EP007: Difference between revisions

The Water Flowers of Cerulean City

EP007   ハナダシティのすいちゅうか Suichūka of Hanada City

First broadcast Japan May 13, 1997 United States September 16, 1998

English themes Opening Pokémon Theme Ending

Japanese themes Opening めざせポケモンマスター Ending ひゃくごじゅういち

Credits Animation Team Ota Screenplay 大橋志吉 Yukiyoshi Ōhashi Storyboard 井上修 Osamu Inoue Assistant director 井上修 Osamu Inoue Animation director 藤田宗克 Munekatsu Fujita Additional credits

水中花 suichūka are a type of artificial flower which "blossoms" when placed in water.

The Water Flowers of Cerulean City (Japanese: ハナダシティのすいちゅうか Suichūka of Hanada City) is the seventh episode of the Pokémon anime. It was first broadcast in Japan on May 13, 1997 and in USA on September 16, 1998.

Spoiler warning: this article may contain major plot or ending details.

Synopsis

Excited about winning his Boulder Badge, Ash can't wait to get to Cerulean City to battle for his Cascade Badge. For some reason, though, Misty is trying to avoid Cerulean and tries to convince them to go to Vermilion City but fails, she then leaves Ash and Brock as they enter the city.

When Ash and Brock enter the city they see a big crowd of people in a circle surrounding a building when they get to the front they see Officer Jenny and she accuses Ash and Brock of being the criminals. When they prove their innocence, she lets them go then sends the rest of the crowd away. After that, they sat on a bench and Ash ask Brock for inside information on the Gym Leader. Brock says he is a Gym Leader, too, and he cannot give out that information. Then Brock says to him "I have to take care of some business in town". They split up and Ash heads to the Cerulean Gym and Brock does his own thing.

When Ash gets to the gym, he finds three sisters performing underwater. Ash confronts the girls backstage, finds out that they are the Gym Leaders and challenges them to a battle. The girls (Lily, Daisy and Violet) explain that their Pokémon are too tired to battle, and offer Ash the badge without a battle. Ash is about to take it, when Misty appears and challenges him.

It turns out that Misty is the youngest of Sensational Sisters, but they call her "the runt". After Misty argues with her sisters, she challenges Ash to an official Cerulean Gym battle with rules of 2 on 2. Ash tries to send out Pikachu but he refuses to go into battle because he does not want to hurt Misty or her Pokémon. So instead Ash sends out Butterfree to battle Misty's Staryu after a quick battle, Butterfree gets knocked into the water causing it to lose the battle. After that Misty sends out Starmie and Ash sends out Pidgeotto. During this battle Ash starts winning and just before Ash is about to seal his victory, Team Rocket interrupts and tries to steal all the Water Pokémon in the Gym.

As Team Rocket is stealing all the Water Pokémon in a vacuum machine, Pikachu gets sucked in as well. He releases a Thunderbolt causing the machine to explode, sending Team Rocket flying. After Team Rocket is gone, Daisy gives Ash the Cascade Badge. Misty tries to argue but her sisters convince her that if Ash used Pikachu from the start, he would have beaten all her Pokémon. Misty agrees with her sisters and claims that when she comes back she will be a great Trainer.

Major events

• Ash reaches Cerulean City
• Ash learns that Misty is the Cerulean City Gym Leader
• Ash and Misty have their first battle
• Ash gets the Cascade Badge

Debuts

Humans

• The Sensational Sisters:
  • Daisy
  • Violet
  • Lily

Pokémon debuts

• Starmie (Misty's)
• Seel (Cerulean Gym's)

Characters

Humans

• Ash
• Misty
• Brock
• Jessie
• James
• Officer Jenny
• The Sensational Sisters
  • Daisy
  • Violet
  • Lily

Pokémon

Who's That Pokémon?: Seel

• Pikachu (Ash's)
• Meowth (Team Rocket)
• Caterpie (Ash's; flashback)
• Butterfree (Ash's)
• Pidgeotto (Ash's)
• Goldeen (Misty's; flashback)
• Staryu (Misty's)
• Starmie (Misty's; debut)
• Onix (Brock's; flashback)
• Zubat (Brock's; flashback)
• Seel (Cerulean Gym's; debut)

Trivia

• Brock's absence during the episode is never explained, and is the source of much speculation among fans.
• This episode has led many fans to believe that Misty's last name is Waterflower. In actuality, the words "water flowers" used in the title are merely a metaphor used to describe the three sisters' grace and beauty, and their own names come from flower species.
• This is the second time real animals are shown. Fish are seen behind the glass when Ash walks into the aquarium. Real animals were only shown in the first season due to the lack of Pokémon resembling several real-world animals in Kanto. It is unknown why the fish Pokémon Goldeen, Seaking, Magikarp and the many other Water-type's (at the time) weren't shown.

Errors

• In the Spanish dub, when Misty's sister calls for Seel, she said "See-al".
• In the English dub, during the opening narrative and right before the title card appears, the text on the sign Gary wrote on is still in Japanese.

Dub edits

• The outside of the store Team Rocket looted simply says "マシーン" (machine) in the Japanese version, while it says "MACHINE SHOP INDUSTRIAL SUPPLIES ALL MAKES AND MODELS" in the dub. The next shot replaces "ルーム" (room) with "LS".
• Like the Pewter Gym, the "Hanada Gym" sign is changed to "Cerulean Gym".

In other languages

• Brazilian Portuguese: As Flores Aquáticas da Cidade de Cerulean
• Czech: Vodní krásky z Blankytného města
• European Portuguese: As Nadadoras da Cidade Cerúlea
• Dutch: De Waterbloemen van Cerulean City
• Finnish: Cerulean Cityn lumpeenkukat
• French: Les fleurs d'eau d'Azuria
• Italian: Il segreto di Misty
• Latin American Spanish: ¡Las flores acuáticas de Ciudad Celeste!
• Iberian Spanish: Las flores acuáticas de Ciudad Celeste

This episode article is part of Project Anime, a Bulbapedia project that covers all aspects of the Pokémon anime.