Board 8 > Anagram Rates the Pokemon Anime Part 14 - Sponsored by Baja Fresh

(+) Yeah! (+)

I actually still need to watch both of those, so maybe my opinions will change. All I know is they were perfectly bland in both of the mini tournaments.

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"First time I got punched in the face, I was like "oh no", then I was like "this is a story"."

Finally watching more. Sorry about the delay, girlfriend's in another state. We're watching "together" right now though. Will probably watch episodes 18 and 19, and possibly 20.

Gotta catch ('em all) up on Anagram's main event reviews afterward, too.

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K | H | A | Q | Q | A | H | K
"As I predicted, your responses were as formulaic as a mathematical equation."

A NIGHT IN THE NACRENE CITY MUSEUM!
"How awesome is it to have a gym that's inside a museum?!"
Score: 4/10

I'll take "Things no child would ever actually say" for 200, Alex.

The heroes reach Nacarene City, which we learn is extremely boring. Of note: the gym is inside of the city's museum, just to deter interested children from challenging the gym leader.

Unfortunately, the museum is closed today with no explanation, even though a big Secret Artifacts exhibit was supposed to be held here. Okay, time to condense a lot of stuff because I can’t make jokes out of it.

Hoz, the husband of Lenora, the gym leader, was setting up a Secret Artifacts exhibit that includes a replica Cofagrigus coffin and Yamask mask. It’s now being attacked by a ghost. Iris believes it’s an angry spirit, but Cilan insists that the explanation must be scientific. They spend the entire episode fighting possessed suits of armor and stuff while Cilan says things like “ultra-low frequency sound waves.” Eventually it turns out to be a Yamask: Hoz accidentally got a real Yamask mask and placed it in a display case where Yamask couldn’t get it back. Lenora appears, solves the problem, and Yamask leaves.

Meanwhile, Peuce talks to Team Rocket: steal the meteorite and leave the replica they got several episodes ago-- but that's "not your true target."

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Started: July 6, 2005

Watched the "lost" episode first. It was about time a perverted old man popped up, I guess? I like how Gary shows up to trash-talk Ash, but then when Ash calms everyone down, he just stands there with a weird grin on his face and then disappears before the denouement. Also, there were several prolonged ass shots of Ash's mother in the final scene. Huh.

Nastina -- or whatever her cousin's name is -- is a real piece of work. Art-wise, I mean. Her character design, it's something else. It's just so mesmerizingly hideous.

Of course, James and the Giant Breasts is the highlight of the episode, and makes it worth watching. I guess Ash's "First Place In Our Hearts" is kind of d'aww-worthy, and it's great to see Oak getting out, although I could live without him showing up to save the day by suggesting that our heroes showcase all of the women on swimsuit display, up to and including Ash's mother, a twelve-year-old girl... even Jessie winds up part of this. Jessie! Wait, that's normal.

I also have to comment on how when Ash's mom asks if he's keeping out of trouble, we get a flashback to his ferry crashing into a dock. You know, it doesn't occur to Ash that a better example of running into life-threatening situations was that time like a week ago, max, where he and his friends had to escape a sunken ship before it fell deeper into a trench. Man, this anime is a real loose canon.

Next up was "Tentacool and Tentacruel", and... holy what, I don't remember this episode trying so hard to be strangely epic. What with the awkward, over-the-top, booming "giant mysterious Pokemon" monologues and a major character (Misty, in this case) taking an environmental stand, I could have sworn I was watching a super-condensed version of one of the movies. Throw in a ridiculous villain (Nastina, in this case... also, was this woman/family thing supposed to be a recurring idea or something? What the hell is going on here) and you have all the familiar trappings for "Pokemon the Movie Zero: Black-Eyed Horsea and the Mystery of Terrorism Tentacruel".

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the fact that Nastina has a harem of 14-year-old cabana boys, each with their own unique anime hair. Collect all five on specially marked boxes of why-do-both-these-episodes-promote-child-porn cereal.

I tried typing "horsea black eye" into Google to make everyone feel really bad about poor, abused Horsea but instead of what I was looking for, I found this, so we'll close tonight's thoughts with more uncomfortable feelings.



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K | H | A | Q | Q | A | H | K
"As I predicted, your responses were as formulaic as a mathematical equation."

I'll take "Things no child would ever actually say" for 200, Alex.

I absolutely would have said that as a child.

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K | H | A | Q | Q | A | H | K
"As I predicted, your responses were as formulaic as a mathematical equation."

It was pretty ridiculous for a Pokemon Connoisseur to completely forget that Ghost and Psychic Pokemon exist.

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THE BATTLE ACCORDING TO LENORA!
"Will Ash be successful in his quest to power up his pokemone?!"
Score: 6/10

I’m going to guess… yes.

