A Secret Sphere of Influence! – Pokémon Diamond and Pearl Episode 36 (DP036)


Season	Pokémon: Diamond and Pearl (Season 10) · Buizel, Lucian & the Forest Badge arc (DP034–DP037)
Episode	Season 10, episode 36 · English episode 500 · Japanese episode 503 · Bulbapedia code DP036
English title	A Secret Sphere of Influence!
Japanese title	シンオウ時空伝説！ Shin’ō Jikū Densetsu! — “The Sinnoh Space-Time Legend!”
First aired (Japan)	31 May 2007 · TV Tokyo
First aired (US)	10 November 2007 · Cartoon Network
Screenplay	Atsuhiro Tomioka
Opening / ending (Japan)	Together – Fumie Akiyoshi · Kimi no Soba de ~Hikari no Tēma~ (By Your Side ~Hikari’s Theme~), Pop-Up Version – Grin
English opening	Diamond and Pearl – Chris “Breeze” Barczynski
Previous episode	An Elite Meet and Greet! (DP035)
Next episode	The Grass Menagerie! (DP037)

Plot episodeTeam Galactic debutThe Adamant Orb

A Secret Sphere of Influence! is the 36th episode of Pokémon: Diamond and Pearl, the tenth season of the Pokémon anime, and the 500th episode of the English dub overall (Japanese episode 503, Bulbapedia code DP036). It first aired in Japan on 31 May 2007 and in the United States on 10 November 2007. It falls within the season’s Buizel, Lucian & the Forest Badge stretch (EP34–EP37).

Synopsis

Arriving at last in Eterna City, the friends are passing the Eterna Historical Museum when an alarm sounds: the Adamant Orb has been stolen by Jessie, James and a Meowth disguised as a Sunflora. Seviper’s Haze lets the thieves vanish inside the locked-down building, and Officer Jenny of Eterna City arrives with her Stunky, followed by Gardenia. Jenny’s first suspect is Nando, whose Sunflora escaped its Poké Ball shortly before a photograph caught “a Sunflora” taking the orb. Gardenia vouches for him, revealing that he battled her at her Gym, and Ash, Dawn and Brock learn that their Grass-loving friend is the Eterna Gym Leader. To everyone’s surprise, the Officer Jenny from Viridian City, visiting on her day off, insists that every Sunflora owner be investigated, only for her Eterna counterpart to tell her to stay out of it.

Gardenia explains that the orb is linked to the legendary Dialga and Palkia, and the friends send their Pokémon to search the museum while Nando protests his innocence in the interrogation room. His wandering Sunflora sows Leech Seed on two guards, Aipom and Turtwig before slipping into the vents, and Team Rocket hide on the ceiling as the guards search below. Pikachu and Piplup corner the real Sunflora and realise the other Sunflora is Meowth, and when Team Rocket try to stroll past the friends in their disguises, Sunflora’s Cut slices the costumes away. Unmasked, the trio admit that someone else hired them for the job but refuse to give up the orb, and the Pokémon surrounding them dare not attack for fear of damaging it.

The Eterna Jenny’s Stunky solves the stand-off with a cloud of Stench. Jessie drops the orb, Gardenia’s Turtwig flicks it into her hands with Leaf Storm, and the choking fumes spill outside, forcing the officers to cover their noses and letting Team Rocket escape without blasting off. With the orb safe, Nando recounts the Sinnoh legend: Arceus created Dialga and Palkia, then Uxie, Mesprit and Azelf to watch over the world, leaving Ash and Dawn with more questions than answers. The Viridian Jenny wonders who hired Team Rocket, and Butch, Cassidy and J are suggested, but nobody knows. High above the city, a helicopter carries members of a new organisation, Team Galactic, whose grunts grumble about relying on the bungling trio while their Commander, Saturn, sits unmoved; their plans for the orb will have to wait.

Major Events

Eterna City. Team Rocket, hired by an outside client, try to steal the Adamant Orb
Gardenia revealed as the Eterna Gym Leader
Nando’s Forest Badge and first Ribbon revealed
Team Galactic and Commander Saturn debut
The Viridian City Officer Jenny returns
Dialga and Palkia in a fantasy