Lets Watch: Pokemon

[Lord Raziere]

are you sure mistaking three kids for professional crime fighters counts as "being good at her job"? as well mistaking bottle cops for Pay Day and setting up an invisible trap in the middle of a city where anyone could run into it? she seems kind of....unobservant if you will. just saying.

Episode 9: Brock Is Compassionate

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and we’re beginning with them spotting a Stantler.

“you have to use Stantler psychology!”-Brock, as he crouches down and acts like a cat. EPIC FAIL. Brock, you have rolled a natural 1 on your Handle Pokemon check, quit while your ahead.

and suddenly a bunch of Stantler appear behind him. heheheheheh. Brock, you are in rare epic fail form today.

and Brock just doesn’t get that Jenny wants him to come down to the station. wow Brock, you really are not doing well this episode.

ok, you rolled good on noticing that the stantler stampede was actually an illusion first, so kudos for that.

and this episode is actually turning out to be a great examination of Brock and how he is good at empathizing with the pokemon around him. its rare to have him in the spotlight, so I think its a good thing that he does have his moments sometimes.

and Brock knows he has to make the Stantler go away and get back to its herd even if it tears at his heart inside to be a little cruel to it. the feels man. the feels.

y’know, this secret weapon could’ve been replaced with some nose-plugs/gas masks or something and a net, James. just saying, cause you spent a lot of money on this impractical thing….especially since Onix gets to be useful for once and destroy it.

and the Stantler returns to its herd, and overall this is a good episode. we have Brock having the spotlight for a change, we have a problem being solved with good observation on the pokemon breeding expert, we have a very well-written portrayal of empathy and how Brock decides to get it back to its home rather than catch it even though the Stantler likes Brock a lot, its on par with the giant magikarp and magnemite west episodes.

also random thought: Brock Meets Fluttershy
Brock: Why hello I can tell your raise your pokemon really well! Whats your name by the way?
Fluttershy: Um…..(Whats a pokemon, what is he talking about?)
Brock: don’t be shy, I’m a Pokemon Breeder too! and I can tell that you are a great one, even if I don’t know what these species are.
Fluttershy: Eep! (Breeding!? I don’t make them do that! I just take care of them!)
Brock: by the way, might I say that you look positively beautiful? you just have this cute look about you that makes me want to look at you forever and never tear my eyes away from you ever again.
Fluttershy: I-I….(Oh no! this is so overwhelming! Why is complimenting me all of a sudden!?)
Brock: and you really have the voice of an angel, you should speak up more often! perhaps sing!
Fluttershy: I….uh…..Bye! *flies away in panic*
Brock: Wait! Come back! I didn’t get your phone number!

I totally see this scenario happening, and Brock totally being a brony. really I’d go so far as to say he is a Prototype Brony: he cooks, he cleans, he took care of a large family of children, he is compassionate to all pokemon, knows a lot about pokemon health AND he can be badass like anyone else when he needs to.

[ThePhantom]

Well, those three kids have fought team Rocket at least once a week for months, which does make them at least amateur crime fighters. And the point of the episode was for her to get better at her job.

As for this episode, while its nice for Brock to get an episode, I'm afraid the focus on Stantler bothered me. I'm not fond of its design and its a pain to fight in the games. Too much confuse rays.

[Lord Raziere]

Bah. Zubat and Golbat are far more annoying, as well as Emolga. seriously, Emolga is an annoying pokemon to fight.

Episode 10: Ash, Chikorita’s Unrequited Crush.

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oh hey its a sleeping Chikorita. and hey I think I actually remember this episode from some dvd I purchased once or something. Ash and Chikorita get stranded in the snow, and Chikorita ends up joining the party and basically has a crush on Ash.

wow, Bulbasaur you go down because of one light hit on the head? how low is your Defense dude?

um Ash….0_0……your not supposed to use pokemon that strong just to capture a pokemon….Charizard might make it faint before you can do so….

wow this Chikorita is badass, its using its vine whip creatively to trip up Charizard like its using some form of Poke-judo or something….

and Ash, holy crap you are tough as Chikorita, you jumped from a cliff to land on a speeding car you fool.

oh but you forgot your pokeballs. GREAT. now you only have Pikachu to get things done. but that isn’t really an impediment where Team Rocket is concerned, they lose to Pikachu all the time.

aha! Ash does his own copy-motto. I actually find this funny. Guess its just weird seeing somebody else do this unnecessary dramatics for no reason.

oh and then this ridiculous downhill snowball ride happens because team rocket trap and such. kay. they need some reason to get lost…

d’aaaaaaw Ash rescues the Chikorita from the cold and it likes him now. but wait….how does Ash know that this Chikorita isn’t just some completely different Chikorita from the one that he rescued from Team Rocket, and is just thankful that someone came along to rescue her from being out in the cold?

and then Chikorita outright KISSES Ash……..Chikorita x Ash, OTP?
*hears the sounds of guns being loaded*
I’M JOKING!

but yeah, Chikorita is a cute pokemon and demonstrably badass. best Johto starter. Totodile is meh, Cyndaquil is kinda cool, but Chikorita is definitely the best. but this probably means Bulbasaur is going to go away soon. and really, it might be best for Bulbasaur; lately its starting to lose a lot.

Episode 11: Quagsire? More like Derpsire

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aw crap. the Quagsire episode. I don’t like Quagsire. they’re design is just…how to say it…well it makes them look like idiots, thing is we already have Psyduck and Slowbro for that, but they have redeeming features. Quagmires are just stupid-looking thieves.

….really Misty you think that thing is CUTE? well its subjective I guess, but really? really Misty? I like Psyduck better than Quagsire, and I don’t consider it anywhere near cute. I can’t explain why yet, I just don’t like Quagsire.

and they even acknowledge this with Psyduck staring at Quagsire for a long minute. then the GS Ball is stolen! don’t bother going for it Ash, it will all turn out to be pointless anyways.

they’re under arrest for violating Quagsire preservation restrictions!? who’d want to preserve these ****ing things!?

“Quagsire are very special to the people in Cherrygrove city.”
why? they come and steal round things from them to use in some stupid blue moon ritual thing for no reason. I’d want to exterminate them for such a thing. and the town is happy with this because of some stupid superstition about good luck charms, what the hell.

and unfortunately because of Chikorita the GS Ball falls out and gets taken

and so Team Rocket goes after the Quagsire as well, because the Quagsire are stupid thieves that take everything round for no reason.

yeah, whatever. that GS Ball is just going to handed off to Kurt anyways, so that luck won’t last long…. if it ever comes, Ash being the loser that he is.

and yeah I don’t like this episode it features superstition, pointless pokemon ritual and a pokemon I just don’t like.

