[#12] Here Comes The Squirtle Squad (1/2)

"You'll remember in an earlier Pokémon adventure our hero Ash achieved his dream of catching a Bulbasaur. It was a shocking victory."

They show Pikachu winning with Thundershock here, hence the terrible pun.

"And so Bulbasaur joined the ranks."

Uh-huh. Any reason for the recap?

"Soon Misty, Brock and Ash lost their way... but found a Charmander! Braving a fierce storm, Ash and his friends came to its rescue. Abandoned by its trainer, the fire Pokémon recovered its strength and gained some new friends."

C'mon, hurry up for the love of all that is--

"Charmander became Ash's newest Pokémon... and that's how Ash caught Charmander and Bulbasaur."

And that's how I met your mother.

"He's pretty pleased with himself, as he skips down the road, singing our favourite theme."

Uh-huh, our favourite theme...

"Becoming a Pokémon Trainer looks like it'll be a snap! Or will it? Can things continue to go so smoothly? Maybe Ash is too confident--"

Whoa, hold on. First, who gave you permission to be so judgemental, especially after you fell asleep a few episodes back you bloody idiot. And why have we spent so long reminding everyone about how Ash caught Bulbasaur and Charmander, it's like, we already know! WE ALREADY KNOW. But don't let me stop you.

"He'd better keep his eyes glued to the road ahead! Who knows what pitfalls are waiting to swallow up our young hero?

"What did I tell ya?~ A pitfall."

Oh shut up.

Here they come to wash away this crappy cartoon.


Ash and the gang are inside a giant hole in the ground. A rotten trick played by the Squirtle Squad. So which one's the leader? And which one is Ash going to have by the end of the episode? The one with the different glasses.

Ash uses Dexter to identify the Pokémon in front of him as Squirtle. A police siren scares off the Squirtle, it's Officer Jenny! My favourite character in the show returns. Let's hear it for Jenny!

Time to make an "Every Jenny Looks Identical" joke. They're all cousins, while the Joys are all sisters.

Anyway. Office Jenny explains that the gang of Squirtle are called the Squirtle Squad, and they play mean tricks on people. They're all Squirtle who were abandoned by their trainers, and this is how we know the story here is rubbish. No Pokémon trainer would abandon a Bulbasaur, Squirtle or Charmander. It's the stuff of silly.

Team Rocket are waiting nearby cooking up a plan to capture Pikachu, but they're all hungry and ready to eat a packed lunch. But those Squirtle are smarter than the average Pocket Monster and steal the lunch, tying up James, Jessie and Meowth in the process. Meowth pulls some clever wordplay and tells a few lies and manages to get not only some food but also become the leader of the Squirtle Squad, which he intends to use to capture Ash's Pikachu.

I just saved you four and a half minutes or so with that blurb, and did you really need pictures?

Misty is fishing, when...

Pikachu is knocked into the water and beaten up by a wild Goldeen... Nasty.

As Ash goes to pick up Pikachu, he's caught by a lasso! The whole gang are. It was a Squirtle Squad trap, and they fell right into it.

Aww, shucks.

Aww, double shucks.

It is revealed at Meowth is behind the whole plan. And that's the good part of this episode over, because we've got--WHO'S THAT POKéMON!?

If you ain't got this, well, I'm genuinely concerned for you.