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Bulbasaur & The Hidden Village (010)

You monster Bulbasaur!! Why would you hurt Starmie like that?! xD Well, at least Starmie got another win. Even though it was a wild Pokemon. And Ash now has Bulbasaur. And this is where it starts with his Starter Pokemon thingy. Misty touched another Staryu!! :D
 

Lucille

Well-Known Member
I wish Misty would of captured that Oddish. It would of been interesting to see her with something besides a Water or a Normal type
 

ArmadaUGS

Well-Known Member
Bulbasaur!
Bulbasaur has always been my favorite starter (not including Pikachu and Squirtle is close with a second place) and I really loved the way they handle this episode and Bulbasaurs character. He is protecting this village like a boss and he has the mentality as a winner.

To bad he lost so many rounds during the first seasons (although he won much more in season 4 or something).
 

Kutie Pie

"It is my destiny."
Ahh, episode 10. For one thing, it's the start of the (long journey of) double digits, there are 72 episodes left to go before the Indigo League finishes. The other is it's known for the appearance and capture of Bulbasaur. It's been a while since Ash caught a new Pokémon, so it's about time he got a new team member. But who would've thought that he would get one of the three starters he missed on his first day? (...oh wait, the theme song spoiled it... err...)

I recall this being one of my favorite episodes, but looking at it now, the pacing was really... weird. At least when it compares to Charmander's and Squirtle's episodes, Bulbasaur's feels a bit off. It could be because there's no real conflict (Team Rocket showing up by the end with their... stadium float was a joke, let's be honest). Or it could be Bulbasaur was not given a backstory. We just know he's there as a bodyguard, but why he was there in the first place was never explained, though according to Bulbapedia he was technically Melanie's. The only thing that was interesting about Bulbasaur was that he had a bit of an attitude, which he keeps throughout the series (though he does mellow out a bit eventually). However, as Melanie said—and does turn out to be true—he is loyal. He indeed becomes one of Ash's most loyal and trusted Pokémon over time, sticking with Ash the longest besides Pikachu. It also becomes more apparent that he is one of the more mature Pokémon, though that characteristic can still be seen here. In a way, Bulbasaur has become one of my favorite characters because of that slow, subtle progression. Squirtle and Charmander were more way out there than he, but Bulbasaur's quiet demeanor has always stuck with me.

The one slight problem I have with Bulbasaur is that he warmed up too quickly toward Ash to allow him to battle it. Since we learn that Bulbasaur is a bit cynical towards Ash's loyalty for a while, why did he decide to give Ash a chance? Squirtle and Charmander I can understand warming up to Ash, but that was probably because there was time in between their first meeting and the capture that—not even a full day has gone by here. Still, his fight with Pikachu, while sadly short, was neat to see. His defeat by a Thunderbolt was a bit... cruel, since it looks like he got cooked. But his expression when the PokéBall hit him was great, almost like he couldn't believe what just happened.

Looking more at the episode, the beginning confuses me. How could Misty not know Oddish was a Grass-type, not a Water-type? You would think the leaves on its head would be a dead give-away, though I guess she does have a soft spot for cute things. It wouldn't be the last time she tries to get a Pokémon that's not a Water-type, but it still was an odd moment.

Ash apparently had a thing with pirates in this episode... okay. I also noticed that he might've crushed on Melanie if she was a pirate... or if he wasn't so into pirates to ask that question... I dunno. But speaking of Melanie, she's not a bad character-of-the-day, but her personality isn't that strong to me. She may be soft-spoken and kind (even though she set up those traps o-O), but that's not really enough for me to like her, let alone have her be memorable to me. She's also the first girl that Brock was actually developing (his usual) feelings toward, since I'm not counting Giselle due to her being a bit underage (Officer Jenny could count as well, but he wasn't blushing like mad and acting like a kid flustered over a crush). He sure took the rejection well, though—and I have a feeling this is the last time he's that mature over it. Best funny parts were when Misty teases Brock, her facial expressions were priceless. A shame she ends up not keeping that personality, but whatever.

