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EP051

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← EP050 : Who Gets to Keep Togepi?
Original series
EP052 : Princess vs. Princess →
Bulbasaur's Mysterious Garden
EP051.png
  EP051  
フシギダネのふしぎのはなぞの
Fushigidane's Mysterious Flower Garden
First broadcast
Japan July 2, 1998
United States April 3, 1999
English themes
Opening Pokémon Theme
Ending
Japanese themes
Opening めざせポケモンマスター
Ending ポケットにファンタジー
Credits
Animation Team Ota
Screenplay 冨岡淳広 Atsuhiro Tomioka
Storyboard 浅田裕二 Yūji Asada
Assistant director 浅田裕二 Yūji Asada
Animation director 玉川明洋 Akihiro Tamagawa
Additional credits

Bulbasaur's Mysterious Garden (Japanese: フシギダネのふしぎのはなぞの Fushigidane's Mysterious Flower Garden) is the 51st episode of the Pokémon anime. It first aired in Japan on July 2, 1998 and in the United States on April 3, 1999.

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Spoiler warning: this article may contain major plot or ending details.
201

Blurb

In the course of his journey, Ash battles a mountaineer Pokémon trainer he encountered in a small wooded area. Ash deploys his Bulbasaur against the mountaineer's Rhyhorn, but Bulbasaur is behaving very strangely, causing even Pikachu to be concerned. In the end, Bulbasaur defeats Rhyhorn, but Ash decides to go immediately to a Pokémon Center and seek help from Joy. What could be the problem with Bulbasaur?

Plot

Ash and his friends journey towards the Cinnabar Gym continues. They come across a Hiker that challenges Ash to a battle, which he gladly accepts. The Trainer sends out his Rhyhorn while Ash counters with Bulbasaur. Rhyhorn executes a Take Down attack. The ground shakes as it charges right at Ash's Bulbasaur. Pikachu does not like the look of this and watches on. Ash commands his Bulbasaur to use Leech Seed, but Rhyhorn closes in and sends Bulbasaur flying before the attack is launched. Ash tries to recall Bulbasaur, but Bulbasaur refuses. Brock states that it will not back down until it wins and it seems that Bulbasaur really wants to battle it. The Hiker says Ash must be a bad Trainer if his own Pokémon does not listen when told to return it to its Poké Ball. Rhyhorn charges again, but Bulbasaur's Razor Leaf stops it rampage, following it up with a Vine Whip. Rhyhorn collapses and Ash wins. The Hiker commends Ash for training Bulbasaur well. Ash then notices that his Bulbasaur cannot get up and its bulb is pulsating with a blue glow.

They rush Bulbasaur to the nearest Pokémon Center where Ash informs Nurse Joy of the situation. Nurse Joy hooks Bulbasaur up to a machine and runs some tests. Afterward, she returns to Ash and informs him that Bulbasaur is not sick at all. Instead, it is almost ready to evolve. Bulbasaur appears disgruntled despite Ash's enthusiasm. Nurse Joy tells Ash that it will evolve at a special festival, linked with the lunar cycles and planetary alignment, for Bulbasaur.

Everyone is asleep at the Pokémon Center and a long line of Bulbasaur appear outside. Ash's Bulbasaur gets up to walk outside and watches the view of sparkling flowers and the full moon, with Pikachu accompanying him. Suddenly, a group of Bulbasaur use their Vines to grab Ash's Bulbasaur and take it to their garden. Pikachu initially gives chase, though its efforts prove fruitless. At Bulbasaur's request Pikachu then heads back to the Pokémon Center to wake up Ash and the others, and they decide to follow him to find Bulbasaur.

Team Rocket show up and Jessie sees all the beautiful flowers, enjoying them. James disagrees as he has allergies. Suddenly, they walk right past the big group of Bulbasaur holding Ash's Bulbasaur. Jessie says they should capture them, but the Bulbasaur all hit them with their vines, and they blast off again.

Ash and his friends following Pikachu. Brock soon notices a trail of pollen and suggests they follow it, in the hope it leads to Ash's Bulbasaur. Suddenly, the roots of a bunch of tree start thrashing around. Ash says the vines will not stop, and the group manage to dive through them just in time. The vines tangle together to form an entry barrier The group gaze upon the Great Mysterious Garden, the legend was true, and inside are thousands of Bulbasaur. They chant and the central tree's branches grow, complete with foliage. The tree's hollow glows intensely and a Venusaur emerges. It climbs on a big tree stump. Ash then scans it on his Pokédex. Brock comments on the description, saying that it makes it sound like a plant. The gang searches for Ash's Bulbasaur; Misty points out that it has a bandage on its head, they manage to spot it.Ash tries to yell out to his Bulbasaur; Brock intervenes and reminds him that humans have never been in this garden before. All of the Bulbasaur are happy except for Ash's. The Venusaur roars and the Bulbasaur follow suit and reply, this continues several times before all of the Bulbasaur's bulbs begin to glow in a blue light.

