AG036

The Spheal of Approval (Japanese: 海の博物館を守れ！マグマ団の襲撃！！ Protect the ! Attack of !!) is the 36th episode of Pokémon the Series: Ruby and Sapphire, and the 310th episode of the Pokémon animated series. It was first broadcast in Japan on July 31, 2003, and in the United States on May 29, 2004. 
==Blurb==
Fresh out of the contest, our heroes are exploring the bustling city of Slateport. Ash and Max want to check out the Sea Museum but discover that it is not only closed, but sort of being guarded by a boy named Marius and his Spheal. After a failed attempt at attacking Ash's Pikachu, the boy recalls his Spheal. Captain Stern, the curator of the museum, appears and offers Ash, Max, and Marius a tour of the museum. Team Rocket is, of course, observing all this and devising a way to steal Pikachu.
Captain Stern then shows them his latest discovery, a volcanic rock from the bottom of the ocean. He tells them about how it was believed in some cultures that a giant Pokémon caused volcanic eruptions. Team Rockets calls from outside, selling ice cream, and the boys decide to go out and get some.
During this time, Team Magma members infiltrate the museum and steal the volcanic rock. At this point, Team Rocket captures Pikachu. When they see Team Magma running away, though, they divert their attention to attacking them. Team Magma sends them blasting off again. A battle breaks out between the Captain Stern, Ash, and Team Magma. Marius and Max escape by using the Marius' Spheal and they meet up with Brock and May. Ash tries to escape the battle with the rock, but it falls and the stone breaks in two. One of the Mightyena grabs half the stone and Team Magma retreats with their prize.
==Plot==
After 's Pokémon Contest debut in Slateport City, the group decide to stay in the city one more day. decides to go shopping to stock up on supplies, and May goes with him. Ash and Max opt to make their way to the Oceanic Museum instead, but to their surprise they find that it is closed. Ash consults the guide book, but Max, unwilling to give up on the visit, tries to scale the museum wall. Before he can make much progress, a boy named confronts him thinking that Max wants to steal the museum's exhibits. Ash comes to see what's going on, but Marius calls him a thief too and sends out his , commanding it to use . However, Spheal cheerfully sprays Marius with water instead. Marius then commands Spheal to use . Ash and Max dodge the attack and Spheal bounces off a wall and ends up knocking Marius down to the ground. Marius orders his Spheal to use and Ash tells to counter with , which knocks Spheal out, surprising Marius. Max explains that Pokémon have a weakness to moves. Ash advises Marius to return Spheal to its so that Spheal can rest.
Captain Stern, the curator of the museum suddenly appears, and Marius once again accuses Ash and Max of being thieves. Ash and Max explain to him that they weren't trying to steal anything and just wanted to see the exhibit. After Marius apologizes, Captain Stern explains that he had to close the museum because of an unexpected event, but invites Ash, Max and Marius inside the museum. observe the scene through their binoculars and make a plan to steal Ash's Pikachu and rob the museum. Later Captain Stern guides Ash, Max and Marius through the Oceanic Museum's exhibits. While admiring the Pokémon models, Marius declares that he is going to catch a one day and evolve it into a . Ash and Max are quick to correct him that only evolve into Gyarados, though Marius admits that he’ll learn everything properly during his travels out at sea in a submarine, pointing at a model of one. Captain Stern explains that the model is based on a submarine he is currently building at the local shipyards. The Captain takes the three boys to his office to explain why he closed the museum: he had received a sample of an unusual dark rock from the seafloor that was exposed to extremely high temperatures. Ash and Max are astonished by the claim, though Captain Stern informs them that undersea volcanoes or a Pokémon might be the cause.
 
Team Rocket's voices are heard coming from the museum's courtyard claiming to be selling s. Ash, Max and Marius go outside to buy some, while Captain Stern decides to remain in the museum to start analyzing the rock. Ash, Max and Marius are enjoying their icy desserts, when it occurs to Max the museum is closed and the snow cone vendors ought to know that. However, Team Rocket persuades them to continue eating. When the boys are unable to move due to suffering from brain freeze, Team Rocket reveals their true identities and steal Ash's Pikachu, putting him in a metal cage, while trapping the three boys in a separate cage.
