Japanese Title: Where Did Bayleaf Go!? Capture at the Herb Garden!!!
Original Airdate: May 31, 2001
US Airdate: May 4, 2002
Ash really messed things up this time.
Bayleef runs away when Ash snaps at her for her overzealous affections. The twerps find her in the care of a gardener after she runs afoul of some Beedrill. But she's not ready to return to Ash immediately. Will Team Rocket spoil a reconciliation?
This episode contains examples of the following tropes:
- Angry Cheek Puff: Bayleef repeatedly puffs up her cheeks after getting angry at Ash for yelling at her.
- Both Sides Have a Point: The conflict between Ash and Bayleef starts because the newly evolved Pokemon tackles Ash over-excitedly, not realizing how much she's grown after evolving, and he gets angry with her and tells her to go away and STAY away. She does just that, and when Ash does find her, she refuses to have anything to do with him until he puts in a great deal of effort to save her and several other Pokemon from Team Rocket. Ash himself was certainly being thoughtless and hurt Bayleef's feelings pretty badly, and he definitely went too far with what he said, hence his efforts to try and remedy things with her. However, while he did go too far with his frustrations, he certainly had every right to be upset at Bayleef for tackling him (even if she wasn't doing it intentionally), as she could have seriously hurt him with her new larger size. Though she is right to be mad as Ash for what he said, Bayleef does acknowledge that she acted just as insensitive to Ash's feelings as he did to hers, and adjusts her affectionate gestures to not be so harmful to him.
- Does Not Know Her Own Strength: Bayleef's main issue in this episode is that she doesn't realize that she's grown too large to jump in her Trainer's arms after she evolved. When she tries to hug Ash just as she did when she was a Chikorita, she nearly crushes him in the process, eventually making him snap at her.
- Easily Forgiven: Averted. It takes a lot of work for Ash to make things up to Bayleef.
- Exact Words: Ash tells Bayleef to go away and stay away, and that’s what she does. Bayleef stays away from Ash and no longer wants to travel with him. Misty even points this out to Ash when Bayleef doesn't come back.
- Heel Realization: When Bayleef didn't show up once lunch was set out, Misty had to remind Ash about his rough treatment of her, and Ash realized she probably ran away.
- Jerkass Ball: Ash grabs this in the beginning of the episode when he tells Bayleef to go away and stay away from him.
- Jerkass Realization: After pushing Bayleef away and was pointed out what he said, Ash felt guilty for how he treated her then did everything he could to set things right with her.
- Minor Insult Meltdown: Subverted. While Ash didn’t insult Bayleef, he told her to go away and stay away.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Though Ash does deeply regret snapping at Bayleef, she is so deeply hurt by what he said that she practically refuses to pay him any mind whatsoever, in spite of his efforts to win her back over. No one, be they human or Pokemon, would ever wish to forgive those that hurt them instantly.
- No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: Bayleef realized that Ash didn't enjoy when she jumped on him. When Ash saw her approaching him, he snapped, scared she was going to ruin dinner for the other Pokémon, and told her to go away and stay away, and she did.
- Plot-Mandated Friendship Failure: After Ash snaps at her, Bayleef does not readily forgive him.
- Rejected Apology: Bayleef rejects Ash’s attempts to win back her affections. Fortunately, she accepts his apology at the end.
- Took a Level in Badass: At the end, after they reconciled, Bayleef literally climbed on Ash instead of tackling him as she usually did. Brock suggested she was learning Body Slam, a move she'd later use in future battles.
- Tropey, Come Home: Most of the episode is spent looking for Bayleef after a very serious misunderstanding.
- Twice Shy: After they reconcile, Bayleef is scared to tackle Ash. She instead climbs on him and topples him.
- Was Too Hard on Her: Upon noticing Bayleef's absence and realizing his harsh words were the reasons why she left, Ash felt awful for being so hard on her and did everything to fix things with her.
