Japanese Title: Himeguma's Secret!
Original Airdate: February 22nd, 2001
US Airdate: January 19th, 2002
There's deviousness underneath all that cuteness.
As our heroes pass through a dense forest, Brock explains that there are some pretty scary Pokémon hang out in this neck of the woods. Searching for a safer place to sleep than the forest floor, the gang find an abandoned shack and settle in for a good night's sleep. When Misty hears a noise outside, our heroes investigate and a Teddiursa slips into Misty's sleeping bag. Could this cute and cuddly Pokémon possibly be the forest fright Brock mentioned earlier?Tropes
- Bears Are Bad News: Teddiursa turns out to be this, unusual for that stage of its evolution line.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Teddiursa acts cute to get what it wants and frames Ash's Pokémon for stealing food, and it's implied he did the same with Psyduck.
- Curbstomp Battle: A rare example in Teddiursa's case as it manages to effortlessly defeat James's Victreebel and Jessie's Arbok in battle.
- Cuteness Equals Forgiveness: Narrowly averted. Misty comes close to letting Teddiursa's crimes pass when it tries it's cute act again, even as she sees it eating food out of Brock's backpack, but she quickly snaps out of it.
- Cuteness Proximity: Misty falls for it completely.
- Deceptively Cute Critter: A wild Teddiursa manipulates Ash and co., taking advantage of its inherent cuteness and seeming harmlessness to get close to them and steal their food, and then make it look like the other Pokémon in the group were responsible. Fortunately, the local Nurse Joy has long since caught on to its tricks and alerts them to the truth. Teddiursa subsequently loses the ability to do so after it suddenly evolves into the far larger and more dangerous-looking Ursaring. It doesn't mind, however, since now it can just scare travelers off and steal food that way.
- Fiery Redhead: Misty and Jessie as always. Just like Misty, Jessie also falls for Teddiursa's cuteness.
- Homage: To Yogi Bear; like Yogi, Teddiursa in this episode is a bear that steals food from travelers. A major difference is that Yogi is a Nice Guy whereas Teddiursa is not.
- Jerkass Realization: Misty has this reaction when she gets confirmation from Nurse Joy that Teddiursa takes full advantage of its cuteness to steal food, and tricked her into thinking Ash's Pokémon were behind it.
- Karma Houdini: Even after the characters figure out Teddiursa's true nature, they never actually punish it. Once it evolves into Ursaring, they flee, and the next scene is them and Nurse Joy discussing how its evolution means it can hunt on its own now and won't have to steal food from any more trainers. Cue the final scene, in which it proceeds to scam Team Rocket out of their food. Again.
- Mass "Oh, Crap!": Everybody when Teddiursa evolves.
- Only Sane Man: Ash becomes this progressively, knowing Chikorita and Totodile aren't responsible for the food thefts Teddiursa is framing them for even as Misty keeps buying into it.
- Ridiculously Cute Critter: Teddiursa milks its cuteness for all it's worth to steal food from Ash and co., and manipulate Misty into believing Ash's Pokémon are the ones responsible for it all. Nurse Joy confirms to them that they're not the first ones to fall for it.Nurse Joy: Was the Teddiursa you met extra cute, extra cuddly and sweet as could be?
Misty: That's my Teddiursa!
Nurse Joy: That's how it fools everybody, I'm afraid. - The Scapegoat: Teddiursa repeatedly uses Ash's Pokémon as this after stealing food. It's implied that he used Psyduck as one as well, as when the kids wake up, Misty sees what looks like Psyduck going through food, but he looks distressed.
- Traitor Shot: Done repeatedly with Teddiursa highlighting its Slasher Smile.
- Villains Out Shopping: In order to make money to fund their secret weapons, Team Rocket has been working in a gravel pit then selling hot corn. Although the second is downplayed because, they were stealing the corn from someone's cornfield until he caught them and made them give him the money they made.
