Pokémon: The Original Series · Johto League Champions arc
EP163 · The Bug Stops Here
むしとりたいかい! しぜんこうえんでゲットだぜ!!
Synopsis
What happens.
Ash and his friends arrive at the Ruins of Alph, currently an active Fossil dig site, to meet Professor Oak, who shows them around while telling them that he found out about a mysterious discovery.
Synopsis adapted from Bulbapedia's EP163 entry, used under CC-BY-NC-SA 2.5.
Story arc · EP161-EP212
Johto League Champions.
Continues the Johto badge run. Ash's Chikorita evolves into Bayleef; Brock's Onix evolves into Steelix. Team Rocket gets multiple character episodes that elevate them past gag villains.
Read the full Original guidePokémon featured · 11
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.
More from this arc
Other episodes in Johto League Champions.
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.