Anime Hajime Impressions: Benkyou – Pokémon Indigo League – Episodes 51 to 55

Jump to Episode:

---

Japanese Title: フシギダネのふしぎのはなぞの
Romaji Title: Fushigidane no Fushigi na Hanazono
English Title: Bulbasaur's Mysterious Garden

Episode Synopsis

Ash is facing a hiker in a Pokémon Battle. Ash throws out Bulbasaur, who has a rough time with the hiker’s Rhyhorn. Seeing his friend struggle, Ash tries to recall Bulbasaur back to its Poké Ball. However, Bulbasaur refuses to give up and manages to pull off an incredible upset victory.

Following the battle, Ash sees that the bulb on Bulbasaur’s back begins to glow. Unsure of what is happening, Ash rushes to the nearest Pokémon Center. Fortunately, the resident Nurse Joy tells Ash that Bulbasaur is not sick or injured. Instead, Bulbasaur is getting ready to evolve. Ash is over the moon to hear this news but fails to see the hesitation on Bulbasaur’s face. 

Later that night, Bulbasaur sneaks out of the Center for a quick stroll. Pikachu sees this and goes to check on his friends. While the two Pokémon are talking, a herd of wild Bulbasaurs capture Ash’s and head off into the woods. 

Pikachu rushes back to our heroes and leads to where he thinks the other Bulbasausr have gone. Eventually, the group comes across a hidden meadow. There the Bulbasaurs are gathering around a massive tree. Then, from the tree’s trunk, a gigantic Venusaur steps out and commences the evolution ceremony.

One by one, the Bulbasaurs evolve into Ivysaur. 

Our heroes watch this spectacle in awe when they finally spot Ash’s Bulbasaur. To their surprise, Bulbasaur is resisting the evolution. Seeing this, the lead Venusaur stomps over to Bulbasaur and demands to know what is happening.

Bulbasaur has no interest in evolving and would prefer to stay as it is. Enraged, the Venusaur lashes out its vines to strike Bulbasaur, but Ash jumps in and takes the hit. 

Ash apologizes to Bulbasaur for not taking into account its feelings. He then turns to the Venusaur and Ivysaurs and says that if Bulbasaur doesn’t want to evolve, the rest should not force the issue.

Just then, Team Rocket appears and attempts to capture the Ivysaurs. The Venusaur desperately tries to protect its fellow Pokémon, but it is too much. The situation looks bleak, but as the sun begins to rise, Bulbasaur has a chance to perform its most powerful attack – Solar Beam. 

In a mighty blast, Bulbasaur sends Team Rocket flying, thus freeing the Ivysaurs.

Afterward, Venusaur acknowledges Bulbasaur’s conviction and sees our heroes off on their journey.

Featured Pokémon

English Name (Japanese Name) – Pokédex Number

Pokémon Images Taken From: The Offical Pokémon Website

Principle Charcters

---

Japanese Title: げきとう! ポケモンひなまつり
Romaji Title: Gekitō! Pokemon Hinamatsuri
English Title: Princess vs. Princess

Episode Synopsis

Spring is on the horizon, and Misty and Team Rocket’s Jessie are super excited. The day is Hinamatsuri – a.k.a., Girl’s Festival – and the two ladies are looking forward to all the upcoming events.

After a fierce round of shopping and fun, the two women take a quick breather – much to the relief of their respective male companions. On their side, Jessie is showing off all the food she managed to buy when a wild Lickitung wanders up to Team Rocket. Without warning, the Pokémon devours everything Jessie bought. 

Not wanting the Lickitung to get away, Jessie successfully catches the Pokémon.

Meanwhile, Misty and her friends are looking for what to do next when they come across another sale. Diving into the fray, Misty attempts to secure as many items as possible. In the struggle, she runs into Jessie, and the two immediately start bumping heads.

However, a special announcement puts a pause on the women’s feud. It turns out that the annual Princess Contest is about to begin, and the winner will take home a special, one-of-a-kind Hinamatsuri Doll Set. With both wanting the prize, Misty and Jessie decide to use the contest to settle their fight.

Although the competition starts off looking like a beauty pageant, the judges reveal that the contest is really a Pokémon Battle Tournament.

To better round out her team, Misty asks to borrow some of her friends’ Pokémon – Pikachu and Bulbasaur from Ash and Vulpix from Brock. Jessie does the same and adds James’s Weezing as well as Meowth to her roster.

Misty and Jessie battle their way to the final and come face to face. At first, Pikachu easily dominates Jessie’s team. Eventually, Jessie is down to a single Pokémon, the Lickitung she caught earlier. Shockingly, Lickitung defeats Pikachu, Bulbasaur, and Vulpix. Misty is about to throw out her last Pokémon when her Psyduck jumps in instead.

To Misty’s surprise, all Lickitung’s attacks do not affect Psyduck. Seeing her chance, Misty allows Lickitung to exacerbate Psyduck’s headache until it can unleash its devastating psychic power. Once done, Psyduck blasts Lickitung and Team Rocket off into the sky.

Overjoyed with her victory, Misty sends her doll set home, and our heroes say goodbye to the festival.

Featured Pokémon

English Name (Japanese Name) – Pokédex Number

Pokémon Images Taken From: The Offical Pokémon Website

Principle Charcters

---

Japanese Title: こどものひだよ! ぜんいんしゅうごう!
Romaji Title: Kodomo no Hi da yo! Zen'in Shūgō!
English Title: The Purr-fect Hero

Episode Synopsis

It is Children’s Day, and Ash, Misty, Brock, and Pikachu pass through a small town’s kindergarten when they hear someone call out to them. The kindergarten headteacher mistakes our heroes as the Pokémon trainers she invited for the day. 

