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"Creature Power Challenge" is the 43rd episode of Season 1 of Wild Kratts, originally airing on PBS Kids on October 17, 2012. Overall, it is the 43rd episode of the series. The episode was written and directed by Martin Kratt.
In this episode, the Kratt brothers challenge each other in contests involving Creature Powers of African animals. However, Zach Varmitech sends miniature robots called Disrupt-o-bots to annoy the Kratt brothers by transforming them into animals not suited for life in the African savanna. He also uses his Disrupt-o-bots to hijack the Tortuga to prevent the other Wild Kratts members from helping the Kratt brothers.
Plot[]
The episode begins with a live-action segment. The Kratt brothers watch over orphaned elephant calves such as Naipoki and Sities at the Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage. Afterward, they ask their "What if?" question, and the show transitions into the cartoon segment.
The Kratt brothers are cross-country in-lining across the African savanna when they have to stop because they are sweltering. They try to cool off in a mud wallow, but an elephant and a rhino start fighting for it. Their attention then shifts to the fight, and Martin tells Chris that the elephant is more powerful, but Chris disagrees and says that the rhino is more powerful. During their argument, Chris accidentally gets pushed by a rhino and Martin gets pushed by an elephant. Suddenly, a giant egg beater from Zach Varmitech's jet sweeps away all of the mud and it goes on them. Zach intends to make sure that they have no mud to cool off in, so that he ruins the Kratt Brothers' day. However, the rhino and elephant find their own mud wallows, each one the perfect size for both creatures. And despite the unusual circumstances, the Kratt brothers get splashed and cooled by the mud. They start laughing, which makes Zach mad and decides to flip. The Zachbot takes it literally and flips Zach three times before he tells it to stop and he tells his Zachbots to spy on the Kratt brothers.
The Kratt brothers have not forgotten their argument, and they take out their Creature Power Discs. In the meantime, Aviva, Koki, and Jimmy are seeing what the brothers are doing. They discuss how many amazing animals they've encountered and how many awesome Creature Power Discs they've made. Aviva gets tired thinking about it and decides to take a break. She decides to spectate today, instead of inventing and says that the brothers are on their own. Jimmy tells Aviva not to get comfy, because he's not a professional scientist, and he also warns her that when it comes to high-tech, the brothers will end up needing her help. They decide to start with a strength contest. Martin activates his Elephant Creature Power Suit, and Chris activates his Rhino Creature Power Suit.
Zach gets so sick and tired of hearing how awesome the Creature Power Suits are and turns off the TV, at which point, he remembers the time he stole the Hippo Power Disk which had a flaw in Aviva's design and then he gets the idea to annoy the Kratt brothers as well as proving that he is a better inventor than Aviva by sending out miniature robots called Disrupt-o-bots. While the Kratt brothers fight, Disrupt-o-bots enter both of their discs. Zach activates the Disrupt-o-bots, and Martin transforms into a basilisk lizard and Chris transforms into an acorn and falls in Martin's hands. Martin tells Koki and Aviva and says that there's something wrong with the Creature Power Suits, in which they become shocked. An elephant chases them. Martin is unable to run away from the elephant, and he eventually trips and Chris falls to the ground. The elephant picks up and tries to eat Chris, but thankfully Martin is able to climb up and deactivate him in time. Afterwards, Martin calls Aviva to tell her about an issue with the Suits, and Aviva says that she will come and help them, but Zach finds out and says that she won't come, because his Disrupt-o-bots will also work on the Tortuga and he sends one there.
The Kratt brothers decide to have another challenge, this time a speed race. Aviva calls and says she will meet them to try to fix the problem with their Suits and tells them not to do anything until she gets there. Chris tells her that she has to hurry up and come and fix the problem because their race starts in 30 seconds. At this point, the Disrupt-o-bot enters the Tortuga and takes control of it. Aviva goes to help the Kratt brothers, but the Tortuga doors close on her, preventing her from leaving. Zach appears on the main monitor and announces that he has taken control of the Tortuga and all their technology and are all trapped.
Koki tries to tell the Kratt brothers that Zach is trying to mess with the Creature Powers, but she is unsuccessful in doing so when Zach also tells them that they have no way of communicating with the Kratt brothers and he also tells them that they shouldn't be warning them. Jimmy tries to fly the Tortuga to the Kratt brothers with Tortuga's hover mode, but sure enough, he is unable to do so, and then Zach shows up and tells them that all the Wild Kratts can do watch him mess up the Creature Power Suits.
Aviva says that he can't control her Creature Power Suits. Zach says that he can because there's a flaw in her design. Zach explains how he is using his Disrupt-o-bots to control the Creature Power Suits and the Tortuga to deliberately cause problems with the Kratt brothers and to prove that he is a better inventor than Aviva as she and Koki glare at him, knowing he won't get away with it. Since Aviva has not arrived, Martin activates Cheetah Power and Chris activates Peregrine Falcon Power and race to the Tortuga – the finish line. A few meters before they reach the Tortuga, Zach activates his bots again, and Chris becomes a bass, and Martin becomes a walrus. Unable to move, vultures peck at them. Martin saves Chris by squashing and deactivating him. Chris also deactivates Martin's suit and the latter gets off the former as told.
