Lets Watch: Pokemon

[Lord Raziere]

Yeah, Pokemon 2,000 was...odd.

Honestly, here's my personal interpretation.

The prophecy is literal. The entire world is supposed to be destroyed. "Day of wrath, that day will consume the world in ashes" and all that.

It's just that, A. The prophecy was inaccurate, and B. the heroes got lucky as hell.

Hey, my interpretation is just as valid as the one they come up with in the movie.

or, to look at it another way:
prophecies don't predict the future. the future is a blank slate and full of infinite possibilities.

instead, prophecies structure the future. They eliminate all other possibilities so that only a certain chain of events may happen, in a way creating the future. the prophecy didn't predict what was going to happen, it made these events happen in the first place. thing is, prophecies are bound by their wording. and thus there are loopholes to the prophecy: normally the world would turn to ash and be destroyed, but since the loophole in the wording is some guy named Ash saving the day, that is a thing that could and did happen instead.

in short, prophecies are like genie wishes that YOU have to grant. sure you have to do it, but that doesn't mean you can interpret the prophecy in a different way to fulfill it in the way you want.

[AGD]

Thank you for this Thread,

I enjoyed the Pokemon-Anime as a Kid, but I have developed kind of a "Meh"-Attitude about it. And even if you admit, that it is average, I feel now, that it deserves a more respectful attitude from me. This Thread brought some Memories back and I remember again, why I enjoyed it in the first place.

But I also remember again, what a gigantic loser Ash was. I remembered Ash as a lot more competent and thought, that he earned more badges rightfully. I think I also found a bit of symbolism for the first season. None of Ashs Pokemon(besides Charizard, that he cant control after that) evolves in the first season, because he doesn't evolves/grows in the first season. He has strenghts, that brought him as far as he is at the end of the season, but he doesn't change any of his flaws, that he had on his first day and this flaws came back to bite him, when he was in the Indigo League, like you said in your "Indigo League"-Critic.

[ThePhantom]

I should point out that in the original Japanese, since the character isn't named Ash, it works a bit differently.

Lawerence III, what a strange villain. We never come across anyone quite like him. His flying fortress is neat, and his calmness through is interesting, but he's such a blank slate. Why this focus on Lugia, how did he gets all his stuff? So many questions with no answers.

[Landis963]

I should point out that in the original Japanese, since the character isn't named Ash, it works a bit differently.

Specifically, it works the way Mystic Muse theorized: The prophecy is literal, and Team Ash just decides to avert the prophecy instead of this "turn to ash" malarkey.

[Lord Raziere]

@ AGD: your welcome.

Charizard could also be symbolic of how Ash's greatest outstanding traits are his laziness and his rash decision making- Charizard after all wouldn't battle unless he saw a challenge in it and would just laze around but if you tick him off he fought recklessly without thought, and that while Ash has other pokemon that represent his other traits (Bulbasaur his protectiveness, Squirtle his leadership qualities, Pikachu his energy, drive, stubbornness and overall potential, and the rarely used Butterfree as the sort of the beauty he could achieve if he actually applied himself but never does, reinforced by the fact that he rarely uses Butterfree) he never develops those traits because Charizard in the way of that and he is relying on Charizard's raw firepower to get things done even though he knows that Charizard won't obey him.

and yeah, my theory falls apart when originally it was just a screw destiny sort of thing, which I find kind of weird, given that american culture prizes independence and freedom you'd think they emphasize that instead of re-railing the prophecy. that says something about us, but I don't know what. and yeah, I would actually like to see Lawrence III again, he had this calm charisma about him and he had potential to be a serious villain. like, he probably some rich guy that could've been a villain for an entire arc or something, going around trying to re-complete his collection of priceless stuff and would've made a great villain who wasn't one of the various Teams.

Episode 26: Fire-Fighting Turtle Squads

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so we open on Jenny keeping people away from flames. so….where are the water pokemon trying put it out? you’d think that since your on an island with readily available water pokemon for capturing that you’d already have a city-funded fire-fighting pokemon team or something….

oh wait they do, nevermind.

and they have Blastoise and Squirtle as well. y’know, there are other water pokemon, I’m pretty sure Marill is far more common than Squirtle, but hey, your the experts…

uh oh. I think the Kaminuirtle is starting to feel Squirtle-Squad sick or something from watching the Wartortle….

called it, and now the Wartortle and the Squirtle are starting to develop one of those stupid intra-evolutionary rivalries….surprised that doesn’t happen more often actually, tensions seem to rise more from similar pokemon being together than different ones, because the different ones are two different to care about competing in the pokemon’s are of specialty. a Squirtle and a Charmander can get along just fine, but two Squirtles will start competing to see which one’s fire-fighting **** is bigger.

wow, Team Rocket is in rare pun form today, they’re just slamming one out after another…

and yeah,t hey might compete on the track, but the Squirtle and Wartortle knows whats really important on the job. but this episode…..eh its not the best, its not the worst. its just meh.

Episode 27: Why Pokeballs are needed for Snorlax. Jerk.

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wow this grass trainer guy is a jerk.

and now the trainer leaves them to their fate of having to transport a sleeping Snorlax to the pokemon center without a pokeball. jerk.

wow, nice idea Tracey, making a lure…..out of Ash. jerk.

hey universe, nice idea with the waterfall making them go down faster. jerk.

hey grass trainer, thanks for pointing out the pokemon center. jerk.

“nah, I don’t think that there are that many people who are that dumb”- true enough I guess. jerk.

and Team Rocket steals the food then offers to give it back for Pikachu. jerk.

the guys name is GOLZAR!? jerk.

Snorlax saves the day……then eats some of the food meant for everyone. jerk.

Episode 28: Does Ash Just Have One Of Those Faces?

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yes, final gym leader of the Orange Crew, we’re getting places.

“can’t you guys have a little confidence in me?”
“Sure Ash, in fact we always have as little confidence in you as possible!.”- AAAAAAGH, MISTY, I’M BURNING FROM YOUR SICK BURN OF ASH THERE! AAAAAH, I’M ON FIRE, I’M ON FIRE!

aw crap, ANOTHER person has mistaken Ash for their own son! to be fair though, Ash does look pretty common and unremarkable.

that guys hair is BROWN! how do you mistake him for that!?

Team Rocket, whats your obsession with making all your evil inventions environmentally friendly!? …..I know that your like, only pseudo-evil and probably don’t want the world going to hell like anyone else but really, you kind of have skewed priorities with this evil invention thing.

“wow Misty! Charizards listening to Ash!”- yes. that is a thing we covered three episodes ago. thanks for stating the obvious, Tracey.

really, another case of Ash being suspiciously similar to ANOTHER person with the same kind of hat, pikachu, dream and so on. why does shonen anime go out of its way to make these super clones of the protagonist? it doesn’t make any sense.

and its a double battle eh. wow. the origin of these came way before Hoenn then.

Uh Ash. you have Butterfree? remember? Alakazam not a problem for you? just send out Butterfree? remember? Bug type? flies around?

….Ash you should’ve chosen Squirtle. Not "I'm a loose cannon pokemon who doesn't play by the rules" Charizard...

PIKACHU! I’M PRETTY SURE ASH MEANT USE THUNDERSHOCK ON ALAKAZAM! NOT CHARIZARD! YOU IDIOT!

Finally! Pikachu did what he should’ve done like, two minutes ago.

and they never see Travis ever. probably.

and um.... Squirtle episode is meh, the snorlax episode is just a bunch of people being jerks to one another, and the last is weird because Ash gets mistaken for ANOTHER person's son AGAIN, then sends out Charizard who demonstrates that while he listens to Ash now, Charizard still isn't exactly a team player yet, which sort of drags things down, when Ash should've chosen Squirtle instead who is not only a water type, but knows ALL ABOUT TEAMWORK. not only a good choice against a Marowak, but probably would've got things done better against Alakazam as well.

[ThePhantom]

A little foreshadowing, and closer and closer we get to the origin of one of the stranger abilities. Yes, I think people know what I'm talking about.

[Lord Raziere]

....no I don't seem to myself. oh well, on with the episodes.

this is four episodes long because of the two-parter Orange Champion final battle.

Episode 29: Crouching Magikarp, Hidden Gyarados

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ok weird, magikarp watching?

“just what I’m looking for: non-union labor”- wow. he is…..honest.

this watcher guy sounds like a computer voice thing. also: whats with all the magikarp doing stuff? they’re magikarp, everyone knows that whatever they’re doing, its just going to eventually result in a Gyarados anyways.

Quincy T. Quackenpoker? and here I thought Steven Sphielbug was a ridiculous name.

Misty is voicing what we all are thinking: what kind of quack watches Magikarp? either this guy is onto something big, or onto something obvious. cause Magikarp are pretty useless all things considered, so there must be a dang good reason to constantly watch them.

“say now that the plots come to a screeching halt”- QUINCY CAN BREAK THE FOURTH WALL TOO!? is….is he a Fourth Wall Watcher too? what qualities does he possess that make him similar to Team Rocket?

ok, so Team Rocket has enough money to build a bunch of cool inventions, but not enough to afford a few pokeballs? weird.

and Team Ash is like, YAWNING through Team Rocket’s motto this time. poor Team Rocket, they never get any respect.

70% of the Magikarp evolved eh? weird.

Episode 30: Misty Is Useful Now.

