A Watered-Down Victory: Episode 7 – "The Water Flowers of Cerulean City"

Welcome back to the official written home of The Pokémon Snapshot! If you are wondering how Ash Ketchum has managed to survive this long in the wild without any adult supervision, you are definitely not alone. As we dive into Episode 7 of the Pokémon anime, "The Water Flowers of Cerulean City," Tyler and Jeff are still honestly shocked that the podcast—and Ash—haven't crashed and burned yet.

Before we jump into the action-packed Cerulean City Gym battle, we have to address a fantastic Twitter comment from one of our listeners, William Walton, who pointed out a glaring issue with the Pokémon universe's social infrastructure:

Tyler: "He tweeted at us: 'I assume Child Protective Services doesn't exist in the universe. A 10-year-old being able to travel anywhere alone and a 12-year-old being the sole caregiver for his nine younger siblings. Perfectly normal situations.'"

Jeff: "Yeah, and I always wonder, like, is it just Pallet Town who sends their 10-year-olds off?"

It is a valid point. There is absolutely no way Kanto has a functioning Child Protective Services department. But questionable parenting aside, it is time to hit the road to Cerulean City. Let's break down Episode 7!

Clueless in Kanto

Our episode begins on a bright, sunny trail. Ash Ketchum, blissfully unaware of his own incompetence, stretches his arms and declares that it is a great day to enjoy the sunshine. Brock, however, immediately chooses violence. He bursts Ash's bubble by casually mentioning that while Ash is enjoying the sunshine, his rival Gary Oak is actually out catching Pokémon.

Tyler: "Really Brock? Like, was that a necessary comment? Why you gotta do Ash like that? Why can't Ash just enjoy his day? I feel like he's had a tough run of things... and then you just have to remind him about his rival who's ahead of him on the trail and doing significantly better."

Jeff: "Yeah, Ash has not had the best of luck. We are seven episodes in, apparently two weeks into his journey. And I made the same comment. I said, man, Brock, that was savage."

While Ash recovers from that emotional damage, Misty is lagging far behind the group. When Ash proudly announces they are heading to Cerulean City for his next Gym Badge, Misty acts completely bewildered. She desperately tries to convince the boys to detour to Vermillion City instead, claiming that Cerulean City is full of terrifying Ghost Pokémon (while delivering an incredibly weak physical impression of a ghost).

Ah yes, the classic "we can't go there because it's haunted" excuse, complete with a highly unconvincing ghost impression.

Ash, displaying a rare moment of critical thinking, wonders why girls are so confusing. This prompts an incredibly relatable tangent on the podcast:

Tyler: "These two sitting down trying to determine what's up with girls and saying that they're confusing... kind of reminds me of Jeff and I in college. We were completely and 100% clueless, but it never stopped us from giving each other dating advice. The blind leading the blind. A tale as old as time."

Jeff: "We're both married now, so I guess our advice worked. I mean, we married girls with the same name. So maybe our advice was only good for people named Jessie?"

Trigger Happy Law Enforcement

The show quickly cuts to a mysterious nighttime scene where Team Rocket is creeping through the air ducts of a machine shop. They drop into a dark room and discover a massive, swimming-pool-sized vacuum cleaner. James gleefully declares that this machine is exactly what they need to steal more Pokémon.

Team Rocket executes a stealthy nighttime heist, only to steal... a gigantic, swimming-pool-sized vacuum cleaner.

Cutting back to the daytime, Ash and Pikachu stroll into Cerulean City. Ash is still pondering why Misty refused to follow them into town, completely ignoring her earlier admission that she was only following him because he owed her a new bicycle.

As they wander the streets, Ash and Brock spot a crowd gathered outside a building with a simple "Machine Shop" sign. Several police cars are parked out front. Ash casually walks up to ask what happened, which immediately triggers the wrath of the local law enforcement. The police officer, who looks exactly like the Officer Jenny from Viridian City, instantly accuses Ash of being the prime suspect in a break-in.

Officer Jenny completely flies off the handle, threatening to throw Ash in jail just for standing near a crowd.

Tyler: "What is it about Ash that keeps making police officers find him suspicious? He's literally just walking around minding his own business and twice now he's been accosted by police."

Jeff: "I just think that Officer Jenny must only receive the job due to her name and they do not receive any formal training."

Ash ignores the wild accusation and points out that she looks exactly like the motorcycle officer from Viridian City. Jenny explains that the Viridian officer is actually her sister-in-law. As Tyler quickly points out, this makes absolutely no logical sense. Even if they married each other's brothers, being sister-in-laws doesn't explain why they are identical clones!

