AG088

The Garden of Eatin' (Japanese: バナナナマケロ園のカビゴン！！ Banana Garden and !!) is the 88th episode of the, and the 362nd episode of the Pokémon anime. It was first broadcast in Japan on August 5, 2004 and in the United States on August 27, 2005.

Blurb
The kids have stopped by the Banana Slakoth Garden on their way to Lilycove City, but the gate is closed and the trees have no fruit on them. When they meet the director, a man named Marcel, they find out a Snorlax came down from the mountains looking for food, and has been eating all of the bananas.

Ash decides the only way to take care of the Snorlax is to catch it, so he and Pikachu confront the giant Pokémon just after it eats. Unfortunately, Pikachu's attacks have no effect and Snorlax puts them all to sleep with its Yawn attack.

After consulting with Professor Oak, they get the recipe for a PokéBlock that will feed the ravenous Normal-type, and he advises them to use a Pokémon that can't be put to sleep to catch it. Slakoth's evolved form, Vigoroth, is one such Pokémon.

Marcel talks to all of the Slakoth, trying to convince them to help save their home, and one comes forward. They have it battle and defeat all of Ash's Pokémon, gaining enough experience to evolve into a Vigoroth. The next time the Snorlax wakes up, Marcel and Vigoroth challenge it to a battle.

When Snorlax's Yawn attack proves ineffective, it uses Hyper Beam instead. Vigoroth attacks furiously, eventually knocking down the giant Pokémon with Focus Punch.

The park reopens, the Slakoth are happy, and Marcel shows the kids what he did with the Snorlax—placed it in the center of a relaxation chamber where people can take a refreshing nap.

Plot
On the way to Lilycove City, our heroes notice a big banner in the middle of nowhere, with a bunch of munching on bananas. checks on the map, and sees that there is indeed a banana garden nearby, which is a habitat for Slakoth, who love bananas. is also interested, because he also met Norman's Slakoth, so they decide to check it out. Max and, however, start to argue about if it's even worth checking out, but Brock then takes out his recipe booklet and shows them all the wonderful food that can be made from bananas, such as banana splits. May then gives in.

Suddenly, they come to an entrance to a big jungle-like reserve which must be the reserve. It seems to be closed, though but as Ash leans on the gate, to their surprise it moves, so they head on in. Oddly, it seems to be empty. While May is more interested in the bananas, which there seems to be no sign of, Max gets disappointed at the lack of Slakoth. Suddenly, a big, loud rumbling shakes the forest, scaring them out of their wits! Then a few more pounds tremble the earth under them, just when the ground begins to crack. Fortunately a young man comes running to their rescue. They all follow him, and get to a small house, which seems to be the reception office for the reserve.

The man then introduces himself as Marcel and he explains to them that the place is closed temporarily, because they are experiencing some difficulty. After the rumbling calms down, he shows them the window, and right outside they see a sleeping ! May looks it up in the Pokédex, and Marcel explains that the Snorlax has been terrorizing the Slakoth and eating all the bananas. A lot of the Slakoth have either run away, or have been hiding in fear without even a chance to eat the bananas, because of that Snorlax. Marcel then explains that he's been working on a plan to get rid of Snorlax.

Ash then remembers dealing with his in the past. Of course neither Brock, May, or Max were there when he did it but they believe he can handle it pretty well. After all, Brock has met Ash's Snorlax when he used it in that Sumo Conference, against Clair in Blackthorn City and the Johto League, but it's currently at 's lab. Marcel does indeed know Professor Oak, and knowing that Ash has captured a Snorlax, he trusts them that they're worthy enough to help him save the Slakoth, to which they agree.

then notice the sleeping Snorlax in the garden. Once again, comes up with another far-fetched plan to steal Snorlax and the fantasize about giving it to.

Back at the lodge, Marcel shows them the security cameras he has placed in the garden, as Ash and the others keep an eye on the sleeping Snorlax. Ash feels confident enough to battle Snorlax and maybe help get rid of it by capturing it in a Poké Ball. Suddenly, May notices on the screen that Snorlax is now wide awake, and feasting away on the bananas. Ash rushes outside to find it and challenge it, while the others follow.

As Snorlax nears the area where the Slakoth are taking cover, Ash finds it, and demands it to stop, and when it doesn't, he challenges it and threatens to capture it. It doesn't seem to care as it just continues eating, so Ash has try its. But they find Snorlax still feasting on banana bunches, as if nothing happened. While Max and Brock are paying attention to the attack, all May seems to notice is that her precious bananas are still being eaten, to which Max and Brock sigh in disappointment. Ash then tries having Pikachu strike with its, but it seems to have caused no damage at all. Just then, Snorlax leans back with its mouth open. Brock warns Ash that Snorlax is about to counter with ! Ash has no idea what that is but before he can ask, Snorlax releases many pink bubbles which hits Ash and Pikachu and they both collapse on the ground and doze off. Brock then explains that the attack causes drowsiness, as Max and May try to shake them awake. Unfortunately, Snorlax's Yawn bubbles hit them too, and they fall as well. Before Brock and Marcel can do anything, it hits them too. Snorlax then dozes off as well.

