Board 8 > Anagram Rants About the Pokemon Anime Part 10: Revengeance (spoilers)

(+) Yeah! (+)

I personally don't give a flying crap about politics and definitely don't want to derail this into a conversation about a garbage subject, but I'm pretty sure Bush sucked worse than Bama. Not to say the latter is doing a good job, but he's definitely not doing the worst job.


Aaaaanyway... Dawn will continue making outfits for Buneary and other pokémon despite displaying no previous aptitude for sewing, stitching, etc. save for an interest in fashion. Also I wonder what she did with that French maid outfit.

--
Arcanine: The best pokemon ever.
Dewott: The cutest pokemon ever.

The incumbent always tends to be very hated.

I mean I (and everybody else) used to strongly dislike Tony Blair but I kind of miss him now >_>

--
Official ~Trendsetter~ of Board 8

GenesisSaga posted...
Aaaaanyway... Dawn will continue making outfits for Buneary and other pokémon despite displaying no previous aptitude for sewing, stitching, etc. save for an interest in fashion. Also I wonder what she did with that French maid outfit.

I wonder what writer thought that would be a good idea. I mean, I appreciate that they're really trying to make Dawn a more unique character, but they're just adding more generic girl traits. This would like if Ash was a girl, and Sinnoh added Lucas to the party, and partyway through he revealed a love for Hot Wheels and barbecues.



AND THE NDAA ALONE PEOPLE. THE NDAA ALONE.

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

Crossing Paths
"Perfect! They've saturated the rocks!"
Score: 8.5/10

I don't know why I think that line is funny. I just really do.

Pikachu and Piplup are marching happily, loudly saying their names in verse because I don’t know. Piplup gets too hungry to continue, and isnce Brock is an expert cook, the heroes decide to go the nearest pokemon center to have lunch instead of helping Piplup because **** Piplup, I guess.

Meanwhile, Jessie wants to train Dustox for an upcoming contest, but it gets distracted when it sees a male Dustox. OH GEE I WONDER WHERE THIS IS GOING.

The male Dustox belongs to a trainer named Austin. He explains that it's the time of the year when Dustox come to this lake for mating: every year, they come to this lake and create a golden archway to fly to Mount Coronet to be written out of the show. He takes his Dustox and leaves, saying he thinks their Dustox will be flying off together tonight. Meanwhile, Jessie has a weird flashback to seeing a guy who looks like Austin in the past, muttering that "they're like twins..."

Jessie talks to Dustox alone and has another flashback to when she was a kid. She was studying to become an actress with two friends, and they all swore off romance as a distraction. So of course she fell in love with a coordinator who looks exactly like Austin named Astin (seriously) who asked her to come with him on his journey. She refused because she knew that if she did well in her audition the next day, she'd be a huge success. Unfortunately, both of her friends passed... and she didn't. She wonders if her life would be different if she'd gone with Astin that day. No time for self-reflection, however! A lightning storm brews and a random bolt almost kills Jessie, knocking her out.

At the pokemon center, Nurse Joy wonders if the Dustox Crossing will be affected. If the weather doesn't clear, the Dustox could be affected. Oh, the horror of having fewer giant bugs in the world. I’m-- I'm broken up about it, truly. Austin runs to the pokemon center and tells everyone that some of the trees around the lake were struck by lightning, and thus the lake is overflowing.

Astin asks Jessie again if she'd like to come with him, and this time she agrees. Unfortunately, she immediately wakes up and is greeted by James and Meowth. Team Rocket sees the water flooding out of the lake, which will ruin it forever and, worse, actually affect a protagonist. Jessie decides to release Dustox because it will find happiness like she didn't when she refused to follow Astin, so she determines to save the lake.

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

The heroes go to the lake and see its water flowing out, and, more strangely, see Team Rocket damming up the flowing water. Everyone agrees to help move some boulders to block the water from escaping, so the heroes send out all of their pokemon to help move the boulders, but Pachirisu refuses because it's a secret Dustox racist.

One montage later, the lake has been dammed up, but the lake has still drained out so much that the Dustox mating season is ruined. Fortunately, there's some snow above the lake, so the heroes just melt and collapse it into the lake to fill it up. It's still not enough, so Jessie and Austin come up with another plan: have Austin's Dustox use confusion to lift up the water that escaped, and Jessie's use whirlwind to knock it into the lake. Of course it works so well that the sky clears as soon as they've finished because I don't know.

The Dustox Crossing is a massive success, and Jessie and Astin sadly bid their Dustox farewell. When Jessie’s Dustox refuses to leave her, she forces it to go on, having another flashback to when Austin left on a bus for his coordinator dreams. We then learn that, as soon as he'd left, she regretted not going with him and has hated herself for not going with him ever since. She destroys Dustox's pokeball and tearfully commands it to go. Then she has a flashback to all of the significant Dustox episodes. Well, five seconds later, the flashback ends, and Dustox has left.

