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"Little Chao Lost", originally titled in Japan as "Summer Vacation ~ Chao Observation Diary", is the twenty-second episode of the anime series, Sonic X. It first aired on 31 August 2003 and 28 February 2004 in Japan and the United States respectively.
Synopsis
Japanese title card
Sonic and his friends are at a campsite where they discover a Chao colony. Meanwhile, Dr. Eggman is also hiking nearby and decides to launch an attack when he encounters Sonic.
Appearances
Characters:
- Amy Rose
- Bocoe
- Bokkun
- Cheese
- Christopher Thorndyke
- Cream the Rabbit
- Danny
- Decoe
- Dr. Eggman
- E-Series
- E-66 Da-Dai-Oh (only appearance)
- Frances
- Miles "Tails" Prower
- Mr. Stewart
- Mr. Tanaka
- Sonic the Hedgehog
Races and species:
Locations:
- Sonic X Zone
- Earth
- Hot Springs Village (only appearance)
- Chao Garden (only appearance)
- Hot Springs Village (only appearance)
- Earth
Items:
- Chaos Emerald (mentioned)
- Selection Machine
Vehicles:
Plot
The episode starts with Mr. Tanaka praying to a statue, wishing Sonic and his friends a safe trip to arrive at their location. Tails, Amy, Cream, Cheese, Chris, Frances, Danny and Mr. Stewart are all waiting for a bus which would transport them to a beautiful valley which is notable for being Mr. Tanaka's homeland, Japan, as a youth where Mr. Tanaka is waiting for them to set up camp there. Sonic also tags along but instead of participating in the camp with everyone else, he visits the cityside for sightseeing.
The camping gang quickly settled in to the campsite and participated activities such as cooking and catching insects. However, Cheese, while swimming, is accidentally swept by the rapid current into the main stream leading to Cream bursting with tears. Amy and Tails reassured that Cheese is a very good swimmer and so everyone (except for Mr. Tanaka and Amy) searched across the surrounding valley for Cheese's whereabouts. Meanwhile, Dr. Eggman, with Decoe and Bocoe, are also hiking through the valley. Eggman gets frustrated with his two robot henchmen complaining throughout the hike. Eggman however notices the search gang are nearby and the trio of villains suspect that they are looking for a Chaos Emerald but Eggman gets bitten by a mosquito, followed by a vicious moth.
The search party comes to a stop before a small tunnel, wondering if Cheese could be at the end of the stream after the tunnel. As Mr. Stewart is physically too big to fit in, the children (including Tails and Cream) went through it. At the end of the path, the children have discovered a Chao colony inhabited by many Chao, much to Tails and Cream's surprise. Cream rejoices when she finally found Cheese. The children decide to spend some time playing with the other Chao before heading back to the campsite. Meanwhile as the doctor and his two robot henchmen continued to hike through the valley and Decoe and Bocoe complained again, Eggman got fed up and ordered Decoe to unpack his knapsack which revealed to be the Selection Machine. Using the machine, Eggman then summons his new E-66 Da-Dai-Oh from his Egg Fort II.
Back at the campsite, Amy wonders the whereabouts of the search party while Mr. Tanaka responded open-heartedly that they are just fine. At that moment, a worried Mr. Stewart returns to the campsite showing concern for the whereabouts of the children and then Mr. Tanaka, Amy and Mr. Stewart left the campsite to look for the children. Suddenly, Da-Dai-Oh flies past over the campsite indicating that Eggman is causing trouble again. Unfortunately, Eggman, Decoe and Bocoe ambushes the children riding on the Da-Dai-Oh demanding for a Chaos Emeralds. Chris yelled back that there are no Chaos Emeralds around the valley and despite this, Eggman ordered Da-Dai-Oh to attack. After taking one step, Da-Dai-Oh suddenly skids (due to walking on slippery mud) and crashes into the lake below. The impact of the crash pollutes the water as witnessed by Cream so the children quickly rushed to the Chao colony.
After the efforts of Decoe and Bocoe cleaning Da-Dai-Oh and displacing it somewhere else, the trio of villains spot Sonic carrying a bag of souvenirs who is surprised to meet them. Sonic questions Eggman's presence in the valley and the trio replied that they are just here for a vacation. Eggman orders Da-Dai-Oh to attack Sonic but the blue hedgehog evades the attack with ease and destroys the robot, sending the trio of villains flying through the sky to the horizon. Amy, Mr. Tanaka and Mr. Stewart just arrived into the scenery informing Sonic that he needs to find the others.