Episode 12: Jame’s Secret Message

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um…..Team Rocket, aren’t you standing on top of the thing your supposed to slip over Team Ash? wouldn’t you fall in as well?

“we usually don’t wash out this early in the episode!”- another fourth wall breaking moment.

and so we meet a Ledyba trainer who spreads pollen and flies around using her ledyba. cool.

or you could find them by using Chikorita to emit a sweet scent to make them come to you….

and James sends out Victreebell….and says something garbled, hold on let me find out what he said:
“the (something)net and 4kids are the devil!”
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! nice that they slipped that in. ON 4KIDS NETWORK NO LESS.

and so the episode ends with Ariel learning that she doesn’t actually need the whistle to command them. cool.

The Chikorita episode was great, the Quagsire episode, I don't like, but while the Ledyba episode by itself is pretty normal, the secret backwards message in it is gold, and pretty telling of how later anime would get butchered by it- Pokemon really got off light compared to others. thank you for sending it Team Rocket.

[ThePhantom]

Well, in the pokemon world, not all superstitions are false. The ghost of misty point was real after all.

And we have a new pokemon for Ash, and the start of the running gag of Jamie regretting sending out a grass pokemon. It only results in pain for himself.

edit Oh. Well, I'm going on memories and your process. Sometimes I makes mistakes.

[Lord Raziere]

....start? man, the Victreebell thing has been happening since the Butch and Cassidy Debut episode, it long past "started" this is just an instance where I actually found it notable.

Episode 13: Jessie, The Nurse That Never Was.

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oh no, the title is “Ignorance is Blissey”…..

and so we open with them encountering a Blissey, and it fixing food for them. cool.

and I think we’re starting to see that Blissey is bad at her job….whatever it is….

yes, but Nurse Joy, no matter how hard she tries at being a nurse, IF SHE IS BAD AT BEING ONE, FIRE HER.

and Team Rocket sneaks in…..and it turns out that JESSIE ACTUALLY KNOWS THIS BLISSEY.

as in, Jessie once wanted to be a pokemon nurse like all the Joys, but no matter what she tried, she couldn’t make it, so she went to a school to a pokemon nurse…..FOR CHANCEYS. and is actually better at doing things than this Blissey.

so yeah, this is making me suspect that all of Team Rocket has their potential to be good people: James has an empathy with Pokemon that is similar to Brock’s, Jessie wanted to become a nurse, and Meowth has shown that he can care for others, like an old flame. and this could be the reason why Team Rocket keeps recovering from all these situations just fine: Jessie is trained as a Nurse, of COURSE she can make sure they’re all healthy….well, as healthy as they can be I guess.

and so Team Rocket sacrifices their attempt to get food for the Blissey. they’re completely ok with this. Yeah. totally evil. I think Team Rocket by now is so diluted in their evil that they’re verging on Neutral here. like they’re still Chaotic Evil, but only slightly. that and its nice to finally get some backstory for Jessie and that even she can be kind of all three Team Rocket members. I think Team Rocket is more of an example of how three otherwise good people end up becoming bad because of their circumstances than anything else, because whenever they do get an actual chance to do something selfless they do it wholeheartedly. they’re not really generic evil villains, thats only what Team Ash thinks because they never saw most of Team Rocket’s good moments.

[ThePhantom]

And more Jessie backstory, yes. This was a good episode, with a hint of what's it like running the pokemon centers.

[Lord Raziere]

I think I've figured out what kind of pokemon trainer Ash is. y'know Pokemon-Amie? yeah, it actually gives you mechanical benefits to raising affection with your pokemon- like sometimes you get a free Sturdy to endure a hit that would other KO, or land a critical hit more often, or avoid attacks more often, or even shake off status effects for the trainer- things like that. effects that are very similar to some of the things that Ash's pokemon pull off.

Therefore, I think its obvious: Ash is a very good Pokemon-Amie player. its why he gathers so little pokemon each region: he is too focused on playing Pokemon-Amie with the few pokemon he has to bother with catching more. Pikachu isn't so strong because of breeding or whatever, its strong because it has five hearts of affection with Ash and scores critical hits a lot.

still doesn't explain why Pikachu loses to some random Starly though.

Episode 14: School For the Pokemon Idiotic

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CHILDREN! PIKACHU IS NOT A TOY! THIS WILL NOT END WELL FOR YOU!

oh no, another pokemon academy episode.

thanks Brock, you roped us into yet another side quest. I’m starting to realize that Brock’s weakness for beautiful girls is pretty much the all-purpose plot hook for this anime. need Team Ash to try to teach kindergarten? just have a beautiful lady teach it and Brock will pull them in! want Team Ash to go along with being mistaken for crime fighters? Brock is here to automatically agree to it and outright lie that they are so that they have no choice, as long as its Jenny he is speaking to! Team Ash would fight a Salamance if Brock knew it kidnapped a princess.

oh god, Brock your copying a fat pirouetting principal with a mustache, go home your drunk.

OH GOD, ASH WHY DID YOU SEND OUT CHARIZARD TO PLAY WITH CHILDREN, DON’T YOU KNOW HIS TAIL ALONE IS A FIRE HAZARD!?

and the little tosser of a child tries to grab Pikachu and gets shocked for it. serves the little idiot right for trying to mishandle Pikachu. Pokemon are not toys.

I think the pokeball just captured something else like a rock or something, Pikachu has shown that its much too tough for any pokeball. also the little urchin has committed attempted KIDNAPPING, so I have little sympathy of him.

oh, Zacky caught a Bellsprout. heheheheheh. serves him right!

and I remember Sprout tower from Gold. not very well mind you, I remember there being a bunch of ghost trainers in it I think? and I had to get to the top early in the game for some reason. can’t remember what.

and yeah, the little idiot learns to accept his Bellsprout, whatever, TO THE GYM BATTLE ALREADY!

Episode 15: A Sane Gym Leader! Finally!

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we finally get to the Gym….only for Team Rocket to get Pikachu because of “Pokemon Bureau” disguise….kay

and Faulkner saves Pikachu! and he is actually a pretty nice guy. he makes friends with Ash, they share how they love Pidgeot, it all sounds like what pokemon trainers would actually talk about in day-to-day conversation. oh and he is the Gym Leader. YAY! a Gym Leader who is not crazy!

Ash you idiot, Pokemon battles are not places where being a hipster works. what did you think was going to happen? “I’m totally going to beat with a grass type because thats not mainstream!” ugh.

and Pikachu takes that Hoothoot out QUICK! type match ups: why every Gym Leader is a joke once you get one pokemon who can own all their pokemon with one move.

um, Pikachu, don’t suddenly perk up like that, best leave this to the pokemon we all know its going to come down to….