An extremely rare Jessie-centric episode. I love how even when it comes to her own pokemon, she still has to relate things to herself to empathize with others’ feelings. You really get a sense of Jessie’s feelings and how she became who she is here, almost enough to forget that in her flashbacks, she’s like ten, so that means she’s been thinking about a ten year-old boy she didn’t run away with for the sake of romance. Because everyone regrets not running away with their first crush, am I right?

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

sorry Dustox, you just werent as awesome as Seviper

--
FC 1849 0634 8041
Boring sig is boring

Wow, that sounds like a really good episode. I originally skipped it when the last summary I read of it made it out to be a scene by scene rehash of Bye-Bye Butterfree, but that actually sounds like a really good Jessie-centric episode.

--
Arcanine: The best pokemon ever.
Dewott: The cutest pokemon ever.

As usual team rocket episodes come out being pretty good.

--
BOP Results: http://www.freewebs.com/charmander6000/Rivalry%20BOP.xls
Congrats to SuperNiceDog for winning the guru contest.

Wow, you did a writeup of The Bells Are Singing and didn't make a single mention of three-part harmony?
That's doing it a disservice, both on the good end (Team Rocket and a suspicious decoy) and the bad end (holy crap that song gets old fast).

--
You should get at least one alt in the event you get warned or put into Purgatory. - Luster
It's probably easier to just not break the rules. - SmartMuffin

Anna, when's the next movie?

--
Help me get a scholarship! Vote for my essay! http://www.wyzant.com/scholarships/v2/essay19808-Milford-PA.aspx

GenesisSaga posted...
Wow, that sounds like a really good episode. I originally skipped it when the last summary I read of it made it out to be a scene by scene rehash of Bye-Bye Butterfree, but that actually sounds like a really good Jessie-centric episode.

Team Rocket episodes are usually the best because, unlike the heroes, Team Rocket's members actually have personalities and characterization.


FalconPain posted...
Wow, you did a writeup of The Bells Are Singing and didn't make a single mention of three-part harmony?
That's doing it a disservice, both on the good end (Team Rocket and a suspicious decoy) and the bad end (holy crap that song gets old fast).

Eh, it wasn't important and it wasn't interesting.


BNVshark123 posted...
Anna, when's the next movie?

A ways away. I checked a while ago, but I think I've got around fifteen or so more episodes until I come to it. Sorry, I know, I like the movies more, too. They're always terrible. Their plots have just enough effort put into them to be trying, but not enough to actually make sense or not be awful, which makes them perfect.

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

Pika and Goliath!
"Pichu, sup, homeboy?"
Score: 8/10

Okay! Well, we have a new winner for the Things No One Should Ever Have Written Award! Congratulations, Pokemon translators! I didn't think anyone would ever beat The Room's "So anyway how's your sex life?" but it seems that you managed! Congratulations, you! Are! Terrible!

The heroes are traveling when Pikachu and Piplup run into a forest to follow some food they dropped. A Pichu steals it, and a guy who talks like every nineties stereotype ever (it's actually kind of impressive how awful his dialogue is) thinks it's wild and attacks with his Raichu even though Ash shows up and is obviously Pikachu's trainer. When he realizes Ash is its trainer, he offers to trade three electric other electric pokemon because he wants to complete the Pikachu line. It's-- actually kind of hard to follow him because his dialogue is so awful. He insults Pikachu (I think) and Ash challenges him to a battle.
"Sup with that? My guys would all testify I'm bein' straight-up! Or maybe you're bailin' 'cause you can't cut it? What a wimp! Germs like you give real men a bad rap! Guess I'll just have to show you the battle art of bustin' chumps, chump!"
Everything he says is like this. Every single thing. Eventually he introduces himself as "Mr. Show."

Pikachu attacks with thunderbolt, but Raichu is just too strong and ignores the attack. Raichu uses thunder and Pikachu tries the same thing, but it’s actually hurt. The pokemon both use volt tackle, but Raichu's superior size gives it the advantage. It eventually ends the battle with a pointblank hyper beam, defeating Pikachu decisively. Mr. Show leaves, telling Ash to try again in a hundred years. Paul shows up and tells Ash that he was pathetic, and that Ash should just evolve Pikachu to help it gain more power. Ash takes Pikachu to the pokemon center while Team Rocket watches, thinking that if Pikachu can't beat this Raichu, this means they've been wasting their time and by God, they’ve been on this show for eleven years already!

A few hours later, Pikachu is hurt but still wants to fight Raichu again. It's only after the heroes tell Pikachu that it can't possibly win while injured that it's persuaded to stay in bed. Ash produces a thunderstone, telling Pikachu that he's held this thing since Episode 17. Pikachu is too tired to have this conversation and falls asleep, so Ash puts the stone by its bed and tells the others that no matter what Pikachu chooses, he’ll support it.

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

Team Rocket hopes Pikachu won't choose to evolve, and Meowth is particularly adamant that Piakchu shouldn't evolve. He has strong opinions about this: Persian sucks. Goddamn Persians, I hate them so much, I wish they were just all gone entirely (oh God I hope no one takes this quote of context).

