Board 8 > Anagram rates the Pokemon anime 8: First Contact (spoilers)

(+) Yeah! (+)

The Ole' Berate and Switch!
"Prepare for trouble, we've shuffled the deck!"
"It's not my thing, but what the heck."
"An evil as old as the galaxy!"
"I'm doing this all from memory!"
"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"
"To extend my arm with a big, white glove!
"Jessie!"
"Butch!"
Score: 0/10

We begin the episode with Team Rocket getting blasted off. Wow, that was fast. Jessie is understandably angry, and starts blaming James and Meowth. The three of them quickly decide that they hate the others and everyone splits up, insisting they can do better on their own.

Cut to the heroes, who just reach Pewter City. Butch is there, disguised, telling people about the special one day-only Pokemon Battle Tournament. Cassidy (disguised as a Nurse Joy) insists on taking everyone's pokemon save those used in the tournament, of course planning to steal all of them. Jessie, James, and Meowth each independently decides to come to the contest as well, each hoping to steal the pokemon. Cassidy invites James to join Butch and her, mostly to annoy Jessie. Jessie, for her part, allies with Butch, who seems more confused than actually angry with Cassidy, but whatever, I guess.

Max discovers the truth about the tournament and tells the rest of the heroes. They confront James and Cassidy, who attempt to do the motto, but Cassidy doesn't know the lines to the new motto and they ultimately just attack the heroes. It's actually kind of funny, I admit.

The heroes reveal everything to all of the trainers present, and a thousand Rocket Grunts attack. Everyone starts fighting, and then the dumbest line ever is said.
"You just don't understand! Pokeballs aren't like baseballs."
I'm not even going to finish this review, just because of that line.

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What was so bad about it? They really aren't like baseballs you know. Sure, they might be the same general size and shape and their purpose is to be thrown, but I've never seen a baseball pop open and magically draw a creature inside it with a red light and contain that creature forever without food or water to be called at the baseball owner's command whenever he or she felt like it. I've also never seen a baseball shrink or expand at the click of a button because that is an impossible feat as matter cannot simply be created or destroyed and something shrunken or expanded cannot generally be reversed instantaneously.

In conclusion, pokéballs aren't very much like baseballs.

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GenesisSaga posted...
What was so bad about it? They really aren't like baseballs you know. Sure, they might be the same general size and shape and their purpose is to be thrown, but I've never seen a baseball pop open and magically draw a creature inside it with a red light and contain that creature forever without food or water to be called at the baseball owner's command whenever he or she felt like it. I've also never seen a baseball shrink or expand at the click of a button because that is an impossible feat as matter cannot simply be created or destroyed and something shrunken or expanded cannot generally be reversed instantaneously.

In conclusion, pokéballs aren't very much like baseballs.

I was really going to leave it at that, but I like this so much that okay.



Continuing from where I left off.

Butch and Jessie attempt to their own motto, but Butch can't keep up with Jessie and it goes wrong, so the two split up.

The nameless trainers grab as many pokeballs as possible and start battling the Rocket grunts, leaving James, Jessie, and Meowth to each attempt to steal the remaining pokeballs. They all feel guilty for running from the others, and agree to work together again, literally just before a random trainer blasts them off with his Rhyhorn. I think this is the first time Team Rocket's been blasted off by someone who doesn't even have a name.

Butch and Cassidy attempt to escape with a box full of pokeballs, but Jessie and James sabotage their helicopter (yeah I don't know) and attempt to steal the box of pokeballs themselves, doing the motto properly this time. Pikachu blasts them off, Ash saves the pokeballs, and that's that.





Dammit, Genesis, it was funnier the first time. I hope you're happy. And also, you could probably design a baseball to be made of interlocking plates that can move in a prearranged sequence to shrink without losing matter, by causing the plates contract and leave no space between them, effectively making a large hollow ball a smaller, non-hollow ball. Sure, you couldn't a hollow metal ball as a baseball, but it could still probably be done.

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No comment about Brock's mom showing up despite the fact they said she passed away way back in Showdown in Pewter City?

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Team Rocket Elite posted...
No comment about Brock's mom showing up despite the fact they said she passed away way back in Showdown in Pewter City?

I actually knew about that. I decided to let it go because the episode already had too much going on. You should probably know that I let a lot of stuff go in favor of other stuff, I end cutting out like every tenth joke for space.

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the Delibird delivery bird shows up

That was a bit redundant...

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GenesisSaga posted...
the Delibird delivery bird shows up

That was a bit redundant...