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oh hey Ash is finally going to train for the Orange Lea-aaaaw, he got Stun-Spore’d

and both Tracey and Ash are out of commission, meaning only Misty is able to do anything. this is a problem.

good thinking Tracey, the Pokedex demonstrates a use other than just identifying a pokemon: figuring out antidotes for the pokemon’s stun spore! which I like about this episode alone. it would make sense for a little computer to have something like that and for it to be given to trainers just in case they need it, since they work with pokemon so closely.

and Jessie got stun spore’d as well, and apparently James and Meowth think of it as just a little sickness like the cough or a cold or something.

and Goldeen is finally useful after how many episodes? whatever.

and wow Misty you can’t see through all these as traps but you will still not fall for them. wow. also you inadvertently said that Jessie has good taste.

and Misty is kind enough to leave some to cure Jessie who…..is an ungrateful jerk and tries to attack them, and she gets her comeuppance for it.

“they (Team Rocket) keep getting weirder”- ……truer words have never been spoken Ash.

but yeah. nice to see Misty being useful for a change and getting a Poliwag out of it. kudos.

Episode 31: The First 6v6 Battle, Part 1

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and we get to Pummelo, and see a Dragonite in the distance, speaking of which, caught a Dratini in X! evolved to Dragonair and gave it an Everstone! so yeah, not going for Dragonite, cause I already have three Pseudo-legendaries- why get a fourth?

but here is the weird thing: there is no tournament involved, its just a single match against the Pummelo Gym leader in a six on six battle. kay. I'mma calling him the Orange Champion anyways, because that is what he basically is

and Team Rocket comes in to show how badass the Dragonite is by being blasted off by its Hyper Beam. kay.

better transfer that Snorlax Ash. you don’t want ANOTHER pokemon sleeping the match away.

and we choose….Tauros! finally the bull is gonna get some spotlight! its been waiting like what, 70-80 episodes for this? yeah, been a while since the Safari….

but of course, Team Rocket is planning to steal the show…

now its time for the battle against DRAKE, CHAMPION OF THE ORANGE ISLANDS!

aw crap, the first pokemon Drake sends out is a DITTO. that is a tricky opponent no how you slice it….but since the Challenger can switch out and the Champion can’t, Ash just needs to send out Squirtle first then switch for Bulbasaur and he has this in the bag.

and Ash starts off with…..Pikachu. /facepalm

now now, perfectly symmetrical violence never solves anything. your basically both punching each other’s electrical fists! this won’t do anything productive.

huh an electric tail? thats not a usual move. was there ever an electric tail attack?

and next he sends out a Onix…..ad Ash does the smart thing for once and sends out Squirtle! cool. except whenever Ash does something smart, something happens to screw him over anyways. so…..bye bye Squirtle, probably.

Ash, make Squirtle dive in the water part of the field! its the only place Squirtle can’t be attacked from!

yay! we finally have good tactical sense winning the day with a water beating a rock type! no bull**** underdog stupidity for this win!

crap, third pokemon’s a Gengar. careful Ash, Ghost types are tricky. they are why I have a lot of my pokemon have Shadow Claw or some Dark type move on hand, cause if you don’t have an easy answer for Ghosts they will screw you over in so many ways….

Tauros!? uh Ash, thats probably the worst idea ever. Ghosts are IMMUNE to Normal type attacks. either the beginners luck will be very strong and somehow pull off a very unlikely win, or Tauros is going to get his ass kicked.

and then Ash switches out for Lapras because Confuse Ray is an annoying move that I really need plant and give more Persim berries for. but the Ice beam and the Night Shade is causing an explosive reaction…

Episode 32: The First 6v6 Battle, Part 2

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and we open with a tie, both Pokemon unable to battle. bad for Ash, but worse for Drake. Gengar, being the tricky customer that he is, is probably Drake’s secondary trump card after Dragonite. now he will have to either send out Dragonite to win it back, or he will keep stalling with his other two pokemon….

and Tauros gets another chance to kick ass, and he takes down a VENUSAUR! aw yeah.

and Bulbasaur get his ass kicked by the Electabuzz. after all, there has to be something to make sure this all comes down to the two pokemon we’ve all been waiting for….

and that Electabuzz got beaten by Charizard….now its time for…..

CHARIZARD VS DRAGONITE.

OR

CHARIZARD VS. FAT CHARIZARD. FIGHT!

and oh, the Dragonite knows water gun, ouch.

and Charizard loses. dammit.

and so does Squirtle. now only Tauros and Pikachu remain to fight the seemingly unstoppable Dragonite.

Team Rocket interrupts! and…..get their ass kicked by Dragonite immediately. of course. they had a nice plan, but trying that on a Pseudo-Legendary only gets you pain.

and now we go with….TAUROS! again. its gonna lose

and of course, its all down to Pikachu. go forth Pikachu, and be badass. you can do it, you always do impossible things with electricity.

and thus Ash wins the Orange League! alright!

but the question remains: is the Orange League legit? can we really count this as a victory prestigious as say the Indigo or Johto League? probably not. there is only four Gym Leaders, and you only need to defeat one Champion and no Elite Four. but just because its not as grand as the normal regional leagues, doesn’t mean that it isn’t a stepping stone on his journey. Ash can pull off a victory and thats the entire point of this. its just that well, for some reason he loses every time he enters a tournament if I remember correctly, so I guess this battle is to show that he isn’t a pure failure hero every time he gets close to his goal. I think he does progress and grow, its just subtle; look at how in this match alone he has thought about things more than he did in the Indigo League. he has shown definite improvement and not the flashy power up kind, just the “use your head more often” kind.

but my real question is if this the conclusion to the Orange League, then we have four more episodes to go before the Orange Islands actually ends! what do they do with the next four?

so yeah. the Quackenpoker episode was weird. the Misty episode was honestly good, nice to give her a spotlight once in a while, but the best two episodes is the Orange Final Battle. it shows Ash actually winning for the vast majority of the match, taking out pokemon after pokemon with his smarts, sure he encounters a couple problems along the way with Lapras and Bulbasaur getting taken out easily, but the real trouble doesn't start until the Dragonite in all its pseudo-legendary glory starts throwing its weight around and basically giving all of Ash's remaining pokemon asskicking after asskicking and it all comes down to Ash using Pikachu, whom if you noticed he saved for last so that it may rest up the most so that it may give the last push.

and really I like that fact that Ash has at least won one thing to put on his mantlepiece and be proud of. sure he lost the Indigo League and all the others but hey, at least he has that Orange Islands trophy to be proud of if nothing else works out- beating a pseudo-legendary is no small feat, especially when its the only pseudo-legendary and one of the only three dragon types in existence at this point in pokemon, sure today beating dragon type like Dragonite is easy if you just get a Fairy type and attack with Moon Blast or Dazzling Gleam, but in Gen I you had to either get another Dragon type- aka another Dragonite- to beat it, or raise an Ice type which there were only four of: Articuno, Jynx, Dewgong and Lapras, and Ice types are harder to raise because the only resistance Ice types have are Ice and a lot of weaknesses. since one of these is a legendary, Ash's only real hope of easily beating Dragonite got destroyed beating a Gengar, which itself had no pokemon that had resistances to Ghost types back then so, Ash basically had to fight two overpowered Gen I pokemon in one match.

[ThePhantom]

I did some checking and my memory was wrong. That comes much later. And yes, this was a huge win for Ash. Champion Drake, I have to add that because of the Elite Four Drake who appears much later, was a very strong opponent, especially at the time. Well, it will be a little while before Ash's bubble is busted, as it must be.

[Lord Raziere]

Yup, what goes up must eventually come down, in this case being Ash's winning streak. lets see how:

Episode 33: Farewell to Lapras

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and we open with Lapras suddenly take a hard right turn while sounding concerned for some reason. yup, just as I predicted, as soon as Ash won the trophy, we immediately go to the episode where Lapras has to say goodbye probably.

yeah, and if they are friends of Lapras, thats a problem for you Ash, because you need Lapras to get back to Oaks, to get back on land.

SHUN THE TRAINER-LAPRAS! SHUN THE TRAINER-LAPRAS!

and Team Rocket is not behind this! they got their ass kicked by the pirate.

“I just hope they keep going.”-…..why Ash? them actually getting arrested and kept in jail would solve so much for you. Team Rocket wouldn’t be following you around so much after all.

its a literal pirate, with a literal pirate ship, with cannons that fire pokeballs that release Tentacruel…..I’m not even going to question how any of this works….its probably all nonsense anyways.

Ash you idiot, the electricity harms everyone, not just the Tentacruel! you’ll solve nothing with Discharge!

and thats why conventional tech doesn’t work against pokemon: the water pokemon were powerful enough to blast through the pirate ships hull and mast with water gun alone, and thats one of the weaker attacks out there.

I think the light blue lapras is Ash-Lapras’s mother….

and yeah. good bye Lapras your an awesome pokemon. real chill, beautiful, and with the voice of an angel, and you make a good ride. whats not to love?

Episode 34: Exploding Pseudo-Pokeball Mania

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and we open with a bridge being closed, and Team Ash needing to get across it. y’know, you guys have used your regular water pokemon to help you swim across water before, why don’t you just use them? the distance isn’t that great.

……where’d you get a rowboat?

why is the town abandoned?

FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF- a voltorb in the shadows, oh god.

oh god, Electrodes everywhere.

aaaaaaaaand the fireworks begin! this town is full of exploding pokemon! no wonder its abandoned!

so some guy is basically transferring Electrode off the little island to a place where they will be free and without crowding, but now Team Rocket has been hired to take care of them in a day immediately. hm.

when did you guys become so lawful? just kick their ass and work double time to get the Electrode off the island. the mayor won’t know the difference.

