XY059

← XY058 : The Green, Green Grass Types of Home!

Pokémon the Series: XY

XY060 : A Showcase Debut! →

Under the Pledging Tree!

XY059   EP858 サトシとセレナ初デート！？ 誓いの樹とプレゼント！！ Satoshi and Serena's First Date!? The Tree of Promises and the Presents!!

First broadcast Japan February 5, 2015 United States April 18, 2015

English themes Opening Be a Hero Ending

Japanese themes Opening ゲッタバンバン Ending ドリドリ

Credits Animation Team Kato Screenplay 面出明美 Akemi Omode Storyboard 山口健太郎 Kentarō Yamaguchi Assistant director 山口健太郎 Kentarō Yamaguchi Animation directors 斉藤圭太 Keita Saitō 内田裕 Yū Uchida 篠原隆 Takashi Shinohara Additional credits

Screenshots on Filb.de Preview thread on BMGf Closed Original review thread on BMGf Dub review thread on BMGf

Under the Pledging Tree! (Japanese: サトシとセレナ初デート！？ 誓いの樹とプレゼント！！ Satoshi and Serena's First Date!? The Tree of Promises and the Presents!!) is the 59th episode of Pokémon the Series: XY, and the 858th episode of the Pokémon animated series. It first aired in Japan on February 5, 2015 and in the United States on April 18, 2015.

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

Blurb

After Serena registers for the Pokémon Showcase, our heroes find the locals busily hanging decorations and wrapping presents! Ramos explains that Coumarine City holds an annual festival where Trainers give their Pokémon presents under the giant Pledging Tree. Ash and Serena go shopping for gifts, and while Serena has great success, Ash can’t find anything. On the way back, Serena asks what kind of present would make him happy, which gives him an idea!

That evening, when the festival begins, Team Rocket swoops in to steal all the presents! Our heroes quickly join forces to send the villains blasting off again and distribute the gifts to their rightful recipients. It turns out the thing that makes Ash happiest is food, and he’s gathered a huge harvest of berries for all of his Pokémon! Serena has decorated some lovely accessories for Fennekin and Pancham to wear on stage. Clemont has created a music box with little figures of Bunnelby, Chespin, and Luxio, and Bonnie has drawn a picture of the whole gang. There’s one present left under the tree, and it’s for Serena: her mother has sent her a stunning dress to wear in her upcoming performance!

Plot

As Ash, Serena, Clemont, and Bonnie walk into the streets of Coumarine City, they notice lots of people putting up decorations for some sort of festival. Ramos, who is passing by them on his Gogoat, tells the group how, every year, the people of Coumarine City hold a festival to celebrate the bonds between Trainers and their Pokémon by having the Trainers gather under an enormous tree, the Pledging Tree, at sunset and give special presents to their Pokémon. This tradition began with a legend of a man and his Pokémon traveling far and wide together before finally coming to stop at what would become Coumarine City, and planting a tree that eventually grew to become the Pledging Tree.

Ash and the others love the idea of the festival and decide to participate. As a result, he and Serena both leave to go find suitable gifts for their Pokémon. Clemont and Bonnie stay at the Pokémon Center, because Clemont would rather build a gift for his Pokémon himself and Bonnie assumes the duty of keeping watch over everyone's Pokémon while Ash and Serena are out shopping. Being alone with Ash makes Serena uncomfortable, as it reminds her of a date, but she and Ash have fun all the same. Team Rocket overhears this conversation and plans on stealing all the presents and Pokémon. Meanwhile, Ash has a tendency to take notice of the most ludicrous or impractical gifts, leaving it to Serena to point out why they wouldn't work. While Serena is looking in the displays of more shops, Ash decides to leave and find a present for his Pokémon himself, promising to meet up with Serena at the monorail station later. Meanwhile, Bonnie is having a hard time keeping the Pokémon under control. While trying to have the Pokémon line up so she can brush them, she realizes that Goomy needs water, has to tell Bunnelby and Hawlucha to listen to her, and tries to break up yet another squabble between Pancham and Chespin.

Later that afternoon, Ash and Serena meet each other at the monorail station as they promised. Serena has found presents for Fennekin and Pancham, but Ash has had no such luck and is worried that he won't be able to find the right gift for his Pokémon. As he enters the monorail station ahead of Serena, however, Ash is suddenly approached by workers at the station and congratulated for being the millionth visitor to the monorail, being given a long blue ribbon as a prize. On the ride back, Ash confides to Serena his difficulties in finding a present, and she asks him what he would want as a gift, because all of his Pokémon are similar to him. Thinking about her words, Ash has a stroke of inspiration for a gift and runs to the woods outside Coumarine City, searching for his gift to his Pokémon. While searching, he sees a Dunsparce and decides to catch it, but is unable to because he has no Poké Balls with him. Despite this disappointment, Ash quickly refocuses his attention back to the task at hand.

When Serena arrives back at the Pokémon Center, she sits down at the table Clemont is working at and the two of them work on their presents while Bonnie decides to give all of the Pokémon a present herself by drawing a portrait of all of them. Finally, the presents are finished and Ash runs up to them outside the Pokémon Center, holding a huge sack over his shoulder. The group all heads up to the Pledging Tree, where they place their presents underneath it. Just as Ramos begins the ceremony, however, a huge vacuum begins taking away all of the presents. Frogadier, being the quickest to react, aims a Water Pulse at the source of the vacuum and causes Team Rocket to fall out of the tree. The heroes are shocked to see Team Rocket and demands them to give back everyone's presents, but the crooks refuse and starts using the vacuum to suck up the Pokémon. Thinking fast, Ash tells Pikachu to use Iron Tail to cut the vacuum's hose, stopping it. Enraged, Jessie sends out Pumpkaboo to use Shadow Ball, but it gets blocked by Frogadier's Water Pulse. James sends out Inkay to use Psybeam, but Bunnelby blocks it with Mud Shot. Fennekin, Pikachu and Chespin use Flamethrower, Thunderbolt and Pin Missile, blasting off Team Rocket.

