This episode is very interesting for a lot of reasons. It has the anime's most famous deleted scene, it's the closest the series would get to being like the games until Season 3, and it's the one episode I saw in full as a kid. (When I saw the show years later, it was the same episode.)
And we meet another important character, too!
The episode starts with Genki raring everyone up to go fight Moo and find the Phoenix. "I get tired just watching him," Suezo comments. But they're cut short when they realize that everyone is hungry!
Holly checks her purse for money and finds... one gold coin. Suezo isn't surprised. "Makes sense to me, seein' as all we ever do is spend!"
"Steal it," Tiger says, and everyone stares.
"If I need something I just take it," he shrugs, and that makes Genki angry.
"Come on! If you really want to be a member of this team, you've got to learn not to steal! Understand!?"
"Well, who said I wanted to be a member," Tiger growls, angering Genki further.
The group heads to a town that's just down the road, which is bustling with activity. "Wow, this sure is a busy place," Holly comments.
Then the group sees something: A colosseum! They're holding a Monster Battle tournament!
And there's prize money, too! "This must be our lucky day," Suezo says happily.
The heroes enter the colosseum, going through a dark tunnel and out into strong sunlight.
Genki is amazed at how many people there are!
"Lots of watchers, chi," Mocchi chirps. "With so many people, the prize money must be pretty good," Holly says. "So, who's going for the gold," asks Genki.
Suezo refuses. "Don't look at me; I don't have enough moving parts! besides, if I got hurt, then who'd be lookin' out for ya?"
Since everyone's still staring at him, Suezo feigns a stomach ache and tries to volunteer Mocchi, but Tiger says he'll enter instead.
"Really? So you are a member of our team!"
"If being on a team is how I get Moo, then I am. And this team's best hope to win is me."
Suezo is super happy at not having to fight, with Holly telling him to show some appreciation.
The colosseum announcer says that battles for prize money will begin now! The crowd roars in appreciation.
"And now, for our first contestant, it's Red Eye!" Red Eye is a Suezo/Golem.
"And making his colosseum de--huh? T-this must be a mistake," the announcer stammers.
"It's no mistake," Tiger says, leaping into the arena to the shock of everyone there.
"There's no mistake," the announcer gulps. "It's... the one and only Tiger of the Wind!"
The crowd is shocked into silence.
Tiger stomps in to face down Red Eye, and the crowd starts yelling.
"That monster's a renegade," someone shouts. "He's a thief!"
Genki smiles nervously. "Lots of loyal fans, I see." Tiger grins. "You should see them when they're mad."
Red Eye hops into place, looking nervous.
Tiger turns to Genki. "Now watch and learn."
Genki cheers him on. "Yeah! Do it, Tiger!"
"Tiger," Holly cheers. "Yay, Tiger! Chi chi," says Mocchi, leaping up in excitement.
The battle begins, and Red Eye hops about while Tiger does nothing at first. "Red Eye is showing some fancy footwork, but oh! I don't believe it! Tiger hasn't budged an inch!"
Red Eye's trainer commands him to use an attack. He leaps for Tiger... ("Someone check if he's still breathing," the announcer comments.)
Tiger opens one eye, and the force of his glare alone stops Red Eye in his tracks. (That's not an attack. He's just that intimidating.)
Tiger growls, and Red Eye's trainer commands him to attack Tiger again. "Uhh, don't rush me," Red Eye cries, scared stiff.
Tiger stands tall as epic music plays. "I win," he says. The announcer hands victory to Tiger, and he walks off to join Genki to wait for his next challenger.
"That was cool," Genki says. Tiger shakes his head. "Wrong. You ain't seen nothing yet."
The battles continue, as a Gangster (a Magic/Beaklon) defeats an Usaba (a Plant/Suezo).
Tiger defeats a Fairy Worm (a Worm/Pixie)...
And the same Gangster defeats a Dino.
When it's Tiger's turn to face the Gangster, he howls to freeze him...
Then pounces, defeating him.
Genki is impressed, but he's shocked when Tiger strolls off. "Don't you think you oughta stay and study the next guy's moves?" "I have no need to do that," Tiger replies.
Soon, it's time for the final round.
"And over here, we have the Monster who's defeated every one of his challengers! It's Tiger of the Wind!"
"And the final challenger, for the prize money... Hare!"
Hare plays up to the crowd, even blowing them a kiss. "I love you people!"
He hops over to Tiger. "So, you're the famous Tiger! Please, be gentle with me. My name is Hare!"
Tiger growls at him, and Hare backs off, while Genki rightly suspects that Hare is up to something.