Voltorb tries to intervene! Togepi uses Metronome…..and ends up using Splash. oh well.

aaaaw, poor Togepi she has to say goodbye to her Voltorb friend.

movie hero? is Misty referencing Clint Eastwood or something?

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH, THE JIGGLYPUFF RETURNS! *scary music plays* after how many episodes being gone? ever since the Snorlax episode of the Orange Islands I think.

Episode 35: She Who Should Not Be Named (Around Brock)

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finally they made it back to Pallet! unfortunately, Jigglypuff has followed them. prepare for sleepy chaos.

Brock!? he is back!?

but then the question is asked: what is Brock doing back in Pallet? wasn’t he with Professor Ivy? and here is a mystery that will never be solved! Brock never says why he left Ivy, or what she did to him. it is something that will never be known. however we can theorize. Brock’s duties was to basically be their housemaid. fix everything up, cook, clean, all that vital stuff. my guess is that he was too good at his job, and they learned how to do all that as well to the point where he wasn’t needed, and then when he tried to say, propose or whatever to Ivy she turned him down in some manner, but not just in any old way, in some special way that really hurt him, because he has been turned down by girls before and bounced back, so she must’ve made herself clear in a way that Brock really didn’t like. maybe she fell in love with another passing man, and never considered Brock a suitor? that would probably hurt him.

*music starts up, Ash runs forward to greet mother and….
“I’m so glad your here Pikachu!”- wow Ash, your still a loser enough for Pikachu to be paid attention over you. by your own mother no less. ouch.

“sometimes your as immature as Gary”
“don’t mention that name….”-hahahaha, Ash going blue and sulky over Gary. if Ivy is to Gary and Brock is to Ash, she must’ve turned him down in a very know-it-all manner or something.

ah, but Tracey wants to meet Oak soon! soon!

aah, a rare shot of both Tracey and Brock running in the same group, even in the episode they meet, they don’t interact all that much unfortunately, but those four are the original Kanto Ash crew. sure Tracey is only in the group for a little while, but he is apart of Team Ash nonetheless.

and yeah, Team Rocket is beginning to call Giovanni less and less because they still have caught any pokemon, so why bother angering him?

very hug-happy Muk. Ash you got to deal with that, what if Muk accidentally poisons somebody? it is after all, a literal pile of toxic goop.

and now Tracey is in full fanboy mode….

suddenly: TEAM ROCKET’S FLYING CIRCUS!

Team Rocket’s ass is getting kicked by Muk. of course.

suddenly: a cloaked figure appears, and just when all hope is lost….GARY. MOTHER. ****ING. OAK. SAVES THE DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!

an then Ash challenges him to a pokemon battle. oh yeeeeaaaaah! finally time for these two to duke it out! the real final battle of Kanto- mostly, because without any new pokemon, the Orange Islands really are nothing but an extension of Kanto.

Episode 36: Ash Vs. Gary

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This is it folks, this is the episode you’ve been waiting for since Episode 1. This is the brash kinda slow reckless good-hearted guy going up against the know-it-all jerk who seems to do everything better and not afraid to rub it in your face. who will win? don’t ask me, I don’t remember the outcome.

only one pokemon? an Eevee? huh. but not evolved. is there some kind of symbolism here? if Ash is to Pikachu like Gary is to Eevee, it means that Gary has just as much potential as Ash, but far more flexibility on how he can apply that potential. Pikachu can only evolve into a Raichu. Eevee can evolve into any number of things depending on the conditions.

a defensive strategy to contrast Ash’s offensive one?

and Pikachu……LOSES!

“hey Gary! next time its going to be different!”
Gary is just like *waves goodbye*

and now we’re starting to talk about Johto and its League. cool.

Sidenote: even Oak doesn’t know? Oak, you invented the pokeball. You not knowing what the GS Ball is all about just doesn’t make any sense, you should at least have some clue about whats different about from normal pokeballs. but no, custom pokeball baffles the greatest pokemon scientist in the world…..again.

Team Rocket vs. Gary. this will end as you think it will. Gary defeats them…..by just walking away and not paying any attention to them.

Team Rocket, get the hell out, your ruining their dinner.

and Scyther gets one last moment to be badass and Tracey gets to the last Team Rocket send off the Orange Islands. how appropriate.

and so they set out for Johto! but we won’t be going there just yet.

first, I have to take a look, at Pokemon Origins, thats right, we are rewinding. we? are taking a look at the journey…..of Red.

so yeah, Ash's victory of getting a trophy is cut short by Gary rescuing him from Team Rocket then soundly beating him with just an Eevee, then heading off to Johto without giving Ash further consideration. always more mountains to climb....

and Orange Islands overall is um...good! good in my opinion. doesn't have as much Kanto weirdness, shorter, gives Ash a victory for a change, definitely ironed out some of the more uh blunt environmental messages, has some episodes that I'd recommend, I can't find as many episodes I dislike in it, so to my point of view it has some improvement over Kanto, because Kanto was full of weirdness and very blunt environmental and evolution messages and such, while Orange Islands while an extension of Kanto is also a transition away from some of its flaws while still delivering on Pokemons strengths.

but before I go on, I have to admit one mistake I made: Marill isn't actually a Gen I pokemon. I just assumed so because Marill appeared in Orange Islands, Marill is actually a Gen II pokemon, Orange Islands was just an early debut for it, like Togepi.

We are all caught up now. but yeah, before we move onto Johto, I'm going to watch Pokemon Origins to see what Red is all about, from what I've heard of him, he is basically the greatest pokemon badass ever so...that will something to see...

[ThePhantom]

Hmm, I didn't see most of those episodes. I saw the lapras one, and the gary one partyl, but the rest I missed. Well, the lapras one was good.

[Lord Raziere]

Pokemon Origins

Before there was Ash, there was a trainer called Red. Before Yellow, there was Red and Green. Before the anime, there was the video game. This, is the story of that trainer. Its only four episodes long so expect a lot of montages. From what I've heard, Red is some sort of super-badass of the pokemon world, so lets see how he matches up to Ash....

Episode 1: Red is a Horrible Trainer

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and we start off with Oak doing his usual spiel and then cutting to the usual Gengar vs. Nidorino fight. rally going for Nostalgia eh?

and Red begins much like Ash: watching the fight and his mother calls him to go meet Professor Oak, and he heads out immediately.

oh hey……Green? oh right, this was before Blue and the American release. hi Green!

but here is where things diverge: Green doesn’t seem to be nearly as dickish as Gary, and Red actually shows up in time to get the usual starters!

and Red chooses Charmander to match his name, but Green doesn’t and chooses Squirtle as expected the rival. oh and then Green challenges Red to a match and says
“your pretty boring for a first opponent.”
and now rival ****-ishness will now commence….

and so Green goes off to try and become the greatest pokemon trainer ever…while Red seems oddly…..calm and unphased.

but now we re-parallel with Red meeting his first wild pokemon: a Pidgey! lets see how he tries to fight it differently than Ash, who because of a jerk Pikachu at the time, did it completely wrong:
oh he doesn’t catch it, but at least he sends out Charmander, and wow is the Pidgey skittish, it runs away too fas to be caught! but he does capture a Rattatta in short order. and the Pokeballs are much faster in this continuity. just, one touch and its vacuumed up just like that!

and we go through a montage of Red capturing the first few pokemon of the beginning areas. wow, already we are diverging significantly, because Red has captured more pokemon in a few seconds than Ash did in an entire season.

and wow, pokemon battles are fast and lethal in Origins, Charmander takes out the Nidoran in one hit!

but Green shows up again and is like
“thought you’d be slower, trash.” and wow, Green is already starting to show where Gary got his ****-ish tendencies from. and ah, Red’s goal is complete the pokedex, much different from Ash’s Pokemon Master desire.

and Green makes a good argument about how Red will need strong pokemon to complete the pokedex actually, then they dramatically skid back and start a poke-battle.

and Red loses to green because Green knows type matches and Red didn’t starting out, he just kept trying to make Charmander fight without thinking.

oh hi guy who looks a lot like Brock without the jacket, your going to teach type matchups now?

no, apparently Red hasn’t bonded with Charmander like Green has. yeah, Red didn’t seem in tune with Charmander there at all.

a nurse that is not a Joy. this is remarkable! a rarity even! quick catch his Nurse! we need to add her to the Nurse-dex!

ok, so apparently Brock is a famous celebrity in this world. thats certainly a change of perspective from some guy sitting alone in a dark gym made of rocks.

oh the guy WAS Brock, hey Brock! your looking more white than usual! what did you do with your hair so that it doesn’t stick up as much?

so, Red doesn’t get type match ups as early as Ash, but he certainly picks it up much quicker than Ash did.

I do admit: his victory vs. Brock is more plausible and strategical than Ash’s, but he gone through the pokemon he had like candy, and he clearly didn’t get the work as a team thing at all. a pokemon trainer who uses his pokemon as cannon fodder is a losing one. Red is lucky he got enough string shot off to for it to matter.

so that was the first episode, and while I am not sure about Red himself yet, I do like the style of this continuity if nothing else, everything being more fast paced and more plausibly forceful- Growl isn’t just some ordinary growl, its some sonic attack that sends shivers down the pokemon’s spine. the tone is more serious, and the action is certainly ramped up with the trainers decisions being split second choices they need to make in the heat of the moment rather than anything they can actually think over, so its plausible that you can lose because of how FAST pokemon battles are in this continuity. Red and Ash are not playing by the same rules here.