CHARIZARD VS. PIDGEOT! FIGHT!

and Charizard can’t keep up with Pidgeot’s sheer speed and is losing because of it, but Pidgeot being so fast has let its movements get predictable and stale since why would need to improvise? it moves so fast, that no one can react to its movements, so it never learned to do moves that keep the opponent guessing.

and thus we get the first Johto League Badge! No pity, no Team Rocket interference, no rematch, no help earning, no bull****. a major step up. this episode is pretty much all about establishing a new tone for Gym Leaders after well….the first eight all being jerks, evil, crazy or Brock and Misty. none of this is played for laughs, its all just pure suspense about whether Ash will win or not. Team Rocket was just here to introduce Faulkner and prove that he is actually a great guy who is more than just some guy who sits around in a gym all day contemplating the birds.

and yeah, the first of these episodes I kind of dislike because of little kid being a major idiot and proving why in the real world that Pokemon would never be allowed near children because their parents would have heart attacks about them even being near a little mouse that can shock things to death.

but the episode after that pretty much is good all around for showing Faulkner as a competent, sane Gym Leader who gives Ash a good fight, and for establishing pretty how Gym Leaders would be shown for the rest of Pokemon: as cool guys who not only test trainers but do things to help the local community around to prove some responsibility. Johto is pretty much where all the weirdness and rules exceptions stop and a more consistent framework for pokemon begins to start. Kanto was when they were still trying to figure this out, but you can tell Johto is when they start to find their pace.

[ThePhantom]

Well, the bellsprout episode was at least a look at another part of the world, how little kids get into pokemon. It also had Team Rocket trying to steal a building and nearly doing so. So that makes it worth it.

As for the Faulkner battle, that was pretty good. A good fight.

[AGD]

type match ups: why every Gym Leader is a joke once you get one pokemon who can own all their pokemon with one move.

I was always for Gym Leaders with strategic themes instead of type-themes. Like one offensive Gym Leader, one defensive gym leader, one with a Weather-Team, one with Trick Room, one with a balanced Team etc.

That is a bit Off Topic, but I made a competitive Team out of Ghost- and Dark-Pokemon(Mega-Sableye, Bisharp, Gengar, Mandibuzz, Hydreigon and Chandelure). Maybe that would be something for Gym Leaders. Two Types instead of one. My Team works pretty well, since almost every weakness from a Ghost- or Dark-Pokemon is the resistence or immunity of the other type. The only exception are fairy-type-attacks, which are super effective against Dark and normal effective against Ghost, but my Gengar and my Chandelure are resistant against Fairy-Attacks, while my Gengar and my Bisharp have super effective STAB-Attacks against Fairys. Chandelure is unfortunately almost useless in that Team and I should propably replace it, but Chandelure is my Favorite Pokemon. It is a living soul burning chandelier! How couldn't I love it?!

[Lord Raziere]

Chandelure is unfortunately almost useless in that Team and I should propably replace it, but Chandelure is my Favorite Pokemon. It is a living soul burning chandelier! How couldn't I love it?!

oh I know, I have a Delcatty that is my favorite pokemon. it has normalize so all any super-effectiveness I could possibly get will never come, and it probably doesn't have the best stats, but I wouldn't trade it for a shiny high IV Skitty with a held Moon Stone. I also have a Chandelure, but unfortunately I transferred it from White as a Lampent and never got around to nicknaming it, and now I wish I could. maybe I should breed a Litwick and nickname that? only problem is figuring out how to get another Dusk Stone without fighting Inver and hoping for the best. I mean really? and worse: you've got to count how many super-effectives you get when fighting him, because if you get TOO MANY, you get a Rare Candy instead! I don't need Rare Candies, I get levels by actually leveling! the evolution stones are honestly more valuable.

Episode 16: Wow, a Marill That Knows Uproar

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“that cliff is the perfect spot for our first meeting”
“yea as soon as you meet, she can jump right off.”- I was going to say BURN! but then I realized it was a suicide joke and now I’m all like :smallsad:

its a Marill!

and wow, all of you didn’t notice THE PRETTY PINK BOW ON ITS TAIL. wow. just wow. failed a spot check indeed.

oh hi Team Rocket, another scheme another day eh? if you don’t succeed try try again after all.

and they get separated…..

wow, Willamina can be tough when she feels her Marill is in danger….then pretty much devolves into a lady who falls for Brock every when else.

wow, stupid Marill, CRIES WHEN ONE THING GOES WRONG, LAUGHS AT AT ATTACKING BEEDRILL! LOGIC!

hm, I can see Chikorita becoming problematic in a way thats different from Charizard: Chikorita wants all the attention of Ash to herself and is jealous that Pikachu receives it instead.

oh Misty, your always so Tsundere.

Episode 17: Thank You Unstoppable Tank of Destruction?

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and we begin the episode with Team Ash being asleep. uh-oh, Team Rocket is bound to come along…

oh and some Sentret are Sentreting on about something. don’t know don’t care, Sentret are pretty much the Rattata of Johto, they’re nothing much.

and while Team Rocket rides around in a snake-tank, a Sentret makes Togepi roll down hill and wakes her up.

…..and then the two start playing around in the snake-tank and activate it. aw crap, why are they so stupid?

….how does Team Rocket make their money? they keep talking as if they somehow earn money, but we never see them doing anything that indicates so and they keep blowing all that money on big inventions that end up being destroyed. are they just somehow very good at scamming people for research grant money or something? but yeah, seeing as Team Rocket mentions paying out of pocket for their inventions twice now, the “they ask Giovanni for money/inventions” theory holds no water.

…..when did everybody suddenly get dressed in army gear?

and wow, do things go ploin-shaped. both Team Ash and Team Rocket basically try to dig big holes to stop the Arbotank, but it doesn’t work.

so now they have to send in….Charizard.

so Jenny informs them that the town is thankful for the out of control tank making a tunnel to go through the mountain instead of around it. okay….

I do like how they showcased Sentret’s abilities though.