I couldn't think of another way to phrase it other than "Delivery Delibird."

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A Delibird shows up

It's name is already a pun on Delivery and Bird, and every time they make an appearance in the anime or accompanying movie, it has been to deliver something.

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TY, GMUN ^__^

GenesisSaga posted...
A Delibird shows up

It's name is already a pun on Delivery and Bird, and every time they make an appearance in the anime or accompanying movie, it has been to deliver something.

It needs to be mentioned that it's the Team Rocket delivery Delibird because there are theoretically other Delibird in existence.

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LEAVE ANNA ALONE

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Brock's explanation of why Sudowoodo was gold actually does make sense. If one rock Pokémon can take on the traits of metal, why can't another?

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Anna, hurry up and get to Sinnoh already!!!!!!

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Anagram posted...
GenesisSaga posted...
A Delibird shows up

It's name is already a pun on Delivery and Bird, and every time they make an appearance in the anime or accompanying movie, it has been to deliver something.

It needs to be mentioned that it's the Team Rocket delivery Delibird because there are theoretically other Delibird in existence.

And they are all probably delivery birds. At least, I've never seen a trainer use one competitively.

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TY, GMUN ^__^

From: GenesisSaga | #313
And they are all probably delivery birds. At least, I've never seen a trainer use one competitively.

Well there could always be an Ermine-like trainer that sends out his Delibird against Charizards and whatnot.

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mnkboy907 posted...
From: GenesisSaga | #313
And they are all probably delivery birds. At least, I've never seen a trainer use one competitively.
Well there could always be an Ermine-like trainer that sends out his Delibird against Charizards and whatnot.

Well until that happens in the anime, I'm just gonna lol at the idea of that. Can a Delibird even do anything against a Charizard (besides die pitifully)?

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GenesisSaga posted...
And they are all probably delivery birds. At least, I've never seen a trainer use one competitively.

I once tried to use a Delibird seriously. It didn't work out.


Battling the Enemy Within!
"What?! Ash has been possessed by the King of Pokelantis?!"
Score: 7/10

I don't even know why I think that line is so hilarious.

The heroes are almost at the Battle Pyramid, but don't worry, there's still time for some more filler. They fall down a hole in the middle of the forest road, landing in a complex series of hallways with hieroglyphs on the walls. Why are there hieroglyphs in Japan? Why did no one ever fall down this hole before, since it's the middle of the road? Why is there adequate lighting in a series of underground hallways? How did the heroes survive a sixty foot drop? Those are all very good questions.

They come across a small Pikachu statue, which Ash stupidly touches. This sets off a trap (the huge boulder from Indiana Jones, you know the one), but luckily, an archeologist named Brandon appears and throws out a pokeball containing his Regirock, which stops the boulder. He berates the heroes for coming into the ruins, but quickly accepts their explanation of falling into the ruins.

Brandon explains that the ruins belong to the ancient empire of Pokelantis, and man. I can't even make a joke about that, it's like trying to make fun of a clown. What, are you going to mock his red rubber nose? The overlarge feet? The white face paint? Well, in any case, Brandon explains that after a Ho-Oh destroyed Pokelantis, the king angrily trapped it in a stone orb and buried it in these ruins. Ash wants to search for the Ho-Oh, but Brandon tells him that he'll just get into trouble. We're clearly meant to side with Ash here, but I mean... Brandon is right. Ash already admitted to setting off a boulder trap, and his only experience is in pokemon battling. I mean, from any logical standpoint, Brandon is completely right.

Ash decides that just because Brandon is a responsible adult and an archeologist and they’re in ancient ruins, that doesn’t mean Brandon knows what he’s talking about, so he ignores Brandon’s command to leave and runs into a random hallway. Hilariously, Ash immediately gets trapped behind a trapdoor in the King's Chamber, where, of course, the orb is. Ash picks it up like the idiot he is, and commands Ho-Oh to be released. Why does he do any of this? I have absolutely no idea.

Brandon gets into the room and tells Ash to stop being a dumbass, but he's four-hundred-three episodes too late, I'm afraid, and black CGI ribbons exit the orb and engulf Ash. Ash is now possessed by the King of Pokelantis, who proclaims that he intends to conquer the world. Even though he has no army or pokemon or even the upper body strength of a teenage girl. Brandon then makes the most insane leap of logic ever: the King imprisoned himself because he was unable to imprison the actual Ho-Oh. I don’t… I don’t even.