Lenora and Hoz take the heroes through the museum's library, and ask Ash if he wants to study about Unova's history before the battle, and despite dropping a ton of hints that he should read a particular book, Ash just wants to battle. Cilan and Iris just flat out tell Ash that Lenora is testing him, so he agrees to read the book. When he touches it, it trips a secret staircase to the gym arena. Lenora then explains that it's all a test (duh) to see what kind of trainer you are by what book you try to read. Eh. Still better than Lieutenant Surge’s gym test.

Lenora introduces her pokemon: Watchog and Lillipup. Careful, Ash, I suggest you go ahead a bit, catch a Sawk or a Throh (I went with Sawk), and come back. In any case, Lenora talks about how awesome normal pokemon are for gym battles because they don't have an element. Now, putting that aside, I've gotta tell you, Whitney and Norman are not among Ash's more impressive battles.

The battle will be two-on-two, so it's Lillipup versus Tepig. I do enjoy how Lillipup instantly stops acting cute and suddenly starts scowling and growling, but as a result, looks twice as cute.

Lenora makes the odd call of starting out with roar, sending Tepig back to its pokeball and forcing out Oshawott, then sends in Watchog and has it use mean look. So, uh… there are so many ways this strategy could go wrong that I don’t even know where to begin, but the ultimate point of it to make her challenger go off balance as a result. I do like, however, how Cilan takes Brock's place as the guy who comments on every single thing that happens in every single battle. Oddly, Oshawott is extremely upset at having to battle earlier than it wanted to.

Oshawott and Watchog battle for a bit, but it eventually loses its shell (I hope this doesn't become a thing, because it’s happened before), which causes it to lose. In the ensuing Lillipup versus Tepig battle, Tepig gets its ass kicked and quickly loses. Ash feels bad for sucking, and at the pokemon center, Nurse Joy tells him to visit the Battle Club for special training and tips. He does so, and Don George agrees to give him special training… next episode.

That night, Team Rocket steals the museum's meteorite and replaces it with a fake with absolutely no difficulty whatsoever, leading me to be unable to make jokes at their expense.

Overall, a decent episode, I guess, but I don’t really like Lenora.

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Started: July 6, 2005

From: Anagram | #107

Oddly, Oshawott is extremely upset at having to battle earlier than it wanted to.

Hey, if it wanted to battle first, it would've broken out of its Poke Ball to do so.

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"First time I got punched in the face, I was like "oh no", then I was like "this is a story"."

bianca is one of the worst characters ever in the anime

so annoying. all the time.

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/ssbsb/

Furious Fura posted...

bianca is one of the worst characters ever in the anime

so annoying. all the time.

I'm willing to grant that she could be okay if she's placed in the right environment and acts a little less airheaded, but we'll see if that pans out.

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Started: July 6, 2005

REMATCH AT THE NACRENE GYM!
"These episodes have fewer stupid things said than earlier seasons, so it’s difficult to find good quotes."
Score: 4.5/10

Don George takes the heroes to his special training room, which consists of treadmills, dumbbells, and so on. It's meant for pokemon, but Don George insists Ash train physically as well because Lenora's strategies can throw the trainer off as well.

Don George's training for Tepig? Put Tepig and Ash on a treadmill while cannons shoot rubber spheres meant to represent shadow balls from all directions at once. His training for Oshawott? Have it and Ash swim against a current. I, for one, choose to assume that Don George is actually Jewish and he’s choosing to take it out against poor, poor Tepig. In any case, Tepig does flame charge and Oshawott sort of learns aqua jet (it can use it, but not aim properly), so I guess Don George probably knows what he’s talking about.

The next day, Ash challenges Lenora again. Lenora reveals that her pokemon will be Watchog and Mustachedog-- I mean Herdier, and we’re explicitly told that Lenora evolved Lillipup to throw Ash off guard. Huh. So what happens with the next trainer? Will she evolve it again, and some newbie with a Pidove and Roggenrola will be up against a Stoutland?

Well, whatever. Ash sends out Tepig, and predictably, Lenora uses shadow ball spam, so Tepig is now able to dodge them all. Lenora counters this by using roar again, then mean look with Watchog.

Oshawott's swimming training has now made it extremely fast (on land), but its aqua jet is still imperfect and can't hit consistently, which is bad, because Watchog uses confuse ray. Ultimately, it doesn’t really matter: a confused Oshawott still lands a lucky aqua jet, and both pokemon are knocked out at the same time. You know, given how rarely that happens in the actual game…

Herdier versus Tepig, and Tepig performs very well. Cilan tells us that Tepig's training is paying off, just in case we couldn’t tell. This is good because, according to Cilan, this is Ash’s last chance for the second badge even though this was never implied before.

