Bulbasaur and the Hidden Village!

**English themes**

 **Details**

 Series
 Air date
 Storyboarder
 Animation
 Written by
 Directed by

**Bulbasaur and the Hidden Village!** is the 10th episode of *Liam's Adventures of Pokémon: Indigo League*.

## Plot

The episode opens with our heroes wandering through the forest without a compass, trying to find the path to Vermilion City. Ash and Misty argue about who led the group astray, but Brock manages to keep the peace. They stop for a rest, and Ash spots an Oddish getting a drink of water. Misty spots sends out Starmie to fight Oddish so that she can catch it instead of Ash. Oddish is defeated by Starmie's Water Gun, but before Misty can catch it, a Bulbasaur deflects the Pokéball she throws with a Vine Whip. The Bulbasaur manages to attack and defeat Starmie, so Ash sends Butterfree after it with Sleep Powder, but Bulbasaur blows it away and back to Butterfree.

Both the Oddish and Bulbasaur flee into the forest. The group then tries to cross a rope bridge, but the wind blows it to pieces. Brock falls into the river below, while everyone else clings to the bridge. They manage to pull themselves up, and they manage to make their way to the end of the bridge. They head down to water level and start looking for Brock. Misty soon falls into a pit trap, not unlike those made by Team Rocket.

Ash pulls her out and they all continue their search. As they walk along, Misty's foot catches a rope, and they soon find themselves suspended in a net in a tree. They are soon found by the Bulbasaur from earlier. Ash speculates that Brock was carried all the way out to sea and shanghaied by pirates, but moments later, Brock appears and frees them. Brock explains that after he fell in the river, he was rescued from the rapids by a girl. Brock takes them to the village where his rescuer, Melanie, lives and introduces them.

Misty notices the large number of Pokémon that live in the area and wonders if Melanie owns them, but Brock explains that the village, known as the Hidden Village, is a place for abandoned or injured Pokémon to come rest and relax. Melanie cares for them until they get better, and then they leave. Melanie also collects plants to use for medicine, though she admits that she's not qualified as a Pokémon doctor. Misty teases Brock about having romantic feelings toward Melanie, which causes him to react a bit violently, since he fears that Melanie might overhear. Melanie explains that she was the one who set up the traps, including the rope bridge, to prevent Pokémon trainers from coming and trying to capture the injured Pokémon in the village. Meanwhile, Team Rocket is trying to cross what remains of the rope bridge, but it collapses underneath them and they fall into the rapids below.

Brock promises that none of them will try to catch any Pokémon while they're in the village. Everyone, including Misty, despite her previous attempt to capture Oddish, agrees. Ash worries if the traps will be enough to stop robbers, noting the idiocy of being caught in them. Meanwhile, Team Rocket pulls themselves out of the third pit they've fallen into, but soon end up getting caught in a net. Back at the village, Brock and Ash are tending to a Staryu, while Misty apologizes to Oddish for trying to catch it. Ash and Misty soon start arguing again, and Bulbasaur then Tackles Misty, thinking that Oddish was in danger.

Melanie explains that Bulbasaur volunteered to protect the Hidden Village. Bulbasaur then tries to nudge Ash out of the village because it doesn't trust Pokémon trainers. Suddenly, Team Rocket appears from behind a cloud, standing on a balloon-lifted platform, and recite their motto. They land in a clearing outside of the village, and try to collect all the Pokémon in it with a massive vacuum. As Brock herds everyone into the cabin, Odddish gets caught in the suction. Bulbasaur manages to save Oddish with its Vine Whip, and Ash helps block the wind so it can carry Oddish back to the cabin.