Brandon reveals himself as the King of the Battle Pyramid, and challenges the King of Pokelantis to a battle. So what happens next? He takes everyone to the Battle Pyramid, because I guess they need to do this here. Oddly, Scott accepts that Ash has been possessed by a ghost king immediately like it’s no big deal. His only reaction is “You think you’ve seen it all, but then something like this happens.”

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We switch to Ash, floating in space, which I assume is meant to be his own mind. Through a portal, Ash watches Brandon send out Regirock and decides Sceptile is the most logical choice, which lets the King know that Sceptile is his best bet. Ash apparently doesn't think that floating in space and seeing the world through a portal is strange at all, which lets the King use his skills to battle Brandon. After Ash's ideas fail because Regirock is too strong, the King has Sceptile target the ceiling and bring it down on Regirock, which almost defeats it. Everyone acts like this is a horrible thing to do even though Ash uses strategies like this all the time. Brandon calls the King a coward, which angers the real Ash and lets him take control of his own body for a second. It's only for a second, though, before the King returns to power.
"You can call me whatever you want, as long as I win! So there!"
My God, I really cannot fathom that someone was paid to write this dialogue. I could literally write better stuff when I was nine years old. I get that they need to match the mouth flaps and everything, and that restricts how good the translations can be, but come on. This is “Believe it!”-levels of awful.

The King begins using actually horrible strategies like having Sceptile hide behind the referee when Regirock tries to use hyper beam. Fortunately, Regirock knows lock-on, which lets it hit Sceptile anyway, and Brandon wins. The King tries to command Pikachu to attack Regirock now, which is against the rules, so everyone tells Ash to fight against the King, heroic willpower etc, the king's ghost exits Ash and Brandon imprisons him in the orb again.

Ash thanks everyone for freeing him, but Brandon tells him that he was only put in a position where he could be possessed because of his own “uncontrolled arrogance” and because he’s a “foolish kid,” and goddamn, I like Brandon. People so rarely call Ash on his bull****, I hope this guy continues to verbally kick Ash’s ass in his next episode.

Ash challenges Brandon to a proper battle, but Brandon no longer has time. You see, the Battle Pyramid can fly, and Brandon travels from ruins to ruins to investigate them. I could explain what’s wrong with this, but I’m not even going to bother. The sight of a pyramid flying, with Brandon piloting it in the bridge like it’s an eighteenth-century sailing ship, is just so hilarious that I’m going to give this episode a 7 just between this shot and Brandon’s verbal beatdown.

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Slaking Kong
"We're just dishonest folks earning a dishonest living."
Did I Remember This Episode Through Nostalgia?: Seeing Who Pays Attention
Score: 4/10

Team Rocket tricks some monkey pokemon into stealing berries from a farmer, the heroes reveal their ploy and blast them off. An Aipom falls in love with Ash.

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May, We Harley Drew'd Ya!
"Stop acting like you!"
Score: 5.5/10

The heroes finally reach the Indigo Plateau, and the Aipom from the last episode continues following Ash. It causes some trouble, so Drew and a woman Solidad show up and stop it, berating Ash because they assume it’s his pokemon. We learn that Solidad is a major coordinator, one of the best, even though May has somehow not heard of her, and really? Another one-episode-before-the-climax character to swoop in and win so none of the main characters or their rivals can grow up?

Drew leaves, and Solidad talks to May about him for a while, telling May that Drew has a crush on her because of their rivalry. Then the best thing ever happens. Ash tells her that Solidad is right, which implies that he has or had a crush on Gary.

Cut to the contest. We learn that there will be four judges: Mr. Contesta, Mr. Sukizo (Remarkable!), Nurse Joy, and Vivian, the Hoenn hostess. Lillian, her sister, is the Kanto hostess. Remember the difference, it could save your life. Lillian introduces the other hostess, Jessie disguised as "Jezediah." You would assume a major event like this would have scheduled its hosts months in advance and Jessie couldn't have become a hostess anywhere quickly enough, but whatever, okay.

This is merely the preliminary part. Of the two-hundred-seventy contestants, only sixty-four will advance. Today, it's just three random Nurse Joys judging each pokemon and thus deciding who even gets to compete at all. Good idea, leaving such a task to Nurse Joys.

Predictably, Drew Masquerain, May's Combusken, Solidad's Lapras, and Harley's-- Uh.

Can you imagine if someone did this in real life? Not only dressing up as a little girl, but a specific little girl? Can you imagine how hard Harley would get his ass kicked?