Herdier lands a giga impact, and of course, it requires no rest after. I love how Unova gym leaders who challenge weak, newbie trainers keep busting out this level of insanity-- first Cilan and solar beam, and now this. Granted, it’s not as silly as Falkner the Pidgeot trainer, but still. Eventually, they land giga impact and flame charge at the same time, knocking both down... but Herdier falls back down even though it’s taken very little damage and Tepig has taken a huge amount. I love how Hoz (the battle announcer here) takes his job completely seriously and announces that Ash is the winner to... Lenora and Ash's friends, who all saw it happen. Lenora gives Ash the Basic Badge, and everyone laughs for some reason.

Eh.

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Started: July 6, 2005

BW not as good as DP.

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ph33r teh masta~!

Were you consciously aware this was the first episode not to include Team Rocket since they showed up in the second episode?

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"First time I got punched in the face, I was like "oh no", then I was like "this is a story"."

mnkboy907 posted...

Were you consciously aware this was the first episode not to include Team Rocket since they showed up in the second episode?

Really? Interesting. I must admit, that particular fact escaped my notice.



SCRAGGY - HATCHED TO BE WILD!
"Use thunderbolt, let's go! Maybe a bit more like thunderburp..."
Score: 4/10

Ash's egg is about to hatch when Axew, hopping with joy because it'll soon be a "big brother" (I had honestly assumed it was female) knocks it down a hill, causing it to hatch into a Scraggy.

The rest of the episode is about Scraggy being a douchebag. At the end of the episode, Scraggy and Axew strike up a rivalry over food, and since they both suck at fighting so much, Cilan decides they'd be perfect to battle against each other. A misused dragon rage knocks both out at once, however, proving that they both suck a lot.

Meanwhile, Team Rocket delivers the meteorite to Peuce in the Team Rocket Mobile Research Lab, a helicopter laboratory, built for all of the times you need to conduct research but can’t be bothered with things like “reliable electric systems that don’t need be recharged regularly.” There, they meet Doctor Monocle, whose name is said precisely one time, but I didn't hear it correctly. Doctor Monocle starts scanning it, causing it to glow. This is a good thing, I guess, and they fly off to their next mission.

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Apparently Iris' Dragonite is so strong that it sometimes doesn't listen to her.

Well, that hasn't happened before.

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ph33r teh masta~!

And certainly not once to Iris already. >_>

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"First time I got punched in the face, I was like "oh no", then I was like "this is a story"."

for what its worth I like some of the gym fights later on

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Boring sig is boring

SEWADDLE AND BURGH IN PINWHEEL FOREST!
"A pure heart makes for profound art!"
Score: 4/10

The heroes reach Pinwheel Forest, and as they enter, a Sewaddle attacks Pikachu. Cilan then informs us that Sewaddle are popular among clothing designers because they can design and make their own clothing out of leaves. Huh. I would have thought clothing designers would like good-looking pokemon instead, but what do I know?

Ash likes Sewaddle's battling spirit and decides to catch it, but as soon as Pikachu actually strikes it back, it just runs off. Well, this is obviously the kind of battler Ash needs, so the heroes run after it, only to get lost in the forest because they’re idiots.

While wandering, they meet Burgh, a “super-talented artist,” but he's stuck in a slump, so he's hoping to get inspiration by living out here among the forest pokemon. I’m going to tell you this now: I would take a thousand Biancas over one Burgh. This guy literally uses the phrase “pure heart” at least once per five sentences, and that is not an exaggeration, I really hope he never appears again after the gym battle. In any case, while they talk with Burgh, Sewaddle reappears and attacks Ash, and Burgh explains this particular Sewaddle is wild and kind of a dick. That’s okay, though, because Ash already owns a pokemon whose chief characterization is “kind of a dick.”

Burgh tells Ash that you need to get to know a pokemon before catching it, and tells him to introduce himself, telling the heroes that Sewaddle distinguish things by poking their foreheads at them, so Pikachu, Axew, Burgh, and Iris rub foreheads with it, but when Ash tries, it just tackles him. The three of them (Cilan stays behind) follow Sewaddle as it does mundane things, and I love how it takes a nap in the middle of a field... even though this is a forest. And you would think predators would be all over it.

Anyway, Sewaddle is nearly killed three times in ten minutes, leaving me to wonder how it survived this long to begin with, but Ash is there to rescue it no matter what kind of trouble it gets into: wild Woobat, Japanese waterfalls, or crazy Deerling. You know, I really do not know how many times the “Ash saves a wild pokemon because it’s a dumbass and it bonds with him” plot has been used, I really don’t.