With all the presents returned safely to the Pokémon, the ceremony begins and everybody begins exchanging gifts. Serena gives Fennekin and Pancham a pink ribbon and special sunglasses, respectively; Clemont shows Chespin, Bunnelby, and Luxio the music box he made for them; Bonnie shows everybody her drawing, and Ash gives all of his Pokémon a huge pile of Berries and tells them to dig in. Meanwhile, Jessie and James both give presents to their Pokémon, including Meowth, and Nurse Joy presents her Wigglytuff with a gift as well.

At the end of the ceremony, Serena notices one package left under the Pledging Tree. It is labeled for her, so she opens it to find a beautiful dress for her to wear at the Pokémon Showcase. Nurse Joy tells her how it had been sent to the Pokémon Center to be given to Serena as a surprise gift from her mother, and back at the Pokémon Center, Serena calls her mother to thank her for the wonderful dress. The festival is closed with a display of fireworks behind the Pledging Tree, and Ash gives Serena the ribbon he won at the monorail in thanks for her help in choosing a present for his Pokémon. Serena thanks him and promises to treasure the ribbon.

Major events

• Ash wants to catch a Dunsparce again, but is unable to, since he has no Poké Balls on hand.
• Serena receives a blue ribbon as a gift from Ash.

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

Characters

Humans

Pokémon Quiz

• Ash
• Serena
• Clemont
• Bonnie
• Jessie
• James
• Nurse Joy
• Ramos
• Grace

Pokémon

Who's That Pokémon?

Who's That Pokémon?: Dunsparce (US and international)
Pokémon Quiz: Dunsparce (Japan)

• Pikachu (Ash's)
• Meowth (Team Rocket)
• Wobbuffet (Jessie's)
• Dedenne (Clemont's)
• Frogadier (Ash's)
• Fletchinder (Ash's)
• Hawlucha (Ash's)
• Goomy (Ash's)
• Fennekin (Serena's)
• Pancham (Serena's)
• Bunnelby (Clemont's)
• Chespin (Clemont's)
• Luxio (Clemont's)
• Pumpkaboo (Jessie's; Super Size)
• Inkay (James's)
• Wigglytuff (Nurse Joy's)
• Gogoat (Ramos's)
• Victreebel (Trainer's)
• Foongus (Trainer's)
• Jumpluff (Trainer's)
• Skiploom (Trainer's)
• Hoppip (Trainer's)
• Budew (Trainers'; multiple)
• Roselia (Trainer's)
• Roserade (Trainer's)
• Oddish (Trainer's)
• Gloom (Trainer's)
• Vileplume (Trainer's)
• Bellsprout (Trainer's)
• Weepinbell (Trainer's)
• Simisage (Trainer's)
• Lotad (Trainer's)
• Pansage (Trainer's)
• Lombre (Trainer's)
• Skiddo (fantasy)
• Dunsparce

Trivia

The title card segment focuses on Serena for this episode

• In the Japanese version, the title card segment focuses on Serena and is read by Clemont.
• Professor Oak's Pokémon Holo Caster: Blaziken
• Serena narrates the preview for the next episode.
  • At the end of the preview, Serena says "Everyone, get and make your dreams come true!" instead of saying "Everyone, get Pokémon!" like Ash always does.
• The market vendor offers Ash a Macho Brace, a Rocky Helmet, a substitute decoy doll, and a Sprinklotad.
  • As a result, this marks the first time a Substitute decoy has been seen in the anime, since the move itself works differently in it.
• Unlike The Path That Leads to Goodbye!, where it plays a similar role, Dunsparce's voice is dubbed in this episode.
• This episode marks the first appearance of a Gloom in the anime since its cameo in League Unleashed!, 209 episodes earlier.
• The theme that Clemont's music box plays is a music box version of a theme from the short Eevee & Friends, commonly used in the Japanese version of Pokémon the Series: XY.

Dub edits

• Ash reads the title card instead of Clemont.
  • In the Finnish and Polish dubs, Clemont reads the title card.
• The Polish dub's title card focuses on Ash instead of Serena.

In other languages

Language		Title
Chinese	Cantonese	小智與賽莉娜首次約會！？誓約之樹與禮物！！
	Mandarin	小智與莎莉娜首次約會！？誓約之樹與禮物！！
Danish		Under troskabstræet!
Dutch		Onder de boom der belofte!
Finnish		Valapuun alla!
European French		Sous l'Arbre de l'Engagement !
German		Geschenke, die von Herzen kommen!
Greek		Κάτω απο το Δέντρο της Υπόσχεσης!
Hebrew		!מתחת לעץ השבועה
Italian		Sotto l'Albero dell'Amicizia!
Korean		지우와 세레나의 첫 데이트!? 맹세의 나무와 선물!!
Norwegian		Under troskapstreet!
Polish		Pod Drzewem Przyrzeczeń!
Portuguese	Brazil	Sob a Árvore do Juramento!
	Portugal	Debaixo da Árvore do Juramento!
Russian		Под Древом Преданности!
Spanish	Latin America	¡Bajo el Árbol de la Promesa!
	Spain	¡Bajo el Árbol de la Promesa!
Swedish		Under löftenas träd!
Thai		การเดทครั้งแรกของซาโตชิกับเซเรน่า!? ต้นไม้แห่งคำสาบานและของขวัญ!!
Turkish		Bağlılık Ağacın Altında!

← XY058 : The Green, Green Grass Types of Home!

Pokémon the Series: XY

XY060 : A Showcase Debut! →

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