BW012

This article is about an episode of the Pokémon animated series that has not been dubbed into English. As such, its coverage may contain romanized Japanese names, rather than dub names.

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BW012

BW012   EP669 ヤブクロン戦隊と秘密基地！？ The Yabukuron Squad and the Secret Base!?

First broadcast Japan December 9, 2010 United States

English themes Opening Ending

Japanese themes Opening ベストウイッシュ！ Ending 心のファンファーレ

Credits Animation Team Kato Screenplay 園田英樹 Hideki Sonoda Storyboard うえだしげる Shigeru Ueda Assistant director うえだしげる Shigeru Ueda Animation director 志村泉 Izumi Shimura Additional credits

Screenshots on Filb.de

(Japanese: ヤブクロン戦隊と秘密基地！？ The Yabukuron Squad and the Secret Base!?) is the 12th episode of the Best Wishes series, and the 669th episode of the Pokémon anime. It aired in Japan on December 9, 2010.

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

Synopsis

While continuing on their way to Shippou City Ash and friends have stopped to analyze the map. Suddenly a gang of small children come speeding towards them on tricycles with a Pokémon in a wagon being chased by two women. The children proceed to throw balls of mud at the gang which hits everyone but Iris who leaps out of the way. The Pokémon then snatches Ash's hat off the ground as they pass by. The two women catch up and apologize to the group for the children's bad behavior and the younger of the two introduces themselves as the kindergarten teacher.

The gang is taken to the school that the kids attend which also turns out to be a Day Care for Pokémon as well. A Meguroco is seen scouting the outside of the Day Care before returning underground. Iris is impressed by the amount of eggs at the Day Care which Dent exclaims are filled with the kindness of raising Pokémon. The older woman introduces herself as the Pokémon Day Care owner, Kikuyo, as well as introducing the kindergarten teacher as her granddaughter, Yuri. After the gang has introduces themselves, Yuri explains the that the Pokémon they saw earlier was a Yabukuron, and that children had found the Yabukuron in a scrap yard near the school and brought it to school one day without her permission. Ash looks up Yabukuron in his Pokédex and exclaims that his hat wasn't trash in response to Iris claiming Yabukuron love garbage.

Yuri then explains that the children claimed the Yabukuron was crying from loneliness and they wanted to be its friend. She was very much against the Yabukuron staying as they were naturally more comfortable in trash filled environments and it would only make the school dirty. The children pleaded to let it stay, claiming they'll clean up after the Yabukuron. While Yuri argued with the children, Yabukuron releases a cloud of rancid air which causes everyone to initially cringe but the children later claim they can handle the stench. But Yuri's mind was made up as she picked up the Yabukuron and returned it to the scrap yard. She explained it was nothing personal towards the Yabukuron and returned to the schoolyard.

Kikuyo explains that the morning Ash had arrived they found a large pile of scraps surrounding a large tree in the playground. Yuri explains the children and Yabukuron worked together to create what Dent calls a secret base. Ash is extremely impressed by the children's construction, which Iris scoffs at and calls him a child. Yuri is worried about the base collapsing and putting the children in danger. The gang agrees to help Yuri, when the children suddenly appear from the tree house on top of the tree claiming the base is under the ownership of the "Yabukuron Squad". Ash smiles at the children's determination as Yuri tries to reason with them. Ash offers to talk to the children himself, explaining that he understands the children since he use to play squadron as a child himself. Yuri accepts his offer and Ash begins to climb the pile of scraps. The children aren't happy about the intrusion and begin throwing mud balls at Ash and then cause the scraps to collapse underneath of him. They then take him hostage into their tree house.

Ash is initially impressed by the quality of the tree house and asks if they built it by themselves. A girl explains that Yabukuron helped them build it, when the boy with Ash's hat scolds her for being friendly towards their "enemy". He then introduces himself as Hirota, the leader of the squad. Ash introduces himself as well as Pikachu, and the kids are thrilled to see a real Pikachu and ask if they can pet him. Pikachu hops off Ash's shoulder and all of the kids, except Hirota, surround Pikachu and begin stroking his forehead, tummy, and tugging on his cheeks playfully. Ash tells Hirota that he is not his enemy and he had only come to talk to the children. Hirota accepts this and asks if it's alright if he plays with Pikachu. Ash accepts, but when Hirota begins pulling on Pikachu's tail, and Ash warns him about Pikachu's electricity. This scares the children who immediately step away from him. Ash explains that while Pikachu is very cute, it is also capable of producing powerful electric attacks who then demonstrates his power by literally shocking Ash. The kids are very impressed, and Yabukuron steps forward and pulls off a pose attempting to show off its cuteness. Ash, reluctantly, states that Yabukuron is cute too, which the kids wholeheartedly agree. Ash is pleased to see how much the children love Yabukuron despite its lack of popularity to most people. Hirota then returns Ash's hat to him, calling him "big brother".

Team Rocket is then seen waiting on a train station platform when a man in a long trench coat appears and sits on the bench behind them. Jessie asks the man when the train will depart, which he responds with 7PM. He then asks if the mission is going well, which Meowth answers confidently, Jessie claiming they make no mistakes. The man places a small case on the ground and kicks it beside James who picks it up off the ground. Inside he finds a meteorite, which the man explains is a dummy of the real meteorite, and he will contact them later about the details. The man then gets up to leave and tells the group that Giovanni has been impressed by their success so far.

