EP068: Difference between revisions

Back home at [[Pallet Town]], {{an|Brock}} is up making breakfast as {{Ash}} is awakened by a combination of [[Mimey]] sweeping over his head and {{AP|Pikachu}} shocking him awake when Mimey does the same to Pikachu. This awakens {{an|Misty}}, who was sleeping in Ash's bunk. Later, during breakfast, {{Delia}} asks her son to help out with her garden (as he does not appear to be training for the [[Pokémon League]]), but the thought of that reminds him of some "serious training" that he needs to do in the mountains - something that is news to Misty. Ash tries to push Misty and Brock out the door as quickly as possible, telling them aside that laboring in the family garden would leave him too tired to train; at last, they run off when Delia tells them to get three-to-four hundred pounds of fertilizer from the [[Xanadu Nursery]].

After running away, they take a rest. They encounter a greenhouse, which Ash tells Misty and Brock is the Xanadu Nursery, a childhood stomping ground. He recalls that the owner had moved away when he was a child and he does not know the new owner. When Brock peers inside and finds an attractive woman, all Ash sees is a {{p|Gloom}}, making Misty believe both are hallucinating. They are interrupted by a gardener who wields a watering device that resembles a flamethrower.

Introducing himself as [[Potter]], he describes the Xanadu Nursery as a place which attracts {{type|Grass}} {{OBP|Pokémon|species}}. On hearing this, Ash sends {{AP|Bulbasaur}} out to enjoy the place, as Brock inquires about the girl that he saw: he learns that she is named [[Florinda Showers|Florinda]] and is the new owner of the Xanadu Nursery. Just then, Bulbasaur sniffs a bunch of Stun Stem, a plant which produces pollen that can paralyze, much like {{m|Stun Spore}}, which knocks it out cold. Florinda and Gloom appear, and Florinda advises Ash to take Bulbasaur with her for treatment. Thanks to Gloom (who has developed an immunity to Stun Stem by being exposed to it for so long), Bulbasaur recovers. As the two Grass Pokémon play, Brock and Florinda talk privately.

Florinda inherited the Xanadu Nursery (run by her family for generations), but she does not feel confident in her abilities because she is not able to make Gloom [[Evolution|evolve]], even with the help of a [[Leaf Stone]]. It is apparently not because of love, as Gloom is almost never gloomy. Just then, {{an|Professor Oak}} appears, revealing the Leaf Stone that Florinda has purchased to be a fake. As everyone tries to help Florinda cope with the situation, Florinda describes the three people who sold them the false Leaf Stone: {{TRT}}.

Meanwhile, Team Rocket themselves are at the nursery, looking for the right Pokémon to steal. After encountering the Stun Stem, they decide to harvest it instead, as it could help them. Back upstairs, Brock swears to Florinda that he will find a real Leaf Stone, but Ash dissuades him, reminding him that Leaf Stones are hard to come by. Brock instead swears to Florinda that he will find Team Rocket and bring justice, but Ash also points out that usually Team Rocket find them first. As if on cue, alarms sound, as Potter learns that plants are being stolen from the nursery. Sure enough, they discover Team Rocket. Though Bulbasaur manages to tie up the thieves, {{MTR}}, though he is a bit late, unleashes a bomb made of the stolen Stun Stem to incapacitate nearly everyone. With Florinda (who evaded the Stun Stem) and Gloom the only able-bodied defenders left, Brock urges Florinda to attack, as Team Rocket manages to steal the incapacitated Pikachu. Jessie and James send {{TP|Jessie|Arbok}} and {{TP|James|Weezing}} to deal with Gloom and Florinda is surprised at Gloom's battling ability when it uses {{m|Double Team}} to get Arbok and Weezing to hit each other. Meanwhile, Pikachu manages to bite Jessie's arm, and frees itself, landing behind Bulbasaur, as Brock continues to coach Florinda, telling her that Team Rocket is now open to a more powerful attack. Though Florinda is not confident that {{m|Solar Beam}} will do the trick, Gloom sends Team Rocket flying with it.

Later, after everyone has been treated, Florinda thanks Brock, noting that Gloom is strong as it is, and that it does not need to evolve. Florinda states that now she has the confidence to run the nursery with a special someone, which causes Brock to fall over. But when he recovers from fantasizing, he finds that Florinda has already proposed to Potter, and that they plan to run the nursery together. Brock feeling rejected, Ash tries to console him, telling him that he will meet more women who will reject him. As Ash heads back to town with his friends, he is reminded that he has spent a day not training for the Pokémon League.