Here Comes The Squirtle Squad – EP012

Last time: Ash added a Charmander to his Bulbasaur. What could possibly comes next?

I had no memory of Ash catching the three Kanto starters in three straight episodes. Ash really filled out his team fast.

Squirtle is the coolest. It leads a a gang of miscreant Squirtles on the run from the law due to their anti-social behaviour. And it has sunglasses. I’m not normally one for promoting a lack of decency and civility but here we are. Squirtle is clearly the charismatic leader I’ve been waiting for.

The Squirtle Squad is also apparently an elite kidnapping group. They really do a number on Ash and company in this episode. A group of five Squirtles manage to take out three humans and all their Pokémon in short order. A battalion of stout badass turtles they are. I am apparently Yoda now. 

They are also remarkably dumb apparently – having been manipulated by Team Rocket to do their bidding. Ash of course manages to purify the Squirtle Squad with his earnest stupidity and stubbornness and somehow turns that band of problematic Pokés into the town heroes and firefighting team. 

What would this world do if Ash didn’t randomly keep walking in on crises?

Stray Observations

– Who’s that Pokémon? I wonder who that little squirt is? 

– What’s with holes in this universe? Team Rocket is obsessed with the hole trap. Melanie used holes to protect the Hidden Village while in this episode the Squirtle Squad traps Ash and company in a hole. It’s like the idea of holes was just invented and everybody thinks

– Team Rocket certainly take a turn in this episode. They go from petty comical criminals to robbing a store with a rocket launcher and dropping literal bombs on Ash. They weren’t messing around here. And they still failed…