EP007

← EP006 : Clefairy and the Moon Stone

Original series

EP008 : The Path to the Pokémon League →

The Water Flowers of Cerulean City

EP007   ハナダシティのすいちゅうか Suichūka of Hanada City

First broadcast Japan May 13, 1997 United States September 16, 1998

English themes Opening Pokémon Theme Ending

Japanese themes Opening めざせポケモンマスター Ending ひゃくごじゅういち

Credits Animation Team Ota Screenplay 大橋志吉 Yukiyoshi Ōhashi Storyboard 井上修 Osamu Inoue Assistant director 井上修 Osamu Inoue Animation director 藤田宗克 Munekatsu Fujita Additional credits

水中花 suichūka are a type of artificial flower which "blossoms" when placed in water.

The Water Flowers of Cerulean City (Japanese: ハナダシティのすいちゅうか Suichūka of Hanada City) is the seventh episode of the Pokémon anime. It was first broadcast in Japan on May 13, 1997 and in USA on September 16, 1998.

Spoiler warning: this article may contain major plot or ending details.

Synopsis

Excited about winning his Boulder Badge, Ash couldn't wait to get to Cerulean City to battle for his Cascade Badge. For some reason, though, Misty was trying to avoid entering Cerulean and tried to convince them to go to Vermilion City but failed, she then left Ash and Brock as they entered the city.

When Ash and Brock entered the city, they saw a big crowd of people in a circle surrounding a building. When they got to the front they saw Officer Jenny, and she accused Ash and Brock of being the criminals. When they proved their innocence, she let them go, and sent the rest of the crowd away. After that, they sat on a bench and Ash asked Brock for inside information on the Gym Leader. Brock telling him that as a Gym Leader, too, and he cannot give out that information. Then Brock said to him "I have to take care of some business in town". They split up and Ash headed to the Cerulean Gym while Brock did his own thing.

When Ash got to the gym, he found three sisters performing underwater. Ash confronted the girls backstage, found out that they are the Gym Leaders and challenged them to a battle. The girls (Lily, Daisy and Violet) explained that their Pokémon are too tired to battle, and offered Ash the badge without a battle. Ash was about to take it, when Misty appeared and challenges him.

It turned out that Misty is the youngest of Sensational Sisters, but they called her "the runt". After Misty argues with her sisters, she challenged Ash to an official Cerulean Gym battle with rules of 2 on 2. Ash tried to send out Pikachu but he refused to go into battle because he didn't want to hurt Misty or her Pokémon. So instead Ash sent out Butterfree to battle Misty's Staryu. After a quick battle, Butterfree got knocked into the water causing it to lose the battle. After that Misty sent out Starmie and Ash sent out Pidgeotto. Just as Ash is about to win the battle Team Rocket interrupts and tried to steal all the Water Pokémon and the water from the Gym.

While Team Rocket was stealing all the Water Pokémon by using a vacuum machine, Pikachu got sucked in as well. He released a Thunderbolt causing the machine to explode, sending Team Rocket flying. After Team Rocket is gone, Daisy gave Ash the Cascade Badge. Misty tried to argue but her sisters convinced her that if Ash used Pikachu from the start, he would have beaten all her water Pokémon. Misty agreed with her sisters and claimed that when she comes back from her journey with Ash she would be a great Trainer. Brock then meets Ash outside of the gym and together they headed for Vermilion City

Major events

• Ash reaches Cerulean City.
• Ash learns that Misty is the Cerulean City Gym Leader.
• Ash and Misty battle each other for the first time.
• Ash gets the Cascade Badge.

For a list of all major events in the animated series, please see the history page.

Debuts

Humans

• The Sensational Sisters:
  • Daisy
  • Violet
  • Lily

Pokémon debuts

• Starmie (Misty's)
• Seel (Cerulean Gym's)

Characters

Humans

• Ash
• Misty
• Brock
• Jessie
• James
• Officer Jenny
• The Sensational Sisters
  • Daisy
  • Violet
  • Lily

Pokémon

Who's That Pokémon?: Seel

• Pikachu (Ash's)
• Meowth (Team Rocket)
• Caterpie (Ash's, flashback)
• Butterfree (Ash's)
• Pidgeotto (Ash's)
• Goldeen (Misty's, flashback)
• Staryu (Misty's)
• Starmie (Misty's, debut)
• Onix (Brock's, flashback)
• Zubat (Brock's, flashback)
• Seel (Cerulean Gym's, debut)

Trivia

• Brock's absence during the episode is never explained, and is the source of much speculation among fans.
• This episode has led many fans to believe that Misty's last name is Waterflower. In actuality, the words "water flowers" used in the title are merely a metaphor used to describe the three sisters' grace and beauty, and their own names come from flower species.
• This is the second time real animals are shown. Fish are seen behind the glass when Ash walks into the aquarium. Real animals were only shown in the first season due to the lack of Pokémon resembling several real-world animals in Kanto. It is unknown why the fish Pokémon Goldeen, Seaking, Magikarp and the many other Water-types (at the time) weren't shown.
• It's implied in this episode that a Gym Badge serves as a secondary ID for a Trainer (or a primary ID for a Gym Leader), as Brock used his Boulder Badge to clear his name in regards to accusations of being a criminal, whereas Ash used his Pokédex as his method of clearing his name.
• During this episode, the Cerulean Gym initially offers Ash a Cascade Badge without a fight. This is the first time the Cerulean Gym was shown surrendering a badge without a fight, the second being when Jimmy challenges the Cerulean Gym in Judgment Day!. Instead of a battle, his Badge was awarded by Daisy for cleaning the pool. No other gyms seen to date consistently offer badges without a fight or challenge.
• The book Splashdown in Cerulean City is based on this episode.

Errors

• In the Spanish dub, when Misty's sister calls for Seel, she said "See-al".
• In the English dub, during the opening narrative and right before the title card appears, the text on the sign Gary wrote on is still in Japanese.
• In one scene, a part of Pikachu's right ear is missing, making his left ear look longer then his right.

Dub edits

• The outside of the store Team Rocket looted simply says "マシーン" (machine) in the Japanese version, while it says "MACHINE SHOP INDUSTRIAL SUPPLIES ALL MAKES AND MODELS" in the dub. The next shot replaces "ルーム" (room) with "LS".
• Like the Pewter Gym, the "Hanada Gym" sign is changed to "Cerulean Gym".

In other languages

• Arabic: وسام في مدينة سيروليان
• Czech: Vodní krásky z Blankytného města
• Dutch: De Waterbloemen van Cerulean City
• Finnish: Cerulean Cityn lumpeenkukat
• French:
  • Canadian French: Les nymphes de Céruléan
  • European French: Les fleurs d'eau d'Azuria
• German: Bezaubernde Schwestern
• Hebrew: השחייניות מהעיר סרולין hasachyaniyot meha'eer Cerulean
• Italian: Il segreto di Misty
• Mandarin: 花篮市的水中花
• Portuguese:
  • Brazilian Portuguese: As Flores Aquáticas da Cidade de Cerulean
  • European Portuguese: As Nadadoras da Cidade de Cerulean
• Spanish:
  • Iberian Spanish: Las flores acuáticas de Ciudad Celeste
  • Latin American Spanish: ¡Las Flores Acuáticas de Ciudad Celeste!
• Swedish: Vattenkrig i Cerulean staden

← EP006 : Clefairy and the Moon Stone

Original series

EP008 : The Path to the Pokémon League →

This episode article is part of Project Anime, a Bulbapedia project that covers all aspects of Pokémon animation.