I like the save game menu thing as a framing device though.

Episode 2: Death Is A Thing!?

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and we open with a montage skipping right past Misty and Surge. hm. oh well. at least it looks like she is competent in this continuity. but really, seeing as how there are only four episodes, lots of montages make sense.

and we stop at Lavender Town, kay.

and we get Cubone’s backstory where his mother was KILLED, people that are probably ghosts, and an old man that takes of lost and abandoned pokemon. wow, very much darker than the pokemon I’m used to.

so Red promises to go the Tower and defeat Team Rocket, but Green decides to go in first to one up him….

apparently ghost-type pokemon don’t count as real ghosts…weird.

and Green runs as soon as he sees a ghost, for all his talk that they don’t exist. huh.

and so Marowak gets to reunite with her son one last time, Red saves the day and he gets a Pokeflute and mega-evolution stones, and then rides off after pointing out how Green screamed like a little girl. cool. but no actual ghost pokemon, hm.

Episode 3: Why Lots of Master Balls Will Never Be A Thing

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and we open with another montage skipping past Erika and Koga, as well as Charmeleon becoming Charizard, another Ash/Red similarity of having a Charizard in Kanto.

and now they have to stop Team Rocket from getting the Master Ball developed or they’d be able to catch and sell to whoever they want. really, the Master Ball in general seems to be something that should be in mass production by now, but always seems to be some rare Ball that never gets produced in large numbers, I know its to preserve challenge in the pokemon games, but in-universe Master Balls should be everywhere and basically making all other pokeballs obsolete, with humanity basically dominating everything. if the Master Ball becomes anything more than a prototype, the entire pokemon world changes really fast and probably not for the better- no wonder the original anime decided to avoid mentioning it for the most part.

and so Red confronts Giovanni after getting Lapras! and loses because SURF! which is an actual move in this continuity! and Giovanni even points out how Red just leaves his friend Charizard lying there with out aiding him and how isn’t actually being a good friend to Charizard, even though Red says that he is friends to pokemon, he doesn’t live up to the ideal like Ash does.

and so we go through a montage where Blaine and Sabrina are defeated next, while a book says something about a new species of pokemon. kay.

and then we face…..Giovanni as a gym leader, who sends out Rhyhorn, while Red is like “screw you! your not a real Gym leader! I’m battling you as an enemy to all pokemon!”

and three pokemon lose to Giovanni’s Rhyhorn just. like. THAT! wow.

and Red of course wins against Giovanni who is redeemed and dissolves Team Rocket because he remembers when he liked pokemon and business and money didn’t clog things up. kay. well done actually.

Episode 4: Silly Red, Mew is For Codes!

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so we open it Red getting past the Elite Four to face the Champion…..GREEN

yup, Red Vs. Green! CHRISTMAS BATTLE!

and Red wins with Charizard against Blastoise of course and Oak claims its all because he trusted his pokemon that he won against Green…..hm.

and now we get a montage of capturing more pokemon. including Pikachu, Articuno, Zapdos and Moltres.

but then Green shows up injured, and no one knows what this pokemon is. he got attacked by Mewtwo and its time for Red to capture the last one.

and we finally get to it, with Gengar up first!

and then Charizard MEGA-EVOLVES! but Mewtwo isn’t so easily caught!

and then Mewtwo is finally caught.

and just when you think it was all over….Red realizes that Mew exists and wants to go capture MEW…..and then it ends with Mew flying by, looking through the window as if going “huh.” and then flying away, carefree as ever.

Unfortunately for Red, Mew is not something you capture, its a Mythical pokemon you hope to one day receive the right code for at the right time so that you can receive it by the grace of the Nintendo overlords.

and my assessment of Pokemon Origins is…..its rushed. we go at such a breakneck pace in everything in this that while its really awesome and action packed, it also never lets us slow down and see more of Red’s character. he clearly has the right ideas in mind, but is he really a better trainer than Ash? we see so little that its hard to make a proper assessment.

but I’ll try anyways: look at how Red treats his pokemon in battle. he just sends one out after another in rapid succession, hoping to beat whatever pokemon he is facing with numbers. while he was smart to use type match ups, his pokemon clearly weren’t trained enough if they dropped like flies to Giovanni’s Rhyhorn, and if he really was all that great a trainer, it wouldn’t have come down to a Charizard vs Blastoise match in the Champion battle at all, and his true goal is catching them and completing the pokedex, not being a pokemon master and actually being good at what he does.

no, instead it seems that Red is lacking in quality in pokemon training-his pokemon faint so often that I’d consider him a horrible trainer, this series clearly hews closer to the actual rules of the game, so me? even one pokemon fainting is kind of a failure in my eyes. “last pokemon” scenario is one to avoid because it probably means you’ve already lost. Red instead makes up for lack of quality with quantity and wins because he wears his opponents down by repeatedly throwing different pokemon at them- a strategy I can tell you does NOT work in the game, because if your pokemon are dropping like flies, that probably means they not leveled enough for this battle to be won with less than all six pokemon. its inefficient and every time a pokemon faints, your friendship stat takes a small hit so it also means that if you want to take good care of your pokemon, you don’t let them faint no matter what. especially for certain pokemon that ONLY evolve at max friendship.

Ash? he goes for quality over quantity. he doesn’t willingly send his pokemon out to faint over and over again, with the Dragonite battle probably being the only exception, and even then thats after defeating all the other pokemon in Orange-Drakes lineup and constantly switching his pokemon out to make sure they don’t get too tired. he has few pokemon but the ones he has know things like Hydro Pump and Solar Beam. he had to defeat all the Gym leaders Red defeated but with only six pokemon, without even using the two extra he caught until the Indigo League, sure most of those weren’t legit for Ash, but in later regions he demonstrates he can earn Badges fair and square using only a limited team to do so compared to Red literally having every pokemon in existence at the time and pretty much tailoring his team for the specific challenge and….Red finding that his pokemon constantly faint because when your catching them all, you don’t have time to actually train them to be high quality pokemon that don’t faint every time you throw them into an important battle, despite all of Red’s talk of liking and trusting pokemon he really does treat them like cannon fodder in battle and only develops a strong bond of loyalty to Charizard.

really, Red is the opposite of Ash in that Red is pretty much a fiery passionate materialist pokemon collector whose pokemon drop like flies in his attempts to fight high-quality pokemon that people actually trained well and cared for. Giovanni is a better trainer than Red, because Giovanni took out three pokemon using only ONE.

does that mean that Traab and his super-Venusaur are the best? no. Pokemon is not developing ONE pokemon, its about developing a high quality TEAM. because once you meet something that can actually BEAT your super- single pokemon, the rest of your party drops like flies and you lose. Red never got the time to build an actual team, what he made was a lot of individual pokemon he never trained all that much and then resorting to Charizard his strongest when he had no other options, because all the others faint so easily.

sorry to tell any fans of Red but….Red is not better than Ash. he just sucks differently. and really isn’t a sympathetic protagonist to me. his goal is basically “complete the pokedex because this old guy told me to.” and the way he goes about it sounds like a manic obsession. I mean we never see him actually doing anything with all his captured pokemon, he sounds less like a great trainer and more like a great pokemon catcher, but certainly not a good battler.

all things considered? I prefer Ash stupidity and all compared to Red. I’m actually glad we got the normal anime that we have where the pokemon are actually sent to a ranch like lab where they can roam free, and our protagonist actually seems to get the actual point of raising a pokemon rather than just catching one and using it to battle. that and Ash actually feels like a real person and not a generic fiery youth with an obsession for collecting animal beings. this whole thing actually makes me wonder if this wasn’t created as a way for the creators to say:
“oh you want somebody who ISN’T Ash? you want somebody who actually catches them all and does it the way the players do it? FINE! here is RED! he uses his pokemon like disposable tools, has an obsession with catching them all for no reason and beats the Champion merely as a SIDE ACHIEVEMENT! he doesn’t actually care for most of them, he just wants to catch them! HAPPY NOW!? THIS IS THE ALTERNATIVE TO ASH!”
now, you’d say I’m confusing Red for Paul, but he is a different character aimed at examining the fandom with different aspects, trust me. but really if Red is the alternative to Ash, I’ll honestly say that I’m happy we got Ash. because dammit, I wasn’t inspired to be loyal and compassionate towards others by this Red person! he talks the talk, but he doesn’t walk the walk. I was inspired to do so by Ash Ketchum, who routinely does idiotic reckless things for his friends and pokemon and its because of that I actually like him, he actually stands up for his virtues rather than just talk about them.

sure, Red technically achieved more than Ash, became Champion and got 150 pokemon, but I wouldn’t say he is a good trainer. that and Ash has an actual personality outside of “must catch more pokemon” and Gary has a personality beyond “I must be the strongest!” Green. so yeah. Pokemon Origins: demonstrating why we didn’t do this in the first place, because honestly this version of it sucks and has flat characters.

as for whatever hypothetical Ash Vs. Red fight…..

