Pokémon S1E7: “The Water Flowers of Cerulean City” Review

“The Water Flowers of Cerulean City” is another strong early episode, and after the foreshadowing at the end of the previous episode, we finally learn exactly why Misty was so unhappy about traveling to Cerulean City.

I love watching Misty’s mood change as they approach the city. She becomes increasingly uncomfortable with the idea of going there and even tries to convince Ash and Brock to go somewhere else instead. Of course, Ash wants his next Gym Badge, so Cerulean City it is.

Brock also mysteriously disappears early in the episode, saying there’s something he wants to check out. I initially wondered whether I’d missed something because we don’t see him again until near the end. Apparently, I didn’t. The episode simply never tells us what Brock was doing, and when Misty asks him about it, he avoids answering.

Once Ash reaches the Cerulean Gym, one of the things that immediately stands out is the Gym itself.

I really like its aquarium aesthetic. There’s a huge swimming pool, aquatic displays, and synchronized swimming performances for an audience. It makes the Cerulean Gym feel like an actual landmark within the city rather than simply another building where Trainers show up, battle somebody, collect a badge, and leave.

Ash meets the three Sensational Sisters, Daisy, Violet, and Lily, and discovers that they’re in charge of the Gym. They’ve already battled three other Trainers from Pallet Town and aren’t particularly interested in another fight, so they’re prepared to simply give Ash the Cascade Badge.

Ash refuses.

I really liked this moment. Ash wants the badge, but he doesn’t want one simply handed to him. After the unusual circumstances surrounding his Boulder Badge, he wants to actually earn this one.

That’s when we get the episode’s big reveal.

Misty appears and reveals that she’s the fourth Cerulean Gym Leader and the younger sister of Daisy, Violet, and Lily. Suddenly, all of her strange behavior on the journey into Cerulean City makes sense.

More importantly, we finally get Ash versus Misty.

Pikachu refuses to fight Misty because he considers her a friend, which leaves Ash without what would have been his biggest advantage against a Water-type Trainer. Instead, Ash battles using Butterfree and Pidgeotto against Misty’s Staryu and Starmie.

The battle also reinforces something I’ve noticed over the last few episodes: Misty really does know what she’s doing.

She isn’t simply following Ash around criticizing him. She’s a competent Pokémon Trainer with considerably more experience than Ash. Staryu defeats Butterfree, although Ash begins turning things around when Pidgeotto battles Starmie. Unfortunately, we never get to see how the fight would have ended because Team Rocket interrupts it.

Personally, I think Misty had the overall advantage.

Ash may have gained the upper hand immediately before the interruption, but Misty had stronger Pokémon and, at this stage in their journey, she simply seems to understand Pokémon battling better than Ash does.

Had Pikachu agreed to fight, things could have been very different. An Electric-type Pokémon against Misty’s Water Pokémon would have given Ash a substantial advantage. But Pikachu wasn’t interested in electrocuting his friend just so Ash could get a badge.

Then Team Rocket arrives with one of their wonderfully ridiculous schemes.

Jessie, James, and Meowth have stolen an enormous vacuum system and use it to suck the water and Pokémon out of the Cerulean Gym. It’s an ambitious plan by Team Rocket standards.

Unfortunately, they appear to have overlooked one tiny engineering problem.

There’s a Pikachu.

And they’re surrounded by water.

⚡

Pikachu unleashes Thunderbolt, Team Rocket’s plan spectacularly collapses, and Ash helps reverse the vacuum to save the Gym and its Pokémon.

With the Gym saved, Daisy awards Ash the Cascade Badge even though his battle against Misty never reached a conclusion.

I’m actually okay with Ash receiving the badge this way.

He didn’t earn it by defeating Misty, but unlike the sisters’ original offer to simply hand him a badge without doing anything, Ash genuinely earned their respect by helping save the Gym. The Cascade Badge therefore represents something other than a straightforward battle victory.

It’s interesting that Ash now has two Gym Badges without conclusively defeating either Gym Leader. Brock gave him the Boulder Badge after Ash demonstrated his character and compassion, while the Cascade Badge is awarded for defending the Cerulean Gym.

Ash’s badge collection may be unconventional, but he’s earning respect along the way.

Final Thoughts

“The Water Flowers of Cerulean City” is a very enjoyable episode and, more importantly, a great Misty episode.

The little hints about Misty’s discomfort around Cerulean City pay off with the revelation that she’s one of its Gym Leaders. We finally get to see Ash and Misty seriously battle one another, and the fight reinforces my impression that Misty is currently the more capable Trainer.

I also really liked the Cerulean Gym itself. Making it an aquarium and performance venue gives it considerably more personality than a simple battle arena.

Ash continues showing signs of growth as well. His refusal to accept a free badge demonstrates that he increasingly cares about actually earning his accomplishments, even though he ultimately receives the badge for something other than winning his Gym battle.

And Team Rocket gets a much better role this time, complete with an absurd giant-vacuum scheme whose designers apparently forgot that mixing Pikachu with a swimming pool is a spectacularly bad idea.

The Ash-versus-Misty battle may remain unresolved, but the episode tells us quite a bit about both characters anyway.

Ash now has his second badge, we’ve learned considerably more about Misty, and the journey continues.