DP009

← DP008 : Gymbaliar!

Diamond & Pearl series

DP010 : Not on MY Watch Ya Don't! →

Setting the World on Its Buneary!

DP009   EP475 ミミロルとあそぼう！？ Let's Play with Mimirol!?

First broadcast Japan November 16, 2006 United States June 18, 2007

English themes Opening Diamond and Pearl Ending

Japanese themes Opening Together Ending 君のそばで 〜ヒカリのテーマ〜

Credits Animation Team Iguchi Screenplay 冨岡淳広 Atsuhiro Tomioka Storyboard 湯山邦彦 Kunihiko Yuyama Assistant director 秦義人 Yoshito Hata Animation director 船津弘美 Hiromi Funatsu Additional credits

Screenshots on Filb.de This is one of the few episodes storyboarded by executive producer Kunihiko Yuyama.

Setting the World on Its Buneary! (Japanese: ミミロルとあそぼう！？ Let's Play with Mimirol!?) is the ninth episode of the Diamond & Pearl series, and the 475th episode of the Pokémon anime. It first aired in Japan on November 16, 2006, and in the USA on June 18, 2007.

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

Synopsis

The episode starts right at sunrise, with Dawn screaming and waking up a flock of Starly. Nearby, a familiar set of ears perk at the sound. Brock is preparing breakfast, as Dawn’s protests wake Ash. He rushes to Dawn’s tent, but she tells him to keep out because her hair is distressed. Dawn tries to fix her hair manually, but it doesn't work. Piplup is amused, and Dawn gets the idea to use Piplup’s BubbleBeam. Ash is puzzled at the order. Brock drops a potato and Croagunk simply looks at it. He eventually tosses it forcefully upward. Ash backs up and trips into Dawn, while Pikachu grabs the potato. The capture impresses a nearby wild Buneary.

Meanwhile, everyone finds out about Dawn’s fixed hair. Ash is puzzled by the method. Dawn wants to use the method to fix Ash’s hair, but he mentions that he has his cap. At that word, Aipom steals Ash's hat and runs away with it. Pikachu pursues and steals it back with a Quick Attack. However, the hat covers Pikachu’s face and he lands in the middle of a path. Officer Jenny almost runs over Pikachu, but Buneary jumps in and gets Pikachu out of danger. Ash reclaims his hat and Dawn catches up, noting the Buneary.

Buneary seems shy, covering her face with her fur. She bounces away, slamming into a tree before escaping. Jenny scolds Pikachu, and Dawn confuses her for the same Jenny in Sandgem Town. Brock shows Dawn that each Jenny is different. Brock is infatuated as usual, but Croagunk calms him with Poison Jab and drags him away. Jenny shows Ash and Dawn a picture of a disguised Team Rocket, involved with stealing machine parts, but they don't recognize them.

Later on, everyone's eating lunch, and Ash decides to catch the Buneary next time, but Dawn protests because she still needs to catch a Pokémon, mainly for her first contest. Team Rocket is nearby watching, and while James is working on a machine, the others notice Croagunk is with them. Croagunk stops eating and notices something in the bushes. Buneary jumps out and bounces away. Ash and Dawn pursue, leaving the dishes to Brock.

Dawn takes the lead and has Piplup attack Buneary with BubbleBeam, taking the first opportunity. Ash lets her go first. Piplup misses with Peck, but attacks with BubbleBeam. However, Buneary's Ice Beam freezes the attack, stunning everyone. Buneary uses Dizzy Punch to knock Piplup down. Buneary seems to be trying to impress Pikachu, and Piplup is now confused. Dawn doesn't know how to treat the condition until Brock tells her to recall Piplup. But before she can do so, Buneary knocks out Piplup with Bounce.

Dawn recalls Piplup and lets Ash take his turn. Pikachu gets ready to battle, but Buneary acts differently, not willing to attack. They finally notice Buneary is attracted to Pikachu. Ash tries to throw a Poké Ball, but Buneary freezes everybody with Ice Beam, though Starly escapes the blast. Buneary dances with Pikachu, spinning and whisking him away.