ASH VS. RED:

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*Red sends out first pokemon*
*Ash sends out first pokemon*
*Red’s first pokemon pwn’d in one hit*
*Red’s second pokemon pwn’d in one hit*
*Red’s third pokemon pwn’d in one hit*
*Red’s fourth pokemon pwn’d in one hit*
*Red’s fifth pokemon pwn’d in one hit*
Ash: wow, you really need to work on training your pokemon.
Red: Hey!
*Red sends out Red’s Charizard, it mega-evolves*
*Ash’s first pokemon pwn’d in one hit*
*Ash’s second pokemon pwn’d in one hit*
*Ash’s third pokemon pwn’d in one hit*
*Ash’s fourth pokemon pwn’d in one hit*
*Ash sends out Charizard*
*Ash-Charizard puts up a great fight that significantly weakens Red-Charizard but still gets pwn’d*
*Ash sends out Pikachu*
Ash: Pikachu! Use Thunder!
Pikachu: PIKA-CHUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!!
*Red’s Charizard gets pwn’d*
*Ash Wins the match!*

why? because all of Red’s important fights always come down to all his pokemon but Charizard fainting in rapid succession then him using Charizard to win, while Ash’s fights actually use pokemon other than Pikachu to gain victory a lot of the time, and Ash has taken down Dragonite by weakening it with Charizard then using Pikachu to finish it off, so why not Red’s Charizard as well? Red’s Charizard is strong especially with mega-evolution, but mega-evolution isn’t invincible, I’ve taken out mega-evolved pokemon with normal pokemon, with one hit even so mega-evolution is not THAT much of a power boost. combine with Charizard being half flying type and Pikachu being the most powerful Pikachu in existence, and Red’s best pokemon is quickly toast.

o yeah: Pokemon Origins is the story of a collector who catches all pokemon for some old dude while claiming to be friends with them while carelessly throwing them out to battle, who beats his strength-obsessed rival as a side venture, and while technically accomplishing more than Ash well.....be honest, would you want this guy around in say, Mewtwo Strikes Back?:

Mewtwo: I am the most powerful pokemon in the worl-
Red: Go ultra ball!
*Mewtwo catches it with telekinesis then destroys it effortlessly*
Mewtwo: It seems you need to be taught a lesson.
*Pwns Red with psychic powers*

or Pokemon 2000:
Red: oh a Moltres! go Ultra Ball!
*You caught a MOLTRES! would you like to give it a nickname?*
*suddenly the world starts going out of balance*
*Lugia suddenly twisters up from the ocean floor*
Lugia: You IDIOT! what were you thinking!? YOU DOOMED US ALL!
Red: oh a new pokemon! I gotta catch it! Go Ultra Ball!
*Lugia slaps it aside*
Lugia: I will probably enjoy this more than I should.
*Hyper Beams Red into oblivion*

Yeeeeah, Screw Red. he isn't actually that badass, all his victories are so narrow that I could easily see him losing those fights if a tiny amount of luck wasn't on his side. Congratulations Pokemon Origins you made me prefer the guy who lost the Indigo League because he made a mistake that no rookie would make over the guy who completed the pokedex and became Champion.

[ThePhantom]

Hmm, well the fast pace sounds interesting, but it seems like they could have used a bit more time for this miniseries. It does sound like the normal anime is better. Hmm, seems similar to another series that has a version that cuts out much the filler at the expensive of the character development. Also, I'm not sure if Lugia is using hyperbeam when it has a signature move, Aeroblast.

[Lord Raziere]

If your talking about Legend of Korra, your wrong, Legend of Korra is miles better than Pokemon Origins. it runs laps around Pokemon Origins. the only way Legend of Korra could be like Pokemon Origins is if you wrote it like this:

Episode 1:
Korra runs off to Republic City, meets Mako and Bolin, goes through a montage of winning Pro-Bending effortlessly, meets Tenzin, Amon appears, we go through a montage of fighting the Equalists, then we go to the final fight with Amon where he is defeated.

Episode 2:
Korra tries to train with Unalaq, civil war breaks out, montage of civil war, Korra loses her memory then trances up a quick few minute history of Wan, masters going into the spirit world in an instant, montage of spirit world travel, final fight with Vaatu.

Episode 3:
Korra goes on a montage of gathering Airbenders. meets the thief-airbender guy. meets Earth Queen, montage of being chased by Zahir. Zahir kills Earth Queen, then Korra comes in and beats Zahir all by herself.

Episode 4:
montage of Korra and Kuvira reconquering the Earth Kingdom. Kuvira goes crazy and tries to take the kingdom away from the rightful king which Korra supports, she then kicks Kuvira's ass. the final half of the episode focuses on Korra falling in love with Asami complete with a montage and a kiss at the end. The end.

see what I mean? see how RUSHED that would feel compared to how that actually gone? and how much character development would be left on the wayside? thats Pokemon Origins. not even LoK is that rushed and flat.

[AGD]

why? because all of Red’s important fights always come down to all his pokemon but Charizard fainting in rapid succession then him using Charizard to win, while Ash’s fights actually use pokemon other than Pikachu to gain victory a lot of the time, and Ash has taken down Dragonite by weakening it with Charizard then using Pikachu to finish it off, so why not Red’s Charizard as well? Red’s Charizard is strong especially with mega-evolution, but mega-evolution isn’t invincible, I’ve taken out mega-evolved pokemon with normal pokemon, with one hit even so mega-evolution is not THAT much of a power boost. combine with Charizard being half flying type and Pikachu being the most powerful Pikachu in existence, and Red’s best pokemon is quickly toast.

Charizards Type becomes Fire/Dragon instead of Fire/Flying after mega-evolving and Dragon has a resistance against Electric. Ash would have a better chance with his Gliscor, Donphan or Krookodile. Okay, Pikachu could still win, because it is Ashs Pikachu.

Yeeeeah, Screw Red. he isn't actually that badass, all his victories are so narrow that I could easily see him losing those fights if a tiny amount of luck wasn't on his side. Congratulations Pokemon Origins you made me prefer the guy who lost the Indigo League because he made a mistake that no rookie would make over the guy who completed the pokedex and became Champion.

If people are talking about how badass Red is, they are mostly talking about Game-Red. This is mostly because of his entrance in Gold/Silver, even if we don't find out much about him in that scene. He just stands on Top of Mt. Silver, speaks no Word, has a badass batlle pose and the Pokemon with the highest Level in the whole game series(his Pikachu is LV 81 in GS and LV 88 in HGSS). Maybe Game-Red is more like Ash. His Team is based on Kanto-Ashs Team(Pikachu, Lapras, Relaxo, Venusaur, Chairizard, Blastoise) and Origin-Reds Team is much different.

[ThePhantom]

I was talking about sailor moon actually, and sailor moon crystal. Both are tellings of the same story, but one has character and the other doesn't.
Korra and Avatar are two different stories.

[Lord Raziere]

Charizards Type becomes Fire/Dragon instead of Fire/Flying after mega-evolving and Dragon has a resistance against Electric. Ash would have a better chance with his Gliscor, Donphan or Krookodile. Okay, Pikachu could still win, because it is Ashs Pikachu.

yeah, I'm only using Orange Islands Ash for this battle since I don't know what his later pokemon are. but Pikachu still wins against Mega-Charizard, because Pikachu took out Dragonite. the original Dragon type, and has defeated freaking GROUND TYPES with electric attacks sometimes. Ash's Pikachu must be some super-bred monster that has Special Attack through the roof with an unique ability that no one else in pokemon world has. like maybe:

Ashes to Ashes:
Electric attacks have a chance of ignoring type resistances entirely.

yeah, when I was a kid, I was kind of confused why everyone in GS kept calling Ash "Red" and why he changed his wardrobe to be like that. and honestly, the two people are so similar in appearance and concept that I really consider Red to be nothing but Proto-Ash. Origins just goes to show that Red would in fact be a horrible trainer because he accomplished that much in so little time. he caught so many pokemon so easily that they're disposable to him in battle. he won so much because he was able to tailor his poke-party to optimally take down anyone, therefore he doesn't form a good bond with any of them except his Charizard. he won so much that his methods never struck him as flawed or bad without any failure to point out his mistakes. while video-game Red has even less character than him and might as well just be Ash if he was mute.

so not only is Red a horrible trainer, I have reason to doubt that he is an actual character and not just some Ash blueprint with the personality chip yet to be inserted in. speaking of Johto, I haven't yet gotten around to watching the first three episodes of that yet, I should get started on that soon.

Edit: also, Ash gets a Krookodile? awesome, thats a good pokemon. mine has helped me win two Elite Four runs in separate games, don't remember how exactly I used it in Unova but Krookodile did help majorly against the Kalos Elite four, with it being good against both Fire AND Steel, as well as Ghost.

[AGD]

yeah, I'm only using Orange Islands Ash for this battle since I don't know what his later pokemon are. but Pikachu still wins against Mega-Charizard, because Pikachu took out Dragonite. the original Dragon type, and has defeated freaking GROUND TYPES with electric attacks sometimes. Ash's Pikachu must be some super-bred monster that has Special Attack through the roof with an unique ability that no one else in pokemon world has. like maybe:

Ashes to Ashes:
Electric attacks have a chance of ignoring type resistances entirely.

