EP010

Bulbasaur and the Hidden Village

EP010   かくれざとのフシギダネ Fushigidane of the Hidden Village

First broadcast Japan June 3, 1997 United States September 21, 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 開木菜織 Naori Hiraki Assistant director 広島秀樹 Hideki Hiroshima Animation director 平岡正幸 Masayuki Hiraoka Additional credits

Screenshots on Filb.de

Bulbasaur and the Hidden Village (Japanese: かくれざとのフシギダネ Fushigidane of the Hidden Village) is the tenth episode of the Pokémon anime. It was first broadcast in Japan on June 3, 1997 and in the United States on September 21, 1998.

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

Synopsis

Our heroes are wandering through the forest without a compass, trying to find the path to Vermilion City. Ash and Misty are fighting, as usual, this time over who led them astray, while Brock is trying to get them to cool down.

They pause for a rest, and Ash sees an Oddish taking a drink. Misty sends her Starmie to fight the Oddish so she can catch it. The Oddish is defeated, but Misty's Poké Ball is deflected by the appearance of a Bulbasaur before she can claim it. The Bulbasaur attacks and defeats the Starmie; Ash sends his Butterfree after the Bulbasaur with a Sleep Powder attack, but the Bulbasaur blows the powder back at Butterfree. Both the Oddish and the Bulbasaur run off into the underbrush.

The trio attempt to cross a rope bridge, but a wind starts to rip the bridge apart. Brock falls into the river below, while Misty and Pikachu cling to Ash. Ash ultimately manages to pull them up, and the three make their way to the end of the bridge. They make their way down to water level and go looking for Brock. At once, Misty falls through a dead fall into a pit. Ash pulls her out, and they go on looking. As they walk along, Misty's toe catches a rope, and they find themselves suspended in a net. They're found by the Bulbasaur.

Team Rocket appears, looking for a village across the bridge.

Ash speculates that Brock has been washed to sea and shanghaied by pirates; moments later, Brock appears and cuts them down. Brock relates his experience in the river; he was rescued from the rapids by an "incredibly beautiful" girl. Brock takes them to a village and introduces them to the girl, Melanie.

Ash and Misty notice the large number of Pokémon in the village and wonder if they belong to Melanie. Brock explains that this Hidden Village is a place for abandoned or injured Pokémon to come to rest and relax. Melanie cares for them until they're better, then they leave. Melanie collects plants to use for medicine, though she says she's unqualified to be a Pokémon doctor. Misty teases Brock for falling in love with Melanie; he reacts a little violently, fearing Melanie might overhear.

Melanie explains that she set the traps they fell into to prevent Pokémon Trainers from reaching the village. She is trying to protect the injured Pokémon from being captured while they are too ill to escape.

Jessie, James and Meowth try to cross the remains of the bridge, but it collapses under them, dumping them into the river.

Brock promised Melanie they wouldn't capture any of the Pokémon in the village; Misty asks if he sealed the promise with a kiss, and Brock thumps her hard on the top of her head. Misty agrees anyway, saying, "Only bad guys try to capture sick Pokémon." Ash worries if the traps are enough to keep robbers away, saying, "You'd have to be pretty stupid to fall into one of those holes." Cut to Team Rocket as Jessie says, "That's the third hole we've fallen into!" They get out only to immediately get caught in a net.

Brock and Ash are tending to a Staryu, while Misty apologizes to the Oddish. She and Ash begin quarreling, and the Bulbasaur tackles Misty, thinking Oddish was in danger. Melanie explains that Bulbasaur volunteered to protect the whole village. Bulbasaur tries to push Ash out of the village because it doesn't trust Pokémon Trainers. Ash wishes he had a Pokémon that brave.

Team Rocket appears from behind a cloud, standing on a balloon-lifted platform, reciting their mantra. They land in a clearing outside the village, and try to collect all the Pokémon in the village with a massive vacuum. Brock herds everyone into the cabin, but Oddish gets caught in the suction. Bulbasaur rescues Oddish with its Vine Whip, and Ash helps block the wind so it can carry Oddish to the cabin. The vacuum starts to actually pull the roof off the cabin, so Bulbasaur uses its vine whips to smack the hose around. Ash releases his Pidgeotto with instructions to start a Gust attack. The resultant tornado tosses Team Rocket and their platform into the distance.

