Next up is Frillish, so Ash recalls Snivy and sends out Pidove, ordering it to lose in one hit. Pidove does its best and succeeds. Ash sends Snivy out again, but doesn't realize that using vine whip is a bad idea - Frillish has cursed body, which prevents Snivy from attacking with it again. Thus, Ash has Snivy attack Frillish with leaf storm and then use attract... which Frillish just dodges and then finishes Snivy off.
There’s also a subplot where Team Rocket is cornered by the entire police force of Luxuria Town, which apparently only use batons and not guns. Another Team Rocket agent named Peuce helps them escape in a truck, and Officer Jenny helpfully informs them that they're resisting arrest. Then they destroy their truck on purpose and escape in jetpacks, instead of just escaping in jetpacks and not trashing a ninety thousand dollar truck.
So, uh… I gotta tell you. I now understand why Gary never battled Ash until the final episode of season 2, and only battled him full on at the end of season 5. I now understand why Paul didn’t have a full battle with Ash until they’d known each other for some time. It’s because it’s just not exciting. They’ve had no time to really establish a rivalry, and as a result, the writers are just giving away the goods too soon. You’re supposed to tantalize the audience with the promise of an exciting battle for a while, which can be as enticing as the actual battle itself. Instead, we just immediately get a battle on Trip’s second appearance.
And honestly, just **** Trip. This is Ash’s second worst rival, and I say that only because no one will ever be worse than Ritchie. This guy’s only personality is “dick.” Even in his early episodes, Paul at least used strategy and thought things out while calling Ash a dumbass - here, Trip is just a jerk. He’s not even an interesting jerk, and his only personality trait - calling Ash a dumbass - is already handled by a main character, Iris.
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Not changing this sig until I decide to change this sig.
Started: July 6, 2005