Episode 18: Farewell, Ye Awesome Fire Lizard

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“Your not going to win much badges by only fighting Team Rocket.”
“but then it wouldn’t mean much if they gave out badges for beating those pathetic losers”-Misty
“agreed”-Ash
“agreed”-Brock
“agreed”-Jessie
“agreed”-James
wow…..your are so aware of your failure-ness are you, Team Rocket?

so suddenly everyone is saying that its unfair to use Charizard, ahem, to Misty, Brock and Team Rocket: SCREW YOU! Pokemon was never about fairness! A trainer can use whatever pokemon he likes as long as he legitimately catches it! if Charizard is unstoppable, that just means he is a good pokemon to use. You don’t want a pokemon thats stoppable in pokemon battles. that and if you really think Charizard is all that unstoppable, then you Misty haven’t been doing your freaking JOB to prove that wrong and get your Water types trained! or Brock either, because you two are Water and Rock Gym leaders, or at least former ones, respectively, Charizard being both fire and flying, is weak to water and doubly weak to rock! so you two are just being whiners who haven’t gotten their pokemon trained in how long? oh right, you two are basically Ash’s cheerleaders 90% of the time, his snarky non-action jerks 9% of the time, and 1% actually doing anything. so I think you two are just not trying hard enough to get your pokemon trained to beat Charizard, because its far from impossible. just take that Onix and make it fight everything it possibly can until its the most badass Onix ever then use Rock Throw on Charizard! it will be super-effective! oh and lets not forget how Charizard freaking LOST to a Poliwrath in Orange Islands, and not even because of a water attack! Why? because it wasn’t listening to Ash. your basically berating Ash for actually having a pokemon he can trust to use as a panic button when things go wrong and he needs a lot of power to get the job done! Especially since Team Rocket constantly figures out new ways of disabling Pikachu! Let him have the Charizard, and y’know, progress? have a pokemon that he can use to win battles more easily? the entire point of this journey is to build up, to make one pokemon a powerful fighter to win battles one after another until you have a massive army of pokemon to choose from and build a team from to win! by criticizing Ash for having a powerful Charizard, your shooting Ash’s development as a trainer in the foot! Pokemon is a world where type match-ups are basically one big game of rock-paper-scissors there is no fairness here, there is only the question of how to build the team that can best exploit it!

But I digress, we were busy opening the episode where Charizard leaves Ash so that he may become trapped in an ever cyclical time loop from which there is no escape, please, continue.

yup, the Charicific Valley. where Charizard will soon find itself staying because **** the protagonist actually progressing and getting stronger, lets let him be a nice guy and give away his best fighter so we can continue making money.

ah, only weak Charizard show off like that. hm. see Brock and Misty? Ash’s Charizard isn’t even one of the BEST Charizards ever. by Charizard standards its a loser. your worried over nothing.

and yeah, Ashizard gets his ass kicked by the gentlest, laziest Charizard in the valley. I wouldn’t be worried about Ashizard being overpowered.

oh and Team Rocket plans to somehow steal a better Charizard than Ashizard. even they know that their chances are low. but they try anyways because thats Team Rocket for you.

sigh, poor Team Rocket, sacrificing their schemes to let another Pokemon succeed in life because they empathize with Charizard feeling like its a loser.

but yeah, it is a legitimately sad moment when Charizard leaves to go train in Charicific valley. you may have been a jerk most of the time, but really, you mellowed out man. hope you come back, y’know aside from the time you do in the third movie. Charizard is one of the most iconic pokemon if my memory is correct so….its probably going to return at some point. but now we have more room for whatever pokemon Ash catches next I guess. my prediction? Cyndaquuiiiiiiiiil! we need someone to fill the Fire slot in Ash’s lineup after all. since this was a farewell episode though, now I have to do this:

Going Back In Time:
Real Kanto Episode 21: Whatever Happened To the Butterfree of Yesterday?

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and so we open on Team Ash flying around in a hot air balloon, meeting some Butterfree.

and they release Butterfree so that it can find a mate. wow, they’re not even being coy about this.

and Butterfree gets SHOT DOWN. by a shiny pink Butterfree. ouch.

ummm……guys your love advice sounds very…..um….dominating…..I don’t think thats how it works….

and I just noticed: the voices for the early episodes are really annoying.

and they save the Butterfree from Team Rocket, the pink Butterfree is so impressed that she falls in love and they go off into the sunset with Ash remembering all the times that he shared with Butterfree. nice send off for Ash’s first caught pokemon. I apologize for all the times that I berated Ash for not using Butterfree when it had already left.

but yeah, we say farewell to Charizard after two other episodes because Ash needs to be smacked down for actually progressing on his pokemon journey and then we travel back in time to say farewell to butterfree. good, we finally got those out of the way...

[ThePhantom]

The tank episode was a weird one. As for the Charicific Valley, well Charizard would make it so that it would seem unreasonable for Ash to struggle with the up coming gyms. That and I think its needed to show off the new pokemon and Ash's team is the best way to do so. So, a fair bit of OoC reasons for why they did it. And yes, Charizard will show up more than just the 3rd movie, which is what I'm looking forward to.

[Lord Raziere]

speaking of the third movie, I will be viewing it after the episode known as "Forest Grumps", according to my pokemovie timeline.

Episode 19: Starvation is Apparently Evil.

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so we open with Team Ash being thirsty, and then being helped by none other than a beautiful lady who takes them to her home with Sunflora.

and Team Rocket tries to get a Sunflora for themselves just so they can eat. y’know money gets you all the food you can eat to. its why greed is greater than gluttony. just saying.

I like James being all snooty and criticizing here. I can now imagine James being the judge of some high stakes pokemon contest or something and going “well that pokemon’s performance clearly was lacking in style…”

and uh oh, the Snubbull hath return-eth.

Meowth is useful for once. I can now imagine Meowth being some translator who goes around negotiating between pokemon and humanity, or even helping people figure out what the problem the pokemon are having instead of having to interpret or guess.

Brock can probably translate because his eyes are the same as a Sunflora. you know its true, even if doesn’t make any sense.

poor Meowth, Team Rocket really abuses him, he should really join Team Ash, he would lend a good snarky/cynical wisecracking edge to them.

Team Ash, I’m kind of sort of…unsympathetic here, Team Rocket just wants to EAT for crying out loud, its not as if those noodles are particularly valuable, I mean what would the actual people with lives do with it? they would still need to do jobs to earn money and relying on prize-food for a whole year would make them forget to buy their own food eventually, while Team Rocket seems to always be on the move and have some weird schrodinger’s budget thing going on, so they might actually need it more than the people around them! Just let them have it!

so yeah. we saved the day from starving people who just want some food. hooraaaaay.

eh, I don’t like the sun, smiles or things that smile too much anyways, and Sunflora isn’t that great of a pokemon. I prefer Lunatone. Team Rocket should’ve won in this episode.

Episode 20: Green With Envy

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and so we open with Ash and some other trainer engaging in some Perfectly Symmetrical Violence.

good, we’re addressing the growing Chikorita problem early. don’t want ANOTHER Charizard on our hands, now do we?

there is psychologists in this universe! good! unlike some other shows I can name *glares at Neon Genesis Evangelion*

but really, you didn’t need a psychologist to tell you that Chikorita is envious, its clear as day.

ok, we’re at night lets try to translate, or at least interpret this:
Pikachu: hey, Chikorita, can we talk about this jealousy thing?
Chikorita: There is nothing to talk about!
*razor leaf*
Pikachu: Hey! come back! Chikoriiiiita! come on, lets all be friends here, don’t be unreasonable!

