Bulbasaur (episode)

Bulbasaur is the first episode of the first season of Pokémon Tricolor. It is the first episode if the entire series.

Summary
Leo Maxwell is a teenage boy whose life changes forever when he is announced as one of the lucky youths chosen to receive a Pokémon and PokéDex from Professor Daffodil. Unfortunately, things don’t go as Leo would hope.

Plot
A female voice narrates the beginning of the episode, giving a brief speech about the life of a Pokémon Trainer as the camera slowly moves past silhouettes of the Gym Leaders, Elite 4, and main characters. At the end of the speech, part of the background is opened up by an orange haired woman. The camera zooms in and the kitchen area of the Maxwell household is shown. The woman calls out for her son, Leo, and then the opening plays.

When the opening and title cards are over, Leo is woken up by his mother’s shouting. He calls back out to her, announcing that he is awake. Leo takes his sweet time with his morning routine. He walks into the living room, securing his small ponytail with a purple scrunchie. His mother scolds him for taking so long to get ready, and she reminds him what the occasion is: he’s getting his first Pokémon! Leo is silent for a few seconds before realizing his blunder and scolding his mother for not reminding him sooner as he runs up the stairs to put shoes on and gather up his things. As he does so, his mother gets onto him once again for being so late that his sister couldn’t even see him off. Leo feels guilty for a second, but not before he remembers that he needs to catch the next bus to Pallet Town.

Leo runs to the bus stop and waits for hours as the bus fails to show up on time. Just as he is considering going home and forgetting about the whole trainer thing, the bus finally shows up. Leo gets on board, and a montage of him alone on the bus as the hours of the trip pass is shown. When he finally arrives in Pallet Town, it’s evening. Leo gets off the bus and gets lost trying to find the laboratory, which slows him down even more. He finally arrives at the lab, out of breath. When he arrives, Daffodil gives a speech about Leo’s task as a Dex Holder, and shows off his Slowpoke. Leo looks over at the table where all the PokéBalls should be.

Bulbasaur is the only option left. The small grass Pokémon examines Leo as he walks in. Leo sulks about how Bulbasaur is the "unlucky” one by tradition and that it will make his journey harder. As the Bulbasaur begins to look sad itself, Leo announces that he loves a good challenge, and the episode ends with Bulbasaur smiling at Leo’s acceptance of him.

Major Events

 * The story begins.
 * Leo travels to Pallet Town.
 * Leo accepts Bulbasaur as his partner.

Character Debuts

 * Leo Maxwell
 * Leo’s mother
 * Leo’s sister (mentioned)
 * Professor Daffodil
 * Daffodil’s Slowpoke
 * Leo’s Bulbasaur

Trivia

 * The airdate coincides with Leo’s birthday. (It was decided Leo’s birthday would be January 9th when the episode page was being made)