Solidad mentions that she actually knows Harley, and implies that she has a crush on him. To no one's surprise, the four named characters and sixty unnamed ones advance.

After the contest, May asks Harley why he dressed up as her, and he dodges the question. Literally no one else asks why he's doing this, it’s the weirdest thing. Cut to the next day at the real contest. Drew's Absol leads the contest, and it’s to be continuuuuuuuuuuuuuueeeeeeeeeeeedddddddddddd

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I too remember that episode through nostalgia.

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Thinning the Hoard!
"It's deja vu all over again!"
Score: 7/10

Aipom continues to screw with Ash and his hat, so he finally has Pikachu quick attack and thunderbolt it and attempts to catch it. It escapes, however, hoping to create more mischief later, and Ash just leaves.

Drew's Absol, Harley's Octillery, Solidad's Slowbro, and May's Munchlax all do as well as you would expect. Sorry, but describing the precise actions of pokemon in contests is boring to write and really boring to read. Drew is unsatisfied, however, and feels that although Absol is trying its best, its performances lack passion, and that’s not good enough for him. After a fight with May (of the words variety, not the pokemon one), he regrets acting like a douche and decides to do better in the second round.

The second round will consist, of course, of the four named characters and twelve unnamed ones. It’s a two-on-two battle, and May and Harley are up against each other.

Munchlax and Eevee versus Cacturne and an evil-looking Wigglytuff. Aipom jumps onto Ash's shoulder to watch the contest, and instantly falls in love with what's happening.

Wigglytuff and Cacturne are extremely well-trained and work together much better than May's pokemon, but May recovers easily enough, and Cacturne is knocked out in literally one attack. To a shadow ball. When it's resistant! And when it’s been established to be one of the best pokemon on the show, with people constantly talking about how good it is!

Fortunately for Harley, Wigglytuff is extremely good and slaps around both of May's pokemon like it's nothing. Good thing you sent out only your two weakest pokemon, May. Eventually, May realizes that Wigglytuff is light enough that it can be knocked around easily by explosions even if they don't hit it directly, and Eevee knocks it into a focus punch from Munchlax, winning the fight for May.

Drew and Solidad also do well, of course, easily defeating their enemies. We even see Solidad's Lapras sitting on the floor, not even in a pool of water like Lapras always are. How did it even win a battle if it was immobile? I don't know.

Round Three has May versus Drew. Combusken and Squirtle versus Flygon and Absol. Drew’s pokemon do better than May’s, but not by a lot, and the episode ends with a To Be Continued.

Honestly? This is a really solid episode. It doesn’t waste any time and everything proceeds as it logically should.

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Channeling the Battle Zone!
"I'll wring her tiny neck with that bandana!"
Score: 5/10

The battle rages, and both trainers do extremely well, with Drew just edging May out. He finally reveals his secret Dragon Formation technique, where razor wind and dragonbreath are used together and can't be dodged. Drew makes the mistake of following this up with a head-on attack, however, and May has flamethrower and bubble combine into a superpowered beam attack. Ash recalls Tucker at the Battle Dome using the same trick with his Arcanine and Swampert, and realizes May stole the idea. Confusingly, she then claims it was her idea. I do admit, though, I like Harley's complaint that May didn't use her A-list attacks against him.

Squirtle manages an extremely impressive rapid spin to get over Flygon, and delivers an pointblank ice beam to knock it out. I have to admit, Flygon actually is x4 weak to ice, so that makes perfect sense, though I suspect the writers didn't know that. Sadly for May, Squirtle doesn't land properly, and Absol knocks it out before it can recover.

It's now Absol versus Combusken. Absol busts out a surprise water pulse, but this somehow causes Combusken to retain an enormous amount of excess heat energy. How does that work? I have no idea. May suddenly realizes that Combusken knows overheat, and the new move lands perfectly.

May makes the mistake of using overheat again even though it gets weaker as you use it multiple times, and by the time Combusken finally manages to land a second overheat, it's weak enough that Absol isn't knocked out. Combusken is now exhausted, but Absol is still able to move. It delivers another water pulse, but Combusken survives and lands a sky uppercut. The clock runs out, and May wins with slightly more points.

Drew is impressed, and compliments May. Though he knows his combinations were better than hers, she still won, and he warns her that Solidad can't be defeated with power alone. May promises to keep this in mind.

