Recap / Pokémon S1E68 "Make Room for Gloom"

Brock: That girl's more beautiful than any flower I've ever seen!
Ash: What are you talking about, Brock? I don't see any beautiful girl.
Misty (behind them): Just turn around.
Ash: Misty, please. Only one of us can hallucinate at a time.

Japanese Title: Kusaihana of the Botanical Garden

Original Airdate: October 29, 1998

US Airdate: October 4, 1999

The one where... Bulbasaur gets a girlfriend.

Back in Pallet Town, Ash and friends meet Florinda who works at the local nursery. She's afraid that her Gloom is not evolving into a Vileplume because she's not training it properly. When Team Rocket bursts in and attempts to steal Gloom, everyone sees just how strong a Pokémon can become—through love.

This episode contains examples of the following tropes:

• Achievements in Ignorance: Florinda taught her Gloom Solarbeam because she saw it in a Pokémon Trainer magazine because it seemed like a good idea. She had no idea how good of an idea it was.
• Ash Face: When Pikachu is woken by Mr. Mime's sweeping, it lets out a massive thunderbolt that leaves Ash charred black.
• Catchphrase Interruptus: James strays away from the motto to talk about his hair.
• The Dog Bites Back: After being captured by Team Rocket, Pikachu literally bites Jessie's hand so that he can escape.
• Heroic Self-Deprecation: Florinda has a very low opinion on her capabilities as a Pokémon Trainer and as the nursery's owner. It takes Brock's encouragement for her confidence to get a major boost.
• Interspecies Romance: Ash's Bulbasaur develops feelings for Florinda's Gloom. This may also overlap with Rescue Romance as Gloom ended up saving Bulbasaur.^note Though they are both in the Grass egg group. A good number of egg moves can go either way in the pairing.
• Lost in Translation: In the original Japanese version, the script makes a few puns based on Gloom's Japanese name (Kusaihana), including one where Misty mishearing Ash at one point and thought he call her "kusai" (stinky in Japanese). Obviously, 4Kids couldn't keep the puns intact due to said Pokémon's English name and the context for that particular scene makes less sense.
• Meaningful Name: The owner of a plant nursery named Florinda and a botanist named Potter is pretty fitting.
• Self-Duplication: Gloom's double-team attack.
• You Just Had to Say It: As part of the gag with the Page Quote, Ash sees Florinda's Gloom, and thinks Brock is going crazy about that. Part of his lines is misunderstood by Misty, and she grabs him by the face like how Jessie did to Meowth in "Holy Matrimony".
  Ash (to Brock): You're getting misty over Gloom?
  Misty (grabbing and stretching Ash's lips): What are you saying about me?
  Ash: I wasn't talking about you!
  Misty: What's a matter? I thought you liked being Mr. Big Mouth!

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