Primeape: YOU WANDERED INTO OUR TERRITORY! WE ARE UNREASONABLE JERKS AND WILL NOW KICK YOUR ASS!
the three other fighting: ey, she took out da boss, bow down!

so Chikorita now has three fighting types to boss around. this won’t end well.

Pikachu: Ey! Chikorita, I found was, so worried, come along lets get back to Ash…
Chikorita: I don’t need to.
Pikachu: wait what.
Chikorita: oooh guuuuyss….

“come on,the other shoulder is just for you.”- good on you Ash, though it must be kind of heavy having two pokemon riding on your shoulders.

Episode 21: I Wanna Fly Away/ See the Stars/ The Milky Way…

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I like the continuity nod to the Orange Islands episode here.

and there is a Hoppip. yeah, aside from its cuteness, I don’t remember Hoppip having much going for it. it seems to be the Magikarp of Grass types or something…or was that Sunkern?

oh so,t they’re useful for predicting the weather. kay.

…..is that a shiny Oddish? I don’t think I ever saw a brown oddish before, so yeah, looks like its shiny.

no, the Oddish just has makeup on it for some reason.

and the Oddish is an Oddish that wants to fly. poor thing. the closest it will probably ever get is becoming a Bellossom and jumping really acrobatically.

yah, Meowth, that Delivery Hoppip plan wouldn’t work at all…

and even Jessie and James doesn’t like Meowth’s idea for delivery Hoppip. Pidgey’s or Wingull’s are probably more reliable anyways.

ok, these disguises are bad even for you Team Rocket, I mean you have R’s on the BACK OF YOUR COATS FOR CRYING OUT LOUD! and all thats covering your faces are stupid masks! even by paper thing disguise standards this is a fail….

….oh come on, first the sunflora now the oddish? does every grass type and their mother know Solar Beam now?

so yeah, these three episode are.....eh, good, aside from the first. the third one definitely has a lesson to learn, but I can empathize with the dream to fly....who hasn't dreamed of flying at some point? and the second is good about getting that Chikorita jealousy in control early.

[ThePhantom]

Well, they don't exactly get the jealousy under control, but it usually isn't an issue. As for the starving team rocket, they were trying to steal the food. If they had asked to start with, they might have gotten some.

[Lord Raziere]

Well, they don't exactly get the jealousy under control, but it usually isn't an issue. As for the starving team rocket, they were trying to steal the food. If they had asked to start with, they might have gotten some.

and? what would some person with a home and such do with all that food anyways? the participants already seem well off, they don't need a year supply of noodles, so its nothing but a pointless extravagance, when they just want to be known as the person who won the trophy this year, the food is entirely extraneous to their desires. and shouldn't that big amount of food be donated to a charity that gives this sort of stuff to kids and such who need it anyways, even if Team Rocket doesn't deserve it? it just seems like a waste, I mean what, a trophy isn't good enough?

I mean think why wars and such are fought: its often over basic stuff like food, or water. the evils of such conflicts happen because there is a legitimate need that needs to be satisfied, but with legitimate means of satisfying them being unavailable, so what is a person to do, just starve, what if they deny them just because they're criminals if they ask? its that dilemma that leads to situations like this.

Episode 22: The Goddamn Gligarman

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and so we open with Team Ash falling into hole and getting rescued by a guy who calls himself “Gligarman” LET THE JOKES COMMENCE.

Gligarman, Gligarman,
Does whatever a Gligar can
Leaps a gap, any size,
Catches thieves just like flies
Look Out!
Here comes the Gligarman.

Is he strong?
Listen long,
He's got a tough pokemon.
He can jump and leap like lead
Take a look overhead
Hey, there
There goes the Gligarman.

In the chill of night
At the scene of a crime
Like a streak of light
He arrives just in time.

Gligarman, Gligarman
Friendly neighborhood Gligarman
Wealth and fame
He's ignored
Action is his reward.

To him, life is a great big bang up
Wherever there's a hang up
You'll find the Gligar man.

the cowboy guy is her father and sounds like him, as well being kind of pudgy….I think I know who Gligarman is. yup, its the store guy. I think everyone knows he is Gligarman, they just don’t tell him because he is experiencing a mid-life crisis, so he decided to dress up as a childhood hero and everyone just goes along with it because it sells toys and he actually helps people once in a while.

and yeah, Team Rocket are definitely the villain…’s henchmen at least. the real super villain is Giovanni, except Giovanni actually doesn’t use them as his henchmen, he just sends them off on impossible errands to screw up, knowing that they aren’t competent.

and so Latoia becomes Gligirl……kay then. one year later a Jenny moves in and arrest them both for vigilantism and then their shop goes out of business. hey you know that it would happen! Jennies Are Useless after all, and its perfectly in genre for the police to hunt the vigilante instead of the actual villains.

Episode 23: Shockingly Good Mentor

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oh hey little Mareep, what’re you doing here?

and huh, the mother is keeping her from battling because she doesn’t thinks he is responsible. hm.

I like Ash being a mentor here, he is actually teaching how to care for pokemon quite well, like how to pay attention to his pokemon getting worn out in battle. I think the girl needs someone like Ash to give her a real battle so that she can learn what its really like rather than just training because training and actually battling are two different things, which her mother wasn’t able to do, and thus Mary learns her lesson better by being shown in battle what she would do wrong rather than just being told, like she need to be shown the consequences a little.

and yeah, this is actually a good moment where Mary gets a more realistic assessment of whether she is ready or not without being discouraged from doing it entirely, with her mother being reassured that she knows whether she will do well someday.

Team Rocket is at it again! shocked by Fluffy 3….2….1…

and so we end with Mary actually competing. kay.

and ummm.....well the second is good with a good lesson, but I'm not so sure about the first of these...

[AGD]

And so Latoia becomes Gligirl……kay then. one year later a Jenny moves in and arrest them both for vigilantism and then their shop goes out of business. hey you know that it would happen! Jennies Are Useless after all, and its perfectly in genre for the police to hunt the vigilante instead of the actual villains.

Or maybe she has some battles with them, until she becomes some sort of Commissioner Gordan. And then Mr. Mime-Man arrives and becomes Gligarmans Archenemy.

[Lord Raziere]

Why must Batman infect everything good and sacred to me in this world?

