AG156
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From Cradle to Save
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First broadcast
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English themes
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Japanese themes
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Credits
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From Cradle to Save (Japanese: ウソハチと忍者スクール！！ Usohachi and the Ninja School!!) is the 156th episode of Pokémon the Series: Ruby and Sapphire, and the 430th episode of the Pokémon anime. It first aired in Japan on December 15, 2005 and in the United States on October 14, 2006.
Blurb
Ash takes a break to train with Donphan and Pikachu, and Donphan uncovers a young ninja named Evian. He's from the Pokémon Ninja School, where Trainers and their Pokémon study the ninja arts together, and he thought Ash and his friends might be behind a recent rash of strange events and robberies. After he apologizes, our heroes enroll in the school for day and try out ninja techniques with their teacher, Angela. Team Rocket secretly watches and waits—Jessie has big ninja dreams of her own!
Angela has everyone try to find her Kecleon, which is easier said than done for Ash. During the exercise, the students find a Bonsly and blame it for the thefts. Brock calms the crying Bonsly down and proves its innocence. The real thieves are Team Rocket, who swoop in to steal the students' Pokémon but are clearly outmatched. Jessie, never one to give up, still challenges Angela to a ninja battle and the real ninja easily wins. Then it's time for everyone to send Team Rocket bouncing on their way again.
With Team Rocket gone, Bonsly wants a battle with Brock. Brock sends out Forretress and uses Spikes to weaken Bonsly so he can capture it. Now he has a new Pokémon! A baby Pokémon! Who needs lots of attention and care... is Brock really ready to be a "father"? Our heroes continue on their way to the Battle Pike with their newest, youngest team member!
Plot
Ash and his friends are enjoying a relaxing picnic under the sun while May polishes her Egg, speculating who might be inside. With that original fury overtaking the scene, Ash is ready to take on any adventure as Pikachu shows the same enthusiasm. A practice battle between Pikachu and Donphan begins, with Pikachu leading off with an electrifying Volt Tackle. The attack clashes into Donphan, who negates it and Pikachu flies backwards. Donphan wheels into a Rollout attack, hurtling towards Ash and Pikachu. They manage to dodge the attack, Donphan colliding with a nearby rock structure and revealing a hidden boy and his Ninjask.
The boy introduces himself as Evian, explaining that he is from the Pokémon Ninja School. He suggests they visit the school for a special day of training, and they take him up on the offer. Greeted by head teacher, Angela, she warns everyone of suspected thieves in the area. Brock is particularly excited to see Angela, and as he goes to hug her, she substitutes herself with a log. The others laugh as Angela leaps down from a nearby tree branch and uses the opportunity to lecture Brock on the need to be prepared for the unexpected.
Nearby, Team Rocket is spying on the Ninja School with Jessie suggesting they become students of the school and become ninjas to ultimately capture Pikachu. Meanwhile, Ash and gang are in a training exercise involving underwater submersion while breathing through a bamboo stick. The underwater lesson then ends and transitions over to a stealth activity with each student trying to mask their position. Max secretly masks himself behind a tree as Ash and Pikachu attempt to hide underneath the ground but soon after reveal their location. The next lesson begins with Angela's Kecleon which camouflages itself and dashes off into the underbrush with the students to attempt and try to find its location. Ash and Evian begin down a trail as he spots the Kecleon. His Ninjask then begins a Sand-Attack which sends a burst of sand towards the forest and temporarily reveals the Kecleon. He then jumps towards it but comes to meet the ground. Ash then tries his chance at it directing Pikachu to launch a Thunderbolt attack towards the general direction but the attack comes to miss as the Kecleon snatches Ash's hat and begins up a nearby tree.
Ash and Pikachu dash for the stolen hat but come only to make direct contact with the tree. Another student of the school notices movement nearby and moves to reveal a Bonsly. The Bonsly then begins crying uncontrollably as Brock begins to calm him down by cradling him in his arms. Ash goes to look up his data in his Pokédex. The three students instantly recognize the distinct crying and accuse Bonsly of committing the recent spate of thefts; Brock however defends Bonsly. Brock then grabs an Oran Berry off a nearby tree and attempts to feed it to Bonsly, but he knocks the Berry out of his hand. Brock then attempts to feed Bonsly with a bottle as he then begins devouring the food. The students come to realize that Bonsly cannot be their thief as he is too young to eat solid food. Bonsly soon polishes off his bottled drink and begins to cry again. Brock tries to settle him down, though Bonsly begins to attack him with a surprising amount of force.
Suddenly, a metallic shuriken hurtles towards the ground and makes contact to reveal a single solitary rose. Team Rocket's voices announce their arrival as the trio emerge in ninja attire and mysterious masks. Ash quickly sees through their disguises to reveal them as Team Rocket. With a quick phrase, Meowth then controls the new kite mecha, which then shoots a sticky fluid from its arms to hoist the Pokémon into the air. Angela then calls upon her Shiftry as it dashes towards the sky and collides with the mecha, sending it hurtling towards the ground at great speed. With great haste, Ash, Brock, and May then call upon Combusken, Grovyle, and Marshtomp. Grovyle dashes towards Team Rocket and cuts the restraints with Leaf Blade, releasing the captured Pokémon. Shiftry follows up with Rock Smash, sending stones hurtling towards Team Rocket. Combusken then launches a ferocious Fire Spin towards Team Rocket which leaves them charred. It's now Marshtomp's turn, and it use a Water Gun to blast Team Rocket out of the treetops.