Sewaddle is now all over Ash and asks to come with him, so he catches it. Unfortunately, this is Ash’s seventh pokemon, so the pokeball refuses to open because you’re only allowed to have six. I have to admit, this is better than the seventh pokeball just teleporting away like with what happened with Krabby like seven hundred episodes ago (that’s not even an exaggeration). Burgh takes Ash to a pokemon center so Ash can exchange pokemon, and then declares that he’s gotten inspiration from Ash and his new pokemon and runs back to Castelia City, telling Ash that he looks forward to their upcoming battle.

I seriously can’t tell you how annoying Burgh is.

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Anagram posted...

I'm willing to grant that she could be okay if she's placed in the right environment and acts a little less airheaded, but we'll see if that pans out.

In the next environment you see her in, I guarantee you she will be even worse and twice as annoying.

"These episodes have fewer stupid things said than earlier seasons, so it’s difficult to find good quotes."

Well that's too bad.

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(Maniac64 at work)
All the proteins, vitamins, and carbs of your grandma's best turkey dinner, plus 15% alcohol.

It's probably Team Rocket's fault

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BK_Sheikah00 posted...

It's probably Team Rocket's fault

Partly. When they're acting competent, they're not saying silly things.

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A CONNOISSEUR'S REVENGE!
"Snivy also has no respect for my tongue!"
Score: 5/10

The heroes are traveling when they find a brand new Walmart-sized pokemart in the middle of a forest, filled with customers, because everyone knows that city-dwellers love driving out hours into the middle of a forest to buy basic supplies. Personally, I don’t feel right unless I drive to Fresno at least once a week.

Inside the pokemart is a connoisseur shop, where someone checks your pokemon and evaluates your compatibility. Cilan then explains the ranking system for connoisseurs - he's A-class, but there's also S-class above that. What’s the deciding factor in Ash wanting to get his pokemon evaluated? That the connoisseur is female. How… strangely potentially sexist? I don’t know.

Ash dislikes the long line, but another female connoisseur tells him that she's free. Ash thinks this is not suspicious at all, even though he's last in line of dozens and she offers to see him specifically. This connoisseur is named Burgundy - and don't worry, she comments on the rarity of Pikachu. She then proceeds to examine all of Ash’s pokemon (except Pidove, who’s not with him) and inform him that he has no chemistry with any of them because of things like Tepig being too happy or Snivy’s eyes being too narrow. When Cilan and Iris appear, Burgundy reveals that she knows Cilan - she lost a battle to Cilan, and he said "ridiculous and hurtful things" to her. By the way, she did not know Ash is Cilan’s friend, so apparently she just randomly ambushed a trainer to insult.

She became a connoisseur as revenge (and you just know that any revenge plot that involves learning a trade and becoming a professional in whatever field you study is probably very complex), but Cilan joined Ash’s journey before she came back to the gym. She now just wants to defeat Cilan, and also eventually admits that she's only a C-class (so her insults to Ash’s pokemon are incorrect, I guess). Cilan tells her that the manual isn't always right, so Burgundy challenges him to a battle. Wait - the manual tells you that a Tepig that’s too happy is a bad Tepig? That’s oddly specific.

Dewott versus Dwebble - Cilan's choice surprises everyone because it's weak to water pokemon. Cilan then promises that if he loses, he'll give up his A-class rating and make Ash replace all of his pokemon, because… he totally has the authority to do that, I guess. Cilan's plan for using Dwebble is to let it get hit, because its ability is Sturdy, and then to use shell smash and defeat Dewott. Cilan then chides Burgundy for being a crappy connoisseur (not that he uses those exact words), so she sends out a Sawsbuck. I like how the pokedex claims people use them to measure the passing of the seasons, because in Unova, apparently they hate going outside. Cilan just sends out Pansage, then uses confusing, sneaky attacks to defeat her. After the battle, Cilan tries to give her some advice, but she just gets angry and leaves. He is satisfied, however, that she’ll become a good connoisseur one day.

So, uh… I don’t really like Burgundy, sorry. Aside from her personality being annoying, a rival is supposed to be at least vaguely on the level of the person she’s a rival to, which is how she challenges him and makes him better. Freaking Ash had a more of a chance against Tobias than Burgundy had against Cilan. Still, Burgundy does get beaten up a lot over this episode, which is gratifying to watch, as, as I mentioned, she is very annoying.

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She then proceeds to examine all of Ash’s pokemon (except Pidove, who’s not with him)

But of course Pidove gets boxed when Ash has an excess of pokémon with ATTITUDES half of which are starters. You're next, Sewaddle. Enjoy your spotlight now..

Burgundy is closest in personality to Ursula I'd say (so of course she sucks and it's great to watch her lose).

