Melanie’s Murder Cabin: Episode 10 - “Bulbasaur and the Hidden Village”
Welcome back, Pokemon trainers, to another deep dive into the world of the Pokemon anime! Today, we are reviewing episode 10, "Bulbasaur and the Hidden Village" (known in Japan as Bulbasaur of the Hidden Village). This episode originally aired in Japan on June 3, 1997, and made its way to the United States on September 21, 1998. After a couple of questionable, filler-heavy episodes, Tyler declared this one a much-needed "breath of fresh air," packed with great moments and absent of the weird moral messaging from the last two outings.
Lost in the Woods
The episode opens with Ash, Misty, and Brock wandering aimlessly through a dense forest. The ever-present, omniscient Narrator chimes in to explain that Ash doesn't have a compass and must rely entirely on his instincts, which, as the Narrator bluntly puts it, means trouble.
Tyler: "I could not agree more with that statement, mister Narrator. You are absolutely correct in that. There is no way that this ends well."
Jeff agreed, pointing out that at least the Narrator is fully aware of how incompetent Ash truly is. In fact, Tyler has come to view the Narrator as a guiding force, almost like a third presenter on the podcast. This led Jeff to concoct a hilarious—and slightly disturbing—theory: What if the Narrator is actually Ash's absent father?
Jeff: "What if the narrator is actually Ash's father and he's just been following them around? He just hides in the woods and behind trees and he's just following them, which makes him kind of a horrible father since Ash hasn't seen him in who knows how long."
Horrible? Yes. But as Tyler joked, still arguably more responsible than Ash's mother!
As the trio continues, Ash confidently claims that the direction they are heading will lead them right back to the path. Misty, entirely fed up with Ash's lack of direction, calls him out. Ash stubbornly insists they aren't lost, prompting Misty to deliver the textbook definition of the word: "Listen, genius, if you don't know where you are or where you're going, that means you're lost." Brock steps in to play peacemaker, and the exhausted group decides to take a much-needed break by a pond.
An Odd-Ish Encounter
During their break, Ash spots an adorable Oddish wandering nearby. Ever the eager (and impulsive) trainer, Ash pulls out his trusty Pokedex to learn that Oddish scatters pollen as it walks. Overjoyed at the prospect of catching a new Pokemon, Ash prepares to throw a Pokeball, but Misty intercepts him.
Misty claims that she should be the one to catch the Oddish because it is standing near the water, and water Pokemon are her specialty. Jeff was quick to call out Misty's incredibly flawed logic on the podcast.
Jeff: "I don't think that's how it works, Misty. Ash saw it first. You can't just call your shots because it's near water. And that's why you could call any Pokemon and go, 'it drinks water, so that means I get to take it.'"
Despite the shaky reasoning, Misty sends out her Starmie, who hits Oddish with a Water Gun and follows up with a Tackle, leaving the little grass-type weakened and ready for capture. Misty throws her Pokeball, but before it can connect, a green blur leaps from the bushes and knocks the Pokeball away. It is a legendary entrance by none other than the number one Pokemon in the Pokedex: Bulbasaur!
Tyler was thrilled to see the iconic starter, likening it to seeing an old friend. The Pokedex explains that scientists are baffled by Bulbasaur, unable to agree on whether it is a plant or an animal, and notes that they are incredibly difficult to catch in the wild.
Bulbasaur wastes no time. It immediately tackles Starmie, knocking the starfish Pokemon out cold. Ash steps up to the plate and sends out Butterfree to use Sleep Powder. In a stunning display of power, Bulbasaur literally blows the Sleep Powder right back into Butterfree's face, putting Ash's bug-type to sleep before tackling it into submission. With both challengers defeated, Bulbasaur scoops up the Oddish and runs away into the forest.
Ash, completely devastated that things didn't go his way, throws a classic temper tantrum, whining that it "isn't fair" and that he wants the Bulbasaur.
Tyler: "Ash is so whiny sometimes, and this is one of those times that show he must have been really spoiled as a kid because anytime something doesn't go Ash's way, he literally throws a little tantrum like this. I'm just throwing that out there."
Jeff diagnosed Ash with "only child syndrome," noting that his mother let him sleep in on the most important day of his life, likely letting him get away with whatever he wanted growing up.
Bridging the Gap
Determined to track down the mysterious Bulbasaur, the party follows its trail until they arrive at a massive, rickety wooden rope bridge spanning a deep ravine. It’s the kind of bridge straight out of Indiana Jones, and as any seasoned television watcher knows, a bridge like this is destined to break.