At that moment, the teacher gets a call from the actual trainers and hears some bad news. The trainers will not be able to come as initially scheduled. Having wanted to do something special for the children, the teacher wonders what she can do. Seeing this, Ash and his friends offer to let their Pokémon play with the kids.

Soon enough, our group’s Pokémon are a huge hit, and everyone appears to be having a good time – all except one.

A young boy, Timmy, is standing by himself as his classmates are having fun. It turns out Timmy will only join if there is a Meowth. Apparently, a wild Meowth had saved Timmy a while back. Since then, Timmy has seen that Meowth as a hero. The problem is, none of the other children believe Timmy.

Before Ash and his friends decide what to do, Team Rocket appears and attempts to capture Pikachu. However, the hyper-energetic kids cause a lot of confusion. Thus, when Team Rocket makes their grab, they nab Timmy rather than Pikachu.

Having run off before realizing their mistake, Jessie and James aren’t sure what to do with Timmy. Then Team Rocket’s Meowth steps forward, and Timmy mistakes him to be the same Pokémon that had saved him. 

Not wanting to destroy the wonder in Timmy’s eyes, Jessie and James insist Meowth go along with the act.

Therefore, being the “heroic” Pokémon, Meowth leads Timmy back to the kindergarten. Unfortunately, Ash and his friends realize who Meowth is. Not wanting to be captured, Meowth makes a run for it. The problem is, Timmy and the rest of the children are hot on his heels.

Meowth inadvertently guides our heroes to Jessie and James, and a fight breaks out. During the battle, there is a freak rock slide, and Timmy is right in the landing zone. 

Fortunately, the actual Meowth that saves Timmy appears and does so again.

With Team Rocket gone and everyone back safely at the kindergarten, Ash and his friends say their farewells.

Featured Pokémon

English Name (Japanese Name) – Pokédex Number

Principle Charcters

---

Japanese Title: けいさつけんガーディ
Romaji Title: Keisatsuken Gādi
English Title: The Case of the K-9 Caper!

Episode Synopsis

As Ash and his friends are heading to Cinnabar Island, they hear Officer Jenny call out for a thief to stop. Thinking quickly, Ash and Pikachu stop the “criminal” with a powerful Thunder Shock attack. Unfortunately, the two had misread the situation.

The “thief” was an actor for a training exercise for Offer Jenny’s Growlithe.

Ash and Pikachu apologize for their mistake. Seeing there were no ill intentions, Officer Jenny invites the group to spend the night at the nearby police academy. While there, Ash admires the bravery and strength of the academy’s squad of Growlithes and wishes he and Pikachu can go through similar training to become stronger. To this, Officer Jenny offers to put the two friends through a quick crash course the next day.

Waking up bright and early, Ash and Pikachu are ready to start training. However, Ash failed to appreciate how difficult such a prospect was. After a grueling run through the academy’s obstacle course, Ash and Pikachu are utterly exhausted. But there is no time for them to rest.

At that moment, Team Rocket breaks through the academy perimeter to steal all the Growlithes. Having caught our heroes off guard, Team Rocket releases a strange gas. When Officer Jenny orders her Growlithes to attack, she realizes the gas has changed her voice. Thus, the Growlithes no longer recognize her as her. Using a voice changer to sound like Officer Jenny, Team Rocket then commands the Growlithes to file into the villains’ get-away car. 

To stop this, Ash tells Pikachu to stop them. But just like Officer Jenny, the gas changed his voice, too. Seeing their chance, Team Rocket use their machine to change their voice to Ash’s and instruct Pikachu to get in the vehicle. Except, Pikachu knows who his real trainer is and does not listen to Team Rocket.

Flustered, Team Rocket orders the Growlithe to attack. But just like Pikachu, Officer Jenny gets through to her precious Pokémon. Realizing their plan has failed, Team Rocket runs off before the Growlithes get them.

With that over, our heroes thank Officer Jenny for her help and head off.

Featured Pokémon

English Name (Japanese Name) – Pokédex Number

Pokémon Images Taken From: The Offical Pokémon Website

Principle Charcters

---

Japanese Title: シャッターチャンスはピカチュウ
Romaji Title: Shattā Chansu wa Pikachū
English Title: Pokémon Paparazzi

Episode Synopsis

As Ash, Misty, and Brock are taking a lunch break, they run into the world-famous Pokémon photographer Todd, who was trying to get a picture of Pikachu. 

Todd invites the group to his place, where he explains that he really wants to get a great shot of Pikachu. Unfortunately, Pikachu turns out to be camera shy, and all the photos that come out feel unnatural. Ash asks why Todd wants a picture of Pikachu so badly, but Todd explains that he must keep that information a secret. 

As Ash and friends continue down the road, Todd follows close behind, hoping to get his chance to photograph Pikachu. But every time he thinks he has an opportunity, Pikachu realizes what is happening and runs off. 

Then, in a flashback, Todd recalls the old couple (who are clearly Team Rocket in disguise) had hired him to “capture” Pikachu. However, Team Rocket didn’t realize Todd was a photographer, so he completely misunderstood what they meant by the word “capture.”

Back on the trail, Team Rocket sets up a pitfall trap. As luck would have it, our heroes fall into it and have no way out. Seeing this, Todd rushes over to help. But before he can get them out, Todd sees a chance to get his picture of Pikachu. 

While he is preparing the shot, Todd sees the bottom of the trap begin to crumble. Before he can shout out a warning, Ash and Pikachu fall into an underground river. With hesitation, Todd jumps in after them.

As the water takes Ash and Pikachu, they can do nothing as they rush closer to an upcoming waterfall. Then in the nick of time, Todd sacrifices his beloved camera to save his two new friends. 

Following this near accident, Todd joins the group as they all continue on their way.

Principle Charcters

Jump to Episode:

---

---