At night, Pikachu thinks about using the stone, and when the heroes come in to check on it, Pikachu and the thunderstone are gone. The heroes go into the nearby forest to search for it, and… quickly succeed. Okay. Pikachu tells Ash that it doesn't want to evolve, and Team Rocket shows up. They aren't here for Pikachu, they just admit that they stole the thunderstone and wish it good luck.

The next day, the heroes are at the pokemon center when they see Paul, who walks away without comment. Ash goes out to train Pikachu using the most advanced technology Japan has available: frisbees. They see Mr. Show training Raichu, who agrees to another fight.

Pikachu focuses on speed to avoid Raichu's attacks to wear out its enemy, but Raichu is too tough for this to work. Raichu uses volt tackle, but Pikachu counters it properly this time and avoids it. Another volt tackle is dodged. Team Rocket secretly roots for Pikachu. Raichu gets a little tired and Pikachu lands a hit, but it's not nearly enough. Pikachu starts countering its attacks, and tricks it into a useless hyper beam to force it stand still while it uses a combination volt tackle/iron tail. The pokemon then use volt tackle at the same time again, and it ends with a tie. Pikachu eventually tricks Raichu into another wasted hyper beam and... basically does the same thing. Well okay. Pikachu wins. Meanwhile, Team Rocket and Paul, who were all watching, are satisfied with Pikachu's strength.

Mr. Show compliments Pikachu and tells Ash that he hopes to win the next battle. Even Team Rocket makes it out well in this episode, selling Ash's thunderstone and reaping their first profit in probably two hundred episodes. Everything works out for everyone.

Now, I’m going to just assume that the writers who wrote this episode aren’t the same people who wrote the Lt. Surge episode. I’m basing that on nothing, I’ve done no research, but I bet they had this idea for the episode and knew it had already been done, so they did it anyway and mentioned the Lt. Surge episode briefly and indirectly to calm any fans who were old enough to remember it (consider that ten year-olds when this episode came out hadn’t yet been born when season one was on the air). The truth is, that if you ignore this episode is something that we’ve already seen before (the only new element in Paul)… it’s actually really good. It’s as simply as that. It has a ridiculous name, of course, but that’s probably its biggest problem aside from being, as I said, something we’ve seen before. Of course, there is the issue of Pikachu and Mr. Show being the only actual characters in this episode (Ash is just kind of there), but that’s all that’s needed.

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

I like how Ash tried to use the whole "use your speed to wear him down!" tactic he used against Surge, but it didn't work this time. That was a nice touch.

--
Though it took a while, I must now accept how bad I was for thinking Luigi and WAAAA would beat the greatness of the Pokemon trainers. Also valve is a pretty f*

yeah sorry Pikachu
this trainer took advantage of Raichu's higher base speed

--
FC 1849 0634 8041
Boring sig is boring

Ugh more rehash episodes...

--
Arcanine: The best pokemon ever.
Dewott: The cutest pokemon ever.

GenesisSaga posted...
Ugh more rehash episodes...

This one was the most obvious, yeah, but unlike the others it's actually good, so I can forgive it.

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

You skipped the Pokemon Ranger episodes?

--
Hey, its that SuperNiceDog! Congrats to the Guru 2011 winner

BK_Sheikah00 posted...
You skipped the Pokemon Ranger episodes?

I skipped no episodes that I obtained in the completely legal way in which I access such episodes. If I did skip episodes, it's because I literally don't have them.

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

Our Cup Runneth Over!
"I slave my whole career for a poignant moment like this one and you have to ruin it with a dead battery!"
Score: 6/10

We learn on the news program Sinnoh Now that Wallace, Hoenn's champion, is visiting Sinnoh. He's also a contest master; the Wallace Cup is coming up at Lake Valor. The Wallace Cup is held wherever Wallace wanders, and the Wallace Ribbon is considered an official Wallace in the Wallace Wallace to the Wallace that Wallaces the Wallace.

Meanwhile, Ash is training with his pokemon; Pikachu is a lot stronger for having beaten Raichu, and Ash is sure he'll use it and Turtwig at the upcoming water gym, but he doesn't know who else to use. Well, uh... aren't your only real choices Buizel and Staravia? You aren't going to bust out Chimchar or Gligar against a water master, are you? Dawn watches Ash, in awe of his skill and energy, and so impressed is she that she starts training her own pokemon again. She's still not sure of herself, and admits as much to Ash and Brock, but when she learns Wallace is nearby and that this is his day off, the heroes immiedately decide to intrude upon his personal life.

The heroes search for Wallace, and immediately succeed. That was easy! Literally before any of the heroes say anything to him, he starts complaining about how, because he's so famous, his schedule is so busy. His Milotic plays with Pikachu and Piplup in a small lake because **** you Buizel. Wallace asks to see some of Dawn’s contest moves right now, so Ash agrees to have a contest battle with her.

