EP012

Here Comes the Squirtle Squad File:HereComestheSquirtleSquad.gif.png

EP012   ゼニガメぐんだんとうじょう！ Enter the Zenigame Corps!

First broadcast Japan June 17, 1997 United States September 23, 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 園田英樹 Hideki Sonoda Storyboard 鈴木敏明 Toshiaki Suzuki Assistant director 鈴木敏明 Toshiaki Suzuki Animation director 酒井啓史 Keishi Sakai No additional credits are available at this time.

Here Comes the Squirtle Squad (Japanese: ゼニガメぐんだんとうじょう！ Enter the Zenigame Corps!) is episode 12 of the Pokémon anime. It was first broadcast in Japan on June 17, 1997 and in USA on September 23, 1998.

Ash arrives in a town that is being terrorised by a gang of Squirtles.

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

Synopsis

Synopsis by Chikoquil

The Episode opens with a recap of how Ash caught Bulbasaur and Charmander. It seems that the current string of success is making Ash quite confident. Right now we find our heroes walking down the road, Ash happily humming the Pokémon Theme Song. But he better watch out for the pitfalls that lie in the road ahead...like that one Ash, Misty, Brock, and Pikachu just fell into.

They wonder who could have dug a pitfall like that as a prank, but it turns out it wasn't Team Rocket this time. A group of Squirtle, four with round sunglasses and one with triangle shades, look in, laughing. Ash angrily climbs out of the hole, using Dexter on the Squirtle. He orders a thundershock from Pikachu, but one of the Squirtles take the hit for the one that seems to be the leader.

What starts to resemble a wild west faceoff ensues, with Pikachu and the boss Squirtle staring each other down. Suddenly, sirens are heard approaching, and the Squirtle snatch up the stricken member and make a break for it. Officer Jenny soon arrives, and Ash greets her, thinking he's met her before. That's when she reveals that all the Officer Jenny's are cousins, all look identical, and are all named Jenny. Talk about family resemblence!

At the police station, Jenny explains that the group of Squirtles they met call themselves the Squirtle Squad. They're a group of Squirtles that were all abandoned by their trainers, and thusly all they do is run wild and play pranks on everyone. Kind of sad, really.

A short ways away, Team Rocket is scoping out the situation. Jessie sees the Pikachu their after, but Meowth and James are more interesting in getting food, which results in them getting fanwhacks from Jessie. Eventually, though, Jessie herself realizes she's hungry too, so she decides they can eat and whips out a picnic basket. This makes Meowth and James cheer.

Suddenly, they realize they have company in the form of the Squirtle Squad. The Boss Squirtle tells them to hand over their food or else. Jessie and James aren't amused by the threat, and step forward to battle. Suddenly, they too fall into a pitfall dug by the squad!

Later, the Squirtle Squad is happily eating all of Team Rocket's food, while they're tied to the nearby tree. Jessie attempts to convince the Squirtle Squad to help them capture Pikachu, but they refuse, saying humans can't be trusted. Meowth gets an idea, and explains to the squad that Jessie and James are owned by him! James takes exception to this, but Meowth assures him to leave it to him.

Meowth explains that the humans are his pets, and, to give color to his pretense, starts kicking James as punishment for raising his voice. The Squirtle buy this, and let Meowth go. Meowth joins them in the eating, but Jessie and James are still tied to the tree. Meowth tells them that this will take a while.

Elsewhere, Misty is fishing while Ash and Brock are laid out by the riverside. One of the Squirtle Squad members pops up and soaks them with a Water Gun. Pikachu angrily shakes himself off and retaliates with a Thundershock, but only succeeds in electrifying Ash, Misty and Brock.

Ash, having had enough of this, confronts the Squirtle when it jumps out of the water. Pikachu charges to attack, but the Squirtle withdraws into its shell and spins at him, knocking Pikachu into the water. And at the worst possible time, too, because there's a Goldeen in the water!

Ash yells for Pikachu to swim to shore, and he starts to, but he can't outswim the Goldeen and gets Horn Attacked and knocked back out of the water. Ash runs to help him, but a trio of lassoes whip out, roping up Ash, Misty, and Brock. Quickly running around them, the Squirtle Squad turns the lassoing into a full fledged binding. That's when Meowth reveals himself!

Later, Ash, Misty, and Brock are tied to a rock in a cave, Pikachu in a cage nearby. Meowth says he's the one in charge, and taunts Ash with his tail, but Ash retaliates by biting it. Ash tries to appeal to the Squirtle not to believe Meowth, but Meowth retaliates with a powerful scratch, and asks the Squirtle who they're going to believe...a human or a fellow Pokémon?

Brock realizes that Pikachu's in bad shape, and that they need to get him a Super Potion. Ash tries to appeal to the Squirtle to let him go into town to get the medicine, but the Squirtles refuse. Ash resorts to begging, even shedding a few tears. The Squirtle decide to show a small instance of mercy.

Ash, and only Ash, is released. The Squirtle give him a warning, which is translated by Meowth that if he's not back by noon tomorrow, the red-head (Misty) gets her hair dyed purple. Misty flips, but Ash tells her he'll be back, then leaves. Of course, Meowth is more than willing to let him go, because by the time he gets back, they'll be long gone!