Cut to-- May's and Solidad's battle? The last minute of it? And Scott explaining that May's dazzling and impressive attacks don't work against Solidad's pokemon, who can dodge them and counterattack, and May losing by a lot? Man, episode, you can’t give us a really good battle and follow it up with an anticlimax! That’s not cool.

Solidad goes on to win the contest, and Ash catches Aipom, which is so pumped up by the contest battle that it wants to join him immediately.

May cries with the rest of the heroes, but is proud of her pokemon anyway, and promises to battle Drew again as he departs. Sorry, May. You won’t be a main character for much longer.

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main characters arent allowed to win anything that takes more than 1 episode
EVER
..
alltho BW does have that one tournament

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From: Anagram | #321
and everything proceeds as it logically should.

Except for the Cacturne Shadow Ball thing.

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htaeD posted...
main characters arent allowed to win anything that takes more than 1 episode
EVER
..
alltho BW does have that one tournament

Drake. But seriously, May was heading out the next season, this would have been the perfect opportunity to let a main character win something.


mnkboy907 posted...
Except for the Cacturne Shadow Ball thing.

I'm just going to say that Cacturne had a bad day.

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well okay
any tournament that lasts more than 2 episodes

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Well, add that to the list...

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From: htaeD | #326
well okay
any tournament that lasts more than 2 episodes

The tag-team thingy during the Sinnoh Saga. You know the one.

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SomeC - sheer explosives since meeting that crazy hobo.
BlAcK TuRtLe grabbed the Guru victory, slow but steady.

Brock's parents get back (apparently their vacation was only one day long) and he curses them out for falling for Team Rocket's ploy even though he's fallen for their tricks like a thousand times himself.

Going back to this. It is even more ridiculous to get mad at his dad since Team Rockets "plan" was literally to do the job they were hired for. That is not a ploy, its a service.

Poor Team Rocket, even when they do things that aren't bad they still get in trouble.

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muddersmilk posted...
Going back to this. It is even more ridiculous to get mad at his dad since Team Rockets "plan" was literally to do the job they were hired for. That is not a ploy, its a service.

Poor Team Rocket, even when they do things that aren't bad they still get in trouble.

Well, technically, Team Rocket was planning to steal the gym's official pokemon by posing as remodelers, but you're still right.

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Anna, tell me, what pairing do you support more? Ash/May or Drew/May?

Me? I personally hate both of them, though I feel inclined to like Ash/May more because Drew's a straight up dick.

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BNVshark123 posted...
Anna, tell me, what pairing do you support more? Ash/May or Drew/May?

Me? I personally hate both of them, though I feel inclined to like Ash/May more because Drew's a straight up dick.

I haven't had a shipping opinion since ToS (Lloyd/Sheena forever), but Drew/May seems better to me. They have more in common, Drew already has a crush on her, and Ash is too single-minded on being a pokemon master to have time for anything except his hat.

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Anagram posted...
BNVshark123 posted...
Anna, tell me, what pairing do you support more? Ash/May or Drew/May?

Me? I personally hate both of them, though I feel inclined to like Ash/May more because Drew's a straight up dick.

I haven't had a shipping opinion since ToS (Lloyd/Sheena forever), but Drew/May seems better to me. They have more in common, Drew already has a crush on her, and Ash is too single-minded on being a pokemon master to have time for anything except his hat.

But Drew actls like a dick to her. How the hell do you give a girl a rose and subsequently tell her she sucks and should quit at being a coordinator.

Also, I'm going off the topic at hand, but didn't Ho-oh appear in the episode Ash got possessed?

Oh, and ToV>ToS>TotA

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BNVshark123 posted...
But Drew actls like a dick to her. How the hell do you give a girl a rose and subsequently tell her she sucks and should quit at being a coordinator.

Also, I'm going off the topic at hand, but didn't Ho-oh appear in the episode Ash got possessed?

Oh, and ToV>ToS>TotA

Drew has problems, too. Being a dick is how he shows he cares. Don't you remember Gary?

And yes, Ho-Oh appears in the Pokelantis episode. I didn't mention it because I often cut stuff that isn't important to the actual plot, and I couldn't think of any good jokes for Ho-Oh's appearance.

And I've only played ToS in that series, nothing else.

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Aipom and Circumstance!
"My hat's sure been gettin' around."
Score: 3.5/10

Which is more than we can say for Brock, amirite?

