Pokémon: The Original Series · Johto League Champions arc
EP172 · A Better Pill to Swallow
ツボツボVSマダツボミ
Synopsis
What happens.
Ash and his friends stop to admire a mountain range view. The clean air gives Ash and Pikachu some added energy, and they soon run off. A strange Pokémon flies by, and Ash's Pokédex reveals that it is a Ledian.
Synopsis adapted from Bulbapedia's EP172 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.