowth introduced in EP002.

Read the full Original guide

Pokémon featured · 9

Who appears.

Linked entries open the species page on the Pokédex. Items without a sprite (alternate forms, regional variants, generic group references) fall back to a name pill.

Porygon
Porygon
Pikachu
Pikachu
Meowth
Meowth
Bulbasaur
Bulbasaur
Psyduck
Psyduck
Arbok
Arbok
Weezing
Weezing
Ninetales
Ninetales
Magikarp
Magikarp

More from this arc

Other episodes in Indigo League (Kanto).

Episode synopsis from Bulbapedia, CC-BY-NC-SA 2.5. Editorial context (arc affiliation, cultural moments, character signatures) hand-verified May 2026. Pokémon, character names, and series titles © Nintendo, Game Freak, Creatures Inc., The Pokémon Company, OLM Inc. This is an unofficial fan reference.