This scene sparked some hilarious childhood memories for our hosts. Jeff recalled a local "swinging bridge" his dad would take him to, maliciously shaking it back and forth to terrify young Jeff. Tyler, on the other hand, admitted he was the kid doing the shaking! He reminisced about visiting the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha, Nebraska, running ahead of his parents to jump on their indoor rainforest rope bridge, shaking it with all his might in a misguided attempt to bring the whole thing down.
Predictably, as the anime trio crosses the bridge, the ropes snap. The bridge collapses, slamming against the cliff face. Brock loses his grip and plummets into the rushing river below. Misty is left dangling, holding onto Ash for dear life. Ash musters an incredible, superhuman amount of strength and manages to pull both himself and Misty up to safety.
Tyler: "I would have been screwed in this situation. There is no way I could do a single pull-up even with my own body weight. Like I haven't tried to do a pull-up probably since high school, during those presidential fitness tests. Couldn't do one then, probably can't do one now. And with Misty hanging on to me, I'd have to kick her off, Jeff. Just throwing that out there."
Interestingly, this intense scene features a notable difference between the English dub and the original Japanese version. In English, Misty is encouraging Ash to hang on. But in the original Japanese, Ash complains that Misty is too heavy, and Misty begins screaming at him for implying that she is fat! This perfectly explains the visual anime "yelling symbols" coming out of Misty's mouth, which seem a bit out of place for simple encouragement.
Having survived the bridge collapse, Ash and Misty rush down the ravine to look for Brock. Almost immediately, Misty falls into a hidden pit trap. When Ash asks how she got down there, she delivers the brilliant, deadpan response: "I fell, you idiot."
After helping her out, they continue their search, only to step on a snare trap that violently yanks them, along with Pikachu, up into a tree inside a net. As they hang there helplessly, the Bulbasaur from earlier emerges from the bushes, stares at them in silence, and casually walks away. Ash tries to call it back, but the Bulbasaur ignores him.
Jeff highlighted yet another wild difference in the Japanese translation here.
Jeff: "This part again was another section where it was different in Japanese because as Ash is trying to escape the net he starts shaking it and—and I love this—Misty tells him to stop shaking it because it's leading him to touch her in inappropriate places."
It's easy to see why the US dub decided to scrub that line from the script!
As Ash and Misty dangle in the tree, Ash wonders what happened to Brock, theorizing that he was captured by pirates with wooden legs. In the Japanese version, Ash's theory is even weirder: he guesses Brock was picked up by an ugly old hag washing clothes in the river. Suddenly, Brock appears and effortlessly slices the net, dropping Ash and Misty to the ground with a hard thud, offering absolutely no warning or bracing. Brock's lack of concern for his friends' spinal health aside, he explains that he was saved from the rapids by an incredibly beautiful woman.
A Killer Sanctuary
Brock leads Ash and Misty to a picturesque cabin in the woods, where they are introduced to his savior: Melanie. Melanie seems incredibly sweet and runs a sanctuary for abandoned and injured Pokemon. The area is filled with happy Pokemon relaxing and recovering. Brock explains that Melanie collects herbs and plants to heal the injured creatures. Misty teases Brock about having a crush on Melanie, which causes Brock to blush furiously—a strange reaction for a guy who has confidently hit on every Officer Jenny and schoolgirl he's met so far!
However, the wholesome facade of Melanie's Pokemon Spa quickly crumbles when the podcast hosts start dissecting her methods. Melanie casually apologizes to the group, revealing that she is the one who set up the traps in the forest to keep Pokemon trainers away from her hidden village.
This revelation sent Tyler down a dark, hilarious rabbit hole.
Tyler: "My theory is that her cabin is actually a murder cabin. A murder cabin, Jeff. She seems all nice, sweet, and innocent and all that stuff, but like, you gotta wonder. This is a hidden, secret thing. In the Pokemon universe, they have advanced technology... you gotta think if somebody had found this thing before, people would know about it. They'd be able to look it up. The internet did exist at this time, but they don't, which leads me to believe that every Pokemon trainer that has been down that trail heading towards the village has suddenly and inexplicably disappeared."
Think about it: she sets up pit traps, nets, and collapses a massive bridge over a deadly ravine. The bridge trap alone could easily kill someone. What happens to the trainers who fall into these traps? She can't just let them go, or they would reveal the location of the secret village. Jeff even joked about a Sweeney Todd scenario, wondering exactly what was in the Pokemon food Melanie was handing out.
An Inflated Ego
Back at the (potentially murderous) hidden village, the peace is shattered by the arrival of Team Rocket. After enduring three pit traps and a net trap of their own, Jessie, James, and Meowth finally arrive in a bizarre contraption they refer to as a "floating stadium."