Martin and Chris try to tell Aviva that the creature powers are malfunctioning, but unfortunately, their Creature Pods are also malfunctioning. Martin and Chris see Aviva, Koki, and Jimmy and think that they're cheering for them, when they're actually warning them. Chris lip-reads Aviva and thinks that she is telling them to use the Creature Power Suits, when she is actually telling them not to use them. Martin thinks that Jimmy is saying that Aviva fixed the gadgets remotely, when he is actually saying that Zach is disrupting them.
Chris thinks that Koki everything is clear, and there are no problems here, when she is saying that all Wild Kratts inventions are under Zach's control. When they see them sitting down, they think that they are willing to watch their Creature Power Challenge in their cushy seats in the Tortuga. Koki doesn't think they understood them and Zach laughs and decides to continue messing with the Creature Powers. At that point, Aviva tells Koki and Jimmy to distract Zach, so that she takes out the Disrupt-o-bot. Jimmy asks Zach whether he thought of putting less gel in his hair. Koki tells Zach that there is no way he can overpower their technology for long.
He says that he can, because that's what he is doing. He also claims that his inventions have always been superior to theirs and they've only gotten lucky in the past. Aviva miniaturizes a Flycam that removes the Disrupt-o-bot from inside the Tortuga. The Flycam removes it and takes it out. Zach is shocked to see that one of his Disrupt-o-bots stopped working. Aviva shows him if that's the Disrupt-o-bot he's talking about. Zach screams, but he tells her that there are still Disrupt-o-bots in the Creature Power Suits. Afterwards, the three head out to warn the Kratt brothers, but Zach claims that they'll never make it in time.
The Kratt brothers, meanwhile, decide to start a swimming contest. Chris activates Hippo Power and Martin activates Crocodile Power. Zach activates his Disrupt-o-bots immediately, and they turn Martin into a tarsier and Chris into a butterfly and they start sinking. They decide to deactivate, but before they do so Zach also disrupts the deactivation mode, making the Kratt brothers unable to deactivate.
Crocodile hatchlings are about to eat them. However, Aviva arrives in time, proving Zach's claim wrong, and removes the Disrupt-o-bots, which are then eaten by the crocodiles and Koki and Jimmy return the Kratt brothers to normal size with the Miniaturizer. After that, Zach is upset because he lost the competition, but he says that it doesn't matter because he still thinks he is superior to the Wild Kratts and calls them "Wild Rats", when they correct him. The Kratt brothers resolve the conflict by saying that the Creature Powers are useful only if you use them at the right time and at the right habitat. The Kratt brothers restart their Creature Power challenges and do them correctly.
The show transitions into the concluding live action segment. The Kratt brothers watch over a rhino calf. Afterward, they conclude the episode by saying "Keep on creature adventuring; we'll see you on the creature trail!"
Characters[]
Animals[]
Animation[]
Note: Featured animals are in bold.
- Nile Crocodile: Frederica, Crunchella, Snappifer
- Black Rhinoceros (called rhino)
- African Bush Elephant
- Cheetah
- Peregrine Falcon
- Hippopotamus
- Nubian Giraffe
- Warthog
- Spotted Eagle-owl
- White-headed Vulture
Mentioned[]
Note: Mentioned animals are linked to Wikipedia.
- Three-wattled bellbird (mentioned as wattled bellbird)
- Rabbit (mentioned as bunny)
- Rattlesnake
- Caracal
- Aardvark
- Squirrel
- Basilisk
- Bass
- Flying fish
- Walrus
- Tarsier
Trivia[]
- This episode aired one year after "Stuck on Sharks".
- This episode holds the record for the most Creature Power Suits used, but half of them are caused by malfunctions.
- This is the third time a Creature Power Suit malfunction has occurred.
- This is the first time deactivation is disabled.
- Martin & his brother Chris are not good at lip-reading.
- Zach recalled the time he stole the Hippo Power Disc in "Race for the Hippo Disc". It was there that the Creature Power Suits were revealed to have had an initial design flaw, which Zach exploits throughout the episode. In fact, this episode is a direct sequel to the previous episode "Race for the Hippo Disc".
- This is the first pair of episodes in the series.
- The Tortuga is also hackable.
- Just like Donita, Zach can also hack the Tortuga.
- When Chris' Falcon Power switched to Bass Power due to the Disrupt-o-bots, Aardvark, Caracal, and African Elephant Power can be seen on the disc paw button.
- This episode marks the third time Zach has attempted to kill the brothers; the first time was in "Polar Bears Don't Dance", the second was in "Mystery of the Weird Looking Walrus".
- This marks the first time Chris is seen in Acorn Power.
- This marks the second time Acorn Power is used; the first time was in "The Blue and the Gray".
- The live-action segments take place at the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust in Kenya. The Kratt brothers previously visited there in a few episodes of their first TV series Kratts' Creatures.
- This episode along with Bad Hair Day, Race for the Hippo Disc, and Termites Versus Tongues aired prior to the Season 1 episodes Seasquatch, The Gecko Effect, Googly Eye: The Night Guru, and Quillber's Birthday Present, the latter four of which aired the following week. The former four episodes are the only episodes of any season of the series to air prior to the season finale of the previous season.
Key Facts and Creature Moments[]
- Some animals have abilities that are suited for a specific environment but not for others.
- Battle between an African bush elephant and a black rhino.