Ash is racing towards town, when he trips over a rock. The image of the injured Pikachu in the cage, however, gets him up and moving again. He later comes to a dangerous bridge, and tries to make his way across. However, halfway across, the bridge breaks, sending him down into the river, where he too gets nailed by a Goldeen.

Ash finally makes it into town, but by this point, he's reduced to relying on a walking stick. However, the store soon comes into view. Ash makes his way up to the door, but it suddenly flies open as Gary walks out, smacking Ash in the face. Ash is knocked for a loop.

Back at the cave, Pikachu's getting worse. Brock and Misty are starting to get worried about him. But Meowth is starting to get worried too. Why haven't Jessie and James returned yet?

Back in town, Ash is snapped out of his unconsciousness by the voices of Jessie and James. They're holding up the store with ice guns, demanding all their Flash Powder and Dental Floss. Given what they want, they fire a rocket that makes it snow inside the store, and make a break for it with their balloon.

Ash knows he needs to chase them down, but before he does, he rushes in to but the Super Potion and finds himself staring at the barrels of four guns. However, Officer Jenny cuts in, saying he's not with Team Rocket.

Jenny is soon racing back for the cave, Ash riding with her. Unfortunately, they soon come to the bridge that broke when Ash tries to cross it. They're forced to ride off to find another way across the river. Meanwhile, the Team Rocket Balloon flies over, Jessie and James busy making flash bombs.

Jenny and Ash find another way into the cave, but it's too narrow for an adult, so Ash has to go it alone. It soon becomes too dark to see, but Ash uses Charmander as a walking torch. He soon pushes his way back into where everyone was. But they're gone!

Ash quickly races out of the cave, where the Squirtle Squad is. He demands to know where Misty and Brock are. But it turns out they're right there! Apparently, the Squirtle Squad was bluffing. They may play tricks, but they'd never change a girl's natural haircolor, right? In any case, Pikachu is soon sprayed with the Super Potion.

Suddenly, a flashbomb explosion signifies the arrival of Team Rocket, complete with motto. They throw down a few more flashbombs, and drop a ladder for Meowth to climb up with Pikachu, who he apparently nabbed while everyone else was distracted by the bombs. Ash tells everyone to run for cover, and they head for the cave.

Ash looks back, though, and finds the Boss Squirtle was knocked over and is stuck on his back! Ash quickly races back, diving on top of the Squirtle, protecting it from the ensuing explosions. Another pair of bombs are dropped, and Ash tells the Squirtle to save himself. The Squirtle, however, hefts Ash up over his head and runs for the cave, taking a massive leap so that another explosion bowls them over the others and into the cave.

Team Rocket is jubilant with their victory, but Ash informs them otherwise. Team Rocket is shocked, and Ash orders the Squirtle to use Water Gun. The Water Gun blows a hole in the balloon, and James drops Pikachu! Ash runs literaly down the side of the cliff and makes a great leaping catch to save Pikachu. Meanwhile, Team Rocket and their balloon go blasting off again.

However, it turns out there's bigger problems. The Flash Bombs dropped by Team Rocket have started a fire that could burn down the whole town! Ash isn't worried though. He simply tells the Squirtle Squad that if they work together, they can stop the fire. And that they do.

With the fire stopped and the town saved, the Squirtle Squad is presented with a certificate thanking them for their bravery. They are also appointed the town's official firefighters.

Ash and Co. are on their way once more, Pikachu back to his perky self. Misty suddenly realizes that the Squirtle Squad boss is following them! Ash offers the Squirtle the opportunity to join them, and the Squirtle accepts, removing his sunglasses and running into a hug from Ash. Ash guesses he caught another Pokémon, but Misty would hardly call this a catch. Even so, it's still a Squirtle on their side.

Major events

• Ash catches a Squirtle

Debuts

• Ash's Squirtle

Characters

Humans

• Ash Ketchum
• Misty
• Brock
• Jessie
• James
• Officer Jenny
• Gary makes a brief appearance

Pokémon

Who’s That Pokémon?: Squirtle

• Pikachu (Ash's)
• Meowth (Team Rocket)
• Bulbasaur (Ash's; flashback)
• Charmander (Ash's)
• Squirtle (Ash's; new)
• Squirtle (Squirtle Squad)
• Goldeen

Trivia

• This episode can be found on the third GBA video.
• This is the third and final episode of a three-episode arc where Ash gets each of Kanto's starter Pokémon.
• This is the first episode that shows a town not featured in the games.
• This is one of the few times that the gang uses a Potion, an important item in the games. It is depicted as a spray bottle, which later became its sprite in Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen.
• This is the episode in which we learn that all Officer Jennys are identical cousins--they are all police officers and named Jenny.
• This episode features frightened store owners pointing guns at Ash. However this episode aired in the U.S. anyway unlike the infamous The Legend of Dratini episode. This might be due to the fact that this was prior to the Columbine High School massacre.

Errors

• In the dub, Ash calls Misty "Mindy" when the Squirtle Squad threatens to dye her hair.

Dub edits

• In the dub, the Squirtle Squad threatens to dye Misty’s hair purple--in the original, they threaten to kill her.
• The rice balls Team Rocket are eating are called doughnuts and éclairs in the dub.

In other languages

• French: Sans maître ni loi
• Portuguese (Brazil): Aí vem o Esquadrão Squirtle
• Spanish: El Squirtle

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