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| Season | Pokémon: Advanced (Season 6) · Slateport City: Drew & May’s first Contest arc (AG032–AG036) |
| Episode | Season 6, episode 36 · English episode 309 · Japanese episode 312 · Bulbapedia code AG036 |
| English title | The Spheal of Approval |
| Japanese title | 海の博物館を守れ！マグマ団の襲撃！！ Umi no Hakubutsukan o Mamore! Maguma-dan no Shūgeki!! — “Protect the Ocean Museum! Attack of Magma-dan!!” |
| First aired (Japan) | 31 July 2003 · TV Tokyo |
| First aired (US) | 29 May 2004 · Kids’ WB |
| Screenplay | Shinzō Fujita |
| Opening / ending (Japan) | Advance Adventure – GARDEN · Polka O Dolka – Meowth (Inuko Inuyama) & the Nolsol Chorus Group |
| English opening | I Wanna Be a Hero – David Rolfe |
| Who’s That Pokémon? | Nuzleaf (US) |
| Previous episode | Win, Lose or Drew! (AG035) |
| Next episode | Jump for Joy! (AG037) |
Plot episodeTeam Magma raid the museum
The Spheal of Approval is the 36th episode of Pokémon: Advanced, the sixth season of the Pokémon anime, and the 309th episode of the English dub overall (Japanese episode 312, Bulbapedia code AG036). It first aired in Japan on 31 July 2003 and in the United States on 29 May 2004. It falls within the season’s Slateport City: Drew & May’s first Contest stretch (EP32–EP36).
The last new episode before Kids’ WB’s 2004 summer break: the series did not return until Friday 27 August 2004.
Synopsis
While May rests after her Contest, Ash, Max and Brock find Slateport’s Oceanic Museum closed and guarded by a boy named Marius, whose Spheal attacks Max as a suspected thief until Pikachu’s Thunderbolt beats it. The curator, Captain Stern, clears up the misunderstanding and gives the boys a private tour.
Stern shows them a strange dark rock from the seabed that has been exposed to intense heat. Team Rocket lure the boys outside with snow cones and cage them with Pikachu — just as Team Magma’s Tabitha and two grunts cut the museum’s power and steal the rock. When Team Rocket chase the thieves, Tabitha’s Mightyena easily beats Seviper and Cacnea, freeing Pikachu.
On the cliffs Captain Stern’s Sealeo, Corphish and Pikachu clash with three Mightyena, and the meeting of Hyper Beam, Bubble Beam, Thunderbolt and Aurora Beam causes a huge explosion; Max and Marius escape into the sea on Spheal. A Shadow Ball splits the rock in two and Team Magma fly off with the larger half. Stern says the smaller piece will be enough for his research, and the group leaves for Mauville City.
Major Events
- Captain Stern’s Oceanic Museum
- Tabitha steals the heat-scorched seabed rock
- The group leaves Slateport for Mauville
- First use of M06 music
- Last US episode before the 2004 summer break
- Captain Stern, Spheal and Sealeo debut
Pokémon making their anime debut
Spheal#0363 · AG036
Sealeo#0364 · AG036
Trivia
- The English title plays on the seal of approval.
- The screenplay is by Shinzō Fujita.
- This is a plot episode: it advances the Hoenn storyline.
Changes in the English Dub
- First episode to use the score of Jirachi: Wish Maker (the Groudon scene); replaced in the dub
Part of our Pokémon: Advanced guide. Browse every season of the Pokémon anime.