"Watch out for this one, Tiger," he says. Tiger is confident he's ready for him.
Hare moves to his position and goads Tiger on. "Let's get this show on the road! Come on, now, we don't have all day!"
Tiger snarls at him, but Hare just laughs, not scared at all.
As the match begins, Tiger immediately charges--and Hare dodges.
Twice.
Genki yells at Tiger to show him who's boss!
"So, ya wanna box," Tiger growls, watching Hare throw punches. "Put 'em up," Hare says. Tiger charges again, and Genki yells. "Tiger, the Hare's just baiting you!" The announcer realizes that they have a contest.
Hare winds up for a super spin punch!
But at the last second, Tiger dodges the attack!
Whiel in the air, Tiger howls, freezing Hare with wind...
And he pins Hare down when he lands.
"It looks like you lose, my friend."
He growls, scaring Hare.
Hare immediately backpedals and falls to his knees. "Okay, you win!"
Tiger stares. "I'm not impressed." "What was I thinking of!? You're twice the Monster I could ever be," Hare sobs.
"I just wanted to do my best here, I guess... and I got carried away by the crowd!"
"Please please please please don't hurt me!"
Tiger turns away. "I don't want to hurt you; I just want the money..."
And behind him, Hare grins.
He leaps up, winding up for the spin punch...
And Hare punches Tiger, and the camera, out.
Everyone is shocked, and Suezo yells "Cheater!"
"I win! I win! I win, I win~" Hare dances.
This scene has the most famous portion cut from the anime, though I didn't learn about it until years after watching it on TV.
In the original version, instead of punching Tiger out, Hare used his Gas attack, which knocked Tiger and the entire stadium out. (Hares do have a Gas attack in the games, but it only drains a few Guts at most, and only its upgraded moves have the, er, potency we see in the show.)
I am not one for toilet humor, so it being cut doesn't really bother me. Hare's Gas attack is only seen one time after this in the uncut versions, but his punches are seen a lot. It establishes how physically strong he can be, and makes him look even more like a cheater--sucker-punches are a low blow!
Genki meekly accepts the prize money for second place. It may not be first prize, but it's still a sizable amount of cash!
Backstage, Tiger awakens just in time to hear Hare announced at the first prize winner.
Hare cheers himself on and teases Genki. "Too bad your Monster couldn't cut it, kid!"
This enrages Tiger, who charges. Genki has to tackle him himself to keep him from attacking Hare. "Tiger, mellow out! Second prize is good!" When he refuses to back down, Suezo and some humans try to restrain Tiger.
Tiger brushes them all off, but is finally pinned by Golem. "Calm yourself!"
Hare continues to tease and goad Tiger until Genki tries to stop his teasing and stumbles--and he sees the group has gold.
This gives him an idea.
Later, the group is counting up their money. Golem praises Tiger. "Tiger of the Wind strong!" The others agree, but Tiger yells at them.
"That's enough! You seem to be forgetting that I came in second place."
Genki is angry that all Tiger seems to care about is himself, but Holy diffuses the argument by reminding them that they did get money.
Suezo tries to sneak off and spend some, but Holly stops him--and then Mocchi says he's hungry.
Genki sets off to buy food, but all they can afford with what they have is veggies. Genki, Mocchi, and Tiger are less than thrilled, and Suezo wants to go to a restaurant.
Holly reminds them that they have to be thrifty, but they're still disappointed.
Holly then says they can go without any food, which is enough to convince them to buy the vegetables.
But before they can, up walks Hare! "Hi guys! ...Hye, how's it going? I was looking for you all!"
Tiger immediately growls and makes to attack him, but Hare raises his paws. "Calm down! I'm not here to start any trouble! I just wanted to talk!"
"Talk to my fist, Hare!"
Hare continues to say he's not causing trouble, but Holly notices something. The Magic Stone is glowing! "Why here," she asks, staring at Hare.
Then Hare asks if he can take them all out to dinner as an apology!
Suezo's convinced at the word dinner, but Tiger isn't. "What's the catch," he yells.
"Please, Tiger! I-I know you're not very happy about losing, so I thought I'd try and make it up to you somehow!"
"And I-I guess I kinda cheated in our match and my conscience seems to have gotten the better of me!"
"I promise that I will never, ever, ever do it again--and did I mention that I am an orphan?"
Tiger doesn't buy it at all, but Holly agrees to his invitation. "It'll be fine!"
She thinks to herself. And I've got a feeling... the Magic Stone's glowing must have something to do with Hare!