Aipom is angry that Pikachu is Ash's favorite pokemon and runs off with his hat. I should be annoyed at its behavior, but, well. Ash really does play favorites, and it’s not like he pretends otherwise. When we were little kids, my grandparents told my sister and me that we were their favorite grandchildren, and if they had more grandchildren, they would still love us more than them. When my second sister was born, they never mentioned it again.

While searching for it through one of Japan’s many forests, Ash and Brock come across a pyramid with a Greek column built on top of it. Around it is a village, in which is a crowd of people. They meet Hank, who explains that every year, this village chooses someone to be king for a year. How is the king picked? At the column is the crown, and if you can grab it and hold it until sunset, you’re declared king. Truly, I can see why they prefer this system over a more standardized democracy. Hank's dream is to be king, but Brock wants to join the contest because he hopes to leverage the position to impress women. No, I'm serious. That's why. That's literally why. He doesn't even live here, but he figures that if he’s king, he’ll be able to more easily pick up chicks.

Everyone runs up the pyramid, but Aipom grabs the crown and runs up a column too high for anyone to grab the crown from it. A... guy tells everyone that whoever has the crown, even a pokemon, is king. Who is this guy? I have no idea, but he's like sixty years old and is wearing a toga, so I'm assuming he gets to make the rules or something. Ash begs Aipom to give the crown to someone else, but it gets angry at Pikachu (which is on Ash’s shoulder) and runs off into the forest. Everyone in the village (plus Brock and Ash) runs into the forest to chase Aipom, but only Pikachu can keep up with it. Brock and Ash run into May and Max again, and literally, all they say is "if we can't find Aipom soon, it will become king!" And that's all the explanation May needs. That's it. She needs no context outside of that, and requests no more information. Can you imagine if you were walking along, and your best friend appeared and told you that if you couldn’t find his dog by the end of the day, it would be declared Pope? This is the exact same situation. Don’t you think you would ask for more information? Apparently, in Japan, they would not.

The heroes and Hank find Pikachu and Aipom after what I assume is a few hours (the sun is almost down), but Aipom accidentally wedged the crown on its head so securely that Ash can't remove it, so he vows to stay with Aipom for the year if it's necessary and give up his chance at the Battle Pyramid, because he won't leave it behind. This touches Aipom, who forgives Ash for his obvious and continuing favor of Pikachu.

Everyone makes a last ditch effort at prying the crown off of its head, but it’s no use. The sun almost setting, Hank gives Aipom a blue berry, which... somehow gets the crown off. I don't understand how. Aipom eats the berry, it makes a motion like the berry is very sour-tasting, and now Hank can pull the crown off. I’m not leaving anything out, I really do not understand what is happening.

Hank is left with the crown and is declared king. Love live King Hank, the least impressively named royal since Empress Jennifer of the House of Santa Monica.

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You already told that story about your grandparents...

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From: GenesisSaga | #336
You already told that story about your grandparents...

Seeing it made me check if I was on the right page.

From: Anagram | #335
The sun almost setting, Hank gives Aipom a blue berry, which... somehow gets the crown off. I don't understand how. Aipom eats the berry, it makes a motion like the berry is very sour-tasting, and now Hank can pull the crown off. I’m not leaving anything out, I really do not understand what is happening.

Rapidly-produced, lubricating sweat?

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GenesisSaga posted...
You already told that story about your grandparents...

Fine, here's another story about them. When I was six, I asked my grandfather to show me how to make paper planes, and I spent the next two months tapping my sister on the shoulder, and when she turned around, flinging a paper plane into her face at a range so short that I didn't even need to fold the paper into a plane at all. She kept falling for it because she was four.

In retrospect, it's a miracle I never poked an eye out with one of them.

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Started: July 6, 2005

GenesisSaga posted...
You already told that story about your grandparents...

In fact, I feel like you said those two sentences verbatim!

Lord Bob Bree posted...
Rapidly-produced, lubricating sweat?

Does sweat lubricate?

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Started: July 6, 2005

I think it's because the berry was sour which causes Aipom to wrinkle his face it somehow crushes his skull and thus his head became smaller.

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Cool

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charmander6000 posted...
I think it's because the berry was sour which causes Aipom to wrinkle his face it somehow crushes his skull and thus his head became smaller.

That still doesn't make much sense. I bet this was explained in the Japanese version of the episode and was cut out for whatever reason and now makes no sense.

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She needs no context outside of that, and requests no more information. Can you imagine if you were walking along, and your best friend appeared and told you that if you couldn’t find his dog by the end of the day, it would be declared Pope? This is the exact same situation. Don’t you think you would ask for more information? Apparently, in Japan, they would not.

