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

Continuing their journey on the way to Shippou City, Ash and his friends had stopped in the middle of the road to analyze the map. Suddenly, a gang of small children comes speeding towards them on tricycles, while a Pokémon sits cheerfully in an orange wagon led by a small boy riding in front. Two women chases after the tricycle gang, shouting to get the children to stop, or for anyone to stop them. The children seemed to ignore her, and with commands given by their 'leader' (the boy in front), they readied balls of mud and began to throw them at Ash and his friends. As they were unprepared for the 'attack', Ash and his friends all got hit squarely in the face, except for Iris who leaped up and landed onto the fence. While the children celebrated as they passed, Ash's hat was then swept off the ground by the passing arm of the Pokémon in the wagon. The two women eventually catches up and apologizes to the group for the children's misbehavior, and the group learns that the children belongs to the kindergarten of the younger of the two women.

Ash and his friends are taken to a Day Care Center for Pokémon, where a Meguroco with sunglasses is seen scouting the outside before returning underground. Iris is impressed by the amount of eggs at the Day Care which Dent exclaims that they are filled with the kindness of raising Pokémon. The older woman introduces herself as the Pokémon Day Care owner, Kikuyo, and her granddaughter, Yuri, introduces herself as the kindergarten teacher. After the group had exchanged formalities, Yuri explains the that the Pokémon they saw earlier was a Yabukuron, and that the children had found the Yabukuron in a scrap yard nearby and brought it to school without her permission. Ash looks up Yabukuron in his Pokédex. As Iris wonders about Yabukuron's love of garbage, Ash plainly states that his hat is not trash, while Dent comments on the Garbage Bag Pokémon's weird 'taste'.

Yuri then explains that the children had brought back the Yabukuron as it was crying from loneliness and wanted to be their friend. As she told them that Yabukuron loves garbage and keeping it would only make the school dirty, the children pleaded to let it stay, claiming that they will clean up after the Yabukuron. While Yuri insisted on having Yabukuron returned to the scrapyard and the children argued against her, Yabukuron releases a cloud of rancid air which causes everyone to cringe. However, the children eventually uncovered their noses and mouths, announcing loudly that they could handle the stench. Despite so, Yuri's mind was already made up as she picked up the Yabukuron and returned it to the scrap yard. Over there, she explained to it why she could not keep it and returned to the school.

Ash and his friends were soon brought to a large pile of scrap surrounding a large tree in the playground, which the children and Yabukuron worked together to create what Dent calls a 'secret base'. Ash is extremely impressed by the children's construction, to which Iris scoffs at, calling him a child. Yuri is worried about the base collapsing and putting the children in danger. The group agrees to help Yuri, but the children suddenly appears from the tree house on top of the tree, claiming the base to be under the ownership of the "Yabukuron Squad". Ash smiles at the children's determination when Yuri tries to reason with them. Finally, Ash offers to talk to the children himself, explaining that he understands the children since he used to play in squads like these as a child himself. Yuri agrees and Ash begins to climb the pile of scraps. However, the children were unhappy about the intrusion and began throwing mud balls at Ash. Eventually, with the help of an electric fan, the scraps below him collapses, and Ash, caught in a rubber tire, is taken 'hostage' into their tree house.

Ash is initially impressed by the quality of the tree house and asks if they built it 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 children are thrilled to see a real Pikachu and ask if they can pet him. Pikachu hops off Ash's shoulder and all of them, except Hirota, surrounds Pikachu and begin stroking his forehead and tummy, tugging on his cheeks and poking its tail playfully. Ash tells Hirota that he is not their enemy and he had only came to talk to the children. Hirota acknowledges and asks if it is alright if he plays with Pikachu. Ash agrees, but when Hirota begins pulling Pikachu's tail, and Ash warns him about Pikachu's capability of generating electricity. This scares the children and they immediately back away. Ash explains that while Pikachu is very cute, he is also capable of producing a powerful Thunderbolt, which 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, but the kids agree wholeheartedly. Ash is pleased to see how much the children love Yabukuron, and Hirota eventually returns Ash's hat to him, calling him "big brother".

Meanwhile, Jessie, James and Meowth, are waiting patiently on a train station platform. Dressed in dark overcoats and topped with sunglasses and a dark hat, the trio remain silent and impassive, while the station is filled with echoes of a news broadcast: a large amount of scrap had mysteriously disappeared together with a Yabukuron that resided in a nearby scrap yard. A man in a long trench coat, dressed almost similar and holding a metal case, suddenly appears across the platform and sits on the bench behind them. Jessie looks up, then questions when the train will depart. The man, without turning or moving, replies "7PM". The Team Rocket trio and the man then break into conversation about the mission while making no attempt to face each other, maintaining the outlook of not being in conversation. The man then places the metal case on the ground and kicks it with his heel to beside James, who picks it up. Inside, he finds a stone, and the man explains that it actually is a dummy, and they will be contacted later with more details. The man gets up, tells the group that Giovanni is very impressed by their success so far, and then takes his leave.