Jenny completely flies off the handle, pulling out handcuffs and threatening to throw the boys in jail with zero evidence. Fortunately, Ash finally uses his brain and pulls out his Pokédex to scan his ID, clearing his name. Brock attempts to use his Pewter City Gym Badge as ID (which proves absolutely nothing), and then decides to shoot his shot with the aggressive officer.

Brock awkwardly asks her out, and Officer Jenny delivers an absolutely brutal rejection: she tells him she doesn't get off work until after his bedtime. Ouch.

The Sensational Slackers

Following his humiliating rejection, Brock abruptly announces he has to "go check out some stuff" and completely vanishes from the episode. It is a hilariously lazy writing excuse to get him out of the way for the upcoming battle.

Ash wanders off to find the Cerulean City Gym. When he steps inside, he doesn't find a traditional battlefield. Instead, he finds what looks like a massive indoor aquarium with a giant swimming pool. High above on a diving board, three girls, the Sensational Sisters, perform a synchronized diving and swimming routine to a cheering crowd.

Ash expects a fierce Kanto Gym battle, but instead walks into a flashy underwater show hosted by three stereotypical Valley Girls.

Ash is understandably confused, but the sisters formally introduce themselves as the Cerulean City Gym Leaders. In the English dub, they speak with incredibly thick, stereotypical "Valley Girl" accents, leaving Jeff to wonder exactly how that specific dialect translated in the original Japanese airing!

Ash confidently challenges them for the Cascade Badge, but the sisters completely deflate his excitement. They explain that they just got completely curb-stomped three times in a row by other trainers from Pallet Town (Gary Oak strikes again!). All of their Pokémon are exhausted, wounded, and currently resting. Instead of battling, they offer to just give Ash the badge for free so they can focus on "being more beautiful."

Proof that you don't actually need to win a Pokémon battle to become a Gym Badge collector; you just need to be in the right place at the right time.

Tyler: "Wow, these three are not very good since they just got their butt handed to them three times in a row and don't even have usable Pokemon. How are they even still the Gym Leaders at this point?"

Jeff: "Did you notice that the badge came right from a Seel's mouth? The Seel pops up and he just sticks out his tongue and the badge is sitting on his tongue. Badges are meant to be pinned into your jacket so he could have choked on that or stabbed himself and died."

As Ash reluctantly reaches out to accept the ultimate pity badge from the tongue of a choking hazard, a familiar voice rings out through the gym. Misty jumps down from the bleachers, ready to stop the madness.

Translation Troubles

Misty finally reveals her dark secret: she is the fourth Sensational Sister! However, her older siblings view her as the "runt" of the litter and relentlessly mock her. Misty had left Cerulean City vowing never to return until she was a great Pokémon Master, which perfectly explains why she was so desperate to avoid the town.

After her sisters deliver a few more brutal insults, claiming Ash is a terrible catch, but Misty is no prize herself, Misty declares that she will battle Ash to defend her family's Gym.

Misty’s big reveal: she isn't just a traveler, she’s the fourth Sensational Sister, and she’s not letting Ash get that badge without a fight.

The battlefield is revealed to be the massive swimming pool, dotted with floating platforms for the Pokémon to stand on. Ash, oozing with unearned confidence, tells Pikachu that this will be a piece of cake. But Pikachu, who actually really likes Misty, completely refuses to battle her. Ash is forced to audible and sends out his Butterfree, while Misty calls upon her Staryu.

As Staryu enters the arena, Ash scans it with his Pokédex. The Dex explains that the core of Staryu is a type of jewelry. Ash immediately drops a wildly sexist 90s comment: "Leave it to a girl to show off her jewelry." However, as Jeff revealed on the podcast, this scene was originally vastly different—and surprisingly progressive—in the Japanese broadcast:

Staryu takes center stage, using its aquatic agility to keep Ash's Butterfree on its toes.

Jeff: "In that version, the Pokédex says that Staryu is a hermaphrodite. And then Ash says, 'Man, that is strange.' And Misty comments that it shouldn't matter who someone falls in love with."

Tyler: "Whoa! I can definitely see why they cut that out of the US version back in the late 90s. I wish they would dub that in now. That would have been a way better comment."

Poolside Combat

With the banter out of the way, the battle finally begins. Butterfree swoops in and successfully lands a Tackle attack. Staryu counters with a Water Gun, but Butterfree expertly dodges the blasts.

Butterfree unleashes Stun Spore, causing Staryu visible pain. However, Misty uses the environment to her advantage, ordering Staryu to dive into the pool to wash the paralyzing powder off its body. Butterfree follows up with Sleep Powder, but Staryu plunges back into the water to avoid it.

Misty's strategy becomes abundantly clear: she needs to knock the flying bug into the pool. Staryu shoots out of the water like a missile, tackling Butterfree mid-air and sending it crashing into the drink. Butterfree is out for the count.