Team Rocket moves the vacuum directly over the cabin, so Bulbasaur uses Vine Whip again to smack the hose around. Ash then has Pidgeotto uses Gust to create a tornado that tosses Team Rocket and their platform into the distance. Afterward, Melanie asks Ash to take Bulbasaur with him, seeing as the pair are a good match and considering the fact that none of the Pokémon want to leave because Bulbasaur has done too good a job of protecting them. Bulbasaur agrees to join the gang, on one condition, he battles Ash first. Ash sends Pikachu, who easily dodges Bulbasaur's Vine Whip, but is Tackled. Bulbasuar then uses its Vine Whip to slam Pikachu to the ground, but Pikachu uses Thunderbolt, which travels through Bulbasaur's vines and shocks it into submission, allowing Ash to catch it.

Brock offers to stay and help, but Melanie refuses, telling him to continue on his adventures. The gang waves goodbye to Melanie and continue their journey to Vermilion City. Then suddenly, the Oddish begins to follow Liam, Turns out that Melanie had revealed that she told Oddish to join Liam. Liam looked at Oddish, asking if it wanted to come along with him, and Oddish nodded, Liam held a Pokéball and Oddish taps it with its head gently, capturing it.

## Major events

* Misty tries and fails to catch an Oddish.
* Ash catches a Bulbasaur.
* Liam obtains an Oddish.
* Mio is revealed to own a Bulbasaur nicknamed Sprout.
* Sprout is revealed to know Vine Whip.
* Ui is revealed to own a Leafeon nicknamed Natsuko, and a Pidgey.
* Natsuko is revealed to know Razor Leaf.
* Ui's Pidgey is revealed to know Gust, evolves into Pidgeotto, and knows Hurricane.
* Azusa adopts the Eevee which its former trainer abandoned, and nicknames it Vivian.

## Characters

### Humans

* Liam
* Ben
* Ash
* Misty
* Brock
* Melanie
* Yui Hirasawa
* Mio Akiyama
* Ritsu Tainaka
* Tsumugi Kotobuki
* Azusa Nakano
* Ui Hirasawa
* Jessie
* James

### Pokémon

* Pikachu (Ash's)
* Butterfree (Ash's)
* Pidgeotto (Ash's)
* Bulbasaur (Ash's; new; debut)
* Starmie (Misty's)
* Meowth (Team Rocket)
* Charmeleon (Liam's)
* Spearow (Liam's)
* Nidorino (Liam's)
* Voltorb (Liam's)
* Oddish (Liam's; new; debut)
* Clefable (Ben's; Pixie)
* Ekans (Jessie's)
* Koffing (James's)
* Eevee (Yui's; Glaciar)
* Seadra (Mio's; Seasea)
* Bulbasaur (Mio's; Sprout; debut)
* Flareon (Ritsu's; Corona)
* Nidorina (Mugi's; Nida)
* Skitty (Azusa's; Cadel)
* Eevee (Azusa's; Vivian; new; debut)
* Leafeon (Ui's; Natsuko)
* Pidgey (Ui's; evolves)
* Pidgeotto (Ui's; newly evolved)
* Caterpie
* Rattata (×2)
* Paras
* Weepinbell
* Staryu
* Magikarp

## Trivia

* This is the first episode of a three-episode arc where Ash catches each of Kanto's starter Pokémon.
* This is one of the few times where a knife, in this case a hunting knife, is seen in the anime.
* In the Japanese version, when Pidgeotto blows the stadium away, James makes a reference to the Japanese baseball player Hideo Nomo, who was playing for Major League Baseball's Los Angeles Dodgers at the time of initial airing.
* When the tornado forms, James "winds up" as if he were a left-handed thrower, despite usually being shown throwing with his right hand.
* This episode is featured on *Volume 7: Bulbasaur* from Viz Media's Pokémon All-Stars series.
* The plot for this episode is later reused for *Gettin' Twiggy With It!*, where a Grass-type starter protects a hidden area for injured Pokémon and is aided by a woman, before being caught after deciding to go with Ash.
* The scene of Pikachu's reaction to Bulbasaur blowing Butterfree's Sleep Powder back at it has become an Internet meme known as "Surprised Pikachu".

## Transcript

*Main article: Bulbasaur and the Hidden Village!/Transcript*