Recap: The Breeding Center Secret

Hello everyone, and welcome to my final Kanto Pokémon recap. I thought about what I wanted to do it on for a while, and I ultimately decided to make it easy and recap the first season finale. So, let's open up "The Breeding Center Secret!"

We open with Todd Snap joining Ash, Brock and Misty on their way to Cinnabar Island; with Todd deciding to take some pictures of Togepi! Little side note: I am still working on my ranking of all the gym battles of the series, and I will definitely have it out before my retirement at the end of this year.

An advertisement appears after a weather report, for a "Five Star Breeding Center" that emphasizes "love power,"  but given how much I've seen in the 20-odd years I've been a fan and 6 years or so I've been writing about this series, I know there's an ulterior motive at hand.

Of course, Brock is enamored with the pretty girl running the center; and as I said in the last recap, it always amused me how many details about breeding they had to embellish before the mechanic was formally introduced in Generation II.

Misty decides to leave her Psyduck at the breeding center, with the lady at the desk comparing its eyes to ping-pong balls, to which Misty retorts that she wishes "she had a paddle." Interesting quip, given how Pokémon Ping-Pong is actually a sport in both Sinnoh and Alola. Not making that up at all.

Despite Ash snarking that it "would take a miracle" to fix how clueless Psyduck looks, Misty still decides to leave it behind at the breeding center. To think people are weirded out by the Detective Pikachu trailer.

After that, everyone is walking down the street when they come across a restaurant advertising; and I quote: "All U Can Eat Free." Still better marketing than that terrible "Millennial Monopoly." I prefer to be called a "child of the '90s," and would much rather finish paying off this Nintendo Switch I have on layaway so I can play the copy of Let's Go Pikachu I'm picking up.

The chef in charge of the restaurant says the buffet is indeed free on the condition they show him his favorite Pokémon, and wouldn't you know it, it happens to be the Psyduck they just dropped off!

Paint me like one of your girls from Kalos.

Upon hearing the restaurant will soon receive 50 gallons of ice cream, everyone doubles back to the center to find it closed! However, when they notice the door is unlocked, they realize something rotten is happening!

It turns out the breeding center is a front for a pair of Team Rocket operatives known as Cassidy and Butch, continuing the naming convention of naming them for famous criminals. They are actually much more competent than the usual operatives, but more on that in a moment.

As Todd starts taking pictures of the facility, they're nearly found out by Butch, but luckily, they're able to hide for the moment just as the usual gang of Jessie, James and Meowth comes in through the window! James gets excited, and when Meowth tells him to keep it quiet, he addresses him as "James Bond." Interestingly enough, this episode aired the same year that The World is Not Enough came out in theaters.

And no slappers or Odd Job! Goldeneye! Pierce Brosnan!

Just then, everyone is found out by Butch and Cassidy, and it starts off them being their own rivals to Jessie and James! Though I still disagree with Dogasu on some things, I do thank him for letting me know that Eric Stuart apparently based his performance off Harvey Firestein; though to me it always sounded more like Marge Simpson's sisters, Patty and Selma after years of chain-smoking.

"When we were kids, we were playing with bottle rockets, and one went up my nose: I permanently lost my sense of taste and smell." 

The next step is to escape from the compound, but not before James picks up his Weepinbell; which somehow has evolved into a Victreebel! I don't know if they had any Leaf Stones, but this ends up being the first of many Pokémon that show their affection towards James by trying to eat him (I especially like how his Mareanie does this in the Sun and Moon series).

Only Misty and Pikachu are able to successfully escape, and Butch and Cassidy are somehow able to convince Officer Jenny that they're the victims rather than the instigators, and she buys it! I mean, no guarantee to a trial by jury of peers? No legal counsel or writ of Habeas corpus as to why they're being held? No actually interrogating them to determine what really happened?

Tom Servo: What kind of SHITHOLE planet is this?!

However, Misty realizes that Todd has the evidence on his camera, and devises a plan to retrieve it so she can develop the film and clear her friends' names. She does so by having Pikachu slip in with the most '90s disguise she has on an already '90s outfit. 

She does ask for Psyduck back so it won't seem weird, but it's no weirder than how Detective Pikachu looks. I still submit if I can suspend disbelief for a movie about Paul Rudd as an Ant-Man and an afro-futuristic movie with a wholly African-American main cast, seeing Ryan Reynolds and Justice Smith solve mysteries should be a fun way to kill a couple hours. 

She's able to have the film developed and clear her friends, as well as out Butch and Cassidy as the real criminals! Though, she does hang Jessie and James out to dry. I am definitely going to enjoy fighting them again when I get Let's Go Pikachu, among other games on my prospective Switch.

Jenny, of course, is not happy she's been had; and everyone doubles back to the breeding center to raid the place!

While not quite as dark as other smuggling schemes they've had in the games, I rather like the battle that ensues in the fake breeding center; which leads to Butch and Cassidy's arrest and new recurring adversaries. So, we close on everyone binging on the free buffet and plenty of ice cream before Todd leaves everyone to take photographs, and everyone else heads back to Cinnabar Island! Tomorrow is the launch of #PokémonLetsGo!

As the first season finale and an episode to end my Kanto recaps, "The Breeding Center Secret" is a fun experience that I have enjoyed for many years, and an episode that I can credit with helping breakup my repeated viewings of "Primeape Goes Bananas." The animation is quite nice for the time, and the remaster they've done is a great way to cap off the first of many successful seasons for this show. This anime helped get me started, it's only right that it helps me finish my work on this blog. I have a few episodes left in other seasons that I'm working on, and you will definitely see them before the year is out. Though Disney XD still hasn't announced an air date for The Power of Us, if it follows the pattern of the last movie, it should come on TV not long after its brief theatrical run. I'm having fun with my Zeraora DLC, and my goal is still to ideally have the recap done and posted by Christmas Eve. I also have plenty more between then and now, so keep an eye out for it. I'm going to pick up my copy of Let's Go Pikachu tomorrow morning, and I will let you know what I think of it after I finish paying off my Nintendo Switch and spend some time with it. That's all for now. Bang.