But Dragonite is also a flying-type, so electric attacks are normal effective(a weakness and a resistance counter each other out) against it. So it is still a different deal. And Ashs Pikachu is also that Pikachu that got beaten by a starly in one of the early routes in Sinnoh. I am not sure, if I remember that correctly. Maybe it was a Taillow in Hoenn or a Pidove in Unova, but you get my Point.

yeah, when I was a kid, I was kind of confused why everyone in GS kept calling Ash "Red" and why he changed his wardrobe to be like that. and honestly, the two people are so similar in appearance and concept that I really consider Red to be nothing but Proto-Ash. Origins just goes to show that Red would in fact be a horrible trainer because he accomplished that much in so little time. he caught so many pokemon so easily that they're disposable to him in battle. he won so much because he was able to tailor his poke-party to optimally take down anyone, therefore he doesn't form a good bond with any of them except his Charizard. he won so much that his methods never struck him as flawed or bad without any failure to point out his mistakes. while video-game Red has even less character than him and might as well just be Ash if he was mute.

so not only is Red a horrible trainer, I have reason to doubt that he is an actual character and not just some Ash blueprint with the personality chip yet to be inserted in. speaking of Johto, I haven't yet gotten around to watching the first three episodes of that yet, I should get started on that soon.

Hey, dont say anything against Game-Red(I am not sure, when you are talking about which one or about both). He is still awesome, because... okay, I don't have any rational reason, but he is awesome.

If I think about it, Game-Reds popularity is very similar to Chuck Norris Popularity. But I like him more than Norris.

Edit: also, Ash gets a Krookodile? awesome, thats a good pokemon. mine has helped me win two Elite Four runs in separate games, don't remember how exactly I used it in Unova but Krookodile did help majorly against the Kalos Elite four, with it being good against both Fire AND Steel, as well as Ghost.

And Ashs Krookodile wears sunglasses... I am not kidding you.

[zimmerwald1915]

Hey, dont say anything against Game-Red(I am not sure, when you are talking about which one or about both). He is still awesome, because... okay, I don't have any rational reason, but he is awesome.

Game!Red isn't supposed to have an existence independent of you. You're supposed to come to the top of Mount Silver full of memories of what it was like to play Red and Blue (or the remakes), what you did, what you felt, and attribute all of that to Red. On the one hand, that kind of work product can be produced by lazy writing, and even if it's intentional it kinda leaves out the people who played Gold and Silver (or their remakes) first. On the other, when it works, it works; see, e.g. Link.

[AGD]

Game!Red isn't supposed to have an existence independent of you. You're supposed to come to the top of Mount Silver full of memories of what it was like to play Red and Blue (or the remakes), what you did, what you felt, and attribute all of that to Red. On the one hand, that kind of work product can be produced by lazy writing, and even if it's intentional it kinda leaves out the people who played Gold and Silver (or their remakes) first. On the other, when it works, it works; see, e.g. Link.

Then I have a rational reason. He is awesome, because he is me.

[Lord Raziere]

Hey, dont say anything against Game-Red(I am not sure, when you are talking about which one or about both). He is still awesome, because... okay, I don't have any rational reason, but he is awesome.

If I think about it, Game-Reds popularity is very similar to Chuck Norris Popularity. But I like him more than Norris.

And Ashs Krookodile wears sunglasses... I am not kidding you.

Well, I am sorry to say this......but thats the entire problem with Game-Red and his popularity. he isn't an actual character who faces challenges and experiences loss and whatnot, he is just a walking Poke-Norris List who stands around in a cool pose on a mountain. it sounds to me fans of him don't actually want a character who actually has to work for anything or experience setback, they just want a figure to idolize, a near unreachable badass to defeat to prove that they're more badass than him and such. which you can do, whatever floats your boat, but my tastes don't run that way. Origins-Red is a uncaring kleptomaniac and Game Red is basically just an Ash clone who'd probably engage in Perfectly Symmetrical Violence if he and Ash ever fought so....not a fan. if you want a trainer thats better than Ash, just take a look at Richie! won all the way Ash's match without losing a single pokemon using only pikachu, charmander and butterfree. has more personality than Game-Red and uses his pokemon properly instead of like cannon fodder like Origins-Red does.

really, only two things are good about Origins in my eyes:
1. the faster more actiony style of pokemon battles (but not the lethality)
2. Giovanni's redemption, because he actually shows more character in those few moments than Red in the entire special as well as being a reminder to older fans of what they like about pokemon when they were young.

then Ash's Krookodile has good taste then. I love wearing sunglasses.

but lets get on with the show:

Johto Journeys

Episode 1: Here We Go Again

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and, NEW THEME SONG! ITS A WHOLE NEW WORLD…..

We’re lost again. Great.

“I just need time to think!”-Misty
“well this must be a brand new experience for you.”- OW! ASH, YOU’VE LIVED UP TO YOUR NAME AT LAST AND GIVEN MISTY QUITE A BURN!

“you two have to be more mature like me”- Brock.
uh yeah, say that again when you tell us what happened with Ivy, Brock
*Brock goes blue-sulking*

oh hi Suicune! your looking particularly blue and mysterious today! nice look for you, say do you know what happened with Raikou and Entei, or do you guys not talk all hat much while your busy running back and forth across Johto for no reason? cause Ash meets a fake one and I’m curious if you have any info on the real one.

oh just gonna mysteriously disappear just like that? oh thats cool, you must be doing the whole “mysterious pokemon appears out of nowhere to confound the viewer and give him a sense of wonder” thing, Ho-oh does it all the time and I know a big Dragonite that once did a substitute mysterious pokemon gig for Lugia cause Lugia was busy taking care of an argument between Moltres and Articuno at the time.

wow, they all run up and fall down the slope in the biggest display of repeated stupidity ever. you guys are not good at pattern recognition, are you?

oh and then Jigglypuff shows up for no reason and goes sliding down after them. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-

oh hey Team Rocket, looks like you found some place to get food! your going to steal the food aren’t you. but wait! plot senses tingling…..there is going to be pokemon int hat building, and Jessie and James will steal them, because why stop at food?

and Professor Elm everybody: too absent-minded to actually look up to who he speaking to and just assumes that Nurse Joy will find Totodile herself, because he is too busy with his research. yeah. Elm is no Oak. and oh, the Totodile appears right next to Team Rocket. thats convenient.

“I can almost hear the crowds at my first Johto league match”- surely booing at you for your massive screw up with your Charizard, I’m pretty sure that big of a screw up at that big of event doesn’t go unnoticed.

and Nurse Joy is OUT. and late! Brock is too concerned to let something as sensible as just waiting for her to come back stop him.

and wow, Brock has definitely gotten more forward and passionate about his love/crushes since he got back from Ivy. he used to be more quiet about it, more sensible, but now he is basically charging in at the first opportunity and throwing himself at them. guess Ivy really did a number on him.

and Elm is beating himself up over his absent-mindedness. its ok Elm, I feel ya. I’m a bit like that too.

and Elm explains the Johto starters and reveals that he was Oak’s best student apparently, but then goes off and says that he was given an A- on his thesis paper because he thinks that Oak failed to recognize the genius of his work…..wow, high opinion of yourself, Elm?

and Elm just keeps talking and talking. yeah, Elm is exhibiting a lot of signs of autism here. doesn’t mean he has it, but I would consider it likely.

unfortunately for Team Rocket, Totodile is biting Jessie’s outrageous hair. guess it thinks its some sort of toy….

and Jessie and Meowth argue over who should call the boss while James actually calls the boss. thats what you get for failing your spot checks while in a heated argument….

“do any of you by chance know the bosses area code?”- LOL, this is just so full of fail….

“does the motto”
Jenny *blinks*: could you repeat that?
just….this is so funny, Jenny is just so bewildered by this that she doesn’t even know what to make of it.

and so they venture forth, probably to eventually get their own Totodile in a later episode, as well as the other two Johto starters. pity we don’t find out what girl gets Elm’s Totodile though….

I'm starting a little slow this time, so that I don't do too much at once and burn myself out. Johto is three seasons long, so I'm going to have to pace myself here. I estimate that about 50-60% of the original Team Ash's adventures take place here? like Kanto+Orange Islands is like around 81+36=117 episodes, and Johto is like....by my calculations....41+52+65=158 episodes, so yeah, approx. 60% of the original Team Ash's run. Johto literally has more episodes than both arcs before it combined. its actually a good thing they split it up into three seasons like this so I know where to stop and take a break.

[AGD]

Well, I am sorry to say this......but thats the entire problem with Game-Red and his popularity. he isn't an actual character who faces challenges and experiences loss and whatnot, he is just a walking Poke-Norris List who stands around in a cool pose on a mountain. it sounds to me fans of him don't actually want a character who actually has to work for anything or experience setback, they just want a figure to idolize, a near unreachable badass to defeat to prove that they're more badass than him and such. which you can do, whatever floats your boat, but my tastes don't run that way. Origins-Red is a uncaring kleptomaniac and Game Red is basically just an Ash clone who'd probably engage in Perfectly Symmetrical Violence if he and Ash ever fought so....not a fan. if you want a trainer thats better than Ash, just take a look at Richie! won all the way Ash's match without losing a single pokemon using only pikachu, charmander and butterfree. has more personality than Game-Red and uses his pokemon properly instead of like cannon fodder like Origins-Red does.

Okay, maybe I say now nothing, that you didn't figured out yet, but I just want to say, that I didn't really meant anything ill, when I said, that you shouldn't say anything bad about Game-Red. I am aware, that he isn't a real character and comparing him to a real character like Ash is just silly(I wouldn't do that, but I know that some Fans do that). I find your Reasons for not liking either Red legitimate and thought the joke with not having any rational reason would reflect that. I didn't wanted to correct your taste or anything like that.

[ThePhantom]

Well, Giovanni likely moves about a bit, so its not that unreasonable not to know the exact number to reach him at.
And I'm surprised that Totodile got off so easily, Jesse usually gets dangerously violent when someone messes with her hair.