Pikachu finally frees himself and scolds Buneary, upsetting her and making her cry. Pikachu tries to remedy the situation but he fails. Starly catches up and notices. Buneary suddenly stops crying, ears perking up at something. Suddenly, a glass ball captures Buneary, locking her into Team Rocket’s mecca. Starly flies away while Pikachu attacks with Thunderbolt. However the electric attack is diverted to hurt Buneary. Croagunk finds the frozen group and uses Poison Jab to free them. Starly arrives and leads the group to Team Rocket. Pikachu decides to surrender against Team Rocket, and they don’t hesitate to capture Pikachu into another glass capsule. Pikachu orders them to release Buneary, but they refuse. Ash and the others find Team Rocket. Buneary tries to free herself with Dizzy Punch but it fails, and Pikachu uses Iron Tail to try and escape. Ash tries to rush over, but Team Rocket blocks him. Jenny arrives and connects Team Rocket as the factory thieves. Pikachu frees himself as Team Rocket detaches a part of the mecca, lifting off with rocket propulsion. Pikachu frees Buneary with Iron Tail. Buneary use Ice Beam and Pikachu uses Thunderbolt to send the pod plummeting. The Pokémon jump off the falling pod. Ash catches Pikachu and Dawn catches Buneary. Jenny tries to arrest Team Rocket, but they run away, with Jenny in pursuit.

Buneary is drawn to Dawn, but Dawn needs to battle her again for an actual capture. She summons Piplup again, leading with BubbleBeam, but Buneary dodges. Piplup tries to evade and use Peck, but Buneary dodges again. Piplup’s BubbleBeam and Buneary’s Ice Beam is even. Buneary attacks with Dizzy Punch, but Piplup dodges and uses Peck successfully. Dawn throws Poké Ball to catch Buneary, and after a few moments, it succeeds. Buneary becomes Dawn's first capture and she celebrates. Everyone congratulates her and she lets Buneary back out. Now Dawn is ready for the Jubilife Contest.

Major events

• A Buneary gains feelings for Pikachu.
• Dawn makes her first capture, the said Buneary.

Debuts

Pokémon debuts

• Dawn's Buneary

Characters

Humans

• Ash
• Dawn
• Brock
• Jessie
• James
• Officer Jenny

Pokémon

• Pikachu (Ash's)
• Meowth (Team Rocket)
• Piplup (Dawn's)
• Wobbuffet (Jessie's)
• Mime Jr. (James's)
• Aipom (Ash's)
• Starly (Ash's)
• Turtwig (Ash's)
• Buneary (Dawn's, new)
• Bonsly (Brock's)
• Croagunk (Brock's)
• Starly (flock)
• Torchic

Trivia

• This is the first episode that features a cold open format. It consists of scenes showing what will happen throughout the episode later on.
• Brock's Croagunk is added to Together and By Your Side ~Hikari's Theme~.
• An instrumental version of By Your Side ~Hikari's Theme~ is used as background music during the second Piplup vs. Buneary battle.
• Professor Oak's lecture: Gym Leaders
  • Pokémon senryū: ジムリーダー　いのちをかけて　かかってこい Jimu Riidaa, inochi o kete, kakatte koi "Gym Leader, put your life on the line and challenge me."
• Dawn narrates the next episode preview.
• This is one of the few episodes where Team Rocket does not "blast off".
• Interestingly, when Aipom stole Ash's hat in the episode, Ash reacted in a similar manner to when Mankey stole his hat in Primeape Goes Bananas, even though he acted a bit more mature the first time Aipom stole his hat.

Errors

• The title card of the dub has a mistake, using "it's", when the possessive form is in fact "its".
• In one scene where they saw Piplup dizzy, Pikachu is standing right next to Ash; however, in the next scene, Pikachu is now on his shoulder.
• When Ash gets out of bed and stands next to the tent, he is barefoot. After he crashes into Dawn, he is wearing his shoes.

In other languages

Language		Title
Mandarin Chinese		和捲捲耳一起玩！？
Czech		Všichni se točí kolem Buneary
Dutch		Geef de wereld op zijn Buneary
Finnish		Maailman vahvin pupu
European French		La course au Laporeille !
German		Verknallt in Pikachu
Italian		Un nuovo compagno di viaggio & Una conquista per Lucinda
Polish		Wszystkie oczy na Buneary
Portuguese	Brazil	Meu Mundo por uma Buneary!
	Portugal	O Mundo Inteiro Pelo Buneary
Russian		Бунири - это всё!
Spanish	Latin America	¡Dándole la bienvenida a Buneary!
	Spain	¡Ese Buneary tiene que ser mio!

← DP008 : Gymbaliar!

Diamond & Pearl series

DP010 : Not on MY Watch Ya Don't! →

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