Yeah I don't think Ash has ever revealed his entire team without the three starters being there, though there is one scene that I remember that Ash had to go to the pokecenter to get Snivy so in theory they do get boxed.

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Ash's team when he battled against Roxie had only Pignite while also including Unfezant, Leavanny and Palpitoad.

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SuperNiceDog. Best friend.

Yeah, generally unless it's for an important battle, Ash always has Pikachu, the starters, and Scraggy with him.

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GenesisSaga posted...

She then proceeds to examine all of Ash’s pokemon (except Pidove, who’s not with him)

But of course Pidove gets boxed when Ash has an excess of pokémon with ATTITUDES half of which are starters. You're next, Sewaddle. Enjoy your spotlight now..

Burgundy is closest in personality to Ursula I'd say (so of course she sucks and it's great to watch her lose).

I didn't mention this, but Burgundy also looks like she's Ash's age and not Cilan's.

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Started: July 6, 2005

DANCING WITH THE DUCKLETT TRIO!
"I'm afraid Excadrill's acting a bit Chili!"
Score: 3.5/10

Cilan cooks up some lunch, only for Ash and Pikachu to fall down a sudden hole in the ground (without his pokeballs), which instantly collapses into itself so Cilan and Iris can’t follow. Thus, they send out Pansage and Excadrill to dig through the collapsed dirt-- but Excradrill won’t help and a wild Ducklett steals Cilan’s silverware, so Iris goes after it while Cilan digs through the hole.

We learn that the hole was dug by Sunglasses Sandile, which wanted to battle Ash by separating him from the rest of the heroes: it desperately wants to battle Pikachu for… some reason, I guess. It’s followed Ash like fifty miles on foot, I assume its desire is pretty intense. When was the last time you walked fifty miles? Freaking never is when. Ash has Pikachu lead with thunderbolt because he's an idiot, and the battle commences, but it's interrupted by a wild Derplett.

I find that image absolutely hilarious for some reason. It's like... "I don't even know why I exist." Ducklett actually only pretends to be a derp and puts its head in Sandile's mouth to examine it, but soon reveals its true colors: blue. Then it steals Sandile’s sunglasses and flies off.

Sandile is cowardly without its sunglasses, so Ash agrees to help it retrieve them... only for another Ducklett to steal Ash's hat. Ash does track down the Ducklett and defeat them, but then the one that stole Cilan's silverware appears, rescues its friends, and they then trap Pikachu in an umbrella while it uses thunderbolt, which I guess damages Pikachu’s ability to use electricity? It’s… not really clear? But in any case, Pikachu can no longer use thunderbolt.

Ash tries just asking for the sunglasses back, but the Ducklett just pretend to give them back before attacking again. Pikachu can no longer use electricity, so it’s a three-on-three battle (Ash helps fight the Ducklett), but Ash, Pikachu, and Sandile all lose handily.

Somehow, Pikachu learns electro ball, it’s not really clear how, and defeats the Ducklett. Iris and Cilan appear again, as do the Ducklett, so Pikachu volunteers to fight them again, and can now use thunderbolt again I guess, it’s not really explained. After being defeated again, the Ducklett just kind of leave. At the pokemon center, Nurse Joy tells everyone about the annoying Ducklett that live around here and that’s that, I guess. No further explanations.

Sandile wants another battle with Pikachu, and here we learn Pikachu's known moves are now iron tail, quick attack, electro ball, and thunderbolt. Phew. Good thing you gave up that nasty, useless volt tackle in favor of electro ball. During the battle, Sandile evolves into Krokorok, and... I don't really know why, but Krokorok gets blasted off into the sky or something, I guess. I don't know. It’s not really clear how it happens.

Nothing at any point in this episode is clearly explained.

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I hated this episode as well. What is it with duck type pokémon being trolls???

Farfetch'd helped his master steal pokémon and crap
Porygon gave a thousand Japanese children seizures (okay, not an intentional trolling)
And these three a-holes.

GenesisSaga posted...

I hated this episode as well. What is it with duck type pokémon being trolls???

Farfetch'd helped his master steal pokémon and crap
Porygon gave a thousand Japanese children seizures (okay, not an intentional trolling)
And these three a-holes.

Nintendo is obviously trying to ruin the image of cartoon ducks after Donald Duck and Daffy Duck were the best characters in their canon.

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My immediate thought when I watched the episode, and Pokemopolis also asserted: these three ducks are trolls, yet amusing and incompetent ones, and they get blasted off in battle.
In other words, they're trying to be classic Team Rocket for the episode.

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I liked the ducklet episode because it was random.