[Lord Raziere]

Well, Giovanni likely moves about a bit, so its not that unreasonable not to know the exact number to reach him at.

oh yeah he is a crime boss/"legitimate" businessman. the guy must travel constantly to secure new deals and such both legal and non, as well as to keep any potential Jennies off the trail. and why would he keep JJ-Rocket up to date on where he is, they're miserable failures and probably would only lead a horde of Jennies to him if they ever found out where he is

@AGD: Sorry, I didn't mean anything by it, just calling things as I see them, your cool.

lets try for two this time:

Episode 2: Casey is an Annoyance

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and Team Ash is walking along when they come across….oh god, I think I actually remember this girl, I forget her name but she is like, freaking annoying for some reason, and wears a yellow jacket and has a Chikorita and constantly talks as if she is some game commentator…..

so her name is Casey. yeah, Casey, please drop the sports commentator act. its not cool, its just annoying. and get better clothes while your at it, your jacket is definitely too big for you, it doesn’t work with your shorts, and why all the LINES in your getup!? and while we’re at it, why the little cone-horn thing around your neck? its not as if it actually amplifies your voice or anything, it just seems to be there to complete your image as girl who is too obsessed with looking like some super poke-coach or something.

oh right, I forgot the most annoying thing about Casey: SHE SINGS THIS STUPID SPORTS CHANT SONG AT THE DROP OF A HAT! I’m not saying she is a bad person or anything but really, she is annoying as all hell.

oh and Team Ash’s reaction to Casey is basically:
Ash: o_o
Misty: 0_0
Brock: o_0 or as this Brock we’re talking about: -_=
Yeah, I don’t know what to make of her either, aside from her general annoying-ness.

and then spots them and is all like frowning seriously at them…. and then runs up and goes all fangirl for Pikachu, demands it to give her a shock of electricity, and gets her wish and regrets it. what did you THINK was going to happen you crazy little brat!? is there any wonder why I consider this Casey annoying?

oh right, she is a baseball fan. sigh. that explains it.

oh and she has this obsession with one day building a pokemon team consisting entirely of yellow pokemon with stripes. she may be annoying character but I will say this: she has character. how viable is that anyways? building an entire team of yellow pokemon. the show here shows Pikachu, Electabuzz and Beedrill, I guess you could say that Plusle or Minun could be added if we include Hoenn, perhaps Dunsparce if we want a Ground type (or is it a bug type?) to make sure this isn’t a complete electric-fest, but really I can’t think of enough pokemon off the top of my head to fit her criteria, and I’m already estimating that it might just result in her getting a lot of electric types, which is not good for a competitive environment no matter well she trains them, but she could work as a Gym Leader…..she has just the right amount of crazy and thematic obsession to qualify.

oh, and its revealed that she likes yellow so much because her family has been rooting for a baseball team for three generations. must everything come back to baseball with you Casey? oh who am I kidding, of course everything does.

AHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, the Electabuzz baseball team always finishes in last place, yeah, suddenly this is starting to make sense: she wants to win for a team that alway loses.

and Ash gives it to her straight about her baseball team is basically the Team Rocket of baseball, and she is like “YOU INSULTED THE HONOR OF THE ELECTABUZZ BASEBALL TEAM!” and challenges him to a pokemon battle.

ah crap, this is going to be some match where Ash loses for some plot reason or something to make Casey look badass, isn’t it? pleeeeaaaaase don’t be that….

no wait he sent out Charizard. this is going to be short.

and Casey loses! yay! that ought to teach you a lesson, you annoying little pipsqueak.

one loss doesn’t mean your a loser, it just means you bit off more than you chew you idiot. a real winner doesn’t win all the time, they fight until they lose, pick themselves up again, make themselves better than fight and until they lose again, until they climb so high that its hard for them to lose because they learned from their mistakes so often!

oh good, she remembers what her family taught her and gets back up. at least her family taught her that much.

oh crap, Team Rocket comes in trying to sympathize and turn her against Team Ash complete with stupid Electabuzz baseball getups. Casey, this will only end in bad things. your simply too new at this to beat Ash, and well, whatever rematch Team Rocket has planned probably involves cheating, so you won’t be doing it legitimately.

oh they are doing it smart and convincing her that ASH cheated. yeah, this isn’t going to end well…for anyone.

wait, when did they suddenly show up in a baseball stadium!? they were out in the wilderness then suddenly we’re in a baseball stadium! what gives, did they just teleport here or something!? they don’t have any psychic pokemon to do that!

Ash, your such a loser that your friends only root for you because your the underdog. wow.

“some friends they are.”- Agreed, Ash. agreed.

“when I get my own team, I hope they are a brave and beautiful as you are, Pikachu.”- Casey
Pikachu: complimented accepted, by the way would you like to join my harem? you’d make a great first addition.

“I wonder if she has a sister”- oh god, Brock, stop having those thoughts! bad thoughts! bad thoughts! Bad Brock! BAD!

and thats Casey, and thank GOD she is only a recurring character and not a main one, because she gets annoying real quick.

Episode 3: Heracross is Badass

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so we come across a bunch of Heracross. kay.

oh and the official episode title is “A Sappy Ending” my reaction is: How is that different from all the other episodes? thank you thank you, I’ll be here all week…..

so, the Heracross are vital to the ecosystem here, cool, then just capture only one Ash, you don’t need all of them, and I do recall you catching a Heracross….besides catching more than one pokemon of the same species is redundant in most cases anyways. like, I only have two Gardevoir because poke-bank doesn’t transfer items for some reason so I have one on Alpha Sapphire and one on X because two Gardevoirite mega stones, might as well use them. I hope that they do fix that though, I don’t want to go through some arcane process just to transfer over my mega-evolution pokemon to the generation after this without losing the things that y’know. make them mega evolve.

oh and Pinsir are invading the forest and damaging the ecosystem, species migration can do that, Ash catch them if you want a horde of bugs with big horns, you’ll be saving the environment.

Misty, you do know that people and pokemon can do things for more than one reason right? like, he could both be helping AND trying to get some food? after all, why not multitask?

and Team Rocket is behind this as usual, what does the sap have some great value or something? no, they just think its so tasty that they want to… sell it…. to everyone…

…..uuuuhhh….oh right, this is a forest protected by a ranger guy, I was going to say that this might actually be legal but if this ranger dude is here, it probably isn’t…..

and Heracross joins the party! and um, yeah, good episode I guess, its an environmental message, but its a better one than the last ones, because it shows what happens when the ecosystem is interfered with: one pokemon goes to another place to get food they normally get somewhere else, this causes problem for the other pokemon, which would soon cause problems for other pokemon….

and yeah, these three episodes we meet an annoying trainer who to my best memory, WILL recur and a new bug type pokemon. problem is, where did Butterfree go? I remember Butterfree being set free somewhere along the line between Kanto and early Johto to go live with a pink Butterfree gal I think, but so far that episode just hasn't come up. did I just miss it? hrm, thats annoying.

[ThePhantom]

It appears you skipped the episode. Its listed as episode 21, between the ghastly and the first meeting with Sabrina. Not sure how you missed it through.

And yes, Heracross, that is quite a strong pokemon, a nice addition to Ash's team.

[Lord Raziere]

It appears you skipped the episode. Its listed as episode 21, between the ghastly and the first meeting with Sabrina. Not sure how you missed it through.

And yes, Heracross, that is quite a strong pokemon, a nice addition to Ash's team.

oh that explains it. yeah, the source where I watch the Pokemon episodes didn't show that one for some reason and instead showed a repeat of the first Sabrina episode. but yeah, turns out Butterfree left quite early. so yeah, I apologize to Ash for any berating of him not using Butterfree after episode 21, my mistake, didn't know, thought Butterfree left much later.

unfortunately, we're kind of just starting the first Johto season, so while I do want to go back and watch that just to make sure its all covered, now may not be the best time. or maybe I should go back and watch it NOW just to get it out of the way.... maybe wait until we get to a pokemon farewell episode, because I'm pretty sure that Ash starts losing Kanto pokemon to make room for Johto ones, I do remember him getting his own Chikorita after all....tie it into the theme thats going on then.

[AGD]

Dunsparce is Normal-Type, not Bug or Ground. It has Serene Grace, so it can be useful, but there are much better Pokemon with that Ability.

And now I want to make a competitive Team for Casey. Lets see. Ampharos would be a good Pokemon for her Team. Cofagrius could maybe count as a yellow Pokemon with Stripes. Vespiqueen would also count, but that would be redundant with Beedrill. Maybe Ninjask, but that has only a yellow Head with one stripe. Raikou would be great. Maybe Sunflora, but that has also only a yellow head and not really stripes, but just lines. Galvantula would be good. Still too much Electric- and Bug-Pokemon and not really much useful Pokemon. Sorry, I can't make a really good Team out of this. Mega-Beedrill and Raikou would be her best Pokemon.

[Lord Raziere]

yup, thats pretty much Casey's failing right there: she has the right attitude, the drive and so on, but she is so focused on her themes and aesthetics that her own desires are basically going to shoot her in the foot down the road. Misty is aiming to be a good Gym Leader so she has a reason to stick to a theme, while Brock has slowly been branching out so that he may start to take care all pokemon, not just rock types. Casey? someday she is going to meet some guy with a Camerupt who will then proceed to kick her ass six ways to Sunday, and she will only have herself to blame.

