PJ003: Ivysaur's Mysterious Tower!

is the 3rd episode of , and of .
==Synopsis==
Ash and Goh are embarking on their first full day as research fellows at Professor Cerise's Laboratory, and the excitement starts right away! There's an outbreak of Ivysaur and Bulbasaur in Vermilion City, and armed with their new Rotom Phones, our heroes set out to investigate. It turns out the Pokémon are trying to reach a favorite sunbathing spot, but the land is now a construction site for a Gym. Ash and Goh follow as the Pokémon climb the Gym tower—but Team Rocket isn't far behind! Ash, Pikachu, and the Ivysaur send the trio packing…and then our heroes watch in awe as the triumphant Ivysaur evolve into Venusaur!
==Episode plot==
A sleeping Goh, Ash, and Pikachu sleep through Goh's phone alarm despite bickering with each other to wake up on time. Mimey enters their room "vacuuming", but noticing their state "vacuums" the covers off them, forcing them awake. During breakfast, Ash exclaims in surprise at the buffet of food for both them and Pokémon, and Goh reminds him that they were now special lab assistants. Ash chats with Goh about utilizing Pikachu's moves but is interrupted by the arrival of Cerise and Chloe. The professor greets the boys and asks how their first night went while his daughter, besides saying good morning to Goh and telling him that she already ate, ignores their interactions, feeds Yamper, and gets a snack before leaving. Cerise decides to go to his lab with the boys quickly following. There, a blond-haired man rushes in, apologizing for being late due to traffic. He introduces himself as Ren and the other assistant, a blue-haired woman named Chrysa, who sends them the information behind the traffic: an outbreak of Ivysaur. The boys decide to investigate the phenomenon, their first job as assistants. Cerise gives Ash a smartphone before telling Goh to show his own; the professor sends out two Rotom who enter the phones and transforms them. Cerise calls them the Rotom Phones, which also has a Pokédex function. The boys thank the professor before getting ready for their mission.
At Team Rocket's HQ, Giovanni asks Jessie, James and Meowth what Team Rocket is about; they explain that they're an evil organization who plans to steal every single strong and rare Pokémon to use for world domination. Giovanni is pleased by their answer and orders them to continue the team's goal, adding that he had prepared an ultimate secret weapon for the trio. Back in Vermilion City, Goh and Ash search for the Ivysaur before hearing Officer Jenny's whistle and her command to stop. They rush to her side to see that she stopped traffic to let an Ivysaur group walk across the street. Goh looks up Ivysaur in his Pokédex and wonders where they were going. After the Pokémon finish crossing and she returns the traffic to normal, Jenny warns the boys about Jessie, James, and Meowth of Team Rocket. Goh learned about the Pokémon thieves online but skeptically believes that their talking Meowth was false; Ash simply sighs. Jenny heard that the trio was in the city and so asks the boys to be careful. Pikachu hears banging sounds and rushes to its location followed by Ash and Goh.
The boys follow Pikachu into an alleyway to find an Ivysaur continuously headbutting the brick wall in its path. Goh notes that can't move forward and Ash decides to help it. Goh stops him and tells Ash not to do so as they won't be able to solve the Ivysaur mystery. Ash counters they should still help but Goh retorts back that trying to always help Pokémon without letting them help themselves will weaken them and that always doing so due to appearances or sympathy was human conceit. Ash angrily snaps back that he didn't care and will still help. Ash slowly confronts it to pick up and over the wall but the Ivysaur headbutts him instead. Goh states he told Ash so then adds he misjudged Ash when he declared Ash was his friend. Ash snaps back to leave him alone and angrily states that he didn't need Goh as a friend. The hurt Goh mutters that Ash was "that" kind of person before declaring that he will investigate on his own. The duo looks away in a huff while a sad Pikachu looks on.
The group then sees the trapped Ivysaur shooting its vines around a lamp post on the other side of the wall to pull itself to the wall's top. The boys decide to follow its lead to climb the wall. They notice each other when they start to climb at the same time before telling the other off for copying; Ash and Pikachu easily make it while Goh struggles. Noticing a half build tower far away, Ash's Rotom reveals it to be a semi-finished Gym. The Ivysaur again shoots its vines around the lamp post and swings to a window stand before walking on it. Ash and Pikachu pause to smell a sweet scent in the air, coming from the same Ivysaur as it heads towards the tower. Goh believes that it and its brethren were heading there to evolve, as their bulbs releasing said scent indicates their near evolution. Ash looks at Goh impressed before the duo remembered they were fighting, huffing and looking away, with an exasperated Pikachu looking on.
The boys and Pikachu follow the Ivysaur down a road until it meets up with its Ivysaur brethren; they also see a group of Bulbasaur going the same route. Goh's Rotom reveals that the site used to be a grassy field where the Bulbasaur and Ivysaur sunbathe. Once the Pokémon reach the site, they sigh in disappointment which Ash can tell and Goh can't before the duo turn away in a huff again. An Ivysaur (the one the boys followed) looks up at the tower before shooting its vines at the scaffolding and pulling itself up. The others do the same and Goh realizes that they will climb to the top to get to the sunlight. Ash and Pikachu decides to follow Pokémon with Goh reluctantly right behind. Ash and Pikachu easily reacs the first level and watch the Pokémon go higher but they notice Goh struggling to climb up the pole to the first level. Ash reaches out to the other boy and helps pull him up. Ash notes that they need to climb to the second level; Goh makes himself as a step to help reach it easier and Ash thanks him, reaching the second level with Pikachu and pulling Goh up. The Pokémon and trio continue to climb up the tower until reaching the roof.