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THE LOST WORLD OF GOTHITELLE!
"It's like a dream, the memories, hidden within the mists of a passing fog."
Score: 7/10

The heroes are heading to the Skyarrow Bridge, the last major obstacle before the plot advances. Just before they escape the filler, Ash stops at a pokemart by the bridge and runs into a woman named Sally.

In the mart, Ash exchanges Sewaddle for Pidove and is then flabbergasted to see Sally, whom almost ran into in front of the store as they both entered the store, in the store. She's looking at a few pictures of a ferry that used to run here before the bridge was built.

They take their leave of the character of the day, but suddenly, the area is foggy, so Officer Jenny appears and sends out a Swanna to use defog... but it doesn't work. Rather than deal with this problem, Officer Jenny instead prioritizes giving tickets to people who try to drive in the fog. I would call her the worst cop ever, but honestly, real cops love to park behind trees and wait for people to run stop signs instead of stopping murders and stuff, so yeah, this is pretty realistic.

Ash decides to just ignore the fog and cross the bridge anyway, but it just gets thicker as they go. A Gothitelle appears over the bridge and obstructs their passage, refusing to let them cross, so Ash attacks with Snivy. A leaf storm connects with a psybeam, plunging the heroes into another world. Yep. It’s that easy.

The heroes see that the bridge is still being built and a girl who looks exactly like a younger version of Sally is running a ferry across the river. She has a Gothitelle, so, seeing that this is where the plot is, the heroes board the ferry. The captain laments that his ferry will soon close with the bridge's completion, and it's Cilan who figures out that they've traveling "into another world" (not through time). Yes, Cilan, the guy who made a huge stink about science and reasonable explanations is the guy who talks about time travel and interdimensional movement here. When they reach the other side of the bridge, the heroes find they're on the same side of the bridge that they started on. Cilan realizes that they're stuck in a loop that will always result in them reaching this ferry because the writers had just finished watching Window of Opportunity before they made this episode.

The heroes watch Sally order her Gothitelle to help her get more supplies for the ferry, so she has it use psychic to open a door. No, literally, this happens. Amazing psychic powers from "the astral body pokemon" are used to open a door.

Cilan decides that Gothitelle might be the key to this, so they decide to ask about it. Sally explains that Gothitelle used to be wild, but one day decided to just help out and hang around - Gothitelle is extremely happy helping by opening doors and sweeping floors. Cilan now believes that Gothitelle can warp space and created a world made out of its memories of time spent with Sally, and Ash says that he doesn't think these memories are particularly special, what a dick.

They watch Gothitelle leave into the fog surrounding the area after it finishes helping for the day, and decide to follow it. It walks onto the bridge, and as soon as it's out of sight of Sally and her father, the heroes ask to be allowed to leave its memory world. Obviously, the most reasonable response is to attack, so Cilan decides that if they battle Gothitelle, they might learn something useful (spoilers: they don’t). Ash sends out Snivy, and during the battle, adult Sally appears and tells Gothitelle that she also got lost in this memory world.

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Started: July 6, 2005

We learn that when the ferry shut down and Sally moved away, Gothitelle joined her and her father. When she grew up, Sally went to medical school, leaving Gothitelle with her father, and several years later learned that Gothitelle had disappeared. What? Her father never called her to say that her pet ran away? Jesus Christ, what a dick. Well, she happened to be assigned to a hospital near here and came to look at the bridge for old time’s sake, and now they're reunited. Sally tells Gothitelle that it needs to release everyone, however, because you “can’t turn back time” even though Gothitelle has pretty much done exactly that. Well, whatever, Gothitelle takes everyone out of the memory world, but decides not to go with Sally because... I don't know. It does say that Sally can come visit it if she likes, and then it leaves.

So… this episode is kind of nice, so I gave it a high score, but it also makes no real sense at any point. The heroes are completely superfluous here and do literally nothing except observe the entire episode, making Gothitelle the protagonist. This would be interesting, except that the writers aren’t talented enough to even realize what they did, so the heroes are still the protagonists and as a result, the episode is much worse than its potential implies.

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Not changing this sig until I decide to change this sig.
Started: July 6, 2005

I did not like that episode much at all. <_>



Now I will never look at the traditional Japanese bow of apology the same way again. Thanks Anna.

GenesisSaga posted...

I did not like that episode much at all. <_>



Now I will never look at the traditional Japanese bow of apology the same way again. Thanks Anna.

No problem, broseph.



A VENIPEDE STAMPEDE!
"I couldn't care less about your REASONS."
Score: 4/10

Ugh, Trip is awful.

Remember when Team Rocket was in this show? Neither do I! Well, the writers do, bizarrely enough, and Team Rocket, Peuce, and Doctor Monocle are in their laboratory-helicopter looking for another meteorite under the Desert Resort.