Episode 24: Shingo, The Arrogant Optimizer

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the hole plan again? well Team Ash has fallen for it before [/rimshot]

who is this old dude? and he beat up Team Rocket.

and YEAH! Misty calls him out and his mysterious pokemon fight bull! she is isn’t afraid of someone just because they have Scizor! you tell him, Misty.

so this Muramasa guy is basically a Veteran with an elite pokemon. careful Ash. if you fight him, it will be tough…

oh I see what Muramasa is up to. he has an arrogant student called Shiro that is getting too big of a head, so he brings in Ash to try and set him right.

hm, Shiro: early attempt at deconstructing the pokemon fans who optimize their battles or something? he uses a laptop to use facts and data to predict whether he would win or not.

and wow, Jessie REALLY doesn’t understand computers. guess her poor upbringing never exposed her to the web….

yea yeah, Ash defeats Shingo because instinct I guess.

Episode 25: Hello Ye Cute Fiery Ant-Eater.

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…..why are all the fire type starters plagued by arrogant entitled trainers who could easily be bullies in a high school show? I’m calling him “douche” because well, thats what he deserves and he wasn’t given a real name.

wow, Team Rocket actually goes through a flashback montage sequence of doing menial job for money. it seems Team Rocket are really just a bunch of lower class workers who occasionally make an invention to get Pikachu….

and hey you found the Cyndaquil! but the douche with the Sandslash is not far behind…nor is Team rocket.

and what the hell, a twerp-seeking gum missile?

hey douche don’t use poison sting, that will just y’know, poison the Cyndaquil and potentially make it faint before capture, trying paralyzing it or putting it so sleep instead.

and Cyndaquil is a pretty defensive fire type isn’t it. didn’t even use flame to defeat that Sandslash. a real nice contrast to Charizard. but he does torch douche, so thats a plus.

I remember when I played Pokemon Gold that what I chose was a Cyndaquil. I was stupid back then and tried to beat everything with it. wish I could’ve kept it now….guess I’ll just have to find a new Cyndaquil and raise that instead. (man, Fennekin, Cyndaquil, Tepig, Torchic….I like my fire types don’t I? I think I might’ve chosen Charmander back in Red and Blue to….)

Episode 26: The Town of Crazy Slowpoke Worshippers

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so the region is experiencing a drought. kay.

and Team Rocket uses their invention for something useful for once and instead discover an underground spring of Slowpoke. huh, they must have insomnia if they aren’t yawning.

oh and they reach Azalea Town. cool. but the Gym is closed so they have to deliver the pointless GS Ball first….

what, these people are INSANE for Slowpokes apparently.

and Kurt is dressed a slowpoke. weird.

and the Slowpokes actually make it rain by yawning? but….why isn’t the world like…covered with rain clouds or something? argh, I’m too tired…..can’t even muster a proper question…..another pokemon another mystery….

and yeah, Kurt reveals he is the slowpoke costume guy. whatever.

maybe its me just being tired and not having much of my brain working right now, but these episodes just seem ok. not good not bad, just ok....not much to say either for me....

[ThePhantom]

Ah, the scissor fight episode, I liked that one. I found it interesting. Hmm, don't think I saw the Cyndaquil episode.

As for the slowpoke episode, that is somewhat matching how it was in the games. You had to beat team rocket and save the slowpoke before you could do much in Azalea Town.

[zimmerwald1915]

I remember when I played Pokemon Gold that what I chose was a Cyndaquil. I was stupid back then and tried to beat everything with it. wish I could’ve kept it now….guess I’ll just have to find a new Cyndaquil and raise that instead. (man, Fennekin, Cyndaquil, Tepig, Torchic….I like my fire types don’t I? I think I might’ve chosen Charmander back in Red and Blue to….)

M'right there with ya, mostly. I chose Charmander, Cyndaquil, Torchic, and Fennekin (and Charmander again, because I could get the wizard and dragon starters in the same game and why would I do anything else!?) in Red, Silver, Sapphire, and Y respectively. I never played Diamond/Pearl or Black/White, but I probably would have gone with Piplup and Snivy.

[Lord Raziere]

zimmerwald, you have done good by avoiding DP and BW, because DP is slooooooooow and only has like, TWO fire pokemon in the entire game-some stupid monkey and Ponyta- while after playing through BW again, I realized how LETHAL BW is. I chose a Snivy this time, and was it a bad idea. only super-effective against one Gym leader, while my Tepig defeated the normal, bug, ice, and flying Gyms, I think, its been a while since my first playthrough, which I liked at the time, was the first time I really got into catching a lot of pokemon, and I still like the darker storyline of BW. but yeah, you basically chose all the starters I would.

trust the person who replayed both DP and BW just to transfer over a Palkia to Alpha-Sapphire to get Giratina without having to fight the Sinnoh Elite Four in DP's slow rate, especially against Cynthia, who is supposedly one of the toughest Champions ever made, never fought her though, hope the next remake is Sinnoh so that I can replay it and get the legendaries I'm missing, and maybe even a chance at Arceus...seriously, Sinnoh is probably the region that needs a remake the most.

going to get around to the next three episodes tomorrow....

[AGD]

Why must Batman infect everything good and sacred to me in this world?

Because you brought up Spiderman and Gligar looks more like a Bat to me. We can replace Mr. Mime-Man with Sableye-Man(The Pokemon, that is the closest to a Goblin), if it makes you happier.

[TheCountAlucard]

Batman is the night - you can't escape him.

[Lord Raziere]

See!? He even infects my favorite time of the day: night time. he and people like Solars get worshipped by everyone for what? doing things LESS flashily than others? how does that even make any sense? but that is neither here nor there, we're talking about Pokemon. you want to talk about that stuff, PM me.

Episode 27: Wait, what are POKEBALLS made of?

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Why are thanking Team Ash? they didn’t actually defeat Team Rocket, that was the Slowpoke’s doing. they TRIED yes, but….it was the Slowpokes that saved the day.

yeah, Kurt’s balls are the first we see of variant balls outside of pokeballs, great balls ultras and the rare masterball. they never caught on through, instead we’ve got things like Quick Balls, Dusk Balls and Timer Balls that are far more applicable.

eh, don’t have much to say about this episode aside from it being the first episode we see Pineco, with Brock catching one. and so we say goodbye to the completely pointless GS Ball. its been……a time GS Ball. its been a time.

Episode 28: Oh Hey Look, Defenses That Don’t Work in The Games.

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….what kind of bug Gym leader can’t even get down from a tree? no signs of crazy so far though….

wow, failed in record time, Team Rocket.

this Gym leader’s voice is annoying yet familiar…..is Bugsy voiced by the same guy who voiced Richie?

uh-oh, why do I have the feeling that Spinarak vs. Cyndaquil isn’t going end well for Ash? its going to be one of those type match-up defying bull**** victories for the weaker type isn’t it?

called it, Cyndaquil couldn’t even get its flames going.

but Chikorita certainly won. is Inver making type match-ups go wonky again?

aw, the hole trap again Team Rocket? thats the oldest one in the book….

tech, if only Harden was THIS awesome in the game, I’d actually use it, but battles being so short that I just have no time, and need to get things owned quick, all focus on damage me.

and Pikachu takes out Metapod! as expected.

oh frack, a Scyther…..wait, this is actually a bad matchup. just Thunderbolt him Pikachu, Scyther is flying, weak to your attacks. I’ve taken out a lot of Scyther while leveling up my pokemon in Pokemon X, believe I know: just one powerful electric attack and they go down easy, and thats talking about level 50 just-before-Victory-Road monster Scythers. and Pikachu loses because….double team shenanigans, which if that was as awesome as it were in the anime, I’d use that to, but don’t because it isn’t.

but Ash wins anyway because he came up with something actually pretty clever: he matched the flame to the rotation of Scyther while coming at it from an angle where it wouldn’t be deflected.