Back at the tree house, Ash is telling the children that they should apologize to their teacher. The squad disagrees, saying Yabukuron had done nothing wrong and that Yuri was at fault for wanting to get rid of Yabukuron. Ash then talks about the stench it releases, and while one of the girls agree that it was horrible, one of the boys claimed that it was not, attracting Yabukuron's attention. The girl that agreed with Ash promptly changed her mind, and Yabukuron happily released a ball of gas into the tree house. While the group endured and insisted that the gas was not smelly, they eventually came out of the tree house, to Yabukuron's disappointment. Ash tells Hirota that he is a good friend to Yabukuron, when suddenly, there was a disturbance at the ground below. A Pokémon appeared to be digging, and when the dust clears, it revealed a Meguroco with sunglasses, the one that had once saved Ash's Pikachu and Oshawott from the hot spring earlier in their journey. As the "Yabukuron Squad" prepares to attack, the Meguroco, on recognizing Pikachu, immediately unleashes a Stone Edge attack. Ash quickly tells the children to run away as a flurry of stones hit the ground surrounding Ash. The squad, while trying to help Ash, starts throwing mud at the Meguroco who angrily attacks them with yet another Stone Edge. Yabukuron tries to defends the children and launches a purple blob into the air, scattering Toxic Spikes across the ground. Meguroco advances slowly, unknowingly crawling into the area with the Toxic Spikes and was stunned, allowing Pikachu the opportunity to hit it with Iron Tail. As the Desert Crocodile Pokémon falls towards the ground, Yabukuron fired a Sludge Bomb attack, sending it flying across the sky and disappearing. Ash and the kids then celebrate their victory.

As Iris and Dent wonder what Ash is doing, Yuri realizes (from Ash's laughter) that he is actually having fun with the children, and decides to step in. The four persons waiting for Ash climbed over the scrap, and Yuri tries to negotiate with the children. Meanwhile, Iris questions Ash on how he become friends with them, while Yuri asks the kids just how long they're going to remain barricaded in the scrap. Hirota replies that they will not leave until she allows them to keep Yabukuron. When Yuri tells them that she can not allow Yabukuron to stay, Ash requests that she listen to the children before making a decision. However, Yuri strongly insists on not keeping Yabukuron and tells Ash to keep quiet, explaining that the kindergarten belongs to her. Ash claims the kindergarten belongs to the children as well, but Yuri explains that her responsibility is to keep the children safe, and thus she will resort to force if Yabukuron would not leave. Taking out a Poké Ball, she calls out her Shikijika, but Ash defends the children by challenging Yuri to a battle.

As Iris and Dent exclaim in shock, and Yuri questions in surprise, Ash announces that he is, too, part of the "Yabukuron Squad". Reluctantly, Shikijika starts off the battle by charging at Pikachu with a Tackle attack. Pikachu was hit, but he quickly recovers and retaliates with a Thunderbolt attack. Shikijika immediately dodges and jumps up onto the pile of scraps in preparation for another Tackle attack, causing Thunderbolt to miss. It jumps off the scraps and charges at Pikachu, trying to hit it again with Tackle. However, Pikachu skilfully dodges it and with excessive momentum, Shikijika crashed into a pile of scraps. The surrounding stacks of scrap stirred with movement as the weight of a falling bookshelf is supported by Shikijika's head. Kikuyo, realizing that the entire structure would collapse if Shikijika moved away, orders Shikijika not to move and cancels the battle. Ash tells the children to evacuate the area as he and Pikachu help Shikijika to hold the scraps up. As the rest of the scraps begin vibrating vigorously, both Iris and Dent jumped down to assist in getting the children to safety. Yuri orders Hirota to move away, but he refuses to leave Yabukuron behind. Out of a sudden, a large bookcase lost its balance, and Yuri jumps behind him and shields him from the falling bookcase, telling him to move to safety. As Yabukuron watches, touched by how everyone is trying to keep it and the kids safe, it helps by blasting away the toppling scrap with Sludge Bomb before it could fall. Despite making a huge mess of the playground, Yabukuron eventually saved everyone from impending danger, and Yuri had a change of heart towards it.

With tears in their eyes, the children apologizes to their teacher, and she too apologizes for not listening to them before. As Ash reminds her of what Yabukuron means to the children, he asks her to consider about letting it stay. She contemplates for a while, then turns and smiles to Yabukuron and welcomes it into the school. Initially surprised, Yabukuron smiles and was given a group hug by the overjoyed children. Kikuyo finally reveals that once Yabukuron befriends a person, it will stop expelling bad odors. Dent asks if she knew that all along, and she hints of her experience by saying she is a daycare worker, to which Iris argues that she could have told Yuri from the beginning. However, Kikuyo claims that with regard to both Pokémon and children, a teacher must learn how to raise them properly on their 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 spend the rest of the day (and night) returning the scraps to the scrap yard. The next morning, Yuri 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. The children then informs Ash that he's always welcome in the Yabukuron Squad, and he tells them that he looks forward to battling them someday. Ash and his friends then leave for Shippou City. With a Pokémon egg in hand, Ash, together with Iris and Dent, now wave goodbye 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, but the mystery eggs were revealed to be game counterparts of Ash's Pidove, Iris's Kibago, and Dent's Yanappu.

Dub edits

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Best Wishes series

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