I don't know, if my friend did as much crazy stuff as Ash I probably wouldn't bother asking anymore.

Also, Lloyd/Sheena = best ToS couple.

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

nuh-uh
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htaeD posted...
nuh-uh
Raine/Regal for life

Both too old for him.

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Started: July 6, 2005

Strategy Tomorrow - Comedy Tonight!
"Don't worry! She's in therapy!"
"... It's part of my parole, you see."
Score: 4/10

The heroes are walking along in the forest when they come across a Chatot. They amuse themselves for a bit listening to it repeat them until a small girl runs up and introduces herself as Ada, Chatot's owner. Ada admits that she finds Chatot annoying sometimes, but she hopes to work on a comedy routine with it and win an upcoming festival, the prize of which is getting to be on a late night comedy show. Yes, I'm sure late night comedy shows, known for catering to adults, will love your adorable, rambunctious parrot-related shenanigans. Ash declares her goal to be the greatest pokemon comedian ever to be the same as his goal to be the greatest pokemon master. I was going to cut that sentence out of my write-up, but then I realized it was an opportunity to not use the word "comedienne," so I had to keep it.

The heroes ask Ada to show them what she's got, so Chatot launches into a Pikachu rap that is as awkward as it sounds. The heroes love her, but Ada is concerned: Chatot always flies off during the day and returns at night, and says weird crap like “Okay, lunchtime!”

Team Rocket steals Chatot without doing the motto, explaining that there's not enough time, and escape in their balloon. Since Team Rocket already established that time efficiency will be a theme for this scene, Ash throws out Swellow and downs the balloon in five seconds. Well, that was-- unusually competent from all sides involved.

Everyone stops for lunch when Chatot flies off again, so the heroes follow it on foot even though Ash could easily send Swellow to follow it. Chatot starts saying weird doctor-related stuff and escapes the heroes, but they decide that, based on what it said, it's probably been visiting a hospital. I'm sorry, when did the heroes start having a combined IQ of over two hundred?

Chatot flies through a window in a hospital, and the heroes find that it's a children's hospital. Chatot visits it every day, and the doctor and nurse (yes, there is only one doctor and one nurse in this hospital) love having it around because it cheers up the kids. Uh, you guys do know that as adults, it's within your power to adopt an official pokemon for your hospital, right? I bet they would love a Skitty or something.

Ada explains that she wants to go on a journey with Chatot, and while most of the kids think it's a great idea, one of them, Karina, hates the idea of losing Chatot, so the doctor asks Ada to do her comedy routine to cheer her up. By the way, I have no idea why these kids are in the hospital; they walk around barefoot outside, show no signs of tiredness and seem completely okay, save for the one kid with a broken arm.


Team Rocket attacks again, so Ash fights them. The kids find this even more exciting than Ada's comedy, and after Chatot proves to be too insulting to Meowth, Team Rocket gets fed up and simply leaves. No, seriously, they just stop fighting and leave. And then Ash blasts them off even though they stopped being a threat and had no intention of being a threat in the future.

Karina now accepts Chatot's leaving, and everything works out for everyone except Team Rocket.

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Started: July 6, 2005

Duels of the Jungle!
"Come with me, Weavile-y, for an evil as old as the galaxy!"
Score: 3/10

While in a valley, the heroes are attacked by a Weavile. It instantly kicks Pikachu's ass, but Aipom-- also gets its ass kicked. The Weavile disappears, and a member of the Wilderness Guard Corps (what’s really weird is that the show acts like we already know what that is) named Kerrigan shows up and takes the heroes to his hut, explaining that he watches the woods (and yes, I did say they were in a valley). There's a group of Sneasal and Weavile in the, but this particular one left the group for some reason and now attacks random trainers and their pokemon. The heroes ask him to take them to find the Weavile, and he agrees.

Cut to Weavile, who has a flashback to walking in the rain while a female Sneasal (we can tell its gender because of its eyelashes) sadly watches it go.

The heroes find Weavile, but it won't talk to them. Team Rocket also shows up, as does the Sneasal in the flashback. Sneasal explains through Meowth that a rogue Weavile showed up one day and beat up Good Weavile for leadership of the tribe. Now Good Weavile wants to get stronger, so it fights any trainer it finds. The key is that it wants to get stronger for itself, not simply to take back leadership of the tribe, which it’s turned its back to.