Episode 29: Father of Coal and Flame.

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Ilex Forest eh? sigh…..that reminds me of Celebi. wish I could’ve gotten Celebi while I had the chance. just I wish could’ve gotten Mew and so on. I’ll just have to wait for my day to get these mythical pokemon…just have to wait…

whoa, Brock just transformed into a noir hero out of nowhere! that explains so much. Brock thinks he is a street-tough private eye in a noir mystery novel surrounded by hot ladies.

and Team Rocket comes in to….follow Team Ash to steal their food. kay. sigh, someone else is going to say they should just ask for the food, aren’t they?

and yeah, I sympathize with Sylvester on the father thing. having a strict father like that sucks, I don’t feel like I can talk to him about anything.

Team Rocket, isn’t taking food from that shrine somewhat disrespectful to that spirit of the forest or something? man, Celebi is going to be ticked….

oh hey Onix gets to be awesome again! yay!

yeah, but it will take a while to transport all those logs back to your father…..better hope your strong, because strict fathers like that don’t like it when you have weak arms.

and so they leave….unfortunately a week later, Celebi comes in and does bad forest juju on Sylvester and his father for not leaving any food offerings for her like any capricious spirit and soon the charcoal business plummets from their deaths.

[ThePhantom]

Well, double-team is a very good move. Evade is one of the best stats. Doesn't matter how strong your opponent is if they can't hit you. As for the pit-trap, its Team Rocket's bread and butter, which is why they don't get much food. Can't eat a hole in the ground.

[Lord Raziere]

Well, double-team is a very good move. Evade is one of the best stats. Doesn't matter how strong your opponent is if they can't hit you. As for the pit-trap, its Team Rocket's bread and butter, which is why they don't get much food. Can't eat a hole in the ground.

It is? maybe when stacked, but I've defeated lots of pokemon that used it, still hit, the few times that it was really got going, it just annoying more than anything else, but if you say so, I'll be sure to teach more of my pokemon moves like Aerial Ace or Magical Leaf. those attacks are incapable of missing. quite a few of them already do know them anyways.

Episode 30: Trade Ya.

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oh no, a Wobbuffet. this was always a strange pokemon. its the duck-billed platypus of pokemon: it only knows counter-attack and defensive moves, and it looks like some blue mound thing much like that Bloo guy from Fosters Home For Imaginary Friends except with this black tail….and its just WEIRD.

and Ash wins the tauros thing. cool, Tauros gets another chance to be awesome.

I seem to remember Team Rocket getting a Wobbuffet….so will the guy somehow swap with Jessie somehow?

and yeah,thats actually a pretty good scam, Pokeballs seem to be weightless and no one would suspect it….unless they decide to send out their traded pokemon right then and there….hm, thats a big gaping flaw….

oh come on Misty, you had the perfect chance to get rid of this headache of a pokemon, now your suddenly clingy to it?

oh no, JAMES DON’T FALL FOR THE MAGIKARP SCAM AGAIN! I’m pretty sure this is the same guy who scammed you on the S.S. Anne!

and good, James doesn’t fall for it and actually recognizes him! go get him James!

and so the Wobbuffet is traded. it might actually be tougher than Lickitung….Ash uses all force, when its probably best to use something like a Sleep effect to keep Wobbuffet from acting THEN attack it.

[ThePhantom]

I believe that Wobbuffet is based on a comedian, that's why its a bit odd. And yes, its more powerful than Lickitung, its just Jessie isn't very good at getting the timing right to use its defensive powers.

[Lord Raziere]

....a comedian eh. oh well.

moving on.

Episode 31: Going Of The Kaminuirtle

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so Tauros is sent back, leaving one of Ash’s poke-slots open for now. Ash’s current party is kind of imbalanced in my opinion: there is no reason for him to have both Chikorita AND Bulbasaur, so I’m still waiting for the other shoe to drop for Bulbasaur.

and Nurse Joy quickly comes up with an excuse to not respond to Brock’s advances. good call.

Aiden is back! and his wartortle squad.

and so is the old Squirtle Squad! finally, someone from Kanto has returned! the circle is beginning to loop more….

oh god, Ash…..your team is not going to do well, I just know it….I was right.

this is however, a Squirtle Squad episode, so they succeed.

and boom! Team Rocket is here! lets see what interfering nonsense they have in store for us this time

y’know, I’m starting to wonder what exactly those nets are made of if they can capture pokemon so easily….are they made out of the same materials as pokeballs?

and there goes one of the longest running starters of Ash’s roster, probably to make way for Totototototototototototototototototodile. kay, but….I’m still waiting for Bulbasaur to go, who of course had a reluctant handshake with Squirtle upon the farewell, I get the feeling that they never got along well but that they knew each other long enough to care for one another like their farewell consists of:

Squirtle: come on man, we’ve been through stuff together the most, don’t leave me hanging!
*extends vines*
Bulbasaur: just go you stupid turtle….

Episode 32: Hopefully The Last Wooper/Quagsire Episode. Ever.

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eh, Wooper, not much better than Quagsire. I don’t like either of them. too ugly to be cute in my opinion.

uh, Jessie…..I’m pretty sure that red with spots is a poisonous mushroom…..just saying….so……you might want to put that down….

wow, Togepi somehow gets the cooper under control. but being led around by another child is just a recipe for disaster…

yeah, this is why I don’t like children Misty. they’re cute until you actually to care for them, then they become monsters that you have to constantly keep on just to keep under control.

I agree with you two, the Wooper is not so nice and charming once you see that its basically a stupid pokemon that doesn’t care whether you live or die.

“I can’t look into its eyes and stay mad at the Wooper.”-Jessie
I could look into the sweet little face, torture it mercilessly, see it all its hopes and dreams broken, and only laugh at its pain.

bah, I say let Team rocket have the Devil-Wooper. it deserves whatever it gets.

now your all cheering for the Devil-Wooper? its mind-wiping powers are spreading.

and so we depart. and good riddance to both Wooper and Quagsire. the former are idiots that don’t care about others and the latter are thieves that are even stupider.