Jessie recovers quickly and challenges Angela to a ninja arts showdown, which she accepts. Seviper is then released from its Poké Ball as it masks the area with a thick Haze. Jessie, hoisted by her teammates by rope, then dashes through the air and comes down with her net. After the smoke and dust clears, Angela goes to reveal that Jessie has only captured a substitution. Jessie showcases her own technique, a ninja Double Team – aided by Meowth and James disguised as Jessie. Angela is disappointed by Jessie’s attempt, and has Shiftry show her a real ninja Double Team. Stopping the Rocket trio in their tracks, Shiftry lashes then with a Razor Wind. The students follow suit, with Evian’s Ninjask slashing Team Rocket with Fury Swipes. Ariados then entangles Team Rocket with its sticky web, forming a giant ball. As everyone moves into the attack stance, Team Rocket roll off into the distance and off a nearby cliff.
Angela thanks the group for their assistance. Brock, however, credits Angela with staving off Team Rocket. As he prepares to show his affection once again, Bonsly knocks him backwards. As Bonsly tears up again, the students start calling him a coward for running away when Team Rocket first arrived. Angela orders her students to stop, admitting only cowards pick on the weak. Brock realizes that Bonsly is all alone, and he suggests that he should come with him. Bonsly happily leaps into Brock’s arms and begins flailing as he demands a battle to prove himself. Bonsly begins to cry once again, distracting Brock and Forretress before knocking his opponent backwards. Forretress replies with its Rapid Spin attack, colliding with Bonsly and sending him spinning. Forretress then uses its Spikes attack to trap Bonsly within a barrage of tiny spikes. Brock promptly throws a Poké Ball towards Bonsly. The Ball begins to shake, though Bonsly bursts out from the Poké Ball and back towards the ground. Bonsly begins to fall backwards and makes contact with one of the nearby spikes which sends him flying upwards as Brock then attempts to catch Bonsly once more. As the Poké Ball shakes, everyone waits with anticipation. The Ball finally finishes its struggle with Bonsly as that well-known catch sound is heard throughout the air. Triumphant, Brock celebrates his capture with an equally happy Forretress.
Back at the Ninja School, Bonsly begins to cry more and more as Brock tries to feed him. Angela is impressed by Brock's paternal side, declaring him Bonsly's new father. Everyone laughs at this before the group continues on their way once again towards the Battle Pike.
Major events
- For a list of all major events in Pokémon the Series, please see the timeline page.
Debuts
Pokémon debuts
TV episode debuts
Characters
Humans
Pokémon
- Pikachu (Ash's)
- Meowth (Team Rocket)
- Wobbuffet (Jessie's)
- Mime Jr. (James's)
- Donphan (Ash's)
- Grovyle (Ash's)
- Combusken (May's)
- Squirtle (May's)
- Forretress (Brock's)
- Marshtomp (Brock's)
- Bonsly (Brock's; new)
- Seviper (Jessie's)
- Starmie (Jessie's; flashback)
- Ninjask (Evian's)
- Shiftry (Angela's)
- Kecleon (Angela's)
- Bellsprout (student's)
- Tangela (student's)
- Ariados (student's)
- Pidgey (×3)
Trivia
- The episode's English dub title is a pun on the idiom "from cradle to grave".
- The ninja outfits worn by the characters at the ninja school are similar to those worn by Koga and Aya in The Ninja Poké-Showdown.
- The next episode is set in Fuchsia City, where Koga's Gym is located (although in the anime, it was in a forest outside the city itself).
- Angela addresses Rock Smash as "Ninja Rock Arts". While Rock Smash is technically a Fighting-type move, the move resulted in rocks hitting Team Rocket.
- Starting with this episode, the English ending theme might play instrumentally without vocals.
- One of the female students has a striking resemblance to Delia Ketchum.
- The vocal version of Advance Adventure is used as background music when Brock battles Bonsly with Forretress.
Errors
- When Bonsly escapes from the Poké Ball, it emerges as red energy rather than the usual white.
Dub edits
In other languages
| Language | Title | |
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| Mandarin Chinese | 愛哭樹與忍者學園！ | |
 Danish
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Fra vugge til frihed | |
 Dutch
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Het Wiel Van Redding | |
 Finnish
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Kehdosta rautaan* | |
 European French
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Un nouvel ami * | |
 German
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Stolz und Tapferkeit | |
 Hebrew
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בית הספר לנינג'ה | |
 Hindi
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निंजा तकनीक Ninja Technique* | |
 Italian
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La scuola per ninja | |
 Korean
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꼬지지와 닌자 학교 | |
 Norwegian
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Fra vugge til brav | |
 Brazilian Portuguese
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Do Berço para a Luta | |
 Russian
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Спасение малыша | |
| Spanish |  Latin America
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Salvado desde la cuna |
 Spain
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El guardián del bosque | |
 Swedish
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Från vaggan till Brock! | |
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This episode article is part of Project Anime, a Bulbapedia project that covers all aspects of Pokémon animation. |
- Pokémon the Series: Ruby and Sapphire episodes
- Episodes written by Aya Matsui
- Episodes storyboarded and directed by Yūji Asada
- Episodes storyboarded by Yūji Asada
- Episodes directed by Yūji Asada
- Episodes animated by Masaaki Iwane
- Episodes animated by Akihiro Tamagawa
- Episodes by multiple animation directors
- Episodes focusing on Brock
- Episodes in which a main character obtains a new Pokémon