Melanie asks Ash to take the Bulbasaur with him; the village is too small for its bulb to grow. She says the Pokémon are staying in the village too long, because the Bulbasaur has done too good a job of protecting them. She feels Ash will be a good Trainer for Bulbasaur. Bulbasaur agrees to go with Ash, on condition that they battle first. Ash sends Pikachu, and the two trade rams. Bulbasaur uses its vine whips to toss Pikachu around, but Ash calls for a Thunderbolt, which shocks Bulbasaur into submission, allowing Ash to catch it. Brock offers to stay and help, but Melanie refuses, telling him to continue on his adventures.

Major events

• Ash catches a Bulbasaur.

For a list of all major events in the anime, please see the history page.

Debuts

Pokémon

• Bulbasaur (Ash's)
• Oddish

Characters

Humans

Dare da?

• Ash
• Misty
• Brock
• Jessie
• James
• Melanie

Pokémon

Who's That Pokémon?

Who's That Pokémon?: Bulbasaur

• Pikachu (Ash's)
• Meowth (Team Rocket)
• Butterfree (Ash's)
• Pidgeotto (Ash's)
• Bulbasaur (Ash's; new; debut)
• Starmie (Misty's)
• Caterpie
• Rattata
• Oddish (debut)
• Paras
• Weepinbell
• Staryu
• Magikarp

Trivia

• This is the first episode of a three-episode arc where Ash gets each of Kanto's starter Pokémon.
• James makes a reference to the Japanese baseball player Hideo Nomo, who was playing for Major League Baseball's Los Angeles Dodgers at the time of initial airing, in the Japanese version when Pidgeotto blows the stadium away.
• This is one of the few times a knife, in this case, a hunting knife is seen in the anime.
• This episode is featured on the Volume 7: Bulbasaur copy of Pokémon All-Stars.

Errors

Ash's "gloves"

James's "gloves"

• Before Ash helps Bulbasaur, part of Bulbasaur's bulb disappears.
• When Team Rocket falls down into a hole, Meowth's paws turn dark brown and his lower body turns darker.
• When Team Rocket got caught in the net, Meowth's ears turn light brown.
• When Brock bonks Misty on the head for making fun of him liking Melanie, Ash is missing his gloves.
• After Ash captures Bulbasaur, Melanie's shirt is red instead of pink.
• Ash's gloves turn completely lime green after he pulls Misty, Pikachu and himself up from the broken bridge.
• After Team Rocket's motto, James's gloves are missing.
• After being released from the net trap by Brock, Ash's gloves disappeared.
• When Ash and his friends sit on the rock, the back of Ash's cap is white.
• When Ash sends out Butterfree, both halves of the Poké Ball are colored red.
  • This is repeated in the Pokérap and opening sequence.
• When Misty falls into the hole a zoomed out picture is shown of her and Ash staring Ash's gloves aren't there.
• When Pikachu and Bulbasaur say their names before their battle, their lips don't move.

Dub edits

• The exchange between Ash and Misty at the bridge was different: In the dub versions, Ash was losing confidence, while Misty was encouraging him, while in the original version, Ash says Misty is far too heavy, and Misty berates Ash for implying that she's fat.
• Another different exchange is when they are caught in the net, they are obviously cramped. In the dub, Ash attempts to break out of the net and Misty tells him his plan isn't working; and in the Japanese version, Ash attempts to break the net but the shaking of the net starts when Misty tells Ash his attempts to break out are leading to him touching her in inappropriate places.
• Also, when Ash was guessing about what happened to Brock, he speculates that he was picked up by pirates in the dub, while in the original he was actually guessing that he was picked up by an ugly old hag washing clothes in the river.

In other languages

Language		Title
Arabic		بولباسور و القرية المخفية
Mandarin Chinese		神奇寶貝鄉的妙蛙種子 / 神奇宝贝乡的妙蛙种子
Czech		Bulbasaur a utajená vesnice
Dutch		Bulbasaur en de Verborgen Stad
Finnish		Bulbasaur ja Pokémonien suojapaikka
French	Canada	Bulbasaur et le village caché
	Europe	Le village caché
German		Bisasam und das versteckte Idyll
Hebrew		בלבאזור והכפר הנסתר Bulbasaur vehakfar hanistar
Hungarian		Bulbasaur és a titkos falu
Italian		Un'oasi felice
Korean		꿈에 그리던 이상해씨 kkum-e geulideon isanghaessi
Polish		Bulbasaur i Ukryta Osada
Portuguese	Brazil	Bulbasaur e a Vila Escondida
	Portugal	Bulbasaur e a Aldeia Escondida
Russian		Бульбасавр и Спрятанное Селение
Spanish	Latin America	¡La Aldea Secreta de Bulbasaur!
	Spain	Bulbasaur y la aldea oculta
Swedish		Bulbasaur och hälsohemmet

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