Ash, Goh, and Pikachu see the Bulbasaur and Ivysaur sunbathe and congratulate themselves on reaching the top. Goh states that that the Bulbasaur's bulbs grow bigger by absorbing sunlight and suspects they climbed to reach the stronger sunlight. Ash promptly decides that they should pretend to be Ivysaur for the experience. Ash and a (not) reluctant Goh to crouch next to "their" Ivysaur with Pikachu sitting on top of Ash's bag. The relaxed trio enjoy the sunlight and breeze (Goh adds that this area was known in the city for their strong winds) before seeing the Pokémon's pre-evolution glow. They are interrupted when a net from above captures some of the Bulbasaur and Ivysaur; the culprits are the Team Rocket trio on their hot air balloon. Jessie, James, and Meowth say their motto, Goh is shocked to see them for the first time before gushing and recording the talking Meowth. Ash demands they release Pokémon, they refuse before telling Ash or "twerp" bye, confusing Goh. Ash orders Pikachu to use Iron Tail, using it to cut the net and release the Pokémon. An annoyed Jessie orders Meowth to land their balloon.
The Team Rocket trio call out Ash for ruining their plan but pause when they hear a Pelipper overhead who drops an item in front of them, a large vending machine capsule filled with Poké Balls sent by Giovanni. They notice it was coin-operated before deciding to use Meowth's forehead coin to activate it, gaining two Poké Balls. Jessie and James throw them while reading a sheet attached to them stating what was inside: for Jessie a Gyarados, for James a Tyranitar. Jessie orders her Pokémon to attack while James orders his to use Fire Fang. Gyarados' Ice Fang and Tyranitar's Fire Fang rush towards Pikachu but Pikachu dodges on Ash's orders. Jessie orders an attack with a powerful move (Hydro Pump), while James orders Dark Pulse. Ash counters with Electroweb but the combined attacks easily pierces through. Ash orders Pikachu to instead use Quick Attack; it dodges it's opponent's attacks before hitting them. Goh looks on in awe as Jessie orders Gyarados to attack, it uses Aqua Tail on Pikachu before James quickly finishes off with a Stone Edge. A worried Goh sees Pikachu in trouble while Ash goes to it to see if it's alright. Jessie and James decide to defeat Ash in a combined attack until Gyarados and Tyranitar are hit by a combined Solar Beam from all the Ivysaur.
Ash and Pikachu thank them while Jessie and James check to see if their Pokémon were fine before deciding that they will attack the Ivysaur with a combined Hyper Beam before catching them. Ash and Pikachu stand in front of the nervous Pokémon, stating he won't let them before ordering Pikachu to use Thunderbolt. Goh, awed by the duo's bravery and bond, watches on as the three attacks connect, with the Thunderbolt losing. But with Ash's encouragement, Pikachu adds more power to its attack, piercing through the double Hyper Bean towards Gyarados and Tyranitar, knocking them out and blasting them and Team Rocket into the air. Reminded of Pikachu's power, the trio reaffirms their original goal of catching Ash's Pikachu as they and their hot air balloon disappear into the sky. The boys and Pikachu watch as all the Ivysaur evolve into Venusaur with the wind taking their flowers' pollen into the air towards the city, where all of the plants bloom. They also see the Bulbasaur evolve into Ivysaur and Goh details that the Venusaur also use the wind to spread their pollen. Ash understood Goh's thinking in letting the Pokémon grow stronger by helping themselves, reminding him how cool Pokémon were. Goh agrees but adds so were Ash and Pikachu, to Ash's confusion.
Later at the lab, Cerise looks though all the gathered data, rejoicing at the discovery surrounding Venusaur's pollen. Goh boasts of their combined strength in finishing the job while Ash was happy with the evolution of and befriending the Venusaur. Cerise congratulates Ash for his help again while an embarrassed Goh quietly asks if they could be friends again. Ash states they were already friends and the two laugh before yelping in surprise at Yamper's barking, indicating that Chloe returned home. Cerise wonders why Chloe was late but she responds that she was in charge of clean up and thanks the event involving the all the flowers at her school blooming at once, she was delayed, annoying her greatly. Realizing the reason, Ash and Goh chuckle to themselves, creeping Chloe out. Cerise thanks the boys on solving the Ivysaur mystery and the boys wonder what next adventure awaits for them.
==Debuts==
===Item===
*Rotom Phone
==Trivia==
*"Who's That Pokémon?:" Ivysaur
*The episode's English title is a reference to that of "Bulbasaur's Mysterious Garden" from the first season.
*TV Tokyo channel 7 began re-airing episode 3 on May 10, 2020, instead of episode 25 due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
*This episode is set to air in Canada on May 23, 2020, 20 days before it premieres in the United States on Netflix, while in the United Kingdom, it is set to air on May 25, 2020, 18 days before the United States premiere.
*Despite being an Officer Jenny from Kanto, the one Ash and Goh talk to wears a uniform different from the Indigo League Era
==Gallery==
==Notes==
==References==
Category:Episodes featuring Champions
Category:Milestone episodes