Ash recalls his bug and sends out Pidgeotto. For some inexplicable reason, Misty recalls her perfectly healthy Staryu and sends out Starmie instead. Pidgeotto immediately uses Whirlwind, forcing Starmie to retreat into the water. Starmie attempts the exact same missile-tackle maneuver from beneath the surface, but Pidgeotto easily counters with a Wing Attack, knocking the starfish back down. As Starmie launches a second time, Pidgeotto unleashes a powerful Gust, smashing Starmie brutally against the gym wall.

Pidgeotto proves too much for Starmie, sending the Water-type crashing into the gym wall just before Team Rocket crashes the party.

Starmie slides to the ground, its core flashing. Ash is mere seconds away from finishing the match and legitimately earning his badge fair and square.

A Sucky Situation

Just as Ash prepares to deliver the final blow, Team Rocket bursts through the wall driving the massive, swimming-pool-sized vacuum cleaner they stole from the machine shop!

They recite their iconic motto and gleefully explain their master plan: they are going to suck all the water out of the pool, thereby weakening the Water-type Pokémon, and suck up all the creatures in the process. The giant hose drops into the pool and creates a massive whirlpool.

Just when Ash is about to secure a legitimate victory, Team Rocket ruins the mood with their latest hardware store acquisition.

As the water drains, Meowth flips a switch and uses the vacuum's exhaust hose to spray water violently back at the heroes. The Pokémon are slowly being dragged into the nozzle. However, Team Rocket's flawless heist completely falls apart thanks to basic science.

Pikachu, who is currently swimming in the electrified pool water, is ordered by Ash to unleash a massive Thunderbolt. The electricity travels through the water stream directly into the metal vacuum, violently shocking Jessie, James, and Meowth. The blast hits them so hard that they launch through the ceiling, blasting off into the stratosphere.

Nothing proves that Team Rocket skipped science class quite like realizing—a second too late—that water conducts electricity extremely well.

(Podcast Trivia Note: This episode marks the final full appearance of Ted Lewis as the original voice of James! Lewis left the show to pursue a theater career and was temporarily replaced by Eric Stuart—who also voiced Brock. Stuart ultimately became the permanent voice for James for the next eight seasons, while Lewis later returned to voice Tracey Sketchit!)

A Seel of Approval

With Team Rocket blasted into orbit, the vacuum continues to suck up the helpless Pokémon. Ash sprints over to the machine and flips the reverse switch, safely spitting the Pokémon back out into the drained pool.

With the crisis averted, Misty immediately complains that their Gym battle was interrupted. Ash is visibly disappointed, realizing that his guaranteed victory was stolen from him. However, the Sensational Sisters approach Ash and hand him the Cascade Badge anyway, officially declaring him the winner because his Pikachu saved their Gym from destruction.

Tyler: "Now don't get me wrong, I feel that Ash getting this badge in this case is a little warranted. He clearly had Misty beat... But I have to wonder, is Ash ever going to just straight up win a badge or is he just going to get to the regional championships with just a bunch of victories like rolling from town to town causing destruction and getting badges as a fluke?"

Jeff: "So going forward, every gym battle will be kind of an ordeal when Ash shows up. Just to give a few hints, he sets a gym on fire, a gym has a volcano blow up while he's trying to fight..."

Ash accepts the pity badge, and the Sensational Sisters bid the group farewell, but not before reminding Misty that she will never be a star like them. (Seriously, they are terrible sisters).

As Ash and Misty walk out of the devastated gym, Brock suddenly comes jogging up to them. Ash excitedly holds out his newly "won" Cascade Badge and says, "Hey Brock-o, look at my new badge!"

Brock, who missed the entire battle, the vacuum heist, and the near-destruction of the facility, simply looks at the badge and flatly replies, "Cool, let's go." He completely brushes Ash off and starts walking down the trail.

As the sun sets on Cerulean City, the gang continues their journey—hopefully with significantly less property damage in the next town.

Misty gets furious that the boys are trying to leave her behind, and Ash teases her for being a sore loser. As the two begin to bicker like an old married couple, the camera pans up to a beautiful Cerulean City sunset, and the classic "To Be Continued" flashes across the screen.

As the episode wrapped up, both Jeff and Tyler agreed that this was a fantastic, action-packed installment. Jeff loved that there were absolutely no slow parts, praising how the episode perfectly balanced the vacuum heist, the Gym battle, and Team Rocket's explosive interruption. Tyler agreed, noting that the pacing kept you on the edge of your seat the entire time. Make sure you join Jeff and Tyler next week as Ash finally leaves Cerulean City behind and we walk down The Path to the Pokémon League.