BW012
← BW011: A Home for Dwebble!
Pokémon the Series: Black & White
BW013: Minccino—Neat and Tidy! →
Here Comes the Trubbish Squad!
BW012   EP669
ヤブクロン戦隊と秘密基地！？
The Yabukuron Squad and the Secret Base!?
First broadcast
Japan December 9, 2010
United States April 23, 2011
English themes
Opening Black and White
Ending
Japanese themes
Opening ベストウイッシュ！
Ending 心のファンファーレ
Credits
Animation Team Kato
Screenplay 園田英樹 Hideki Sonoda
Storyboard うえだしげる Shigeru Ueda
Assistant director うえだしげる Shigeru Ueda
Animation director 志村泉 Izumi Shimura
Additional credits

Here Comes the Trubbish Squad! (Japanese: ヤブクロン戦隊と秘密基地！？ The Yabukuron Squad and the Secret Base!?) is the 12th episode of Pokémon the Series: Black & White, and the 669th episode of the Pokémon animated series. It aired in Japan on December 9, 2010 and in the United States on April 23, 2011.

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

As Ash and friends continue toward the Nacrene City Gym, they come across a group of kindergarten students who have befriended a Trubbish after rescuing it from a junkyard. The students want to keep it in their class, but their teacher, Daniela, will have no part of it! She thinks a Trubbish will be impossible to care for, as well as being unsafe for the class.

Ash offers to go and talk to the kids on behalf of their teacher, but when he sees how much fun the kids are having in their clubhouse—and how much they really care about the Trubbish—he ends up siding with them! When Daniela still refuses to allow Trubbish to stay, Ash challenges her to a battle. As they’re about to begin, the secret clubhouse that the kids and Trubbish built out of junk starts to collapse!

Abandoning the battle, Ash and Pikachu attempt to help Daniela and her Deerling stop the clubhouse from falling down. As they struggle to hold up the toppling wall of junk, the Trubbish saves the day with a powerful series of Sludge attacks! Seeing how much the kids care about Trubbish and vice versa, the teacher reconsiders her position and asks Trubbish to stay with the class after all. And for his role in helping protect the children, Ash is given a mysterious Pokémon Egg!

We leave the scene as our heroes resume their journey to Nacrene City, and Ash promises to return someday to battle with the feisty youngsters!

Plot

Continuing their journey to Nacrene City, Ash and his friends stop in the middle of the road to analyze the map. Suddenly, a gang of small children comes speeding towards them on tricycles, with a Pokémon sitting cheerfully in an orange wagon led by a small boy riding in front. Two women chase after the tricycle gang, shouting to get the children to stop, or for anyone to stop them. The children seem to ignore her, and with commands given by their 'leader' (the boy in front), they ready balls of mud and begin to throw them at Ash and his friends. As they were unprepared for the 'attack', Ash and his friends all got hit squarely in the face, except for Iris, who leaps up and lands on the fence. While the children celebrate as they pass, Ash's hat is swept off the ground by the passing arm of the Pokémon in the wagon. The two women eventually catch up and apologize to the group for the children's misbehavior, and the group learns that the children belong to the kindergarten of the younger of the two women.

Ash and his friends are taken to a Day Care Center for Pokémon, where a Sandile with sunglasses is seen scouting the outside before returning underground. Iris is impressed by the amount of Eggs at the Day Care, to which Cilan exclaims that they are filled with the kindness of raising Pokémon. The older woman introduces herself as the Pokémon Day Care owner, Karena, and her granddaughter, Daniela, introduces herself as the kindergarten teacher. After the group has exchanged formalities, Daniela explains that the Pokémon they saw earlier was a Trubbish, and that the children had found the Trubbish in a scrap yard nearby and brought it to school without her permission. Ash looks up Trubbish in his Pokédex. As Iris wonders about Trubbish's love of garbage, Ash plainly states that his hat is not trash, while Cilan comments on the Garbage Bag Pokémon's weird 'taste'.

Daniela then explains that the children had brought back the Trubbish as it was crying from loneliness and wanted to be their friend. She told them that Trubbish loves garbage and keeping it would only make the school dirty, and the children pleaded to let it stay, claiming that they will clean up after the Trubbish. Daniela insisted on having Trubbish returned to the scrapyard and the children argue against her, then Trubbish released a cloud of rancid air which caused everyone to cringe. However, the children eventually uncovered their noses and mouths, announcing loudly that they could handle the stench. Despite this, Daniela's mind was already made up as she picked up the Trubbish and returned it to the scrap yard. She then explained to it why she could not keep it and returned to the school.