Meanwhile, Tabitha and two accomplice s infiltrate the Oceanic Museum with a code cracker. They switch off the facility's power before making their way into Captain Stern's office to steal the curious stone. Captain Stern confronts them, but Tabitha distracts him with his 's and escapes. As Team Magma flee the museum, the Rocket trio spots them and figures that whatever it is that Team Magma is stealing it must be valuable, so they decide to steal it from them. Marius tries to break the cage using his Spheal's Body Slam, but once again he gets hit with the move instead. Ash sends out and commands it to break the cage with . Team Rocket blocks Team Magma's escape by sending out and . Jessie commands her Seviper to use , but Tabitha's Mightyena s it. James tells his Cacnea to use , but Mightyena uses to raise its , making Cacnea's attack miss. Seviper tries to use , but Mightyena's hits first, sending Seviper flying into Team Rocket who are sent blasting off, dropping Pikachu's cage in the process and freeing it. Mightyena instantly snarls at Pikachu, but Tabitha orders it to leave him be.
The boys rush over, with Ash happily reuniting with Pikachu before turning his attention to Team Magma and demanding them to return the case. Captain Stern runs onto the scene saying that he'll deal with the goons and sends out his . It attacks Mightyena with , and the resulting blast sends Mightyena flying back into Tabitha causing him to drop the stone's case. Marius catches it and hands it over to Captain Stern. The grunts send out their Mightyena. Now with three threats to contend with, Ash calls on his Corphish and Pikachu to assist Stern's Sealeo. Captain Stern tells Max and Marius to run into town to get Officer Jenny when he gives them the signal. All three Mightyena use while Corphish, Pikachu and Sealeo counter with , Thunderbolt and Aurora Beam, respectively. The attacks collide, causing an explosion. With smoke covering the area, Captain Stern gives Max and Marius the signal to run and get help, which the boys obey. The boys have to escape the scene fast, so Marius decides they should jump off a cliff into the sea. Max is terrified and does not want to jump. Tabitha orders Mightyena to use Shadow Ball, so Marius takes Max's hand and jumps pulling him down with him to dodge it. The two boys and Spheal slide down the cliff and end up in sea below. They hold onto Spheal who starts swimming at an incredible speed towards the city. Max and Marius make it ashore where they encounter May and Brock who are just making their way over to the museum from shopping.
Meanwhile, Captain Stern hands the stone case to Ash, telling him to run while Sealeo distracts Team Magma using Blizzard. Ash runs with Pikachu and Corphish, but despite Blizzard, Mightyena is able to use Shadow Ball and strike the ground in front of Ash. The explosion sends Ash and the case flying. The case opens when it hits the ground, and the stone splits into two pieces. Pikachu runs to save the stone, but Mightyena gets there first, retrieving the bigger half of the broken stone for Tabitha. Team Magma's helicopter arrives and Mightyena uses Shadow Ball to make a clean getaway. As Ash and Captain Stern watch the helicopter fly off into the distance, the police arrive along with Brock, May, Max and Marius. Ash apologizes to Captain Stern for letting Team Magma get away with the stone, but Captain Stern assures him that the smaller piece of the stone will be sufficient enough for his research. Ash, Brock, May and Max bid their farewells to Captain Stern and Marius as they hit the road again to travel to Mauville City.
==Major events==
* Jessie's Seviper is revealed to know .
* and leave Slateport City and head towards Mauville City.
===Debuts===
====Humans====
* Captain Stern
====Pokémon debuts====
* 
* 
==Characters==
===Humans===
* 
* 
* 
* Max
* Jessie
* James
* Officer Jenny
* Tabitha
* Captain Stern
* 
* s (×2)
===Pokémon===
Who's That Pokémon?: 
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ()
* ()
* (Tabitha's)
* (Captain Stern's; debut)
* ('s; debut)
* (s'; ×2)
* (fantasy)
* (image)
* (image)
==Trivia==
* This episode's English dub title is a reference to the term "".
* After this episode, the went on its summer hiatus on Kids WB!, not returning with new episodes until late August, despite the new season not beginning until What You Seed is What You Get.
* This is the first episode to use music from Jirachi: Wish Maker, during the scene. However, the music is replaced in the English dub.
===Errors===
* While , Max, and are eating snow cones, Ash and Marius's snow cones trade colors. Ash's snow cone becomes yellow, and Marius's becomes green. This is corrected the next time the cones are shown.
* In the English dub, during the "Who's That Pokémon?" segment, has a white square covering part of its left wrist and the hint has an extra in.
* In the dub, a orders his to use "Shadow Bell" instead of "".
===Dub edits===
==In other languages==
036
Category:Episodes focusing on Team Aqua and Team Magma
Category:Episodes written by Shinzō Fujita
Category:Episodes storyboarded by Ryūji Kimura
Category:Episodes directed by Shigeru Ōmachi
Category:Episodes animated by Yūsaku Takeda
de:Der geheimnisvolle Stein
es:EP312
fr:AG036
it:RZ036
ja:AG編第36話
zh:宝可梦 超世代 第36集