Episode 33: What The Hell, Snubbull?/Goddammit Jigglypuff

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Ash you have Bulbasaur and Chikorita, you will be fine against Rock types- isn’t that, right Brock?

oh no, both Jigglypuff AND Snubbull. will we finally have a Clash of the Running Gags?

….really, rock types are just randomly strong against grass types in this episode? what the hell, Inver?

TROLOLOLOLOL, JIGGLYPUFF SONG TIME! ROCK-A-BYE-TRAINER MAY YOU SLEEP-FIGHT, CATCH ALL THE POKEMON ONLY IN YOUR DREAMS, AND NEVER GET YOUR TOURNAMENTS RIGHT…..

and so the Snubbull steals Jigglypuff’s microphone/marker. oh it is ON now…

um, Jessie, aren’t you just doing the same thing as the Snubbull’s previous owner did: cuddle it too much? that will probably only end in tears.

and Snubbull somehow replaces Meowth as a Team Rocket member. wow, its causing a lot of chaos today, isn’t it?

and Jigglypuff and Meowth confide in each other their problems and try to join forces. this is actually pretty cute and heartwarming to me.

Meowth, you just got replaced by a Wobbuffet. ditch Jessie and James and never look back.

and so we end with Jigglypuff sleep-songing everything once again. well this was much ado about nothing.

[ThePhantom]

I like Ash's tototodile. I find its quirk amusing. Now, I don't really remember the Wooper episode, only thing I can think of is Brook being sad playing a tambourine for a bunch of woopers in a tub. And I don't remember the episode of snubbull and jigglypuff at all. I did say my watching of this season was less then the first season.

[AGD]

I could look into the sweet little face, torture it mercilessly, see it all its hopes and dreams broken, and only laugh at its pain.

Wow, this is the second Time, where you are scaring me. The first Time was in your One Piece-Blog about Aces Death.

Ehahahahahahahahahahaha! Feel the pain, Luffy. FEEL THE PAIN!

[Lord Raziere]

Wow, this is the second Time, where you are scaring me. The first Time was in your One Piece-Blog about Aces Death.

I'm sorry, I just ....really dislike happy go lucky annoying things that get away with whatever jerkish things they do without punishment just because they're cute or something. charisma shouldn't mean that your above the law or the rules or whatever, because if we let such people get away with things just because they give a good speech or have a great smile, thats just falling for a deception that will only encourage such behavior in society and thus create an elite in society that will be able to get away with things because they are just soooooo cool or whatever. many monstrous dictators were charismatic after all. thats why you be wary of charismatic people and focus on what they do, and not whether they are good looking or whatever.

Episode 34: YOU THIEVING DOGS!

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This opening is a lie, because misty would ever let a Ledyba carry Togepi and they never get a Hoothoot.

and look, Team Rocket only stole the ham from nurse Joy that time, they’re progressing.

so its a Houndour pack that stole all that. and whoa, they’re tough, only Misty has any good pokemon against them because Houndour are half fire type, its actually a good thing Psyduck wasn’t used- it only seems to know Psychic attacks and Dark types are outright immune to Psychic.

….wouldn’t the pack just abandon the sick Houndour to die alone if they were actual wolves in real life? thank the gods that pokemon have human levels of intelligence and empathy.

and Team Rocket loses to the Houndour pack. of course.

and of course, Ash ears their trust and they go their separate ways again. good, we don’t want Ash getting a Squirtle-squad repeat in the form of a Houndour…

Episode 35: Tototototototototototototototototototototototototo tototototo…….

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oh, here is the Totodile episode! right on time to replace Squirtle.

and Misty is suddenly babbling on about water pokemon while fishing, then Totodile suddenly leaps out. kay.

and now they’re fighting over Totodile

oh hey, nice to see Team Rocket finally getting something to eat, a lot of their episodes have been focusing on how hungry they are.

and so they both use the water ball….and they can’t tell which is theirs. of course. so Brock decides to be the mature one make sure this Totodile is gotten fairly. (HINT HINT ASH WILL WIN)

oh god, your using Togepi to battle Pikachu!? that is either the worst idea ever or the best one, I’m not sure. but I’m pretty sure its a stupid one either way.

its a pokemon like anyone else Pikachu, just shock Togepi, it needs to learn some pain in order to battle anyways.

and thats why you will always lose, Misty because type match ups will always smack you down no matter how hard you train.

Bulbasaur Vs. Poliwag! FIGHT!

and Team Rocket actually does the smart thing for once and let them battle it out first. good thinking Meowth.

oh WHAT, that is bull****, why is Poliwag evolving? pokemon only evolve when they’re victorious not as some come from behind victory because they’re losing! AGH! this is just a deus ex machina.

and Ash wins anyway. as it should be. he played it smart, he used only pokemon that had a type advantage, he deserves to win this one.

hopefully this Totodile will be staying. no ties to a Squirtle squad. no concerns about getting stronger like Charizard….really, Cyndaquil, Chikorita and Totodile are all caught more fairly than the first starters and thus have more reason to stick around.

Episode 36: Cynda-QUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUIIIIIIIIIII-

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and so they go in search of a trainer near a bridge to fight because apparently said trainer owns very well. hm.

and she sends out…..a Skarmory. careful Brock, Steel has a lot of defenses, and that Growlithe must’ve lost for a reason…

“hey! up there!”- Ash
its a Pidgey!
its a Fearow!
No its…..THE BIRD OF STEEL, SKARMORY!
*Superman theme plays*

and Vulpix goes down!

and then Cyndaquil is up! but both of them get caught by Team Rocket before they can finish…

aw frack, Ash your doing this stupid “lets try and do another persons training!” thing again. you have a method, it works already, you just got to refine it. stick to what your good at and find ways to make it work for you in any situation.

and Cyndaquil becomes badass this episode! I think Ash actually needed a pokemon like Cyndaquil, because Ash’s Cyndaquil is kind of a fixer-upper pokemon: it started out having a great defense, but it needed serious work on its offense, so it taught Ash to be more serious about training his pokemon and making them better battlers. with the Kanto starters you could already tell that they were competent and well-rounded.

thing is though, if Charizard is Ash learning to overcome his more wild and raw urges to be more disciplined, Cyndaquil is Ash learning to not just battle with his pokemon but find ways to improve them, to make them more than they are and to encourage them to reach greater heights. This is not just an improvement of Cyndaquil as a pokemon, but Ash as a trainer.

I like the last of these episodes the best. Ash for once actually takes a good step forward in becoming a better trainer.

[ThePhantom]

Ah, Totodile. Keep dancing you silly thing. If there was contests or musicals in the jonto region you know it would be all over those.

These episodes were good ones, shame I can't fully remember them anymore.