The episode then returns to Ash and the children in the tree house, with Ash telling the children that they should apologize to their teacher. Hirota disagrees claiming Yuri was at fault for wanting to get rid of Yabukuron for releasing bad smelling air. Ash strongly disagrees but Hirota is determined to think the alternative. Ash tells Hirota that he is a good friend to Yabukuron, when something suddenly appears from the ground below. The dust clears to reveal the Meguroco from the hotel Ash saved before. The Meguroco recognizes Pikachu immediately and unleashes a Stone Edge. Ash tells the children to run as the Stone Edge hits the ground surrounding Ash. The kids start throwing mud at the Meguroco who angrily attacks them with yet another Stone Edge. Yabukuron defends the children with a powerful Toxic Spikes which the Meguroco steps on, stunning it. Ash then has Pikachu use Iron Tail, followed by Yabukuron using Sludge Bomb, which sends the Meguroco flying. Ash and the kids then celebrate their victory as Dent, and Iris question what Ash is doing. Yuri decides to take matters into her own hands.

Yuri, Kikuyo, and Ash's friends then climb over the scrap, and Yuri offers to talk to the children properly. Iris scolds Ash for becoming friends with the kids rather than getting them to behave. Yuri asks the kids just how long they're going to remain barricaded in the scrap, which Hirota answers they will do until she accepts Yabukuron. Yuri still will not allow the Yabukuron to stay which Ash tells her to at least listen to her students before making a decision. However, Yuri's mind is made up and she claims that the school is her responsibility. Ash claims the school belongs to the children as well, but Yuri responds that the children are merely her responsibility along with the school and decides to force the Yabukuron to leave. She calls out her Shikijika, and Ash offers to defends the children by challenging Yuri with Pikachu.

Shikijika attacks first with a Tackle that hits Pikachu, who then retaliates with a Thunderbolt. It misses and Shikijika goes for another Tackle, which also misses and causes the Pokémon to crash into some scraps. However Kikuyo orders the Shikijika to not move as it would cause the scraps to collapse if it were to do so. Ash tells the children to get away as he and Pikachu go to help Shikijika hold the scraps up. The rest of the scraps begin to lose their balance, and Dent and Iris jump down to help get the children to safety. Yuri orders Hirota to move to a safe location, when he refuses to leave Yabukuron. Suddenly a large bookcase almost falls on Hirota, until Yuri jump behind him and takes the hit for the child. Yabukuron is touched by everyone helping keep him and the kids safe, who then helps by blasting away the scrap with a Sludge Bomb before it could fall. While this saved everyone, it made a huge mess of the playground. Yuri has a change of heart towards Yabukuron, as it saves everyone from impending danger.

With tears in their eyes, the children then apologize to their teacher. She too apologizes for not listening to them before, and Ash tells her just how much Yabukuron means to the children and asks her to reconsider it staying. She then smiles and turns to Yabukuron, asking it to please bear with her at the school. The children are overjoyed and run over to give Yabukuron a group hug. Kikuyo claims that once Yabukuron befriends someone, it will stop expelling bad smells. Dent asks if she knew this fact all along, as Iris argues that she could have told Yuri that from the beginning. But Kikuyo claims that with both Pokémon and children, a teacher must learn how to raise them each of them properly on your own, and it would be too easy to simply tell Yuri what to do.

Ash, Iris, Dent, all of their Pokémon (excluding Doryuzu), and Yabukuron then spend the rest of the day returning the scraps to the scrap yard. The next morning, Yuri properly thanks the group for all of their help the day before, and Kikuyo presents Ash with an egg as a reward for all his efforts. Ash thanks her and accepts the egg, which Kikuyo orders he raise into a good Pokémon. The children then tell Ash that he's always welcome in the Yabukuron Squad which he states he looks forward to battling them someday. The gang then leaves to continue on their way to Shippou City, new egg in hand, waving good bye to their new found friends.

Major events

• Jessie, James and Meowth receive a dummy meteorite from a Team Rocket agent.
• Ash receives a Pokémon egg.

Debuts

Pokémon debuts

• Yabukuron

Characters

Humans

• Ash
• Iris
• Dent
• Jessie
• James
• Yuri
• Kikuyo
• Hirota
• Dan (flashback)
• Kindergartners
• Team Rocket agent

Pokémon

• Pikachu (Ash's)
• Kibago (Iris's)
• Meowth (Team Rocket)
• Mamepato (Ash's)
• Oshawott (Ash's)
• Tepig (Ash's)
• Snivy (Ash's)
• Yanappu (Dent's)
• Ishizumai (Dent's)
• Shikijika (Yuri's)
• Meguroco (recurring)
• Yabukuron (debut)

Trivia

• Ash obtaining an egg in this episode was first revealed by the official Japanese Pokémon website, as in December 2010, players of Pokémon Black and White Versions will be able to download an egg over Wi-Fi, which will contain a random 1 of 3 Pokémon. It is currently unknown what is in Ash's egg, or the event eggs and if the Pokémon in each have any connection to each other.
• It is ironic that Jessie claims the trio makes no mistakes since that was all they were known for in previous seasons.
• This is the second time that ash gets a pokemon egg.

Dub edits

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← BW011

Best Wishes series

BW013 →

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