Once again, Team Rocket is the butt monkey, doing nothing very productive in this episode. A shame, too, as this is the first gadget we see Team Rocket using that they get from Giovanni—though we don't know this at this point in time. I say it's a shame because... it's a weird machine. “Flying stadium”. Really? They couldn't go with anything more threatening? And how did Pidgeotto manage to blow it away? I don't care that balloons are attached to it, it looks like it has weight to it.

Even though it's been pointed out, for fun, here's the screenshot of the mistake where Bulbasaur's bulb looks like it got a bite taken out of it. Okay, yeah, it fits the shape of Ash's hands perfectly, but still, that made me double-take.

“Let's just hope our heroes don't take anymore shortcuts, or we may never get there.”

Pfft, so much for being the omnipresent narrator. But at least he (and us, I suppose) should be glad that we don't have to wait almost 30 episodes in between badges this early in the show. Those were a long several weeks as a kid, and I think they had a few more episodes they aired out of sequence.
 
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patrickab7

Active Member
Cool to watch this episode this morning...it had been so long since I'd seen any of the early episodes. Odd to hear the original dub voices, fun to see Ash and Misty's then-traditional "old married couple" arguments, blast from the past to see Butterfree and Pidgeotto. Good times.
 
So, we get to see Ash receive the first starter he missed out on when he started his journey.
Bulbasaur looked like he was more knocked out/fainted than just weakened during battle. Then again, this is the show. The show and the games aren't equal.
 

Lorde

Let's go to the beach, each.
I was surprised that Misty wanted to catch Oddish given that it wasn't even a Water-type. Anyway, seeing Brock fall off the bridge looked intense, and I cackled at Ash's monologue while trapped in the net. I liked that Bulbasaur was the protector of a bunch of wild Pokemon and a natural-born leader as well. TR's stadium thing was random though imo.
 

Mrs. Oreo

Banned
I liked this episode cuz of how Ash had to win over Bulbasaur's trust. The hidden village had lots of cool pokemon that I wish had been caught like Oddish which reminds me of how random it was that Misty wanted one in the first place. ^^;
 

keepitsimple

site of lies
The scene where Misty apologizes to the Oddish gets a lot less touching when you realize the Oddish she was trying to capture was on the other side of a broken bridge... so this couldn't have been the same one.
 

Mega Altaria

☆~Shiny hunter▢~
Cool that Ash caught Bulbasaur, such an important Pokémon for detecting danger before the others. I was honestly surprised that Misty wanted to catch Oddish considering that it isn't a Water type but then, it was totally random, which I didn't care much about. Otherwise decent.
 

Mrs. Oreo

Banned
Nah I'm happy she didn't as I thought Oddish looked too boring to be caught by any one.

I'm glad she didn't get the chance here as well, tho I don't have anything against Oddish. I just thought Bulbasaur's capture was the best moment and we didn't need two captures. ^^
 
My favorite scene: Misty and Ash struggling to climb up to broken bridge in the beginning. Also Team Rocket's floating stadium thing was spiffy. :)
 

Leonhart

Imagineer
Fushigidane's territorial behavior with him not wanting intruders at the village really interested me. because if he was so protective of his home in the first place, why even leave with Satoshi? No one except that girl was left who could keep an eye on things once Fushigidane was gone, which seemed like a plot hole.
 

Wednesdayz

Meowth fanatic
Omg, Bulbasaur was great and it was nice to see how he was protecting other Pokemon within the village. It's also nice to introduce characters who help the weaker Pokemon. I didn't really like how Bulbasaur was basically just given to Ash though.
 

ZilverLox

Banned
I like watching Brock in this episode since he's not coming onto women like he usually does in fact he's more embarrassed about it especially when Misty is teasing him. I think Misty catching an Oddish would have been interesting, even though she's a Water Pokemon trainer. :)
 

KyogreThunder

Call of Fate
Good episode. I was surprised to see Misty want to catch a Grass Pokemon, an Oddish. I liked Bulbasaur's stubborn personality and distrust to strangers, since he probably spent a lot of time among abused Pokemon. Also, it was good to see Bulbasaur want to battle Pikachu before the capture.
9/10
 

Pokegirl Fan~

Liko>>>>>Ash
This episode was great; Ash catches Bulbasaur and the trio have some great character interactions in this particular episode. I also liked that Misty wanted to catch an Oddish then had a touching moment with it later on only for Ash to ruin it by teasing her haha
 
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