Cut to the heroes reaching Castelia City, and Cilan insists they go to the Castelia Cone, a famous ice cream shop. However, Ash insists that there’s no time for ice cream (bastard), they must go to the gym first. On the way, they bump into Burgh, who informs them that he can't battle now because the wild bug pokemon in the city are restless, which generally happens when "something bad is gonna happen."

Pikachu feels something wrong with the sewer, and Burgh confirms that the sewer runs into a river nearby, so they all go to investigate, and soon find a trapped Venipede (and Ash uses the correct pronunciation of "antennae"). Burgh tells Ash not to touch it because its skin is poisonous, but he does so anyway because dammit, that’s how we roll in Japan. Amazingly, Ash is poisoned, but luckily, Cilan heals him instantly. Wow, what drama we have in this show.

A colony of Venipede stampede by, and Burgh questions why they're here, since Venipede normally live outside of the city. As they leave the sewer, they see thousands of Venipede are swarming the city. I love how Officer Jenny comes and warns only Burgh and the heroes to leave - all of the helpless civilians she does nothing for, but Burgh, the pokemon expert who can survive days in the forest with no problem? He needs to be warned for his own safety. We also learn that Professor Juniper is trying to determine why the Venipede are freaking out. Well, that’s actually pretty simple: Unova needs a “freaky bug swarm” pokemon and the Beedrill are all busy in Japan.

An explosion occurs near the pokemon center (except when they get there, there’s no sign of it), and the heroes see several trainers defending it with fire pokemon, including Trip, who now has a Lampent. Ash tells them not just attack the Venipede because Professor Juniper is trying to figure out what's happening, and when the mayor appears, Burgh and the heroes convince him to let them drive the Venipede into the city’s park and keep them there rather than just attacking. Burgh knows that Venipede leaders usually hang out at high points to watch out for danger, so they look for a completely anonymous high building in a city of nothing except high buildings and successfully locate the identical Venipede (among tens of thousands) in twenty seconds.

After a lot of filler, during which Trip joins the heroes temporarily and Ash’s Pidove evolves (and if you think I’m unfairly skipping over the significance of a pokemon evolving, it’s only because the episode does too), the Venipede are all in the park.

Trip leaves, saying the gym won’t be open for a while so he’d rather go on ahead. Professor Juniper arrives at this point, telling everyone that she’s located two enormous energy sources coming from the Desert Resort, which freaked out the Venipede and sent them into the city. Well, this looks dangerous, so let’s send only a noncombatant professor and Officer Jenny, who, like all American cops, is armed only with green hair, to investigate, while Burgh and the heroes stay in the city.

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Not changing this sig until I decide to change this sig.
Started: July 6, 2005

Good thing you gave up that nasty, useless volt tackle in favor of electro ball.

Pikachu's Volt Tackle was pretty much useless ever since he met Zekrom.

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Pokemon VGC2012 Canadian Nationals - 8th place

BATTLE FOR THE LOVE OF BUG-TYPE!
"Pikachu is the main ingredient in Ash's strategy recipe!"
Score: 5/10

The heroes reach the Castelia Gym, and Burgh is happy to take Ash's challenge. Huh. I guess Trip was just kind of wrong.

Burgh sends out his first pokemon: Dwebble. Ash counters with Tepig, a move which Iris compliments even though it's his worst possible choice. And indeed, Tepig loses easily. Good work, everyone. Fortunately, Sewaddle picks up the slack and defeats Dwebble for Ash.

Next up: Whirlipede. Whirlipede exists because GameFreak thought Kakuna and Metapod were too damn dignified. Cilan muses that a flying pokemon would be best here, but Ash already sent Tranquill to Professor Juniper because he knew he was going to a bug gym and having an advantage would be too smart. He probably plans to use Oshawott against Elesa, too.

Well, whatever. Sewaddle is hit by a solar beam, causing it to evolve into Swadloon. With its new power, it defeats Whirlipede. Finally, Burgh sends out Leavanny, and Iris mutters that she was afraid of this, as if Burgh using his own signature pokemon was ever in question. In fairness, this next part of the battle is kind of interesting, where Swadloon is strung up by string shot and has to hit itself with razor leaf to escape, but Leavanny wins without taking damage anyway, making Swadloon’s bravery and cleverness completely pointless.

Oshawott escapes its pokeball again and asks to fight, but Ash chooses Pikachu instead, promising to use Oshawott next time. Holy crap, he does plan to use Oshawott against Elesa, I can’t even make jokes about Ash anymore.

But don’t worry.

Burgh comments about the rarity of Pikachu.