Ash and his friends are brought to a large pile of scrap surrounding a large tree in the playground, which the children and Trubbish worked together to create and which Cilan calls a 'secret base'. Ash is extremely impressed by the children's construction and Iris scoffs at him, calling him a child. Daniela is worried about the base collapsing and putting the children in danger. The group agrees to help Daniela, but the children suddenly appear from the tree house on top of the tree, claiming the base to be under the ownership of the "Trubbish Squad". Ash smiles at the children's determination when Daniela tries to reason with them. Finally, Ash offers to talk to the children himself, explaining that he understands the children since he used to play in squads like these as a child himself. Daniela agrees and Ash begins to climb the pile of scrap. However, the children are unhappy about the intrusion and begin throwing mud balls at Ash. Eventually, with the help of an electric fan, the scrap below him collapses, and Ash, caught in a rubber tire, is taken 'hostage' in their tree house.

Ash is initially impressed by the quality of the tree house and asks if they built it themselves. A girl explains that Trubbish helped them build it, then the boy with Ash's hat scolds her for being friendly towards their "enemy". He then introduces himself as Avery, the leader of the squad. Ash introduces himself as well as Pikachu, and the children are thrilled to see a real Pikachu and ask if they can pet him. Pikachu hops off Ash's shoulder and all of them, except Avery, surround Pikachu and begin stroking his forehead and tummy, tugging on his cheeks and poking his tail playfully. Ash tells Avery that he is not their enemy and he only came to talk to the children. Avery acknowledges this and asks if it's alright if he plays with Pikachu. Ash agrees, but when Avery begins pulling Pikachu's tail, Ash warns him about Pikachu's capability of generating electricity. This scares the children and they immediately back away. Ash explains that while Pikachu is very cute, he is also capable of producing a powerful Thunderbolt, which Pikachu then demonstrates by shocking Ash. The kids are very impressed, and Trubbish steps forward and pulls off a pose attempting to show off its cuteness. Ash, reluctantly, states that Trubbish is cute too, but the kids agree wholeheartedly. Ash is pleased to see how much the children love Trubbish, and Avery eventually returns Ash's hat to him, calling him "big brother".

Meanwhile, Jessie, James and Meowth, are waiting patiently on a train station platform. Dressed in dark clothing and sunglasses, the trio remains silent and impassive, while the station is filled with echoes of a news broadcast: a large amount of scrap has mysteriously disappeared together with a Trubbish that resides in a nearby scrap yard. A man in a long trench coat, dressed similarly to Team Rocket and holding a metal case, suddenly appears across the platform and sits on the bench behind them. Jessie looks up, then questions when the train will depart. The man, without turning or moving, replies "9 o'clock". The team and the man then break into conversation about the mission while making no attempt to face each other, maintaining the appearance of being strangers minding their own business. The man then places the metal case on the ground and kicks it with his heel to slide it to James, who picks it up. Inside, he finds a stone, and the man explains that it's actually a duplicate, and they will be contacted later with more details. The man gets up, tells the group that Giovanni is very impressed by their success so far, and then takes his leave.

Back at the tree house, Ash is telling the children that they should apologize to their teacher. The squad disagrees, saying Trubbish has done nothing wrong and that Daniela is at fault for wanting to get rid of Trubbish. Ash then talks about the stench it releases, and while one of the girls agrees that it's horrible, one of the boys claims that it isn't, attracting Trubbish's attention. The girl who agreed with Ash promptly changes her mind, and Trubbish happily releases a ball of gas into the tree house. While the group endures and insists that the gas is not smelly, they eventually leave the tree house, to Trubbish's disappointment. Ash tells Avery that he's a good friend to Trubbish, when suddenly, there is a disturbance on the ground below. A Pokémon appears to be digging, and when the dust clears, it reveals a Sandile with sunglasses, the one that had once saved Ash's Pikachu and Oshawott at the hot spring earlier in their journey. As the Trubbish Squad prepares to attack, the Sandile, upon recognizing Pikachu, immediately unleashes a Stone Edge attack. Ash quickly tells the children to run away as a flurry of stones hit the ground surrounding Ash. The squad, trying to help Ash, starts throwing mud at the Sandile who angrily attacks them with another Stone Edge. Trubbish tries to defend the children and launches a purple blob into the air, scattering Toxic Spikes across the ground. Sandile advances slowly, unknowingly crawling into the area with the Toxic Spikes and is then stunned, allowing Pikachu the opportunity to hit him with Iron Tail. As the Desert Croc Pokémon falls towards the ground, Trubbish fires a Sludge Bomb attack, sending him flying far away into the sky. Ash and the kids then celebrate their victory.

As Iris and Cilan wonder what Ash is doing, Daniela realizes from Ash's laughter that he's actually having fun with the children and decides to step in. The waiting group climbs over the scrap, and Daniela tries to negotiate with the children. Iris questions Ash on how he became friends with them, while Daniela asks the kids just how long they're going to remain barricaded in the scrap. Avery replies that they won't leave until she allows them to keep Trubbish. When Daniela tells them that she can't allow Trubbish to stay, Ash requests that she listen to the children before making a decision. However, Daniela strongly insists on not keeping Trubbish and tells Ash to keep quiet, explaining that the kindergarten belongs to her. Ash claims the kindergarten belongs to the children as well, but Daniela explains that her responsibility is to keep the children safe, and thus she will resort to force if Trubbish won't leave. Taking out a Poké Ball, she calls out her Deerling, but Ash defends the children by challenging Daniela to a battle.