Episode 4: Poor Onix

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so we’re going through a valley and meet a Donphan. kay.

and Ash and Brock argue over who should capture the Donphan. thats a change. they normally get along pretty well.

oh hi Onix! long time no see! how you doing you big rock snake?
*gets pwn’d by Donphan in no time*
Oh……not well I see….

oh, the Donphan belongs to this girl. um, y’know I’m wondering how viable charges of stealing pokemon are when your aren’t around to confirm that pokemon is yours and it seems to be wild. this girl should really keep her Donphan closer to her if she doesn’t it want it to be mistaken for a wild one, and I’m really starting to wonder how often it is to mistake a pokemon for a wild one and try to capture it….

and Brock outright lies about his involvement. wow, some friend you are. oh and, rare and talented breeder, YEAH RIGHT, you said that the Donphan’s horns were short and that a good breeder was needed to make them grow!

oh, Team Rocket is looking for Amberite. that might actually be legal! as long as they don’t get distracted by the Donphan, I have no problem with thi- oh who am I kidding, they’re going to go for the Donphan as soon as they see one.

oh. the plan is to get a Donphan TO sniff out the Amberite. viable plan. unfortunately it wouldn’t occur to them to just um. y’know. ask Michelle to borrow one of her Donphan for this or anything, they’re just going to steal one because they can.

James knows how to take care of pokemon better than Jessie, or at least persuades them better.

wow Brock, your Onix has gotten taken out twice in the same episode. it sure has fallen far from its brief spotlight of stopping Team Rocket from stealing a moonstone and being staircase on a sinking cruise ship. its kind of sad that those are the highlights of Onix’s career really. the rest is just it just getting worfed.

of course Team Rocket steals the one Donphan that can’t actually do what they want it to do. thats just bad luck.

and yeah, Heracross is still recent, but the battle was still needed. Ash needs to get acclimated and Heracross to get more experience.

and we go off into the sunset with Brock having a T_T face and everyone else being happy. kay.

Episode 5: Worst. Hoothoot. Ever.

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They’re lost again….ok, what starter will hey pick up now?

I like how everyone’s reaction to Ash trying to solve the lost situation is: -_-

and Gary M. Oak (The M stands for his middle name: Mother****ing) saves the day again with a Hoothoot. cool.

um, Gary? they may be your rivals but come on, don’t leave them out there…..why are you walking away…..they will be lost forever, what the hell Gary…..why you are abandoning them….come on, you must have some compassion in there somewhere….come on….

guys, you need to find some tall grass and walk around in circles until a Hoothoot jumps out at you! don’t you know pokemon encounters 101?

and we encounter an old dude with a Hoothoot. kay. and I like how they initially doubt that he is real because of how ugly and scary he looks.

oh the old woman is a she and the Hoothoot is a Brock-emon that leads travelers who rent it astray. kay. wow what a dickish Hoothoot.

oh and the Hoothoot is afraid of the illusions even though it CAN SEE RIGHT THROUGH THEM! argh!

oh finally getting tough on a pokemon Ash? this is a switch! where was this Ash when Charizard was BURNING YOUR FACE OFF?

oh and Team Rocket shows up and fails purely out of luck this time. whatever.

and Team Ash safely gets through the forest thanks to a sexist Hoothoot with confidence issues!……yay?

Episode 6: BELLAWESOME!!!

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so we come to a city named Forando, where a pokemon festival thing is happening. cool.

“think I should do a television show with my pokemon?”-Ash
“now who would want to watch anything like that?”- Misty
oh that moment of self-awareness. it is golden. I think it knows that the show isn’t that good but that lots of people watch it anyways, so its like “why do so many people watch us?” or something.

……I don’t think a Flareon jumping through a hoop of fire is all that impressive. its fire type, its resistant to its own element. now a Glaceon jumping through a hoop of fire- that would be impressive.

oh and look, Bellossom- more like Bell-AWESOME. and they’re putting on a show!

oh come on Meowth, the one time you could actually legitimately make money, and you get stage fright!? AGH!

oh god the bad jokes…..Pik-achoo….Bulb-a-sores……Caterpie? I don’t get it. oh Butterfree, I get it.

and again James dresses up as ballerina. definitely a transvestite at least.

wait, is that Flareon pink!? did the animators make a mistake in that shot? cause I’m pretty sure even shiny Flareon aren’t pink.

oh and then the Bellossom kick Team Rocket’s ass with dance choreography. awesome.

and then tomorrow Team Rocket’s ass is kicked by Bellossom again. and then we come to the final scene where they finally pull off that stunt. awesome.

nice to see an episode about Bellossom, its a cute pokemon and really an improvement over Gloom and Vileplume, while still having a lot of utility- why my Bellossom in Alpha-Sapphire alone knows poison-power, sleep power AND stun spore, thats really flexible. pity that only one status effect can be applied per pokemon.

but yeah, first one was meh, second one I didn't like cause the Hoothoot was a jerk and Gary was even more of a jerk than usual, but I like the Bellossom episode. cause mostly.....Bellossom. yeah, I like cute pokemon like them. sure I like the awesome ones like Salamance or Scizor, but there is room to appreciate cuteness as well.

[ThePhantom]

Does your Bellossom know petal dance? Its kinda made for that move.

Anyways, I found the hoothoot episode to be funny, but that could just be me.

[Lord Raziere]

not yet unfortunately, I haven't gotten around to leveling her. there is just so much to do, what with leveling the extra starters you get post-game, all the legendaries to capture, mirage islands...and I haven't even gotten around to battle resort. I do however have a Lilligant that does, but that pokemon is basically Bellossom but taller and more humanoid anyways, and she is one of my best pokemon. so yeah, I look forward to making that Bellossom just as awesome.

Episode 7: Lesser Than They Seem

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and so we open in city famous for a thief, and Misty screaming in the face of a Spinarak. Misty, I think it was just saying hi, don’t be rude.

and Team Rocket is emulating the famous thief….how does Payday work in helping them escape exactly? its just throwing a bunch of money out of nowhere.

and Jenny, aren’t you supposed to like y’know, be able to recognize when your staring at bottle caps and payday coins? speaking of which, I don’t think we ever actually saw Payday get used in the anime, its move referred to but not shown, does it even actually create money and coins? and if so, why aren’t the governments employing Meowths to control the currency of the world? since they can both create money and are great at taking it back, they might be a good option to control inflation.

wow, Jenny you set up trap webs HALF A MILE AWAY from the crime scene!? in the middle of the street? what logic are you running on here? “durrrrr, the webs might catch the criminal by random, it might also catch innocents but duh, thats worth da risk duhuhuhuhuh….” Jennies are Useless!

uh-oh, Jenny is roping them into cracking the case because they helped with Totodile back in New bark Town. nice to see continuity like this though, but I wouldn’t call Team Ash “professional” in any sense of the word….

and wow, Genetics and family lines really are strong and flowing in pokeverse aren’t they? Jennies exist far back as a century ago….

dude, Meowth, James is right, don’t eat from the priceless bowl, you might ruin it!

“you should teach these copycats a lesson!”
“like how you shouldn’t pretend to be someone your not?”-Misty
yeah, the theme for this episode is both Team Ash AND Team Rocket pretending to be greater than they actually are. weird.

“now we’re never going to get famous!”
“yes but we still have fans!”- true, James
*they start trying to fan their way out*
…..man I can’t tell when your being literal, when your making puns and when your breaking the fourth wall anymore, you three mix it all into your normal dialogue so much!

always, that done, the day of a rich person oddly focused on a singular trophy is saved.

Episode 8: No Coin For Snubbull

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eh, this episode is gonna be about a Snubbull. hm. I’m not sure of what to think of Snubbull really.

oh, I actually feel sorry for the Snubbull, its getting smothered by an owner who won’t give it space. poor thing. Brock sees this right from the get-go and the tour of Snubbull’s place just confirms it for him. guy is real sharp when beautiful girls aren’t involved.

and Team Rocket comes in and why is the Snubbull obsessed with biting tails?

and whats with rich people wanting to arrange marriages for their children and such in this anime? are they all control freaks?

and wow, Snubbull is badass

and so Snubbull’s trainer learns to give Snubbull her space by seeing her battle, thus proving that she can protect herself……only for the rich lady to start thinking about expanding the nature wilderness thing and Snubbull thinking “yeah, screw that, I’m going after Meowth’s tail” and runs away anyways.

yeah, this episode had a great lesson: to pay attention to one’s pokemon rather than just throwing money at everything, unfortunately this lesson is then ignored when the rich lady forgets it about two seconds after she learned it and Snubbull runs off just to start a new running gag. meaning this episode was…..thats right….completely pointless, because what Team Ash was trying to prevent happens ANYWAYS. I wonder if Snubbull and Jigglypuff meet and have a combination of the running gags….

so yeah, weird how these two episodes both had mistaken assumptions and rich people in them. and the Snubbull episode could've been great....if it didn't end with the lesson being unlearned in the blink of an eye just to start a running gag. but then again, a person learning their lesson in such a short amount of time is not really something that would believably happen anyways, so points for realism I guess.

[ThePhantom]

I did say that some Jennys were good at their job. This one wasn't too bad, and her ancestor was quite good. And we have the start or continuation of Jamie's precious bottlecap collection being messed with.

And the start of the Snubbull joke, that was fun.

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Especially how I think it ended. The Snubbull's trainer finally catches up and she's now ripped! Then the snubbull evolves and now they're both physical powerhouses.