Buizel versus Piplup, Brock mentions to Wallace that Buizel used to be Dawn's pokemon. After the battle, Wallace tells Dawn that's Buizel's unique style comes from the way she raised it, even though we were explicitly told in no uncertain terms that Dawn had to learn Buizel's existing style in an earlier episode, so either Lucian or Wallace has no idea what he’s talking about. In any case, Wallace tells Ash that he should enter the contest with Buizel, since it never competed in a contest before and some of Dawn’s contest training could be useful. He also tells Dawn that her pokemon are too form-perfect and not natural enough, and that she needs to play with them more.

After Wallace puts on a shot show for everyone, he departs, and they all go to the pokemon center where Ash gets an unexpected phone call from Snowpoint City. It's May. Wow, how interesting! I wonder what they’re going to talk about oh it’s a To Be Continued okay.

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

A Full Course Tag Battle!
"Is that the sound of an obsolete twerpette I hear?"
"Your expiration date's past, my dear."
Score: 6/10

The heroes are waiting for May to arrive at Port Valor, on Lake Valor. How did May take a boat from Snowpoint City to Port Valor when it's a lake? How did she get from the northernmost point in Sinnoh to this southern city so quickly? Well, insert new overused joke here.

May arrives with presents, including a Piplup necklace for Dawn. Dawn is excited to meet May, the "Princess of Hoenn," a title that she literally never had before (unless it's in some Pokemon Special I've never heard of). May also plans to compete in this contest, and shows the heroes why she was in Snowpoint City: she wanted to evolve her Eevee into a Glaceon. Good for you, May! The second worst Eeveelution is a great addition to your team. Sorry, Flareon, I love you and everything, but you’re so awful. You’re barely above Unown Tier.

In any case, May is competing in the Johto League now, but wants the Wallace Ribbon as it’s applicable to any league. She talks about Drew and Harley, inadvertently reminding us that she had much more interesting rivals than Dawn has. Zoey is okay I guess, but Harley was much better.

The heroes all go to a nice restaurant, but you see, to eat here, you have to win a pokemon battle against the restaurant owner and his fiancee. Wow, I have no idea how you stay in business. The heroes meet Roman and Kylee, and agree to two tag battles of Ash/Brock and May/Dawn versus the owners.

Sudowoodo/Pikachu versus Snorlax/Munchlax. Snorlax and Munchlax go down in one hit each, wow, okay, I understand how you stay in business now.

It’s now Girafarig/Drifloon versus Piplup/Blaziken, but before the battle can get underway, a waiter runs into the room and tells everyone that someone stole all of the kitchen's food. This freaks May out, and Brock explains: May especially hates people taking her food. Uh... I don't recall that ever being part of her characterization? I mean, granted, that would be pretty annoying for anyone, but since when did May especially hate food stealing? The episode treats this like stealing Ash’s hat, but I don’t really recall this being a particular problem for May. Am I forgetting something?

Wlel, May throws out her Munchlax, as does Kylee, and the two have their pokemon follow the scent of food, Brock explaining that it's "just like radar" even though it has literally nothing to do with radar at all except that they can both be used to find things. Sadly, Kylee's Munchlax's sense of smell is extremely weak, so it's all on May's.

Of course it's Team Rocket, and May likes their new motto. Dawn and May have a tag battle against Jessie and James, but because it's Jessie and James, they go down even more easily than Roman and Kylee did.

The heroes go back to the restaurant with the food, but the ensuing Girafarig/Drifloon battle is much tougher than Snorlax/Munchlax was. Nevertheless, May and Dawn win easily enough when May turns their bubblebeam and fire spin into a combination. It’s good to see some awful trainers. Everyone the heroes meet always just barely loses, it’s nice to see some people who just suck.

Anyway, at night, May talks about some of the adventures she had with Ash, and Dawn realizes that everyone has experience except her. She’s still determined to win the upcoming ribbon, however, because dammit, May’s not even a main character anymore!

Solid episode that’s mostly just reintroducing May. It’s kind of weird, though, because May kind of has no real characterization this episode. Yes, she has the whole “they stole my food” thing, but that’s it. Once she’s no longer “the klutzy newbie,” she’s kind of nothing at all.

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

Anagram posted...
mnkboy907 posted...
Anagram, how many times are you going to use the "but I thought Pokemon couldn't understand human speech because Officer Jenny" joke? >_>

Depends. How many times before it gets old like the "Ash sends out Pidgeotto/Noctowl/Swellow/Staravia oh wait no he doesn't" joke?


Crossing the Battle Line!
"Meditite!"
"Meh."
Score: 4/10

Maylene accepts Dawn's challenge, but asks for the battle to take place tomorrow. Piplup is really getting into training for its first gym battle while, at the same time, Ash trains Staravia with Reggie. Staravia needs a moving target to work with, so Ash volunteers himself, impressing Reggie. I, too, would be impressed with stupidity of this magnitude. Meanwhile, Maylene meditates with Lucario. At night, Brock encourages Dawn's attempt to make Maylene feel better with a gym battle.