As Iris and Cilan exclaim in shock, and Daniela questions in surprise, Ash announces that he, too, is part of the Trubbish Squad. Reluctantly, Deerling starts off the battle by charging at Pikachu with a Tackle attack. Pikachu is hit, but he quickly recovers and retaliates with a Thunderbolt attack. Deerling immediately dodges and jumps up onto the pile of scrap in preparation for another Tackle attack, causing Thunderbolt to miss. It jumps off the scrap pile and charges at Pikachu, trying to hit him again with Tackle. However, Pikachu skillfully dodges it and with excessive momentum, Deerling crashes into a pile of scrap. The surrounding stacks of scrap stir with movement as the weight of a falling bookshelf is supported by Deerling's head. Karena, realizing that the entire structure will collapse if Deerling moved away, orders Deerling not to move and cancels the battle. Ash tells the children to evacuate the area as he and Pikachu help Deerling to hold the scrap up. As the rest of the scrap begins vibrating vigorously, both Iris and Cilan jump down to assist in getting the children to safety. Daniela orders Avery to move away, but he refuses to leave Trubbish behind. Suddenly, a large bookcase loses its balance, and Daniela jumps behind him and shields him from the falling bookcase, telling him to move to safety. As Trubbish watches, touched by how everyone is trying to keep it and the kids safe, it helps by blasting away the toppling scrap with Sludge Bomb before it could fall. Despite making a huge mess of the playground, Trubbish eventually saves everyone from impending danger, and Daniela has a change of heart towards it.

With tears in their eyes, the children apologize to their teacher, and she also apologizes for not listening to them before. Ash reminds her of what Trubbish means to the children and asks her to reconsider letting it stay. She contemplates for a while, then turns, smiles at Trubbish, and welcomes it into the school. Initially surprised, Trubbish smiles and is given a group hug by the overjoyed children. Karena finally reveals that once Trubbish befriends a person, it will stop expelling bad odors. Cilan asks if she knew that all along, and she hints at her experience by saying she is a daycare worker, which Iris argues she could have told Daniela from the beginning. However, Karena claims that with regard to both Pokémon and children, a teacher must learn how to raise them properly on their own, and it would be too easy to simply tell Daniela what to do.

Ash, Iris, Cilan, all of their Pokémon (excluding Excadrill), and Trubbish spend the rest of the day and night returning the scrap to the scrap yard. The next morning, Daniela thanks the group for all of their help the day before, and Karena presents Ash with an Egg as a reward for all his efforts. Ash thanks her and accepts the Egg. The children then inform Ash that he's always welcome in the Trubbish Squad, and he tells them that he looks forward to battling them someday. Ash and his friends then leave for Nacrene City. With a Pokémon Egg in hand, Ash, together with Iris and Cilan, wave goodbye to their new-found friends.

Major events

Ash's new Egg
For a list of all major events in Pokémon the Series: Black & White, please see the timeline page.

Debuts

Pokémon debuts

Characters

Humans

Pokémon

Who's That Pokémon?

Who's That Pokémon?: Trubbish

Trivia

  • Professor Oak's Pokémon Live Caster: Sandile
  • Ash obtaining an Egg in this episode was first revealed by the official Japanese Pokémon website when it announced players could obtain random Pokémon Eggs containing one out of three Pokémon via Wi-Fi.
  • The English dub title could be a play on another episode of the animated series, Here Comes the Squirtle Squad.
    • Both are the twelfth episode of their series.
    • They share similar titles.
    • Ash also receives a new Pokémon in both episodes as well, receiving a Pokémon Egg in this episode.
  • This episode marks the first time Ash has obtained an Egg since Lapras of Luxury, 412 episodes earlier. It is also the first time it has happened outside of the original series.
  • Tom Wayland's sons, Henry and Ben, both have speaking roles in this episode. Ben voices Trubbish, while Henry voices one of the kindergartners.
  • After Sandile is sent into the sky, a star twinkles in the same way as in Team Rocket's blast-off.

Errors

  • When Pikachu is about to zap the kids, his ears are both sticking straight up. When the kids are shown being scared, one ear is down. When Pikachu expresses that he is faking, his ears are up again.
  • In the English dub, Trubbish's Sludge Bomb is mistakenly referred to as Sludge.

Dub edits

  • At the train station, when Jessie inquires as to what time the express train is leaving, the man who answers her gives the reply of "9 o'clock." In the episode's original Japanese version, the man's response was "7 PM" instead.
    • Both times happen to be the airing times of the animated series at the time, with 9:00 a.m. (EST) being its airing time in the US and 7:00 p.m. (JST) being its airing time in Japan.

In other languages

← BW011: A Home for Dwebble!
Pokémon the Series: Black & White
BW013: Minccino—Neat and Tidy! →
This episode article is part of Project Anime, a Bulbapedia project that covers all aspects of Pokémon animation.
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