Pikachu is hit by string shot, which gets all over its tail and ruins its balance, preventing it from using its moves properly. Fortunately, Ash tricks Leavanny into using leaf storm on the string shot, freeing Pikachu and allowing it to win using electro ball, because we have to justify replacing volt tackle with it somehow.

Meanwhile, Team Rocket calls up Giovanni's secretary, who tells that their next mission is up to them. Left unsure of what to do, Team Rocket gets into an argument about what the boss expects of them, and for the first time since Sinnoh, they actually act like Jessie, James, and Meowth, and… oh, they switch back into their white uniforms and pledge themselves to catch Pikachu again. Oh. Okay. I kind of liked the competent, dangerous Team Rocket, and I was hoping they’d remain competent while still having their old personalities, but I… guess not. That’s kind of disappointing, I’ve gotta say.

A wild Yamask wanders by, and Jessie decides to catch it. James, however, simply offers it some food, and then offers to let it join the team. Wow, that was literally the easiest capture ever.

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Started: July 6, 2005

Team Rocket Elite posted...

Good thing you gave up that nasty, useless volt tackle in favor of electro ball.

Pikachu's Volt Tackle was pretty much useless ever since he met Zekrom.

It defeated one of Trip's pokemon!

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Started: July 6, 2005

The heroes reach the Castelia Gym, and Burgh is happy to take Ash's challenge. Huh. I guess Trip was just kind of wrong.

Not entirely wrong. The Team Rocket vs. Team Plasma episodes were supposed to air between these two episodes, but because of the earthquake in Japan, they didn't air. So the episodes were skipped.

Burgh comments about the rarity of Pikachu.

Didn't Burgh see Pikachu at Pinwheel Forest?

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ph33r teh masta~!

IIRC, there was meant to be an epic-looking Team Plasma vs. Team Rocket episode between those two episodes. But the earthquake/tsunami in Japan meant they cancelled it because there were some...destructive scenes in it, I guess.

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"oh my god oh my god a spider just crawled INTO MY KEYBOARD" -pxlated
"It just wants some web access." - Ness26

God damn.

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"With Harry, it's cool. We don't speak a lot and he doesn't care if I smile or if I know who the next team we play is." - Benoit Assou-Ekotto

Pokalicious posted...

The heroes reach the Castelia Gym, and Burgh is happy to take Ash's challenge. Huh. I guess Trip was just kind of wrong.

Not entirely wrong. The Team Rocket vs. Team Plasma episodes were supposed to air between these two episodes, but because of the earthquake in Japan, they didn't air. So the episodes were skipped.

Oh, okay. I can forgive this sort of goof-up, then. Does the earthquake have anything to do with Team Rocket going back to how they used to be?

Didn't Burgh see Pikachu at Pinwheel Forest?

Yes, Burgh has seen Pikachu in two previous episodes, which makes his comment even weirder.

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Not changing this sig until I decide to change this sig.
Started: July 6, 2005

Oh, okay. I can forgive this sort of goof-up, then. Does the earthquake have anything to do with Team Rocket going back to how they used to be?

The episodes never aired, not even in Japan. So, only the writers know (and who knows, maybe even they don't have a clue).

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ph33r teh masta~!

Oh, okay. I can forgive this sort of goof-up, then. Does the earthquake have anything to do with Team Rocket going back to how they used to be?

From what I heard they changed that scene, something happens to Giovanni or he goes into hiding so the secretary tells them to do whatever they want.

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Pokalicious posted...

Oh, okay. I can forgive this sort of goof-up, then. Does the earthquake have anything to do with Team Rocket going back to how they used to be?

The episodes never aired, not even in Japan. So, only the writers know (and who knows, maybe even they don't have a clue).

The episodes never leaked or anything? Damn, it's tempting to know what they're about.

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Started: July 6, 2005

"After the Venipede attack within Castelia City, Ash & Co. go out to the Desert Resort where they meet up with Professor Juniper and Looker. It seems that Team Rocket are causing disturbances in one of the ruins of the castle, sending the Pokémon to the city. However, as Team Rocket starts to enact their plan, Team Plasma arrive..."



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ph33r teh masta~!

In the Japanese version, there's a scene at the end of the Venipede episode where Ash and Co. beg to go to the Desert Resort with Prof. Juniper, but the scene was simply cut in the American version for continuity's sake.

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Pokalicious posted...

"After the Venipede attack within Castelia City, Ash & Co. go out to the Desert Resort where they meet up with Professor Juniper and Looker. It seems that Team Rocket are causing disturbances in one of the ruins of the castle, sending the Pokémon to the city. However, as Team Rocket starts to enact their plan, Team Plasma arrive..."

Woah, Looker was going to appear back when BW wasn't continuous with the rest of the series?! Interesting.

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Started: July 6, 2005