Meditite versus-- Dawn isn't sure if she's ready for a battle, and freaks out a little even though, from her perspective, nothing is at stake. After Ash encourages her, she finally sends out Buneary because it was her worst possible choice. Buneary loses, but succeeds in getting Maylene into the fight. Next up is Ambipom, whose strange tail movements allow it to finish Meditite off.

However, Maylene sends out Lucario, and there are certain pokemon that are never incompetent. Charizard? There are zero bad Charizard out there. Snorlax? Name a single one that can’t kick your ass. And Lucario is at the top of the herd when it comes to being competent because it was no doubt designed to be the face of Gen IV. Ambipom loses in ten seconds.

Finally, Dawn throws out Piplup. She tries to use contest techniques to make up for her lack of power, and Piplup tries to tough out as much damage as it can, but Lucario's sheer power and skill make Piplup winning impossible.

Dawn loses, but Maylene is now pumped and ready for a real battle with Ash. Yay getting people to do their jobs.

Roman's Snorlax.

--
Arcanine: The best pokemon ever.
Dewott: The cutest pokemon ever.

lol

--
http://i45.tinypic.com/fpchec.gif
http://img149.imageshack.us/img149/9413/cutepuppy16.png - Number of people that D'awwed: 63

Damn you Gen


Damn yoooooooo

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

The episode treats this like stealing Ash’s hat

Exactly. It matters in one episode and never again.

--
SuperNiceDog was not so nice to my bracket.
Congrats to SuperNiceDog for winning the Rivalry Rumble Guru Contest!

Team Rocket Elite posted...
The episode treats this like stealing Ash’s hat

Exactly. It matters in one episode and never again.

Well yeah but at least Ash's hat was like a major part of his design. Here, May's love of food comes out of nowhere; she's as thin as a stick.

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

Dang it Gen, I was going to bring that up.

--
(Maniac64 at work)
Guns don't kill people, Kinder eggs do. I saw it in a post on GameFAQs. ~FAHtastic

Anagram posted...
Team Rocket Elite posted...
The episode treats this like stealing Ash’s hat

Exactly. It matters in one episode and never again.

Well yeah but at least Ash's hat was like a major part of his design. Here, May's love of food comes out of nowhere; she's as thin as a stick.

Implying you have to be fat to love eating. >_>

Bad, Anna. Bad.

--
Arcanine: The best pokemon ever.
Dewott: The cutest pokemon ever.

GenesisSaga posted...
Anagram posted...
Team Rocket Elite posted...
The episode treats this like stealing Ash’s hat

Exactly. It matters in one episode and never again.

Well yeah but at least Ash's hat was like a major part of his design. Here, May's love of food comes out of nowhere; she's as thin as a stick.

Implying you have to be fat to love eating. >_>

Bad, Anna. Bad.

Okay fine but there's still nothing that indicates that May particularly likes food more than the average person does.

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

Maybe Munchlax taught her the art of cuisine.

--
http://i45.tinypic.com/fpchec.gif
http://img149.imageshack.us/img149/9413/cutepuppy16.png - Number of people that D'awwed: 63

Staging A Heroes' Welcome!
"No need to worry! Not with pretty hair."
Score: 6/10

In context, of course, that line is perfectly fine. But imagine if the Pokemon world was some kind of nightmarish Stepford Wives reality and it and May's relentless optimism take on a whole different meaning.

Zoey shows up (but not any of the other contest rivals), and it's finally time for the contest!


Wallace and his Milotic show up and introduce themselves, and announce that he’ll be a judge, and his literally thousands of fangirls, all wearing novelty Wallace hats, cheer him on.

First up is May and her Wartortle. I like to think that she got rid of Squirtle and got a new Wartortle instead of simply having her old, crappy Squirtle evolve. I know there's no evidence of this, but I'd still like to think so. We also get a cutaway of all of May's rivals watching her compete on TV. Why aren't they competing themselves? Because shut up. May does so well that Dawn wonders if she's cut out for this.

Jessie’s Wobbuffet tanks it, but Zoey's new Finneon does well. Man. I forgot Finneon even exists. It's one of those pokemon that's just super easy to forget. Even Ash does extremely well.

I do, however, enjoy a cutaway to Paul watching Ash compete, as, confused, he asks what the hell Ash thinks he's doing. See, I imagine Paul as a guy who thinks the same thing about contests as me: that they’re measurements of prettiness and not actual battle ability.

Having seen everyone else compete (as she is the literally the last contestant up), Dawn is nervous and tries to back out, so Piplup, angry, finally uses bubblebeam on her to snap her to her senses. Dawn goes out and almost screws everything up immediately, but sends out Ambipom. Well, of course she nails it, and everyone tells her that she did great.

Round 2 will be Zoey, Dawn, Ash, May, and twelve unnamed people. Well, let’s just be honest with outselves. Unnamed Person #7 has the contest pretty much locked down, I don’t see the point of even continuing, really.

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

I like how the sole reason Buizel was traded to Ash was because it preferred to battle instead of doing contests, but it's still being used in contests anyway.