Sonic eventually found the children attempting to filter the mud out of the polluted lake in the Chao colony. He then filters the mud out of the polluted water using his speed. Later that night, the cast sit and laugh around the campfire as Mr. Tanaka mentioned he stumbled upon a Chao colony when he was a youth while the episode draws to a close.
Eyecatch cards
Regional differences
- The following scenes have been cut from the English dub:
| Gallery |
|---|
.jpg "Untitled 139 (2).jpg (424 KB)") At the beginning of the episode, Mr. Tanaka is seen praying to the statue. The original Japanese version extends this by viewing him from a different angle. This shot is cut in the dub. .jpg "Untitled 140 (2).jpg (442 KB)") After the opening titles roll, the bus moves steadily towards the camera's direction before the camera snaps to the inside of the bus. This shot is removed in the English dub. .jpg "Untitled 141 (2).jpg (489 KB)") While Sonic is sightseeing he runs past a house. He then comes back to it only to have a brief conversation with two Japanese women wearing different colored kimonos. This is cut in the English dub. .jpg "Untitled 142 (2).jpg (556 KB)") This outside shot of the market appears before Sonic sees a chef deep-frying some treats. This shot is removed in the dub. .jpg "Untitled 143 (2).jpg (571 KB)") After a Chao is seen pulling Tails' whiskers, Cream rushes to the edge of the lake before calling out to Cheese. This shot is cut in the dub. .jpg "Untitled 144 (2).jpg (510 KB)") After Chris attempts to say what the Chao are saying, this scene of Cream looking at the Chao is then shown. This isn't present in the dub. Note that this scene appeared in one of the later episodes including the English version. .jpg "Untitled 146 (2).jpg (395 KB)") As the E-66 flies overhead past the campsite, Mr. Tanaka gives a shocked facial expression. This is cut in the dub. .jpg "Untitled 147 (2).jpg (417 KB)") At the end of the episode, there is a close-up scene of the gang sitting around the campfire. This is cut in the dub. |
- In addition, there are scenes during the section when Tails, Chris and their friends are waiting for the bus which have plenty of text removed in the English dub.
.jpg "Untitled 111 (2).jpg (471 KB)")
.jpg "Untitled 110 (2).jpg (121 KB)")
Title in other languages
| Language | Title | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| Japanese | 夏休み・チャオ～な観察日記 | Summer Vacation ~ Chao Observation Diary |
| Chinese | 暑假中的驚人發現 | Amazing Discovery during Summer Vacation |
| French | Une belle découverte | A beautiful discovery |
| German | Wo ist Cheese? | Where is Cheese? |
| Greek | Καλοκαιρινές διακοπές: Ημερολόγιο παρατήρησης | Summer Vacation: Observation Diary |
| Hebrew | חופשת הקיץ, יומן תצפיות כאוס | Summer Vacation, Chaos Observation Diary |
| Italian | Cheese è scomparso / I gemelli di Cheese | Cheese has disappeared / Cheese's twins |
| Korean | 여름방학 챠오 관찰 일기 | Summer vacation Chao observation diary |
| Polish | Zaginiony mały Chao | Little Chao lost |
| Portuguese (Brazil) | Férias de verão | Summer vacation |
| Romanian | Vacanța de vară, studiul coloniei chao | Summer vacation, Chao colony study |
| Russian | Летние каникулы: объект наблюдений — Чао | Summer vacation: subject of observation - Chao |
| Spanish (Latin America) | Vacaciones de verano - Chao, diarios de observación | Summer vacation - Chao, daily observation |
| Spanish (Spain) | ¿Dónde está Cheese? | Where is Cheese? |
| Thai | บันทึกวันพักผ่อนที่อาณาจักรเชาว์ | Save the vacation at the Chao kingdom |
| Vietnamese | Nghỉ hè, nhật ký quan sát Chao | Summer vacation, Chao observation diary |
Trivia
- This is the first episode of the appearance of other Chao besides Cheese and a Chao Garden (although it has been referred to as a Chao colony).
- In the English dub of this episode, there is no explanation given for the presence of the Chao and their colony on Earth. However, in the original Japanese version, Tails mentions upon seeing the Chao colony that Chao can seemingly be found on Earth too, suggesting that Chao are just a species that can be found on both Earth and Sonic's world.
- The Australian DVD made a typo in this episode's name, reading "Little Chai Lost".
- In the English dub, Cheese is referred to as "she".
- The fact that Chao can be found in freshwater establishments, which originated in this episode, is noted in Chao's Trophy in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.
