Japanese Title: Fushigidane's Mysterious Flower Garden
Original Airdate: July 2nd, 1998
US Airdate: April 3rd, 1999
Bulbasaur talks through his frustrations with Pikachu.
The one where... Bulbasaur doesn't want to evolve.
In the course of his journey, Ash battles a mountaineer Pokémon trainer he encountered in a small wooded area. Ash deploys his Bulbasaur against the mountaineer's Rhyhorn, but Bulbasaur is behaving very strangely, causing even Pikachu to be concerned. In the end, Bulbasaur defeats Rhyhorn, but Ash decides to go immediately to a Pokémon Center and seek help from Joy. What could be the problem with Bulbasaur?
Tropes
- An Aesop: Don't force someone to do something before they're ready, especially if it's a big decision that will affect the rest of their life. Some people may choose to live a different lifestyle outside of the norm, and that's perfectly okay and should be respected.
- Call-Back:
- If Bulbasaur and Pikachu's conversation was indeed about Bulbasaur not wanting to evolve, then Pikachu would be the perfect Pokemon to sympathize with him.
- Brock restates the confusion researchers in-series have about Bulbasaur being classified as a plant or an animal.
- Cue the Sun: Right when Bulbasaur is defiantly yelling at Team Rocket to shove it, the sun starts rising and allows it to learn Solar Beam.
- A Day in the Limelight: For Bulbasaur.
- Green Thumb: Venusaur demonstrates that Bulbasaur gain the ability to manipulate nature after they evolve. Bulbasaur doesn't think gaining that kind of power is worth being forced to evolve.
- Identical Twin ID Tag: With an abundance of Bulbasaur present, Ash would have had trouble finding his Bulbasaur, if it weren't for the bandage on his head.
- Irony: Despite in previous episodes that it was established that Bulbasaur is afraid of its fully evolved form, when dealing with two fake Venusaur, when it is faced with a real Venusaur for the first time, Bulbasaur isn’t afraid to stand up for itself when refusing to evolve.
- Large and in Charge: A hulking Venusaur oversees the Bulbasaur evolution ceremony.
- Mythology Gag:
- Ash's Bulbasaur learns Solar Beam sooner than normal because he refused to evolve. In the games, many pre-evolved Pokemon, Bulbasaur included, do learn moves at earlier levels than their evolutions.
- The hiker Ash fights in the beginning is a clear stand-in for the Hiker trainer class from the games. He even uses a Rock type (in this case, a Rhyhorn), which they often use along with the occasional Machop or other Fighting types.
- Narrative Shapeshifting: Pikachu briefly imitates Bulbasaur to tell the others that it's in trouble.
- Oh, Crap!: Team Rocket does this thrice upon seeing a very angry Venusaur, a ton of Ivysaur, and Ash's Bulbasaur staring them down.
- Pokémon Speak: One scene shows a moment for Pikachu and Bulbasaur. It's likely Bulbasaur venting about pressure to evolve.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: While the Venusaur is overly aggressive about wanting Bulbasaur to evolve with the rest of his brethren, it takes time to show the benefits that come with evolution when Ash stands up to it. And once Team Rocket's been taken care of, Venusaur comes to respect Bulbasaur and allows him and the rest of his friends to leave the valley in peace, accepting his decision to not evolve.
- Resignations Not Accepted: The other Bulbasaur make it clear that it is mandatory for all Bulbasaur about to evolve to attend the evolution ceremony.
- Rite of Passage: Bulbasaur is taken to a private evolution ceremony, along with other members of its species. A Venusaur is presiding over the event. However, Bulbasaur himself declines to evolve.
- Talking in Your Sleep: Just before Pikachu woke him up, Ash muttered "That makes a thousand badges!"note
- Took a Level in Badass: Bulbasaur learns his signature Solar Beam attack here, notably after refusing to evolve. The heroes silently agree he did gain quite the powerful move after watching it in action.
- Vocal Evolution: While it had been applied a couple of episodes ago, the dub makes Bulbasaur's vocal pitch change more evident in this episode.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: The Venusaur may be a pushy bully for trying to force Bulbasaur to evolve, but it genuinely wants Bulbasaur to benefit from the amazing powers it gains over plants that evolution would afford it.