--
http://i50.tinypic.com/23qx00.jpg
"First time I got punched in the face, I was like "oh no", then I was like "this is a story"."

mnkboy907 posted...
I like how the sole reason Buizel was traded to Ash was because it preferred to battle instead of doing contests, but it's still being used in contests anyway.

Well, that's not too bad. It's not like Ash doesn't use it for battles more.

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

Pruning a Passel of Pals!
"I'll do what any great actress would do when asked! That's 'fake the news!'"
Score: 5/10

Cutting political commentary in my Pokemon? It's more likely than you think!


Ash goes for a walk overnight, because even arcs that are about Dawn have to be about Ash, too. The outline of a pokemon appears out of the lake to him, one of the Legendary Trio of Pixies or whatever. Azelf, Mesprit, and whatever the last one is. Ash immediately goes to the others, and Dawn mentions that she saw a similar outline of a pokemon in the first episode of Sinnoh but never mentioned it before because nevermind that. Then May mentions that she heard a mysterious legendary pokemon lives in Lake Acuity near Snowpoint City. I wonder if this is leading up to something?

The next morning, we learn who's up against who in Round 2. And literally none of the named characters have to fight each other.

Dawn is on a water stage, so she sends out Buneary to fight a Wailmer. Wallace: "Why that's just fabulous!" Remember how Dawn was nervous and worried before? Now she's completely confident and doesn't question herself at all, as if she knows that not even she can lose to someone without a name.

Ash's Buizel, Zoey's Shellos, and May's Skitty do so well that they don't even get actual battles, just single frames.

Dawn wins her next found and gets to the semifinals, and next is Ash. Uh-oh, Ash. They just mentioned your opponent is named Kyle and you're not just getting a single frame, this is an actual battle. Sorry bro, they wouldn’t slip enough food into the animators’ cages to do this much work unless you’re going to lose. Kyle chides Ash for using the same pokemon in both rounds, which makes him predictable. Ash counters this by having Buizel let itself get frozen while using aqua jet and slamming itself into his Lanturn, which was originally Dawn's idea. I have to say, as far responses go, that’s a good one. I also like how it makes sense that since Ash’s gimmick is being good at improvisation he’s the one who gets this trick to actually work, though I doubt the writers remembered that. Nevertheless, Kyle wins, and Ash is disappointed even though what does it matter? Zoey and May of course win their battles. It's now Dawn/Kyle versus May/Zoey.

It’s Dawn’s Piplup versus Kyle’s Crawdaunt. Wow, what a missed opportunity to show off a DP pokemon in this TO BE CONTINUED

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

Damn, they named Kyle? I was so sure you'd be amused that Ash actually lost to Unnamed Trainer #X...

--
You should get at least one alt in the event you get warned or put into Purgatory. - Luster
It's probably easier to just not break the rules. - SmartMuffin

FalconPain posted...
Damn, they named Kyle? I was so sure you'd be amused that Ash actually lost to Unnamed Trainer #X...

As soon as Kyle had a name, I knew Ash was losing.

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

I do like how the writers got Ash to lose, based on the point system and time limit. We all know that Ash would clean up this tournament if it was about battling. Still reaching the quarterfinals in a tournament that is considered to be among the highest tier non-Grand Finals tournament should put the competitors to shame considering that the tournament should have many high level people in it.

All your hard training in making great contest moves foiled by a person that just randomly decided to take part.

--
BOP Results: http://www.freewebs.com/charmander6000/Rivalry%20BOP.xls
Congrats to SuperNiceDog for winning the guru contest.

Strategy With a Smile!
"Remember, folks, you heard it here first: 'Uh... uh...', the catchphrase for a new generation!"
Score: 6/10

I hope Dawn's and Kyle's battle is really long but uninteresting and hard to describe so I’ll have an excuse to not bother actually describing it.

Yessssssssssss!

After Dawn wins, May and Zoey go up against each other. Beautifly versus Glameow. Zoey's strategy is far better than May's, and Glameow comes off looking much nicer, but Beautifly starts using the water battlefield to-- oh, May wins by running the clock out. Well, at least since the writers have used the “running the clock out” gimmick once during this episode, we can be certain it won’t happen in the May/Dawn battle, right?

Dawn is nervous at having to fight someone who beat the person who beat her, but she's still ready to go for it. Don't worry, Dawn. May's not even a main character anymore, you’ve got this.

Piplup versus Glaceon. I really think it would have been cleverer if it had been Piplup versus Blaziken, but I suppose that would be way too much in May's favor even considering the type disadvantage, and the writers needed an excuse to show off Glaceon.

Piplup is almost immediately paralyzed by secret power, so it jumps into the water and gets over its paralysis. That's not actually how paralysis works, but okay. May comes off as just kind of more together than Dawn, but Dawn still gains an advantage when she starts countering stuff, and that’s always the way, huh? It always looks impressive when you counter an attack. Anyway, other than one moment when Dawn clearly screams bubblebeam as "babblebeam," this battle is actually pretty boring save for the ending, where Dawn barely wins by running the clock out.