Tyler: "They call it a floating stadium anyway, but it is basically this big floaty thing with like balloons attached to it and they're floating around through the sky. They do the little poem and say that they're going to attack the village. They explain that they are idiots for thinking that traps would stop them. If they had this floating object the whole time, why are they just now using it?"
It certainly would have saved them from falling into multiple holes!
Team Rocket drops from the sky and deploys a massive vacuum tube to suck up all the recovering Pokemon. As the vacuum targets the little Oddish, Bulbasaur leaps into action, wrapping its vines around Oddish and fighting against the intense suction. In a rare display of bravery and physical competence, Ash runs out of the cabin and physically helps push Bulbasaur and Oddish to safety.
With all the Pokemon safely inside the cabin, Team Rocket thinks they have won, believing all the targets are now in one convenient location. But Bulbasaur isn't finished. The brave grass-type leaps onto the roof of the cabin and violently whips the vacuum tube away with its Vine Whip. Seizing the opening, Ash sends out Pidgeotto, commanding it to use Gust. Pidgeotto whips up a massive tornado that catches the floating stadium, sending Team Rocket spinning helplessly off into the sky.
During their airborne exit, the English dub features Team Rocket making baseball puns. However, Jeff shared a fantastic trivia nugget: in the original Japanese broadcast, James actually references Hideo Nomo, a real-life Japanese baseball player who was pitching for the Los Angeles Dodgers at the time! This reference sparked a meta-conversation between the hosts about whether the real world exists within the Pokemon universe, and if the characters are somehow aware of us watching them.
Leader of the Stalk
With Team Rocket defeated, Ash praises Bulbasaur's bravery. Suddenly, Melanie decides that Bulbasaur has done too good of a job protecting the village. The village has become too safe, and the Pokemon are becoming complacent, refusing to leave and return to the wild. Because of this, Melanie insists that Bulbasaur must leave with Ash.
This drastic decision brought Tyler and Jeff right back to their dark theories. Tyler shifted the blame from Melanie to Bulbasaur, suggesting that Bulbasaur is actually a psychopathic cult leader holding Melanie hostage.
Tyler: "I'm kind of starting to think that Melanie was almost like—she was like—not necessarily complacent, like almost like a hostage type of thing. Like Bulbasaur just rolled into shop, is like, these are the rules now. She's like, 'Okay, just let me take care of the Pokemon, please.' And then as soon as she had a chance to get rid of him, she took it."
It makes total sense! Melanie, terrified of this violent, dominant Bulbasaur, sees Ash—a clueless, incompetent trainer—as her one ticket to freedom. She dumps the cult-leader Bulbasaur onto Ash, hoping they wander off and she never has to deal with the grass-type menace again.
Bulbasaur agrees to go with Ash, but only if Ash can defeat it in a one-on-one battle. Ash accepts the challenge and sends out... Pikachu.
Once again, Ash's fundamental lack of Pokemon knowledge is on full display. Electric-type attacks are notoriously ineffective against Grass-type Pokemon. Ash literally has a Flying-type Pidgeotto sitting in its Pokeball, which would have a massive advantage, but he opts for his electric mouse instead.
Pikachu charges in with a tackle, but Bulbasaur quickly grabs Pikachu with its vines and violently slams him into the dirt repeatedly. Despite the brutal beating, Pikachu manages to charge up and unleash a powerful Thunderbolt. Against all logical type matchups, the Thunderbolt is super effective, knocking Bulbasaur out cold. Ash throws his Pokeball, we get the dramatic, intense "wibble-wobble," and finally, the satisfying click. Ash has officially caught Bulbasaur!
Before the group departs, Brock shoots his shot one last time, offering to stay behind at the cabin to help Melanie take care of the village. Melanie politely but firmly rejects his offer, telling Brock that she doesn't want him to give up on his grand adventures. It's a surprisingly mature letdown compared to his previous rejections, though Misty still takes the opportunity to relentlessly tease him as they walk away.
As the trio marches on towards Vermilion City, the Narrator returns, hoping the group stays on the path and avoids any more of Ash's "shortcuts."
Overall, this episode was a massive step up from the previous filler arcs. It provided us with a fantastic new Pokemon capture, a beautiful (if highly suspicious) hidden village, and enough hilarious dialogue to keep us wildly entertained.
As our heroes continue their trek through the dense forest, their team is growing stronger, but their navigation skills remain questionable at best. With Bulbasaur now officially on the roster, the journey to Vermilion City is shaping up to be more exciting than ever, though they will first have to survive a heavy downpour and cross paths next week with a lonely Charmander - The Stray Pokemon who just wants a warm place to belong.
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