Unfortunately, Evil Weavile appears, having followed Sneasal for… some reason. It has its minion Weavile attack Good Weavile, but Pikachu takes them down and Ash tells Good Weavile to fight Evil Weavile (by the way, the knocked out Weavile disappear between shots in this scene) because I don’t even know, I’ll admit I was playing City of Heroes while I watched this episode. The battle is intense, but Good Weavile wins by playing it smart.

It acts like it's going to kill (and yes, kill) Evil Weavile, but then stops and tells it to get lost. Sneasal then forces both of them to make up and agree to work together, which they grudgingly do. Brock is happy that "everyone is accepting the way things are" even though that in no way applies to this situation, and also, "accepting things for the way they are" is rarely something you see in fiction because it's usually not very dramatic or interesting.

Just like this episode.

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Started: July 6, 2005

Overjoyed!
"Stop being taller than me!"
Score: 4/10

The heroes reach Fennel Valley, in which lays the Battle Pyramid. Scott and a Nurse Joy greet them, and Nurse Joy all but tackles Ash. She's a huge fan of Ash and May and asks for their autographs, and, of course, Brock is disappointed that she doesn't know him. Brandon is too busy to battle today, so Nurse Joy invites them to her pokemon center.

Ash asks May to help him train, but Nurse Joy volunteers for the job instead, telling him that she used to be quite a good trainer. I love Nurse Joys with unique personalities, they're always fun. It's a shame every Officer Jenny is always the same. Nurse Joy and Chansey remove their nurse hats, and suddenly, both are super aggressive and flex a lot. It's honestly funny.

Chansey versus Corphish! Corphish's attacks land perfectly, but Chansey can just absorb everything like it ain't no thang. It doesn't take long for Nurse Joy to win and immediately take Corphish to heal it. Team Rocket watches it happen, and decide to steal Chansey to give to Giovanni.


Everyone wonders if Ash can take Brandon, telling him that he lost the first time because he "didn't have a handle on Brandon's pokemon." Uh. No he didn't. He lost because he was possessed by the ghost of an evil king who didn't know anything about pokemon battling. I admit, there’s probably no official rule that undoes a loss caused by that circumstance, but I’m still going to count that as Ash not losing.

Team Rocket kidnaps Chansey, but accidentally knock off its nurse hat, whereupon it goes into ninja mode and blasts them off. What significance does this have? Why, absolutely none, of course.

As the sun sets, May mulls to herself: Ash and Brock are working so hard to make their dreams come true, but what is she doing with her life? This would have meaning if she wasn't ten years old. Like, seriously, these are the thoughts of a forty year-old officer worker who’s about to buy an Escalade and pick up nineteen year-olds pretending to be twenty-one year-olds at a bar, not a ten year-old adventurer.

Cut to Brandon, who is investigating some ruins. There's a big riddle on a wall, which Brandon solves just as Ash gets there, and they are rewarded with a hologram.

Brandon translates: "As the sleeping light comes to our planet, the sky and earth will reverse." Brandon announces that he's found the Secret Chamber, and that he'll need a special pokemon for this… and I guess that’s it for this scene.

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The next day, Brandon and Ash fight. Registeel versus-- Torkoal. I hate you, Ash. Max declares that fire types have the advantage, but come on, even Cyndaquil is more impressive than Torkoal. Torkoal scores a direct hit with flamethrower, but hilariously, it does nothing. I'm serious, Registeel doesn't even flinch or anything, it literally just stands there like the animators superimposed a flamethrower animation over a single frame of Registeel standing. Torkoal is still fast enough to avoid Registeel's attacks, though, so it becomes a lock-on/iron defense fight. Torkoal becomes paralyzed, and Ash tricks Registeel into using metal claw on Torkoal to run the electricity in Torkoal into itself and this makes no sense.

Torkoal starts ninja leaping all over the place and launching heat waves and body slams even though it’s a turtle and has like 30 base speed. The battle ultimately turns into a sandstorm versus heat wave fight, and despite some extremely impressive athletics by Torkoal, it still loses.

Everyone is amazed that Ash lost to the same person two times, even though Ash didn't fight Brandon the first time. Brandon tells Ash that only he can turn himself and his pokemon into one entity, and that if he keeps training, he can overcome Brandon’s pokemons’ power advantage. Watching this, May starts worrying that she’s not learning enough like Ash is. Again: she is ten years-old.

Brandon leaves to go search for the pokemon he mentioned earlier, agreeing to battle Ash again when he gets back.

The only good thing in this episode is the flexing, super-aggressive Nurse Joy.

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