Dawn cries tears of joy and Wallace gives her the Aqua Ribbon. Zoey and May depart, and everyone agrees that this arc was made stronger by the lack of Max’s presence.

Well, this little arc was actually pretty good. Nothing stood out as particularly amazing, but if they wanted a “Dawn gets her confidence back” arc, this was the best possible way to do it. It’s a little sad that they had to bring back a former main character for the sole purpose of losing, but I can go with it, sure. Overall, a solid arc that lacks any major flaws, but also any major strengths besides the obvious return of May. Although… I wouldn’t have knocked Jessie out so early. I’d have kept her in and had her beat Ash, taking Kyle’s place, but okay.

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

Badump

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

The Thief That Keeps on Thieving!
"When the Boss asks if James wants seconds, James always says 'yes.'"
Score: 6/10

Dawn is still admiring her new ribbon when a Yanma appears. It flies off, and a kid named Tyler shows up chasing it. The heroes follow him because why not? This is much more interesting than gym battles.

He attacks the Yanma with his Piplup, but loses decisively. He tells the heroes that he's a new trainer; he wants that Yanma because it was the first wild pokemon he touched after starting his journey (uh?). The heroes agree to help him, and with their coaching, he defeats Yanma. Just before he can catch it, Team Rocket appears and Jessie-- throws a pokeball and catches it instead. Huh. They've never done that before, they always just used a net or something. Then they escape.

Ash declares that he "can't believe what Team Rocket did!" even though this literally what they've done for like five-hundred-sixty episodes straight. The heroes tell Tyler to go catch a new pokemon instead, and luckily, another random Yanma appears.

Team Rocket gives the Team Rocket delivery Delibird the Yanma pokeball, telling it to give it to Giovanni, extremely proud of themselves for finally succeeding in something. Do you know the last time they successfully delivered a pokemon to Giovanni was Togepi in season one? That was literally almost ten years before this episode was made.

A grunt delivers the pokeball to Giovanni, who doesn't remember Jessie, James, and Meowth. Really? Jessie I can understand, but how many runaway rich scions and anthropomorphic talking cats does your organization have? Well, Giovanni examines the Yanma, but the grunt mentions that Team Rocket already has a large supply of Yanma (that seems likely), so Giovanni decides to just have it given back.

In the morning, Delibird gives the Yanma back to Jessie. They decide to celebrate Giovanni’s benevolence by catching another Yanma and also giving it to Giovanni, so they attack the second Yanma Tyler defeats with the heroes’ help. Wow, what dicks.

Jessie's Yanma versus Ash's Chimchar! Well that goes as well as you'd think. The battle is intense enough that Yanma up and evolves into Yanmega. It suddenly starts kicking ass and taking names! Yeah! I’m sure this new competent member of Team Rocket will remain that way and not quickly devolve into uselessness like Seviper did, right?

Right?

… Right?

Well, anyway, pikachuthunderboltblastingoffaaagain Tyler catches Yannma.

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

Yanmega's too awesome to be weak. :(

--
http://i45.tinypic.com/fpchec.gif
http://img149.imageshack.us/img149/9413/cutepuppy16.png - Number of people that D'awwed: 63

Chim-Charred!
"The question remains: what will be the outcome of the next battle encounter?!"
Score: 7.5/10

After some padding, the heroes run into Paul. Then the best thing ever happens.

Paul asks Ash why he entered the Wallace Cup when he's not a coordinator, and when Ash says it was to help Buizel's battling abilities for real battles, Paul points out that Ash hassled him for entering the tag battle to do the same thing for Chimchar, when neither of them really cared about winning the competitions they were in. And Ash's response is that he wanted to win the tag battle, whereas Paul just wanted to power up his pokemon, which is-- exactly what Paul just said, and Paul points out how he did exactly what he complained Paul did. Dammit, Paul, it’s my job to point out that Ash is an incoherent dick!

Ash says that Paul once told him to do anything that would make him stronger, and Ash declares that that's trusting his friends, which... has nothing to do with this at all. Ash challenges Paul to a battle, and while Paul initially refuses, when Chimchar personally screams at him, he agrees.

Gligar wants to battle, and since it's by far his least experienced pokemon and he's up against someone who's actually competent, Ash agrees to use it, only for Paul to send out his Gliscor. Gligar is concerned, but Ash promises that things will be fine if it stays calm and does what he says. Then Gligar loses without landing a single hit.

Paul sends out his Ursaring, so Chimchar asks to go next. Its dig is countered by a hammer arm aimed at the ground (?!), and its flame wheel is literally just caught in midair. Ursaring beats up Chimchar for a while, and while Chimchar is still capable of going, it's now flinching from secret power. But Paul taunts it, saying that it just sucks. Ash gives a stirring speech about how he knows Chimchar can do it, but it still does nothing as Ursaring pounds on it. Paul thinks Chimchar's gone, but it freaks out and unleashes blaze, which, as you'll recall, is what Paul had wanted it to unlock all along. Brock explains that Ash was able to unlock blaze when Paul couldn't because Ash believes in it, just in case anyone couldn't see the incredibly obvious.