At that moment, Team Rocket are flying over the garden in their balloon equipped with a lever and robot claw, searching for Snorlax. To their luck, they find not only it sleeping, but Ash and the others sleeping next to it! Meowth gently lowers the claw at Snorlax, trying not to wake it. Unfortunately for them, they don't know about its ability to attack in its sleep. Snorlax then uses Yawn attack, and the three of them fall asleep. While they are asleep, Meowth lets go of the lever, losing control of the claw which goes back up so fast that the balloon explodes and Team Rocket fall out of the balloon and land in a bush near the others.

A few hours later after they have all woken up, Marcel and the others are back at the lodge, Ash has decided to make a call to Professor Oak. Having explained the situation, Professor Oak is rather surprised they were hit by a Yawn attack. Max then reminds Ash of his Snorlax, so he asks Oak for it. Professor Oak says that he has been feeding it fresh Pokéblocks. Ash and the others are already familiar with Pokéblocks and their effects, and they are glad to see that he's feeding it some.

However, Oak tells them that Ash can't battle the other Snorlax with it because Snorlax needs to wait between meals to battle. But Professor Oak tells them that a decent way to evade Snorlax's Yawn attack would be to use a with an Ability such as  or, so it won't be able to fall asleep. Max, having grown up with his dad, knows that has Vital Spirit! Seeing as there are Slakoth in this garden, there must be one close to evolution. To their luck, Marcel actually has been the lead Slakoth, and it is at a pretty high level, so one more  should evolve it.

As Marcel leads them to Slakoth's current hideout, he tries calling them, but they are too scared to come out. Then, he says he has a plan to get rid of Snorlax but he needs them for it, especially the lead one. But they are all too scared to move. So now Marcel tries to explain the plan and says that all he needs is one of them evolve into a Vigoroth and taking on Snorlax in a battle. While it is taking the Slakoth so long to decide and convince the leader to try, Marcel is about to give up, but the lead Slakoth jumps out of the bushes and agrees to do as Marcel wants. Marcel thanks it and they go off to train.

They start with Marcel using Slakoth to face off in a battle against some of. Ash chooses Pikachu, and  to face off against Slakoth. Pikachu uses. Slakoth uses and knocks it back. Torkoal uses but Slakoth easily dodges it. Grovyle then tries, but Slakoth counters with. As they continue the match all of Ash's Pokémon faint just as they had planned and Slakoth evolves! Now that Marcel has a Vigoroth, they search for Snorlax.

They find Snorlax in a nearby grove eating banana bunches. Marcel challenges it for a rematch with Marcel's newly evolved Vigoroth. As he sends it to fight, Snorlax opens its mouth for a Yawn attack, but Vigoroth just pops the Yawn bubbles and keeps running, and hits it hard with a Scratch. Snorlax then fires a barrage of s which Vigoroth is fast enough to dodge. Snorlax uses Yawn again, but it fails. Vigoroth knocks Snorlax back with another Scratch, nearly knocking it out. Vigoroth uses, but Snorlax is about to use ! Vigoroth then uses a, which knocks Snorlax out. Marcel then uses the Poké Ball, and successfully captures it. Marcel congratulates Vigoroth, and just then all the Slakoth who have been watching from behind the bushes come out and hugs both of them.

With the problem finally settled, the reserve is now open again as a tourist attraction, and a Vigoroth has been added onto the sign and banner. To celebrate, Marcel has made them a banana cake with tiers, and a Slakoth on top! May thanks him greatly, but the rest of them think she's a bit too excited. Marcel then comes up with a use for Snorlax. Since a lot of traveling tourists come to this lodge, he's made a rest area room for people to take a nap with Snorlax using its Yawn to help them fall asleep, as well as the workers who stay there overnight. Afterwards Ash, Brock, May and Max head off for Lilycove City.

Humans

 * Max
 * Jessie
 * James
 * (fantasy)
 * Marcel
 * James
 * (fantasy)
 * Marcel
 * Marcel

Pokémon
Pokémon Trainer's Choice:


 * (at 's )
 * (Marcel's; new)
 * (Marcel's; new; evolves)
 * (Marcel's; newly evolved)
 * (Garden Pokémon; multiple)
 * (Marcel's; new)
 * (Marcel's; new; evolves)
 * (Marcel's; newly evolved)
 * (Garden Pokémon; multiple)
 * (Garden Pokémon; multiple)

Trivia

 * The episode title is derived from the biblical.
 * In this episode, uses a  of their motto.
 * In the boss fantasy, the letter 'S' in 's pajamas may refer to his Japanese name, Sakaki.

Errors

 * When explains how to get rid of  from the garden, 's socks are missing.
 * Max says that Snorlax is the biggest Pokémon he has ever seen, despite the fact that he saw a in a previous episode. However, it is possible Max was exaggerating.
 * When May gets out her Pokédex to look up Snorlax, she is shown wearing Ash's glove.

Pokémon Trainer's Choice

 * Question: Trainers, which one of these Pokémon is the best choice to battle ?
 * Choices:, ,
 * Answer: OK, Trainers! If you chose, you were right!

In other languages
Der Bummelz-Bananen-Garten EP364 AG088 AG編第88話 精灵宝可梦 超世代 第88集