The Bulbasaur ep was probably the weakest of the trio, mainly because the other two were surprisingly decent. Brock falls for some girl who at first appears incapable of opening her eyes much, so I thought, "hey, maybe they're perfect for one-another." But then she goes and opens her eyes for the rest of the episode, which inevitably leads to them parting ways. Meanwhile, Team Rocket tries to steal rare Pokemon, and lo and behold, they bump into our heroes. They use vacuum technology in an effort to suck up all of the Pokemon the guest girl is nursing back to health, but Bulbasaur and Ash are immune for plot reasons and Bulbasaur and the girl are so impressed that Ash shoved him through a door that he tags along at the end of the episode. OK, fair enough.
The Charmander episode is actually pretty alright, featuring a really, really weird Aussie accent with the insufferable Damian and the borderline-touching sequence in which Charmander stubbornly remains atop that rock in the rain. It culminates with Air Bud choosing what's-his-face over the abusive middle-aged man, paving the way for potential sequels. I couldn't help but notice how much more into Charmander's health Brock was, though. That's not to say Ash didn't care, but... hot damn, I mean, I really felt like Charmander should have gone to Brock. Then Brock could have had a prepare-your-anus tier Pokemon, too, and Ash might have gotten farther in the Pokemon League. Win-win.
Squirtle's introductory episode was also solid. Ash, Misty and Brock fall into yet another pit, where they're soon greeted by this iconic assortment of memorable Pokemon:
...Man, it's kind of a shame all the Star Trek images will go straight over everyone's heads except for Anagram's. But such is life on Board 8.
Anyway, the Squirtle Squad is pretty badass, with their glasses, and their really rather tasteful graffiti. But the local townsfolk are so up in arms, they're packing guns-oh-my-gobrino-those-are-clearly-guns-why-hello-there-James-that-looks-like-an-AK-47-what-is-this-and-please-dub-the-Dratini-episode-Jesus-Mercy.
The episode's best moment is one of the Pokemon anime's few genuinely surprising little segues, when Ash, exhausted after racing to the quiet town of Colorado Springs, Kanto, just barely reaches the town shop's door only to get cut down when Gary swings it open and walks away. Does this happen often in Kanto and I'm just forgetting it? Because I always felt like Gary was entirely too sparse, but that was awesome.
Team Rocket tries to trick the Squirtle Squad; Team Rocket is defeated; the lead Squirtle runs up and joins Ash; the narrator continues to make jokes about how long it's taking the heroes to reach Vermilion City, Jeff Zero feels vaguely uncomfortable as he recalls how long it will take Ash between badges in the future, and the episode ends on an otherwise-high note.
--
K | H | A | Q | Q | A | H | K
"we're about 50 years behind the rest of western society." -icon on B8