With the power of blaze, Chimcahr straight-up ignores Ursaring's attacks and knocks it out instantly. Ash is unfortunately unable to control it, however, and it starts attacking things at random, forcing Ash to grab it and take the brunt of the attacks himself. Well, he does have experience being attacked. Isn't that right, Pikachu?!

Everyone is impressed with Chimchar's power, but its uncontrollable rage confuses them; blaze doesn’t do that. Eventually, Ash manages to calm it down, and though he acts like nothing is wrong, Chimchar is obviously worried. Paul tells Ash that he won't battle him again until he can control Chimchar's power, and leaves, and the episode ends inconclusively.

Obviously, it is time another Arc™, this time about a pokemon other than Pikachu. This is actually a really solid episode, I must admit. Only its early padding holds it down.

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

This is something that Trip needs. There's no real connection between him and Ash. Trip just kind of brushes Ash off, and Ash just ignores being brushed off. There needs to be some kind of development there.

--
http://i45.tinypic.com/fpchec.gif
http://img149.imageshack.us/img149/9413/cutepuppy16.png - Number of people that D'awwed: 63

Yeah the whole Chimchar thing was a great idea by the writers. Really as a subplot it's on a level far greater than more or less anything they've done before.

--
"I have a place to live because of FFXI, I lost my virginity because of FFXI, and that's why it's my #5 game of all time" - RPGLord95

Anagram posted...
Chim-Charred!
"The question remains: what will be the outcome of the next battle encounter?!"
Score: 7.5/10

After some padding, the heroes run into Paul. Then the best thing ever happens.

Paul asks Ash why he entered the Wallace Cup when he's not a coordinator, and when Ash says it was to help Buizel's battling abilities for real battles, Paul points out that Ash hassled him for entering the tag battle to do the same thing for Chimchar, when neither of them really cared about winning the competitions they were in. And Ash's response is that he wanted to win the tag battle, whereas Paul just wanted to power up his pokemon, which is-- exactly what Paul just said, and Paul points out how he did exactly what he complained Paul did. Dammit, Paul, it’s my job to point out that Ash is an incoherent dick!

See, even if you don't like him at all you've gotta admit the guy makes sense. Moreso than Ass anyway.

--
Arcanine: The best pokemon ever.
Dewott: The cutest pokemon ever.

GenesisSaga posted...
Anagram posted...
Chim-Charred!
"The question remains: what will be the outcome of the next battle encounter?!"
Score: 7.5/10

After some padding, the heroes run into Paul. Then the best thing ever happens.

Paul asks Ash why he entered the Wallace Cup when he's not a coordinator, and when Ash says it was to help Buizel's battling abilities for real battles, Paul points out that Ash hassled him for entering the tag battle to do the same thing for Chimchar, when neither of them really cared about winning the competitions they were in. And Ash's response is that he wanted to win the tag battle, whereas Paul just wanted to power up his pokemon, which is-- exactly what Paul just said, and Paul points out how he did exactly what he complained Paul did. Dammit, Paul, it’s my job to point out that Ash is an incoherent dick!

See, even if you don't like him at all you've gotta admit the guy makes sense. Moreso than Ass anyway.

Yeah, there's no denying that Paul nailed this episode. More of this Paul, please.

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

Anagram posted...

Piplup is almost immediately paralyzed by secret power, so it jumps into the water and gets over its paralysis. That's not actually how paralysis works, but okay.

Oh god, more rehashing. It's like they looked at the Ash and Misty's Staryu v. Butterfree battle where Staryu jumped into the water to get rid of stun powder and end paralysis, and decided to use the concept while choosing to completely ignore what made that actually logically work.

--
http://www.nbc.com/parks-and-recreation/exclusives/ron-dancing-animated.gif

Azp2k32 posted...
Anagram posted...

Piplup is almost immediately paralyzed by secret power, so it jumps into the water and gets over its paralysis. That's not actually how paralysis works, but okay.

Oh god, more rehashing. It's like they looked at the Ash and Misty's Staryu v. Butterfree battle where Staryu jumped into the water to get rid of stun powder and end paralysis, and decided to use the concept while choosing to completely ignore what made that actually logically work.

Hoooooooly crap, was that long ago. I'd forgotten it entirely, good catch.

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

Paul asks Ash why he entered the Wallace Cup when he's not a coordinator, and when Ash says it was to help Buizel's battling abilities for real battles, Paul points out that Ash hassled him for entering the tag battle to do the same thing for Chimchar, when neither of them really cared about winning the competitions they were in. And Ash's response is that he wanted to win the tag battle, whereas Paul just wanted to power up his pokemon, which is-- exactly what Paul just said, and Paul points out how he did exactly what he complained Paul did. Dammit, Paul, it’s my job to point out that Ash is an incoherent dick!

Wow, I can't believe they actually let someone do that. Go Paul!

--
(Maniac64 at work)
Guns don't kill people, Kinder eggs do. I saw it in a post on GameFAQs. ~FAHtastic

Paul IS bump

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