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| Season | Pokémon: Diamond and Pearl (Season 10) · Buizel, Lucian & the Forest Badge arc (DP034–DP037) |
| Episode | Season 10, episode 37 · English episode 501 · Japanese episode 504 · Bulbapedia code DP037 |
| English title | The Grass Menagerie! |
| Japanese title | ハクタイジム！VSナタネ！！ Hakutai Jimu! Tai Natane!! — “Hakutai Gym! VS Natane!!” |
| First aired (Japan) | 7 June 2007 · TV Tokyo |
| First aired (US) | 17 November 2007 · Cartoon Network |
| Screenplay | Junki Takegami |
| 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 | A Secret Sphere of Influence! (DP036) |
| Next episode | One Big Happiny Family! (DP038) |
Plot episodeForest BadgeWon without Pikachu
The Grass Menagerie! is the 37th episode of Pokémon: Diamond and Pearl, the tenth season of the Pokémon anime, and the 501st episode of the English dub overall (Japanese episode 504, Bulbapedia code DP037). It first aired in Japan on 7 June 2007 and in the United States on 17 November 2007. It falls within the season’s Buizel, Lucian & the Forest Badge stretch (EP34–EP37).
Aired on 17 November 2007, ten days after the Secret Wonders expansion, with its Roserade card, reached US shops.
Synopsis
Ash arrives at the Eterna Gym for his official three-on-three battle with Gardenia, while Team Rocket tunnel underneath to steal Pokémon. Gardenia opens with Cherubi against Turtwig, and under the harsh sunlight Cherubi’s Chlorophyll Ability makes it too fast for Tackle and Razor Leaf and lets it fire Solar Beam almost instantly. Ash recalls Turtwig before a Magical Leaf can land and sends in Staravia, which dodges another Solar Beam and counters with Wing Attack. When clouds cover the sun, Cherubi switches to Magical Leaf and Staravia climbs out of range, then descends slowly before diving in with Wing Attack just as the returning sun dazzles Cherubi, and Quick Attack and Aerial Ace knock it out. Gardenia praises Ash’s use of the weather and sends out her speedy Turtwig, the Pokémon that beat Staravia before.
Staravia, eager for revenge, keeps using Wing Attack until Gardenia realises Ash is herding Turtwig toward a tree, where Aerial Ace finally lands, but Leech Seed drains Staravia and a Tackle knocks it out. Ash’s Turtwig returns for a rematch. It dodges Leaf Storm by climbing a tree and circling round, takes a Leech Seed and leaps into the sunlight to heal with Synthesis, then fires Razor Leaf before the two Turtwig collide with Tackle, and Gardenia’s falls while Ash’s stays on its feet, still drained by the seeds. Underground, the trio stumble into a lit tunnel where a mysterious Underground Man hires them to dig up Shards and Spheres for a share of the profits, then slips away with the treasure while they eat the lunch he provides, and they are too busy eating to care.
Gardenia’s last Pokémon, Roserade, trips Turtwig with Grass Knot and knocks it out with a Weather Ball that becomes a Fire-type attack in the sunshine. Ash sends out Aipom, which makes a flamboyant entrance worthy of a Contest. Grass Knot wipes out its Double Team copies, but the real Aipom leaps over the vines and lands Focus Punch, then swings through the trees to avoid Magical Leaf. Roserade seizes it with vines, slams it down and blinds it with Flash, so Ash tells Aipom to listen rather than look, and Aipom punches a Weather Ball straight back at Roserade. Its sight returning, Aipom blocks Magical Leaf with Swift, surrounds Roserade with a ring of stars, drives them in with Focus Punch and finishes with a punch that sends Roserade through a tree. Without using Pikachu, Ash wins the Forest Badge.
Major Events
- Forest Badge, Ash’s second, won without using Pikachu
- Team Rocket tunnel into the Sinnoh Underground and meet the Underground Man
Trivia
- The English title plays on “Tennessee Williams’s play The Glass Menagerie”.
- The screenplay is by Junki Takegami.
- This is a plot episode: it advances the Sinnoh storyline.
Changes in the English Dub
- Jessie’s and James’s lines about having “dug all the way to Hell” and a motto variant about the depths of Hell and Lord Enma replaced, probably for religious reasons
- The dub adds music over Aipom listening for Weather Ball, silent in Japanese
Part of our Pokémon: Diamond and Pearl guide. Browse every season of the Pokémon anime.