Hare checks them in at the fanciest inn in town. Holly asks him what he's doing, since they can't afford it, but he says the party's on him!
The place is so pretty everyone gains a soft outline!
Genki and Mocchi are delighted, and Golem is very happy when Hare gives him the finest items on the menu.
Tiger, however, remains mistrustful. "Just keep an eye on him," he warns Holly.
By nightfall, it's dinnertime! "It's been a while since we've eaten a good meal," Genki says happily.
Golem eats some delicious rocks and drinks it down with sand!
Then, Hare offers to dance with Holly. She accepts.
The next morning comes...
And Holly tells Genki, in a panic, that Hare ran off--with all their money.
Hare pours their gold into his satchel, then leaves behind the original bag as a decoy.
"Well done, Hare--as always!," he cheers. "Like taking candy from a baby!"
The gang tries to sneak out, with Suezo in disbelief that Hare scammed them. Tiger says the gang should have listened to him, while Genki says that if he knew Hare was bad, he should have warned them.
Mocchi steps in to tell them not to fight, and Holly reminds them that they have real problems right now. Like what's going on with the Magic Stone, she thinks.
They try to sneak out, but are caught. And since they don't have the money to pay...
Dishes time!
Genki is adamant that Hare will pay for making them look like criminals, and the gang--minus Golem--leaves to track down Hare.
"So how do we find him," Genki asks, and Tiger sniffs at the ground. "It's easy--I can smell that rabbit a mile away."
Tiger takes off ahead, while Suezo spies Hare from a rooftop.
Charging ahead, Tiger spies what he thinks is their bag of gold--but he's going too fast to see the rock on top of it.
And when he pounces... it's a trap.
A very mean-spirited trap, at that. "Why, that Hare!"
Chuckling to himself, Hare spies a bridge and a town just across it. "Another day, another opportunity!"
"Those guys must be going nuts trying to find their money! Too bad! Gold! Gold! Suckers! Hahaha!"
And that's when Tiger catches up to him, howling.
The bridge immediately breaks in half.
Hare falls... but barely manages to grab onto a rope.
He looks down and freaks out at the long fall.
"Serves you right," gloats Tiger. "You didn't really think I was gonna let you get away with this, did you, champ," he snarls.
"Ah! Tiger! So how are ya? Sorry I had to leave so soon, but something just came up!"
"Just drop the act, furball!"
"Hahaha. Drop the act. Very funny. I-I'm dropping. Soon."
Hare snaps.
"Listen, you! I'm hanging here by a thread! Pull me up! Now!"
The rope starts to break, and Hare looks truly scared.
"You humiliated me back there in front of thousands of people! So perhaps you could explain why I should help you at all!"
The rope frays even more. "No problem! But I don't think too well when I'm stressed!"
Before Tiger can move... the rope breaks and Hare falls.
"Great."
Tiger runs down the canyon wall vertically, catching up with Hare and telling him to grab onto his fur.
Hare does, and Tiger jumps the rest of the way down...
before depositing Hare on the ground beneath him.
Genki asks Tiger if he's okay, and he nods.
Back at the inn, Golem tearfully hugs his friends as Hare returns the money he stole.
"Here's the cash. Sorry about all the trouble..."
The group heads off, and Hare's walking and talking with them. "So let me get this straight. Now, you're gonna revive the Phoenix and turn all the baddies into goodies?"
Holly nods. "All the baddies. And that includes Moo."
"All right, that's it! I'm coming with you guys," Hare declares.
"It's a dangerous journey," Genki warns.
"I don't care! I'm not scared. I need to follow my destiny. I wanna fight!"
"And what's your scam this time?" "I've got no scam!"
"I'm Genki, and you're welcome to come with us, but I sure hope you learned your lesson back there!"
"And my name's Holly!"
"I'm Suezo!" "Mocchi, Mocchi!" "Golem!"
Hare grins. "And, of course, Tiger of the Wind. And you know all about me. Obviously, my strong point is this! Stick with me and you'll never have to think again!"
"And trouble will be endless," Tiger growls. Hare just grins. "The trouble with Monsters like him is that they lack a generosity of spirit!"
"Says who, Hare?" "Says me, Tiger!"
"The pot calling the kettle black. How sweet," Suezo says.
"That's it, let's get him," Tiger and Hare say at once. They leap at Suezo together.
That's why the Magic Stone was glowing, Holly thinks. We were supposed to find Hare!
And with Hare joining the group, our main cast of heroes is assembled. Next time, we'll meet the villains--and see just what being part of a team means.
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