Team Rocket reappear, though cannot get through the wall of vines. James asks Meowth to scratch his way through, and Meowth says he just had his claws filed. Jessie and James get out an axe and a saw, whilst Meowth holds a pair of scythes. However, the vines attack in defence and chase them away.

The Bulbasaur start to evolve in a white flash, with leaves peeling away from the now larger bulb, into Ivysaur one by one. Brock says that people have always disagreed whether Bulbasaur is a plant or animal. He says that maybe Bulbasaur are a symbol that all life on Earth is connected. Ash points out that his Bulbasaur is struggling to 'not' evolve. The Venusaur yells at it, and all the Ivysaur start getting mad. The Venusaur is about to hit Bulbasaur with its Vine Whip, but Ash rushes in front and takes the hit to his shoulders.

Ash apologizes for coming to their festival, but states Bulbasaur is his friend. He asks if they are mad that Bulbasaur will not evolve, and they all nod. Ash says that if Bulbasaur does not want to evolve, they cannot force it to. Venusaur roars, sending pollen to the tree, which bursts full of red flowers, the vibrant display easily impresses Ash and his friends. Misty says that it's manipulating nature and points out to Bulbasaur that if it evolves, it could do that too. It still refuses to evolve. Ash apologises to Bulbasaur for not considering its feelings on the matter, and it smiles at the acknowledgement.

Team Rocket arrives in their balloon. All of a sudden, they start sucking up the Ivysaur into a bag. Pikachu begins to fly upwards, but luckily Ash's Bulbasaur catches him with its vine and pulls Pikachu to safety. Ash tells Bulbasaur to knock Team Rocket out of the sky. Bulbasaur tries using Razor Leaf, but it fails. James asks if they should get Bulbasaur, and Jessie and Meowth just laugh, saying Bulbasaur is a wimp. Bulbasaur shouts and the sun suddenly rises over the horizon. The sun's rays enters through the opening on the top of its bulb. The Pokédex says it's getting ready to use Solar Beam. Ash tells it to ready its Solar Beam. The bulb glows, and a huge, blue beam of energy shoots out, hitting the vacuum bag first before piercing the balloon. Team Rocket's balloon explodes, and Bulbasaur frees all the Ivysaur with Razor Leaf. Team Rocket falls to the ground in their basket directly in front of Venusaur. All the Pokémon are mad and strike Team Rocket all at once with their vines, and they go flying for the second time.

Ash says Bulbasaur did great. Venusaur agrees, before smiling and extending a vine. Bulbasaur extends its vine and connects with Venusaur as a sign of respect.

The vine barrier pulls away, as Ash and the others are about to leave they notice that the garden has disappeared. They wave goodbye to Venusaur and Ivysaur.

Major events

Ash's Bulbasaur resisting evolution
For a list of all major events in the anime, please see the history page.

Debuts

Pokémon debuts

Characters

Humans

Dare da?

Pokémon

Who's That Pokémon?

Who's That Pokémon?: Ivysaur


Trivia

  • The episode's name is a pun on Bulbasaur's Japanese name, Fushigidane; where fushigi means "mysterious".
    • Additionally, this episode's title is a direct translation of the Japanese title with the word "flower" removed.
  • The Bulbagarden network itself was named after this episode.
  • Although it never aired while syndicated on Cartoon Network in 2003, the episode made its debut on September 13, 2007 at 6:30 AM EDT, during a Pokémon marathon of every episode at that point.
  • This episode is followed by different episodes between the original Japanese version and the international dubbed version. The episode is followed by Princess vs. Princess in the original Japanese version and by The Case of the K-9 Caper! in the dub version.
  • This episode marks the first time that Pikachu does imitations, this time of Bulbasaur.
  • James breaks the fourth wall by saying that "our fans have come to expect it" when referring to the Team Rocket motto.
  • This episode is featured on Volume 7: Bulbasaur from Viz Media's Pokémon All-Stars series.
  • This was the last episode of the original series where the "Who's That Pokémon?" segment in the English dub featured one of the main Pokémon of the episode.
  • A shot in this episode was reanimated and reused in a flashback in Alola, Kanto!.

Errors

  • When Cartoon Network airs this episode, a bumper from when Pokémon was in syndication is briefly shown, showing a scene of Pikachu with a Poké Ball on its head from the original Japanese credits with the words "Now Back To The Show!" is in the fade between the two parts of Who's That Pokémon?.
  • Right before Team Rocket is hit with Vine Whip, Bulbasaur's ear is the same shade of green as its bulb.

Dub edits

  • PokéRap: Day 1 (Version 2)
  • In the French and Swedish dub, the parts where Pikachu and Bulbasaur are talking is narrated by the narrator.

In other languages



← EP050 : Who Gets to Keep Togepi?
Original series
EP052 : Princess vs. Princess →
Project Anime logo.png This episode article is part of Project Anime, a Bulbapedia project that covers all aspects of the Pokémon anime.
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